Ebenezer James - Beginnings

Ebenezer (Eben) James (1873 – 1949) – Beginnings
1
Eben James’s gravestone,
St. George’s Anglican Church Cemetery,
Trenton
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Ebenezer James – Beginnings
Contents
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................... 7
Notes on Structure and Content ........................................................................................................................ 8
1. Eben’s Beginnings – Birth and Early Years in Ramsgate .................................................................. 9
1872 – 1873 Birth - Unknown Location..................................................................................................... 9
Mid-1870’s – Early Years in Ramsgate, Kent ........................................................................................ 15
2. Foster Parents’ Backgrounds ............................................................................................................... 23
Richard Barmby Tebbutt – Foster Father ..................................................................................................... 23
Emma Ford (or Foord) Still – Foster Mother ................................................................................................. 26
Septimus Sears ............................................................................................................................................. 33
3. Birth Mother’s family background ............................................................................................................ 37
Harriet Skeffington ..................................................................................................................................... 37
Bryan Ward ................................................................................................................................................. 45
Reuben Skeffington ................................................................................................................................... 50
4. Birth Father’s Family Background ................................................................................................................. 54
5. Eben’s Boyhood in Clifton and Shefford ............................................................................................. 66
The Wakefield Sisters as part of Eben’s Clifton childhood............................................................................ 73
6. Birth Parents’ Marriage and Early Married Life .................................................................................. 87
Marriage at London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle by Charles Spurgeon ......................................................... 87
Joe and Annie’s early married life at Welham .............................................................................................. 91
Notes on birth mother’s sister, Mary Ann (Ward) Perkins ........................................................................... 94
7. Eben’s Brighton Area Schooldays ........................................................................................................... 101
From the address book:.............................................................................................................................. 103
Accounts notes ........................................................................................................................................... 104
8. Birth Parents Joe and Annie in Croydon, Worthing and Emigration to New Zealand ............................. 109
9. Eben’s Emigration and Early Years in Canada ......................................................................................... 125
Eben’s Early Travels between Canada and the UK .................................................................................. 132
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Continuing communication with birth family (via Herbert Perkins)? ..................................................... 137
10. Maternal Grandparents – Bryan and Harriet Ward – Later Years ............................................................. 141
11. Foster Parents – Later Years ..................................................................................................................... 144
Jane Sears – Foster Aunt and Septimus Sears’ widow ................................................................................ 152
12. New Zealand Ward descendants ........................................................................................................ 155
Eleanor Annie ............................................................................................................................................. 156
Reuben Percy ............................................................................................................................................. 157
John Skeffington ......................................................................................................................................... 158
Francis John ................................................................................................................................................ 158
Mary Evelyn ................................................................................................................................................ 158
Alexander ................................................................................................................................................... 158
Ralph .......................................................................................................................................................... 159
Francis Royden ........................................................................................................................................... 159
Ethel Marion ............................................................................................................................................... 161
Edward Eric Ward ....................................................................................................................................... 162
Ward Family Centenary in New Zealand book extracts .............................................................................. 165
Tor View ................................................................................................................................................. 166
Eleanor Ward Leighton wedding photo and Barnardos .......................................................................... 168
Reuben Percy Ward – Ship’s Apprentice ................................................................................................ 169
Reuben Percy Ward – Ida Hill Wedding .................................................................................................. 172
Reuben Percy Ward Obituary, letters and photos .................................................................................. 173
John Skeffington Ward ........................................................................................................................... 176
Neville Ward (4th son and 6th child of Reuben Percy and Ida Ward) ....................................................... 180
Some family photos ................................................................................................................................ 186
Appendix A – Who Do You Think You Are Article ........................................................................................... 188
A Victorian Fostering Mystery – Using DNA to Solve a 130-year-old puzzle. .............................................. 188
Appendix B ................................................................................................................................................... 193
Professional DNA Report........................................................................................................................ 193
Appendix C ................................................................................................................................................... 204
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Family tree descendant charts with selected descendants ................................................................ 204
Descendants of Joseph Ward (1800 – 1861) - father of Joseph Granger Ward (Eben 1’s natural
father) .................................................................................................................................................... 204
Descendants of George Skeffington (1739 – ca 1793) - grandfather of Harriet (Skeffington)

Ward (Eben 1’s natural maternal grandmother) .............................................................................. 204
Descendants of Edward Ward (died after 1730) - great-great-great grandfather of Harriet Annie
(Ward) Ward (Eben 1’s natural mother)............................................................................................ 204
Descendants of Henry Tindal Still – father of Emma Foord (Still) Tebbutt (Eben 1’s foster
mother) .................................................................................................................................................. 204
Descendants of John Wakefield (ca 1776 – 1853) – grandfather of Emma Jane Wakefield and
Laura (Wakefield) Clark (Eben 1’s foster cousins through being nieces of his foster mother).. 204
Appendix D ................................................................................................................................................... 222
Selections from letters from Eben 1’s estate ....................................................................................... 222
The Joseph Granger Ward letters and Will ...................................................................................... 222
Emma Tebbutt’s letters – A Selection..................................................................................................... 235
Richard Barnby Tebbutt’s letters and will............................................................................................... 248
William Clarke’s Will and Estate Accounts Summary .............................................................................. 255
Laura (Wakefield) Clarke – selected letters ............................................................................................ 259
Frances Jager’s 1897 letter to Eben ........................................................................................................ 264
Appendix E ..................................................................................................................................................... 265
Emma Tebbutt’s Address Book................................................................................................................... 265
Appendix F - The Brighton Boarding School Tie and Tiepin ............................................................................ 275
Appendix G – Heber Tebbutt (a.k.a. Heber Samuel Tebbutt/Samuel H. Tebbutt) .......................................... 279
Appendix H – Bryan and Harriet Ward Ancestry Information – mostly wills .................................................. 285
Bryan Ward’s mother’s (Elizabeth Meadows Ward’s) Will – 1856 ............................................................. 285
George Skeffington, proved 1795 - grandfather of Harriet (Skeffington) Ward (so Eben 1’s great great
grandfather) ............................................................................................................................................... 288
Thomas Skeffington, proved 1862 - father to Reuben and Harriet (Skeffington) Ward (so, Eben 1's great
grandfather) ............................................................................................................................................... 291
Thomas Ward (junior), proved 1853 - Bryan Ward's father (so Eben 1's great-grandfather on his mother's
father's side) ............................................................................................................................................... 295
Thomas Ward (senior), proved 1802 - presumed father to above Thomas Ward (junior) ......................... 298
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Edward Ward’s 1791 will (Eben 1’s great-great-great grandfather) ........................................................... 300
Teresa’s Notes on the Early Ward Family in Hallaton, Leicestershire, and Belton, Northamptonshire ...... 306
Teresa’s further notes on the Ward family of Hallaton and Belton ............................................................ 312
Edward Ward the elder, Yeoman of Hallaton, Inventory and Will 1677 .................................................. 316
Francis Ward of Hallaton 1681 Inventory and Will ..................................................................................... 321
Bryan Ward of Hallaton 1682 Inventory ..................................................................................................... 325
Thomas Ward of Hallaton 30 October 1687 Will ........................................................................................ 328
Appendix I – Wills of Joseph Granger Ward’s parents, Joseph and Betsey Ann Ward Sr, and paternal
grandfather, William Ward ......................................................................................................................... 332
Joseph Ward Sr (1800 – 1861) .................................................................................................................... 332
Betsey Ann Ward Sr (1807 – 1886) ............................................................................................................. 333
William Ward (Abt. 1755 – 1834) Will ........................................................................................................ 342
William Ward 1771 Administration ............................................................................................................ 346
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Acknowledgements
The many sources of information and support which has made this document
possible include the papers left by Eben I and different members of the James family
in Ontario, notably Eben James II, Dorothy James and Heather James.
There has also been significant help from information and illustrations
available in online family trees and some of the members who have spent countless
hours researching them.
Helen Hudson, who has compiled a Wakefield family tree, has been especially
helpful and instrumental in some of the key findings.
Family trees for the Ward-Skeffington-Perkins families have also been
invaluable, and assistance from Dimity Woodhall and Teresa Callan has been both
insightful and informative, as has been help from the Ward descendants in New
Zealand, especially through their write-up of the family histories of Joseph Granger
Ward and his wife Annie, who emigrated from England to New Zealand ca 1895.
Irena Hampshire has provided information in helping to fill in some of the
details of Heber Tebbutt and his descendants.
Thanks to the progress made in DNA databases, an understanding of the most
conclusive support for the findings was made possible. DNA contributions from a
number of individuals, including the James/Fraser family, Ward descendants and
Wakefield/Clarke ones helped to confirm the correct links to Eben 1’s natural family
(and to disprove incorrect ones!). Angie Bush’s professional analysis of the DNA
findings have allowed the study to come to virtual certainty in pinpointing of Eben
1’s birth parents.
Several other organisations, bloggers and archives have been of great help
and these have mostly been acknowledged within this report.
Apologies for any names missed.
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Notes on Structure and Content
Eben knew only one family when he was raised, and that was his foster one.
However, he had a natural, or birth, family, as well. Although it is fairly certain he did
not know them as being his family, it does seem some of them were acquaintances,
possibly as non-conformist religiously associated friends of his foster parents
(though there seems a reasonable likelihood his foster parents knew some of these
people had some kinship to Eben).
Because Eben had these two families, one known to him and one hidden from him,
both living in separate, but parallel, worlds, it is felt the best way to tell the story of
his early life and times is to include what is known and can be discovered of both of
Eben’s families.
Accordingly, this account of his early life takes the unusual approach of alternating
chapters between Eben’s two families, so that – very roughly – the same time periods
for the family known to him are next covered for the family hidden from him. The
content includes some of the backgrounds and family histories of both families,
which adds some perspective to the scenarios and atmospheres of the worlds of
both families which Eben entered at the time of his birth and fostering.
Composing the narrative content of each of the chapters has been challenging. We
have been blessed with documents – notably letters, other papers and some
photographs – from Eben’s estate. To the information which can be gleaned from
those, we can add what is available from public records and other research. But the
information from the documents from the estate is fragmented – far from
comprehensive. Information from them must be selected piecemeal, and sometimes
with assumptions, and then positioned to where that fits and adds value to the story
of his early life.
In many ways, this project can be compared to trying to put together a giant Victorian
jigsaw puzzle with a very incomplete set of pieces – and without any cover picture on
the puzzle box to show us what it should look like when finished.
However, when all these pieces from the documents in Eben’s estate, public records
and other researched background material are added together, sufficient of the final
puzzle’s picture emerges to give us a reasonable impression of – and feeling for –
Eben’s early life and times, which began in 1872-3, back in what was then the middle
of Britain’s Empress Queen Victoria’s reign.
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1. Eben’s Beginnings – Birth and Early Years in Ramsgate
1872 – 1873 Birth - Unknown Location

At an unknown location, at a date believed to be sometime during the latter part of
1872 and the first half of 1873, an unmarried 24-year old English woman named
Harriet Annie Ward gave birth to her first child, a son. Ms Ward’s pregnancy and the
location and date of her son’s birth were almost certainly kept secret because she
and her family were deeply committed members of a very unforgiving non-conformist
Christian sect, the Strict and Particular Baptists. Had news of the out-of-wedlock
pregnancy got out, the Ward family’s standing in their church and community would
have been damaged beyond redemption.
For some years, despite checks throughout records available for England and other
possible countries (the British Isles, the Continent and even further afield) no sure
registration of the birth was found and, if one were made (as was then a legal
requirement in England), the name the baby was given by his mother was not known.
Just a year or two before the birth, in the 1871 census, the then 22-year old Harriet
Annie Ward, who was known by her middle name Annie, is shown to be living with
her younger 17-year old sister Mary Ann and her parents, Bryan and Harriet Ward, on
the 500-acre Leicestershire farm her father rented for grazing. The father, Bryan
Ward, was 52 at the time of this census and employed 9 men, 3 boys and one woman.
1871 England Census
Name: Bryan Ward

Age: 52
Estimated birth year: abt 1819
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Kubriet [Harriet] Ward
Gender: Male
Where born: Weston, Northamptonshire, England
Civil Parish: Slawston
County/Island: Leicestershire
Country: England
Registration district: Uppingham
Sub-registration
Great Easton
district:
ED, institution, or
6
vessel:
Household schedule 26
9
number:
Piece: 3304
Folio: 23
Page Number: 5
Name Age
Bryan Ward farmer and grazier 500 acres employing 9 52
men, 3 boys and one woman
Kubriet Ward [Harriet Ward] wife 46
Harriet Anne Ward dau 22
Household Members: Mary Ann Ward dau 17
Elizabeth Meadows visitor [daughter of Bryan’s cousin 18
John Meadows]
Elizabeth Skeffington visitor [Harriet’s niece] 13
Sarah Palmer servant 17
Annie’s mother, the baby’s maternal grandmother, Harriet Ward nee Skeffington, was
46 at the time of the census, and so about 48 when her illegitimate grandson was
born. Harriet and Bryan were reasonably successful during this period, and Harriet
had just had a non-conformist chapel and manse built in Medbourne, the town
nearest their farm. It is very likely Harriet was with her eldest daughter Annie during
at least the last part of the pregnancy, the birth and the period immediately following.
Part of an email from Teresa Callan dated 28 March 2015:
I think that someone asked (and I cannot remember who) whether Welham is somewhere a
baby could be hidden by a family living in Slawston. I find it hard to believe unless the
family were living on an isolated property up on the hills. Basically, the village was tiny. It
had a church, a pub and a big farm plus a few cottages. The 1861 census only record 3
pages of names. A road runs straight from the village to Slawston up the hill. Weston is a
little further away and much larger and therefore more anonymous. It would be necessary
to understand how Welham changed over the years to know how busy it was. Historically it
was a place where auctions of cattle took place and was on one of the droving routes.
From the middle ages cattle and, to a lesser extent, other animals would set off from the
extreme edges of the British Isles and be walked towards London to feed the city. There
were standard places for overwintering and for fattening the animals up. The Welland
valley was important for the last fattening up before the final walk to London. The
Skeffingtons, as graziers and auctioneers, were at the heart of the business, and the Red
Lion was the centre of the trade providing sustenance for the drovers. The trade was
replaced as the 19th century as cattle were increasingly transported by rail. Once this
happened Welham would be more of a backwater.
On 15/10/2017 Teresa offered the following insights:
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It struck me that no one has ever tried to look at the sort of family Eben was born into.
These are the few musings I have had over the years.
If we look at the period after the early 1700s when Edward Ward moved to Bringhurst to
farm and George Skeffington settled in Welham. The Welland valley was known for cattle
fattening. The Wards up to Bryan always styled themselves as farmers and I gain the
impression that this had slightly higher status than graziers, the occupation of the
Skeffingtons. The distinction may have been academic or it may have been that the
farmers were more settled renting a farm whereas the graziers simply took on annual
grazing. By the early 1800s I think the distinction was beginning to blur and the arrival of
the railways led to the demise of the graziers trade.
The younger Edward Ward who died in 1790 left a substantial amount of money but this
was mainly invested in small land holdings scattered across the area. Land values were
high at the time and would later fall. The land was all let to others but Edward was able
because of this to leave each of his sons voting rights and therefore considerable
status. [Before 1832 the right to vote depended on three things: a.) Gender. Only men over
the age of 21 were allowed to vote. B.) Property. In order to vote, an individual had to own
property over a certain value. C.) Location. Small rural boroughs were able to elect more MPs
than much larger towns and counties.]
The Skeffingtons on the other hand had earned status and were in what was probably a
more lucrative occupation. They were in the graziers and auctioneers. Acting as
auctioneer for the graziers was a job for a trusted member of the community. One who
could be trusted both to act impartially but also to handle the money and pass them on to
the vendor. They also took over the pub in Welham a key part of the business of droving
and auctioneering cattle and they had a member of the family London based to act for them
at Smithfield.
The wills of both families show that both sexes were provided for equally. It seems to be
custom that one son would be lined up to take over the family business whilst the others
would be schooled and given funds to start up in the family occupation. The girls would
receive inheritance on marriage but would also receive a share under the will. If any child
had died their offspring would be provided for. The girls were educated possibly at home.
Of the women who sign legal documents (usually probate forms) the only one using an X
who I have found so far is Elizabeth the widow of the first George Skeffington signing in the
1730s. They also seem to have had significant freedom. The presence of the cousins at
Bryan and Harriet’s house on census night indicates that they travelled around. One of
Reuben’s daughters was staying with her future husband and mother in law on census
night. Bryan’s unmarried sisters seem to have had their own households after his parents
died. I would not have been surprised to find this education and freedom in higher class
families but I did not expect it in what are ordinary farming folk. However, if Harriet’s
farming skills are anything to go by they are expected to be able to support their menfolk by
taking their share of the work.
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A surprise was the number of illegitimate children and pregnant brides who show up on the
Skeffington line. All in all, I think that the boys received the opportunity to establish
themselves in the world and the girls had relative freedom and a life containing more fun
than I had feared. This differs from my Yorkshire ancestors where the occasional son
made good by his own efforts but otherwise there was little support and not always any
education.
An affidavit made in England found in Eben’s estate papers signed by Laura Clarke,
Winnifred N. Clarke and H. A. Hazelrigg, who claimed to have known Eben ‘since
infancy’, declares he was born in 1874 and that his birthday was “kept on January
2nd.”
It is probable this affidavit was a sufficiently legal document to substitute for a birth
certificate when that would have been called for, such as in a passport application.
Laura Clarke (nee Wakefield) was niece to Eben’s foster mother, Emma Tebbutt. She
certainly would have known Eben from when the Tebbutts moved to the
Shefford/Clifton area from Ramsgate around 1876, when Eben might have been about
4 years old. It is unlikely she would have known Eben when he was in Ramsgate and
even less likely before he was placed with his foster parents there, as that would
have also implied she would have known who his birth mother was. The other two
signatories of the affidavit, Laura’s daughter Winnie and Laura’s niece by marriage,
Henrietta Ann Hazelrigg, were both born after Eben and so could not have known him
since infancy.
Comment from Dorothy on Eben’s age and birth date:
I've often felt Eben 1 was older than the age he used. One clue was this:
On the fly page of a small Bible I find these words written:
Ebenezer James
With his Mother and Fathers
Affectionate Love
May 6th, 1885
in His 13th year.
Proverbs 10- 22and Proverbs13-13
Also, he seemed young to be going to Canada on his own at 16 in 1889.
The Strict and Particular Baptists were Anabaptist who did not baptize during
infancy, but waited until the individual could make the decision for baptism
themselves when at an older age, so a baptism record to help locate Eben’s origins
would also normally be ruled out. The following response to a query was received
from the Strict and particular Baptists:
4 Sept 2014
Thank you for your response to my email. I am sorry to have taken some time to come back.
12
There are no central records of baptisms so you would need to check with individual churches. If
you found a record of a baptism it would not tell you anything about his date of birth which is what I
thought you were looking for. It would only have the date he was baptised and age would not be
mentioned. Minute books are not put online.
You asked about Baptists using Anglican churches for weddings and baptisms. It is possible but
you would need to know the circumstances to comment on each instance. Before Civil Registration
in 1837 some Baptists had their children baptised in Anglican churches to give them some
recognition. Before 1837 all weddings had to be in Anglican churches. Afterwards it may have
happened because of 'status'.
I think that is all I can add.
David Woodruff
Strict Baptist Historical Society Librarian
10 Priory Road
Dunstable
Bedfordshire
LU5 4HR
01582 696962
thelibrarian@sbhs.org.uk
www.strictbaptisthistory.org.uk
After it was discovered that searches for births at the General Registry Office could be done
including the maiden name of the mother, a search was done which had the mother as a
Ward and a male child as a Ward. Several possibilities turned up, but the one which stood
head and shoulders above the others was the one in which the baby’s name was Charles
Haddon Ward – the first two names being those of the Baptist Minister who married Joe
and Annie.
WARD, CHARLES HADDON WARD
GRO Reference: 1873 S Quarter in KENSINGTON Volume 01A Page 199
When it came back it did show the parents’ names were indeed Joseph and Annie. The
registration had been done a month after the birth by a John Jones, a Baptist Evangelist,
who must have been the landlord in the home on Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith, London,
where the baby was born on 28th June 1873 and No 1 Katherine Villas.
13
No 1 Katherine Villas is believed to be the right hand side of the semi-detached in the
center, now 173 Goldhawk Road, on the boundary between Hammersmith and
Shepherds Bush.
Eben 2 and 3 at 173 Goldhawk Road, 10 November 2018
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Mid-1870’s – Early Years in Ramsgate, Kent
Based on references in letters, Harriet Ward took the baby boy away from her
daughter Annie, who was reported to have been distraught at being separated from
her new and firstborn child. “ . . . you are right to pray for your mother though I have
understood she was greatly afraid lest it should be known that she had ever had a child. At
first, she was quite wild about it because her mother took the baby away and would not let
her see it though the mother sent it to a very kind person.” (Letter from Emma Tebbutt to
Eben, April 1897)
Joseph Granger Ward’s letter to Eben of June 30, 1894, which clearly contains a
mixture of fiction and disguised fact, says the baby was placed with foster parents
when he was one-year old, which would seem to time the placement within a period
ranging from late 1873 to early 1875. A reference in one letter suggests the baby may
have been kept with some friends for a short period (“I was very sorry to hear how
feeble Mrs. [Harriet] Ward is as I always feel she must have been a friend and wished
me well when she helped my friends to place me with Mrs. Tebbutt.” – letter from
Laura Wakefield Clarke attempting to help Eben phrase a response to a letter from
Joseph Granger Ward). Who the ‘my friends’ refers to is not clear, but there is little
doubt that Harriet played a key role in the placement of her grandson with Emma and
Richard Tebbutt for his fostering and that any intermediary assisting friends would
have had similar non-conformist leanings.
Part of an email note from Dimity Woodhall dated 15/8/14:
Harriet Ward nee Skeffington is the right person. She had great religious zeal and earned a
family reputation of helping others. It is quite in keeping that she would have been
approached to place an unwanted child with foster parents. I don’t think it would have had
to be a family member. She died in 1898 and from your correspondence have learnt that
she was expected to go [die] back in 1895. The newspaper cutting at her death refers to a
long, painful illness. Moneywise I don’t think she could have been Ebenezer’s financial
backer. Her early money from her father evaporated quickly on poor farming years and
expensive, no-good sons.
During at least the first half of the 1870s, the Tebbutts were living in Ramsgate, a port
in northeast Kent with links to Ostende, Belgium, and Dunkirk, France. Ramsgate is
about 80 miles from central London and just under 200 miles from the Ward farm,
near Medbourne in Leicestershire, far enough away that those living in the Ward
family area in Leicestershire would have no inkling of their connection to this baby
born out of wedlock.
15
Greater southeast England showing Leicestershire in the upper left
and Kent at the bottom right
An important factor for Harriet in this placement must have been that the Tebbutts
were also Strict and Particular Baptists, which would have given her assurance that
her grandson would have a strong non-conformist Christian upbringing, even if she
and her own family had no direct contact with him.
When the baby boy was delivered to his Tebbutt foster parents, they were a
generation older than parents of such a young child would normally be. Emma would
have been 58 or 59 at the time of the new baby’s birth, while her husband Richard
would have been 52 or 53. Age-wise, then, Ebenezer was to be brought up more by
foster grandparents than by foster parents.
Records for Richard and Emma Tebbutt for the 1871 census (probably about 3 to 4
years before Eben would have been placed with them) find them in Ramsgate, Kent,
apparently running a school with a teacher and other boarders/pupils, together with
an adopted son, Samuel H [Heber] Tebbutt. As Heber was born in 1867, and Richard
is shown as living in Bedfordshire in the 1868 poll register, it is likely the adoption of
Heber happened before their move to Ramsgate. Moreover, Heber’s birthplace in a
later census is shown as Campton, just outside of Shefford, Bedfordshire.
16
It is quite likely that the ‘school’ the Tebbutts were running was simply part of their
home, where the students also lived. There were many such small private schools at
that time.
Ramsgate, at that time, had a number of non-conformist churches, including two

Baptist ones. Just one of the latter, Mount Zion Strict Baptist Chapel, on Camden
Road at Abbotts Hill, was of the strict variety and, no doubt, the one the Tebbutts
were partial to. Mount Zion was about a mile from the Tebbutts home on Southwood
Road. The Pastor there, from 1855 – 1897 was William Sharp. The Tebbuts would
have known him, and it is very possible the Strict Baptists in the Ward families of
Welham and Slawston, Leicestershire, would have known him, too, because William
Sharp had come to Ramsgate from the Strict Baptist church at Oakham, in the then
county of Rutland, about 13 miles from where the Ward family farms were.
Mount Zion Chapel Ramsgate (The Strict Baptist Chapels of England, Vol. III, The
Chapels of Kent, R. F. Chambers, privately printed, 1955. Note: A number of the
Strict and/or Particular Baptist Churches in England had the name Ebenezer.)
The Tebbutt’s Ramsgate address is certainly the home where Eben I as an infant was
placed with his Tebbutt foster parents.
Two letters make reference to Eben’s time in Ramsgate.

- “ . . . it seems such a short time since you were a dear blue eyed boy going about
with me at Ramsgate.” – letter to Eben from Frances Jager, December 22, 1897.
- “We certainly were boys together, well do I remember your first coming to live
with us at Ramsgate.” – letter to Eben from Heber, April 3, 1903.
Richard (Barnby – sic) Tebbutt was still at this residence, Hart House, Southwood, St
Lawrence District of Ramsgate in the 1874 Kelly’s Directory (though such directories
were often compiled about 6 months prior to the beginning of the year shown on the
cover).
17
1871 England Census
Name: Richard B Tebben [Tebbutt]
Age: 51
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Emma F Tebben [Tebbutt]
Gender: Male
Where born: Northamptonshire, England
Civil Parish: St Lawrence
County/Island: Kent
Country: England
Registration district: Thanet
Sub-registration
Ramsgate
district:
ED, institution, or
19
vessel:
Household schedule
180
number:
Piece: 996
Folio: 121
Page Number: 31
Name Age
Richard B Tebben Head, preparatory school 51
Emma F Tebben wife 57
Samuel H Tebben adopted son 4
Eliza Inwood Boarder, widow, born Leicestershire 73
Maria Nonne [Young – born Bombay – later in St. Ives in
22
Household Members: Emma T’s address book] teacher born India
Mary L Nonne boarder scholar born Middx. 29
Sarah Lenton boarder born Beds. 16
Freddie Consens [Cousens] pupil born Merton Surrey 8
Charles Frewin pupil born Middx 8
Philip Cousens pupil born Middx 6
Sarah Seaman servant born Bath 25
18
Copy of actual 1871 Census entries for the Tebbutts in Ramsgate, Kent
19
Victorian houses on Southwood Road leading to Grange Road, Ramsgate, where the
Tebbutts’ residence, Hart Terrace (or Hart House) was
It has been a matter of speculation as to how Harriet Ward, or the mysterious friends
referred to in Laura’s letter quoted above, knew of the Tebbutts as prospective foster
parents for Eben. The most obvious possibility is that there were significant links
between non-conformists of the day, which would have included the Strict and
Particular Baptists.
Emma Tebbutt’s niece, Laura Clarke, notes in a letter to Ebenezer, dated 19 May
1895, that she knew Annie Ward and her fiancé, Joe, during their courtship when she
was staying ‘there’: “You know Annie Ward was engaged to Joe when I stayed there
and I do not fancy she is your Mother===I also think as he is so friendly towards you
and as he is going to a new country he would have adopted you as his own son if
you had been hers especially as you do not want a home or money.” Laura would
still have been a teenager at the time of this visit, as Annie married Joe in October
1873, when Laura was 19. It is clear from her letters that Laura did not know who
Ebenezer’s birth parents were. However, Laura had been at least half brought up -
and was then living - in Clifton, within the circle of the Baptist Minister Septimus
Sears, husband of Laura’s aunt Jane, who was sister to Emma Tebbutt. It is therefore
quite possible that Septimus and Jane Sears knew Annie’s mother, Harriet, and
secretly arranged for Ebenezer’s placement with Emma in Ramsgate, Kent.
20
Another possibility is that Harriet knew Eliza Inwood, who was the 73-year old
boarder in the Tebbut’s household in the 1871 census. Although Eliza had lived her
married life in London, the 1861 census tells us she was born in East Norton,
Leicestershire, which is 3-6 miles from Hallaton and Medbourne, the home area of the
Skeffingtons and Wards. Elizabeth Inwood was one of the witnesses to the marriage
of John Ebenezer Wakefield and Helen Ann Ford Still (Emma Tebbutt’s sister) in
Chelsea in 1846. This couple then became parents to sisters Emma and Laura
(Clarke) Wakefield.
Elizabeth ‘Eliza’ Inwood died 1 October 1872, still in Thanet, Kent, so almost certainly
before Eben was placed with the Tebbutts . . . and her death may even have just
preceded his birth. Her last address was Hart House, St. Lawrence on Sea, Kent. St
Lawrence is a section of Ramsgate. Richard (Barnby – sic) Tebbutt was at Hart
House, Southwood, Thanet, in the 1874 Kelly’s Directory, so Eliza Inwood was with
the Tebbutts when she died.
In an email dated 18/8/14, Teresa Callan wrote:
“ . . . what do these people have in common – and have in common with Harriet and Bryan
and their daughters and sons in law. The obvious thing is non-conformity. I suspect but
cannot be certain that they are of slightly different denominations. They are educated but
not affluent – again a thing in common. I am brought back to the thought about the Rev
John Ashby (Ashbys married Perkins). How does a boy from Kettering get a call to a
chapel in Stony Stratford and pick up a bride in Kings Lynn along the way. Also to the
question how did the Ward girls know Herbert’s sister. I think we may have two or three
links. One is that churches tended to group and regroup according to the beliefs they are
following at a given time. The book on Independent Churches in Northampton which I
came across at Northampton Library alludes to it. The second is education. I believe that
the both the Perkins and the Ward girls were educated. Would Harriet’s area of interest
extend to people who were friends of her daughters from school? I wonder whether there
were summer camps of some kind which they attended. The only entry I have managed to
find is that Harriet Annie is in Norwich at a school for Ladies in 1861. She is the youngest
pupil there and it is possible that she remains a couple of years and overlaps with some of
the others. I think that this may be the only connection with the Still daughters and their
families. It is possible that the only link is in fact Ebenezer. The Tebbutts already had an
adopted son in 1871 and may simply have been recommended to Harriet. Possibly the
family are known through the boys schooling. An extension from the original question is if
Harriet was active in this matter who would she act for. I think that she would act for her
family, for her church community and possibly for her daughter’s close friends. I think she
might act to protect the reputation of the church.”
A photograph of Reuben Skeffington taken in Ramsgate was discovered in photos inherited
through the family by Dimity Woodhall (a descendant of Harriet Skeffington Ward). This link
of the birth family with the place the foster parents were living at the time of the fostering is
a strong implication that Reuben may have been involved in helping to place the child
and/or to have been there to make financial arrangements with the foster parents. Eben
21
may have had some knowledge of Reuben’s involvement, as a suspicion came out in
Laura’s letter that Reuben was Eben’s grandfather (though he actually was a great-uncle).
22
2. Foster Parents’ Backgrounds
Richard Barmby Tebbutt – Foster Father
Eben’s foster father, Richard Tebbutt was from Northampton. In the Northampton
Archives, there is an 1822 baptism at Long Buckby of a Richard Tibbett, base
[illegitimate] son of Jane Tibbett, as well as the later 1824 marriage of a Jane Tibbett
to a Walter Spong. It seems Richard was born about 1821. Jane is noted as being
from Dein [Dean?] in Bedfordshire. Dean is very close to the Bedfordshire border
with Northamptonshire.
“Richard Tebbutt had brothers by the name of Samuel and Isaac but haven't found those
letters yet to know where they lived.” (email from Dorothy 22/7/14)
Richard’s later will mentions a Walter Spong, which helps link him back to this Jane
Tibbett. The Walter Spong Richard remembers in his will could have been a half-
brother. [Note: A Walter Spong was also mayor of – and a prominent figure in –
Higham, who died in a shooting accident in 1913 – his wife’s obituary is online – was
this Richard’s half-brother?]
There is also a lead to Richard having been in nearby Higham Ferrers, where it
appears he inherited from a Richard Barmby (mayor) in 1836. A sum of £500 was left
in trust to the minor Richard Barmby (specified as being about 16 then), son of Jane
married to Walter Spong. The late Richard Barmby also left leasehold properties in
his will. One suspects from this that Richard Barmby (Tibbett/Tebbutt) could well
have been the illegitimate son of Richard Barmby, later mayor of Higham Ferrers,
Northampton.
Richard’s middle name, Barnby, appears with a variety of spellings throughout his
life.
In the 1841 census, Richard Barmby (name transcribed as Barmbly) is shown as 20
years old and living on the High Street in Higham Ferrers with his 50-year old mother
Jane Spong and 55-year old step-father, Walter Spong, a farmer. Richard’s
occupation is shown as being of ‘Independent means’.
In the 1851 census, Richard Barmby (transcribed as ‘Barinby’) is listed as a 30-year
old lodger at 7 Victoria Terrace, in the parish of St. Giles, Northampton. He is shown
as born in Bylandand, Northamptonshire and his occupation is ‘Annuitant’,
suggesting he was living on investments of some kind, perhaps based on the
inheritance from the late Richard Barmby.
In 1856, Richard had moved to the Biggleswade District of Bedfordshire and re-
assumed the surname (Tibbutt/Tebbutt) his mother had before her marriage to Walter
Spong, as Richard marries Emma Ford Still under the name Richard Barmby Tibbutt.
23
Although Richard and Emma married in the Biggleswade District in 1856, Richard (as
Richard Barnby Tebbutt) is shown to be in the poll book in Northampton in 1857/8
and again, as Richard Barnaby Tebbutt, in 1868 (though in some of these poll book
entries he is noted as living in Bedfordshire).
When Richard and Emma married, he was about 36 and she was about 43. It is likely
the marriage happened in Clifton, where they had the burglary (see news report) in
1857. Four years later, in the 1861 census, they are shown as part of Emma’s sister’s
husband’s, Septimus Sears’s, household.
England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 about Emma Ford Still
Name: Emma Ford Still
Registration Year: 1856
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration district: Biggleswade
Parishes for this Registration View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this
District: Registration District
Inferred County: Bedfordshire
Volume: 3b
Page: 525
Name
Records on Page: Emma Ford Still
Richard Barmby Tibbutt
1857 news article about a robbery experienced by Richard and Emma:
Depositions of Richard Barnby

Tebbutt of Clifton, PC Reuben
Pepper of Shefford, PC Richard
Todd of Biggleswade and Martha
Day, wife of James of Hitchin.
In the case of James Crowsley
accused of breaking and entering
a dwelling house and therein
stealing a ring and certain
monies.
24
Date Free Text 18 April 1857
Scope and Content Richard Barnby Tebbutt: on 13 April he and his wife left
home for a few days to stay at the house of a friend in
the neighbourhood. No person was left in charge of the
house during their absence. The following morning at
about 8am he and his wife went to the house. On going
into the parlour he found his writing desk had been
broken open and he missed a gold ring from it and about
a shillings worth of silver. He discovered a further 6 or 7
shillings missing. He was present when PC Pepper
compared the shoes produced with the impressions left
around the house. He observed they compared
exactly.
Richard Todd: on 20 April the prisoner was bought to
the lock-up at Biggleswade. Soon after he had been
bought he there, Pepper went to his cell and the
prisoner said that if he could get out of the mess he
would not get into another. It had been hunger that
made him do it. Asked what he had done with the ring
the prisoner said that if he went to a little room upstairs
in the house where he lived he would find the ring. The
prisoner said he had dropped the ring through boards
near the window. The prisoner said he had bought a
pair of shoes at Hitchin with part of the money he had
taken.
Martha Day: her husband was James Day, a marine
store dealer and keeper of a shop in Hitchin. On 14
April the prisoner came to the shop and bought a pair of
second hand shoes, which he put on and walked off in.
The prisoner left his old shoes behind. On the following
Thursday the policeman came to the shop and she gave
the shoes to him.
PC Reuben Pepper: on 14 April he received information
regarding the break in at Mr Tebbutt house. He
examined the premises and saw the glass of the kitchen
window had been broken. The window of one of the
bedroom was open. On examining the ground around
the house he observed footmarks. He covered the
footmarks as well as he could. He received information
and on 16 April went to a shop in Hitchin and obtained
25
some shoes from Mrs Day. He took the shoes to Clifton
and compared them with the footmarks. Accompanied
by another Constable, he apprehended the prisoner. In
consequence of further information he went to the
prisoner’s house and found one of the floor boards
loose. He took it up and they found the ring.
Statement of the accused: he did not wish to say
anything.
In 1857, Richard is in the Northampton electoral register as at Victoria Terrace, St.

