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The Fletcher and Bell Families
(1805–1952)
William George Nixey’s wife, Lucy Bell née Fletcher, was born at Birmingham on 31st July 1839, and baptised at St. Philip’s on 23rd October the same year. She was the fourth of seven children born to Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher and his wife, Ruth née Wright. Thomas was born on 20th December 1806, and baptised on 19th January 1807 at Shifnal, Shropshire. He was the son of John Fletcher and Elizabeth née Elcock who were married on 17th October 1805 at Worfield, Shropshire. Ruth Wright was baptised on 28th May 1816 at Whittington, Staffordshire, and was the daughter of George Wright and Matilda Ann née Adcock who were married on 12th November 1812 at Lutterworth, Leicestershire. On the 9th September 1834, a double wedding took place at Shifnal when Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher married Ruth Wright, and George Marriott married Ruth’s sister Elizabeth Wright. Thomas and Ruth’s eldest child, Ruth, was born in France, and was baptised on the same day as their second daughter, Elizabeth, on 25th September 1836 at Shifnal. The family is next found at Birmingham where their third daughter, Anne, was born on 5th October 1837, and who was baptised on 25th January 1838. Lucy had three younger siblings who were all born at Birmingham and baptised at St. Philip’s, Richard Bell who was born on 24th March 1841 and baptised on 7th June the same year, Jane who was born on 6th July 1842 and baptised on 1st September the same year, and Grace who was born on 27th August 1847 and baptised on 13th October the same year.
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“On Monday Last, at the house of his brother-in-law (Dr. Bell Fletcher), in Newhall-street, Birmingham, George Wright, Esq., of Grindle, Shropshire, in the 32nd year of his age.”–Coventry Standard, Friday 17th January 1845 |
When the 1841 census was taken on the night of Sunday 6th June, the Fletcher family were living at New Street, Birmingham, the youngest child at that time being Richard (Ref: HO107 piece 1146 folio 24 page 2). Also living with them were Ruth’s sister and niece, Elizabeth and Ann Mariat, and three servants, Margaret Wineman, and Ann and Hariot Arnold.
The following letter from Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher was published in Aris’s Birmingham Gazette on Monday 3rd April 1848 in response to the unanimous decision of the governors of the General Hospital at Birmingham in electing him as one of their physicians:
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To the Governors of the General Hospital, Birmingham |
When the 1851 census was taken on the night of 30th March, the Fletcher family were living at 18 Newhall Street, and with them were three servants, Jane and Margaret Drake, and Charlotte Whateley (Ref: HO107 piece 2056 folio 262 page 27).
In the Oxford Journal dated Saturday 7th November 1857, under the heading “Preferments and Appointments”, it was announced that the Reverend John Bell, Lucy Fletcher’s husband to be, had been assigned to Brington, with the curacies of Bythorn and Old Weston, Huntingdonshire.
The Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser of Wednesday 28th July 1858 made the following brief but very sad announcement regarding Thomas and Ruth Fletcher’s daughter, Jane, who had died in the Conwy area on the north coast of Wales:
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On the 17th instant, at Penmaenmawr, aged 16 years, Jane, fifth daughter of Dr. Bell Fletcher, of Waterloo-street, Birmingham. |
Early the following year, John Bell, a thirty-one year old bachelor, Clerk M.A. Rector of Brington, Huntingdonshire and late Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and nineteen year old Lucy Fletcher were married by licence at St Philip’s Church, Birmingham on the 15th February. The witnesses to their wedding were Mary Anne Bell, Anne Fletcher, James Bell, Ruth Fletcher, and Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher. Their fathers were recorded as John Bell, Surgeon, and Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher, Physician. At the same church later that year, on 1st November, Lucy’s sister Anne Fletcher and John Farncombe of Bishopstone, Sussex, were married by licence. Lucy’s husband, the Rev John Bell, conducted the ceremony, and the witnesses to their marriage were Ruth Fletcher, Grace Fletcher, Emily Philadelphia Farncombe, and Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher.
John and Lucy’s first child, a daughter who they named Ruth Gertrude, was baptised the following month at Brington on 25th December. Their second child, another daughter, named Lucy Maud Katherine, was born on 27th January 1861, and baptised on 10th February. Very sadly, she died at the tender age of just two weeks.
