Saturday, 3 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 3 Overgrown

These days there seems to be a couple of schools of thought regarding the upkeep of cemeteries. I have visited some that are clipped, cut, and maintained to the nth degree; I’ve been to some where one small area is devoted to re-wilding to help the flora and bees, and I’ve been to other cemeteries which are completely overgrown. I think there is no right or wrong strategy.

So, let’s look at some overgrown memorials. All these are in the Leicester Road old cemetery. Three of these were taken in 2014, one in 2020. I cannot tell you anything about the seriously overgrown ones, as I can’t quite work out where they are today in the Leicester Road old cemetery!



The following memorial is to Edward Chatterton Middleton, the banker. In 2014 it was somewhat overgrown, and the impression at the time was that it was a standalone grave. However, since the area has been cleared, the extent of the memorial can now be seen, along with evidence that there were once iron railings around the plot. You can read a bit more about E.C. Middleton on an earlier blogpost.  



On a rather whimsical blogpost, I once wrote the following, about people I’d visit if I were living in their time period: the Middletons were most hospitable!

"Having visited Edward Middleton, owner of Middleton's Bank in Market Place, at his home in the Grove on Ashby Road (now student halls) in 1871, I'd then walk up to Leicester Road, to visit his son Edward William Craddock Middleton and his wife Augusta Sophia. They're living in Shelthorpe Cottage, a beautiful house in a park setting - lovely and quiet! In 1887 Edward died, and Augusta Sophia continued to live in Shelthorpe House, but eventually moved to Fairfield House, now known as the White House, probably to get away from the steam of the new Great Central Railway, and the constant machinery of the new Tucker's brick works, which both opened around 1898-9. In 1907 I'd pop into Fairfield House and chat about the recent events Mrs Middleton had been to - she's a very social lady and has numerous friends!”

I hope this was an interesting read, and look forward to sharing more memorials with you tomorrow.

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 3 Overgrown. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/09/31-days-of-graves-day-3-overgrown.html [Accessed 3 October 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

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NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Friday, 2 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 2 Died Abroad

The theme for Day 2 of 31 Days of Graves is Died Abroad. As yesterday’s post, all the featured headstones can be found in the old part of the Leicester Road cemetery. Apart from the brilliant white photograph of the memorial to Herbert Goulden, which was taken in 2014, the photographs were taken in 2026. Let’s begin with Goulden who was in the Royal Navy.

The memorial takes the form of an anchor against rocks, standing on a plinth. I do not know what the E.13 means, but the base bears the name of the stonemason who made the memorial – Penfold, of Quorn. The inscription reads:

Sacred

To the memory of

Herbert Goulden

Signalman in R.N.

Killed at Saltholm Denmark

Aug 19th 1915, aged 18 years

“God’s will be done!”

The first picture shows the memorial stone next to one of a more usual size and shape, just for context. The second photograph is the one taken in 2014. There is more information about Herbert on the Loughborough Roll of Honour.




The next memorial is to Gilbert Samuel, who died during the Second World War. Here’s the inscription:

To the dear memory of our son

Gilbert Samuel

Who was killed in action in Africa, Nov 28th 1942

Aged 19 years

Beautiful memories silently treasured

One of the best God could give




 

Initially, I thought there were some letters missing from the following memorial, but after I did a little research, I discovered that this person’s name really was Ion. According to the ‘Leicester Daily Mercury’ of 6 September 1923, Ion

“was born on June 11, 1882, and was educated at Mr Upton’s school, Loughborough, and afterwards at the Grammar School. He studied for three years at the Engineering Technical College, Mannheim. He was then one year at the A.E.G., Rugby, and three years in Berlin.

In connection with his firm’s English department he dealt with huge contracts with China, Formosa, and other Eastern parts. He had the full confidence of his firm, who treated him very generously during his whole term, and granted him two year’s home leave after the war.

Determined to help his country in the war, he was frequently rejected for the army on account of his eyesight, but eventually he got through, only to land at New York on his way home on Armistice Day.”

Ion’s death during an earthquake in Japan at lunchtime on 1st September 1923, was reported in the same newspaper:

“News was received in Loughborough yesterday that Mr Ion L. Gimson, the eldest son of Mr Edwin A. Gimson, of Forest Road, had perished in the earthquake in Japan, Mr Gimson had been in that country several years as the representative of a British firm.

