Women's Institute Drama in the 1930s and 1950s

I have posted previously on the Nunthorpe Women's Institute Drama Group – here, here, here and here.  (I should add that this is Nunthorpe near Middlesbrough, to avoid any confusion).

I've just come across some press cuttings relating to the group, which might be of interest.

Unfortunately, they're not dated!

There is a 1930s clipping relating to the performance of Nine till Six – which featured in the programme shown here and starred Mrs Hedley, Mrs H Stubbs, Mrs Baker, Mrs Steel, Mrs Ballingall and Mrs Borrow – which says

Nunthorpe produced A. and P. Stuart's Nine till Six, revealing a real sense of the stage, with a poise seldom shown by amateurs.  The adjudicator said she had nothing but praise for the performance.  Each of the characters held the balance, so that real unity was achieved, and there was a gratifying absence of over-acting or exaggeration.

 Another 1930s clipping from the W.I. Drama Festival is headlined "Adjudicator praises Nunthorpe Team", and begins

Nunthorpe team was praised for the ease and spontaneity of its acting by the adjudicator, Mr Jack Charlton, of London, at the non-competitive Women's Institute inter-county drama festival in the Rowntree Theatre, York, on Saturday.  They presented Symphony in Illusion, and Mr Charlton said that by bringing their imagination to bear, they had made effective a play that was an attempt to be clever, but that did not quite come off. 

Two other Yorkshire teams, Escrick and Ingleby Arncliffe, took part.  Escrick gave The Thrice Promised Bride, which, Mr Charlton pointed out, required an extremely difficult technique.  He praised the settings, costumes and acting, but said it would have been improved had the mime been as firmly handled as the words.  Ingleby Arncliffe performed Michael. 

West Auckland, who produced the first scene from King Lear, were criticised for their choice, the adjudicator remarking, "Of all the scenes in the whole of Shakespeare's plays I cannot imagine any that needs the heavier music of the male voice more than this one,"

 Another clipping (a very grainy newspaper photograph, I'm afraid) from the 1930s:-

Caption:  Members of Nunthorpe Women's Institute in a scene from Martha and Mary, a New Testament play which they presented in St Mary's Church, Nunthorpe, yesterday.  On stage are Muriel Ballingall (as Martha), Olga Matthams (Mary), Lesley Hownam (Sara) and Molly Stubbs (Ruth).

The full newspaper caption for the 1939 photograph shown below is

Nunthorpe W.I. members in Paolo and Francesca, which they presented in the Yorkshire Federation of Women's Institute's drama competitions which concluded at York on Saturday.

Nunthorpe W.I. members in Paolo and Francesca 1939

and underneath the photograph Molly Stubbs has written

Drama Cup for Yorkshire won by us for 3rd time 1939

M. Stubbs as Paolo with E. Cameron as Francesca & E. Whinney as Giovanni

Another cutting (with a grainy photo) is captioned 'Rehearsing for the Festival'.  It looks as though it dates from the post-War period, 1940s or early 1950s:-

Kathleen Belas (as Sister Paul), A. Blake (Patsy), Mahoney Crossthwaite (Sister Gabriella), and Molly Stubbs (Sister Annunciata) in a rehearsal scene from Time Out of Joint, which Nunthorpe Players willl present at the British Drama League (Teesside area) annual festival of one-act plays, starting in St John's Hall, Middlesbrough, tomorrow and continuing for the rest of the week. 

This cutting from the 1950s is captioned

Nunthorpe W.I. in a scene from There's Rue For You, presented at the Yorkshire Federation of Women's Institute's drama festival at York on Saturday

and I find that we have a good photograph of it in an old family album, but I'm afraid I have no names to attach.  There's Rue For You was a one-act play by Margaret Turner, published in 1950.

Nunthorpe Women's Institute Drama Group
in 'There's Rue For You'

Revd Barlow advertises for a farm manager, 1855

Even in this short advertisement, somehow Mr Barlow's distinctive voice can be heard:

York Herald, 7 April 1855

Wanted, at May-Day, a HIND, to take Charge of a FARM.  A Man and his Wife only, would be preferred.  No Stock but his Horses to attend to. - Apply, Pre-paid, to Rev R J Barlow, Rudby Vicarage, near Yarm

Using the search box on this blog

The search box seems recently to have caused some confusion - Google have somehow altered how the results appear.

If you put in a search term and a result is found, a box will appear with the text 

"Showing posts sorted by relevance for query x ..."

Scroll down through the blog posts that appear below the notification box.  Some of them will appear in their entirety but the longer ones will have a Page Break.  Your result may be behind that break.  Click on 

"Read more" 

at the bottom of the post so that you can find your result!

