Revd James Bickham's Library

In last week’s blogpost we looked into the life of the Rev. James Bickham, who was Rector of Loughborough from 1761 until his death in 1785. We mentioned his love of books and reading, and how he subscribed to many titles that were published in his lifetime. What we didn't mention, however, was that Rev. James Bickham probably attended Sherborne School in Dorset, a school with a history going back to the 12th century, and one which has a lovely library. Bickham is alleged to have carved his name (or had his name carved) in the school house dining room! Perhaps, the experience of being at Sherborne encouraged Bickham's love of books and reading ... 

So, let’s return to James Bickham’s books … I have mentioned but a few of the volumes that Bickham subscribed to: there were many more, and by the time of his death he had collected well over 500 books. In its newspaper dated 26 April 1786, the ‘Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser’ reported that Bickham had bequeathed his very valuable library, forever, to the use of the said rectory [i.e. Loughborough]. This is confirmed by a statement in his will, which says:

Extract from the will of Revd. James Bickham

According to W.G.D. Fletcher, the library comprised many valuable folio volumes, and was left to the future rectors of Loughborough forever. Mr Adams, a bookseller in Loughborough, took a catalogue, and three copies were made, one for the record, one for the executor, the Rev Mr Hurst of Stanford, and a third for the college [though I’m not clear what college this was – perhaps Emmanuel, Cambridge??]

Book cover

Fast forward to the mid-twentieth century, 1950, to be precise, and the following report appeared in the ‘Leicester Evening Mail’, of 30 September, in the Round the Clock Tower section, by Old John:

“One of the lesser-known features of Loughborough Parish Church – a small room over the porch, already filled with books – will soon be available again for use as a kind of library. Something of the history of this room was recounted to me by Mr J.H. Grundy, verger for 43 years, who followed his father – 45 years’ service – in the appointment, who in turn took over the job from his father.

Mr Grundy says the room was not incorporated in the church when it was built about 600 years ago, and he thinks it must have been added in subsequent work on the porch and hall. At one time it was used as a study, and it is known that at one time the place was a dormitory for the bellringers.

Access was for many years possible only by means of a ladder, but the stairs are to be restored as part of the Burton Memorial Chapel, which commemorates personalities who have been associated with the Grammar School and the girls’ High School.

The stored books belonged to a former rector named Bickham, and are mostly ecclesiastical in character.

Mr Grundy does not think they represent a historic find as their presence in the room – although it was virtually sealed off for many years – was well-known to older members of the church. It is likely that they have been examined numerous times in the past.”

Here are some views of the entrance to the staircase, via the Burton Chapel as they are today:

Two doors in the distance in the Burton Chapel

Closeup of the upstairs door leading directly to the room above the porch

The wooden door from the Burton Chapel to the upstairs door

A view of the ground-floor door

In 1975, the following appeared in ‘The Bulletin of the Loughborough & District Archaeological Society’ Vol.2, No.2, Spring 1975, and in a guidebook to the Old Rectory, in which Brian Williams says:

“James Bickham, the rector from 1761 to 1786, compiled a major collection of books which he bequeathed to the Rectory as an inheritance for all his successors to enjoy. It is now housed in the School of Librarianship, Loughborough Technical College.”

A Geoffrey Wakeman, writing in a 1976 issue of 'The Book Collector' says the following:

"...[The books] were moved [from the Rectory] at some time into the church where they suffered from a leaking roof, then into a 19th-century church hall, and finally in 1967 they were deposited on loan to Loughborough Technical College. Nearly all Bickham's books can be identified from his bookplate; about eight hundred books have survived in all."

I wonder if that 19th-century church hall was Fearon Hall? It's certainly the closest church hall, and the one that is associated with the 'parish church' itself, being dedicated to another Rector, Henry Fearon (Rector between 1848 and 1884). 

A more recent publication, ‘Time’s Thumb Mark’, from 2003, written by people associated with the church, and edited by the then Rector, Stephen Cherry, includes the following information:

“There are three slate memorials on the Burton Chapel wall. The first is to Archdeacon James Bickham (Rector, 1761-1785) who left a large library of books for the use of the Rectors of Loughborough. This is now housed at Loughborough University.”

Twenty years later, in 2023, we find that the Rev. James Bickham’s fine collection of books is now housed in the Manuscripts and Special Collections department of the University of Nottingham library, and is now called the ‘Loughborough Parish Library’. 