Giles, Northampton. In the next year, 1858, he is also listed in the Northampton, St.
Giles, but shown as resident in Shefford, Beds.
In the 1861 census, Richard’s occupation is ‘Proprietor of houses’ and Emma’s is
‘Schoolmistress’.
In the 1868 Northampton register he is shown as in Clifton, Beds. This is about the
time Richard and Emma would have adopted Heber, who was born in about 1867 in
the nearby Campton outside of Shefford. And next, in 1871, the couple, with their
adopted son are in Ramsgate, Kent, running their boarding school.
Emma Ford (or Foord) Still – Foster Mother

Eben’s foster mother, Emma, seems to have been the stronger influence on him of
the two foster parents, and it was her family ties which were pivotal in his
upbringing. Records suggest her birth was in about 1813.
Emma’s parents, Henry Still and Jane Foord, are shown to have married after her
birth in the parish church of St. Mary, Lambeth (a part of London just south of the
Thames) in the County of Surrey. In the register, Henry is shown as a widower and
Jane as a spinster. It looks like Jane has initially signed her name as Still, as though
she has already been accustomed to using this name, but then crosses it out and
replaces it with Foord, her maiden name.
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 about Henry Tindal Still
Name: Henry Tindal Still
Spouse: Jane Love Foord
Record Type: Marriage
Event Date: 16 Jan 1822
Parish: St Mary, Lambeth
26
Borough: Lambeth
Register Type: Parish Register
Henry Tindal Still was a widower when he married Jane Love Foord. His first wife’s
name was Clarissa Ann Hopkins. Their daughter Clarissa Ann, born 1800 died in
Thanet in 1879.
Two of Henry and Jane’s daughters, Emma Ford and Helen Ann Ford, were baptised
in 1828. According to later census ages, Emma would have been born about 1813
and Helen about 1815, so their ages at baptism would have been about 15 and 13
(which ties in with the Strict and Particular Baptist Anabaptist practices, which are
opposed to the baptism of infants). This also explains why their names both contain
the Ford one, as it is likely their birth certificates would have been made out using
Jane’s maiden name but, in this baptism, she now ‘formalises’ the children’s
paternity by adding her married name.
27
28
There was an older sister, Jane, who, according to census ages, would have been
born in about 1812. She was to become the wife of Septimus Sears, which resulted
in the Wakefield girls (Helen Still Wakefield’s daughters), Laura and Emma Jane,
attending boarding school and living in Clifton. A birth or baptismal record has not
been found for Jane. She married Septimus Sears under the name Jane Still in the 3 rd
quarter of 1842 in the Biggleswade registration area of Bedfordshire, when she would
have been about 30.
There was also an even older brother, Alfred Henry Still, who was born in 1809 and
whose parents are shown as Henry and Jane. This suggests these two started having
children 13 years before they married, which makes one wonder if Henry's first wife
Clarissa Ann was still alive while (some of) these other children were being born . . .
Foster mother Emma’s younger sister, Helen, married John Ebenezer Wakefield.
John and Helen married at the Chelsea Registry Office, London on 18 February 1846.
John was a bachelor of full age and an engraver of 10 Lower Islington Terrace,
Islington, the son of John Wakefield, a bookseller. Helen was a spinster of full age of
5 Queen’s Terrace, Chelsea, daughter of Henry Tindal Still, a dyer in the East India
Company Service.
John and Helen’s two daughters, Emma and Laura, would both play important parts
in Eben James’s life, with Laura (Wakefield) Clarke and her family becoming what he
considered to be his closest family in England. Also, if the foster family were the
ones who gave Eben his Christian name, it could have been after John Ebenezer
Wakefield.
29
In the 1851 census this Wakefield family are shown as living at 13 Highfield Terrace,
St. Pancras, [London], Middlesex, with Emma J. as a 4-year old. 2 years later, John
Ebenezer Wakefield’s address is shown as 1 Highfield cottages, Kentish Town, which
is an area on the north side of London, not far from Hampstead.
John E. Wakefield has a very responsible job as Clerk to the newly formed
Metropolitan Sewers Company. Ten years earlier (1841) he was shown as unmarried
and living in his parents’ household with the occupation of ‘engraver’.
“The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of London's first steps towards bringing
its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was a
precursor of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The Commission was formed by the
Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848, partly in response to public health concerns
following serious outbreaks of cholera. The Commission surveyed London's antiquated
sewerage system and set about ridding the capital of an estimated 200,000 cesspits,
insisting that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers
and empty into the Thames (ultimately, a major contributing factor to "The Great Stink" of
1858).” – Wikipedia
In this 1851 census, the celebrated Strict and Particular Baptist Minister, Septimus
Sears and his wife Jane (sister to John Ebenezer’s wife Helen) are shown as visitors
from their home in Clifton, Bedfordshire.
John Ebenezer Wakefield, was shown without a wife in the 1861 census. His wife
Helen Ann Ford Wakefield was buried in Abney Park Cemetery, London, 22
December 1859, aged 44.
So, in that 1861 census J. E. W. appears to be widowed and is living on Colney Hatch
Lane, Muswell Hill, north London with his 2 young sons, Arthur and Henry Tindal,
and a niece as housekeeper. John is shown marrying his second wife, Margaret Ann
Bullock, later in 1861 on the Isle of Wight.
Septimus and his wife play an important part in the future of the two Wakefield girls,
for the latter are shown living at uncle Septimus’s Clifton home in this 1861 census,
where their aunt Jane’s occupation is listed as Principal of Boarding School for
Young Ladies. There are 13 boarder scholars in the house, including the 14-year old
Emma and her 11-year old sister Laura. Both are shown as being nieces of the head
of the house.
In this 1861 census, five years after their marriage, Richard and Emma are also
shown to be members of the Sears household. His occupation is listed as ‘Proprietor
of Houses’ and hers as ‘Schoolmistress’. It is quite likely that these houses of
Richard’s are the ones which Eben later owned in Northampton (which is where
Richard was from).
30
Septimus Sears with signature & Title page of 1880 Memoirs
Transcription overview of Septimus Sear’s household in the 1861 Census

1861 England Census about Septimus Siers
Septimus Siers
Name:
[Septimus Sears]
Age: 42
Estimated birth year: 1819
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Jane Siers
Gender: Male
Where born: Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, England
Civil Parish: Clifton
County/Island: Bedfordshire
31
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Condition as to marriage: View image

Sub-registration district: Biggleswade
ED, institution, or vessel: 9
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 70
Piece: 997
Folio: 10
Page Number: 14
Name Age
Septimus Siers 42
Jane Siers 49
Salome Kuntz 26
Elizabeth Budzler 18
Emma Clark 18
Lucy H Clark 16
Household Members:
Emma Beedzler 16
Susan A Sears 15
Sarah A Deacon 15
Sarah Cousens 13
Hannah Gifford 13
Elizabeth Gifford 13
Emma J Wakefield 14
32
Mary S Bollen 13
Margret Benson 14
Hezia Sibthorpe 12
Sarah Bollen 12
Hannah Burton 10
Sarah J Gent 10
Richard B Tebbutt 41
Emma J Tebbutt 48
Laura Wakefield 11
1861 Census for Septimus Sears’s household in Clifton Fields.
Septimus Sears
(Below write-up from Bedfordshire, Clifton archive site)
33
A portrait of Septimus Sears
The following account of the life of Septimus Sears was compiled by local historian
Barry Livesey in May 1985 and made available in Bedfordshire and Luton Archives
and Records Service searchroom as CRT180/444.
"Septimus Sears made a huge impact not only on Clifton but also nationally; and yet details
of his life and work are not generally well known. He was born in 1819 at Chatteris in
Cambridgeshire, the seventh son of Joseph Sears, a tradesman. His family, and particularly
his mother, were staunch Baptists and Septimus Sears began preaching as a minister at
the age of 20 in June 1839".
"He was clearly a magnificent natural preacher with an awesome knowledge of the
scriptures and when he came to Southill in November 1840 he made such an impression
that the people from Clifton asked him to come and be their minister. There was no Chapel
at that time but George Kempson promised to turn two of his cottages at Clifton Fields (now
64 Clifton Road, Shefford) into a Chapel if Sears would accept their offer. This he did and
after getting married in September 1842 he moved to Clifton, living in what is now Holly
Lodge, 114 Clifton Road, Shefford. The Church was informal to start with and began
properly in February 1844 when 6 people were baptised in the river by Mr. Sears".
"The Church soon thrived and by the early 1850's the little Chapel at Clifton Fields was in
danger of bursting at the seams. A new, bigger Chapel was needed and Samuel Wilson
who lived at Elms Farm gave a piece of ground on which the present Strict Baptist Chapel
was built in 1853. This is a magnificent building capable of holding over 700 people".
34
Clifton Strict Baptist Chapel March 2007
"During the next 24 years Sears became established as a figure of immense stature in the
Baptist Church. He edited The Little Gleaner and The Sower religious monthly magazines
that were distributed in thousands all over the country; he published hymn books such as
Clifton Hymns, The Clifton Hymnal for the Young and The Clifton Selection, all of which
sold in their tens of thousands and also a collection of his own poetry entitled Sacred
Musings".
"Sears always had frail health. At one time he had to wear an iron collar to support his head
and he suffered over the years from periods of paralysis, typhus and a persistent weak
heart. Despite this he preached for an hour at a time three times each Sunday and was
clearly a charismatic performer".
"He established a small day school in part of the original Chapel at Clifton Fields and pupils
paid a penny or twopence per week, according to their means. he also ran an Orphan
Fund, a Poor Fund and a Coal Fund. In 1867 the Chapel House was built and Sears moved
into the centre of the village".
"An appeal to readers of his magazine enabled him to build two Almshouses and two
Widows Homes in 1871 and further funds from readers paid for the galleries in the Chapel.
In September 1877 Septimus Sears was a sick man with a gradually failing heart. He went
to Brighton to recuperate but to no avail; he died on Boxing Day. His body was returned to
Clifton and the congregation at his funeral more than filled the Chapel. He was buried in the
family vault that can be found just to the right of the Chapel drive".
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),
1858-1966 about Septimus Sears
Name: Septimus Sears
Probate Date:5 Apr 1878
Death Date: 26 Dec 1877
Death Place: Sussex, England
Registry: Principal Registry
Probate record reads: Septimus Sears - estate valued under £1,000

35
The will of Septimus Sears formerly of Clifton, County of Bedford, but late of the
“Montville” Temperance Hotel in Brighton in the County of Sussex, Dissenting
Minister who died 26 of December 1877 at the “Montville” was proved at the Principal
Registry by Charles Lenton of Clifton Plait Dealer sole executor.
The gravestone of Septimus Sears
Sears' tombstone reads as follows:
IN VERY AFFECTIONATE
REMEMBRANCE OF
SEPTIMUS SEARS
A LABORIOUS AND HONOURED SERVANT OF

THE LORD AND FAITHFUL IN THE GLORIOUS
GOSPEL OF THE BLESSED GOD, WHICH WAS
COMMITTED TO HIS TRUST. HE WAS GREATLY
USED IN THE SALVATION OF SOULS AND WAS
A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF BELIEVERS, IN WORD,
IN CONVERSATION, IN CHARITY, IN SPIRIT,
IN FAITH, IN PURITY.
HE FELL ASLEEP IN JESUS

DECR 26TH 1877
IN THE 59TH YEAR OF HIS AGE
"HE THAT WINNETH SOULS IS WISE" PROV XI, 30
"THEY THAT TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS

SHALL SHINE AS THE STARS FOR EVER AND EVER
DANIEL XII, 3
36
3. Birth Mother’s family background
Harriet Ann was known by her second name, ‘Annie’, probably because her mother’s
name was also Harriet. Harriet senior had been born a Skeffington on 23 February
1825 at Tilton-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire. In 1847, when she was 22, she married
Bryan Ward, 6 years her senior, in Welham. Bryan had been born in 1819 about 13
miles away in Weston-by-Welland, Northamptonshire, where he was baptised on 20
March.
Bryan Ward and Harriet Skeffington, possibly taken on their wedding day.
Harriet Skeffington
Her parents were
• Thomas Skeffington (before Jan. 1802 – 1862) and Mary Ann Needham
(1807 – 1833). Thomas is shown as a grazier and farmer of Welham,
Leicestershire in the 1841 and 1851 censuses and occupied 381 acres in
the latter one.
37
Thomas Skeffington ca. 1802 – 1862 painting and photograph
Thomas Skeffington’s wife’s late mother’s 1855 estate auction. Teresa

commented (29/11/17): I have been entertaining Dimity with snippets from
the national newspaper archive which keeps growing. It includes a public
notice where William Sarjeant disowned his wife. Possibly more interesting
were a couple of notices relating to Harriet’s Needham grandparents. Her
38
grandfather Robert Needham was a grazier who died after falling from the hay
rick. It described him as having previously been the publican at the Rose and
Crown in Tilton. This could be where Harriet was born. The younger George
Skeffington had run the pub in Welham so it may have been common to
combine the occupations. The notice about Elizabeth is attached. It is details
of the sale after her death and may be of interest to the businessmen because
it shows the sort of scale of the operation. Her son William later disposed of a
lease of 112 acres of land at Marefield which I think was probably Robert and
Elizabeth’s farm.
Rose and Crown, Tilton-on-the-Hill, opposite parish church
39
13 November 1829 notice for sale of Rose and Crown, Tilton-on-the-Hill,
Robert Needham’s home and business
Sale on death of Robert Needham’s widow, Elizabeth, 1855
40
Welham Manor farmhouse where Thomas Skeffington farmed, and
where his father had probably also been prior to him.
Older part of Welham Manor farmhouse
41
Thomas Skeffington’s (ca 1802 – 1862) gravestone
Thomas is buried between two or three of his wives.
Gravestones of Thomas’s wives Mary Ann Skeffington (1807 – 1833) and

Catherine (d. 1873)
42
Gravestone attached to Thomas Skeffington from an online family tree.
• Thomas’s parents were Thomas Skeffington (about 1773 - 1848), grazier,

and Elizabeth Grant (1781 – 1822), also of Welham, Leicestershire.
• The earlier Thomas Skeffington was the son of George Skeffington (1739
– 1793) and Ann Kestion (1742 – 1826) of Welham.
• George Skeffington’s parents were George Skeffington (1704 – 1739)
and Elizabeth Walker (1703 – 1781) of Welham.
43
“…inventory for George Skeffington who died in 1739 who established the family at
Welham. Given how young he was this seems quite an estate to have accrued.”
Teresa 29/11/17
44
Bryan Ward
was the sixth child of
• Thomas Ward (1782 - 1852) and Elizabeth Meadows (1781 - 1856).
Thomas Ward is shown as a grazier and farmer in Slawston,
Leicestershire, in the 1841 and 1851 censuses.
Gravestone of Thomas and Elizabeth Ward, Weston by Welland

• Thomas’s parents were Thomas Ward (before July 1750 – 1801) and
Mary Magdalen Rowlatt ( - 1825) of Weston-by-Welland,
Northamptonshire.
45
Gravestones of Thomas and Mary Ward, Medbourne, Leicestershire
• The earlier Thomas Ward was son of Edward Ward (1701 – 1791) and his
second wife Sarah who lived in Bringhurst, Leicestershire and who is
shown as a freeholder in Hallaton in the 1775 entry of the Gartree
Hundred.
• Edward Ward was the son of an earlier Edward Ward ( - 1730) and Mary
Willson (1675 – 1715) who also appears to be a freeholder in 1719 in
Hallaton in an electoral register.
(Some further early Ward ancestry research of Teresa’s – mostly wills – can be found
in an appendix.)
Bryan and Harriet Ward had five children, of which Annie, born in 1848, was the
eldest. The four others who followed were Bryan William (1850), Reuben (1851), Mary
Ann Needham (1853) and Francis (1857).
In 1851, four years after the marriage and at the age of 30, Bryan was described as a
farmer of 193 acres in rural Slawston (near the town of Market Harborough),
Leicestershire.
They were doing well enough that they were able to send eldest daughter Annie off to
a boarding school in Norwich, Norfolk, a little over 100 miles distance from Slawston.
46
Manor Farm, Slawston, the farm Bryan occupied for about 35 years.
In 1861, when he was 40, Bryan is shown as a grazier and farmer of 412 acres and
employing 6 labourers, 3 boys and 2 women.
In 1871, at age of 50, the family occupy 500 acres and employ 9 men, 3 boys and one
woman. Eldest daughter, Annie, now 22 years old is shown as a member of the family
and, by this time, almost certainly would have begun her courtship with her future
husband, Joseph Ward.
It is understood that Bryan was a leaseholder, rather than owner, on the land he
farmed and grazed.
Harriet and Bryan were doing alright financially about this time, because it is
understood Harriet (probably with Skeffington money) funded the construction of a
non-conformist Mission Hall with a manse next to it on the main street in Medbourne,
Leicestershire. The Victoria County History for Leicestershire refers to it being
constructed by Mrs Bryan Ward of Slawston and there is a plaque in the chapel to
similar effect. It opened in 1870.
47
Mission Hall, Medbourne
Medbourne Mission Hall and manse on the right
48
Medbourne Mission Hall manse
Sisters Mary Ann and Annie (presumed) on holiday

in Barmouth, Wales in traditional Welsh dress
49
From Dimity 23/3/15:
My grandfather, Bryan Ward Perkins, wrote this of his grandmother
“Another great lady was my grandmother, nee Harriet Skeffington. She married
Bryan Ward and lived at Slawston. She died and is buried at Medbourne. As the wife
of a farmer she was very busy. Her speciality was cheese; Leicestershire cheese (eg
Stilton) was the best. She specialised in cream cheese. She did not worry about her
appearance but she was always neatly dressed. She had one special item of clothing
– bustles were very fashionable then. She had one in which, if she was going away
for a short stay, she packed a brush, a comb, a toothbrush and a nightgown. She did
get away often, many times at a moment’s notice, to visit someone ill or in trouble.
There is, in Medbourne, in a Mission Hall she built and supported, a plaque up to her
memory.”
Great-aunt Margaret, his sister, also described her grandmother Harriet “riding in a
tall hat preaching and earning the name of Archdeacon or Bishop.”
Reuben Skeffington
Bryan’s sister, Emma Ward, married his wife’s brother, Reuben Skeffington, and the
two families remained close, as is shown by members of their respective families
staying with each other in some of the censuses.
Reuben and Emma (Ward) Skeffington
50
Reuben Skeffington and Emma Ward Marriage Certificate, 1856, St Mary’s, Islington,
Middlesex, London
Like their nieces, Mary Ann and Annie, Emma and Reuben also holidayed in
Barmouth, Wales, where this photo was taken.
51
In his prime, Reuben was a well-off man with many acres of grazing land, though
these were rented from a landlord. In the 1881 census, Reuben is listed as a farmer
of 1050 acres, employing 18 men 2 women and 4 boys.
Reuben’s Timeline
Birth
1826 7 Aug
Welham, Leicestershire
Residence
1851 Age: 25
Welham, Leicestershire, England
Marriage to Emma Ward
1856 2 Sep Age: 30
Islington, Middlesex
Residence
1861 Age: 35
Blaston St Giles, Leicestershire, England
Residence
1881 Age: 55
Blaston, Leicestershire, England
Residence
1891 Age: 65
Hallaton, Leicestershire, England
Death
1907 2 Feb Age: 80
Hallaton, Leicestershire
Reuben Skeffington
52
Reuben and Bryan Ward both had landlords and the very rich Cunard family lived
nearby. Sir Bache Cunard attended Reuben’s funeral. Reuben left no will and
descendants have indicated that he had nothing to leave by the time of his death.
There has been speculation that Reuben may have been the source of money paid on
Eben’s account to the Tebbutt foster parents, but nothing certain has been found to
support this. From the correspondence in Eben’s estate, it seems he and foster
cousin Laura Clarke did try to work out who the source of these payments was. One
would have thought Laura may have been able to find out, as Emma T was
forwarding money to Laura’s husband, William, on Eben’s account. However, it could
be that Emma first received such money from a third party, rather than direct from
the birth parents or maternal grandmother (Harriet Ward). Harriet’s brother, Reuben
S, would therefore have been an obvious likely candidate.
Reuben Skeffington Death Certificate, 1907
53
4. Birth Father’s Family Background
Annie Ward’s fiancé was Joseph Granger Ward. Joe was born in Welham in July
1848, the same year Annie had been born.
Joe was the son of Joseph Ward (1800 – 1861) and Betsey Ann Granger (1807 –
1886).
Joseph senior had had a previous wife, Elizabeth M. Goodliffe. Their first child died
in infancy. They next had a son, John William Ward (1833 – 1916) who was Joe’s
much older half-brother. John William married in 1863 and farmed at Sutton Bassett.
His wife was Ann and, together they had four children: Mary Louisa (1866), Henry G
(1868), Annie C (1870) and Walter Ashby (1871). All these children married, but none
of them had children, so this line died out.
John William Ward and his wife Ann
54
John William Ward with Ann and their four children, Claire, Louie, Henry and Walter
Joseph senior’s third child, Thomas Goodliffe died in infancy. Four years later, in
1844, his wife Elizabeth died, aged 51.
55
Elizabeth Goodliffe, 1st wife of Joe Ward Sr, gravestone
Joseph senior had been born in Slawston, Leicestershire. Joseph senior and his
family lived at Welham Lodge, Welham, Leicestershire, which was considered a cut
above Manor Farm in Slawston, where the Bryan Ward family lived and where Joe
junior’s fiancé Annie was raised.
56
Welham Lodge
Joseph senior’s parents were William and Elizabeth Ward. It is thought that William
Ward had purchased Welham Lodge sometime after the death of the previous
owners, Robert and Christine Kirk, in 1816. William Ward, of Welham Lodge, Welham,
died in 1834 and his will or administration and inventory was registered in 1835. His
will includes two dwelling houses and land in Slawston, and his parents had married
there, so that is where he lived before acquiring Welham Lodge.
57
Grave of William and Elizabeth Ward, grandparents of Joe G. Ward
Joe’s mother, Betsey Ann, had been born on 3 May 1807 in Horninghold,
Leicestershire, the daughter of William Granger (1777 – 1836) and Charlotte Godfrey
58
(1783 - ). William Granger kept an exercise book in which he recorded family data and
miscellaneous local events. The later entries in this book were probably made by
William’s son, Betsey’s younger brother, William John Granger. A few of the pages
from this book were published in the book on the family history by the Ward
descendants in New Zealand.
Betsey Ann (Granger) Ward and her younger brother William John Granger (1811-77)
About 15 months after his first wife died, Joseph, aged 52, married Betsey Ann
Granger, who was then about 38. Fifteen months after the marriage, in 1846, Betsey
gave birth to a daughter, whom they also named Betsey Ann (and who was known by
the nickname ‘Narnie’).
Betsey Ann’s younger brother, Joseph Granger Ward, was born two years later, on 9
March 1848 at Welham Lodge. He was baptised at Welham’s church in July 1848. Joe
was Joseph senior’s and Betsey’s last child.
59
Sister and brother, Betsey Ann ‘Narnie’ and Joseph Granger Ward
In the 1851 census, Joseph senior is shown as a farmer of 280 acres, employing 7
labourers.
In the 1861 census, his acreage has increased to 390 and he is shown as employing
4 boys along with the 7 men. In addition to his family, the residents of his home
include a governess, a carter, a shepherd and a house servant.
Joseph junior was 13 and his sister Betsey was 14
1861 England Census about Joseph G Ward
Name: Joseph G Ward
Age: 13
Estimated birth year: 1848
Relation: Son
Father's Name: Joseph Ward
Mother's name: Betsey A Ward
Gender: Male
Where born: Welham Lodge, Leicestershire, England
Civil Parish: Welham
60
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Condition as to View image

marriage:
Registration district: Market Harborough
Sub-registration
Market Harborough
district:
ED, institution, or
22
vessel:
Household schedule
16
number:
Piece: 2251
Folio: 98
Page Number: 18
Name Age
Joseph Ward farmer and grazier of 390 acres, 60

employer of 7 men and 4 boys
Betsey A Ward wife 50
John W Ward son, farmer with father 27
Betsey A Ward dau 14

Household Members:
Joseph G Ward son 13
Ann Ashby serv, governess 28
William Spriggs serv., carter 19
Charles Woolley serv., shepherd 20
Sarah Bamford serv. House servant 20
61
Joseph Ward senior died in 1861 and left an estate of under £4,000. See will in
appendices.
Joseph’s second wife, Joe Ward Jr’s mother, Betsey, lived on until 1886 and left
about £1000. See will in appendices.
Joe Jr would have been about 13 at the time of his father’s death, while his sister
Betsey Ann would have been a year older.
Gravestone of Joseph Sr. and wife Betsey Ann Ward
In 1869, upon turning 21, Joe inherited £500 from his father’s estate (the equivalent of
£52,000 in 2017). Two years later, in the 1871 census, Joseph is shown as 23 years of
age and a farmer with 85 acres employing 1 boy. Also in the household are his
sister, a servant and a visiting Baptist Minister, Charles Moreton, who was born in
London.
62
1871 England Census about Betsey Ann Ward
Name: Betsey Ann Ward
Age: 24
Relation: Sister
Gender: Female
Where born: Welham, Leicestershire, England
Town: Welham
Country: England
Sub-registration district: Market Harborough
Household schedule
2
number:
Piece: 3226
Folio: 124
Page Number: 29
Name Age
Joseph G Ward Farmer of 85 acres employing 1 23

boy
Household Members: Betsey Ann Ward sister 24
Rebecca Garfield general servant 14
Charles Moreton visitor Baptist Minister born 23

London
63
Joe’s illegitimate baby, Ebenezer James, would have been born in the next year or
two. “My feeling is that wherever the baby was born it might be possible to hide
someone at Welham Lodge which it might not be possible to do in Welham Village.”
(Teresa C.)
A sale of the livestock and rights to some tenanted land from the estate of the late
Joseph Ward senior was held on 4 October 1872
64
From Teresa ca. Nov. 2015
Looking at the Welham Wards at this point makes me think. In 1871 Joe Ward was a
farmer with eighty five acres. It is complicated because Welham Lodge was not
named on the census but I suspect the Wards have left and are living in the village.
Logically Welham Lodge was the first or last property on the census and the Wards
are no longer in that position. That would explain why the house illustrated in the NZ
booklet was not Welham Lodge. Also when the railway was promoted in the early
1870s it was Betsey Ann who was renting land. Joe was not mentioned supporting
the idea that his holding was small. Based on this I am developing a theory that the
tenancy of Welham Lodge may have ceased with Joe senior and the family no longer
have that social position.
From Teresa 9 March 2018
Looking on the Newspaper Archive I found that the Executors were still around in
1880. This makes sense since their job did not finish until Betsey Ann died. The
notices include the attached one from the Leicester Journal on 27 September 1872. I
wondered if this indicates Betsey Ann giving up active farming or possibly just Joe
coming of age. It is of course possible that they let land out regularly but this is the
only one which has shown up. The books of reference for the railway indicate that
Betsey Ann herself held land in the bottom of the valley.
Up to 1878 there are newspaper adverts from the Leicester Banking Company listing
their partners. The Bank did not become a limited company until 1880. Listed
among the partners are both Betsey Anns and the executors of Joseph Ward.
Missing from the list is Joseph Granger. This is presumably where Betsey Ann,
Joe’s sister kept her capital.
I think the impact of the railway was probably much earlier. The Welland Valley
received cattle from further north and west for fattening. By 1852 the East Coast
Main Line was running from Yorkshire. The West Coast Main Line appears to have
been earlier. I am uncertain of the opening date of the Midland Main Line. I assume
that cattle from Scotland, Ireland and Wales would be put on the train at the first
railhead and shipped direct to the capital without overwintering. It was this rather
than the local railways that would reduce the trade for the Welland Valley which I
suspect decreased slowly from the 1840s.
65
5. Eben’s Boyhood in Clifton and Shefford
It is not known when the Tebbutts, together with their adopted son Heber and the 5
to 6 year younger foster son, Ebenezer, relocated from Ramsgate back to the
Tebbutts’s previous home in Clifton, where Emma’s sister Jane and her minister
husband, Septimus Sears, were based.
Photo found in Eben’s estate papers, presumed to be of himself as a boy

There is a Kelly’s Directory entry for Richard Tebbutt in Ramsgate in 1874, so it
would have been either about this date (such directories were often compiled about 6
months before they were published), but before the 1881 census.
As previously quoted: “ . . . it seems such a short time since you were a dear blue
eyed boy going about with me at Ramsgate.” – letter to Eben from Frances Jager,
December 22, 1897. If Eben had been old enough to venture out into Ramsgate town
with Frances, he must have been at least as old as four or, quite possibly, even a
year or two older than that. It seems likely that the move occurred between 1876 and
1878, as Eben later wrote ‘scenes from boyhood’ on a Shefford post card, suggesting
he thought of Clifton/Shefford as his childhood home. A factor which suggests the
earlier part of this period (1876-7) is the closeness which developed between Eben
and Laura Wakefield (his foster mother’s neice), which must have happened before
her July 1878 marriage, as she moved away from Clifton/Shefford at that time.
66
Aside from a few later records (notably travel, letters, and a will and estate
documents), only one document has surfaced mentioning Eben James’s life in
England before he emigrated to Canada in 1889. This is the 1881 census record
which was taken on the night of 3 April 1881. This shows Eben to be 8 years old at
his last birthday and a boarder at the home of Richard B. and Emma F. Tebbutt. This
would imply a birthday in either 1872 or early 1873, although no birth record has
been found. His occupation is listed as ‘scholar’. From 1861 onwards a child was
described as a scholar if he/she was over 5 and receiving daily schooling or regular
tuition at home, so this does not necessarily mean Eben was attending school. In
later years he noted, “I remember my first day at school, 8 ½ years old…” (p. 56
Triumphant Journey), which implies he had not started attending any regular school
before this census was taken.
1881 Census entry for Ebenezer James (fourth line down on the list)
The head of the house is foster father Richard B. Tebbutt, who is 61 and an
annuitant, which meant someone on an annual allowance or receiving income from
an investment (but could also then describe an institutionalized pensioner). Foster
mother Emma’s occupation is schoolmistress. At 68, she is here shown as 7 years
older than her husband. There is also a house servant named Susan Arnold.
67
Very unusually, for the ‘place of birth’ column, ‘Not Known’ is written against
Ebenezer’s name. Richard is shown as being from Northampton, and his wife Emma
from Wandsworth Rd., [London] Surrey. The only other boarder is an 11-year old girl
named Margaret J. Cousins from London, Middlesex. The Cousens family must have
been fans of the Tebbutt schooling (or perhaps of their Strict Baptist household),
because 2 of their older children, Freddie and Philip, had previously been
boarder/scholars with the Tebbutts in the 1871 census in Ramsgate.
Enumeration area for pages of 1881 Census including Eben James
68
Shefford postcards in Eben James papers
He’s written ‘Scenes from boyhood’ at the top of one.
The place of the census was Clifton, Bedfordshire and this household, in a house
called ‘Clifton Villa’, was in an area known as Clifton Fields, which was a group of
houses built on the road between the villages or towns of Clifton and Shefford, which
are about a mile and a half apart (it is now part of Shefford). This road is called
Clifton Road in Shefford and Shefford Road in Clifton.
The next household enumerated in this census is that of ‘Holly Lodge’, which is of
further help, as that was the earlier home of the late celebrated Strict Baptist pastor,
Septimus Sears, who had died just 4 years earlier (which suggests Eben had either
never known him or would have been too young to remember him). Holly Lodge’s
only occupants in this 1881 census are Septimus’s widow, Emma Tebbutt’s sister
Jane, and her servant Ann Wells.
The religion Eben was brought up in can be inferred to have been Baptist from this
close link with his great aunt Jane’s pastor husband Septimus, as well as from the
letters he later received from his foster mother and others in her circle.
We do not know how long Eben lived at this house, though he spoke of having been
raised by the Tebbutts, so it must have been for a reasonable part of the childhood
he spent with them.
69
Clifton Road, Shefford, SG17 5AN in 2009.
Holly Lodge is the white timbered house on the right, so the brown brick house set
back from the road to the left of it may have been Clifton Villa, the home of the
Tebbutts and of Eben (it is now called Ivy Lodge).
Holly Lodge, 114 Clifton Road, Shefford, Bedfordshire SG17 5AN in May 2009
70
Shefford Central and West 1883.
Shefford West 1883 enlarged

The road running along the lower part of the Shefford West map is Clifton Road and
the houses (in pink) on the lower part of this road are where Clifton Villa and Holly
71
Lodge were (and are). The words written in the fields under these houses are ‘Infant
School’.
The former Clifton Fields Infants School building in November 2009

This school opened as a Church School in 1870 and closed in 1931. It is on the
Clifton Road, Shefford, only a few doors away from Holly Lodge, and would have
been a familiar building to Eben James as a child. If he did not attend it himself, it is
likely he would have had friends who did.
72
Clifton as it was 1882-3
Shefford Road is the lower one going to the left on the left hand map. Note the
Baptist Chapel on Broad Street on the lower left side of the right hand map.
The Wakefield Sisters as part of Eben’s Clifton childhood

As noted earlier, the Wakefield sisters, Emma and Laura, were found to have been in
the Baptist Minister Septimus Sears’ household in the 1871 census. Both were family
members, as daughters of Septimus’s wife’s Jane’s sister.
73
Photo believed to be of Emma and Laura Wakefield taken by Cantle & Barnard of
Bedford and inscribed on back R B Tebbutt from L W(akefield)
Both sisters Emma and Laura Wakefield appear again in the 1871 census on the
same Clifton Road in the Clifton Fields area. This time Emma, 24, is head of the
household with the occupation ‘Mistress of a Boarding School’, while younger sister
Laura, 21, is ‘Partner’s Assistant. The census also lists a French teacher, 10 pupils,
and two domestic servants in this household.
This census record presents the closest picture we can have of the situation
surrounding the two Wakefield sisters just before Eben James’s conception, which
almost certainly occurred sometime over the next year and a half.
1871 England Census about Emma J Wakefield

Name: Emma J Wakefield
Age: 24
Relation: Head
Gender: Female
74
Where born: Islington, Middlesex, England
Ecclesiastical parish: Ely
Town: Clifton
Country: England
Household schedule
137
number:
Piece: 1551
Folio: 78
Page Number: 27
Name Age
Household Members: Emma J Wakefield Mistress of a Boarding School’ 24
Laura Wakefield Partner’s Assistant 21
75
1871 Census for Clifton, Bedfordshire showing Emma Wakefield’s household
In the same 1871 census, Septimus Sears, his wife and one servant are now living on
the road called Broad Street between Clifton and the village of Henlow, near his
Baptist Chapel on the same road.
Eben did not come to Clifton from Ramsgate until about 1874 or a year or two later,
but he clearly developed a close foster family relationship with Laura Wakefield, who
was a neice of his foster mother. She and her family were later to be considered his
closest family in England, probably even during the later lives of his foster parents.
There is evidence he visited Laura at her married home before he went to Canada
and also that he would visit them on subsequent trips back to England. Letters he
kept from Laura suggest she was his closest confidante and where his strongest
emotional support lay, at least until his relationship with his future wife, Jeanie
Fraser, was established.
As Laura and her sister, Emma, are shown as having lived and worked together in
the 1871 census, Eben would have also known Emma well, although there is no
documentaary evidence, such as letters from her, to show how close their
relationship was.
However, the ensuing 10 years brought significant changes to both Wakefield
sisters.
76
In the 1881 census, Emma, now 34, is shown as an annuitant living with her younger
brother Arthur Wakefield’s family in St. Neots, Huntingdonshire, which is about 15
miles north of her previous home in Clifton, Bedfordshire (where Eben was living
with the Tebbutts). It is possible that Emma may already have been in ill health, as
she has stopped working and one of the house staff is shown as having nursing
duties (though this is more likely to refer to looking after small children). It is not
known why she stayed with her brother rather than her with her father and step-
mother. However, she died 5 years later of a respiratory illness, and the air in
Victorian London, where her father then lived, was infamous for its smog.
In the probate summary for her estate, Emma’s last home is named as Holly Lodge.
On the death certificate for Emma Jane Wakefield, it says she died at her sister
Laura’s home in Loughborough and the cause of death is listed as ‘phthisis’, which
is tuberculosis. No record has been found which indicated where the money came
from which she was living on the interest of, but she was to have inherited the
houses left in Septimus Sears’ will after his wife Jane’s death, so there is a
possibility that the rental income from them was shared between her and Jane.
1881 England Census about Emma J. Wakefield

Name: Emma J. Wakefield
Age: 34
Relationship to Head: Sister
Gender: Female
Where born: Islington, Middlesex, England
Civil Parish: St Neots
County/Island: Huntingdonshire
Country: England
Street address: Huntingdon St
Education:
Employment status: View image

Occupation: Living on the Interest Of Money
Registration district: St Neots
Sub-registration district: St Neots
77
Piece: 1610
Folio: 20
Page Number: 33
Name Age
Arthur Wakefield head, Engineer’s Clerk 29
Marie L. Wakefield wife 22
Household Members: Hilda L. Wakefield daughter 1
Emma J. Wakefield sister, living on interest of money 34
Sarah Woods general servant 25
Ellen A. Setchfide nurse & domestic servant 20
Laura Wakefield did not stand still either. On 9 July 1878, when Eben would have
been only 5 or 6, she and William Clarke were married at Hampstead Parish Church
in north London near the home of her father, John Ebenezer Wakefield. Witnesses to
the marriage include sister Emma Jane, father John Ebenezer Wakefield and the
Leicester Baptist Pastor Grey Hazlerigg, whose wife was sister to William Clarke.
Hampstead Parish Church 1759

78
Marriage of Laura Wakefield and William Clarke 1878
In the 1881 census, Laura and her husband are living at his home in Loughborough,
Leicestershire with their first child, Helena Laura Clarke, who is one year old. William
is working as a Dyer in the family firm.
Laura Clarke (presumed) with one of her children

