So Who Was Christopher Staveley?

  An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

 

Short biography of Christoper Staveley

Christopher, the eldest son of Christopher Staveley, architect and sculptor of Melton Mowbray, was baptised on 16 April 1759. Christopher started his career in Melton, and classed himself as an architect, surveyor, and engineer. In 1872 Christopher was involved in the Melton Navigation works. He married Ruth Ella on 27 May 1793 and together they had seven children - three sons and four daughters. During his middle years Christopher was based in Loughborough, possibly in Church Gate, but definitely as tenant of the Bull’s Head on High Street, from 1797-1808, then Market Street until 1819 when he moved to Leicester. Christopher was in partnership with Samuel Waters in Leicester, trading as timber merchants on Humberstone Gate, until Staveley’s death on 23 July 1827. He was buried in Loughborough cemetery.

Ruth outlived him. In 1835 and 1841 she was listed in Pigot’s Directory under the heading “Clergy and Gentry” as living on Sparrow Hill in Loughborough, and on the 1841 census as living on Sparrow Hill, with Mary Staveley aged 30 her youngest daughter, and Fanny Lewis. Ruth died on 21 January 1842 and is buried in Loughborough cemetery.

Ruth Staveley

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Arthur John Price

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

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*Maps of Charnwood Forest and the River Wreake Navigations

*Major reconstruction of the interior of the parish church, Loughborough 1799

*Parish Church Loughborough erected three galleries and relocated the pulpit (1815)

*Repairs, renovations and extensions to the Old Rectory Loughborough (extension of 5 bays at right angles to what existed, porch, entrance hall, 20x25 ft living room, and similar drawing room, three bedrooms upstairs, and a cellar (1799)

*Sutton Bonington Rectory (1811)

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Basic facts

Name: Christopher Staveley

Parents: Christopher (1727-1801) Sarah nee Hill, the fifth of ten children, and the first of three boys. Father later married Lucy Smith (23 Dec 1784) who had been previously married to Robert Smith (she was daughter of Henry Kettle)

Date and place of Birth: 1758 Melton Mowbray

Spouse: Ruth nee Ella (m.27 May 1793) (1762-1842)

Children: 7 children - 3 sons and 4 daughters – eldest was Edward (1795-1872), Christopher

Death: July 1827

Places lived: Melton, Loughborough, Spa Place Leicester (1793-1797); Bull’s Head Loughborough (as tenant, 1797-1808); Loughborough (1808-1819); 1819 Market Street, Leicester At time of death Craven Street, Strand, London

Place of work/Offices: 1826 Humberstone Gate Leicester

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I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Thank you for reading this blog.

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Dyer, Lynne (2026). So Who Was Christopher Staveley? Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-christopher-staveley.html [Accessed 22 April 2026]

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Local books local people

This week I've treated myself to perusing some of the books about Loughborough I have on my bookshelves and also some in the Local and Family History Centre, in the public library. And what a fascinating experience it's been!

'The story of Loughborough: 1888-1914' by W. Arthur Deakin, and published by the Echo Press in 1979, is a well-thumbed tome that contains extracts from the local newspapers, and is accompanied by plenty of photographs. What's particularly interesting is that my copy was once owned by George Lowe, who was at one time curator of the Old Rectory Museum, interesting because as a member of the Loughborough Archaeological and Historical Society, I volunteer at the ORM! In addition, it's also interesting that at the time he owned this book, George lived in Staveley Court, interesting because Christopher Staveley was an architect who, around 1799-1800, undertook repairs to the ORM, as well as to the parish church in 1815.

In a booklet on non-conformist Loughborough, it was interesting to note that there are so many different Paget families:

Other publications reveal other names. So, for example, in a revision to the rules of the Co-operative Society of Wood Gate, Loughborough, there are several groups of names mentioned:

And in one of the Bulletins of the Loughborough and District Archaeological Society (now the Loughborough Archaeological and Historical Society) there's an interesting list of members:

Interestingly, George H. Green, listed above in connection with the Bulletin, wrote a book about the Loughborough market and the fair, when he was the Markets Manager:

Being very keen on Wales, as well as Loughborough, it's wonderful that my book 'Wild Wales' by George Borrow, was once owned by George Green, as seen by the dedication he wrote inside it:

A lovely little map (not sure of the date) is rather tall and narrow, unlike most which are much squarer. I'm guessing because this was produced specially for Mr Mather:

And the final treat I unearthed was a copy of a book called 'Recipes and wrinkles'! I've always associated that last word with age lines on a face, but apparently, it has another meaning, as discovered in the Oxford English Dictionary: 'A piece or item of useful information, knowledge, or advice; a helpful or valuable hint; a tip'. Hence, as can be seen from the contents page, the last seciton of this book includes household tips, although I'm not quite sure what this has to do with Suffragettes!

Thank you for stopping by!

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

Dyer, Lynne (2019). Local books local people. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/05/local-books-local-people.html [Accessed 25 May 2019]

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.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne