Thank you, Stella, for bringing back many happy memories ... 16 No 1.pdf · next issue of the Newsletter. Copy date for the next issue is 16 May 2015 Vol 16 Issue 1 February 2015

EDITORIAL

The new website is now up and running and I hope you havevisited it and like it. As a consequence of all our recentchanges within the Society, all Society e-mail addresses arechanging. Please note these changes on the back page anduse these in the future. We intend to keep the old server fora short while during the transfer but this will cease at somepoint in the near future and all e-mails sent to fachrs.org.ukaddresses will be ‘lost’ forever in the ether.

Another major change is that our Chairman, DonDickson has had to retire from the Committee due topersonal circumstances and we are therefore without aChairPerson. Don has done a magnificent job in chairing theSociety for many years and has overseen the development ofa ‘well-oiled machine’ that runs with ease and precision. Iam sure you will join your Committee in thanking Don for allhis tireless work over the years and that we will miss hisenthusiasm and guidance. Please read the notice on page 3and consider standing for the Committee - you never knowyou could even be chairperson! Our new webmaster wouldalso like an assistant as backup, so if you have any web skillsperhaps you will consider nomination. Our next CommitteeMeeting is on Saturday 11 April and anyone interested ismost welcome to attend to see how we operate. Just contactone of the Committee as listed on the back page for moreinformation.

Conference details appear on page 2 including aprovisional programme, which looks very interesting. Itpromises to be another great day. Remember, if you areattending and staying over, the Committee are happy towelcome you to join them for dinner the Premier Inn FossePark on Friday and/or Saturday evenings.

The list of articles available for voting upon is notedon page 3. These are drawn from this issue and the previoustwo, i.e. June and October 2014 and February 2015. You willreceive notification of voting via our e-Bulletin shortly. Pleasedo vote for your favourite article. The winner will beannounced at Conference on 9 May. If you haven’t yetinformed our Membership Secretary, Brita Wood, of your e-mail address, now is the time to do so. That way you willensure receiving your voting e-Bulletin. All contributors willbe most grateful for your votes.

Lastly, please note the early copy deadline for thenext issue of the Newsletter.

Copy date for the next issue is16 May 2015

Vol 16 Issue 1 February 2015 Vol 16 Issue 1 February 2015

N E W S L E T T E R

Family and Community Historical Research Society NewsletterFamily and Community Historical Research Society Newsletter16 1

N E W S L E T T E RFebruary 2015 Volume 16 Issue 1

Angela Blaydon

CONTENTS

2015 Conference Programme and Information . . . . . .2

Paul Newton-Taylor Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Nominations for Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

AGM Notification and Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

When is a Bank Manager Not a Bank Manager? Pt 2 .5

Robert Parker - Banker, Educationalist and

Property Developer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Brothers in Banking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Dundee’s First World War Time Capsule . . . . . . . . . .12

Mobility of late 19th Century Female

Schoolteachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

A Forgotten Windsor Philanthropist . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Letter to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Society Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

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[email protected]

2 Elm Close, Ripley, Woking, Surrey

GU23 6LE

ISSN 1740-0333

Don’t forget the copy date for the next issue

1 6 M ay 2 0 1 5

S E N D M E Y O U R A R T I C L E S N O W !e-mail

[email protected]

snail-mail

2 Elm Close, Ripley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6LE

Chairman/Admin ChairCurrently vacant

e-mail: [email protected] Tel: Vice Chairman/FCH Editorial Chair

Michael DRAKE, 6 Milton Keynes Village, Milton Keynes, Bucks MK10 9AHe-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01908 665368

Hon. SecretarySue SMITH, Pilcot House, Pilcot, Dogmersfield, Hook, Hants RG27 8SYe-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01252 617884

TreasurerFrances BROOKS, 255 Willington Road, Kirton End, Boston, Lincolnshire PE20 1NWe-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01205 723040

Membership SecretaryBrita WOOD, The Four Bees, Church Lane, Hellidon, Nr Daventry, Northants NN11 6GDe-mail: [email protected]

Tel: 01327 260536Newsletter and Journal News Editor/Publications Chair

Angela BLAYDON, 2 Elm Close, Ripley, Woking, Surrey, GU23 6LEe-mail: [email protected]

[email protected] Tel: 01483 224511Assistant Newsletter Editor

Lois DEAN, 2 Gatemere Close, Ellenbrook, Worsley, Manchester M28 7UYe-mail: [email protected] Tel: 0161 975 7940

Conferences ChairTricia JAMES, 121 Huntingdon Rd, Thrapston,Northants NN14 4NGe-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01832 733792

WebmasterMartin ALLEN, Westfield, 3 Launceston Rd,Tavistock, Devon PL19 8NGe-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01822 616578

Committee MembersSteve KING Val SANDERS Dan WEINBREN

OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE

FFaammiillyy aanndd CCoommmmuunniittyy HHiissttoorryyThe Journal of the FACHRS

Please contact the editor with yourcontributions

(e-mail: [email protected])

Sub-Committees and Contacts

Admin

Conferences Tricia James

Publicity/Publications Angela Blaydon

FCH Editorial Michael Drake

(see list of Officers and Committee on this page for contact details)

Family & Community Historical Research Society Ltd, Registered in London Registration No: 3965865Registered Office: Pilcot House, Pilcot, Dogmersfield, Hook, Hants RG27 8SY

Registered Charity No: 1124571

FACHRS2015

CONFERENCE! !

Date: 9 MayVenue: Leicester UniversityTheme: Members’ ResearchCost: £16

Have you registered? Have you registered? Have you re

LLeetttteerrssttoo tthheeEEddiittoorr

A Blast from the Past

I was interested to read Stella Evans’s piece about Miss Clark of Aylsham Community Nursery.

It was a little disconcerting to find one’s own era being treated as an historical study – a bit likeseeing an artefact in a museum, which one clearly remembers in daily use surely not so long ago.

I was especially interested in Miss Clark’s assistant Miss Morgan, with whom she clearly had seriouspersonality and generational issues. The upshot was that Miss Morgan was transferred to King’sLynn in December 1951.

I myself moved from Northumberland to King’s Lynn in November 1951. I don’t remember anyonecalled Morgan, but it is fascinating to think that she might have taught patients of mine, or havebelonged to the Scottish Dancing Society or the Old Lennensians Cricket Club supporters, or havemoved in any of the circles that I did.

Thank you, Stella, for bringing back many happy memories of Norfolk in the ‘50s.

Jean Wright


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FFAACCHHRRSS 22001155 CCoonnffeerreennccee

� 9 May �

Rattray Lecture TheatreLeicester University

Venue

£16 to include

refreshments and

a buffet lunchCost

Morning officialguided tour of

Leicester £3.50 pp

Sunday

0099..4455--1100..0000 REGISTRATION AND COFFEE 1100..0000--1100..1155 Welcome by the Vice Chairman

Prof Michael Drake1100..1155--1100..5500 AAGGMM and Election of Officers

Dr Sue Smith1111..0000--1111..3300 FFaammiillyy,, CCoommmmuunniittyy && tthhee VViiccttoorriiaann AAssyylluumm

Dr Cathy Smith 1111..3300--1122..0000 FFlleettttoonn:: MMiiggrraattiioonn && IInntteeggrraattiioonn 11884411 -- 11991111-The

impact of an influx of rail workers and brick makers

Sadie McMullon1122..0000--1122..3300 TThhee RRiissee ffrroomm aann AAggrriiccuullttuurraall LLaabboouurreerr ttoo aa

SScchhooooll AAtttteennddaannccee OOffffiicceerr aanndd PPooeett Dr Christine Seal

1122..3300--1133..3300 BUFFET LUNCH

1133..4455--1144..1155 MMeeaasslleess,, TTaattttiiee HHoowwkkiinngg,, tthhee BBeelltt aanndd mmoorree .... What School Log Books can tell us about Education 1874 - 1930

Elspeth Johnson144..1155--1144..4455 DDiissss && DDiissttrriicctt iinn WWWW11:The War Memorial's

fifty-four missing names Helen Kennett

1144..4455--1155..1155 WWiinniiffrreedd LLuuccyy HHoobbbbss: Nursing sister at Southend Victoria Hospital from 1911 to 1918

Valerie Batt-Rawden1155..3300--1155..4455 Award of the Paul Newton Taylor Award for the

best member submission to the Newsletter

1155..4455--1166..0000 Raffle Draw AND CLOSING REMARKS Professor Michael Drake

PPrroovviissiioonnaall PPrrooggrraammmmee**

*programme subject to confirmation and/or alteration

Once again we have an exciting programme of talks by Members detailing their personal research. Your Committee will bedelighted to see you at Leicester and hope you will come and introduce yourselves to us. The venue is conveniently situatedadjacent to Victoria Park and about a ten-minute walk from the train station.

We have again managed to maintain a low cost for delegates, but are still able to include refreshments and a buffetlunch.

For those of you staying overnight, or who are local enough, we have organised a guided tour of Leicester’s historicalsites on Sunday morning. This will last a couple of hours. As this is an official guide we will have to charge those wishing tojoin the tour the small sum of £3.50 per person. You can book this at the same time as registering for the Conference or,should sufficient places be available, at Conference. However, places are limited.

The Committee will once again be staying at The Premier Inn Fosse Park, Braunstone Lane East, Leicester, LE3 2FWand attendees are welcome to join them. This hotel is easily accessed from the M1. From M1/M69 (J21), follow the A5460towards the city centre for approximately 1.5 miles along the dual carriageway. At the next junction turn right into BraunstoneLane. The hotel is on the left.

There will be the opportunity to share an evening meal on Friday and/or Saturday at their integrated restaurant. Allaccommodation bookings have to be made via the Premiere Inn website and a meal deal is usually available at the time ofbooking if required. Please indicate on your Registration Form if you would like to be included in the group for a meal onFriday and/or Saturday evening.

TTOO RREEGGIISSTTEERRFill in the Conference Registration Form online and submit and

pay via PayPal or

Download the Conference Registration Form, complete andsend with cheque for the full amount to the address provided.

RRAAFFFFLLEE

This year the Committee will provide a smallnumber of prizes consisting of book tokens.

Raffle tickets will be available to purchase on theday of the Conference.

A Forgotten Windsor Philanthropist - SIR FRANCIS TRESS BARRY, BartValerie Batt-Rawden

Advantages of CommerceI am wonderfully delighted to see a body of men thriving in theirown fortunes, and at the same time promoting the public stock;

or, in other words, raising estates for their own families, by bringinginto their country whatever is wanting and carrying out of it

whatever is superfluous.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) Essayist, Whig. Creator of The Spectator andThe Tatler (Many thoughts of many minds. 1868 Henry Southgate)

Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907) was just such a man. At 16 years oldhe joined a merchant company in Bilbao as ‘A Purveyor ofMachinery’ and at 22 years old was Consul of the Biscay Region ofSpain. As a partner with his brother-in-law, James Mason, in asuccessful copper mine in Portugal, he gained a fortune with whichto purchase and improve a prestigious estate in Windsor. Hisphilanthropy gained him a Baronetcy from Queen Victoria and wasMP for Windsor (1890 to 1907). Yet this most important lateVictorian entrepreneur is not remembered and his name has verylittle significance in the town.

James Mason, studied mining engineering in Paris,probably at the school of mines and with his degree went to Bilbaoas Manager of copper and lead mines for three English miningcompanies in the Bilbao region. There is no doubt that James metFrancis through the machinery company which employed thisbrilliant young man. Their lives became considerably entwinedwhen James married Francis’ sister. They went into business together,purchasing a run down copper mine in Northern Portugal which wasto create great wealth for the two men so that each could purchaseprestigious estates in England.

In 1856 Francis and his brother-in-law became partners ina firm of F.T. Barry and Co., importing British mining machinery intoSpain and from 1859, developed the San Domingos Copper Minein Portugal, which closed in 1964. He built a 15k railway to PomiraoHarbour on the Guardiana river, by which the ore was transporteddownstream to the Mediterranean port of Vila Real de San Antonioand on to London where Francis had his office headquarters. For thebuilding of an autonomous settlement village for the mining familiesboth men were honoured by the King of Portugal. Francis becameBaron de Barry.

James was the mastermind and manager of the mine with70% of the shares. Francis borrowed the other 30% from the family:3/13th was taken by his wife’s aunt Maria Herron, which waseventually gifted to him in ‘recognition of the great love she had forhim’. Francis returned to England to manage the shipping andaccounting for the business. In 1862 James left Portugal and ran themine through his manager, only visiting once a year until hepurchased Eynsham Hall in 1866, when James’s son took over themine.

With his wealth Francis purchased the St Leonards Estate inWindsor in 1869. He partially demolished the house known asGloucester Lodge, rebuilding it as a prestigious mansion resemblinga French chateau which dominated the skyline. As the result of thishe became a trustee of Clewer Green School which had beenestablished by the Harcourts, the previous owners of the estate, andreceived a Baronetcy from Queen Victoria in 1889 with the JubileeMedal with Bar for his philanthropic work.

He paid £1,225 to Middlesex Hospital to pay off themortgage on a piece of land beside the Thames at Windsor and£1,985 to the Vansittart Estate to enlarge it, which he gave to theWindsor Council as a public park to celebrate the Coronation ofEdward VII and Queen Alexandra. It was named Alexandra Gardens.He also endowed the Windsor Infirmary. His election as MP forWindsor was reported in the Clewer Parish Magazine for May 1890.‘F.T. Barry, conservative candidate, returned at a recent general

election by a large majority. Mr Barry our new MP is a parishionerof Clewer and resides part of the year at St Leonards Hill’.

In 1890 Francis also bought Keiss Castle, Caithness, fromThe Duke of Portland, some eight miles south of John O’ Groats,where he spent his summers indulging in his love of Archaeology.He discovered a Broch, previously unknown. The painted stones andother artefacts are in a special museum dedicated to his finds as partof the Museum of Scottish Monuments in Edinburgh. While inEngland Francis became a member of the auspicious AntiquariesSociety, whose logo is the mediaeval lamp, which had been foundon St Leonards Hill. He mounted two exhibitions, in 1895 and1898, of local artefacts dredged from the River Thames at WindsorBridge and Boveney Lock and to complete the exhibitions heborrowed the collections of several local archaeologists. Anexample is in the Museum collection. He was, in fact, known moreas an amateur archaeologist of note than as an MP. He was DeputyLieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Caithness.

Not content with this, Francis developed the St LeonardsHill Estate which he planted with full size camellia bushes to provethat they were hardy enough to grow outdoors in the northernhemisphere. There is no doubt that the legend in Reg Try’s family,that they came on the deck of a ship, is true. The company of Masonand Barry owned three ships, which could have brought the bushesfrom Portugal, where they grew prolifically. The originals came toEurope with the family of 16th century merchants traveling to China,India and Brazil. The Manor House in Northern Portugal is stillowned by the same family and the descendants of these bushes arestill in existence. Portuguese camellias are not named, only knownby colour. Sir Giles Loder, Bt, a competitor of Reg Try at the RHSCamellia Exhibitions, wrote in the RHS Year book of 1960 that hehad visited Portuguese gardens and purchased bushes and notedthat the oldest Portuguese camellias were not named. The earlyplantings at St Leonards Hill are not named either.

The name of St Leonards Hill lives on but what of thememory of this commercial genius? The drive up to the mansionused to be known as Barry’s Drive but is now St Leonards Hill,Windsor Forest. How many visitors, or residents for that matter,know that the road along the river front from the railway arch toGoswell Lane is known as Barry Avenue or that the park which isalongside it, known as Alexandra Gardens, owes its existence to SirFrancis?

A millionaire, landowner and amateur archaeologist,Francis held appointments to the Crown and was honoured bymonarchs in Portugal and England. He was created a Baronet inQueen Victoria’s New Year’s honours list in 1899. He made Windsorhis own and is buried in Clewer Churchyard, yet so little is knownof him in the town. It is for this reason that this article hopes toaddress this oversight of a man for whose philanthropy should betop of the Who’s Who list for the town.

Megolithic scraper © Reproduced by kind permission of Windsor & Royal Borough Museum


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The Paul Newton -Taylor Award

! ! DO N’T FO R G E T TO VOT E ! !Once again the Paul Newton Taylor Award will be contested by a list of articlessubmitted and taken from this and the preceding two Newsletters (i.e. Vol 15Nos 2 and 3 and Vol 16 No 1). The list of eligible articles is below. You will beinvited to vote for your favourite article from that list via an e-mail and the onereceiving the most votes will be the winner.

Please take a few minutes to assess the articles before voting for theone you like the best. It won’t take long and the authors will be delighted toreceive your votes.

The Award will be announced at the Conference in Leicester and, ifthe recipient is not present, arrangements will be made to deliver it to thewinner.

PNT Award 2014: Articles for consideration

JULY 2014 VOL 15 ISSUE 2World War I – Women workers in the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich - Peter Baigent

When 184 said ‘No’! - Michael DrakeTynedale Home Front – The Poets Part 2 - Christine Seal

OCTOBER 2014 VOL 15 ISSUE 3Eva Worsley – A Very Mobile School Mistress - Jean WrightEdwins’ Brown – Bank Managers of Burton - Shirley Fisher

When is a Bank Manager Not a Bank Manager? Pt 1 - Christine JonesAlmshouses for Ever: People and Their Buildings - Helen Caffrey

My Dear Emily... - Anne WilkinsonMiss Clark: Aylsham Community Nursery - Stella Evans

Munday’s Bank, Wiltshire - Pauline WhiteJoseph Jackson, Bank Manager in Newcastle - Christine Seal

FEBRUARY 2015 VOL 16 ISSUE 1When is a Bank Manager not a Bank Manager – from Bristol to London - Christine Jones

Brothers in Banking - Daphne JonesRobert Parker – Banker, Educationalist and Property Developer - Clive Leivers

Dundee’s First World War Time Capsule - Elspeth JohnsonThe Mobility of 19th Century School Teachers - Rob White

Sir Francis Tress Barry - Valerie Batt-Rawden

We would welcome nominations from anyone interested in joining a very efficient, friendly and smooth-runningCommittee. Nomination forms will be available at Conference or, alternatively, contact our Hon. Sec., Sue Smith. Anyoneinterested is welcome to attend any of our Committee meetings, so that you can get a flavour of the operation. These takeplace four times a year at the Open University in Milton Keynes and you only need to contact one of the officers listed onthe back page to obtain dates and to make arrangements.