From Eben James 1’s papers
79
We can be pretty sure that William and Laura are Baptists, as in 1880 T.C. Clarke
[William’s father] built the Strict Baptist Chapel on Forest Road, Loughborough [near
their home, Wood Brook] recorded as a Calvinist Baptist Chapel in White’s Street
Directory of 1888, and called Church of the Resurrection in the 20 th century.
- The Church of The Resurrection, formerly a Baptist Chapel, and now known
as the Deaf Church or Deaf Mission, is a modest building which stands
prominently close to the road. It is of red brick laid to Flemish bond, with the
gable facing the street and a small gabled porch to the side. The roof is of
Welsh slate with decorated ridge tiles. The Gothic style windows and the door
have stone hoods and the gables have stone copings. The windows
themselves have been replaced. The main gable and the porch gable have
wrought iron crown pinnacles.
In 1949 the chapel was bought and refurbished by the Loughborough Mission for the
Deaf. In 2009 the chapel was closed for lack of funds to maintain it.
(Above from Charnwood Borough Council from the Emmanuel Conservation Area)
Strict Baptist Chapel, Forest Road, Loughborough built by T C Clarke 1880 (2012)
Eben was very close to Laura and they corresponded for the rest of her life. As a
boy, he would visit and stay at her home, The Gables, in Loughborough. It had been
built between the censuses of 1881 and 1891.
80
The Gables, Forest Row as it looked in Laura’s day and in 2013
Laura Clarke outside her home
Emma Wakefield died 28 October 1886, aged 39 at the home of her sister, Laura
Clarke, Wood Brook, in Loughborough. Eben would have been just 13 or 14 at the
time of Emma’s death. He would mostly have been away at boarding school in the
Brighton area at this time, except for school holidays.
One indication he spent time with Laura and her family just before his departure for
Canada:
(received from Dorothy 29/7/14)
Found a license to Fish trout and Char in the TRENT FISHERY DISTRICT 1889 for
Ebenezer James of Loughborough.
81
Emma Wakefield’s death certificate
Emma Wakefield’s will was probated 2 March 1887 in Northampton,
Northamptonshire, by her executors, William Clarke and his wife Laura (Emma’s
younger sister) of Loughborough. Emma’s personal estate amounted to 190 pounds,
8 shillings and 8 pence (which approximates £21,000 in inflated 2012 money).
Holly Lodge, 114 Clifton Road, Shefford, Bedfordshire SG17 5AN (2009)
82
Probate Record summary for Emma Jane Wakefield:
Wakefield, Emma Jane, Personal Estate £190 8s 8d – 2 March. The will of Emma Jane
Wakefield late of Holly Lodge Clifton-Road Shefford in the county of Bedford
Spinster who died 28 October 1886 at Loughborough in the County of Leicester was
proved at Northampton by William Clarke Dyer and Laura Clarke (wife of the said
William Clarke) the sister, both of Forest Road Loughborough the Executors.
Although her last residence was in what had been Septimus Sears’s earlier home
(and now where his widow lived), Septimus had died 10 years before. He had been in
poor health with a failing heart and had gone to the ‘Monteville’ Temperance Hotel, 34
West Street, Brighton to recuperate, but died there 26 December 1877, aged 58. His
body was brought back to Clifton for burial in the churchyard of the Strict Baptist
Chapel he had established there.
Septimus Sears and 34 West Street Brighton (the building on the right in 2012), the
Monteville Hotel where he died in 1877. It is just a block or two from the beach where
he could benefit from the sea air.
If Holly Lodge was indeed her last home, we can be sure that Emma would have been
cared for by her aunt Jane Sears, as Jane is shown still to be living at Holly Lodge in
the 1891 census. It is very likely that her other aunt, Emma Tebbutt, and uncle,
Richard Tebbutt, were with Emma Wakefield, too, as they are also resident in Holly
Lodge in that same 1891 census.
83
Emma Jane Wakefield’s gravestone in Clifton
Many years later, in 1921, in an extraordinary move, Eben would list Emma Wakefield
as his mother when he married. He may have been told this and may have thought it
was possible, but this is unlikely, as correspondence from her sister Laura makes it
quite clear that neither of them knew who his parents were (and one would have been
sure that Laura would have known if it had been her sister, given the closeness of
the two). On that marriage document, Eben also named his father as Richard James,
a soldier.
The rationale behind him using these names is quite possibly that he said his father
was a James because that was the name he had been brought up with. The name
Richard was the name of his foster father. Eben and Richard Tebbutt had a close
relationship as is evidenced from correspondence from Richard . . . as well as from
the latter’s will. The first name Eben used for his mother, Emma, was the name of his
foster mother, Emma Tebbutt. He considered Laura (Wakefield) Clarke and her
family his own closest family. By choosing her sister, Emma, who had been single
and was long dead by the time of Eben’s marriage, there was no danger in sullying
anyone’s reputation through attributing an illegitimate child back in the 1870s to her.
So Eben’s choice of parents names for the marriage document was a safe one which
honoured both of his foster parents, acknowledged the origins of his surname and
cemented his sense of family relationship with Laura Clarke and her family.
84
William and Laura Clarke had the following children: Helena Laura (‘Nell’ b. 1880),
Henrietta Frances (‘Frisk’ b. 1882), William Ashley Tyndale (b. 1885) and Winifred
Margaret (‘Winn’ b. 1887). Eben would think of these children as his cousins. He
would name them as such and as beneficiaries in a precautionary will he made in
1919 when the Spanish flu was infecting and killing many Canadians. In addition to
leaving them money, the four Northampton houses were left to Ashley Clarke.
Eben James with ‘aunt’ Laura and ‘cousins’ in England. It appears the boy in the
middle, Ashley, might be around 10 years old, which means the photo approximately
dates to 1895, when Eben would have been about 22 or 23.
On 26th July 1905, William Clarke died, leaving £8,524 13s 3d. to his wife. His will can
be seen in an appendix. In the account of his estate £250 is shown as being due to
Eben. This amount due Eben was a substantial sum, equivalent to £28,000 in 2016
values. Eben would have been 32 or 33 at this time.
85
,
18 Victoria Street, Loughborough (in 2009), Laura’s home when she wrote her will
and its codicil in 1923 and 1926
Laura Clarke’s last residence, 1934, where she lived with her daughter Helena Laura
Clarke, 10 Colgrove Road, Loughborough (in 2012)
Laura, died in 1934 and left her £3,400 (equivalent to about £205,000 in 2012 money)
to her children with executors being son William Ashley Tyndale Clarke and daughter
Helen Laura Clarke spinster.
The first William’s son, William Ashley Tyndale Clarke, who presumably later
inherited the family dye works, himself died in 1953, leaving an estate of £19,657 14s
6d to his widow, Margaret Ann Clarke. In December 1958, the dyeworks was taken
over by the liquidator for winding up.
86
6. Birth Parents’ Marriage and Early Married Life
Marriage at London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle by Charles Spurgeon
The marriage certificate shows that on 2nd October 1873 Joseph Granger Ward aged
25 a bachelor, farmer and grazier of 19 Temple Street Southwark, son of Joseph
Ward (deceased) Farmer married Harriet Annie Ward age 25 spinster of Slawston
Leicester daughter of Bryan Ward Farmer.
The marriage took place at the Metropolitan Tabernacle by license and by the rites
and ceremonies of the Baptist Church. The witnesses are Bryan Ward (father of the
bride), Francis Ward and Mary Needham Ward (younger brother and sister of the
bride) and the wedding was conducted by CH (Charles) Spurgeon with Godfrey
Young as Registrar.
Charles Spurgeon (1834 – 1892)
Nobody but the best for Joe and Annie’s wedding. The Metropolitan Tabernacle
(near today’s Elephant and Castle roundabout) would have been most impressive at
any time. According to the online data, it could seat 5000 with a further 1000
standing, and Spurgeon's reputation was such it could well have been filled regularly
(though not for Joe's wedding). Spurgeon’s books and sermons are still in print.
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Metropolitan Tabernacle main auditorium packed to listen to Spurgeon
(from Spurgeon, A New Biography, Arnold Dallimore, 1984)
Metropolitan Tabernacle interior then and exterior today
Marrying by license cost more but could have been a way of marrying away from
their usual home area and not having to wait the 3 weeks for the banns to be read.
From Teresa 1/6/15
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I now have Annie’s marriage certificate. Interesting but not exciting. On 2nd October
1873 Joseph Granger Ward aged 25 a bachelor, farmer and grazier of 19 Temple Street
Southwark, son of Joseph Ward (deceased) Farmer married Harriet Annie Ward age 25
spinster of Slawston Leicester daughter of Bryan Ward Farmer.
Temple Street (no longer in existence) ran along the back of the Tabernacle. Joseph
seems to have been very much enmeshed in the Baptists and particularly in
Spurgeon’s sect. Spurgeon had founded his Pastors’ College which was, at the time
of Joe’s marriage being run from the basement of the Tabernacle. The next year, in
September 1874, the college was relocated to Temple Street. Spurgeon wanted
students “who (1.) had been truly born again; (2.) had experienced the call of God to
the ministry; and (3.) under the effect of those two experiences had begun to preach
been active in this undertaking for some time - preferably two years. . . . he was not
trying ‘to make preachers,’ but to help some who were already engaged in that work
‘to become better preachers.’” (Morden, the People’s Preacher – C. H. Spurgeon,
2009)
Spurgeon teaching at his College (stone carving) and Spurgeon’s lecture room.
(from The People’s Preacher - C. H. Spurgeon, Peter Morden, 2009)
Joseph Ward's residence on his marriage certificate (the marriage was in Oct 1873)
was 19 Temple Street. This seems to be further confirmation for the hypothesis that
Joe was a student at that college and also suggests that he had already been
preaching, at least informally, beforehand. His address as the adjacent Temple Street
could mean he was then studying at Spurgeon’s Pastors’ College. The street behind
the Tabernacle is now called Pastor’s Street, no doubt after Spurgeon’s College.
However, Joe’s occupation as farmer and grazier tell us that his real home is still
back in Welham.
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Teresa Callan asked the librarian at Spurgeon's College if they had any records
showing if her great grandfather, Herbert Perkins (Mary Ann's husband) had studied
there. She kindly also asked if they had any records of Joseph Granger Ward having
studied there.
The response she got was:
To: Teresa Callan <teresacallan@btinternet.com>

Subject: RE: Information on former students
Dear Teresa,
Thanks for your email. Over Easter I was involved in the work relating to the
Government’s Data Protection Regulations which has had the effect of limiting the
personal data we can store about former students. Therefore I am only allowed to
give out the basics of their details which are stored in a card index. For Herbert
Perkins, we have the dates of birth/death that you mention, and the fact that he
entered College in 1864 from the Met. Tabernacle. He settled in 1865 in Warminster,
and left there in 1867. His further pastorates were at Bedminster from 1868-69, and
then he was ‘In business’ from 1885 onwards although I don’t know exactly what that
means.
We don’t have any info on Joseph Ward, I’m afraid.
Sorry not to be of more help on this occasion,
With my best wishes,
Annabel.
Annabel Haycraft BA MA DASP

Librarian
Spurgeon’s College
189 South Norwood Hill
London SE25 6DJ
Teresa sent me this reply with these words:
Dear Brian
This is the information from Spurgeons College. A blank on Joseph. I will explore
where he might have trained starting with the book on the Midland circuit. I need to
put together a time line for Herbert. I will consult Dimity. I think his withdrawal in
1885 may not be work related. He acquired a third child that year and it is possible
that Bryan and Harriet were beginning to need more support. Warminster I know
nothing about but by 1871 he had an aunt in Bedminster. She was a witness at his
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parent’s wedding and lived in the same street as them in 1851. Her husband’s death
was registered in Newington in 1865 so she was probably nearby in 1861. I cannot
find them on the census and much of Newington’s census is missing so that would
make sense.
Teresa
It was a surprise to me that Joseph's name was not found, especially as his London
address when he married was at the back of Spurgeon's Tabernacle. However, he
could have studied there and they just do not have the records now. He was certainly
a fan of Spurgeon and a fervent Baptist who preached at times.
I have a feeling the John Jones who registered the 1873 birth may also have been a
student of Spurgeon's.
Joe and Annie’s early married life at Welham

Annie and Joe's first born (after the marriage), Eleanor Annie, was born back in
Welham in the third quarter of the next year, 1874 and their next three children,
Reuben Percy (1876), Francis John (1878) and Mary Eveline (1881) were also born at
their Welham home. If Joe had been studying for the ministry, it seems this ended
with his marriage – though his keen interest in the Baptist faith and Bible studies did
not and Joe preach when he could.
Joe Ward preaching - Rutland Echo and Leicester Advertiser on 31 May 1878
“It shows that Joseph was still operating as a preacher as late as this. It also, I think
shows that the Independent rather than Baptist was the important part of the title.”
(Teresa 26/1/2018)
In the 1881 census, Joseph and Annie are shown at home in Welham with 3 of their
four children and one servant. Joe’s mother Betsey, now aged 74, and sister
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‘Narnie’/Betsey, aged 34, also with a servant, are living in the next household. While
mother Betsey is listed as being of independent means, Joseph’s occupation is that
of a grazier with just 20 acres. In this census, eldest daughter Eleanor, just 6 years
old, is shown as being with Annie’s younger sister Mary Ann and her husband
Herbert Perkins at their then home in Gloucestershire.
1881 England Census about Joseph G. Ward

Name: Joseph G. Ward
Age: 33
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1848
Relationship to Head: Head
Spouse: Harriett A. Ward
Gender: Male
Where born: Welham, Leicestershire, England
County/Island: Northamptonshire
Country: England
Marital Status: Married
Education:
Employment status: View image

Occupation: Grazier 20 Acres
Sub registration district: Market Harborough
Piece: 3121
Folio: 91
Page Number: 10
Name Age
Joseph G. Ward 33
Harriett A. Ward 32
Household Members: Reuben P. Ward 4
Francis J. Ward 2
Infant Ward
Emma J. Ralph 16
1881 England Census about Betsy A. Ward
Name: Betsy A. Ward
Age: 73
Estimated birth abt 1808
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year:
Relationship to
Head
Head:
Gender: Female
Where born: Horninghold, Leicestershire, England
County/Island: Northamptonshire
Country: England
Marital Status: Windower (Widower)
Education:
Employment
status: View image
Occupation: Independant
Registration
Market Harborough
district:
Sub-registration
Market Harborough
district:
ED, institution, or
22
vessel:
Piece: 3121
Folio: 91
Page Number: 10
Name Age
Household NOTE: Joseph G Ward (age 33) is shown in the preceding
Members: household with wife H A Ward (32) and 3 children - grazier
of 20 acres
93
Betsy A. Ward widow 73
Betsy A. Ward dau 34
Harriett Crain serv 15
There is a family story that Joseph lost heavily in the stock market about this time. In
any case, it seems to have coincided with the family moving first to Croydon in about
1882 and then to Broadwater (Worthing) in Sussex, about 13 miles from Brighton, in
about 1886.
Notes on birth mother’s sister, Mary Ann (Ward) Perkins
Mary Ann Needham (Ward) Perkins with her husband Herbert Perkins
(Photo taken by W. H. Holliday, Winchester)
From Teresa 2/9/14
Thanks for your e mail. It made me go back and look again at what I think I know. One of the
things I did was fish out Essie’s memoirs of life in Market Harborough. I attach a copy. I am afraid
I scanned it in the wrong order – page two proceeds page one. One interesting thing is that in the
1880s Harriet was attending the Baptist Church – Thomas Cook was a Baptist. This ties the network
together. I cannot help feeling that someone who would spend her money building a chapel as the
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family went bust has a degree of religious mania such that she would do almost anything to prevent a
scandal for her church.
I have failed to find Thomas Cook’s chapel on the internet so I propose to ask both Northampton
and Leicester Rootsweb groups if they know where the chapel was.
One thought struck me. Both my mother and her cousin John Hunter knew their grandfather
[Herbert Perkins] in his old age. Their memory is of a very gentle old man. He was 73 when my
mother lost her mother and returned to England alone. Until she was old enough to visit him Herbert
used to travel north to see her and would take her out and look after her. Unlike her other
grandfather and her guardian, he was fun and kind. He also liked the occasional drink which was
totally disapproved of by the household. I think that this indicates a tolerance not universal among
Baptists but also a determination to be his own man. Clearly, he may have mellowed or he may have
been less tolerant of sexual behaviour than drink but my gut instinct is that he would happily have
supported Mary Ann in acknowledging the child [if his wife, Mary Ann, had been the mother]. I
certainly would not imagine that in the 1890s he and Mary Ann would have let Eben wonder about
his parentage.
In terms of wills I do not understand why we cannot find Reuben’s will. Looking at the records it
looks as if he, Emma and their daughter Edith Annie all died between 1901 and 1911. It may well
be that they have little more to leave than Bryan and Harriet who were penniless. They were
probably tenants so there would be no property to leave. It is surprising because they are a will
writing family. I think Mary Ann may have passed on anything she wished the girls to have before
she died. By this date she could have made a will, but she would have no reason to do so. Given her
poor health and the parlous state of the families’ finances it would actually have been surprising if
she had done so.
I would love to see the contents of Emma’s address book. We may be able to identify one or two
people.
95
96
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Email from Teresa 21/3/15
I have started rechecking the research done on Bryan Ward and Harriet Skeffington
and their children. In doing so I have been reading the letters from Canada. I have
not started on Patsie’s letters because I am pretty confident that they contain no
family information. In the rough copy of Harriet’s family history (she sent both the
draft and the final and they differ in detail) it says of Mary Ann “My mother. She
learned well at a private school and six months in Paris. The went to stay with an
aunt who was old and alone. Aunt owned a farm which was sold when she died
leaving most of her money to Mary (My mother). Well those two boys (by this she
means her uncles Bryan William and Frank) were always asking for her money.
When she married her husband said no more money for them, and they didn’t speak
to Mary and Herbert any more. We children never saw my mother’s brothers.” Hattie
nursed her mother in her final years acting as housekeeper when they moved to
Letchworth. She was therefore likely to pick up information.
Hattie was 93 when she wrote these memoirs. I have not managed to prove the
information. We know Annie went to school in Norwich but Mary Ann’s schooling
does not show up on the census. Nor can I find the inheritance. To be an old aunt in
Welham probably means a Skeffington aunt of Harriet. Harriet’s stepmother
Catherine died in 1873 and left her husband’s plate and linen to Annie and Mary Ann.
However the whole estate was worth less than £300. The will refers to Harriet (who is
given the furniture etc) as her dear friend rather than daughter. She may have been
an obvious candidate to hide Mary Ann. Another clue might be that Helen and
Lavinia Skeffington were buried in Ward graves in Weston. They are cousins of
Harriet’s father. What I have not done is track Harriet’s father’s sisters through their
marriages to see if it is one of them. Having read Hattie’s memoirs I am pretty
confident that she would not have mentioned if she knew that her mother had an
illegitimate son – she did not do scandal. However I do not think that she would
weave quite such and elaborate deception. She would simply have said nothing. It
is slightly inconclusive therefore. However it does show where the suggestion of
Paris might come from.
Email from Teresa 15/10/2017
I have found some inheritance for Mary which may be the root of the story. Mary
moved to Great Bowden in 1881. That year her aunt Mary Ann Ward died and her
money £600 was split between Mary and Annie. This does not quite tally with the
story which suggests that the problem arose before Mary and Herbert were married
but in Great Bowden they would be very accessible to Bryan William and Frank and
may well have been pressured for money, money Herbert and Mary could not really
spare.
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The will mentioned above which remembered Mary Ann, may have been that of
Catherine Skeffington. It also remembers Harriet Annie:
This is the last Will and Testament of me Catharine Skeffington of Welham in the
County of Leicester Widow I give and bequeath unto Harriett Ann Ward and Mary Ann
Needham Ward the daughters of my friend Harriett Ward the Wife of Bryan Ward of
Slawston all the plate and linen given to me by my late husband to and for their use
absolutely share and share alike I give and bequeath unto the said Harriett Ward all
other the furniture goods and effects given to me by my late husband saving such as
were mine before marriage with him for her use absolutely I give and bequeath unto
my three nieces Martha the Wife of William Miller of Wetford, Ruth wife of William
Garner of South Kilworth and Ruth Atkins of Slawston all and every my household
goods and furniture plate linen china and other effects that were my own previously
to my marriage and which I possess And also all my wearing apparel trinkets and
other effects to and for their own use absolutely share and share alike And all my
ready money secuities for money, money in any Bank and other personal estate I
give and bequeath to my said three nieces and six nephews namely John Atkins of
Leicester, Joseph Marshall of Market Harborough George Marshall of Great Bowden,
Amos Marshall of Welham, Peter Atkins of Slawston and Samuel Marshall of
share and share alike for their respective use and benefit absolutely they paying
thereout my just debts funeral and testamentary expenses And I appoint my friend
Harried Ward sole Executrix for this my Will hereby revoking all other wills by me
heretofore made. In witness whereof I the said Catharine Skeffington the testatrix
have hereunto set my hand at the foot or bottom hereof this twenty fifth day of
November one thousand eight hundred and sixty two.
Catherine died in 1873, eleven years after her husband Thomas Skeffington.
However in an email of 28/3/15, Teresa comments:
I have begun to regard the story of the inheritance as untrue. I wonder if the rift is
that the boys know about the baby and are blackmailing Mary Ann [this written when
Mary Ann seemed to the prime candidate as Eben’s mother]. However if Herbert
knows about the baby and does not care the power of blackmail disappears.
However claiming that there is an inheritance would tie the story together. I have
gone back to the siblings of Harriet and Bryan’s grandparents to try and identify the
mythical aunt. If she is a Ward then she is not in Welham. Both Elizabeth Ward (nee
Meadows) and Mary Madelaine Ward (nee Rowlatt) left wills giving their daughters
married names. They were all born in Weston and do not show up in Welham. Nor
can I identify a wife in Welham whose maiden name matches the married name of
any of the Wards. This brings us to the Skeffingtons, Needhams, and Grants. Again
Mary Ann Needham’s father names his daughters in his will and the only one other
than Mary Ann is Sarah Jane who married a Martin. Again no Needhams or Martins
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appear in Welham. I have no information on Mary Ann Needham’s aunt Elizabeth but
other than that Needhams can be discounted. The only Skeffingtons in the village by
1861 are Samuel a single man who runs the pub and Catherine, Harriet’s stepmother
together with Harriet’s brother Thomas. By 1871 Catherine has moved to Weston
and Sarah to Medbourne. Samuel is still at the pub and one of the servants is
Caroline Baines from Uppinham. Sarah daughter of George Skeffington and Ann
Kestion married Joseph Baines of Uppingham and Eliza daughter of Thomas
Skeffington and Elizabeth Grant married John Baines of Uppingham. Coming back
to Sarah Harding widow of Harriet’s brother Thomas. She would have been someone
for Mary Ann to disappear to. However no inheritance. Sarah lived to the 1890s and
having been widowed after only 6 years any thoughts would be with her own children
when it came to money. Sarah, unlike Catherine and Eliza did not die in the first half
of 1873. Possibly nursing Catherine or Eliza (although not in Welham) was cover for
Mary Ann’s absence. Eliza might have had a farm to give ( or the contents of it) but
she had two unmarried daughters. Perhaps also Eben was slightly older than his
reputed age. Possibly the aunt was Caroline Baines but given that she was a
servant no inheritance there. It looks as if the Samuel gave up the business in the
1870s and retired to Medbourne where he was still living in 1891. All this points to a
possible cover for a birth or a nursing mother but no inheritance unless I have
missed someone. Also possibly not Welham.
The date on Catherine’s will ties in with her husband’s death. She is in practise
returning the Skeffington property to the children and Mary Ann Needham’s dowry to
her granddaughters.
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7. Eben’s Brighton Area Schooldays
Eben spoke of being at boarding school in Brighton before emigrating to Canada in
1889 at the age of 16. Despite checks, no record has been found of that yet.
Eben James’s School tie and tie pin from his Brighton boarding school (1880s)
Eben James (presumed) with horse – he said he was always provided
with a horse when he was home for the summer
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The following is an excerpt from a letter written by Eben 1 to Jeanie in Trenton
during his volunteer time with the Militia in Kingston with the 49th Rifles. The letter
does not have a date and there is no envelope with it.
"My own life has truly been a nightmare and had I not lived in castles unbearable, being of
an affectionate nature, everything hurt. I remember my first day at school 8 1/2 years old
and from that on with never a friend that understood me or to whom I could even really
confide and I got in the habit of always keeping my own council very young"
Please note the words "first day of school" at 8 1/2. He is listed on the census of 1881 as 8
years of age living with Emma Tebbutt along with the other scholars. Perhaps up until that
first day, he had not been to an outside school and had only stayed with her and taking
lessons. (email from Dorothy J. 28/7/14)
A photo shows Eben as a boy in England. This may have been taken while he was at
the Brighton boarding school.
Eben as a boy in England
When a genealogist at Achievements of Canterbury saw this photo, she commented

it was evident from Eben’s dress that he came from a better-off family.
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There is later evidence from some of the letters and names in Emma Tebbutt’s
address book from Eben’s estate that the foster and birth families were in touch with
each other on a regular basis. There are a couple of addresses shown for Harriet
(and Bryan) Ward (Eben’s maternal grandparents) and a few for the Perkins family.
Mary Ann (Ward) Perkins was sister to Eben’s mother, Annie.
From the address book:

- Mrs Ward (Harriet Ward, mother to Mary Ann and Annie)
The mission Hall
Medbourne, market harboro
- Mrs ward (Harriet Ward, mother to Mary Ann and Annie)

The fern / farm
Hollaton
Uppingham rutland.
- Mrs perkins (Mary Ann N Ward Perkins?)

12 highfield villas
Southgate rd, wincester
Mary Ann Needham Ward Perkins was in Winchester in the 1891 Census
though not at this particular address
- Mrs perkins (Mary Ann N Ward Perkins)

102 high street
Wincester
- Mr Perkins (Mary Ann N Ward Perkins’ husband, Herbert)

102 high st
Winchester
- Mrs perkins
17 amherst road
Hackney, London
- Mary Ann Needham Ward Perkins’s address in the 1901 Census
From correspondence, Eben seemed to be aware of the two families being in touch,
and, although he may have suspected the possibility of a birth family link, he does
not seem to have had any certainty about that.
These addresses, especially showing them being changed with the Wards and
Perkins’s moves suggest that Emma and Richard Tebbutt either knew who Eben’s
birth parents were or knew the Wards or Skeffingtons were linked to the birth
parents.
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This raises a hypothesis that Eben’s birth parents may have been involved in his
placement in a Brighton area boarding school so that they could have contact with
him and perhaps even be mentoring influences. Croydon, where Joe Ward and
family were from about 1882 to 1886 is about 45 miles from Brighton, but Worthing is
next door (13 miles) to Brighton on the southern English coast – and Eben’s school
might have been nearer Worthing than Brighton.
From Teresa 9 March 2018
It is clear that there was some contact between Joe and his son. We know that because
they stayed together at the Perkins. However my instinct is that if the little Perkins could
work out that he was Joe’s son Joe and Annie might have taken great care to keep their
children apart. It would be interesting to know if Reuben Grant Skeffington was in Brighton
at the same time as Eben and if so was he part of the links between Joe and his son.
From Dorothy 4/12/15
Eben James 1 always told his children that he had attended a boys boarding school
somewhere in the Brighton area. I went to the record office in Brighton and looked through
(with the attendant's help) many admission books and records for "private" schools in and
around Brighton without any luck.
From Teresa 5/12/15
I presume that the University School in Hastings has been considered as the place of
education? I know it is not in quite the right place but one of Reuben Skeffington’s sons in
law was teaching there until he left to set up Seaford College in 1884. At least one of the
Skeffingtons attended the school.
Accounts notes
There are indications supporting the theory that Eben’s foster parents may have
been receiving funding to raise him. There is no evidence that the older adopted
son, Heber, ever went to a boarding school. In fact, he is in the 1881 Census, 14
years old, living in Islington and working as a Stationer's Clerk. He is a boarder in the
household of Alfred Cooper, age 40.
A couple of suggestions that the Tebbutts were receiving something for Eben are
that
- Emma was depositing something with Laura’s husband, William Clarke on

Eben’s account. Why would she want to do that if she could just give Eben
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money from her own funds (and both she and Richard had money invested
on their own accounts with William Clarke)? And were these monies
deposited with Mr Clarke from the Tebbutts, or had they been received from
a third party, such as his birth family?
- A letter from Laura to Eben dated Aug. 30, 1890 (see appendix) has this
sentence: “The last cheque you had sent to Auntie had the name on it I told
you about” implying that a cheque Emma had received for Eben had come
from a source she had already speculated about to him.
- Eben was actually sent to a boarding school in the Brighton area probably
from when he was 8 and a half to when he went to Canada in 1889 at age 16
or 17. It seems unusual for foster parents to have funded this.
Even if there had been payments made from his birth family to Eben through the
foster parents, it is likely they would have stopped when Eben became self-
supporting, i.e., when he started his work in Canada. However there was still money
on account for him with William Clarke and, indeed, William’s estate accounts
following his death in 1905 shows Eben still being due £250 from him.
Emma and Richard had some receipts from William Clarke (niece Laura Wakefield’s
husband) for money on which interest is to be paid. It seems he acted as an
investment point for them and even as a provider of an annuity for Richard. One of
these accounts is shown to be money for Ebenezer James:
- A receipt dated Loughborough, February 20th, 1884. "Received of Mr. R.
Tebbutt, the sum of One Hundred Pounds, in consideration of which I promise to pay
as Interest, the sum of Eleven pounds, nine shillings yearly, during the term of his
natural life." Signed William Clarke
- receipt dated May 1885 Loughborough.....Received of Mrs. E. Tebbutt, the sum of
One Hundred and Twenty pounds, in consideration of which I agree to pay 4 1/2 %
per annum. The Interest on the 20 pds. to accumulate until required. Signed William
Clarke. (received from Dorothy 28/7/14)
- receipt dated Nov. 14th, 1889...”Received of Mrs. Tebbutt for Ebenezer James,
Shefford the sum of Twenty six pounds, twelve shillings and 0 pence to account for
on demand, with interest at the rate of 4 I/2 %.” Signed William Clarke
Emma had money over and above what was necessary for Eben’s day to day
expenses and she seems to have been scrupulous in its management on Eben’s
behalf.
Emma’s address book has the following entries concerning finances:
Maidstone Annuity due

To Mrs Tebbutt March 25th June September and December Quarterly
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Annuities from Mr W Clarke The Gables Forest Road Loughborough due on 20th of
May August November Feb 7
Higham Ferrers Annuity due to Mr Tebbutt on Lady day and at Michaelmas

24.4.2 - W. Clarke
6.1.0 1/2 the quarter
Comments: Where there are the three numbers separated by dots it means Pounds,
Shillings and Pence, so the last one is 6 pounds, 1 shilling and a halfpenny each
quarter. There were 12 pence to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound.
Higham Ferrers is where Richard T was from. The word after his name is Lady Day
(25 March). Lady Day and Michaelmas (29 Sept) were accepted as two of the legal
days dividing the year into quarters - often, too, days when rents were due and, in
this case, annuity payments.
In addition to possible money coming for Eben, Emma and Richard had investments
of their own. Richard had the terraced houses in Northampton he let, which were
managed by an agent there. In addition to income she received from her teaching
work and depositing some of her own money with Laura’s husband, Mr. Clarke (£100
on Richard’s account in 1884 and £120 on her account in 1885), the Tebbutts had
other investments, too. One of these was Emma’s purchase of an annuity from the
United Kent Life Assurance and Annuity Institution or Company in Maidstone in April
1880, costing £145.15.0 [pounds, shillings. pence], which was to give her an annuity
of £15.11.6 per annum. As she is believed to have been born around 1813, Emma
would have been about 67 years old when purchasing this income for life.
After Emma’s death, Richard also makes note of money invested with Birkbeck bank,
which was ‘sunk’ – presumably meaning lost -, and Richard comments on not having
sufficient funds at this time and asking Eben if he can take it from the Northampton
houses.
Putting what is known into a current perspective about Emma and Richard’s
finances:
Emma’s annuities:
- £145.15.0 (or £145.75) with United Kent annuity in 1880 = £16,100 in 2016
- £120 with Wm Clarke in 1885 = £14,150 in 2016
Richard’s annuities:
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- 24.4.2 per year from Higham Ferrers at an assumed 4.5% = an investment of
£540. If this was in 1885 money, it would be the equivalent of £63,700 in 2016
- £100 with Wm Clarke in 1884 = £11,400 in 2016
These 4 known annuities total the equivalent of £105,000 in 2016 money. If we use the
rate of 4.5% paid by Mr. Clarke to them, the four annuities would be paying them
about £4,750 per year in 2016 money – somewhat over half a single person’s full UK
state pension. When income from the annuities were added to Richard’s rental house
income, possible income from teaching Emma did and other savings, they seem to
have managed alright – and especially as, latterly, they shared Jane Sear’s Holly
Lodge home with her until her death. In fact, Richard apparently inherited the
Northampton houses at a young age and appears in the census records to have been
living off investments throughout his life. One wonders how he occupied his time
and if he was the equivalent of a househusband after his marriage to Emma.
It was a changed situation for Richard after Emma’s death in 1897. Her annuities
must have stopped, the savings with the Birkbeck bank seem to have been lost and it
looks as if the Northampton rental houses had been transferred to Eben. It is
probable that Eben then helped Richard financially as required until the latter’s
death, just as Laura noted in a letter that he helped her in the latter part of her life.
From Teresa 5/12/15
Dorothy asked about where the money might have come from. Here are a few thoughts. It
is all speculation because we do not know how many people knew about Eben or the
identity of his father. If Reuben was involved then he was clearly in on the existence of the
child and almost certainly the link to one of Harriet’s children. He may not have known
which girl. I believe that he would be a conduit for money rather than the source. He had
ten children of his own to set up at a time when agriculture was going into recession. He
could have been passing on money from Joe or from Harriet or Bryan or their children.
In 1873 Joe Ward had money under his father’s will and his mother and sister had money.
It is possible that any of these may have provided money. The story that Joe lost money on
the stock market has never been tested. His sister paid for the journey to New Zealand.
Was the loss a cover for paying out Eben?
Bryan’s parents both left wills. His mother left about £1000 which was split between her
children £100 in trust for her son Thomas and the rest between the other children so they
would each get a bit under £200 each. This however paid out in 1856. Thomas claimed
that Bryan abused the trust and the money disappeared but this may simply have been
poor investment. Bryan’s father who died in 1852 left an undefined sum and 5.5 acres of
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land. Bryan got the land but not much else. His mother got a lot and the £1000 was the
legacy. Bryan sold some land to the railway in the late 1870s and this would have provided
some money. In 1881 two of his sisters died leaving smallish sums. In one case the
money went direct to Harriet and Annie but the other girl left no will.
It is possible that the money came from here but I think it is more likely to be Skeffington
money. Thomas Skeffington died in 1862 leaving about £16000 all but £100 to his three
children. Reuben received a cottage in London and the land in Weston. Thomas got the
properties in Medbourne for life after which they were to be used to make provision for his
children. Thomas died in 1868 and the trust continued for the benefit of his two children
both under five years old. Provision was made for life for Thomas’s third wife Catherine
and then the residue was split between Harriet and her brothers (or their children if they
died before the will was finalised). Catherine died in 1873 leaving the Skeffington plate and
linen to Mary and Annie and the rest of the Skeffington property to Harriet. Catherine split
her estate between her own property which went to her nieces and the Skeffington
property. The total value was £300. Clearly Thomas’s will could not be totally settled until
Catherine died and it is probable that another payment came to Harriet that year. What
proportion of the inheritance was accounted for by the property is unclear as is how the
payments were timed. But clearly Harriet would be in funds in 1873 when Eben appeared.
The money may have effectively been put in trust with interest spent on education etc.
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8. Birth Parents Joe and Annie in Croydon, Worthing and
Emigration to New Zealand
Joseph Granger Ward and his wife Harriet Annie Ward
In the 1881 census, Joe was married with 3 children at home (the eldest daughter
was visiting her aunt Mary Ann Perkins’ family) and a grazier of only 20 acres in the
property next to where his widowed 73-year old mother and 34-year old sister
‘Narnie’/Betsey Ann were then living.
In the 1891 census, Joe has made a dramatic change in occupation and location, as
he is shown as a butcher on South Street in central Worthing, Sussex. The
household is comprised of Joe and Annie, 9 children, Joe’s sister Betsey Ann, 5 staff
for the shop and 3 servants for the house (see below). This totals 20 people in the
household, so it must have been of some size and may have incorporated the shop
as well (see photo).
The census also shows where people were born. From the eldest down to Mary, the
births had been in Welham. The next two children, Alexander and Ralph, are shown
as having been born in Croydon, Surrey (which is a southern London suburb now)
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which means the Ward family had been living in Croydon from about 1882 to 1886.
This suggests that being a grazier of 20 acres, in a time when that industry was
declining, was not tenable. With his growing family and keen interest in preaching,
rather than in business, Joe has almost certainly left grazing behind and moved to
seek other employment. An added ability to make this move was that Annie had
come into a £300 inheritance from her Aunt Mary in 1881. One speculates that Joe
already would have known much of what was required of a butcher from having been
a farmer with cattle and sheep. With the closer proximity to Spurgeon’s preachers’
school in Lambeth, Joe may also have continued some further studies from his base
in Croydon.
Croydon Advertiser, 25 April 1885
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Brighton Gazette, 3 July 1886
I have tried to work out a time line for Joe and Annie’s moves. Something is nagging
me saying that they left Welham in 1881 rather than 1882 but I cannot remember
what. By September 1882 the couple had left. However they were not in Worthing
but were in the Croydon Registration District. The Surrey collection on Ancestry
gave one likely person at 22 North End claiming the vote based on a dwelling house
in 1884. I have attached an article from the Croydon Advertiser dated 25 April 1885
which is definitely him. I like the picture of him better than from his preachy letters
to Eben. By November 1885 the family were in Worthing. Joe is mentioned in an
article in the Brighton Gazette of 3 July 1886 which is also attached. All this
indicates that the move was before Joe’s mother died. I would suspect that Croydon
was a less attractive location than Worthing and this may have triggered the move.
Alternatively Worthing was a better business opportunity. It is of course possible
that Joe wanted to be in Croydon so he could go to Spurgeons Tabernacle or the
college.
I wonder if the switch into butchery was a logical move for a livestock farmer.
Reuben Skeffington’s son Reuben Grant Skeffington did a similar thing in the 1880s
and finished up in Brighton. The 1880s were bad for farming and Bryan Wards’
insistence on farming the land caused his financial problems. If a little more remote
John Bolton another of my mother’s ancestors of the same generation as Bryan and
Harriet, left his farm and pub in the Wharfe Valley after his wife’s death in 1846 and
showed up as a butcher in Bradford by 1851. My mother’s view was that historically
farmer’s would be skilled in slaughtering and butchering their own animals.
Therefore when farming became difficult then it was an obvious choice. (Teresa, 9
March 2018)
The next three children were born in Worthing. The eldest of these is 4, which tells us
the Wards had moved to Worthing by 1887.This would have been just after the death
of Joe’s mother in 1886 and his inheritance of his share of her estate. His sister,
Betsey Ann/Narnie, joined the family there and perhaps also helped to finance the
business.
111
It is from this Worthing address that Joe writes his first (known) letter, dated April
1893, to Eben.
South Street, Worthing about 1900
15 South Street, Worthing, in 2016 is the 4 story building above the word ‘Google’
between the redbrick Halifax and the main part of the W H Smith with the bow
windows above that.
1891 England Census about Joseph G Ward
Name: Joseph G Ward

