1. Charles Thorne Baggott. Killed in WW1 this story could be subtitled " Don't believe official records!".
2. The Buzaglo family. The name Buzaglo featured in the High Street in the C19, here is their story
3. The Davis & Brookes Family. This follows the fortunes of these two families who ran a bakery in Bye Street for many years.
4. The Rev. Thomas Dowell. At one time curate of Wellington Heath he spent some time in Australia, a fascinating story.
5. The Mutlow family. A contribution by William Mutlow telling the story of his family in Ledbury from 1679 to the present day. There is a lot of Ledbury history in here.
6. The Russell Story. This is the story of William Russell (1787-1845) and his son, also William, (1820-1890) both of whom made serious contributions to Ledbury which survive today.
7. Eric Williams. This is the story of Eric Williams (1911-1981) the Ledbury entertainer aka Eric 'Nitwit' Williams and
the Whimsical Wizard.
8. Grace Dovey. The Grace Dovey Dancing School.
9. Cider Annie. Cider Annie was a well known character around Ledbury. Here is my best effort at her life history.
10. William Hatton. William Hatton, Ant's Nest and the White Hart.
11. Potted Biographies. This kind of research produces many names of local interest. The people featured here contributed to the life and fortunes
of the town and I have collected them together accompanied by a small biography.
This shows that between 1881 and 1891 Maria has had 3 more children, William John born in 1884, Charles Thorne in 1888 and Edith Mary in 1890. No birth registration can be found for William John, although census returns show he was born in Monmouth, but his baptism in Ledbury in 1886 gives his father as James! not possible, he is dead. Presumably Maria went to Monmouth out of shame to have this baby, note that this baptism was some two years after he was born.
In contrast Charles' and Edith's birth were both registered with no fathers name or mothers maiden name given. They were not baptised.
James Baggott is not Charles' father so I don't propose to try and sort out his life, we shall never know who his father was.
In 1901 Charles is with Benjamin Lambert 25, his uncle, at an address in Birkenhead. By 1911 he is back in Ledbury as a brewer at the Prince of Wales in Church Lane. He must have returned to Birkenhead by 1915 when he enlisted in the Liverpool regiment.
Maria is in Bye St as a charwoman in 1901 with William and Edith. On her own In No 6 Bye Street in 1911 and 1921.
From the Ledbury Guardian April 21st 1917.
Ledbury Man Killed.
We regret to record that Lance Corporal Charles George (sic) Baggott, the King’s Liverpool Regiment, only son of Mrs Baggott. Bye Street Ledbury was killed in action on Easter Monday in France. The sad intelligence was conveyed to Mrs Baggott in the following letter which she received on Wednesday last:
Dear Madam.
It is with very sincere regret that I write to inform you that your son was killed in action on Monday last the 9th inst. He was in my platoon throughout the battle. He was quite close to me and his behaviour throughout was absolutely magnificent. This will be a cruel shock to you. I am an only son myself and know only too well what are a mother’s feelings. It may be a comfort to you to know that your son was killed instantly and suffered no pain, also that he received a decent burial. He died a noble death and it is a very great sorrow to me to have lost him. No words of mine can fully express my sympathy for you in your great sorrow.
Yours sincerely C. A. Peters. Second Lieutenant.
Lance Corporal Baggott had been in the army 18 months or more and had been at the front for nearly 12 months. Immediately prior to his enlistment he had lived away from Ledbury. He was a very clever whistler and at one time was in great request in local "smokers".
The letter refers to him as an only son but we know Maria had two other sons, Alfred and William. I cannot find what happened to them but from the letter I presume they are dead as Maria claimed a dependant's pension after the war.
Hannah Maria Baggott died in 1929.
Buzaglo is a surname of Moroccan Jewish origin, it remains a mystery how the name is linked to the Midlands by the late C18. I can find nothing of the birth of John Buzaglo who died in 1816 in Manchester. Nevertheless Ledbury is where the story lies.
George Skipp was born in 1748 in Donnington, he married Ann Dixon (b 1748) in Birmingham on February 22nd 1773 and they had several children there of which only Ann, b 1775, survived. Ann senior died in 1816
He is listed in a Pigot's Directory of 1835 as an Ironmonger in the High St. This was in what is now The Spar and which he passed on to his grandson John Buzaglo, also an ironmonger, by 1839 when John is shown as the owner. Also in the High St in the 1835 Directory is Ann Buzaglo a bookseller running a circulating library. More on them later.
Ann (Skipp) junior, b 1775, married John Buzaglo on November 16th 1797.
They had 6 children some in Birmingham later in Manchester:
Ann in 1802 (named after Mother and Grandmother).
John in 1803 (named after Father and Grandfather).
Jane in 1805, died 1812.
Henrietta in 1806.
Frederick in 1813.
Louisa in 1813.
Then from Aris's Birmingham Gazette June 16th 1817:
John Buzaglo died in 1816 in Manchester. Ann and the children, must have moved to Ledbury as she died here in 1816 (see Memorial Stone below). The children, oldest 14, youngest 1 are now orphans in the care of their grandfather, now 68.
Most of the above is confirmed on a floor memorial stone in Ledbury Church,in the chancel with the right hand edge unfortunately covered by carpet.
Here is a transcript:
In Memory of John Skipp Gent. late of Donnington who was buried January 19th 1750 aged 67 years.
Also of Ann the wife of George Skipp of this town who died October 31st 1816 aged 67.
Also of Ann Buzaglo Daughter of the above George and Ann Skipp who died May 11 1817 Aged 42.
Also of George Skipp son of the above John Skipp who died March 19th 1845 Aged 96 years.
Also of Sarah wife of John Buzaglo who died October 28th 1848 Aged 34 years.
In his will, dated March 2nd 1838, George leaves to my grandson Frederick William Buzaglo the sum of one hundred pounds (at least £10,000 today) with the remainder of his estate to my three grandchildren Ann Buzaglo, Henrietta Buzaglo and Louisa Buzaglo in equal shares. John was initially left out probably as he had already been set up in the High St shop which John owned in 1839, in a later Codicil dated September 13th 1838 George leaves £50 to his grandson John Buzaglo of Ledbury. George did not seem to own any property at this time as none is mentioned in his will.
All 5 surviving Buzaglo children appear later in Ledbury records in fact there is a reference to Frederick in 1832, more on this below. Still with George on the 1841 census are Ann and Louisa, both of whom never married. John, Henrietta and Frederick have married and left home.
Here are their stories in chronological order: Ann Buzaglo (1802 — 1871)
In the High St. in 1835 (see above) the Tithe map and Apportionments of 1839 show that Ann is the tenant of No 15 High St, (recently " Elegance") with the property owned by Edwin Meacham. Her grandfather George Skipp, is head of household here in 1841.
A bit ahead of her time she took up the cause for phonetic spelling to enable children with just a knowledge of the alphabet to read:
From the Hereford Journal March 14th 1849.
I don't suppose the booklet will ever surface but fortunately there was a newspaper at that time called the ' FONETIC NUS', yes really, and they wrote a review of Ann's booklet. Supposed to be easy to read I found it difficult. Here are the first few lines:
Ann never married. Listed as a Stationer in 1849/50 she does not appear in the 1851 census, with her brother John in 1861, in No 10 High St. as a housekeeper and with her sister Louisa in 1871. She died on Mar 18th 1871 aged 69.
John Buzaglo (1803 — 1882), ironmonger of Ledbury.
John was in No 10 High St 1835 in what is now The Spar
From the Hereford Times February 27th 1836:
He probably expected his wife to help in the shop but from as early as September 1843 he was advertising for an apprentice and continued to do so into the 1860's
From the Hereford Times September 16th 1843:
Sadly Sarah died in 1848 and there were no children.
He took an active part in the commercial and civic affairs of Ledbury and in 1867, now 64, he remarried.
From the Hereford Times December 28th 1867:
Anne died in 1874 aged 63 after just 7 years of marriage, John died on October 30th 1882. He seemed to have had a rather sad personal life.
Henrietta Buzaglo (1806 — 1874)
Married Benjamin Bosley on June 4th 1840, their life is shown in the Southend section for more click here Frederick William Buzaglo (1813 — 1889)
He first appears in 1832 when he is a ' shopman ' to John Smith, a Draper.
From Hereford Times 20th October 1832:
Mary Hughes, aged 20, charged with stealing a piece of printed cotton, and other articles, the property of John Smith of Ledbury. Frederick Buzaglo, shopman to Mr. Smith deposed...
He must have set up a drapery business with G Wenman in Wolverhampton before 1841 as this notice in The London Gazzette of December 3rd 1841 shows:
In 1844 he married Mary Felicia Osborne in Stroud and they had George Skipp (Buzaglo) in Blakeney in 1847, Alice Felicia in Stroud in 1848 and Mary Louisa in 1851 in Ledbury.
George and Alice were baptised together in Ledbury on August 6th 1849, Alice was baptised on July 16th 1851 again in Ledbury, Frederick's occupation given as Coal Proprietor of Worcester Road.
They next appear in Australia where they have two more children, John born 1855, he died in 1901, and Marion Charlotte b 1861, she died in 1902.
Frederick William died in Coburg Australia on October 31st 1889, Mary Felicia on June 26th 1912.
Mary Louisa married Evander Mc' Iver.
George Skipp Buzaglo died on August 11th 1896.
Loiusa Buzaglo (1813 — 1901).
With her grandfather George and sister Ann in 1841 in No 15 High Street Ledbury. By 1851 she has moved to Wine Street Bristol where she is Housekeeper to John Carden, a Draper. In 1861 she is back in Ledbury running a school in No 9 (now Boots) with one resident teacher, 3 pupils and a servant. Still here in 1871 with sister Ann, one resident teacher, 6 pupils and a general servant. Ann, died in 1871 and in 1881 Louisa is with brother John, he died in 1882 and Louisa, now 69 and with all her siblings in Ledbury dead, takes herself off to join her brother in Australia. She died there in 1901.
John, Ann and Henrietta are buried in Ledbury Cemetery in adjoining plots:
The Inscriptions read:
In loving memory of John Buzaglo who died October 30th 1882 aged 79 years. Also Anne his wife who died May 1st 1874 aged 63 years.
In affectionate remembrance of Ann Buzaglo who departed this life May 19th 1871 aged 69 years. Also in memory of her sister Henrietta wife of Benjamin Bosley who died June 2nd 1874 aged 65 years.
"Memories of Molly Elizabeth Brookes born 01.03.43 at St Helier, Victoria Road, Ledbury, Herefordshire. Now Molly Brown but previously Molly Williams.
Parents:- William George Twyning Brookes born 28th May, 1907.
Alice Marjorie Davis (Maymie) born 22nd July, 1908. Married 7th August, 1933 in St Michael and all Angels.
We had a big garden with an orchard. My father's father gave us the plot next to his house and my parents had the house built.
A saddleback sow had nine piglets that I remember and also large whites.
I would ride the saddleback! The runt of the litter would get through the pig wire and wander down the garden to the kitchen door where my mother gave it titbits.
The large whites were killed for bacon, home cured and used to hang in our kitchen which I hated. The bacon was very different to what we buy today.
My father liked gardening so we had lots of vegetables. We had a prisoner of war who came to help and made us lovely slippers out of some sort of string.
Dad helped me plant lupins on a corner which we called lupin corner. My brother Richard built a bridge of large branches between a plum tree
and a Yew tree which we walked across with smaller branches for hand rails.
The Yew tree was very tall so Richard thinned out the branches and with sacking made two look out seats at the top. We also had a very sturdy swing made from old railway sleepers.
We rode our bikes miles and rode them down to the rubbish tip where we had a rough course where I often fell off and gashed my knees. We also rode to my cousins farm on the Hereford road.
My mother used to wash my hair in rain water from the water butt heated up in the preserving pan and curled it with metal curling tongs heated on the gas cooker.
In 1947 we had a lot of snow and it drifted to the top of the side gate.
We had a crystal set.
Mum taught piano lessons - she was an LRAM and ALCM - and both my brother and I had to learn and both got to grade four.
My brother plays beautifully. Richard also played the trumpet and played in the town Band.
I vaguely remember gas masks stored under the stairs.
My mother's father was the baker in the Bye Street, near the cattle market. Walter George Davis.
The bake house was behind the shop where I remember dried fruit sold in blue paper bags.
He delivered to the villages with a horse and cart and eventually had the very first motorised vehicle in the town.
Up the street from the shop was a rope maker which I enjoyed watching.
Years later the bakery and shop were taken on by Mr and Mrs Gabb and my grandmother lived upstairs. I used to call in to see Mrs Gabb on my way home from school
nd she would give me a plaited loaf which I nibbled all the way down to Victoria Road and home which must have been about a mile.
I used to read to her and my mother learned from her that I could read!
My father worked for the railways as a clerk at various stations in Herefordshire and then became the Station Master at Bromyard. He drove there in a Ford Eight.
There was no Station House so we didn't move there. In the holidays I went with him and remember the ticket office with the machine that dated the cardboard tickets.
He then became Station Master at Ledbury in about 1954. We moved into the Station House which is still there on the approach.
My bedroom was a very large room at the front right of the house. No heat except a two bar electric fire. We only had storage heaters downstairs.
I used to lie in bed and hear the 'Banker' engine latching on to the back of a long goods train in readiness to push it up through
the tunnel to Colwall and beyond. It would latch on and sound its whistle twice and then receive a similar whistle from the engine at the front
to agree to start off. As they started, due to the gradient, the wheels would slip and make a distinctive 'brrrr' noise until they gripped.
I don't know what was in the trucks but I know we received coal from Cannock Chase into the goods yard where the coal men came to collect it.
Dad used to let 'homing' pigeons out of their baskets on the top of the station approach and I helped him occasionally.
The Queen visited and Dad was presented to her.
I went to Ledbury Grammar School until 1960 when we went to Dawlish as my father had promotion to Station Master there until the Beeching cuts.
My mother was the guide captain for many years and was very active in the musical society and produced various shows.
My father used to go into the Talbot on Saturday mornings supposedly to drum up business for the railways. My brother and I enjoyed the chat there.
I was christened, confirmed and married at St Michael and All Angels and had the reception at The Feathers in 1966 and stayed at my cousins
farm The Verzons on the Hereford Road."
Molly Brown née Brookes 2021
When Molly sent me this item and invited me to use it I thought it would be interesting to
follow up the various leads and see where it took me in Ledbury History. The result is a bit disjointed but there is a lot here which I hope will be of interest.
The Bye Street Bakery
The Lissiman Family.
There was a bakery at No 44 Bye Street well before 1841 run by Thomas LISSIMAN. (1774 - 1830). He married Elizabeth BROOKES (1775 - 1849) on June 20th 1807.
They had :
Elizabeth Thomas Edward Mary Ann Mark Morgiana?
1807 1810 1812 1814 1817 1821
He married Elizabeth Preece in 1848. Took on The White Lion in Bye Street She married William Allen, a farmer, they settled in Lowr Mitchell Farm.
No 44 Bye Street today
In 1841, with Thomas dead, Elizabeth, now 66, is head of the household with members of her family Edward, a baker, Elizabeth, no occupation given and Morgiana
(that is what it looks like!) a baker. Living with them is John POWELL, 31, baker, James Smart,15, and William Moore 3.
When Elizabeth senior died in 1849 John Powell (1818 - 1884) wasted little time in marrying daughter Elizabeth on February 14th 1850 (St Valentine's Day!)
From the Hereford Times February 16th 1850:
14, at the Baptist chapel, Ledbury, by the Rev. John Walters, Mr. John Powell, baker, to Miss Elizabeth Lissiman, grocer, both of Ledbury.
No children found.
The 1851 census shows John as a baker with his wife Elizabeth, now 43 and employing 1 boy Edward Jenkins, 15 from Truro.
Elizabeth died in Mar qtr 1860 aged 52.
Within a few months John married Hannah Tungate in Uxbridge in June Qtr 1860, returning to 44 Bye Street, where they are in 1861.
They had:
John George Tungate Frederick
1861 1863 1865
In Ledbury In Ledbury In Hereford, where the family are in 1871 in a new bakery business
The children's birthplace details shows that John Powell left the bakery in Ledbury in about 1864 leaving the way clear for:
The Davis Family.
In the 1861 census James Davis is at an address in Bye Street as a Journeyman baker.
The entry reads:
James Davis Mary Henry William Hannah Ellen
39 22 12 9 4 2
Head of Household (b 1822) Wife (b 1839) Son (b 1849) Son (b 1855) Daughter (b 1857) Daughter(b 1859)
Hannah married Benjamin James in 1876 and together they ran The Brewery Inn for many years, see Bye Street North page.
James was a journeyman ie a worker, skilled in a given trade, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification.
The enumerator in any census has to list the streets he is going to cover and this gives us a useful snapshot of the area at the time.
In 1861 James is within this enumerator's route:
Part of the above Town of Ledbury which comprises the Bye Street from the Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Bridge
and Albert Road, Victoria Road and the whole of the Hamlet known as 'New Town'.
I cannot establish exactly where he is living but it is certainly not at No 44 and is somewhere beyond the canal/railway bridge. No doubt
he was working for John Powell and took over the bakery when the Powells moved to Hereford in about 1864.
JAMES DAVIS was born in 1822 in Tewkesbury. He was in Eastnor in 1841 before he arrived in Ledbury where he married Mary Powell on Dec 26th 1846,
Born in 1827 in Much Marcle she signs the register, he only leaves his mark; he couldn't write.
Married in December and with the first son born in February it doesn't take much imagination to see what was happening here!
James Davis and Mary POWELL take over the bakery from John POWELL and it would be neat if there was some relationship between these Powells.
I have not found any but, given the small population in Ledbury at that time, it is more than possible.
James and Mary had:
James Henry William James Anna Ellen Samuel Mary Louisa Walter George
1847 1849 1852 1857 1859 1864 1867 1869
In Back Lane he died in the same year. In Back Lane In Back Lane In Back Lane In Bye Street
In Bye Street In Bye Street In Bye Street
In 1871 James, now a Master Baker, and his family are in No 44. Henry is a confectioner and William James a Coach Painter probably working for George Hopkins in New Street.
Still baking bread in No 44 in 1881 now with Ellen, 21, as a bakers assistant, Mary Louisa, now 15, a dressmaker with Walter George, 11 and who we are following still a scholar.
1891 sees James and Mary still going strong as a Grocer and Baker but with only Walter George living at home.
In this census Walter is described as an Organist although he must have been helping in the shop and learning the trade as seen later.
Walter George married Alice Florence Turner in Cheltenham in September 1891.
They had:
Doris Mary Ruby Florence Alice Marjorie
1892 1895 1908
Molly Brookes' mother
James died in 1910 and Walter George took over the business and is well established in 1911 with his wife and the two older
girls 'assisting in the business'.
Alice Marjorie of course is still only 3. Incredibly his mother, Mary is still with them now 84. She died in 1918.
Walter is a Master Baker in 1939 and, still in No 44, he is again listed as a baker in the 1943 Tilleys.
He died on Jan 13th 1944, and the bakery was taken over by Mr and Mrs R. R. Gabb until Alice senior died on March 18th 1952.
They are buried in Ledbury Cemetery and commemorated by this handsome headstone shown on the right.
In 1953 one E.D. Barnett was the baker there until
1962 when it closed ending over 120 years as a bakery with 85 years under the Davis name.
It later became an ironmongers run by Baker J C Ltd. Currently a fruit and veg shop.
Alice Marjorie Davis is, of course, Molly's mother, more on her later.
The Brookes.
The Brookes name features large in any history of Ledbury. For instance at the start of the Bye Street bakery section above we met Thomas Lissiman marrying
Elizabeth Brookes and it would be neat if she could be linked to the following but I have found no such link.
The Brookes followed here have long been associated with the parishes of Aylton, Putley, Pixley, Little Marcle.and Much Marcle
William Twining Brookes married Jane Harris in Putley on July 9th 1791. They had three known children but it is only Charles I am followig.
The forename Twining is unusual and presumably links back to some surname in the family but I cannot find anything to confirm this.
It is a fact though, as William's marriage, burial (1805) and children's baptisms all show it and obviously the family knew the history
as the name reoccurs later.
Charles Brookes, (1792-1865) a Master Carpenter, was born in Putley to Charles Twining Brookes and Jane.
He married Susanna Evans on August 26th 1822 in Putley.
They lived in this cottage
in Kynaston, Much Marcle all their married life
the cottage being described in the Hereford Times Aug 26th 1854: To be Sold: A commodious and substantially built COTTAGE, with large and productive Garden, and about an Acre and a Half of valuable Pasture Orcharding,
now in the height of bearing, and capable of producing from 15 to 20 Hogsheads of Cider of the most approved sorts.
The Premises, which are Freehold of Inheritance, are situate in the Parish of Much Marcle, adjoining the
road leading from Marcle Hill Ledbury, and are now let to Mr. Charles Brookes, at the old low rent of £14 per annum.
Charles and Susanna had:
George Charles WILLIAM
1823 1826 1828
By 1851 George is living elsewhere with a farming family, the other sons are still at home,
Charles a carpenter and William a Sawyer.
WILLIAM born in 1828 is the next of interest, and in case you are fnding it difficult to follow
all these well used Christian names a small family tree is shown on the right.
From an address in Newtown Ledbury William married Ann Cale in Ledbury on Nov 29th 1856. Ann Cale was born in 1830 in Much Marcle to Benjamin and Elizabeth.
In 1851 she is a nurse at the establishment of Dr Wood in New Street Ledbury. (The Steppes)
They settled in Putley where they are in 1861 with William Henry born in 1857 and CHARLES born in 1860. With them is Ann's mother Elizabeth Cale, 65.
They had:
William Henry CHARLES Emma Jane Arthur
1857 1860 1863 1866
By 1871 William is the shopkeeper in Aylton and in 1881,
still in Aylton, he is making a living as a coal merchant with son William Henry also a coal merchant.
It is Charles, still living at home in 1881, we are following. Charles became a dedicated railway man spending
all his working life employed by the Great Western Railway at a time when railways in Herefordshire were only just being built. In 1881 at just 21 he is a Railway Signalman in Aylton
and by 1887 he is statiomaster at Lea, near Ross on Wye.
Lea Railway station (aka Mitcheldean Road) was opened in 1855 on the Great Western Railway line linking Ross on Wye to Gloucester.
In 1871 the Mitcheldean Road & Forest of Dean Junction Railway was formed to extend the line and link up with the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway.
This line was taken over by the GWR in 1878. Nothing remains of the station today.
On the 20th May 1889 he (amongst other Great Western Railway employees) received a St John's Ambulance first aid certificate from the Bishop of Hereford.
1891 finds him listed as a Railway Signalman, lodging with Thomas Jones, a railway policeman, and his wife Eliza in Commercial Road Hereford.
In 1901 after being promoted to Station Master of Hereford he is boarding with Thomas Croome, a Railway relief man, and his family in Newtown Road, Hereford.
Probably fed up with lodgings and now 42, he married Agnes Sarah Lewis in 1902 in Hereford (District).
Agnes was born in 1871 to John and Anne in Huntington a small village in Herefordshire near Kington on the border with Wales.
A Domestic Servant (1 of 7!) at Flaxley Abbey in Gloucestershire in 1891 and a cook to Henry Beddoe, a solicitor, in Castle Street Hereford in 1901.
They had:
Gertude Ann William Charles
1904 1908
Titley Holme Lacy. Full name William Charles Twyning after his gt.gt. grandfather.
These birth places show that Charles was at Titley Railway Station in 1904, he must have been moved there from Hereford shortly after his marriage.
Titley is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. It lies on the B4355 between Kington and Presteigne.
The station was opened in 1856 and closed completely in 1964.
Immediately to the east of the station, the line split for trains traveling south to Eardisley (at least until 1940, when that portion of the line
closed) and north-west to Presteigne, Wales. Since closure the station has been restored with track reinstated as a short private railway.
GWR Employment records show that he was transferred from
Titley to Holme Lacy Station in 1905 and settling in for the long term he put his name forward for a position on the Parish Council, coming second in the poll in March 1907.
The railway came to Holme Lacy in 1855 and was part of the Hereford to Ross-on-Wye and Gloucester line.
