Tag: Larard Tree

Facebook post #043 (Nov 2020)

Once upon a time, lambs were landed on the marshy land opposite Thorney Island on the River Thames, perhaps even to supply the wedding feast at which King Cnut III drank himself to death. The next King, Edward the Confessor, built his house and church on the island: his sister Goda built her church at the Lamb-hythe (Lambeth), and gave land to the Bishops of Rochester. When Edward fell into a coma, it was in Lambeth that Harold proclaimed himself King, and in Edward’s church (Westminster Abbey) that he was crowned.

An arrow in the eye later, William I made Westminster his own; after the Anarchy, the Bishops swapped Lambeth for other lands; the Archbishops of Canterbury got their town house, Lambeth Palace. Goda’s church, St Mary-at-Lambeth, had been rebuilt in stone. It became their church, and the parish church.

My gt-gt-gt-grandparents William and Charlotte Little (of Wiltshire and possibly Devon families respectively) had nine children baptised at the church 1800-1819, and three of their grandchildren married there. Charlotte was buried there, one of the 26,000 contributing to a noticeable raising of the land. The tomb of Admiral Bligh of the Bounty can still be seen.

One of the Little children was my gt-gt grandmother Harriet, who married watchmaker James Larard. In 1841, they lived near the river in Lambeth. After a time in Canada, James returned to Lambeth, and his son Henry was born there.

Solomon and Mary Ann Knight (of Surrey and Sussex families), also my gt-gt-gt-grandparents, had six children baptised at St Mary in 1811-1822. Two of the children married at the church, including my gt-gt Grandmother, Rebecca. Thomas and Rebecca lived in Shropshire, which is where their daughter Frances Mousley was born. However, one of her sisters was born in Lambeth, indicating a continued connexion with the area.

In 1862, the first Lambeth Bridge was built, right next to St Mary, where the horse ferry used to connect the palaces. (It was rebuilt in 1928 when 4000 were made homeless by the last of innumerable floods on the old marshes.)

I don’t know if the Little and Knight families knew one another but their grandchildren Henry Larard and Frances Mousley married in Croydon in 1870. Their son Ernest ended up in Birmingham: Ernest’s daughter married my grandad Terence Wheaver there. Oddly, one of Terence’s grandmother’s cousins, Fanny Barnard, was married at St Mary in 1865.

In 1824, to serve the rapidly increasing population of the former marshes and woodlands, matching Greek Revival churches of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were built across the borough. Henry Larard was christened at St Mark (Kennington). Solomon’s descendants lived in Norwood, and St Luke was the family church. One married at St Matthew, which was in Brixton.

In 1942, both St Mary-at-Lambeth and St Luke were damaged by bombing (post 33). The altar, given by Sir Henry Doulton of the local ceramic works was destroyed. In the same year, a V2 rocket destroyed the Victorian Baths at which Captain Webb (post #031) had trained.

The area became derelict and depopulated. The church became gloomy and dilapidated; it was deconsecrated and approved for demolition in 1972. At the eleventh hour it was rescued and, in honour of John Tradescant, converted to a Garden Museum. John was Gardener at Hatfield House, and planted a botanic garden close to St Mary; there is a splendid memorial to his son in the church. Sadly, I didn’t have time to go inside when I passed by just before the first lockdown – but I did take a minute to walk in my ancestors’ footsteps.

More about John Tradescant and the Museum here: https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/the-museum/history/tradescants/

Facebook #035 (Sep 2020)

So, a couple of weeks ago (post 32), I mentioned that the Larard family had been involved in woolcombing and silk weaving, characteristic of the Huguenot and Walloon refugees of the time. Edward (1762) had moved to Hull, and his son Thomas had started a watchmaking business there in 1812. This occupation is also characteristic, and it is known that fathers sometimes funded the apprenticeships of their sons. I described the Hull business but didn’t mention that Alfred, brother of Alderman Frederick of Hull, had emigrated to Australia, taking the trade to the centre of Melbourne. The family business made goldfield jewellery (pictured), and even branched out in to bicycles (his advertisement pictured).

Back in England, Edward’s brother was Timothy (1739), a silk dyer. His son Francis (1777) moved to London at the time the silk trade was booming there. By 1818, he was a boot maker in Clerkenwell (where my Dad worked for a while in the 1970s, as did I – briefly – in the 1980s). The Old Bailey records show that someone stole a pair of boots from a nail outside the shop: Francis gave chase and apprehended the felon on Clerkenwell Green. Francis and his wife Elizabeth were married at St Giles, Cripplegate (see my photo) and are buried in the famous Highgate Cemetery, leaving significant bequests.

Clerkenwell (see my photo of contemporary Session House) was big in the watch trade and I suppose Francis paid for his son James (1810) to learn the trade, as his first cousin (once removed, so a generation older) in Hull had a generation earlier.

James married Harriett Little, and they lived near Vauxhall bridge with seven children. In 1868, James, at least, was in Canada, having emigrated on the SS Bellona.

JAMES LARARD from London, England. At King Street, Oshawa.

IMPORTER AND MANUFACTURER OF CLOCKS, WATCHES AND JEWELRY

London made Lever Watches of the Best workmanship, IN GOLD AND SILVER CASES. 18 & 22 Carat Gold Wedding Rings and Keepers. London made Gold Chains, Alberts, Lockets, Brooches, Earrings, Scarf Pins, &co. Extensive assortment of Spectacles and Eye Glasses, also Colored Glasses. A large stock of Double Crystal Watch Glasses, first imported into Canada. French and American Clocks. Every Description of Chronometers, Duplex Lever and Verge Watches repaired in a superior manner.

