So Who Was E. E. Coltman?

Many years ago, not long after I started my local history journey I remember being absolutely bowled over by seeing a trunk belonging to Charles Knight Deeming in an antique shop, over Bosworth way! A tangible piece of family history, but also of Loughborough’s social history, but I couldn’t justify the cost at the time, so I’ve no idea what happened to that fabulous item. I did, however, write a piece for the Loughborough Archaeological and Historical Society newsletter about the wonderful find, as part of a bigger article about finding social history everywhere! The article was a summary of a slide presentation which I believe is still available. 

So, imagine my utter surprise and delight to come across another piece of Loughborough’s late-nineteenth-early-twentieth-century family and local history! This time, I spotted the item locally, and raided every jam jar, old purse, and cupboard, and managed to scrabble together enough pennies to buy it!

What I had seen was actually a deed box belonging to E. E. Coltman.

Way back in 2014 I had written a blogpost about Radmoor House, a lovely building I used to regularly walk past, and this building also featured in my book, ‘Loughborough in 50 Buildings’. Although I covered most of the house’s history, I probably focussed on the time when Arthur Paget lived there, rather than the time it was home to E. E. Coltman.

Anyway, over the past year I have been researching another Coltman – Walter William – with a view to writing a book. There, I’ve just written this in black and white, so I am now duty-bound to write said book! There was a specific reason for researching W.W. and not any other member of the family, that is, until I found the deed box, which I believe had been kept in the strong room of the offices of Woolley and Beardsley, on Rectory Place. Sadly, there were no documents lurking at the bottom of the box, the only paper attached being what I can only assume was a number (160) used for storage and filing purposes.

So, who was E. E. Coltman?

According to the ‘Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland’ there are currently (2016) 1,066 families bearing the name Coltman, while in 1881 there were 840 families, the majority of whom were living in Durham, Leicestershire, and Middlesex. Coltman is an occupational name from the Middle English word for a young horse or ass – Co[w]lt – and the ‘man’ added at the end, probably indicates the person looks after the colts.

In reality, I haven’t been able to find out very much about E. E. Coltman, but here is what I do know. He was born Ernest Edwin Coltman, in 1867, to parents Huram Coltman and Eliza Lovett.

Huram Coltman was born in the Broughton Astley area to Charles Coltman, a framesmith, and his wife, Hannah (sometimes known as Anna or Ann), in 1832. By the age of 19, Huram, and one of his brothers, Zina, were working as framesmiths. Huram continued to live with his parents in the Broughton Astley area probably until 1854, when he married Eliza Lovett.

Eliza was possibly [there were several possible Eliza Lovetts - I hope I've got the right one] born in 1831, in Sutton-in-the-Elms, near Broughton Astley, the daughter of John Lovett, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Mary. In 1841 the family, which included older sister, Caroline, were living in Sutton, and in 1851, Eliza was a servant at Auburn School for boys in Narborough.    

Huram and Eliza were married in the last quarter of 1854, and the event was registered at Leicester, although by 1855, and the birth of their first child, John Charles Coltman, they were living in Loughborough. Another child, Eliza Ann, was born in October 1857, followed by the birth of another child, Huram, in 1861, when the family were living on Derby Road. Huram snr was an engine smith, and was probably working as a foreman for Henry Hughes at the Falcon Works, but at one time went into partnership with Hughes.

The family moved to Regent Street, and the birth of another daughter followed, Henrietta being born in 1863, but sadly, later that year, on 24th December, two-year-old Huram died. Daughter Florence Mary was born in 1865, and son Ernest Edwin was born in 1867, followed by Walter William in 1869.

By 1871, the family had moved to Falcon House on Nottingham Road, where the census return records Huram as a master railway builder, and daughter Clara was born in 1873. In 1877, the partnership between Huram Coltman and Henry Hughes was dissolved, and trade directories over the next few years variously list Huram as being an engineer on Cambridge Street, and on Charles Street, and the firm is H. Coltman, engineers and machinists. The 1881 census records Huram’s occupation as a mechanical engineer employing 13 men and 1 boy, and reveals that Huram and his family are now living at Island House on Granby Street. Ernest Edwin is listed as a 13-year-old scholar, and I believe he went to the Hickling School, of which James Upton was the schoolmaster.