When the 1861 Census was taken on the night of Sunday 7th April, John Bell along with his wife Lucy and daughter Ruth are found at the Brington Rectory (Ref: RG09 piece 960 folio 117 page 25). With them are Lucy’s sister, Elizabeth Fletcher, three pupils, Arthur Wright, Arthur Jones and John Shield, and four servants, Mary Robotom, Ellen Stirton, Mary Ann Parsons, and Henry Meek. Thomas and Ruth Fletcher had moved to 7 Waterloo Street, Birmingham, where three of their children were living with them, Ruth, Richard and Grace (Ref: RG09 piece 2149 folio 16 page 26). Also with them were Thomas’ sister Jessie and three servants, Mary Jones, Sarah Ryder, and Elizabeth Martin. Meanwhile, at Bishopstone, Sussex are John and Anne Farncombe with their newly born son, John Fletcher (Ref: RG09 piece 589 folio 55 page 12). John Farncombe is recorded as a farmer of 350 acres, employing two men and eleven boys.
According to the Coventry Herald in its issue dated Friday 19th July 1861, Lucy’s only brother, Richard Bell Fletcher, who was referred to as a “gent”, was assigned as Ensign of the Warwickshire Rifle Volunteers, 1st Consolidated Battalion (Birmingham). Being in the Volunteers was a local militia appointment, and not a full-time army posting. Local gentlemen normally held the rank of officers in their local militia. Richard won’t necessarily have served in the regular army, unless his unit was called up to take part in a specific campaign. Around the same time, at the age of twenty and a half, and while working as a merchant’s clerk, he became a Freemason. He was initiated into the “Lodge of Light”, Birmingham, on 15th July 1861, and resigned in June 1878.
Lucy next gave birth to twins on 9th January 1862 at her parents’ home in Waterloo Street, Birmingham, and named them Ethel Mary and Mildred Alice. They were baptised on 27th April 1862 at Brington. Their first son, John Lawrence, was born on 15th March 1863, and was baptised on 24th May. Another son, Edward Austin, was baptised on 9th December 1865. Their final child, another girl, was named Constance Lucy. She was baptised on 29th August 1867, but very sadly died just two days later, and was buried on 1st September.
The Bedfordshire Mercury in its issue dated Saturday 16th January 1869 reported on three thefts. As collectively the list of items stolen were rather unusual, he was clearly an opportunist:
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Robberies by a Carrier |
When the 1871 Census was taken on the night of 2nd April, John and Lucy were again found at the Brington Rectory, and only their two sons were with them, John Lawrence and Edward Austin (Ref: RG10 piece 1509 folio 22 page 1). Also with them were four boarders, Henry V Flower, James V Chataway, Robert P Hooper, and Fentham Hedges, and three servants, Eliza Busby, Annie F Lorman, and Ellen Seale. Ruth Gertrude is a pupil at a boarding school at St Edmund Terrace, Hunstanton, Norfolk (Ref: RG10 piece 1857 folio 34 page 30), and the twins, Mildred Alice and Ethel Mary, are pupils at the Rotherwick Rectory in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire in the household of James Chataway and his family (Ref: RG10 piece 1233 folio 100 page 11). Thomas and Ruth Fletcher had moved from Birmingham to Dorridge House, Knowle, in Solihull, and four of their children were with them, Ruth, Elizabeth, Richard, and Grace (Ref: RG10 piece 3190 folio 33 page 20). Five servants were also there, Sarah Semark, Anne Miller, Anne Wilkins, Anne Boston, and Edward Cogbill. Meanwhile, John and Anne Farncombe are living at Farm House, Bishopstone, Sussex, and their family has grown with the addition of two daughters, Muriel and Annie Bell (Ref: RG10 piece 1070 folio 65 page 5). Also with them are four servants, Elizabeth Ellis, John and Ann Hider, and Mary Holland.
The 1871 Census is the latest where Richard Bell Fletcher has been found, his occupation being given as “Mariner.” As previously mentioned, Richard had joined the Freemasons in 1861, and amongst the orders and degrees they have is one called the Royal Ark Mariner. Could this possibly be what his occupation of “Mariner” was referring to? Whatever the case, he resigned from the Freemasons in June 1878. Although as already stated he can’t be found in future UK censuses, he is mentioned in his father’s will which was written in 1887. There is also a burial record in New Zealand on 23rd October 1901 of a Richard Bell Fletcher, buried in a public grave at the Swinburn (or Kyeburn-Kokonga) Cemetery, Maniototo County, Otago. He was sixty years old, and could well be Lucy’s brother.