Extract from the original handwritten catalogue

The items in the collection were, as we know, originally recorded by William Adams, bookseller, in 1786 after Bickham’s death, and one of the three original copies of that catalogue is now held in the Archives and Special Collections department of Leicester University library. 

Of course, as we are now in the 21st century, the records of the collection, that is, the catalogue, is now also digitised and titles in the collection are discoverable via the Nottingham University’s library search. 

Digitised catalogue results

The actual volumes themselves are housed in a climate-controlled store. They are currently extremely fragile, so are destined to be safely packaged in archival-grade boxes, in order to preserve them for the future.

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog. You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Revd James Bickham's Library. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/02/revd-james-bickhams-library.html [Accessed 26 February 2023]

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.

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Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne

So Who Was the Revd James Bickham?

I have to confess that my research skills have let me down a bit on the search for James Bickham – or maybe it’s just that I don’t have [easy] access to the resources I need!

So, who was James Bickham?

I’ve managed to establish that he was born in March 1718, in Evercreech in Somerset, but the actual date of his birth is not clear to me. Here’s why: 

• a memorial constructed around the time of his death in 1785 suggests his birth was 22 March:

• writing in 1882 in ‘Rectors of Loughborough’, W.G.D. Fletcher says Bickham was born on 2 March:

• in his article ‘The parochial visitation of James Bickham D.D. Archdeacon of Leicester in the years 1773 to 1779’, which appeared in the ‘Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society’, Vol.59, 1984-5, W.A. Pemberton writes that Bickham was born on 19 March. 

Hence my confusion, given that I can’t find a record of his birth in the usual genealogical sources.

Nor have I been able to establish who James’s parents were, nor if he had any siblings. There are a number of families with the surname Bickham in Evercreech around the same time as James Bickham, but I cannot say conclusively which, if any, are related to him.

Anyway, I’ve already given you an oblique clue about who James Bickham was, and why we in Loughborough might be interested in him! So, let’s have a closer delve into Bickham’s life.

On 30 March 1737, at the age of 19 (no matter which birth date is correct!), James Bickham was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, graduating in 1740, with a B.A.. In 1743 he became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, and in the following year he gained an M.A.. In September 1744, he was ordained Deacon by Richard Reynolds, the Bishop of Lincoln, at Buckden, Huntingdonshire, prebendal church. In the same year, he subscribed to ‘A critical commentary upon the book of the Wisdom of Solomon; being a continuation of Bishop Patrick and Mr Lowth.’ by Richard Arnald. The Rev. Alleyne, also of Loughborough, was also listed as a subscriber.

On 9 June 1745 James Bickham was ordained a priest by Thomas Gooch, the Bishop of Norwich, at Gonville and Caius Chapel. After gaining his Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) from Emmanuel College in 1751, by 1753, James Bickham was a tutor at the same college. Keen to broaden his knowledge, in 1753 Bickham subscribed to ‘A critical commentary on such books of the Apocrypha, as are appointed to be read in Churches, viz. Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Judith, Baruch, History of Susanna, and Bel the Dragon, with Two Dissertations on The Books of Maccabees and Esdras, being a continuation of Bishop Patrick and Mr Lowth.’ by Richard Arnald.

Meanwhile, back in Somerset, in a little place called Ash Priors, in 1754 we find a Mr Bickham as curate of Holy Trinity church, where the living was £10 per year. However, in my opinion, this Mr Bickham is most unlikely to be our James, but is more likely to be either Hugh or John Bickham, sons of Hugh Bickham, who died in 1723 and bequeathed the rectory in Ash Priors to his eldest son, Hugh.

Back to our James Bickham! In 1757, Bickham subscribed to ‘The history of the Saracens …’ and he had obviously enjoyed reading the 1753 book, ‘A critical commentary on such books of the Apocrypha…’ as in 1860, he subscribed to the new edition. 

But the big news is …

… we read in contemporary newspaper reports that on 25 August 1761, “the Rev. Mr. Bickham, B.D., Fellow of Emanuel College in Cambridge, was presented to the Master and Fellow of that Society to the Living of Loughborough in Leicestershire, worth £400 per Ann.”  (London Evening Post). This role as Rector of Loughborough was made vacant upon the death of Thomas Alleyne, the previous incumbent.

