My research into the history of Loughborough takes me in all sorts of directions, down all manner of rabbit holes, and just occasionally I find I have taken a completely wrong turn! This was the case with one piece of research I did, which saw me investigating the life and times of William Cartwright. Of course, I was fully aware from the outset that there were Loughborough families with the name of Cartwright, and even several people called William Cartwright, but on this occasion, I set off in the wrong direction, based on an erroneous assumption! This is most unlike me! I rarely make assumptions, so this all took me a bit by surprise!
Well, rather than let all that research into William Cartwright go to waste, and languish in my research files, I thought I’d share it here on the blog, after all, this particular William Cartwright was born and brought up in Loughborough, so is totally relevant to this blog!
So, let’s go!
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William Cartwright’s grandfather was James, a farmer, originally from Derbyshire. William’s father was William Ambrose Cartwright who was born in Loughborough and who married Ann Haywood (née Bailey) on 15 October 1849 in All Saints church in Loughborough, when they were both aged 20. At the time, William Ambrose was a hosiery assistant in Angola wool, presumably at the factory of Richard Cartwright on Queen Street, who had begun the company in 1794, and soon joined forces with Edward Warner. The company employed around 2,000 workers in 1892, and is probably still well-remembered today.
Back to William Ambrose and Ann ... The couple’s first child was William Thomas, whose birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1850, and who was baptised on 21 March 1851 at Emmanuel Church, by the Reverend Bunch. At the time, the family were living on Leicester Road, and lodging with them were 65-year-old William Vickers, a landed proprietor, and 66-year-old Elizabeth Vickers, an annuitant. The household had one servant, local girl, Emma Rossell.
A second son was born to William Ambrose and Ann in 1852, and he was named Thomas Bailey Cartwright, after Ann’s family. Another son, James, was born and was baptised on 18th March 1857 at All Saints church. In 1859, a daughter, Carrie, was born, and the family were living on Leicester Road in 1861, William Ambrose being a 32-year-old hosier’s warehouseman.
Sadly, Ann, wife of William Ambrose and mother to William Thomas, died in December 1862. In March of 1864, William Ambrose married Betsey Amatt at All Saints church, and in 1865 a child, Henry, a half-brother to William Thomas was born. In 1866 we find William Thomas, now aged 16 studying magnetism and electricity with the Loughborough Institute (possibly the Mechanics Institute), for which he obtained a second-class prize.
William Thomas’s half-brother, Albert Edward Harley was born in August 1867 but sadly he did not survive into childhood, and died on 18th February 1868. Another half-brother to William Thomas, named George, was born in 1870, at a time when William Ambrose had risen from the ranks of hosier’s warehouseman to a hosiery manufacturer, and when he was initiated into the Howe and Charnwood Lodge of the Freemasons.
William Ambrose and wife, Betsy, were living on Stanford Lane, which on the census return for 1871 was listed just after Meadow Lane. Also living there were Thomas Bailey, James, Carrie, Henry aged 6, George E. aged 1, and two servants. Meanwhile, William Thomas was aged 20, and boarding with a family in Nottingham – Melbourne Street (Sherwood?), where he was a solicitor’s articled clerk. The family he was lodging with were the Bramelds – widow Anne aged 60, her daughter Mary, a governess aged 25, her sons Herbert 24, and Godfrey 22, both banker’s clerks – and one servant.
On 15 October 1874, William Thomas Cartwright married Mary Isabel Brameld (the governess listed in the 1871 census return), at St Stephen’s church in Sneinton, Nottingham. The home address was given as Belvoir Terrace. William was noted as a solicitor, his father William Ambrose was quoted as a merchant, and Isabel’s father was John Thomas Brameld a clerk in holy orders – a bit of a change from the time of Mary’s birth on 2 October 1845, and baptism on 13 November that year at St James, Westminster, when he was a china dealer.
A few years later, the 1881 census records William Thomas and Mary as living at 6 Park Terrace, Standard Hill, within the limits of Nottingham Castle, with daughters Edith 5, and Annie 4, and sons Thomas W. 2, and George A. aged 1. They also have three servants. Today, Park Terrace is a private road which runs parallel to the Ropewalk in Nottingham.