Age: 43
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Harriet A Ward
Gender: Male
Where born: Harboro, Welham
Civil Parish: Broadwater
Ecclesiastical parish: Christchurch
Town: Worthing
County/Island: Sussex
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Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Condition as to marriage:
Education:
View image
Employment status:
Registration district: East Preston
Sub-registration district: Worthing
Piece: 836
Folio: 31
Page Number: 3
Name Age
Joseph G Ward head, butcher 43
Harriet A Ward wife 42
Betsy A Ward sister, living on own means 44
Eleanor ‘Nellie’ A Ward dau, scholar 16
Reuben P Ward son, scholar 15
Francis J Ward son, scholar 12
Mary E Ward dau, scholar 10
Alexander Ward son, scholar 8
Ralph Ward son, scholar 6
Household Members: Frances R Ward dau scholar 4
Ethel M Ward dau, infant 2
Winifred A Ward dau, infant 1
Kate E Bell bookkeeper 21
Fred Allday butcher apprentice 15
Chas J Butler shop boy 12
William E Cooper butcher assistant 20
George Neviam butcher assistant 19
Beatrice M Pooley house maid 12
Ellen Pooley kitchen maid 22
Sussannah Bishopp nurse 18
113
A dapper looking Joe Granger Ward
(Eastbourne is on England’s south coast, about 25 miles from Brighton and 35 miles
from Worthing, where Joe was living in the 1891 census – Joe was in his early to
mid-forties when he lived in Worthing – so this is how he would have looked when
Eben met him – though it is likely they had met previously, too.)
Joe and Annie lived with nine children – all full brothers and sisters to Eben – in
Worthing. In addition to the eldest four born in Welham, the next two born in
Croydon, the youngest three were born in Worthing. The post-marital children the
couple had were were: Eleanor A (1874), Reuben P (1876), Francis J (1878), Mary E
(1881), Alexander (1882), Ralph (1884), Francis Royden (1885), Bryan William (1888),
114
Ethel Marion (1889), Alice Winnifred (1891), Edward (1892), Edward Eric (1893). Two
of the children, Bryan William and the first Edward, both died as infants.
Joseph Granger Ward and eldest daughter Nellie just before emigrating to NZ
Soon after Joe’s first letter to Eben, he relocates to New Zealand, from where he
writes the second one, dated June 1894 [presumably June, 1895, per the NZ Ward
family history], noting that he and Eben met in London [probably at the
Perkins’residence, as referred to in the letter from Emma] the year before he
emigrated. According to Ward/Perkins descendents, sister Betsey Ann went to New
Zealand with Joe and his family, and there is a strong probability that it was her
money which helped finance the trip and the purchase of the farming homestead in
New Zealand.
The New Zealand Ward family history says the move had been prompted by medical
advice to Joe to get out of the English climate. Joe, family and sister ‘Narnie’/Betsey
sailed on the Shaw Savill steamship ‘Gothic’, leaving from Plymouth 23 Feb 1895 and
arriving in Wellington, on New Zealand’s North Island on 7 April. It had been a 6-week
journey, with a stop at about the half-way point in Cape Town, South Africa.
Joe’s family members with him included

- Sister Narnie/Betsey Anne (1846 – 1922)
- Wife Annie (1847 – 1913)
and 10 children (4 daughters and 6 sons)
- Eleanor Annie (1874 – 1963)
- Reuben Percy (1876 – 1955)
- Francis John (1878 – 1958)
- Mary Eveline (1881 – 1972)
- Alexander (1882 – 1962)
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- Ralph (1884 – 1949)
- Francis Royden (1885 – 1981)
- Ethel Marion (1889 – 1957)
- Alice Winnifred (1891 – 1966)
- Edward Eric (1893 – 1970)
Leaving his large family in a Wellington suburb (from which they could go into the
city in a horse tram), Joseph scouted out potential properties for them to settle on
further up on the North Island. He soon found a farm named ‘Tor View’ in the
environs of Pukeroro and Hautapu, near Cambridge in the Waikato District, which he
bought. The farm had 165 acres and Joe paid 8 NZ pounds and 10 shillings per acre
to the owner John Martyn Sr.
Joe returned to Wellington and collected his family and their possessions. All went
by ship to Port Waikato and from there were transported by sternwheeler ‘Free
Trader’ up the Waikato River to the Narrows behind Tamahere. They landed and the
possessions were taken on to ‘Tor View’ by dray and wagon. The possessions
included a piano, an organ, their furniture and many boxes of possessions.
The family settled there, and Joe, with the help of his sons enlarged the kauri house,
erected outbuildings, cleared the land of manuka tea-trees, dug drains and improved
the fencing. A Scottish carpenter was engaged for some of the work, who ensured
proper wood (kauri, rimu and matai timber) was used for the buildings. Aunt
‘Narnie’/Betsey’s box of goods were damaged when it was dropped on to the wharf.
The house ‘Tor View’ was positioned on the top of a hill approached by a broad
avenue flanked by oak and totora trees which divided at the foot of the hill and
encircled it and about 4 acres.
The farmland in this area was not very good and only poor fertilizers were used. Most
of the farm revenue came from growing crops. The usual system was to renew
pastures after a three year rotation of swedes, wheat, oats and perhaps rape. Some
of Ward’s farmland was wet and he used an English system called ‘landing’ with that.
It consisted of ploughing furrows half a chain apart which all emptied into a ditch
running at right angles with the furrows. In this way the land not ploughed gradually
got higher and drier.
116
This map, which shows Hautapu and Pukeroro about in the center of it,
just above Cambridge and near Hamilton, indicates the environs of ‘Tor View’
(This page and the one following with the recollections of F. R. Ward, as well
as the 1964 photo of the Cambridge Co-operative Dairy Company are
from the 1995 Ward family book celebrating their centenary in New Zealand)
117
118
As was evident in his letters to Eben, Joe maintained his keen interest and devotion
to the Baptist faith. He is reported to have held revival meetings in tents set up on
the grounds at Tor View, earning him the nickname ‘Holy Joe’.
Later Joseph purchased a second property ‘Springwood’, where his eldest

(legitimate) son, Reuben, settled in 1906 following his marriage to Ida. Reuben
cleared the land of the scrub-type manuka trees on it. He planned to buy this farm
from his father, but it was sold out of the family in March 1911, following his father
Joe’s rather sudden death.
119
Reuben Percy Ward (1876 – 1955), wife Ida, mother-in-law and children
Selected New Zealand Electoral Roll entries for Joseph Granger and Harriet Annie
Ward 1896 – 1911. On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new
Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became
the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the right to vote
in parliamentary elections. If the Ward family had stayed in England, Annie would not
have been able to vote in her lifetime. Only women who were householders over the
age of 30 got the vote in 1918; women over 21 did not get the vote until 1928.
New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 about Joseph Granger Ward
Name: Joseph Granger Ward
Electoral Year: 1896
District: Bay of Plenty
Region or Province:Bay of Plenty
Name: Harriet Annie Ward

120
Region or Province: Bay of Plenty

Region or Province:Bay of Plenty
Name: Harriet Annie Ward

Region or Province: Bay of Plenty

Electoral Year: 1905-1906
District: Waikato
Region or Province:Waikato
The centenary book on the Wards in New Zealand report that Joe was bitten on the
foot by a rat when he was rat-hunting. Joe must have contracted a serious illness
transmitted from the rat, but either was not able to, or simply just did not, treat it
properly. Joe was probably ill for a few days and perhaps for a few weeks, and it is
likely this was when he wrote his will. He died on his 63 rd birthday.
Annie survived him for just two years, and died in 1913, aged 65.
Death records for Joseph Granger and Harriet Annie Ward
New Zealand, Death Index, 1848-1964 about Joseph Granger Ward

Death Date: Jan-Feb-Mar 1911
Death Place: Hokitika, West Coast (Tor View, Waikato – Rosalind Diane (Ward) Bull),
Folio Number:76
Harriet Annie Ward
Name:
Death Date: Apr-May-Jun 1913
Registration Place: Cambridge, Auckland, New Zealand
Folio Number: 906
121
Cambridge Cemetery, New Zealand
122
Joseph and Annie’s headstone Cambridge Cemetery, New Zealand
123
Cemetery Record for Joseph Granger Ward and Harriet Annie Ward
Birth Date: abt 1848
Death Age: 63
Death Date: 9 Mar 1911
Burial Place: Waikato, New Zealand
Cemetery: Hautapu
Spouse Name: Harriet Annie Ward
Spouse Death Age: 65
Spouse Death Date: 5 Jun 1913
124
9. Eben’s Emigration and Early Years in Canada
Contemporary correspondence indicates Eben first went to Canada in 1889, when he
thought of himself as being 16 years old. He would later say that he emigrated to
escape the oppressive religious atmosphere of his foster family.
Eben found work as a clerk in a store run by the McKellar family in Tiverton, Ontario.
Unfortunately, do not have any evidence of Eben 1 having family in Canada before his arrival. . . . I
only understood from Margot that he was coming to Canada for four years under a contract with Mr.
McKellar and if the work wasn't a success, he would return to England. I did find a telegram from
Richard Tebbutt dated 1894 with the message "Come Home" and that was the beginning of my
research on Eben 1. It gave the address as Clifton, Shefford, Bedfordshire and up to that point no
one knew where home for Eben 1 was. That is when Margot explained about the contract. I do not
know where Mr. McKellar came from or who he represented. Perhaps he was someone the
Tebbutts knew in England. There has never been any information on this segment of Eben 1 life or
the initial visit to Canada. I do know it was May of 1889 he came the first time and there should be
a passenger list to show this.
The first Canadian documentary evidence for him comes from the 1891 census,
where an 18-year old Ebenezer James is living with the McKellar family in the
Tiverton area, Bruce West District, Ontario. He is shown as having been born in
England, his religion is Baptist and occupation is as a clerk. The head of the
household is 40-year old John McKellar, who is shown as a merchant. The two other
household members are widowed 68-year old Maggie McKellar and single 25-year old
Ellie McKellar. The McKellars are shown as all having been born in Scotland and as
being Presbyterians. Their religion not being Baptist suggests the Tebbutts had
probably not been involved in the employment arrangements.
Tiverton is quite an isolated place. It is on Highway 21 between Port Elgin and

Kincardine in Kincardine Municipality, Bruce County, Ontario near the edge of the
eastern side of Lake Huron. The town did not really date much before 1860, when the
first store, run by Norman McInnis, opened there. The name Tiverton was given for
its post office.
Wikipedia has this to say about it:
The one store was the most suitable place for the [post] office, so naturally the
postmastership was given to Norman McInnis, of whom it may be said in passing, he, as
much as anyone else, deserves the honor of being called the founder of the village.
He it was who opened the first store and also the first manufacturing industry of the place,
which was a pot and pearl-ash factory, which he commenced to operate in September,
1860. The next industry added to this was a wool-carding mill run by A. McBain, which mill
at a later date passed into the hands of James McLeod. About the end of the sixties a grist
mill was added to the industries of the village, John McLeod being the miller. John Dewar,
also, about the same time, opened a store, the second in Tiverton.
125
From this time, and for the next ten or twelve years Tiverton became somewhat of a
market. The grain there purchased used to be delivered at one of the warehouses at
Inverhuron; this business ceased with the burning of these warehouses in 1882, as they
never were rebuilt. It was during these years the village attained to its highest notch as a
business centre, and new industries were started, among which were a sawmill, a planing-
mill and machine shop, but the largest and most prominent of them was John McDonald's
tannery, which employed about twenty-five hands and had an output of about $20,000
worth of leather per annum.
Tiverton is about a 3-hour drive from Toronto today and its population in 2016 was
725.
1891 Ontario Canada Census close-up section showing an Ebenezer James
Transcription overview of Ebenezer James’s household was in the 1891 Census

1891 Census of Canada about Ebineezer James
Name: Ebineezer James
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Single
Age: 18
Birth Year: abt 1873
Birthplace: England
Relation to Head of House: Domestic
Religion: Baptist
French Canadian: No
Father's Birth Place: England
Mother's Birth Place: England
Province: Ontario
District Number: 53
District: Bruce West
Subdistrict: Tiverton
Name Age
Household Members:
John Mckellar 40
126
Maggie Mckellar 68
Ellie Mckellar 25
Ebineezer James 18
It is likely Eben’s work arrangement with the McKellar’s was an apprenticeship,

which would have been a commitment on his part to work for a number of years in
return for lodging, food and a very small amount of pay. This kind of arrangement is
implied in this extract of
Emma Tebbutt’s letter to Eben of April 1890:
…it is a great mercy that you have a house in wch you can feel comfortable – provided that
you have a little time to spare for reading God’s words. You may well push aside every
anxious thought for the present about prosperity while you fill up the rest of your five years
at Mr. McKellar’s. You are only in your seventeenth year and if you continue where you are
and give full satisfaction to Mr. McKellar there can be no reason to fear about getting a
good engagement at the end of that period. … Mr Arthur Wakefield did not get into any
situation at all until he was more than eighteen . . .
June 4, 1890 Emma T to Eben

Your letter is beautifully written and there is not a single mistake in it of any kind but my
dear boy how can it be that you have not yet put anything in the bank? I thought you took
away clothes with you to last a year and it is just that time since you left us. You had three
sovereigns in your possession on your return to Tiverton and I understood by one of yr
letters that you were to have . . . for that year. You stated the . . . in American . . . wch I
reckoned wd be in English money about £17. You [cd put?] it into a savings bank as little as
a shilling at a time. I thought of sending you next November 50/ [D. G.?] as interest on the
£30 under Mr. Clarke’s care, but if you have not begun banking I had better not send it to
you.
Aug 27, 1890 Emma T to Eben

Do not forget to let me know whether there is a money office at Tiverton and whether I had
better send you the 30/ [shillings?] perhaps the first week in Dec. I would like to know
whether you are doing anything yet in the saving way.
Mar 13, 1891 Emma T to Eben

I have written to Mr W Clarke this morning who will no doubt without further delay send you
a draft to be cashed at Montreal Bank, but he will know the best way of doing it. His note to
you . . . was not . . . the pleasantest tone, but it was only a business one. When he sent me
my quarterly interest, he said he hoped they should come over to see us very soon, but we
have had winter back again since that time . . .
I am quite sure that rich people in general are not so happy as those who have just enough
– of course the exceptions are those who have at heart the desire to do good with their
money. They have an object in life, the others have none and they do not know what to do
with themselves.
127
. . . It will soon be two years since you returned to Canada and I hope while I live you will be
enabled to pay us a visit about every three years. Pa keeps to his bed until tea time. He
then comes down until [G.O.C.?] Whenever you do come I shall hope to have more of your
company than I had during the last visit. [Eben may have spent more time staying with
Laura Clarke.] I should like you to study your interests out there and come to see us when
your doing so will not interfere with your interests out there. Mrs. Clarke [Laura] never writes
to me unless there may be something particular I have asked her about.
You have £30 at Mr. Clarke’s, so I told him as you had only [need of?] £20, he had better
only [send?] that amount. The ten will do to take you back to Canada when you come. The
interest you receive will make it £21-10-0.
May 23, 1891 Emma T to Eben

. . . have 10 pounds with Mr. Clarke and ...if you have purchases to make in England (he)
should bring more as 14 pounds will go for the . . . cost of two voyages.
Mar. 2, 1892 Emma T to Eben

I have had another letter from Mr. McKellar and I am going to send him a book. It was very
kind of him. I think he is a man of integrity. As soon as poor dear Mrs Sears is buried we
shall have to move from this place. When I know where I shall write to you at once and let
you know. [The Tebbutts had been living at Holly Lodge with Emma’s sister, Septimus’s
widow Jane Sears.]
. . . I suppose you [wld?] not leave part of the term at the college to be [finished?] another
winter . . .
July 13, 1892 –Emma T to Eben:

I have asked Mr Clarke to send you £15 because you may have to pay for a month’s board
and I know that if there should be more than you need you will take great care of it to bring
it back with you. I hope that what money you travel with you will tuck inside your vest and
sleep with it there. [earlier in the letter she notes expecting Eben to visit in the autumn]
Eben attended a course at W. H. Shaw’s Central Commercial College in Stratford,

Ontario graduating from their shorthand department on 30 June 1892 – when he was
probably still 19, but possibly 20 years old. He may have had to buy out any
remaining time left in his presumed 5-year apprenticeship with the McKellars in
Tiverton. The college is noted in Emma’s above letters, as well as Eben now needing
to pay for board.
Eben’s course was one in shorthand. Perhaps he took shorthand with the intention
of getting into office work and being a personal assistant/doing secretarial work in a
business.
It seems his later business sense came to him naturally, rather than from these
college studies. He saw the opportunities for exports between Britain and Canada
and then the cold storage opportunities. No doubt his work with partners in the
beginning allowed him to benefit from their talents, too.
128
Eben fell for a local lady named Clara Smith while in Stratford and her mother wanted
to know more about his background and parents before she would give her blessing
to the relationship.
(From Dorothy)
Eben 1 must have started asking about his parentage in 1893, 4, 5, 6 and 7. He had met a
young lady, Clara Smith, in Stratford in 1892 when he attended the College there and
obviously must have been considering marriage. I know the letters from her are
here somewhere. Emma Tebbutt also discussed the situation between them in her letter. I
believe Clara's Mother asked Eben about his parents and he was upset he didn't have all
the answers. Thus the enquiries to J.G. Ward.
(Received from Dorothy 11/8/14)

I have found the letters from Clara Smith of Stratford. I do believe the question of
parentage must have come up when discussing their marriage. Apparently, Eben 1 had
given her a ring and the consideration was serious until you read her letters. It is
understood that even though the marriage didn't happen, Eben 1 assisted her financially
with her music studies. I will probably take the letters to Linda for scanning. They are very
lengthy.
129
This triggered letters from Eben to Joseph Ward, asking about his parentage. For
Eben even to have written to Joe about this reveals that there already had been some
kind of relationship between them. Eben and Joe met when he stayed at the Perkins
in 1893 and they even shared a bedroom for at least one night. This is probably the
time Eben was told to look at the Perkins’ family photo album – presumably to check
for family resemblances.
Perhaps Eben thought of Joe as a family friend and Joe and his wife Annie may have
been ‘watching over’ Eben while he was at the Brighton boarding school and they
lived in nearby Worthing. Eben was certainly aware that Joe had information on his
birth family background.
The key parts of Joe’s letters to Eben:

April 1893 from Worthing:
My dear young friend: I was very pleased with your letter that contained the photo. It was
very kind of you to send it. I shall prize it very much.
…
I do so wish I could tell you (as far as I know) about your parentage etc. but I cannot betray
the trust and confidence that has been imposed in me but if I ever have permission to tell
you any thing, I will be here to do so. I certainly think you are happier now that you might
be if you knew more. do not mean that there is anything dishonourable or disinditable but I
fear that a little knowledge of the affair would unsettle you and make you curious to know
more. When you get in the Christians rest, you will be just pretty satisfied.
TOR VIEW, Cambridge, New Zealand, 30 June 1894

When you write me again, send a photo of the young lady if you please.
My dear friend. Your very welcome letter reached me safely some ten days ago. Many
times since we came here have I intended to write you but every day seemed to bring its
work and the letter did not get written. Before telling you anything about myself or any
surroundings allow me to congratulate you on your engagement; I can do so very heartily
for you tell me the young lady is a "child of God" and that must always be the first
consideration for any Christian contemplating matrimony, if the blessing of God is desired
on the union. You are now "heirs together of the grace of life" and may the Great Father in
Heaven bless the union whenever it may take place and may you fully understand the true
relationship between Christ and his church.
…
Since received yours, it has occurred to me that I ought to have secured for you, a copy of
your parent’s marriage certificate before I left England. It might be useful to you sometime.
I would do it now if I knew anyone who could tell me in what parish of London it occurred.
The dear old soul who had most to do with it is just at the end of life's journey now, possibly
she has passed away. I am not at liberty to tell you all I know about your birth and
parentage but I will write a little in romance and leave you to read between the lines. The
parents of a little lad that I happened to know were duly married I believe in London; but I
am not quite sure for some cause the marriage was kept very secret and only few people
knew anything about it. Very soon after the husband left his wife and went abroad, no
reason being given to the world without for this strange proceeding. About a year after a
little boy was born and the year following the poor Mother passed away. The husband was
informed of what had happened but not caring to take the charge and responsibility of a one
130
year old baby, he willingly consented to his being adopted into a nice Christian family. A
lady well known to me, in fact, related by marriage, has much to do with the whole matter
and from her I gained the greater part of my information. She is now either with the Lord or
just on the edge of the border land awaiting the call to go up higher. I do not know any more
that I can tell you about this matter, unless it be that both Mr. and Ms. James were of good
family and I believe very much respected. I have often been glad of the interview we had in
London a year or so before we left the old country. I sometimes wonder whether I shall see
England again but I am quite contented here having my family with me.
In hindsight these letters from Joe, who was later found to be Eben’s birth father, are
very revealing. It would take someone as near as a loving father to go to the trouble
of saying as much as was possible of the parentage without giving away the full
truth. The made-up story of Eben’s real parents is now known to be a combination of
fact and fiction. Most importantly, the revelation of the lady related to Joe by
marriage who was at death’s door at this time, his mother-in-law Harriet (Skeffington)
Ward, was a key lead in unravelling the mystery. This is confirmed when Laura
mentions her by name as Mrs. Ward in the below correspondence.
Eben probably considered his foster cousin, Laura (Wakefield) Clarke, his closest
confidante at this time. Extracts from her letters to him around this time show they
had speculated about his parentage:
Following is the letter to Ebb from Laura Clarke, The Gables, May 19th, 1895
My dearest Ebb;
Your welcome letter reached me the day before I was taken ill. We had another little son
which however was not spared to us. He was such a beautiful child and it was a great grief
to us not to have him. I was as usual, very ill but knew very little about it as I had
chloroform. I do not think any woman however bad, could have a little child grow in her and
not feel some tender feeling towards it and I am sure and remember being told that your
Mother's grief was piteous to see when you were taken from her but poor thing, what could
she do. The likeness did not awaken any memories. You know Annie Ward was engaged
to Joe when I stayed there and I do not fancy she is your Mother===I also think as he is so
friendly towards you and as he is going to a new country he would have adopted you as his
own son if you had been hers especially as you do not want a home or money. Annie Ward
was a very nice girl. I remember liking her much better than Mary and he too, seemed very
fond of her. He had a sister = I wonder whether it was his sister. Perhaps the mystery will
out yet.
Laura Clarke to Ebenezer James

Tuesday (without a date)
My dear Ebb:
Many thanks for yours. I think Joe Wards' letter a very nice one and about what one might
expect. He certainly possesses something in religion that at this present time you and I do
not and I only wish we did but now for the other matter. Of course, I do not know what you
did say when you wrote last but can't you put something like this.
Dear Mr. Ward: Many thanks for your kind letter and the good wishes you express for my
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spiritual good. It will give me great pleasure to write to you sometimes when I get back to
America. I was very sorry to hear how feeble Mrs. Ward is as I always feel she must have
been a friend and wished me well when she helped my friends to place me with Mrs.
Tebbutt. She too is passing away I fear very shortly and I think the thought of losing her
(almost the only friend of my early childhood) has made me think more of my own family. I
cannot divest my mind of the thought that my Grandfather in name is Reuben Skeffington of
Medbourne and consequently, my own name is Skeffington. I have always tried to think
lovingly of my Mother and would not wish to do anything that would bring disgrace or
trouble upon her but it would be a great comfort and pleasure to me when I leave England if
I could take the thought back with me that she cared for me and felt for me some of the love
that other Mothers give their children. You can perhaps hardly imagine what it is like to
have no one who really belongs to you.
______________________________________
The correspondence seeking answers to his birth parentage went on at least until
1895, which suggests Eben considered the relationship with Clara Smith of Stratford
still a potentially viable one through this period, even though his business studies
had been completed in 1892, when he was still just 19 or 20.
Eben’s Early Travels between Canada and the UK
1893
We know from Joe’s letter that Eben had been back to England in 1893 (the year
before Joe and family emigrated to New Zealand).
From Triumphant Journey – The TCS Story:
1894
A Methodist Church Quarterly Ticket for Aug. 1894 was issued to Eben in Montreal.
1895
A Dominion Commercial Traveller’s Association card, giving his address as Montreal, dated
May 14, 1895 survives, as well as a YMCA Montreal card for the same year.
1896
James began his career in the fruit industry with Woodall and Co., Temple Court, Liverpool,
buying and selling apples. A memorandum dated Oct. 29, 1896 shows he was also dealing
with J.R. Clogg & Co., of Montreal. Clogg was an importer and wholesale dealer in foreign
and Canadian fruits and had business connections with Woodall. . . . A letter dated Nov.
14, 1896 from J.R. Clogg & Co., Montreal to James refers to “trunks” still stored in his “old
room”.
A small order book, the carbon duplicate pages now difficult to decipher, reveals James
was in Glasgow in the fall of 1896 where he made sales in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen
132
and Newcastle. A receipt from the Douglas Hotel, 17 Princes Street, Edinburgh shows he
was in that city for two days at the beginning of October.
Eben - taken in Montreal
1897
A letter from Woodall and Co., dated in April 1897, speaks of his return to Canada. Woodall
observing he was pleased to see he had landed “all in one piece,” despite having a “rough
time” on the trip. He updated him on the prices received for Canadian apples, said prices
for oranges had improved and that shipments of Egyptian onions had arrived in poor
condition.
In 1897, James was advertising in the Glasgow Herald . . . seeking to represent a whiskey
manufacturer in Canada. One of the replies he received expressing interest in his
proposition was from Wm. Teacher and Sons Scotch Whisky Distillers, Blenders and
Exporters, of Glasgow, but nothing developed from this enquiry.
He was, however, appointed as Canadian agent for three large United Kingdom fruit firms
in 1897: Woodall and Co., Liverpool; Boyd, Barrow and Co., Glasgow; and M. Isaacs and
Sons, London. Woodhall was the largest exporter of Canadian apples at that time and may
have been the first company to import Canadian apples into the United Kingdom. James
133
spent one season in Montreal, before moving to the old Board of Trade building in Toronto
and then to an office at 105 Union Station.
Woodall’s letter appointing James as a Canadian agent commencing with the 1897-98
apple crop is dated Feb. 12, 1897 and is addressed to James in Glasgow. The commission
was set at two and a half percent with an annual guarantee of £200 “to include your office
expenses, travelling, postages, cables and other expenses.” James also had to post a
$1,000 bond. . . [It has been suggested that Eben’s being able to post this bond may
have been evidence of money being available from his family. However, posting a
bond does not mean putting up the full amount of the bond value. It is a promise to
pay that amount if there is a default in honouring the conditions of the contract. For
example, in a bail bond, just 10% of the bond value is required by a bondsman to
issue it, so this $1,000 bond may have meant Eben stumping up an amount in the
environs of $100, which he either had, possibly from funds Wm Clarke was holding
for him, or was able to raise – though not from his foster father by this time.]
1900
“Travelling between Toronto and Montreal, James soon found Eastern Ontario was the best
district for buying apples. In 1900 he found the crop in Northumberland County to be
‘exceptionally heavy and clean.’ Its central location between Toronto and Montreal on Lake
Ontario, provided good shipping by boat and rail. This led James to consider setting up his
own cold storage facility in Trenton. No other place in the producing districts had such
advantages for shipment by water or rail, he claimed. His head office remained in Toronto
for a further 10 years, however, moving to Trenton only after he founded a cooperage
business there.”
1903
By this time, Eben was well established in his work as an agent. His foster family
back in England were clearly aware of this, for his adopted step-brother Heber
included this passage in a letter written from his London home to Eben dated 3 April
1903:
I have not had the ordinary run of luck I might expect, partly perhaps owing to myself and
partly to circumstance over which I had no control. AS I stand at present, I have two
children to keep and a wife. My salary is 30/ week and my dinner item every day equals
about two pounds week. Now, I am rather ambitious, not at all satisfied and I should be
glad to know if there is any way in which WE COULD HELP ONE ANOTHER IN A
BUSINESS WAY TO OUR MUTUAL ADVANTAGE. I am a clerk in the shipping Trade and
you understand act as agent to several firms. Now, I thought that as I have often to go to
the Canadian offices here in London. Possibly I could be the means of securing you or at
least introducing you to other firms that require agents in Canada not necessarily in the
Dried fruit, or apple trade, but other lines. For this I should think you could see your way to
give me a certain sum for each agency. I am the means of obtaining you, this is only a
rough idea. I am quite prepared to act on any lines you may suggest that may be preferable
to this, but one thing I am quite certain about. that I could be of immense use to you on this
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side and to our mutual advantage. I shall be very pleased to hear from you as soon as
possible, and only hope that the ice once being broken between us, our friendly relations
may continue. Why they were ever broken off, I don't know.
Eben James’ subsequent life and the story of the cold storage company he founded
is covered in Triumphant Journey – The TCS Story by Alan R. Capon, published by
the TCS Group, Trenton, Ontario, 2006.
Eben James, age 28 or 29 – Toronto Office 1901

One significant change Eben made during his early decades in Canada was a change
of churches. In the will he made during the Spanish influenza outbreak following
World War 1, he left funds for a stained-glass window to his then church, St.
George’s, which was the Anglican one in Trenton. At some point between the 1891
census and the making of this 1919 will, Eben had left his strict Baptist upbringing
behind. The timing of this change is likely to have been after the deaths of his foster
parents, or else kept secret from them.
_______________________________________________________
The following are extracts from Emma Tebbut’s letters to Eben during these early
years of his in Canada – with stints back in the UK, which we now know relate to his
135
birth family. Emma continued to correspond with them, at least via Mary Ann (Ward)
Perkins (Eben’s maternal aunt), until her death. Emma may have also kept in touch
with Eben’s maternal grandmother, Harriet Ward, as her addresses were found in
Emma’s address book.
1895 Aug 30 Tebbutt E letter 4pp
Ends with: The Perkinses always enquire about you.
1896 April 25 Tebbutt E letter 4pp
Includes: I am glad you have written to Mrs. Perkins, tho’ I don’t (think?) that one of my
relatives is a Xtian [Christian].
1896 June 6 4pp letter with envelope
Ends with: Of course you would not . . . [name? raise?] to Mrs Perkins the subject about
which we spoke yesterday afternoon. I’d not suppose that either of them know anything
about it.
April 8 1897 1 Mount Terrace, Shefford, Beds, England

(full transcript of this letter can be seen in the ‘Foster Parents – Later Years’ chapter)
I do not at all think you will ever come into contact with your mother but if you should you
would at first speak to her as a stranger - afterwards it would come naturally to you.
You are right to pray for your Mother, tho I have understood she was greatly afraid lest it
should be known that she had ever had a child. At first she was quite wild about it because
her mother took the baby away and wouldn't let her see it tho the mother sent it to a very
kind person. Do not think of her in other way than you do.
Emma Tebbutt died in the third quarter of 1897, aged 84.
136
Continuing communication with birth family (via Herbert Perkins)?
A note about later in the Perkins family story:
Teresa 18/8/14
The fact this is what Mary (Teresa’s sister) said Auntie Margaret (Great-aunt Margaret was
one of the daughters of Herbert and Mary Ann) said. I do not know whether it is actually the
truth. Aunty Margaret said that there was a relative of some sort who lived with Herbert and
Mary Ann and who went to Canada. Originally William Herbert went to Canada to go into
business with him but when this did not work out he moved on. Auntie Margaret speculated
who the relative might really be and said “but I think Old Joe” was really the father. The
only Joe I know about in the family is Harriet Annie’s husband.
William Herbert ‘Bert’ Perkins (1885 Leicestershire – 1921 Argentina)
137
Herbert Perkins with grandson John Ward-Perkins (born 1912)
This photo, without any names, was found in Eben’s papers. Herbert’s great-
granddaughter Dimity, who identified the figures, comments: “Interesting that Eben
had this picture – possibly proves a stronger friendship link with the Perkins.”
Judging from the age of Herbert’s grandson in the photo, it would probably date from
around 1916-17. It would have been taken after the deaths of both of Eben’s birth and
foster parents – and even after the death of his birth aunt, Herbert’s wife, Mary Ann N
(Ward) Perkins, who seems to have been the key correspondent between the birth
and foster family when Emma Tebbutt was alive. It suggests that Eben himself may
have kept up some correspondence with Herbert, perhaps considering him as a last
survivor of his foster parents’ family friends. Herbert by this time would have been
about 69 or 70.
Although Mary Ann N. (Ward) Perkins died age 55 in 1909, her older husband, Herbert
lived to 91 and died on 18 January 1938. In an online tree, his occupations are listed
as Draper and Baptist Minister. In the probate summary, his effects (£50) were left to
his son Bryan Ward Perkins (1883-1970) retired Indian Civil Servant (working for the
British government in their then Indian colony).
There is a family story that Herbert had been in love with Annie (his later wife’s
sister), but that Annie had not reciprocated with similar feelings – no doubt already
enamoured with Joe. Herbert is reported to have had a breakdown over this and
138
given up the training he was then in for the Baptist ministry. It was several years later
that he and Mary Ann married.
Bryan Ward Perkins (1883 Market Harboro, Leicestershire – 1970 Hove, Sussex) 2nd
child of Mary Ann and Herbert, and Herbert’s heir and executor. Believed to have
been taken at the time of his marriage to Winifred Hickman. (ancestry.co.uk tree of
Dimity’s)
Later photo of Herbert Perkins (from Dimity’s Ward-Perkins online family tree)
139
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-
1966 about Herbert Perkins
Name: Herbert Perkins
Probate Date:4 Feb 1938
Death Date: 18 Jan 1938
Death Place: Essex, England
Registry: London, England
One of the Perkins’ children, Harriet Skeffington Perkins (1889-1991) moved to British
Columbia and lived to over 100 years of age.
140
10. Maternal Grandparents – Bryan and Harriet Ward – Later Years
Note from Teresa Callan 13/9/14

“I went back through my notes and think that the information on how we came to the
conclusion about Harriet and Bryan. Part is based on the absence of not only a will but also
any administration. My notes say that Aunt Hattie in her memoir written when she was 95
said that her grandfather was a successful farmer at Slawston until the repeal of the corn
laws when wise farmers quit but Bryan was stubborn and went on farming. She also said
that Bryan set Frank up as a gentleman farmer, but he did not farm properly and neglected
his wife, spending most of his time in London. Auntie Margaret gave a slightly different
story of her grandfather. She said the farm did all right until there was a ten-year drought
and then the family were on hard times and only the support of friends kept them from the
workhouse. Trying to make sense of this information, I suspect that Bryan struggled
following the repeal of the corn laws in 1846 but in fact was able to pick up again to some
degree. The internet describes a bad weather between 1875 and 1879 with no real upturn
until 1884. There was then a drought in the early 1890s. My suspicion is that the stubborn
Bryan is not managing to innovate as was essential in a changing world and the bad
weather, combined by setting his son up at Hallaton, left him unable to meet the rent. If the
information from Hattie is correct, then Frank must have had a farm of his own from about
1881 when he married.
For whatever reason, the chapel cannot attract or possibly afford a resident minister.
Therefore, Bryan and Harriet are moved into the manse partly because they are homeless
but partly because the house needs a tenant from the religious community. “
From Dimity 11/8/14
“. . . Reuben died in 1907 without leaving a will, which is strange for a man of some wealth,
. . . my ancestors Bryan and Harriet left no wills either; they had nothing to leave. Bryan
died in the early 1900s living on parish relief.”
141
Believed to be Bryan Ward in middle age (from Dimity Woodhall)
and Bryan Ward as an older man in Medbourne
Medbourne church and churchyard
142
Harriet and Bryan Ward’s gravestone in Medbourne churchyard
(her dates are 1825 – 1898; his are 1819 – 1904)
143
11. Foster Parents – Later Years
Emma Tebbutt photo from Eben’s estate

In the 1891 census, Richard and Emma are living at Holly Lodge with Emma’s sister,
the widow Jane Sears.
In a letter to Eben in Montreal, dated 16 Oct 1895, from Fred West, there is note of the
Tebbutt’s removal to 1 Mount Terrace, Clifton Road (this follows the death of Jane
Sears and implies the ownership of – and right to stay at - Holly Lodge had changed).
The same letter also reports ‘old [John Ebenezer] Wakefield’ being blind – which
suggests Eben was familiar – and probably even had met – the man he seems to
have considered as his possible grandfather.
144
(From Dorothy)
Eben 1 must have started asking about his parentage in 1893,4,5,6, and 7. He had met a
young lady, Clara Smith, in Stratford in 1892 when he attended the College there and
obviously must have been considering marriage. I know the letters from her are
here somewhere. Emma Tebbutt also discussed the situation between them in her letter. I
believe Clara's Mother asked Eben about his parents and he was upset he didn't have all
the answers. Thus the enquiries to J. G. Ward.
______________________________
In a letter from Emma Tebbutt to Eben 1 written in 1896 she notes "God is a "Father to
the Fatherless" and has hitherto been one to you.
In a note from 1896 08 28

1 mount terrace, shefford
Mrs Perkins asking after Ebenezer. Her sister in New Zealand says climate is lovely but her
husband (the one Eben slept with when at Mrs Perkins) does not attend to business as "we
ought".
Mr Wakefield blind for about 12 months now.
1 Mount terrace (now 123 Clifton Road) in 2009, the end of terrace,
about a block away from Holly Lodge
Note: “Messuage or dwellinghouse with garden, outbuildings etc on the north side of Clifton
Road, Shefford, formerly known as 1 Mount Terrace, now as 123, Clifton Road sold for £525
in 1951”
NOTES FROM LETTERS from Emma Tebbutt to Eben
undated
145
"if I am permitted to see you again I think I can tell you the secret of all this behaviour on the
part of the Wakefields, and I think also if you come you might just as well call and see the
agent who takes great care of the houses at Northampton."...
Your affectionate mother

