Ernest Edwin Coltman and Ernest Huram Marsh

What follows is the tying up of another loose end I promised in relation to Ernest Edwin Coltman, and it is indeed a relation we are considering! Ernest Edwin Coltman had a nephew, well, actually he had more than one nephew, and nieces too, but it is one specific nephew who is the subject of this post.

Possibly named after his uncle, and very likely to have been named after his grandfather, Ernest Huram Marsh was born on 18 July 1892 at Tempé House in Swepstone. Swepstone was a small parish in North-West Leicestershire, which had been in existence since before the Domesday Book of 1086. Ernest’s parents, who had married in 1882, were John William Marsh, a farmer who had been born at Woodthorpe around 1855, and Eliza Ann, Ernest Edwin Coltman’s older sister.

Woodthorpe in July 2023

 

Ernest Huram’s older sister Frances Ethel Marsh had been born in 1885, and Mabel Eliza Marsh in 1888. In 1891 the family were living at a farm in Swepstone, and had a nursery governess, Lucy Hill, a general domestic servant, Julia Cooper, and Edward Basford was the farm hand. In 1901 When Ernest Huram Marsh was aged 8, the family were still in Swepstone, but now only had one servant, Emily Wood. In 1902, another son was born – John Bernard Sidney Marsh, however, by 1911 the family had moved to Forest Road, Loughborough, next door to a house called Forest Hey. Father John was now a corncake merchant, living with his wife, Eliza, two daughters Frances and Mabel, and son John.

Forest Hey looking away from town

Forest Hey looking towards town

Ernest Huram attended the Loughborough Intermediate School, before going on to the Loughborough Grammar School, where he seemed to excel at sport, gaining the Kaye Cup for athletics in both 1908 and 1909. He was also Captain of the First XI football, a member of the First XI Cricket, and of the Tennis VI. Oh, and he also had the nickname of 'Emma', whilst at LGS, a name which he still rejoiced in, throughout his life.

Loughborough Grammar School in 2021

Ernest Huram, in 1911, was now nearly 17, and had been engaged in an apprenticeship for two years, since 1909. This apprenticeship had followed a period of general education at the Loughborough Intermediate School, which he attended from 1901-1906, before moving on to the Loughborough Grammar School from 1906-1909, where he had passed the Senior Oxford Examination. His younger brother, John Bernard Sidney Marsh (known I believe as Bernard) would also attend the LGS.

Ernest Huram undertook his technical education at the Grantham Technical Institute from 1909-1910, where he studied second stage Practical Maths; gained a second class in Machine Drawing, and in first stage Applied Mechanics. In each of his first stage Applied Mechanics, Construction, and Heat Engines studies he gained a first class. 

In 1897 the Grantham Technical Institute moved into this building, the former guildhall and jail. Whether or not it was still the Institute when Ernest arrived, I'm not sure.

At the age of 16 ½, Ernest Huram began an apprenticeship with Hornsby’s, in the gas-engine fitting and erecting workshops. In December 1910, at the age of 18, Ernest Huram March applied for membership of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. He was an engineering pupil, working for Messrs. Richard Hornsby and Sons, Ltd, at Spittlegate Iron Works in Grantham, where he was an apprentice. The iron works were adjacent to the LNER as it passed through Grantham.

Richard Hornsby, snr., had taken over the well-established firm (makers of ploughs and seed drills) in 1828, and the company had thrived, winning a council medal at the Great Exhibition in 1851 at Crystal Palace for their products – a corn and seed drill, drop drill, two-row turnip drill on the ridge, oil-cake bruiser and steam engine – reminds me of Robert Bakewell! By 1861, the firm were employing 378 men, and when Richard Hornsby snr. died in 1864, the firm was carried on by his son, Richard, who led the company to more prize-winning products. After its becoming a limited company in 1879, more prizes followed, so by the time Ernest Huram joined, the firm it was thriving.

His application to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers was proposed by Charles H. Gadsby, a member of the Institution, who was based in London and was his uncle by marriage, having wed Florence Mary Coltman in 1886. The proposal was supported by another member of the Institution, this time, John Charles Coltman, another uncle, based in Loughborough. Further supporters of the proposal were members David Roberts, and Charles James. I believe the proposal was accepted and Ernest Huram Marsh joined the Institute as an associate.

So, while his family is living on Forest Road, in 1911, Ernest Huram is boarding with the Bowler family at 20 St Annes Street, Grantham, and his occupation is confirmed as a pupil engineer. Whatever Ernest had planned next was not to be as 1914 saw the outbreak of the First World War, and Ernest signed up with the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment), by December 1914 being a temporary second lieutenant.

