William Smith Pictor and Family Chris Gale & Alan Payne Photos Chris Gale, February 2019
Pickwick House (now called Pickwick Villas)
We had a follow-up to the article on Pictor & Sons when Chris Gale wrote about his branch of the family, saying My late grandmother Vera Grace Parry (nee Pictor) was granddaughter of William Smith Pictor and a niece of Dorothy Joan Pictor. She was born in 1908. She used to recall Uncle Jim (CJ Pictor) and it is so interesting to see this description used on his tombstone.
The story of this branch of the family starts in Box at the Pictors’ Clift Quarry Works, moves to Corsham and ends (for the present) on the Isle of Wight. Vera Grace Pictor was the only daughter of Bernard Douglas Pictor of Pickwick, Corsham and she married Nugent Parry in November 1929.[1] Nugent had been born in Weston-Super-Mare but the Parry family had settled on the Isle of Wight by 1922 when they took part in local celebrations for the Ryde Armistice Night.[2] To follow the story of this branch of the family we need to go back to Chris’ great great grandfather, William Smith Pictor.
The story of this branch of the family starts in Box at the Pictors’ Clift Quarry Works, moves to Corsham and ends (for the present) on the Isle of Wight. Vera Grace Pictor was the only daughter of Bernard Douglas Pictor of Pickwick, Corsham and she married Nugent Parry in November 1929.[1] Nugent had been born in Weston-Super-Mare but the Parry family had settled on the Isle of Wight by 1922 when they took part in local celebrations for the Ryde Armistice Night.[2] To follow the story of this branch of the family we need to go back to Chris’ great great grandfather, William Smith Pictor.
William Smith Pictor
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Emma Pictor (nee Wilson)
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William Smith Pictor at Corsham
William Smith was the fourth son of Job Pictor and involved in the family firm as a stone merchant selling the Box Groundstone from the Clift Quarry Works, Box quarry firm. After his marriage in 1867, William and his family lived in Pickwick House, Bath Road, Corsham. He died suddenly in 1890, aged 43, without making a will and Letters of Administration were granted to his widow Emma, who advertised for claims on the estate the following year.[3] The family remained close, centred on their mother at Pickwick House. Pickwick House (now called Pickwick Villas) was later taken by Herbert Spackman, noteworthy in his own right as the owner of a large grocers and drapers department store in Corsham. Emma continued to live at Pickwick House. In the 1891 census she was there with her younger children and in 1901 with the older boys, Norman, Bernard, William and James, all said to be living on their own means. None of the girls was present in 1901 although Emma Amelia and Dorothy had returned in 1911.
I think the Corsham Pictors must have left Pickwick House after the death of Emma Pictor (nee Wilson) in 1936, as Emma Aurelia and Dorothy Joan are both recorded as living at 51 High Street, Corsham, in 1938. On the death of their youngest daughter Dorothy Joan Pictor in 1959, the property was left to the Corsham Parish Council for the use of the people of Corsham and for many years the Tourist Information Centre.[4] The family grave in Corsham records: William Smith Pictor, died 1890 age 43, Emma his wife, died 20 June 1936 aged 89, together with children Bernard, William, Emma and Dorothy. Before mentioning my great grandfather, Bernard Douglas, I have some details about the other children of William Smith and Emma.
Wider Family
In an effort to retain the family estate intact, there were several marriages between different branches of the family, not uncommon in the late Victorian time to retain control of the family business and to allow female members to have an interest in the assets. Perhaps the family was concerned about the situation of Herbert after his marriage had failed and he lived a lonely life in Rudloe Towers. Another option was to avoid outsiders altogether and four of the children of William Smith and Emma Pictor remained unmarried. Another child, Quintus Darby Pictor, emigrated to South America and died in Bolivia in 1945. It would also be interesting to know more of his life in South America, but that might be tricky to come by!
Norman Wilson Pictor married his cousin Violet Pay at Box United Methodist Chapel in 1901.[5] Violet had a twin sister Maude and they were the daughters of Mary Pay, nee Pictor, daughter of Job and Mary. The family were recorded as living at Spa House, Box, in the 1911 census.