A couple of family weddings happened in the next few years, when in 1882 Eliza Ann married John William Marsh from Woodthorpe, in Loughborough, and in 1884 John Charles married Fanny Kate Marshall, also in Loughborough. A trade directory of 1883 lists Huram as living at Island House on Granby Street, while son John Charles is at Meadow Lane, and Huram’s brother, Zina at 18A Church Gate. Huram’s company is listed as H. Coltman & Son, and was on Meadow Lane.

So, it seems that the siblings of Ernest Edwin are:

John Charles
Eliza Ann
Henrietta
Florence Mary
Walter William
Clara

A few more family events included the birth of Frances E. Marsh, daughter of Eliza and John William Marshall, in 1885, the marriage of Florence Mary Coltman, to Charles Herbert Gadsby, in Loughborough in 1886, and the birth of another daughter, Mabel E. Marsh, to Eliza and John William. On the company front, from 1885-1890 Walter William served a five-year apprenticeship with H. Coltman & Sons, and became a partner from 1890-1899.

Meanwhile, Ernest had become proficient at football and was part of the Loughborough Town Football Club in 1886-7, their first season since the merger between Loughborough Victoria and the Loughburians, who had been two of the town’s most successful clubs [1]. He continued to play for the team, as did Charles  Gadsby, his brother-in-law, often in the position of halfback, until late 1890, when he was injured, the ‘Leicester Daily Post’ commenting that he missed the match against Sheffield United which was the final qualifying round for the English Cup Competition. His place was taken by Kelham, and Sheffield won, 6-1. His ankle injury meant that he also missed the return match later in December, when his place was taken by Kidger.  

By February 1891, Ernest had joined the Loughborough rugby club. ‘Forward’, reporting in the ‘Leicester Daily Mercury’, said he wasn’t sure if Coltman had left football for rugby (but thought he might have done as the football team were short of halfbacks at their Saturday match), and also said:

“Coltman got an encouraging start in his rugby career, as he scored a capital try – a feat which few can claim to accomplish in their first game.”

By this time, Ernest was aged 23, and living with parents Huram and Eliza, and siblings Henrietta, now 27, Walter William, now aged 21, and Clara aged 18, along with a 19-year-old servant, in Meadow Lane. Huram, Ernest, and Walter are listed as being engineers, steam boiler makers, and ironfounders.

Sadly, September 1892 saw the sudden death in Loughborough, of Huram’s wife, and Ernest’s mother, Eliza, aged 62. This sad event was followed by a couple of happy occasions notably the birth of Eliza and John Marsh’s son, in 1893, who they named Ernest Huram Marsh, perhaps a tribute to Ernest and his father Huram, especially given the career path chosen by Ernest the grandson and nephew, which we will read about later!

Another happy occasion was in late 1894, when Huram himself married Mary Agnes Wakerley, who was aged about 33, and was born in Birkenhead in late 1894. It was probably around this time that Huram and Mary moved to 57 Park Road.

Front view of 57 Park Road

Side view of 57 Park Road

Rear view of 57 Park Road

The fortunes of the company, H. Coltman & Son continued to go well, and in 1895 a trade directory lists both Ernest and his brother Walter at Meadow Lane, and brother, John Charles as living at ‘Lowlands’, also on Meadow Lane. In September 1895, Ernest is cited as the inventor, when he, his father Huram, and his brothers John Charles, and Walter William applied for a patent for a refuse destructor and steam generator combined - which would be put to good use in the following month!

So, in October 1895, Ernest attended the opening of Loughborough sewerage works, which was near Swing Bridge Lane, and which had taken more than two years to create, having been approved by the Local Government Board in 1892. Ernest was there partly because the engines used at the site were steamed from a special boiler that had been invented by Coltman Boiler Company, and a patent applied for a month earlier. An early form of recycling, they were fired solely by the use of ashpit refuse from the town (from the days when houses had coal fires, and coal was extensively used in industrial processes). People had been rather skeptical about whether or not there would be enough ash to not need to use coal, but the process was successful. The whole sewerage works cost around £20,000 (representing about £1 per head of population). At the opening ceremony, the mayor (William Ambrose Cartwright) started the engines. Light refreshments for the party were provided in the store-room!

An 1899 trade directory confirms that the company of H.Coltman & Son was based on Meadow Lane, and were engineers, machinists, and iron founders. Also listed as Meadow Lane is John Charles, while Zina Coltman, Huram’s brother, is a sewing machine agent at 18A Church Gate. Ernest and brother John Charles are listed as living on Meadow Lane, brother Walter at Danetree, on Clarence Street, and father Huram is still at 57 Park Road.

