The Story Begins
'Tree Time'...for our Roots and Branches........
'So WHO wants to be a ...........?'
For my Children and Grandchildren and all the Cousins and
Branches of the Family to help them understand their Roots
written AD 2002/3/4/updated 2013
by Eileen Patricia Franchi (nee Northeast, born 1932 in Brighton, Sussex)
BECHER.., the second son of Benjamin(Gen.46;21), who came down to Egypt with Jacob. Numbers 26:35; and 1st Chronicles, Chapter 7. .... 'The Sons of Benjamin;- Bela, BECHER and Jedial.'... Verse 8. 'And the Sons of BECHER- Zirmira and Jaosh, and Eliezer, and Elioenai amd Omri and Jerimoth and Abiah and Anathoth and Alameth. All these are the sons of BECHER. And the number of them, after their genealogy by their generations, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour, was twenty thousand and two hundred'.......!!
When I started to search for my roots some 10 years ago I never thought I would uncover so much history in my family.....It all began with a list of names and dates from a family Bible sent to me by cousin John Becher Newman in Canada. He asked me if I could find out more about his middle name and sent me a simple family tree which was headed by Mary Ann Becher who was thought at that time to be married to Thomas Becher. The family Bible gave their death dates. Thomas died in 1864 and Mary Anne two years later in 1866. With nothing more to go on I began the hunt for our ancestors..........
........(Hyperlinks to pictures and documents etc. are being added gradually where appropriate, please click on the underlined items in light blue to view, some have music which may take a few seconds to play) Please feel free to contact me about anything of interest to you or if you have anything to add to my research, at nameatblueyonder.co.uk - using eilfran@ in the address. many thanks.
S0...Here is the true story.....
In the beginning, (as the Good Book says!), there was our Grandma and Granddad Newman, Harriet Marion Phoebe, and John William. Well, not quite the beginning and I never knew Granddad Newman as he died before I was born. Still we have to begin somewhere and I think that is a very good place to start.
Granddad was the son of John Newman, a Well Sinker/Civil Engineer by profession, and Frances Victoria Tomalin, b.1841, daughter of Matthew (in turn a bootmaker and hairdresser!) and Frances Tomalin (nee Archer). On the 1881 census John was lodging in Great Clacton with other engineers presumably working on the New Water Works, while Frances Victoria ( Victoria Frances on the 1881) was at home with the children in West Ham, all, that is, except Alice the oldest child, who appears to have been in service. Granddad was born on 17th November 1869, the second eldest of six children and the oldest boy. (See the section on Branching out in OZ for more details of the Tomalin and Archer Line).
Grandma was born on 27th September 1870, at 29, Brooklands St. Wandsworth Rd., Lambeth, London, and she always said within the sound of Bow Bells so she was a Cockney, the eldest of seven children born to William Henry Butler, (b. 1849 in Westminster), a Confectioner by trade, and Harriet Becher Sutton, (b. 1851 in Bermondsey), who were all living in Date Street, Newington on the 1881 census. In 1871 John W Sutton and Harriet(Becher) and 3 of their daughters, were living next door to William H. Butler and Harriet (B.Sutton) with baby Harriet Marion Phoebe in Wellington Street, Newington. By 1891 John and Harriet Sutton had moved to East Ham. John died in 1894 in Upton Park, Essex, and Harriet about 1902 aged 72. Interestingly John left all he had, which wasn't much, to his daughter Eliza Jane. Presumably Harriet was living off the bequest left to her by Mary Anne Becher which see later.
Harriet Becher Butler died of smallpox in 1883, (and is buried in Manor Park Cemetery) when Harriet Marion Phoebe was just 12 years old. She had to leave school to look after all her siblings. Her father remarried in 1884, a widow by the name of Maria Conning with children of her own, and they had another little girl, Jessie b 1886. Maria died in 1889 leaving William Henry a widower yet again and still in Date Street on the 1891 census. Harriet ran away to live with her Aunt Jane Sutton and eventually met and married John William Newman on September 2nd 1889 at St. Thomas's Church, Bethnal Green, when he was just 19 and she was 18. It was a true love match, so my Mum wrote many years later.
Well, Harriet Marion Phoebe and John William became Master Bakers and lived at 27, Hardinge Street, Commercial Road, London for some eleven years (ref. Kelly's Directories) where three of their seven children were born. Mum wrote that they were allegedly the first people to sell ready made Christmas puddings in basins and neighbours brought their Christmas dinners to be cooked in the large ovens! I visited the site of 27 Hardinge Street some years ago but there are only allotments there now. I remember Grandma telling us that she worked as a young girl in a cracker 'factory' which I discovered was in fact an upstairs room over a bakers shop and they folded paper hats for crackers as outworkers. Could that have been her fathers shop? and did she work for Tom Smith the inventor of Crackers. ?
Doctor Brighton.......
Unfortunately the effect of working in a floury environment took its toll on Granddad's lungs and he was advised by the doctor to retire to the seaside or he would be dead in a few months. So about 1904 (following the example of the Prince Regent perhaps) the family moved to bracing Brighton and Granddad lived another 24 years. He and Grandma lived a happy, hardworking life setting up a business in the second hand trade at 73b St. James's Street, Brighton, on a corner at the top end of Lower Rock Gardens and opposite St. Mary's Church. Allegedly the first shop of its kind in Brighton. When the 1st world war broke out Granddad was well enough to work as a ships cook. Later he opened a business in the second hand furniture trade in Upper St. James's Street, not far from the 'Rock Dress Agency' as the first shop had been named. A further three children had been born, the youngest of whom was my Mother, Gladys Victoria, born on 10th December 1910. Grandma and Granddad became active members of the East Brighton Traders Association and were so busy looking after the two businesses that it fell to Mum's older sister, Marion, to look after her young siblings. The eldest sons, William (father of John Becher Newman), joined the Navy and Stanley emigrated to Australia where he met his first wife and had a son also named Stanley, (Stan senior later married Gwen Simmons, who already had a son John, and they had a daughter Julia Ann who had 3 lovely daughters who are in Australia with families of their own), and the oldest daughter, (Edith) May married and had a daughter, Jose, b 1819,(who went to America to live in 1943), but May died when Jose was about 13, so I never knew her.. That left Victor, Eddie and Mum.
The Pepper Pot
By 1926 the time came for thinking about semi retirement and Granddad and Grandma bought a plot of land in Tower Road, near 'The Pepper Pot', Brighton and had two houses built, one of which was sold. The other they named ' Becher' and decided to spend their remaining years there. Granddad built a large glass conservatory at the rear. But fate was not kind, for in less than three years, the one time 'Master Baker' died on 28th January 1928 and is buried in Brighton Cemetery. Grandma took over the shop again, ran the business with the help of Marion and learnt to drive a big Rover car so that she could collect the 'good quality' second-hand items for the shop from peoples homes. The business thrived and Grandma became a 'Woman of Property'! She was a very determined lady, bit of a dragon even so I have been told! and stood no nonsense, even the local Bobbies on the beat held her in great respect! Every 'Flag Day' she set up a stall on the doorstep selling 'flags' for whatever cause. She enlisted the help of, firstly, my Mum when she was little and then, later, me sitting on our little chairs to attract the public and encourage them to part with their money.
A Ticket to Fly
Large family outings had always been a regular occurrence on Sundays when the shop was closed, with picnics in the country, especially at Cuckmere Valley where all the Uncles went fishing for eels on the river. Another favourite place was our beach hut on the beach. The tradition remained right up to World War 2, and beyond, until the family became too scattered around the globe. When pleasure flights were started by the Eastbourne Aviation Company in 1918 Grandma was one of the first women passengers and her friend fell on her knees and prayed to God to bring her back, when the plane went out of sight. I still have the ticket for this flight with her name and the date. Her favourite tipple was Guinness and later in life she added a measure of whisky!. She was only 4ft 10 ins. What she lacked in stature she made up for in her manner- A God fearing, upright, honest citizen, but a 'little Lady' for all that. My Mother wrote a small book about her called 'The Little Lady and the Master Baker' and many family members have a copy. Some of her ancestors are the folk one dreams of finding on ones Family Tree (see later) . Back to index page
Catching up with the past.......... please feel free to contact me , if I can be of any help with any name or item, event etc. of interest to you, or if you have anything to add to my research, at-.nameatblueyonder.co.uk - using eilfran@ in the address, many thanks.
Butler ancestors are quite difficult to trace being quite a common name, but after much patience and with the help of the Internet Rootsweb site for Surrey, I found Sue in Durham who was looking for information about her 2x Gt. Grandfather, Charles Butler, born 1824 in Westminster, who was a Messenger at Parliament and who had a daughter Esther. Now, I had discovered that my 2xGt. Grandfather, was a Charles Butler, Parliamentary Messenger who was married to Esther, according to the 1881 Census. (Esther, born 1821 in Fulham, we found, was the daughter of Thomas Gill, a messenger at the Admiralty).
They were the parents of Esther who married a Catchpole ( Sue descends from this branch), Emily who married John Stoker from Durham, Charles, a Head Railway Porter married to Matilda, William Henry, Confectioner, the father of Harriet Marion Phoebe, (married 1st to Harriet Becher Sutton and 2nd to Maria Conning, their little girl Jessie aged 4 is staying with her Aunt Emily and family in 1891 in Battersea and that is how I found Emily's married name), James a House of Commons Fire Lighter/Coal Porter, (married to Mary Jane), Fanny and Caroline, all born in Westminster. I think Jessie may have been sent to Bath in 1901 aged 13/14 to train for domestic service. Esther senior was a widow aged 70 in 1891 and living with her son James and his family in Lambeth.
We pooled our researches, with references to Census entries and certificates of Births and Marriages and Sue and I found we are 3rd Cousins and correspond regularly on the net and have visited each others homes. We are stuck with Charles father William Butler who was a labourer on Charles Wedding cert. in 1844 and Esther's father Thomas.
Having found, and hit a brick wall with, Charles and Esther Butler, I then turned my attention to the females, starting with my Gt.Grandmother, Harriet Becher Butler, nee Sutton, (the mother of my Grandmother Harriet Marion Phoebe Newman, nee Butler). She was born in Bermondsey in 1851, one of 10 children I found on a Pedigree lodged at the PRO, born to Harriet Becher and John William Sutton, a grocer, (b. 1821, son of John and Ann Sutton), who were married by license, at St. Mary at Hill, Lovat Lane, London on 6th December 1846. On their wedding certificate Harriet gives her address as 36, Eastcheap, London, which , according to the London Directories, was an Inn called the 'Cow and Calf', the proprietor was James IRISH.(see later) and he was one of the witnesses on the certificate together with George L. Becher. It also mentions John William's father John Sutton, a butcher, and her father Thomas Becher, Gentleman.
So here was Thomas and all the children mentioned on the list from the Bible. After some very good advice from a London Rootsweb member, I searched the Probate Indexes at my local library and found what I thought was his Will reference in1864 and then 2 years on there was Mary Anne's Will reference, but here was something intriguing- she was referred to as a Spinster! I also found their death certificate references and sent for both the Wills and the Certificates and that is where the Family Tree took off in a direction I would never have believed in a million years.
On the Becher Trail at last..........
The Will for Thomas was the wrong one and there was actually no Will for him. But Mary Anne's Will confirmed who she was and stated that she left everything to her brother, Thomas Becher, and then to his daughter, Harriet Sutton, nee Becher, and her children, (the Sutton children in the Bible). That was the biggest revelation, that Mary Anne and Thomas were brother and sister and not husband and wife at all. The death certificates confirmed that Thomas died in 1864 at 22 New Street, Kennington (now Braganza St )and later home of the De Laune Institute, in the Parish of St. Mary, Newington, Surrey, and Mary Anne's confirmed that she died in 1866 at Partis College, Bath, Somerset, aged 83. There was another intrigue- What was Partis College?.
From these certificates I had Mary Anne and Thomas's ages and therefore their birth dates and found through the International Genealogical Index that they were 2 of 12 children born to Joyner Becher and Sarah Harris, married in Wokingham in 1763 and this was confirmed by the Berkshire R.O. , Mary Anne was the youngest daughter born 9th October 1782. Thomas was the youngest son, born 21st Dec. 1787.
I discovered that Sarah Harris senior's parents were Timothy and Mary Harris and I have a copy of Mary Harris's Will in 1758 in which she mentions her two children, Sarah and John, she herself was a widow. John Harris was a witness at Joyner and Sarah's wedding. One of the witnesses to the Will was a Sarah Lawrence and on the IGI there is a marriage of Timothy Harris to Mary Lawrence at St. Clement Danes in 1733 and I have received a copy of the entry from Westminster Archives, which states they were both from the Parish of Wokingham ,so it looks like they are ours!. I have also downloaded a Will from the PRO for Sarah Lawrence of Wokingham, dated 1760, spinster sister of Mary, in which she mentions her niece and nephew, Sarah and John Harris., a sister Elizabeth and a brother John. From the IGI it looks very like the Lawrence siblings parents were Elizabeth and John, so another step back in time to pursue.
