The Calverley Blayds Family of Oulton Hall and South Stoke

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The Calverley Blayds Family of Oulton Hall and South Stoke

A request for help was published in the Bristol & Avon Family History Society magazine by the owner of a sampler sewn by Elizabeth Sophia BLAYDS of South Stoke Vicarage, Somersetshire on 8th December 1843. The owner was looking to reunite the sampler with its family.

“Dear Editor, I wonder if you might be able to help? I have a letters, numbers & patterns stitched sampler (it was amongst my mother’s possessions and I’m unclear as to why she had it) which was ‘signed’ by Elizabeth Sophia BLAYDS and dated December 8 1843, South Stoke Vicarage, Somersetshire. I’ve googled the name and village and find that she had links with South Stoke. Her father may have been Henry CALVERLEY, vicar of South Stoke. Should any family members still live in the village or nearby or are known by anyone in your parish, I’d very much like to re-unite them with this sampler.”

Upon researching the Blayds/Calverley family, it soon became apparent that there were no descendants to be found, nor any living relatives of Elizabeth’s siblings.

Elizabeth Sophia BLAYDS was born on 19th Oct 1833 in Martley, Worcestershire and baptised five days later. She was the last of five children born to Rev. Henry BLAYDS, who born and baptised Henry CALVERLEY in 1794 in Leeds, Yorkshire and his wife Elizabeth MEADE. The family name was changed by Royal Licence to BLAYDS in 1807 after his father John CALVERLY inherited Oulton Hall in Oulton, Yorkshire from the BLAYDS family.

Elizabeth’s grandfather, John CALVERLY, was born into a family of local landowners in Rothwell, Yorkshire, on September 22, 1753. He was one of two children of John CALVERLY Sr., who served as Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1772, and his wife, Mary WALKER.

John Jr. became a successful banker and joined John BLAYDS of Oulton Hall in partnership with Beckett’s Bank in Leeds. John BLAYDS died without an heir in 1804 and left his estate to his eldest sister, Mary, who left it to her sister Anne. Upon Anne’s death in 1806, as stipulated in Mary’s will, the estate of Oulton Hall was inherited by John CALVERLEY and his heirs thereafter. The following year, John assumed the surname of BLAYDS, by which time he had married and had six children.

 


John married Mary DOWNES of Leeds on 28th Apr 1785 in Manchester Cathedral before moving to Park Lane, Leeds where their seven children were born.

  1. Mary Calverley (b.5 Mar 1787 – d.?) m.1829 as Mary Blayds to widower Thomas Shaw Bancroft Reade (Merchant of Leeds)
  2. Frances Calverley (b.22 Jul 1788 – d.5 Mar 1858) m.1812 as Frances Blayds to Anthony Molyneux (Merchant)
  3. John Calverley (b.11 Sep 1789 – d.28 Feb 1868) m.1822 as John Blayds to Ellen Watson Molyneux (sister of Anthony) ~ Magistrate & Deputy Lieutenant for West Riding of Yorkshire (50 years)
  4. William Calverley (b.9 Dec 1790 – d.Apr 1799) died aged 8
  5. Charles Calverley (b.30 Jun 1792 – d.Dec 1806) died aged 14
  6. Henry Calverley (b.19 Jan 1794 – d.28 Jul 1874) m.1824 as Henry Blayds to Elizabeth Meade ~ Vicar of South Stoke (35 years)
  7. Thomas Calverley (b.26 Aug 1795 – d.16 Feb 1875) m.1820 as Thomas Blayds to Charlotte Hind ~ Estate Owner

John Sr. died on 21st Feb 1827 aged 73 and the Oulton Hall estate was passed down to his eldest son, also named John. His widow, Mary, died eight years later on 21st May 1835 aged 77. Their second eldest daughter Frances married Anthony MOYNEUX, a merchant of Liverpool, in 1812 and the couple went on to have ten children. John Jr. married Anthony’s younger sister Ellen Watson MOYNEUX in 1822 and had three children born at Oulton Hall. John worked as the Magistrate & Deputy Lieutenant for the West Riding of Yorkshire for upward of 50 years. Youngest sibling Thomas, later described as an estate owner, married Charlotte HIND in 1820 in Leeds and had four children before her untimely death in 1829 aged 30. Mary, the eldest child, married later in life at age 42 to Thomas Shaw Bancroft READE, a widower and wealthy merchant from Leeds.

Elizabeth Sophia’s father Henry BLAYDS married Elizabeth MEADE on 24th Aug 1824 in Woolverton, Somerset (her home town). The MEADE family descended from an ancient Irish lineage, related to the Lords Clanwilliam, who were both Irish earls and English barons. A relative of Elizabeth, Sir John MEAD, was buried in South Stoke in 1842 (a former Deputy Inspector of military hospitals). Henry had studied at Trinity College, Cambridge and was ordained Deacon and Priest in Exeter, Devon in 1819 and served as curate of Berry Pomeroy, Devon between 1819-1822. He transferred to Norton St Philip, Somerset in 1823 where he met and married Elizabeth the following year. Their first three children were born in Norton St Philip and it was during this time that Henry’s father died. The family moved to Martley, Worcestershire in 1831 where Henry took over as curate, and their last two children were born. They moved one final time in 1939 to South Stoke Vicarage, Somerset where Henry took over as the Vicar of Stoke with Monkton Combe and where their middle child (Frederick) sadly died aged 12 just before Christmas in 1841.