The line passed through the present village in a deep cutting with a bridge carrying the main road over the cutting. The station could
be seen from the bridge and won awards for its beauty with the side of the cutting planted with flowering plants that were looked after by the Stationmaster.
At its peak there were 7 passenger and 5 goods trains travelling to Gloucester, and 8 passenger and 4 goods trains travelling to Hereford. In addition to the Stationmaster,
there were 2 porters and 2 signalmen running the facility.
It seems probable that Charles was here until he retired to Ledbury.
Tilley's Almanack lists him at Portland Place in Victoria Road in 1923
when he was 63. Portland Place today
Portland Place, a detached house sitting in what was a large plot seen here circled on this 1926 map, was built before 1886.
When Charles, shown on the right, moved here in 1923 his children, Gertrude and William were 19 and 16 respectively and
just approaching adulthood.
Gertrude married Richard Edwin Drinkwater in Ledbury on May 26th 1930. They had Ann in 1934 in Ledbury, by 1939 they are in Ludlow and later in Ross on Wye.
Richard has his roots firmly in Ledbury. For more on him see below. Gertrude died in 1962 in Denbigh, Richard in Hereford in 1986
William Charles Twyning Brookes follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a dedicated railway man.
More on William Charles Twyning Brookes
His first entry in the GWR records is in 1924 when he was transferred from Ashcurch to Colwall as a clerk shortly after
the family moved to Ledbury and at the tender age of 17.
In 1926 he is moved from Glanamman to Highley and in 1928 to Littleton and Badsey.
Glanamman is a Welsh mining village in the valley of the River Amman in Carmarthenshire.
The Llanelly Railway and Dock Company, opened its line from Pontardulais to Cwmamman in 1840. The Llanelly Railway
line was taken over by The Great Western Railway on 1st January 1873.
Highley is a large village in Shropshire, England, on the west bank of the River Severn and south east of Bridgnorth.
Highley station opened to the public on 1 February 1862 and closed on 9 September 1963, before the Beeching axe closures,
still a station on the Severn Valley Railway.
Littleton and Badsey railway station was a station on the Great Western Railway between Evesham and Honeybourne.
It served the village of Badsey until closure in 1966.
These postings show he was getting a good grounding in the railway business as a single man. but at the age of 26 it was time to settle down.
He married Alice Marjorie Davis on 7th August 1933 in Ledbury and they had Richard in 1940 and Molly in 1943.
When William got married his father, Charles, gave him a large piece of his Portland Place plot and William had this house
built of which Molly speaks with fond memories in her introduction.
Named St Helier after their honeymoon destination an early picture is shown here on the left.
St Helier today.
In the same year he got married William was transferred from Ledbury to Colwall still as a clerk, later becoming Station Master in Bromyard.
Bromyard station was on the Worcester, Bromyard and Leominster Railway a single track branch railway line, from a junction south of Worcester
to join the Hereford to Shrewsbury line south of Leominster. Although popular it was never profitable, all stations became unstaffed from September 1949,
and the service was withdrawn completely in September 1952.
William was Station Master in Ledbury in 1954. With the Queen's visit in 1957 probably already in the planning stage he was
to play an important role in the proceedings as
this series of pictures shows.
Molly and friend inspecting the decorated station.
Ron Symonds, station clerk, second from left. William Brookes, Station Master, next right.
Arrival
William Brookes escorting the Queen onto the train.
In 1960 William was promoted to manage a busier station, Dawlish in Devon and then later he was Station Master at Torquay.
He died in Exeter Hospital in 1981.
More on Richard Edwin Drinkwater
Gertrude and Richard's marriage was recorded by the Gloucester Citizen of May 27th 1930:
A LEDBURY WEDDING. Drinkwater - Brookes. The wedding took place at Ledbury Parish Church yesterday of Mr. R. E. Drinkwater,
son of Mr. and the late Mrs. R. Drinkwater, Southend, Ledbury, and Miss Gertrude A. Brookes, only daughter Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Brookes, Portland House, Ledbury.
Both bride and bridegroom are well known in Ledbury, and are prominently
identified with the local branch of the Junior Imperial League, of which body the bride was Hon. Secretary until recently.
The service was conducted by the Rev. A. H Knapp. rector of Pixley and Aylton, and included the hymn " Lead us. Heavenly Father,"
Mr. A. N. Jones being at the organ. The bride, who was given away her father, was attired in an ivory satin gown, and she wore a veil
which had been in the family for years, surmounted wreath of orange blossom. She carried a bouquet of pink roses. Three small bridesmaids attended her,
the Misses Monica Taylor, Dorothy Evans, and Joyce Meredith, who wore pink dresses and also silver bangles, the gift of the bridegroom.
They carried posies of flowers. Mr W. C. T. Brookes, brother of the bride, acted as best man. The reception was held at the home of
the bride's parents, and later the bridal pair left by car for Aberystwyth, where the honeymoon will spent touring.
The Junior Imperial League was a Conservative political organisation formed in 1906.
After WW1 it was given a fresh impetus to encourage the younger generation to sign up to the Conservative cause,
Members were entitled to wear this fetching badge. It evolved into the Young Conservatives organisation.
Richard Edwin Drinkwater was baptised on Mar 29th 1905. His parents Richard and Mary were licensees of the Biddulph Arms (now the Full Pitcher)
at that time, it is their Ledbury story
I am following here.
The first Drinkwater of interest is Edwin, a farrier, born 1832 in Ross. He married Mary Elizabeth Martin on November 6th 1855 in Longhope.
Their numerous children's birthplace gives us some idea of their travels before they arrived in the Homend Ledbury by 1871:
They had:
Fanny Jane RICHARD Edwin A James Walter Tom
Osborn
1857 1858 1860 1861 1865 1867
1875
Lea Ross Ross Ross Sollers Hope Much Marcle. He married Agnes Hatton in Ledbury on July 16th 1895.
They had Jack Hatton (Drinkwater) in Aug 1896 before moving to Bromyard. Ledbury
A farrier all his life Edwin established his Ledbury business in the Homend in what is now No 70,
having access to a useful yard at the back down "Fox Lane" to carry out his business.
Mary died in 1888, Edwin in 1894 and his son Richard carried on the business.
He married Mary Thomas in 1889 in Ledbury.
They had:
Lenora Agnes Alfred Clarice Annie Frances Jennie Samuel Victor Nellie Beatrice Mary Eleanor RICHARD EDWIN
1890 1892 1894 1895 1896 1897 1900 1905
She married Cuthbert Shale Sarjeant in Ledbury on Jan 24th 1917.
He married Agnes Harriett Young in Ledbury on Sep 26th 1917.
Died in WW1
She married Fred Arthur James Birtwell Lewis in Ledbury on Apr 10th 1928. Married Gertrude Ann Brookes. (see above).
In August 1901 Richard took over the licence of the Biddulph Arms, now the Full Pitcher leaving there for the Talbot in 1907.
From the Hereford Journal Dec 21st 1907:
LEDBURY. PETTY SESSIONS.
Wednesday. Before Messrs. J. Riley (Presiding). S. H. Bickham, R. A. Swayne, H. Bray. J. Boyd. and C. W. R. Cooke.
Tbe licence of the Old Talbot Inn, Ledbury, was transferred to R. Drinkwater, on the understanding that the skittle alley would not be used.
He was here until he retired in 1920, aged 62, to No 40 Southend.
Mary died here in 1927, Richard in 1932.
More on Molly's mother, Alice Marjorie Davis, aka Maymie
When she was born her two sisters were 16 and 13 and would have had little to do with her upbringing. They married while Maymie was still a girl.
In Ledbury her youngest sister, Ruby Florence, married Wilfred Brown, an eletrical engineer from Chalford,in 1919 and they lived there after the marriage. Her older sister, Doris May, was presumably married by that time as one of the witnesses at Ruby's marriage was Doris May Poutifex. This name is a transcript from the parish register and there are plenty of opportunities for it to be spelt incorrectly. I cannot find a marriage of Doris May Davis, perhaps it was overseas. Maymie was just 11 at this time and after the marriage there would have been no young people at home.
Little is known about Alice's early life, there is a suggestion that she went to Abbey House School in the Homend run by Miss Ballard.
With her father an organist, although having to earn a crust as a baker, music would have featured in her life
In 1923, aged just 15, she was awarded a junior certificate in Pianoforte playing by the London College of Music and another in 1924 in the Senior Section. These certificates show she was a pupil of Thomas Frederick Davis (no relation). More on him is shown below. In 1933, aged 25, she was awarded a Teaching Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music.
Determined to lead an independent life after her marriage to William Brookes in 1933 she appears as part of the Supierrots Concert Party in 1934. For more on the Supierrots see the Eric Williams page.
There are quite a few pictures of her on a bigger stage in the Royal Hall in Ledbury (for more on the Royal Hall see the Royal Oak on the Southend page).
The pictures are unfortunately undated but Tilley's lists entertainment and concerts at the Royal Hall throughout the 1930s. Here is one picture on which she can be identified:
Maymie is on the right of the three in the middle
Her other passion was the Girl Guides of which she was a Captain.
On June 13th 1934 the Duke and Duchess of York visited Ledbury and according to Tilley's Retrospect (in the 1935 Edition) the chief object of the Royal Visit was the inspection of local ex servicemen, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, this ceremony taking place in the High Street. As local Captain of the Girl Guides Maymie had an important role in the presentation of the guides and several pictures of the event are shown here. Maymie leading the Guides down the Homend.
Maymie is standing against the wall behind the Duchess's right shoulder.
A meeting of the Guide Leaders!
Alice Marjorie Brookes died on April 12th 1999
Notes on Thomas Frederick Davis.
Thomas Frederick Davis was born in Much Marcle to William Davis, a farmer, and Mary. The 1851 census records him as blind.
In 1870 he is advertising his services in the Ross Gazette as shown here.
And established in Ledbury by 1871 where he is lodging as a musician with William Williams, a general dealer, in the High Street.
In 1876 he married Mary Mailes Clare in Cheltenham (District). She was 48 he was only 27 and in 1881 he is in New Street as an 'Organist of the ? Church. Tchr of Music & Tuner of the Pianoforte.', Mary is with him of course.
The name of the church is indecipherable but a later newspaper report shows it is the tin church in Bye street later known as the Chapel of Ease.
In 1891 and 1901 he is listed in New Street as an 'Organist, Teacher of Music '.
Mary died in 1907 and, now 58, he wasted little time in remarrying Fanny Howell in Colwall on July 7th 1909. She was just 35. Was she a pupil of his?
Living in Colwall, where he is recorded as being the organist at a wedding in the Parish Church in 1909, they had a daughter christened Mary Mendelssohn in 1910.
He died at Elm Tree Cottage, Bank Street, Great Malvern on August 7th 1932.
You may not have heard of Yackandandah in Victoria Australia but should you ever go there visit the Information Centre and you will find records linking it to Wellington Heath!
I could hardly believe this when I was contacted by the archivist asking for help but this led to a whole new story about Wellington Heath, Ledbury.
The connection is through the Rev. Thomas Dowell who was the first incumbent in the church at Wellington Heath and later at Yackandandah. Here is his story.
Thomas Dowell, b 1812, in Exeter was the son of Thomas Dowell, a major in the East India Company.
Thomas senior died in 1831 leaving a considerable amount of money to his son on reaching his majority which he would have done in 1833.
Gaining a BA at Oriel College Oxford he was ordained on May 21st 1837. After a short spell in Hempstead, Gloucester, he was appointed curate in Coleford in 1837:
From the Hereford Journal of Wednesday November 22nd 1837:
On Friday the Rev. Thomas Dowell , B.A. was licenced to the Perpetual Curacy of Coleford, by the Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, void by the cession of the Rev. Geo. Roberts
This, unfortunately didn't last long as the Gloucestershire Chronicle of April 27th 1839 reports:
We are sorry to hear that that excellent clergyman, the Rev. Thomas Dowell, has been compelled to resign the incumbency of Coleford owing to ill health.
The 1841 census, taken on June 6th, shows him as a clergyman in the Brislington (Bristol) Lunatic asylum, and the Hereford Journal of December 1st 1841 records:
The Rev. Thomas Dowell, B.A. has been appointed and licensed by the Lord Bishop of Hereford to the incumbancy of the New Chapel on Wellington Heath, in the parish of Ledbury.
This new chapel was formally opened on July 15th 1841 as this article from 'Herefordshire Past' shows:
By 1841 the new church was completed; and was opened in July on a glorious bright and sunny morning. Indeed, the lovely weather held out until the whole ceremony was over, and then the heavens opened with torrential rain and thunder.
It is worth noting, that this was the first church to be consecrated in Herefordshire for over a hundred years.
The procession began at eleven, from Hope End, the house of Thomas Heywood; the Bishop was attended by thirty clergymen of his diocese, and a large number of gentry and yeomanry along with many elegantly dressed ladies, added their weight to the proceedings.
The inhabitants of Wellington Heath said that they had never seen anything so grand.
The Rev. James Watts of Ledbury read the prayers, and the Bishop performed the service; the Very Reverend the Dean of St. Asaph preached the sermon, and it was declared to be the best and most appropriate ever heard, with the congregation listening with rapt attention. He strongly reprobated the Mormonite leaders "who endeavoured to persuade their followers that the New Jerusalem, mentioned in the Holy Writ, alluded to an earthly city, and urged the poorer part of his audience not to be led astray by such dangerous and ridiculous doctrines."
Afterwards, the congregation went out into the churchyard, where under a poplar tree the Reverend Prelate spoke the beautiful service to hallow the ground where people were to be buried.
Thanks were given to the architect, Mr. Matthews of Ledbury.
Christ Church was not exactly pretty in its early form, but gradually the building was enlarged and improved.
In 1851 he is shown as 'lodger' in Hill Top Farm, Wellington Heath, with Thomas Haywood, Farmer, being head of household. However later events show he must have owned the farm as he allowed the villagers to use some land as allotments and the documents in Yackandandah show him selling it, more on this later.
Leaving in 1855 the parish decided to give him a good send off as this extract from the Hereford Times of Saturday 17th February 1855 shows:
We understand it is in contemplation to present the Rev. Thomas Dowell with a testimonial of respect, as slight acknowledgement of his services as pastor of Wellington's Heath church, this parish, and also for his generous and kindly spirit towards the poor of Wellington Heath's division of the parish, during long course of years. It is a pleasant thing to speak of the virtues of a people, and do it sincerely and with pride, but it is a more pleasing circumstance to render honour unto man who is really deserving of it. Putting aside his ministerial duties, we must not forget to mention the good he did in temporal affairs, the state of the road at Wellington Heath some years since was anything but creditable; Through Mr Dowell's indefatigable exertions, however assisted grants of stone and donations from Thomas Heywood, Esq Hope End House, E. M. Barrett, Esq and other gentlemen, the roads were repaired in excellent manner, and the inhabitants, of that part of the parish were benefited by the proceeding. In like manner a school was built upon the Heath, entirely at Dowell's expense. Seeing the utility of the garden allotment system, Mr. Dowell very kindly allotted off portion of the Hill Top Estate for allotments, which were let to the poor at moderate rents this was beneficial measure for many who did not possess gardens of their own, it enabled the working man to rear vegetables cheaply for his family. Innumerable other instances might be mentioned of Mr. Dowell's generosity and public spirit, but they are too well known by the parishioners of Ledbury to require any further comment from us. We believe this testimonial will be taken up with much spirit by the parishioners generally. Already a committee has been formed to carry out its objects, and in the course of a few days will commence with their truly laudable and commendable intention. The committee appointed are Mr. Thos. Heywood, of the Hill Top farm; Sir. James Barrett, of Burtons; Mr. Richard Mason, of Prior's Court; Mr. J. W. Bishop, of Pegs farm; and Mr. Timothy Clarke, of Stonehouse farm, in this parish.
A splendid gold pen and holder, and a handsome silver inkstand, upon which were several emblematical figures, the subject being "Science instructing youth". The following inscription was engraved upon the inkstand 'Presented to the Rev. Tomas Dowell Wellington Heath, Herefordshire by 215 subscribers. May 1st 1855' The Rev Mr Dowell briefly but very warmly and feelingly acknowledged the gift. The articles presented were purchased from the well known house of Messrs. Hunt & Rosskill of London for £65.
He would have had to sell Hill Top and an advert in the Hereford Times of May 5th 1855 shows:
FREEHOLD ESTATE, NEAR LEDBURY TO be sold by PRIVATE CONTRACT. A very desirable and valuable FREEHOLD ESTATE, lying in a ring fence, near a good turnpike road, called "The Hill Top," situate within a mile from the town of Ledbury, and comprising a substantial DWELLING HOUSE with suitable Farm Buildings, and 94 acres of superior Arable and Pasture LANDS, partly planted with choice fruit trees.
A small outlay only would convert the present Dwelling House into a residence fit for a gentleman, the situation of which is most delightful and commands extensive views of the surrounding country. The Estate, which is intersected by the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal, is distant only six miles from Malvern, and has some excellent sites for Houses of a respectable class.
To view, apply to Mr. Thomas Heywood; and for further particulars to Mr. Richard UNDERWOOD, Solicitor, Hereford.
Hereford, 23rd April, 1855.
And this map, sourced from Yackandandah, shows the extent of the estate including the Garden Allotments!
An indenture exists, again in Yackandandah, showing that it was bought by the John Miles Estate for £6000 on May 12th 1856.
Sailing from Liverpool on June 29th 1855 on the Cornwall, a barque of 580 tons, he arrived in Melbourne on October 23rd and was soon performing his duties when he conducted a marriage ceremony in St Paul's church Melbourne on Nov 16th.
It seems he hadn't properly resigned from the incumbency at Wellington Heath, and this may have prevented him taking another parish, as his formal letter of resignation, sent from Melbourne, is dated September 11th 1856, and accepted by the Bishop of Hereford on Dec 20th 1856.
There was no church in Yackandandah when he was appointed to the District on 24th January 1859. A new church was consecrated on May 5th 1865, doubtless the Rev. Dowell was largely instrumental in its development. The picture on the left shows the church and vicarage in the 1860s.
As early as 1861 he was unsettled here and offered his resignation to the bishop which he refused to accept but in 1865, with his health failing, he left Australia to return home.
Reports of his time there were full of praise. From the Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth Victoria) 7th November 1865:
The friends of the Rev. Mr Dowell, many years minister in this district, will be glad to hear that the Reverend gentleman has perfectly recovered his health during the voyage home.
And in a premature report of his death from the same paper June 4th 1878:
Good Mr Dowell, as everybody calls him, was known and loved by almost every man, woman, and child in the Ovens District. He was a perfect gentleman, a scholar, and a saint, and whose whole souled sympathies were extended to all manner and conditions of men of every creed and colour. His purse, his time, his health, and his house were sacrificed for the good of others.
He left, with very liitle money, leaving all his papers behind!
He next appears in Evancoyd, a chapelry in Old Radnor parish near Kington. Constituted in 1866, again this had no church at this time and a new church, dedicated to St Peter, was built between 1866 and 1870, consecrated in 1870. Where services were held before that time is not clear, but the Rev. Thomas Dowell was appointed to the curacy by July 17th 1866 and conducted the first baptism here on January 30th 1867. In 1894 he was allowed to retire with a pension of £50
He died, aged 85, on Jan 22nd 1897 at Blair House Hereford.
Thomas' sister, Mary, b 1899, married Sir Edwyn Francis Stanhope of Holme Lacy House, who, doubtless, influenced the Bishop of Hereford in appointing Thomas to Wellington Heath and Evancoyd.
There are several recorded branches of the family with the name Mutlow. There are branches recorded in the Bosbury and Gloucester areas
but to date no direct link has been found with the Ledbury Mutlows. However there is a direct link to the Mutlows recorded in the Putley
and Much Birch areas a few miles west of Ledbury from the mid 1750's.
The Birth, Marriage and Death dates have been obtained from the St Michaels Church Ledbury Registers that were originally held by
the Church but are now held at the Hereford Record Office. Whilst we are concentrating on the 19th century in Ledbury we start with some
of the background of the previous generations of the Mutlow Family who had a direct association with the Town of Ledbury.
William
? ─ 1679
Cooper
James
1669 ─ 1729
Cooper
William
1710 ─ 1787
Cooper, Farmer
William
1735 ─ 1796
Cooper, Tanner, Banker of Ledbury & Chepstow
Hannah
1777 ─ 1873
Spinster
Benjamin
1782 ─ 1863
Tanner of Ledbury
William
1816 ─ 1882
Solicitor of Ledbury
John Vaughan
1820 ─ 1901
Solicitor and Gentleman Farmer of Ledbury
Benjamin
1822 ─ 1877
Tanner & Currier
Daniel Saunders
1827 ─ 1877
Bark Merchant
Joseph Wickes
1828 ─ 1894
Tanner & Currier
Joseph Hankins
1865 ─ 1916
Innkeeper
Ethelbert
1869 ─ 1911
Farmer of Ledbury
George Richard
1873 ─ 1937
Farmer of Ledbury
Gerald Claude
1908 ─ 1980
Farmer
The St Michaels Church Ledbury registers contain many entries under the name Mutlow from 1550's onwards (sometimes
spelt Mutlo, Mutloe, Mutlowe and even Mutley). The direct family line continues, in Ledbury, until the mid 20th century.
We start with William Mutlow (Mutley) ? -1679 who married Joyce Andrewes of Ledbury on 8 February 1650 in Felton Herefordshire
(about 5 miles north-east of Ledbury).
The year of William's birth is unknown as there are four William Mutlow entries of that period in the Ledbury Parish Register Vol 2 1556 - 1686.
It was on the 19th November 1657 William Mutloe of Ledbury Cowper purchased from Francis Cale of Ledbury Corvisor a Messuage or tenement with appurtences
situated in the Homend (with all the goods an chattels) wherein Thomas Yaspile doth now dwell for the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds.
The witnesses of the agreement were Thomas Hawfield and Thomas Skyner and signed by Francis Cale and the mark of William Mutloe.
William died in 1679 and buried on 21 July 1679 in Ledbury. William's age was not given in the burial register
and his exact date of birth is therefore not known.
William died intestate. Letters of Administration of his estate were granted to his widow Joyce at Hereford on 5 Sep 1679
and a Probate Inventory compiled with total effects being £70 9s. 10d.
Joyce Andrewes was one of six siblings baptised 9 Feb 1932 the daughter of John Andrewes (20 Apr 1600 - 31 Jan 1678) and Mary his wife.
Joyce was buried 31st December 1701 in Ledbury. It is worth mentioning that Joyce's sister Joane Andrewes married John Deven
a Clothier of Ledbury, with premises near Homend Street, at St Michael's Church Ledbury on 8th July 1665.
William Mutlow and Joyce Andrews had the following children:
William MUTLOW 1666 - 1718 Silverwarer Drawer London
James Mutlow 1669 - 1729 Cooper Ledbury
JAMES MUTLOW 1669-1729 Cooper was baptised on 5 November 1669 in Ledbury. He married Mary WHITE
(Baptised 20th January 1676 in Ledbury), the daughter of William White and Ann his wife, in Hereford Cathedral on 14 July 1701 both being
of the parish of Ledbury. Mary died in 1713.
James Mutlow and Mary White had the following children:
John MUTLOW ? - 1709
Joyce MUTLOW 1702 - 1702
Mary MUTLOW 1703 - ? (married in Eastnor 1820 toSamuel Edwards of Leigh Worcs)
James MUTLOW 1707 - 1789 (married in Ledbury 1729 to Mary Gwillim of Putley)
Elizabeth MUTLOW 1709 - 1709
William MUTLOW 1710 - 1787
James Mutlow 1669 - 1729 remarried to his cousin Margaret HANKINS in 1721.
Margaret born in 1694 was the daughter of William HANKINS Tanner
of Ledbury and Margaret his wife. Mention is made in the 2 Nov 1721 Marriage Settlement that James MUTLOW and James MUTLOE
are one and the same person thus denoting that MUTLOW was spelt MUTLOE. James died in June 1729 and was buried
on 29 June 1729 in Ledbury and commemorated on a memorial floor flagstone in St Michael's Church Ledbury.