Another son, Vincent Henry, was born on 8 September 1882, and baptised 19 October 1882 at St Mary’s in Nottingham, while the family were living at Newcastle Drive Park. Vincent would later attend Rugby School, and matriculate for Oxford University in 1901. He played rugby, and later became a solicitor. In 1884, William was appointed as joint clerk to the magistrates of Nottingham, along with his business partner, Mr F. G. Rawson. Mr Rawson died in 1886, and William Thomas was appointed to the position solely, but later shared the duties with his sons, Thomas William, and Vincent Henry.
In 1891, William Thomas, now aged 40, was still a solicitor; wife Mary was aged 45, daughters Annie 14, and Margaret 5, and son Cecil Bailey aged 3, were living with four servants at 1 Newcastle Drive, Standard Hill, Nottingham. Meanwhile, the couple’s other four sons, all born in Nottingham - Thomas William (12), George Ambrose (11) Arthur James (9) and Vincent Henry (8) - were at school in Brighton, possibly at Chisham Place. A couple of years later, Betsy, William Thomas’s step-mother in Loughborough, died in 1893.
The family continued to live at 7 Newcastle Drive, and in 1901, William Thomas was aged 51, and a solicitor, his wife Mary Isabel was aged 55, and the children living at home were Edith aged 25, Annie aged 24, (neither of whom were working), Thomas William, a solicitor aged 22, and George A. a mechanical engineer aged 21. The family were supported by four live-in servants.
Later, in December 1901, Cecil Bailey Cartwright, a student at Rugby College, died at the school, at the age of only 14. An obituary in the Rugby Advertiser of 21 December states that Cecil was a bright, intelligent boy, who had been taken ill, and died a few weeks later. His funeral was in Nottingham, and there was a simultaneous service held at the Chapel in Rugby School. As a consequence of Cecil’s death, his brother, Vincent Henry, who was the football forward for Oxford University’s team, and who had been due to play sot the South against the North of England, dropped out of the team.
A few months later, in April 1902, William Thomas’s father, William Ambrose of Loughborough, died, and less than a year later, in March 1903, William’s wife, Mary died. 1903 brought happier news, when William’s half-brother, Henry Ernest, married Ann Elizabeth Pidd, daughter of Charles Pidd, a tailor. The address given was 13 Burton Street, presumably, Nottingham as the couple were married in Holy Trinity church, Nottingham, but could have been Loughborough.
In 1910, William Thomas was listed in Wright’s trade directory of Nottingham as a solicitor with Freeth, Rawson, & Cartwright & city magistrates’ clerk, at 13 Low Pavement, but living at 7 Newcastle Drive Park, Nottingham. Son, Thomas William was also listed with the same solicitors, and living at 1 Wellington Square, Nottingham, which was very close to Newcastle Drive. The following year, the census returns listed William Thomas as a 60-year-old solicitor, still living at 7 Newcastle Drive Nottingham, which had 16 rooms. His two daughters (not working) – Edith Mary aged 35, and Margaret Helen aged 25 – were also living there, as was son Vincent Henry now aged 28, who was a solicitor. The family still had four servants. The electoral rolls between 1911 and 1914 show that William Thomas was still living at 7 Newcastle Drive, Nottingham, and owned property at Long Clawson. In 1915, William Thomas suffered a seizure, and as a consequence reduced the amount of public work he did.
The 1921 census return was taken on 19 June that year, and William was still listed as a solicitor, but was possibly still poorly as he had a male attendant, a domestic nurse, as well as three servants, and was being visited by family members from Australia – son Arthur James, his wife, Marjorie, and their children Arthur William Alexander, Isabel Mary Ruth, and Ian Hebburn Scott. William’s two daughters lived with him – Edith Mary aged 45 on house duties, and Margaret Helen aged 35, a private secretary working on Oxford Street, Nottingham.
On 22 December
1921 William Thomas Cartwright of 7 Newcastle Drive, The Park, Nottingham, died.
Probate was granted 20 January 1922 to his son, the solicitor Thomas William
Cartwright. Effects were £1,103. The funeral took place on 24 December, at Nottingham
church cemetery, and amongst the mourners attending was James Cartwright, William’s
younger brother, who had made a name for himself in Loughborough – but his
story is for another day, as is the story of the William Cartwright I had meant
to research!!
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Posted by
lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for
typos which are all mine!
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Dyer, Lynne (2025). So Who Was William Thomas Cartwright. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/06/so-who-was-william-thomas-cartwright.html [Accessed 8 June 2025]
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