Is it possible that during this time, in July 1915, Ernest applied for a patent as the inventor of machine-gun mountings, as reported in the ‘Belfast News-Letter’?

As far as I know, the Royal Air Force was created on 1 April 1918, and by the time of his marriage, Ernest Huram had become a captain with the RAF. On 25 April 1918, Ernest married Margaret Althea Cook at the Wood Gate Baptist Chapel. Miss Cook was attended by her two sisters, Barbara Cook and Irene Cook, and Ernest’s sister Frances. At this time, Frances was serving with the VADs at Loughborough General Hospital, so was able to attend the wedding, unlike sister Mabel who was also in the VADs but who was stationed in Cairo, so would have been unable to attend. Their cousin, Phyllis Coltman, also served as a VAD, between 1916 and 1919.  

In 1921, Ernest, now aged 28, and his wife Margaret aged 24, were living with son David who had been born in 1920, at High Crest, Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire. Ernest was a Mechanical Engineer Representative with the firm, W. H. Allen, Sons and Co Ltd. Bedford.  

W. H. Allen, Sons and Co. Ltd. had been formed in 1880, originally in London, but had moved to Bedford. The business was involved in many things, including mechanical, hydraulic and electrical machinery, but specialised in the early 1900s in high-speed steam engines, centrifugal pumps and pumping engines for irrigation, and more. So, in many ways, very similar to the trade carried on by Ernest’s Coltman relatives in Loughborough.

In 1927, Ernest’s father, John William of Brooklands, Forest Road, Loughborough, died, and probate was granted to Ernest, a commercial traveller, and his brother John Bernard Sidney, a chartered accountant. Effects were £2,742 16s. 5d..

Ernest Huram Marsh applied for full membership of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on 2 January 1939. On his application for membership, Ernest cited his occupation as “Representative Engineer in Yorkshire for Messrs. W. H. Allen, Sons & Co. Ltd.” Whoever it was who proposed his application had known Ernest for 20 years, and the seconder had known him for 16. The references that Ernest suggested were Lieutenant Colonel E. Kitson Clark MA, who was a past president of the Institution; F. C. Lea, Esq., OBE, DSC, a member of the council, and A. Roebuck, who was also a member of the council. Ernest states that although: “I have not passed the examination [the Associate Membership Examination], but was a Graduate of the Institution from about 1912 onwards.” Nonetheless, his application appears to have been successful.

By September 1939, Ernest, his wife Margaret, and their two boys, David J. (aged 19, and at college), Keith E. (aged 16 at school) and daughter Margaret R. aged 17, a social science student, were living at 4 West Park Place, Roundhay, Leeds. Ernest was still working for W. H. Allen Sons and Co. as a chartered mechanical engineer and representative.

On 30 December 1939, Ernest Huram Marsh’s mother, Eliza Ann, died, while living at Brooklands, Forest Road, Loughborough. Probate was granted on 20 April 1940 to Frances Ethel (who had married Arthur Thomas Walsh), Mabel Eliza Marsh, Ernest Huram Marsh, a commercial traveller, and John Bernard Sidney Marsh, chartered accountant. Effects were £7,427 18s. 

Of course, the 1939 register was taken at the outbreak of World War Two, and Ernest’s mother died shortly after this. By 1940 we find Ernest is a pilot officer with the RAF Volunteer Reserve (85181).

Ernest survived the war, and by 1958, we find him and wife Margaret living at Fosscote, Weeton Lane, near Barkston Ash, West Yorkshire. It might be that this is where Ernest and his wife retired to, since in November 1958, Ernest retired from W. H. Allen, a company he had been with for nearly 40 years. The trail here runs a bit dry. After 5 years of retirement, during which time Ernest had probably continued to play tennis and golf, there follows the death of Margaret Althea Marsh, Ernest’s wife, of Foscote, Weeton Lane near Leeds, on 23 August 1963. Probate was granted to Ernest on 16 September 1963. The effects were £1,945 11s. 4d..

Ernest Huram Marsh continued to live at Fosscote, on Weeton Lane, until his own death on 11 May 1971. Probate was granted on 13 August 1971, and effects were £13,072. 

It is interesting to note that Ernest Huram Marsh did not follow in the footsteps of his father John William Marsh, who early in life was a farmer, before becoming a cornfactor – a dealer in corn – nor of his grandfather, Joseph Marsh, who in 1861 was farming 230 acres in Woodthorpe, and employing 5 men. Rather, Ernest Huram Marsh followed in the trade of his namesakes, and maternal relatives – Ernest, his uncle, the boilermaker and engineer, and Huram, his grandfather, an enginesmith, boilermaker, and engineer.                

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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