Guarlford History Group
St Mary's ChurchCharles Andrew, a Victorian benefactorSummary
On the north wall of St Mary Guarlford is a window dedicated to the memory of Charles Andrew, died 1899, whose grave is midway along the west boundary of the churchyard, a few yards northwest of the church door. Charles was not a local man. He was the third son of a cotton manufacturer, born in the village of Compstall near Romiley in Cheshire on the edge of Greater Manchester. His connection to St Mary is that his sister Emma married a clergyman, Revd John Bateman Wathen, who later became Rector of St Mary, Guarlford. ContentsAbout sisters of second wife Jane Margaret Andrew nee Blayney More about Charles' second wife Jane Margaret Blayney Revd John Bateman Wathen (brother in law) John Wathen Eyton Lloyd (great nephew) Family buried in St Mary's churchyard FamilyIn the early 1800s Charles' grandfather Thomas and father George had established a water driven Calico Printing business, and Cotton Mill in Compstall and built houses for their workers, greatly enlarging the community and prosperity of what had formerly been a rural hamlet. Charles was the youngest son of mill owner George and Grace Andrew (nee Midwood). The 1851 census described Charles' father, George Andrew senior, as a cotton manufacturer employing 472 males and 578 females. Charles, living nearby, is similarly described as a cotton manufacturer, owning two cotton manufacture works, employing 472 males and 578 females, so Charles and his father must then have been in business together which is confirmed by the following announcement in the London Gazette in 1850.
Perhaps this reorganisation of the business had something to do with Charles' marriage at the beginning of that year. On 24th January 1850 Charles had married by licence Ann Ashton the youngest daughter of Samuel Ashton (1773 - 1849), a Cotton Spinner of Pole Bank, Werneth, who had died the previous year. Samuel was the uncle of Thomas Ashton (1818 - 1898) another cotton manufacturer who was the father of Thomas Gair Ashton (1855 - 1933) an industrialist and politician who became 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde. There seem to have been serious disputes between mill owners and their workers in those days as evidenced by the brutal murder of Ann's elder brother Thomas, aged 24 years, who was shot by a disgruntled Trade Unionist in 1831. Charles and Ann's marriage was reported in the Times on Saturday Jan 26th 1850:
Their marriage certificate records that the couple were married at the parish church Leamington Priors in Warwickshire, now known as Leamington Spa. Why the couple married in Warwickshire is somewhat of a mystery as Ann came from Werneth near Hyde in Cheshire where her family owned cotton mills; but we speculate that as both her parents were dead by the time of her marriage, there may have been other family living in the area. Charles' elder brother George was a witness.
Charles and his elder brother George inherited the 'Cotton Works' after their father's death in 1854. Charles' wife Ann sadly died at Green-Hill Compstall (later renamed Compstall Hall) on December 9th 1862, leaving Charles with five young daughters to bring up:
Ann's early death was announced in the Times on December 12th 1862:
There is a memorial to Ann Andrew on the wall of St Paul's church, Compstall, which also mentions Charles. The inscription reads:
The Marple Local History Society told us that Charles probably sold his half share in the 'Cotton Works' to George's son-in-law, Montagu Woodmass who married into the family in 1867 (ref 5); perhaps this decision was influenced by neither Charles nor George having a son to inherit the family business, and Charles marrying second in 1868, Jane Margaret Blayney of Evesham. The London Gazette announced Charles retirement from the family business on 24th September 1869:
Charles' second marriage
We did not find Charles in the 1861 and 1871 census, but in 1868 he married, second, Jane Margaret Blayney, daughter of Thomas Blayney (deceased) formerly of The Lodge, Evesham. The marriage was registered in the district Upton Upon Severn and may very well have taken place at St Mary Guarlford, as Charles' sister Emma was then the wife of the Rector John Bateman Wathen. The 1871 census records two of Charles' young daughters Constance and Bessie, from his first marriage, living not far away from Guarlford at Ham Court, Longdon, near Upton Upon Severn, together with a governess, two nephews, a niece and ten servants. Charles and Jane were not there and we wondered if they were possibly abroad with Jane's sister who had lost her husband the previous year. The 1881 census records that the family latterly lived at Coughton Court near Redditch in Warwickshire, home of the Throckmorton family who were Catholics and involved in the Gunpowder Plot. About sisters of second wife Jane Margaret Andrew nee BlayneyCharles Andrew's second wife