A slightly unusual article appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle and Journal of Saturday 9th November 1872:
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Huntingdonshire Church Music Society. – The annual meeting of the Hunts Church Music Society was held in Princess-Street school-room, at 2 o’clock last Saturday. ... The minutes of a previous meeting having been read, an application was laid before the meeting from the Rev. J. Bell, Brington, for a grant towards the purchase of a harmonium, but as it was stated in the application that the instrument would not be altogether for choir purposes, the application was not entertained. |
When the 1881 Census was taken on the night of 3rd April, John and Lucy were still at the Brington Rectory, with just one of their children, Mildred Alice (Ref: RG11 piece 1583 folio 23 page 10). With them were two students, Charles V Magniac and William C Thornhill, two servants, Margret Ray and Emily H Mantle, and a visitor, Hugh M Steven. Edward Austin Bell was found far from home in northwest England, where he was a fifteen year old scholar at the Rossall School near Fleetwood, Lancashire (Ref: RG11 piece 4256 folio 89 page 6). Thomas and Ruth Fletcher had moved again, and in this census are found at 43 Clarendon Square, Leamington (Ref: RG11 piece 3093 folio 50 page 44). With them were three of their daughters, Ruth, Elizabeth and Grace, and three Servants, Elizabeth Holmes, Selina Dunkley, and Emma Warr. John and Ann Farnscombe are still farming in Bishopstone, Sussex, and with them are their two daughters, Muriel and Annie, and two servants, Orpha Tucknott and Ann Self (Ref: RG11 piece 1073 folio 87 page 14). In this census John Farncombe is said to be the employer of nineteen men and eight boys.
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“Notice |
John Bell died at Brington on 24th April 1883 at the age of fifty-six, and was buried at the parish church. When his will was proved on 26th July, his personal estate was valued at £9,692 13s. 4d. The executors were his widow Lucy, and his brother James Bell who was a solicitor living in Kingston-on-Thames in Surrey.
On 18th October 1883, the first of their children to be married was Ethel Mary who became the wife of Edward Leonard Welstead. This is how their marriage was reported on in the Pall Mall Gazette of Saturday 20th October:
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Welstead – Bell. At Brington, Edward L., son of the late Mr. John R. Welstead, Captain 7th Dragoon Guards, of Kimbolton House, St. Neots, to Ethel M., daughter of the late Rev. John Bell, Rector of Brington, Oct. 18. |
The first of Lucy’s grandchildren to be born was Violet Ethel Welstead who joined the family on 5th February 1885. So far the following nine grandchildren have been found:
Name | Birth Year | Mother’s Maiden Name
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A very sad story was related in the Cambridge Independent Press of Friday 6th April 1888, regarding the death of Frederick and Ethel Mary’s second child, John Edward George Welstead:
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Death of a Child by Choking. – An inquest was held at Kimbolton, on Saturday, by Mr. Gerald Hunnybun, the District Coroner, on the body of John Edward George Welstead, aged two years, which met its death by choking on the previous day. Mr Edward Leonard Welstead, J.P., said he resided at Kimbolton, and was father of the deceased, who was born on the 15th June 1886. On Friday he was sitting in his drawing room, when he was called to the door, and found the child in the butler’s arms. He was patting it on the back, and it appeared to be choking. He (witness) tried to get his finger into the child’s mouth, but could not succeed, and it died in his arms. Emily Martha Norton, nursemaid in the employ of Mr. Welstead, said she had charge of the child, which was in good health up to a quarter past one. She was having her dinner in the nursery, and the child was sitting by her side. She went down stairs on an errand, and left the child and its sister, aged three years, in the room. She had previously pushed her plate away from the child. There were pieces of meat on her place – lean and fat. The child by leaning across the table might have got to the plate. When she got back she found the child in its chair, but choking, and she noticed that a piece of fat had gone from her plate. She took the child to the kitchen, and then to the butler in the dining room. He took it and patted it on the back, and gave it to Mr. Welstead. Mr A. H. Hallett, surgeon, said he had seen the child, and heard the evidence given that day. The symptoms were those of death by choking. The jury returned a verdict of “Accidentally choked whilst eating a piece of meat.” |
Two years later, Ethel’s twin sister Mildred Alice was the next to be married. Her wedding took place at the Parish Church of St George Hanover Square, London, on 3rd November 1890. Her groom was a twenty-six year old bachelor, Frederick George Francis Browne, who was a Lieutenant in H.M. Royal Warwickshire Regiment. His residence was recorded as Budbrook Barracks, Warwick, while Mildred gave her address as 66 Piccadilly. Both of their fathers were recorded as deceased, George Frederick Salmon Browne having been a Major in the Madras Staff Corps. The witnesses were R. Hall, and J. Lawrence Bell. Frederick and Mildred had just one child, a son who they named Victor Frederick, who was born in 1897.