HOLLAND / IRISH and The Cow and Calf
With the help of a new connection in Australia and another in Kent, I found that Thomas Becher, my 3x Gt. Grandfather, married in 1818, Ann Mary HOLLAND in Beckenham, Kent and they had a son George Lionel b. 1821 and a daughter Harriet b.1822-Penge on the 1881 and Sydenham on the 1851.. Now Penge and Sydenham did not have a church until 1831 so the residents used Beckenham for convenience although Penge was part of Battersea then. So Bromley Local Studies Library did a search and found all the Beckenham entries for me. The IGI states that Thomas BECKER and Ann Mary Holland were married at Beckenham in 1818, no wonder I could not find him and now, suddenly, we have a new family, HOLLAND, to research. Thomas Becher and Ann Holland were both witnesses in 1817 to the marriage of Thomas Holland and Ann Healy. In turn Thomas Holland was a witness at the marriage of Thomas Becher, farmer of Penge, Battersea, to Ann Mary Holland, together with Martin Becher and Sarah Harris. (You will find out more about Martin Becher later in the story, it is more than likely that he was Thomas's nephew, son of William Becher). Harris was the maiden name of Thomas's mother Sarah, so this Sarah might possibly be a cousin. From the BVRI, Ann Mary Holland's parents appear to be Henry Holland and Ann .?. I have also received Ann Mary Becher (nee Holland) death certificate dated 11th October 1850, which states she was the wife of Thomas Becher, Farmer, and died aged 51 at 36, Eastcheap, London. This was the address which their daughter Harriet gave on her marriage certificate in 1846. On the 1851 Census it states that Eliza Holland aged 20, born in Beckenham, was a niece of the Head of household at 36 Eastcheap and she was a barmaid. The Head of the household was not present. Now the Proprietor, as we have learnt, was James IRISH and his wife was Elizabeth, nee HOLLAND, who on the 1861 Census was Head and a widow aged 53 born Beckenham. So it is pretty safe to assume that both she and Eliza were related to Ann Mary BECHER, nee HOLLAND. I have now received a copy of the monumental inscriptions from a Beckenham local Historian which state that Henry Holland b. 1759 died16th Feb, 1846 and Ann Holland his wife b. 1771 died 7th Sept. 1844 and their daughter Ann Mary Becher b 1799 died 11th Oct. 1850 are all buried at Beckenham as is Thomas Becher.. Now I am hopeful of finding the parents of Henry and Ann, and together with about 6 other Holland descendants, I found on the net, all searching for Holland's of Beckenham. Seems they were a very large tight knit family.
A 'Grade 1' find- Partis College.
Through the internet I discovered that Partis College still exists today in Bath, and is a Grade 1 listed building. It is a residential establishment for C of E genteel ladies in reduced circumstances, daughters of Army Officers and Clergymen. I wrote to the Bursar in the hope he could send me some history and back came a dream find- two letters written in 1838, by a Mary Morris to her Uncle, Rev. Dr. Samuel Holland, on the board of Partis College, and by Captain Stevenson, both recommending Mary Anne to the Foundress, Ann Partis, and outlining her family history, plus a letter written in1841 by Mary Anne herself, from her home with a Mrs Forrest at East St., Red Lion Square, Holborn, like a C.V., thanking the Foundress for accepting her, mentioning her niece, Lady Nugent at 'Lilies', Nr. Aylesbury and Chandos St. Cavendish Square, Marylebone, and giving a mini history of her circumstances, which I have been able to add to with researches into the Becher name. (I have recently handled and read letters, held at the British Library, written by Mary Anne's niece Anne Lucy Grenville, Lady Nugent, from her home, 'Lilies', to her mother in law, Lady Grenville, discussing her flower garden, her health and the death of her sister Charlotte.)
George 1st's Army
The first two letters, by Mary Morris and Capt. Stevenson, mention Mary Anne's nieces, Lady Nugent and Miss Poulett, plus her Grandfather, Captain Lionel George Becher of the Guards and her brother Henry as well as her parents and two uncles, General Brown, (see later) and General Clarke. Lionel George Becher, we have discovered through a book entitled George the First's Army, Vol. ll, 1714-1727, became an Ensign in the 3rd Foot Scots Guards on 2.9. 1722 rising to Captain and stationed in Kensington guarding the Monarch apparently until he volunteered to serve in Col. Wynyards Marines at Cartagena (The War of Jenkins Ear) and was recruited, into the special troop as a 1st Lieutenant and Quarter Master 22nd November 1739. Made Captain 11th May 1740 ref. Army Lists for 1739/41. The Gentleman's Magazine of 1740 announced that Capt. Becher had been promoted to Capt. Lieut. of Wynyards Regiment of Marines. He died shortly afterwards leaving 2 children but no clue as to his wife, parents or place of birth. The Gentleman's Magazine reported his death in 1741 on page 443 under Deaths and promotions in America, along with many others who died or who were killed, as follows- Beacher. Capt. Lieut. of Wynyards Marines, (note the spelling of his name).
I contacted the Scots Guards Archives on the web with my story and had a reply from a Mr. McQuade who was going to try to find out more about Lionel's entry into the Guards but I still haven't heard anything- someone must have paid for him to have joined in 1722 as it cost about £900 to buy an Ensign Commission, so I took another look at George 1st Army volume II, which is mentioned above, and discovered that there was more information on each man listed. Lionel Becher is listed as of Sherkin, Co. Cork. Comm. renewed 20th June 1727c, transferred as Ensign to Col. Egerton's Regiment(20th) in Gibralter via Dublin, 22nd Dec. 1727(he was married about then) Serving in 1736. Then it said 'out by 1740' and I thought we were home and dry. However it then said 'died 1772 Will proved Dublin' but this refers to a Lionel born 1686, son of Col. Thomas Becher of Sherkin, and this Lionel married Catherine Dunscombe in 1712 in Cork. So I think someone has linked Lionel George to the wrong man -who may be his father.
2014. Update to the entry of Lionel into the Guard.. The Guards archiveist at Wellington Barracks, tells me that there is no mention of parents or a sponsor on his entry which was quite unusual. I have now discovered that far from anyone paying for his entry he borrowed the money from a lender and then could not replay it and was in court trying to defend his actions. I have copies of the large court documents from the National Archives. I also found in 2012, (see later), Lionel's marriage in the Fleet prison Chapel in 1725 to Ann Lake again no mention of parents..They were probably too young or of different faiths or could not get consent and so was a clandestine marriage. .
A POSSIBLE CLUE .
I have now at last been sent , by a new Becher contact, Leonora, a brief summary of the 1772 Will which is listed in Vicars Index of Prerogative Wills in Ireland. Unfortunately it doesn't give me any obvious clues but does say he had a daughter Catherine named after his wife, and a son Edward, daughters Peniel and Harriet, plus several Grandchildren, (but not my Lionel's children). . This in itself is strange because most men named a son after themselves or a Grandfather, so was there a son Lionel who had died too early to be included in the Will and he had not been aware of his wife or children . The only way I shall find out is if I can find the baptism entries in Sherkin. This older Lionel also had a brother George. Leonora also sent me an item from Sir Bernard Burkes Collection of Wills for forming Irish Pedigrees. This states -Lionel Becher of Sherkin co Cork Esq Will dated 14th Jan 1769, proven 1772 marr Catherine dau of .. Dunscombe. Issue of Lionel & Catherine.. Eldest son named ? Edward marr? had issue Edward and Michael, daughters Catherine, Peniel marr Randall Westropp, Harriet marr... Simpson. So here at last is a possible clue- what was the eldest son's name?? was it Lionel and, if so, is he my Lionel. Seems more than a possibility. I need to research further into this.
The Honourable Lieut. General John Brown... skeletons in the 'High Society' closet!!
According to the letters from Partis, Lionel George Becher's son, Joyner Becher, my 4xGt Grandfather, was brought up by an un-named uncle in Berkshire, (but see below) and he married Sarah Harris as mentioned, in Wokingham in 1763, stating that he was from the Parish of St. Nicholas Cole Abbey, London. His un-named sister was adopted by an uncle, General Brown. Both children seem to have been quite young and of their mother there is no mention. I found through the Public Records Office on line records that a General Brown left a Will and Codicil when he died in 1764 and a document in 1767 which I have read, records this fact because of a dispute over the beneficiaries and mentions a 'Mrs Beecher' being an 'in-law'.
I acquired General Brown's 4 page Will, from the PRO and discover that he was The Honourable Lieut. General John Brown of Hubbards Hall, Harlow, Essex, and it mentions Ann Becher and her brother Lionel several times. As Lionel George Becher was dead by the time the Will was first written in 1756 he is referring to Joyner, as now proved, and Ann Becher is his previously un-named sister. Both children were cared for by John Brown though he allegedly died a Batchelor, in Dijon, France, in 1764. He left them both large sums of money, with property in London and land he had lately purchased of £100 a year (Palmers Farm, Coptford) and linen and other goods to Ann Becher in a codicil. The Will also requests that he be buried in the Churchyard at Layer De La Haye, near Colchester, Essex and I have found on the web that there is a large obelisk erected by Lady Frances Burgoyne, commemorating him, near the porch of the Church of St. John the Baptist ,Layer De La Haye. He served under the Duke of Marlborough.
I spent a day in the British Library where there are a great many manuscripts held which I found online at their website recently, and also at the PRO again to look at more documents I found, also online, relating to a trial and Petition regarding interest in John Brown's Will. On one, John Brown is referred to as a Bastard son of Elizabeth Deane and the natural son of the Honourable Henry Lumley. Lady Frances Burgoyne, his executor, was the youngest daughter of Sir George Montague and his second wife, Mary Lumley who had an Uncle, Henry Lumley, the Great Uncle of Lady Frances Burgoyne, and it is he who is referred to as the father of General Brown. The name Brown was probably assumed to hide his real identity. Lady Frances was sister to the Earl of Halifax, George Montague-Dunk. Her mother, Mary, was 1st daughter of Richard Lumley, Baron Lumley of Lumley Castle Durham, 1st Earl of Scarborough, and her husband was Sir Roger Burgoyne, 'cousin of the man who lost America'!!
The British Library Manuscripts confirm that that Mary Lumley had an Uncle Henry. - Letters in 1722 to the Duchess of Marlborough from Frances, nee Jones, wife of Richard Lumley. 1st Earl of Scarborough, followed by letters from her daughter, Mary, (wife of George Montague, 1st Earl of Halifax )and her brother-in-law, General Henry Lumley. There is, interestingly, a document recording the fact that an Elizabeth Deane had a receipt in 1717 relating to the estate household expenditure of the Sunderland family (Sunderland was a son in law of the Duke of Marlborough) and this comes under Blenheim Papers, and Blenheim is the seat of the Marlboroughs and John Brown served under the Duke. However I have discovered another Elizabeth Deane on the IGI Ancestral site who was from Dynes Hall, Gt. Maplestead in Essex. and she was married to John Tyndall also from Essex. She also had an Aunt Elizabeth Deane and I will refer to this later.
GENERAL CLARKE, .. another stone unturned.
One document I have, mentions Ann Becher's marriage and refers to her as Mrs Clarke. I found a marriage on the IGI of an Ann Beecher(sic) and Thomas Clarke on 10th October 1763 at St. James, Westminster, and received a copy of the entry from Westminster Archives, and a witness was S. Lake(see later). So this is the General Clarke referred to by Mary Anne as her Uncle. I have also found General Thomas Clarke in the Army Lists in my Library. These Lists start in 1776 and we find Thomas Clarke in the 2nd Reg. of Foot (The Coldstream Guards) having been made Colonel on 11th June 1773. On 8th Sept. 1775 he was a Second Major and on 21 November 1777 he was Fifth Major having been made Major General on 29th August 1777. On 8th February 1792 he became a General and in 1796, May 3rd, he was in the 30th Foot Guards or the Cambridgeshire Regiment, in Ireland. Then the records cease. A letter written by General Brown refers to him as the son of Baron Clarke of Godmanchester and I sent for a pedigree and documents for the Clarkes of Godmanchester, lodged at Reading RO. and found on A2a. . The Hon. Mr. Baron Clarke appears to have been Charles Clarke, M.P. for Co. Huntingdon and then Baron of the Exchequer- a term used for a Judge of the court of the Exchequer which was the administrative body for the Royal Revenue.(see P.S. details below, Alured Clarke). As a by line from the Pedigree I discovered that Anne Lucy Becher died in Quebec in 1784 and I posted a question on the Quebec Genforum about her. I have had a wonderful reply which tells me that indeed, Anne Luce Marie Madeline Becher spouse of Thomas Clarke, Lieut. General des Troupes, Colonel du 31 Regiment de sa Majeste Britannique, died 30th June 1784 and was buried on 2nd July 1784 in the English Cathedral, Inhumee dans l'allee du cote de l'epitre, un peu au-dessous du banc d'oevre, dans l,eglise cathedral et paroissiale de cette ville. Another loose end tied up.
Thomas Clarke also figures, in the documents, as a landowner together with Lady Frances Burgoyne, who were both owed rent by the tenants of John Brown's property after his death.. John Brown owned 744 Acres in Layer de la Haye, divided into 4 farms, plus other property and houses in Fenchurch Street and Addle Street, as well as in Dijon, France where he died. One document I have just discovered is a 'report on the petition of the governors of the Foundling Hospital to property from the estate of the late Lieut. Gen. John Brown in Fenchurch and Addle Streets. - 'Opinion that this escheated property should be granted to Col. Clarke, first discoverer of the escheat', and another document held at the House of Lords Records Office re 'an Act to enable His Majesty (George 111) to grant certain houses in Fenchurch Street and Addle Street in the City of London, escheated to the Crown by the Death of Lieutenant General John Brown, without Heir, unto Frederick Montague Esquire, and his Heirs, upon the Trusts therein mentioned' Both these documents are dated 1772 so it gets more interesting by the minute. Both men wanting the same property!! I hope that the documents will reveal their relationship to General Brown. I emailed the House of Lords Record Office and received a reply and a copy arrived 3 days later.
