So who was Henry Fearon?

The Rev. Henry Fearon



On 29^th December 2013 I wrote the following at the end of my blog post about the burst water pipe in Loughborough:

“Hmmm, clean water supply? That reminds me, I was going to blog about my partial research into Archdeacon Henry Fearon: Better save that one for another time.”

Well, it’s been a long time coming, and it certainly isn’t a traditional potted biography, but here are a few bits about Archdeacon Henry Fearon.

Born in 1802, in Cuckfield, Sussex, Henry Fearon was the son of Rev. J.F. Fearon, and was a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Here’s the entry from the Ipswich Journal, Saturday 14 June, 1834, issue 5021

“At a congregation on Wednesday last [11 June 1834], the following degrees were conferred …

Bachelor in Divinity. Rev. Henry Fearon, Fellow of Emman[uel] …”

In 1853, Henry Fearon attended the following meeting, as reported in the Morning Chronicle, Friday 10 June, 1853, issue 26977:

“Society of Arts: Yesterday the annual conference between the representatives of the institutions in union and the council of the Society of Arts was held at the Society of Arts, John-street, Adelphi; Mr H. Cole, chairman of the council in the chair. A large number of representatives were present, amongst them many gentlemen who have distinguished themselves by the interest they have taken in the general subject of education.”

In 1863, Henry Fearon became Archdeacon of Leicester, as described in this report in the Leicester Chroncile, or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Saturday April 18, 1863, p. 5:

“THE NEW ARCHDEACON OF LEICESTER. – The Bishop of Peterborough has appointed the Rev. Henry Fearon, B.D., one of the Honorary Canons of Peterborough Cathedral, and rector of All Saints’, Loughborough, to the Archdeaconry of Leicester, vacant by the death of the Rev. Thos. Kaye Bonney, M.A. Mr Fearon was educated at Winchester College, was Gold Medallist in 1820, and on leaving obtained an Exhibition to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where, after taking the Degree of Senior Optime and Third Class in the Classical Tripos, he was elected to a fellowship. He served in active duties as a curate and private tutor for 16 years, and was in 1848 presented by the college to the highly important living of Loughborough, where, in addition to the zealous discharge of the ordinary and anxious duties of a parish priest connected with so large a population, he was by his writings and exertions mainly instrumental in bringing about great sanitary improvements to the town. Mr Fearon is also well known as the author of several sermons, as well as of lectures delivered at the Literary and Philosophical Societies and Young Men’s Christian Institutes in Leicester and Loughborough. We need scarcely add that Mr Fearon is highly respected by both clergy and laity throughout the county, and that the appointment appears to give the highest satisfaction.”    

One of Henry Fearon’s sermons followed the opening of All Saints’ Parish school, as described in the Leicester Chronicle, or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Saturday August 13, 1864, p.5

“ OPENING OF ALL SAINTS’ PARISH SCHOOLS.

On Thursday evening last [11 August, 1864], a sermon was preached in All Saints’ Church, by the Venerable Henry Fearon, Archdeacon of Leicester, and rector of Loughborough, on the occasion of opening the new school-rooms belonging to this parish. These school-rooms, which were greatly needed in this locality, are very commodious and ornamental, and reflect much credit on the tradesmen who have had the carrying out of the works, which they undertook in a considerate and liberal spirit. The builder is Mr E. Thurlby, High-cross Street. There was a collection after the sermon. The sum collected was £20 18s. 2d..”

The Rev. Henry Fearon married many couples, and there are some familiar Loughborough names mentioned.

Here’s one taken from the Nottinghamshire Guardian, Thursday June 28, 1855, p.8, issue 484. The Henry Toone referred to was Henry Toone, solicitor of Leicester Road.