Currently we are looking for a new Chair Person and an Assistant Webmaster. The position of Chair Person is notonerous and consists mainly of chairing committee meetings and ensuring that all runs smoothly. Our new Webmaster,Martin Allen, needs someone with some web skills and interest in helping to maintain the Society website and be able toprovide backup if and when necessary. If you think you have the skills for either position, please let our Hon. Sec. know.

If you have any other skills that you think may be useful to help the improvement of the Society, then do let anyof the Committee know. All ideas and suggestions are always appreciated. There are also vacancies on the Committee.

Your Committee looks forward to meeting you, at Conference, at Committee meetings, or at any of our RoadShowstands, whether or not you wish to stand for the Committee.

Don’t Delay! Fill in that Nomination Form today

N O M I N AT I O N S FO R C O M M I T T E E

of the Infants School resigned in 1885 the position wasadvertised and after receiving thirty applications the schoolboard offered the post to a Miss Curphy from Birkenhead,who turned it down when she discovered that the house to beprovided for her was not furnished. The job was then offeredto the second-placed candidate, Miss Blackburn from WestonSuper Mare, but by then she had secured a situationelsewhere, so the post was re-advertised. Twelve furtherapplications were received from teachers as far distant asAllendale, Northumberland (275 miles from Winchcombe),but the position was offered to Alice Malpas from nearbyGloucester, and the school board then devoted the sum of tenpounds ‘to complete the furnishing of the school house’.1

From 1887, just two years later, most of the headteacher appointments at Gretton School were of women fromfurther afield. The new mistress in that year, Annie Deans,hailed from Liverpool, and the twelve other applicants for thepost were from as far afield as London, Leeds, Ilfracombe andDevonport.2 Over the next thirteen years seven moremistresses were successively appointed at this school, five ofwhom I’ve been able to trace; they were Angelina Cole fromPlymouth, Elizabeth Bray from Brixham (Devon), Miss Leesfrom Oldham (Lancashire) and Annie Bains fromPeterborough. A sixth mistress, Lizzie Paine, secured a post inWest Lavington, Sussex, after she had been mistress at GrettonSchool for only a year.

A similar trend towards ‘distant’ appointees occurredat the Girls School where, between 1894 and 1901, threemistresses were appointed, Mary Pritchard from Caerleon(Monmouthshire), Charlotte Woodhead from Stoke by Clare(Suffolk) and Isabella Stiff from Stoke (Buckinghamshire).However, the appointment of head teachers at the InfantsSchool from 1887 continued in the traditional way with twofurther mistresses, in 1890 and 1894, from Gloucester andrural Herefordshire respectively, but the next one, EmilyCatton, in 1896, hailed from Huddersfield (Yorkshire).

From 1875 it was possible for assistant (orsupplementary) teachers to be appointed in schools, andseveral vacancies in Winchcombe were filled in this way. Thefirst few were either local women or from Gloucester, butfrom 1894 some of the assistant teachers appointed at theGirls School were from further afield. In September of thatyear Edith Newman was appointed in the role and after onlya week she was absent for three days ‘to settle up at her lastsituation in Sittingbourne (Kent)’, which was some 150 milesaway (3). Another was Amy Gapper, who was appointed in1896; five years earlier she had been working as a 16-year-oldpupil teacher in Yeovilton (Somerset), some 100 miles distant.

A POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONThe evidence demonstrates that from 1885 several of themistresses and (female) assistant teachers appointed inWinchcombe’s board schools had been recruited fromlocations a hundred miles away or more. Furthermore, it’sclear that many of the other applicants for these positionswere also not from Gloucestershire or an adjacent county.Was this because vacant teaching posts were, by then, morewidely advertised than hitherto, or was there some otherreason?

One possible explanation is evident from a decisionby the Winchcombe School Board in 1903 to advertise avacant teaching post at the Boys School in The Schoolmaster,4

which had been launched in 1872 as the weekly journal ofthe National Union of Elementary Teachers (and subsequentlybecame the National Union of Teachers in 1888).5 Could thisexplain how, some years before, a Mr J Sprague from Margate,Kent, came to be appointed as an assistant master atWinchcombe Boys School in 1885,6 and why the previous jobof one of the school’s first masters, George Kemp, who arrivedin Winchcombe in 1876, was at a school in Andover,Hampshire? The Winchcombe School Board, being mindful ofthe need to keep expenditure to a minimum, would surely nothave advertised vacancies in regional newspapers coveringKent and Hampshire, but Sprague and Kemp may well haveread about the vacant posts in The Schoolmaster, and thiscould also explain why female schoolteachers were applyingfor distant posts at much the same time. Perhaps for someteachers, joining the union may have been worthwhile just forthe opportunity to hear about teaching opportunitieselsewhere.

So, to return to Eva Worsley, the ‘very mobileschoolmistress’ in Jean Wright’s article in the last FACHRSnewsletter, between the 1871 and 1891 censuses Eva moved100 miles north from her home in Sheffield to Morecambe,Lancashire, and subsequently relocated 200 miles south fromthere to Blo Norton, in Norfolk. I suspect that travelling 300miles between three jobs in less than twenty years probablywas unusual, but evidence from the recruitment ofWinchcombe teachers in the later decades of the 19th centurysuggests that many other women were either doing much thesame or were certainly prepared to do so in order to secure ateaching post. So the publication of The Schoolmaster from1872, with its weekly lists of vacant positions, may well havehelped to increase the mobility of female teachers throughoutEngland in the late 19th century.

POSTSCRIPT Can anyone suggest any other likely reasons to explain whyfemale teachers applied for teaching positions in the 19thcentury over a hundred miles away from their current position- before as well as after 1872 when The Schoolmaster was firstpublished?____________Footnotes1. Cheltenham Chronicle, 12 May and 30 June 1885.2. Unnamed and undated newspaper report, in Edward Adlard’s

album of newspaper cuttings (Winchcombe Museum, WIXFP2000.955).

3. Winchcombe Girls School log book, 6 October 1894,GA/S368/1/3/1.

4. Cheltenham Chronicle, Saturday 31 January 1903.5. https://www.teachers.org.uk/node/85156. Cheltenham Chronicle, Tuesday 3 February 1885.


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FAMILY AND COMMUNITYHISTORICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY

Notification of Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on Saturday 9 May 2015 atthe Rattray Lecture Theatre, Leicester University.

At this meeting election of officers (Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary andTreasurer) and committee members will take place. If you would like to benominated for the role of Chairman, Vice Chairman or committee member pleasecontact the Secretary, Sue Smith, by e-mail to [email protected] or by surfacemail to Pilcot House, Pilcot, Dogmersfield, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 8SY, by 2 May2015. Any other items of business should also reach the Secretary by that date. Inthe absence of sufficient advance nominations for these roles, there will be anopportunity to take these at the meeting.

AGENDA

1. Apologies for absence

2. Approval of the minutes of the 2014 AGM

3. Matters arising from the minutes

4. Presentation of the Annual Report

5. Presentation of the Financial report

6. Election of officers

7. Election of committee members

8. Any other business

acutely felt by all classes, nationwide. There is severeunemployment as a result of the curtailment of munitionsproduction and other war related industries and returningservice men; in Dundee the jute industry is in depression. Hehopes that by 2014 Capital and Labour will have arrived at a definite understanding; and then concludes his letter with theimmortal words of Burns:

Man to man, the world o’erShall brithers be-an a’that

The Postmaster, J. Coulson, writes to his current counterpartwith a detailed description of how the Post Office operatedin 1921 Dundee. He notes that he shortly faces a reductionin salary when the war bonuses cease. He addresses his letter‘Dear Sir’, which suggests that he did not anticipate thecurrent incumbent would be a woman.

The letters from the front were sent to DavidTurnbull, who appeared to be a respected ‘father figure’ tomany of the soldiers. He sent them newspapers andinformation of fellow post office colleagues; and from oneletter has actively helped one soldier/colleague, who wastrying to get special leave so that he could make betterarrangements for his two boys, who he has left in care.7

One of the most interesting letters is the one writtenby the young telegraphist, Annie Lamont; and addressed tothe current GPO staff. She writes of the issues that concernher in 1921. She bemoans the imminent return to theinadequate pre-war salaries, for a six day week, of £1-14s fora female telegraphist and £2-16s for a man. However, shewelcomes women’s suffrage and hopes that WinstonChurchill, MP for Dundee in 1921, will be ousted in the nextGeneral Election. She is remarkably prescient, predicting thatthe war would not be the last of wars and that there would be‘another ghastlier Armageddon’ before too long. She is aware

that the telephone is about to replace the telegram andwrites, ’perhaps in your day, even that wonderful discoverywill have been superseded by something even more startlingand revolutionary.’! Sadly, a few years after writing this letter,Annie Lamont drowned in the River Tay. A note in herhandbag said that as she had no lover or sweetheart no-onewould miss her.8 She was another casualty of the War that leftso many women without husbands.

Plans for the future of the capsule are currently onhold while discussions take place between Dundee ArtGalleries and Museum Services, the Post Office, and RoyalMail regarding the final resting place of the archive. Howeverit is hoped, regardless of this decision, that there will be alocal display of the Casket and its contents in Dundee tomark the centenary of the end of World War I in 2018.9

AcknowledgmentsI am grateful to Matthew Jarron of the University of DundeeMuseums Services and Rhona Rodger, of Dundee MuseumServices for encouraging this short report by allowing accessto this remarkable archive.____________References1. Dundee Courier, 3 July 2014, Dundee Posties’ time capsule from

WW1 set to be opened2. Dundee Courier, 15 April 2014, Opening of World War I treasure

chest to mark Dundee’s centenary commemoration.3. Matthew Jarron quoted in Dundee Courier, 11 August 2014, A glimpse

into the past, reported by Caroline Lindsay.4. Memorial Shrine Contents: Dundee Museum Services5. Transcribed letters: Dundee Museum Services6. Matthew Jarron quoted in Dundee Courier, 11 August 20147. Transcribed letter from Corporal R. Brown, 12 November 19188. Matthew Jarron quoted in Dundee Courier, 11 August 20149. Conversation with Rhona Rodger, Dundee Museum Services,

November 2014.

TTHHEE MMOOBBIILLIITTYY OOFF LLAATTEE 1199TTHH CCEENNTTUURRYY FFEEMMAALLEE SSCCHHOOOOLLTTEEAACCHHEERRSS:: AA CCAASSEE SSTTUUDDYY IINN WWIINNCCHHCCOOMMBBEE,, GGLLOOUUCCEESSTTEERRSSHHIIRREE

Robert W White

At the end of Jean Wright’s article in the October 2014FACHRS newsletter (‘Eva Worsley – a very mobileSchoolmistress’) she said that ‘Eva’s migration within Englandseems remarkable for a single young woman in the 19thcentury’. Whilst Eva’s two relocations from one side of thecountry to the other over a span of less than twenty years (i.e.between the 1871 and 1891 censuses) might seem surprisingfor a single woman in those days, nevertheless there is someevidence from another English region to support thecontention that it was not unusual for female teachers in thelate 19th century to seek employment many miles away fromtheir current situation.

In recent years, inspired by the FACHRS School LogBook project, I have been carrying out research into the livesof teachers working in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, in the19th century, initially by trawling through the school logbooks, which were first introduced nationally in 1863. Inaddition, the advent of Internet family history providers like

Ancestry and Find My Past means that it is possible to tracethe career paths of many teachers by carrying out onlinesearches, both in the census enumerators’ books plus aplethora of local and regional newspapers. My findings mayoffer an indication as to why the mobility of female teachersincreased in the late 19th century.

Between 1860 and 1910 the four national/boardschools in Winchcombe parish were under the jurisdiction ofa succession of head teachers, and from 1875 all four schoolscame under the management of the Winchcombe UnitedSchool Board. Leaving aside the Boys’ School, the Infants’and Girls’ Schools were each led by a schoolmistress, whilstthe mixed school in the hamlet of Gretton was sometimesunder the control of a mistress and at other times a master.

For twenty-five years most of the head teachersappointed at these three schools were either fromGloucestershire or the neighbouring counties of Oxfordshire,Worcestershire, and Monmouthshire, but when the mistress


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When is a Bank Manager not a Bank Manager? – fromBristol to London

Christine Jones

In my previous article, published in October 2014, I tracedthe early lives of Louis, Phineas and Joseph Freedman. All ofthem, together with other kin, were involved in pawnbrokingbusinesses across Glamorgan and Monmouthshire from 1851to the late 1870s. While undoubtedly working in the financialservices sector, there is no evidence that any of them werebank clerks or bank managers. This article continues theirstory from the time when they moved to Bristol.

Phineas appears in the Bristol trade directory for1877 at 27 Ratcliff Street as a picture frame dealer.1 In 1879there is also an F Freeman, which could be a misprint for JFreedman at 41 High Street as a money lender. There was aSampson Freedman born in the neighbouring district ofBedminster in 1879.2 He was the son of Joseph and Rose.However, Louis and Elizabeth were still in Monmouthshire, astheir son Abraham was born in Newport in 1879.3

In 1880 Joseph andRose were living at DevonHouse, Stackpole Road,Southville.4 This is a semi-detached, two storey houseon the south side ofStackpole Road, near itsjunction with Dean Lane.The name can still be seenin the glass above the frontdoor.

Joseph wasdescribed as manager for theWestern Provincial Land andDiscount Office, who werebased at 41 High Street, Bristol [destroyed in the blitz]. By thetime of the 1881 census Joseph and Rose had moved to 2Hamilton Terrace, Great George Street.5 This is an eleganttown house almost opposite St George’s Church, BrandonHill. In addition to their young son the household includedJoseph’s parents, Solomon and Sarah. Joseph describedhimself as a bank manager and Solomon was described as aretired pawnbroker.

At the time of the 1881census Phineas and Augustawere living in Stackpole Roadwith their four children.6

Phineas described himself as abank manager. In 1880 theiraddress at Stackpole Road wasgiven as Ethelbert House.7 Thisis now number 19 and is atwo storey semi-detachedhouse similar to the one inwhich Joseph and Rose lived.

His business addresses were 41 High Street and 27 RedcliffStreet, where he was an auctioneer, importer of glass

mouldings, glass merchant, looking glass maker, print sellerand picture moulding importer. In another directory PFreedman and Co are listed as auctioneers and valuers at 4Victoria Street.8

Louis and Elizabeth, recently moved from Newport,Monmouthshire, were also living in Stackpole Road in 1881with their five children.9 Louis also described himself as abank manager.

There are two entries in the 1881 census for theirelder brother, Barnett Freedman, and his household. The firstis at 7 Clarence Place, Bedminster and consists of Barnett,aged 33, a picture frame maker employing 6 men and 1 boy,born Merthyr Tydfil; his wife, Anne, aged 31, born, Warsaw;their children, Rachel, aged 13, born Cardiff, Sampson, aged11, born Newport, Phineas, aged 9, born Llanelly, and Dora,aged 1, born Newport; plus an errand boy and a domesticservant. The second entry is at 27 Redcliff Road, Bristol. Thisappears to have been the family business address. RedcliffRoad runs from St Mary Redcliff Church to Bristol Bridge.Number 27 would have been at the northern end on theeastern side but has been totally obliterated. The householdenumerated there consisted of Barnett, aged 33, described asa carver and gilder, born at Merthyr; his wife, Annie, aged 32,born at Linchetz; their children, Rachel, aged 13, bornNewport, and Sampson, aged 11, born Newport; plus aservant, Phoebe Wilson, aged 20, and a labourer, Fred Potter,aged 16. Despite the discrepancies in ages, occupations andbirthplaces, in the spellings of the employees’ names and,more seriously, the omission of the two younger children fromthe second schedule, these would appear to have been thesame household, residing at Clarence Place with RedcliffRoad as their business address. Clarence Road, andpresumably the site of Clarence Place, has been totally re-developed.10 Barnett appears in the Bristol trade directories in1883 to 1885, but not from 1886.

The remaining son of Solomon and Sarah, Morris[Maurice], married Jane Freedman in Swansea in 1879. By thetime of the 1881 census they were living at 12 Vernon Road,Leeds. Maurice, aged 29 and born in Cardiff describedhimself as a financier. Jane, aged 24, was born in Swansea. Asyet they had no children.11 Maurice appears in a Bristoldirectory only in 1883 as living at 3 Roydon Villas, AlmaRoad, Clifton.

The families in Bristol continued to produce childrenfrequently. Joseph and Rose continued to live at 2 HamiltonTerrace, Great George Street, until about 1885. They thenmoved to 2 Lower Park Row, where they remained until about1889. This house is almost opposite the synagogue. From thestreet it has three floors plus a basement, but being built on asteep slope, from the back it has four floors. It would appearfrom an item in the Jewish Chronicle of 22 Dec 1882 thatSolomon and Sarah continued living in Bristol, though it is notknown whether they continued living with Joseph and Rose.

The front door of Devon House,number 3 Stackpole Road, Bristol

Hamilton Terrace, GreatGeorge Street, Bristol

27. The York Herald, May 29, 1886 York Bankruptcy Court. Wednesday. ReEdwin William Beetham, of Leyburn, Bankrupt

28. British Banking History website Banking in the Northern Yorkshire Daleshttp://www.banking-history.co.uk/yorkshire.html

29. Northern Echo, May 27, 1886 Important Bankruptcy Case at York. ReEdwin Wm. Beetham, of Leyburn

30. Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer, Dec 1, 1886 The High Court ofJustice. Queen's Bench Division – Tuesday. The Failure of W. (sic)Beetham, Late a Bank Manager, of Leyburn

31. Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer, July 27, 1887 Yorkshire SummerAssizes. York Castle - - Tuesday. (From Our Own Reporter). Crown Court.York City and Count Banking Company v. Hall – Promissory Note

32. 1881 Census RG11 pc.4802 f.192 p.113 Scarborough, Knaresborough,Yorks.

33. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills andAdministrations) accessed via http://home.ancestry.co.uk

34. 1891 Census RG12 pc.4044 f.92 p.6 Darlington, Holy Trinity, Durham 35. 1901 Census RG13 pc.4615 f.25 p.41 Darlington, Holy Trinity, Durham36. 1911 Census RG14 pc.29801 Teesdale, Barnard Castle, Durham37. The Bentley Beetham Collection website

http://www.bentleybeetham.org/38. Bentley Beetham – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentley_Beetham39. England & Wales Select Marriages 1538-1940 accessed via

http://home.ancestry.co.uk40. 1891 Census RG12 pc.42 f.88 p.47 Hammersmith, St. Stephens,

Fulham, London41. 1911 Census RG14 pc.2184 Battersea, London

42. 1901 Census RG13 pc.1251 f.189 p.38 Tottenham, Christchurch,Edmonton, London

43. 1911 Census RG14 pc.1558 Limehouse, Stepney, London44. 1901 Census RG13 pc.180 f.109 p.34 Islington, St. Clement, Barnsbury,

London45. 1911 Census RG14 pc.3351 sch.178 Croydon, West Croydon, Surrey46. London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1925

accessed via http://home.ancestry.co.uk47. 1901 Census RG13 pc.588 f.99 p.10 Weybridge, St. James, Chertsey,

Walton, Surrey48. 1911 Census RG14 pc.2993 sch.263 Weybridge, Chertsey, Walton,

Surrey49. 1901 Census Rg13 pc.588 f.100 p.11 Weybridge, St. James, Chertsey,

Walton, Surrey50. London, England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 accessed via

http://home.ancestry.co.uk51. 1891 Census RG12 pc.3873 f.32 p.26 Hook, Goole, Yorks.52. 1901 Census RG13 pc.4424 f.56 p.5 Goole, Yorks.

The majority of newspaper articles consulted were accessed via the BritishNewspapers online archive www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/. This is notan exhaustive list of articles available relating to this case, but was felt to besufficient for the purposes of this research. A few of the articles were notdecipherable in their entirety due to incomplete scanning of columns on theedge of newspaper pages. Several articles were accessed via microfiche atthe Darlington Crown Street Library Local History Room, where the staff wereextremely helpful.

Dundee’s First World War Time CapsuleElspeth Johnson

On 4 August 2014, the contents of a ‘Time Capsule’ sealed in1921, after the First World War, were revealed at a ceremonyat Dundee City Chambers. The contents of the capsule hadbeen put together by Dundee’s Postal Workers as part of theirmemorial or ‘shrine’ to the war, and sealed in a lead boxwithin an oak casket. Instructions, specified the date foropening the casket as 4 August 2014 - the 100th anniversaryof the start of the war.1

The casket came to light only last year when a localwoman, Janice Kennedy who was researching her familyhistory came across a diary. The writer mentioned the boxand reported that it was in the Post Office. With help from thePost Office, Royal Mail, Dundee High School (who now ownthe original Post Office premises), local museums andlibraries and a ‘chance encounter’ with a local postman,Janice eventually tracked the box to Dundee East sortingoffice.2

The oak casketmeasures 380 mm by 355mm and is 150 mm wide.On the outside is alacquered black plate thatreads ‘To be opened onthe 4 August 2014 by thePostmaster in the presenceof the Lord Provost’ andinside there is an airtightleaden box. When thecasket was opened, thosepresent, including MatthewJarron Curator of the University of Dundee MuseumCollections, could not believe the number of items contained

within it. A contents list of nearly 100 items has since beendrawn up.4

Because the casket was so well sealed all the itemsare in very good condition. Inside the leaded container thereis a ‘ticket’, issued to those who wished to view the PostalWar Memorial Shrine, when the contents were displayed tothe public before the casket was sealed in 1921. There aremany photographs-of notable citizens and visitors toDundee; of soldiers and postmen (with names attached); ofDundee scenes and of the War Memorial itself and itsunveiling, including a group photograph of the Post Officecommittee that put the ‘shrine’ together. There is a range ofdocuments, including those relating to the subscriptions forthe Memorial; newspapers and press cuttings of local andnational interest; poetry from Samuel Hunter Leslie, atelegraphist and George Wilkie Gahan, a local artist; manyletters from postmen who served in the war; and somespecific letters addressed to 2014 contemporaries. Theselatter letters were from the Postmaster, the Lord Provost, theyoungest member of the Education Department and a youngwoman telegraphist, and have been transcribed.5 DavidTurnbull, who was secretary of the Memorial Committee also wrote to the current Postmaster discussing the shrine and itscontents. Interestingly, there are no coins or stamps becauseaccording to David Turnbull, ‘times were hard’ in 1921. Heviewed his task as a labour of love. He wanted the contentsto reflect the lives of ordinary Dundee people as well aspoliticians and industrialists.6

The personal letters reflect on the post war situation,mainly in Dundee, although the writer of the letter to theEducation Department had visited and writes about thenewly established League of Nations in Geneva. The LordProvost writes that the aftermath of the war is still being

The Casket that contained the PostOffice Workers Memorial to WorldWar 1. Reproduced by courtesy of

Royal Mail


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In the late 1880ssome members of the familybegan to move to London. In1887 Adelaide was born inHackney to Phineas andAugusta; Barnett was born inHackney in 1888 to Louisand Elizabeth; but PhineasLouis was born in Bristol toJoseph and Rose in 1889. In1889 Augusta died in

Hackney aged only 32, leaving Phineas with seven childrenaged between 13 and 2 years.12 The last entry for Phineas andCo picture framemakers of 27Redcliff Street is inthe directory for1889.13 By the timeof the 1891 censusPhineas was livingwith Joseph andRose and their totalof 14 children atThe Laurels, CaeranCrescent, Newport,Monmouthshire.14 Both Joseph and Phineas describedthemselves as house furnishers. The children were allscholars.

In 1891 Louis and Elizabeth were living at 19 StMark Villas, Hackney with their nine children aged between18 and 3 years. Louis described himself as a furniture dealerand the eldest four boys were all engaged in the furnituretrade. The younger children were scholars. Morris and Janehad also moved to Hackney and were living at 25Sandringham Road with six children whose ages ranged from9 years to 8 months. Morris was a furniture dealer and also inthe household was a relative Sampson Goldberg aged 21 alsoa furniture dealer. Both Morris and Sampson merely gavetheir birthplaces as ‘British Subject’.15

In 1891 Solomon and Sarah were living on their ownmeans at 3 Mildmay Road, Islington, without family orservants.16 Sarah died in 1894.17 There is an item in the JewishChronicle for 6 July 1894 about the dedication of hertombstone, describing her as the beloved wife of Solomon.

In 1901 Joseph and Rose were living at 80Brondesbury Park, Willesden, Middlesex with five of theirchildren.18 Joseph described himself as a furniture dealer andso did their eldest son, Sampson. The family includedGertrude, who was born in Newport in 1892 and registeredas Augusta Gertrude in memory of her deceased aunt.19 Alsoin the household was Joseph Freedman, a nephew, aged 24,working as a manager to a furniture dealer and born inNewport, probably the son of Louis and Elizabeth. Louis andElizabeth were living at 216 Ashdown Road, Maida Vale withfour of their own children and two visitors, one of whom wasMyer, probably the son of Joseph and Rose. Louis was ahouse furnisher.20 Morris and Jane were living at 14 RandolfCrescent, Maida Vale with seven children. Morris was also ahouse furnisher.21 Although the exact location of Ashdown

Road is not known, from the piece number it must have beenclose to Randolf Crescent. Despite the large difference inpiece numbers, because of the way the registration districtswere arranged, Brondesbury Park and Randolf Crescent areless than two miles apart. Meanwhile Phineas appears tohave remained in Newport as a furniture dealer andremarried, as he was enumerated with Esther aged 42 born inLondon. They were both boarders at 5 Clarence Place in thehousehold of Walter Moon, who was also in the furnituretrade.22

In 1911 Louis and Elizbeth were living in thehousehold of Sydney and Annie Flatau at 209 Maida Vale.They had been married for 40 years and had had 9 childrenof whom 8 were still living. Louis is described as havingprivate means. Annie was aged 27 and born in Newport. Shewas probably their married daughter.23 Louis Freedman, age22, was a boarder at Montague House, Brondesbury. He wasprobably Phineas Louis, the son of Joseph and RoseFreedman born in 1889. There is a report in the JewishChronicle for 22 May 1931of Mr and Mrs Joseph Freedmanliving at Montague House, Shoot-up-Hill. However, this maynot be the same Joseph Freedman. In 1911 neither Joseph norRose could be found.

Rose Freedman died on 8 July 1933 at Great CentralHotel, Marylebone.24 Her husband, Joseph, described as adirector, was responsible for administering her estate worth£2,368. There is a report in the Jewish Chronicle for 24 Sep1937 of Joseph Freedman celebrating his 80th birthday. Itwould appear that he died at Caversham in June 1947 at theage of 89.25 His will has not so far been traced, but there is aJoseph Freedman Hall at Golders Green Synagogue, DunstanRoad. Phineas probably died in Hampstead in 1933 aged 81,and Louis probably died in 1935, aged 85.26

Apart from claiming to be bank managers in the1881 census and the entry for Joseph in the 1880 directory ofBristol there is no evidence that any of the brothers managedbanks in the usually accepted sense. They appear to havediversified into a variety of occupations once they moved toBristol, but they only remained in the city for about 10 years;Phineas and Joseph moving back to South Wales beforejoining Louis and their other brothers in north London, wherethey all became involved in house furnishing. _____________Footnotes: 1. Wright’s Directory of Bristol, 1877, page 200.2. Mar 1879, Bedminster, volume 5c, page 706. This and all subsequent General

Register Office references were obtained from www.freebmd.org.uk3. Jun 1879, Newport, volume 11a, page 181.4. Slater’s Directory of Bristol and Wales, 1880, page 52. Numbers were added about

1886 [Wright’s Directory] and Devon House became number 3.5. RG11/2478, folio 47, page 29, schedule95. The properties in Hamilton Terrace

have since been re-numbered. This and all subsequent census references wereobtained from www.ancestry.co.uk.

6. RG11/2452, page 2, schedule 5.7. Slater’s Directory of Bristol and Wales, 1880, page 53.8. Slater, 1880, pages 53, 153, 181, 192 and 200; Wright’s Directory of Bristol and

Clifton, 1880, page 126.9. RG11/2452, page 3, folio 5, schedule 11.10. RG11/2450, folio 108, page 31, schedule 14; RG11/2465, folio 21, page 11,

schedule 56.11. Mar 1879, volume 11a, page 665; RG11/4535, folio 57, page 15, schedule 76.12. Jun 1889, Hackney, volume 1b, page 250.13. Kelly’s Directory of Bristol, 1889, page 210.14. RG12/4376, page 26, folio 87.

2 Lower Park Row, Bristol

Interior of Bristol Synagogue

The Beetham family were still living at Stanhope Road in189134 and 190135 but, by the 1911 Census, Frances and hersons have moved to Barnard Castle.36

The elder son, John William Beetham, followed hisfather into banking. At the time of his mother's death in 1924as executor he appears in her Probate Record, described as abank manager.33

The younger son, Bentley Beetham, was, accordingto the Bentley Beetham Collection website, ‘more of a freespirit, and had wider ambitions which did not include acareer in the financial world’. The website also includes acollection of Bentley's photographs, now the property of theBentley Beetham Trust.37

As well as being a school teacher (and former pupil)at North Eastern County School (now Barnard Castle School),Bentley was a naturalist, a leading ornithologist, aphotographer and rock climber. He was a member of the1924 Mount Everest Expedition.38

When Edwin left prison he moved to London to starta new life. Having been widowed before his imprisonment,he married again on 27 January 1891 at St. Anne's, Soho.39

His second wife was Mary Ann Steele (born 1854, London).In the 1891 Census the couple are living at 308 UxbridgeRoad, Hammersmith. Edwin has not lost touch with his firstfamily. In the 1891 household are three of his sons by his firstmarriage: Frederick William Beetham, Thomas WeighellBeetham, Edwin Ernest Beetham, then aged 23, 17 and 16.40

All three are described as ‘assistants in wholesale drapery’.The eldest of these three was an executor for his uncle, JamesWeighell Beetham.

Edwin William Beetham had also begun a newcareer. In 1891 he is a ‘traveller and shopkeeper’, possibly ahaberdasher.40 Three children were born to Edwin and hissecond wife over the next few years, although one of thesedied in infancy (see 1911 Census).41

In 1901 the family (Edwin, his wife Mary Ann, andtheir two surviving children) are living at 8 Vincent Road,Tottenham. Edwin has changed occupations again. He is nowa ‘canned goods broker’.42 By 1911, still a ‘canned goodsbroker’, he has separated from his wife and is lodging in oneroom at 277 Burdett Road, Limehouse, London.43 His wife‘married, mutually separated’ and their two children areliving in a three-roomed flat at 106 Grayshott Road, LavenderHill, Battersea.41 Edwin William Beetham died in Poplar,London in 1914, aged 71.16

Of a total of ten children born to Edwin's twomarriages, three died before reaching adulthood: JamesHerbert Beetham (1870-1878) and Adeline Sarah Beetham(1872-1887), both children of his first marriage, and also anunidentified infant of his second marriage. I cannot traceEleanor Mary Beetham, born 1869 (daughter of the firstmarriage) beyond 1881, aged 12. For Winifred OliveBeetham (1896-1955), daughter of his second marriage, I canonly establish that she died a spinster.33

Information about the sons is more readily found.Three of Edwin's sons from his first marriage, have beenalready mentioned as ‘assistants in wholesale drapery’ in1891 Census records.40 Thomas Weighell Beetham (born1875) continues in this line.44 In 1901, living in Islington, heis a warehouseman, and in 1911, resident in Croydon he is a

‘commercial traveller in wholesale drapery’.45 In 1917,resident in Norbury, Surrey, still a commercial traveller, hewas awarded the Freedom of the City of London.46

Frederick William Beetham (1867-1946) was a‘tailor's outfitter’ in 1901,47 and a ‘tailor and completeoutfitter’ in 1911. He lived in Weybridge, Surrey. In 1911 hewas an ‘employer’.48

Edwin Ernest Beetham (1876-1904) was also a‘tailor's outfitter’ in Weybridge in 1901.49 It is likely that heworked with or for his brother Frederick. Edwin Ernest died in1904, predeceasing his father by ten years.16

The youngest of Edwin William's sons (by his secondmarriage), Reginald Percy Beetham (1891-1969) was a‘shorthand typist clerk’ in the 1911 Census.41 His nameappears in the ‘Absent Voters’ list in 1919, when he is servingin the RAF.50

One son, the eldest, John Allen Beetham (1866-1907), took up a career in banking. He also pre-deceased hisfather. In 1891 he was a ‘bank clerk’ at Goole, Yorkshire,51

and 1901 he was a ‘bank cashier’.52 John's employer was theYork City & County Bank, the very bank that had taken overthe Darlington & District Joint Stock Bank in 1883, after hisfather's fraudulent actions had caused the demise of thelatter. With John Allen Beetham, banking in the Beethamfamily had really come full circle. ____________Notes1. 1841 Census HO107 pc.1234 f.2 Northallerton, Appleton-upon-Wiske,

East Harsley,Yorks.2. 1851 Census HO107 pc.2377 f.124 p.2 Northallerton, Appleton-upon-

Wiske,East Harsley.3. 1871 Census RG10 pc.4862 f.95 p.2 Northallerton, Appleton-upon-

Wiske, West Harsley4. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. A History of County

Durham Vol. IV pub. By the Institute of Historical Research by Boydell& Brewer pp. 141-142

5. Northern Echo Weds, June 27, 1883, Issue 4171 Money and Trade6. 1861 Census RG9 pc.3680 f.38 p.4 Darlington, St. Cuthbert, Durham7. 1871 Census RG10 pc.4884 f.10 p.9 Darlington, St. Cuthbert, Durham8. 1881 Census RG11 pc.4888 f.143 p.58 Darlington, St. Cuthbert,

Durham9. Memories of Darlington 3 Chris Lloyd pub. by the Northern Echo 2001

p.6310. Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer May 28, 1886 Important

Bankruptcy Proceedings at York re E.W. Beetham of Leyburn11. Leyburn Baptisms http://dalesgenealogy.com/leyburnch.html12. 1861 Census RG9 pc.3691 f.67 p.60 Stockton- on- Tees, St. Thomas,

Durham13. West Yorkshire, England & Marriage Banns 1831-1935, accessed via

http://home.ancestry.co.uk14. 1851 Census HO107 pc.2352 f.371 p.7 Tadcaster, Appleton, Yorks.15. 1871 Census pc.4869 f.51 p.3 Leyburn, Wensley., Yorks.16. Birth, Marriage & Death Records http://www.freebmd.org.uk17. 1881 Census RG11 pc.4874 f.53 p.9 Leyburn, Wensly. Yorks.18. The York Herald, Tues, Tues, July 24, 1883 Yorkshire Assizes, Crown

Court, Embezzlement by a Banker's Clerk at Leyburn19. The York Herald, Weds, July 25, 1883 Yorkshire Assizes, Crown Court,

Embezzlement by a Banker's Clerk at Leyburn20. Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, July 26, 1883 The Frauds by a Bank

Manager21. Northern Echo July 26, 1883 The Bank Manager's Case. Sentence of

Penal Servitude22. Newcastle Courant, July 27, 1883 Leyburn. The Bank Manager's Case23. Western Daily Press, August 15, 1883 Last Night's Gazette. (By

Telegraph.) Bankrupts24. Northern Echo, August 15, 1883 Bankrupts25. Leeds Mercury, May 27, 1886, Important Bankruptcy case at York. Re

mr. Edwin Wm. Beetham of Leyburn26. The York Herald, May 27, 1886 York Bankruptcy Court. Wednesday. Re

Edwin William Beetham, of Leyburn, Bankrupt


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15. RG12/187, page 26, schedule 106; RG12/187, page 41, folio 30, schedule 299.16. RG12/174, page 18, schedule 114.17. Mar 1894, Islington, volume 1b, page 284.18. RG13/1222, page 39, folio 116, schedule 198.19. Sep 1892, Newport, volume 11a, page 183.20. RG13/8, folio 28, page 9, schedule 303.21. RG13/8, folio112, page 6, schedule 236.