EscHEATED Dispute
The dispute, between Lady Frances and her husband Sir Roger Burgoyne, and Thomas Clarke and Anne Lucy his wife, over who should inherit the property of General John Brown was quite a heated one with many petitions and appeals from both sides. Lady Frances states in one letter I read, that she thought she was more entitled to it because she had connections in high places and anyway Anne Lucy was a Catholic!! The King was involved because of the Escheat to the Crown and his signature appears on several of the documents. The reports are very repetitive and very large so I left most of them behind in the archives as the copying was very costly. However I did have copied at the B.L. 30 pages of letters and petitions, which I just could not let go. The petitions which I had printed at the PRO are from Roger Burgoyne, Thomas Clarke, Henry Lake and Frederick Montague, the last of which is an amicable agreement they came to, to solve the matter and the clear signatures of Joyner, Ann Lucy(Clarke) Thomas Clarke, Frances and Roger Burgoyne and Frederick Montague are at the bottom.
The document from the House of Lords Record Office is 10 pages long and has been copied so that it is very easy to read. I am very impressed by the quick efficient and relatively inexpensive service. It is an appeal to His Majesty George 111 to reverse an escheat of the property in Fenchurch Street and Addle Street which was seized by the Crown on the death of John Brown before his Will was found. The appeal is by Sir Roger Burgoyne and his wife Lady Frances (Montague) whose Great Uncle, General Henry Lumley, (brother of Richard, Baron Lumley of Lumley Castle, Durham,) who died in 1722, was the natural or reputed father of John Brown, and also by Thomas Clarke and his wife , Ann Lucy (Becher) and her brother Joyner Becher. The property was to be sold so that they could benefit as per the Will. It also confirms that Thomas Clarke was at that time a Colonel in the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards and I have now received a Pedigree for the Clarke family of Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire, (see...'P.S...Alured and the The Hunter Affair').
a Skeletal Summary, -A Leake in the Lake!!......
12 pages of documents copied at the PRO unfolds the story as follows.... Lionel George Becher, my 5xGt.Grandfather married Ann (Lake) who had a brother Henry Lake. Ann was the natural half sister of General John Brown. So they must have had the same father. General John Brown was the natural son of Henry Lumley and bastard of Elizabeth Deane. I have a document which states that 'this is proved by the affidavit of the Honourable James Lumley which was laid before the late Mr. Tyndall, his Majesty's procurator-General' who made a report. Is this the Mr. Tyndall married to Elizabeth Deane, mentioned above, or a relative? Lady Frances Burgoyne was adamant that her Great Uncle Henry only had one child(John Brown) and never acknowledged that he was related to Ann Lake and Joyner his sister Ann Lucy at all. I have to find the original affidavit of James Lumley and the report by Mr Tyndall, and as a start I found the Will of James Lumley dated 1766. which unfortunately did not help at all! However at the PRO I found and have copies of both Elizabeth Deane and General Henry Lumley's Wills and they are very revealing.
Elizabeth Deane died 1721.. Her Will dated 1718 in Ewell, Surrey, states 'I give and bequeath unto my loving friend Mr. John Browne my two houses in Fenchurch Street, and all my interest in a lease in Addle Street with 14 years to run.' She also gives him all her real and personal estate, goods, plate, linen and what little jewels and appoints him her executor. Now, is she referring to General Henry Lumley as her loving friend John Browne or to their son General John Brown who certainly inherited the houses from someone as mentioned in his Will. Curious.
Henry Lumley, died 1722 in Hampshire, and his Will was written the same year. He had a wife Anne (nee Wiseman), his executor. At her death he leaves, amongst other bequests, £1500 pounds each to 'Lieut. Col. John Brown and Anne Leake (so called),(sic) who is residing with her mother in Kensington', in addition to leaving Henry £4500 and Ann £2500 anyway. (He leaves Capt. Wilson, Lieut. Governor of Jersey, £300 to be paid him out of the money owed to Henry from Mr Pipon (?) his former Governor. Henry was Governor General of Jersey from 1704 to 1722). It is obvious that both Ann Lake and John Brown are part of his life. His 'dear wife Anne' is only mentioned after all his nephews and nieces so it would seem he had no living legitimate children. From this it would appear that the mother of Ann is not Elizabeth Deane as she had died a year earlier in Ewell, though she is the mother of John Brown.
On The Trail of My 'Holy Grail'.
Lionel George Becher and Ann (Lake) had two children, Joyner and Ann Lucy, who were left orphans. They were taken care of financially by General John Brown, Ann Lucy was educated, at his expense, in a Convent in Flanders and was given a substantial settlement on her marriage to General Thomas Clarke. John Brown had also earlier dealt with his apparent half sister Ann Lake's marriage settlement which was allegedly squandered away, and according to Lady Frances Burgoyne, Lionel George was a very bad husband who gave his wife a very hard time.. From letters I have briefly read, it appears that General John Brown felt responsible for allowing the settlement to be squandered so that there was no inheritance left for Joyner and Ann Lucy and he was trying to make amends by providing for them both. They were both entirely dependant on him as the letters prove. So I have to find a marriage settlement document and the marriage entry for Ann and Lionel somewhere- perhaps Kensington where Lionel was stationed, . I hoped the copied letters from the BL would reveal more when I had read them properly and happily they arrived in time for Christmas.
Having re read the letters I discovered that Ann (Lake) died in 1739 in Sonning, Berkshire when she had twins Isabella and Sarah who were buried at the same time.. Joyner was born. in 1737. Anne Lucy was apparently 11 when her mother died which means she was born about 1728. Lionel George and Ann were married shortly in 1725... He was referred to as a gamester by General Brown, and Ann had inherited a fortune of some £5000 which was lost between her mothers 'folly's and indiscretions' and was ruined by her husband who deserted her and the children and joined the Marines as mentioned before. Anne (Lake) sent for General Brown, her half brother, (whom she had met on her return from Flanders where she was educated) shortly before or after Joyner was born, when she was dying and asked him to take care of her children which he was reluctant to do at first, but did so and tried to provide for them until he died and indeed after, feeling guilty that he had allowed Ann(Lakes) fortune to be squandered away. General Brown saw that they wanted for nothing and paid for education and financial needs through a Mr. Selwin, a banker friend, to their Uncle Henry Lake with whom they resided at first. According to General Brown, Ann Lake/Leake only heeded the advice of her mother but could have made a more advantageous marriage to one of her own religion, R.C. Her mother was very anxious that she should marry Lionel George so there must have been some sort of attraction, either money or a very prestigious family behind him- but which family?, that is the big question. There was an Edward Becher who was Lord Mayor of London in 1727, the likely year of Lionel George's marriage!.-but see below....
2012 and The Queens Jubilee, the Olympics in London and I am 80! What a year.
To add to the celebrations I have found at last the marriage of Lionel George Becher to Anne Lake recorded in 1725 in the Fleet Prison Chapel., Anne described as from Kingsinton (sic) and a spinster and Lional Becher esq.denoting a man of some standing, of St James Parish and a Bachelor They must have been underage, certainly were difference religions (Anne being Catholic and Lionel not), couldn't get parental consent-we still dont know who Lionel's parent are for sure and he was an ensign in the Guards so probably couldn't get consent from his regiment, though Anne mother Sarah pushed her into the marriage according to John Browns letters. I have put a copy of the register on Face book..
'THE WICKED WILL'
General Brown urged Anne Lucy and Joyner to get a copy of their grandmother's Will which was 'a short one and a wicked one', so here was another task for me at the PRO and I could only guess that she was also named Lake/Leake the same as her 'bastard' daughter but after starting to eliminate the Lake Wills, another thought arose with the name of Joyner. There are no other Joyner Bechers and the name must have been taken from somewhere, possibly a surname of a relative. Sons were quite often given name of their mothers family so perhaps Ann Leake/Lake's mother was a Joyner- another name for a Wicked Will to search for perhaps!. And joy of joys, today, Monday 20th January 2003, I found that Will. It was all ready to down load on the PRO Probate Wills site. I searched all the Joyner Wills available and saw one which was for a Sarah Joyner, Widow of Sunning Berkshire, 1745. It leapt out at me! Sunning was where Henry Lake came from. So this morning I took a chance after paying £3 and downloaded and printed it off- BINGO. Sarah Joyner, nee Lowden, had a son Henry Lake and 3 Lake grandchildren, (Anne, Mary and Sarah) fatherless and motherless grandchildren Ann and Joyner Becher, as well as a brother, Thomas Lowden and a sister, Mary Pitt and her 3 children, and she made Col. John Brown her executor. Sarah Joyner did not have a fortune to bequeath, She left 1 guinea each to her brother Thomas Lowden, sister Mary Pitt and her 4 children and 3 Lake Grandchildren and then she leaves all her estate in trust for Anne Lucy and Joyner and she gives her son Henry Lake £100 to be paid when Joyner reached 21 years (he was 5 or 6 at the time), or if he dies, then when Ann Lucy reaches 21 years. In other words she was making sure that he cared for the two children if he wanted the money! If Joyner and Anne Lucy died without Heirs then she gives the Estate to Henry for his life time only, and then to John Brown for ever (John Brown died before Henry). Presumably Joyner inherited, he died in 1822 having had a large family as previously mentioned all born in Wokingham where he had moved back to. Anne Lucy had no heirs and died in Quebec.
Now several thoughts arise. It certainly was a wicked Will as far as Henry Lake was concerned. He would get no help but was expected to care for the two orphans. He was a generation older so inevitably would die before one or the other so would never inherit. John Brown would never inherit as he died before Henry Lake and yet he had to keep the estate in trust for the children. No wonder he took care of them financially. Presumably Sarah Joyner was previously married to a Mr. Lake- or not!( and curiously I have found a marriage of a Sarah Lake to John Brown in 1712 in Stepney, on the IGI so that could be a new twist!). So why was Joyner named after a step grandfather?? I need to find Mr. Joyner's Will. I found on the IGI a marriage for Sarah Lake to Thomas Joyner in 1711 at St. James, Westminster, so sent for a copy of the entry and hoped that this is our Mr. Joyner. Unfortunately Westminster has no record of this marriage so how did it get onto the IGI and from where was it taken and by whom??.
It is now March 2003 and I have again been to the PRO and discovered a short Will for Thomas Joyner, Sarah's husband. He died in 1739 and left everything to his dearly beloved wife Sarah, apart from one guinea to his 'Granddaughter' Ann Becher, also to his 'daughter in law' Ann Becher, 'son in law' Lionel Becher and 'son in law' Henry Lake and an intriguing item of one shilling to his aunt Elizabeth Becher which he says he gives, 'not out of resentment for her long unkindness to me but because she is in circumstances not to want anything from me'. Joyner Becher is not mentioned so perhaps he was not yet born and was named by Sarah after her daughter Ann died.
I then just had to look for Elizabeth Joyner's Will to find out what the unpleasantness was all about and found it dated 1738. It is eight pages long but doesn't give any obvious help re my quest to find the parents of Lionel George, though it does give a detailed insight into the problems within her family and all her aquaintances in and around London and paints quite a picture. She is not officially on my tree however being a step great aunt to Ann Lake/Becher so I can for the moment leave her safely on the shelf.
Drawing ones own conclusion!!!........
So, it appears that we may , illegitimately, be directly descended from Thomas Lumley,( son of Sir George, the 4th Lord Lumley, Sheriff of Northumberland in the 2nd year of Edward 1V) and Cockayne's Complete Peerage states that Thomas married an illegitimate daughter of King Edward 1V and Elizabeth Lucy. (her half sister Elizabeth became the wife of Henry V11) So....... But I am still no wiser as to who were the parents of Lionel George Becher, though we are slowly getting there, and that is my 'Holy Grail' as my good friend Alistair described it!... so the story is not over till........and as he also reminded me, sometimes 'It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive'( R.L.Stevenson). The more I find out the more complicated it all becomes. I feel sorry for the reader. !!! One e-mail I sent in February 2003 was to the College of Arms to see if they can help with Becher Pedigrees and had a letter to say please would I phone the Lancaster Herald in March!. Henry Becher (Joyner's son) had established a connection through Arms as per the original letters from Partis. Well I have phoned the C of A with no result unfortunately and they appear to be a rather antiquated establishment. If only their pedigrees could be accessed for a fee on line, but the Lancaster Herald tells me that he is not familiar with the internet!! Such a pity.
P.S.....Alured and the Hunter Affair!
.I also found that a Capt. Alured Clarke born 1744 had entered the picture and documents held in the archives in Cambridgeshire link his name to the Burgoynes and Montagues, Alured married Elizabeth Catherine Hunter on 12th Feb 1770 in Gestingthorpe, Essex. He was colonel of the 7th Foot Guards and rose to become Sir Alured Clarke K.G.B.C. General in the Army and finally became Field Marshall Sir Alured Clarke dying in 1832 aged 87years. His wife 'Kitty' Hunter had an affair in 1762, with Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke (and they had issue) whose ancestor the 4th Earl, Philip Herbert, was the G.Gt Grandfather of Anne Lucy Poulett (see below)). and surprise, surprise I now have a total Pedigree sent to me from Reading R.O. for the Clarke family back to one Rueben Clarke of Godmanchester. bapt.1628 and married to Sarah Alured 1653. They were the Gt. Grandparents of General Thomas Clarke and General Alured Clarke who were brothers and sons of Charles Clarke one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer married to Anne Green daughter of Thomas, Bishop of Ely. Their grandparents were Alured Clarke and Anne Trimnell, alias Trimell ,sister of the Bishop of Winchester.
I have also downloaded Thomas Clarke's Will from the PRO and find that he left, in 1799, bequests to Joyner Becher and his wife of Oakingham, and also to Joyner's daughter Catherine and the residue of his estates to The Hon. Vere Poulett and his heirs(see below). His Executors were John Pearse of Lothbury and James Meyrick. Thomas's wife, Joyners sister, Anne Lucy Becher/Clarke, died in 1784 in Quebec and there were no children. Thomas is buried in the Abbey Church, Bath.
