Pictor Family Photos Augustus F Perren February 2025
Cornelius with his prize dahlias and chrysanthemums in the Fogleigh House greenhouse
It was a sign of Augustus'sstatus that he was allowed to take some of the rare personal photographs of the eminent Pictor family, great quarry-owners at Clift Quarry, Box Hill. When Job Pictor died the family firm was known as Pictor & Sons, a reference to Job Pictor's two sons, Robert Newman Pictor and Cornelius James Pictor. The brothers both worked for the company but it was the elder, Robert, who became managing director until his untimely, sudden death in 1877. It was a crucial time with the firm planning to build a gravity railway from their Clift Works quarry down to a stoneyard at The Wharf in the centre of Box. The mantle of responsibility passed to Cornelius who was aged 35 at the time and relatively inexperienced in the ups-and-downs of the stone industry.
Cornelius became chairman of the Pictor family company and of the Bath Stone Firms Limited (commonly called "The Firms") after the business merged with other local quarry companies in 1887. It was a difficult time in the industry and the directors of The Firms struggled to agree the direction of the business.[1] We might imagine that Cornelius' natural kindly character did not relish argument and he resigned with virtually no notice to take up his hobby of growing magnificent blooms and showing them all over the country. He occasionally submitted exhibits of the grapes he had grown.[2]
Cornelius became chairman of the Pictor family company and of the Bath Stone Firms Limited (commonly called "The Firms") after the business merged with other local quarry companies in 1887. It was a difficult time in the industry and the directors of The Firms struggled to agree the direction of the business.[1] We might imagine that Cornelius' natural kindly character did not relish argument and he resigned with virtually no notice to take up his hobby of growing magnificent blooms and showing them all over the country. He occasionally submitted exhibits of the grapes he had grown.[2]
This is a very rare portrait of Cornelius James Pictor. Cornelius never married but became beloved by his family. His generosity to them was personified by his support of his older sister and nieces in his own home for four decades. Cornelius unexpectedly took the lead in managing the family's affairs and providing stability needed when his brother Robert died intestate in 1877.
Cornelius' architectural pride and joy, was the building of Fogleigh House, Box Hill, a project which took 14 years to complete. It is possible that the greenhouse was undergoing work at the time of the photo above, or alternatively that Cornelius had installed blinds to protect tender plants in the summertime. Cornelius had several gardeners to attend the exhibits: Charles Vaughan (head gardener) and James Ford and Arthur Simpkins (both under gardeners).[3] Charles Vaughan lived at The Wharf in 1911 and moved to Pickwick after Cornelius' death in 1916. Arthur Simpkins was the son of Henry Simpkins, a quarryman sawyer, who had worked for Pictors at Clift Quarry.
Similar view showing completed glasshouse in front of house.
The Monkey Puzzle tree in the front garden of Fogleigh House was an unusual specimen put in a prominent place in the grounds. It was a demonstration of status favoured by late Victorian gentlemen and ladies who competed to have rare species to show off their gardens to visitors. Cornelius' nephew Herbert RN Pictor grew giant redwoods at his home Rudloe Park Towers.
This is Augustus' photograph of Mary Pictor Pay, Cornelius' older sister. Mary married Edward Sampson Pay, a trainee missionary in 1866. They had three daughters including twins but Edward died within two years of the marriage. Mary and the girls lived in the family home at Clift House until Mary's mother died in 1872. Cornelius took pity on them and became a father figure to the girls, giving them and their mother residence with him at Fogleigh House. The photo above of Mary looking ill appears to be shortly before her death in 1907.
Cornelius and Mary in happier times showing off their new motor vehicle. The chauffeur was Aaron Harrold who lived at 5 The Parade, Box. Aaron had previously been a coachman dealing with horse transport but taught himself to drive and repair cars.
Another photo of Mary Pictor Pay, this time looking rather unwell. The photo was possibly taken in 1906 before Mary's demise on 21 February 1907. She was only 66 years old. The way that the Pictor family took Augustus into their inner family circle
shows that he was held in high esteem by his contemporaries.
shows that he was held in high esteem by his contemporaries.
The photographs above and below may be of Herbert Robert Newman Pictor often called HRN Pictor, At the young age of 24, Herbert became head of one branch of the family when his father Robert died in 1877. HRN continued building work for a new Pictor mansion at Rudloe Park Towers. When Cornelius retired as chairman of the Bath Stone Firms, HRN became the family's representative on the board of the company. Where was the photograph above taken?
Possibly HRN Pictor in his mid-thirties in the 1880s. Herbert had married Julia Humphries in 1876 but by the 1890s their relationship became distant and Herbert cut an increasingly isolated figure in Rudloe.
References
[1] David Pollard, Digging Bath Stone, 2023, Lightmoor Press, p.52
[2] The Wiltshire Times, 11 August 1894
[3] The Wiltshire Times, 4 March 1916
[1] David Pollard, Digging Bath Stone, 2023, Lightmoor Press, p.52
[2] The Wiltshire Times, 11 August 1894
[3] The Wiltshire Times, 4 March 1916