More good news for Bickham followed, as on 22 December 1761, he married Miss Sarah Williams of London, in St Andrew’s church, Cambridge. The home in Loughborough the couple would have shared was the rectory, at the time a relatively modest building, which was extensively re-modelled during the time Richard Hardy was rector (1798-1826), by the local architect, Christopher Staveley. From the research that I’ve done, as far as I can find out, the couple had no children.

What is now known as the Old Rectory, as it was in 2014

Bickham continued to enjoy reading and improving his mind and his knowledge, and in 1770 he subscribed to ‘Poems on several occasions’ by Miss Priscilla Pointon of Lichfield, as did rather a lot of other people. Those subscribers from Loughborough included Thomas Allsopp esq., Mrs Penelope Alleyne, Mr William Boot, Mr John Capp – amounting to about 37 copies coming to our town! According to the Preface to the volume of poetry, Miss Pointon had suffered “a deprivation of sight” during her thirteenth year, and her story is briefly told over on the Lichfield Lore website.

Back to Bickham who, on 17 December 1772 was collated to be Archdeacon of Leicester, by the Bishop of Lincoln, becoming, apparently, the fifteenth such archdeacon. As part of that role, between 1773 and 1779 Bickham undertook the customary parochial visitations. On 24 September 1773 he preached a sermon at St Margaret’s church in Leicester, in aid of the General Infirmary at Leicester. This was the annual meeting of the governors, and included the opening of the new organ which accompanied the singing of various songs and choruses. The event was followed in the evening by a Grand Concert, held in the New Rooms in the Haymarket, which was completed with a ball at the Town Hall. The Concert Room had had four new ventillators installed to avoid the audience overheating!

On 5 July 1774, Bickham was awarded his Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) and he appeared in the 1775 poll book for the Hundred of West Goscote, entitled to vote on account of him residing in Loughborough. This poll book also contains some of the names of folk we have seen before, who subscribed to Priscilla Pointon’s poems. In 1777 Bickham’s name appears on a document in relation to the Act to make and maintain a navigable cut or canal from the River Trent to Langley Bridge, and in 1779, Bickham, along with Nathanial Palmer Johnson, Rev. William Farnham, and William Cradock, and led by the latter, opposed the marriage of William Whatton of Loughborough Parks and Elizabeth Watkinson, but upon the testimony of Sir John Danvers, William Pochin, Edward Dawson, William Clayton, and William Pochin, they came round.

Sadly, Sarah, James’s wife died on 28 May 1781, and was buried a couple of days later, on 31 May. Again, the date of James’s own death is cited differently in various places. According to the monumental inscription that was originally placed on the south wall of the chancel, James Bickham died on 23 December 1785. Pemberton suggests the date was 2 March 1785, and more recent publications quote simply 1786.

According to W.G.D. Fletcher in 1882, James Bickham died on 23 December 1785, he was buried on 27 December 1785, and his will was proved in January 1786. Fletcher also tells us that the memorial to James Bickham was moved and placed on the south wall of the tower in 1864. This is what Nichols had to say about the memorial:

“On the south wall: Argent, a chevron Gules, between three leopards faces Azure; on a chief, per fefs [fess? sess? sefs?] Argent and Gules; in the upper part a greyhound courant Sable, Bickham; impaling, Gules, a chevron Ermine between three men’s heads in profile, and couped at the neck, Argent. Crest, an eagle displayed, Or; fig 34.

‘Underneath lie the remains of

James Bickham, D.D. archdeacon of Leicester,

and rector of Loughborough,

He was born March 22, 1719;

and died December 23, 1785.

Near his lie the remains of

Sarah Bickham his wife.

She was born June 15, 1715;

and died May 28, 1781’

The memorial is now to be found in the Burton Chapel.

It’s interesting to note also, that Rev. James Bickham is mentioned on the gravestone of his servant, John Smith:

Here

lieth the body of

JOHN SMITH

late servant to the Rev^d. Mr. Bickham

Rector of this Parish

He died Nov^r 18th 1764

Aged 37

Bickham was succeeded as Rector of Loughborough by Rev. Mr Blackall, B.D. Senior fellow of Emanuel [sic] College, Cambridge, who was appointed to the Rectory of Loughborough, Leicestershire, now worth £900 per annum.