Thomas Arthur Banks of Middlesbrough 1868-1957

A reminder of times past, and a celebration of a long and busy life.  From the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, 22 March 1957:-

HE WORKED 75 YEARS FOR THE SAME FIRM 

The death occurred yesterday at the age of 88, of Mr Tom Banks, of 35, Lothian Road, Middlesbrough, one of the best-known figures in legal and church circles in the district. He had the remarkable record of having spent 75 years with the same firm of solicitors.

It was at the age of 18 that he got a job as office boy with the firm which was then Bainbridge & Barnley and is now Meek, Stubbs & Barnley. 

In his early days, one of his chiefs, Mr George Bainbridge, was Town Clerk of Middlesbrough before it became a full-time appointment and Mr Banks spent much of his time at the Town Hall – the old one in the Market-place. 

He had vivid memories of the opening the present Town Hall in 1889 when he was a junior clerk of 20.  He became chief clerk with his firm and that led to a long association with the Tees Port Health Authority.  One of his principals was clerk to the authority, and in 1907 Mr Banks was appointed deputy clerk. 

Service to church 

Mr Banks devoted a lifetime of service to St John's Church, Middlesbrough, over half a century of it as sidesman or warden. 

Three times after passing the 80 milestone, Mr Banks had been in hospital with broken limbs, but though he returned to work twice, the third time acute arthritis set in and though he had been able to get about a little he had not been able to work at the officee for the past 18 months. 

He was a widower and leaves no children.

What happened to the Hutton Rudby Paper Mill?

At last!  A chance discovery tells us more about the Hutton Rudby Paper Mill - production moved to Yarm in about 1829:-

Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 23 August 1886 

The Tees Mills, Yarm 

The following article appears in this week's British and Colonial Stationer:

Whilst in Yorkshire a few days ago, we visited Yarm and called at the Tees Paper Mills, which are carried on under the style of C T Bainbridge and Sons.  The mill was originally a flour mill, but in the early days of the Fourdrinier paper machine Mr C T Bainbridge, a paper-maker and proprietor of a small vat mill at Hutton Rudby, about six miles from Yarm, not content with the slow process of making browns and purples by the vat, removed part of the plant, etc., from Hutton Rudby, to the then Tees Flour Mill 57 years ago, and put down one of the first Fourdrinier paper machines in Yorkshire. 

The old wooden screw press, which was worked by hand at the Hutton Rudby vat mill, was used for some time at the new mill, and the manufacture was confined to browns, purples, and grocery papers. 

In 1867, however, the mill was reconstructed, and the original Fourdrinier was abandoned for a new 62-inch paper machine, by James Bertram and Son, which is still working, and has five cylinders, and bears the date of 1868. 

In conversation with one of the finishers, who has served for nearly half-a-century, we learned that great changes had occurred in the proprietorship at this time, when, through the ill-health of the founder, Mr C T Bainbridge, the loss of his son, and soon after of his nephews, the mill was bought by Mr Wm Henry Benington, who was subsequently joined in partnership by his son, and the firm at present consists of Wm H Benington and Son. 

The management is entrusted to Mr Wm Brougham Benington, a son of the principal.  The trading name, C T Bainbridge and Son remains unchanged. 

Recently some additions and improvements have been made.  Bag machines have been introduced, and a small printing plant and cylinder printing machine are on the premises for printing names and trade marks on the bags if required by the wholesale buyer.  The bag machines have been manufactured by Mr Burnsted, of Hadnesford, one of them being the new Burnsted Patent Machine; and another of a quite new construction, and the first of its kind made by this manufacturer and patented.  The machines are kept running on bags from a 1lb.lump sugar bag up to a 4lb. moist sugar, and the large machine from 4lb. up to a half-stone flour bag.  And bags of a larger size are also made at this mill. 

The firm manufacture browns, purples, and grocery papers, and they have taken up the manufacture of grocery bags at the request of their customers, and are able to supply about eight tons of paper, and bags per week. 

The mill is close to the Yarm station, and is completely surrounded by river, road, and rail, so that there is no outlay on cartage of raw material, or on the manufactured article.  The firm deal with the wholesale, and local trade, and have confidence in both the price, and quality of their productions, and take a pride in the reputation of their old established mill.

A video of a Fourdrinier mill at the Frogmore Paper Mill can be seen here on youtube; its website is here/

New Close Farm, Hutton Rudby in 1806

York Herald, 8 March 1806

CLEVELAND

TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION 

On TUESDAY the FIRST day of April next, at THOMAS SMITH'S, the GOLDEN LION, Stokesley, in the county of York, at FOUR o'clock in the afternoon 

A VALUABLE and DESIRABLE FREEHOLD ESTATE, situate at HUTTON RUDBY, in Cleveland, in the county of York, at an easy distance from Cleveland Port, the Town and Port of Stockton on Tees, the Market Towns of Northallerton, Thirsk, Stokesley, and Yarm; late the residence of Mr JAMES APPLETON, and now in the occupation of THOMAS KELSEY, consisting of a genteel, modern, well-built DWELLING-HOUSE, with convenient and extensive Barns, Stables, and Outoffices, all in most excellent repair, and ONE HUNDRED and FORTY-TWO Acres, by estimation, of valuable Arable, Meadow, and Pasture LAND; the whole forming a most desirable residence for a Gentleman Farmer. 