“At Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, on the 26^th inst. [“instante mense” meaning a date in the current month, in this case, June], by the Rev. Henry Fearon, B.D., rector of All Saints and canon of Peterborough, the Rev. Thomas White, M.A., eldest son of Wm. White, Esq., of Collegiate Crescent, Sheffield, to Mary Anne, second daughter of Henry Toone, Esq., Loughborough. After the ceremony, the Holy Communion was administered by the Rev. Robert J. Bunch, B.D., rector of Emmanuel and canon of Peterborough.”

Here’s another marriage, the John Henry Eddowes referred to being a local doctor, taken from The Leicestershire Chronicle, or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Saturday December 1, 1855:

“On the 27^th ult. [“ultimo mense”, meaning in the preceding month, i.e. November 1855, not today’s meaning of something being more than unbelievable], at All Saints’ church, Loughborough, by the rector, the Rev. Henry Fearon, B.D., Joseph Phillips, jun., Esq., of Stamford, to Mary Anne, second daughter of John Henry Eddowes, Esq., of Loughborough.”

What about this one, featuring glasshouses and bells! From the Nottinghamshire Guardian, Thursday July 17, 1856, p.8, issue 539:

“At Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, on the 10^th inst., by the Rev. Henry Fearon, B.D., Mr T.G. Messenger, of Loughborough, to Jemima Emily, second daughter of Mr J. Taylor, bellfounder, Loughborough.”

And what about this one? From the Nottinghamshire Guardian, Thursday August 13, 1857, p.8, issue 595:

“At the Parish Church, Loughborough, on the 11^th inst., by the Rev. Henry Fearon, rector, Beauvoir Brock, Esq., of Shelthorpe Cottage, to Harriet, youngest daughter of the late John Hall, Esq., of Loughborough.”

The Rev. Henry Fearon also performed marriages in the place of his birth, Cuckfield, as can be seen from this report in the Leicestershire Chronicle, or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Saturday September 11, 1858:

“On the 7^th inst., at Cuckfield, Sussex, by the Rev. Henry Fearon, rector of Loughborough, Henry, third son of William Pott, of Wallington House, Carshalton, Esq., to Constance Mary, second daughter, and at the same time, the Rev. Thos. Ayscough, eldest son of Ayscough Smith, of Leethorpe Hall, in the county of Leicester, Esq., to Ethel Ann, third daughter of John Peter Fearon, Esq., of Cuckfield.”

A more detailed description of this event comes from the Morning Chronicle, Friday September 10, 1858, issue 28598:

“Fashion at Brighton: fashionable marriages: Married on Tuesday 7^th September, at Cuckfield Church, by the Rev. H. Fearon, uncle of the bride, the Rev. Thos. A. Smith to Etha [sic] Anne Fearon; also Henry Potts Esq., to Constance Fearon, both the brides being the daughters of J.P. Fearon, Esq., of Cuckfield. Upwards of 140 partook if a dejeuner a la fourchette in a marquee in front of Mr Fearon’s house, the marquee being tastefully adorned with flags, banners etc.. The two brides were led to the altar by their father, J.P.Fearon, Esq., and there were no less than twenty-two bridesmaids accompanying them. The Rev. Henry Fearon performed the marriage ceremony, assisted by the Rev. T.A. Maberley, Vicar of Cuckfield, and the Revs. H. Hawkins and Cooper, curate. The church was crowded to excess…”  

The Venerable Henry Fearon died on 12 June, 1885, and his will was proved on 7 September that year. He was described as the Venerable Henry Fearon late of Loughborough in the County of Leicester, Archdeacon of Leicester. He never married and so the executors of his will were Jessy Tyndale Fearon, his niece, and the Reverend Thomas Ayscough Smith (probably related to the Thomas Ayscough who he had married on 7^th September 1858), of Tenbury in the County of Worcester, who was Clerk Vicar of Tenbury.

The memory of Henry Fearon lives on in Loughborough, in the portrait that is upstairs in the Parish Church (and possibly in the Old Rectory Museum too, but my memory might be playing tricks on me), in the drinking fountain in Market Place, in the Fearon Hall, and in the street named after him. 

