Almost Two Centuries Ago...

...William HUNT was baptised on the 29th of November 1818 at St Mary's Church, Luton, in the county of Bedfordshire. Who was this William HUNT? 

William was Henry Graham PIERCY's great grandfather. We don't  know his date of birth but we do know when he was baptised - one hundred and ninety five years ago today. His parents were named as William HUNT and Elizabeth.

Want to know where the family forename Wingrave came from? Well, in 1842 William married Harriet WINGRAVE, daughter of Thomas WINGRAVE and Ann, again at St Mary's, Luton. As well as HUNTs there are lots of WINGRAVEs in the registers there, the surname probably coming from the nearby village of Wingrave about fifteen miles from Luton as the crow flies. So Alice Wingrave PIERCY, Averil Wingrave PIERCY and Caroline Wingrave PIERCY have a name which can be traced back in the family for over three hundred years to William WINGRAVE, baptised in 1678, Averils' 6th great grandfather.

Click on any illustration to  view full-size

So what did William HUNT do? At the time of his marriage he was described as 'age 23, bachelor, warehouseman of St Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, Middlesex, father William Hunt, steward'. It may seem rather odd that he was away in Middlesex, but perhaps he had business connections there. A warehouseman in those days was someone who owned a warehouse, not as these days someone who drives a fork-lift truck!

His two first daughters, Sarah and Harriett, were born in Middlesex before the 1851 census. By 1849 he appears to have returned to Luton as his next two daughters were born there and in the 1851 census he and his family were living at 22 George Street, Luton. Again he was described as a 'warehouseman, straw plait'. 

William Hunt's family in the 1851 census

Luton was the centre of the very profitable straw plait industry, mainly used for straw hats which were so popular because of their lightness and coolness as summer wear for both sexes. The straw boater is still part of some schools' uniform and is symbolic of late nineteenth century leisure times.  George Street itself was at the very centre of Luton; the Town Hall had been built there in 1846 suggesting that William was prospering in Luton.

Drays loaded with hat crates in George Street, c.1905. Acknowledgements to The Luton News

His daughter Alice Maude, Henry Graham PIERCY's maternal grandmother, was born in 1854 at George Street. Her father William was now described as 'straw hat manufacturer'. As an aside, I was told by my aunt Kathleen that one of William's daughters 'was governess to Russian Royalty ("only one of the lesser princes")'. There's name-dropping for you!

Alice Maude Richardson née Hunt

By the time of the next census, 1861, he had moved with his wife and by now eight daughters from Luton to Dunstable High Street about five miles away, as a 'straw manufacturer'. 

William Hunt's family in the 1861 census

He was still in Dunstable at the time of the 1871 census, living at The Priory [House] on High Street South and described as a 'manufacturer'. 

William Hunt's family in the 1871 census

A description of Priory House says of it:

'This 18th century building stands on the site of the Priory guesthouse and incorporates part of an original 13th century vaulted chamber within. The front of the property dates from the 13th century, making it the oldest secular building in the county. 

It was built as a 'hospitium' (guest house) for travellers to Priory Church and stood on the perimeter of its Great Courtyard adjacent to one of two gated entrances. Pilgrims would have been regular guests. 

Dunstable Priory Church

Ownership of the site passed to the Crown in 1539 when the Priory was dissolved and Priory House was leased to private individuals. By 1694, the property was in the ownership of the Crawley family. Three subsequent generations of the Crawleys owned the house and, as medical practitioners, made use of it as a private asylum for the mentally ill. In 1743, the family greatly expanded the house and built a two storey brick building on what is now the car park. It seems likely that this extension was to house their patients. A magnificent mahogany staircase and a fine marble fireplace were added and these have survived to the present day. 

Priory House and Munt & Brown hat factory in 1859
The factory has now been demolished though Priory House still stands

In 1859, Priory House was purchased by Munt and Brown, straw hat manufacturers. Part of the house itself was used as the manager's residence. A third storey was added to the extension for the factory premises. The firm went into liquidation and the house passed to Arthur Munt who demolished the factory but retained part of the front wall, including the outline of two windows which today remain hidden behind a bus shelter. 

The property has been in various office uses since 1947. Today it houses Dunstable's Heritage centre'.

Priory House on Google Street View today - the two windows mentioned above can be seen on the right

William was listed in a Bedfordshire directory for 1877 as 'Manager to Mount [sic], Brown and Co' at The Priory.

By the time of the 1881 census he had left Dunstable for the capital, living at 58 Seven Sisters Road in Islington. He had left the straw business - perhaps he had seen which way the wind was blowing for the industry as the Bedfordshire products became threatened by foreign imports - and was now described as a 'Keeper Of Registry Office For Servants'. Perhaps his daughter became a 'governess to Russian Royalty' through the contacts he made while running this employment agency.

William Hunt's family in the 1881 census

He died in 1882 leaving over £1,600, a tidy sum worth today between £152,000 and £1,960,000 according to how you make the calculation - it was in any case the second highest value will on the page.

Link to William HUNT's will in the National Probate Calendar

Henry Ellidge RICHARDSON, one of the two executors, was William's son-in-law, the husband of Alice Maude Richardson née Hunt. He is shown in the ancestors chart below; William and his descendants are connected to Henry Graham PIERCY by the thick line.

Ancestors of Henry Graham PIERCY for three generations back to William HUNT

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'Cock your hat - angles are attitudes.'

Frank Sinatra

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So, Who was Eric?

Some time ago my kind sister Averil sent me from Canada a box full of place marker cards. They are a set of Japanese, hand-coloured card figures, each with a person's name on the base.