22. RG13/4961, folio 196, page 3, schedule 12.23. RG14/27.24. Sep 1933, Marylebone, volume 1a, page 513.25. Jun 1947, Reading, volume 6a, page 90.26. Mar 1933, Hampstead, volume 1a, page 916; Sep 1935, Hampstead, volume 1a,

page 551.

ROBERT PARKER - BANKER, EDUCATIONALIST AND PROPERTY DEVELOPERClive Leivers

When Robert Parker died in Buxton, Derbyshire in January1901 he was a wealthy man. His estate was valued at almosta million pounds in today’s money. He had shares worthalmost £14,000 in the Buxton Palace hotel and Buxton limefirms and owned five houses in Buxton and a farm and quarryin Matlock. The houses were designed by his son RichardBarry and son-in-law Raymond Unwin, who, within a fewyears, were to become two of the leading architects in thecountry, responsible for the design of Letchworth garden cityand Hampstead garden suburb.

Robert and family had moved to Buxton towards theend of 1885, when he was appointed as manager ofCrompton & Evans bank, a position he was to retain until hisdeath at the age of 74. His final salary was £250 per annum,which was a good deal lower than that received some timeearlier by his brother Frederick, and brother-in-law IsaacWalton, who both managed branches of the Sheffield &Rotherham bank in Bakewell and Buxton, respectively -Frederick’s final salary was £500 and Isaac’s £440.

R o b e r twas born in1826 in OldBrampton, avillage a fewmiles fromChesterfield, theyoungest son ofRichard andFrances Parker.Richard rented asuccession offarms from theDukes ofD e v o n s h i r e ;

when he died in 1855, his estate was valued at less than£1,000. Half of his estate was bequeathed to his wife, andthen to his daughters, with the other half going to the eldestson Richard.

By this time, Robert had left home. In 1851 he isrecorded as lodging with a chemist and druggist in Malton,North Yorkshire, employed as a draper. By 1857 at the latesthe had returned to Derbyshire and was running a draper’sbusiness in Chesterfield in partnership with William Dutton,who was an alderman of the borough. In August 1861 Robertmarried Fanny Booth, daughter of a prosperous currier inRotherham and they established a home on the draperypremises. Two years later Dutton died and Robert continuedto run the drapery business until he sold it March 1865.

A year later he made his first move into banking,becoming manager of the Chesterfield branch of the SheffieldBanking Company, a position he was to occupy until 1881.This career move was probably suggested and supported byhis elder brother, Frederick, and his brother-in-law, IsaacWalton.

At this time Frederick had been the manager of theSheffield & Rotherham bank at Bakewell for some eighteenyears, having joined the bank around 1841 when he wasaged 28. Isaac Walton had married Mary Ann Parker in 1857,when he was a clerk in Samuel Smith’s bank in Nottingham.A year later Robert signed a staff fidelity bond for Isaac( d e s c r i b i n ghimself as adraper andg i n g h a mmanufacturer).In 1864 Isaacand familymoved toBuxton whenhe becamemanager of theSheffield &Rotherham there, a position from which he retired in October1887; it seems likely that Isaac was also instrumental inRobert’s later move to Buxton.

By 1868 the bank had bought and adapted themanor house in New Square, Chesterfield and this becamethe home of Robert and his family until he resigned in 1881.

During his years in Chesterfield, Robert played anactive part in the affairs of the town, particularly in the sphereof education. In 1884 he (unsuccessfully) stood for electionto the borough council and declared that “for the last 20years I have been intimately connected with all theeducational movements which have taken place inChesterfield” and listed his involvement with the Chesterfield& Brampton Mechanics institute; the Science & Art school (ofwhich he was joint secretary); the Cambridge Universityextension classes; the Gilchrist lecture; and the Subscriptionlibrary. He was also a member of the town school board forfifteen years from 1871 until his move to Buxton.

He had been elected to the committee of theMechanics Institute in 1868 and became a leading proponentof the plan to erect a hall - later to be named the StephensonMemorial Hall after the railway pioneer who ended his daysin Chesterfield - which would house the public library andprovide a meeting place for lectures, etc. This was brought to

Robert Parker and family ca 1890Reproduced by kind permission of

The Garden City collection –www.gardencitycollection.com

Sheffield banking Company premises ca 1900;© the collection of Chesterfield Local Studies

library

before reaching adulthood: James Herbert (1870-1878) andAdeline Sarah (1872-1887).16

In 1881 Edwin and his family (at this time his wifeand six surviving children) were living at the Darlington &District Joint Stock Bank premises at High Street, Leyburn.The household included a governess, a general domesticservant and an indoor farm servant. Edwin is described as‘Bank manager and occupier of 13 acres of grassland’.17

In 1883 tragedy and disaster struck Edwin and hisfamily. Eleanor Jane Beetham died in the second quarter ofthe year at the age of forty seven,16 leaving six survivingchildren aged between seven and sixteen years. In the sameyear her husband, Edwin, was charged, convicted andimprisoned for fraud.

On 27 June 1883 the Northern Echo newspaperincludes a short business report on the names of thedirectors, amount of capital and branches of the Darlington& District Joint Stock Bank. The paragraph ends cryptically, ‘Itis important to observe that the rumours now current, andexplanations offered, are not associated with the name of Mr.James W. Beetham, the company's general manager’.5

However, the rumours were very much associated with hisyounger brother Edwin William Beetham, who was tried forfraud the following month. Edwin was found guilty andsentenced to five years penal servitude for embezzling thefunds of the bank and falsification of his accounts.18,19,20 Thetrial was reported in several local and regional newspapers.(See the end of this article.)

The prisoner's (Edwin Beetham's) counsel, Mr.Smith, appealed to the judge at the York Assizes for ‘a lenientsentence to be passed. upon the prisoner who had been inthe bank's service for eighteen years’.21 The judge, however,felt the need to ‘pass such a sentence as would operate as awarning to those placed in a similar position of trust’.21,22

Edwin served his five years prison term firstly atNorthallerton, and then at York Castle Prison (now amuseum). Shortly after the beginning of his imprisonment,Edwin was declared bankrupt.23,24

The circumstances and transactions leading toEdwin's conviction are complex. From 1868 onwards Edwinhad been buying stock through London stockbrokers, somein the name of his brother James, to whom he referred thebrokers for testimonials as to his position. Edwin also mademany speculative transactions in the name of ‘White’ and‘White and Company’. Edwin was able to embezzle andborrow funds undetected for many years. Every time the bankinspector was due he would borrow money from his personalfriends, including his brother James, to make up thedeficiencies, and all appeared correct for the inspection.Eventually the clerks at the Leyburn branch becamesuspicious and alerted the inspector, who immediatelydiscovered what had been happening. Edwin Beetham oweda considerable sum to the bank, variously reported as£17,500 and £22,000, to the bank (as well as amounts tovarious individuals, including his brother James).25,26,27

When news of Edwin Beetham's financial misdeedsbecame known it caused a run on the Darlington & DistrictJoint Stock Bank. The York City & County Bank made an offerfor the business, which was accepted.28 The whole business

caused the end of careers in banking for both brothers. Edwinwas bankrupt and serving a prison sentence for fraud andembezzlement. The position of his brother James must havebeen untenable. From this time, all references to Jamesdescribe him as ‘former’ bank manager/general manager.

Whilst Edwin was serving his prison sentence andJames was starting his, no doubt enforced, early retirement,the backwash of Edwin's actions, whose creditors includedthe bank, his brother and others, continued to causeproblems for several years.

In May 1886 the trustee of the estate of theimprisoned and bankrupt Edwin applied for a Court Order toobtain Edwin's one-fifth share of the rents of the Beethamfarm property, left in trust for his family by the grandfather ofthe banking brothers. It would seem that at this time thedeeds to the property were held by James Beetham, as theeldest son of the family. Edwin's estate trustee was alsodemanding the handover of various bonds, also now in thecare of James, after a complicated series of transactionsbetween the brothers prior to the conviction of Edwin. Thejudge found in James's favour and refused to grant theapplication.25,26,27,29 He also directed the trustee to payJames's costs. Nevertheless, the trustee appealed against thedecision, and the matter again came to court in December1886.30

The following July (1887) the York City & CountyBank (which had taken over the Darlington & District JointStock Bank) made a claim of £1,000 from a Mr. Henry Hall,a race-horse trainer from Middleham, Yorkshire. The claimwas centred around a promissory note, originally given to Mr.Hall by Edwin Beetham.31

Despite the problems caused to the Beetham familyby Edwin Beetham, all was not doom and gloom for James.After fifty-one years as a bachelor, James married inScarborough in the summer of 1882.16 His bride was FrancesElizabeth Bentley (1848-1924), the daughter of an InlandRevenue Excise Officer.32

Following their marriage the couple lived at 95Stanhope Road, Darlington, a handsome, bay-windowedterraced house, with a good-sized front garden, convenientlyclose to the town centre, and to James's bank in ProspectPlace. Today the houses in Stanhope Road are still attractive,but the road is busy with traffic and constantly lined on bothsides by parked cars – doubtless a pleasanter location inJames's day.

Two sons were born to the couple - John WilliamBeetham (1883-1974) and Bentley Beetham (1886-1963).16

Sadly their father did not live to see them grow up. JamesWeighell Beetham died on 7 July 1890, aged 59.33

In the England & Wales National Probate Calendarhis entry lists him simply as ‘gentleman’. His estate wasvalued at £10,210-18s-7d. Probate was granted to hisexecutors: John Bowman of Polam Grange, gentleman;Frances Elizabeth Beetham of 95 Stanhope Road, Darlington,his widow; Frederick William Beetham of 47 Wood Street,London, draper's assistant. The latter was the nephew ofJames, and son of his errant brother Edwin WilliamBeetham.11


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fruition in 1879 and Robert was appointed treasurer and amember of the governing body. His removal to Buxton in1886 was noted in the local newspaper, which declared thatthis meant that the free library had “sustained a loss [of its],hon sec & originator …, to whose unwearied exertions issolely due its present successful position”.

For a few yearsafter his retirementfrom theChesterfield bank,Robert made a briefforay into farming,taking over thetenancy of thefamily farm whichhad earlier been runby his brotherRichard, who haddied in 1879, andthen by hiswidowed sister-in-

law, Elizabeth, who was running the farm, now of 152 acres,in 1881. However, it was Robert, who, in 1885, was to sellthe livestock, farming implements and household furniture.

Robert’s interest in education was reflected in thearrangements he made for his children - or rather his sons, forlittle is known about the education of his two daughters.Barry was educated at Wesley college in Sheffield prior toattending an art school in Derby, taking externalexaminations at the South Kensington School of Art. He thenbecame articled to an architect in Altrincham, Cheshire,before returning to Buxton to establish his own practice in1894.

Robert Derwent had his secondary education atSandbach Grammar school in Cheshire and then attendedCaius College, Cambridge, where he was awarded hisbachelor’s degree in 1893 and his masters in 1901. After aspell at St Bartholomew’s Hospital he emigrated to SouthAfrica, served in the South African medical corps in the GreatWar and was later honoured with an OBE for his services tomedicine. The youngest son, Roger, also became aCambridge graduate, obtaining a BA in 1904; he, like hiselder brother, Stanley, had attended Bedales School, whereStanley also taught for a couple of years as an instructor incabinet making.

The costs of this private education and attendance atuniversity was helped by legacies from Uncle John, a currierin Mansfield, Notts., who left over £9,000 on his death in1889, which was divided between his various nephews andnieces.

Robert himself had benefited under the will of hisbrother Frederick, who had died in 1883. The property heowned in Matlock - Megdale Farm and the limestone quarry- were left to Robert, the rental income from these amountingto at least £450 a year.

Little is known of Robert’s life in Buxton outside hisbanking responsibilities, other that his property development.In 1891 he bought a plot of land in Buxton park (the town’sfashionable suburb originally laid out by Joseph Paxton) from

the Devonshire estate, agreeing to build three properties of atleast £1,500 in value. These were designed by Barry andincluded the family home, Moorlands, which was completedin 1894, but has now sadly been demolished. Robert thenbought further land nearby on which two more houses,designed by Barry and Raymond Unwin, were built in1895/6.

T h ecosts of thesedevelopmentswere probably,in part, financedby loans fromfamily membersand hisemployer. WhenRobert’s estatewas proved in1901, includedamong his debtswere £4,800 owing to his sister-in-law, Elizabeth, and herunmarried daughter, Fanny, and a loan from Crompton &Evans bank, of which £3,100 was outstanding.

By 1911 none of the Parker family remained inBuxton. Barry and the Unwins had moved to Letchworth by1904, which was to be Barry’s home for the rest of his life. By1911 Raymond and Ethel Unwin had settled into their long-term home at Wyldes farm in Hampstead.

Barry’s brothers, Stanley and Roger, were also livingin Letchworth, together with their families, by the time of the1911 census and their mother, Fanny, was living close by inBaldock with two servants, dying in 1916 at the age of 82.

Son Bernard was in Shropshire, where his father hadhelped him to establish a book-sellers’ business. The otherthree children had moved abroad; as mentioned earlierDerwent was a doctor in South Africa and had been joined inthat part of the world by his sister, Kathleen. In 1907 shemarried Allan Marwick in Natal, her husband becomingresident commissioner in Swaziland, for which service hereceived the OBE. Howard, who had trained as a land agent,had emigrated to Canada, where his first child, John, wasborn in 1910.

Tracing my bank manager has been a fascinatingexercise, discovering, amongst several other features, two ofthe foremost architects of the twentieth century and theirinvolvement with the Arts and Crafts movement; thedevelopment of one of Buxton’s prime residential areas; theeducational movements in nineteenth century Chesterfield;and colonial administration in southern Africa._____________SourcesDerbyshire Records office D5562 Parker family papers; Old Brampton parishrecordsDerbyshire TimesOxford Dictionary of National BiographyInformation from RBS Group archivesNational Probate CalendarDerbyshire Trade Directories 1829-1900Census enumerators’ books 1841-1911Chesterfield Local Studies Library photographic collection

Stephenson memorial hall© the collection of Chesterfield Local

Studies library

Sketch of the hall at Moorlands by BarryParker – from The Art of Building a Home by

Parker & Unwin, Longman Green 1901

BROTHERS IN BANKINGJames Weighell Beetham (1831-1890) and Edwin William Beetham (1842-1914)

and the demise of the Darlington & District Joint Stock BankDaphne Jones

BACKGROUNDJames Weighell Beetham was born at West Harsley, nearOsmotherley, Yorkshire in 1831, the son of John Beetham(1811-1873) and his wife Mary Weighell (1803-1881)1 JohnBeetham was a farmer at East Harsley in 1851, farming 271acres, employing seven labourers and three women.2 The1851 Census also shows James to be the second child of thefamily, which included one older sister, one younger sisterand two younger brothers. Of the three brothers, only one,John Abraham Beetham (1839-1885), followed his father intofarming. In the 1871 Census we find John (the son) listed ashead of household, (despite the inclusion in the household ofhis father a ‘landowner’ and his mother), at ‘No 4farmhouse’, West Harsley. This farm comprised 211 acres,and employed two men and two boys.3

James Weighell Beetham and his youngest brotherEdwin William Beetham were both employed by theDarlington & District Joint Stock Bank. This bank wasfounded in 1831 with a capital of £400,000.4 At its zenith thebank had eight branches: Darlington, Barnard Castle,Guisborough, Leyburn, Hawes, Northallerton, Stockton andStokesley.5

THE BROTHERS, JAMES WEIGHELL BEETHAM ANDEDWIN WILLIAM BEETHAMThe 1851 Census finds James, aged 20, employed as a‘banker's clerk’, still living at his father's farm in EastHarsley.2 By the 1861 Census he is a lodger at the home (andprobably business premises) of Joseph Tate, a grocer, at 14Blackwellgate, Darlington. James has been promoted to‘Bank Inspector’.6

In 1871 he is a ‘Bank Manager’, living at the bankmanager's house, linked to the Darlington & District JointStock Bank at 1,2 & 3 Prospect Place, Darlington. James,aged 40, is still a bachelor. His unmarried sister, Ann, is alsoin the household, plus a cook, a maid and a night watchman.Charles H. Bishop, aged 44, a Wesleyan Minister, is a visitoron the 1871 Census night.7

In 1881 James is still described in the Census as‘Bank Manager’, although he may by this time have been theGeneral Manager of the Darlington & District Joint StockBank. In 1881 his address is given as 12 Bondgate. Thiswould seem likely to have been bank premises, as a bankporter is also a member of the household, together withJames's elderly widowed mother, a housekeeper, a cook anda housemaid.8 There was some redevelopment of this area ofDarlington (Bondgate, Northgate and Prospect Place) in theearly twentieth century, so it is possible that some re-numbering of buildings has taken place since 1881.

Number 12 Bondgate is today ‘The Art Shop’, andlies almost opposite the bank premises (now HSBC) on thecorner of Prospect Place, once occupied by the Darlington &District Stock Bank. The latter had occupied the site since its

foundation, enlarged the premises in 1875, which suffered aserious fire in 1887, by which time it had been taken over bythe York City & County Bank. This in turn was taken over bythe London Joint Stock Bank, which amalgamated with theMidland Bank in 1918. The building once occupied by theDarlington & District Joint Stock Bank no longer exists. Thecurrent building on the same site (now HSBC) was completedin 1926.9

James is described in various newspaper reports(with reference to his brother's financial problems) as theGeneral Manager of Darlington & District Joint Stock Bank,and specifically, in a report in the Yorkshire Post & LeedsIntelligencer (28 May 1886), as holding the latter positionfrom 1863 until December 1883.10 It would appear thatJames's career ended when the bank was taken over by theYork City and County Bank, and that this takeover was thedirect result of the actions of his brother, Edwin WilliamBeetham.

Edwin, the youngest of the Beetham brothers, wasalso employed by the Darlington & District Joint Stock Bank.His early career follows a similar pattern to that of his elderbrother, James, and can be charted through census records.Edwin's banking career is also shown in the parish records ofthe baptisms of his children at St. Matthew's Church,Leyburn, which lists fathers' occupations.11 Unlike hisbrother, Edwin does not appear ever to have been a bankinspector, although he achieved the rank of bank manager atan earlier age than James.