Water!

Well, here I am again, with yet more partially completed research!

Early on Boxing Day 2013, we made the journey down to South Wales to visit relatives. Before we could begin our trip, however, we had to call into that mecca that is the petrol station for the obligatory petrol, air and water. While the boys were doing this, I popped into the supermarket for that other obligatory offering – whiskey. It was nearly 11 in the morning, and to me the shop seemed rather busy. Are we all so materialistic that we cannot go more than one day without visiting this modern, unappealing building, I wondered.

Well, we had a great time in Wales, apart from frantic ’phone calls from those we’d left behind, telling us that there was a burst water pipe somewhere, so houses, buildings, shops pubs etc. in LE11 and LE12 were without a fresh water supply. So, we told them not to put the heating or hot water on, just in case. When we returned later that night, our water seemed fine and all appeared to be well, although perhaps a tad cold at 10 degrees! 

Then, next day we received news that the obligatory unexpected Christmas visitors were coming on Saturday, so off I trotted in the evening to buy some extra supplies. It was a bit odd: If I’m driving I always go right to the back of the car park, where I have often encountered people having driving lessons, people hanging around, and people looking, well, downright dodgy, and today was no exception. There were people openly handing things over to people who were driving up in their car, pausing to collect said things, before driving off out of the car park, without visiting the store. Blimey! I parked a bit further away than usual and made sure to hurry with my tiny bit of shopping.

I know you’re going to ask me why I was back in that supermarket the next day as well. It upsets me to have to admit that I needed more supplies, as my preference is to buy in all I need to last from me from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, batten down the hatches and only go out to exercise the legs – so to visit a park, or a footpath - but this year, I didn’t manage this! So, back to the supermarket, in the daylight this time, only to find the same thing happening! Ah, but this time I had someone with me who, having better eyesight than me, and being more up-to-date with immediate happenings in Loughborough, was able to reassure me that it was the Severn-Trent water company dishing out bottled water because there were still many houses in Loughborough with a water supply that was not fit for drinking!

Oh goodness me, that’s relief on several fronts: Relief that Tesco’s were not turning a blind eye to drug-dealing, and relief that our own water seemed not to have been affected by the burst water main.

Hmmm, clean water supply? That reminds me, I was going to blog about my partial research into Archdeacon Henry Fearon: Better save that one for another time.

Hope you’ve all had a very merry Christmas, and may I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Spotlight on: All Saints Parish Church

STOP PRESS

According to the local paper, the Loughborough Echo, Loughborough has been awarded a gold medal in the Small City category of the East Midlands In Bloom competition! Well done to one and all!! And while you're looking at the webpage for the Echo, have a look at what one man, who lives near the Taylors Bellfoundry, and his friend managed to achieve. 

Also in your local paper this week: A new display in the town library will be on Loughborough's lost houses: This was going to be a topic for a future blog post, but the volunteers in the local studies area of the library have beaten me to it! Be sure to visit: Open 10-12 and 2-4 each week day, although I think the display cabinets are accessible anytime the library's open.

As if that wasn't enough, there's also a plea to demolish the 1958 rectory, the library has been given a new name - Loughborough Community Library and Learning Centre - and yours truly appears in a picture!

Enough!!! On to the feature of my article: 

SPOTLIGHT ON: All Saints Parish Church

All Saints parish Church

I recently had the good fortune to find the Parish Church door open, and I couldn’t resist popping my head in and having a look round, but I was caught in the act by the verger, who insisted I come in and have a proper look! He also introduced me to the vicar who pointed out some stunning parts of the church. I’d previously only ever been in the church to sing or watch concerts, and had never managed to get inside for a visit as the church was not often open. I assumed that photography was not allowed and am kicking myself now for not asking, as a few more photos would have helped to bring this blogpost to life!