For particulars apply to Mr JAMES APPLETON, of Nunthorpe, near Stokesley, or of Mr WARDELL, Attorney, Guisbrough*.

March 6, 1806

New Close Farm, which is still a Valuable and Desirable residence but no longer a working farm, as it has only 20 acres, lies south of Hutton Rudby, off Black Horse Lane.

*Not so much a typo as one of the variant spelling of Guisborough during the C19

Richard Carass

Another photograph from John Carass.  He comments, "A well-dressed gentleman complete with billy-can!"  I think Richard carries himself well; there's a confidence about that stance!  The photo probably dates from the 1920s.

Richard Carass 1843-1934

Richard Carass was a few years younger than John Richard Stubbs, who predeceased him.  I noticed Dr Dagget in the list of people attending Richard's funeral - he was married to John's niece.

Richard Carass, butcher & farmer of Boroughbridge

John Carass has very kindly provided me with this photograph and transcriptions of newspaper articles about Richard Carass.  A lovely glimpse of the past in Boroughbridge.

From l. to r., Richard, William & George Denis Carass

The Carass butcher's shop on St James Square

Richard Carass is on the left, his son William is centre, and William's son George Denis is on the right.  Photograph taken about 1918.

BOROUGHBRIDGE'S OLDEST MAN 

Daily Walks at 90 

MEMORIES OF MR R. CARASS

A wonderfully active nonagenarian is Boroughbridge's oldest inhabitant, Mr Richard Carass, who, although he will be 91 in June, still likes to take a stroll of three or four miles every day, and is a familiar figure about the old township. The Carass family have been butchers in Boroughbridge for many generations, and the shop in St. James Square, where Mr. Carass was born, has been a butcher's shop since 1770. It is the only one in Boroughbridge that has remained in the same name for such a great number of years. Mr. Carass retired from active participation in the business about 16 years ago, and it is now carried on by his son. Mr. William Carass.

 "More Townlike"

He recalls that in his grandfather's time, St James Square used to be the butchers' shambles, and said he could just remember the days when Boroughbridge was an important coaching centre, and the post-horses were changed amid great bustle at the 'Crown'. Before the coming of the railway, which was first extended as a branch line from Pilmoor, he could remember barges coming up from York with coal and other supplies. Mr. Carass is the oldest member of Boroughbridge Methodist Chapel, with which he has been associated all his life.

[Copied from a newspaper cutting dated around May 1934. John Carass. Jan 1995,] 

 FUNERAL OF MR R. CARASS 

OLDEST INHABITANT OF BOROUGHBRIDGE 

Long Service for Methodism 

WELL-KNOWN BUTCHER

The funeral of Mr. Richard Carass of Holme Lea, Boroughbridge, who died at the age of 91, took place on Tuesday. Mr. Carass was the town's oldest inhabitant, and up to 17 years ago carried on business as family butcher, cattle dealer, and farmer, and was a familiar figure in the Leeds and local cattle markets. The shop in St. James' Square has been in the Carass family since the business was established in 1770, and in now carried on by the son, Mr. Wm. Carass. 

All his life he has been associated with Methodism, and was at one time a Sunday school teacher and member of the choir in the Wesleyan Church. He remembered the present church being built, and was Chapel Steward when the fiftieth anniversary was celebrated. Up to the last, he attended the Sunday evening service. 

He is survived by four sons and a daughter. 

The funeral service in the Methodist Church was conducted by the Rev. W. H. Pritchard, and the hymns "Jesu, Lover of my Soul" and "Rock of Ages" were sung. Miss A. E. Jebson officiated at the organ, and played "Be thou Faithful unto Death" (Mendelssohn) before the service, and "I know that my Redeemer Iiveth" (Handel) as the cortege left the church. The interment followed at Boroughbridge cemetery. 

The chief mourners were :-  Miss Carass (daughter), Mr. Wm. Carass (son), Mr. H. Carass (Leeds, son), Mr. and Mrs. R. Carass (son and daughter-in-law), Mr. A. Carass (Leeds, son), Mr. D. Carass (grandson), Misses M. and V. Carass (grand-daughters), Mr H. Carass (Leeds, grandson), Mr. and Mrs.Walker (Green Hammerton) Mrs Hodgson (Leeds,Niece) Miss Webster (Leeds, niece), Mrs F.Fawell (Sand Hutton, niece)  

Others present were Mr Wm Bacon and Miss Bacon, Mr. H. Hawking, Mr J.J. Webster, Mr. D. Green, Mr. J. Smith (Scriven), Mr. and Mrs. E. Kitching (Knaresborough), Dr. H. I. Daggett, Mr. and Mrs. S. G. Pagett, Mr. and Mrs. W. Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Jebson and Miss Jebson, Mrs. J. Stevenson, Mr. R. and Miss Hawking, Mr. Webster; Mr. C. Clarke, Miss Lockwood, Mr. B. Johnson, Mr. D. 