Emma Tebbutt
[Note: One wonders if this secret may have had to do with the mysterious source of
Eben’s funding. The Wakefields were the family of John Ebenezer Wakefield,
husband to Emma Tebbutt’s late sister. Could there have been a connection between
the funding and his middle name ‘Ebenezer’?]
1 Mount Terrace, Shefford, Beds, England
Apr 8 97
My dearest Ebbie
I was so pleased on receiving yesterday your very nice long letter. I had thought you surely would
understand after so severe a taste of the equinoxitial gales you would understand the wish I have often
expressed you could avoid being on the sea during them. To say the least it is far from pleasant to be
exposed to them when on the sea.
I'm very glad you have spent a nice little time with Your Clara and I shall be much … So to receive the little
painting in reference to what appears to you "my dark view of things" I perfectly unite with you in all you say
respecting flowers but I must ask you to read carefully and in the spirit of prayer Matthew 6-24 to the end of
chap. And please do not forget to tell me whether you do see that our adorable lord Jesus referred to wild
flowers when he mentioned "lilies of the field" – and also please tell me whether you do not see the
beautiful lesson given us in those verses for us to Learn. Then think what lesson can be learnt from a show of
cultivated flowers about us in a world which is not our rest - is it polluted? Since I saw you I have been
pondering over an old letter of yours which certainly seems to speak to me of grace in your soul but I should
say do not wait for a deeper feeling pray to be enabled to toss your soul upon Jesus now and forever. I sent
you the piece of letter that you may see what I mean and I would also ask you to read Hebrews 11-chap
your letter is very clearly read and an nice Xtian [Christian] came last evening and I asked him what his
thought was when he passed Jesse Wilson's in the summertime and he said "it will be a witness against him"
his flowers are splendid I do not at all object to a few flowers in our garden indeed I like them and I enjoy
seeing the pretty little flowers as I go along the road in my chair but I do not like a great show of them
attracting peoples notice – it fosters pride. I know you Will dear boy have plenty to do and you will have your
dear Clara to write to so I shall not expect you to write again very soon but when you do write I hope you will
tell me fully your thoughts about Matt. 6 and also what you are disposed to tell me about Heb. 11. I do not
at all think you will ever come into contact with your mother but if you should you would at first speak to her
as a stranger - afterwards it would come naturally to you.
You remember no doubt our little white cat she has a little kitten and I assure you they speak to me of god
as much as anything – see how fond she is of it – how careful she watches over it – who put these wonderful
feelings into the cat – prepared he will for its disused it to be born clothed In a very pretty warm fur coat. No
creature is born so dependent and helpless as human beings all things speak to us of god. Look at our hands
146
and feet and all our joints just made to turn as needful wonderful and how wonderful and incomprehensible
is god. Infinite in small things as well as great things only think of his hearing the prayers of millions of people
at the same time all praying perhaps for different things yet we know it is so. I was going to forget to tell you
about the time of your leaving Liverpool I read in the Christian Herald that there was to be in one of the
states I think a society ball and that the flowers on that occasion would cost £2000. And there was a remark
about the expense at that time of suffering early all over the world. Think of all the horrible lynching in South
America. The Lord Jesus said before he left this world “Go ye and teach all nations ... Matt 20 19, 20 and yet
see how this Command has been neglected this no doubt is a damnable sin but blessed be God he has given
us a saviour in whom he is well pleased. Fred Bernard told me several times thro' Mrs Carter that he would
let me know directly he saw the arrival of your vessel at Halifax. He also said that if there has been a wreck it
would be in the papers in this country at once and tho I did not see how that could be I felt that his
sympathy was very nice. He said he was looking back in the papers lest he should have missed anything.
When Mr. Hunter said that was a wonderful experience did he seem to understand that what was related in
the verse were facts? Do you think he believed that Peter really saw Jesus (scars?).....? I am sure he did read
2nd Peter 1st chap. From verse 16. They also saw Moses and Elias who talked with Jesus. You sometimes say
"of course spiritual things are more important" but I can assure you that Christ must be all or nothing. We
cannot serve two masters.
We had a very nice visit the other evening from James Rowley who was converted from hearing dear Mr.
Sears preach. I think he left this place when you were too young to remember him – he is very wise indeed -
so spiritual. I should think much like Mr. Messenger. There is one text I should like to call your attention to
and that you will find in 1st John 2-15, 16 & 17. Notice particularly every word in the 16th verse and may
God the Holy Spirit convince you of the truth of it. I am writing you a very long letter but I shall not write you
again until after your next and I do not wish you to be in any hurry knowing what you have to attend to it is
wonderful to me that you can collect your thoughts as you do having business to attend to and your dear
Clara to think of but should you be wholly the Lord’s you will attend to business as unto the Lord and you will
not be engaged in it longer than necessary nor have to do with it more than necessary. We have a quantity
of wild flowers in the summer and they last a good while with changing the water daily. Nature is very
beautiful but it will not teach us the way to heaven or give us peace of God which is the forerunner of
heaven. You are right to pray for your Mother, tho I have understood she was greatly afraid lest it should be
known that she had ever had a child. At first she was quite wild about it because her mother took the baby
away and wouldn't let her see it tho the mother sent it to a very kind person. Do not think of her in other
way than you do. I must close now dear boy,
your very affectionate mother
Emma Tebbutt
Emma Tebbutt died July 31st, 1897, aged 84. No will or probate record has been found
online for her.
147
148
A letter dated August 17th,1897 from Richard Tebbutt to Eben 1 in Canada following
Emma’s death and funeral.
Mr Dearest Ebbie: Thank you very much for your kind and welcome letter of sympathy. We
sorrow dear, but not as those without hope. The dear departed one has gone to the home
she longed for to be forever with the Lord. You will I know be glad to hear that I am greatly
supported. The Lord is so ….. so compassionate and so gently with me. My prayer is that
my few remaining days or years may be more entirely .......... to Him. I shall so look forward
to seeing you when you can come but wish to remember how uncertain all things are below
and leave it with the Lord. Now, dear Ebbie, I wish to tell you exactly how I am now
situated. A few months ago dear Ma said what are you going to do with the money in the
Birkbeck Bank I said I scarcely know. She at once ....... to sink it accordingly ......... so
owing to which I am without any money. I can go on with the housekeeper but cannot meet
the extra expenses. Doctors bills, funeral, etc. I shall not have the bills until Christmas. I
cannot quite say what I shall require. Shall I get what I want on the Northampton houses or
would you rather let me .................. yourself? If we meet in the Spring or Summer we can
arrange about my future. I should like to remain where Ann and Mrs. Carter attend to me.
As usual if a suitable arrangement can be made. Mrs Clarke has been very kind. She
came and stayed until after the funeral and took all care of me arranging ..... Mr. C. and
Arthur followed as chief mourners. Mr. Percival and Mrs. Comfort, Mrs. W. Simpson and
Mrs. Carter. Mr. Clarke said if I sent bills to her she would let me have money to be
returned of course. I should wish but if you could let me have sufficient I think it would be
better. God bless you my dear boy and grant that we may all meet in that better land. Ever
more, your affectionate Father R.B. Tebbutt.
Richard’s letter asks Eben’s permission to take some money from the Northampton
houses. This implies that the houses were already in Eben’s possession and that
maybe Richard was managing them – though almost certainly through an agent - to
some extent for him.
I believe the houses in Northampton [45, 47, 49, and 51 Bouverie Street] were owned by
Richard Tebbutt. He originally came from Northampton. R. Danford and Son, were the
Land Agents and Surveyors who handled the rentals. Their address was 2a, Newland,
Northampton. I have letters dated 1938 advising tax to be paid. Babe has the
Grandfather Clock from the James' home and, apparently, Eben 1 brought the clock from
England. It has the name of the maker and Northampton engraved on the brass face. I also
believe that Snook still owned the cottages after Eben 1 died. He might be able to tell you if
there was a previous owner to Richard Tebbutt.

The houses in Northampton were left to Eben 1 by Richard Tebbutt, but never thought they
brought much money in. Don't know if Eben 1 sold them or they came to Snook. I do have
some paper work on them. I have the grandfather clock that came from the James Home in
Trenton. Eben 1 brought it from England perhaps after the Tebbutts died. It was made in
Northampton in the late 1700's
149
The last census record for Eben’s foster father Richard Tebbutt is the 1901 one,
which shows him living in an end of terrace house in Little Clifton. John Dilley, age
59, farmer and an employer, is on page 2 of this census, living at the ‘Lakes’ on
Shefford Rd, in the entry before the households in Little Clifton start. It is during this
same year that Richard writes his will, as well as a codicil to it, appointing John
Dilley as his executor.
Name: Richard B Tebbutt

Age: 81
Relation to Head: Head
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Northamptonshire, England
Ecclesiastical parish: Clifton All Saints
Town: Clifton
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Education: Widower Living on own means

View image
Employment status:
Piece: 1498
Folio: 89
Page Number: 7
Household schedule number: 51
Name Age
Household Members: Richard B Tebbutt 81
Jane Carter cook domestic 50
From a letter written by Laura Clarke to Richard Tebbutt, dated Sept. 8th, 1901 "I was
thinking over your saying you wished you had something to leave me, it was very kind of
you, and I thank you for the wish. The only thing I really want are your prayers for me and
mine that we may each one know for ourselves that we are Christs" (He apparently was
not well at that time)
150
A letter to Richard dated Dec. 18, 1901 (a week before his death) written by C.A.
Percival of 26 Gold Street, Kettering:
My dear Brother:
I am sorry you are poorley and hope you will soon be better. I am glad to say I have been
very well up to now. Heber’s address is 56 Fairbridge Road, Upper Holloway, N.
He has written today to me for more money. He says the Brokers will be in on Friday if I
don't send him about Three pounds. I sent him money above a year since and kept the
Brokers out. He promised faithfully to send some regular and pay it all quickly but he only
sent me one lot and he owes me three pounds so I cannot send him more, can I? His
promises are useless. I don't know what he will do. What do you think about it.
Yours very affectionately.
Richard died on December 26th of that year, aged 82, and his probate record reads:
Tebbutt Richard Barmby of Clifton-Road Shefford, Bedfordshire, gentleman died 26

December 1901 Probate London 15 April 1902 to John Dilley farmer Gross value of estate
£39 13s, 10d; net value of personal estate £7 4s, 4d.
In the will (reproduced in an appendix), Dilley is asked to give any money left over
after outstanding accounts and funeral expenses to adopted son Heber, but if there
is any shortage Dilley is to solicit that from Eben. This suggests that Richard knew
Eben was in a position to help if that was needed, and that Heber was not and would
have needed financial help if any were available. It also suggests that Richard
almost certainly had helped Eben financially, probably at least in part through
transferring ownership of his Northampton rental houses to Eben, so it would have
been reasonable for Richard to call on Eben for help when that was required.
Although Richard had owned houses he rented out in the past, no such properties
form part of his estate.
Richard leaves his household chattels to Heber, Eben, Walter Spong (a probable half-
brother – see note in the appendix following the will) and Jane Carter (his cook and
domestic). In the codicil leaves some specific bequests of to these same people, as
well as some to Laura Clarke. Eben is left his writing desk. It is possible that some of
the paper and documents in Eben’s estate, including Emma Tebbutt’s address book
were part of the contents of this desk.
151
Unidentified photo from Eben’s estate. Could this be Richard Tebbutt?
(It seems almost certain that Eben would have had a photo of Richard, just as he had one
of foster mother Emma, and that he would have treasured it – and this seems the only
unidentified photo from the estate which could fit the bill – the address of the photographer
would be near the London station, Euston, from where trains go to the Northampton and
Bedford areas, where Richard was mostly based.)
Jane Sears – Foster Aunt and Septimus Sears’ widow
152
Jane Sears
1891 England Census about Jane Sears

Name: Jane Sears
Age: 79
Relation: Head
Gender: Female
Where born: Blackfriars Rd, London, England
Ecclesiastical parish: Clifton
Town: Clifton
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Education:
View image
Employment status:
Piece: 1257
Folio: 55
153
Page Number: 4
Name Age
Jane Sears head – living on her own means 79
Household Members: K B Tebbutt (brother in law) living on own means 71
Emma Tebbutt (sister) living on own means 78
Ann Wells - general servant 57
(Note in above census, John Dilley and family were living 2 doors away. John Dilley,
straw plait dealer, is presumed to the man of the same name who was to become the
executor of Richard Tebbutt’s 1902 will.)
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915 about Jane Sears
Name: Jane Sears
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Age at Death: 80
Inferred County: Bedfordshire
Volume: 3b
Page: 304
154
12. New Zealand Ward descendants
Nellie Ward- Frank Leighton wedding photo 1902 (according to family, Joe is in front
of the white post behind the bridesmaid with the shortest dress and Joe’s wife Annie
is on his right – to his left when looking at the photo – with the white flowers in her
hat.)
155
The following information on Joe and Annie Ward’s children in New Zealand,
presented chronologically, was found by Teresa in December 2014 from records on
ancestry.com – these are all full siblings to Eben James:
Eleanor Annie
Eleanor (Nellie) Annie Ward Leighton with husband and daughter Eleanor Gwen
156
1902 Eleanor Annie married Frank William Leighton
1900 housekeeping for Reuben
1911 to 1926 Frank is a stationer at Manakua. No further record of Frank.
In 1928 Eleanor is described as widowed. Three other Wards appear with her on
electoral rolls, almost certainly children Alice Marion, Eleanor Gwendoline and
Francis Blair. In 1929 the social column of the local press reports that Mrs E A
Leighton and Miss A M Leighton are spending the winter in London. They are
returning via Canada sailing from Vancouver. Miss E Leighton is on a trip to New
York visiting friends and relatives and is currently in Cincinnati. I have found no
record of Frank’s death. Eleanor Annie died in 1963.
Reuben Percy
Reuben Percy Ward, wife Ida Hill, mother-in-law and children
157
1902 at Hautapu with Eleanor Annie Farming
1905/6 at Tor View Hautapu with Ralph and Mary Eveline.
Also at Katikati a timber machinist
1911 to 1919 at Hairini farming with Ida
1911 at Katikati with Ida
I think the work may be seasonal and that his farm is not able to support him on its
own.
1926 and 1928 voted onto Town Council at Lynn Town
1928 to 1954 Rimm St New Lynn builder and retired builder
18 August 1955 died
March 5 1960 Ida died.
John Skeffington
In 1935 and 38 John Skeffington a machinist is at the same address.
Francis John
Francis John I have not been able to find.
Mary Evelyn
Mary Eveline married John Henry Leighton a farmer in 1907
1919 farming at Orena Papatoetoe.
John Henry died 26 December 1920.
Mary Eveline died 7 February 1972 age 90. Two children on electoral roll with her –
Emily Dorothy born 1907 and Reginald Francis born 1910. He was alive in 1981 and
married to Dorothy June.
Alexander
Alexander married Catherine May Star Cubiss in 1911.
1911/14 farming c/o Mr Cubiss Cambridge
1928 onwards Fitter
158
1954 retired
7 January 1962 died
Catherine died 8 August 1872.
Ralph
Ralph No trace of any marriage
1905 with Reuben and Mary Eveline doing farm work
1911 at same address but with Frank and Ethel Marion
1914 at Pukeroro
1919 with Ethel and Frank
1928 alone
19 February 1949 died.
Francis Royden
Ethel and Francis Ward
159
Francis Royden Ward
Francis Royden married Kathleen after 1932
1905/6 with Ralph and Mary Eveline and 1911 with Ralph and Ethel Marion
1928 Farming at Te Miro
1935/8 with Edward Eric at Te Miro
1946 Kathleen in household.
1949 bought a grave plot
1954 Edward missing but back in 1957 and gone in 1963.
1972 retired at Grosvenor Road
160
Francis Royden Ward 93rd birthday
Death of Francis and Kathleen not found.
Ethel Marion
Ethel Marion Ward

Ethel Marion married Jack Phillips Alexander 1922
Housekeeping for family before marriage
1928 and 1935 farming at Tenfoot Rural Delivery Tanpiri
1946 onward St Andrews Terrace Te Rapu husband Manufacturer
161
1963 Braid Road Te Rapu husband Secretary
Died 20 January 1964 described as mother and nan
Husband died 26 December 1965.
Children – Helen Kathleen, Mary, James Phillips
Edward Eric whom I did not know about but who appears to be theirs. No
information other than he is with Frank. Died at Roto o Rangi 21 July 1970.
Interesting picture emerges. Some struggling but others clearly doing very nicely.
Edward Eric Ward

Edward Eric Ward (1893 – 1970) Joe and Annie’s youngest son, born about a year
before they emigrated to New Zealand – write-up and photos sent by Diane Bull and
David.
Edward Eric Ward

I remember Uncle Eric coming to stay with us in Kaitaia in the late fifties and early
sixties. Really, I think Uncle Eric drove all that way so he could talk to my mother, for
like all Wards, he liked a good yarn. And he especially enjoyed yakking with my
mother over endless cups of tea and fresh scones or fruit cake because they talked
about England. Uncle Eric loved England and our mother came from Surrey. What is
more she had gone to school in Brighton which isn’t far from Worthing where Uncle
Eric was born on 14 August 1893. He wouldn’t have any memories of England from
that time because he was but a baby, the last of ten children when the family came to
NZ in 1895.
While he was in Kaitaia, Uncle Eric would go down to our father’s farm machinery
shop to talk to Dad and have a look around. Of course horses, not tractors, were
Eric’s thing. But Uncle Eric knew our father when he was a kid as John (Jack)
Skeffington Ward often spent school holidays at Tor View, his grandparent’s family
162
home near Cambridge, where he helped Uncle Eric on the farm. As Uncle Eric was
the youngest of his family and our father the eldest son of the eldest son (as Reuben
Percy Ward was thought to be) Jack Ward was only about 14 years younger than his
uncle.
Eric’s first trip back to England was with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in
World War I. In one of his Soldier’s Pay Books you can see he enlisted when he was
22, was drafted to 17th Division Signal Company and on May 30, 1916 was sent to
Featherstone, but not for long; by 11 October he was on a troopship which seemed
to take a long time getting to Egypt where it seems he worked in ‘kitchens’ – or took
his turn doing the cooking. There is a photo of large blackened dixies out in the
desert with a line of camels in the distance. From June 6, 1917 the only entry under
place is ‘in the field’: he was on active service. Among his little black and white
snaps are ‘Ships anchored off landing’, ‘Anzac Cove’ and ‘The beach below Walker’s
Ridge.’ The pay book doesn’t tell you where he went after Gallipoli, but he was in
France when he received the news that Reuben Percy’s youngest son, born January
25, 1918, was named Eric Neville Ward after him. Eric took leave in England.
Edward Eric Ward in 1st World War uniform
163
On his return the Waikato Times on 4 April, 1919 (P.3) describes his welcome: ‘
District News: Hautapu: A very pleasant evening was spent at (Eric’s brother’s) Mr
Roy Ward’s residence on Wednesday by a number of friends, who assembled to pay
their respects to Signaller Eric Ward, who has just returned after about two years’
absence. A splendid programme of songs and recitations all rendered, was
thoroughly enjoyed by all present. A tasty supper was handed round, after which Mr
Newcombe, in a neat speech, heartily welcomed “Eric” home, on behalf of the
residents. The guest suitably replied….All joined in singing “For He’s a Jolly Good
Fellow,” following three hearty cheers. A pleasant evening was concluded by the
singing of the National Anthem.’
Eric told our mother all about his time in England during the war, his memories
perhaps coloured by meeting the love of his life there. The young woman was going
to come to New Zealand after the war as soon as Uncle Eric was settled on his farm,
but although they corresponded and Eric made several trips ‘home’ she never came.
On one of his trips it was so cold, he stayed in bed for weeks. Probably that was his
last trip and he was getting on by then.
When Uncle Eric came to Kaitaia, he always wore a green twill suit, the garb of
farmers from the Waikato. Soon after the war, on December 13, 1919 he paid four
pounds an acre for 803 hilly acres at Te Miro, north-west of Cambridge. In
partnership with his brother, Royden, he developed Te Miro as a dairy farm. To
finance this, they cleared scrub, fenced the land and grew turnips which they leased
out to dairy farmers for grazing. The brothers enjoyed bachelor lives on their farm,
with scant attention to housekeeping, until Kathleen Hennessy came along.
Roy married Kathleen on December 2, 1940 at St Andrew’s in Cambridge. Richard
says, ‘ When Kath came to Te Miro she was intent on not only putting the farm books
in order ,but the house itself. One contentious issue was the dog, which always lay
under the table but Royden and Eric wouldn’t budge. The dog stayed. Kath wore
long flowing housecoats which reached to the floor. It gathered up the dog fleas as
she swept about. The issue was only solved when Roy and Eric went to separate
farms at Roto-O-Rangi and the partnership broke up’. Eric and Roy bought separate
farms opposite each other at Roto-O-Rangi, just south of Cambridge.
Like our mother, Eric loved animals and over more cups of tea regaled her with
stories of dogs who’d kept him company over the years – not only farm dogs so
loved they slept and ate under the dining table, but his horses too. Paintings of
Diamond and the brown mare, Molly, adorned his walls. He also enjoyed hunting and
was a keen member of the Waikato Hunt Club. The New Zealand Herald (13 May,
1929. P.8) reports: ‘When jumping a fence during the Waikato Hunt Club’s meet at
Fencourt yesterday Mr. Eric Ward, a young Te Miro settler, was thrown from his
mount National Lass. His right elbow was dislocated. ’
Eric farmed at Roto-O-rangi until his death on July 21, 1970.
164
_________________________________________________
Ward Family Centenary in New Zealand book extracts

The following pages are from the 1995 book of the Ward family centenary in New
Zealand, which was compiled by Richard Ward and Diane Bull. They offer an insight
into the lives of some of Joe and Annie’s large family and descendants in their new
country. It is quite a contrast to Eben James’s life in his new country, Canada, on the
opposite side of the world, where he was without relatives – not even his foster ones.
165
Tor View
166
167
Eleanor Ward Leighton wedding photo and Barnardos
168
Reuben Percy Ward – Ship’s Apprentice
169
170
171
Reuben Percy Ward – Ida Hill Wedding
172
Reuben Percy Ward Obituary, letters and photos
173
174
175
John Skeffington Ward
176
177
178
179
Neville Ward (4th son and 6th child of Reuben Percy and Ida Ward)
180
181
182
183
184
185
Some family photos
186
Joe’s sister ‘Narnie’/Betsey Ann had lived with Joe and his family. It seems that after
Joe and Annie’s deaths in 1911 and 1913, Narnie moved to Auckland. She spent the
end of her life at Remuera at the home of niece Nellie Leighton, who nursed her
during her last illness. She died on 22 March 1922 and was buried at the Waikumete
Cemetery.
187
Appendix A – Who Do You Think You Are Article
(Submitted Draft – published January 2017)
A Victorian Fostering Mystery – Using DNA to Solve a 130-year-old puzzle.
• How long have you been doing your family history?
This genealogical search has been ongoing off and on since the late 1800s, so it has
preoccupied 4 generations. Its goal was to identify the birth parents of a fostered ancestor.
Ebenezer James, who was born at an unknown location on an unknown date (believed to
have been in 1872-3) and given to foster parents then residing in Ramsgate, Kent.
• What had you managed to uncover before hitting your brick wall?
Although Ebenezer (latterly ‘Eben’) died in 1949 without ever discovering his parentage, his
estate contained letters, photos and other documents which offered clues from his early life.
His foster parents, Richard and Emma Tebbutt, were Strict and Particular Baptists, who do
not baptize infants. With no birth or baptism record, only one official UK record for
Ebenezer has been found from his childhood. This was the 1881 census listing Ebenezer
as 8 years old at his last birthday and a boarder at his foster parents’ home, who then lived
in Clifton, Bedfordshire. In the ‘place of birth’ column, ‘Not Known’ is written.
Eben James (1872-3 – 1949) as a boy in England and

foster mother Emma Tebbutt (1813 – 1897)
188
• What was stopping you progressing your research?
Eben himself had (probably unintentionally) left misleading clues. On his 1921 marriage
certificate, he had named his foster mother’s unmarried niece, Emma Wakefield, as his
mother and a Richard James, soldier, as his father. Also, in an early 1919 will (made in
case he was taken by the then Spanish Flu epidemic), Eben named nephews and nieces of
Emma Wakefield as his cousins.
We found two Wakefield descendants and compared their autosomal dna with those of
Eben’s children. They did not match.
• How had you tried to solve it previously?
A clue in one of the letters strongly suggested Eben’s grandfather had been a
Leicestershire grazier named Reuben Skeffington. About 10 years ago, a purely male line
descendant of this man’s family was traced, so that a Y-dna sample could be obtained to
compare to a Y-dna sample from Eben’s son. It was not a match.
Reuben Skeffington (1826 – 1907)
We also obtained the wills for many of the principle characters from Eben’s early life. None
offered any helpful leads.
• What was your Eureka Moment?
One of the early letters to Eben was from a Joseph Ward, who said he could not reveal the
secret of Eben’s parentage, but that he had learnt about it through a relative of his by
marriage who was at death’s door at that time. We deduced from these papers and online
searches that the lady he was referring to had been his mother-in-law, Harriet Ward (sister
to Reuben Skeffington!). Another letter suggested it had been this same lady who had
189
taken the illegitimate baby away from her daughter and had helped arrange Eben’s
fostering.
We found the Ward family trees online. Two of the descendants, through separate lines,
agreed to submit autosomal dna samples for comparison with those of Eben’s children.
There was a strong match, equivalent to 2nd - 3rd cousins. The only great-grandparents
these two had in common were Mary Ann Needham Perkins (Harriet Ward’s youngest
daughter) and her husband. However, Mary Ann had not married until several years after
Eben’s birth. Our initial conclusion was that this Mary Ann must have been Eben’s birth
mother.
Grandmother Harriet Ward (1824 – 1895) and suspected

mother Mary Ann Needham (Ward) Perkins (1854 – 1905)
We were still in the dark as to who the father was. We had no close enough matches in
either the Y-dna or autosomal dna databases (although a new entry could match at any
time). We also submitted an autosomal dna sample from a maternal cousin of Eben’s
children, so that matches to his could be eliminated as maternal ones rather than from
Eben’s line.
Mary Ann had an older sister, Harriet Annie, whose dna made her an equal candidate for
being Eben’s mother. Harriet Annie had married Joseph Ward, author of the crucial letter.
Which of the sisters did mother Harriet take the baby from?
We learned that this older sister, Harriet Annie, together with husband Joe and their 11
children, had emigrated to New Zealand in 1894. We obtained dna samples from two of
their great-grandchildren. The autosomal dna samples confirm Eben’s children were a 1 st -
2nd cousin match with these descendants. One of them was a purely male line descendant,
and a separate Y-dna match from him showed that Eben and Joseph’s great-grandson
shared a common male ancestor.
190
Parents Harriet Annie Ward (1848 – 1913) & Joseph Ward (1848 -1911)
• How did it solve the problem?
We were now certain that Joseph and his wife Harriet Annie were Eben’s parents.
To be safe, we checked with a dna professional who assured us that our results were 95%
accurate. She said a higher level of accuracy could only come from dna testing of exhumed
remains.
• How did you feel when you discovered the solution?
We could not believe our good luck. This success would not have been possible without
online genealogical sites and the advances made in dna, so it has only recently become
possible to identify this kind of family connection in cases of adoption and fostering. We
were also extremely lucky to have solved this after relatively few tests.
• Did you discover anything else interesting along the way?
Had the earlier attempt to match dna with a Skeffington descendant been autosomal, rather
than Y-dna, there would have been a strong lead years ago, but autosomal tests were not
common then.
Eben’s birth parents had gone on to marry in 1873, probably within just months of his birth.
Mysteries remain. We have not found Eben’s birth registration (under any name) in the UK
or abroad, despite making these being law in England. We do not know the origin of
Eben’s names.
191
• What would your advice be to other family historians who hit an obstacle on their
family tree?
Put the dna of the closest relative to such a family member (adopted or fostered) into an
international dna database. If a close enough match does not come up straightaway, it
might in future. If there are ideas as to who a parent or ancestor could have been, try to
obtain dna samples of their descendants for possible matching.
Make use of the wealth of records and family trees online and contact families with possible
connections. They will usually be as keen to help solve a mystery as you are.
192
Appendix B
Professional DNA Report
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
Appendix C
Family tree descendant charts with selected descendants
Descendants of Joseph Ward (1800 – 1861) - father of Joseph Granger Ward

(Eben 1’s natural father)
Descendants of George Skeffington (1739 – ca 1793) - grandfather of Harriet

(Skeffington) Ward (Eben 1’s natural maternal grandmother)
Descendants of Edward Ward (died after 1730) - great-great-great grandfather

of Harriet Annie (Ward) Ward (Eben 1’s natural mother)
Descendants of Henry Tindal Still – father of Emma Foord (Still) Tebbutt (Eben
1’s foster mother)
Descendants of John Wakefield (ca 1776 – 1853) – grandfather of Emma Jane

Wakefield and Laura (Wakefield) Clark (Eben 1’s foster cousins through being
nieces of his foster mother)
204
Joseph Ward
b: 9 Sep 1800-Slawston, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: 16 Apr 1861
+ Elizabeth Mary Goodliffe

m: ca 1832
John William Ward

b: 1833
d: 15 Sep 1916-Rutland,
+ Ann
m: ca 1865
Mary Louisa Ward

b: 1866
Henry Godfrey Ward

b: 1868
Annie Clarissa Ward

b: 1870
Walter Ashby Ward

b: 1871
d: 1952
+ Ethna J
b: 1876
m: ?
+ Betsy Ann Granger

b: 3 May 1807-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
m: 24 Jul 1845
d: Oct 1886-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
Betsey Ann Ward

b: 1846-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: 2 Mar 1922-Auckland, New Zealand
205
Joseph Granger Ward
d: 9 Mar 1911-Hokitika, New Zealand
+ Harriet Annie Ward

m: 1873-London, England, United Kingdom
d: 5 Jun 1913-Hokitika, New Zealand
Ebenezer James
b: abt 1873
d: 1949-Ontario, Canada
+ Jean Fraser
b: abt 1889
m: 14 Jan 1921-Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Eleanor A Ward
b: 24 Jun 1874-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: 20 Apr 1963-Auckland, New Zealand
+ Frank William Leighton

b: 1 Nov 1866-Auckland, New Zealand
m: 1 May 1902-Cambridge, Auckland, New Zealand
d: 31 Aug 1922-Auckland, New Zealand
Reuben Percy Ward

b: Jul 1876-Welham, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Ida Hill
m: ?
206
Francis John Ward
d: 12 Nov 1958-Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Mary Evaline Ward

b: 5 Mar 1881-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: 7 Feb 1972-Auckland, New Zealand
+ John Henry Leighton

m: 18 Dec 1907
Alexander Ward
b: 6 Sep 1882-Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
d: 7 Jan 1962-Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand
+ Katherine May Cubis

b: Jul 1882-Cambridge, Auckland, New Zealand
m: ?
Ralph Ward
b: 13 Feb 1884-Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
d: 19 Feb 1949
Francis Royden Ward

b: 14 Nov 1885-Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
d: 4 Jan 1981-Cambridge, Auckland, New Zealand
Ethel Marion Ward

b: 5 Oct 1889-Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
d: 7 Aug 1957-Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand
Alice Winifred Ward

b: 5 Apr 1891-Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
d: 3 Oct 1966-Auckland, New Zealand
+ David William Hartles

m: ?
207
Edward Eric Ward
b: 14 Aug 1893-Worthing, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
d: 21 Jul 1970-Cambridge, Auckland, New Zealand
208
George Skeffington
b: 1739-Welham, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: bef Jan 1793-Welham, Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Ann Kestion
b: abt 1742-Northamptonshire, England, Great Britain
d: bef Dec 1826-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
Thomas Skeffington
b: abt May 1773-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: 15 Jan 1848-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Elizabeth Grant
b: bef Oct 1781-Preston, Rutland, England, Great Britain
d: 7 Apr 1822-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
Thomas Skeffington
b: bef 1802-Welham, Leicestershire, England, Great Britain
d: 8 Sep 1862-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Mary Ann Needham

b: bef 1807-Halstead, Leicestershire, England, Great Britain
d: bef 1833-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
Harriet Skeffington
d: 1898-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Bryan Ward
b: 1819-Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom
d: 1904-Uppingham, Rutland, England, United Kingdom
Harriet Annie Ward

209
+ Joseph Granger Ward
Ebenezer James
b: abt 1873
+ Jean Fraser
b: abt 1889
Eleanor A Ward

Reuben Percy Ward

+ Ida Hill
m: ?
Francis John Ward

210
Mary Evaline Ward

m: 18 Dec 1907
Alexander Ward

m: ?
Ralph Ward
d: 19 Feb 1949
Francis Royden Ward

Ethel Marion Ward

Alice Winifred Ward


m: ?
Edward Eric Ward

211
Reuben Skeffington
b: 7 Aug 1826-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: 2 Feb 1907-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Emma Ward
m: 2 Sep 1856-Islington, London, England, United Kingdom
212
Edward Ward
d: aft 1730
+ Mary Willson
b: bef 1675
d: bef 1715-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
Edward Ward
b: abt 1701-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: abt 1791-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Sarah ?
Thomas Ward
b: ca 1750-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
d: 22 Mar 1801-Northamptonshire, England, Great Britain
+ Mary Magdalen Rowlatt

d: 18 Jul 1825-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
Thomas Ward
b: abt 1782-Northamptonshire, England, Great Britain
d: 16 Oct 1852-Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom
+ Elizabeth Meadows
b: abt 1781-Medbourne, Leicestershire, England, Great Britain
d: 17 May 1856
Bryan Ward
b: 1819-Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom
d: 1904-Uppingham, Rutland, England, United Kingdom
+ Harriet Skeffington
213
Harriet Annie Ward
+ Joseph Granger Ward

Ebenezer James
b: abt 1873
+ Jean Fraser
b: abt 1889
Eleanor A Ward

Reuben Percy Ward

+ Ida Hill
m: ?
214
Francis John Ward
Mary Evaline Ward


m: 18 Dec 1907
Alexander Ward

m: ?
Ralph Ward
d: 19 Feb 1949
Francis Royden Ward

Ethel Marion Ward

Alice Winifred Ward


m: ?
215
Edward Eric Ward
216
Henry Tindal Still
+ Jane Love Foord
Alfred Henry Still

b: 1809
+??
m:
Alfred W Still
b: ca 1874
Jane Still
b: ca 1812
d: 1892-Clifton, Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom
+ Septimus Sears
b: 1819-Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom
m: 1842-Biggleswade District, Bedfordshire
d: 1877-Brighton, Sussex, England, United Kingdom
Emma Foord Still

b: ca 1813
+ Richard Barmby Tebbutt

b: ca 1820-Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom
m: 1856-Biggleswade District, Bedfordshire
Heber Samuel Tebbutt

b: 1867-Campton, Shefford, Bedfordshire
d: 1944-Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
217
Ebenezer James
b: ca 1873
Helen Ann Foord Still

b: ca 1815
Elizabeth Foord Still

b: ca 1816-Lambeth, Surrey, England
+ John Ebenezer Wakefield

b: 1820-Shoreditch, Middlesex, England
m: ca 1845
d: 1903-Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
Emma Jane Wakefield

b: 1847-Islington, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom
Laura Wakefield
+ William Clarke
m: ca 1880
Helena Laura Clarke

b: ca 1881
218
Henrietta F Clarke
b: ca 1883
William Ashley Tyndale Clarke

b: ca 1885
+ Dolly
m:
Roger Clarke
Winifred M Clarke
b: ca 1888
Arthur Wakefield
b: ca 1852-Islington, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom
d: 1910-Kensington, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom
Henry Tyndale Wakefield

d: 1936-Devonshire, England, United Kingdom
Prepared 27 March 2016 by:
219
John Wakefield
b: ca 1776-Keysoe, Bedfordshire, England
d: 1853-Islington, Middlesex, England
+ Mary King
b: 1779
m: ca 1810
d: 1848-Islington, Middlesex, England
Elizabeth Wakefield
b: ca 1815
John Ebenezer Wakefield

b: 1820-Shoreditch, Middlesex, England
d: 1903-Bedford, Bedfordshire, England
+ Elizabeth Foord Still

b: ca 1816-Lambeth, Surrey, England
m: ca 1845
Emma Jane Wakefield

Laura Wakefield
+ William Clarke
m: ca 1880
Arthur Wakefield
b: ca 1852-Islington, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom
d: 1910-Kensington, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom
220
Henry Tyndale Wakefield
d: 1936-Devonshire, England, United Kingdom
Prepared 26 March 2016 by:
221
Appendix D
Selections from letters from Eben 1’s estate
The Joseph Granger Ward letters and Will

J G Ward sent letters to Eben about his parentage, first from Worthing and then
from New Zealand.
April 1893 from Worthing:

My dear young friend: I was very pleased with your letter that contained the photo. It
was very kind of you to send it. I shall prize it very much. The honest tone of that letter
respecting your spiritual condition convinces me that you are not far from the Kingdom
and for days past before writing this I've been asking God to give me just the right
message from His own word to bring you into the full light of the gospel. you say that
you have no assurance of salvation; for the last twenty -seven years I have had full
assurance and never once doubted my saving interest in the precious blood of Christ
and the way I obtained it was by taking God at His Word, just believing (with the faith of
a little child) what God says in so many different parts of His Word for instance in ISA.53
We find God hath laid upon Christians, the ------- of us ALL. ISA44;22 READ It and
JOHN5.26 He that believeth in me HATH everlasting life and I shall not come into
judgement but is passed from death into life. Do not consult your feelings in the matter
but rest upon His Word, feeling you ===========proof of it. Feeling you are not is no
proof either. JOHN 3.18 shows u that unbelief is the soul condemning sin and the
moment one turns from an unbeliever to become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, he
is saved. John 26.3. I will continue to pray for you until I hear you are saved and I hope
your next will bring me this good news. One thing I am quite sure of (you will be saved)
when you write again tell me how soon you are likely to leave England. I do so wish I
could tell you (as far as I know) about your parentage etc. but I cannot betray the trust
and confidence that has been imposed in me but if I ever have permission to tell you
any thing, I will be here to do so. I certainly think you are happier now that you might be
if you knew more. do not mean that there is anything dishonourable or disinditable but I
fear that a little knowledge of the affair would unsettle you and make you curious to
know more. When you get in the Christians rest, you will be just pretty satisfied. Read
as often as you can Philippian 4 chapt. And with kindest Christian love, remain, yours
most sincerely, J.C. Ward.
[The letter is written without any punctuation marks and some words are impossible to
read.]
TOR VIEW, Cambridge, New Zealand, 30 June 1894 [this should be later per the
NZ Ward family history, as emigration was in 1895 and there is reference to past
year’s farming season being very dry plus note of next year being 1898 – so
222
possibly written in 1897.]
When you write me again, send a photo of the young lady if you please.
My dear friend. Your very welcome letter reached me safely some ten days ago. Many
times since we came here have I intended to write you but every day seemed to bring
its work and the letter did not get written. Before telling you anything about myself or
any surroundings allow me to congratulate you on your engagement; I can do so very
heartily for you tell me the young lady is a "child of God" and that must always be the
first consideration for any Christian contemplating matrimony, if the blessing of God is
desired on the union. You are now "heirs together of the grace of life" and may the
Great Father in Heaven bless the union whenever it may take place and may you fully
understand the true relationship between Christ and his church. Many Christians are
not aware that the church is the Bride elect of the Son of God who is now up in the
"Father's House" preparing a place for her, and when all is ready, He will descent from
Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the triumph of God
1Thes.4.13. Then will follow ======= - for which He endured the cross and despised
the shame) the presentation of the Bridge to Himself EPH 5.27. If the Lord should delay
his coming for a little while and you are both spared do you not consider that the
happiest day of your lives is yet before you! (and with deepest reverence) I believe it is
exactly as in the mind of Him who "loved the church and gave Himself for her (correct
translation) that He might present her to Himself-Jesus Christ. What a volume. I could
write you upon this (the most blessed of all subjects to the believer) but space forbids
more. Possibly you have wondered why I should come to this colony and bring my
family. Well, the Lord made it very plain to me and so I came. In the 1st chap. of the
Acts of the Apos. the Lord told his disciples that they should be His witnesses not only
in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria but unto the uttermost parts of the earth and I
think He sent me here for that selfsame purpose to be His witness and to proclaim
especially the truth contained in the Chap. already mention, namely "Our Lords coming
again" We all like the colony, the climate is very beautiful but farming is not very
profitable even here, last summer was very dry and the harvest very light indeed
Since received yours, it has occured to me that I ought to have secured for you, a copy
of your parents marriage certificate before I left England. It might be useful to you
sometime. I would do it now if I knew anyone who could tell me in what parish of
London it occurred. The dear old soul who had most to do with it is just at the end of
life's journey now, possibly she has passed away. I am not at liberty to tell you all I
know about your birth and parentage but I will write a little in romance and leave you to
read between the lines. The parents of a little lad that I happened to know were duly
married I believe in London; but I am not quite sure for some cause the marriage was
kept very secret and only few people knew anything about it. Very soon after the
husband left his wife and went abroad, no reason being given to the world without for
this strange proceeding. About a year after a little boy was born and the year following
the poor Mother passed away. The husband was informed of what had happened but
not caring to take the charge and responsibility of a one year old baby, he willingly
consented to his being adopted into a nice Christian family. A lady well known to me, in
fact, related by marriage, has much to do with the whole matter and from her I gained
the greater part of my information. She is now either with the Lord or just on the edge of
the border land awaiting the call to go up higher. I do not know any more that I can tell
223
you about this matter, unless it be that both Mr. and Ms. James were of good family and
I believe very much respected. I have often been glad of the interview we had in
London a year or so before we left the old country. I sometimes wonder whether I shall
see England again but I am quite contented here having my family with me. Many
students of prophecy tell us that " The Christian of the Gentiles" will expire about Easter
in next year 1898 and there are many who believe that before the Lord renews His
dealings with His ancient people the church which comprises all believers will be caught
away. Hence the obedient attitude for all who love the Lord is simply that of "Waiting for
His ====e from Heaven 1Thes 1. Watching for His appearing and occupying "Till He
Comes" with Christian Love, Yours ever in Him, J.G. Ward
224
225
226
227
Joseph Granger Ward’s Will (1911)
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
Emma Tebbutt’s letters – A Selection
1895 Aug 30 Tebbutt E letter 4pp
(Ends with ‘The Perkinses always enquire about you.’)
235
236
237
238
239
1896 April 25 Tebbutt E letter 4pp
Includes: I am glad you have written to Mrs. Perkins, tho’ I don’t (think?) that one
of my relatives is a (Xtian? Christian?). I am very glad you had another letter from
Mr. Messenger.
240
241
242
243
1896 June 6 Tebbut E letter 4pp with envelope
Ends with: “Of course you would not (name? raise?) to Mrs Perkins the subject
about which we spoke yesterday afternoon. I d not suppose that either of them
know anything about it.”
244
245
246
247
Richard Barnby Tebbutt’s letters and will
Richard Barnby/Barmby/Barnaby Tebbutt
A letter dated August 17th,1897 from Richard Tebbutt to Eben 1 in Canada.