For details of the Flagstone Floor Memorial Inscriptions in St Michael's Church see below (under Adjacent to the Entrance
Into The Chapter House). James In his will left his farm and messuages in Ledbury (which he had purchased from Sarah Lewes)
to his 2nd wife Margaret, his house in the Homend (which he had purchased from William & Bridgett Wood) to his son William
and monetary values to his other children of his first marriage, and on 30 Aug 1728 he added a codicil which left £50 to Margaret,
Elizabeth and Sarah, the daughters of his "present" wife Margaret.
James Mutlow and Margaret Hankins had the following children:
Margaret MUTLOW 1722 - 1798
Elizabeth MUTLOW 1724 - 1805
Sarah MUTLOW 1726 - 1792
Anne MUTLOW 1727 - 1749.
WILLIAM MUTLOW 1710 - 1787 Cooper & Farmer son of James MUTLOW and Mary WHITE was baptised on 22
March 1710 in Ledbury as "James son of James and Mary Mutlo" according to the Bishops Transcripts held at HARC.
William married Sarah JONES on 17 July 1734 in Ledbury. A copy of the Marriage Settlement (J11/14/3a) is held at
HARC. A précis is as follows:
This Indenture of Three parts made 7 June 1734 between William Mutlow of Ledbury Cooper of the First part,
George Elton of the Lower Hall Ledbury Gentleman and John Bayliss of Ledbury Tanner of the Second part and Richard Jones
of Ledbury Innholder of the Third part WITNESSETH that for and in Consideration of a Marriage intended shortly between William Mutlow and Sarah
Jones Spinster Eldest Daughter of Richard Jones the sum of One Hundred Pounds paid to William Mutlow as and for the Marriage portion of Sarah Jones,
and for the Settling and Assuring of the Messuage or Tenement with Appurtenances Granted and Released for the consideration of
Five shillings paid to William Mutlow by George Elton and John Bayliss doth lease the Messuage or Tenement with the backside
and garden estimated to be half a Burgage where William Mutlow doth now dwell situated in Ledbury in or near Homend Street having
the Dwelling House Backside and Garden heretofore of John Hodges and late of Benjamin Maddox and now of Richard Jones on the North side,
the Dwelling House Close and Garden heretofore in possession of Thomas Bullock and late in the possession of John Hill and now in the possession
of William Gwyllym on the South and East sides, and the Homend Street on the West side for a period of One whole year by indenture bearing
the date the day next before the day of the date of this indenture.
William owned The White House Cradley as In the Will of his Son, William Mutlow (1735 - 1796) of Ledbury Merchant and Banker,
is the following statement: "- - - AND Also All that my Messuage and Farm with the Arable Meadow and Pasture Lands Tenements and Hereditaments
thereto adjoining Called THE WHITE HOUSE situate and lying and being in the Parish of CRADLEY in the County of Hereford and which my Late
Father WILLIAM MUTLOW deceased bought and purchased of messieurs Cooksey, Turner and Collins".
William Mutlow died 18th May 1787 aged 77. For details of the Flagstone Floor Memorial Inscriptions see below.
Sarah JONES was born in 1711. She died on 5 July 1774 and was buried on 8 July 1774 in Ledbury St Michael's.
William Mutlow and Sarah Jones had the following children:
Sarah MUTLOW ? - 1792
Edmund MUTLOW 1740 - 1753
William MUTLOW 1735 - 1796.
William MUTLOW 1735 - 1796 Cooper, Tanner, Banker of Ledbury and Chepstow, son of William MUTLOW and
Sarah JONES, was baptised on 26 December 1735 in Ledbury.
William initially followed his father's profession as a Cooper, then later as a Tanner and a Banker in Ledbury and Chepstow.
At one stage his bank was clearing nearly £6000 of notes a month with Cocks Biddulph & Co, who were his London agents.
His father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been Coopers so he was the first member of the family to branch out into a new line of business.
William married Sarah Hankins on 5 November 1761 in Ledbury.
His wife Sarah was a member of the Hankins family who were Tanners (Sarah's father Thomas Hankins) and Bankers (Richard Hankins being a partner
in the Mutlow and Hankins Bank of Ledbury).
Due to William's profession and business interests there are a many deeds, Indentures and newspaper articles
articles relating to him.
The following are a brief selection:
In 1759 William Mutlow is listed on the Deeds as the owner and occupier of No. 8 High Street Ledbury taking possession from Mr Antipas Church
and his Wife Margaret. A 1796 Bond shows his eldest son, Thomas as the owner and occupier of No 8. In the 1840 Tithe apportionment shows
his daughter Hannah, as the owner and occupier of No 8 as do the censuses 1841 to 1871. On Hannah's death the Sales particulars dated 1875 list
the No 8 property as part of the Mutlow estate.
Relating to the Tannery business situated in Bye Street Ledbury where the Clock Tower now stands, in the Will of William Mutlow of Ledbury,
Merchant and Banker (dated 1792 and Proved 25 May 1796), is stated the following extracts: "- - - of and concerning several Messuages or Dwelling
Houses Cottages Farms and Lofts with a Tan Yard and divers Curtilages Gardens Orchards Lands Tenements woods Wood Land Grounds Hereditaments
and premises with the Appurtenances situate lying and being in the several parishes of Colwall Coddington and Ledbury and in the Borough of
Ledbury in Herefordshire which were the Property Lands Tenements Hereditaments and Estate of the said Sarah my Wife as the only Child and
Heirs at Law of Thomas Hankins of Ledbury aforesaid Tanner deceased and by Deed executed by me and my said Wife to and with the said John
Drew declaring the Uses of the said Fine so levied as aforesaid and bearing sale on or about the 19th April 1790 I am legally empowered by
this my Will to give devise direct limit appoint and dispose thereof in such manner as I shall think proper".
The 1794 Hereford Journal Wednesday 25 June reports on the List of Subscribers to the Fund for augmenting the MILITIA of this County,
and other purposes for the Internal Defence of the Kingdom; lists the Banking House of Messrs Mutlow and Hankins, Ledbury as a collecting place
for subscriptions and also a donation of £21 0s. 0d from Messrs Mutlow and Hankins.
The 1796 Gloucester Journal Monday 09 and the 16 May announcement "TANYARD To be Let, and entered upon immediately, a very commodious
TANYARD, in the town of Ledbury, in the county of Hereford, now in full Work, and lately in the occupation of the late Mr William Mutlow,
deceased. For further particulars enquire of Mr Richard Hankins, Banker, Ledbury".
The following is a brief précis of the 1796 Will of WILLIAM MUTLOW granting SARAH MUTLOW Widow the Relict of the deceased Sole Executrix
Commission to duly administer: I do hereby ratify and confirm the Marriage Settlement and Jointure by me made upon my said Wife prior to my Marriage
of the Messuage and Dwelling house with Appurtenances wherein we do live and which are situate in and near the High Street, Ledbury.
The Farm with Outbuildings Stable Meadow and Pasture Lands and Hereditaments thereto adjoining called Innerson, in the parish of Redmarley
Dabitot in the County of Worcester, and now in the possession of Thomas Perkins as Tennant whereof immediately on the death of the survivor
of me and my said Wife my Younger Son BENJAMIN MUTLOW will become legally entitled. Where I now live in the Borough of Ledbury my Eldest Son
THOMAS MUTLOW will become entitled. The Messuage and Farm Lands Tenements and Hereditaments and premises comprised in the Marriage Settlement
aforesaid shall pass to my TWO SONS. I appoint unto THOMAS my said Son all and singular any Freehold and also any Copyhold of Inheritance and
Customary together with any Leasehold Messuage and Dwelling Houses Gardens Orchards Lands Tenements and Hereditaments that may be intermixed
situate and being in the parish of Ledbury and unto Manor of Ledbury otherwise Ledbury Forrest. I give and appoint to my Younger Son BENJAMIN
MUTLOW all and every my Freehold Messuages or Dwelling Houses Tan Yards Cottages Costs Gardens Orchards Lands Tenements and Hereditaments
with Outbuildings Ways Watercourses Patters Banks Streams Flood Pates Rights and Privileges situate lying and being within the Borough of
Ledbury. The Farm with Barns Outbuildings arable Meadow and Pasture Lands Woods and Woodland grounds Tenements Hereditaments called The
Chapel which I lately purchased from Henry Blachford Scudamore Esquire and now in the possession of Thomas Perkins as Tennant in the Parish
of Redmarley Dabitot and all my Freehold Messuage and Farm with Lands Tenements and Hereditaments called Everes which I purchased from
Joseph Allen and now in the Tenure and occupation of Joseph Allen as Tenant to me in the same Parish of Redmarley Dabitot to be held
in TRUST by Mr Edward Hankins of Ledbury, Currier, and William Lucy of the City of Bristol, Master, to allow George Buckle (son in
law whose wife SARAH MUTLOW is deceased), of Chepstow, to take the profits and rent during the Minority or until the Marriage of my
Five Daughters (ANNE MUTLOW, ELIZABETH MUTLOW, MARIA MUTLOW, HANNAH MUTLOW AND CHARLOTTE MUTLOW) toward the Maintenance and Support
and Education of my Five said Daughters and my Three Grand Children (JOHN BUCKLE, SARAH BUCKLE AND ANN BUCKLE).
After the age of Twenty One or Marriage the trust to be held in Six Parts (five parts for my five daughters and one part for my Grand Children
as aforesaid). To my Son THOMAS MUTLOW I give all that Messuage and Farm with Loft Buildings and Arable Meadow and pasture Lands Woods Woodland
Grounds and Coppice Wood thereto and belonging Called HAWKINGS AND All and every Arable Meadow and Pasture Lands Woods Woodland Grounds
and Coppice Wood adjoining and belonging Called HOUGHTONS situate lying and being in the several and respective Parishes of COLWALL and
CODDINGTON in the County of Hereford (approx. 4 miles on the east side of Ledbury) AND Also All that my Messuage and Farm with the Arable Meadow
and Pasture Lands Tenements and Hereditaments thereto adjoining Called THE WHITE HOUSE situate and lying and being in the Parish of CRADLEY
in the County of Hereford and which my Late Father WILLIAM MUTLOW deceased bought and purchased of messieurs Cooksey, Turner and Collins.
I also give to my said Son THOMAS MUTLOW all that my Cottage with the Lands thereto belonging called RICKETS PLACE or GREAT OAK or by whatsoever
Name or Names the same is called known distinguished situate lying and being near unto a place called CRAUMORE PITT and now in the Occupation of
Thomas Webb as Tennant to me and situate lying and being in the said Parish of Redmarley Dabitot and County of Worcester. Whereas I now carry on the
Trade and Business of a Tanner which was exercised by my Wife's late Father the said THOMAS HANKINS deceased (in the said herein before devised Tan
Yard and Buildings thereto adjoining and belonging situate in and near a Street called the BYE STREET otherwise BISHOPS STREET in the said Borough
of Ledbury for many Years which Trade and Business it is my earnest wish and desire shall and may be in like manner (and in as full extent as I ever
carried the same on) carried on and pursued by my Younger Son BENJAMIN MUTLOW.
Sarah HANKINS, the daughter of Thomas HANKINS (1708 - 1780) and Anne WHITE (bap.1698), was born in 1741.
She was baptised on 23 July 1741 in Ledbury. She died on 16 February 1832. She was buried on 24 February 1832 in St Michael's Church
Ledbury. For details of the Flagstone Floor Memorial Inscriptions in St Michael's Church see below (Far Aisle - Two Floor Memorials).
One memorable condition contained in Sarah's will when detailing a bequest to one of her daughters is as follows:
"the sum of One hundred pounds to and for her sole and separate use independent of her present husband and with which
he shall have nothing to do to be by her managed given paid applied and disposed of as she alone notwithstanding her
Goverture shall think proper and either in her lifetime or by any Will she may make and the same shall not be subject
to the power or control or intermeddling of her said husband or be liable or subject to his debts but be entirely free
therefrom and her receipt alone for the said sum of One hundred pounds shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my Executrix".
A similar condition was also expressed in her daughter Hannah's will.
An 1819 Likeness of Sarah Mutlow nee Hankins
William Mutlow and Sarah Hankins had the following children:
Sarah MUTLOW 1762 - ? (married in Ledbury 1785 to George Buckle of Chepstow Monmouthshire)
William MUTLOW 1764 - 1767
Thomas MUTLOW 1766 - 1820 (married in Chepstow 1790 to Anne Howell of Chepstow)
Anne MUTLOW 1769 - 1836 (married in Ledbury 1809 to William Thackwell of Birtsmorton Court Berrow)
Elizabeth MUTLOW 1772 - 1858 (married in Ledbury 1797 to John Wilson of Great Malvern)
Maria MUTLOW 1775 - 1859 (married in Ledbury 1800 to Rev Thomas Cox of Ledbury & Coleridge Devon)
Hannah MUTLOW 1777 - 1873
Charlotte MUTLOW 1780 - 1831
Benjamin MUTLOW 1782 - 1863.
Hannah MUTLOW 1777 - 1873 Spinster, daughter of William MUTLOW and Sarah HANKINS, was baptised 21 October 1777 in Ledbury.
She died on 15 May 1873 in Ledbury and was buried on 21 May 1873 in Ledbury St Michael's. Full details of the Floorstone Memorial Inscriptions are shown
below.
A small sampler with the originators name Hannah Mutlow August 1786 aged 8
In the Will of Anne Thackwell nee Mutlow late of Moreton Court in the County of Worcester but now of the Town of Ledbury Proved at London 10th March 1837
appoints her sister Hannah Mutlow Spinster sole Executrix to whom administration was granted.
Contained within this will was the following bequest:
To my sister Hannah Mutlow all my share and interest in the premises in the Southend Street Ledbury and now occupied by James Collins Gent.
(It was James Collins who was a solicitor in the Southend Ledbury to whom Hannah's Nephew William Mutlow 1816-1882 joined as a partner
in the solicitors practice. It was in 1860 that these same Premises were bequeathed to William by his Aunt Maria Cox nee Mutlow and William
resided there until 1878 when he retired and left Ledbury).
In April 1838 Hannah loaned £40 on mortgage to William Tomlins on land in Berrow Worcs (repaid Sept 1845) and in 1841 loaned £1400 on mortgage
to Robert Slade on the security of land with 5 dwelling houses in Homend Street, Ledbury.
In the 1840 Tithe apportionment Hannah Mutlow is listed as living as owner at No 8 High Street Ledbury. It is very possible that Hannah
lived here after her Mother Sarah died in 1831.
No 8 High Street Ledbury was in the possession of the Mutlow Family from 1759 when William
Mutlow the Elder (Banker) took possession until 1875 when it was sold as part of Hannah Mutlow's estate. The 1841 Census has Hannah living at
High Street Ledbury, with her sister Maria Cox, aged 64. The 1851 census: Hannah is aged 73 born Ledbury, unmarried, living with her sister
Maria (and 2 servants) in (No 8) High Street Ledbury, occupation Land Proprietor. The 1859 Slater's Directory lists Mutlow Miss Hannah,
High Street Ledbury. The 1870 Kelley's Directory lists Mutlow Miss, High Street Ledbury. The 1871 census: age 93 born Ledbury, occupation
"Annuitant", living in High Street Ledbury with one servant.
In the 1873 Worcester Journal Saturday 17 May: Deaths - Mutlow May 15th at her
residence High Street Ledbury Hannah Mutlow in her 96th year. Much Respected.
Hannah's Will made 13th January 1873 and witnessed by Ann Griffiths and Selena Bradley, servants to Miss Hannah Mutlow was Proved at Hereford 11th
Jun 1878 by her nephew John Vaughan Mutlow of Wallhills in the Parish of Ledbury, Gentleman and Nephew of the deceased, the sole executor;
her effects valued at under £4000.(Note: The witnesses are the same persons who were witnesses to the Will of Daniel Saunders Mutlow
(Hannah Mutlow's Nephew) made 15th July 1873 listed as servants to Mr Joseph Wickes Mutlow (also Hannah Mutlow's Nephew).
Hannah granted sums of money to various relatives: the wives and children of her nephews John Vaughan Mutlow, Benjamin Mutlow,
Daniel Saunders Mutlow and Joseph Wickes Mutlow; to the two children of Anne Teresa Williams daughter of my late brother Thomas Mutlow;
the children of my late niece Hannah Maria Williams; the two grandchildren of my late sister Elizabeth Wilson namely Marmaduke and Sarah.
The residue of my personal estate to be divided between her four nephews John Vaughan Mutlow, Benjamin Mutlow, Daniel Saunders Mutlow
and Joseph Wickes Mutlow, sons of my late dear brother Benjamin, absolutely. I direct the legacies of such of the pecuniary legatees
as shall be married to be paid into their respective proper hands in order that the same be enjoyed and disposed of as their separate
property free from marital control.
Benjamin MUTLOW 1782 - 1863 Tanner of Ledbury, son of William MUTLOW and Sarah HANKINS, was born in 1782 in Ledbury and baptised on 24 December
1782 in Ledbury.
A document in Herefordshire Archives (B092/6) states that, although he was born in December of 1782 and baptised at the parish
church, the record of his baptism was omitted from the parish register. He married Mary Vaughan WICKES on 5 May 1812 in Tewksbury. He died on 8 February
1863 in Ledbury and was buried on 13 February 1863 in Ledbury Cemetery. Buried in a box vault in Ledbury Cemetery Plot No. a 49-50, along with his
spinster daughter Sarah who died in 1862. His wife Caroline and other children are buried in St Michael's Church Ledbury.
At the baptisms of 11 of his children recorded in the Ledbury parish register 1813 - 27, all as children of Benjamin Mutlow of Homend, Tanner,
and Mary Vaughan his wife.
On the 21 June 1796 Thomas Mutlow of Chepstow in the County of Monmouth, Merchant, the eldest son of William Mutlow, signed a
" Bond for the performance of Covenants to the Rev'd Michael and Richard Hankins for the obligations to his brother Benjamin Mutlow
an Infant and his mother Sarah Mutlow relating to No 8 High Street Ledbury."
Witnesses of the Bond were Antipas Church Jnr.
and John Mutlow (Cooper in Ledbury 1734 - 1800) who was Thomas's & Benjamin's distant cousin.
Benjamin is mentioned in the 1814 Will of his cousin William Mutlow (1732 - 1814) of the parish of Little Birch in the County of Hereford,
Yeoman, that if there was any difference or disputes amongst any of the beneficiaries in this my Will, then it shall be referred to Mr Benjamin Mutlow
of the Town of Ledbury, Gentleman, and that his decision shall be final and conclusive. A similar expression is contained in the 1834 Will of Benjamin's
cousin Sarah Mutlow of Little Birch dated 15 Apr 1834 she specified that if any dispute was to arise between her two brothers who were her executors then
it was her "desire that it be referred to Mr Benjamin Mutlow of Ledbury Tanner, whose decision shall be final".
An 1815 Document, held in the Butchers
Row Museum, detailing duty payable headed A STAMP OFFICE for the Receipt and Discharge for any Gift or Legacy by Way of ANNUITY Register CD No.
2 1815 Folio 254. ON ACCOUNT of the Real Estate of John Drew, late of Ledbury in the County of Hereford, Gentleman, who died on the 31st day
of December 1814, BETWEEN Benjamin Mutlow, Tanner, and John Edy, Grocer, both of Ledbury and both Devisees in Trust, acting under Probate,
or Administration with Will annexed, granted by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on the 19th Day of April 1815 AND Margaret Mutlow,
Annuitant for Life, Stranger in Blood (to the deceased), aged 60 Years.
On December 11th 1834 William Thackwell Esquire (who died 6th July 1835), of Birts Morton Court in the parish of Birts Morton in the County of Worcester,
signed the Lease to vest possession from Benjamin Mutlow of No 8 High Street Ledbury for one year. As previously stated No 8 High Street Ledbury was in
the possession of the Mutlow Family from 1759 to 1875. William's wife Anne Thackwell nee Mutlow died 26 November 1836.
The 1813 Map of Ledbury identifying areas and ownership of Land shows Benjamin Mutlow occupying plots of land on the south side of the
upper cross (No's 849 plot on the west side of the road & plot 835 on the opposite side). These plots of land are near or adjacent to
the line of the Gloucester - Hereford Canal which closed in 1881 and became the Gloucester - Ledbury Railway which opened in 1882.
In 1820 a record of a Meeting held in the Committee Room on October 30th of the Inhabitants of Ledbury for the purpose of taking into
expediency of Opening a Subscription For Taking Down Butchers Row with John Biddulph Esq in the Chair resolved that a that a subscription
be opened for the purpose of removing the said Butchers Row etc., That a committee be appointed to promote the business of this meeting,
and that such committee do meet monthly for that purpose etc., Mr Benjamin Mutlow is named as a member.
The 1821 Hereford Journal Wednesday August 29 and September 12 notices: To be Sold by Auction, On Wednesday, the Twenty-sixth day of September 1821,
at the Feather's Inn, in Ledbury, in the county of Hereford, at Four O'Clock in the Afternoon, Four Pieces of very excellent rich MEADOW and PASTURE LAND, part thereof Planted with Fruit Trees, situate in the Parish of and within a Quarter of a Mile of the Town of Ledbury, in the Occupation of Mr, Benjamin Mutlow. All the above Lots are Freehold of Inheritance; the Land-tax of the whole is redeemed; and Possession may be had at Candlemas next. The 1824 Plan of Ledbury (hanging in the Butchers Row House Museum in Church Lane) and the 1831 Map of Turnpikes in Ledbury shows Mr Mutlow occupying the area near the corner of Homend and Bishop Street now called Bye Street where the Clock Tower and Public Library now stand.
1839 The Tithe Map of the "Detail in Borough" of Ledbury held at the Hereford Record Office, indicates the properties in the Homend Street
and one property off of Church Lane that Benjamin Mutlow owned. They are listed in the table below along with the occupants as follows:
Benjamin's death in 1863 was reported in several newspapers. The Worcester Chronicle Wednesday 11 February announcement:
Deaths - February 8th in Homend-street, Ledbury, Benjamin Mutlow, Esq., the elder, aged 80, regretted by a large circle of friends.
The Hereford Times Saturday 14 February announcement Deaths - Mutlow.- Feb 8, at Ledbury, aged 80, deeply lamented, Benjamin Mutlow Esq.
If you would like to see the history as a family tree click here
Benjamin Mutlow's tomb in Ledbury cemetery The inscription reads: Benjamin Mutlow
of Ledbury died February 8th 1863 aged 80 years Sarah Mutlow spinster daughter
of Benjamin Mutlow died March 7th 1862 aged 48 years.
The sale of Benjamin Mutlow's residence in the Homend and other Land was advertised in the Hereford Journal Saturday 11 July and the Hereford
Times Saturday 28 July: Ledbury, Herefordshire. Valuable FREEHOLD PROPERTY, to be sold by auction, by Mr Philip Bayliss, on Wednesday the 5th day of
August, 1863, at the New Inn, in the Town of Ledbury, at 4 o'Clock in the afternoon, by order of the Trustees of the Will of the late Benjamin Mutlow,
Esq., subject to the conditions which will then be produced.
LOT 1 - A Commodious and substantially-built DWELLING HOUSE, fronting thr Homend Street, in the Town of Ledbury, in the County of Hereford,
late the residence of Mr. Mutlow; having on the ground floor an entrance-hall, dining and drawing-rooms, three china closets, large kitchen,
back-kitchen, and pantry fitted with dressers and shelves, a convenient brew-house with large and small copper boilers, and with soft water
pump and large reservoir beneath holding 25 hogsheads. The cellarage extends under the house, and contains two wire bins.
On the first floor are six bed-rooms, dressing-room, and closet; and on the second five bedrooms with convenient back stairs.
The principal stairs are of polished oak leading from the entrance hall, and there are large landings on the first and second floors.
The Yard is 118 feet in length, in which are a pump-house, pump with never failing spring of good water, dairy, coal-house, coach-house,
and a three-stalled stable with rooms and lofts over, and an excellent walled garden with a green-house, summer-house, and a tool-house.
This property is subject to a chief-rent of one shilling and six pence per annum.
