Remarkable, but still True: the story of the Revd R J Barlow and Hutton Rudby in the time of the cholera

Over the next weeks, I am going to be posting the full text of my book, Remarkable, but still True.

Published in 2007 by Westgate Publishing of Guisborough in a limited edition, copies can be found in libraries and second-hand.

I think it needs to be available online in full for several reasons.

Firstly, Hutton Rudby was a village through which many people passed, and many of their descendants – as I know from contacts through my previous website, www.jakesbarn.co.uk – are in search of their family history.  There are many local people named in the book, with stories and details that would be very hard to find elsewhere.

Secondly, the story told in the book isn't only relevant to the Hutton Rudby area.  The Revd Barlow's family came from Dublin.  Mr Barlow's brother, James Barlow Hoy, became a Hampshire landowner and MP for Southampton.  His daughter Louisa Barlow Hoy lived in Italy, where she married a Florentine nobleman, the Marquis Guadagno Guadagni – and it's likely that the only surviving descendants of the Barlows are amongst the Guadagni family.

Thirdly, it's a very good story!

As reading online is a different experience from reading a book, I shall break up the longer paragraphs to make it easier.

Literary Wars in Whitby: 1825 to 1833

Whitby harbour: from a papier mache tray

As my post of 19 November explains, in the early 1820s Stokesley seethed with political controversy.

Young men and women horrified their elders by buying radical literature from Mr Armstrong’s shop and the 'Stokesley Paper War' between Armstrong and the Methodist businessman Thomas Mease polarised opinion in the town.

In 1825, the year after Thomas Mease published the last edition of The Extinguisher in triumph over his now absent adversary, a new monthly magazine began to appear in Whitby.

Before long, Whitby would have its own paper war.

But there the debate was not political – Whitby had little by way of radical tradition.  Instead, the factions came from different Nonconformist churches, and the arguments were literary and personal.

Whitby in 1823

Extracts from the description of Whitby in Baines' Directory 1823:

The town stands on two opposite declivities at the mouth of the Eske, by which river it is divided into two parts, which are connected by a draw-bridge so constructed as to admit vessels of 32 feet wide …

Owing to the northern aspect of the district and the rising of the land to a considerable distance into the country, the sun beams fall so obliquely on the town and its immediate vicinity, that its climate may be considered nearly on an equality with Shetland and the Orkneys.

It is closely and irregularly built, though the houses of the opulent inhabitants are large and commodious; the streets in general are narrow and inconvenient, and the act obtained for paving, lighting and widening them has been very imperfectly carried into effect …

The ruins of the once famous abbey stand on a high cliff south-east of the town near the parish church, and the ascent to it from the town is by a flight of two hundred steps.  A small distance south of the abbey Mr Cholmeley has a splendid mansion, built probably with the materials from the monastery …

if the situation [of the abbey] is bleak the prospect is commanding and presents a view of the town and port of Whitby, with the frowning heights of the black moors rising in the horizon in front, while in the rear is the vast expanse of the ocean, and the tout ensemble is truly magnificent …

When the abbey of Whitby was in the zenith of its glory, the town was little more than a small fishing station … the important discovery of the alum mines at the close of the reign [of Queen Elizabeth] raised Whitby from its obscurity … and elevated the town to a degree of maritime consequence … two great branches of trade were opened at the port of Whitby – one for supplying the works with coals, the other for conveying the alum to distant parts.

Anne Weatherill's diary: Guisborough 1863

This is the diary of Anne Weatherill of Guisborough, written when she was 22 years old.

It was written in a small notebook, measuring six inches by four inches and records her activities between January and September 1863.

She began the little diary soon after returning from a visit to London.

Back at home in Guisborough, she records attending impromptu dances and invitation balls, she visits Redcar and stays with friends in Stockton and Carlton-in-Cleveland.  She takes part in a choir festival and lends a hand in local festivities.  A constant feature through the months is her response to the changing seasons and the beauty of the countryside.    

Anne lived in Northgate in Guisborough with her family: her father Thomas, a prosperous brewer, landowner and businessman, her mother Margaret, her 20 year old sister Kate, and her brothers William and Herbert, aged 18 and 14.

Downstreet – going west along the High Street – her Uncle William and Aunt Ann Weatherill lived in Westgate with their younger children.  The children were cousins to Anne twice over, as their fathers were brothers (Thomas and William Weatherill) and their mothers were sisters (Margaret and Ann Jackson).

Rev Malcolm Buchannan (1880-1954)

Malcolm Buchannan was one of Whitby's characters. 

An energetic High Church Anglican priest, his obituary from 9 July 1954 gives a full story of his remarkable life.  I am not sure where, in his far-flung ministry, this photograph was taken – possibly the Transvaal.

Rev Malcolm Buchannan

FAITHFUL PARISH PRIEST

Rev M Buchannan's Notable Life

By the death of the Rev Malcolm Buchannan, which occurred on Sunday night at his home, St Hilda's Terrace, Whitby, the town lost a man who defied ill-health to continue his vocation almost to the end. 

A native of Whitby, Father Buchannan was educated at Hallgate's School at Whitby, and subsequently attended Durham School and Durham University, where he gained prominence as an oarsman, rowing in representative events for the Varsity. 

He was a son of Mr Charles Buchannan, and a grandson of Mr George Weatherill, the famous artist, and he felt the call to the work of the Church, and as a priest of the Church of England did an outstanding service to his fellow men, not only in England, but in Canada, South Africa and Trinidad.

A man of great personal charm, Father Buchannan's chief characteristic was his sincerity.  He was ordained curate in 1903 at Durham and his first appointment was as a curate at St Mark's, South Shields, where he remained for three years, being priested in 1904. 

'George Weatherill – his family, and their art' by the Rev Malcolm Buchannan

This is the text of an address given by the Rev. Malcolm Buchannan, M.A., grandson of George Weatherill on October 7th, 1949.

It is a delightful talk, particularly such stories as his grandfather walking from Yarm to York as a teenager to attend a court case for his employer, and walking back again the next day – and how he used to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to paint the sunrise from East Cliff.

The artist George Weatherill (1810-90) and his children

George Weatherill was born in Staithes in 1810 and died in Whitby in 1890.  His delicate, subtle watercolours of the Whitby area have always been widely known and loved – he has been called the "Turner of the North".

One of the largest and most important collections of his work was that of County Alderman Robert Elliott Pannett (1834-1920).  His devotion to the welfare of Whitby and its people led him to many acts of generosity, and in 1902 he bought land near the centre of the ancient, crowded town because he believed that both residents and visitors would benefit from a park where they could enjoy fresh air, trees and flowers.  He bequeathed the land to the town – it is now Pannett Park.

There you will find the Pannett Art Gallery.   This was another gift to Whitby from Mr Pannett, built to house his art collection.  It opened on 1 August 1928, with one gallery devoted entirely to the display of 148 paintings by George Weatherill.  (I think the Art Gallery website is very new and still under construction – I look forward to more appearing on their Galleries page.)

George taught all his children to draw and paint, but their work is less widely known.