'Once more unto the Bechers' !!........
To get back to my original story- According to Mary Morris's letter, Joyner Becher was intended for the Army but was placed in the house of a Mr. Pearce, Army Agent, where he was apprenticed to become a packer/backer for the HEICS and later his business dealings collapsed. (We have found mention at Reading R.O. of a Joiner Beecher occupying land in Oakingham-the old name of Wokingham, in 1793).
Joyner's 5th son Henry, b.1784, went into the Navy and made nine voyages to India, rising from Midshipman aged 10 on HMS Brunswick which was involved in the Battle of the Glorious First of June, to Commander of the 'Lady Carrington' before he retired in 1816. His ship's log book and ledgers are held at the British Library. Alistair sent me a brief extract and I have at last been able to ask for a copy to be made and sent to me. While at the British Library I glanced through the entries and found one relating to the 'Lady Carrington' being at St. Helena when Napoleon Bonaparte arrived under guard on HMS Northumberland commanded by Rear Admiral Cockburn in 1815. The Carrington saluted the Admiral with 11 Guns which were returned. Amazing to think that my 3x Gt.Uncle Henry Becher was actually there and made himself heard!! The Log arrived today, Friday 30th May 2003, all 264 pages which are now in a Lever Arch File for easy reading. The BL holds extracts from the diary of Rear-Admiral Sir George Cockburn 6th Aug- 22nd October 1815 when conveying Napoleon to St. Helena on board the 'Northumberland'.
The Poulett /Grenville Connection.... please feel free to contact me on anything which interests you ot if you have anything to add to my research, at-nameatblueyonder.co.uk, using epfran@ in the address, many thanks.
Joyner's eldest daughter, Anne Lucy Becher, b. 1766, married General Vere Poulett, (born in Twickenham)2nd son of 3rd Earl Poulett and they had 6 children. Vere and Anne Lucy were bequeathed the Estate of Addington in 1801. Their eldest daughter, also Anne Lucy, b1788, married George Grenville, Baron Nugent, brother of 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, sons of Earl Temple of Stowe, and I have acquired his Will from the PRO. Unfortunately they had no children. I have found on the Ancestral site of the I.G.I. the Ancestors of Mary Anne's niece, Anne Lucy Poulett( Lady Nugent), together with her Husband's, George Grenville(Baron Nugent). Anne Lucy Poulett who is my 1st cousin 4 times removed, has a long line of famous and infamous ancestors on many branches, who go back in history (and include Sir Amias Poulett(Paulet) keeper of Mary Queen of Scots, in the Tower) and meet her husband's at, and including, Edward 111 where they go back together, and include much Nobility, to the year 99AD and beyond, embracing many Scottish clansmen including Macbeth!.. This is all documented also in Burkes Peerage and at the PRO and on the web and I have been sent a Pedigree from Richmond Library Archives which goes back to Walter de Poulet of Pawlett whose lands were amerced in 1203, and now I find that through the Lumley connection, our Becher tree has linked up with the Grenville/Poulett tree via the Plantagenets. There is a pencil sketch portrait of Anne Lucy Poulett, Lady Nugent by Sir Francis Chantrey, sculptor, in the archives of the National Portrait Gallery and I have a copy hanging on my staircase. I hope one day to see the original and learn more of its history. I have now also purchased a copy of the painting, by Henry Edridge, of her brother and sister John and Charlotte which is owned by the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery in Bedford.
I sent for 3rd Earl Poulett's Will, with 13 codicils, from Somerset, which I found on A2A on the PRO website. In it he appears to be very concerned about his second son General Vere Poulett who married Anne Lucy Becher. He made various mentions of having paid off Vere's many debts plus paid for his various commissions amounting to some £6500 but also leaves, with other bequests, a further amount to pay for a Colonels Commission for him. There is a large list of about 100 well known paintings and works of art which he requests should remain in the family as heirlooms, and I hope to find out where they are now. He mentions his various properties including Twickenham and Hereford which were left to him by Nathaniel Lloyd.(see later). Old Wills are mines of information hidden in the repetitive content. Another Poulett Will for John, 4th Earl Poulett- General Vere's older brother, has revealed a possible illegitimate child, Charles HARRIS, (his mothers name). I wondered who he was and have, very opportunely had an e-mail from his gggggrandson. It is not known who Charles Harris's mother was but is it more than co-incidence that Anne Lucy Becher who married Vere, was the daughter of Joyner Becher and Sarah HARRIS.??
It is now 2013 and I have received an email from a direct descendant in NZ of of the 4th Earl ,John Poulette, who read my website and wanted to know more and so I have done a little more delving into the Harris mystery. I discovered an entry on Ancestry for a baptism in Westminster stating that Charles Harris born 1791 had been baptised in 1794 in Westminster, mother Sarah and father John Harris(?) and with help from Nivard on rootsweb, who looked the record up on FMP the first enty is for John Poulett Harris baptised by Sarah, the fathers name is missing. but nivard suggests that it could be there there under ultra vuiolet lighting. The 1861 census has him as born in France, a British Subject. Other census records state London. The co-incidence of names is just overwhelming and if this is correct we have a complicated family tree and it makes my Son Peter, 4th Gt Grand nephew to Charles Poulette Harris and 13th cousin 8xremoved to The 4th Earl!! Go figure that out then ! ;-) LOL.. It also means that Anne Lucy and her siblings have a half brother Charles Poulett Harris and he is also their nephew in law.!!!
According to those original letters, Joyner Becher made a Will ,which I have yet to find, in favour of his son in law, General Vere Poulett and left everything to him, presumably as a marriage settlement for his daughter Anne Lucy Becher. However Vere died before Joyner, and the Will remained unchanged which meant that Anne Lucy and Vere's eldest son, John Poulett, inherited everything when Joyner died and Mary Anne was left with nothing. Mary Anne had stayed at home to nurse her sick parents until they died, Sarah in 1801 and Joyner in 1822 at 22, Broad Street, Wokingham. Her sisters had gone to live with Anne Lucy and Vere, so Henry stepped in and offered Mary Anne a home with him in India until, because of misfortunes, his business collapsed and he could no longer help her and because of the failure of Fairlies House, agents for the HEIC, she lost the last remittance he sent her. So she had to return and became a Ladies Companion, to make a living for herself, with a Mrs Dashwood of Canterbury, until that lady died and then with Mary Morris, until 1841 when, with the help of all the friends she had made, especially Mary Morris and Rev. Dr. Samuel Holland, she retired to Partis College, aged 57, and lived there for 25 years until she died. She had been described as 'gentle and obliging in an unusual degree and at the same time sensible, erudite and conscientious'.
LLOYD looms!... another thread in the tapestry..
In my quest to find Lionel George Becher's connection, I have been researching every possible descendant on every branch and some of these were the paternal grandparents of Anne Lucy Poulett, the 3rd Earl ,Vere Poulett (whose Will I have received from Somerset Archives, see above)) and Mary Butt , (b. Gloucester), whose mother was Hannah Lloyd. I had a reply from a rootsweb lister, Alys in British Columbia, who is researching the LLOYD family in search of a James Lloyd and had been sent a Will for Nathaniel Lloyd, batchelor, and she kindly sent me a copy. Hannah had a brother Nathaniel and from this Will I found that he bequeathed his house at Twickenham, which had belonged to a Dr. Battie, to his niece Mary Butt, of whom he was very fond, and her husband Vere, 3rd Earl Poulett. The house became known as Poulett Lodge and was near Eel Pie Island on the Thames at Cross Deep. The last part of the Will is a thoughtful and clever codicil in rhyme, a copy of which I found in a folder about Poulett Lodge at Richmond Library.
In the back of the folder also was part of a manuscript about Turner, the painter ,and his letters to Samuel Dobree, a collector of his work, together with a small Dobree family tree. This is quite a mystery because we have discovered that Capt. Martin Becher of Becher's Brook infamy (see below) was married to a Susan Dobree. I, and the Library, have no idea why they were in the same folder, or what the connection is. I took photo copies of the pages which mentions all the Turner paintings owned by Samuel. I have looked in Burkes Landed Gentry of Great Britain and find that Susan Dobree was indeed part of Samuel's family tree. They both go back to Jean Dobree who fled from Normandy ca 1560 and built La Maison du Pollett, Guernsey in 1580. It also clearly states that Susan, b. 1816, married 14th Aug. 1835, Martin Becher of Steeple-chasing notoriety, and says eldest son of Capt. William Becher of Monks House, Oxfordshire.(see below)
Nepean, Lowther and Gubbins......Three more for the Tree!!.
Joyner's eldest living son, William Becher, b.1770, married Harriet Martina Thompson in Wokingham, 8th Jan. 1793 by license, and according to the Parish records they had three children, all christened in Wokingham. The eldest daughter, Harriet Martina, b. 1794, married Frederick Nepean, in 1816 in India, the son of Sir Evan Nepean, Governor of Bombay in 1812 and Commissioner of the Admiralty in 1804. Their eldest daughter, Harriet Louisa Nepean, b.1818, married Martin Richard Gubbins (in 1841), whose family tree, which goes back to his 3xGt Grandfather Joseph Gubbins of Knocklong, Ireland, who died 1693, I have, thanks to Deborah on the Gubbins Family website and Brian Gubbins who is doing a one name study of the Gubbins family and to Burkes Landed Gentry of Ireland. Martin was a Judge of the Supreme Court in Agra but returned to England in 1863 a sick man and committed suicide in Leamington Spa. His Grandson, Colin Gubbins, wrote 'My Grandmother had the unenviable task of bringing up five sons and a daughter, somehow she managed to put all the boys through public school, my father going to Harrow. She was small in height, just five feet, and had the heart of a Lion' (Not unlike Grandma Newman I would say). Martin's youngest sister, Elizabeth, married William Aubrey De Vere, 9th Duke of St. Albans, and secondly Viscount Falkland. I have just received a photo and essay on the life of Colin's father, one of Martin's sons, John Harrington Gubbins,(1852-1929) who was an envoy to Japan.
William and Harriet's second daughter, Caroline Fanny, b. 1796, married in 1818, in the house of Frederick Nepean in Rangepore, by Licence from the Supreme Court, as his second wife, Judge William Lowther , descended from the Earls of Lonsdale who are well documented in history. I have a Lowther tree from a descendant in the U.S.A. which states that Caroline Fanny Becher was the sibling of Captain Martin Becher, (who see below). and thanks again to Alistair I have a transcribed copy of both William Lowther and Frederick Nepeans Wills which are quite enlightening!. Two of the witnesses at Caroline's wedding were her Uncle Henry Becher and Frederick Nepean ,her brother in Law, Caroline and William had 4 children, all born in India. William Henry, married Jessie Amelia Painter and Mary married Richard Kental Barnes.
William and Harriet's other recorded child was another William, b. 1795 and buried in 1795. However I have reason to believe that there may be at least two more children to account for, one of whom is as follows.
Becher's Brook ?....A National Legend! (see paragraph further on dated 2010)
William senior was in the 31st Regiment and according to the Army records of the time there is only one William Becher recorded. Now, William, the father of Captain Martin Becher of Becher's Brook infamy, was also in the 31st regiment at that same time and retired to Norfolk to become a farmer and horse dealer. Martin, b. 1797, was brought up around Docking in Norfolk according to a Voights short biography of his riding career. So did our William retire to Norfolk?, we need Martins mother's name to help establish the connection. The BBC radio 4 programme tried to help by broadcasting a piece about Martin Becher just before the Grand National and came to interview me. But nothing came of that except that a lady, who said she remembers her mother in law often spoke of a connection to Captain Martin Becher, sent a book, which had belonged to her husband whose mother had been a Becher, written by Augustus Becher, about life as an Army General's wife in India in the 1800's. Unfortunately she could be of no more help.
The people in the book are, fellow researcher and descendant, Alistair's branch though and he was pleased to read it and glean a little more knowledge. I 'met' Alistair through the Genforum Becher website and he has given me loads of encouragement and help and a book about the 'Becher Family of County Cork', written by Ralph Hudson yet another Becher descendant. The book has many trees descending from Col. Thomas Becher of Sherkin who died 1709 and includes the English Bechers and devotes a page to Capt. Martin Becher, though he cannot place him in the main tree. He does mention that Martin's father was William of the 31st Foot and that he had 2 sons George and Martin and 2 daughters who were married to Lowther and Nepean and also mentions Gubbins, but these are taken from notes left by a Colonel Cecil Becher b 1870 which are at present with his son the Rev. Ernest Becher who is very elderly, and apparently despite exhaustive researches the Colonel could not place Martin in either the Irish or the English Pedigrees and is inclined to dismiss him as not linked to the family, though if it hadn't been for his fall in the very first Grand National in 1839 the name Becher might not be so prominent in the public eye. So there lies another mystery to solve. Encouraged by Alistair I have now written to Father Ernest Becher in Oxted with an SAE so am hopeful of his reply.
NORFOLK R.O. and 'The Folkes who lived on the ..............!!