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog. You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2023). So Who Was the Revd James Bickham? Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/02/so-who-was-revd-james-bickham.html [Accessed 19 February 2023]

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.

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.  

 

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne           

Warner's Corner

If you popped along to the blog last week, you'll have read about some of the history of Chesterton House. You might remember mention of William Warner? 

I am very pleased to introduce you to Yvonne, a descendant of the Warner family, who has very kindly agreed to write a guest post for this blog!

Below, you can read about Yvonne's family, and life at Warner's Corner, an iconic Loughborough shop, that many of you will remember! Hopefully, Yvonne's pictures and photographs will stir up some memories for you, too!

Thank you, Yvonne, for this super family history, and the accompanying photos!

So, why not read on and ... 

Meet me on the corner - Warner's Corner!

Churchgate, Loughborough 1908-1984

Family memories, by Yvonne

Warner's Corner shop, Fennel Street / Church Gate

When my grandfather, Alfred Stanley Warner (Alf) died in 1982, I realised that I didn`t know anything about his early life, or indeed how the family business started. This led me to the challenge of tracing my family tree, and the history of the “Warner’s Corner” business too.

It was my great-grandfather who began the business. William Warner was born in Albert Street, Loughborough in 1867, son of Alfred, a brushmaker. At the age of 13, William was working in one of the town`s many hosiery (socks and stockings) factories as a “hosiery hand”, but he eventually became a carpenter by trade. When Alf was born (Ibstock, 1895), William was a craftsman making carved wooden moulds for “fancy” bricks, produced by the Ibstock Brick Company. In his spare time, he seems to have doing a bit of wheeling and dealing, selling various articles such as cutlery and bicycles! Obviously, a lucrative activity, as William eventually had enough funds to buy four cottages at Glenfield. The sale of these cottages in the early 1900s (paid for in gold according to the family story) enabled him to buy his first retail property in Loughborough.

“Warner`s Remnant And Hosiery Shop” was at 23, Churchgate from 1908, on the corner with Fennel Street. The building no longer exists, as it was demolished in the 1920s street widening scheme. Clearly, this new business venture flourished, as by 1912 William was classed as a “Draper and Hosier”, a draper being a retailer or wholesaler of cloth, usually clothing. He had also moved – across the road to the opposite corner - to number 24, Churchgate.

This larger property had a yard at the back, shared with numbers 25 and 26, as well as better living accommodation for William, his wife Clara, and their 4 children.

This photograph was taken in the yard behind 24 and 25 Churchgate. Access to number 26 is through the gate. I`m assuming it dates from approximately 1914, when at the outbreak of World War 1, Alf volunteered for the Leicestershire Regiment. The Warner family here are Alf, Joe (on the horse who was used pull a small cart to transport goods)) and Kitty. William and Clara are seated, with Hilda on her father`s knee.

After being demobbed, Alf joined his father William in the business and it was registered in 1919 as “W. Warner and Son”, with the registered address being at Fennel Street.

I haven`t been able to find out exactly when the manufacturing side of the business began, but by 1921 William had become a “Wholesale and Retailer Hosier and Draper”. The wholesale business involved buying rolls of fabric, mainly interlock cotton (a knitted fabric, with some stretch) or wool for the making of underwear, socks, and stockings. Using wooden or thick card pattern pieces, the garment pieces were cut out by William and in later years, Alf. 

Wooden sock board

The garments were made up by machinists in a workshop, which was at William`s new home at 2, Rectory Place. This became the registered address of the business too.

Chesterton House

William moved here in 1920. This lovely, large Georgian building was certainly a step up from living over the shop- and a long way from growing up in Albert Street! Not only did this provide an impressive home, but at the back of the house was a long two-storey wing which had formerly been a classroom, then a billiard room, and provided space for cutting and machine rooms. 

Also in this year, Alf married Florence Hipwell and they lived over the shop for a while. They later moved out to a house with a garden for their three children, Nora, Bill (my dad) and Stan. The living accommodation then became storage rooms for the shop and the manufacturing stock.

Both the retail and wholesale businesses continued to develop during the 1920s, with the establishment of Warner`s Pinnacle Hose in 1926, revealing that the manufacturing side of the business was really established.