A bit of background

Originally, the church was dedicated to St Peter, was later also dedicated to St Paul, and has more recently become known as All Saints. For quite some time this church was the only church in the parish, until Emmanuel was built in 1837. More recently, in the 1990s, the church of the other parish in Loughborough, Holy Trinity, closed and the two parishes merged, but what I call the Parish Church retained its title of All Saints Parish Church.

The current church, the construction of which started in about 1330, is built on a site that has seen both an Anglo-Saxon and a Norman place of worship, but over the years, the church we know today, has been subject to lots of renovations and improvements, so it is sometimes difficult to work out what’s what. 

My visit

The verger showed me the big stone pillars, with signs of smoke from when they had fires in the church during the time of the Civil War, where it’s believed that the soldiers slept, and lots of carvings of signatures, often done by children who were quite possibly bored by the lengthy sermons, or where soldiers had sharpened their knives!

The verger then stood me in the nave, and faced me in the direction of the Chancel and Sanctuary and the great East Window. From here we could clearly see that the Chancel didn’t look straight! According to the verger this was to do with the idea of Heaven and Earth: As the coffin and funeral procession moved off down the Nave towards the Chancel, Earth, on the left-hand side was most visible, but the closer one got to the Chancel, the more one could see of Heaven on the right-hand side. Also, looking up from the Nave we could see a little window in the archway, which, apparently, was thought to be the door through which the spirit of the deceased passed as it was processed down the Nave towards the Chancel.

At this point, the Vicar arrived, and the verger was quick to introduce me: Anyone showing so much interest in looking around the church must surely be a potential congregation member!

The West End of the church is where the bell tower is situated. The area is enclosed by a set of wrought iron gates, which were put there in 1931 as a memorial to Pryce Taylor, a bellfounder, and member of the famous Taylor bellfounding family. The Vicar told me that the Taylor family had moved to Loughborough from Oxford with the specific purpose of recasting the existing church bells, and adding a further two, making a peal of 8. This was in 1840, and in 1889 they added two more bells. Wow! This was exciting stuff! And as if that wasn’t enough, the vicar showed me the most amazing memorial in the floor, made of bell metal! This consists of a circular border with words from Psalm 19 in, and the crest of the family in the middle. Pretty spectacular! There were also memorials to others of the Taylor family on the walls of the tower.

As the Vicar then went off about her business, I had a little look around for myself, and was most taken with the Burton Chapel. This is an area on the south side of the church, which is dedicated to Thomas Burton, a benefactor to the town, who left money in his will to help create a school. It is also a memorial to those former pupils of his school who lost their lives during the First World War. What struck me was that most of the area was made of wood, and was elaborately carved, and quite impressive.

A Swithland slate gravestone

Having spent quite some time looking around inside the church, I then took a walk around the outside of the building. Many of the headstones in the graveyard were made of Swithland slate: Some were taken from inside the church and were lying flat on the ground, whilst others were standing, erected in groups of closely arranged slates. Some were quite old, but there was nothing newer than 1857, as the new cemetery off the Leicester Road was built then, and the churchyard no longer used for the purpose of interment.

Detail of gravestone inscription

There were also some quite elaborate tombs, although most were suffering from weathering and lack of maintenance. Where it was possible to read some of the inscriptions on the headstones, these were quite fascinating, and often gave a lot of information about the deceased, like their job and so on.

Also in the grounds I saw the truly magnificent Fearon Hall. This hall, built in 1889 of that familiar Victorian brick construction, was erected as a memorial to Archdeacon Fearon, who was Rector of All Saints from 1848-1885 and Archdeacon of Leicester from 1863-1885. The original use of the hall was as a venue for the parish Sunday school, and an extension was added in 1910. Today it's the headquarters for the Fearon Community Association and is the meeting place for many local groups, including playschool, scouts and Pilates classes. In the morning sunshine it looked spectacular.

As I walked around the churchyard, my thirst to know more about the history of the area, led me to leave the church and make my way to the Old Rectory, where there is now a museum … a story for another day, perhaps!