Johnson, Mr. Westerman (Leeds), Miss Harrison, Mr. A. Pickering (Scriven), Mr. J. Wilkinson, Mr. and Mrs. T. A. Pickering (Kirby Hill), Mr. J.K. Pickering, Mr. Willis (Cundall) Mr and Mrs. Gill, Miss Parlour, Mr. and Mrs. Winpenny, Mr. and Mrs, R. Dearlove Dishforth, Mr. T. Reed., Mr. Curry, 

Mr. B. Dickenson, Mr. H. Crayke (Tanfield), Miss M. Knowles, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Knowles (Broom Close), Mr. and Mrs. Palmer, Mr. and Mrs Topham, Mr. A. Ramsdale, Mr. Crispin, Mr. and Mrs. W. Steele, Mr. T. Walker (Knaresborough), Mr. H. Mawtus, Mr. E. Mawtus, Mr. Ellis, Mrs. Summers, 

Mrs. Darnton, Mrs. E. Umpleby, Mr. Rust, Mrs. Pritchard, Mr. Morris, Mr. Nicholson (Minskip), Mr. Clayton, Mr. Buckle, Mr. and Mrs. F. Buck, Mr. S Smith, Mr. W. Mudd, Mr. Monkman, Mr. Nicholsnn. (Aldborough), Mr. R. Bentley (Roecliffe), Mr. Wynne, Mr. G. Sadler, Mr G. Dean, Mr. W. Roe, Mr. Waid, Mr. W. Dickenson, Mr: Clayton. Mr H. Reed Mr. W Robinson, Mr. Kershaw, Mr. H. Sixty, Mrs. Waterhouse, Mrs. Lofthouse, Mr. Lumley, Mr. J. Pickering, Mr. Skaife, Miss. Robinson. , 

There was a beautiful floral wreath from "The Family," and a cross from Dennis, May and Vera. Other tributes were from Alfred and Annie; Mrs Fawell; Jennie and Annie; Fannie; Emest; Mr and Mrs Jebson and daughters; Mr and Mrs Westerman; Mr and Miss Bacon; Mrs Stephenson; Mrs C.H. Knowles; Mary and Carrie; Mr and Mrs J . Wilkinson; Mr and Mrs J . Palmer; Mr and Mrs S.G. Pagett; Mr and Mrs Topham and Family; Mrs Brewer; Mr and Mrs Cambell; Mr and MrsE.B.Morten; Mr and Mrs W. Steele; Mr and Mrs G.W.Mudd: Kelly Brothers; Mr and Mrs G.H.Sixty; Mrs Beedham; Methodist 

[Copied from a newspaper of November 1934.  John Carass (Great grandson)]


Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer, 12 November 1934

CARASS. - November 11, at Holme Lea, Langthorpe, Boroughbridge, aged 91 years, RICHARD CARASS.  Interment at Boroughbridge Cemetery to-morrow (Tuesday), November 13.  Service at Methodist Church at 2.30pm.  Friends please accept this (the only) intimation 

The wrecks of HMS Aboukir, Cressy & Hogue

The vessels HMS Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue have been designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act – which means that, at long last, the site is a War Grave.

The story of their loss on 22 September 1914 is told here on this blog.  Families of the 1,459 men and boys who died that day owe a great debt to the hard work and commitment of Dutch author Henk van der Linden, without whose dedication it is hard to see how this could ever have been achieved.

This documentary film takes us down to the wrecks, where the grim remains have turned into a small world of colour and life under the North Sea.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
                                             Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them,—ding-dong, bell. 

Hutton Rudby Spinning Mill, 1860

Such a find.  This little piece in a Newcastle newspaper, tells us at last what George Wilson was up to with the old mill premises on the Hutton side of the River Leven – a combination of the old (handlooms) and the new (gas laid on, and steam-powered looms installed). 

Newcastle Guardian & Tyne Mercury, 18 February 1860

HUTTON RUDBY SPINNING MILL 

This neat establishment, once the property of Messrs Blackett and Mease, and which stood so long idle, seems, in the hands of Mr George Wilson, likely to enjoy a good share of prosperity.  Gas has been attached to the premises, and eight sail cloth steam power-looms have been put into operation, besides a number of hand-looms that are dependant [sic] upon the establishment for employment.  The mill has been regularly at work during the past year, and there is every prospect of its future being still more successful.  It has been a great blessing to many poor families in Hutton and has found employment for a large number of hands in the locality.