Deceased, who was 41 years of age, was an electrical engineer, with the firm of Okure and Co., London. He had represented the firm in Tokyo for 14 years, and was previously with the firm at Berlin. He resided in Yokohama, his office being in Tokyo. At the time of the disaster his wife was away at the seaside, and thus escaped.”

Ion’s wife, Ada Amelia, returned to Britain on 29th October 1923.

The inscription on the memorial reads (that of his wife is more difficult to read):

Ion Livingston Gimson

Born at Loughborough 11th June 1882

Died at Yokohama 1st September 1923

He giveth his beloved sleep

 

Ada Amelia wife ??

Died 2nd June 1971

Aged 84 years






Two sons of Loughborough’s town clerk, Harry Perkins, also died abroad. Their memorial says:

In

Loving memory

Norman George Perkins, R.N.V.R.

Youngest son of

Harry & Phoebe Perkins

Who died at the Royal Naval Hospital

South Queensferry June 23rd 1919

Aged 19 years

 

Also of Albert Perkins 2nd Lieut. M.G.G.

Second son of the above and beloved husband of

Marjorie Mary Perkins

Who fell in action October 4th 1917

Aged 27 years

More detailed information about Norman George, and Albert is available on the Loughborough Roll of Honour.


I could have posted some of these memorials above under the theme of Military, but there are plenty of different ones to share for that particular theme.  

I hope you found these memorials interesting. Do pop back again tomorrow, for memorials on a different theme!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 2 Died Abroad. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/09/31-days-of-graves-day-2-died-abroad.html [Accessed 2 October 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

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NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Thursday, 1 October 2026

31 Days of Graves Day 1 Angels

The 31 Days of Graves challenge begins today with the theme of angels. The angels posted can all be found in the old part of the Leicester Road cemetery. With the exception of the first photograph which was taken in 2017, the photographs were taken in 2026. Let's have a look at some of the angels I found!

This first one is a beautiful, and elaborate depiction of an angel, but while the design is pretty stunning, the writing is hard to decipher. This is what I believe it says:

Sacred memories

Frank

The beloved husband of

Gladys Hammond

Wounded Ypres 13 May 19??

Interred there 13 May 19??

Aged 30??


Another beautiful depiction of an angel appears on a slightly more elaborate base, than the previous one. The inscription is extensive:

In love unfading

To the precious memory of

My darling mother

Catharine Anne Brown

Who died September 24th 1876

This monument is erected by

Her only child

Amelia Lady McKenna

Also

To the fond memory of

My deeply loved step-father

Randal Brown

Of Cliff House, Barrow on Soar

Who died December 6th 1878

Then Jesus turned and saw them following

And saith unto them what seek ye? They

Saith unto him master where dwellest

Thou he saith unto them come and see

The remainder of the quotation is unreadable, but I believe it says:

"They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour."

Amelia, Lady McKenna was married to Sir Joseph McKenna. He was her second husband, whom she married quite some time after her first husband, Richard Hole of Shelthorpe House, had died.



This time, a simple depiction of an angel, which is on the memorial to Elizabeth Lovett:

In

Loving memory of

Elizabeth the beloved wife of

Herbert Lovett

Of Lenton

And eldest daughter of

Tom and Jane Thurman

Of Loughborough

Who died April 19th 1901

Aged 38 years

Also of Herbert Lovett

Who died May 2nd 1911

Aged 50 years




Here’s another style of angel. This one is standing on the kerb, looking over the headstone. 

In

Loving memory of

My dear wife and my life

Hilda Dyson (June)

Fell asleep

22 Dec 1958

Aged 53 years




Here's another delicate interpretation of an angel

Loving

Memories of

Lynda Mary

Darling daughter of

George & Mary

Wright

Called to rest

Oct 15 1948

Aged 3 years

Gone from our arms

But not our hearts




This headstone is tipping to one side, but an angel is an angel! Next to the angel, the inscription reads:

In

Loving

Memory of

Sarah Ann

Creswell

The base bears the following text: 

Who died 11th Nov 1937, aged 55 years.