Also, a comfortable DWELLING HOUSE adjoining the above, lately occupied by Dr. Lewis having an excellent cellar with wine bin,
two rooms fronting the Homend-street on the ground floor, a room lately used as a surgery, closet, kitchen, back-kitchen, with pump and furnace,
larder, coal-house, knife-house, with room and loft over, all well arranged. A good drawing-room, two bedrooms and closet on the first floor,
and two bedrooms on the second floor.
The property is subject to a chief-rent of nine pence per annum.
LOT 2 - A DWELLING HOUSE in the occupation of Mr James Gibbs, Printer and Stationer, in the Homend-street, having a frontage of twenty-one feet six inches,
and comprising a large shop, sitting-room, kitchen, back-kitchen, and parlour, on the ground floor; two bedrooms, with closets,
and large printing-offices, on the first floor; and two bedrooms on the second floor, with attic over.
There are two cellars, and the premises are well supplied with water.
This lot is subject to a land-tax of eight shillings and to a chiefrent of sixpence per annum.
LOT 3 - Four pieces of very productive PASTURE LAND, with Orcharding, situate near the town of Ledbury, and containing according
to the Tithe Apportionment Survey 7a. 3r. 36p., lying within 200 yards of the Ledbury Railway Station, and bounded on the north by lands of Earl Somers,
on the south and east partly by land of J. W. Miles Esq., and partly by land of Mr Grierson, and on the west by the turnpike-road; and now
occupied by Mr Thomas Edy as Yearly tenant.
This property affords an opportunity rarely met with in the vicinity of the town for building purposes; and from its commanding situation,
embracing some of the most beautiful views in the neighbourhood, and being in the midst of parklike land, ornamented with magnificent oak and elm timber,
it is well adapted for the erection of a villa residences.
LOTS 1 and 2 and the greater part of LOT 3 are Freehold, one acre and a quarter of the latter is Leashold for a term of 1000 years created
in 1657, and half an acre of Copyhold of Inheritance, not liable to ground-rent, heriot, or chief-rent.
The Timber on LOT 3 is to be taken to at the valuation which has been made by the auctioneer.
To view LOT 2 and 3 apply to the respective Tenants; to inspect LOT 1, apply to the AUCTIONEER; and for further particulars to
Messrs. MUTLOW and Barber Solicitors, or the AUCTIONEER, all of Ledbury.
The Tanyard in Hereford was advertised in the Hereford Times Saturday 21 November: WAREHOUSES and YARD to be LET or SOLD:
All those commodious WAREHOUSES and YARD, situate in St Martin's street, Hereford, lately occupied by Messrs Mutlow,
and having a considerable frontage to St Martin's street and the river Wye. - Apply to Messrs UNDERWOOD and KNIGHT, Solicitors, Hereford.
In the 1864 Worcester Chronicle Wednesday 23 March announcement: Droitwich - NEW TANNING COMPANY. A new company has started here,
with limited liability, for the purpose of re-establishing the tannery, formerly carried on by Thos. Grove Smith, Esq., and more recently
by Mr. Benjamin Mutlow, of Ledbury. etc., etc.
The will of Benjamin Mutlow of Ledbury, Gentleman made the 10 April 1860 and proved at the Principal Probate Registry 30 Apr 1863;
effects under £14,000, by his sons and executors William Mutlow of Ledbury, Gentleman; Benjamin Mutlow of Ledbury, Tanner and Currier;
and Joseph Wickes Mutlow of Ledbury, Tanner and Currier;
The following two requests were stated in the will:- - - within 12 months after my decease my Trustees to offer all my real estate
consisting of the Tanyard situate and being in or near to the Bye Street in Ledbury with the office or Counting-house stable sheds
and buildings thereto belonging and also the two dwelling-houses or tenements situate and being in the Homend Street in Ledbury adjoining
the said Tanyard and now in the respective occupations of William Wargent and Andrew Smith to my son Joseph Wickes Mutlow who shall have the
option to purchase the same at or for the sum of One thousand two hundred pounds etc - - - . (Joseph W Mutlow and Plot 94 Warehouse in Bridge
Street is mentioned in the "Along The Towpath" Story).
With regard to my real estate situate and being in the parish of Chepstow in the County
of Monmouth called or known by the name of "CRANE MEAD" with the Wharf, warehouses and buildings thereon and the rights and appurtenances
thereto belonging I declare my Trustees shall not sell or dispose until the same is offered to my son Daniel Saunders Mutlow who shall have
the option to purchase for the sum of One thousand five hundred pounds etc - - -. Mary Vaughan WICKES was born in 1789. She died on 14 July 1848 in Droitwich and buried on 19 July 1848 in St Michaels Church Ledbury.
Also buried in the same vault are 3 of her young children, twins Joseph and Charles and their young sister Mary Wickes Mutlow.
Again full details of the Flagstone Floor Memorial Inscription are shown below.
Benjamin MUTLOW and Mary Vaughan WICKES had the following children:
Benjamin MUTLOW 1812 - 1813
Sarah MUTLOW 1813 - 1862
William MUTLOW 1816 - 1882
Mary MUTLOW 1817 - ?
Joseph MUTLOW 1818 - 1819
Charles MUTLOW 1818 - 1819
John Vaughan MUTLOW 1820 - 1901
George Buckle MUTLOW 1821 - ?
Benjamin MUTLOW 1822 - 1877
Richard Hankins MUTLOW 1823 - 1840
Mary Wickes MUTLOW 1825 - 1825
Daniel Saunders MUTLOW 1827 - 1877 (married in Lisburn Co Antrim 1857 to Eliza Beatty (1st Wife) and to)
(Sarah Nind (2nd Wife) of Sedgeberrow in 1867 Worcs.)
Joseph Wickes MUTLOW 1828 - 1894
William MUTLOW 1816 - 1882 Solicitor of Ledbury son of Benjamin MUTLOW and Mary Vaughan WICKES, was born in 1816 in Ledbury and baptised
on 21 August 1816 in Ledbury. He married Mary Anne HALLEN 8th November 1849 in Kidderminster. William died on 24 January 1882
in New Ferry Park, Birkenhead.
In 1832 William Mutlow entered the offices of Mr James Collins, then, a solicitor of considerable practice in the Southend Street
Ledbury, with whom he served his articles. This Solicitors Practice was at The Yews No 24 The Southend, Ledbury.
It was in the 1837 Will of Anne Thackwell nee Mutlow Proved by her sister Hannah Mutlow Spinster that Anne bequeathed to her
sister Hannah Mutlow all my share and interest in the premises in the Southend Street Ledbury and now occupied by James Collins Gent
(Hannah Mutlow was the Aunt of both William and John Vaughan Mutlow who both were in Practice as Solicitors in Ledbury).
It was in 1860 that these same Premises were bequeathed to William by his Aunt Maria Cox nee Mutlow. William Mutlow Solicitor
resided there until 1878 when he retired and left Ledbury. It was in 1837 that William Qualified as a Solicitor. Admitted an attorney
and solicitor in Michaelmas term 1837, he joined Mr Collins as a partner in the latter part of the same year. The 1838 Robson's Directory
lists "Collins and Mutlow" Solicitors, Southend Street, Ledbury and the 1842 Piggot & Co's Directory lists "Collins & Mutlow" Attorney.
Southend Street Ledbury. It was in The Examiner Saturday 08 April 1843 and The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser
Saturday 15 April announcements under Partnerships Dissolved - J. Collins and W. Mutlow, Ledbury, Hereford, attorneys. William was
joined by Vaughan Barber and his brother John Vaughan Mutlow in the practice. The William Mutlow and Vaughan Barber Partnership was
Dissolved in 1872 with notices placed in The Morning Post Wednesday 03 July and the Essex Standard Friday 05 July (copied from the
London Gazette Tuesday 02 July) and The Worcester Journal Saturday 06 July announcement: NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the PARTNERSHIP
heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned WILLIAM MUTLOW and VAUGHAN BARBER, in the business of Attorneys and Solicitors,
carried on by us at Ledbury, in the county of Hereford, was this day DISSOLVED by mutual consent. All Debts due to the said late Firm
will be received by the said William Mutlow and all Debts due from the said late Firm will be paid by the said William Mutlow, by whom
the said business will in future be carried on. As witness our hands this 29th day of June 1872. WILLIAM MUTLOW, VAUGHAN BARBER.
The 1876 Directory lists William and his brother John V Mutlow as Solicitors and Commissioners of Oaths at Southend Street, Ledbury.
A couple of interesting incidents were reported. The first in the 1839 Worcester Chronicle Wednesday 18 December on a Daring Outrage
in LEDBURY: On Monday morning se'nnight, at half past three o'clock, a most inhuman and wanton attack was made by individuals on the
dwelling-house of Mr. Collins, and the offices of Messrs Collins and Mutlow adjoining, by a deliberate discharge of four guns, heavily
loaded with large duck shot - two barrels were discharged through the window into the office of Mr. Mutlow; one of the private gas lamp
at the entrance of the offices, and the other through a window into the dwelling-house of Mr. Collins. The attack was made from behind
the wall of the park of Mr. Biddulph, Esq., exactly opposite, etc. A reward of 100 guineas is offered for the discovery of the offenders,
and J. Biddulph, Esq., and the inhabitants of the town, are making the most praiseworthy efforts to detect the cowardly perpetrators of
this shameful outrage. The second being in the 1858 Hereford Times Saturday 18 December report Ledbury. Stealing Lead on Monday night last
from some shedding in the workyard of Mr. Miles, near Mabels Furlong, and a considerable quantity of lead was stolen from the roof of a
greenhouse in Mr. William Mutlow's Garden. Two young men are to appear at a hearing Monday next.
For many years William Mutlow Esq., and Mrs Mutlow and Family are recorded being actively involved in Ledbury life and as attendees at
various functions, shows and bazaars. The 1842 Hereford Times Saturday 17 December report on the Ledbury rate-payers meeting, on Tuesday
last, William Mutlow was appointed one of the Inspectors for lighting and watching. William was involved in many local events.
The 1843 Hereford Journal Wednesday 18 October report on the annual Ledbury Cricket Club dinner. W. Mutlow, Esq., in attendance.
The 1844 Hereford Journal Wednesday 25 September report on the annual LEDBURY Cricket Club Diner held last Friday at the Biddulph Arms,
adjoining the ground. Among the attendees, W. Mutlow, Esq. The 1848 Worcester Chronicle Wednesday 16 February, the Hereford Times
Saturday 19 February and the Hereford Journal Wednesday 23 February reports: Ledbury, Reading and Scientific Institution
– During the year W. Mutlow, Esq., has added to his former valuable gift a powerful microscope. The 1854 Hereford Times Saturday 19 August
report on the Ledbury Fancy Bazaar in aid of funds for restoration of St Catherine's Chapel, list as attending D. S. Mutlow, Esq., William Mutlow, Esq.,
Mrs Mutlow and family. The 1852 Worcester Chronicle Wednesday 28 January report: Ledbury, Testimonial on Wednesday for the Rev. H. J. Bull
who is appointed to the curacy of Axminster, Devon. Mr W. Mutlow Esq., gave the testimonial speech. Also present were Mrs. W. Mutlow, B. Mutlow, Esq.,
sen., B. Mutlow and J. V. Mutlow. The 1853 Hereford Journal Wednesday 01 May report: Ledbury Fire Brigade subscriptions received included
Wm. Mutlow Esq £2. 1876 - 7 Littlebury's Directory and Gazetteer of Ledbury lists under Agents Insurers Eagle (life) William Mutlow Esq
Southend street, for Manchester (fire) and for Railway Passengers' Accidental. The 1865 Worcester Chronicle Wednesday 28 June report
on the Ledbury Market House public meeting to consider repair of this building. Mr. W. Mutlow and Mr. V. Barber were appointed members
of the committee charged with carrying out the arrangements.
The 1871 census list William a Solicitor age 55 born Ledbury, living at 34 Southend Ledbury with his wife, two visitors and two servants.
In 1878 William is preparing to leave Ledbury and adverts are placed in the Worcester Journal Saturday 23 and 30 November, and the 07 December:
THE SOUTHEND, LEDBURY. Mr. BENTLEY is instructed by MR. WILLIAM MUTLOW, Esq., who is leaving Ledbury, TO SELL BY AUCTION, on Tuesday, December 10th,
and the three following days, Catalogues may be had at Mr. Tilley's Printing Office, Ledbury or Mr. Bentley's Offices, Worcester.
In the 1882 The Ledbury Free Press Tuesday 31st January: Death of Mr William Mutlow - The intelligence of the decease of the above named gentleman
which took place on the 24th inst., caused a general feeling of regret in the town. Mr Mutlow died at Birkenhead after a somewhat protracted illness.
He was the eldest son of the late Mr Benjamin Mutlow, and in the year 1832 entered the offices of Mr James Collins, then, a solicitor of considerable
practice in Ledbury, with whom he served his articles. Being admitted an attorney and solicitor in Michaelmas term 1837, he joined Mr Collins
as partner in the latter part of the same year and continued to practice as a solicitor in Ledbury for more than 40 years. He retired in 1878,
when Mr (Jesse) Garrood succeeded to the business, and subsequently left the neighbourhood. In early life he took great interest in sports
and pastimes, and was well known in the hunting field as a straight and fearless rider across country. Mr Mutlow during the time he lived
in Ledbury - a period of over 60 years - won the respect and good opinion of his neighbours and friends. His unostentatious and generous
disposition are well known to the many, and particularly endear his name and memory to the poor, whilst he was ever ready to help forward
and assist any endeavours to promote the welfare and advantage of the town and parish generally.
William Mutlow's will proved at the Principal Probate Registry London on 16 May 1882; executrix was his widow Mary Anne Mutlow,
effects valued at £1621/14/7d, all left to his wife.
Mary Anne HALLEN was born in 1821 in Kidderminster Worcs.
Died June Qtr 1906 Wirral District aged 85 years.
William Mutlow and Mary Anne HALLEN had the following children:
Mary Anne MUTLOW 1850- ?
John Vaughan MUTLOW 1820-1901 Solicitor and Gentleman Farmer of Ledbury, son of Benjamin MUTLOW and Mary Vaughan WICKES,
was born in 1820 in Ledbury and baptised on 13 October 1820. He married Caroline NAPPER on 8 July 1858 in St Andrew's, Bordesley, Warwickshire.
He died on 1 October 1901 at Plaistow Farm, Ledbury Aged 82 years, occupation Farmer. Cause of death Hemiplegia 6 months Exhaustion certified by
J McK. Harrison M.B: informant John Napper (1825-1910) Brother in law in attendance residing Plaistow Ledbury death registered Fifth October 1901.
He was buried in Ledbury Cemetery Plot No. 45/46 a/b (this plot which is un-marked is nearly opposite the large Box Vault
of his father Benjamin Mutlow the Tanner of Ledbury and adjacent to that of his Father and Mother in Law John Napper 1789-1874
and Elizabeth Napper 1791-1877 (Plot No is 46/47 B-C).
It is worth noting the other members of John's family who are buried in nearby un-marked grave plots in Ledbury Cemetery:
His Wife Caroline 1836-1916 Grave Plot 46/47 a-b
His Son Benjamin 1860-1917 Grave Plot 59/60
His Son Joseph 1865-1916 Grave Plot 46/47 a-b
His Son Vaughan 1868-1881 Grave Plot 45/46/47 a-b
His Son Ethelbert 1869-1911 Grave Plot 45/46 a-b
His Son George 1873-1937 Grave Plot 47/48
John lived with his father in Homend Street, Ledbury qualifying as a Solicitor in 1841 (admitted Easter Term 1841.
The Lord Chancellor appointed John Vaughan Mutlow, of Ledbury, to be a Master Extraordinary in this High Court of Chancery).
John played cricket for the Town of Ledbury in 1834 to 1847. There are numerous notices in the newspapers relating to the Offices
of Messieurs William and John Vaughan Mutlow, solicitors, Ledbury, in the county of Hereford, for example: 1851 Hereford Times Saturday 01
and the 15 February notice: Ledbury, Herefordshire. TO BE LET. And may be entered upon immediately, A DESIRABLE ESTATE called PLAISTOW,
containing 80 Acres, with Farm-house and convenient Buildings, situate within two miles of the Town of Ledbury, on a good road. Apply to W.
and J. V, Mutlow, or Daniel Moore Solicitors, Ledbury.
In 1863 at the Ledbury Annual Parish Meeting of the Ratepayers of the Ledbury Lighting District Mr J V Mutlow was elected as an inspector.
In 1866 Parish appointments of overseers and waywardens, and for appointing a committee for the removal of nuisances, included
were J. V. Mutlow, B. Mutlow and V. Barber. In 1870 Mr J Mutlow appointed on the committee of the Ledbury Board of Guardians and
also the Assessment Committee.
At sometime around 1861/2 John Vaughan Mutlow started farming at Wall Hills Farm Ledbury and then around 1870 John also farmed at
Plaistow Farm Ledbury. In 1876/7 John is recorded as residing at Wall Hills whilst one of his younger brothers Joseph Wickes Mutlow
is residing at Plaistow Farm. It was at Plaistow that John died in 1901.
The following are various reports during this time:
1867 Hereford Times Saturday 07 November report on The Storms of the Week, Ledbury, that a limb of a tree fell at Mr Mutlow's,
of Wallhills, a Lad injured and also in the 1867 Hereford Times Saturday 23 November report Ledbury: Late sale of the Plaistow (farm)
herd of Hereford cattle Auction J. V. Mutlow bought Lots 1, 2, 4 & 6. Sale of whole stock, crops, implements etc., and in 1870 Kelley's
Directory is listed Norris Benjamin, farm bailiff to J.V. Mutlow Esq, Plaistow Ledbury. 1871 census: age 51, Attorney and Landowner of
427 acres, employing 27 men and 5 boys, living at Wallhills, Hereford Road, Ledbury, with his wife and 6 children, plus 5 servants and
a visitor (William Dalton, Farmer of Foston Yorks with his wife and son). 1876/77 Littlebury's Directory: John Vaughan Mutlow listed
as a "landowner, farmer, hop grower etc" of Wall Hills and Plaistow farms, and as a Solicitor of Wall Hills. 1875 Worcester Journal
Saturday 31 July report under Ledbury Petty Sessions Wednesday - charges brought by Mr John Vaughan Mutlow of Wallhills, Ledbury,
for breach of contract (mowing of grass) and also brought a charge of stealing peas at Plaistow, Ledbury. 1878 18th Feb: appointed
trustee of the will of Hester Edwards late of Plaistow. 1881 census: age 61, Solicitor and Farmer of 640 acres (employing a large
workforce of 30 men and 4 boys), living at Wallhills, Ledbury with his wife and 4 children. 1882 Ledbury Free Press article 27th
June 1882: A pedigree Hereford cow belonging to Mr. J. V. Mutlow at Plaistow, near this town, gave birth on Tuesday last to three
calves (two heifers and one bull). Each of the trio was of fair size and, in words appropriate to the occasion, we are happy to
state that the mother and young are doing well.
John Vaughan Mutlow was recorded as a regular exhibitor and entered farm animals in the Annual Ledbury Agricultural Society Shows
over many years held at the Wild (Wylde) House Farm and Yards of Mr M Biddulph MP. He was often successful in being awarded prize
tankards. In 1859 and 1860 Mr J V Mutlow was a successful entrant in several of the minor livestock classes. In 1864 award for
the best one year old Heifer, best Boar Pig and two year old cart colt to Mr J V Mutlow. The 1870 silver cup.
In the 1869 Ledbury Agricultural Show -
A silver cup, given by Mr Biddulph, MP, for the six best yearling heifers or steers, was awarded for a magnificent collection of Shorthorns,
to Mr Mutlow of Wallhills and also won three first prizes in the pigs’ classes and a second placing in the yearling cart colt class.
In the 1870 show awarded a silver cup value £5 5s.for the best 2-year old heifer, of any breed, in calf or with calf, the gift of Sir
Joseph Bailey, Bart., M.P.; Awarded a silver cup value £5 5s. for the Best six yearling Heifers or Steers (of either sex), the gift
of Michael Biddulph, Esq., M.P. and also nine other monetary value prizes. In 1871 awarded for the six best yearling heifers a silver cup,
value of five guineas, given by Sir Joseph Bailey, awarded to Mr J. V. Mutlow of Wallhills who also carried off the second premium in the same
class and the silver cup for the best six yearling heifers offered by Mr Biddulph M.P. (the prize cups were supplied by Mr. Crewe, silversmith,
Ledbury. In the 1873 show the best 2-year old heifer, In the 1878 show the best 2-year old heifer and also a commendation In the 1876 show
the premium silver cup value £5 5s., given by Sir J. R. Bailey MP, for two year old heifers was gained by Mr. J. V. Mutlow with a useful
shorthorn. In the 1880 show best 2-year old heifer of any breed. The Ledbury Free Press report for this year states that the silver cup
was valued at £5. 5s. A story passed down through the generation was that John Vaughan Mutlow was so successful at the shows that he
amassed enough silver cups, one for each of his children.
After 1876 the Ledbury Agricultural Society Show amalgamated with the Ledbury Horse Show. There was no show in 1875 due to Foot and Mouth disease
in the area. The shows were regularly reported at the time in the weekly (Tuesday) Ledbury Free Press / Reporter that can be viewed on microfiche
held at the Ledbury Library.
1873: Appointed sole executor of the Will of his aunt Hannah Mutlow (dated 13 Jan 1873, proved 11 Jun 1873) as John Vaughan Mutlow of Wall Hills in
the parish of Ledbury, Gentleman; he received a quarter share of her real estate and full control of property which she held as trustee or mortgagee
(he sold 5 dwellinghouses in the Homend, formerly held by Hannah, to John Martin of Upper Hall on 31 Dec 1875). Also appointed sole executor and
trustee of the will of his brother Daniel Saunders Mutlow dated 15 July 1873 (proved 25 Apr 1877). In 1875 June 24th Application via the Court
Chamber in the selling of No 8 High Street Ledbury to Mr William Giles Taylor of Ledbury Post Master in which John Vaughan Mutlow, William Mutlow,
Benjamin Mutlow & Joseph Wickes Mulow (all Brothers) are named. No 8 High Street Ledbury was in the possession of the Mutlow Family from 1759 when
William Mutlow the Elder (Banker) took possession up until 1875 when it was sold as part of Hannah Mutlow's estate. 1876: Mentioned in an
Indenture BR56/3 dated 5th December 1876 held at HRO regarding the purchase by his brother Daniel Saunders Mutlow of The Bell Inn in
New Street and other premises Ledbury in 1855 and the ownership passing in 1876 to another brother William Mutlow solicitor of Ledbury.
No will, Probate or Letters of Administration have come to light regarding the estate of John Vaughan Mutlow which seems a little surprising.
This Farm Calendar circa 1892 of the various actions to be undertaken on the farm during one calendar year would have been during
John Vaughan Mutlows' time at Plaistow Farm Ledbury.
Obituary as follows: "Death and Funeral of Mr John V Mutlow. We this week record the death of Mr John Vaughan Mutlow, which occurred at his residence,
Plaistow Farm, on Tuesday last, at the ripe age of 82 years. The funeral took place on Friday last at 12 o clock at Ledbury Cemetery,
the remains being laid to rest in the family vault. The Rev C P Caldicott (curate) conducted the service. The coffin, which was of
polished oak with brass furniture, bore a plate with the inscription; John V Mutlow died October 1st 1901, age 82 years.
Many years ago deceased was a member of the firm of John and William Mutlow, Solicitors, whose residence was at The Yews,
Southend Street, Ledbury. Deceased dissolved the partnership with his brother and went to reside at Wall Hills Farm now
occupied by Mr C. Moore. He was a breeder of stock on a large scale, some of which were noted breeds. Eventually he left Wall Hills,
and succeeded to Plaistow Farm, where he resided until his death. Deceased and his co-partner in the solicitors' practice were sons
of the late Mr Benjamin Mutlow, who carried on a very successful tanning business in Ledbury for many years. William died some 14 or
15 years ago, and it is believed that deceased is the last of the old Mutlow family. Deceased leaves a widow and several grown up sons
and daughters to mourn his loss. Mr George Hill of Ledbury very efficiently carried out his duties of undertaker, and the glass hearse
and mourning coaches were supplied by Mr E H Hopkins of the Royal Oak Hotel, Ledbury."