Mr Dearest Ebbie: Thank you very much for your kind and welcome letter of sympathy.
We sorrow dear, but not as those without hope. The dear departed one has gone to the
home she longed for to be forever with the Lord. You will I know be glad to hear that I
am greatly supported. The Lord is so ,,,,,,,,, so compassionate and so gently with me.
My prayer is that my few remaining days or years may be more entirely..........to Him. I
shall so look forward to seeing you when you can come but wish to remember how
uncertain all things are below and leave it with the Lord. Now, dear Ebbie, I wish to tell
you exactly how I am now situated. A few months ago dear Ma said what are you going
to do with the money in the Birkbeck Bank I said I scarcely know. She at once ........to
sink it accordingly .........so owing to which I am without any money. I can go on with the
housekeeper but cannot meet the extra expenses. Doctors bills, funeral, etc. I shall not
have the bills until Christmas. I cannot quite say what I shall require. Shall I get what I
want on the Northampton houses or would you rather let me..................yourself. If we
meet in the Spring or Summer we can arrange about my future. I should like to remain
where Ann and Mrs. Carter attend to me. As usual if a suitable arrangement can be
made. Mrs Clarke has been very kind. She came and stayed until after the funeral and
took all care of me arranging... Mr. C. and Arthur followed as chief mourners. Mr.
Percival and Mrs. Comfort, Mrs. W. Simpson and Mrs. Carter. Mr. Clarke said if I sent
bills to her she would let me have money to be returned of course. I should wish but if
you could let me have sufficient I think it would be better. God bless you my dear boy
and grant that we may all meet in that better land. Ever more, your affectionate Father
R.B. Tebbutt.
__________________________________________________________
Comment:
Richard B.’s letter asks Eben’s permission to take some money from the
Northampton houses. This implies that the houses were already in Eben’s
possession and that maybe Richard B. was managing them to some extent for
him.
248
249
250
251
Richard Barmby Tebbutt’s will
252
The Walter Spong mentioned in Richard’s will helps provide a lead to his origins
in Higham Ferrers, where he may have inherited from a Richard Barmby (mayor)
in 1836 when our Richard was the son (also then using the name Richard
Barmby) of Jane Tebbutt. Jane married a Walter Spong in 1824 when her son
253
Richard would have been just 3 or 4 years old. The Walter Spong Richard
remembers could have been a half-brother. A Walter Spong was also mayor and
prominent figure in Higham who died in a shooting accident in 1913 – his wife’s
obituary is online – was this Richard’s half-brother?
Jane Carter, also mentioned in the will, was Richard’s 50-year old cook and
domestic from Clifton in the 1901 census.
254
William Clarke’s Will and Estate Accounts Summary
255
256
257
William Clarke left £8K gross, but according to estate accounts, more like £3,000
net (equivalent to about £300,000 gross and 110,000 net in 2012 money) to wife
Laura in 1905.
On the liability side there was £250 owed Eben James, and on the asset side there
was £133 at 5% owed from Mr. Wakefield. J. E. W. had died 4 years earlier, so this
must refer to one of William’s brothers-in-law, Arthur or Henry T., both of whom
had been bequeathed parts of Emma J's interest in S. Sears real estate. Could
one of the Wakefield brothers have been funding Eben through William Clarke, or
has William simply loaned one of them some money?
In any case, it seems William Clarke, who had been managing funds invested for
Eben through Emma since at least the late 1880’s, still had money on Eben’s
account when he died in 1905. Eben would have been 32 or 33 at this time and
the £250 owed him then would have been the equivalent of £28,000 in 2016.
258
Laura (Wakefield) Clarke – selected letters
Following is the letter to Ebb from Laura Clarke, The Gables, May 19th, 1895
My dearest Ebb;
Your welcome letter reached me the day before I was taken ill. We had another little
son which however was not spared to us. He was such a beautiful child and it was a
great grief to us not to have him. I was as usual, very ill but knew very little about it as I
had chloroform. I do not think any woman however bad, could have a little child grow in
her and not feel some tender feeling towards it and I am sure and remember being told
that your Mother's grief was piteous to see when you were taken from her but poor
thing, what could she do. The likeness did not awaken any memories. You know Annie
Ward was engaged to Joe when I stayed there and I do not fancy she is your
Mother===I also think as he is so friendly towards you and as he is going to a new
country he would have adopted you as his own son if you had been hers especially as
you do not want a home or money. Annie Ward was a very nice girl. I remember liking
her much better than Mary and he too, seemed very fond of her. He had a sister = I
wonder whether it was his sister. Perhaps the mystery will out yet. Thanks too for all
you said about dear Auntie--as you know I still love her but I do not think she ever
understood me and I always seem to write something that calls for a rebuke. You will
be surprised to hear Nellie [Keith? Shiel? Thiel?] --------is coming home. Her husband is
going to get something in England. He has left the Cathedral. She had a little son last
year but it died. I am very pleased to hear you seem to be getting on so nicely. I have
not received the book Cleopatra but I can get it and read it. I also very much like David
Copperfield and have often thought of you when reading it. They say it was Dickens
own life. I only hope you won't marry such a doll of a wife!! Let me know when your
heart really gets touched.
Much love dear Ebb from us all.
Your affectionate friend Laura Clarke.
_______________________________________________________________
A letter written by Laura Clarke to Ebenezer James

Tuesday (without a date)
My dear Ebb:
Many thanks for yours. I think Joe Wards' letter a very nice one and about what one
might expect. He certainly possesses something in religion that at this present time you
and I do not and I only wish we did but now for the other matter. Of course, I do not
know what you did say when you wrote last but can't you put something like this.
Dear Mr. Ward: Many thanks for your kind letter and the good wishes you express for
my spiritual good. It will give me great pleasure to write to you sometimes when I get
back to America. I was very sorry to hear how feeble Mrs. Ward is as I always feel she
must have been a friend and wished me well when she helped my friends to place me
with Mrs. Tebbutt. She too is passing away I fear very shortly and I think the thought of
loosing her (almost the only friend of my early childhood) has made me think more of
my own family. I cannot divest my mind of the thought that my Grand father in name is
259
Reuben Skeffington of Medbourne and consequently, my own name is Skeffington. I
have always tried to think lovingly of my Mother and would not wish to do anything that
would bring disgrace or trouble upon her but it would be a great comfort and pleasure to
me when I leave England if I could take the thought back with me that she cared for me
and felt for me some of the love that other Mothers give their children. You can perhaps
hardly imagine what it is like to have no one who really belongs to you
the Gables
may 3rd (no year)
my dearest Ebb
many thanks for your last which I was glad to receive with all news. You seem to be
getting on nicely as far as business goes. I have been once to see Auntie Tebbutt the
last time she was rather cross because I went across first to see Mary Oliver as Auntie
could not see me just then and stayed as she thought too long. You know she is very
deaf and it is very difficult to make her hear.
Now about the young lady I think she must be nice or you would not like her and I hope
it is for your happiness that you will get her. But as you say it would not be right to
deceive her. And I know that you would not do so dear Ebb. I am very sorry for you after
all it is not your fault and everyone must know this. I think your plan of going to see Mrs
Perkins and looking over her photos is a very good one. I do wonder whether it is Joe
Ward's sister. I believe she used to call Mrs. W "aunt" but I fancy he would tell you now
they are abroad if it was. We are having a very lovely spring. Everything is so green and
full of bloom but we had a frost last night and I fear it has cut all our piennes* blooms
off.
I do wish you could send me some apples next year. I did miss them so this year. I fear
I was not grateful enough on former occasions
we have a sweet little puppy a fox terrier and Willie has also a ** spaniel a very good
breed of dog for hunting. the children are all well they are growing very fast I often wish
the other little ones had lived but as you say they are spared a world of trouble and
religion is still a mystery to me. It seems to come to those who do not want it and those
who want it do not get it.
much love from us all
believe me
your affectionate friend
Laura Clarke
The Gables
Loughborough August 30th, 90
My dear Ebb
It is such a long time since we wrote to you so I will begin a little tonight: I am going to
send you a book. I have been waiting to get it for a long time. It is about a boy like you
260
and a good many things in it will remind you of Clifton. I do not blame dear auntie as I
am sure she means well. But you must tell me what you think of it when you've read it.
The last cheque you had sent to Auntie had the name on it I told you about. Auntie says
Mrs. Ward is very poorly. Did you know Wm Linton had drunk all his money away and
has gone with his wife and children to America. John Hilton gambled all of his away and
has gone to Austrailia with his children. We have been over once since you were here
to see them at Clifton. They were all very well. We have enlarged the works since you
were here. It is a beautiful place and they are very busy. How are you getting on with
Mr. McKellar? Is business good now? Write and tell us. We will try and not keep you
waiting so long for another letter.
Nellie goes to the grammar school now. Miss Messenger has left *** she wanted a
situation away from home.
Ashley has all his long hair off. He looks such a big boy and Winnie is growing a very
big girl.
I never hear anything of Heber. Some time ago I heard from Auntie that he had given up
his Catholic girl but since then she has not mentioned him. Does he write to you?
We all send our love to you.

write soon
believe me your affectionate friend
Laura Clarke
1898
the Gables, Loughborough
my dearest Ebb
Many thanks for your very nice letter. It did me ever so much good. I do hope you have
by this time received mine telling you of the safe arrival of the apples which are very
acceptable. There are a few more bad ones than usual so I think they must have had a
bad passage but they are very nice for eating and will last us a good time.
It is funny you should have mentioned your love for me as in my letter I told you the only
thing about your visit I did not like was that you did not give me the usual kiss and I
missed it very much. I never forget how I loved you when you were a little boy. I think
more jealously than I loved my own. I wanted you all to myself and I often and often
wished I could in some way, make you my own but dear Ebb, if you have had a lonely
life in some way I do think you've had a fortunate one and may thank God for it. I do
wish you were here and we could have a chat a good old chat.
I see my daddy on Thursday, just for the day. He has not been very well. But I have not
had time to go see Uncle. I have just sent over 6 pounds 15 for the stone and curb for
dear Auntie's grave.
I am getting on splendidly with my carving and have had some more lessons from a
very good man and I have improved. I am very glad to hear about your girl. I think you
have done more than well in business and if it keeps up, you may soon take upon your
shoulders, a home of your own.
261
I must soon say goodbye.
with much love believe me
your loving friend
Laura Clarke
1923
envelope addressed to
Eben James Esq
National Club
Toronto, ON
Dec. 22nd
from 18 Victoria St, Loughborough
My dearest Ebb
We received last Saturday a lovely barrel of apples, red ones this time, and are enjoying
them very much and since then I have received your Xmas letter with our welcome
presents in I am very glad to hear Jean is feeling well and in good spirits. I think from
my own experience she will have a big baby [note: Margot Jan 9th] you will remember
what I told you. I have just read your last letter not last week's that I shall keep until I
have another but the one about a month ago it is now going to be torn up. In it you say
you failed to set me on my feet. I don't like to hear you say that because the older one
gets, the more they live in the past and where should we be now if you had not helped
us so much *** after Willie died. I never forget that. Well I can truly say I learned lessons
during the last 18 years I should never have learned had I been rich and so it is a good
thing I was not. I often think Auntie was very funny when she heard I was engaged to
Willie she wrote to me and said "the love of money is the root of all that was evil" but
when other people came near me, it was quite the reverse. We have known some funny
people.
Ashley got a paper the other day, sent him, the cdn miner sat dec 1, it seems principally
about porcupine midfield gold mine...are they any good. I wrote to you did I not and told
you that Read went over to Northampton and saw the sanitary inspector and he said
those drains might be done for 60 pounds [apparent reference to Eben’s rented
Northampton houses]. You never mentioned so I have wondered whether you got it. 90
pounds seems awful. Ashley seems getting on very well in his home. Bernard is like
John...does no work but eats and sleeps well and takes good care of himself. We are
all as usual I often feel getting a very old woman and wish you were nearer. much love
to yourself. Love and good wishes to Jeanie.
Yours affectionately
Laura Clarke
Ashley passed his little present onto me.
You will hear from the girls.
18 Victoria Street
262
Sept 30th 1929
my dear Ebb
I am sorry to have been so long in answering your very kind letter with enclosure and
the very nice photograph of the children. They look so nice and I am sure Jean must
find plenty to do to keep their clothes in such good order. I've not been well. I think it
must be old age creeping in. We gave your instructions to Lowe and he sent for it at
once it wanted very little doing to it only the lining repairing. you were quite wrong about
the table. When we left No55 Park Road we stored a few things with Miss Todd and
your table with them - when Ashley got married we got the things over for him and Ashe
had little table for his room. I was sure you would not mind him using it until you wanted
it yourself and they kept it very nice. I wish I had known that you would have liked the
harp it was mine It was Auntie Jane's and she said if Emma learned to play it, she was
to have it, but if I learned to play it, I was to have it so I learned it and used to play and
sing to it. Can you believe it? After I got married I did not play it and it got very old. The
pedals were broken off and when we had it at the gables it began to look shabby and
Lowe said it would cost a lot to have it done up so Lowe sold it to a London museum
who had it done up but it cost a lot of money. You know it is over 100 years old.
Love to you all
the nice little kiddies included
Yours affectionately
Laura Clarke
263
Frances Jager’s 1897 letter to Eben
Letter written Dec. 22,1897 to Eben 1 from Frances C. Jager.

Me dear Ebbie: Please forgive my using the familiar boyish name; it seems such a short
time since you were a dear blue eyed boy going about with me at Ramsgate. I have
very often thought of you and have intended writing but have been hindered by one
thing and another from carrying out my intention. I am sure you will miss dear Mrs.
Tebbutt very much although I have not seen her or even heard from her for a long time,
I seem to miss her. She was a good loving Mother to you and for five years and more, I
had her motherly care. I feel I owe very much to her. Her sweet calm face comes to my
mind on a Sunday morning. I am so glad she was able to get to the meeting to the last.
My dear Father has not been to church for more than a year. It is a great deprivation to
him but fortunately God is not confined to a place . He has His presence with him in his
home. We were at Abernour for three months this summer. It is a small seaside place
opposite the other side of the Forth. My sisters and their children were with us for most
of the time. My Father is pretty well for him just now but he changes very quickly. He
has been ill a great many times since you were here... You did not say anything about
your young lady. When are you to be married? I suppose when you are a little better
established in your business. I shall be very glad to see you when you come to this
country again. I have been thinking much lately what a wonderfully sweet this it is to
know the love of God as shown in the Lord Jesus. It is all of grace from first to last.
Hoping to hear from you again soon, believe me, Your affectionate friend Frances C.
Jager. The writing paper is embossed with the following: HOPE LODGE, STANLEY
ROAD, TRINITY.
264
Appendix E
Emma Tebbutt’s Address Book
28 pages
20 have writing on both sides, sometimes in two directions!
a number of pages at one end have monies spent 1890 March, October, December and
list names and amounts: (Mr. Guiness gets frequently 10-0 - a religious payment as we
see he is Sec. of the Protestant Society, and many charitable societies like Dr.
Barnardo, Jews, Woolens for Seamen, tracts society, Ireland.
Jane Day is the one name so thinking that may be a servant 1-0-0. later dates are worn
away (the booklet is about 5" x 2.5" of cardboard cover and hand sewn together as the
binding is gone.
Another page on that side of the booklet appears to be letters sent and received
The other side is all addresses with many stroked out. No dates appear.
I will send all that is transcribable in next email.
NOTE; ONE address as WORTH I have photographed on my IPAD and enlarged and I
believe it to be WARD
Good luck! Not much to help you from your email I'm afraid.
Heather
From the address book of Emma Tebbutt there is an entry for Mrs. James, Harvey's
Cottage, Hitchin Road, Arlesey, Hitchin, Herts.
J.E. Wakefield, 44 Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London N.W.

Mr. A. Wakefield, 205 Maida Vale, London, W. (also Daughter Constance) place of
business for Mr. A. Wakefield, 39 Victoria Street, London, Westminster, S.W.
Mr. H. Wakefield, Holmwood, Milton Road, Harpenden, Herts. and 68 Helen Park,
Richmond, Surrey
There are many for Heber Tebbutt.

35 Jackson Road, East Barnet , London N.
28 Davenport Rd., Upper Holloway, London N.
Ivy Lodge, 21 Lauder (or Lander) Terrace, Woodgreen, London N.
21 Warner Street, Barnsbury, London N.
c/o Charles Bayer & Co., 31 London Wall, London, E.C.
39 Avon Road, Drayston Park, Highbury London N.
32A Stock Orchard Crescent, Holloway , London N.
265
Address book entries:
MaidstoneAnnuity due
To Mrs Tebbutt March 25th June September and December Quarterly
Annuities from Mr W Clarke The Gables Forest Road Loughborough A** on 20th of May
August November Feb 7
Higham Ferres Annuity due to Mr Tebbutt on Lady day and at michaelmas

24"4"2 W. Clarke
6"1"0 1/2 the quarter
It is interesting material. Where there are the three numbers with the "between, I suspect means
Pounds, Shillings and Pence, so the last one is 6 pounds, 1 shilling and a halfpenny each quarter.
The word after Loughborough is 'due'.
Higham Ferrers is where Richard T was from. The word after his name is Lady day (25 March). Lady
day and Michaelmas (29 Sept) were accepted as 2 of the legal days dividing the year into quarters -
often, too days when rents were due and, in this case annuity payments.
Mr w clarke will owe Ebbie next november 1-10-4 but I have to make up */*
September E.J. Received the sum of £10 £6 were spent for 3 weeks housekeeping. £5
for Mr tebbutt and one for mrs carter mrs day one pound
L & H Williams & co

Fruit brokers and auctioneers
Glasgow
Mrs h tebbutt [Mrs. Heber?]

36 (3b?) jackson road
Easr barnet, london n
Miss Long
15 Edward St, Bath
Miss Long
Mindfoot road (menefort?)
Torquay
Mr fred k west
Nethersprings
The Halway (stalway?)
Sheringham, norfolk, eng
266
Mr H Tebbutt [Heber]
56 Fairbridge road
Upper Holloway, london N
Mr s ashby
85 malmsbury rd
Bow london
Mr a wakefield [Arthur]
1 addison road
Bedford park
Cheswick london w
Eb James [Ebenezer James]

6&8 Temple Court
Liverpool. G woodall & co
Hymn 1112 gadsbys selection
Mrs m baxter
Kurtan mission office
10 drayton Park road
North london
10 kingdoms
France, britain, spain, italy, austria, greece, egypt, syria, turkey, balkan states
Letter sent to Ebbie jan 24- 9b

Mrs perkins 23- 9b
Feb 7 to dear Ebbie
Feb 14
Feb 27
March e.j 4th
8th
April 11
Etc
Miss Long
Rens
Bridge Road
Torquay
A.H. guiness esquire

430 Strand, London
J.B. Dimbleby esq

267
1 gordon road, wanstead London
Jabez, born in Yorkshire – author and newspaper editor
Miss Long 6 Lome Place (lame?) bath
Miss long 23 Wallace rd

Canonbury N
London
Mrs day
200 coppice st
Oldham, lancashire
Mr west (Fred West)

Ferndale
Gordon hill, enfield
Miss Long
57 pyrland rd, canonbury, london
Miss g s gibbs
7 park Place villas, paddington w
Mrs henry william Alexander (Isabella Julia, wife of Henry)

Queen lodge
London rd, croydon
Mr H tebbutt [Heber]
28 davenant rd,
Upper holloway, london
Ebenezer James [Ebenezer James]

Clogg & Co
165-169 McGill Street
Montreal Canada
Mrs perkins
17 amherst road
Hackney, London
Mary Ann Needham Ward Perkins’s address in the 1901 Census
Birkbeck bank, 29&30 southampton bldg, chancery lane, w.c.

Francis Ravencroft Manager
268
Birkbeck bank was the one referred to in Richard's letter about the sunk funds - they had a run on
deposits in 1910 and were taken over the next year by Natwest’s predecessor-and now absorbed in
RBS
H tebbutt [Heber]
Ivy lodge
21 Lauder terrace
Woodgreen N
Miss Long
3 beresford terrace
Highbury N
Mrs James Sharman

Birmingham st, stratford, On
(Stratford, Ontario where EJ studied at business college in 1892)
Misses perkins and inglis

73 buchanan st (crossed out)
73 bothwell st, glasgow
Miss young
32 de Montfort St
Leicester
Mrs wrightston
1 mayfair road, southsea
Mr f marshall
Albert villa
Bexwell road
Downham market
Norfolk
Miss Long
Highfield
Lansdowne road, Bournemouth
Flora Louisa Long b. 1844 Coulston Wiltshire
Mr E James [Ebenezer James]

77 Blewry st, montreal
Mrs perkins (Mary Ann N Ward Perkins?)

12 highfield villas
Southgate rd, wincester
269
Mary Ann Needham Ward Perkins was in Winchester in the 1891 Census though not at this particular
address
Mr H wakefield [Henry T.]

Holmwood, milton road, harpenden, hertz
Mr E James [Ebenezer James]

JR Clogg
169 McGill st, montreal, Canada
Mrs James
Harvey Cottage
Hitchin Road
Arlesey in hitchin, herts
At Bedfordshire Archives, tried to find the Harvey’s Cottage where Mrs James was living but no luck
with maps. There doesn’t seem to be a James family that looks right at Arlesey during the time of
Emma Tebbutt. All the names in her address book seem to have significance for her so perhaps this
Mrs James is also in some way significant?
Mrs flitton
Ashwell baldcock herts
Mrs noble
Trevon road
Halsworth road hitchin herts
Mrs AJ Osborne
Plaistons, essex
Mrs arnsby
67 plaistons road, plaistow, essex
Then
10 the norlands
Goose green, dulwich
Mr jb boyes
Prudential assurance
H. Tebbutt [Heber]
21 warrier ? Wassier st
Bassonbury N London
J. E. Wakefield. Esquire
44 Devonshire Hill
Hampstead London NW
270
Ebben James [Ebenezer James]
Commercial college, Stratford
Miss M. L. ? Drury
25 Villa Road
Brixton London
Mr worth
13 first avenue
Enfield middlesex
in the Electoral Register of 1894
Frederick
West lived at 13 First Avenue Bush Hill Park
Charles bayer & co
31 London wall, london e.c.
Mr A Wakefield
Place of business
Albany buildings
39 victoria st
Westminister SW
Prev 205 Maida Vale, London W
Mr H Wakefield
68 stuen (?) park
Richmond, surrey
Capt kearney white

27 lower pemberton st
Dublin
(sec of the Irish Scriptures Readers’ Society and of The Gospel Magazine)
C. Russell hurditch
164 alexandra rd
St johns wood, london
Mr danford
81 holly road
Northampton
Agent for the Northampton houses
Rev w firth
271
Mansville harringay london N
H tebbutt [Heber]
9 jackson road, holloway
M young
The rosemount
St ives, Hunts
Maria Young, born 1850 in Bombay was the M Young in St Ives. She is incorrectly transcribed as Maria
Nonne in the school that the Tebbutts were running in the 1871 Census but correct as Maria Young in
Familysearch.
Ends up in Leicester, never married.
Geo morrish
20 paternoster sq, london ec
Macready & kyle

Printers & publishers
49 middle abbey st, dublin
Chillingworth esq
St peters green, bedford, surgeon
Mrs Ward (Harriet Ward, mother to Mary Ann and Annie)

The mission Hall
Medbourne, market harboro
Ah guiness
Sec, protestant alliance
Mrs ward (Harriet Ward, mother to Mary Ann and Annie)

The fern / farm
Hollaton
Uppingham rutland. ****
Messers pullan
Dyers
Perth NB
Mrs A Day
Belmount Villa
Wantage berk
Miss e clews
272
9 grove Place
Bedford
Mr hastings
10 portsmouth row
London ec
39 Arron Road
Drayston park, highbury N
W Clarke Esq
The gables
Forest Road
Loughborough
W brandon
101 Beaufort st, chelsea
An Alfred Brandon, Baptist Minister lived at this address
H tebbutt [Heber]
32 stock orchard crescent
Holloway London
Mrs porali
The cottage
Milwan ? Hollywell
L west esq
15 hyde side terrace
Lower edmonton middlesex
Miss jager
Hope lodge
Hanly ? Road, trinity
Frances Jager
Mrs perkins (Mary Ann N Ward Perkins)

102 high street
Wincester
A still esq
Roxboro house, cork
Brother
Mr danford
273
York rd, northampton
Agent for the Northampton houses
Mr j austin
Kimston lodge
Tichester
Mr wellen
Lborough
Mr Fred West
15 Hyde side terrace
Lower Edmonton, midd
b. 1840 Highgate Middlesex and married to Caroline Augusta Jukes, daughter of a Chapel Minister
(Baptist?) in Hull
Miss Mary cousins

Sarisbury green
Salisbury, w Southampton
Mr Perkins (Mary Ann N Ward Perkins’ husband, Herbert)

102 high st
Winchester
End
274
Appendix F - The Brighton Boarding School Tie and Tiepin
Eben James’s School tie and tie pin from his Brighton boarding school (1880s)
The above photos were sent to two traditional tie manufacturers, the Brighton
History Society, the largest school in Clifton, Bedfordshire and the Museum at
Worthing (next to Brighton and where J.G.Ward lived for a time before emigrating
to New Zealand).
So far, the following are the responses received (from The Keep, Museum2,
associated with the Brighton History Society, and the Museum at Worthing and
Helen Hudson’s check of the Clifton schools logbooks at the Bedford County
Archives):
On 22 July 2014 14:05, Kate Elms <Kate.Elms@eastsussex.gov.uk> wrote:

I’m afraid we aren’t able to identify the school you are searching for from the tie and
tiepin, but there are a couple of other things we could try if you are able to provide a
little more information.
If you could let us know your relative’s name (and year and county of birth, if possible),
we could see if we could track him down in the census for 1881 (or 1891), if he was
boarding in Brighton at that time. Do you have any clues as to where the school may
have been – in Brighton or Hove, for example? Near the seafront? Anything that might
help us identify it from the establishments listed in our street directories. If you could
give us any further detail at all, we may be able to help!
With best wishes
275
Kate Elms
On 29 July 2014 10:17, Kate Elms <Kate.Elms@eastsussex.gov.uk> wrote:

I forwarded the images you sent us to one of my colleagues at Brighton Museum & Art
Gallery, as the local history collections held there also feature school ties, pins etc, but
they were unfortunately unable to help. However, I will keep your details to hand (with
the photographs), should we find any relevant information in the future.
With best wishes
Kate
Kate Elms
The Keep
Woollards Way
Brighton BN1 9BP
Tel: 01273 482349
Email: kate.elms@eastsussex.gov.uk
Website: thekeep.info
30 Jul 2014
Museum2 Museum2 <Museum@adur-worthing.gov.uk>
Thank you for your email and apologies for the delayed reply.
On this occasion I am not sure if we would be the best resource to help you in your
quest to find this information. Although we have many records on local social history,
our records are mainly West Sussex based. Saying that, we may have something on file
and so I have copied Gerry Connolly into this email, so he can reply direct to you if he
can shed some light.
Failing that, you could try the West Sussex County Council records office. Please see a
link to their website below.
http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/leisure/record_office_and_archives/collections_and_res
earch/family_history_getting_starte.aspx
Good luck with your search.
Kind Regards
276
Lucy Hoskins
4 Aug 2014
Gerry Connolly <Gerry.Connolly@adur-worthing.gov.uk>
Thank you for your enquiry about your family history. I am afraid that I don’t recognise
the tie colours from the limited records we have on some of the local schools. You are
probably already aware that there were lots of small private schools in the Sussex area
most of which are long gone, sadly with little or no records surviving.
My colleague Lucy has already sent a link to the local records office. If the records office
is unable to shed any light on the items it may be worth getting in touch with the Baptist
records office or Non conformists records. The Baptist church was and is quite strong in
the Worthing area.
Good Luck with your search.
Regards
Gerry
Gerry Connolly - Curator Historic Collections , Museum | Adur & Worthing Councils
Location: Worthing Museum & Art Gallery, Chapel Road, Worthing, BN11 1HP
Internal: 1445 | External: 01903 221445 | E-mail: gerry.connolly@adur-worthing.gov.uk
12 August 2014 Bedford County Archives

Bedford BC - OFFICIAL-Unsecure
I am sorry but have no idea, I would not have thought that a village school such as
Clifton Fields would have had any form of uniform, including tie, rather that would be
something a private/public school would have.
Regards
Martin Deacon
(Received from Dorothy 11/8/14)

I know from Eben 1 letter he said he attended school for the first time when he was 8
1/2 years of age but thought perhaps when at Emma Tebbutts, an Infants School might
have been a place he would be sent. I have not found anything else mentioning these
schools so obviously I didn't follow up.
277
Found some notes from my first trip to Bedford Record Office where I gathered the
information from the census of 1881. I have a note to look at
"S.D. 1/1 Log book 1870-1911 for the Clifton Fields Infants School" and also "S.D. All
Saints Parochial School"
From Helen, 15 August 2014 (After check in Bedford County Archives to log
books of the two Clifton Schools – For Infants and All Parochial)
Disappointment I’m afraid. Excellent Log Book and full of information about admissions,
leavers, achievements etc. Names all the children but Eben wasn’t amongst them.
It was a Church School which catered for infants up to the age of seven. Eben might not
have been there for both those reasons, his Baptist upbringing might have prevented
his attending the Church School and also he might have been well nigh over age by the
time he got to Clifton from Kent.
I also recollect that Septimus Sears had placed a man whose hand had been shot off in
a gunshot accident as teacher at a School he seemed to either have founded or run.
Later the Kent sisters took over this School. I could find no records however.
Bearing in mind that Emma Tebbutt and Emma Jane ran Schools at one time or another
I suspect he was educated by them, possibly along with Margaret Cousins, their other
boarder in 1881. I believe she was the sister of a boarder that was at School in Clifton
with Laura and Emma Jane.
278
Appendix G – Heber Tebbutt (a.k.a. Heber Samuel
Tebbutt/Samuel H. Tebbutt)
1891 Heber by A & G Taylor Photographers to the Queen

(Possibly a photo taken on the occasion of his first marriage)
Heber Tebbutt was adopted by Richard and Emma Tebbutt. Heber seems to be
the only other child they raised besides Eben James, although they had other
student boarders at their homes in Ramsgate and Clifton/Shefford. In the 1871
census, when the Tebbutts appear to have been running a school and boarding
house in Ramsgate, Kent, Heber is reported to be their adopted son, though these
are in the days before formal adoptions were normally done and no paperwork on
such adoption is known to be available. In a letter to Eben, Heber remembered
Eben coming into their household there.
Later census data sources point to Heber Samuel Tebbutt having been born in
Campton, Shefford, Bedfordshire, about 1867. Campton is something of a village
crossroads or hamlet outside of Shefford/Clifton, where the Tebbutts were living
through most, if not all, of the latter 1800s.
279
Emma Tebbutt would have been about 55 when Heber was born. After writing to
ancestry trees mentioning him, the following response was received:
“Heber's parents were Richard Barnby Tebbutt and Emma Still from Bedfordshire.
Heber was adopted by them but I know very little about that. Heber was my sons' great
great grandfather and we know that they are not Tebbutts by blood. However, that is all
I do know except that Emma had a sister called Jane. I believe they also ran a school or
a children's home??”
Heber is in the 1881 Census, 14 years old, living in Islington and working as a
Stationer's Clerk. He is a boarder in the household of Alfred Cooper, age 40.
It has since been confirmed that Heber married a first wife, Margaret Tustin (born
1868 in Middx) in 1891, but she died just 2 years later, in 1893. Later in that same
year, Heber next married Mary Jane Boden (born 1872) in Southampton as noted
below.
1891 England Census about Heber Tebbutt

Name: Heber Tebbutt
Age: 24
Relation: Boarder
Gender: Male
Where born: Cropston, Bedfordshire, England
Civil Parish: Islington
Ecclesiastical parish: St Barnabus
Town: London
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Education:
View image
Employment status:
Registration district: Islington
Sub-registration district: Highbury
Piece: 178
Folio: 81
Page Number: 19
Household Members: Name Age
280
William Shelley Elementary schoolmaster 27
Annie Shelley wife 28
Lilly Vincent neice 6
Elizabeth Spring mother in law Ireland 76
Heber Tebbutt Commercial Clerk Campton Beds 24
England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915 about Heber Tebbutt
Name: Heber Tebbutt
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration district: Southampton
Inferred County: Hampshire
Volume: 2c
Page: 24
Name
Mary Jane Boden
Records on Page: Frances Ellen Brushett
Henry England
Heber Tebbutt
1901 England Census about Heber Tebbutt

Name: Heber Tebbutt
Age: 34
Relation to Head: Head
Gender: Male
Spouse: Mary J Tebbutt
Birth Place: Campton, Bedfordshire, England
Civil Parish: Islington
Ecclesiastical parish: St John
County/Island: London
Country: England
Street address:
Occupation:
Education: View image
281
Employment status:
Registration district: Islington
Sub-registration district: Upper Holloway
Piece: 160
Folio: 67
Page Number: 59
Household schedule
438
number:
Name Age
Heber Tebbutt straw hat warehousemans clerk worker 34
Mary J Tebbutt wife 32
Household Members: Mary Tebbutt dau 8
Arthur B Tebbutt son 6
Jemima Need visitor living on own means from 62
Chichester, Sussex
A letter dated April 3 1903 from Heber Tebbutt to Eben 1. Written from 56
Fairbridge Road, Upper Holloway, London, N. England.
My dear Ebbie: I suppose you will allow me still to call you that as we always used to
be good friends. I only heard recently that poor Mr. T. had died Dec. 26. No doubt you
had all the particulars sent you at the time. I don't know myself at all why you should try
to avoid me. I was not aware that I had ever done, or even tried to do you any injury in
any way directly or indirectly. Whatever my personal thoughts on THAT subject may
be, and I HAVE HAD THEM. I am willing to let the past be the past and "bury the
hatchet". Now, may I ask you if you called one night when last over here to see me. My
wife says someone did, answering your description. I should very much like to see you
and if convenient, have a photo of you, which I would certainly place in a conspicuous
position. We certainly were boys together, well do I remember your first coming to live
with us at Ramsgate. I have not had the ordinary run of luck I might expect, partly
perhaps owing to myself and partly to circumstance over which I had no control. AS I
stand at present, I have two children to keep and a wife. My salary is 30/ week and my
dinner item every day equals about two pounds week. Now, I am rather ambitious, not
at all satisfied and I should be glad to know if there is any way in which WE COULD
HELP ONE ANOTHER IN A BUSINESS WAY TO OUR MUTUAL ADVANTAGE. I am a
clerk in the shipping Trade and you understand act as agent to several firms. Now, I
thought that as I have often to go to the Canadian offices here in London. Possibly I
could be the means of securing you or at least introducing you to other firms that require
agents in Canada not necessarily in the Dried fruit, or apple trade, but other lines. For
this I should think you could see your way to give me a certain sum for each agency. I
am the means of obtaining you, this is only a rough idea. I am quite prepared to act on
any lines you may suggest that may be preferable to this, but one thing I am quite
certain about. that I could be of immense use to you on this side and to our mutual
advantage. I shall be very pleased to hear from you as soon as possible, and only hope
282
that the ice once being broken between us, our friendly relations may continue. Why
they were ever broken off, I don't know. Wishing you every prosperity and assuring you
one again of very good feeling toward you that I should like to be reciprocated. (By the
bye, give very kind respect to young Tompkin when
you see him) Believe me, very sincerely yours Heber Tebbutt.
56 Fairbridge Road, Upper Holloway, London N19 3HZ (in 2014)