My search in Norfolk has been fired by Elizabeth, a Norfolk rootsweb lister, who is getting as enthusiastic as Alistair and I as to the outcome and I have recently found on the A2A a link to Joyner Becher and William Becher in Norfolk. There are a great many documents at the Norfolk Record Office for Folkes of Hillington in which William Becher figures quite a few times. He was employed by Sir Martin Browne Folkes and seems to have had quite a lot to say about the running of the estate. One dated 1814-15 states that Captain William 'Becker', St. Omer, was seeking financial aid and includes a letter from Brice Pearce, a creditor. (The Norfolk RO has now confirmed that this should read Becher). If you refer back to Joyner you will see that he, Joyner, was placed in the home of a Mr. Pearce who had a son named Brice as mentioned in Mary Morris's letter. Both Martin's father and Joyner's son William are referred to as Captain, and William Becher, farmer, in Norfolk, did become bankrupt as other documents and items in the Times Index have proved. However Martins father is referred to in 1835, at the time of his marriage to Susan Dobree, as 'of Monks House, Oxford'. So was this yet another move or is the fact incorrect, Caroline Fanny referred to her father William as being from Brentford in 1818 when she married in India. If so, then if William is one and the same man, he must have moved about a great deal for a Bankrupt. Co-Incidentally Capt. Martin Becher was riding in a race in St. Omer in 1836 according to his Obituary, could he also have been there in 1814/15 with his father William? I sent for 37 pages of letters from Norfolk RO. which have now arrived and for which I am so grateful for the prompt and helpful service.
They tell quite a story and there can be little doubt that William in Norfolk, employed by Sir Martin Browne Folkes is indeed my 3xGt Uncle William.. He mentions, in letters in 1797, his wife Harriett and his daughter, Caroline, b. 1796, 'who is just walking' and daughter Harriet, b. 1794, who 'has benefited by her father being at home' and that 'the boy has thrush'. No name unfortunately. I now have young William's Baptism entry in Wokingham in 1795, and have just found a burial entry for this William also in Wokingham in 1795 so I need to find Martin's baptism entry somewhere in 1797. Another theory is that Martin is actually William b 1795 and the name Martin was added later, after his mother Harriet MARTINA, or after William senior's employer Sir Martin but now in 2009 I know that Martin was a second son and he had at least one other brother, John Edward born abt 1800 in Norfolk somewhere. More of him later, thanks to Jenny Stiles in Australia who has done extensive Becher research.
The first of the letters from Norfolk Records Office is from The Rev. John Baker in Wokingham dated 1797 and is recommending William to Sir Martin.(3 pages). (John Baker was a witness at Williams wedding which see). It mentions Mrs Becher and her family and the fact that William has been in the Army, -'which in general does not qualify him instantly for Business, but has capacity and animation sufficient to make a Farmer or for any other employment'.- It is full of hope for a good life for the family. Indeed the letters written in the first couple of years show that William was very much involved with running the estate. I have 5 letters written in 1797 to Sir Martin about affairs of the estate and always ending - 'Harriet unites in the best love and respectful compliments, I remain your much obliged ,obedient and humble servant, Wm Becher.'
The next 2 letters I have dated 1806 and 1807 are from Samuel Clayton to Sir Martin, mentioning William and things are going wrong. There is talk of Bailiffs and suing and public talk which Mr Clayton had contradicted and saying that Becher's affairs were not as bad as had been represented. He had paid £400 on Sir Martins Account at the Bank of Messrs. Bagge in part of Mr. Becher's rent. The farm was in 'such a state of cultivation and well stocked with sheep and horses to be worth at least some thousands of pounds'. However there is a letter from William to Sir Martin's son at Jesus College Cambridge. It is obviously in answer to one William had received from him. William states that he is- 'hearing by side winds that Sir Martin is determined to humble Mr. Becher- the question naturally arises in my mind, for what?'.- He also states 'I candidly think your excessive coolness when by chance we met at Mr. R. Halis's lodgings was not such as I expected to have met with from you. I cannot refrain from going a little further on the subject of things not expected- the next is, Sir Martin has taken no further notice of Harrison's second ( ..?..) visit to me at the Dukes Head with a notice to Quit at Michaelmas next'. - He also mentions Mrs. Becher's feelings and the way in which his affairs had been made public and how harshly Sir Martin has dealt with him and he would continue to do without the offered assistance.
The last 2 letters I have, dated 1814 are from St. Omer and tell a very different story. They are begging Sir Anthony Hammond and Samuel Bagge, a banker, to help him financially as he is down to his last farthing and even his wife's clothes will have to go. The letters in between hint of a major disagreement between William Becher and Sir Martin and I have now received the remaining letters but there is not a lot more to add to the story that would help my search.
November 2004
Since I last wrote about William I have had lots of help from my friend Elizabeth in Norfolk who has done extensive searches around the Parishes which William and family would have frequented. She found a sad little tablet in the church at Hillington, a memorial to Isabella Lucy Becher aged 2 months in 1798, daughter of William and Harriet. We know that the family consisted of daughters Harriet, Caroline and 'the boy' who had thrush, from letters to Sir Martin. So 'the boy' refers hopefully to Martin William who was born in 1797. But we just cannot find his baptism. However from further documents I acquired from the National Archives recently it is clear that William had two living sons in 1817, therefore, as I mentioned before, yet another child was born into the family and now I have to search for him also.
I found the complete bankruptcy trial of William at the Guildhall in 1817, which explains in great detail how he became bankrupt and is quite a sorry story. He was relying on his family connections to account for all his advances of cash to help him stock his farm but his crops failed and taxes increased so that in the end he owed some £10,000(£404000 today!) and when his creditors started to press for payment he fled to France where he tried to set up in business once again. However Napoleon returned from Elba and took up the sovereignty of France and once again William and family had to bid a hasty retreat. His wife and younger son were despatched to England and he took his older son to the Netherlands before returning to England where I now have to discover what happened to him. I think it Brentford may have the answer as I have found a death of an infant Lucy Becher in 1839, daughter of George-who may be the missing brother. Williams daughter Caroline stated in 1818 on her marriage record in India that her parents were from Brentford so William and Harriet may have set up homed there with the other son-possibly George. so once again 'watch this space' I hope to search the Brentford records shortly which are held at the LMA in London. Below is William's memorandum at his trial for Bankruptcy--
At Guildhall London the 5th day of April 1817
Memorandum- That William Becher late of Docking in the County of Norfolk, Farmer, dealer and chapman the person against whom a commission of Bankruptcy has been awarded and issued being sworn and examined the day and year and at the place above mentioned before us the major part of the commissioners in and by the said commission named and authorized upon his oath saith that when he entered on his Farm he stocked the same with a borrowed Capital that tow years out of his first three years occupation these of the wheat crops were nearly ruined by the mildew which distressed him very much by reason of his having great interest as well as Rent to pay. After which time his friends who had assisted him began to call in their money, he was put to great inconvenience and loss frequently by parting with live stock as well as corn at great disadvantage. After which the Malt Duties being doubled depressed the price of Barley to that degree, (being the staple crop of the farm) that it put him to great difficulty in carrying on his business. But by the pecuniary assistance of some times through one friend and then another he was induced to believe with great…….. He should be able to surmount his difficulty but increasing taxes-poor rates-Tythes and misfortunes -creditors pressing further to involve him together with the assiduous endeavours of a Mr Hutchinson to make examinist a bankrupt and also the severe treatment he experienced from his Landlord Sir Martin Browne Folkes by suddenly pressing him at law for the repayment of a large sum of money which had accumulated in advances for several years, a great part of which was never expected to have been demanded of examinant by reason of his Family connections-and who also in the end ejected Examinant wholly from his Farm altho by repeated distresses he obtained payment of all his rent with other monies amounting to at least £5200 in one year. By these means Examinant was obliged to resign his lease then supposed to be of the value of from three to four thousand pounds and for personal security he then left England everything then being in possession of ………Creditors, taking with him all his books of Account and other papers relating to his affairs- and for some time resided near St. Omer in France and afterwards near Calais and commissioned a trading in seeds from thence to England but a merchant at Lisle not having forwarded a parcel of Clover seed according to contract which had been paid him for by the acceptance of a Mr. Decroix residing at Calais, involved examinant in fresh difficulties by reason of Bonaparte having returned from Elba and again assumed the sovereignty of France before examinant could get the business adjusted and to avoid imprisonment Examinant and his family were obliged to make a hasty retreat with great sacrifice of property. That Examinant after forwarding his wife and younger son to England then proceeded with his other son to the Netherlands and afterwards having occasion to come to England to obtain Horses for the service of the German Legion he left his servant (a Frenchman) with the Governors of Furnes? In the care of all his property then possessed by him with the promised assurance that such servant should not leave the Garrison until Examinant returned, but notwithstanding such assurance the said servant thro false representation to the Governors obtained his passport under the pretence of crossing to England to assist Examinant in bringing over the Horses but who in fact decamped with all the property he could take belonging to Examinant as also a Horse and Whisky- and examinant further saith that the Clover seed before mentioned having after his leaving France came to the hands of the said Mr Decroix of Calais who fearing same would be seized as English property he shipped it off any way he could for England whereby a considerable sum of money was lost to examinant and the said Mr Decroix possessed himself of furniture and other things belonging to examinant and applied them wholly to his own use. Wm Becher.
It is now 2010
Much has developed and been found since writing the above. Firstly, Jenny Stiles who lives in Australia and is a direct Becher descendant has tirelessly searched for Becher information and I have been astounded at her findings. She has a website at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~becher/index.htm.
With her help we discovered that William and Harriet had a son John Edward, born 1800, who went to Bengal in 1825, sponsored by his father to the sum of £500 which added to his bankruptcy total. John is mentioned as an Indigo Planter in 1848 when he apparently married Marcellina Meade and had 5 children, one, John Martin born 1831 mother unknown, died 1885, was also an Indigo planter, Caroline Mary Ann birth unknown, died 1862, married Edward William Earle in 1860 in Calcutta and had at least one child, Ida Harriet in 1861, Louisa born about 1840, married Edward Charles Lamb in 1865, and died 1866, Harriet in 1843, died 1861 and Edward St. Julien born 1849 the year John Edward died,. .and died 1881..
In 2008 I was contacted by a Racing Historian, John Pinfold, trying to find out as much as possible about the private life of Captain Martin Becher, the Jockey, who is now proved beyond doubt to be my 1st cousin 4x removed!. and he was the man who fell in the Brook in the first officially named Grand National in 1839 and there after it was known as 'Bechers Brook'.
John had researched all the races Martin had been involved with, ready for a booklet he was writing on his life. He visited me and together we searched the internet old newspaper reports on events recorded about his encounters with the law etc. We also found that Martin's son, Martin, was a playwright in his spare time, his main job was a clerk in the Army medical Dept. as well as acting as auditor. and as a druggist and chemist in his earlier years. His brother George was a doctor and I discovered that Martin had written a play which was performed in aid of the Samaritan Fund at the Hospital where George worked. I was intrigued because the Historian had read some of the plays and said they were rather poor. However they were performed at various top theatres as part of a larger programme of prestigious plays. Mostly farces and one act. I managed to acquire one and my Drama Group thought it good enough to perform so I directed it with great fun. The leading lady wore a genuine Victorian dress passed down in my family and I hung a picture of the Poulett cousins of Martin on the stage set wall. It was very well received and the Historian came and talked to the audience on the last night. We were reported in the press and made one of the sporting journals and a copy of the programme made its way to the Grand National museum at Aintree.. The booklet was published and most of my family have a copy.
Do you have anything to add or would like to ask about my research? please feel free to contact me at nameatblueyonder.co.uk, substituting eilfran@ in the address, many thanks.
The Becher saga hasn't finished yet because I am leaving no stone unturned, no lead un-researched, to establish a connection to the Irish Bechers and/or the India Bechers with a lot of help from Alistair, Jenny and many other contacts and sources. My family puzzled Alistair for years apparently. The object of this exercise, which I must not lose track of, is to fit my 5xGt Grandfather, Lionel George Becher into the main tree which goes back to the early settlers in Kent, a branch of whom went to County Cork, Ireland, sent by Elizabeth 1st, and that is where Lionel George may fit. According to the letters referred to, they were not connected to Col.. Becher, but according to Mary Morris's letter, Mary Anne's brother, Henry, had been writing to a Mr. Becher of Southwell 'to whom they were certainly connected' and had 'established a connection through Arms etc'. The Bechers at Southwell had originally come from Ireland, when Edward, born 1676, a son of Colonel Thomas Becher of Sherkin, had settled in Southwell and bought an estate there, probably Norwood. Later, the Reverend John Thomas Becher born 1770, son of Michael Becher of Creagh and a friend of Lord Byron the poet, married his second cousin Mary Drake Becher of Southwell and became Preb. and Vicar General of Southwell. He was a writer on social economy and was jointly responsible for the reform of the Workhouse system. The Workhouse at Southwell now belongs to the National Trust and is open to the Public.
The Becher story is very well documented on the Web and at the Public Records Office, National Archives, Libraries etc, but needs a lot of patient researching. The name often gets spelt with an added e and indeed a lot of the early Bechers are documented as Beecher. I have also found various other spellings, Beaker, Becker, Beeker, Beacher, but not all these are Bechers. Alistair has been a great help as he already has a vast Becher tree passed to him by various descendants and I am trying to amalgamate them all in the hope of finding a clue to our family twig on one of the branches. Alistair is hoping to write a history and create a website of the Bechers who can claim several famous names including Thackeray the poet whose mother was a Becher. Please feel free to ask about or add to my research if you would like to at , nameatblueyonder.co.uk-using eilfran@ in the address, I look forward to hearing from you, many thanks
Branching out in OZ.......
Having got as far as I can at present with Harriet Marion Phoebe and her father, William Henry Butler, I now turn my attention to the Newman Family tree which found me a third cousin, Anne, in Australia through our connection to the Tomalins.