On 7th June 1899, Ernest attended the formal opening of Queen’s Park, on a day of brilliant weather. The park was provided as part of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, and had previously been part of Island House Park. Space had also been allocated to the Jubilee Baths, for a new cattle market, and for a Rifle Drill Hall. Originally, the land was bought by the council for a new fire station, but this was subsequently built on The Rushes, and so the Island House land was used to create a park. At the time of the opening of the park, Huram Coltman, Ernest’s father, was mayor, but Lord Belper, who was originally meant to open the park gates, was unable to do so on this occasion, given the recent death of his son. So, the mayor gave the silver gilt key [I wonder if Frederick Stubbs had made it?] to Mr W. B. Paget to unlock the gates. The handle of the key was emblazoned with the borough arms, and was inscribed with the words,

“Presented by the Local Diamond Jubilee Celebration Committee, to W. B. Paget, Esq., J.P., D.L. on the opening of the Queen’s Park, Loughborough, 7th June, 1899.”

After the opening, the Volunteer band played the National Anthem.

A few months after the opening of Queen’s Park, in September 1899, the ‘Nottingham Journal’ reported that the partnership between Charles Coltman [2], Ernest Edwin Coltman, and Walter William Coltman, who had been trading as H. Coltman and Sons, at Loughborough, engineers, boilermakers, and ironfounders was dissolved as Walter William retired. The fact that Huram is not mentioned perhaps means that he is already retired. If he hadn’t he certainly had by 1901 as on the 1901 census return his occupation is recorded as “Mechanical engineer – retired”. Walter is listed on the 1901 census return as a mechanical engineer, and employer, living on Great Central Road.

The 1901 census return also records that Ernest Coltman, a mechanical engineer and employer, aged 33, is living on Meadow Lane, and has a housekeeper, Kate Mee. He’s actually living next door to his brother, John Charles, who is living with his wife Fanny Kate, and children Howard (15), Charles E. (14), Claud M. (12) and Philip B. (7) John Charles is also a Mechanical engineer & steam boiler maker, employer. Also living on Meadow Lane is Charles William Coltman aged 29 (son of Charles Coltman, who was brother to Huram), a steam engine fitter (worker), with Elizabeth his wife, and their daughter, Doris aged 1.

1902 sees a happy event with the birth of John Bernard Sidney Marsh, son of Eliza and John, and nephew to Ernest, but this is sadly followed on 8th June 1904 by the death of Huram Coltman who was living at ‘Longwood’, 57 Park Road. Probate is granted on 22nd August 1904 to his sons, John Charles, Ernest Edwin, and Walter William who were all engineers and boilermakers. He left effects amounting to £53,714 13s. 3d..

However, another happy event followed when in late 1907, Ernest Edwin Coltman married Ada Jane Bennett at Chapel-en-le-Frith. Ada Jane was born in Loughborough in 1874, to parents Samuel Bennett, aged 40, an iron moulder born in Sandel, Yorkshire, and his wife Hannah, aged 37, and who was born in Loughborough. Samuel was himself the son of an iron moulder, George Bennett. Ada Jane had an older brother, William H. who was born in Loughborough in 1861, and by the time he was 20 was a framework knitter working with merino wool; a sister, Harriet, born in 1868 in Nottingham, and Alice born in 1872, also in Nottingham. By the time of the 1881 census, when the family was living on Clarence Street, there was also a younger brother, Alfred, aged 3. Boarding with the family was Isaac Pywell, a 29-year-old iron founder. I’ve had trouble tracking the family down, after 1881, until Ada Jane marries Ernest Coltman in 1907, although a couple of her sisters have married during this time.

Fortunes of the boiler-making company continue to do well, and in February 1908, Ernest and his older brother John Charles are trading as H. Coltman & Sons., and they patent improvements in, and relating to, friction clutches, citing Ernest as the inventor. The patent reads:

“In segmental friction clutches for motor-cars &c., the segments D slide in sockets B secured to a disk A and are guided by flanges a. The clutch is disengaged against the action of springs E by a cone G engaging levers F, which bear in slots c<1> in rods c screwed into segments D.”