Heber family home when he wrote to Ebb in 1903
England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007 about Samuel H Tebbutt

Name: Samuel H Tebbutt
Birth Date: abt 1867
Date of Registration:Dec 1944
Age at Death: 77
Registration district: Manchester
Inferred County: Lancashire
Volume: 8d
Page: 308
Heber’s son Arthur Boden Tebbutt (b 1895 London – d 1978 Powys Wales)
married Ida Meah Strawbaum. They had a son, John Arthur Boden-Tebbutt (they
now start hyphenating the name), born 1923 in London, and a daughter, June
Boden-Tebbutt.
John Boden-Tebbutt married Pamela Irene Smith and they had one son, Simon
Boden-Tebbutt.
Simon married Irena Hampshire and they had 2 sons. Simon remarried and has 2
further sons with his second wife. Simon’s first wife Irena has been researching
283
the family tree on behalf of her sons. She knew Heber was adopted and has
wondered how to find his true parents.
Irena also sent the following email (Aug 2014):

“Thank you so much for sending me the copy of Richard Barnby's will and I will send it on to
the family.
I did ask if there were any documents or photographs available but sadly, there are none.
As regards Heber, I can only apologize for being judgmental and unkind. You were quite right to
point out that he had difficult family circumstances and must have struggled on a daily basis to
survive.
Are you able to tell me more about him as you make reference to the end of his life being hard?
Perhaps he would have been happy to see the way his son's life turned out for the better. Arthur
married twice. He married Ida Strawbaum and they were able to send John and June to Harrow
and Roedean (so I was told anyway) and after Ida's unfortunate early death, he married Vera and
settled down in Wales.”
From the address book of Emma Tebbutt there are many for Heber Tebbutt.
35 Jackson Road, East Barnet , London N.
28 Davenport Rd., Upper Holloway, London N.
Ivy Lodge, 21 Lauder (or Lander) Terrace, Woodgreen, London N.
21 Warner Street, Barnsbury, London N.
c/o Charles Bayer & Co., 31 London Wall, London, E.C.
39 Avon Road, Drayston Park, Highbury London N.
32A Stock Orchard Crescent, Holloway , London N.
284
Appendix H – Bryan and Harriet Ward Ancestry Information –
mostly wills
Bryan Ward’s mother’s (Elizabeth Meadows Ward’s) Will – 1856
285
286
287
Here are a few of your ancestral wills I received from Teresa a little while ago.
• George Skeffington, proved 1795 - grandfather of Harriet (Skeffington) Ward (so

Eben 1’s great great grandfather)
• Thomas Skeffington, proved 1862 - father to Reuben and Harriet (Skeffington)

Ward (so, Eben 1's great grandfather)
• Thomas Ward (junior), proved 1853 - Bryan Ward's father (so Eben 1's great-
grandfather on his mother's father's side)
• Thomas Ward (senior), proved 1802 - presumed father to above Thomas Ward
(junior)
George Skeffington, proved 1795 - grandfather of Harriet (Skeffington) Ward (so

Eben 1’s great great grandfather)
This is the last will and testament of me George Skeffington the Elder of Welham in the
County of Leicestershire Innholder and Grazier All my Messuages Cottages Closes
Lands Hereditaments and Real Estate situate and being at Hallaton and Thorpe
Langton in the County of Leicester or elsewhere with their and every of their
Appurtenances I give and devise unto my beloved wife Ann Skeffington and my son
Thomas Skeffington and their heirs upon trust that they my said wife and son Thomas
or the survivor of them or the heirs of such survivor do and shall as soon as
conveniently may be after my decease sell and dispose of my said messuages cottages
closes land hereditaments and real estate in such parcels and in such manner as to
them shall seem best and most eligible? to the best purchasors and for the most value
they can get for the same and for which the receipt of the same wife and son or the
survivor of them or the heirs of such survior shall be a good and sufficient discharge to
all and every the purchaser or purchasors of my said estate of his or their purchase
money for all and so much money for which receipt or receipts shall be given so that
purchasor or purchasors shall not afterwards be answerable or accountable for any
sums?.
In application or non application of such purchase money or any part thereof and upon
this further trust that they my said wife and son or the survivor of them or the heirs of
such survivor shall and do forthwith after such sale or sales pay apply or dispose of
such moneys arising thereof to such persons and in such manner as I have hereinafter
or directed my personal estate (it being my interest and meaning that the same shall be
as part of my personal estate and go and be disposed of as I have hereinafter directed
of and ?regarding the same and as to for and ?regarding all and my ready money
securities for money goods chattels cattle stock effects and personal estate
whatsoever and wheresoever I give and bequeath the same unto my said wife Ann and
son Thomas upon trust that my said wife Ann may nevertheless solely possess the
same during the term of her natural life if she so long continue my widow and
288
unmarried for the intent and purposes that is to after payment of my debts and
funeral expenses to the intent and purposes of carrying on the present livelyhood and
occupation that I now follow and hold and which I hope and trust my said son Thomas
will most readily lend his best assistance over bearing in mind that it is the last request
of his father who is anxious for the wellbeing of his family and looking to the satisfaction
he may at all times derive and will most assuredly have in the fulfilling of so laudable a
purpose as the proving a parent to so numerous a family as part of his reward and
thereby and throuout to bring up maintain educate and cloth all my children and fit them
for such trades and occupations or for the apprenticing them to any trade or trades to
enable them thereafter the better to get a livelyhood or otherwise for their respective
to as to her my said wife shall seem most proper and my mind and will is that this
principal if possible may not be broke in upon except for the purposes hereinafter
mentioned but the rents and profits of my said real estates until sale thereof my be
brought to the aid of the yearly income or profit of my said personal estate nevertheless
in case of deficiency or waste of the said principal my said trustees shall not be
answerable or liable to make good the same unless it shall be by them wilfully wasted
and what surplus may yearly remain after satisfaction of my wishes aforesaid of or from
the rents of my real estate until sale the profits of my business to be carried on the
dividends of the residue of my personal estate unemployed in business which I desire
my dear wife to put to interest on such security or securities as she shall think proper in
the name of herself and my said son Thomas my will is that my wife during such time as
she shall keep herself unmarried as aforesaid shall appropriate and take unto her own
use and benefit after allowing my said son Thomas for his services during such time as
he shall remain with her to assist her in the business and continue faithfully the
adjustment of two beasts yearly over and above the normal labours he may put to in
following her business attending fairs or markets or otherwise and what my said wife
may agree to allow him for his services which I consider should be twenty pounds a
year he finding his own clothes and in establishing my said son Thomas in a herd of
beasts I give him any two in my herd at the time of my decease that he may choose not
exceeding in value five guineas with and to this further intent and purpose that she my
said wife shall out of the principal of my personal estate pay to my son George the sum
of thirty pounds when and at such time as my said wife shall think proper that he should
be established in business the better to enable him to set up and follow his trade and
shall pay to my son William or any other of my children when it may seem proper to my
said wife the like sum of thirty pounds or any greater or lesser sum or sums in order to
give them respectively an opportunity to settle in the world to some advantage or for the
better enabling them respectively to go into or carry on business for their respective
benefit which sums it is my mind and will shall be ?allotted to them respectively as part
of fortunes and paid to them respectively on account of their several portions and
shares of my said personal estate hereinafter directed to be distributed and in case my
said wife should happen to marry again after my decease then and upon such marriage
I declare that all and every devise and bequest hereinbefore contained? To my said wife
either in trust of for her benefit shall be thereforth void and of ? ffect and my said son
Thomas shall be considered as the surviving devisor and Trustee under this my will and
be solely vested with power to sell my said real estate or any part thereof that shall not
have been previously sold and disposed of for the purposes aforesaid and to have the
289
only right of possessing all my said personal estate nevertheless upon the trusts
hereinafter mentioned of and confirming the same that is to say upon trust that he my
said son Thomas his executors or administrators and shall out of my said trust estate
immediately upon the marriage of my said wife raise the sum of two hundred pounds
and out and invest the same upon real or government securities in his name and pay
the interests dividends and produce thereof from time to time as raised unto my said
wife yearly and every year during the term of her natural life to and for her own sole
separate and peculiar use and benefit whose receipt alone notwithstanding her
signature? Shall be a good discharge for the same my mind and will being that the
same shall not be subject to the control or ?management of any husband she may
marry and upon the decease of my said wife to retain pay and divide the said sum of
two hundred pounds and all arrears of interest thereon due in the same manner and
form as I have hereinafter directed the distribution of the residue of my personal
estate or thereto as may be and upon this further trust that he my said son Thomas
his executors or administrators so and shall forthwith upon the marriage of my said wife
retain pay and equally divide all the residue and surplus of my said personal estate unto
between and amongst himself all and every other my sons and daughters share and
share alike when and as they shall severally attain their respective ages on twenty one
years taking into account at the time of such division the money that may theretofore
have been paid or assigned to my said wife from the principal of my said personal
estate to or for the benefit of my said children according to the direction aforesaid in this
my will contained my mind and will being that of my said children share in the whole
shall the shares of the others of them proportionally and if any or either of my said
sons or daughters shall happen to be under the age of twenty one years at the time his
her or their share or respective shares of my said personal estate shall be divisible
by virtue of this my will I direct the share or shares of his her or their respectively being
under age as aforesaid to be placed out at interest and the interest thereof or a
competent part thereof applied to or for his her or their maintenance education or
bringing up until he she or they shall attain such age or respective ages of twenty one
years and if any or either of my said sons or daughters shall happen to depart this life
before his her or their share or respective shares of my said personal estate shall herein
divisible or payable aforesaid without leaving any issue of his her or their body or bodies
I direct the share or shares of him her or them so dying as aforesaid to go and be paid
to the survivors and survivor of my said children if more than one share or share alike
at his her or their age or ages of twenty one years as aforesaid and if any of my said
children so dying as aforesaid under the age of twenty one years shall leave issue of his
her or their body or bodies then I direct the share or shares of him her or them so dying
the same to be paid and payable to such grandchild and grandchildren likewise at his
her and their age and respective ages of twenty one years my mind and will being that
children of such of my said sons and daughters so dying as aforesaid under the age of
twenty one years shall be to the same share of my personal estate that his her or
their parent or parents would have been entitled to if living at the time of the division or
payment thereof by my to be made as aforesaid and in case my said son made as
aforesaid and in case my said son Thomas shall the surviving trustee under this my
will by the decease of my said wife and not by her after marriage then and in such case
my will and desire is that he my said son Thomas shall and so forthwith after the
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decease of my said wife retain pay and equally divide all my said trust estate and all
interest due thereon unto between and amongst himself and all and every other my
sons and daughters who shall be living at the time of the decease of my said wife and
the children of such of them if any as shall be then dead or shall die before their
attaining the age of twenty one years in such and the same manner as I have
hereinbefore devised all my said personal estate except the said two hundred pounds to
be paid and divided amongst them respectively with benefit of survivorship and I do
hereby make constitute and appoint my wife Ann and my said Son Thomas executor
and executrix of this my last will and testament and I hereby declare that neither they
nor either of them or the executors or administrators or them or either of them shall be
answerable or accountable for any loss or losses that may happen of any part of the
money arising from the sale of my said real estate or of any part of my personal estate
or for or in respect of any other matter or thing whatsoever relating to this my will or the
executorship thereof except for wilful waste or default nor shall the one of them be
answerable or accountable for the other of them for or in respect of any such loss
matter or thing as aforesaid nor for this of goods or the other of them but each of them
for his or her own acts deeds or wilful defaults only and lastly I do most earnestly
admonish and exhort all my children to be dutiful and obedient to their mother and to
behave to each other with brotherly affection revoking all former and other will and wills
by me at any time or times heretofore made in testimony whereof I the said George
Skeffington this testator have to this my will contained in this and the three proceeding
sheets of paper set my hand and seal to the this fourth and last sheet the twenty eighth
day of March in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety four
George Skeffington signed and sealed published on the testator George Skeffington as
and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who in his presence of his
request and in the presence of both other suscribe our names as witnesses thereto
John Keetin and Edward Peere and William Sprigg.
This will was proved at London the twenty sixth day of June in the year of our lord one
thousand seven hundred and ninety five before the right honourable Sir William Wynne
knight doctor of laws master keeper of commissary of the prerogative court of
Canterbury lawfully constituted by the oaths of Ann Skeffington widow the relict of the
deceased and Thomas Skeffington the son of the said deceased and the executors
named in the said will to whom administration was granted of all and singular the goods
chattels and credits of the said deceased they having been first sworn by commission
duly to administer
Thomas Skeffington, proved 1862 - father to Reuben and Harriet (Skeffington) Ward
(so, Eben 1's great grandfather)
This is the last Will and Testament of me Thomas Skeffington of Welham in the County
of Leicester Grazier and Cattle Salesman whereby I revoke all former wills and codicils
heretofore made by me I give to my wife Catherine Skeffington all her wearing apparel
jewels trinkets and ornaments also all the household furniture plate linen china glass
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books prints and pictures ale wines liquors fuels and other household provisions and
effects of which I shall die possessed also the legacy ?of/or the sum of two hundred
pounds for her own use absolutely I Give and bequeath to my son Reubon Skeffington
of Blaston in the said County of Leicester and my son-in-law Bryan Ward of Slawston in
the said County Grazier their executors administrators and assigns the sum of one
thousand pounds to be retained three months after my decease upon trust that they
or the survivor of them his executors or administrators do and shall invest the same in
their or his names or name in any of the public stocks or funds of Great Britain or upon
any Government or ?real securities in England or in or upon the Mortgage Indenture
or Bond of any Company incorporated by Act of Parliament and empowered to borrow
money and paying a dividend with power for the said trustees or trustee from time to
time to vary the said stocks funds and securities for any others of a similar character at
their or his discretion and stand possessed thereof in trust to pay the interest dividends
and annual income arising therefrom unto my said wife Catherine Skeffington or
empower her to receive the same during her life for her own use and after her decease
the same stocks funds and securities shall be considered and ?taken as part of my
residuary estate and I give to Thomas Skeffington of Weston by Welland son of Lavinia
Skeffington the sum of one hundred pounds to be paid when he attains the age of
twenty one years free of legacy duty and expenses which are to be taken out of my
estate and in case he shall be under the age of twenty one years at my decease then I
direct my said trustees or trustee for the time being to invest in their or his names or
name the said legacy on any Government or ?real securities with full power from time to
time to change the securities as they shall think fit and I empower my said trustees to
apply the whole or any part of the ?amount of the said legacy or funds in or towards the
maintenance or education or otherwise for the benefit of the said Thomas Skeffington of
Weston and I also empower my said trustees or trustee to apply during the minority of
the said Thomas Skeffington of Weston any part not exceeding a moiety of the said
legacy in or towards his advancement in life or otherwise for his benefit as my said
trustees or trustee shall think proper but in case he shall die under the age of twenty
one years then the said legacy or the unapplied part thereof shall ?sink into and form
part of my residuary estate and I direct all the said several legatees to be paid or
retained three months after my decease (I give and ?devise all that messuage or
?tenement outbuildings and premises number nine Willow Cottage situate in the
North Road in the Parish of St Mary’s in Islington in the County of Middlesex or
wheresoever the same my be situate with the privileges and appurtenants thereto
belonging and all my estate and interest therein unto my eldest son the said Reubon
Skeffington his executors administrators and assigns absolutely for his own use)And I
give and ?devise to the said Reubon Skeffington all that my undivided moiety or other
my part share and interest of and in all that messuage cottage or tenement with the
Yard garden or appurtenants thereto belonging situate at Weston by Welland aforesaid
to hold the same unto and to the use of my said son Reubon Skeffington his heirs and
assigns for ever and I give and bequest all that messuage or ?tenement and butchers
shop orchard homestead and outbuildings thereto belonging situate in Medbourne in the
said County of Leicester also all those two ?closes of land or meadow containing
together twenty acres or thereabouts situate at Medbourne aforesaid with the privileges
and appurtenances thereto respectively belonging unto the said Reubon Skeffington
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and Bryan Ward their executors administrators and assigns during the life of my son
Thomas Skeffington without ?encroachment of waste upon trust to preserve the
contingent ?remainders hereinafter limited and to pay the rents and profits thereof as
and when the same shall be? But into his own hands to be enjoyed as ?annualisable
personal provision and I declare that if during the life of my said son Thomas
Skeffington the rents and profits of the same hereditaments or any part thereof shall
from any cause whatsoever cease to be payable into his own hands to be enjoyed as
aforesaid then the trust lastly hereinafter contained in his favour shall thenceforth be
void and the same rents and profits shall during the remainder of his life be paid to the
person or persons who would the the time being be entitled to receive the same if my
said son Thomas were dead with remainder to the child if only one or all the children if
more than one of my said son Thomas who either before or after his limitation shall take
?effect in possession shall attain the age of twenty one years or who shall die under that
age and leave lawful issue living at his her or their death or respective deaths in fee
simple such children if more than one to take as tenants in common and if there shall be
no ?object who shall take under the last limitation then I give and devise all the said
hereditaments at Medbourne aforesaid to my said son Reubon Skeffington and
daughter Harriett Ward their heirs and assigns for ever as tenants in common and I give
and bequeath all my ready money securities for money stock crops implements and all
other my personal estate and effects whatsoever and wheresoever not herein before
disposed of unto the said Reubon Skeffington and Bryan Ward their executors
administrators and assigns upon trust sell collect get in and convert the same into
money when and in such manner as they or he shall think proper and receive the
money to arise therefrom with full power to ?compound debts submit differences to
arbitration give receipts execute ?releases and do and in all acts for realizing my
estate and settling my affairs according to their or his discretion and as to as well the
money to arise from the sale of my said residuary estate as the money I shall die
possessed of upon trust ?therout to pay satisfy and ?retain all my just debts funeral and
testamentary expenses and all expenses ?incident to the trusts hereby ?created also
the before mentioned legacies and such other legacies as I may give by any codicil
hereto and to stand possessed of the clear residue of the said monies upon and for the
trusts intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned (that is to say) as to one equal third
part of share thereof in trust for and to pay or retain the same for the use of the said
Reubon Skeffington for his own benefit absolutely and as to one other third part thereof
in trust for and to pay or retain the same for the use of my daughter Harriett Ward for
her own benefit absolutely and as to the sum of one thousand pounds part of the
remaining third part thereof in trust that my said trustees or other the trustees or trustee
for the time being of this my will do and shall invest the same in their or his names or
name in any of the public stocks or funds of Great Britain or upon any Government
Railway or other Company incorporated by Act of Parliament and empowered to borrow
money with power for the said trustees or trustee from time to time to vary the said
funds and securities at discretion and to stand possessed thereof in trust to pay the
interest dividends and annual product arising therefrom unto my said son Thomas
Skeffington or empower him to receive the same during his life for his own use and after
his decease in case he shall leave a widow surviving him then in trust to pay the annual
amount of the said trust monies unto his widow during her natural life in case shall so
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long continue his widow and unmarried and after her decease or second marriage
which shall first happen the said stock funds and securities and the annual income
thenceforth to become due for the same shall be in trust for all and every the children of
my said son Thomas who being a son or sons shall attain the age or twenty one years
or being a daughter or daughters shall attain that age or marry to be divided between
them in equal shares and if there shall be but one such child the whole to be in trust for
that one child and I empower my trustees or trustee for the time being of this my will
after the decease of my said son Thomas and his widow or her second marriage to
apply the whole or such part as they shall think fit of the annual amount of the share of
each child whilst such share shall be contingent for his or her maintenance and
education the unapplied amount to be invested in manner aforesaid and accumulated
and the investment and accumulations to be appurtenant to the same purposes as the
annual amount of the same ?share but if not so applied to be added to the capital
thereof and I also empower my said trustees with the consent of my said son Thomas
during his life and after his decease at their or his discretion to apply so much not
exceeding one half as they shall think fit of the capital of the share of each child whilst
such share shall be ?contingent for the advancement in life or otherwise for the benefit
of the said child but if no child of my son Thomas shall attain the age of twenty one
years or marry then subject to the powers aforesaid the same trust funds and securities
with the accumulations shall be in trust for my said son Reubon Skeffington and
daughter Harriett Ward absolutely in equal shares as tenants in common and the
remainder of the said last mentioned third share shall be in trust for and to pay the same
to my said son Thomas Skeffington absolutely for his own benefit and I herby declare
that in case my said sons Reubon Skeffington and Thomas Skeffington and daughter
Harriett Ward or either of them shall die in my lifetime leaving legal issue living at is or
her death then such issue shall have and be entitled to his or her parents share hereby
bequeathed and if more than one in equal shares as tenants in common and I appoint
my said son Reubon Skeffington and the said Bryan ward executors and trustees of this
my will and I give and ?devise to the said Reubon Skeffington and Bryan Ward and their
heirs all estates which at the time may be vested in me as trustee or mortgagee to hold
the same unto and to the use of the said Reubon Skeffington and Bryan Ward their
heirs or assigns upon and for the trust and purposes and subject to the ?equities
subsisting therein and I declare that the receipts of the said Reubon Skeffington and
Bryan Ward or the survivor of them or other the trustees or trustee for the time being of
this my will for any money to be paid them or any of them in that character shall be
effectual discharges for the same and shall exonerate the person paying the same from
all liability in respect of the application thereof and I direct that the respective trustees
for the time being of this my will shall be responsible only for as much money as shall
come to their own respective hands and that they shall not be answerable for
involuntary losses or for any acts receipts or defaults or each other and I empower my
said trustees to retain and allow to each other all costs and expenses and fees to
Counsel and Solicitors for advice and assistance or otherwise which they respectively
shall incur or be liable to in or about the execution of the said trusts or in relation thereto
and I declare that all the trusts and powers which I have vested in the trustees hereby
appointed my be executed by the trustees or trustee for the time being of my will. In
294
witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of February One
Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty Two
Thos Skeffington signed and ?declared by the said Thomas Skeffington the testator in
the presence of us present at the same time who in his presence and at his request and
in the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses
?W Wartnaby Solicitor Market Harborough
J Worley His Clerk
Proved at London 15 December 1862 by the oaths of Reubon Skeffington the son and
Bryan Ward the executors to whom admon was granted
Effects described in index as under 16000 pounds
Thomas Ward (junior), proved 1853 - Bryan Ward's father (so Eben 1's great-
grandfather on his mother's father's side)
This is the last will and testament of me Thomas Ward of Slawston in the County of
Leicester Grazier whereby I dispose of my real and personal estate as follows first I give
and bequeath unto my daughter Elizabeth Herbert the sum of fifty pounds to and for her
own use and benefit absolutely and I give and bequeath unto my daughter Jane
Johnson the sum of one hundred pounds to and for her own use and benefit absolutely
and I give and bequeath unto my daughter Rebecca Ward the sum of two hundred
pounds to and for her own use and benefit absolutely and I give and bequeath unto my
daughter Mary Ann Ward the sum of two hundred pounds to and for her own use and
benefit absolutely and I give and bequeath unto my daughter Emma Ward the sum of
two hundred pounds to and for her own use and benefit absolutely all which legacies I
direct shall be paid and payable to the respective legatees within twelve calendar
months next after my decease with interest in the meantime I give and devise all that
my close or ground lying and being in the Lordship of Hallaton in the said County of
Leicester containing five acres and a half or thereabouts with the appurtenances unto
and to the use of my son Bryan Ward his heirs and assigns for ever subject
nevertheless and charged with the payment of any mortgage or mortgages that may be
chargeable thereon at the time of my decease so that my personal estate may be
exonerated from the payment thereof and I give and devise and by virtue of all and
every power and powers authority and authorities in anywise enabling me in this behalf
direct ? and appoint unto my wife Elizabeth Ward all my freehold and copyhold
messuages lands tenements and hereditaments whereof I have power to dispose with
their and every of their rights members and appurtenances in / reversion remainder or
expectants not hereinbefore devised To hold the same unto and to the use of my said
wife Elizabeth Ward her heirs and assigns for ever and I give and bequeath unto my
said wife Elizabeth Ward all my wines liquors provisions books pictures plate linen china
household goods and household furniture or every kind money and securities for money
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cattle live and dead farming stock chattels and all other my personal estate and effects
whatsoever and wheresoever or of what nature or kind so ever the same may be to and
for her own use and benefit absolutely charged nevertheless and I do herby subject and
make charges out of my said real and personal estate to and with the payment of the
several legacies hereinbefore by me bequeathed and also with the payment of all my
just debts funeral and testamentary expenses and I do hereby nominate and appoint my
said wife Elizabeth Ward Sole Executrix of this my will and I do give devise and
bequeath unto her my said wife Elizabeth Ward her heirs executors and administrators
and assigns according to the nature and quality thereof all the estates of which I am a
Trustee and whether constructively or otherwise to be held and disposed of accordingly
and lastly I hereby revoke all former and other will and wills by me at anytime or times
theretofore made and do declare this and this alone to be and contain my true last will
In witness whereof I the said Thomas Ward the testator have to this my will contained in
two sheets of paper set my hand at the foot or end of each sheet thereof this thirtieth
day of March one thousand eight hundred and fifty? Thomas Ward Signed by the said
Thomas Ward the Testator ?for this will in the presence of us present at the same time
who in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereto set our names as
witnesses thereto. William Andrews Solicitor Harborough, William Gilbert his Clerk.
Whereas I Thomas Ward of Slawston in the County of Leicester Grazier have made my
will dated the thirtieth day of March last I do make this Codicil to my said will which I
declare shall be considered a part thereof I revoke the devise of my close or inclosed
ground in Hallaton in the County of Leicester to my son Bryan Ward and the charge
made thereon and I give and devise the said Close or inclosed ground lying and being
in Hallaton aforesaid containing five acres and a half or thereabouts with the
appurtenances unto my wife Elizabeth Ward and her assigns for the term of her natural
life she paying and keeping ? the interest on any mortgage or mortgages that may be
chargeable thereon at the time of my decease and from and after the decease of my
said wife subject to such mortgage or mortgages I give and devise the same close or
inclosed ground in Hallaton aforesaid unto my said son Bryan Ward his heirs and
assigns chargeable nevertheless and I do charge the same in the hands and
possession of my said and also my said son with the payment of any such mortgage or
mortgages as aforesaid which may be chargeable thereon at the time of my decease so
that my personal estate may be exonerated from the payment thereof or any part
thereof and I do confirm my said will in all respects except where the same is hereby
revoked In witness whereof I the said Thomas the Testator have to this Codicil to my
said will set my hand at the bottom or end thereof this twenty first day of April in the year
of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty two Ths Ward Signed by the said
Thomas Ward the Testator as and for a Codicil to his will in the presence of us present
at the same time who in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto
set our names as witnesses John Jepson of Slawston Tailor Willaim Gilbert Clerk to
William Andrews Solicitor Market Harborough.
296
will dated the thirtieth day of March last past and one Codicil dated the twenty first day
of April last Now I do make this second Codicil to my said will which I declare shall be
considered as part thereof I revoke the bequest of the sum of fifty pounds to my
daughter Elizabeth Herbert and I give and bequeath the sum of fifty pounds unto my
wife Elizabeth Ward her executors and administrators in trust to invest the same upon
good and sufficient security and do and shall pay the interest thereof or any part of the
principal money from time to time as needs be unto my said daughter Elizabeth Herbert
for her own use and benefit and I do declare that the judgment and discretion to be
exercised by my said wife in paying or withholding any part of the principal money shall
not be impeached nor shall she be accountable for any irregularity in the disposal of any
part or parts thereof from time to time and in case the said principal sum or any part of
the same shall not have been disposed of in the lifetime of my said daughter then I give
and bequeath such sum or sums as shall remain in the hands of my said wife unto the
child or children of my said daughter living at her decease if but out to such onlychild if
more than one to such children equally share and share alike and confirm my said will
and Codicil in all respects except where the same is hereby revoked In witness whereof
I the said Thomas Ward the Testator to this second Codicil to my said will set my hand
at the bottom or end thereof this Eighth day of May in the year of Our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty two Thomas Ward signed by the said Thomas ward
the Testator as and for a Codicil to his will in the presence of us present at the same
time who in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereunto set our
names as witnesses G J Andrews Market Harborough Wm Andrews Solicitor
Harborough.
will dated the thirtieth day of March last past and two Codicils thereto dated respectively
the twenty first of April and the eighth of May last past Now I do make this third Codicil
to my said will which I declare shall be considered as part thereof and I do hereby
nominate my son Bryan and my friend George Davis of Market Harborough Gentleman
Executors of my said will and Codicils in conjunction with my said wife Elizabeth Ward
and I confirm my said will and Codicils in all respects except where the same are hereby
altered In witness whereof I the said Thomas Ward the Testator have to this third
Codicil to my said will set my hand at the bottom or end hereof this fourteenth day of
October in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty two Thomas Ward
signed by the said Thomas Ward the Testator as and for a Codicil to his will in the
presence of us present at the same time who in his presence and in the presence of
each other have hereunto set our names as witnesses Mary Edgley servant to Mr Ward
William Gilbert Clerk to Mr Andrews Solicitor Market Harborough
Proved at London with three Codicils 15 January 1853 before the judge by the oaths of
Elizabeth Ward widow the Relict the Executor named in the will and Bryan Ward the son
297
one of the Executors named in the third Codicil to whom ? was granted having both first
sworn by ? only to administer George Davis the other Executor named in the said third
Codicil having renounced the Probate and execution of the said will and Codicils as by
Acts of Court appears.
Thomas Ward (senior), proved 1802 - presumed father to above Thomas Ward
(junior)
This is the last will and testament of Thomas Ward the Elder of Weston by Welland in
the County of Northampton Farmer made this eighteenth day of March eighteen
hundred and one. First I revoke all former wills by me at any time heretofore made and
of this my last will and testament do appoint my wife Mary and my son Thomas
executrix and executor l do give and devise all that my undivided fourth part or share of
and in three closes of land situate in Hallaton in the County of Leicester called or known
by the several names of now in my own occupation (subject to and charged as in
the will of my late father Edward Ward as mentioned) unto my said wife or her assigns
during her life and after her decease then I give and devise the said undivided fourth
part of the said three closes of land unto and to the use of my said son Thomas his
heirs and assigns for ever Subject as aforesaid and also subject to the payment of the
sum of one hundred pounds unto my son Bryan to be paid to him when and as soon as
he shall attain his age of twenty three years if my said wife shall be then dead but if she
shall be then living as soon after her decease as may be Also I give and bequeath unto
my said son Thomas the sum of two hundred pounds to and for his own use and benefit
Also I give and bequeath unto my son William the sum of fifty pounds to be paid to him
in four calendar months next after my decease Also I give and bequeath unto my
Brothers William Ward and Bryan Ward the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds upon
trust that they or the survivor of them do invest the same in their names or in the name
of the survivor of them and the interest thereof and pay the same unto my said
wife or her assigns during her life and after her decease then upon trust to pay the said
sum of one hundred and fifty pounds unto my said son William to and for his own use
and benefit Also I give and bequeath unto my daughter Sarah now the wife of John
Smith of Weston aforesaid farmer the sum of one hundred pounds over and above what
I now stand indebted to her to be paid to her within four calendar months next after my
decease for her own use and benefit Also I give and devise all that my undivided third
part or share of and in a retained close called Stoutbridge/Standbridge? (note in margin
a close situate in Hallaton aforesaid containing an area of one rood or thereabouts) now
in my occupation unto my said wife or her assigns during her life and after her decease
then I give and devise the said undivided third part of the said last mentioned close unto
and to the use of my said son Bryan his heirs and assigns for ever Also I give and
devise all that my (?) undivided third part or share of and in a certain messuage and
h?close containing eight acres and one rood or therabouts situate in Hallaton aforesaid
subject to an estate for life of my brother Edward, unto my said wife or her assigns
during her life and after her decease then I give and devise the said last mentioned
messuage and h ?close (subject as aforesaid) unto and for the use of my said son
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Bryan his heirs and assigns for ever Also I give and bequeath unto my said brothers
the further sum of two hundred pounds upon trust that they or the survivor of them do
and shall invest the same in their names or in the name of the survivor of them and
the interest thereof and retain the same in their hands until such interest shall amount to
the sum of thirty pounds which sum of thirty pounds I order my said trustees to apply for
and towards the putting out my said son Bryan an apprentice and when and so soon as
my said trustees shall have raised the said sum of thirty pounds in interest and for the
purpose aforesaid then upon trust to pay the residue of the interest as the same shall
from time to time become due of the last mentioned two hundred pounds unto my said
wife and my said son Thomas until my said son Bryan shall attain his age of twenty one
years if my said wife and my said son Thomas shall maintain and bring up my said son
Bryan until he shall attain that age which I particular request them to do but not
otherwise and when and as soon as my son Bryan shall attain his said age of twenty
one years then I order and direct my said trustees and the survivor of them and the
executors and administrators or such survivor to assign and the last mentioned sum
of two hundred pounds unto and for the use of my said son Bryan his executors and
administrator. Also I give and bequest unto my said brothers the further sum of two
hundred pounds upon trust that they or the survivor of them do and shall invest the
same in their names and the interest thereof and pay the same unto my said wife and
my said son Thomas until my daughter Ann shall attain her age of twenty four years if
my said wife and my said son Thomas shall maintain and bring up my said daughter
Ann until she shall attain that age but not otherwise and when an so soon as my said
daughter Ann shall attain her said age of twenty four years then I order and direct my
said trustees or the survivor of them or the executors or administrators of such survivor
to assign and transfer the last mentioned sum of two hundred pounds unto and to the
use of my said daughter Ann her executors and administrators Also I give and
bequeath unto my said brothers the further sum of two hundred pounds upon trust that
they or the survivor of them do and shall invest the same in their names and the
interest thereof and pay the said unto my said wife and my said son Thomas until my
daughter Jane shall attain her age of twenty four years if my said wife and my said son
Thomas shall maintain and bring up my said daughter Jane until she shall attain that
age but not otherwise and when and so soon as my said daughter Jane shall attain her
said age of twenty four years then I order and direct my said trustees or the survivor of
them or the executors or administrators of such survivor to assign and transfer the said
last mentioned sum of two hundred pounds unto and to the use of my said daughter and
her executors and administrators Also I give and bequeath the use of all and every my
household goods plate linen china and effects belonging to my dwelling house at the
time of my decease unto my said wife or her assigns during her life and after her
decease then I give and bequeath the same goods chattels and effects unto and equally
between my said daughters Sarah Ann and Jane share and share alike and as to all the
rest of my goods chattels securities for money personal estate and effects
whatsoever after payments of my just debts funeral expenses the cost of proving this
my will and other incidental charges I bequeath the same and every part thereof unto
and equally between my said wife and my said son Thomas share and share alike and I
do hereby empower my said trustees to reimburse themselves respectively all such
reasonable costs and charges as they shall severally be put unto in the execution of
299
the trusts of this my will and that they nor either of them shall be answerable for any
more or other things than they shall respectively nor one of them for the other of
them but both of them only for his own separated acts In witness whereof I the said
testator Thomas Ward the elder have to this my last will and testament contained in
three sheets of paper to the first two sheets thereof set my hand and the third or last
sheet thereof my hand and seal the day and year first above written. Thomas Ward
signed sealed published and declared by the said Thomas Ward the Elder the testator
as and for his last will and testament in the presence of us who at his request in his
presence and the presence of each other have hereunto subscribed our names as
witnesses Frances Hubbard, Henry Caling, William Edes.
This will was proved at London the twentieth day of February in the year of our Lord
One Thousand Eight Hundred and Two before the Right Honourable Sir William Wynne
knight garter of laws keeper or commissiary of the prerogative court of
Canterbury lawfully constituted by the oaths of Mary Ward widow the relict and Thomas
Ward the son of the deceased the executors named in the said will to whom
administration of all the singular the goods chattels and credits of the deceased was
granted they having been first sworn by commission only to adminstration.
Edward Ward’s 1791 will (Eben 1’s great-great-great grandfather)

3 July 2018
Teresa has kindly sent us Edward Ward's 1791 will with a brief note on his family. He
would have been Eben 1's great-great-great grandfather (as he was great grandfather
to Eben's maternal grandfather, Bryan Ward). It indicates Edward's estate was under
£2,000 then, which with inflation would be a little under £300,000 today - a comfortable
amount in 18th century rural England).
Dear Brian
Dimity asked me if I had a copy of this will. I didn’t but I downloaded it for her. It is the
will of Edward of Bringhurst who was Bryan’s great grandfather. I tracked the sons.
Edward stayed in Bringhurst Parish but had only a daughter so the name died out,
William also remained in Bringhurst (specifically within Drayton) and did leave
descendants including a Bryan Edward about contemporary with Bryan and Bryan went
to Caldecott in Rutland.
Teresa
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Teresa’s Notes on the Early Ward Family in Hallaton, Leicestershire, and Belton,
Northamptonshire
“I did take the key points from the inventory of a man called William Lovett whose widow
married Edward Ward born 1701. I think the inheritance was to support her and the
daughter, but I think it finally went to Edward and his children. I suspect the daughter
may have died possibly even before the wedding of Sarah and Edward. I put the key
points in a letter to Dimity and a copy of this letter is attached. George Skeffington was
doing ok but I think William Lovett was seriously well off. I believe he owned the land at
the bottom corner of Drayton where the parish abuts the river with Middleton and Ashley
beyond. The land was still with the Wards (although not our branch) when the railways
came and some of the land was sold. Joseph Ward’s mother had land she tenanted
taken at the same time.” Teresa 3/12/17
10 Holgate Bridge Gardens