Elsie Jane Pictor married her cousin Vernon Pictor at Slaughterford Parish Church in 1890. They lived in Barnstaple in 1891 and later lived at Exmouth, where she died in 1947. One of her daughters, Laelia Pictor, emigrated to Canada in 1925 and married Orie Bedford. My uncle Derek Parry visited his cousin Laelia in Canada in the early 1990s, finding her quite a character with shotgun at the ready and Astro-turf instead of carpet in the living room. I also met her daughter Rachel in 1989 as she attended my great uncle Jimmie Pictor's 80th birthday celebration at a hotel on Portland. It's good the branches of the family were able to keep in touch in later years.
Bernard Douglas Pictor
It was Bernard who was my great grandfather. Bernard was best man at the marriage of his older brother, Norman, at the United Free Methodist Church in the centre of Box in 1901. The reception was held at Fogleigh House, Box and the couple went on honeymoon to the Isle of Wight. Vernon and Elsie had settled down in Exmouth, Devon, by 1902, living at Hartley Road, and Bernard and William followed them down at Morton Crescent.[6]
Bernard met a local girl Jessie Alert Cranston and married her in 1907. She had a Scottish father and spent much of her early life either north of the border or in the New Forest. They lived at Exmouth, although Bernard was absent in the 1911 census. After 1918 the family moved to the Isle of Wight, following the death of Bernard Douglas in Devon that year. After many further moves Jessie spent her final years in the Sidmouth area. Some members of the family may later have set up in an hotel business on the Isle of Wight called the London Hotel, Ryde.[7]
Bernard and Jessie had two children, James Douglas and Vera Grace. My grandmother was named Vera Grace at the registration of her birth, but later adopted the name Veronique and this is how she is recorded in the registration of her marriage at Combe Martin in 1929. James had a colourful life. After leaving Ryde School, he served in the Merchant Navy as a Navigating Officer, then with the Australasian Service.[8] As a 29-year-old he was involved in a fatal driving accident on the Isle of Wight. On 11 January 1939 the car he was driving struck Edgar James Barton Newbery, a plater’s labourer walking on the Ryde-Newport road with his young fiancée at Kite Hill, at that time a narrow stretch of Road east of Wootton Bridge.[9] James panicked and drove off to a wood where the car became bogged down. When the police started enquiries, he handed himself in to discover that the accident had been fatal. He was found not guilty of manslaughter but of dangerous driving, fined, and his licence suspended for 12 months.
James redeemed himself during the Second World War receiving a Distinguished Service Cross, following operations in Norwegian waters.[10] As he was unmarried at the time, he invited his eldest niece (my mother) to go with him to the Palace to receive it. In a newspaper cutting saved by my grandmother from the Corsham local paper about her brother's DSC, he was reported as serving on HMS Wildfire at the time. The ship was a shore establishment at Sheerness Dockyard, Essex, designed to train new naval staff and in the firing line of many German airstrikes. By 1943 he was referred to as Lieutenant-Commander James Douglas Pictor, DSC, RNR. He became engaged to Maude Florence Buckley WRNS and married her later that year.[11]
It may be of interest that whilst my great uncle, James Douglas Pictor was working at the Portland quarry site, the family company in Wiltshire was led by his cousin Alan Newman Pictor, who is also noted as executor for several of the older family members in records of their wills. He seems to have been de facto head of the family at the time.
William Smith was the fourth son of Job Pictor and involved in the family firm as a stone merchant selling the Box Groundstone from the Clift Quarry Works, Box quarry firm. After his marriage in 1867, William and his family lived in Pickwick House, Bath Road, Corsham. He died suddenly in 1890, aged 43, without making a will and Letters of Administration were granted to his widow Emma, who advertised for claims on the estate the following year.[3] The family remained close, centred on their mother at Pickwick House. Pickwick House (now called Pickwick Villas) was later taken by Herbert Spackman, noteworthy in his own right as the owner of a large grocers and drapers department store in Corsham. Emma continued to live at Pickwick House. In the 1891 census she was there with her younger children and in 1901 with the older boys, Norman, Bernard, William and James, all said to be living on their own means. None of the girls was present in 1901 although Emma Amelia and Dorothy had returned in 1911.