The picture shows Left, John Vaughan Mutlow; Centre, David Donald Ward nephew of JVM (Caroline Napper's sister Elizabeth's son - Elizabeth Napper married
Donald Ward) and Right, Joseph Hankins Mutlow 3rd son of JVM at Plaistow Farm Ledbury around 1901.
William E Mutlow wrote down a story told to him by his father Gerald Claude Mutlow 1908-1980 as follows: "Uncle Joseph (son of JVM) gave
JVM a brass cartridge which was too strong for his gun (the same shotgun as in the 1901 photo above). When fired the brass cartridge
ripped the back bone off of the double barrelled shotgun and JVM died of concussion".
Gerald Claude Mutlow 1908-1980 maintained that the bowler hatted farmer in the print above was his grandfather John Vaughan Mutlow 1820-1901.
This would date the postcard to the late 1890's which is when Captain Percy Clive first stood for election as an MP. The 1910 election postcards
indicate that Captain Percy Clive is a sitting MP who is standing for re-election (hence the title Captain Clive MP on 1910 postcards).
Mr John Vaughan Mutlow
Caroline Mutlow nee Napper.
Caroline NAPPER 1836-1916, daughter of John NAPPER 1789-1874 Carpenter and Elizabeth BRUTON 1791-1877, was born in 1836 in Ledbury.
For more on John Napper see Potted Biographies.
She was baptised on 29 January 1836. She died on 3 December 1916 in Ledbury. Aged 80 years, Widow of John Vaughan Mutlow Solicitor Cause
of death (1) senile decay certified by G.B. McKean M.B. informant Fanny Mutlow Daughter in Law residing Bargains Ledbury death registered
4th December 1916. She was buried on 7 December 1916 in Ledbury Cemetery plot 46/47 a/b.
1911 census: widow aged 74, occupation "none", living at Newtown Ledbury with one servant (Alie Pugh, Domestic Servant age 14).
John Vaughan MUTLOW and Caroline NAPPER had the following children:
John MUTLOW 1859-1920 Solicitor born B'ham (married 1880 Matilda Jane Hardy)
Benjamin MUTLOW 1860-1917 Solicitor born B'ham (married 1880 Emma Winefred Rawson)
Joseph Hankins MUTLOW 1865-1916 Innkeeper born Wall Hills Farm (married 1889 K H Phillips)
Hannah MUTLOW 1867-1933 born Wall Hills Farm
Vaughan William MUTLOW 1868-1881 born Wall Hills Farm
Ethelbert MUTLOW 1869-1911 Farmer born Wall hills Farm
George Richard MUTLOW 1873-1937 Farmer at Bargains born Wall Hills Farm
Stratford Walter MUTLOW 1874-1934 born Wall Hills Farm (married 1898 Alice Gertrude Lumley)
Sarah Beatrice May MUTLOW 1876-1950 born Wall Hills Farm
Benjamin MUTLOW 1822-1877 Tanner & Currier, son of Benjamin MUTLOW and Mary Vaughan WICKES, was born in 1822 in Ledbury and baptised
on 19 August 1822. In the 1851 Census recorded along with his brother Joseph as working at his father's Tanning Business in Ledbury employing
11 men. In the 1856 Hereford Journal Wednesday 16 April report: LEDBURY, Guardians. - The following gentlemen have been appointed Guardians of
the union; under Ledbury is listed B. Mutlow, junr.
Benjamin married Caroline Harvey on the 4th November 1856 daughter of Mrs Caroline Harvey of Droitwich
(Hereford Times Article 5 & 8/11/1856). The 1856 Worcester Chronicle November 12th, Ledbury announcements - Treat for Workmen: On the occasion of the
marriage of B Mutlow Esq. with Miss Caroline Harvey, at Droitwich, the firm of Messrs Mutlow, of this town, invited the whole of their workmen to an
excellent dinner, on Tuesday evening. The men enjoyed themselves right heartily and passed the evening in the usual manner.
The 1859 & 1870 Slater's Directory lists Mutlow Mr. Benjamin, Junr, Oakland House Ledbury and also llisted under Curriers and Leather Cutters and Tanners Mutlow Benjamin & Joseph,
Church Street and Bye Street Ledbury. In 1862 Benjamin Mutlow junr, elected as a guardian of the poor in Ledbury. 1865 B. Mutlow became a member of the
Union of Ledbury Guardians and served until 1870. 1866 Ledbury Parish appointments of overseers and waywardens, and for appointing a committee for the
removal of nuisances. Included in the later were J. V. Mutlow, B. Mutlow and V. Barber. The 1871 census: Aged 48 a Tanner living in Ledbury, employing
12 men and 2 boys, age 48, with a wife and 2 sons (plus 3 servants). Benjamin Mutlow formerly of Ledbury died on 13 June 1877 at Campbell House Clevedon
in Bedminster RD aged 54 years. In Benjamin's will is stated: With respect to the Tannery with warehouses buildings gardens and premises adjoining and
belonging thereto in Ledbury jointly to myself and brother Joseph Wickes Mutlow and the greater portion of which was given to me and my said brother
by my late Father and the remaining part thereof acquired by purchase I direct that my Trustees shall before they proceed to a sale obtain a valuation
and cause an offer in writing to my said Brother to purchase and require a response to purchase within one month in writing.
I devise All my freehold cottages and gardens situate in the Parish of Ledbury in the occupation of Messrs Hooper, Lucy and Smith And also All
that my Orchard in the occupation of Samuel Tedlingham and the Market Garden adjoining and in the occupation of William Tylor with the
appurtenances And all which said premises were given to me by my late Father in his lifetime unto my Son Cuthbert Harvey Mutlow. To my
Son Alfred Tombs Mutlow I devise All my three freehold cottages situate at Homend Street Ledbury occupied by Widow Stubbins and
Messrs Davis and Jones and also All those my two shares or allotments in New Town in Ledbury occupied by myself with the appurtenances.
Benjamin MUTLOW and Caroline Harvey had the following children;
Cuthbert Harvey MUTLOW 1866-1938
Alfred Tombs MUTLOW 1868-1913
Joseph Hankins MUTLOW 1865-1916 Innkeeper, son of John Vaughan MUTLOW and Caroline NAPPER, was born 6th October 1865 at Wall Hills Ledbury and baptised
on 23 November 1865 in Ledbury, Father listed as a Landed Proprietor, Birth registered 14th November 1865. He married Kenathina Helen PHILLIPS
in 9th.
April 1889 at St Peter's Parish Church Hereford; Joseph aged 24 Bachelor occupation Farmer residing Parish of Ledbury father John Vaughan Mutlow a
Farmer; Kenathina aged 26 Spinster residing High Town Hereford father William Phillips (deceased) a Machinist; witnesses to the marriage William
Phillips and John Julius Jones.
They had:Ethelbert William Hankins MUTLOW 1890-1964; Arnold Percy MUTLOW 1891-1917; Gladys Gwendoline MUTLOW 1892-1964;
Helen Caroline Victoria MUTLOW 1897-1980 & Clarence Blanche MUTLOW 1899-1951.
At the baptism of his two sons in Ledbury in 1891 & 1892 registered as Innkeeper of the Biddulph Arms.
The 1890 Jakeman & Carver's Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire lists under Ledbury Alphabetical Dictionary Mutlow Joseph Hankins,
wine and spirit merchant, large room, tent and grounds for parties, also private rooms, Biddulph Arms Hotel. In the1891 Gloucester Citizen
Thursday 19 March report on Ledbury Petty Sessions relating to temporary licence applications was Mr Mutlow of the Biddulph Arms objecting
and in the 1891 census: age 25, married, living with his wife and 2 sons (plus a nurse and a servant) at the Biddulph Arms, Ledbury;
occupation Innkeeper. It was in 1894 Berrow's Worcester Journal Saturday 24 November report under Ledbury Wednesday: Temporary Transfers:
The licence of the Biddulph Arms, Ledbury, was transferred from Mr J. H. Mutlow to Joseph Davis. Joseph left Ledbury to take up the post
of Innkeeper in B'ham. Joseph Hankins Mutlow died on 27 May 1916 in Birmingham General Hospital and was buried on 31 May 1916 in Ledbury
Cemetery Plot 46/47 a/b.
Ethelbert MUTLOW 1869-1911 Farmer, son of John Vaughan Mutlow and Caroline Napper was born 16th October 1869 at Wall Hills Farm Ledbury, birth
registered 5th November 1869. He was baptised on 5th November 1869 in Ledbury. Ethelbert resided at Wall Hills and Plaistow Farms Ledbury as
detailed below for his brother George. Ethelbert died on 29 October 1911 at The Elms, New Street, Ledbury. Cause of death Ulcer of duodenum
1 year perforation & shock 3 days Certified by J Mc. K Harrison M.B; His brother G.R. Mutlow was present at his death; Death registered
thirtieth October 1911. He was buried on 1 November 1911 in Ledbury Cemetery plot 45/46 a/b.
George Richard MUTLOW 1873-1937 Farmer, son of John Vaughan MUTLOW and Caroline NAPPER, was born the 29th June 1873 at Wall Hills Farm
Ledbury; He was baptised on 30 July 1873 in Ledbury. The 1881 census lists George as a scholar age 6 born Ledbury, living with his parents at
Wall Hills Farm. Shortly after this he moved with his father to Plaistow Farm Ledbury. A Ledbury Commercial School report for Michaelmas 1888
lists George and his brother Stratford showing that their tuition fees for one Quarter (in Form III) were £2 9s 6d, and "use of books" was 2s 6d,
making a total of £2 12s 0d. George remained at Plaistow Farm until it was sold in 1903 after the death of his father John Vaughan Mutlow in
1901. For several years after the sale of Plaistow Farm George found employment as a farm bailiff at several locations and then as a joint
tenant farmer with his brother Ethelbert at Bradlow Farm in 1905. George and his brother Ethelbert owned Bargains Farm Ledbury from 1906 which
was occupied by Tennant Farmers. Also from 1906 George also became the owner of No 26 & 27 Southend Street Ledbury.
George aged 33 years married
Fanny Elizabeth POWELL aged 32 years on 9 February 1907 in St Michaels Church Ledbury, at the time of their marriage Fanny resided at Rhea Farm
Ledbury which is next to Plaistow Farm and they moved to the Wharf Farm, Staplow, Bosbury where
their son Gerald Claude was born in 1908. The 1910 Bosbury Land Valuations, map ref 197, Poor Rate No 314 and 315 lists as Occupier George Mutlow,
Land at Staplow Wharf, size 3 roods, annual rent £1 and Poor Rate value £1, and House and Buildings at Staplow Wharf annual rent £9 and poor Rate
value £7 10s. in 1913 George with his family moved into Bargains Farm as resident owner. George died on 23 October 1937 at Bargains Farm Ledbury,
Cause of death Cerebral Haemorrhage certified by G.B. McKean M.B. informant Gerald C. Mutlow son residing Bargains Farm Ledbury registered Twenty
third October 1937.
The Ledbury Reporter and Guardian 30 October 1937 Listed the Death of a Ledbury Farmer. The death occurred on Saturday after a
long illness of Mr George Richard Mutlow of Bargains Farms Ledbury aged 64. A native of Ledbury he has lived in the district all his life and he was
a member of the Ledbury Branch of the National Farmers Union. Mr Mutlow had farmed at Bargains for 21 years and he came of a family with long
associations with Ledbury. His father the late John Vaughan Mutlow was a solicitor and farmer and kept a tan-yard where the Clock Tower now stands.
The Rector of Ledbury (Preb A J Winnnington Ingram) officiated at the funeral on Wednesday. Mourners were: Mrs Mutlow (widow), Mr and Mrs G C Mutlow
(son and daughter in law), Mr Vaughan Mutlow and Mr Herbert Mutlow (nephews), Mrs Clarke of Leigh Sinton (sister in law), Mr H Powell (brother in law),
Mr T Powell (nephew), Messrs L Parkes and W Parkes (nephews), Miss Wetson (cousin), Mr R Powell (nephew), Mr A Flowers, Mrs Clarke (cousins),
Mr R Hickman, Mr W Betteridge, Mr Audley Cotton, Mr B Dawe, Mr F Lewis, Mr E Williams and others. The interment took place at the cemetery.
The funeral arrangements were carried out by Messrs F W Juckes and Sons Homend Ledbury. Buried in plot 47/48 at Ledbury Cemetery.
Fanny Elizabeth POWELL was born 13 July 1874 Upper Walton, Bishops Frome, Herefordshire born in 1874. Father Thomas Powell a Farm Bailiff, Mother
Jane Eliza Powell formerly Howard and baptised on 9 August 1874 in Bishops Froome. At her marriage in 1907 she resided at Rhea Farm Ledbury which
is the next farm to Plaistow Farm. Fanny died on 22 March 1948 at 100 Homend Ledbury. Cause of death 1(a) Carcinoma of oesophagus 11. Secondary Glands
in Neck Certified by John Groves M.B. Fanny was buried on 24 March 1948 in Ledbury Cemetery plot 11A/12A at Ledbury Cemetery, burial number 5576.
NOTE: (A New Headstone erected in 2017. Inscription reads IN MEMORY OF FANNY ELIZABETH MUTLOW nee POWELL 13 JULY 1874 - 22 MARCH 1948 WIFE
OF GEORGE RICHARD MUTLOW).
Photo taken at Bargains Farm approx 1936. Rear left Fanny Elizabeth Mutlow nee Powell, seated George Richard Mutlow, rear right Fanny's sister
Alice, front seated Alice's son and his wife.
Bargains Farm circa 1920
1917 Request by Postcard from The Homend Pharmacy for 3 dozen eggs to be delivered in the morning!
The Commercial School charges for Michaelmas 1888. School Master Leonard H Richards.
George Richard Mutlow's Commercial School Report Midsummer 1888
George Richard Mutlow and his younger brother Stratford Mutlow's
Commercial School Report Michaelmas 1888
George Richard MUTLOW and Fanny Elizabeth POWELL had the following children:
Gerald Claude MUTLOW 1908-1980 was born on 9 September 1908 at The Wharf Staplow Bosbury
Herefordshire and baptised 13th December 1908 Bosbury Holy Trinity Church. The family moved to Baregains Farm (sometimes spelt Bargains) in 1913.
Before starting school in Ledbury he had private tutoring by Miss Smith (11.00am to 1.00pm & 2.00pm to 4.00pm in the kitchen of the farm house.
First went to the Russell Endowed School situated in the Southend Ledbury in approx 1917. Travelled to school by pony and trap, with the Betridge
boys and Maude and Phyllis, who were sisters from the neighbouring farm. A story told to William E Mutlow, his son, was the time when on the way
to school the pony was going too fast around a bend that ended with the pony on one side of the hedge and the trap on the other. Not being able
to rectify the situation Gerald had to walk home to fetch his father George Richard Mutlow to sort the mess out. On school days the pony and trap
would be stabled at the Feathers Hotel in the main street of Ledbury. In 1928 elected a committee member of the Ledbury branch of the Junior
Imperial Constitutional League. Played rugby for the Ledbury Rugby Football Club in the 1920's and 30's and believed to Captain the 1931 team.
Gerald married Molly TURNER 6 June 1936 in St Michael Church Ledbury,; Gerald aged 28 Bachelor a Farmer residing Bargains Farm Ledbury Farmer
and Molly aged 20 a Spinster residing Victoria Road Ledbury father William Henry Turner (deceased) a former Postman from Ledbury; witnesses
Lily Turner and Bernard H Dawe the Best Man (from the Withers Farm). After the death of Gerald's father in 1937 Bargains Farm, in accordance with
the terms of his Father's Will, was sold at auction held at the Feathers Hotel Ledbury at 3.30 pm precisely on Friday 7 January 1938.
Also included
at the auction were two Dwelling Houses No's 26 & 27 The Southend, Ledbury. No 26 The Southend was purchased by Lily Turner, the mother of Molly
Mutlow nee Turner.
Europe was experiencing uncertain times and Gerald was drafted to serve in the RAF during the war. After the cessation of the war
the family briefly returned to Ledbury where the last two of six children were born at the High House Parkway. It was in 1948 that the family moved to
the South Coast thus severing the direct Mutlow family line with Ledbury although the family members regularly visited Ledbury as their maternal
grandmother Lily Turner lived at No 26 Southend Street until her death in 1980 aged 90. Gerald Claude Mutlow died in 1980 in Poole General Hospital.
The Informant on the Death Certificate being William Ethelbert Mutlow, the author of this History.
Gerald Claude Mutlow with his father George Richard Mutlow at Bargains Farm in 1917 just about to set out on the "School Run". Note the milk churn
which is most probably filled with cider!
Gerald Claude Mutlow and prize winning cockerel at Bargains farm in 1924.
The following is a list of the MUTLOW Flagstone Floor Memorials in St Michaels Church Ledbury and the Graves in the Church Yard
These memorials show how important the Mutlows were in the life of the town.
ONE FLOOR MEMORIAL IN THE CENTRE AISLE
The Epitaph reads:
IN Memory OF BENJAMIN the son of BENJAMIN and MARY MUTLOW who died April 18th 1813 Aged 17 Weeks
ALSO OF JOSEPH & CHARLES MUTLOW who died April 13th & 15th 1819 Aged 4 Months
ALSO OF MARY WICKES MUTLOW who died March 11th 1825 Aged 18 Days
MARY VAUGHAN WIFE OF BENJAMIN MUTLOW DIED JULY 14th 1848 AGED 59 YEARS
TWO FLOOR MEMORIALS set in the FAR AISLE
The first is very worn and has become difficult to read.
The Epitaph reads:
SACRED to the Memory of CHARLOTTE MUTLOW who died May 24th 1831 Aged 50 ALSO of her Mother SARAH MUTLOW Relict of WILLIAM MUTLOW who died Feb 17th
1832 Aged 90
The second memorial here is in much better condition and easy to read.
The Epitaph reads:
In Memory of EDMUND the Son of WILLIAM MUTLOW and by SARAH his Wife who departed this Life May 28th 1753 aged 13 Years
Also WILLIAM Son of WILLIAM and SARAH MUTLOW the Younger departed this Life Decbr 14th 1767 aged 3 Years
Also the Body of SARAH MUTLOW the Elder who departed July 5th 1774 aged 63 Years
Also the Body of WILLIAM MUTLOW the Elder who departed May 18th 1787 aged 77 Years
Also the Body of WILLIAM MUTLOW the Younger who departed this life May 1st 1796 aged 60 Years
The next memorial can be found adjacent to the entrance into the Chapter House behind the curtain.
The Epitaph reads:
Mr John Deven of this Town Clothier was here Buried May 16th 1689 Aged 49
Also Joan his Wife Octor 28th 1709 Aged 7?
James Mutlow of this Town Cooper was here Buried June 29th 1729 Aged ?9 years
Also Ann the daughter of James Mutlow by Margaret his Wife was here Buried December the 3. 1749 Aged 19 Years and Also the said Margaret Wife of Thomas
Jones of this Town was here Buried Octor 17th 1756 Aged 6? (61 or 62)
Notes on the above:
James Mutlow was baptised 5th Nov 1669 and buried 29th Jun 1729 and therefore the age is most probably 59 years
Margaret was Baptised 1694 and buried 17th Oct 1756 and therefore her age is 61 or 62.
In the Chapter House there is a floor stone near the centre with the following epitaph: Here lieth the Body of JOHN MUTLOW who was Born in the Parish of Bishops Froom and dyed on ye 10th of Jun 1747 in the 57th Year of his Age
John is believed to be one of the "Bosbury" Mutlow's. To date no direct link between the Ledbury and Bosbury Mutlow's has been found.
Two memorials can be found in the Church Yard. The first shown here is opposite the side entrance of the church.
The Epitaph reads:
In Memory of JAMES MUTLOW Late of this Town Cooper who died Decr 18th 1807
Also Mary Anne, Richard and James Tyler who Died in Their Infancy
Also Richard Tyler who Died March 3rd 1837 Aged 52 Years
Also of MARY wife of the above RICHARD TYLER died Sept 21st 1847 aged 67 Years
The second is at the rear of the churchyard behind the
East Window and close to the boundary wall..
The Epitaph reads:
In Memory of MARIA COX Relict of the Rev. THOMAS COX died the 5th Dec 1859 aged 84 years. Also of HANNAH MUTLOW Spinster who died 13th May
1873 aged 95 years. Sister of the above and the last surviving child of WILLIAM MUTLOW Deceased. Banker in this Town and Chepstow.
Forgotten now, but in the C19 the Russell family of the Southend were responsible for various aspects of Ledbury
for which they should be remembered.
Over two generations they left the following legacy:
• The Church Gates.
• Main promoter for and first subscriber to the Barratt Browning Institute.
• Presented the town with the clock on the Institute.
• Left money for the maintenance of the Church
• Left money for the Reading Room (the Library)
• Left money to the Cottage Hospital
• Established the Russell Endowed School.
Thomas Russell (1759-1824), a blacksmith, married Hannah Webb (1753-1849) in Ledbury on May 28th 1786. They had had four children: William in 1787. Susanna in 1789. She married William Juckes in 1821 joining two of the main well respected artisan Ledbury families together. (For more see Potted Biographies.) Thomas in 1791. and Samuel in 1793. He died in 1795 'scalded'
given as cause of death. (I am afraid Thomas only gets a small paragraph at the end of the page)
It is the story of William, and his son, also William, I am following here.
William (senior) married Hannah Wrencher in Worcester in 1815. Established as a blacksmith in the Southend,
after his father died in 1824 They had:
William in April 1820
Henry in January 1821
George in Mar 1823
Hannah in Oct 1824, she died 1848
Ann in Sept 1826
James in Feb 1829
Charles in Apr1831
Thomas in Mar 1834
Susannah in Jun1835
In 1826 Archdeacon Wetherall on a church inspection condemned the derelict church gates and the then Church Wardens,
John Edy and Nathaniel Hemming, gave the contract for the new gates to William Russell who had taken over the smithy from his father.
The Church accounts for the following year shows payments to: (today's value in brackets).
Mr William Russell, Blacksmith, for large iron gates £16 13s 0d (£1,374)
Mr William Russell, Blacksmith for small iron gates £27 0s 6d (£2,230)
Mr William Hatton, Mason, stonework at new gates £23 5s 7d (£1,921.00)
The work is a testimony to Victorian craftsmanship standing today as good as ever after nearly 200 years and will probably remain
so for many years to come. The churchwardens had their initials and the date included in the ironwork
although William didn't seem to get John Edy's initials right!
William died in 1845 aged 58.
From the Hereford Journal August 13th 1845:
July 28 at his residence, in Southend Street Ledbury, Mr William Russell, blacksmith.
A man who, in life, was respected, esteemed, and beloved as universally as he was known, and, in death is as generally regretted.
He was a kind and affectionate husband and father, a good neighbour, a sincere and faithful friend, and a truly honest man.
His mother, now 91, however is still alive in No 19 the Southend having outlived her sons. (More on Thomas later). When she died in 1849, aged 95,
she left everything to her first grandson, William, b 1820.
With both his father and grandfather being blacksmiths it would be customary for him to follow the family tradition but it was his brother, Henry, who carried on
that business whilst William went down a very different route, making his fortune in London.
On the 1841 census, at the tender age of 21, he is one nine silk mercers at the premises of William Edginton in Piccadily, Westminster
Mercery (from French mercerie) initially referred to silk, linen, and fustian textiles imported to England
in the 12th century. The term mercery later extended to goods made of these and the sellers of those goods.
and from the 1846 Electoral Register for Ledbury:
Christian name and surname of voter: Russell William.
Place of abode: 13,14 Vere Street Bond Street London.
Nature of Qualification: Freehold cottages garden and land.
Street and rent payers: Parkway, George Hyde, William Jarvis, Hannah Russell.
By 1849, when his grandmother died he is in 190 & 195 Regent Street where he is in the 1851 census unmarried as an assistant silk mercer.
This is the establishment of Lewis and Allenby and he is just one, but with big ambitions, of 7 assistants .
