The Pictor Women and their Uncle Jim
Original research and photos Geoff Richardson, additional research Alan Payne, June 2021
Original research and photos Geoff Richardson, additional research Alan Payne, June 2021
We received an email from Geoff Richardson, South Africa, which said my grandmother, Gwendoline Mary Richardson, had this photo of Uncle Jim. Thanks to your article William Smith Pictor I was finally able to identify who Uncle Jim was, Cornelius James Pictor of Fogleigh House, Box. Geoff was tracing the female members of his family and turned up some amazing facts about the Pictor women. These are his ancestors.
Early Pictor Women
Tracing back, my grandmother, Gwendoline Mary Richardson (nee Hedges) was the daughter of Lilian Mary Hedges (nee Pay) and the granddaughter of Mary Pay (nee Pictor), the great granddaughter of Job and Mary Fluester Pictor. The Pictor dynasty really starts with Mary Fluester whose husband Job died suddenly in 1857 leaving the widow to complete the building of Clift Quarry and the rail line down Box Hill to The Wharf.
Early Pictor Women
Tracing back, my grandmother, Gwendoline Mary Richardson (nee Hedges) was the daughter of Lilian Mary Hedges (nee Pay) and the granddaughter of Mary Pay (nee Pictor), the great granddaughter of Job and Mary Fluester Pictor. The Pictor dynasty really starts with Mary Fluester whose husband Job died suddenly in 1857 leaving the widow to complete the building of Clift Quarry and the rail line down Box Hill to The Wharf.
A card from Cornelius to his great niece Gwendoline at some time between 1895 and 1916
Mary Pictor was Mary and Job’s daughter, the seventh of their twelve children. She was the younger sister of Robert, who took over the firm of Pictor & Son, and also sibling of Cornelius James Pictor (Uncle Jim), the first chairman of the Bath Stone Company Limited. Mary married Edward Sampson Pay in 1866.
Probably Cornelius Uncle Jim Pictor
Mary Pay (1840-1907)
Edward Sampsion Pay (1842-68) was studying at the Church Missionary College in Islington, London, when he married Mary. The college had been founded in 1820 as part of a national Victorian initiative to take Anglican Christianity to Africa. Whilst modern views focus on the disruption that the missionaries caused to social and cultural life in the world, we should not decry the sincerity of people of that age or of the admiration that he was held by contemporaries, including Mary. Edward subsequently transferred to the Redland Training College, Bristol, where he and Mary had a daughter Lilian who was born at Aberdare, Wales, followed by twin daughters, Violet and Maud on 4 January 1868.
Edward Sampsion Pay (1842-68) was studying at the Church Missionary College in Islington, London, when he married Mary. The college had been founded in 1820 as part of a national Victorian initiative to take Anglican Christianity to Africa. Whilst modern views focus on the disruption that the missionaries caused to social and cultural life in the world, we should not decry the sincerity of people of that age or of the admiration that he was held by contemporaries, including Mary. Edward subsequently transferred to the Redland Training College, Bristol, where he and Mary had a daughter Lilian who was born at Aberdare, Wales, followed by twin daughters, Violet and Maud on 4 January 1868.
Church Missionary College, Islington (courtesy Wikipedia)
Tragically, Edward died, aged 26, in 1868 after only two years of marriage. Mary and her three daughters took refuge with her mother Mary Pictor at Clift House in 1871 and the inscription on the headline photograph appears to be written by one of the daughters. After her mother’s death, Mary turned to her younger brother Cornelius for support. He took the family under his wing, looking after Mary and her infant daughters at Fogleigh House. Mary died in 1907 at Fogleigh and her obituary described her as living a quiet and useful life in which she made many friends particularly amongst the poor of the parish.[1] She left £2,857.17s.4d (today worth £350,000). The children wanted to stay with their uncle who never married and became a father figure to them. Gradually they married and moved away, Lilian in 1894, Violet in 1901 and Maud probably left the house on Cornelius’ death in February 1916.
Back Row, Back left: one of the twins either Violet or Maud, centre Lilian Mary then Charles Hedges. Front: the other twin holding Gwendoline Mary Hedges, my grandmother in the late 1890s.
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Three Daughters
All three of Mary’s daughters continued to have close connections with the Box area. The eldest Lilian Mary Pay (1867-18 November 1931) married Charles Hedges at the United Free Methodist Church, Box Hill, in 1894 and the bride was given away by Cornelius Pictor (uncle Jim).[2] Charles came from Rowstock, Steventon, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire). They honeymooned on Isle of Wight. By 1901 they were farming at Godalming, Surrey where their children were born. They employed a governess and two domestic servants to manage the household. By 1911 forty-four-year-old Charles was described as a Gentleman of Private Means and they had moved down to a 7-roomed house at Herne Bay, Kent. In 1920 Charles was still described as a farmer. Lilian died in 1931 at Laurel Cottage, Kingsdown, Box. She left £3,915.18s.10d (today £270,000). Violet Pay married her first cousin Norman Wilson Pictor at Box United Methodist Chapel in 1901.[3] Norman was the oldest child of William Smith Pictor of Pickwick Villas, Corsham and usually described as gentleman. The church was reported to have been filled to overflowing and again Cornelius gave the bride away. Incidentally, marriage to cousins wasn’t uncommon in the Pictor family as Norman’s sister, Elsie Jane, also married a first cousin.[4] |
Lilian and Charles’ wedding in The Gentlewoman, 26 May 1894
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Violet and Norman lived at Spa House, Box with their three-year-old daughter Sybil Mary, and 3 domestic servants. In 1932 they were reported as living at The Wilderness, Corsham and, by the time that Norman died in 1950, they had moved to Sunnyside, Freshford, near Bath, where Norman left an estate of £11,131.3s.10d (today £400,000) split between Violet and their only daughter Sybil Mary. Violet was also living at Sunnyside on her death in 1952. The other twin, Maud, never married and in 1939 she was living at 29 Station Road, Corsham with a single domestic helper in circumstances rather reduced from the grandeur of Fogleigh. She died in 1955 also at Sunnyside.[5] Sybil married Reginald Wilson Lee, Sports Outfitter, but there are no known descendants.