NB:  John Mease, not Messrs Blackett and Mease, owned the spinning mill - and there was no gas.

[29 February 2020: for a full account of the Mease mills, see the series of posts that begin here]

The Brontës

I hope nobody interested in the Brontë family missed Sally Wainwright's brilliant drama To Walk Invisible, which was shown over Christmas?

If you did, it's available on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Unmissable.

And don't forget to read about Branwell Brontë’s ‘honest and kindly friend’: Dr John Crosby of Great Ouseburn on this blog.

Extracts from the York Herald, 26 January 1850

Middle class emigration and climbing boys:-

Emigration of the Middle Classes – We are glad to learn, from an announcement which appears in our advertising columns, that the reputable firm of Sir John Pirie and Co., have chartered several vessels for the purpose of carrying out emigrants of the middle class to Australia.  The numerous complaints of want of punctuality, as to the time of sailing, of the badness and deficiency of provisions, of the absence of proper accommodation, and of gross disorder during the voyage, have had a considerable effect in deterring intending emigrants of decent character and habits from proceeding.  In all these respects, Sir John Pirie and Co. promise better things, and the high character of the worthy Baronet at the head of the firm, is a guarantee for the punctual and complete fulfilment of their engagements.

Darlington Police, Jan. 21 – Before R H Allen, G J Scurfield, and Robert Colling, Esqrs., Hannah Leybourne was charged with stealing from the person of Thomas Horner, butcher, two £5 notes and about £3 10s in gold and silver.  After a partial hearing, the case was dismissed, in consequence of the prosecutor having previously offered to compromise the robbery, if part of the money should be returned. – Peter Barney alias Corney, a sweep, was charged with allowing a young boy to ascend a chimney for the purpose of removing the soot.  The defendant was liberated upon payment of the costs, and judgment was deferred.

(In 1850, we were half way through the battle to protect the "climbing boys" from exploitation – for the relevant Acts of Parliament, see here)

Extracts from the York Herald, 12 January 1850

Local news and local names - I thought this sort of thing might be useful or interesting to readers:-

Yarm

Seasonable Benevolence

During the past week, Marshall Fowler, Esq., of Preston Hall, one of the executors under the will of the late Benjamin Flounders, Esq., deceased, has caused to be distributed the sum of £20 in blankets and coals, among the poor people in this town; 75 families received half a ton of coals each, and 25 families one blanket each.  This sum is an annuity of £20 bequeathed by the late Mr Flounders, to be distributed annually at Christmas, among the poor of Yarm.

Inquest. - Verdict of Manslaughter. - An inquest was held on Friday, the 4th inst., before J P Sowerby, Esq., coroner, on the body of John Mudd.  It appears that the deceased and a youth of the name of George Crabtree, had, on the previous Monday, a few angry words together, when the latter kicked the former in the lower part of his body, and thereby injured him so seriously that he died on the following Thursday.  After a lengthened inquiry, the jury returned a verdict of "manslaughter."  The prisoner was committed to York Castle, to take his trial at the spring assizes.  He is 17 years of age, and the deceased was 19 years of age.

Marske

Odd Fellowship. - On the 28th ult., the members of the Zetland Lodge held their anniversary at the house of Mr Wm Bulmer, Marske, Mr Thos Shaw in the chair, when the company partook of an excellent supper.  After the usual loyal and other toasts had been given, the chairman said at a previous meeting it was unanimously agreed that a token of respect should be presented to Brother John Green, D.G.M., of the Zetland Lodge, in the Stokesley district, for his valuable services to the lodge.  He (the chairman) thereofre, in behalf of the members of the lodge, presented Brother John Green, D.G.M., with the emblems of the order, and also that of the widows and orphans.  Brother Green then rose and returned thanks in an able speech.  (Loud cheering).  The toasts and speeches were enlivened by a few friends with popular songs, after which the company separated, highly gratified with the evening's entertainment.

Revd R J Barlow & funerals in the 1840s and 1850s ...

Oh dear, Mr Barlow ...

Mr Barlow's carelessness in keeping records is evident from the parish registers and his eccentricities are known, as can be seen in my book, Remarkable, but still True.

But a search of the newspaper archives – more and more of them are available online – reveals that matters were rather worse and that some people were not happy at all:-

York Herald, 28 September 1850

Negligence of a Clergyman

To the Editor of the York Herald 

Sir,– On account of the negligence of Mr Barlow, rector of Hutton Rudby, where the corpse of my wife was interred, the funeral was detained two hours and a half, when a messenger was despatched, and he made his appearance, and the body was interred.  This is neither the first nor second time that he has kept funerals waiting until the evening.

Cannot the parishioners of Hutton Rudby have this amended?