“Peace after pain”

Also John Albert Creswell

Died 18th May 1953

Reunited





I hope you have enjoyed looking at some of the angels that can be found in our local cemeteries. Pop back tomorrow for another day of headstones!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). 31 Days of Graves Day 1 Angels. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/09/31-days-of-graves-day-1-angels.html  [Accessed 1 October 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Sunday, 20 September 2026

Tallow Chandlers

On a recent visit to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, a place I’ve been going to for nearly 50 years, albeit rather sporadically, I discovered that quite a lot had changed!! On this particular occasion, I made a few poor choices … I usually park up by the crematorium and the converted water tower, but on the day I arrived, there was a funeral taking place, and the road was packed with cars.

I found somewhere else to park, and walked around some areas of Ashby I’d not been to before, which was fine, and I managed not to get lost! I did accidentally happen upon the old railway line, so that was quite pleasing. However, I hadn’t anticipated that Wednesday would be half-day, or in some cases, all-day closing, so some of the cafes I have been going to for years were closed.

Hunting for somewhere open for a cuppa, I wandered down Mill Lane Mews, an area which was once burgage plots (a rented long and narrow strip of land), but which had been converted to properties in a yard, back in the 18th century. It was only in the late twentieth century that the buildings along this little lane were converted into shops.



I chose what looked like a familiar café that I might have been in before, but once I stepped in, it looked completely different – a new owner, a new deli counter, and a few walls removed to make one large space. But what were those nails sticking out of the black beams (and now, how I wish I'd asked if I could take a photograph!!)?

So, back in the early 19th century, one Thomas Orme lived and worked in this property: he was a tallow chandler, and the nails in the beams we where he used to hang his candles from, as they were often made in pairs, and could be hung as such by their wick. Thomas lived with his wife Dorothy, and children Thomas (c.30), Abraham (c.25), George (c.15), Dorothy (14), and Edward (10). In 1851, journeyman chandler Thomas was still in the property, although his wife had died, and he was living with some of his children. By 1861, the tallow chandler living in the property was George Simms, aged 45, with his wife aged 40, and his children Catherine (13), Thomas (11), Hannah (4), and Guy aged 6 months.




I haven’t traced the people living in the building before 1841 nor after 1861 because this is about Ashby, and the blog is about Loughborough, and it would take me too long! However ...

Tallow chandlers have been the focus of some of my research into Loughborough over the past couple of years, and there are a couple of sections in my latest book, ‘Loughborough At Work’ relating to them. Here are a couple of snippets from the book:

From Chapter: Early local apprenticeships and trades

“Mary Sheppard, the daughter of Samuel Sheppard, was apprenticed to Samuel Withers, a master tallow chandler, in 1681. Whether or not Mary went on to make and sell tallow candles is not known. The work of the tallow chandler was hard and most unpleasant, as the tallow used to make the candles came from animal fat, which had been mixed with water, boiled, and then pressed to extract the tallow. The resulting candles when burned would smell dreadful, would fill the area with black smoke, and the wicks needed to be regularly trimmed. Candles made using beeswax didn’t smell unpleasant, were quite easy to roll, but were expensive, and so were the preserve of the very wealthy. Candles would also have to be stored securely, as the animal fat would attract vermin!”

From Chapter: Framework knitting, dyeing, and other occupations

“Tallow chandlers

Around 1763, John Toone of Loughborough, was apprenticed to Thomas Lord, a bootmaker. Apprenticeship completed, in 1785 John Toone was now a tallow chandler in Loughborough and had taken on John Bates as an apprentice. John was listed in the 1792 trade directory, alongside Thomas Toone, as a tallow chandler, but by 1802, when he took on two apprentices - Richard Nicklinson, and James Cumberland - his trade was listed as grocer. This is credible, as he would need to sell any candles he made, but this also reflects the nature of trade directories, recording and listing trades and occupations differently. John Toone may have died around 1818, as a trade directory of 1822 lists a Mary Toone as a grocer and tallow chandler, in Biggin Street, and a William Toone as a grocer, hop merchant, and tallow chandler, also on Biggin Street. Mary and William are also listed in the directory under tallow chandlers, along with John Chapman, another tallow chandler on High Street. So, the Toones were still making and selling candles, but in addition were also selling other provisions. In 1828, they also appeared to be tea dealers, but by 1841, Mary and William were no longer listed, and in their place was one Joseph Toone at Baxter Gate: John Chapman was, however, still listed.