I think the Corsham Pictors must have left Pickwick House after the death of Emma Pictor (nee Wilson) in 1936, as Emma Aurelia and Dorothy Joan are both recorded as living at 51 High Street, Corsham, in 1938. On the death of their youngest daughter Dorothy Joan Pictor in 1959, the property was left to the Corsham Parish Council for the use of the people of Corsham and for many years the Tourist Information Centre.[4] The family grave in Corsham records: William Smith Pictor, died 1890 age 43, Emma his wife, died 20 June 1936 aged 89, together with children Bernard, William, Emma and Dorothy. Before mentioning my great grandfather, Bernard Douglas, I have some details about the other children of William Smith and Emma.
Wider Family
In an effort to retain the family estate intact, there were several marriages between different branches of the family, not uncommon in the late Victorian time to retain control of the family business and to allow female members to have an interest in the assets. Perhaps the family was concerned about the situation of Herbert after his marriage had failed and he lived a lonely life in Rudloe Towers. Another option was to avoid outsiders altogether and four of the children of William Smith and Emma Pictor remained unmarried. Another child, Quintus Darby Pictor, emigrated to South America and died in Bolivia in 1945. It would also be interesting to know more of his life in South America, but that might be tricky to come by!
Norman Wilson Pictor married his cousin Violet Pay at Box United Methodist Chapel in 1901.[5] Violet had a twin sister Maude and they were the daughters of Mary Pay, nee Pictor, daughter of Job and Mary. The family were recorded as living at Spa House, Box, in the 1911 census.
Elsie Jane Pictor married her cousin Vernon Pictor at Slaughterford Parish Church in 1890. They lived in Barnstaple in 1891 and later lived at Exmouth, where she died in 1947. One of her daughters, Laelia Pictor, emigrated to Canada in 1925 and married Orie Bedford. My uncle Derek Parry visited his cousin Laelia in Canada in the early 1990s, finding her quite a character with shotgun at the ready and Astro-turf instead of carpet in the living room. I also met her daughter Rachel in 1989 as she attended my great uncle Jimmie Pictor's 80th birthday celebration at a hotel on Portland. It's good the branches of the family were able to keep in touch in later years.
Bernard Douglas Pictor
It was Bernard who was my great grandfather. Bernard was best man at the marriage of his older brother, Norman, at the United Free Methodist Church in the centre of Box in 1901. The reception was held at Fogleigh House, Box and the couple went on honeymoon to the Isle of Wight. Vernon and Elsie had settled down in Exmouth, Devon, by 1902, living at Hartley Road, and Bernard and William followed them down at Morton Crescent.[6]
Bernard met a local girl Jessie Alert Cranston and married her in 1907. She had a Scottish father and spent much of her early life either north of the border or in the New Forest. They lived at Exmouth, although Bernard was absent in the 1911 census. After 1918 the family moved to the Isle of Wight, following the death of Bernard Douglas in Devon that year. After many further moves Jessie spent her final years in the Sidmouth area. Some members of the family may later have set up in an hotel business on the Isle of Wight called the London Hotel, Ryde.[7]
Bernard and Jessie had two children, James Douglas and Vera Grace. My grandmother was named Vera Grace at the registration of her birth, but later adopted the name Veronique and this is how she is recorded in the registration of her marriage at Combe Martin in 1929. James had a colourful life. After leaving Ryde School, he served in the Merchant Navy as a Navigating Officer, then with the Australasian Service.[8] As a 29-year-old he was involved in a fatal driving accident on the Isle of Wight. On 11 January 1939 the car he was driving struck Edgar James Barton Newbery, a plater’s labourer walking on the Ryde-Newport road with his young fiancée at Kite Hill, at that time a narrow stretch of Road east of Wootton Bridge.[9] James panicked and drove off to a wood where the car became bogged down. When the police started enquiries, he handed himself in to discover that the accident had been fatal. He was found not guilty of manslaughter but of dangerous driving, fined, and his licence suspended for 12 months.