York YO 24 4BA
29 July 2006
Dear Dimity
I will start another letter with the bits I forgot. I visited Eggleton and Cottingham and I
walked from Cottingham to Middleton so I saw some more of the places where the
ancestors were. You will not be surprised to find that there were no tombstones from
their time. The church at Cottingham is dedicated to Mary Magdalaine. This explains
where the name came from at that date. The baby was named for the church where her
parents married. Cottingham and Middleton sit side by side above the Welland valley.
They are very close together and only a notice board tells you that you have left one
and arrived in the other. Cottingham is higher and new building has brought it almost to
the top of the ridge. It has a better bus service and is closer to Corby so it has more
working commuters. In Middleton a car must be an essential. There is a bus four times
a day between Corby and Market Harborough but the hourly bus involves walking to
Cottingham and climbing up through the village.
There must be a series of streams through Cottingham. The bus from Bringhurst takes
you up through the village and climbs and climbs. The church can be seen high in the
village but to get to it from the Corby Road means dropping down into Church Lane and
then climbing up again to the church. From the top of the churchyard is a gate which
leads into Water Lane. Assuming its name is accurate this must drop down to another
stream tucked away. I had a little time to spare when I had seen what was worth seeing
in Cottingham so I left by a path up by the churchyard gate which followed the contours
along above Middleton. The village there seems to have a lot of retirement bungalows
but it struck me that, unless these are old farmers who have come in from isolated
farms, these houses are very vulnerable to theft etc. I would not wish to be there and
elderly. Looking at what remains to show the village in the eighteenth century it is clear
that Cottingham has been quite a large village and indeed a small metropolis. Some of
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the stuff I read described Hallaton as bigger than Market Harborough until the late
1300s. It remained the biggest place in the area after Market Harborough and Oakham.
I think that Cottingham was probably the next size down much bigger than Welham and
Slawston and probably than Medbourne or Weston at that time. Middleton on the other
hand has been pretty small from the looks of things. More akin to Slawston or Welham.
Middleton was not a parish in its own right.
Eggleton village is very close to Rutland Water at the area set apart for birdwatching
and quiet activities. Much of the village land disappeared under the reservoir. The
village was for a long time in one ownership and has been gradually sold off. About all
that remains with the Estate which is one of the London Guilds someone like Merchant
Taylors is Home Farm where Susanna Ward married William Meadows of Oakham
bringing the Meadows to the village. The farm dates from slightly later but the dove
cote is original. My landlady knew the people at the farm and they showed me the
dovecote which they now use as a chemical store. I did not realize that keeping doves
in the way was an early form of battery farming. The dovecote is tall and thin and in the
walls most of the way up about every third or fourth stone is missing. Apparently the
doves would nest in the recesses and the young doves would then be tethered so that
they could not fly but would grow fat and be killed for food. The old bakehouse is still in
the village and is the house from which John Meadows set out to seek a bride and a
new life and finished up in Medbourne. From the side you can see how it was but the
front has just been gentrified and done up by a new owner. I was surprised how much
latitude has been given by the planning authority to alter the buildings.
The village is only about a mile from the Uppingham Road. I reckon you could walk it
along the footpath from the museum in Oakham in about 20 or 25 minutes. So it is not
surprising that people were coming between the places and marrying. This would
particularly be true given that Oakham was even then a market town.
You asked in your e mail how I found the accommodation. It was expensive for what
you got but perfectly good for me. It had been built by someone who ran a
photographers in the town. They sold the shop and built a little building in the garden
with a small shop a work room and a dark room. This has had an extra room put on in
front of the shop as a kitchen, the shop has been turned into a sitting room the work
room to a bedroom and the dark room into a bathroom. It was not well equipped given
that the couple had worked in the pub and hotel business. However it gave me
everything I needed. And very important it was in the right place.
I think William Sargeant is probably our man. I am not sure that they go back much
further in the Welham register so they may arrive from elsewhere.
Starting with the Wards.
At Leicester record office they record the following wills and admons
Bryan at Hallaton 1679 admon Missing
Bryan Hallaton 1681 Admon Missing
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Bryan Hallaton 1723 will
Edward Hallaton 1677 will
Francis Hallaton 1681 Will
Thomas Hallaton 1688
William Lovett 1744 Burton Overy Admon
At Northampton Record Office the record the following wills and admons
Edward of Belton 1728 Admon
Edward Yeoman of Belton 1735 Will
Ellinor widow of Belton 1734 Will
Francis of Belton 1730 Will
George yeoman of Belton 1732 Will
George Grazier of Belton 1807 admon
I looked for a Moore will but found none.
Dealing with William Lovett first.
I took a copy of the inventory that goes with the admon which was not easy to read.
What it tells us is that Sarah inherited serious money. She and William had a baby the
year he died called Sarah like her mother. I did not check if she lived.
Some of the larger items out of William’s inventory

£77 mares and foles
£55 hogs and calves
£73 sheep and lambs
£7 swine
£84 white corn
£22 3 waggons
£11 3 carts
£6 harness for 13 horses
£25 hay.
He was clearly farming at some scale. So Edward Ward married himself a wealthy
widow. Maybe this is where some of the wealth came from.
Starting next with the Hallaton wills.
Thomas Ward 1688

To Sarah my first daughter and wife of Robert Arnold 1 shilling.
To Ann Ward my second daughter two ?
To Elizabeth Ward my third daughter £150
Elizabeth has received £40 from Francis Ward and this £150 is over and above that and
both are to be a charge upon land in Halloughton bought by him from Elizabeth
Baker/Bather of Halloughton. Money to be paid out by my son Edward Ward his heirs
etc land goes to the daughter. But wish is that the executors should have it and
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somebody is one and twenty years of age towards upbringing of her and the rest of the
children.
I give to my youngest daughter Mary £150 which legacy to form a charge on the cottage
house and ? in Halloughton that I bought of one John Pratt to be paid at one and twenty
years as aforesaid by Edward Ward my son etc. Daughter gets the property if he fails.
Executors to enjoy etc. If Elizabeth or Mary die before they are 21 the legacy shall split
between whoever remains – Ann Elizabeth Edward and Mary my said children.
Lastly I bequeath of my goods and chattels undisposed of when my son Edward has
first his £40 out of them that was given him as a legacy by my brother Francis Ward
aforesaid I will and bequeath to Ann my dear wife and Edward my said son whom I
make executors of this my will to pay and discharge my debts funeral rights and
legacies. And I do ? and appoint my brother Edward Ward guardian and trustee of my
said children until they reach one and 20 years of age. The will is written on 30 October
in the third year of the reign of King James. Probate is given on 19 May 1688 to Ann?
Francis Ward Will 1681

Edward gets money.
Ann and Elizabeth get property
Elizabeth and ? get money
Other family members named
Children of Brother Edward Francis and Ann
Children of brother Bryan Bryan and Mary
Cousin William Ward
Edward Ward the elder Yeoman1677
Concerning the disposal of my temporall ? and? I d give unto the poor of Halloughton
thirty shilling to be distributed among the most ? of them as my executors hereinafter
names shall think fit. The house housestead and land in the ? and fields of Halloughton
which I purchased of Mr Burnbie I give one half share thereof to my eldest ?son Edward
Ward and his heire for ever and the other half thereof I give to Francis Ward my
youngest son.
It is my will that the said house and homestead and land be equally divided by my
cozen Mr Bryan Satternaithe (looks in fact like Satterthwaite) Thomas Ward my second
son, Bryan Ward my third son and Edward Ward Grazier.
That my said sons Edward and Francis shall after ???? and do likewise give unto my
grandson Edward Ward eldest son of my son Thomas Ward and to his heirs for ever
that house in Halloughton where in Edward Boyforth now Dwells and attitain ? of lying in
(looks like ffollraths) called the ? piece I do likewise give unto my grandchildren Sarah
Ward eldest daughter of my son Edward to to Sarah Ward eldest daughter of my son
Thomas Ward all the linen in a ? chest standing or being in the parlour of that house
wherein and then together with my son Thomas Ward to be equally divided between
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them. And the chest I give to Francis Ward my youngest son. I do likewise give unto
my said son Francis Ward two gelding three mares two carts (large lump unreadable)
Unto my son Francis one wagon the ploughs harrowes which are in and of the
household
I do bequeath and give to Elizabeth Ward youngest daughter of my son Thomas
4 bearers for the coffin half a crown each
Eldest son Edward Ward of Belton to pay debts including £50 to Ann Burbury youngest
daughter of Thomas Burbury
Dated June 16 Probate 6 October . Edward made his mark.
1723 Bryan Ward to his son Bryan all my houses lands tenements hereditaments with
their appurtances lying in the town of halloughton and the closes ? grounds in the
Lordship of Blaston
To Jane his daughter the goods and chattels and £200.

To son Henry £100
Jane is the executor. The will is dated 19 July 1723 and he died on 9 August. His
inventory comes in at £253-10-6.
Moving across to the Wards of Belton
I took relatively few notes.

Edward Ward 1735 son of Francis brother of another Francis. Children are Ann,
Catherine and apparently two widowed Elizabeths. He was worth £20, the land was
bought by his father and he left it to Francis.
Francis 1730 brother of Edward. Wife Eleanor daughters Anne Katherine £100 each
Granddaughter Frances Short £50
Sons Francis Edward and George share estate.
George will 1728 dies 1732 leaves everything to wife Elizabeth.
Hallaton register
There is a family called Boyford in the parish.
October 5 1635 Edward Ward and Sarah Burnbie Widdowe married

1636 September Edward son of Edward Ward a yeoman and Sara his wife
November 28 1640 Bryan son of Edward Ward yeoman and Sara his wife
November 9 1644 Maria daughter of Thomas Ward and Elizabeth
1654 Francis son of Edward Ward labourer and Ann his wife borne
Hallaton
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Part of Hallaton came to the Beaumonts in 1447 and remained with them until 1507.
1588 it went to the Dents who transferred it to the Street family in 1607. The other
major section was with the Browton family to 1518 when it passed to the Powlets. It
transferred to the Olivers in 1548 who sold it to the Street family in 1614 united the
estate. In 1713 it went to the Bewicke family. There was also a further manor which
was in the ownership of the Vowe family from 1400 to 1850.
In 1381 there were 21 holders of land at will one husbandman, a ?herd(cannot read my
handwriting), 17 labourers, one freeholder, 3 tailors, 3butchers, 2 carpenters, 2
fishermen, 2 bakers, 2 cobblers 2 weavers an ironmonger, a shearman, a chapman and
a blacksmith. Hallaton was enclosed in 1771
Parish records include the churchwardens accounts for 1692 – 1725 and from 1750 -
1770, Vestry minutes 1726-80
There was a free school in Hallaton which was bigger than Market Harborough until
1380.
In the south aisle of Hallaton Church “beneath lie the remains of Bryan Ward who
departed this life 17 day of May 1787 in the 82 year of his age. Also Elizabeth his wife
she departed this life December 1782 in the 63 year of her age”. At the north side “Here
lied the body of Mary Ward who departed ….”
Great Easton was once in Bringhurst parish

Parish 449 communicants in 1676 In 1801 Great Easton 543, Drayton 136, and
Bringhurst 98
Bringhurst was part of the Rockingham Estate. However, somewhere I read something
that said it was not dominated by one large estate which meant that it attracted yeomen.
Burton Overy population 122 communicants in 1671, population 399 in 1801.
Cottingham Register
19 December 1715 Edward Ward of Bringhurst and Sarah Moor of this parish
26 February 1711/12 John Moore of Bringhurst and Sarah Daulby of this parish
October 27 1689 Sarah daughter of William Dawlby
8 February 1707 William Daulby Miller Buried
Belton Land Tax 1712
Lists Mr Ward for the tithe £1/17/6

Elizabeth Ward Widow 10/-
Mr Ward for Mr Hickson 2/6
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Francis Ward Baker 16/9
For parts of Lady Willoby’s estate
Thomas Ward 7/-
Edward Ward 5/-
Poll book for 1710

Francis
Thomas
Francis the baker
I thought I would let you absorb this lot whilst I have a proper look at it. Then we can
pool our ideas on what it tells us about the Wards of Hallaton and how we might build
on that knowledge.
I think you now have all my information. Hope you are surviving the heat.
Teresa
Teresa’s further notes on the Ward family of Hallaton and Belton

Letter from Teresa, 25 July 2018
Dear Bryan
I promised to send you the will of Thomas Ward who might be the father of the Edward
Ward who married in 1692 at Stonton Wyville. Before I do so I need to tell you a little
about the Wards of Belton and Hallaton. The original information came from a man
called Dr Ward who advertised in Family Tree Magazine for Wards from the Welland
Valley. It is supported by a tree originally collected during a Herald’s Visitation of the
genealogy of Henry Ward of Stamford.
According to the tree on 5 October 1635 Edward Ward of Belton in Rutland married
Sarah Burnebie (spelling varies) in Hallaton. Sarah was the daughter of Bryan
Satternaithe (again the spelling varies) who had married Thomas Burnebie on 21
October 1630. Edward and Sarah had four sons Edward (1636-1698), Thomas (1638-
?), Bryan (1640-1680) and Francis (1643-1694). Bryan was the ancestor of Henry of
Stamford. Son Edward ultimately became of Belton.
There is a will for Edward Ward of Hallaton who died in 1766 and who also has an
inventory. He is valued at £120. The inventory is short and probably excludes
property. It mentions the four sons and a number of grandchildren including Edward
and Sarah the eldest son and daughter of Thomas. It also mentions, apparently
unlinked to the family Edward Ward,grazier. This is where the waters start to get a bit
muddy.
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There is a will for Thomas Ward who died in 1787 and who names his children as Sarah
Arnold, Ann, Elizabeth and Mary and Edward. Elizabeth and Marys inheritance is to be
paid when they are 21, the others are to be paid out now suggesting that they are over
21. The will talks about the inheritance that they have received from his brother Francis
indicating that he has already died. However according to the tree Francis died in
1694. There is a will of Francis who died in 1681 and who does leave inheritance to
Thomas’s children.
Some of the entries are confirmed by the parish register. Others are not but there are
huge gaps in the register which explains the absence of the baptism of any of Thomas’s
children and some of the other anomalies. I seem to be left with the oddity that there
are two Thomas Wards both with eldest daughters called Sarah and sons called
Edward and brothers called Francis. It is one of these Edwards that is put forward as
the candidate to be Edward who married in Stonton Wyville. Other sources make clear
that the Satternaithes were relatively wealthy and one would therefore assume that
Sarah might have had a reasonable marriage settlement. This makes me suspect that
Edward who moved on may not have been his grandson but belonged to another
invisible Ward family possibly the family of Thomas who left the will. Under the will he
had to pay out his sisters before obtaining his inheritance and it may simply be a slight
shortage of cash. Either that or he left his mother with his inheritance to care for the
younger girls. It could of course be that we are dealing with Edward who has wandered
into Hallaton and simply married from there.
When I was in Leicester looking at the Land Tax I checked the Hearth Tax. There were
two Ward entries for Hallaton both Edwards one with two hearths and one with one.
These could be father and son but may be Edward of Belton and Edward grazier.
Edward of Drayton born 1701 had land in Hallaton by 1773.
I will attempt over the next few days to let you have the wills of Edward, Thomas and
Francis.
Teresa
COMMENTS
The dates are often by the year of the then king's reign.
Wonder why we ever stopped using some of the phrases, such as (spelling is modern):
'In the name of the father, son and holy ghost. Amen.' (Beginning of Edward's 1677 will)
'First I do willingly give up into the hands of Almighty God, my most gracious and
merciful father, my soul and spirit . . . and my body to the earth to be interred . . .'
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The inventories and values put on each line item are revealing of the times, down to
each kind of animal and the crops (including 'old' or in the ground) - plus furniture by
item, such as a bed to a servant, in some of them.
It seems that Bryan Ward's (1819-1904 - Eben's grandfather) paternal line were in
Belton from at least Thomas Ward (b. 1601), then Hallaton for the next 3 generations
(Edward d. 1677, Thomas b. 1638, and Edward b. 1659). The next generation's Edward
(b. 1701) were in Bringhurst, and the following three generations, including Bryan Ward
(1819-1904) were in Weston by Welland and Slawston, and the latter died in
Medbourne.
Edward (d 1677) inventory is valued at £121 (with inflation, about £25,000 in 2017,
using Bank of England calculator)
Francis's inventory of 1681 is about £167 (with inflation, about £34,000 in 2017)
Bryan Ward's inventory of 1682 of £357 (with inflation, about £73,000 in 2017)
There is also a Thomas Ward (b. 1638) will of which his wife has probate in 1688.
From Teresa's surmises, her study of the wills and the rural setting with smallish
populations, it is likely (but not proven) that the above Francis, Bryan and Thomas were
brothers - and all sons of Edward Ward (d. 1677 - Eben 1's 6x great grandfather) and
his (well-off) wife Sarah Bumbie/Burnebie, nee Satternaithe/Satterthwaite.
Here’s a simple family tree and a map which show these early Wards. In the map, the
city of Leicester is in the upper left-hand corner to give some sense of bearing.
On the map there is a village called Skeffington near the center top. Also, the villages
of Slawston and Welham near the town of Medbourne can be seen. These were the
locations where Annie and Joe were respectively from.
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315
Edward Ward the elder, Yeoman of Hallaton, Inventory and Will 1677
Teresa’s notes
(The assumption is that because he has a cousin Bryan Satternaithe that he is the
husband of Sarah Satternaithe and that the term cousin is being used to include in
laws.)
Teresa’s Partial transcription:
Concerning the disposal of my temporall ? and? I do give unto the poor of Halloughton
thirty shilling to be distributed among the most ? of them as my executors hereinafter
names shall think fit.
The house and homestead and land in the town and fields of Hallaton which I
purchased of Mr Burneby I give one half share to my eldest son Edward Ward his heirs
for ever. And the other half share thereof I give to Francis Ward my youngest son for
the duration of (cannot read the next section)
316
It is my will that the said house homestead and land be equally divided by my cozen Mr
Bryan Satternaithe, Thomas Ward my second son, Bryan Ward my third son and
Edward Ward Grazier and that my said sons Edward and Francis shall draw lots for
which moieties to bequeath and give unto my grandchild Edward Ward eldest son of my
son Thomas Ward and to his heirs for ever. That house in Halloughton wherein Edward
Boyfeilds now dwells and a portion of meadow ground lying in Follratts called the / piece
I do likewise give unto my grandchildren Sarah Ward eldest daughter of my son Edward
ward and to Sarah Ward eldest daughter of my son Thomas Ward all the lynnen in a ?
chest standing and being in the parlour of that house wherein of / together to my son
Thomas Ward to be equally divided between them. And the chest I give to Francis
Ward my youngest son and likewise I give unto my said son Francis Ward two geldings,
three mares, two carts/oasts by ? of Mr Burneby likewise I give unto my son Francis two
acres of ? likewise two acres of ? ground, one acre of ? one waggon, the ploughs,
harrowes, rattgrakes? and ploughgrakes? which are in and upon the homestead, I do
likewise give to Elizabeth Ward youngest daughter of my son Thomas Ward my ? for
her
I do likewise give unto Thomas Green, Thomas Gibbins, Thomas Bosworth and
Thomas Johnson half a crown a piece on the condition that they will take the trouble to
carry my body to the grave. I design? and charge my eldest son Edward Ward of
Belton aforesaid faithfully to discharge and perform this my will and pay my debts
especially a debt of fifty pounds due from me to Ann Burbury youngest daughter of Mr
Thomas Burbury and on those termes and condition I give unto him all the rest of my
goods chattills tackell? and my cropp upon the ground and make him sole executor of
this my will unto which I have put my hand this fourteenth day of July 1677.
Edward made his mark. Dated June 16 Probate 6 October
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Francis Ward of Hallaton 1681 Inventory and Will
Teresa’s partial transcription:
I give and dispose thereof as follows that is to say I give and bequeath all my houses
and lands and tenements and hereditaments with their and every of their appurtenances
in Halloughton aforesaid unto my niece Ann Ward daughter of my brother Thomas Ward
her heirs and assigns for ever provided always and nonetheless? and my mind and will
is that if at any time hereafter my said niece shall marry or take to husband any person
without the consent and approbation of her father Thomas Ward, John Massey of B….
in the said county of Leicester gent and Henry Dent of Blaston in the said county of
Leicester gent them or any two of them or two of their heirs first hand and obtained in
writing under their hands and ? of them or two of them that then and in such case all my
houses lands tenements and hereditaments with their and every of their appurtenances
above bequeathed to my said niece Ann Ward her heirs and assigns shall immediately
from and after her marriage without such consent aforesaid give to and bequeath the
same to my niece Elizabeth Ward one other of the daughters of my said brother
Thomas Ward and her heirs for ever. Consent clause then repeated and if she marries
without consent Thomas gets the estate.
I give and bequeath unto my nephew Edward Ward son of my said brother Thomas
thirty pounds and unto my niece Sara Ward daughter of my said brother Thomas thirty
pound and I give unto my said niece Elizabeth Ward forty pounds which said ? legacies
of thirty pounds, thirty pounds and forty pounds shall be raised and paid out of the rents
and profits of my houses and lands and premises in Halloughton aforesaid as soon as
may be after my death and my personal effects to be ? and free from the payment
thereof
I give unto my nephew Francis Ward son of my brother Edward Ward five pound, to my
niece Ann Ward daughter of the said Edward Ward five pound to buy ? within twelve
months after my death.
I give unto Joane Smith my maid servant one bed? With all the furniture? unto
belonging thereto ? bed I bought of Mr Es ? and I give unto the said Joane Smith in
recognisance? of the good service she has done me the ? of twenty pounds to be paid
within twelve months after my death
I give to my nephew Bryan Ward son of my brother Bryan Ward five pounds to be paid
within twelve months after my death. I give unto John Dent son of Henry Dent of
Blaston five pounds to be paid out within twelve months of my death.
I give to the poor of Halloughton five pounds to be paid out within twelve months of my
death. ? of the said five pound to be ? of by brother Thomas Ward and the
churchwardens ? ?
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I give unto Edward Dent and Richard Atton fifteen pounds to be ? by them ? and laid out
towards the building of a Poorehouse? in Halloughton aforesaid to my cozen William
Ward of ? five pounds to be paid within twelve months after my death
I desire my executors to bestow twelve pounds of my funeral all the ? and funeral
charges
all my goods and tackle and chattels and personal estate whatsoever after my debts
funeral charges and legacies aforesaid, except the legacies before charged to be paid
and paid out of the rents and profits on my land at Halloughton, paid and discharged I
give unto my said brother Thomas Ward whom I make and appoint sole executor of this
my last will and testament.
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324
Bryan Ward of Hallaton 1682 Inventory
There is no will on line for Bryan but his inventory is there. According to the tree he is the son of Sarah
Satternaithe - Teresa
325
326
327
Thomas Ward of Hallaton 30 October 1687 Will
This is the will of Thomas Ward of Hallaton, who is the brother of Francis, beyond that I
cannot place him. -Teresa
Teresa’s Partial transcription
I give and bequeath unto Sarah Arnold my eldest daughter the wife of Robert Arnold
one shilling.
To Ann Ward my second daughter two ?
I give and bequeath unto Elizabeth Ward my third daughter one hundred and fifty
pounds of lawful money of England to be payd to her when she shall attain the age of
one and twenty years moreover and above the legacy of forty pounds given her by her
Uncle Francis Ward’s will which said one hundred and fifty pounds and forty pounds a
charge upon the lands in Halloughton aforesaid that I purchased of Elizabeth Butler of
Halloughton aforesaid widow to be payd out of the same by Edward Ward, my son
hereinafter mentioned his heirs executors administrators or attorneys and if he shall
refuse neglect or deny the payment thereof at her age of one and twenty years
aforesaid then my will and meaning is and I give devise / and bequeath the said land
unto Elizabeth Ward my said daughter and unto her heirs for ever only my will is my
executors shall have and enjoy it and the benefit of / thereof until she reaches one and
twenty years of age towards the bringing of her and the rest of my children.
I give and bequeath unto Mary Ward my youngest daughter the sum of one hundred
and fifty pounds of lawful money of England to be paid unto her when she shall attain
the age of one and twenty years, fifty pounds of which legacy to form a charge upon the
cottage house and the appurtenances in Halloughton that is inhabited by John Pratt to
be paid unto her at the age of one and twenty years as aforesaid by Edward Ward my
said son his heirs assigns and for non payment thereof I give and bequeath the said
cottage house and the appurtenances unto to the said Mary Ward my daughter and to
her heirs for every only my will and meaning is my executors shall enjoy it until she ?
one and twenty years for the bringing of them all up as aforesaid also my will is that if it
shall happen that either Elizabeth or Mary shall dye or happen to depart this natural life
before they arrive at the age of one and twenty years that then their legacy or legacies
shall go to which them of the said Ann Elizabeth Edward or Mary my said children as
shall survive to be equally divided between them.
Lastly all the rest of my goods and chattels undivided I / my son Edward aforesaid hath
first his thirty pounds out of them that was given him as a legacy by my brother Francis
Ward aforesaid’s will I give and bequeath unto Ann my dear wife and Edward Ward my
said son whom I make executors of this my will to pay and discharge all my debts
funeral rights and legacies aforesaid the contents of this my will.
328
Brother Edward Ward appointed guardian to the children until they reach one and 20
years of age.
The will is written on 30 October in the third year of the reign of King James.
Probate is given on 19 May 1688 to Ann?
329
330
331
Appendix I – Wills of Joseph Granger Ward’s parents, Joseph and Betsey Ann Ward
Sr, and paternal grandfather, William Ward
Joseph Ward Sr (1800 – 1861)

Joseph Ward Sr. had married his second wife, Betsey Ann Granger in 1845 and they
had two children, Betsey Ann and Joseph Granger. Joe Sr had already had three
previous children by his first wife, Elizabeth Goodliffe, who had died in 1844 – but only
one of the three, John William Ward, survived infancy.
Joseph Sr made his will in 1854 and added a codicil on March 31st 1861, just over two
weeks before his death on April 16. Probate shows his estate was valued at under
£4,000, but without indicating how much under and what the gross and net figures were.
With inflation, £4,000 in 1861 money would be equivalent to about £450,000 in 2017.
Executors were his wife, Betsey Ann, his brother-in-law, William Granger (Betsey’s
younger brother), his eldest son, John William Ward, and his friend John McTurk.
Joseph leaves his cattle, farming implements, crops, tenant rights of his farm and any
land in his possession to these four executors upon trust that they carry on his business
concerns as farmer and grazier so long as his wife and family remain together.
If Joseph’s eldest son, John William Ward, marries and leaves home (Welham Lodge)
to enter into business on his own account, he is to be given £500 from Joseph’s estate,
as his full and fair share, together with property he is entitled to under the will of his
grandfather, John Goodliffe (Joseph Sr’s first wife’s father). The rest of Joseph’s estate
is then to be held for the use and benefit of his second wife, Betsey Ann, and the two
children he and she had together, Betsey Ann Jr and Joseph Granger (including for
their education), until these two children come of age.
Joseph also has bought life insurance in the sum of £500 from the Standard Life
Insurance Company (with inflation from 1854, £500 would approximate just under
£60,000 in 2017). The proceeds of this are to be invested with the income used to
benefit his family. When his daughter Betsey Ann reaches the age of 21, she is to be
given these funds. (It is quite possible that these funds of Betsey Ann Jr’s, together with
what she later inherited from her mother, were what financed her brother’s and his
family’s voyage to New Zealand and the purchase of the farm Tor View there.)
The rest of Joseph’s estate, including household goods and furniture, is to be held in
trust and invested for the benefit of his wife and youngest son, Joseph Granger, until the
latter attains 21, at which time Joe Jr is to be give £500 for his absolute use.
Whatever remains of his estate is then to be held and used for the benefit of his wife for
her life. Any of his estate remaining at her death is to be shared between his three
children, John William, Betsey Ann and Joseph Granger.
332
In the 1861 codicil made about two weeks before his death, Joseph revokes the legacy
of £500 for his eldest son, John William, which was to be given on the latter’s marriage,
noting he (Joseph Sr.) has already advanced John £50 and now, instead, leaves John a
further £200 on the contingency of his marrying. Joseph comments that he considers
this to be adequate provision over and above the one-third share of the residual estate
on the death of his widow, Betsey Ann Sr, John was also to have inherited. (John did
marry 2 years later, in 1863, and set up on his own farm.)
This codicil suggests that times may not have been as rosy for farming and grazing in
the seven intervening years between the date of the original will (1854) and of the
codicil, which was written when Joseph would have known his death was imminent.
Joseph accordingly decided to preserve more of the estate to provide for his 54-year old
wife and the two youngest children, Betsey Ann and Joseph Granger, who were just 14
and 13 respectively when this codicil was written. This is despite the fact that the 280
acres Joseph is farming in the 1851 census has grown to 390 acres in the 1861 census.
It must, however, be kept in mind that this was almost certainly tenanted land on which
Joseph would have had to pay some form of rent and that, in the latter census, Joseph
was employing 7 men, 4 boys and 4 other staff in his household. As it turned out, the
widow Betsey Ann survived her husband for 25 years.
It is understood that the main railways from the north down to London were built in the
1840s and 50s. They transported cattle directly to the big market of London and
dramatically affected the grazing industry in Welham and its surrounding area. The
cattle drives south through that area and the previous overwintering there were no
longer required. According to his father’s will, Joe Granger would have inherited £500
when he turned 21 in 1869 – the equivalent of £52,000 in 2017. In the 1871 census (just
a year or two before Eben’s birth), bachelor Joe is a grazier (no longer at Welham
Lodge and no longer a farmer like his father) of 85 acres and he would marry two years
later, in 1873. In the 1881 census, Joe is a grazier of just 20 acres, and now a married
man with children.
Betsey Ann Ward Sr (1807 – 1886)

Betsey’s will was made in 1875. She was then resident of Blaston. She later moved to
Welham, where she died on 29 December 1886. Her will was proved in February 1887,
and her estate was £1,014 gross, £994 net (equivalent to about £120,000 in 2017).
It may seem curious that she made a will of her own, as her late husband Joseph had
already specified what would happen to any residual estate of his at the time of her
death. However, after her husband’s death, Betsey Ann had inherited a share in the
estate of her uncle Samuel Granger, farmer and grazier of Slawston, who had died
intestate in 1866. She leaves this inheritance plus whatever remains of her own estate
at the time of her death to be divided equally between her two children, Betsey Ann and
Joseph Granger. This seems to be consistent with her husband’s will with its codicil
limiting the amount his son John was to inherit.
333
Betsey names her brother John Granger, butcher of Birmingham, and family friend John
McTurk of Cranoe, Leicestershire, as her executors. Of the two, just McTurk was still
alive at the time of Betsey’s death to prove her will.
Joseph Jr’s uncle John Granger, having been a butcher, may have been Joe’s
inspiration, and perhaps even mentor, for the change he made in occupation between
the 1881 and 1891 censuses from grazier to butcher. A grazier with just 20 acres, as
Joe had in the 1881 census, together with a growing family, almost certainly would have
had a hard time making ends meet.
Annie had inherited £300 from an aunt in 1881 and it appears Joe and family moved to
Croydon in south London in 1882, where Joe worked as a butcher (possibly at 22 North
End). Two of Joe and Annie’s children were born in Croydon. However, by 1886 the
family moved again to Worthing, where Joe had a substantial butcher’s establishment in
a main high street. The death of Joe’s mother in Welham in 1886 and his inheritance of
about £500 (equivalent to about £60,000 in 2017 money), half of her estate, may have
helped with this move, though his mother’s estate was not settled until 1887. Sister
Betsey Ann, nicknamed Narnie, have helped finance the venture and came to live with
Joe and family in Worthing.
Although Eben’s maternal grandmother, Harriet (Skeffington) Ward knew Eben as an

infant and is understood to have helped place him with the Tebbutts, there is nothing to
suggest his paternal grandmother, Betsey Ann Sr, or his maternal aunt, Betsey Ann
Jr/’Narnie’ were ever in contact with him or even knew about him. If Eben ever visited
Joe and Annie, when he was at boarding school in the Brighton area, ‘Narnie’ – and
even some of Eben’s younger siblings –, would have seen him then – but this is
unlikely, as it posed a higher risk of revealing the secret of his birth.
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
William Ward (Abt. 1755 – 1834) Will
William Ward made his will in 1830, when he was about 75 years old. In it, he
describes himself as a ‘yeoman’ which, for these purposes meant a man holding and
cultivating a small estate, or freeholder.
For her natural life, he leaves his wife Elizabeth the messuage (dwelling house,
outbuildings and land) comprised of two dwelling houses and an Orchard Yard –
occupied then by two others – in Slawston. On his wife’s death, these are to be given to
the three children they had together, Bryan, Joseph and Eliza, in equal shares and to
their assigns and heirs.
William makes it clear that Eliza’s share is to be hers to do with as she likes – and that
her husband or others may not have control of it.
He also asks that £300 pounds (equivalent to £30,000 in 2017 money) from his estate
be invested and the interest be given to his wife during her widowed life, so long as she
does not remarry.
On his widow’s death or remarriage, this £300 is to be given in equal shares to his
children Bryan and Eliza.
Bryan and Eliza are also each to receive £100 (about £10,000 in 2017 money) within 12
months of his death.
These bequests of £100 each and share of the £300 on their mother’s death or
remarriage is to be the full amount for Bryan and Eliza from the farming stock and
effects at Welham Lodge and Slawston.
The residue of his estate is to go to his son Joseph Ward. One presumes this to include
Welham Lodge.
Household furniture is left to the three children to share and share alike.
William appoints as executors his relative John Ward of Leicestershire and his son,
John Ward of Burslem. This second John Ward may be a son from a previous marriage.
William Ward died four years later, in 1834. His wife Elizabeth had predeceased him by
2 years. His will was probated in 1835 and the gross amount of his estate was £600
(about £66,000 in 2017 money).
342
343
344
345
William Ward 1771 Administration
This William is the father to Joseph Granger’s grandfather, William. He died on 29 April
1771 and his wife, Mary died just a week later, on 5 May 1771.
The administration seems to be for safeguarding William and Mary’s estate and the
guardianship of their minor son William, aged 19, until he comes of age at 21.
A figure of £367 (equivalent to £62,000 in 2017) is shown on page 2, which may be the
probate value of the estate.
The document is dated the 6th day of August in the eleventh year of the Reign of our
Sovereign George the Third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland
King Defender of the Faith and so forth and in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and seventy one.
The penultimate page refers to an Act of Parliament of the 22 nd and 23rd years of the
late King Charles the Second for dealing with intestacies.
346
347
348
349

Ebenezer James - Beginnings

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Ebenezer (Eben) James (1873 – 1949) – Beginnings

St. George’s Anglican Church Cemetery,

Notes on Structure and Content ........................................................................................................................ 8

1. Eben’s Beginnings – Birth and Early Years in Ramsgate .................................................................. 9

1872 – 1873 Birth - Unknown Location..................................................................................................... 9

Mid-1870’s – Early Years in Ramsgate, Kent ........................................................................................ 15

2. Foster Parents’ Backgrounds ............................................................................................................... 23

Richard Barmby Tebbutt – Foster Father ..................................................................................................... 23

Emma Ford (or Foord) Still – Foster Mother ................................................................................................. 26

Septimus Sears ............................................................................................................................................. 33

3. Birth Mother’s family background ............................................................................................................ 37

Harriet Skeffington ..................................................................................................................................... 37

Bryan Ward ................................................................................................................................................. 45

Reuben Skeffington ................................................................................................................................... 50

4. Birth Father’s Family Background ................................................................................................................. 54

5. Eben’s Boyhood in Clifton and Shefford ............................................................................................. 66

The Wakefield Sisters as part of Eben’s Clifton childhood............................................................................ 73

6. Birth Parents’ Marriage and Early Married Life .................................................................................. 87

Marriage at London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle by Charles Spurgeon ......................................................... 87

Joe and Annie’s early married life at Welham .............................................................................................. 91

Notes on birth mother’s sister, Mary Ann (Ward) Perkins ........................................................................... 94

7. Eben’s Brighton Area Schooldays ........................................................................................................... 101

From the address book:.............................................................................................................................. 103

Accounts notes ........................................................................................................................................... 104

9. Eben’s Emigration and Early Years in Canada ......................................................................................... 125

Eben’s Early Travels between Canada and the UK .................................................................................. 132

11. Foster Parents – Later Years ..................................................................................................................... 144

12. New Zealand Ward descendants ........................................................................................................ 155

Eleanor Annie ............................................................................................................................................. 156

Reuben Percy ............................................................................................................................................. 157

John Skeffington ......................................................................................................................................... 158

Francis John ................................................................................................................................................ 158

Mary Evelyn ................................................................................................................................................ 158

Alexander ................................................................................................................................................... 158

Ralph .......................................................................................................................................................... 159

Francis Royden ........................................................................................................................................... 159

Ethel Marion ............................................................................................................................................... 161

Edward Eric Ward ....................................................................................................................................... 162

Ward Family Centenary in New Zealand book extracts .............................................................................. 165

Tor View ................................................................................................................................................. 166

Eleanor Ward Leighton wedding photo and Barnardos .......................................................................... 168

Reuben Percy Ward – Ship’s Apprentice ................................................................................................ 169

Reuben Percy Ward – Ida Hill Wedding .................................................................................................. 172

Reuben Percy Ward Obituary, letters and photos .................................................................................. 173

John Skeffington Ward ........................................................................................................................... 176

Some family photos ................................................................................................................................ 186

Appendix A – Who Do You Think You Are Article ........................................................................................... 188

Appendix B ................................................................................................................................................... 193

Professional DNA Report........................................................................................................................ 193

Appendix C ................................................................................................................................................... 204

Descendants of George Skeffington (1739 – ca 1793) - grandfather of Harriet (Skeffington)

Appendix D ................................................................................................................................................... 222

Selections from letters from Eben 1’s estate ....................................................................................... 222

The Joseph Granger Ward letters and Will ...................................................................................... 222

Emma Tebbutt’s letters – A Selection..................................................................................................... 235

Richard Barnby Tebbutt’s letters and will............................................................................................... 248

William Clarke’s Will and Estate Accounts Summary .............................................................................. 255

Laura (Wakefield) Clarke – selected letters ............................................................................................ 259

Frances Jager’s 1897 letter to Eben ........................................................................................................ 264

Appendix E ..................................................................................................................................................... 265

Emma Tebbutt’s Address Book................................................................................................................... 265

Francis Ward of Hallaton 1681 Inventory and Will ..................................................................................... 321

Bryan Ward of Hallaton 1682 Inventory ..................................................................................................... 325

Thomas Ward of Hallaton 30 October 1687 Will ........................................................................................ 328