2. Robert Story - Life

1.

Standard Sources

The standard sources for the life of Robert Story seem to be his own Preface to his 1857 Poetical Works, and the 'Life of Robert Story' that his friend John James wrote for the 1861 Lyrical and Other Minor Poems – that book was published after Story’s death.

See the information about the books on the earlier subpage, 1. Robert Story - the Works.

The text of the old DNB entry on Robert Story can be found at...

Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 54

Story, Robert (1795-1860)

by Thomas Seccombe

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Story,_Robert_(1795-1860)_(DNB00)

'...broadly speaking, one is less impressed by the distinctive merit of Story's poems than by the courage and success with which he set about selling them with a view to relieve himself of the debts by which he was at all times encumbered...'

Robert Story is listed on the web site of David Radcliffe of Virginia, Spencer and the Tradition...

http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/Welcome.php

http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/AuthorRecord.php?&action=GET&recordid=33526&page=AuthorRecord

David Radcliffe has put John James 'Life' on that web site.

http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/BiographyRecord.php?action=GET&bioid=36977

Plus some other useful items. David Radcliffe's version of the John James 'Life' is, I think, a transcription, and leaves out some of the notes.

Some local libraries have access to the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and some have access to newspaper archives.

I have attached, below, both versions of the DNB entry.

2.

Census Records

I have paid my money to ancestry.co.uk and I have gained access to the census records.

I have placed the relevant census pages, below, as pdf files. I have turned the images into pdf files just to keep things simple on this web site, at this stage. We have the images as JPEG, and should be able to enlarge them and enhance them at a later date.

1841 Census

In the 1841 census you can see Robert Story, his wife Ellen, and their children in Gargrave. His occupation is given as 'Schoolm' - Schoolmaster.

Next to that I have placed a pdf of entries from the relevant 1841 Census pages, showing the Story family and their neighbours in Gargrave.

1851 Census

The 1851 census shows Robert Story, Ellen and the family in Battersea, London. His occupation is given as 'Clerk, Audit Office'.

Daughter Sarah is a 'Dressmaker'.

The place of birth of the surviving children is given as Gargrave.

Ellen's place of birth is given as 'Yorkshire, Otley'.

Again I have made a list of the Story family's neighbours - their neighbours in Battersea seem to come from all over England.

1861 Census

In the 1861 Census the family, now reduced to four, is spread over two pages. I have placed both pages below.

Robert Story died in 1860 - his widow, Ellen Story, is now 'Head' of the household. It is a bit difficult to make out - but you can see that her occupation is given as 'Annuitant'. She was in receipt of an annuity. So, the work of John James in developing the posthumous 1861 Lyrical and other minor poems, was worth while. John James says in the Preface to that book...

Story died last summer, and owing to long continued domestic affliction and disappointment, had not been able, out of his limited income, to make any provision for his widow. Hence this collection of his Minor Poems has been issued for the purpose of raising a fund for her assistance. Most grateful and sincere thanks are here tendered to the numerous friends of the late Poet, who have zealously contributed to the success of this Work, and thus conferred a substantial benefit, not soon to be forgotten, on his widow.

John James, Preface, 1961, Story, Lyrical and other minor poems, p v

In the 1861 Census, Ellen Story's daughter, also called Ellen, is a 'Pupil Teacher'.

The Story family had a visitor, Edward Rudd, on the night of the census.

1871 Census

We catch a last glimpse of the widow, Ellen Story, in the census record of 1871 - at the great age of 70. Her occupation is given as 'no occupation'.

The 'Head' of the household is given as Ellen Upton - her place of birth is given as 'Yorkshire, Gargrave'. I take this to be daughter Ellen, now married (or widowed?) with children.

There are a number of transcription errors in ancestry.co.uk's version of the record. There Ellen Upton is given as 'Eller'.

Widow Ellen Story's place of birth is given in the transcription as 'Ottery' - on the census return it is written, plain to see, as Otley.

3.

Other Archive Sources

Through my other work, in my other lives, I have secured online access to some newspaper and journal archives, and I have used some of this material, here on the web site - and we will use it on the Robert Story Story Board in Gargrave Village Hall.

This material rewrites the life story a bit. Robert Story was clearly a rumbustious, combative character - quick to take offence, and willing to pursue offence over many years. The departure from Gargrave - so well described by John James - is evidently, in part, a consequence of this.

Robert Story pruned his writings for the later books - and the restoration of some of his political and satirical works makes him, in some ways, a more interesting writer.

It would be possible to follow the trail into the paper archives - if time and resources were available. For example, Robert Story was the Parish Clerk in Gargrave, so that there might be material in the diocese or the county archives. The archives of the Duke of Northumberland would be worth exploring - I would like to know more about the decision to spend so much money on the design and manufacture of the 1857 Poetical Works. And I would like to know more about the craftspeople who were involved. Robert Story's other patrons and sponsors are of interest - listed in the long, long lists of subscribers in his books. And then there is his work in the Audit Office in London - what did he actually do there, apart from attend between the hours of ten in the morning and four in the afternoon?

Finally, where are Robert Story's own archives? John James, in the Preface to the 1861 Lyrical and other minor poems, says...

...he had, at various periods up to the time of his departure from Gargrave, jotted down many autobiographical memoranda, evidently, however, not intended for the public eye. He had also preserved with care, a series of correspondence, extending from the year 1813, to his death ; many of the letters being the originals written by himself, of which he had, by some means or other, obtained possession in after years. These original letters, the "outpourings of friendship," are highly interesting, as they indicate the Poet's peculiar frame and texture of mind, modes of thought, and special train of circumstances, at critical periods, either when youth was "purging itself by boiling o'er," or manhood essayed "the steep ascent and slippery way," leading to the Temple of Fame. The numerous letters likewise of his intimate correspondents throw much light on these periods of his life. From all these varied sources the following Memoir has been drawn, and when the materials were so copious, the main difficulty lay in selection...

John James Preface, 1861 Lyrical and other minor poems, pp v-vi

Evidently Robert Story thought that his life and his work would interest posterity more than has proved, so far, to be the case. I have looked in the obvious and usual places but, at the time of writing (April 2013) I do not know what has happened to the papers of Robert Story. John James was a significant figure in nineteenth century Bradford, the historian of Bradford - and, at the time of writing, I have not been able to locate his archives.

Patrick O'Sullivan

April 2013