Almost four months after being a witness at his sister’s wedding, John Lawrence Bell was the next to be married. The wedding took place at the Parish Church in Stand, Lancashire on 26th February 1891. His bride was twenty-four year old Muriel Alice Leake, the daughter of a “Gentleman” named Robert Leake. The witnesses to their marriage included Robert Leake, Louisa M. Leake, and Frank T. Wrigley. Their wedding was reported on in the Pall Mall Gazette on Friday 27th February 1891:
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Marriage of an M.P.’s Daughter |
John and Muriel also had just one child, a daughter who was born in 1893, named Elaine Muriel.
Thomas Bell Elcock and Ruth Fletcher moved a short distance from 43 Clarendon Square to 8 Clarendon Crescent in the autumn of 1883, and this is the address they are found at when the 1891 Census was taken on the night of 5th April (Ref: RG12 piece 2472 folio 19 page 31). With them were two of their daughters, Ruth and Elizabeth, as well as a nurse, Charlotte H Steadman, and three servants, Hannah M Roberts, Alice Hales and Mary E Fitchen. Meanwhile on the south coast of England, John Farncombe is found with his brother William and three nieces at Montpelier Villa, North Street, Worthing (Ref: RG12 piece 836 folio 9 page 14). His wife Anne is found at Manor House, Hampden Gardens, Bishopstone, with two of her children, John and Muriel, her visiting sister Grace, two servants, Annie Winter and Avis Mockford, and a visitor, Cathrine Pinnock (Ref: RG12 piece 800 folio 99 page 18). Ethel Mary Welstead was living at High Street, Kimbolton, with her husband Edward and six year old daughter Violet Ethel, as well as three servants, Alice Rose H Wyant, Elizabeth Dickens, and Annie Mehew (Ref: RG12 piece 1243 folio 46 page 4). The newly weds John Lawrence and Mildred Alice Bell were living at Roxborough Park, Harrow, Middlesex, and with them were two servants, Anna M Piercy and Mary Wilding (Ref: RG12 piece 1039 folio 106 page 47).
Two and a half months later, on 17th June, another wedding took place at the Parish Church of St. George Hanover Square, this time it was Ruth Gertrude Bell, who gave her address as 66 Piccadilly. The gentleman she was marrying was one of the witnesses to her sister Mildred’s marriage the previous November, Reginald Hall. He was a Captain in the army, and was based at Aldershot in Hampshire. His father was Henry Hall, who was a Clerk in holy orders. They were married by Frederick J. Hall, Clerk in Holy Orders, Vicar of Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire, in the presence of J. Lawrence Bell, and Alexander McKinstry. So far it has not been possible to find Reginald and Ruth Hall in the UK Censuses, and currently it isn’t known whether they had any children.
Once again, later that year, you’ve guessed it, yet another marriage took place, the last of John and Lucy’s children, but this time it was a little further away from home. Edward had emigrated to Queensland, Australia where he worked as an accountant. He and Charlotte Elizabeth Walsh were married on 18th November in Brisbane. Edward and Charlotte had one daughter and four sons, Lucy Mildred in 1893, Murray Fletcher in 1894, Cedric Austin in 1896, George Colin in 1901, and Edward Alan in 1907, all of them being born in Queensland. The influence the Rossall School had on Edward Austin Bell in his earlier years is quite obvious when you find him in Queensland Electoral Rolls, his address being recorded as Rossall, Flinders Parade, Sandgate.