At the age of eighteen Edwin has left home, and isemployed as a ‘banker's clerk’, at Stockton-on-Tees, almostcertainly at the Stockton branch of the Darlington & DistrictJoint Stock Bank. In the 1861 Census he is a boarder withMary A. Wilson and Harriet Wilson, greengrocers, at 8 HighStreet, Stockton-on-Tees.12

In 1865 Edwin married Eleanor Jane Allan (1836-1883) at St. Oswald's Church, Collingham, Yorkshire.13 Likethe father of the Beetham brothers, the bride's father was afarmer. In the 1851 Census he is a ‘Maltster & farmer of 300acres, employing six labourers’ at Collingham.14

In 1871 Edwin and Eleanor have two children intheir household at Railway Street, Leyburn, Yorkshire oncensus night.15 Parish baptism records, however, show that bythis time they are parents of four children.11 Two children areevidently away from home that night. By this time Edwin hasbeen promoted to ‘Bank Manager’. In the baptism records forthe first three of Edwin's children in September 1866, March1868 and November 1869, the father's occupation is listedas ‘Banker’ or ‘Banker's Clerk’, so it would appear thatEdwin's rise to bank manager occurred around 1870, whenhe was about twenty eight years of age.

Three more children were born to Edwin and Eleanorin 1872, 1875 and 1876.11 Two of their seven children died


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fruition in 1879 and Robert was appointed treasurer and amember of the governing body. His removal to Buxton in1886 was noted in the local newspaper, which declared thatthis meant that the free library had “sustained a loss [of its],hon sec & originator …, to whose unwearied exertions issolely due its present successful position”.

For a few yearsafter his retirementfrom theChesterfield bank,Robert made a briefforay into farming,taking over thetenancy of thefamily farm whichhad earlier been runby his brotherRichard, who haddied in 1879, andthen by hiswidowed sister-in-

law, Elizabeth, who was running the farm, now of 152 acres,in 1881. However, it was Robert, who, in 1885, was to sellthe livestock, farming implements and household furniture.

Robert’s interest in education was reflected in thearrangements he made for his children - or rather his sons, forlittle is known about the education of his two daughters.Barry was educated at Wesley college in Sheffield prior toattending an art school in Derby, taking externalexaminations at the South Kensington School of Art. He thenbecame articled to an architect in Altrincham, Cheshire,before returning to Buxton to establish his own practice in1894.

Robert Derwent had his secondary education atSandbach Grammar school in Cheshire and then attendedCaius College, Cambridge, where he was awarded hisbachelor’s degree in 1893 and his masters in 1901. After aspell at St Bartholomew’s Hospital he emigrated to SouthAfrica, served in the South African medical corps in the GreatWar and was later honoured with an OBE for his services tomedicine. The youngest son, Roger, also became aCambridge graduate, obtaining a BA in 1904; he, like hiselder brother, Stanley, had attended Bedales School, whereStanley also taught for a couple of years as an instructor incabinet making.

The costs of this private education and attendance atuniversity was helped by legacies from Uncle John, a currierin Mansfield, Notts., who left over £9,000 on his death in1889, which was divided between his various nephews andnieces.

Robert himself had benefited under the will of hisbrother Frederick, who had died in 1883. The property heowned in Matlock - Megdale Farm and the limestone quarry- were left to Robert, the rental income from these amountingto at least £450 a year.

Little is known of Robert’s life in Buxton outside hisbanking responsibilities, other that his property development.In 1891 he bought a plot of land in Buxton park (the town’sfashionable suburb originally laid out by Joseph Paxton) from

the Devonshire estate, agreeing to build three properties of atleast £1,500 in value. These were designed by Barry andincluded the family home, Moorlands, which was completedin 1894, but has now sadly been demolished. Robert thenbought further land nearby on which two more houses,designed by Barry and Raymond Unwin, were built in1895/6.

T h ecosts of thesedevelopmentswere probably,in part, financedby loans fromfamily membersand hisemployer. WhenRobert’s estatewas proved in1901, includedamong his debtswere £4,800 owing to his sister-in-law, Elizabeth, and herunmarried daughter, Fanny, and a loan from Crompton &Evans bank, of which £3,100 was outstanding.

By 1911 none of the Parker family remained inBuxton. Barry and the Unwins had moved to Letchworth by1904, which was to be Barry’s home for the rest of his life. By1911 Raymond and Ethel Unwin had settled into their long-term home at Wyldes farm in Hampstead.

Barry’s brothers, Stanley and Roger, were also livingin Letchworth, together with their families, by the time of the1911 census and their mother, Fanny, was living close by inBaldock with two servants, dying in 1916 at the age of 82.

Son Bernard was in Shropshire, where his father hadhelped him to establish a book-sellers’ business. The otherthree children had moved abroad; as mentioned earlierDerwent was a doctor in South Africa and had been joined inthat part of the world by his sister, Kathleen. In 1907 shemarried Allan Marwick in Natal, her husband becomingresident commissioner in Swaziland, for which service hereceived the OBE. Howard, who had trained as a land agent,had emigrated to Canada, where his first child, John, wasborn in 1910.

Tracing my bank manager has been a fascinatingexercise, discovering, amongst several other features, two ofthe foremost architects of the twentieth century and theirinvolvement with the Arts and Crafts movement; thedevelopment of one of Buxton’s prime residential areas; theeducational movements in nineteenth century Chesterfield;and colonial administration in southern Africa._____________SourcesDerbyshire Records office D5562 Parker family papers; Old Brampton parishrecordsDerbyshire TimesOxford Dictionary of National BiographyInformation from RBS Group archivesNational Probate CalendarDerbyshire Trade Directories 1829-1900Census enumerators’ books 1841-1911Chesterfield Local Studies Library photographic collection

Stephenson memorial hall© the collection of Chesterfield Local

Studies library

Sketch of the hall at Moorlands by BarryParker – from The Art of Building a Home by

Parker & Unwin, Longman Green 1901

BROTHERS IN BANKINGJames Weighell Beetham (1831-1890) and Edwin William Beetham (1842-1914)

and the demise of the Darlington & District Joint Stock BankDaphne Jones

BACKGROUNDJames Weighell Beetham was born at West Harsley, nearOsmotherley, Yorkshire in 1831, the son of John Beetham(1811-1873) and his wife Mary Weighell (1803-1881)1 JohnBeetham was a farmer at East Harsley in 1851, farming 271acres, employing seven labourers and three women.2 The1851 Census also shows James to be the second child of thefamily, which included one older sister, one younger sisterand two younger brothers. Of the three brothers, only one,John Abraham Beetham (1839-1885), followed his father intofarming. In the 1871 Census we find John (the son) listed ashead of household, (despite the inclusion in the household ofhis father a ‘landowner’ and his mother), at ‘No 4farmhouse’, West Harsley. This farm comprised 211 acres,and employed two men and two boys.3

James Weighell Beetham and his youngest brotherEdwin William Beetham were both employed by theDarlington & District Joint Stock Bank. This bank wasfounded in 1831 with a capital of £400,000.4 At its zenith thebank had eight branches: Darlington, Barnard Castle,Guisborough, Leyburn, Hawes, Northallerton, Stockton andStokesley.5

THE BROTHERS, JAMES WEIGHELL BEETHAM ANDEDWIN WILLIAM BEETHAMThe 1851 Census finds James, aged 20, employed as a‘banker's clerk’, still living at his father's farm in EastHarsley.2 By the 1861 Census he is a lodger at the home (andprobably business premises) of Joseph Tate, a grocer, at 14Blackwellgate, Darlington. James has been promoted to‘Bank Inspector’.6

In 1871 he is a ‘Bank Manager’, living at the bankmanager's house, linked to the Darlington & District JointStock Bank at 1,2 & 3 Prospect Place, Darlington. James,aged 40, is still a bachelor. His unmarried sister, Ann, is alsoin the household, plus a cook, a maid and a night watchman.Charles H. Bishop, aged 44, a Wesleyan Minister, is a visitoron the 1871 Census night.7

In 1881 James is still described in the Census as‘Bank Manager’, although he may by this time have been theGeneral Manager of the Darlington & District Joint StockBank. In 1881 his address is given as 12 Bondgate. Thiswould seem likely to have been bank premises, as a bankporter is also a member of the household, together withJames's elderly widowed mother, a housekeeper, a cook anda housemaid.8 There was some redevelopment of this area ofDarlington (Bondgate, Northgate and Prospect Place) in theearly twentieth century, so it is possible that some re-numbering of buildings has taken place since 1881.

Number 12 Bondgate is today ‘The Art Shop’, andlies almost opposite the bank premises (now HSBC) on thecorner of Prospect Place, once occupied by the Darlington &District Stock Bank. The latter had occupied the site since its

foundation, enlarged the premises in 1875, which suffered aserious fire in 1887, by which time it had been taken over bythe York City & County Bank. This in turn was taken over bythe London Joint Stock Bank, which amalgamated with theMidland Bank in 1918. The building once occupied by theDarlington & District Joint Stock Bank no longer exists. Thecurrent building on the same site (now HSBC) was completedin 1926.9

James is described in various newspaper reports(with reference to his brother's financial problems) as theGeneral Manager of Darlington & District Joint Stock Bank,and specifically, in a report in the Yorkshire Post & LeedsIntelligencer (28 May 1886), as holding the latter positionfrom 1863 until December 1883.10 It would appear thatJames's career ended when the bank was taken over by theYork City and County Bank, and that this takeover was thedirect result of the actions of his brother, Edwin WilliamBeetham.

Edwin, the youngest of the Beetham brothers, wasalso employed by the Darlington & District Joint Stock Bank.His early career follows a similar pattern to that of his elderbrother, James, and can be charted through census records.Edwin's banking career is also shown in the parish records ofthe baptisms of his children at St. Matthew's Church,Leyburn, which lists fathers' occupations.11 Unlike hisbrother, Edwin does not appear ever to have been a bankinspector, although he achieved the rank of bank manager atan earlier age than James.

At the age of eighteen Edwin has left home, and isemployed as a ‘banker's clerk’, at Stockton-on-Tees, almostcertainly at the Stockton branch of the Darlington & DistrictJoint Stock Bank. In the 1861 Census he is a boarder withMary A. Wilson and Harriet Wilson, greengrocers, at 8 HighStreet, Stockton-on-Tees.12

In 1865 Edwin married Eleanor Jane Allan (1836-1883) at St. Oswald's Church, Collingham, Yorkshire.13 Likethe father of the Beetham brothers, the bride's father was afarmer. In the 1851 Census he is a ‘Maltster & farmer of 300acres, employing six labourers’ at Collingham.14

In 1871 Edwin and Eleanor have two children intheir household at Railway Street, Leyburn, Yorkshire oncensus night.15 Parish baptism records, however, show that bythis time they are parents of four children.11 Two children areevidently away from home that night. By this time Edwin hasbeen promoted to ‘Bank Manager’. In the baptism records forthe first three of Edwin's children in September 1866, March1868 and November 1869, the father's occupation is listedas ‘Banker’ or ‘Banker's Clerk’, so it would appear thatEdwin's rise to bank manager occurred around 1870, whenhe was about twenty eight years of age.

Three more children were born to Edwin and Eleanorin 1872, 1875 and 1876.11 Two of their seven children died


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15. RG12/187, page 26, schedule 106; RG12/187, page 41, folio 30, schedule 299.16. RG12/174, page 18, schedule 114.17. Mar 1894, Islington, volume 1b, page 284.18. RG13/1222, page 39, folio 116, schedule 198.19. Sep 1892, Newport, volume 11a, page 183.20. RG13/8, folio 28, page 9, schedule 303.21. RG13/8, folio112, page 6, schedule 236.

22. RG13/4961, folio 196, page 3, schedule 12.23. RG14/27.24. Sep 1933, Marylebone, volume 1a, page 513.25. Jun 1947, Reading, volume 6a, page 90.26. Mar 1933, Hampstead, volume 1a, page 916; Sep 1935, Hampstead, volume 1a,

page 551.

ROBERT PARKER - BANKER, EDUCATIONALIST AND PROPERTY DEVELOPERClive Leivers

When Robert Parker died in Buxton, Derbyshire in January1901 he was a wealthy man. His estate was valued at almosta million pounds in today’s money. He had shares worthalmost £14,000 in the Buxton Palace hotel and Buxton limefirms and owned five houses in Buxton and a farm and quarryin Matlock. The houses were designed by his son RichardBarry and son-in-law Raymond Unwin, who, within a fewyears, were to become two of the leading architects in thecountry, responsible for the design of Letchworth garden cityand Hampstead garden suburb.

Robert and family had moved to Buxton towards theend of 1885, when he was appointed as manager ofCrompton & Evans bank, a position he was to retain until hisdeath at the age of 74. His final salary was £250 per annum,which was a good deal lower than that received some timeearlier by his brother Frederick, and brother-in-law IsaacWalton, who both managed branches of the Sheffield &Rotherham bank in Bakewell and Buxton, respectively -Frederick’s final salary was £500 and Isaac’s £440.

R o b e r twas born in1826 in OldBrampton, avillage a fewmiles fromChesterfield, theyoungest son ofRichard andFrances Parker.Richard rented asuccession offarms from theDukes ofD e v o n s h i r e ;

when he died in 1855, his estate was valued at less than£1,000. Half of his estate was bequeathed to his wife, andthen to his daughters, with the other half going to the eldestson Richard.

By this time, Robert had left home. In 1851 he isrecorded as lodging with a chemist and druggist in Malton,North Yorkshire, employed as a draper. By 1857 at the latesthe had returned to Derbyshire and was running a draper’sbusiness in Chesterfield in partnership with William Dutton,who was an alderman of the borough. In August 1861 Robertmarried Fanny Booth, daughter of a prosperous currier inRotherham and they established a home on the draperypremises. Two years later Dutton died and Robert continuedto run the drapery business until he sold it March 1865.

A year later he made his first move into banking,becoming manager of the Chesterfield branch of the SheffieldBanking Company, a position he was to occupy until 1881.This career move was probably suggested and supported byhis elder brother, Frederick, and his brother-in-law, IsaacWalton.

At this time Frederick had been the manager of theSheffield & Rotherham bank at Bakewell for some eighteenyears, having joined the bank around 1841 when he wasaged 28. Isaac Walton had married Mary Ann Parker in 1857,when he was a clerk in Samuel Smith’s bank in Nottingham.A year later Robert signed a staff fidelity bond for Isaac( d e s c r i b i n ghimself as adraper andg i n g h a mmanufacturer).In 1864 Isaacand familymoved toBuxton whenhe becamemanager of theSheffield &Rotherham there, a position from which he retired in October1887; it seems likely that Isaac was also instrumental inRobert’s later move to Buxton.

By 1868 the bank had bought and adapted themanor house in New Square, Chesterfield and this becamethe home of Robert and his family until he resigned in 1881.

During his years in Chesterfield, Robert played anactive part in the affairs of the town, particularly in the sphereof education. In 1884 he (unsuccessfully) stood for electionto the borough council and declared that “for the last 20years I have been intimately connected with all theeducational movements which have taken place inChesterfield” and listed his involvement with the Chesterfield& Brampton Mechanics institute; the Science & Art school (ofwhich he was joint secretary); the Cambridge Universityextension classes; the Gilchrist lecture; and the Subscriptionlibrary. He was also a member of the town school board forfifteen years from 1871 until his move to Buxton.

He had been elected to the committee of theMechanics Institute in 1868 and became a leading proponentof the plan to erect a hall - later to be named the StephensonMemorial Hall after the railway pioneer who ended his daysin Chesterfield - which would house the public library andprovide a meeting place for lectures, etc. This was brought to

Robert Parker and family ca 1890Reproduced by kind permission of

The Garden City collection –www.gardencitycollection.com

Sheffield banking Company premises ca 1900;© the collection of Chesterfield Local Studies

library

before reaching adulthood: James Herbert (1870-1878) andAdeline Sarah (1872-1887).16

In 1881 Edwin and his family (at this time his wifeand six surviving children) were living at the Darlington &District Joint Stock Bank premises at High Street, Leyburn.The household included a governess, a general domesticservant and an indoor farm servant. Edwin is described as‘Bank manager and occupier of 13 acres of grassland’.17

In 1883 tragedy and disaster struck Edwin and hisfamily. Eleanor Jane Beetham died in the second quarter ofthe year at the age of forty seven,16 leaving six survivingchildren aged between seven and sixteen years. In the sameyear her husband, Edwin, was charged, convicted andimprisoned for fraud.

On 27 June 1883 the Northern Echo newspaperincludes a short business report on the names of thedirectors, amount of capital and branches of the Darlington& District Joint Stock Bank. The paragraph ends cryptically, ‘Itis important to observe that the rumours now current, andexplanations offered, are not associated with the name of Mr.James W. Beetham, the company's general manager’.5

However, the rumours were very much associated with hisyounger brother Edwin William Beetham, who was tried forfraud the following month. Edwin was found guilty andsentenced to five years penal servitude for embezzling thefunds of the bank and falsification of his accounts.18,19,20 Thetrial was reported in several local and regional newspapers.(See the end of this article.)

The prisoner's (Edwin Beetham's) counsel, Mr.Smith, appealed to the judge at the York Assizes for ‘a lenientsentence to be passed. upon the prisoner who had been inthe bank's service for eighteen years’.21 The judge, however,felt the need to ‘pass such a sentence as would operate as awarning to those placed in a similar position of trust’.21,22

Edwin served his five years prison term firstly atNorthallerton, and then at York Castle Prison (now amuseum). Shortly after the beginning of his imprisonment,Edwin was declared bankrupt.23,24

The circumstances and transactions leading toEdwin's conviction are complex. From 1868 onwards Edwinhad been buying stock through London stockbrokers, somein the name of his brother James, to whom he referred thebrokers for testimonials as to his position. Edwin also mademany speculative transactions in the name of ‘White’ and‘White and Company’. Edwin was able to embezzle andborrow funds undetected for many years. Every time the bankinspector was due he would borrow money from his personalfriends, including his brother James, to make up thedeficiencies, and all appeared correct for the inspection.Eventually the clerks at the Leyburn branch becamesuspicious and alerted the inspector, who immediatelydiscovered what had been happening. Edwin Beetham oweda considerable sum to the bank, variously reported as£17,500 and £22,000, to the bank (as well as amounts tovarious individuals, including his brother James).25,26,27

When news of Edwin Beetham's financial misdeedsbecame known it caused a run on the Darlington & DistrictJoint Stock Bank. The York City & County Bank made an offerfor the business, which was accepted.28 The whole business

caused the end of careers in banking for both brothers. Edwinwas bankrupt and serving a prison sentence for fraud andembezzlement. The position of his brother James must havebeen untenable. From this time, all references to Jamesdescribe him as ‘former’ bank manager/general manager.