I joined the online Rootsweb for the County of Hertfordshire and enquired whether anyone had any connections to Frances Tomalin, daughter of Matthew, married to my Gt. Grandfather John Newman, the Civil Engineer/ Well Sinker, father of John William Newman, and I listed part of the family I had found on the I.G.I. Back came a reply from Anne in Sydney Australia who said she nearly fell off her chair in her excitement when she realised that we were both researching the same family and that her 3xGt. Grandfather was my 2xGt Grandfather, Matthew Tomalin, born 1808 in Shoreditch, married in Harpenden on 3rd February 1830, to Frances Archer, born 1809 in Harpenden, . Anne and her partner Rex came all the way over to UK to meet her relatives and included me in their round trip. They hope to come back next year. Anne has been doing a sterling job tracing the Tomalins and Archers and she has found three more living descendants recently on the Internet, two Tomalins and an Archer.
The Archer/Tomalin family has posed a problem in that they have always believed that Fred Archer the Jockey, who was born in Cheltenham, was a relative. But that was before our research and I now think he was confused with Frederick Archer, son of Frances's brother John, born in Harpenden in 1846. I have left further research in Anne's very capable hands. She has followed the Tomalins back to 1783 and the Archers back to when a Susanna Paternoster , born 1760, married John Archer, as well as following her own line of descent where she has found a connection with Cheltenham!
The Newmans are still on the back burner. It is a common name and was, I have been told, changed from Jacques possibly at the time of the Huguenots arrival but probably much later. I have got back to John's father George who was also a civil engineer and mentioned on John's marriage certificate in 1865 but have no dates, so am still searching. And that is where I have to leave my Maternal Branches for the present and continue 'my story' Rooting out my Paternal side, the Northeasts. Back to Index
SUSSEX ROOTS..........The Other Side of the Story
Please contact me if you would like to ask about or add to my research, at nameatblueyonder.co.uk substituting eilfran@ in the address.
My Dad, George Edmund Northeast ,was born on 15th May 1903, a mechanic at the time of his marriage to my mother, Gladys Newman on 20th September 1931 at St. Mary's Church, Brighton, the eldest of four sons of Thomas Northeast and Edith Higgins, Licensees of the Model House Tavern, a Fisherman's Inn in the Lanes in Brighton, Sussex. Granddad had been an engine driver (stationary) when he met and married Edith Higgins on 24th August 1902 at St. Nicholas Church, Brighton. He was 25 and came from a long line of Agricultural Labourers. She was 23 and according to the 1901 census she was a barmaid in Market Street, and her father, John Higgins, a carpenter, born in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, was the son of George, a Blacksnith of Ringwood Hampshire, and Charlotte.
Recently I have been able to search 1871, 1891, and 1901 census's online and found the surname of the mother of Edith Higgins. I knew her name was Charlotte from the 1881 census but on the 1891 her brother, George J Blann was staying with them. So it was then easy to trace further back and found Charlotte's father was William b 1833 in Beeding and married to Martha King who were married in 1857 in Beeding. William had brothers Michael and Frank, and I found the following paragraph about Michael on a website--.
Shepherd of the Downs
One of Upper Beeding's characters was a shepherd named Michael Blann. He was born in 1843, the fifth child of Mary and Edmund who was a sawyer. When he was only nine, he commenced his career as a shepherd on the Downs above Beeding, earning the reasonable amount of three shillings and sixpence a week. The family were all singers and as Michael travelled to places like Lewes and Findon, and other sheep fairs round about, he gathered quite a lot of songs and his repertoire increased. By 1867 he was starting to write down his favourite pieces in a notebook, now able to be seen in Worthing Museum. As well as singing, he also played the tin whistle, a common pastime among South Down shepherds. Eventually he performed at such events as village concerts and the annual Harvest Supper. His final resting place in Patching churchyard is not marked by a gravestone of any kind but a truly fitting memorial to him was published in 1979. Colin Andrews wrote a small book which was published by Worthing Museum. Entitled Shepherd of the Downs, it included biographical notes on Michael Blann and his favourite songs from the notebook, set to appropriate music.
Through a google on the internet I found Ann and John who had an interest in the Blann family and have have made contact. We share the same ancestors who are my 5x Gt Grandparents, Benjamin Blann married to Elizabeth Pain in 1773. They had two sons, Benjamin and Edmund. Edmund married Winifred Grover and their son Edmund was the father of William. I am waiting to hear more as Ann and John have a large clan of Blanns to share with me and who, they tell me, have spread far and wide.
THE NORTHEAST LINE
I have traced them back on the IGI, to one Jeremiah Northeast who married Mary Farnfell in Chichester on 29th August (my Birthday) 1738. They had a son Jeremiah born in Felpham in 1738 who married Sarah Gardner in Eastergate, Sussex on 17th November 1797. They had a son George born in Eastergate in 1802 who married Harriot Clarke in Felpham on 18th October 1826. George and Harriot were the parents of Edmund Northeast born in Eastergate about 1830 who married Jane Burningham on 22nd May 1858 and they were the parents of my Grandfather Thomas Northeast who was born in Old Shoreham, Sussex in 1877.
Through the Sussex Rootsweb I found a fifth cousin, Bernard, who is descended from the Burningham branch and he gave me a lot of help. I have also now been in contact with a 3rd cousin, Angie, who lives in Shoreham, who also descends from Edmund and Jane Burningham, my g.grandparents and her g.g.grandparents.
Jane Burningham's mother, my g.g .grandmother, was Jane Ayling and her father George Ayling was married to Hannah Puttick. Jane's other Grandfather, Richard Burningham, was married to Mary Daymen whose mother was Hannah Napper born 1750 in Kirdford, Sussex. and her Great Grandfather, also a Richard Burningham was married to Catherine Williard in 1770. Catherine's father was Robert Willard married to Mary Tribe in Petworth in 1741 and that is as far as I can get with the Tribes. There are so many Mary Tribes born about the same time in various villages that it would take a life time to find her I would need to be living in Sussex and able to travel to the various parishes to look at the registers. The families all stuck close together and intermarried, only moving as far as the next village where their children were given similar names.
The Northeasts had large families who seemed to stay around Sussex, Hampshire and Wiltshire. There are a lot of burials around Chichester and Arundel I have been told. I did visit Eastergate Church a few years ago but found no references and the gravestones were so weathered that it was impossible to read most of them.
Harriot Clarke, another g.g. Grandmother, has an interesting ancestry. Her parents were John Clark and Ruth Woolven born 1779 in Sidlesham, Sussex, daughter of William Woolven and Mary Earwicker. I have had help from Maureen a member of the one name study Guild (G.O.O.N.s) who is researching the Earwickers and found that her children had the same ancestry as mine. She sent me details back to my 8th Great Grandparent Earwickers, John, a carpenter, and Mary. The name has many variations and Alan Earwacker has set up a website for the descendants of the name in all forms and my descent is recorded along with others. Maureen has also very kindly kept an eye open for present day Northeasts and sends me newspaper cuttings from time to time. It seems that there is a Councillor in Littlehampton named Mike- her most recent find. With a name like ours we must be related somehow. I shall have to contact Littlehampton Council. Maureen does family research as a living and travels to the various Records Offices to trace ancestors for those willing to pay for her services. It can become a rather expensive hobby, especially when you include the cost of copy certificates and Wills and documents etc. and is certainly very time consuming and addictive, but great fun. Great activity for retirement, both mentally and sometimes physically.
A 'JOYE' TO BE JANE- a brief encounter!
Jane Ayling's brother William married a Jane Joyes and I have corresponded over the internet and through the Sussex Rootsweb, with a descendant named John Joyes who tells me that one of his recent forebears was the licensee of the White Horse Hotel in Steyning. I mention this because shortly after, possibly immediately after, about 1934, the licensee was my Uncle Victor Newman, son of Harriet Marion Phoebe. I found a postcard of the Hotel amongst Mum's papers and on closer examination you can see that it bears the name of H.Joyes over the door. John was so pleased to receive it to add to his website.
A Tragic moment in my life....
The White Horse has sad memories for my family unfortunately. My little cousin Jacqueline, only 3 year old daughter of Uncle Victor, died as a result of a tragic accident which I too was involved in aged 4. A tall china cabinet fell over onto us both. I managed to scramble free and ran to get help leaving my cousin crying beneath the heavy weight. For a great many years I did not know what had happened and I was adult before I learnt the whole story. Uncle Victor was the first on the scene and in his panic he dragged his little girl from underneath without first lifting the cabinet. A piece of glass pierced her throat. There was an inquest which concluded it was a tragic accident and the judge ordered that the cabinet be made safe with better legs and fixed to the wall. When I asked Mary, my Grandmother's housemaid, where Jacqueline was she told me she had gone to live with Jesus. The accident resulted in my Uncle giving up the license and moving to Patcham where they opened a hardware store and he and Aunt Ada later had a baby son, Victor Junior who now lives in Australia with his family.
My Personal Story and Memories of Brighton and the War years.........
From the brief summary of the Northeast roots, you will have gathered that one side of my family are far removed from the other side. It would seem that my Mum and Dad were as alike as chalk and cheese!. My Mum a convent educated girl from a family with fairly upper class branches and my Dad, a mechanic, from a long line of Sussex agricultural labourers whose roots were firmly fixed in the Sussex soil. In his wedding picture he looks like the proverbial cat who got the cream!. Grandma Newman provided them with a flat near the family home after the September wedding and by Christmas I was on the way!.
Unfortunately the marriage did not last long, though they were not divorced until 1941. Mum spent a lot of time in hospital with a 'nervous breakdown', probably post natal depression in the beginning, and I was taken by my Dad to live with Thomas and Edith Northeast, my grandparents, at the Model House Tavern as mentioned previously until I was two and a half years old. By that time Mum had apparently recovered and wanted to resume the marriage. But unfortunately Dad had moved on having allegedly been told by the doctors that she would never get better. So Mum, helped by her mother, Harriet Marion Phoebe, applied to the courts for custody of me, which was granted after a photo was produced showing me sitting in a little chair in Nana and Granddad's back yard in front of the toilet used by the customers of the Tavern! Must have been quite a wrench for both me and my Grandparents.
And so a new life began for me in 1935, over the Rock Dress Agency, with Mum, Grandma and Aunt Marion and Mary Cooper, Grandma's daily housemaid who had been with her since she was sixteen. Having been called Pat by all the family, I was finally christened, Eileen Patricia, at Bishop Hannington Church 12th May 1935. Mum's eldest brother, Will Newman, father of John Becher Newman, was my godfather. I hardly saw my Dad again although, encouraged by Mum I kept in constant touch with Nan and Granddad Northeast, firstly Mum took me there and later I went on my own.
'LIVING OVER THE SHOP'
My new home 'over the shop' consisted of two main rooms on each of 3 floors, either side of a central staircase, enclosed in brown banisters on one side and brown 'Lincrusta' on the other (until it was later painted blue), which spiralled to the top floor ,with small recesses which housed a clock and exotic vases. When you stood in the ground floor hall your could see to the top of the house and my son aged about 3 years on his first visit remarked ' Who lives in this castle then?' ! (Does that bring to mind a present day presenter on TV? ) We had a tiny kitchen, an extension off the dining room on the first floor, and the other room was the drawing room or front room as we called it. The windows on this floor were from floor to ceiling, 3 in the front room, (2 overlooking Rock Gardens), and one in the dining room overlooking St. Mary's Church, all with heavy rich brown velvet curtains and white painted wooden shutters, housed in the side walls, which were no longer in use. Outside each window was a small balcony with wrought iron railings on which, Aunt Marion always made sure of a big display of bright red geraniums in season.
I imagine that at one time the servants lived and cooked in the basement where there was a large black lead range and a row of bells which could be rung from the various rooms where the means of ringing them were still evident though disconnected. The basement rooms were now used as stores for the shop goods and, in a small below ground yard, a separate coal store was still in use, into which the coalman poured the sacks of fuel through a circular coal hole in the pavement above covered by a metal lid (there were black lead grates and tiled fireplace surrounds in every room). Along a passage was a door opening onto steps up to the little garden on the corner site, enclosed by iron railings, where a big garden Gnome sat hugging a flower pot under each arm, on the little rock garden lovingly cared for.
Every Monday was washday when small items of 'whites' were boiled on the gas cooker and a Rabbit or Mutton stew with dumplings was washday lunch. The large items of bed and table linen, both for the shop and house were sent to the laundry next door and came back pristine, starched and folded, and the household items stored in a large chest of drawers on the top landing, which I still have in use. Other items were washed in the kitchen sink, water was heated from a gas 'geyser' in the bathroom which lit with a whoosh!, and then hung out to dry by climbing out of the kitchen window onto the flat roof of half the shop. The bathroom on the second floor was part of a larger room which had been divided to make my little bedroom, my haven where I watched the world go by. From the window I had a clear view of all the weddings, christenings and funerals at St. Mary's Church opposite. The other room was Gran's bedroom, and on the top floor were two more bedrooms, one where Mum and Aunt Marion slept. I remember the exotic wallpaper with colourful birds and foliage. The other room was spare for visitors. Gran. sometimes took in paying guests from the Guest House round the corner in Rock Gardens to help them out in the summer and she also took in stray servicemen during the war who were far from home and needed temporary lodging whilst on leave.
Having been back to Brighton recently for a funeral at St. Mary's Church, I was disgusted and disappointed at how my old home has been neglected. It is now an eyesore. The shop front has been replaced with 2 small windows and the shop door removed and bricked up, I remember the sound of the bell as someone entered. The main door was badly in need of a coat of paint and had numerous bell pushes and the house and windows were filthy. When I think of how it had been regularly painted every three years or so and the windows cleaned till they shone. The shop windows held memories for the family. My Gran fell though one while cleaning it and lived to tell the tale. My cousins and I and even my daughters sometimes sat in the window and watched the passersby. I loved all the knick knacks and bricabrac on the ledge along the front. I was sickened by the state of St. James's Street as a whole, with down and outs and winos sitting on most of the doorsteps and as for the parking- cars everywhere nose to tail with tight parking regulations, even for residents. They were even talking about closing St. Mary's Church- Sacrilege!!!! What has happened to Brighton???