Within the space of seven years, both of Lucy’s parents and her sister Ruth passed away at Leamington, while her brother-in-law and nephew, John Farncombe and John Fletcher Farncombe died in Sussex. Firstly, her mother Ruth died on 5th December 1893 at 8 Clarendon Crescent, aged seventy-eight, as reported on briefly in the Saturday 9th December 1893 issue of the Leamington Spa Courier. A little over two years later, Lucy’s brother-in-law died in Bishopstone, Sussex, where a beautifully written article regarding his funeral appeared in the Sussex Agricultural Express of Saturday 23rd March 1895. In part it said:
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Funeral of Mr. John Farncombe. – One could scarcely choose a pleasanter or a more peaceful place in which to sleep the last long sleep than the pretty old-fashioned churchyard of Bishopstone, where, on Wednesday afternoon, the mortal remains of Mr. John Farncombe were laid to rest. The little village, nestling between the hills which almost enclose it on three sides, and open to the sea on the fourth, is an ideal spot for a graveyard, and there was a peculiar appropriateness in its selection as the final resting place of Mr. Farncombe, who had been associated with it during the whole of a long life, and had lived for many years under the very shadow of the old church. The universal respect in which the deceased gentleman was held was evident from the large number of persons of all classes who gathered to take part in the solemn ceremony. The funeral cortege, consisting of a hearse and seven carriages, left “Verncombe”, Blatchington (where Mr. Farncombe died on Friday last) at a quarter past two, and it was about three o’clock when the churchyard was reached. The mournful procession was met at the gate by the officiating clergy, the Rev. A. J. Bridgeman, M.A. (Bishopstone), and the Rev. A. J. Richardson (rural dean, and rector of Blatchington), and Mr. Allan Cooper (churchwarden of Bishopstone). The little church was speedily filled with mourners and friends, and the impressive service – a strange mixture of sorrow and hope, of sadness and joy – was reverently joined in by those assembled. The lesson was read by the Rev. A. J. Bridgeman, and the hymn “Hush! blessed are the dead,” was softly sung. The last sad rites were performed at the graveside, and the service concluded with the beautiful verses commencing “Peace, perfect peace.” The organist, Mr. Blaker, who presided at the harmonium, rendered the “Dead march” in Saul, and the village choir were in attendance. The coffin, which was of oak, and covered with a number of exquisite wreaths, bore the following inscription: – |
Those present at the funeral included around thirty members of the Seaford Urban District Council of which John Farncombe was a member. It was only around two years later in early 1897 that John Farncombe’s son, John Fletcher Farncombe, died at the age of thirty-five. Later the same year, on 21st October 1897, Lucy’s father Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher died at the age of ninety. The Leamington Spa Courier in its issue dated Saturday 23rd October 1897 printed the following article regarding his death:
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The death occurred in Leamington on Thursday of Dr. Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher, of 8, Clarendon-crescent. The late doctor, who had been a resident in Leamington for some years, had attained the ripe age of 91 years. He was formerly an eminent Birmingham citizen. Coming to that city from Shifnal, a graduate of the University of Paris, fresh from the Continental and London schools – young, energetic, and full of intellectual aspirations – he plunged at once into the medical current of the place and into all the projects designed for the promotion of general culture and advancement. To all the medical societies, scientific, benevolent, and social, Dr. Fletcher attached himself. His earliest medical appointment was to the office of physician to the Birmingham General Dispensary, in 1838. The Midland Counties Asylum for Idiots, at Knowle, owes its foundation to the combined efforts of Dr. Fletcher and his friend Mr. J. H. Kimbell. Finding his health impaired by heavy professional labour, in 1887 he passed some months in the South of France, where he regained much of his vigour. On his return he settled in Leamington, within easy access of many old friends and of the various societies with which he had been so long connected. Relieved of the cares of practice, he was appointed medical adviser to the visiting justices of licensed houses for the insane in the county of Warwick, and retained the office until defective hearing led to his resignation. This infirmity precluded his attendance at large assemblies, and limited his social intercourse to occasional visits to one or two friends with whom he could hold animated converse. In May, 1887, he was seized with apoplexy whilst walking with one of his daughters. From the consequent paralysis he slowly recovered, and regained much power of speech and motion. In October a relapse occurred which confined him to bed for some time, and although his inherent vitality enabled him to rally so as to interest himself in current events, his condition afterwards fluctuated greatly, and the decline of old age became more and more marked. The funeral will take place at one o’clock next Tuesday, at the Church of England Cemetery, Warstone Lane, Birmingham. |