Sunnyside, Freshford, Bath on a Christmas card sent by Sybil
Family of Lilian Hedges
Meanwhile, my family tree goes back to the family of the eldest daughter, Lilian Mary and Charles Hedges. Their first child, Gwendoline Mary, was born on 14 March 1895. In October 1920 when she was living with her parents at Spa House, Middlehill, Box, she married Geoffrey Taswell Richardson, the second son of the Rev Edward Taswell Richardson and Muriel (nee Frances) who was born in Moreton Morell, Warwickshire on the 5 March 1897.
Meanwhile, my family tree goes back to the family of the eldest daughter, Lilian Mary and Charles Hedges. Their first child, Gwendoline Mary, was born on 14 March 1895. In October 1920 when she was living with her parents at Spa House, Middlehill, Box, she married Geoffrey Taswell Richardson, the second son of the Rev Edward Taswell Richardson and Muriel (nee Frances) who was born in Moreton Morell, Warwickshire on the 5 March 1897.
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Geoffrey was a lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. During a bombing mission on the 6 November 1918 his plane was attacked by a large number of German fighters and he was shot in the knee, which later resulted in the amputation of his leg. Geoffrey was promoted to the rank of Major in the Royal Artillery and became second-in-command of the 21st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment in the 1930s.
Geoffrey and Gwendoline had two children: Richard (born 12 June 1924) and Faith (born 30 September 1927). They lived at Drellingore, Folkestone, Kent during the 1920s until 1930 when they inherited Capenhurst Hall, near Chester, built by Geoffrey’s great grandfather, Richard Richardson, silversmith of Chester. In 1939 Gwendoline described as British Red Cross VAD Assistant Commander at Capenhurst Hall. They left Capenhurst in 1944, when Urenco, a nuclear enriching supplier, took over property in Capenhurst, and then bought Claxton Manor, Norwich, until 1949 when they moved to Abbots Well, Beaulieu, Hampshire. Both of their children, Richard and Faith, emigrated to Southern Rhodesia and Geoffrey and Gwendoline emigrated in 1958. |
Gwendoline probably with her mother Lilian Hedges in 1919
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Another Connection with Box
Charles Richardson (1818-96) was an engineer, apprenticed to Isambard Brunel, and a resident engineer for the Great Western Railway. He was Geoffrey’s great-uncle, from Bristol and based in Corsham when he did preparatory work for the Box Tunnel. In your article about Pictor & Sons, you confirm that Job Pictor was also involved in its construction. There is a fair possibility that Job and Charles worked on the Box Tunnel together. I wonder if Geoffrey and Gwendoline knew of this.
Charles Richardson (1818-96) was an engineer, apprenticed to Isambard Brunel, and a resident engineer for the Great Western Railway. He was Geoffrey’s great-uncle, from Bristol and based in Corsham when he did preparatory work for the Box Tunnel. In your article about Pictor & Sons, you confirm that Job Pictor was also involved in its construction. There is a fair possibility that Job and Charles worked on the Box Tunnel together. I wonder if Geoffrey and Gwendoline knew of this.
Family Tree
Earlier Pictor Family see Pictor & Sons
Mary Pictor (6 September 1840-21 February 1907) married Edward Sampson Pay (1842-68) in 1866. Edward was born in Dunkirk, Kent and studied at the Church Missionary College in Islington, London Children:
Lilian Mary Pay (1867-18 November 1931) married Charles Hedges (1867-) at the United Free Methodist Church, Box Hill, in 1894. Children:
Gwendoline Mary (1895-) and Geoffrey Taswell Richardson. Children:
Earlier Pictor Family see Pictor & Sons
Mary Pictor (6 September 1840-21 February 1907) married Edward Sampson Pay (1842-68) in 1866. Edward was born in Dunkirk, Kent and studied at the Church Missionary College in Islington, London Children:
- Lilian Mary Pay;
- Twins Violet Louisa M (1868-1 October 1952), who married her cousin Norman Wilson Pictor (1867-1950) at Box United Methodist Chapel in 1901 and Maud Emmeline Susie (1868-1955), who never married.
Lilian Mary Pay (1867-18 November 1931) married Charles Hedges (1867-) at the United Free Methodist Church, Box Hill, in 1894. Children:
- Gwendoline Mary (1895-) who married Geoffrey Taswell Richardson;
- Audrey Elizabeth (1 June 1900-).
Gwendoline Mary (1895-) and Geoffrey Taswell Richardson. Children:
- Richard (12 June 1924-) whose children include Geoffrey Richardson, author of this article;
- Faith (born 30 September 1927).
References
[1] Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer, 2 March 1907
[2] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 19 May 1894
[3] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 24 August 1901
[4] Another was Alan Newman Pictor (grandson of Robert) married his cousin Constance Wainwright. Her mother was born Alice Pictor, and was a daughter of Robert (courtesy Chris Gale)
[5] Courtesy Chris Gale
[1] Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer, 2 March 1907
[2] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 19 May 1894
[3] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 24 August 1901
[4] Another was Alan Newman Pictor (grandson of Robert) married his cousin Constance Wainwright. Her mother was born Alice Pictor, and was a daughter of Robert (courtesy Chris Gale)
[5] Courtesy Chris Gale