Where is the life that once I led.....????
However I digress....It was a strange life I led. Mum did not fully recover immediately and spent a lot of time in and out of hospital. Grandma and Aunt Marion did not have much time to spare to look after me so it fell to the various Aunts and Uncles to have me by turns to stay with them. I think I had about 12 different homes in as many years.
Aunt Marion took me to see all the Pantomimes and musical shows which gave me a great basic interest in Amateur Operatics later in my life. Uncle Will and Aunt Marjorie, parents of John Becher Newman, nursed me through Whooping Cough when I nearly died apparently, at their home on the Isle of Sheppey. There was a small bridge over the river to the 'island' which clanked as the car crossed it. I was told it was the sound of the chain which stopped the island from floating away! and I believed it too, for years. Is it still there?
Uncle Eddie, Mum's youngest brother, and his wife Aunt Rene, looked after me before they had a family of their own, I remember them telling me one day when it was thundering that it was the Angel's moving day in Heaven! I also remember a cane on the table to wrap my knuckles when I ate too slowly! No wonder I finish first now! Their children Julia and Brenda are my nearest in age 1st cousins and live in Sussex with their husbands, their children having married and moved away. Aunt Rene is in her 80's and the only one left of the older generation.
My Godmother, Great Aunt Edie, sister to Granddad, looked after me as did the parents of my second cousin, Pamela, who lived in a flat in the same house in St. Mary's Place. Apparently Grandma asked them if they would adopt me at one point!. Aunt Edie's brother Sam Newman lived in the lower flat with his 2nd wife Rose.
St. JAMES's Street. (the picture is of pre car era and before my time too!!)
I remember shopping in St. James's Street, at Sainsburys where it was all Mahogany and marble and tiles. The sugar was sold in strong blue paper bags which were filled from larger containers with scoops. The butter was in large blocks and shaped and served with butter pats. Bacon was sliced from whole sides. The money was placed in containers which were then slotted on to a rail or in a tube and it went whizzing off to the cash desk and the change and receipt was returned in the same way. I visited the fresh fish shop for Grandma with a jug for a pint of winkles or sprats. The fish and chip shop sold Huss, or Rock Salmon, which was my favourite not often seen now, and sprout tops were a favourite green vegetable from Candlins the greengrocer. Then there was the Home and Colonial Store and the sweetshop where I could get a farthings worth of sweets, Gabys Newsagents where I got my comic, Loughrans the Chemist where my 'Syrup of Figs' came from!. Deweys the Draper shop where goods were ' a penny threefarthings' a yard etc. There was Slydels the jewellers and Averys the photographers. I also remember the trams which ran on tramlines, clanking up and down the road, later to be replaced by the silent trolley buses which were always coming unhooked from the overhead cables.
I attended, first, a Kindergarten in Upper Rock Gardens, followed for a short time by a private School in Kemptown where I developed Scarletina and was nearly transferred to an isolation hospital. When I recovered we went to Sidmouth for a holiday where I got sunstroke and the whole of my back and arms peeled. I suffered a great deal from huge itchy 'heat spots' in the summer and my body was often spotted with calamine lotion. Somehow I managed to fit in dancing lessons, at the Doris Isaacs School of Dancing, around the age of 5 and took part in a show at the end of the Pier as well as entered the Brighton Music Festival. I also had piano lessons from a Mr. Newnham, who came to our home and whose 'day' job was a 'floor-walker' at Hanningtons Store, a bit like Mr.Peacock in 'Are You Being Served '. I eventually took two piano examinations, preliminary and first steps, in the Music room at the Royal Pavilion, which I passed, but never progressed any further unfortunately. Recently I returned to the Pavillion Music room and learnt that the great Sibelius had played there so felt very chuffed that I had shared the experience with the famous man.
Mum was a good pianist and I loved listening to her, she had been taught by a Nun at the convent school she had attended as a girl. She loved to curl my natural curly hair until I looked like a version of Shirley Temple, a child star of the time, as you can see from some of the photos I have added as hyperlinks. I had to sit still for ages while she did this with the aid of a finger and comb and 'spit'. She also knitted a great many of my clothes. Christmas was a huge family affair when all my Uncles and Aunts joined us round the table for the traditional Christmas Dinner and I had to stand up at the end, usually on a chair, and recite the latest poem I had learnt. One I remember was 'Big Steamers', by Rudyard Kipling.
Mary, Grandma's housemaid, too, played a large and important part in my life. She took me to her home to see her parents and brother, and to her church in Dorset Gardens. She became like a second mother. She let me follow her around the house when she was cleaning, and cooking and washing etc. for the family. I eventually wanted to help her so I was allowed to dust and polish the silverware, especially 5 little vases which Grandma later left me in her Will. When Mary left I was devastated and thought I had done something bad to send her away. Nobody told me why, until many years later, Mary herself told me that Mum was upset because 'I appeared to love Mary more than her'. Mary said she couldn't let that happen so left to become a voluntary children's nurse as it was wartime. On her first visit, she told me later, I asked her why she had left and she explained that she had to look after sick children, whereupon I remarked that 'that was alright then, because I thought she had left because she didn't love me anymore'. Just shows that children should always be given an explanation, Mary said no one would let her tell me at the time which she hadn't agreed with. She always kept in touch afterwards until she died, I had everything I needed in my life except affection she said. However I survived and I hope am none the worse for it though there has been a lot of hurdles on the way, not the least of which was ..........
THE SECOND WORLD WAR YEARS........
I had just had my 7th Birthday when war was declared in September 1939 and was attending St. Mary's C of E School in Mount Street, Brighton very near by.. I don't remember a great deal about lessons, (other than we had to attend St. Mary's Church opposite my home on Thursday mornings), because we had to spend more and more time in the air raid shelter which was in some caverns beneath the Rock Brewery at the bottom of the road. (For years I thought they brewed tea!) What a strange place to shelter children, all those glass bottles and beer!! I remember watching 'dogfights' high up in the sky between the Spitfires and the German planes on the way home. When the Brewery was demolished, many years later, the caverns were re-discovered. Our basement stairs were re-enforced to make a safe shelter for us to use during an air raid and basements of other buildings were turned into shelters for the public.
It was decided that Brighton was a rather dangerous place to be because the German planes were dropping bombs on the way to and from London, and flying in low over the sea and firing into the streets. A bomb dropped at the top of Upper Rock Gardens when a little friend of mine was badly injured and also on the Odeon Cinema in Kemptown, Saturday 14th September 1940, when fifty-five people were killed. The beach had been mined and was full of barbed wire to keep people off. So parents were given the chance to send their children to a safer place and I became an Evacuee with a group from our school and others who were shunted off by steam train ,with our labels and gasmasks and a change of clothing, to Yorkshire. Some were very tearful, but to me it was just another home and a great adventure as it turned out.
YORKSHIRE pudding.......
We arrived at our destination, which turned out to be Harrogate, in the dark, where we spent the night in 'dormitories' in a large Hotel which had been commandeered to receive us. Next day we were bussed to our final destinations. Our little band of evacuees was taken to Burton Leonard, a small village in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside where we waited on the village green outside the village school where our prospective carers were gathered. I was chosen by a friendly lady named Mrs. Pitts, (I later called her Aunt Hannah) who was a farmer's wife with two daughters, Sheila, a few months younger than me and Kathleen., a few years older. I had two and a half wonderful years with them 'down on the farm'.
The Farm house was divided into two, with the Farm Boss living in the 'best part' and the Pitts family in the other. Uncle Harry was the farm foreman. There was two large rooms downstairs, the living room/lounge/dining-room with a black leaded fireplace and the Larder and a large cupboard off, and the large farm kitchen with a large black leaded range which had an open fire in the centre and an oven on the right and a boiler on the left. Central Heating was unheard of so the fire was kept alight at all times or there was no hot water which was ladled out of the boiler, and no cooking. A kettle was kept on the hob for hot drinks. Once a week was bath night for us girls when the kitchen door was locked and a large tin bath set up in front of the fire into which was ladled the hot water. First in was the cleanest!!. Otherwise everyone had a good wash down at the large shallow stone kitchen sink with pump for cold water. Aunt Hannah did the weekly wash in a boiler house across the farmyard which was also used as the slaughter house! and used a dolly tub and stick to pummel the clothes which were then hung up across the farm yard or on a wooden pulley in the kitchen.
Upstairs were three bedrooms, one of which was used by a farm worker. I shared a room with the girls which you could only get to through Aunt Hannah and Uncle Harry's room. Sheila and Kathleen shared a double bed and I had a single on which were feather mattresses which had to be shaken up each day!. There was no bathroom, so chamber pots were under the bed which had to be emptied each morning and the slops carried down to the outside toilet down the yard. This toilet was so primitive. It consisted of a wooden bench with two holes under which was two buckets which again had to be emptied daily. I never inquired where, but assume there was a cess pit somewhere, otherwise it was the muck midden where the horse and cow manure was piled ready to use on the fields!!. Years later when I returned they had had a bathroom installed in the room which had been used by the farm worker.
Sheila and I went to the village school where three classes were taught by the head mistress, a Miss Jewitt, in the same room which had an enormous black stove to heat it, and on which she boiled the kettle to make our cocoa or tea when we ate out packed lunches. The other large room, as far as I can remember, was for the 1st and 2nd years and the only other small room was reserved for visiting school doctors and dentists and for exams etc. The cloakroom was used at playtime when it was wet to teach us our 'tables'. We had to stand in rows and recite our times tables in unison with our hands on our heads or doing arm exercises. Sheila and I walked one and a half miles across the fields and down a county lane to school accompanied by two 'lads' from the stone farm cottages where two of the 'ag.labs' families lived. Its a wonder we ever got to school on time, especially in the winter when the snow plough had cut a path through the heavy snow on the road and piled it high at the roadside. We built tunnels in the snow!
Most of the other evacuees attended the C of E Church with their families, but my 'family' were Methodists so permission was obtained for me to attend the Methodist Church with them on Sundays. I enjoyed that and found my old church quite dull in comparison. At Christmas time on the farm we made our own paper chains and Christmas tree decorations. The tree was usually the top of a Holly bush complete with berries, so was very prickly to decorate. It was here that I became familiar with classic stories such as Little Women, What Katy Did, Black Beauty and Anne of Green Gables which were all in the bookcase. My mother had my dolls-house crated up and sent by train. It was a large Edwardian house on wheels, which I shared with Sheila, though rather reluctantly at first I must admit. She had been kind enough to share her dolls with me so it was only fair and I had to get used to it which was a hard lesson being an only child. I also learnt to ride Sheila's bicycle, so Mum sent one up for me as all the family rode bikes to the various villages.
At Harvest time everyone lent a hand in the fields, some armed with sticks to whack the rats and mice as they shot from the last bit of corn being reaped, others standing the bales of corn into 'stooks', little pyramids, ready to be collected onto carts to be taken to the threshing machine in the farmyard. Then there was the hay to be loaded high onto haywagons with long forks and taken to the barn or to the Hay stacks or Ricks. Later the Potatoes had to be 'scratted' from the furrows in the field, and fruit picked from the trees and bushes. The carts and ploughs were pulled by lovely Shire horses until tractors replaced them. I learnt to drive a tractor on a return holiday. (The picture shows me and the farm 'lads'!).
After the harvest came the ploughing when the fields turned brown with the long straight furrows and the Plovers following the farmer to snatch up the worms he uncovered. Then there was the yearly sheep dipping and shearing and branding with the farmers mark to watch. The grooming of the horses in the stable and the 'mucking out'. All the cows had a name and were called into the cowshed each evening. I saw where Milk came from! and watched as it was put through a cooling machine and then into large churns to be collected and taken to the Milk depots to be pasteurised and bottled. There were eggs to be collected each day and I saw lambs, calves and piglets being born and unfortunately, slaughtered , and wild rabbits, caught on the farm, skinned, but it was all part of life and a wonderful learning curve.
Aunt Hannah was a marvellous cook and did a big 'bake up' once a week when the table was laden with goodies and home-baked bread which we had helped to knead the dough. The larder was always full and there was usually a side of bacon hanging there and fresh made butter on the marble slab. When fruit was ripe we made pots and pots of jam, the best being the little wild strawberries collected from the railway embankment. I remember my first taste of Yorkshire pudding, (so different from the sort my Grandma made back home). It was made in individual plate sized tins and quite flat when cooked. It was served up on the plate with gravy and this was eaten before anything else. At home it had always been puffed up and crisp round the edges and served with the meat and vegetables. So I was waiting for the rest of the meal.! Aunt Hannah was also a dressmaker for the community and she included me when she made clothes for her girls. The left over scraps of cloth she made into rag rugs for the floor.
So I was not aware of the War, other than what we heard on the radio and saw on the newsreel films at the cinema which we went to on a Saturday, either in Harrogate or Ripon. It was so safe on the farm and we played happily in the fields or in the Barns, or rode into the countryside on our bikes. We listened to Childrens Hour, with Uncle Mac, on the Radio each day, Toy Town with Larry the Lamb and Mr. Growser, Norman and Henry Bones the boy detectives , the Ovaltinies etc. and 'Monday night at Seven' was a treat. Then there was Workers Playtime and Wilfred Pickle's quiz( 'give us the money, Barney') 'Life with the Lyons' and Harry Hemsley , and ITMA, Henry Hall and Billy Cotton. Life couldn't have been better although I did miss my Mum at first, however she and my Aunt Marion and other members of the family came up to visit from time to time though I can't think where they slept! I do know that I was very, very lucky because many children had a dreadful time throughout the war both at home and when evacuated.