By 1861 he is a successful business man in his own right in partnership with Richard Allen as Silk Mercers
in Old Bond St London employing 5 males and 2 females.
This business was very successful specialising in supplying dresses for the stage and the wealthy.
Although there are frequent references to this company in the newspapers I cannot find any advertisement but
the firm had evidently acquired something of a reputation. From the Birmingham Daily Post May 18th 1883.
A bit late for William to benefit from, the ultimate endorsment came in 1890 when the firm was asked
to supply dresses to Princess Victoria of Prussia, granddaughter of our Queen Victoria,
for her wedding to Prince Adolph a member of the complicated German royal family.
Now in a position to marry he somehow managed to meet up with Emma Williams of Ledbury whom he married in St Saviour's Church,
Hampstead in 1866, no reference to this can be found in the newspapers.
Born in 1840, she was the daughter and only child of Richard Cropper Williams of Ledbury.
More about Richard Williams:
Richard Cropper Williams was born in Much Marcle to John and Mary in June 1795.
He married Harriet Shipton in Ledbury in 1827, she died on Oct 19th 1830.
He remarried Margaret Hollings in Hereford in June 1838. They had just one child, Emma in May 1840.
Richard, Margaret and Emma are living in the High Street in 1861 in what was recently 'Nice Things'
now 'Blandford Gifts'.
Described as a Mercer and Draper when he died in 1865, he was buried in a family vault in the
churchyard as befits a man of some standing. Margaret died in 1878 aged 80 and buried with Richard.
His first wife, Harriet, may be there as well as she is referred to on the memorial.
Born then in 1840, Emma was 21 years William's junior and far too young
to have caught his eye when he was in Ledbury as a young man,
there must have been later contact between the families.
With no children from this union the couple are in Hampstead in 1871 and in a Lodging House in Hastings in 1881.
By now in his 60s he must have wished to retire to Ledbury and decided to build a new house at Woodlands in Parkway.
This was nearing completion in late 1887 as this advert from the Birmingham Daily Post of Dec 17th 1887 shows:
and he was able to move in by 1889.
Sadly he died in 1890.
Woodlands, Parkway in the early C20.
From the Worcestershire Chronicle February 15th 1890:
LEDBURY DEATH OF MR. WILLIAM RUSSELL.
Mr William Russell, head of the firm of Russell and Allen, of New Bond street, London, died after a very short illness at Woodlands, Ledbury,
on Tuesday morning. Mr Russell, who was 71 years of age, was a native of Ledbury, where he commenced life as a draper. In his early years he left
for London, and being there successful he founded the famous drapery firm. About two years ago he built Woodlands, a pretty little mansion just
on the borders of his native town, where, with his wife, he came to reside last year. Mr Russell was the originator of the scheme for the erection
of the clock tower in Ledbury which is now being built as a memorial to the late Mrs. Barrett Browning, also a native of Ledbury. To this he was
an anonymous donor of £50.
He is buried in a corner of the Ledbury cemetery with a handsome memorial. The Russell Memorial
{ To the beloved memory of William Russell of Woodlands Ledbury and Hampstead, Middlesex, who entered into
rest Feb 11th 1890 age 71 years. "The Memory of the Just is Blessed" Also in memory of Emma his devoted widow who passed away Nov
25th 1896 aged 56 years.}
Emma must have had fond memories of Hampstead where she spent her early married years and wished their time there to be recorded
by commissioning a window by the top craftsmen of the day:
From the Hampstead and Highgate Express March 7 1891
ST. SAVIOUR'S, SOUTH HAMPSTEAD.
A new window of two lights with tracery over has lately been placed by Messrs. Clayton & Bell in the south chancel aisle
of St. Saviour's Church, Eton-road, Haverstock-hill, given by Mrs. Russell, of Woodlands, Ledbury, in memory of her late husband.
The subject is "he Salutation," or visit of St. Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, treated as couplet,
Mary with Joseph being in one light and Elizabeth and Zacharias in the other. On a scroll over the head of
the Blessed Virgin are the words, "My soul doth magnify the Lord," and to the two angels in the tracery openings
above are given scrolls with the words, "Fear not, thy prayer is heard," and "His mercy is on them that fear Him." While at
the base of the window the memorial inscription reads thus, "To the Glory of God and in ever loving memory of William Russell,
late of this parish and Woodlands, Ledbury, Herefordshire, who died February 11th, 1890, this window is dedicated by his devoted
widow, Emma Russell." This aisle being known " The Lady Chapel " the subject is appropriate to its site, and the idea is further
the period when this branch of art was at its best.
His death must have shattered Emma, still only 50, but she carried on the charitable work initiated by William as the Gloucester Citizen of January 10th 1895 reports:
THE BARRETT BROWNING MEMORIAL AT LEDBURY.
...will be completed and opened by June next. The building, which occupies an excellent corner site opposite the Market Hall,
is of local stone and timber work......Mrs Russell, of Woodlands Ledbury, has presented a valuable clock with four dials
to be placed in the handsome tower...
Sadly she died, aged 56, on November 26th 1896 just 6 years after her husband, she is buried with William.
In her will, dated November 12th 1890, she left £20 to each of her servants except Elizabeth Ann Boggis.
She, my faithful friend and servant, was to receive £100 (£10,000 today) per annum for life. Elizabeth Ann Boggis
Elizabeth Ann Boggis, born 1850 in Barnham, Suffolk, is with Emma and William when they are on holiday in Hastings in 1881 and is with
Emma in Ledbury in 1891.
She must have been very close to Emma but unfortunately died at Woodlands on September 27th 1895 aged just 45.
This must have been a double blow for Emma who, as shown, died a year later without bothering to alter her will.
Elizabeth is buried in the cemetery right next door to Emma and William.
The Inscription reads:
{In loving memory of Elizabeth Boggis [of Barnham Suffolk] who died at Woodlands in this
parish 27th September 1895 Aged 45 years.
Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life}
Emma left a total of £17,000 (£1.7 million today). The charitable bequests are:
£500 (£50,000) 'to putting in a memorial window in Ledbury Parish church or in such window and otherwise in the repair and improvement of such church.'
£150 (£15,000) 'to Ledbury Cottage Hospital'
£100 (£10,000) 'to the Ledbury Reading Room and Library'
£5,000 (£500,000) 'to establishing, maintaining or carrying on a Middle Class Boys School at Ledbury'
This was opened in 1899 as the Hereford Times of April 22nd reports:
LEDBURY
"The Russell Middle Class Boy's Shool"
Prospectuses have been issued of 'The Russell Middle Class Boy's Shool' stating that the school will be situated at
the Court House, Ledbury, and Mr F. W. Wade B.A. Scholar of Durham University, Associate of the College of Preceptors
(and up to the present time Head Master of Ledbury Grammar School), will be the Head Master.
It will be remembered that the widow of the late Mr William Russell, of the Woodlands Ledbury, at her death bequeathed
the sum of £5000 for the purpose of a middle class boy's school for the parishes of Ledbury Urban and Ledbury Rural,
appointing Mr Jesse Garrood, of Ledbury,and two gentleman of London as trustees of the management of the fund.
The school became known as The Court House School from 1926 to 1949 and then Ledbury Preparatory School until 1960 when it closed after 60 years teaching.
Frederick Wade was the first headmaster with his daughters in charge from 1924 when he died uhtil 1946. For more on the Wades see No 11 Southend
Thomas Russell, brother to William senior discussed above had a short and undistinguished career.
A blacksmith like his father, he married Harrriet Mason in Ledbury on August 31st 1822.
With the Southend premises getting crowded Thomas moved his forge to New Street , Nearly opposite the old pike house
lived a blacksmith named Thomas Russell who had his smithy there.(From Recollections of Ledbury' 1905 by George Wargent).
She died on May 27 1823 aged 34, her address given as Southend, her Mother in Law's house. Just 9 months after they married this leaves little doubt as to
the cause of death, life was tough at that time.
A handsome stone in the churchyard records the event. Both her marriage and death notices show her name as Harriet
but the stonemason records it as Harriot!
My sledge and hammer lie reclined,
My bellows too have lost their wind,
My fires extinct, my forge decayed,
And in the dust my vice is laid;
My coal is spent, my iron's gone,
My nails are drove, my work is done
My fire dried corpse now lies at rest
My soul, smoke like, is soaring to be blest.
Eric James Williams was born on February 28th 1911 in No 203 Homend the only child of Egbert Charles Williams (1866 - 1918) and Margaret Louisa née Morris (1883 - 1964) Margaret was born in Hereford, sadly, Egbert died in 1918 when Eric was just 7.
Educated at Ledbury School for Boys in the Homend, his interest in magic was aroused by a visit by a magician to the school. His mother probably insisted he had a 'proper' job and he became a cost clerk for Masefield solicitors. He was also a successful semi - professional magician.
Egbert and Margaret married in Ledbury in 1908, he was 42 she 25.
Early family.
The early Williams family lived in and ran a grocers shop for many years at No 132 Homend, seen here on the right.
As early as 1861 Edward Williams is here as a Grocer and Baker, the census reads:
Edward Williams Head of Household 31 born Ledbury.
Lucy Williams Wife 27 born Berrow.
Edward and Lucy were Eric's Grandfather and Grandmother.
Anne Louisa Williams Daughter 3 born Ledbury.
William John Williams Son 1 born Ledbury.
Ernest George Williams Son 1 month born Ledbury.
Plus various servants.
Edward died in 1870 having had more children, the 1871 census reads:
Lucy Williams Head of Household Widow 37 Grocer and General Dealer.
Annie L Williams Daughter 12 Scholar b Ledbury.
William G Williams Son 10 Scholar b Ledbury.
Matilda Williams Daughter Scholar 8 b Ledbury. Egbert C Williams Son Scholar 4 b Ledbury.
Egbert is Eric's Father
Lucy E Williams Daughter Scholar 3 b Ledbury.
Fanny Williams Daughter 1 b Ledbury.
In the 1871 census this house is known as Birmingham House.
Lucy, now 37, remarries to Samuel Bebbington (1847 - 1893) on 31st May 1871. They have more children so in 1881 the census reads:
Samuel Bebbington Head 32 Grocer b Cheshire. Lucy Bebbington Wife 46 b Berrow.
Anne L Williams Stepdaughter 22.
William G Williams Stepson 20.
Matilda Williams Stepdaughter 18. Egbert C Williams Stepson 14.
Lucy Williams Stepdaughter 12.
Fanny Williams Stepdaughter 11.
William H(arper) Bebbington Son 9.
John W(esley) Bebbington Son 8.
Samuel H(arvey) Bebbington Son 7.
Adelaide L(ucy) Bebbington 2.
All children were born in Ledbury and baptised in the Ledbury Wesleyan chapel just a few doors down and opposite from their house. Interesting to note the name given to John Wesley Bebbington, John Wesley of course being the founder of Methodism.
With 12 occupants, many grown up, they must have been glad it was a big house and on Sundays filled a large section of the chapel!
Some of the children have moved on by 1891 here is that census:
Samuel Bebbington Head 44 Grocer & Baker. Lucy Bebbington Wife 57.
William H Bebbington Son 18 Grocers Assistant.
John W Bebbington Son 17 Grocers Assistant.
Samuel H Bebbington Son 16 Grocers Assistant.
Adelaide L Bebbington Daughter 12 Scholar. Egbert C Williams Stepson 24 Grocers Assistant.
Lucy E Williams Stepdaughter 22.
Fanny W Williams Stepdaughter 21.
Samuel Bebbington died aged 45 in 1893 and by 1901 the household is much reduced as shown here:
Lucy Bebbington Head Widow 66 Grocer Shop Keeper.
Egbert C Williams Son 34 Grocers Assistant.
Lucy E Williams Daughter 32 Grocers Assistant.
Fanny W Williams Daughter 30 Grocers Asistant.
Adelaide L Bebbington Daughter 21.
In 1908 Egbert Charles Williams married Margaret Louisa Morris in Ledbury, he was 41 she was 25, and by 1911 they are living in No 203, The Homend, seen here. Eric James was just one month old and the family lived here for the rest of their lives. Egbert died in 1918, Margaret in 1964. Eric on January 3rd 1981.
From Tilley's Almanack 1982 retrospective of 1981.
The Entertainer
Eric, also known as " Eric 'Nitwit' Williams" and 'The Whimsical Wizard', was entertaining people all his adult life and probably earlier at school as well!
Apart from his stand alone magic and comedy shows he was the inspiration behind the Superiotts Concert Troupe (see later).
In 'The Sphinx', an American journal of the magical arts, of May 1934 under Who's Who in Magic is the following entry:
WILLIAMS, THE WHIMSICAL WIZARD; Eric James Wlliams; b Feb 28, 1911, Ledbury, Eng; semi - pro; comedy magic, since 1929; ed.School for Boys, Ledbury; mbr. I.B.M.;add. 203 The Homend, Ledbury, Hfds., Eng.
NOTES on the above:
ed = Education
mbr = Member
add = Address
The I.B.M. is the International Brotherhood of Magicians founded in 1922.
It seems he was recognised as early as 1929 when he would have been just 18!
A later article, but still giving some useful information on his early career, in a publication called "Abracadbra" of December 8th 1956 gives an early biography:
Some thirty years ago a strolling magician, one Charles Henry, visited the school at which Eric Williams was a pupil and gave a show for which he charged a penny and twopenny admission.
Eric was present (we have not discovered whether on the penny or twopenny benches), and it proved his initiation into the world of magic. Despite enquiries, he has failed to find anyone else who ever heard or knew of Charles Henry, and that's a pity because he looks on him as a sort of magical godfather.
Of course he gained much of his experience in concert party work. No one who has seen him could possibly doubt it. Between the ages of fifteen and seventeen he played with a junior political group, singing comic songs (if singing is the word), joining in sketches, playing a washboard, the one string
At this point the article ends and moves on to the next subject so we shall never know what one string item he played!
There are frequent newspaper reports about Eric's entertainment, too many to include here.
The first item I can find is a report in the Gloucester Citizen, part of which is shown here, about the Ledbury Bowling Club holding their ninth annual dinner at the Feather's Hotel on
November 27th 1929. Eric was just 18 and didn't have to travel far for this booking!
This report in the Gloucestershire Echo of Feb 27th 1934 is the first mention of the Ledbury based "Superiotts" Concert Party with a useful list of the members, which included Eric. More on them later.
'The Era' of July 1st 1936 shows that he attended, and entertained at, a magician's convention:
(The Era was a British weekly paper, published from 1838 to 1939. Originally a general newspaper, it became noted for its sports coverage, and later for its theatrical content.)
TWO HUNDRED magicians from all parts of Great Britain and delegates from abroad, attended the sixth annual convention of the British Ring (International Brotherhood of Magicians), on Saturday, and Sunday, at Southampton.
The proceedings opened with a number of "Special Outside Attractions." These included a spectacular "Death Drop," devised by Brunei White and presented by Cardi, and a blindfold tennis match by Paul Graham, who also walked round the parapet of Waterloo House, over 200 ft. from the ground, after being blindfolded by members of the public. More than 5000 people gathered in the Market Square to view this.
In the evening the Mayoress received the members and friends, and a programme of magic was given by Djinn, J. Milton Woodward, Cardi, Eric J. Williams, and Milicent Cooper.
A report in the Gloucester Journal of November 21st 1936 shows the Supierriots were well received in Dymock.
This notice from the Ledbury Reporter January 20th 1940 is about a Dymock concert organised for evacuees.
This advert is from the Gloucester Citizen December 16th 1941. The Plaza Cinema, in Barton Street Gloucester, also known as The Odeon is now a Bingo Hall.
From the Gloucester Citizen February 22nd 1949. This concert may be within living people's memory, anyone know who 11 year old Kathleen was?
A protégé of Eric's perhaps?
From the Gloucester Citizen November 11th 1950,
the last report found as there are no searchable relevant newspapers after 1950. Eric is still only 39, and introducing a new troupe 'Funzapoppin'!
A video of Eric Williams walking through Ledbury and a demonstration of some close up magic. We also see excerpts from his stage act in front of an audience that combines magic with stand-up comedy.
More on The Supierriots.
As they were based in Ledbury I thought it would be interesting to see who they all were and what I could find out about them! I cannot find out anything about Eric Gould but
here is a summary showing the ages of the others in 1934, the date of the first newspaper report listing the members of the troupe:
Ruby Maddox Violet Higginbotham Maymie Brookes Eric Williams Eric Gould Harold Brisland Douglas Higginbotham
24 24 26 23 ? 25 27
Eric, Harold Brisland and Douglas Higginbotham all attended the Boys' School in the Homend. For more on this school see the Old Ledbury website (click here) where a list of names appearing in the School Magazine of 1921 shows they were all there at the same time.
Ruby (Kathleen) Maddox was born in 2 York Villas, New Street in November 1909 to William and Elizabeth. By 1931 they are in 'Anglesey' in Belle Orchard.
She married Harold Charles Brisland, (NB the forenames are often transposed) her fellow Superrioter, in June 1937 and they are settled in Wyche Road Malvern in 1939. He was born in Ewyas Harold in Nov 1909, to Charles and Edith.
Violet Rose Higginbotham was born in 1911 to Alfred Ernest (1874 - 1946) and Mary Elizabeth (1874 - 1957). Alfred was from Birmingham and married Mary Elizabeth Walker of Ledbury in Ledbury on August 6th 1902. I am not listing all their children here but they also had Eugene Douglas in 1907. NB This is the Douglas in the Supierrots troupe and Ledbury Amateur Film Society (see below). Violet never married and the family are in "Strathearn" Newbury Park in 1939. She died in 1985.
Eric is not mentioned in this notice from the Ledbury Reporter of February 3rd 1940 but it shows the Superiotts are still entertaining.
Douglas Higginbotham's life was tragically short, these newspaper extracts tells us a little about his life;
From the Gloucester Citizen August 13th 1937.
LEDBURY COUNCIL CHAIRMAN'S DAUGHTER WEDS:
HIGGINBOTHAM-BRAY
Considerable interest was taken in the wedding which took place at Ledbury Methodist Church yesterday between Mr. E. Douglas Higginbotham, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Higginbotham, of Newbury Park, and Miss Marjorie Ethel Bray, B.A., elder daughter Councillor and Mrs. W. J. Bray, of Langford House, Ledbury.
The bride's father is chairman of Ledbury Urban Council and the bridegroom has taken part in a number of local public activities. A large congregation was present at the service which was conducted by the Rev. A. Lockwood (Superintendent Minister), and the Rev. Norman B. Cooper. The bride, who was given away by her father, wore a gown of silver lame, cut on classical lines with a train. She wore a finger length net coat with flat pleated bishop sleeves with a veil and halo of orange blossoms and silver shoes. Her shower bouquet was of dark red roses. The three bridesmaids were the Misses Mary Bray and Violet Higginbotham (sisters of the bride and bridegroom respectively), and Miss Edna Miles. who were similarly attired in dresses of stiff cere-cobweb lace trimmed with silver sashes over white satin slips, with silver shoes to match and head dresses silver leaves and small veils. They carried bouquets of gerberas pastel tints.
The best man was Mr. Eric Williams.
A reception attended 80 guests was field in the Methodist Schoolroom, and later the bridal pair left for their touring honeymoon Cornwall. They were the recipients over 100 wedding presents, including those various local public bodies with which they were associated.
From the Gloucester Journal Nov 10th 1945
WELL KNOWN IN LEDBURY AREA Death of Mr. Douglas Higginbotham Mr. Douglas Higginbotham, of Greenway, Dymock,
who died in the City General Hospital, Gloucester, at the age of 38, was well known over a wide area by his
appearances before concert audiences. He was co-producer and pianist the Ledbury Supierrots Concert Party for 12 years
and founder of the Ledbury Amateur Cine and Dramatic Society. He wrote scripts and filmed many pictures which have been
seen by local audiences in the past. He did outstanding work in organising functions for charitable purposes and had been
instrumental in thus raising many hundreds of pounds. Mr. Higginbotham did a considerable amount of voluntary public work
and held many local appointments. At one time he was organist at Dymock Church and was the local Assessor of Income Tax.
While serving as Link Trainer instructor with the R.A.F., he developed an illness which finally proved fatal.
He was discharged on medical grounds and had been in and out of hospital since April 1944. He married the elder daughter
Mr. W. J. Bray, Ledbury, and leaves a widow and two young children.
The Ledbury Amateur Film Society.
From the Gloucester Citizen January 28th 1937
AMATEUR FILM SHOW
LEDBURY SOCIETY'S LOCAL SCENES
Ledbury Amateur Film Society gave their second annual film show to large audiences at the Church Room. The Society, which was formed in 1935, presented an ambitious programme of films, shot and adapted for the screen by the members during last year. The show included The Ledbury News Reel, record of local happenings during 1936 and two stories "The Scoop" written by L. Hunt and adapted by D. Tow, both members of the Society, and high speed comedy picture 'The 38 Strides' written by Eric Williams and photographed and adapted by Douglas Higginbotham.
The scenes were laid in Ledbury, Eastnor and Holly Bush, and proved a popular success. The Rev. Father A. E. F. Goatman, Rector of the Catholic Church, Ledbury, is the Society's president. He takes an active interest in the affairs of the Society, who carry out the whole business writing the stories, shooting the films and adapting them for the screen.
This report from the Ledbury Reporter of January 27th 1940 shows the Society were very busy.
What a pity these films haven't survived! Could they be lurking in somebodys's attic?
Eric was a regular contributor to a magazine called " Demon Telegraph, Ace Magical Magazine" and I hope to be able to collect some of his writings which I will add here.
Grace Dovey and the Grace Dovey Dancing School were well known in Ledbury during the last century.
Even today, after nearly 100 years, the name is still recognised and yet, to the best of my knowledge,
there has never been any effort made to tell the story. I hope this will be of interest.
Florence Grace Dovey was born in Malvern in 1901 to Charles and Ellen Dovey.
Charles Dovey (1876-1951) and Ellen Blake (1879-1968) married in 1897.
They had Constance May in 1899 and Florence Grace in 1901. All events in Malvern.
Constance May Dovey married John William Ainsley Blenkiron in Kensington in December 1926, no children found.
He died in Guildford in 1980 and Constance, with nothing to keep her in that area moved back to Malvern
where she died in The Lawn Nursing Home, Kempsey in 1990.
In her will, dated 1980, she leaves most of her estate to ' her sister Florence Grace Vernon Lloyd'.
For anyone researching family history other names listed are:
Mrs Joanna Webster, Cousin.
Mrs Janet Lenton, Cousin.
Iris Saunders, Cousin. From the 1897 Ledbury Reporter.
Charles Dovey was a dentist based in Malvern but from at least 1897 had a once weekly presence in Ledbury
in Mr C. Pedlingham's store in the High St. as
the advert on the right shows.
C(harles) Pedlingham's grocers shop was to the right of the alley leading to the Burgage Hall/Congregational chapel.
He was here until at least 1920 by which time the shop had been converted or rebuilt into the 'London Joint City & Midland Bank Ltd.'
Having to leave these premises Charles Dovey must have taken the opportunity to move his main surgery from Malvern
to Ledbury.
From the 1921 Edition of Tilley
's Almanack.
You may not have heard of London House, Tilleys tells us he shared the property with R H Wilks China Merchant in No 11 High Street.
The title seems to have been added by Mr Dovey and used throughout his time here,
the shop is currently occupied by Hay Wines.
He was here until 1944 but by 1947 he is in Southend House with his son in law (See later)
It is possible that a little information could be found about Florence Grace's early life. Some school records are available in the Hereford Archives and I may follow that up.
Records of the British Ballet Organisation can be seen in Battersea, by appointment only.
The Dancing School
As shown Grace's first name was Florence but Grace is such a perfect name for a dancer she always used it,
how lucky she was that her parents gave her that second name!
Tilleys in 1928 only records Grace as being on the committee of the Tennis section of the Ledbury Cricket and Sports Club.
The first reference in Tilleys to Grace as a dancing teacher is in the 1929 Edition under the heading: A retrospective of the year 1928.
May 1st.
Dancing display given in the Royal Hall by pupils of Miss Grace Dovey in aid of the Children's League of Pity.