James redeemed himself during the Second World War receiving a Distinguished Service Cross, following operations in Norwegian waters.[10] As he was unmarried at the time, he invited his eldest niece (my mother) to go with him to the Palace to receive it. In a newspaper cutting saved by my grandmother from the Corsham local paper about her brother's DSC, he was reported as serving on HMS Wildfire at the time. The ship was a shore establishment at Sheerness Dockyard, Essex, designed to train new naval staff and in the firing line of many German airstrikes. By 1943 he was referred to as Lieutenant-Commander James Douglas Pictor, DSC, RNR. He became engaged to Maude Florence Buckley WRNS and married her later that year.[11]
It may be of interest that whilst my great uncle, James Douglas Pictor was working at the Portland quarry site, the family company in Wiltshire was led by his cousin Alan Newman Pictor, who is also noted as executor for several of the older family members in records of their wills. He seems to have been de facto head of the family at the time.
Family Tree
William Smith Pictor and Family
Job Pictor (1802 - 1859) married on 3 June 1827 at Box to Mary Fluester (1806 – 1879). Children:
Ann Nance (b 1828 or 1829); Robert (1830 – 1877) see Pictor & Sons; Jane (b 1831); Elizabeth (b 1833); Rosena (1833 – 1852); Arthur (1837 – 1839); Jemma (May 1839 – November 1839); Mary (b 1840); Cornelius James (1842 – 1916); Emmaline Ellen (b 1844); William Smith (1842 – 1890); and Louisa (b 1850).
William Smith Pictor (b 1847 at Box – d 24 July 1890 Bailbrook Asylum, Bath) married in September 1867 at Farnham to Emma Wilson (b 1848, Guildford Surrey but her mother Jane Wilson was born in Box about 1821 - d 1936, Corsham). Children:
Norman Wilson Pictor (b 6 September 1867, Farnham, Surrey – d 1950 at Bathavon) married in 1901 at Box United Methodist Chapel to his cousin Violet Pay (d 1952 at Bathavon). Violet was the daughter of Mary Pay (daughter of Job and Mary Pictor) and had a twin sister Maude;
Elsie Jane Pictor (b 1869 at Corsham – d 1947 at Exmouth) married her cousin Vernon Pictor at Slaughterford Parish Church in 1890. They had daughters:
Laelia Pictor (1896 – 1995), She emigrated to Canada in 1925 and married Orie Bedfordd;
Joan Pictor (b 1904);
possibly two more daughters;
Bernard Douglas Pictor (b 1871 Corsham – d 1918 at Wonford Asylum, Exeter) married at Exmouth in 1907 to Jessie Alert Cranston ((1878 – 1957). They had two children:
Vera Grace (sometimes called Veronique) Pictor (b 1908 Exmouth – d 2002, Isle of Wight) who married in 1929 to Nugent Robert Goulding Parry (b 21 September 1903 – d 1970). Vera and Nugent had one son and two daughters, including Valerie JG (1930 – 2011) who married John P Gale in 1953, my parents;
James Douglas Pictor (born 1908 in Exmouth – d 1992 at Dorset) who married Maude Florence Buckley in 1943. James Douglas worked for Bath and Portland Stone in Portland and lived in Weymouth. James Douglas and Maude had three daughters;
Emma Aurelia Gertrude Pictor (b 1875 Corsham – d 1947 at Arnold House, Corsham). She never married;
William Adolphus Pictor (b 1878, Corsham – d 1937 Corsham). In 1891 he was at school in Barnstaple, residing with sister Elsie and her husband Vernon. He never married;
James Pictor (b 1880 Corsham – d 1956 Bath). He never married;
Dorothy Joan Pictor (b 1884, Corsham – d 1959 Corsham). She never married;
Quintus Darby Pictor (b 1886 Corsham – d 1945 in Bolivia) settled in Bolivia and had eight children. One became well-known in the field of Boxing and has a Coliseo named after him - John Blanco Pictor.