Another interesting snippet came to light when a former shop assistant wrote in to the Loughborough Echo to say that, as a fourteen-year-old, she started work in Warner`s Corner. She stated that a lot of the stock was seconds, very good, and cheap. The opening hours at that time were: Monday to Friday, 8.45a.m. to 7p.m. but open until 9p.m. on a Saturday. It is good to know that she thought of her time at Warner’s as “happy days”.

William had somehow discovered another outlet for goods – on Chester Market. (I have no idea why Chester!) My Aunt Nora recalled being excited at being allowed to go with Alf, when she was about seven years old. They would drive up on a Friday night with the van “chock-o-block” with all types of underwear. They would stay in the same `B and B` each week, ready for an early start on their three market stalls. They usually sold most of the stock too! When my parents passed away, we found four ledgers covering various dates between 1930 and 1952. The Cashbook (1936), indicates that the Chester sales were certainly very profitable, but also shows a variety of customers across the area who bought Warner’s products.

Ledgers

Cashbook entries for 1936

As well as selling Warner’s own brand of goods, the shop also sold a whole range of clothing and household textiles, many coming from Towles Factory on Nottingham Road. However, it was interesting to see in the 1930s` cashbooks the names of wholesale companies from places such as Nottingham, Leeds, and Manchester, who I can remember were still our suppliers in the 60s, 70s, and into the 80s.

Changes in the business came in the late 1930s. Firstly, in 1937 William died. 

Gravestone of William and Clara in the old part of Loughborough Cemetery

He had not only become a successful businessman, but had been a town councillor for the Storer Ward, and associated with the Loughborough Chamber of Trade for many years.

Next, the outbreak of war in 1939 inevitably brought disruption to the business; the sales at Chester Market dried up, but the two businesses survived despite the strict clothing rationing. In 1940 the name of the business was altered to “W. Warner & Sons”, as Alf`s brother Joe was now running the business with him.  In 1947 it became a Limited Company.

The registered address was still Rectory Place, where Clara continued to reside until her death in 1953, when Stan, Kay and family moved in.

Sometime after World War 2 both of Alf`s sons became partners in the family firm. Bill became the accountant, whilst Stan was the firm`s salesman. Both served in the shop whenever required. The next major business change that I have come across was in 1955 when the wholesale side was re-registered as the Carillon Manufacturing Company and the address is now given as 35B, Pinfold Gate.  

Invoice for the wholesale business, 1970s

A transfer for socks or stockings

However, at some point (another unanswered question!) – certainly by 1952, the family had acquired 24, 25 and 26 Churchgate, so they owned the block of buildings from Unity House on Fennel Street to the White Hart pub on Churchgate, as these two photographs illustrate.

Warner's Corner showing Fennel Street / Church Gate entrance. and 24-26 Church Gate

The shop had been known by the nickname “Warner`s Corner” for many years. The family story is that William Warner was a shareholder and member of the Conservative Club in Baxter gate. He always stood in the same place at the bar which became known as “Warner`s corner”, and this was gradually applied to the shop too. The name firmly stuck to such an extent that, by the 1950s, the shop bill headings were now “Warner`s Corner”, and the name was emblazoned on the building.

Shop receipt pad from about the 1970s

Now we come to my era! As a child of the 1950/1960s, I loved going to the shop. My siblings and I would go through the shop and “over the way” (across the yard) to find our dad, Bill, in his upstairs office in Number 26, overlooking Lemyngton Street. We would pass through a couple of small, dark rooms with dusty windows, filled mainly with floor-to-ceiling wooden racking. On these shelves were cardboard boxes or mysterious parcels wrapped up in brown paper. (Fabric!) More paper-wrapped, tall bolts of fabric stood in another room. There were many spooky nooks and crannies to hide in!

When I was twelve I was allowed to work in the shop on Saturday mornings - how grown up I felt! This meant serving customers; self-service never made it into Warner`s Corner. The shop was full of wooden shelves and assorted-sized cardboard boxes. The lids usually had copious amounts of Sellotape around the edges, due to being pulled off the shelves so often. Handwritten labels adorned the boxes, telling of their contents. There were wide, sturdy wooden counters, with brass yardsticks attached. Over half the counters would be covered with items, such as piles of men’s jumpers or shallow baskets with smaller seasonal items. In the autumn, the dreaded dozens of gloves would arrive; each pair had to be sewn together by hand before putting in the basket!