I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

John Reed, 

Pickton*, Sept. 24

York Herald, 5 October 1850

To the Editor of the York Herald 

Sir,– Had Mr Reed confined himself to truth, I should have passed over the paragraph in your valuable journal as the result of the boiling indignation of a man too self-important and passionate to listen to reason.  That the funeral was kept waiting is true, and originated solely in a defect of memory, which is the more excusable as the person did not belong to my parish; but that I am in the habit of keeping funerals waiting, or that I ever did in the course of eighteen years keep one waiting, is perfectly false. 

Mr Reed at the conclusion of his letter puts a very silly question - "Cannot the people of Hutton Rudby have this amended?" 

The very interrogatory must prove to any sensible man that the parish do not suffer as Mr Reed would have the public to believe, or they would be unjust to the community to have such an habitual evil remedied.

But I would beg to inform Mr Reed that my parishioners are too sensible not to listen to reason, and have too much forbearance and good temper to fly into a passion without just cause.
I have the honor to remain,
Your obedient Servant,
R J Burton [sic]
Vicar of Hutton Rudby
Rudby Vicarage, October 2nd

York Herald, 12 October 1850

Negligence of a Clergyman

To the Editor of the York Herald 

Sir,– It probably would have been as wise had the Rev R J Barlow passed over my letter, which was inserted in your valuable columns of the 28th ult. The Rev Gentleman asserts, "that he has not, during the course of eighteen years been in the habit of keeping funerals waiting." The following proofs, will, I have no doubt, satisfy the public whose statement is the most correct.

"On the 10th of January, 1843, my son was interred at Hutton Rudby church. We were detained two hours at the church gates, by the non-attendance of the Rev R J Barlow, until it was dark. The coffin was then placed within the church to remain until the following morning, and the company were leaving when the Rev Gentleman arrived. Witness my hand, the 8th day of October, 1850.
Thomas Seamer,
Hutton Rudby"

"On the 30th of May, 1847, my mother's funeral took place at Hutton Rudby church, at which place we arrived at ten o'clock, A.M., and had to wait until twelve for the Rev R J Barlow to read the funeral service.
Witness my hand, this 7th day of October, 1850.
David Smith,
East Rounton"

I could mention more instances of similar inattention, my own grievance excepted, but trust the preceding proofs of Mr Barlow's negligence of the burial of the dead at the time appointed, will satisfy his insatiable thirst for truth, and be the means of a speedy amendment.

I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

John Reed, Pickton, Oct 9th, 1850

(Thomas Seymour or Seamer was a handloom linen weaver who lived in North End.)

York Herald, 19 October 1850

To the Editor of the York Herald 

Sir,– In reply to Mr Reed, who charged me with habitual neglect of funerals, I stated that so far from its being my habit to do so, I had not kept one waiting during eighteen years.

Mr Reed has attempted to falsify my statement by the production of two instances, bearing respectively the signatures of Smith and Seymour.  I beg, therefore, to analyse the statements of those people.  And first as to Smith.  On Sunday morning, May 30th, 1847, at his own desire, I agreed to bury his mother before church, but instead of the funeral being at the church at or before ten o'clock, it actually did not arrive till I had entered the reading desk, at half-past ten o'clock, to commence the morning service; therefore it was my duty to defer the funeral till after church, and not keep my congregation waiting.  Thus it appears that William Smith first commits a fault himself, and then very good-naturedly wishes to charge me with his own neglect in not being punctual. 

Now as the second case of Thos Seymour bearing date January 10th, 1843.  When I first came to this parish, now nearly nineteen years ago, no honest man in Hutton Rudby will attempt to deny that the people of Hutton Rudby were not only in the habit, but in the perpetual habit of keeping every funeral waiting from one to two hours or more, even when the death occurred in the village.  As this was a most unnecessary as well as disagreeable waste of my time, I found it absolutely requisite to set the matter right.  At first I calmly remonstrated, then gave them the choice of any hour from morning till night; in fact I tried all means, gentle and simple, and for years, but in vain.  At last I was most reluctantly compelled to adopt the following plan, namely, whenever they wilfully and without good cause kept me waiting, I kept them waiting exactly the same length of time; and this plan very speedily rectified the inexcusable evil. 

Now it happens that I very well remember, in those bygone days, that this very Thomas Seymour always growled most whenever I insisted upon punctuality; and therefore it is very probable that in the case of January 10th, 1843, I was constrained to keep this man waiting, as I had others in order that I might teach him punctuality, which he was so unwilling to learn. 

Thus again, in this second instance of Mr Reed's testified neglect of duty, the chastisement designed for me recoils upon the evidence.  It would be well, therefore, if Mr Reed would select better evidence in future, for verily he has this time leaned his whole weight upon a broken staff and truly it has wounded himself, and only proved his overweening desire to make a mountain out of nothing. 

I now thank you, Sir, for your good feeling in inserting my former letter in your valuable columns.  In my opinion it is a pity that your paper should be taken up by a base wrangle about nothing; for my part I have neither time nor inclination for such idle cavilling and disputation and therefore in future I shall leave Mr Reed and his coadjutors to themselves.