Regarding the funeral, the Leamington Spa Courier of Saturday 30th October printed the following:
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The remains of Dr. Bell Fletcher, who died in Leamington on Thursday in last week, were on Tuesday interred in Warstone Lane Cemetery, Birmingham, in the presence of a large company of old friends and associates. The body was brought to Birmingham at midday, accompanied by the Misses Fletcher, Mr. L. Fletcher, Dr. F. N. Haynes and Dr. Morris, of Leamington. It was enclosed in a polished oak coffin covered with beautiful purple and white flowers from the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and servants of the deceased. No other floral tributes were received, owing to a wish expressed by Dr. Fletcher before his death. The coffin bore the simple inscription: “Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher, died October 21st, 1897, in his ninety-first year.” Many charitable and other institutions with which Dr. Fletcher was associated, during his long life, were represented, among those present being: The Lord Mayor (Sir James Smith), Town Clerk (Mr. E. O. Smith), Messrs. J. C. Lord (Royal Orthopaedic Hospital), E. M. Goodman and W. A. Bolton (General Institution for the Blind), W. G. Blatch (Midland Counties Idiot Asylum), Bennett May (Queen’s Hospital), G. Beech and Wright Wilson (Freemasons), Sir Willoughby Wade, the Rev. Dr. Poulton, Drs. Richards, Whitcombe, Oakes, Harvey, Foster, Underhill, L. Freer, A. Hill, Hall Edwards, Harmer, and Burton, Messrs. W. R. Hughes, J. Horner, Kendal, J. N. Bower (Leamington), T. H. Bower, V. Bower, R. Bower, and J. M. Bower (Knowle). The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. W. H. Smith, of St. Paul’s Church. |
Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher’s will was proved on 31st December the same year, and in the Morning Post of Friday 14th January 1898 under the heading of “Wills and Bequests”, the following details were published:
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The will (dated February 21, 1887, with a codicil dated December 9, 1894), of Dr. Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher, J.P., of 8, Clarendon-crescent, Leamington, who died on October 21, was proved on December 31 by William George Nixey and John Lawrence Bell, the executors, the value of the personal estate being £22,132. The testator gives £1,000 each to his daughters Ruth and Grace; his house, with the furniture and effects, to his unmarried daughters, and such a sum per week to his son as his daughters shall think fit. The residue of his property he leaves on trust for his daughters, and at their decease one-sixth thereof is to go to the children of each of his five daughters and one sixth to the children of his son. – Illustrated London News. |
On 16th October 1900, at 19, Sherbourne Place, Leamington, Lucy’s eldest sister Ruth died at the age of sixty-five.
A little over five months later when the 1901 census was taken on the night of 31st March, Anne Farncombe is living with her two daughters, Murial and Annie, at Belgrave Road, East Blatchington, Sussex, and also with them are two servants, Fanny Bulman and Caroline Thomas (Ref: RG13 piece918 folio 15 page 22). Lucy’s son John Lawrence Bell along with his wife Muriel Alice and seven year old daughter Elaine were living at Church Street, Amersham, and with them were three servants, Elizabeth Whitbread, May Hoare, Florence E Simmock, and a visitor, Constance Summers (Ref: RG13 piece 1335 folio 22 page 3). Lucy’s sisters Grace and Elizabeth were living at 19 Clarendon Street, Leamington, and with them were two servants, Rhoda and Eva Pratt (Ref: RG13 piece 2932 folio 41 page 28).
Ten years later, when the 1911 Census was taken on the night of Sunday 2nd April, Anne Farncombe was living at Vern Court, Belgrave Road, East Blatchington, Sussex (Ref: RG14 piece 5072 schedule 28). Her two unmarried daughters Muriel and Annie are with her, along with two servants Edith Farmer and Emily Frances Geermey. Lucy’s sisters Grace and Elizabeth were still living at 19 Clarendon Street, Leamington, and with them were two servants, Emma Atkins and Martha Warr (Ref: RG14 piece 18732 schedule 88). John Lawrence Bell, his wife Muriel Alice, and daughter Elaine Muriel were living at The Old House, Wexham, Slough, and with them were three servants, Elizabeth Whitbread, Florence Harvey, and Elsie Maude Hedges (Ref: RG14 piece 7860 schedule 21).