Jane had two sisters Anna, and Mary Eleanor, some of whose children were at Ham Court, Longdon in 1871 when Charles and Jane were away from home. So why was this? Anna Blayney had married solicitor and Justice of the Peace for Warwickshire Thomas Colmore (1807 - 1870) of Ashfurlong Hall, Sutton Coldfield. After her husband's death the youngest children Mary and Frederick went to live with Jane and Charles at Ham Court. Anna's son Revd William Harrison Colmore became vicar of St Mary's church Moseley (1876 - 1907). Mary Eleanor Blayney had married landowner George Jackson of Westhorpe House, Marlow. She bore him sixteen children before her death in 1860. In 1871 her son Eustace Octavius Jackson aged 20 was staying at Ham Court with his cousins, possibly to help out while his aunt and uncle were away. Later a directory and the 1881 census record Captain Eustace Jackson, a farmer of 140 acres, living at White House Farm near Guarlford. With him is his brother Frederick Nathaniel Jackson, who died in 1882, and a servant Mary Ann Scaffold. More about Charles' second wife Jane Margaret BlayneyCharles had married second, Jane Margaret Blayney of Evesham, the daughter of Thomas Blayney of 'The Lodge' who was born 1762 and died in 1836 when Jane was 4 years old. Here we discovered another interesting link with Guarlford. According to 'A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank':-
This is confirmed by a map in Malvern library dated 1832 showing Thomas Blayney owning land from Dripshill on the north side of Rhydd Road extending to land on the south side. When Thomas died the land passed to Thomas's son Robert Blayney (1818 - 1856). A historian of St Mary, Moseley, told us that according to the Tithe apportionment map of 1840 Robert Blayney also owned nearly 90 acres in and near Moseley which was then a small village. Dripshill FarmThe association between Guarlford and the Blayney family is mentioned in The Guarlford Story. Here is an extract from chapter 2:
Charles' second wife Jane Margaret Andrew died in 1901 at Sherborne, Malvern Wells, where she was living with his granddaughter, Alice Mary Corbett. Marriages of Charles' daughters by his first wife AnnAll Charles' daughters seem to have made advantageous marriages. Margaret Ashton Andrew married Uvedale Bennett Corbett 6th August 1877, Upton Upon Severn Registration district. Uvedale Bennett was the son of Uvedale Corbett of Aston Hall, Shropshire, and became a JP for Chester. They had four children. Lucy Andrew married 1874, probably at Guarlford, solicitor James Croft Ingram (1844 - 1905). They had six children, Dorothy Ashton, Cicely Margaret, Charles James, John Markham, Thomas Ashton and Arthur Irvine. Arthur married Marian Ridge Williams and their daughter Dorothy Irvine Ingram married the son of Sir John Frederick Shelley 10th Baronet in 1940. Florence Andrew married 12 January 1887 Frederick Hugh Lee, son of John Benjamin Lee, solicitor, at Coughton parish church. They had one son. Constance Mary Andrew married 22nd August 1881, Chelsea, London, Bruno Aloysius Butler Bowden, son of John Butler Bowden (deceased), landowner and JP, formerly of Pleasington Hall. They had two daughters. Bessie Andrew married 5th April 1888 James Shapland Sargeaunt, son of James Primatt Sargeaunt, at Coughton parish church. They had one daughter. (James Primatt Sargeaunt was born 22 Feb 1831 at Easton-Maudit, Northants. Schools, Charterhouse and Westminster. Graduate of Cambridge. A clerk in the War Office, 1854. Inspector of Army Schools, 1855-70. Latterly of the Park, Tewkesbury. JP for Gloucestershire. Married, 1856, Fanny, daughter of the Revd Joseph Shapland, of Tewkesbury Park. Died 26 Apr 1900.) Charles' brother George junior
Montague Woodmass then took control of the business, until about 1893 when there was over capacity in the industry and the firm was forced to close. A memorial in St Paul's church Compstall records that one of George junior's grandsons was killed in the Great War. The memorial reads: In loving memory of Captain Kenrick Talbot Woodmass, East Yorkshire regiment; 4th son of Montagu Woodmass and great grandson of George Andrew, the founder of this village and church; who was killed in action near Ypres, April 23 1915, Aged 37. Served in the South African War 1899 - 1900: three times mentioned in despatches; two medals and five clasps. Charles' sister Emma
The connection with the Blayney family was not Charles' only association with Guarlford, for in 1851, his sister Emma Maria Louisa Andrew had married at Stockport, Cheshire, a Gloucestershire curate, the Revd John Bateman Wathen, who in 1857 became curate and then Rector of Guarlford. Could it be that Emma (see left) arranged for her husband Rev Wathen to marry her brother Charles and his second wife Jane at St Mary Guarlford? A window in St Mary is dedicated to the memory of Emma (see photo below). It is immediately on the left as you enter the nave.