William Smith Pictor and Family
Job Pictor (1802 - 1859) married on 3 June 1827 at Box to Mary Fluester (1806 – 1879). Children:
Ann Nance (b 1828 or 1829); Robert (1830 – 1877) see Pictor & Sons; Jane (b 1831); Elizabeth (b 1833); Rosena (1833 – 1852); Arthur (1837 – 1839); Jemma (May 1839 – November 1839); Mary (b 1840); Cornelius James (1842 – 1916); Emmaline Ellen (b 1844); William Smith (1842 – 1890); and Louisa (b 1850).
William Smith Pictor (b 1847 at Box – d 24 July 1890 Bailbrook Asylum, Bath) married in September 1867 at Farnham to Emma Wilson (b 1848, Guildford Surrey but her mother Jane Wilson was born in Box about 1821 - d 1936, Corsham). Children:
Norman Wilson Pictor (b 6 September 1867, Farnham, Surrey – d 1950 at Bathavon) married in 1901 at Box United Methodist Chapel to his cousin Violet Pay (d 1952 at Bathavon). Violet was the daughter of Mary Pay (daughter of Job and Mary Pictor) and had a twin sister Maude;
Elsie Jane Pictor (b 1869 at Corsham – d 1947 at Exmouth) married her cousin Vernon Pictor at Slaughterford Parish Church in 1890. They had daughters:
Laelia Pictor (1896 – 1995), She emigrated to Canada in 1925 and married Orie Bedfordd;
Joan Pictor (b 1904);
possibly two more daughters;
Bernard Douglas Pictor (b 1871 Corsham – d 1918 at Wonford Asylum, Exeter) married at Exmouth in 1907 to Jessie Alert Cranston ((1878 – 1957). They had two children:
Vera Grace (sometimes called Veronique) Pictor (b 1908 Exmouth – d 2002, Isle of Wight) who married in 1929 to Nugent Robert Goulding Parry (b 21 September 1903 – d 1970). Vera and Nugent had one son and two daughters, including Valerie JG (1930 – 2011) who married John P Gale in 1953, my parents;
James Douglas Pictor (born 1908 in Exmouth – d 1992 at Dorset) who married Maude Florence Buckley in 1943. James Douglas worked for Bath and Portland Stone in Portland and lived in Weymouth. James Douglas and Maude had three daughters;
Emma Aurelia Gertrude Pictor (b 1875 Corsham – d 1947 at Arnold House, Corsham). She never married;
William Adolphus Pictor (b 1878, Corsham – d 1937 Corsham). In 1891 he was at school in Barnstaple, residing with sister Elsie and her husband Vernon. He never married;
James Pictor (b 1880 Corsham – d 1956 Bath). He never married;
Dorothy Joan Pictor (b 1884, Corsham – d 1959 Corsham). She never married;
Quintus Darby Pictor (b 1886 Corsham – d 1945 in Bolivia) settled in Bolivia and had eight children. One became well-known in the field of Boxing and has a Coliseo named after him - John Blanco Pictor.
References
[1] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 9 November 1929
[2] Isle of Wight Observer, 18 November 1922
[3] The Bristol Mercury, 14 February 1891
[4] Joyce Taylor & Pat Whalley
[5] The Salisbury Times, 23 August 1901
[6] Freeman’s Exmouth Journal, 11 October 1902
[7] Portsmouth Evening News, 14 January 1939
[8] Portsmouth Evening News, 9 March 1939
[9] Portsmouth Evening News, 8 March 1939
[10] Portsmouth Evening News, 11 July 1941
[11] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 2 January 1943
[1] Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 9 November 1929
[2] Isle of Wight Observer, 18 November 1922
[3] The Bristol Mercury, 14 February 1891
[4] Joyce Taylor & Pat Whalley
[5] The Salisbury Times, 23 August 1901
[6] Freeman’s Exmouth Journal, 11 October 1902
[7] Portsmouth Evening News, 14 January 1939
[8] Portsmouth Evening News, 9 March 1939
[9] Portsmouth Evening News, 8 March 1939
[10] Portsmouth Evening News, 11 July 1941
[11] Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser, 2 January 1943