Where had they come from? Almost certainly from my parents - my father had been working in Japan. So, first question answered.

But was this dinner party before his and my mother's return in 1936 or after? There are no place settings with their names on, so the initial response might be that it was before 1936 and that the place settings had been sent to England as a gift by them. On the other hand on their return from Japan they lived first in Hampshire, then in North Wales, then in Somerset. These are all places far from Newcastle upon Tyne, where evidence suggests the meal took place. In those days before or during World War II, before every family had at least one car, the railways were the only was of travelling round the country. A long cross-country journey might involve several changes of train, often involving long waits in station waiting-rooms for the next train. Perhaps my parents were actually back in England and just unable to join the others because of the distance involved. So, this question unanswered.

Looking at the names, they were almost all family members of my father's and grandfather's generation. Was there a story behind that meal?

Let's have a look at those place marker cards - and don't forget you can see a larger image by clicking on the original.

Daddy

Mother?

The first one is labelled 'Daddy'. Since most of the rest of the family names were those of my father's generation, I am fairly sure that 'Daddy' was my paternal grandfather Frank Piercy.

The next one is a little more tricky to read as it looks as though one name has been over-written by another. One interpretation could be 'Mary'. Another could be 'Mother', in which case it would refer to my paternal grandmother Alice Wingrave PIERCY née RICHARDSON. The latter sounds most likely, but which name was written first?

Alice Wingrave was known to her own generation as 'Winnie' - to the younger generations she was always known as 'Granny Piercy'. Averil pointed out to me that the writing looks like hers (Winnie's) - I concur.

Willlie

Elsie

The next card has the name 'Willie' written on it. This would have been my grandfather's brother, William PIERCY  Like my grandfather he was an engineer in Newcastle upon Tyne in the north east of England and I have dim memories of him driving his Lanchester (I think) car round Jesmond where he and my parents lived.

'Elsie' was William's wife, Elsie Marian PIERCY née PLOWMAN. Her father was a bottled beer wholesaler according to the 1891 and 1901 census - interesting, as William's father, also William, was a teetotal Methodist. I wonder how that went down in the family!

Elsie was born in Hackney, William in Dalston nearby.

Kathleen

Frank

'Kathleen' was Alice Kathleen PIERCY née PIERCY, my father's eldest sister and Frank's eldest child. She had trained as a teacher, like her mother, but in domestic science. Also like her mother she left the profession when she married her first cousin, Frank PIERCY (yet another Frank in the family!), William and Elsie's son. He took over his father's business of Cromil and Piercy, graphite factors. They had no children.

Maurice

Grace

The next name was 'Maurice', William Maurice PIERCY, my father's younger brother. He was always known as Maurice and after attending the Royal Grammar School at Newcastle became an accountant. After the war, when he served in the Royal Artillery, he left England to work with the accountancy firm Price, Waterhouse in Singapore. I was told he was the official receiver to the Malta Dockyard. Oral tradition, so no doubt some truth in it but not perhaps the whole truth...

'Grace' was Grace PUMPHREY. Grace's family were Quakers, so when Maurice came back from Singapore to marry her at the end of 1950 they were married at the Friends Meeting House in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, before returning to Singapore. Her brother Owen ran the Pumphreys Coffee business, started in 1750 and still trading.

Muriel

Mary

Next I found the name 'Muriel', Maurice's twin sister Elsie Muriel PIERCY. Muriel trained in Domestic Science and never married. She spent most of her life in the north east of England.

'Mary' was Mary RUNCIMAN née RICHARDSON, my grandmother's youngest sister. An amazing character, she survived being torpedoed during World War 2, was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in World War 1, and between the wars was adopted by Sir Walter RUNCIMAN. That's a story in itself!

Jean

Spence

'Jean' was Jean MALLEN née PIERCY, William PIERCY's daughter, Frank and Stanley's sister. She married 'Spence', Spence MALLEN.

Spence had been an estate agent, and qualified for his Royal Aeronautical Aviator's Certificate at Newcastle Aero Club in June 1939. He was killed in action while flying a Handley Page Hampden bomber as a Sergeant Pilot with 44 Squadron on 28 August 1941.

Stanley

Eric

Of the first two names, 'Stanley' is easy to identify - Stanley Edwin PIERCY, second son of Willliam PIERCY and Elsie Marian PIERCY née PLOWMAN. He became a very successful veterinary surgeon in Kenya after getting his PhD at London University's Royal Veterinary College.

But who was Eric? So far I cannot identify him as a PIERCY family member. Perhaps he was a family friend. The puzzle remains.

So there you have it. Over seventy years ago the PIERCY family gathered for a meal. Meals can be practical, simply feeding the body; meals can be social, cementing relationships; and meals can be ritual, celebrating events. Surprisingly, after all those years, we still have these few hints about this meal and its circumstances.

From the evidence of the place settings, it seems to have been a family gathering and might have been celebrating a birthday or perhaps a festival. It certainly occurred before 28 August 1941 when Spence was killed. It probably occurred before 1940 as by then Stanley was married to Eleanor and there is no place setting for her - though there may have been one, lost over the years. Almost every person named had their home in Newcastle upon Tyne; if 'Daddy' and 'Mother' were the hosts then the meal would have been at 26 Graham Park Road in Gosforth.

So we can have a good guess for the era of the meal; its location; and the reason for the gathering. The chart below shows the relationships between most of those present.

We still don't know who 'Eric' was, though...

The Newcastle PIERCY family - click to enlarge

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'Any celebration meal to which guests are invited, be they family or friends, should be an occasion for generous hospitality.'

Julian Baggini

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