This charity event became an annual fixture in May at various venues: 1947 in the Drill Hall and in the Camp Theatre from 1950 until 1956
Early references from the newspapers are from the Gloucester Citizen June 9th 1928 when 'pupils
of Miss Grace Dovey of Ledbury gave an exhibition of fancy dancing at a Church Fete in Newent.'
and in the Kington Times of April 16th 1932 her pupils are reported attending their 3rd (my underlining) annual dancing
display at the Town Hall in Ludlow 'reaching a high level of graceful and artistic dancing'.
It would surely have taken her at least a year to train pupils
to a standard where they could appear in public and the above notes suggests that she was teaching before 1927.
By 1940 she was well established and successful as the advert and newpaper articles below show.
From the Ledbury Reporter September 28th 1940.
From the Ledbury Reporter January 6th 1940.
BBO: British Ballet Organisation
MRAD: Member Royal Academy Dance
Amongst the Dancing Successes note Elizabeth Baker
was in the Higher Division.
No 16a The Southend is, unsurprisingly, behind No 16 and is now known as 'The Barn'.
References to Grace Dovey and her pupil's efforts appear in newpapers and Tilleys yearly retrospectives
throughout the 1930s and 40s, but it is not until 1947 that Tilleys refers to the Grace Dovey School of Dancing
based in No 16a in the Southend: The School of Dancing did not
formally exist as a business until 1947.
In 1961 the school moved from No 16a to the barn at the back of the old George Inn, ie to the left of the Court House,
where the St John Ambulance was based, and then:
From the Ledbury Reporter March 23rd 1962.
A well known local school of dancing is to change hands. When the Grace Dovey School reopens after the Easter holidays
on May 7, it will be under sole ownership of Miss Elizabeth Baker and, from then, will be known as the Elizabeth Baker
Dance Studio.
During the past year while Miss Baker has been in partnership with Miss Dovey. she has concentrated more on ballroom
dancing while Miss Dovey has devoted her attention to ballet teaching. Now Miss Baker will supervise both sections.
The full report can be found at the bottom of this page.
Grace, now 61, did not entirely give up teaching dance as in April of the same year (1962)
this advert offering classes in Malvern, Colwall, Staunton and Pauntley appeared in the Ledbury Reporter:
The last Dovey entry in Tilleys was in the 1965 issue and shows that for the annual charity event in April 1964:
'Miss Grace Dovey and her pupils staged a superb display of dancing al Ledbury County Secondary School.
The show, which attracted a crowded audience, was given in aid of Guide Dogs for the Blind and realised £84 12s, 7d
for the fund.'
The next article tell the story better than I can.
ex Hereford Times 21st March 2003:
(Note. Elizabeth Baker married Robert Lunn in 1970.)
A BALLET school which has been a feature of Ledbury life since the 1930s is facing an uncertain future,
because the building in which it meets is to be put up for sale.
The Elizabeth Baker Dance Studio is based at the St John Ambulance building, off the Southend.
Up to 50 local youngsters each week receive expert tuition from Mrs Elizabeth Lunn,
who trained at the Sadlers Wells Ballet School.
Now Mrs Lunn, who attended master classes taken by Dame Margot Fonteyn,
has been told that, because there is no longer a St John Ambulance group in Ledbury,
the building will be put on the market at the end of July.
Mrs Lunn is still hopeful the new owners will allow her classes to meet there.
But, whatever happens, she says she is determined to find somewhere to continue the long-established school.
Mrs Lunn said of the present venue:
"It's so ideal. I've had my ballet bars up from the beginning. If it's sold to the right person, perhaps we can stay."
Mrs Lunn bought the dance school in the 1960s. Before then, it was The Grace Dovey School of Dancing.
The building will go on the market at the end of the summer term and Mrs Lunn is keen to secure permanent premises,
either on the present site or elsewhere, before the start of the autumn term.
Mrs Lunn, aka Elizabeth Baker, now 74, took this opportunity to retire.
With the Dancing School in the St John's Ambulance building until 2003, and Elizabeth and her husband living in Southend House, (see below) the Dancing School seems to have an office in the Homend as
this advert from the programme of the 1977 Carnival Procession shows:
This telephone number (2806) applies to both Southend House and the office.
This arrangement applies to No 7 until 1980 then No 13 (Homend) until 1987. In 1989 the office is no longer in use and the telephone number applies
to Southend House only .
I understand that there is no business connection between the Dovey/Baker Dancing School and later Ledbury Dancing Schools.
More on Grace Dovey
From the Ledbury Reporter August 9th 1941.
Grace, now 40, married in 1941 and lived with her husband John in 'London House' High Street until her father,
Charles, retired in about 1946.
In 1947 Grace, her husband John and her parents, Charles and Ellen, are living in Southend House.
This is the same year that the Grace Dovey School of Dancing was formalized as a business, I doubt that was a coincidence.
Charles Dovey died on Mar 1st 1951, Grace and her husband stayed in Southend House until her mother, Ellen Dovey, died
on January 3rd 1968 after which they moved to 'The Lilacs', (now renamed South Lodge) South Parade, a house they had built in the garden of Southend House.
Grace died on October 15th 1995 aged 94, her husband John Vernon on April 30th 2000 aged 90.
In her will, dated 1987, she leaves all her jewellery to her sister, Constance May Blenkiron, (who had predeceased her) with, apart from some charitable bequests, the rest to her husband.
More about Elizabeth Baker.
Elizabeth Baker was born in Park View, No 28, Southend in 1929, her parents, Charles and Hilda (nee Davis)
were married in Llanelly (District) in 1924.
Charles was a teacher at Ledbury Boy's school. He died in 1950, Hilda in 1981.
From the Ledbury Reporter March 23rd 1962.
A well known local school of dancing is to change hands. When the Grace Davey School reopens after the Easter holidays
on May 7, it will be under sole ownership of Miss Elizabeth Baker and, from then, will be known as the Elizabeth Baker
Dance Studio.
During the past year while Miss Baker has been in partnership with Miss Dovey. she has concentrated more on ballroom
dancing while Miss Dovey has devoted her attention to ballet teaching. Now Miss Baker will supervise both sections.
Daughter of Mrs H Baker and the late Mr Charles Baker of Park View, Southend, Miss Baker, who
is already well known in Ledbury for her dancing successes. Started her career at the age of four years under her
present partner and within a year appeared in no less than six scenes in the display
which Miss Dovey presents annually.
After matriculating at the Ledbury Grammar School, she became the first Ledbury girl to study at the Sadler's
Wells School (now the Royal Ballet School), where one of her friends was the now famous ballerina, Beryl Grey.
Miss Baker also studied with three famous Russian teachers, Vera Volkova, Anna Slenaskaya and Lydia Kyast,
with whom she gained valuable experience through working with such famous dancers as Dame Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer,
Beryl Grey and Robert Helpmann.
Her stage experience, invaluable to a teacher, was considerable, taking her all over the country in
such productions as Ivor Novello's 'Careless Rapture', 'The Wizard of Oz', The Kyasht Ballet Company,
The Ambassadors Ballet Company and many pantomimes.
Miss Baker had the good fortune to visit Norway, where she danced for eight weeks in a revue at the 'Chat Noir'
theatre in Oslo
BALLROOM DANCING
Although the greater part of her professional work has been in ballet, Miss Baker is equally qualified in ballroom
dancing which she taught at the Arthur Murray organisation, where her pupils particularly appreciated her work in the
organising of cabarets in her spare time. She was later Dance Director of the Gordon School in Richmond.
Her pupils in Ledbury should benefit to a considerable extent from this experience as well as from her training with
two former world champions, Frank Alback, examiner of the ATA, and Desmond Ellison, world champion of 1959 and examiner
for the Imperial Society.
Subsequently, after passing her membership and being commended in theory and teaching, she was awarded two professional
diplomas.
In spite of this considerable experience, Miss Baker is fully aware that a good dancing teacher never stops learning
and she hopes to continue to gain much, not only from other dancers but also her own pupils. In this way, she says,
she hopes to mantain the high standard for which the school is well known and to which she has already contributed.
Her settled life changed dramatically in 1970/71 when at the age of 41 she married Robert Lunn a well known local comedian who deserves a page of his own.
They must have bought Southend House from Grace Dovey at this time as in 1971 she is living there, probably with her mother, now a widow.
Sadly her husband, Robert, died on October 30th 1994.
She stayed in Southend House until 1999 where she bred and showed griffon buxellois dogs,
later moving to 36 South Parade by 2002, a house she named Bobenut.
She was quite successful with her dogs with Bobenut Mr McGregor and Bobenut Jemima winning
the postgraduate classes for both dog and bitch in the griffon bruxellois section at Crufts.
'Cider Annie' was a familiar figure in the outer Ledbury area in the mid C20 and
many comments can be found about her on Facebook. For instance;
"I can remember her coming to our house sometimes and my mum giving her tea, biscuits, bread and anything she could spare, she often turned the pram on its end and slept in it"
"Remember Cider Annie and her pram - a real character - used to sleep in the ditch with the pram"
"Then she got together with Horace, my goodness she gave him a hard time when he was drunk, she would crack him one with whatever she had to hand"
"Always sat by the letter box at Staplow with her pram getting her drink from the Oak across the road ..she had a good time if the bottle tops were anything to go by next morning."
"Lived in Jug's Green hop workers huts during the summer and Tunnel Cottage at Ashperton during the winter.. pushed a pram everywhere and had a partner called Horace."
There was even a poem written about her by Jack Parry of Priors Court Staplow:
Old Cider Annie, she has gone
To orchards in the sky.
No longer need she trudge the road
For life has passed her by
No longer Annie goes to pub
A-pushing of her pram.
No longer kiddies call to her
"Are you after scrumpy ma'am?"
No more journeys to The Crown
And no more to The Oak.
To sup the flowing cider
With other local folk.
No longer will she take her snuff,
No longer smoke her fag.
And never walking to the pub
To fill her shopping bag.
No more lying in the ditch
And no more in the barn
She's resting in an orchard now
And nothing can her harm.
For Annie's in her heaven
She no longer has to trudge
To call at Frogend, Bishops Frome
Or visit Farmer Pudge.
No more nights at Jug's Green Farm
No longer need she tarry
In the barrack huts up there
of Gallimore and Parry.
And does she dream of Horace,
who shared her wooden bed,
Or does she chat up angels
Who soothe her throbbing head?
And are there vats of cider
Filled nightly to the brim
Replaced by Bacchus daily
To suffice her slightest whim.
And does she take her snuff now
from a jewelled box
Where garlanded with flowers
They brush her golden locks.
But whatever's said of Annie
On earth she did no harm
We trust her stay is happy
at Heaven's Cider Farm.
I don't think the author would meet the criteria to be nominated for Poet Laureate but there is some interesting local history in there.
Note the references to " the barrack huts" and " Farmer Pudge".
All fascinating but no hard facts.
Just one further comment may give a clue:
About 65 years (ie in the 1950's) ago she lived at 'Black Wittick'. I often used to see her pushing her pram, no doubt with a bottle or two in it. Sometimes saw her asleep in a ditch along the local roads around Yarkhill, Stretton Grandison and Ocle Pychard.
Ocle Pychard is a hamlet and parish near Burley Gate and Much Cowarne, some six miles from Bromyard and
Black Wittick is the area around Whitwick Manor and cottages near the Ocle turning off the A417.
Usefully the Bromyard News of May 9th 1957 reports:
A man and woman were each fined 10s at a special court at Bromyard yesterday, for being drunk and disorderly in Church Street on Tuesday. They were Annie Baker, also known as Barlow, and George Thomas Pritchard, who said they had been living at the Barracks, Cowarne Court, Much Cowarne for the past two months. Pritchard pleaded guilty, but Baker said she did not think she was drunk. Police evidence was given by Sgt. C. Nunn and P.C. R. Hall that while in the station they heard shouting and found the couple by the Post Office arguing and the man threatening the woman. The sergeant said the woman was using the vilest language he had heard. P.C Hall took the man into custody, and later had to take the woman also.
Cowarne Court, demolished in the 1960's, is near Whitwick Manor and about halfway between Ocle Pychard and Bromyard. On March 2nd 1921 Cowarne Court and Cowarne Court Home Farm were sold to Farmer Pudge from Bishop's Frome. He later demolished the old farmhouse part of the main building to use the bricks in the construction of his hop kilns. Farmer Pudge was not a farmer, at least initially, his Christian names are Charles William Farmer (Pudge) living in the Chase Inn Bishop's Frome. Bishop's Frome appears later in the story.
Is this Cider Annie? Did she fall out with George Pritchard and take up with Horace? What was Horace's surname?
I am told that she may have died in the early 1970s after taking shelter in a barn during a storm, Horace lingering on for a few more years dying in a nursing home in Hereford.
I now may have a surname, ie Baker, but no age.
Taking a bit of a punt I sent for a likely death certificate, shown here:
I have little doubt, and later research shows, that this has to be Cider Annie. Note the Occupation.
With this date of birth it should be possible to find her on the later censuses.
1901 Census - Nothing found
1911 Census - Nothing found.
1921 Census In the 1921 Census Ann is living at 6 Sekforde St. London. With her are 5 other female boarders of ages from 17 to 22, all single and described as Artifical Florists employed by Alfred Groom. Annie's age is given as 22, born in Tillington Herefordshire.
From 1921 census:
Alfred Groom (1845-1919) was the son of John Groom (1873-1843) and together they ran:
John Groom's Watercress and Flower Girls' Christian Mission.
Extracted from British History Online.
The Seckford Estate had a long association with the evangelist John Groom and the Watercress and Flower Girls' Christian Mission, founded by him in 1866 to help some of the lowliest of the London Street Vendors. Begun in Harp Alley in the City, near the Farringdon fresh produce market, the mission became established in Clerkenwell, where Groom lived and worked at No 8 Sekforde Street from 1875 as a machine engraver or ' engine turner'. It became well known for the manufacture of artificial flowers by disabled girls and women. The flower making seems to have begun in 1879 with the foundation of the 'Flower Girl Brigade' by the philanthropist Angela Burden Coutts. She pressed Groom to devote himself to it full time, and this he agreed to provided she paid a manager to carry on his engraving business, an arrangement which lasted until her marriage in 1881. She then gave up the Brigade entirely, which was continued by Groom as the ' industrial branch' of the mission, his manager's salary being paid out of the proceeds.
Her birth place given in the 1921 census, Tillington, is in Burghill parish near Ocle Pychard, referred to above.
1939 Survey: Ann Baker is living with George Bevan (who buried Ann in 1974) in an estate cottage at Canon Frome Court. He records her as an 'invalid' born on November 13th 1899 as stated on her death certificate.
From 1939 Survey.
I cannot find a birth registration. Without this and in the absence of any census records for 1901 or 1911 how does this George Bevan know her exact birth date?
George Bevan was born in 1903. He married Louisa Baker in 1938 in Ledbury (Registration District). She was born in 1892 and can be found in Lugwardine on the 1901 census with her Father Thomas, Mother Ann Elizabeth and 8 siblings, Thomas was a Cider Brewer. The 1891 census shows that Thomas and Elizabeth had an earlier daughter, Annie Elizabeth, born June quarter 1884. This second Annie, Louisa's sister, who would have been nearly 16 when Cider Annie was born, cannot be found in 1901 or later censuses. As Cider Annie's aunt Louisa would have known her birth date and be, perhaps, the only person she could turn to at the end.
Tony Wargent says " She came from a family of means because every week ( or month ) there was a sum of money at Canon Frome post office for her to spend on her cider etc.
She was well spoken, possibly well educated, until the cider took hold.".
In 1939 Annie is described as 'Invalid' but she surely didn't have a physical disability as she lived to 75 and spent most of her time outdoors.
All this suggests that Cider Annie was the illegitimate daughter of Ann Elizabeth Baker ( 1884 - ? ), of simple mind and wherever she was brought up she was hidden from census returns until 1921 when she had to be included with the other girls in the Charity workshop. Whoever her father was it seems his family could well have had money and influence as somebody took an interest in her early life and had the knowledge and wherewithal to arrange for her to go to the Artificial Flower charity in London.
Well it makes a good story and would be a good plot for a novel!
Horace's full name was Horace King. He finished up in a hostel in Red Hill Hereford, from there he was given a flat by the council on Newton Farm estate, Horace was born in 1922 and died in 1996 so he was 22 years younger than Annie.
William Hatton was born in October 1777 in Ledbury son of Richard ( 1747-1813) and Ann ( 1752-1836), he married Ann Mason ( a good choice since he was a mason!) on May 4th 1806. Whilst living in the Southend they had: Benjamin in 1806. Ann in 1809. Richard in 1811 (he died in 1813). and William in 1813.
By 1816, they have moved to Back Lane where they had: Mary in that year. Robert in 1818. and Elizabeth in 1821 (she died 1823).
Described as a Gentleman in 1844 as this article shows: From Worcestershire Chronicle 17 July 1844.
LEDBURY: An Uninvited Visitor. A few days ago, an Irishman, who said his name was Patrick Woods, was taken before the magistrates, charged with being found in the house of Mr. William Hatton, a gentleman residing in the Back Lane, and refusing to leave when desired. The facts of the case are these: Mr. Hatton's servant girl came down one morning and saw a grotesque looking monster sitting in her master's chair by the fire. His face was blackened over, some parties with whom had been drinking, having covered it with grease and soot, and the girl being dreadfully frightened, ran into the street and cried murder lustily. Mr. Hatton came in and heartily belaboured his visitor with a stick; but nothing would make him depart till Constable Fleetwood arrived and conveyed him to the lock up. When he was taken before the magistrate, Mr. Hatton withdrew his charge, and the fellow was dismissed, a cross and beads which he had in his possession, when taken into custody, being restored to him.
Constable Fleetwood didn't have far to take Woods! The lockup was just a few yards down Back Lane (Church Street).
In the 1851 census William, now 73, is shown as a builder employing 9 men, he died in 1852, Ann in 1863.
In his will dated 16th May 1846 he says:
I bequeath to my daughter Ann Bowler, the wife of Samuel Bowler of Ledbury Shoemaker, for her separate use all the household furniture plate linen china glass pictures prints wine liquors fuel and other household effects as shall be at my decease in or about my dwelling house provided nevertheless that my wife Ann Hatton shall have a power to choose and remove such portion of the said furniture and effects as she may think reasonable for furnishing her cottage.
I devise all my freehold tenements and hereditaments situate in the Back Lane in Ledbury aforesaid consisting of a dwelling house fronting the Back Lane a Back Kitchen and a room over and workshop with gardens belonging all in my own occupation and eight cottages with a garden and shed attached to each
now in the respective occupation of Thomas Stephens, Charlotte Bailey, Ann Waite, Thomas Davis, John Meredith, William Colwell, Joseph Bowkett and Benjamin Jenkins with their appurtenances to the use and intent that my wife Ann Hatton may receive out of the rents and profits of the said hereditaments an annuity or yearly sum of thirteen pounds during her life by weekly payments of five shillings on Saturday the first of such payments to be made on the first Saturday after my decease.
But with respect to the aforesaid eight cottages I declare that my wife shall be at liberty during her life to reside in and occupy such one with the garden and shed thereto attached. As to the said dwelling house, back kitchen,and room over with the garden thereunto belonging lately in the occupation of William Barrett and now in my on occupation together with a right of way or footpath of sufficient width for a wheelbarrow from the Back Lane aforesaid to the said garden in trust for Elizabeth Ann daughter of the said Samuel and Ann Bowler.
The above is extracted, with difficulty, from a long winded will typical of the time.
The £13 William left his wife is the equivelant today of £18,570.
William and Ann are buried in the churchyard behind the bell tower:
The memorial reads:
Sacred to the Memory
of
William Hatton
Late of this town
Builder
who died Jan XXV11
MDCCCLII
Aged LXXIIII (January 27 1852, aged 74)
Also
Benjamin son
of William and
Ann Hatton
who died Feb (rest indecipherable )
Sacred
to the
Memory of
Ann
Widow
of the late
William Hatton
who died Feb XVIII
MDCCCLXIII
Aged LXXXIII
(February 18 1863 Aged 83 )
Benjamin, the eldest son, never married; he worked for his father as a mason and he too died in 1852.
Ann, their second child, married Samuel Bowler in about 1837, more about them later in the White Hart section.
William junior became a mason like his father; he married Helen (Ellen) Juckes Q3 1838. They had:
Elizabeth Helen Nov 1839 in Southend.
Maria Anne Mar 1841 in Southend.
William Henry Dec 1843 in Southend.
Richard May 1846 in Southend.
Francis Allen Feb 1850 in Southend (died 1857).
Emma Harriet Aug 1852 in Southend.
This family seems to have a domestic or financial problem later, as in 1881 William junior, now 68, is a boarder in Bye Street Cottages where he died in 1884.
His wife Helen/Ellen is living with her daughter Maria Anne who married Thomas Foster, a Cigar Importer, in Ledbury on Nov 16 1871. They settled in Winchester where Helen/Ellen died on August 31 1897 leaving just £105 4s 6d to her son William Henry Hatton. There is more about William (junior) and Helen/Ellen in the Southend and New Street North sections on this site.
William (senior) and Ann's second daughter Mary b 1816, married George Harris, a clerk, (b Laleham, Middlesex in 1806) on February 17th 1839. They lived in Church Lane and had their first son, George William Aldred (Harris) in August of that year, he died in 1863. Their second son, Sebastian Hatton (Harris), was born in 1842 followed by a daughter, Marcia Ann, in 1849, all born in Ledbury. By 1861 the family are in Egham Surrey where George is now a Professor of Music.
Robert, the youngest son, married Emma Greenway in Bosbury in 1853. Nothing else known.
Ant's Nest.
William Hatton (senior) lived in Back Lane in what became the White Hart. He also owned some old farm buildings and a stone mason's yard a short distance away in Back Lane. Here he built two rows of four terraced houses facing each other. These are the eight tenements referred to in his will and as early as 1848 they were known as Ant's Nest, as this case shows:
From Hereford Times August 19 1848:
Mary Griffiths, Caroline Davis, and Ann Fawke, all residing in the Back Lane (or rather the Ants' Nest) in Ledbury, were summoned for breaking open the door of their neighbour Richard Hill, thus inflicting damage upon the lock, which complainant's wife estimated at 2s.
It appeared that on Sunday night last, after the complainant and his wife were gone to bed, Fawke and Davis were making a noise, and (as the complainant's wife described it) "romping" against her door, which they burst open; she was at the time watching them through the bedroom window. The two " rompers" and Griffiths then went into the house, and threw a quantity of tar and filth about it. Fawke admitted bursting open the door, but said it was done by "slip" Griffiths declared she was not out of her own house. Each defendant was fined 6d. over their share of the damage done, and ordered to pay 6s. each for costs.
Life in Ledbury was certainly colourful in those days!
This map of 1926 shows the location of Ant's Nest (circled). The girl's school can be seen close by. The aerial image from 1921 shows the houses in Church Street leading from the Market House..
Ant's Nest survived until 1973 and the image below shows one half yet to be demolished. The girl's school, later the junior school, can be seen in the background. The plaque is on the building that replaced Ant's Nest in Church Street, formerly Back Lane.
The White Hart
In 1852 William Hatton's will stated that the 'dwelling house fronting the Back Lane, a Back Kitchen and a room over ' is to be let to provide income for his wife, with the property passing to his granddaughter Elizabeth Ann Bowler on her reaching the age of 21, ie in 1859.
This 'dwelling house' became the White Hart and it remained in the family for many years. In outlining the family history below I am highlighting the various landlords/ladies in red showing that the Inn was always in the same family.
Samuel Bowler married Ann, William Hatton's daughter in about 1837. They had:
Elizabeth Anne in 1838 (who was to become the property owner). Sarah Hatton (Bowler) in 1839. Harriet Maria in 1843 (died 1845). Emma Jane in 1845 (died 1848). William in 1848.
George Wargent in his booklet 'Recollections of Ledbury' tells us that Francis Matthews, (formerly landlord of The Prince of Wales, later of the Horse Shoe Inn the Homend), was the first landlord of the White Hart in 1852, this being the year of William Hatton's death, but by 1859 Samuel Bowler is landlord of the White Hart and it is perhaps no coincidence that this is the year Elizabeth Ann inherited the property.