As a girl, I had always thought that the shop was very old-fashioned; it always reminded me of something out of a Charles Dickens` tale, but discovering that the more mature ladies still wore corsets was something of a surprise!  (I could fit you for a lace back corset with under belt, no problem!) Excuse me for being indelicate here, but who knew that women didn`t wear pants, but briefs or pantees (mid-thigh), or even knickers  baggy to the knee)! Who remembers the baggy, bottle green girls P.E. briefs, complete with a pocket for a hankie?

The 1960s bought in the age of easily-washed-and-dried manmade fabrics, and Warners kept up with the trend, now making underwear with these new fabrics alongside the traditional ones. I recall that a good seller were the men`s wool and polypropylene vests and “long johns”. However, the best seller at this time was the Ladies` Nylon Pantalettes - bottle green, royal blue, or maroon with lace trim at the knee. We were quite often waiting for another batch to be collected from the Pinfold Gate machine shop.

Celanese knickers (thick silky fabric) also had their day. Apparently, my youngest sister can remember one quiet afternoon trying these on over her clothes and dancing round the shop! Well really…

We sold so many shiny `Tricel` cardigans, as well as nylon shirts, blouses, and nightwear. I remember later the advent of crimplene pinafore dresses and “slacks” (trousers). New stock had pride of place hanging up in the windows, which were changed every Monday. No fancy mannequins, just straightforward displays of what was on offer, protected by the trademark yellow blinds. These were essential to stop the sun from fading the garments.

As well as family members from each generation serving in the shop, there were also loyal, long-serving staff members both in the shop and on the manufacturing side. But inevitably times changed; the manufacturing gradually shrank to two upstairs rooms over the shop. I have a memory of Alf upstairs, still cutting fabric well into old age, with the largest pair of scissors I have ever seen, while two elderly machinists were busy in the other room. That side of the business closed down on their retirement. Following the death of Alf and Stan, Bill kept the retail business going until his retirement and the shop finally closed in 1984.

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Editor's note:

I believe after Warner's Corner shop closed, it became the Left-Legged Pineapple for quite some years, although I can't quite remember if this was immediately after Warner's shop closed. Since the Left-Legged Pineapple has left, the shop is now an estate agents. 

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About Yvonne!

Yvonne was born in Loughborough - like many of her generation, in Radmoor Road Nursing Home! However, she grew up in a small village nearby, and went to school in West Bridgford. Yvonne moved to Loughborough after her marriage, and has bought up her children here, as well as having worked in the town.

This is Yvonne's first venture into formally recording information about her family history, and she hopes to use this piece as a prelude and springboard to writing down the history that she has of both her parents` families. Yvonne will share this not only with her grandchildren, but any interested extended family.

Here's hoping Yvonne has more stories she can share with us, too!

____________________________________

posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog. You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Warner's Corner. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/02/warners-corner.html [Accessed 12 February 2023]

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.

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.  

 

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne

Spotlight on Chesterton House

In ‘Loughboroughin 50 Buildings’ I wrote about Chesterton House, situated at No.2 Rectory Place, but more information has come to light since I wrote the book, which I thought I might share here with you. 

Here’s what I said at the time:

“The tiny, pedestrianised walkway, Rectory Place, leading from Fennel Street - now part of the town’s inner relief road - to the leafy junction of Steeple Row and the longer Rectory Place, is aptly named, the view from Fennel Street along this walkway being of the Old Rectory.

Built in 1802 for a local hosier, Thomas Barfoot Oliver, whose manufactory was at one time on Mill Street (now Market Street), the house is an impressive and imposing four-storeys, part of a group of three properties, and has recently been refurbished.

The plaque adorning the front of this Georgian building tells of the building’s importance: in 1850 it was here that the first girls’ grammar school in the country began. The Headmistress, Miss Ellen Charnock, came from a seminary in Bootham, bringing with her four or five boarders who wished to finish their education under her tutelage.

The school was successful, but the building began to suffer through lack of funds to maintain it, and eventually it re-located to the Grammar School on Leicester Road. The building passed through the hands of Woolley, a local land agent and surveyor, and Warner, a local hosier, and has been occupied by the Chesterton House Group since 1991.”