The words sound impressive, although I confess, I have no idea what exactly they mean! However, I do know that the company produced 20hp motor cars (well, the chassis for definite, but I’m not sure if they also produced the bodies) for a short period, which began in 1907 until 1920. You can find detailed information here and here, where the vehicle is thus described:

“The Coltman 20 hp is a tourer-bodied automobile with a front positioned engine supplying power to the rear wheels. It is powered by a naturally aspirated engine of 3.7 litre capacity. This unit features 4-cylinder layout, and 2 valves per cylinder. The engine powers the wheels via a 4-speed manual transmission.”

Also in 1908, Ernest is listed in a trade directory as living at Radmoor House, while his brother John Charles lives on Meadow Lane, his brother Walter William at Shelthorpe Cottage (now the Cedars Hotel), and their widowed mother (actually step-mother, Mary Agnes) at 57 Park Road.

Radmoor House

Shelthorpe Cottage

On 21st June that same year, Ernest and Ada welcomed their first-born to the world – she was named Winifred Mary Bennett Coltman, and on the 1911 census the family appear listed at Radmoor House. By this time, Ernest is now aged 43, and his occupation is recorded as a boiler and steam engineer maker, as an employer not an employee. Ada is now 36, and daughter Winifred aged 2. The family also have a servant, Clara Geary (22). Ernest’s brother John Charles, another engineer and boiler-making employer, also has a servant, Annie Partington, and he is living at ‘Sycamores’ on Meadow Lane, Loughborough, with his wife Fanny Kate, and two sons, Claude Marshall Coltman, a student minister, and Philip Bertram Coltman, an apprentice machinist and engineer.

On 6th February 1912, Ernest and Ada again welcomed a new baby into the world, this time William Ernest Bennett Coltman. I would imagine that Clara Geary, who was working with the family in 1911 probably left, as in February 1914, Mrs Coltman was advertising for a general servant, aged between 21 and 26, to work in their home, Radmoor House. I’m also guessing that she was successful in finding someone, as Mrs Ada Coltman begins to go out and about.

In the summer of 1915, we find a Mrs Coltman accompanying members of the Cripples Guild, firstly, in June, to tea with Mrs Eardley Childers at Woodhouse in the village hall, after they had visited the Beaumanor estate. This was followed in July by a visit of Mrs Coltman and the same group, to Grace Dieu to see Mrs Booth [3], the culmination of a tour around the areas, which took in Bradgate Park, Markfield and Coalville. After seeing the gardens and grounds at Grace Dieu, the party returned to Loughborough via Belton.

Grace Dieu Manor pictured in 2019

Later that same year, a Mrs Coltman attended the annual meeting of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), within which she held the position of Honorary Treasurer. I’m imagining that it was hard to keep servants in those early days of the First World War, so we see in February 1916 and December 1916, that Mrs Ada Coltman is again looking for a general servant to help at Radmoor House.

Positions on committees are often, I think, only held for around 3 years, and so it was that in December 1919 a Mrs Coltman retired from her position as Honorary Treasurer of the YWCA, at the time it opened new premises on Pinfold Gate, and held its 20th annual general meeting within. Their meeting place had previously been a room in the YMCA building on Granby Street, and for a short while, a room in the Wood Gate Baptist Chapel.

On 22nd May 1921, Ernest’s brother, John Charles Coltman died. At the time he was living at a house called ‘Burcot’ on Forest Road, which could perhaps be Burleigh Cottage? Probate was granted to his widow, Fanny Kate, and George Joseph Baldwin, chemist, on 28th July 1921, and effects were £10,811 13s.. 

A small snippet of information about Ernest appears, as he represents the Storer Ward between 1922 and 1925, as the nominee of the Civic Association, but a Mrs Coltman is still as busy as ever, and in April 1923, she is the Honorary Secretary of the Liberal Women’s Association, and at its annual meeting in 1923, she was pleased to report that membership of the Association had more than doubled.

On 2nd April 1927, John William Marsh of ‘Brooklands’, Forest Road, brother-in-law of Ernest, died. Probate was granted to his sons Ernest Huram Marsh, who was now a commercial traveller, and John Bernard Sidney Marsh a chartered accountant. Effects were £2,742 16s. 5d..

News of Ernest is difficult to find, as Mr Coltman could be any of the Coltman brothers or uncles, or even nephews, but I believe Ernest might have been on the Board of Guardians around 1929. Mrs Ada Coltman is a little easier to research, especially when she is again looking for an experienced cook/general servant, with a preferable age of between 22 and 25, as well as a girl of 15 years of age to train as a housemaid to help at Radmoor House. All three are expected to provide good references!