In 1851, Samuel Bowler was a shoemaker employing 6 men, he and his wife Ann were living on the corner of Bye Street and the Homend. With them were their daughter Sarah Hatton (Bowler) 10 and William son 2. Also with them are Samuel's father,Thomas 69 and mother Elizabeth 76. NB Elizabeth Ann, the eldest daughter, is living with her grandfather, William Hatton, in Back Lane. Moving to the White Hart must have been a serious change of occupation for Samuel Bowler as by 1861 but he is well established there as a Beerhouse Keeper living with his family, including of course Elizabeth Ann, and his mother in law, Ann (Hatton) who is now 84, she died in 1863.
Samuel Bowler's wife Ann died in 1869. Samuel, now a widower, is still landlord at the White Hart in 1871 and 1881 with daughter Sarah and son William. Samuel died in 1892
Elizabeth Anne Bowler married Thomas Gurney in Worcester in 1867.
In 1861 Thomas is a tailor living with his father Edwin, a master tailor, in what is now No 64 the Homend. After his marriage he and Elizabth Ann settled in what is now No 116 Homend where they had: Ann Elizabeth in 1869. Thomas William in 1870. Charles Edwin in 1872. Russell Samuel in 1874. Thomas, still a tailor is probably still working for his father, Edwin, just down the road. Edwin died in 1873 and by 1881 Thomas's business is in the High Street now No 27. He died on April 28th 1881. Elizabeth Gurney now a widow, and remember she was a daughter of Samuel Bowler and had inherited the White Hart and the right of way the width of a wheelbarrow, is the landlady from 1891 through to 1921.
Her daughter Ann Elizabeth (b 1869) married James Archibald Lewis in October 1890, they had: Archibald James in 1892 who sadly only lived a few weeks.
Maud Winifred Annie in 1894.
George Harry in 1899.
Archibald senior seems to disappear and in 1911 Ann is living in the White Hart with her mother Elizabeth Gurney, who died in 1935. As Ann Lewis she took over the licence in about 1926. She died in 1946
George Harry (aka Harry George) Lewis married Elsie Olga Tarbath in Mar 1918 and they had:
Dorothy Tarbath (Lewis) in September 1918.
George Harry in 1920.
Dorothy married Arthur E Baker in 1936. Arthur was the landlord of the White Hart for many years of the 20th century which is outside the scope of this website.
Here is an image of the White Hart in the 19th century and the same scene today. The bracket for the sign still exists.
ANTONIO Joseph (1794-1860) Licensee of The Brick Inn (now the Full Pitcher) and The George Hotel.
Born in Portugal, (although in one census he says he was born in Germany) he married Hannah Matthews in
Ledbury Church on 30th Apr 1836. Sometime before 1839 he took the lease of the Brick House Inn
(later known as the Biddulph Arms now the Full Pitcher) as a report in the Hereford Journal of 31st July 1839
shows when Ambrose Webb, a barge owner
and Edward Fletcher, a boatman, were charged
with 'entering a building within the curtilage of the dwelling house, and stealing 12 gallons of port
wine of the value of £ 10 the property of Mr Joseph Antonio, innkeeper, near Ledbury.'
The census of 1841 confirms his and Hannah's occupancy.
In Wed 25th November 1844 the annual dinner of the Cricket Club took place at 'The Biddulph Arms,
adjoining the ground.....excellent repast served up in a style that did great credit to the worthy host,
Joseph Antonio.'
By 1845 he was established in the George Hotel, South End, as this advert in the Hereford
Times of 29th November shows.
In 1854 his right to vote was challenged on the grounds that he was an alien. He admitted he was born in
Portugal and had never been naturalised, common sense prevailed and the objection was later withdrawn.
He died on July 26th 1860 'for many years the respected landlord of the George Hotel Ledbury.'
After Joseph died Hannah took the licence for the Biddulph Arms where she is on the 1861 census age 57
(b 1804). In January 1867 the license of the Biddulph Arms was transferred from
Mrs Antonio to Mr James Hill. Mrs Antonio died in 1869.
BIBBS Thomas (1798-1860).
Land Steward to the Biddulph family for 48 years, 41
years clerk to the Commissioners of the Ledbury Turnpike Trust and 36 years sub-agent for property
belonging to Colonel Myddleton, ( Colonel Robert Myddleton Biddulph MP,
the son of Charlotte Myddelton and Robert Biddulph of Ledbury) of Chirk Castle.
Thomas was the fourth son of Benjamin Bibbs (1757-1846) and Catherine Robinson (1760-1837)
of Hall House Farm.
The entrance to Hall House Farm is on the Gloucester Road just before the road from Ledbury climbs uphill to Parkway,
a modern bungalow to the left of the drive marks the entrance.
He can be found in High Street as a lodger in 1841.
Married late in life, in 1851 in Ottery St Mary Devon, to Ann Salter (1803-1877), he was 50 she was 49. He died at his residence in Southend Street
on February 28th 1860.
Other Bibbs in Ledbury:
The first son of Benjamin Bibbs Snr (1757-1846), was also Benjamin (1790-1877),
he married Mary Jones in Worcester and settled there as a Saddler. He too had a son Benjamin b1821 (*see later)
Benjamin senior's second son, Henry (1792-1865) married Elizabeth Fawke (1798-1869). Henry carried on
farming at Hall House and had 8 children including Harriett May in 1832 (who crops up in No 25 the Southend in 1861).
Henry died in 1865 at Hall House, Elizabeth in 1869 in Ledbury.
The third son,John (1795-1873), a farmer at Noad farm ( now Ledbury Self Storage etc.)
married Elizabeth Pedlingham (1790-1870) in 1815. John & Elizabeth's first daughter,
Elizabeth Catherine Ann Bibbs (1820-1912) married Benjamin Bibbs (1821-1904), who was in fact her cousin (*see above)
BIDDULPH family of New House Ledbury were bankers, shareholders in the Canal and major land owners in the district.
Founded in 1757 as Biddulph and Cocks the bank was acquired first by Martins in 1928, who became part of Barclays in
1969. Principal personalities associated with the canal are: Michael Biddulph (1725-1800), his son John (1767-1845,)
and Robert (1805-1872)
It was John Biddulph who took a great interest in Ledbury affairs,
steering the policing of Ledbury through changing times.
DAVIS Edmund (1830-1907?) Lock Keeper for the flight of locks in New Street.
Born in Iron Acton, South Glos, 1830 he is living in New Street in 1851. He married Elizabeth Hinton in Worcester in 1853
and by 1861 they are established in the Lock House with four children and his mother and father. Must have been crowded!
By 1871 they had had five more children. The arrival of the railways put an end to his lock keeping,
(presumably the house was pulled down) and in 1891 and 1901 he is a general labourer.
FAWKE Joseph Calder (1793- Oct 8th 1861), Wharfinger in Ledbury in 1861. Born in Ledbury he married Harriet Calder in 1823. An Ag lab in 1841 he
improved his lot by 1851 being a flour dealer in the Homend. Notice of death in Hereford papers adds 'late of the
Wharf Ledbury'.
GOODE Joseph (1816-1892) Licensee of The Bridge Inn. Originally from Newent he married Eliza Jones
in Hereford in 1846. Publican in Ledbury in 1861, 1871. Described as 'Farmer and grocer, formerly publican' in 1873.
Farmer in Dymock in 1881 Died in Newent District.
GREGG James (1766-1839) of Bye Street, Builder, Stone Mason, Maltster and Cider Merchant was in partnership with
Robert Ballard at the Brick Works in New Street. A notice in the London Gazette, dated 31st January 1840 confirms
all this:
Notice is hereby given, that the Partnership in the trade or business of Brick and Tile Makers, carried on for some
time past, at Ledbury in the County of Hereford, by Robert Ballard, together with James Gregg, senr. deceased in his
life time, and, since his death, with James Gregg, junr. and Sidney Gregg, the Trustees named in the will of the said
James Gregg, deceased, under the firm of Ballard and Gregg, is this day dissolved by mutual consent. The business will
in future be carried on by the said Robert Ballard, by whom all debts and credits of the said late firm will be paid
and received.
James' house was available to rent as an advert in the Hereford Journal of Wednesday 26th February 1840 shows and makes
interesting reading:
To be Let
And entered upon at any time
A Dwelling House, Stable, Malthouse, Cider Warehouses, Cider Mill House, Garden and Orhardin Bye Street Ledbury,
lately occupied by Mr James Gregg (deceased) and in which the business of a Builder, Stonemason, Maltster and Cider
Merchant, have been extensively carried on for the last 40 years. The Malthouse, in which 1500 Bushels may be made
in the season, and the warehouses which are capable of holding between 100 and 200 Hogsheads may be let separately if
required. The House is convenient, and the Garden and Orchard very productive, and as the new Canal now in progress
will pass within 15 yards of these premises, where the wharfs will be made, there cannot be a better situation for an
Inn, or a Coal Merchant, or for any other business requiring room.
Apply Mr James Gregg, Solicitor, Ledbury.
James Gregg, solicitor, was the son of James Gregg, Builder.
In 1851 James' widow and daughters Elizabeth and Mary are living in the Southend in a house the location of which
I cannot properly establish. It seems to be between No 13 (the School ) and No 15 (The Unicorn).
Logic suggests this would be No 14 but there is no No 14 now and I cannot (yet) see where it was in the 19C.
For more see Southend 25 and 27.
HIGGINS Richard (1807-1855) Owned the lease of the Cider Warehouse at the Old Wharf in 1842.
Married Amelia Whatley in Newent in 1837. Occupation 'Cider Merchant' when his children were baptised,
lived in the Homend in 1841.
Later moved to Tenby where he is a Commission Agent in 1851.
JONES James (1810-1870) A cider merchant and Inn Keeper.
Evidently considerably overweight as this snippet from the Hereford Journal Wednesday May 1st 1861 shows:
'A ludicrous scene occurred in Ledbury on Monday morning. Mr James Jones of East Bank, residing near Ledbury,
a modern Daniel Lambert*,
had left his horse and spring cart opposite the Talbot Inn with some groceries inside, when the barmaid observing
a man take a parcel away, informed Mr Jones, who immediately pursued him, and on overtaking him, seeing the parcel
under his arm, at once collared him. A scuffle ensued, when the man got away, and Jones started after him, but having
so much fat to carry found he had no chance of overtaking him, so he commenced with the hue and cry, Stop him, stop,
thief. Singular enough, on coming to the Police Station, one of the police who happened to be there, held out his arms,
and the thief, in great fright of the huge person who pursued him, ran into them for protection.'
* [Daniel Lambert 1770-1809 was famous for his unusually large size, 52 stone when he died!]
James may have been the owner of the Talbot Inn:
From the Hereford Times 31st August 1861:
To Innkeepers.-To be Let, and entered upon 29th September, the “TALBOT INN” in the town of Ledbury,
being an old established commodious Market Inn; full licensed, good cellars, stabling for 50 horses,
and every convenience; doing a good trade. Not compelled to take to any stock, as the present tenant is
leaving to go to her own house. For particulars, apply to James Jones, Cider Merchant, East Bank, Ledbury.
East Bank (House) was a substantial house about a mile along the Ross Road on the left hand side. James,
a retired Cider Merchant, is there in the 1861 census with his wife Mary (1802-1887). A handsome, and well preserved, gravestone to James
and his wife exists in Ledbury Cemetery,
The JUCKES, Carpenters and Builders were particularly active in the Southend. To explain the relationships between the various members of the family I need to go back to:
(All events in Ledbury)
William Juckes (1737-1813) married Ann Hartland (1744-1813).
They had:
William in September 1770. John in May 1772. Benjamin in December 1773. Ann in September 1776. She died in 1875. Barnaby in November 1779
Elizabeth in September 1782. Henry in September 1784.
Barnaby (1779-1833) married Ann Amey (1785-1855) on August 25th 1808. They had:
Amey in March 1809.
Barnaby in May 1810. He died in 1842.
Elizabeth in May 1811.
Ellen in Jan 1813.
Ann in March 1815.
Henry in April 1816.
Mary in September 1818.
James in August 1819.
Richard Amey in February 1821.
John in July 1822.
Harriet in Jan 1824.
Penelope in Jun 1825.
Benjamin Amey in March 1827.
Francis in Aug 1828.
William Juckes (1770-1826) married Sarah Mason (1761-1826) on September 24th 1791. They had:
Robert in July 1792.
Nathaniel in January 1794
William in February 1795.
Maria in February 1797.
Constant in April 1799. Benjamin in 1800.*
George in August 1802.
Robert married Mary Wood in Ledbury on September 28th 1819. They had: Nathaniel in 1820.
Charles in 1822.
George in 1825. Thomas in 1826. Mark in 1829. Harriet in January 1831. Joseph in October 1833.
Hannah in August 1835. Robert was a builder in No 6 Southend where the children were born.
Mary died in 1843 in the Southend and Robert in 1869.
Nathaniel, a joiner in the Southend at the time, married Jane Lewis on August 10th 1854. He died in October 1891 Jane
died in February 1907, they are buried in the cemetery.
Hannah married John Bishop in October 1867.
*I have put Benjamin in italics as I can find no record of a baptism but he fits here especially as he named his son William.
Benjamin, a carpenter, is living in No 41 Southend in 1851 and 1861, his age given as 61 in 1861. He married Elizabeth Pain on May 15th 1834
in Ledbury and they had one child, William, in 1836 who died in 1841.
Benjamin died in 1863.
William Juckes (1795-1864) married Susanna Russell in 1821, she died in 1832 in the Southend. They had:
William in 1822. (he died in 1823) Hannah in 1824. (she died in 1830) Francis William in 1826. Jane in 1828.
She is living with Francis in 1881 and in No 41 Southend in 1891. She died in 1901
Susannah in 1830. She died in 1846. all born in the Southend.
William followed by his son Francis were in No 40 Southend from 1839 to 1885
.
Francis (1826-1885) married Letitia Young(1828-1912) in 1854. They had:
William Henry in October 1855. He died in infancy. Susanna Jane in July 1856. She died in infancy. Francis William in May 1860.
Letitia Mary in September 1861. Edith Elizabeth 1864. Allan Russell in 1867. William and Susanna were born in the Southend.
Letitia senior was in No 39 Southend in 1891. She died in Bristol in 1912.
LISSIMAN The Lissimans were significant members of the Ledbury trade through the C19.
Descended from John, 1751-1822, and Sarah, surname, inexplicably, also Lissiman, who married in Ledbury
in Oct 24th 1781 and settled in Colwall Green where houses, barn, cider mill and eight acres are up for
sale in 1822 when
he died. They had
1 Thomas 1782 March 4th
2 William 1783
3 John 1784 Feb 10th
4 Mary 1786
5 Benjamin 1790
Thomas Lissiman (1782-1830) married Elizabeth Brookes (1785?-1849) in Ledbury on June 20th 1807. They had:
1 Elizabeth July 24th 1807 no residence given
2 Thomas 1810 unbaptised
3 Edward 1812 unbaptised
4 Mary Ann May 13th 1814 Residence Jugs Green
5 Mark March 19th 1817 Residence Jugs Green
Edward and Thomas both became bakers in Ledbury.
Thomas Lissiman (1810-1862) was a Baker and Grocer in Homend and
William Lissiman (1806-1850?) was also in the Homend in the same trade, perhaps they were partners.
From Hereford Times October 15th 1842:
Charge of Assault. Julia Brace, keeper of a lodging house in the Homend, summoned Thomas Lissiman,
baker and shopkeeper, for assaulting and beating her. The dispute arose about some article which complainant
had bought at defendant's shop. The latter brought forward a whole host of witnesses to prove that both she and
ughter were beaten in the most shameful manner by the defendant; only one of these witnesses, however, was heard.
fined 1s and expenses, amounting to 8s more.
Giving up the bakery, Edward took on the licence of the White Lion Inn, in Bishop Street (Bye Street),
from Thomas Watkins in December 1847. By now 36 he married Elizabeth Preece in 1848 and by 1851 they are established in the White
Lion with a son John 3 months old. Also living with them at this time is William Lissiman, 16 ie born 1835*
in Woolhope and described by the enumerator as son. He might well be Edward's son but he isn't from this marriage
and I can't find an earlier one. *Registered Q4 1837 in Ledbury as William Liciman Moore (From Free BMD) suggesting
his mother was a Moore.
Edward died in 1870 and by
1871 his widow Elizabeth had the White Lion licence, she died in 1877.
John (1851-?) became a Haulier and leased part of the Bye Street Wharf when he was just 20.
He married Harriett Brooks in 1872 in Hereford, went bankrupt in 1880, emigrated to Canada where
a daughter was born.
Henry, b 1813, a son of the John Lissiman b 1784 and his wife Ann (Williams) is worth mentioning.
Attracting the sobriquet of “Daunter” he appears regularly in the newspapers.
A report in January 1847 entitled “Cleansing and Lighting” paints the picture:
One of the most remarkable circumstances connected with lighting this town with gas, was that,
on that day, “Daunter Lissiman” washed himself and put on a clean shirt! Such an event,
it is believed had not occurred for many months previously. This was, indeed,
in Ledbury, a day of cleansing as well as lighting.
Fined at various times for 'being drunk and making a great disturbance in the streets' he was,
in August 1851, accused of insulting a solicitor, Mr Chamberlain, 'thereby tending to provoke a breach of the peace'.
Daunter was accused of hooting after him whilst he was talking to Robert Biddulph and later shouting
'Robert Biddulph for ever'. Arrested, the charge was withdrawn after he promised not to insult him in the
future. However Superintendent Shead then preferred a charge for having broken one of the flagstones in the cell
valued at 2s. Fined 2s and expenses, the money was soon paid for him and he was released.
He died in 1860.
A daughter of the William b 1783 and who married Sarah Bibbs in Ledbury in 1811 didn't turn out too well either:
Born in 1822, she first came to the attention of the authorities in July 1839
when she was convicted of
stealing coal and sentenced to fourteen days imprisonment. Over the next few years she was convicted of being drunk
and disorderly, three months; 'wandering about as a common prostitute and behaving herself in a riotous and indecent
manner'; vagrancy, one month; in August 1842 vagrancy (tenth time) one month and in January 1843 she was charged,
but not convicted, of stealing 9s ½ d. This report fortunately gives her age as 20. After this she disappears from
the newspapers. (An Elizabeth Lissiman died in Ledbury in 1849).
MADDOX Richard (1803-1869) Long term Canal Company employee. Born in Ledbury he married Priscilla Bowkett in 1826
in Much Marcle.
In 1841 he is 'Clerk to Hereford and Gloucester Canal Co.' at the Monk Meadow Wharf.
By 1851 he is living at Bye Street Canal Wharf, now the business centre of the canal in Ledbury,
as 'Accountant to the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Company' and Wharfinger.
Moving to Hereford in 1861 he is in Canal Road Hereford as 'Commercial Clerk to Hereford and Gloucester Canal'.
With him is son, Thomas, 23 'Canal Commercial Clerk'.
In 1871, son Thomas lives at 'Canal Wharf' Hereford as 'Clerk to Canal Wharf' and, predictably, by 1881 is 'Clerk GWR Co'
MATTHEWS James b 1812 in Derbyshire. Lived in the Carriage House at Monk Meadow for a while.
Married Maria (possibly Mary Ann Court)
from Ledbury about 1842, is a grocer in Bye Street in 1851 and
the landlord of the George Inn in 1861.
He died in 1865 and in the 1871 census Maria, b 1815
is a widow and landlady of the Royal Oak Inn Southend. She died in 1891
MAYALL James (1799-1868) leased the cider Warehouse at The Old Wharf. A Boot maker employing 7 men and living in New Street 6 houses down from
the Bell Inn in 1861. A senior officer of the Freehold Land Society and a well respected businessman he appears many
times in newspaper reports of important events in the town. Among his many successes he grew a 91lbs gourd 5ft 9inches
in diameter according to a report in the Hereford Times of 4th November 1854.
NAPPER John (1789-1874) The Canal Company carpenter by 1848. Born in Bosbury. Living in the Carpenter's Shop at
Monk Meadow in 1851. Married Elizabeth Bruton in Stoke Lacey on July 27th 1814,
they had 8 children: Anne born in 1815, Louisa in 1821, Mary in 1821, Eliza in 1823, John in 1825, William in 1828,
Elizabeth in 1831 and Caroline in 1836.
Mary married Henry Thompson, carpenter of Old Wharf, in 1844. William married Rosanna Davis in 1850,
his occupation given as Canal Carpenter at the Old Wharf. The youngest, Caroline
married John Vaughan Mutlow of Wall Hills described as Attorney, Land owner and Farmer in 1871. John is still
a carpenter in 1871
aged 82 and living in one of the Old Wharf houses on the Ross Road.
POYTHERUS Richard (1818-1902). Ledbury Wharfinger in 1871 and 1881. Born in Worcester he married Sarah Sandford in 1846 at Callow. A Blacksmith
at Withington in 1861. He retired as Wharfinger, or was made redundant by the advent of the railways,
sometime after 1881, to Newtown,
Lower Road, Ledbury, where he is living 'on his own means' in 1891 and died there in 1902. No children recorded.
REYNOLDS John. (1801) Described as Servant to Canal Co. Lived in one of the Old Wharf houses from at least 1851 to 1871.
Born in Gloucester he was a loyal employee of the Company for many years.
He married Maria ? before 1831 they had three children born in Ledbury, Hester, 1831, John, 1834 and Ann in 1836.
SKIPP George (1775-1861), the first lessee of the cider warehouse at the Old Wharf, was a man of many talents. Bankrupt in 1842 the press announcement stated he was
'of Malvern Wells and late of the Cannop Works at St Briavels, formerly of Birmingham, Cider Merchant, Vinegar Distiller,
and Chemist Dealer and Chapman.' The Works at Cannop, with all Plant Machinery and Apparatus used
to manufacture Pyroligneous Acid (wood vinegar) and Naptha, were sold in 1845 and included four dwelling houses.
In partnership with Charles Asprey Beddoe as Cider Merchants in Ledbury, the partnership was formally dissolved on
24th February 1841 by a notice in the London Gazette.
WHITTENBURY Mary (Marie) (1845-1907).
Mary Whittenbury born Manchester to Richard and Mary nee Holcroft in 1845.
Disappears from census returns until 1871 when she is in Old Court Bosbury as a governess/teacher in the household of Richard Hickman, farmer.
In 1881 she is living in the Southend as a 'Principal of School' with her mother Mary, now 70 and sister Amelia, 30 a teacher.
Mary senior died in 1882 in New Street so it seems likely that the Whittenburys were in the throes of moving to New Street in 1881.
In 1891 Mary and Amelia are in New Street as Schoolmistress and Governess respectively, newspaper reports show that they were in Linden House.
Marie Jane Whittenbury, of Linden House, died in Ledbury in April 1907 aged 62.
Amelia Frances moved to a Boarding House kept by Emily Barnes in Worcester St by 1911, she died in St Katherine's Hospital in 1923.
Linden House had been a school since at least 1856 as this report from the Hereford Times of July 12th 1856 shows.
EDUCATION: WANTED, in an old-established School, Young Lady as GOVERNESS PUPIL.
She will receive instruction English grammaticallv. history, geography, the piano, drawing,
and dancing, with the calisthenics. Terms £18 per annum. Also wanted in the same establishment a HALF BOARDER.
Terms £14 per annum. Address, Y. Z., Linden House, Ledbury, Herefordshire.
From the Hereford Journal July 27th 1907:
LEDBURY: MUSICAL SUCCESS.
At the London College of Music examination Miss Elsie E. Gardner, of Linden House,
( Miss Whittenbury's), was again successful, passing the advanced senior division (pianoforte)
first class with honours. She is a pupil of Mr. T. F. Davis, New Street, Ledbury.
the cottage being described in the Hereford Times Aug 26th 1854:
This was nearing completion in late 1887 as this advert from the Birmingham Daily Post of Dec 17th 1887 shows:
Adelaide L Bebbington Daughter 21.
Tilleys in 1928 only records Grace as being on the committee of the Tennis section of the Ledbury Cricket and Sports Club.
he was also on the Committee of the Canal Company
and a shareholder in the Great Western Railway.