I have the honor to remain, Sir,

Yours much obliged,

R J Barlow

Rudby Vicarage, Occtober 12th, 1850

*now spelt Picton

The Live Bait Squadron - film by Klaudie Bartelink

I didn't put this on earlier, I was hiding from it because a younger version of me features in it ...

It's Klaudie Bartelink's beautiful and moving documentary film on the Live Bait Squadron, the British cruisers that were sunk by one German U-Boat on 22 September 1914 with the loss of 1,459 men and boys.  It was premiered at Chatham for the centenary of the disaster.

But now, having effectively retired from research and nearly recovered from the process of downsizing to a smaller house, here it is:

http://onderwaterbeelden.nl/the-live-bait-squadron/

The beauty of the wrecks is breathtaking.

Unfortunately, they are under constant threaten from salvage operations.

UPDATE: The wrecks have now been designated as War Graves.  The families of the dead and the divers & historians who have been working to achieve this for several years are naturally delighted.

A Cleveland link to a Dublin matricide in 1936?

A new story.

I've recently been contacted by researchers working on the fascinating business I outline below.  It seems almost certain that the main protagonists were related to the Weatherills of Hollin Top Farm, near Danby, and the Browns of Staithes and they wondered if I knew anything of the people involved.
I didn't!  Perhaps one of my readers does?  Do let me know!

On 23 May 1936, a 20 year old man called Edward Francis Allen Preston Ball was convicted in Dublin of the brutal murder of his mother.  He was found guilty but insane, and sentenced to an indefinite stay in the Dundrum Lunatic Asylum.

The national press had been entranced by the story and it was covered by every provincial newspaper.

It began with the finding of Mrs Ball's bloodstained car "at the top of a precipice overlooking the sea near Shankhill, Co Dublin" [Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 18 May 1936].  Mrs Ball lived in a fashionable area, was of independent means, and was the wife of Dr Charles Preston Ball, a Dublin nerve specialist, from whom she had been separated for some years.

Her body could not be found, though they searched with aeroplanes, row-boats and grappling apparatus according to a report in the Irish News.  In the meantime, her house was watched by the police and, five days later, her younger son, Edward, was arrested.  The police were satisfied that he had killed his mother with a hatchet before disposing of the body.

He pleaded not guilty at his trial, his rather unlikely defence being that he had come home to find that his mother had committed suicide by cutting her throat with a safety razor blade and that he had decided to hide the suicide by disposing of her body in the sea.

Witnesses told of the poor relations between mother and son and to his failure to settle down to any proper occupation after finishing school.

His father told the court of his late wife's mental illness.  She had begun to show signs of mental instability after Edward's birth and had become terribly neurotic, "She would meet patients at the door and tell them not to come in and see him, and get friends to ring him up and send him on wild goose chases into the country." But at the same time, she had carried on writing him affectionate letters until the time of her death.  [Derby Daily Telegraph, 22 May 1936].  He thought perhaps his son's mental state was inherited from her.

There had been some disagreement the day before between two expert witnesses, pathologists engaged by the opposing sides, over whether or not hair had been chopped or cut off the dead woman's head.  Dr Ball was naturally very anxious that the court took the view that his son was insane - the alternative would, of course, have led to the death penalty.

Mr Justice Hanna spoke in his summing up (widely reported in the press on 23 May) of the "months, even years" that the boy had suffered "under the disposition of his mother towards him."  In the end, he had found it intolerable (it had been suggested that the crisis came when Mrs Ball would not give him £60 to go on tour with the theatrical company for which he was an unpaid extra) and "suddenly something snapped".

"It might be," said the Judge, "that Mrs Ball, outside her own home, was bright, cheery and charming, and that she was not the same inside her home ... The position of the boy was very pathetic.  He was drifting about like flotsam on the sea."  

Pointing out that adolescent insanity was a rare disorder, the judge said that he disliked very much using the word 'insanity'.  The terms 'sane' and 'insane' were relics of the time when people thought that the sane and the insane were like black and white, in two separate compartments.  Modern science had shown that that was not so.

"There is a twilight of the mind, just as there is a twilight between day and night."  

Unsurprisingly, the jury returned the verdict of guilty, but insane.

In normal circumstances, he would not have got anything due to him under his mother's Will, but the press was fascinated to discover that this would not be the case - his insanity prevented him from being debarred.  So when he was released from the asylum 14 years later, he had something to live on.

This was a major news story at the time, but now is really only remembered because it features in A Classical Education, a short and fascinating book by the historian, Richard Cobb. 