The next year, however, Ernest Edwin Coltman dies at his home, Radmoor House. He was 66 years old, and had been ill for a short time previously. Probate was granted on 3 May 1934, and he left an estate worth £30,422 8s. 3d. gross, with a net value of £27,256 10s. 1d.. Probate was granted to his widow, Mrs Ada Jane Coltman, his daughter Winifred Mary Bennett Coltman, his son William Ernest Bennett Coltman, and his nephew John Bernard Sidney Marsh (a chartered accountant), of High Street, Loughborough. Actual sums involved included £500 left to his daughter, £100 to his nephew, and £10 to William Albert Hobden, his gardener, if he was still in post at the time of Ernest’s death. The remainder was in trust to his wife, and upon her death, in trust for their son and daughter.

The following September, 1935, sees the death of Mrs Mary Agnes Coltman, wife of Huram, and step-mother to Ernest. At the time of her death she was living at ‘Longwood’ on Park Road, Loughborough, which was the name given to 57 Park Road, I believe. She left an estate of gross value, £31,665, net £30,759. She left some of her pictures, drawings, prints, engravings, and etchings to her male descendants, including William Ernest Bennett Coltman, the son of Ernest Edwin Coltman.

It was on 28th March 1936, that Mrs Ada Jane Coltman, widow of Ernest, of Radmoor House, died. Probate was granted on 15th July 1936 to William Ernest Bennett Coltman, her son, who at the time was an agricultural student at the Midland Agricultural College [4], and to Winifred Mary Bennett Coltman, her daughter, and John Bernard Sidney Marsh, a chartered accountant and her nephew. The effects were £1,851 3s. 4d. which was resworn to £2,061 12s. 11d..

Happier times followed when in 1938, Ernest and Ada’s 30-year-old daughter, Winifred Mary Bennett Coltman, married Robert Turner, aged 32, in Bakewell. On the 1939 register, they are recorded as living in Matlock, at Lumsdale Farm, where Robert is a dairy farmer. Interestingly, we saw that Ernest and Ada’s son William Ernest Bennett Coltman, was a student at the Midland Agricultural College, so it is no surprise to learn that in 1939, he is an unmarried dairy farmer at Home Farm, Lea in Derbyshire. The Morton family who are listed in the 1939 register, at the same property are a herdsman, his wife, the housekeeper, and their son. I believe that William never married, and I have been unable to trace any children for Winifred and Robert, although this doesn’t mean there aren’t any.

At the time of her death on 30th June 1983, Winifred Turner (nee Coltman) was living at 4 Moorside Close, Cromford. Probate was granted on 25th August 1983, and the effects amounted to £25,698. Almost 10 years later, William Ernest Bennett Coltman died, on 26th April 1993, when he was living at 18 Riggotts Way, Cutthorpe, Chesterfield. Probate was granted on 30th June 1993, and the effects were £188,636..

There are a few other interesting loose ends to be tied up, but I’m sure you’ve read enough for one day, so I will follow those up in a later post!

Thank you for reading!  

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Notes

[1] The only photograph I have so far found of Ernest Coltman appears on page 4 in a book by David Kirkby called ‘The ‘Luffs’: the story of the Loughborough Town Football Club, 1886-1900’. Loughborough: Echo Press, 1995.

[2] I am not sure if this is John Charles Coltman, Ernest’s brother, or Charles Coltman, Huram’s brother.

[3] Mrs Mary Booth was born Mary Macaulay, daughter of Charles Zacharay Macaulay and his wife Mary Potter, and niece of Thomas Babington Macaulay of Rothley Temple. She married Charles Booth, who was known for his investigation into poverty in London. The couple lived for a time at Grace Dieu Manor, near Thringstone, a property built for the de Lisle family, and designed by architect William Railton. It became a Catholic school from around 1972, but closed in 2020.

[4] The Midland Agricultural College at the time William Ernest Bennett Coltman attended (the early 1930s) had moved from Kingston-on-Soar, where it had focussed on dairy farming as the Midland Dairy Institute, later becoming the Midland Dairy and Agricultural College, to the new site at Sutton Bonington, which is still there today. Perhaps this is why William became a dairy farmer. I wonder if Robert Turner had also attended the college? 

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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