Since then, information has been uncovered by the owners of the property – Chesterton House, financial planning, Ltd. – when they recently undertook some repairs to the roof of the building. Originally, it seemed that the house had been built for Thomas Barfoot Oliver, around 1802, shortly after he had married a Miss Morris in 1800, [1] and shortly before he married an Ann Middleton in 1805, [2] and long before he married Augusta Burnaby in 1825![3] However, on closer examination of the structure of the building, and some of the features found within (like the door hinges), the building was estimated to have actually been built around 1725. Who might have lived there between 1725 and the early 1800s is as yet unknown.

A very early map (1735)  is difficult to interpret, and the building might be listed as a ‘homested’, surrounded by land indicated as belonging to Mrs Warner on one side, Dr Butler on another, Lammas Close on another, and the Rushes Brook on another. Alternatively, it could be that the property does not appear, but would show up later, perhaps in the area marked as Mrs Warner. I only say that because it is so difficult to match up what appears on this map with how the roads and properties are laid out on a more recent map.

So, at some point, and certainly by the appearance of the 1837 map of Loughborough, the buildings were named ‘Darby’s Buildings’. This was after Thomas Barfoot Oliver had moved away from the house: in 1827 he appears to be living in Belgrave Gate, Leicester, but in an 1832 poll book, he is registered to vote on account of him having a property on Fennel Street in Loughborough. This latter fact is one of interest, because today we think of Chesterton House as being on the short pedestrianised bit of Rectory Place, as the front door is here. However, the garden of Chesterton House, which is towards the rear of the property, also has an exit onto Fennel Street, via a carriageway arch, which I believe is sited between what are now numbers 16 and 15 [4] Fennel Street, so it’s quite possible that the property was deemed to be on Fennel Street.

It is thought that a member of the Burnaby family lived in the property around the 1830s, which is possible because, as we saw above, Thomas Barfoot Oliver had married Augusta Burnaby, daughter of the Reverend Thomas Burnaby, of Leicester. However, we can be sure from the census returns, that in 1841, it was Charles Sherrard Burnaby, an attorney at law - son of John Dick Burnaby (who in 1846 was a Colonel in the Army), and born in Rotherly Hall - who was living in the house, where the head of the household was either a Dorothy Hurst, or Dorothy Hunt (can't quite make out the writing). I'll be honest and say I haven't yet had time to establish what exactly is the connection between Augusta and Charles Burnaby. Some time ago I wrote about the connection between the crest of the Burnaby family from Baggrave Hall, and Robert Burnaby with the Blackboy Pub, now the Blacksmith's Arms, so there really are a lot of Burnaby's to be sorted! 

So, the 1851 census return shows Charles Sherrard Burnaby is at Ordsall Hall, which seems to fit with the dates, as we know, by 1850 the building on Rectory Place had become a girls’ grammar school. When the school moved out, the building was occupied by William Edward Woolley. Ironically, the firm of Woolley and Beardsley, is now part of the Chesterton House financial group.

Office of Woolley, Beardsley, and Bosworth

Later inhabitants of Chesterton house were councillor William Warner, a local hosier, who was responsible for re-naming the property from Darby’s Building to Chesterton House, after an uncle, Thomas Chesterton, who was at one time the licensed victualler at the Prince of Wales pub on Church Gate, but who later emigrated. This information was conveyed to the 'Loughborough Echo' back in 1989 by a Mrs White, who was a descendant of William Warner. 

When Ralph Ward took over ownership of Chesterton House, he converted the property into bedsits, which were used as accommodation for some of the Brush apprentices. The current owners of the building took it over from Mr and Mrs Foreman, who bought the property in 1987. During the pandemic of 2020, the roof of Chesterton House was repaired.

I've mentioned Mrs White, above: do please pop back to this blog in the coming weeks, as Mrs White will be sharing with us the story of the shop on the corner of Fennel Street, known locally as Warner's corner!

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Notes 

[1] As reported in the ‘Nottingham and Newark Mercury’ - Friday 11 September 1840, pg 8 

[2] According to a marriage record found on Ancestry

[3] As reported in the ‘Nottingham and Newark Mercury’ - Friday 11 September 1840, pg 8

[4] As we know, the numbering of the properties along Fennel Street has been amended through the years  

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Dyer, Lynne (2023). Spotlight on Chesterton House. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/02/spotlight-on-chesterton-house.html [Accessed 5 February 2023]

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