An 1846 directory tells the same story, but by 1849 while Joseph was still a grocer and tallow chandler on Baxter Gate, John Chapman was simply listed as a grocer, but at two properties, one on High Street, the other on Baxter Gate. In 1854, Joseph Toone was listed as a tallow chandler, and John Chapman had just the one grocery shop on High Street.

Although around the late 1700s oil lamps, with their circular wick, provided a brighter light than candles, it wasn’t until the end of the eighteenth century that lighting was provided by gas. However, while the wealthy began to illuminate their homes with gas lighting, the poorer people still relied on tallow candles. 

Neither the Toone nor the Chapman family appeared in the 1861 trade directory, but three other tallow chandlers were listed: Edward Spreckley on Bedford Square; John Vice Stevens on Baxter Gate, and Frederick Thirlby on Biggin Street. Stevens and Thirlby also appeared in an 1863 trade directory, but the 1876 directory listed no tallow chandlers, preferring to classify the two men as grocers. This changes in 1877 when Thirlby no longer appears, Stevens was a grocer and tallow chandler at 7 Baxter Gate, and Arthur Ball was a grocer, tallow chandler, and hop merchant at 1 Biggin Street. In 1892, Stevens, still running his grocery shop, was the sole remaining tallow chandler, which by 1908 was run by Robert Stevens Crane. This was the last time a tallow chandler was mentioned in the trade directories. A sign of the times, perhaps, that gas lighting had now become more common and more trusted, and the use of electric lighting was beginning to dominate: subsequent trade directories (1912, 1925, and 1928) list initially A. & E. Thompson, and then Walter Dakin as incandescent dealers at 56 and then 56-7 Mill Street.”

Tallow chandlers are, of course, just one of the occupations that are covered in the book!

By the way, if you happen to be looking for a place to eat in Ashby, I found the old tallow chandlers to be a lovely place – now called Lil Bo’s Deli 

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Tallow chandlers. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/09/tallow-chandlers.html [Accessed 20 August 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Wednesday, 16 September 2026

Middletons, Chattertons and the Loughborough Agatha Christie connections

I have been so busy this weekend and in the week, leading guided walks for Heritage Open Days 2026 that I didn’t have a chance to blog on Sunday, and I’ve also missed the anniversary of Agatha Christie’s birth, which was on 15 September – she would have been 136. Earlier in the year, I also missed the 50th anniversary of her death, which was on 12 January 1976. Well, not to worry, for in today’s blogpost I can combine a bit about yesterday’s Heritage Open Days walk, with some Agatha Christie connections (as a result of my having read her output in 2024-5).

Our HSBC building

On our walk around Loughborough town centre, looking at some of its interesting buildings, we paused in the Market Place to view the former HSBC building. I was quite surprised at the weekend when I noticed the decorative cloth, which had recently hosted images of what I presume to be local people, had been removed, and the scaffolding on the front of the building exposed. Back in March 2023, the building caught fire, and restoration, renovation, and re-building work has been on-going for the past three years.

I’ve written quite a few articles, both for this blog and for other publications, about the history of the HSBC building, suffice to say here that it was designed by the architectural firm of, Goddard, Paget, and Goddard (Joseph Goddard 1840-1900, Alfred Henry Paget 1849-1909, and Henry Langton Goddard (son of Joseph) 1866-1944), and constructed in 1894. This Leicester-based practice also designed the HSBC building in Ashby-de-la-Zouch; the Atkins hosiery building in Hinckley (open for Heritage Open Days 2026); the Town Hall clock, Leicester, and the rebuilding of the Thomas Cook building on Gallowtree Gate, Leicester in 1894.





Our HSBC building was built to replace an earlier bank building, which had been constructed around 1830, and which comprised only two floors, with a wooden balcony, which was often bedecked with beautiful displays of flowers.

The Agatha Christie connection

Well, there are in fact two connections between our banks and Agatha Christie…

Lady Chatterton

We could go into a great deal of detail regarding the character of Lady Chatterton who appears in the short story (later expanded, with some character names changed, and some characters omitted, and even a change to the title of the work), ‘The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest’. The version I read was included in a selection of stories, under the title ‘While the Light Lasts’, (pg.209-232), which was published in this form in 1997, although the story originally appeared in ‘The Strand Magazine’ in 1932.