Rev John and Emma Wathen had six children:
Revd John Bateman Wathen (brother in law)It is not clear how The Revd J B Wathen met Emma. Perhaps the families were visiting Great Malvern for the water cure, or the families had a connection by way of trade. The Andrew family were manufacturers of printed cotton in or near Manchester, while the Rector's family had been manufacturers of woollen cloth, not to mention earthenware and ironmongery.
John's maternal grandfather was James Bateman (1749 - 1824) a wealthy manufacturer who built Islington House, a mansion in Salford. Here is a short extract from the Nat Gould website (see link above) about the career of James Bateman:- 'By 1788 James Bateman & Company had iron foundries at Water Street in Salford and in Dukinfield in Cheshire, and iron forges at Dukinfield and Collyhurst in Manchester. William Sherratt 1754-1822 joined as a partner. In 1791 Bateman & Sherratt set up the Salford Iron Works, and became one of the largest manufacturers of cast iron products and stationary steam engines, outselling even Boulton & Watt of Birmingham. They manufactured the first marine steam engine. Their machines powered the cotton mills that were rapidly making Manchester the world's first industrial city'. This link between machines and cotton goes some way to explaining how the Wathen and Andrew families might have met. (Rev Wathen's brother James Bateman Wathen married Esther Venables and then left for Australia where two children were born, after which the family returned to Staffordshire and engaged in the manufacture of earthenware and colour paint. Later their son Ernest John Wathen emigrated to the USA and another son William Montague Wathen emigrated to New Zealand.) John Wathen Eyton Lloyd (great nephew)
So the small cross on the north wall of Guarlford church is a memorial to the Revd Wathen's grandson, John Wathen Eyton Lloyd, 10 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, who was killed in 1917, aged 21 years. He was the second of cotton magnate George Andrew's descendants to be killed in the Great War. Death of Charles AndrewThe National Probate Calendar and memorial window in St Mary's tells us that Charles died on January 5th 1899 at Coughton Court. On Wednesday March 8th 1899, the Times announced a sale of his coin collection:
An announcement in the Times on Tuesday 4th April 1899 advertised the sale of Charles Andrew's collection of pictures and water colour drawings, and a further announcement, porcelain and other effects. Family buried in St Mary's churchyardThere are five members of the Andrew family buried in St Mary's churchyard and you will find their headstones opposite the seat next to the church door.
Graves of Charles Andrew and his second wife PostscriptIn July 2016 the Guarlford History Group was contacted by the Marple Local History Society who are researching the Andrew family of Compstall and were able to provide more information about the family. They plan to publish an account of the family towards the end of 2016. References
Based on extracts from The Guarlford Story with photos and further research by Angus and Rosemary McCulloch Last revised 31st July 2016 |
Photo
of Charles Andrew (left) source Marple Local History Society.
George Andrew
(see photo right, source: Marple History Society) continued to run the cotton mill at
Compstall, in partnership with his son-in-law Montagu Woodmass, until
his death in 1873.
John Bateman Wathen, born Woodchester in Gloucestershire in 1821,
was the son of Obadiah Paul Wathen (1783 - 1868) and Margaret
Bateman. Obadiah was the son of Sir William Wathen and
Margaret Peach 
Emma
and the
Revd John Bateman Wathen's eldest daughter, Bertha Midwood Wathen,
married a Welsh doctor, Dr Albert Eyton Lloyd in 1883. They had three
children,