Whilst Edwin was serving his prison sentence andJames was starting his, no doubt enforced, early retirement,the backwash of Edwin's actions, whose creditors includedthe bank, his brother and others, continued to causeproblems for several years.

In May 1886 the trustee of the estate of theimprisoned and bankrupt Edwin applied for a Court Order toobtain Edwin's one-fifth share of the rents of the Beethamfarm property, left in trust for his family by the grandfather ofthe banking brothers. It would seem that at this time thedeeds to the property were held by James Beetham, as theeldest son of the family. Edwin's estate trustee was alsodemanding the handover of various bonds, also now in thecare of James, after a complicated series of transactionsbetween the brothers prior to the conviction of Edwin. Thejudge found in James's favour and refused to grant theapplication.25,26,27,29 He also directed the trustee to payJames's costs. Nevertheless, the trustee appealed against thedecision, and the matter again came to court in December1886.30

The following July (1887) the York City & CountyBank (which had taken over the Darlington & District JointStock Bank) made a claim of £1,000 from a Mr. Henry Hall,a race-horse trainer from Middleham, Yorkshire. The claimwas centred around a promissory note, originally given to Mr.Hall by Edwin Beetham.31

Despite the problems caused to the Beetham familyby Edwin Beetham, all was not doom and gloom for James.After fifty-one years as a bachelor, James married inScarborough in the summer of 1882.16 His bride was FrancesElizabeth Bentley (1848-1924), the daughter of an InlandRevenue Excise Officer.32

Following their marriage the couple lived at 95Stanhope Road, Darlington, a handsome, bay-windowedterraced house, with a good-sized front garden, convenientlyclose to the town centre, and to James's bank in ProspectPlace. Today the houses in Stanhope Road are still attractive,but the road is busy with traffic and constantly lined on bothsides by parked cars – doubtless a pleasanter location inJames's day.

Two sons were born to the couple - John WilliamBeetham (1883-1974) and Bentley Beetham (1886-1963).16

Sadly their father did not live to see them grow up. JamesWeighell Beetham died on 7 July 1890, aged 59.33

In the England & Wales National Probate Calendarhis entry lists him simply as ‘gentleman’. His estate wasvalued at £10,210-18s-7d. Probate was granted to hisexecutors: John Bowman of Polam Grange, gentleman;Frances Elizabeth Beetham of 95 Stanhope Road, Darlington,his widow; Frederick William Beetham of 47 Wood Street,London, draper's assistant. The latter was the nephew ofJames, and son of his errant brother Edwin WilliamBeetham.11


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In the late 1880ssome members of the familybegan to move to London. In1887 Adelaide was born inHackney to Phineas andAugusta; Barnett was born inHackney in 1888 to Louisand Elizabeth; but PhineasLouis was born in Bristol toJoseph and Rose in 1889. In1889 Augusta died in

Hackney aged only 32, leaving Phineas with seven childrenaged between 13 and 2 years.12 The last entry for Phineas andCo picture framemakers of 27Redcliff Street is inthe directory for1889.13 By the timeof the 1891 censusPhineas was livingwith Joseph andRose and their totalof 14 children atThe Laurels, CaeranCrescent, Newport,Monmouthshire.14 Both Joseph and Phineas describedthemselves as house furnishers. The children were allscholars.

In 1891 Louis and Elizabeth were living at 19 StMark Villas, Hackney with their nine children aged between18 and 3 years. Louis described himself as a furniture dealerand the eldest four boys were all engaged in the furnituretrade. The younger children were scholars. Morris and Janehad also moved to Hackney and were living at 25Sandringham Road with six children whose ages ranged from9 years to 8 months. Morris was a furniture dealer and also inthe household was a relative Sampson Goldberg aged 21 alsoa furniture dealer. Both Morris and Sampson merely gavetheir birthplaces as ‘British Subject’.15

In 1891 Solomon and Sarah were living on their ownmeans at 3 Mildmay Road, Islington, without family orservants.16 Sarah died in 1894.17 There is an item in the JewishChronicle for 6 July 1894 about the dedication of hertombstone, describing her as the beloved wife of Solomon.

In 1901 Joseph and Rose were living at 80Brondesbury Park, Willesden, Middlesex with five of theirchildren.18 Joseph described himself as a furniture dealer andso did their eldest son, Sampson. The family includedGertrude, who was born in Newport in 1892 and registeredas Augusta Gertrude in memory of her deceased aunt.19 Alsoin the household was Joseph Freedman, a nephew, aged 24,working as a manager to a furniture dealer and born inNewport, probably the son of Louis and Elizabeth. Louis andElizabeth were living at 216 Ashdown Road, Maida Vale withfour of their own children and two visitors, one of whom wasMyer, probably the son of Joseph and Rose. Louis was ahouse furnisher.20 Morris and Jane were living at 14 RandolfCrescent, Maida Vale with seven children. Morris was also ahouse furnisher.21 Although the exact location of Ashdown

Road is not known, from the piece number it must have beenclose to Randolf Crescent. Despite the large difference inpiece numbers, because of the way the registration districtswere arranged, Brondesbury Park and Randolf Crescent areless than two miles apart. Meanwhile Phineas appears tohave remained in Newport as a furniture dealer andremarried, as he was enumerated with Esther aged 42 born inLondon. They were both boarders at 5 Clarence Place in thehousehold of Walter Moon, who was also in the furnituretrade.22

In 1911 Louis and Elizbeth were living in thehousehold of Sydney and Annie Flatau at 209 Maida Vale.They had been married for 40 years and had had 9 childrenof whom 8 were still living. Louis is described as havingprivate means. Annie was aged 27 and born in Newport. Shewas probably their married daughter.23 Louis Freedman, age22, was a boarder at Montague House, Brondesbury. He wasprobably Phineas Louis, the son of Joseph and RoseFreedman born in 1889. There is a report in the JewishChronicle for 22 May 1931of Mr and Mrs Joseph Freedmanliving at Montague House, Shoot-up-Hill. However, this maynot be the same Joseph Freedman. In 1911 neither Joseph norRose could be found.

Rose Freedman died on 8 July 1933 at Great CentralHotel, Marylebone.24 Her husband, Joseph, described as adirector, was responsible for administering her estate worth£2,368. There is a report in the Jewish Chronicle for 24 Sep1937 of Joseph Freedman celebrating his 80th birthday. Itwould appear that he died at Caversham in June 1947 at theage of 89.25 His will has not so far been traced, but there is aJoseph Freedman Hall at Golders Green Synagogue, DunstanRoad. Phineas probably died in Hampstead in 1933 aged 81,and Louis probably died in 1935, aged 85.26

Apart from claiming to be bank managers in the1881 census and the entry for Joseph in the 1880 directory ofBristol there is no evidence that any of the brothers managedbanks in the usually accepted sense. They appear to havediversified into a variety of occupations once they moved toBristol, but they only remained in the city for about 10 years;Phineas and Joseph moving back to South Wales beforejoining Louis and their other brothers in north London, wherethey all became involved in house furnishing. _____________Footnotes: 1. Wright’s Directory of Bristol, 1877, page 200.2. Mar 1879, Bedminster, volume 5c, page 706. This and all subsequent General

Register Office references were obtained from www.freebmd.org.uk3. Jun 1879, Newport, volume 11a, page 181.4. Slater’s Directory of Bristol and Wales, 1880, page 52. Numbers were added about

1886 [Wright’s Directory] and Devon House became number 3.5. RG11/2478, folio 47, page 29, schedule95. The properties in Hamilton Terrace

have since been re-numbered. This and all subsequent census references wereobtained from www.ancestry.co.uk.

6. RG11/2452, page 2, schedule 5.7. Slater’s Directory of Bristol and Wales, 1880, page 53.8. Slater, 1880, pages 53, 153, 181, 192 and 200; Wright’s Directory of Bristol and

Clifton, 1880, page 126.9. RG11/2452, page 3, folio 5, schedule 11.10. RG11/2450, folio 108, page 31, schedule 14; RG11/2465, folio 21, page 11,

schedule 56.11. Mar 1879, volume 11a, page 665; RG11/4535, folio 57, page 15, schedule 76.12. Jun 1889, Hackney, volume 1b, page 250.13. Kelly’s Directory of Bristol, 1889, page 210.14. RG12/4376, page 26, folio 87.

2 Lower Park Row, Bristol

Interior of Bristol Synagogue

The Beetham family were still living at Stanhope Road in189134 and 190135 but, by the 1911 Census, Frances and hersons have moved to Barnard Castle.36

The elder son, John William Beetham, followed hisfather into banking. At the time of his mother's death in 1924as executor he appears in her Probate Record, described as abank manager.33

The younger son, Bentley Beetham, was, accordingto the Bentley Beetham Collection website, ‘more of a freespirit, and had wider ambitions which did not include acareer in the financial world’. The website also includes acollection of Bentley's photographs, now the property of theBentley Beetham Trust.37

As well as being a school teacher (and former pupil)at North Eastern County School (now Barnard Castle School),Bentley was a naturalist, a leading ornithologist, aphotographer and rock climber. He was a member of the1924 Mount Everest Expedition.38

When Edwin left prison he moved to London to starta new life. Having been widowed before his imprisonment,he married again on 27 January 1891 at St. Anne's, Soho.39

His second wife was Mary Ann Steele (born 1854, London).In the 1891 Census the couple are living at 308 UxbridgeRoad, Hammersmith. Edwin has not lost touch with his firstfamily. In the 1891 household are three of his sons by his firstmarriage: Frederick William Beetham, Thomas WeighellBeetham, Edwin Ernest Beetham, then aged 23, 17 and 16.40

All three are described as ‘assistants in wholesale drapery’.The eldest of these three was an executor for his uncle, JamesWeighell Beetham.

Edwin William Beetham had also begun a newcareer. In 1891 he is a ‘traveller and shopkeeper’, possibly ahaberdasher.40 Three children were born to Edwin and hissecond wife over the next few years, although one of thesedied in infancy (see 1911 Census).41

In 1901 the family (Edwin, his wife Mary Ann, andtheir two surviving children) are living at 8 Vincent Road,Tottenham. Edwin has changed occupations again. He is nowa ‘canned goods broker’.42 By 1911, still a ‘canned goodsbroker’, he has separated from his wife and is lodging in oneroom at 277 Burdett Road, Limehouse, London.43 His wife‘married, mutually separated’ and their two children areliving in a three-roomed flat at 106 Grayshott Road, LavenderHill, Battersea.41 Edwin William Beetham died in Poplar,London in 1914, aged 71.16

Of a total of ten children born to Edwin's twomarriages, three died before reaching adulthood: JamesHerbert Beetham (1870-1878) and Adeline Sarah Beetham(1872-1887), both children of his first marriage, and also anunidentified infant of his second marriage. I cannot traceEleanor Mary Beetham, born 1869 (daughter of the firstmarriage) beyond 1881, aged 12. For Winifred OliveBeetham (1896-1955), daughter of his second marriage, I canonly establish that she died a spinster.33

Information about the sons is more readily found.Three of Edwin's sons from his first marriage, have beenalready mentioned as ‘assistants in wholesale drapery’ in1891 Census records.40 Thomas Weighell Beetham (born1875) continues in this line.44 In 1901, living in Islington, heis a warehouseman, and in 1911, resident in Croydon he is a

‘commercial traveller in wholesale drapery’.45 In 1917,resident in Norbury, Surrey, still a commercial traveller, hewas awarded the Freedom of the City of London.46

Frederick William Beetham (1867-1946) was a‘tailor's outfitter’ in 1901,47 and a ‘tailor and completeoutfitter’ in 1911. He lived in Weybridge, Surrey. In 1911 hewas an ‘employer’.48

Edwin Ernest Beetham (1876-1904) was also a‘tailor's outfitter’ in Weybridge in 1901.49 It is likely that heworked with or for his brother Frederick. Edwin Ernest died in1904, predeceasing his father by ten years.16

The youngest of Edwin William's sons (by his secondmarriage), Reginald Percy Beetham (1891-1969) was a‘shorthand typist clerk’ in the 1911 Census.41 His nameappears in the ‘Absent Voters’ list in 1919, when he is servingin the RAF.50

One son, the eldest, John Allen Beetham (1866-1907), took up a career in banking. He also pre-deceased hisfather. In 1891 he was a ‘bank clerk’ at Goole, Yorkshire,51

and 1901 he was a ‘bank cashier’.52 John's employer was theYork City & County Bank, the very bank that had taken overthe Darlington & District Joint Stock Bank in 1883, after hisfather's fraudulent actions had caused the demise of thelatter. With John Allen Beetham, banking in the Beethamfamily had really come full circle. ____________Notes1. 1841 Census HO107 pc.1234 f.2 Northallerton, Appleton-upon-Wiske,

East Harsley,Yorks.2. 1851 Census HO107 pc.2377 f.124 p.2 Northallerton, Appleton-upon-

Wiske,East Harsley.3. 1871 Census RG10 pc.4862 f.95 p.2 Northallerton, Appleton-upon-

Wiske, West Harsley4. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. A History of County

Durham Vol. IV pub. By the Institute of Historical Research by Boydell& Brewer pp. 141-142

5. Northern Echo Weds, June 27, 1883, Issue 4171 Money and Trade6. 1861 Census RG9 pc.3680 f.38 p.4 Darlington, St. Cuthbert, Durham7. 1871 Census RG10 pc.4884 f.10 p.9 Darlington, St. Cuthbert, Durham8. 1881 Census RG11 pc.4888 f.143 p.58 Darlington, St. Cuthbert,

Durham9. Memories of Darlington 3 Chris Lloyd pub. by the Northern Echo 2001

p.6310. Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer May 28, 1886 Important

Bankruptcy Proceedings at York re E.W. Beetham of Leyburn11. Leyburn Baptisms http://dalesgenealogy.com/leyburnch.html12. 1861 Census RG9 pc.3691 f.67 p.60 Stockton- on- Tees, St. Thomas,

Durham13. West Yorkshire, England & Marriage Banns 1831-1935, accessed via

http://home.ancestry.co.uk14. 1851 Census HO107 pc.2352 f.371 p.7 Tadcaster, Appleton, Yorks.15. 1871 Census pc.4869 f.51 p.3 Leyburn, Wensley., Yorks.16. Birth, Marriage & Death Records http://www.freebmd.org.uk17. 1881 Census RG11 pc.4874 f.53 p.9 Leyburn, Wensly. Yorks.18. The York Herald, Tues, Tues, July 24, 1883 Yorkshire Assizes, Crown

Court, Embezzlement by a Banker's Clerk at Leyburn19. The York Herald, Weds, July 25, 1883 Yorkshire Assizes, Crown Court,

Embezzlement by a Banker's Clerk at Leyburn20. Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, July 26, 1883 The Frauds by a Bank

Manager21. Northern Echo July 26, 1883 The Bank Manager's Case. Sentence of

Penal Servitude22. Newcastle Courant, July 27, 1883 Leyburn. The Bank Manager's Case23. Western Daily Press, August 15, 1883 Last Night's Gazette. (By

Telegraph.) Bankrupts24. Northern Echo, August 15, 1883 Bankrupts25. Leeds Mercury, May 27, 1886, Important Bankruptcy case at York. Re

mr. Edwin Wm. Beetham of Leyburn26. The York Herald, May 27, 1886 York Bankruptcy Court. Wednesday. Re

Edwin William Beetham, of Leyburn, Bankrupt


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When is a Bank Manager not a Bank Manager? – fromBristol to London

Christine Jones

In my previous article, published in October 2014, I tracedthe early lives of Louis, Phineas and Joseph Freedman. All ofthem, together with other kin, were involved in pawnbrokingbusinesses across Glamorgan and Monmouthshire from 1851to the late 1870s. While undoubtedly working in the financialservices sector, there is no evidence that any of them werebank clerks or bank managers. This article continues theirstory from the time when they moved to Bristol.

Phineas appears in the Bristol trade directory for1877 at 27 Ratcliff Street as a picture frame dealer.1 In 1879there is also an F Freeman, which could be a misprint for JFreedman at 41 High Street as a money lender. There was aSampson Freedman born in the neighbouring district ofBedminster in 1879.2 He was the son of Joseph and Rose.However, Louis and Elizabeth were still in Monmouthshire, astheir son Abraham was born in Newport in 1879.3

In 1880 Joseph andRose were living at DevonHouse, Stackpole Road,Southville.4 This is a semi-detached, two storey houseon the south side ofStackpole Road, near itsjunction with Dean Lane.The name can still be seenin the glass above the frontdoor.

Joseph wasdescribed as manager for theWestern Provincial Land andDiscount Office, who werebased at 41 High Street, Bristol [destroyed in the blitz]. By thetime of the 1881 census Joseph and Rose had moved to 2Hamilton Terrace, Great George Street.5 This is an eleganttown house almost opposite St George’s Church, BrandonHill. In addition to their young son the household includedJoseph’s parents, Solomon and Sarah. Joseph describedhimself as a bank manager and Solomon was described as aretired pawnbroker.

At the time of the 1881census Phineas and Augustawere living in Stackpole Roadwith their four children.6

Phineas described himself as abank manager. In 1880 theiraddress at Stackpole Road wasgiven as Ethelbert House.7 Thisis now number 19 and is atwo storey semi-detachedhouse similar to the one inwhich Joseph and Rose lived.

His business addresses were 41 High Street and 27 RedcliffStreet, where he was an auctioneer, importer of glass

mouldings, glass merchant, looking glass maker, print sellerand picture moulding importer. In another directory PFreedman and Co are listed as auctioneers and valuers at 4Victoria Street.8

Louis and Elizabeth, recently moved from Newport,Monmouthshire, were also living in Stackpole Road in 1881with their five children.9 Louis also described himself as abank manager.