Lucy’s sister, Anne Farncombe, passed away aged 78 in the spring of 1916 at Newhaven, Sussex. Their unmarried sister Elizabeth Fletcher died at 19 Sherbourne Place, Leamington on 13th January 1921 at the age of eighty-four.
Later that year, when the Census was taken on the night of 19th June, Ruth Gertrude Hall was boarding at 20 Selby Avenue, St Albans, in Hertfordshire (RG15 piece 07150 schedule 57). Her sister Grace Bell Fletcher was living at 19 Clarendon Street, Leamington, along with two Servants, Emma Atkins and Hannah Draker (Ref: RG15 piece 14691 schedule 120). Edward Leonard and Ethel Mary Welstead are found at Fox Clore Stoneley Huntingdon, Kimbolton, Edward being recorded as a Justice of the Peace (Ref: RG15 piece 07882 schedule 28). Living with them were two Servants, Mary V Childs, and Lilly M Butty. Meanwhile, at Gifford Hall, Broughton Gifford, Melksham, in Wiltshire is Ethel’s brother-in-law and twin sister, Frederick George Francis and Mildred Alice Browne (Ref: RG15 piece 10036 schedule 132). With them are two Servants, Emma Slade, and Elizabeth Mary Gibbs, as well as a boarder, Dora Alice Measer.
About three and-a-half months after this Census, Ruth Gertrude Hall died on 5th October at Bath, Somerset. The following article regarding her funeral appeared in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette of Saturday 15th October:
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The funeral of Mrs. Ruth Gertrude Hall, widow of the late Captain Hall, took place at Highgate Cemetery on Friday. The mourners were Mrs. Browne (sister), of Gifford Hall, Melksham; Col. Browne (brother-in-law); Mrs. Welstead (sister); Miss Hall (sister); Mr. J. L. Bell of London (Brother-in-law). The coffin was covered with beautiful flowers from the relatives and friends. Mrs. Hall died in Bath last Wednesday. She had been a frequent visitor to Bath for some years. Captain Hall, her late husband, had seen considerable military service in South Africa. The funeral arrangements in Bath and London were completely carried out by Jolly and Son, Milsom Street. |
Edward Leonard Welstead, the husband of Ethel Mary née Bell died on 29th April 1929. The lych gate of St Andrew’s church at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire was erected in his memory. A news item regarding the lych gate appeared in the Peterborough Standard of Friday 31st January 1930:
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KIMBOLTON |
The following year, Frederick George Francis Browne, the husband of Muriel Alice née Bell, died on 16th May 1931, and was buried at the Melksham Church Cemetery in Wiltshire.
A little over five years later, Grace Bell Fletcher died on 26th October 1936 at 19 Sherbourne Place, Leamington, she was eighty-seven years old. The following obituary appeared in the Leamington Spa Courier of Friday 30th October 1936:
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Miss Bell-Fletcher |
Lucy Nixey’s eldest son, John Lawrence Bell, died in the Frensham area of Surrey on 10th March 1937. He was seventy-three years old. The twins, Ethel Mary Welstead and Mildred Alice Browne, both died in the St Neots area of Huntingdonshire. Ethel Mary died at Great Staughton aged seventy-eight on 16th October 1940, and Muriel Alice died on 10th September 1945 aged eighty-three, and was buried at the Melksham Church Cemetery in Wiltshire.
Edward Austin Bell died in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on 5th October 1952 at the age of eighty-eight.
References
The details of Richard Bell Fletchers initiation into the “Lodge of Light”, Birmingham, can be found in the Library and Museum of Freemasonry, London: Register of Admissions, Country and Foreign, no. 689, fol. 127.
Richard Bell Fletcher’s burial record was found on the Ancestry UK website, under "New Zealand Cemetery Records, New Zealand Society of Genealogists Incorporated."
Unless otherwise stated, all newspaper articles can be found at the British Newspaper Archive.
Credits
The portrait of Dr. Thomas Bell Elcock Fletcher is Copyright and appears by kind permission of Warwickshire County Record Office (Ref CR2941/20/1).
The photograph of All Saints, Brington is a Flickr photo by Steve Day.
The modern-day photograph of 8 Clarendon Crescent, Leamington, appears by kind permission of David and Christine Lawson.
The lych gate at St Andrew’s church, Kimbolton, was found at Wikimedia Commons (Church_Lych_Gate,_Kimbolton_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1365890.jpg).