Lady Chatterton is a friend of one of the main characters, Marguerita, whose husband has been murdered. In one version of the story, Marguerita stays at her friend’s house after the murder, so she can avoid the intrusive paparazzi. In the version I read, Poirot and Captain Hastings are invited to a party held by Lady Chatterton, and it is here that they are invited to investigate the murder of Marguerita Clayton’s husband. Here’s a few extracts:

“…Poirot and I [Captain Hastings] were due at a party given by Lady Chatterton that night.”

“Lady Chatterton was one of Poirot’s most ardent admirers. Starting from the mysterious conduct of a Pekingese, he had unravelled a chain which led to a noted burglar and housebreaker. Lady Chatterton had been loud in his praises ever since.”

“It was about half-past eleven when Lady Chatterton, bearing down upon us, whisked Poirot neatly out of an admiring group, and carried him off – I need hardly say, with myself in tow.

‘I want you to go into my little room upstairs,’ said Lady Chatterton rather breathlessly as soon as she was out of earshot of her other guests. ‘You know where it is, M. Poirot. You’ll find someone there who needs your help very badly – and you will help her, I know. She’s one of my dearest friends – so don’t say no.’

Energetically leading the way as she talked, Lady Chatterton flung open a door, exclaiming as she did so, ‘I’ve got him, Marguerita darling. And he’ll do anything you want. You will help Mrs Clayton, won’t you, M. Poirot?’”

I won’t spoil the plot for you! Suffice to say, Poirot does indeed help, and the right person is arrested for the murder of Mr Clayton.   

Middleton’s Bank

‘Nemesis’ was first published in 1971, so fairly late in Agatha Christie’s career. It’s a Miss Marple story, in which she is the recipient of an inheritance from a friend who had recently died, but only if she can solve a crime - an unknown crime, which took place at an unknown time, in an unknown place, and the name of anyone involved was also unknown! What a challenge!! But, as you would expect, Miss Marple managed to solve it!!! It is on the penultimate page of my copy of the novel, that Middleton’s bank is mentioned, when Miss Marple, having completed her challenge visits Broadribb and Schuster, the firm of solicitors who were dealing with her late friend’s personal affair. After congratulations are expressed, and a short explanation of her modus operandi, the business begin, although it is not clear if it is Mr Broadribb, or Mr Schuster who initiates the discussion…

“’Now about the sum of money we are holding. It’s at your disposal any time now. I don’t know whether you would like us to pay it into your bank or whether you would like to consult us possibly as to the investment of it? It’s quite a large sum.’

‘Twenty thousand pounds,‘ said Miss Marple. ‘Yes, it is a very large sum by my way of thinking. Quite extraordinary,’ she added.

‘If you would like an introduction to our brokers, they could give you possibly some ideas about investing.’

‘Oh, I don’t want to invest any of it.’

‘But surely it would be –‘

‘There’s no point saving at my age,’ said Miss Marple. ‘I mean the point of this money – I’m sure Mr Rafiel [her deceased friend] meant it that way – is to enjoy a few things that one thought one never would have the money to enjoy.’

‘Well, I see your point of view,’ said Mr Broadribb. ‘Then your instructions would be that we pay this sum of money into your bank?’

‘Middleton’s Bank, 132 High Street, St Mary Mead,’ said Miss Marple.

‘You have a deposit account, I expect. We will place it to your deposit account.’

‘Certainly not,’ said Miss Marple. ‘Put it into my current account.’

‘You don’t think –‘

‘I do think,’ said Miss Marple, ‘I want it in my current account.’”

And the connection is …

Loughborough’s 1894 HSBC building initially opened as The Leicestershire Banking Co., and went through several amalgamations and name changes, like The Midland Bank to become today’s HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation). As mentioned above, this building replaced an earlier bank, called Middleton’s Bank, which had been started by William Middleton, around 1790 at Loughborough Wharf, and had moved to the Market Place around 1828. When William Middleton died in 1843, his son became the senior partner, and was later joined by his own son.

William’s son was named Edward Chatterton Middleton!  

There are many posts on this blog about Edward Chatterton Middleton, who once lived at The Grove, and after whom a street in Loughborough is named.

I wonder where our Agatha Christie connections will take us to next?!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Middletons, Chattertons and the Loughborough Agatha Christie connections. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/09/middletons-chattertons-and-loughborough.html 

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