There are two entries in the 1881 census for theirelder brother, Barnett Freedman, and his household. The firstis at 7 Clarence Place, Bedminster and consists of Barnett,aged 33, a picture frame maker employing 6 men and 1 boy,born Merthyr Tydfil; his wife, Anne, aged 31, born, Warsaw;their children, Rachel, aged 13, born Cardiff, Sampson, aged11, born Newport, Phineas, aged 9, born Llanelly, and Dora,aged 1, born Newport; plus an errand boy and a domesticservant. The second entry is at 27 Redcliff Road, Bristol. Thisappears to have been the family business address. RedcliffRoad runs from St Mary Redcliff Church to Bristol Bridge.Number 27 would have been at the northern end on theeastern side but has been totally obliterated. The householdenumerated there consisted of Barnett, aged 33, described asa carver and gilder, born at Merthyr; his wife, Annie, aged 32,born at Linchetz; their children, Rachel, aged 13, bornNewport, and Sampson, aged 11, born Newport; plus aservant, Phoebe Wilson, aged 20, and a labourer, Fred Potter,aged 16. Despite the discrepancies in ages, occupations andbirthplaces, in the spellings of the employees’ names and,more seriously, the omission of the two younger children fromthe second schedule, these would appear to have been thesame household, residing at Clarence Place with RedcliffRoad as their business address. Clarence Road, andpresumably the site of Clarence Place, has been totally re-developed.10 Barnett appears in the Bristol trade directories in1883 to 1885, but not from 1886.

The remaining son of Solomon and Sarah, Morris[Maurice], married Jane Freedman in Swansea in 1879. By thetime of the 1881 census they were living at 12 Vernon Road,Leeds. Maurice, aged 29 and born in Cardiff describedhimself as a financier. Jane, aged 24, was born in Swansea. Asyet they had no children.11 Maurice appears in a Bristoldirectory only in 1883 as living at 3 Roydon Villas, AlmaRoad, Clifton.

The families in Bristol continued to produce childrenfrequently. Joseph and Rose continued to live at 2 HamiltonTerrace, Great George Street, until about 1885. They thenmoved to 2 Lower Park Row, where they remained until about1889. This house is almost opposite the synagogue. From thestreet it has three floors plus a basement, but being built on asteep slope, from the back it has four floors. It would appearfrom an item in the Jewish Chronicle of 22 Dec 1882 thatSolomon and Sarah continued living in Bristol, though it is notknown whether they continued living with Joseph and Rose.

The front door of Devon House,number 3 Stackpole Road, Bristol

Hamilton Terrace, GreatGeorge Street, Bristol

27. The York Herald, May 29, 1886 York Bankruptcy Court. Wednesday. ReEdwin William Beetham, of Leyburn, Bankrupt

28. British Banking History website Banking in the Northern Yorkshire Daleshttp://www.banking-history.co.uk/yorkshire.html

29. Northern Echo, May 27, 1886 Important Bankruptcy Case at York. ReEdwin Wm. Beetham, of Leyburn

30. Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer, Dec 1, 1886 The High Court ofJustice. Queen's Bench Division – Tuesday. The Failure of W. (sic)Beetham, Late a Bank Manager, of Leyburn

31. Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer, July 27, 1887 Yorkshire SummerAssizes. York Castle - - Tuesday. (From Our Own Reporter). Crown Court.York City and Count Banking Company v. Hall – Promissory Note

32. 1881 Census RG11 pc.4802 f.192 p.113 Scarborough, Knaresborough,Yorks.

33. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills andAdministrations) accessed via http://home.ancestry.co.uk

34. 1891 Census RG12 pc.4044 f.92 p.6 Darlington, Holy Trinity, Durham 35. 1901 Census RG13 pc.4615 f.25 p.41 Darlington, Holy Trinity, Durham36. 1911 Census RG14 pc.29801 Teesdale, Barnard Castle, Durham37. The Bentley Beetham Collection website

http://www.bentleybeetham.org/38. Bentley Beetham – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentley_Beetham39. England & Wales Select Marriages 1538-1940 accessed via

http://home.ancestry.co.uk40. 1891 Census RG12 pc.42 f.88 p.47 Hammersmith, St. Stephens,

Fulham, London41. 1911 Census RG14 pc.2184 Battersea, London

42. 1901 Census RG13 pc.1251 f.189 p.38 Tottenham, Christchurch,Edmonton, London

43. 1911 Census RG14 pc.1558 Limehouse, Stepney, London44. 1901 Census RG13 pc.180 f.109 p.34 Islington, St. Clement, Barnsbury,

London45. 1911 Census RG14 pc.3351 sch.178 Croydon, West Croydon, Surrey46. London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1925

accessed via http://home.ancestry.co.uk47. 1901 Census RG13 pc.588 f.99 p.10 Weybridge, St. James, Chertsey,

Walton, Surrey48. 1911 Census RG14 pc.2993 sch.263 Weybridge, Chertsey, Walton,

Surrey49. 1901 Census Rg13 pc.588 f.100 p.11 Weybridge, St. James, Chertsey,

Walton, Surrey50. London, England Electoral Registers 1832-1965 accessed via

http://home.ancestry.co.uk51. 1891 Census RG12 pc.3873 f.32 p.26 Hook, Goole, Yorks.52. 1901 Census RG13 pc.4424 f.56 p.5 Goole, Yorks.

The majority of newspaper articles consulted were accessed via the BritishNewspapers online archive www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/. This is notan exhaustive list of articles available relating to this case, but was felt to besufficient for the purposes of this research. A few of the articles were notdecipherable in their entirety due to incomplete scanning of columns on theedge of newspaper pages. Several articles were accessed via microfiche atthe Darlington Crown Street Library Local History Room, where the staff wereextremely helpful.

Dundee’s First World War Time CapsuleElspeth Johnson

On 4 August 2014, the contents of a ‘Time Capsule’ sealed in1921, after the First World War, were revealed at a ceremonyat Dundee City Chambers. The contents of the capsule hadbeen put together by Dundee’s Postal Workers as part of theirmemorial or ‘shrine’ to the war, and sealed in a lead boxwithin an oak casket. Instructions, specified the date foropening the casket as 4 August 2014 - the 100th anniversaryof the start of the war.1

The casket came to light only last year when a localwoman, Janice Kennedy who was researching her familyhistory came across a diary. The writer mentioned the boxand reported that it was in the Post Office. With help from thePost Office, Royal Mail, Dundee High School (who now ownthe original Post Office premises), local museums andlibraries and a ‘chance encounter’ with a local postman,Janice eventually tracked the box to Dundee East sortingoffice.2

The oak casketmeasures 380 mm by 355mm and is 150 mm wide.On the outside is alacquered black plate thatreads ‘To be opened onthe 4 August 2014 by thePostmaster in the presenceof the Lord Provost’ andinside there is an airtightleaden box. When thecasket was opened, thosepresent, including MatthewJarron Curator of the University of Dundee MuseumCollections, could not believe the number of items contained

within it. A contents list of nearly 100 items has since beendrawn up.4

Because the casket was so well sealed all the itemsare in very good condition. Inside the leaded container thereis a ‘ticket’, issued to those who wished to view the PostalWar Memorial Shrine, when the contents were displayed tothe public before the casket was sealed in 1921. There aremany photographs-of notable citizens and visitors toDundee; of soldiers and postmen (with names attached); ofDundee scenes and of the War Memorial itself and itsunveiling, including a group photograph of the Post Officecommittee that put the ‘shrine’ together. There is a range ofdocuments, including those relating to the subscriptions forthe Memorial; newspapers and press cuttings of local andnational interest; poetry from Samuel Hunter Leslie, atelegraphist and George Wilkie Gahan, a local artist; manyletters from postmen who served in the war; and somespecific letters addressed to 2014 contemporaries. Theselatter letters were from the Postmaster, the Lord Provost, theyoungest member of the Education Department and a youngwoman telegraphist, and have been transcribed.5 DavidTurnbull, who was secretary of the Memorial Committee also wrote to the current Postmaster discussing the shrine and itscontents. Interestingly, there are no coins or stamps becauseaccording to David Turnbull, ‘times were hard’ in 1921. Heviewed his task as a labour of love. He wanted the contentsto reflect the lives of ordinary Dundee people as well aspoliticians and industrialists.6

The personal letters reflect on the post war situation,mainly in Dundee, although the writer of the letter to theEducation Department had visited and writes about thenewly established League of Nations in Geneva. The LordProvost writes that the aftermath of the war is still being

The Casket that contained the PostOffice Workers Memorial to WorldWar 1. Reproduced by courtesy of

Royal Mail


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FAMILY AND COMMUNITYHISTORICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY

Notification of Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on Saturday 9 May 2015 atthe Rattray Lecture Theatre, Leicester University.

At this meeting election of officers (Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary andTreasurer) and committee members will take place. If you would like to benominated for the role of Chairman, Vice Chairman or committee member pleasecontact the Secretary, Sue Smith, by e-mail to [email protected] or by surfacemail to Pilcot House, Pilcot, Dogmersfield, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 8SY, by 2 May2015. Any other items of business should also reach the Secretary by that date. Inthe absence of sufficient advance nominations for these roles, there will be anopportunity to take these at the meeting.

AGENDA

1. Apologies for absence

2. Approval of the minutes of the 2014 AGM

3. Matters arising from the minutes

4. Presentation of the Annual Report

5. Presentation of the Financial report

6. Election of officers

7. Election of committee members

8. Any other business

acutely felt by all classes, nationwide. There is severeunemployment as a result of the curtailment of munitionsproduction and other war related industries and returningservice men; in Dundee the jute industry is in depression. Hehopes that by 2014 Capital and Labour will have arrived at a definite understanding; and then concludes his letter with theimmortal words of Burns:

Man to man, the world o’erShall brithers be-an a’that

The Postmaster, J. Coulson, writes to his current counterpartwith a detailed description of how the Post Office operatedin 1921 Dundee. He notes that he shortly faces a reductionin salary when the war bonuses cease. He addresses his letter‘Dear Sir’, which suggests that he did not anticipate thecurrent incumbent would be a woman.

The letters from the front were sent to DavidTurnbull, who appeared to be a respected ‘father figure’ tomany of the soldiers. He sent them newspapers andinformation of fellow post office colleagues; and from oneletter has actively helped one soldier/colleague, who wastrying to get special leave so that he could make betterarrangements for his two boys, who he has left in care.7

One of the most interesting letters is the one writtenby the young telegraphist, Annie Lamont; and addressed tothe current GPO staff. She writes of the issues that concernher in 1921. She bemoans the imminent return to theinadequate pre-war salaries, for a six day week, of £1-14s fora female telegraphist and £2-16s for a man. However, shewelcomes women’s suffrage and hopes that WinstonChurchill, MP for Dundee in 1921, will be ousted in the nextGeneral Election. She is remarkably prescient, predicting thatthe war would not be the last of wars and that there would be‘another ghastlier Armageddon’ before too long. She is aware

that the telephone is about to replace the telegram andwrites, ’perhaps in your day, even that wonderful discoverywill have been superseded by something even more startlingand revolutionary.’! Sadly, a few years after writing this letter,Annie Lamont drowned in the River Tay. A note in herhandbag said that as she had no lover or sweetheart no-onewould miss her.8 She was another casualty of the War that leftso many women without husbands.

Plans for the future of the capsule are currently onhold while discussions take place between Dundee ArtGalleries and Museum Services, the Post Office, and RoyalMail regarding the final resting place of the archive. Howeverit is hoped, regardless of this decision, that there will be alocal display of the Casket and its contents in Dundee tomark the centenary of the end of World War I in 2018.9

AcknowledgmentsI am grateful to Matthew Jarron of the University of DundeeMuseums Services and Rhona Rodger, of Dundee MuseumServices for encouraging this short report by allowing accessto this remarkable archive.____________References1. Dundee Courier, 3 July 2014, Dundee Posties’ time capsule from

WW1 set to be opened2. Dundee Courier, 15 April 2014, Opening of World War I treasure

chest to mark Dundee’s centenary commemoration.3. Matthew Jarron quoted in Dundee Courier, 11 August 2014, A glimpse

into the past, reported by Caroline Lindsay.4. Memorial Shrine Contents: Dundee Museum Services5. Transcribed letters: Dundee Museum Services6. Matthew Jarron quoted in Dundee Courier, 11 August 20147. Transcribed letter from Corporal R. Brown, 12 November 19188. Matthew Jarron quoted in Dundee Courier, 11 August 20149. Conversation with Rhona Rodger, Dundee Museum Services,

November 2014.

TTHHEE MMOOBBIILLIITTYY OOFF LLAATTEE 1199TTHH CCEENNTTUURRYY FFEEMMAALLEE SSCCHHOOOOLLTTEEAACCHHEERRSS:: AA CCAASSEE SSTTUUDDYY IINN WWIINNCCHHCCOOMMBBEE,, GGLLOOUUCCEESSTTEERRSSHHIIRREE

Robert W White

At the end of Jean Wright’s article in the October 2014FACHRS newsletter (‘Eva Worsley – a very mobileSchoolmistress’) she said that ‘Eva’s migration within Englandseems remarkable for a single young woman in the 19thcentury’. Whilst Eva’s two relocations from one side of thecountry to the other over a span of less than twenty years (i.e.between the 1871 and 1891 censuses) might seem surprisingfor a single woman in those days, nevertheless there is someevidence from another English region to support thecontention that it was not unusual for female teachers in thelate 19th century to seek employment many miles away fromtheir current situation.

In recent years, inspired by the FACHRS School LogBook project, I have been carrying out research into the livesof teachers working in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, in the19th century, initially by trawling through the school logbooks, which were first introduced nationally in 1863. Inaddition, the advent of Internet family history providers like

Ancestry and Find My Past means that it is possible to tracethe career paths of many teachers by carrying out onlinesearches, both in the census enumerators’ books plus aplethora of local and regional newspapers. My findings mayoffer an indication as to why the mobility of female teachersincreased in the late 19th century.

Between 1860 and 1910 the four national/boardschools in Winchcombe parish were under the jurisdiction ofa succession of head teachers, and from 1875 all four schoolscame under the management of the Winchcombe UnitedSchool Board. Leaving aside the Boys’ School, the Infants’and Girls’ Schools were each led by a schoolmistress, whilstthe mixed school in the hamlet of Gretton was sometimesunder the control of a mistress and at other times a master.

For twenty-five years most of the head teachersappointed at these three schools were either fromGloucestershire or the neighbouring counties of Oxfordshire,Worcestershire, and Monmouthshire, but when the mistress


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The Paul Newton -Taylor Award

! ! DO N’T FO R G E T TO VOT E ! !Once again the Paul Newton Taylor Award will be contested by a list of articlessubmitted and taken from this and the preceding two Newsletters (i.e. Vol 15Nos 2 and 3 and Vol 16 No 1). The list of eligible articles is below. You will beinvited to vote for your favourite article from that list via an e-mail and the onereceiving the most votes will be the winner.

Please take a few minutes to assess the articles before voting for theone you like the best. It won’t take long and the authors will be delighted toreceive your votes.

The Award will be announced at the Conference in Leicester and, ifthe recipient is not present, arrangements will be made to deliver it to thewinner.

PNT Award 2014: Articles for consideration

JULY 2014 VOL 15 ISSUE 2World War I – Women workers in the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich - Peter Baigent

When 184 said ‘No’! - Michael DrakeTynedale Home Front – The Poets Part 2 - Christine Seal

OCTOBER 2014 VOL 15 ISSUE 3Eva Worsley – A Very Mobile School Mistress - Jean WrightEdwins’ Brown – Bank Managers of Burton - Shirley Fisher

When is a Bank Manager Not a Bank Manager? Pt 1 - Christine JonesAlmshouses for Ever: People and Their Buildings - Helen Caffrey

My Dear Emily... - Anne WilkinsonMiss Clark: Aylsham Community Nursery - Stella Evans

Munday’s Bank, Wiltshire - Pauline WhiteJoseph Jackson, Bank Manager in Newcastle - Christine Seal

FEBRUARY 2015 VOL 16 ISSUE 1When is a Bank Manager not a Bank Manager – from Bristol to London - Christine Jones

Brothers in Banking - Daphne JonesRobert Parker – Banker, Educationalist and Property Developer - Clive Leivers

Dundee’s First World War Time Capsule - Elspeth JohnsonThe Mobility of 19th Century School Teachers - Rob White

Sir Francis Tress Barry - Valerie Batt-Rawden

We would welcome nominations from anyone interested in joining a very efficient, friendly and smooth-runningCommittee. Nomination forms will be available at Conference or, alternatively, contact our Hon. Sec., Sue Smith. Anyoneinterested is welcome to attend any of our Committee meetings, so that you can get a flavour of the operation. These takeplace four times a year at the Open University in Milton Keynes and you only need to contact one of the officers listed onthe back page to obtain dates and to make arrangements.

Currently we are looking for a new Chair Person and an Assistant Webmaster. The position of Chair Person is notonerous and consists mainly of chairing committee meetings and ensuring that all runs smoothly. Our new Webmaster,Martin Allen, needs someone with some web skills and interest in helping to maintain the Society website and be able toprovide backup if and when necessary. If you think you have the skills for either position, please let our Hon. Sec. know.

If you have any other skills that you think may be useful to help the improvement of the Society, then do let anyof the Committee know. All ideas and suggestions are always appreciated. There are also vacancies on the Committee.

Your Committee looks forward to meeting you, at Conference, at Committee meetings, or at any of our RoadShowstands, whether or not you wish to stand for the Committee.

