by John F R Stainer (Son of Sir John Stainer) about his in-laws
(Pencilled jottings on some loose sheets that turned up in a lof in 2001.)
The business of Welch – Margetson was bought from a widow Mrs. C who was some relative ? an aunt. Grandpa M and old Joe Welch were in the business before they took it.
Granny M had a sister Aunt Louisa who married a Mr. Stanton still living aged about 90 goes to city dinners.
Grandpa Mallam was clever with his hands, made toys he had a wonderful wife a Miss Bessant who was very musical, got all her 3 boys Dalton George Harry into Oxford choirs.
They were married in that funny little church at Temple Cowley – halfway between Littlemore and Cowley.
Margetson family. Twins died young 1. Mother 2. John 3. Stewart 4. William 5. Alice 6. Arthur 7. Amy 8. Ted.
Old Mrs. Welch was a Miss Shaw. Mr. Shaw married a Miss Margetson (?sister of grandpa).
Buxton Morrish married a Miss Gabriel
Jan Morish married a Miss Welch
John Gabriel married Ellie Morrish
Chris Gabriel died young ? of consumption.
Old Mrs. G was a Miss Nash, mother of three people
Old Mr G was Sir Thomas G Lord Mayor of London. He died without issue.
Joe Welch married a Miss Hubbard.
Aunt Loveday was a Miss Chappell – her father was a lawyer at Streatham, Court Green where the Morrises afterwards lived.
Uncle Clement’s father (? Alfred) was a ‘Plymouth Rock’: he owned the mill at Stroud before Uncle Clem. Had 2 or 3 wives and a great number of children.
Granny Margetson was a Woods – Uncle Willie knows all about it.
Grandpa M was descended from the Bishop of Armagh of that name.
Grandpa’s father died very young leaving a wife (portrait at Carlow Place *) and several young children Peter Paul James John. Peter died the other three married and were successful in life. (2)
Paul went into Cealt… in Southwark, name still up
Notes
J F R Stainer is writing about his in-laws. Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management has twenty centimetres of material by John dating between ca 1900 and 1939. The collection consists of six hardcover notebooks, with an index containing transcribed Stainer and related families genealogical information. There are also twelve files of documents and loose items pertaining to family history, Accession Number 1996 - 279.
Whether the Welch’s, Morrishes and Gabriels were relatives or not I do not know.
* The phrase Grandpa’s father appears to refer to William Margetson, whose wife was Sarah … Perhaps the portrait referred to can be traced.
The Margetsons trace their family line back to the Archbishop Margetson of Armagh, from whom the Pennant line also descends. They appear to be a London family; there was a menswear manufacturers, Welch, Margetson and Co Ltd in London from 1865 to 1963. Earlier, a business of the same name was described as Warehousemen. In a Surrey Trades Directory for 1846 they are listed as Silk Printers at Phipps Bridge Mitcham. In 1861 the Post Office Directory lists them at 16 & 17 Cheapside; in 1891 they had expanded to 15, 16 & 17 Cheapside. They also a huge factory on Carlisle Road branch in Londonderry in 1876. Jospeh Welch was a pioneer in shirt-making, and to this day it is possible to buy ties in Welch-Margetson basket-weave on the Internet from luxuryin.com.
There is plenty of material to research. There is a Welch-Margetson price list in the Archives of the City of Victoria British Columbia (near Vancouver) at 30 D 2. In London, miscellaneous corporate records, visitors books, price lists, sports and social club records of the firm can be seen at the Guildhall Library at Aldermanbury, ref HMC. A catalogue is filed in the National Register of Archives and may be consulted at the public search room of the Historic Manuscripts Commission at Quality House, Chancery Lane, ref NRA 32386 Welch.
Henry Parr Mallam (29.11.1838 – 19.1.1906) of the High Street, Oxford married Mary Ann Margetson (14.2.1841 – 12.3.1885). Mary Ann was christened on the 12th May 1841 at St Giles, Camberwell, London. Her siblings were Stewart, John & Hannah.
The Mallam’s daughter Ruth Alice Mallam (b 14.12.1879) married John F R Stainer, eldest son of Sir John Stainer. Ruth was the sixth out of seven children.
Stewart (2.9.1858 - 1960) (Uncle Tooty) married Josephine Kitty Waters (known as quick and Irish) and lived at Thurlestone in Devon. Their children included Hal (b 1902) and Eileen (b 1906). Stewart appears to have been a co-founder of the RAC.
Amy (b 9.9.1867) with her four unmarried sisters bought 13 Charlbury Road, Oxford, but as three of them married before moving in, she lived there alone but paid them rent thereafter. She brought up her younger brothers and sisters after their mother died.
Ernest (1.1.1870 - 1940) married Maud Corbet. Their children were Jack, Christopher, Patrick and Joan (b 1906) who married a McKeith. These children were the characters in the book King Blacksack and his Sword by Charles Stainer. Ernest lived at 3 Holywell Street Oxford, and worked on allergies at the Radcliffe Infirmary, which he practically started. "He might have become famous for his work if he had not taken to drink (ACP)." He had a son who became Doctor to the University Rowing Club.
Nora (b 31.12.1874), known as Nonie, married Lesley Waterhouse from Australia. They lived at Epsom near the racecourse. They bought up Ellis, Lesley’s son from an earlier marriage. Ellis in turn married a Margetson.
Grace (b 1881) went out to British Columbia to help her brother, and later married Rev. Herrick, "an Irish tease (ACP)". There were no children.
Cecil (b 28.2.1885) emigrated in 1903 and ran a ranch in British Columbia, with a friend who was killed in World War 1. He farmed fruit in the Okanagan Valley. The log cabin he lived in lacked amenities when he arrived; clothes were washed in a stream. It has been preserved by the Summerhill Estate Winery, the current owners (see websites). Cecil married Cessie Walker according to ACP, but the Summerhill folk say he married Giffortina Thompson, daughter of Gifford R Thompson, which seems more likely. Cecil’s two sisters Grace and Ruth kept house for him. His children were Peter, and Amy Cecilia who married W.D Hay.Please email for details of a photo album from 1905.
Ruth had a business in photography before she too went out to the ranch in BC, and then John Stainer asked her to marry him (m 29.12.1906). He was brainy, but lacked her enterprising nature. During what proved to be her final illness, Ruth refused medication out of Christian Science convictions (ACP). Ruth had cousins named Hannah who married a Warman who was associated with Allen and Solly of Stroud who made high class cotton goods, and Daisy Mallam who married a Ritchie (ACP).
Notes
ACP refers to Alice Pennant.
For photos of Margetsons, click here and for Stainers click here and for Mallams click here
David Pennant, descendant, Surrey, UK