The Public are Invited to Inspect the $20 Lever Watch, in Stout Sterling Silver Cases, the Cheapest Watch in Canada.

After a few years, James returned to South London – to the genteel suburb of Brixton. Of the sons, Francis was a watchmaker, who emigrated to a gold prospecting town in New South Wales; Henry carried on the clock and watchmaking business in South London. Reginald was a cabinet maker, and then a chemist. He emigrated to Australia and sold ‘Oogar Dang Water’, which later morphed into the well-known Kirk’s brand. By 1900, he was a gold prospector in Cue, Western Australia (the centre of the Murchison goldfields and the terminus of the railway from Perth.). Sidney travelled the world with the merchant navy, then came home and lodged with his brother Henry, and then emigrated with his brother Reg. He had been a banker, a leading light of the Chamber of Commerce, and Secretary of the Brisbane Club, excelling at tennis and golf.

There is a lot more about this family, their trades and localities, and their English and Australian descendants, on the blog. There was a shocking accident in 1893 where three lads, including Sidney’s son George, were playing on a riverbank, looking at the remains of the Indooroopilly Bridge, which had been washed away in floods a few days earlier. They got into trouble: someone managed to rescue George with a rope; the others were lost. Such are the twists of fate.

So Henry (1841) was the son who stayed at home. He married Fanny Mousley at St John’s Church, Croydon in 1870 (see my photo). This was 101 years before my parents moved me to the same town, in blissful ignorance that our ‘midlands’ family had South London roots. I’m pleased to say that there is an example of a Larard clock in the family (pictured).

Henry and Fanny had one child, Ernest, who – like his grandfather and his uncles before him, emigrated to try to better himself – this time to the USA. Like his grandfather, he returned to Britain – but to the Birmingham area, where his daughter married into the Wheaver family.

One of Ernest’s sons, (another Francis/Frank), was posted to Australia in the War (I think) and wrote home that he had seen a jeweller (in Perth?), sporting the same coat of arms as his own! Many years later, one of Frank’s children emigrated to Australia with her family, a fourth generation of globe trotters.

Facebook post #025 (Jul 2020)

This is Phyllis (and one of the pianos her family made). You should feel sorry for Phyllis because she had her 21st birthday present stolen while she was dining. The family lost £1.2m (in today’s money) in the 1927 robbery in Sunningdale. Then she married my cousin.

She had already stunned the world by wearing socks on a golf course (as one of the famous golfing sisters). According to a website I’ve just found, she went on to be renowned for skating, skiing and toboganning. And bred champion Irish Wolfhounds. And raced a Bentley in the Monte Carlo rally. And lived to 92 (still driving), surrounded by haute couture, fine art and pictures of horses.

Phyllis Strohmenger and a Strohmenger piano

Facebook post #017 (26 May 2020)

Today is the 80th anniversary of the Little Ships first sailing to Dunkirk. This is my family’s surviving contribution, the Glenway, built and operated, appropriately, by my Little cousins. She was towed across the channel from Ramsgate by the tug ‘Crested Cock’ with a consignment of bread, munitions and medical supplies for the troops. She was spotted, by an anti-submarine vessel, on the beach, with 190 battle-weary troops on board, unable to re float and with her engine out of commission. The Captain armed her to resist enemy air attacks, refloated her, and sailed home, laden with soldiers of the 27th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. Sadly, twenty of them died of their wounds during the sixteen-hour crossing. When the Glenway reached Dover, she was picked up by a passing tug and towed into port.

Facebook post #015 (May 2020 – 014 was a progress update, hoping everyone was coping with Covid 19)

I’ve been checking my family tree work. Managed to miss one chap‘s kids. One of his sons owned 25 Thames sailing barges. One of his grandsons was awarded the Air Force Cross, and died on the R. 38. Another was consulting surgeon to the British Second Army, was awarded a Croix de Guerre, and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath, and a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John. Good job I checked…

Facebook post #011 (May 2020)

So, in 1875 my first cousin died in the notorious rookeries around Seven Dials in London, a site of unspeakable squalor, open sewers and all. A three minute walk and twenty years away, my second cousin’s family moved into new business premises in Covent Garden. The business prospered. When their grandson died in 2012, part of his silver and gold collection was sold for £3m at Sotheby’s, and he left about £10m-worth to the Ashmolean.

Update (Dec 2022) – A Surprising Connexion

My cousin in the rookeries was Emma (who married her first cousin). The rich family was Edward and Alice. The basis of the story was Dad’s Dad Grandad marrying another of Emma’s first cousins (they lived in Shropshire), and Dad’s Mum’s cousin marrying the jeweller (they lived in Kent).

But look! Those neighbouring families – of dramatically different fortune – inter-married, via the son of colour box Jabez, resulting in a indirect linking of the Barnards and Littles a generation before my grandparents joined the families.

Further updated in post #066

Facebook post #010 (1 May 2020)

#OnThisDay in 1851, the Great Exhibition opened in Hyde Park. It was visited by over six million people – equivalent to a third of the entire population of Britain at the time. The profits were then used to found the V&A, Science Museum and the Natural History Museum… Family history follows…

See also our Great Exhibition page.

Facebook post #002 (Nov 2019) [tweaked]

Plodding through my family history research today, I found a new cousin, Frederick Peckham, who was apparently master of the SS Umona.

During WWII, 36,749 Merchant Navy seamen and women were lost to enemy action, 5,720 were taken prisoner and 4,707 were wounded, totalling 47,176 casualties, a minimum casualty rate of over 25 percent.