Don’t Delay! Fill in that Nomination Form today

N O M I N AT I O N S FO R C O M M I T T E E

of the Infants School resigned in 1885 the position wasadvertised and after receiving thirty applications the schoolboard offered the post to a Miss Curphy from Birkenhead,who turned it down when she discovered that the house to beprovided for her was not furnished. The job was then offeredto the second-placed candidate, Miss Blackburn from WestonSuper Mare, but by then she had secured a situationelsewhere, so the post was re-advertised. Twelve furtherapplications were received from teachers as far distant asAllendale, Northumberland (275 miles from Winchcombe),but the position was offered to Alice Malpas from nearbyGloucester, and the school board then devoted the sum of tenpounds ‘to complete the furnishing of the school house’.1

From 1887, just two years later, most of the headteacher appointments at Gretton School were of women fromfurther afield. The new mistress in that year, Annie Deans,hailed from Liverpool, and the twelve other applicants for thepost were from as far afield as London, Leeds, Ilfracombe andDevonport.2 Over the next thirteen years seven moremistresses were successively appointed at this school, five ofwhom I’ve been able to trace; they were Angelina Cole fromPlymouth, Elizabeth Bray from Brixham (Devon), Miss Leesfrom Oldham (Lancashire) and Annie Bains fromPeterborough. A sixth mistress, Lizzie Paine, secured a post inWest Lavington, Sussex, after she had been mistress at GrettonSchool for only a year.

A similar trend towards ‘distant’ appointees occurredat the Girls School where, between 1894 and 1901, threemistresses were appointed, Mary Pritchard from Caerleon(Monmouthshire), Charlotte Woodhead from Stoke by Clare(Suffolk) and Isabella Stiff from Stoke (Buckinghamshire).However, the appointment of head teachers at the InfantsSchool from 1887 continued in the traditional way with twofurther mistresses, in 1890 and 1894, from Gloucester andrural Herefordshire respectively, but the next one, EmilyCatton, in 1896, hailed from Huddersfield (Yorkshire).

From 1875 it was possible for assistant (orsupplementary) teachers to be appointed in schools, andseveral vacancies in Winchcombe were filled in this way. Thefirst few were either local women or from Gloucester, butfrom 1894 some of the assistant teachers appointed at theGirls School were from further afield. In September of thatyear Edith Newman was appointed in the role and after onlya week she was absent for three days ‘to settle up at her lastsituation in Sittingbourne (Kent)’, which was some 150 milesaway (3). Another was Amy Gapper, who was appointed in1896; five years earlier she had been working as a 16-year-oldpupil teacher in Yeovilton (Somerset), some 100 miles distant.

A POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONThe evidence demonstrates that from 1885 several of themistresses and (female) assistant teachers appointed inWinchcombe’s board schools had been recruited fromlocations a hundred miles away or more. Furthermore, it’sclear that many of the other applicants for these positionswere also not from Gloucestershire or an adjacent county.Was this because vacant teaching posts were, by then, morewidely advertised than hitherto, or was there some otherreason?

One possible explanation is evident from a decisionby the Winchcombe School Board in 1903 to advertise avacant teaching post at the Boys School in The Schoolmaster,4

which had been launched in 1872 as the weekly journal ofthe National Union of Elementary Teachers (and subsequentlybecame the National Union of Teachers in 1888).5 Could thisexplain how, some years before, a Mr J Sprague from Margate,Kent, came to be appointed as an assistant master atWinchcombe Boys School in 1885,6 and why the previous jobof one of the school’s first masters, George Kemp, who arrivedin Winchcombe in 1876, was at a school in Andover,Hampshire? The Winchcombe School Board, being mindful ofthe need to keep expenditure to a minimum, would surely nothave advertised vacancies in regional newspapers coveringKent and Hampshire, but Sprague and Kemp may well haveread about the vacant posts in The Schoolmaster, and thiscould also explain why female schoolteachers were applyingfor distant posts at much the same time. Perhaps for someteachers, joining the union may have been worthwhile just forthe opportunity to hear about teaching opportunitieselsewhere.

So, to return to Eva Worsley, the ‘very mobileschoolmistress’ in Jean Wright’s article in the last FACHRSnewsletter, between the 1871 and 1891 censuses Eva moved100 miles north from her home in Sheffield to Morecambe,Lancashire, and subsequently relocated 200 miles south fromthere to Blo Norton, in Norfolk. I suspect that travelling 300miles between three jobs in less than twenty years probablywas unusual, but evidence from the recruitment ofWinchcombe teachers in the later decades of the 19th centurysuggests that many other women were either doing much thesame or were certainly prepared to do so in order to secure ateaching post. So the publication of The Schoolmaster from1872, with its weekly lists of vacant positions, may well havehelped to increase the mobility of female teachers throughoutEngland in the late 19th century.

POSTSCRIPT Can anyone suggest any other likely reasons to explain whyfemale teachers applied for teaching positions in the 19thcentury over a hundred miles away from their current position- before as well as after 1872 when The Schoolmaster was firstpublished?____________Footnotes1. Cheltenham Chronicle, 12 May and 30 June 1885.2. Unnamed and undated newspaper report, in Edward Adlard’s

album of newspaper cuttings (Winchcombe Museum, WIXFP2000.955).

3. Winchcombe Girls School log book, 6 October 1894,GA/S368/1/3/1.

4. Cheltenham Chronicle, Saturday 31 January 1903.5. https://www.teachers.org.uk/node/85156. Cheltenham Chronicle, Tuesday 3 February 1885.


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FFAACCHHRRSS 22001155 CCoonnffeerreennccee

� 9 May �

Rattray Lecture TheatreLeicester University

Venue

£16 to include

refreshments and

a buffet lunchCost

Morning officialguided tour of

Leicester £3.50 pp

Sunday

0099..4455--1100..0000 REGISTRATION AND COFFEE 1100..0000--1100..1155 Welcome by the Vice Chairman

Prof Michael Drake1100..1155--1100..5500 AAGGMM and Election of Officers

Dr Sue Smith1111..0000--1111..3300 FFaammiillyy,, CCoommmmuunniittyy && tthhee VViiccttoorriiaann AAssyylluumm

Dr Cathy Smith 1111..3300--1122..0000 FFlleettttoonn:: MMiiggrraattiioonn && IInntteeggrraattiioonn 11884411 -- 11991111-The

impact of an influx of rail workers and brick makers

Sadie McMullon1122..0000--1122..3300 TThhee RRiissee ffrroomm aann AAggrriiccuullttuurraall LLaabboouurreerr ttoo aa

SScchhooooll AAtttteennddaannccee OOffffiicceerr aanndd PPooeett Dr Christine Seal

1122..3300--1133..3300 BUFFET LUNCH

1133..4455--1144..1155 MMeeaasslleess,, TTaattttiiee HHoowwkkiinngg,, tthhee BBeelltt aanndd mmoorree .... What School Log Books can tell us about Education 1874 - 1930

Elspeth Johnson144..1155--1144..4455 DDiissss && DDiissttrriicctt iinn WWWW11:The War Memorial's

fifty-four missing names Helen Kennett

1144..4455--1155..1155 WWiinniiffrreedd LLuuccyy HHoobbbbss: Nursing sister at Southend Victoria Hospital from 1911 to 1918

Valerie Batt-Rawden1155..3300--1155..4455 Award of the Paul Newton Taylor Award for the

best member submission to the Newsletter

1155..4455--1166..0000 Raffle Draw AND CLOSING REMARKS Professor Michael Drake

PPrroovviissiioonnaall PPrrooggrraammmmee**

*programme subject to confirmation and/or alteration

Once again we have an exciting programme of talks by Members detailing their personal research. Your Committee will bedelighted to see you at Leicester and hope you will come and introduce yourselves to us. The venue is conveniently situatedadjacent to Victoria Park and about a ten-minute walk from the train station.

We have again managed to maintain a low cost for delegates, but are still able to include refreshments and a buffetlunch.

For those of you staying overnight, or who are local enough, we have organised a guided tour of Leicester’s historicalsites on Sunday morning. This will last a couple of hours. As this is an official guide we will have to charge those wishing tojoin the tour the small sum of £3.50 per person. You can book this at the same time as registering for the Conference or,should sufficient places be available, at Conference. However, places are limited.

The Committee will once again be staying at The Premier Inn Fosse Park, Braunstone Lane East, Leicester, LE3 2FWand attendees are welcome to join them. This hotel is easily accessed from the M1. From M1/M69 (J21), follow the A5460towards the city centre for approximately 1.5 miles along the dual carriageway. At the next junction turn right into BraunstoneLane. The hotel is on the left.

There will be the opportunity to share an evening meal on Friday and/or Saturday at their integrated restaurant. Allaccommodation bookings have to be made via the Premiere Inn website and a meal deal is usually available at the time ofbooking if required. Please indicate on your Registration Form if you would like to be included in the group for a meal onFriday and/or Saturday evening.

TTOO RREEGGIISSTTEERRFill in the Conference Registration Form online and submit and

pay via PayPal or

Download the Conference Registration Form, complete andsend with cheque for the full amount to the address provided.

RRAAFFFFLLEE

This year the Committee will provide a smallnumber of prizes consisting of book tokens.

Raffle tickets will be available to purchase on theday of the Conference.

A Forgotten Windsor Philanthropist - SIR FRANCIS TRESS BARRY, BartValerie Batt-Rawden

Advantages of CommerceI am wonderfully delighted to see a body of men thriving in theirown fortunes, and at the same time promoting the public stock;

or, in other words, raising estates for their own families, by bringinginto their country whatever is wanting and carrying out of it

whatever is superfluous.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) Essayist, Whig. Creator of The Spectator andThe Tatler (Many thoughts of many minds. 1868 Henry Southgate)

Francis Tress Barry (1825-1907) was just such a man. At 16 years oldhe joined a merchant company in Bilbao as ‘A Purveyor ofMachinery’ and at 22 years old was Consul of the Biscay Region ofSpain. As a partner with his brother-in-law, James Mason, in asuccessful copper mine in Portugal, he gained a fortune with whichto purchase and improve a prestigious estate in Windsor. Hisphilanthropy gained him a Baronetcy from Queen Victoria and wasMP for Windsor (1890 to 1907). Yet this most important lateVictorian entrepreneur is not remembered and his name has verylittle significance in the town.

James Mason, studied mining engineering in Paris,probably at the school of mines and with his degree went to Bilbaoas Manager of copper and lead mines for three English miningcompanies in the Bilbao region. There is no doubt that James metFrancis through the machinery company which employed thisbrilliant young man. Their lives became considerably entwinedwhen James married Francis’ sister. They went into business together,purchasing a run down copper mine in Northern Portugal which wasto create great wealth for the two men so that each could purchaseprestigious estates in England.

In 1856 Francis and his brother-in-law became partners ina firm of F.T. Barry and Co., importing British mining machinery intoSpain and from 1859, developed the San Domingos Copper Minein Portugal, which closed in 1964. He built a 15k railway to PomiraoHarbour on the Guardiana river, by which the ore was transporteddownstream to the Mediterranean port of Vila Real de San Antonioand on to London where Francis had his office headquarters. For thebuilding of an autonomous settlement village for the mining familiesboth men were honoured by the King of Portugal. Francis becameBaron de Barry.

James was the mastermind and manager of the mine with70% of the shares. Francis borrowed the other 30% from the family:3/13th was taken by his wife’s aunt Maria Herron, which waseventually gifted to him in ‘recognition of the great love she had forhim’. Francis returned to England to manage the shipping andaccounting for the business. In 1862 James left Portugal and ran themine through his manager, only visiting once a year until hepurchased Eynsham Hall in 1866, when James’s son took over themine.

With his wealth Francis purchased the St Leonards Estate inWindsor in 1869. He partially demolished the house known asGloucester Lodge, rebuilding it as a prestigious mansion resemblinga French chateau which dominated the skyline. As the result of thishe became a trustee of Clewer Green School which had beenestablished by the Harcourts, the previous owners of the estate, andreceived a Baronetcy from Queen Victoria in 1889 with the JubileeMedal with Bar for his philanthropic work.

He paid £1,225 to Middlesex Hospital to pay off themortgage on a piece of land beside the Thames at Windsor and£1,985 to the Vansittart Estate to enlarge it, which he gave to theWindsor Council as a public park to celebrate the Coronation ofEdward VII and Queen Alexandra. It was named Alexandra Gardens.He also endowed the Windsor Infirmary. His election as MP forWindsor was reported in the Clewer Parish Magazine for May 1890.‘F.T. Barry, conservative candidate, returned at a recent general

election by a large majority. Mr Barry our new MP is a parishionerof Clewer and resides part of the year at St Leonards Hill’.

In 1890 Francis also bought Keiss Castle, Caithness, fromThe Duke of Portland, some eight miles south of John O’ Groats,where he spent his summers indulging in his love of Archaeology.He discovered a Broch, previously unknown. The painted stones andother artefacts are in a special museum dedicated to his finds as partof the Museum of Scottish Monuments in Edinburgh. While inEngland Francis became a member of the auspicious AntiquariesSociety, whose logo is the mediaeval lamp, which had been foundon St Leonards Hill. He mounted two exhibitions, in 1895 and1898, of local artefacts dredged from the River Thames at WindsorBridge and Boveney Lock and to complete the exhibitions heborrowed the collections of several local archaeologists. Anexample is in the Museum collection. He was, in fact, known moreas an amateur archaeologist of note than as an MP. He was DeputyLieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Caithness.

Not content with this, Francis developed the St LeonardsHill Estate which he planted with full size camellia bushes to provethat they were hardy enough to grow outdoors in the northernhemisphere. There is no doubt that the legend in Reg Try’s family,that they came on the deck of a ship, is true. The company of Masonand Barry owned three ships, which could have brought the bushesfrom Portugal, where they grew prolifically. The originals came toEurope with the family of 16th century merchants traveling to China,India and Brazil. The Manor House in Northern Portugal is stillowned by the same family and the descendants of these bushes arestill in existence. Portuguese camellias are not named, only knownby colour. Sir Giles Loder, Bt, a competitor of Reg Try at the RHSCamellia Exhibitions, wrote in the RHS Year book of 1960 that hehad visited Portuguese gardens and purchased bushes and notedthat the oldest Portuguese camellias were not named. The earlyplantings at St Leonards Hill are not named either.

The name of St Leonards Hill lives on but what of thememory of this commercial genius? The drive up to the mansionused to be known as Barry’s Drive but is now St Leonards Hill,Windsor Forest. How many visitors, or residents for that matter,know that the road along the river front from the railway arch toGoswell Lane is known as Barry Avenue or that the park which isalongside it, known as Alexandra Gardens, owes its existence to SirFrancis?

A millionaire, landowner and amateur archaeologist,Francis held appointments to the Crown and was honoured bymonarchs in Portugal and England. He was created a Baronet inQueen Victoria’s New Year’s honours list in 1899. He made Windsorhis own and is buried in Clewer Churchyard, yet so little is knownof him in the town. It is for this reason that this article hopes toaddress this oversight of a man for whose philanthropy should betop of the Who’s Who list for the town.

Megolithic scraper © Reproduced by kind permission of Windsor & Royal Borough Museum

EDITORIAL

The new website is now up and running and I hope you havevisited it and like it. As a consequence of all our recentchanges within the Society, all Society e-mail addresses arechanging. Please note these changes on the back page anduse these in the future. We intend to keep the old server fora short while during the transfer but this will cease at somepoint in the near future and all e-mails sent to fachrs.org.ukaddresses will be ‘lost’ forever in the ether.

Another major change is that our Chairman, DonDickson has had to retire from the Committee due topersonal circumstances and we are therefore without aChairPerson. Don has done a magnificent job in chairing theSociety for many years and has overseen the development ofa ‘well-oiled machine’ that runs with ease and precision. Iam sure you will join your Committee in thanking Don for allhis tireless work over the years and that we will miss hisenthusiasm and guidance. Please read the notice on page 3and consider standing for the Committee - you never knowyou could even be chairperson! Our new webmaster wouldalso like an assistant as backup, so if you have any web skillsperhaps you will consider nomination. Our next CommitteeMeeting is on Saturday 11 April and anyone interested ismost welcome to attend to see how we operate. Just contactone of the Committee as listed on the back page for moreinformation.

Conference details appear on page 2 including aprovisional programme, which looks very interesting. Itpromises to be another great day. Remember, if you areattending and staying over, the Committee are happy towelcome you to join them for dinner the Premier Inn FossePark on Friday and/or Saturday evenings.

The list of articles available for voting upon is notedon page 3. These are drawn from this issue and the previoustwo, i.e. June and October 2014 and February 2015. You willreceive notification of voting via our e-Bulletin shortly. Pleasedo vote for your favourite article. The winner will beannounced at Conference on 9 May. If you haven’t yetinformed our Membership Secretary, Brita Wood, of your e-mail address, now is the time to do so. That way you willensure receiving your voting e-Bulletin. All contributors willbe most grateful for your votes.

Lastly, please note the early copy deadline for thenext issue of the Newsletter.

Copy date for the next issue is16 May 2015


N E W S L E T T E R


N E W S L E T T E RFebruary 2015 Volume 16 Issue 1

Angela Blaydon

CONTENTS

2015 Conference Programme and Information . . . . . .2

Paul Newton-Taylor Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Nominations for Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

AGM Notification and Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

When is a Bank Manager Not a Bank Manager? Pt 2 .5

Robert Parker - Banker, Educationalist and

Property Developer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Brothers in Banking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Dundee’s First World War Time Capsule . . . . . . . . . .12

Mobility of late 19th Century Female

Schoolteachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

A Forgotten Windsor Philanthropist . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Letter to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Society Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

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LLeetttteerrssttoo tthheeEEddiittoorr

A Blast from the Past

I was interested to read Stella Evans’s piece about Miss Clark of Aylsham Community Nursery.

It was a little disconcerting to find one’s own era being treated as an historical study – a bit likeseeing an artefact in a museum, which one clearly remembers in daily use surely not so long ago.

I was especially interested in Miss Clark’s assistant Miss Morgan, with whom she clearly had seriouspersonality and generational issues. The upshot was that Miss Morgan was transferred to King’sLynn in December 1951.

I myself moved from Northumberland to King’s Lynn in November 1951. I don’t remember anyonecalled Morgan, but it is fascinating to think that she might have taught patients of mine, or havebelonged to the Scottish Dancing Society or the Old Lennensians Cricket Club supporters, or havemoved in any of the circles that I did.

Thank you, Stella, for bringing back many happy memories of Norfolk in the ‘50s.

Jean Wright

Documents

Thank you, Stella, for bringing back many happy memories ... 16 No 1.pdf · next issue of the Newsletter. Copy date for the next issue is 16 May 2015 Vol 16 Issue 1 February 2015