In next to no time it was time for my final school exams, which I passed, so that I could move on to another school. In August, 1943, I returned to Brighton to attend Varndean Grammar School for Girls and the last years of wartime and rationing, the facts of life and the final disbandment of my Newman family and the safe haven I called home. Things were never the same again ...
((2014 UPDATE) Since writing that account of my evacuation I was recently contacted by the secretary of the Burton Leonard History Group, Vivienne Rivis who found my website and asked for permission to include the article in a book they were writing entitled 'We Didnt Take Any Fault', Burton Leonard remembers WW11. The Launch of the Book took place this September and I said I would love to attend. This was arranged and Vivienne then asked me if I would present copies of the book to all the people who had contributed stories to it.. I was so delighted and also that they had managed to contact Sheila and Kathleen who would both be there to meet up with me again!. What a wonderful day that was. We had Spam sandwiches and eggless cakes to try along with a lovely tea party. I did my duty with the book and gave an off the cuff vote of thanks and said how important it was for all of us to at least write down our memories for our Grandchildren, and get it onto a website if possible for all to share what it was and is like before it was too late. .The event was published with a photo of myself with Sheila and Kathleen and the local Councillor -on page 3 ! of the Ripon Gazette and the book sales are doing well. They are having a book signing and launching a DVD with it later in October to which I hope to go..) ..
Back to the Future........
I came down to earth with a bump when I returned to the 'real' world again. To start with it was still wartime so I was sent to live with my Uncle Victor and his family in Patcham, a suburb a short way inland from the coast where my proper home was, where it was considered to be safer from bombs which were still being dropped. Then, I had acquired a strong Yorkshire dialect which no one could understand and it took me some time to revert to the Sussex accent again. I wasn't very happy. The big school was very daunting with all those girls all dressed alike in a navy and mid blue uniform, long corridors and so many rooms and teachers and I was a very mediocre pupil, though I did leave in 1948 with five credit passes for my School Certificate as it was known then. Unfortunately I didn't pass Maths so was not considered for further education. I shall always remember part of my class register, the teacher pointed out one day that it read- 'Martin, Northeast, Over, Paris' and the next name was Paterson. Two of the highlights of my school experience were productions of Shakespeares 'Twelfth Night' and Humperdinks 'Hansel and Gretal'. I thought they were wonderful. Looking back now I think I would have liked to have gone into the Theatre as a designer or director and have fulfilled much of my dreams with Amateur Operatics and Dramatics which see later.
During my stay at Patcham I walked to and from school and had to pass the home of my Uncle Tom Northeast, where I could stop to play with my cousins, Leon, Rex and Julie for a little while on my way home. I met up with them all again about 12 years ago at a family gathering and have been in contact ever since. The bright spot of the week was when I caught a trolley bus from school into Brighton to meet my Mum on a Wednesday afternoon when the 'Dress Agency' was closed for half day. We would visit my Nan and Granddad in the Lanes and sometimes went to a big shop called Plummer Roddis, in Western Road, to have tea in the restaurant and watch the Mannequins parading the clothes which were for sale in the shop, and listen to the orchestra playing.
One Wednesday there was an enormous explosion from the direction of the seafront. We made our way down and were just in time to see a serviceman being carried off the West Pier on a stretcher. Some ammunition which was being moved had exploded. The poor man was blinded and many years later I saw him interviewed on the Television on a programme about St. Dunstans. Finally, one Wednesday I was quite poorly so Mum took me home at last and decided to keep me there and I felt more settled back in my own little room and with Mum and Aunt Marion and Grandma again and Aunt Rene gave me one of her cats kittens, we called him Pinkie because of his pink nose. Little did I know what was in store.....
I had 2 glorious year getting to know my Mum. During that time I settled to the routine of Grammar School life, catching the Trolley bus each morning and afternoon, School dinners! Homework! Lessons, Exams etc. and growing up! At holiday times we either had family to stay or went to stay with Mum's cousins in Morden, where my young 2nd cousins and their friends and I would often take a picnic to places like Wimbledon Common in the summer, travelling by tubetrain on our own with no apparent need to think of our safety in those days. When they came to Brighton in the summer we spent many long happy hours on the beach and Palace Pier when all signs of wartime had been cleared away and made safe again. Some holidays were spent in Coventry with Uncle Stan and Aunt Gwen and my cousin Julia Ann. A couple of times Mum and I went to the Holiday Fellowship Association Family Hostel in Malhamdale and had a wonderful time, mostly rambling in the countryside with Nature competitions such as collecting the largest variety of wild flowers, or the longest daisy or the most things in a matchbox.
I started going to St. Mary's Church and Bible class across the road, taking part in the Christmas nativity plays each year as an angel with huge crepe paper wings, one year with a broken wrist and arm in plaster! and joined the Guides with a school friend, Joyce. I was confirmed at the Chapel Royal in 1945 and Peace was declared that year though we still had rationing until 1953. (I remember saving my sugar coupons so that Aunt Marjorie could make my wedding cake that year and I gave up sugar ever since). In 1947 Columbia Pictures descended on the Royal Pavilion to make the film 'The First Gentleman'. Armed with my little autograph book I climbed over the small wall and did the rounds- collecting autographs from as many of the stars as I could, including Cecil Parker who played the Prince Regent. I treasure that little book which also includes my schoolgirl friends and a few boys!! That year I joined the Church Choir at St. Georges, Kemp Town, St. Mary's didn't allow girl choristers, and also the Girls Guildry and had my first and only taste of Camping. I remember cooking porridge in the pouring rain on an open fire! YUK!!
Gradually things appeared more plentiful in the shops again and Schools were allowed to take pupils abroad for holidays. We went to Switzerland at the end of my final year in 1948 by boat and train, changing trains in Paris. We arrived in Lucerne in time for breakfast ,which consisted of croissants and cherry jam and tea in a glass, at the station. Our destination was across the lake in Stans at the foot of the Stanserhorn mountain which had a funicular railway to the top. It was a wonderland with shops full of Chocolate and pretty clothes and tinned fruit, things we hadn't seen for years. The mountains with snow on the top were awesome.
One Christmas my cousins and I put on a little Pantomime in our Front Room and invited everyone to pay a shilling to watch, we collected £1 in aid of the Red Cross. I was Cinderella, my 2nd cousin Jean was Prince Charming, her sister Shirley was the fairy godmother, and other little cousins and friends played the Ugly sisters and page boy. I had bought the simple script from Woolworths, and we found the costumes in the basement which was an Aladdin's cave, full of treasure as far as I was concerned. Mum painted some scenery for us on huge cardboard sheets in the huge bay window and also played the piano. It was great fun. Family and friends will recognise the beginnings of my interest in all things Theatrical!! - Directing, wardrobe, props, set design, and taking part in the Chorus of Amateur Operatics since 1961, the last which I still do and love. My biggest achievement, in 1973, was designing and making the entire wardrobe for an amateur production of 'La Belle Helene' at Birmingham Old Rep. Theatre with the help of just one other member with the sewing. Three costume changes for 12 men and 24 women plus about 12 principals. I still wonder how I managed it. I made many costumes for pantomimes which I also directed together with comedy plays with large casts. In 1985 I attended a nine day summer school for directing at Cheltenham, held by the British Theatre Association, which no longer exists, plus several weekend courses in London, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Shape of Things to Come.........
The next biggest hurdle of my life came with a bang in 1945 in the shape of 'Uncle Ted'. Edwin James Arnold wasn't my Uncle or indeed any sort of relative but he entered our lives suddenly one, normal, peaceful Sunday morning when he knocked on our front door at breakfast time to ask if we had a spanner. He was staying at the guest house round the corner and was doing some plumbing for the landlady. That was the beginning of the end as far as I was concerned and now it seems for most of the family also, although nobody spoke to me openly about it at the time. I thought it was just me.
Unfortunately for all of us, he was divorced and therefore 'free' to pursue my Mum who succumbed to his charms. He had no money or home of his own and because of an injury to his hand had been invalided from his job working on the Radio Masts at Dover. He was about ten years older than Mum and born in Lewisham, where his father lived with two spinster daughters, and was very Victorian in his outlook and very pushy. He had a married daughter who didn't want to know him and threatened Mum with the Police when she tried to contact her to make friends, and a son who was separated from his wife and family and only came when he wanted some cash. Uncle Stan asked Ted to go and live with them for a while in Coventry in the hope, I learnt later, that it would detract him from my Mum. She was very vulnerable and at first told me she didn't like him very much. But suddenly they were engaged and married in 1946 and then the problems started. He lived with us all, over the shop and was very jealous.
One by one he managed to get rid of everyone, even telling my Gran she was a guest in the house and nothing more. Aunt Marion decided to get married to the man she had been doing part-time housekeeping for- Uncle Dick we all called him. He had a lovely small-holding in Steyning. Aunt Rene stopped coming up for lunch from the shop, where she worked now that Uncle Eddie was ill due to shell shock, and poor old Grandma, that stalwart self made woman of property, was retired to live with her eldest son, my Godfather and Uncle, Will, and his wife Aunt. Marjorie. She had had a stroke by this time so was not allowed to drive anyway.
So there was I, left with a stepfather who despised me and called me a spoilt brat and Mum who obeyed his every whim. If she allowed me to do anything I was not to let him know. I was not allowed to go to Bible class or Church on Sunday any longer because it stopped them from going out so he told my teacher. I was so unhappy and felt in the way all the time so I eventually left home, with Mum's help, aged 17, to live in a little bed-sit, at £1 per week rent, on the top floor of a house, near where I was working in the blouse department of the store where we had had tea every Wednesday. (I earned about £3 per week, plus sales bonuses). Uncle Ted immediately changed the door locks saying it was no longer my home and I could knock like everyone else. I was devastated and tried to contact my Dad. Uncle Ted came and threatened me in the shop, saying it would kill my mother if I did, so that was that, I didn't want to hurt Mum, she couldn't have been completely happy herself- could she? I am very pleased to say that, through my cousin Julie (Northeast), I have been able to copy on video a wedding in the 1960's of another cousin at which my Dad attended, so have a 'moving' memento of him with his young wife Margaret. He died in the 70's.
Working Interlude.........
I left School in July 1948 aged 15 and started work at Plummer Roddis at the beginning of September when I was 16. I had hoped to do window dressing as I thought it seemed to be the nearest I could get to dressing a stage! Unfortunately there wasn't a vacancy, and I probably had to have qualifications anyway. So I started off in the Blouse and Knitwear Department as the junior with another girl, Kathleen. She and I were sent to the basement when a new batch of blouses arrived, to the ironing room to press out the creases ready to hang the blouses on the rails. I learnt very quickly the best way to iron and have enjoyed it ever since, especially on a cold day!. We very rarely had an accident with too hot an iron, but I must admit that there were one or two sold with iron marks on the inside!! One event concerned a jumper which had been returned because it had 'pilled'. Kath and I were sent downstairs and told to try and remove the pilling. We pulled most off by hand and then steam pressed it. The customer was very pleased when she got it back. We learnt how to sell goods too and were always very polite and saying how nice 'madam' looked.
I progressed to being in charge of the skirt department where I was able to set up displays on my own. However I thought I would like to have a go at office work and when a vacancy occurred 'upstairs' I applied. I had been having typing and bookkeeping lessons at evening school. To my surprise I got the job, mainly I think because I knew the shop well, and I went to 'Bought Ledger'. I had always said I would never work in an office, but here I was in one and I didn't like it very much. The social life of the shop staff was great. I belonged to the Cycling, Rambling, Cricket clubs and Choir and enjoyed every event, and there was a very good staff canteen where I did most of my eating as my little 9x12ft bed sit only had a small gas ring where I could boil a kettle or heat a pan of soup or beans and a gas fire where I could toast bread. We had Parties at Christmas, some in fancy dress, Dances and outings by coach to places like Butlins at Bognor and Littlehampton. Kath and I became good friends and when she married Peter, I was her chief Bridesmaid and Godmother to her first son, Alan.
'......on to the end.'..........
Mum's marriage lasted after a fashion till Ted died in his 80's with dementia and in a home, about 1982. Before that happened they had retired to a little house in Mile Oak, Portslade in 1967 when the house and business in St. James's Street were sold. They bought a motor caravan and had a lot of holidays motoring abroad. Not much of a holiday for Mum because she did most of the work while he went round the camp sites making himself known from what I understand. They also followed Brighton and Hove Albion Football team around the country. Mum suffered a heart attack herself in 1970 and again in 1984 and eventually became confused and died in hospital shortly afterwards, the weekend of my birthday and just 3 weeks before my eldest daughter married. She had starved herself and said she had to die to find out what went wrong and please would I forgive her. Her siblings had all gone before her. She obviously didn't want to live any longer. Grandma, Harriet Marion Phoebe, had died on 31st December 1952, the last time I saw her was at a family party on Boxing Day when she wanted to sing nursery songs to us all. Mum reminded us, in her little book, of the words ' Unless ye become as little children ye cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven'. I got married in 1953 and Grans old Grey Rover car, reg. ECD 858, which had long been sold, was parked outside my reception, so I believe her spirit was there and has been with me ever since. I had 3 lovely children who have given me 6 super grandchildren so far, the latest 2, Dominic Peter Becher Franchi, being born in the USA on 22nd October 2003,. and announced in the Times !, and Emily Caroline Louise was born on 14th April 2006.
To contact the author please use nameatblueyonder.co.uk substituting eilfran@ in the address, if I can be of any help on anything which is of interest to you, or if you have anything to add, many thanks.