For years, Cobb had been making a party piece of his connection with his old schoolfriend, Edward Ball.  He knew the strange boy very well, and had known - and very thoroughly disliked - his mother. Over the years, his anecdotes had become much embellished.  The entrancing power of the prose distracts the reader from this most successfully and there is no easy way of finding out which parts are true.  (For example, Cobb says that Ball insisted at his trial that the murder had been premeditated.  And did the Irish police really suspect Cobb of inciting the murder?  And Mrs Ball try to sue him for libel?).  The title of the book comes from their shared time at Shrewsbury School and from something Cobb quotes Edward as saying when they finally met again after his release.  His classical education had meant that he had no idea that if one wanted to wash blood from an axe, it was important to use cold , not hot, water:

"What a pity that we went to a classical school!"

The question is: Who was Mrs Ball?

Newspapers say little of her family background - beyond the fact that she was of independent means - and don't even appear to be sure of her name.  She is called, variously, Lavena, Vena and Vera.

But it now seems very likely that she was in fact Lavinia Weatherill, and the granddaughter of Edward Theaker Weatherill.  He was born at Hollin Top Farm, near Danby in 1820, married a Staithes girl, Lavinia Brown, and was buried at Hinderwell in 1905.

Edward & Lavinia's son John married Margaret Mackenzie of Dublin.  Richard Weatherill (1844-1923) recorded that John & Margaret's children included Lavinia Brown Weatherill, who married Dr P Ball, and had John Charles Preston (Edward's older brother).

This exactly matches the unfortunate Mrs Ball - described by Richard Cobb as "slothful, unimaginative, uneducated, ignorant, feckless, sloppily dishonest ... changeable, untruthful, untidy ..."

As you can see, he really didn't like her.

Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859)

I was listening this morning to Today on Radio 4 and heard Andrea Wulf describing how little known Alexander von Humboldt is to the English-speaking world today - at least, before the publication of her prize-winning biography The Invention of Nature.

So it's nice to remember that the Revd Robert Barlow of Hutton Rudby was a reader, boasting in Chapter 1 of his fictionalised semi-autobiography Remarkable but Still True:

... I myself am a great reader of all sorts of books, from Baron Humboldt's 'Cosmos,' down to the veriest romance, at times, to relax the tension upon the mind and memory necessary for the profitable perusal of scientific reasoning.

This was no idle boast - he had indeed left notes from his reading of Cosmos in one of his notebooks.

We can all expect to hear more of von Humboldt now that Wulf's biography has been awarded the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2016.

History of Hutton Rudby Choral & Dramatic Society

Malcolm McPhie been interested in the history of the Hutton Rudby Choral & Dramatic Society and been collecting material about it for years.  I've known he was planning to find a way to make this fascinating local history available to the general public, and have wondered how he would do it.

And here at last his long-awaited message!

I have finally reached the point where I can now share the information I have and tonight launched the Facebook page listed below:

Hutton Rudby Choral & Dramatic Society - History

Currently this covers the period 1920 to 1950, which I know won't be of interest to everybody. If your particular interest is in later productions I suggest you "like the page" to receive notifications of updates, or save the link so you can call back after I've added further material. 

If I see a reasonable amount of interest in these pages, I may add more material on, say, a weekly basis. 

A brief explanation of my reasons for creating this are in the "Welcome" album. I also recommend you take time to read the story of Walter Lyulph Johnson (Watty) the Founder and original President of the Society. I can guarantee you will learn more than you ever knew about the Johnson Room and its benefactor.

Please feel free to leave comments and reminisce with others who visit the site.

However, if you spot any mistakes (and there will be plenty) it will keep the pages tidier if you message me rather than clutter the pages with corrections. I'll add them all to a list for correction.

Malcolm McPhie

I've put a permanent link to it at the bottom of this webpage.

Comments - thank you!

I'd like to thank everyone who sends me such kind comments about this blog - they are much appreciated!  Today I publish one from Andrew, who is related to both the Fawcetts of Crathorne and the Honeymans of Hutton Rudby.

William Orton, forger of Hutton Rudby

On 27 January 2013 I told the story of William Orton of Hutton Rudby, who was found guilty at the York Assizes in March 1821 of forging and passing a counterfeit banknote and was sentenced to be transported to New South Wales.

Geoff Royle, his descendant, followed up the trail and within a very short time reported to this blog (see "William Orton of Hutton Rudby and New South Wales") that William had gained an excellent character in the first 24 years of his time in Australia but in 1845 at the age of 67 had been caught out once again in a matter of forgery and been sentenced to two years in Parramatta Gaol.

Geoff has now discovered that William's first years in New South Wales were not without incident.  He tells me (and you can find more details of the family on his website)

1829 Dec/1830 Jun   In more hot water!  In June 1830 he had a "ticket of leave" cancelled as he was found guilty at Paterson Plains, NSW, of receiving stolen property.  

For reference : A "ticket of leave" allowed convicts to work for themselves on condition that they remained in a specified area, reported regularly to local authorities,  and if at all possible, attend divine worship every Sunday.

William must have won his excellent reputation after 1830!