  1. Henry Calverley Blayds (b.1826 – d.7 Feb 1916) m.1874 as Henry Calverley Calverley to Mary Morrison ~ Rector of Church Brampton, Northamptonshire
  2. Mary Henrietta Blayds (b.1828 – d.3 Aug 1902) unmarried – died as Mary Henrietta Calverley
  3. Frederick Haggitt Blayds (b.1829 – d.20 Dec 1841) died aged 12
  4. Charles Stuart Blayds (b.22 Dec 1831 – d.17 Feb 1884) m.1863 as Charles Stuart Calverley to his 1st cousin Ellen Calverley ~ Barrister At Law, Poet & Wit
  5. Elizabeth Sophia Blayds (b.19 Oct 1833 – d.15 Dec 1925) m.1870 as Elizabeth Sophia Calverley to Sir Walter Joseph Sendall

 

Their eldest son, Henry Jr., won a scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1844 and was ordained deacon in 1853 and then priest in 1854 (age 28). Charles, their youngest son, studied at Oxford before being expelled for various high jinx in 1852 (for which he was well known). He transferred to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he earned a BA in Classics in 1856 and an MA in 1859. Mary’s education is unknown, whilst Elizabeth Sophia was recorded as a student at 3 York Gate School, St Marylebone, London in 1851 (age 17). Henry and Elizabeth were living at South Stoke Rectory at this time together with six servants (a lady’s maid, cook, parlour maid, houseman, kitchen maid and groom).

Henry reinstated the CALVERLY family name by Royal Licence on 12th Apr 1852, as did his brother John. Their youngest brother Thomas remained as Blayds. The Rev. Henry Blayds had been the vicar of South Stoke for thirteen years by this time, so it must have taken a while for his parishioners to adjust to calling him Rev. Calverley.

When the 1861 census was taken, Henry and Elizabeth’s daughters Mary (33) and Elizabeth Sophia (27) were still living at home, as was Charles again briefly. The family continued to employ several servants including a cook, groom, two lady’s maids, a parlourmaid, housemaid and kitchen maid. Charles married his first cousin, Ellen Calverley, of Oulton Hall two years later as a law student aiming to become a barrister. He was also an athlete, musician, and published writer and poet, later described as “the most brilliant and cultured parodist of his day” and “the literary father of the university school of humour.” He and his wife had three children, but one tragically died young.

Elizabeth Sophia CALVERLEY (36) married Walter Joseph SENDALL (37) in her father’s church at South Stoke on 3rd Aug 1870. Walter graduated from Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1858 with a First in Classics, and was likely acquainted with her brother Charles. He joined the educational branch of the Ceylon Civil Service (now Sri Lanka) in 1859 and was appointed the Director of Public Instruction in the same year he married Elizabeth. When the census was taken in 1871, Walter was working in Ceylon whilst Elizabeth was living with her parents and unmarried sister Mary at South Stoke Vicarage. Their five servants included a housemaid, cook, parlour maid, houseman and kitchen maid. Walter was forced to resign from his post in 1872 due to failing health caused by the climate and he returned to England and his wife. Elizabeth’s eldest brother, Henry Jr. (age 44), was also living back at South Stoke Vicarage in 1871. He had held various curacies at Reading, Aylesbury and Somerset, and was currently working as a clergyman “without care of souls.” He married three years later to Scottish-born Mary MORRISON, who had been visiting Bath in 1871.

Rev. Henry CALVERLY died at South Stoke Vicarage on 28th Jul 1874 aged 80 and was buried a few days later in St James churchyard in the family plot with their son. During his thirty-five years, he had erected the village school (at his own cost in 1840) and restored and built the south aisle of St James, with the aid of a grant from the Diocesan Society. The Rev. William ACWORTH took over in 1875, by which time the remaining Calverley family had moved away from South Stoke (Henry Jr. was appointed the rector of Bassingham, Lincolnshire that same year).

Elizabeth Sophia moved to Kensington, London with her husband after he resigned from his post in Ceylon in 1872. He was later appointed General Inspector (1876) and Assistant Secretary (1878) to the Local Government Board in Whitehall, London and Inspector of Schools in 1880. Elizabeth’s mother was living with them at 15 Southwell Gardens, Kensington (a large four-storey property) when the 1881 census was taken, along with five servants including a lady’s maid, cook, upper housemaid, housemaid and kitchen maid. Henry Jr. had been admitted to the rectory of Church Brampton and the diocese of Peterborough, Northamptonshire in 1879, and he and his wife were living in the rectory when the census was taken with three servants. Mary was visiting in Charlcombe, Somerset and described herself as a “gentlewoman” (age 53), whilst Charles and his wife were living at 17 Devonshire Terrace, Paddington, London where they had been for several years. Sadly, Charles (49) was no longer able to practice law due to sustaining a head injury in a skating accident.

The story takes a dark turn when in Jul 1882 fifty-six-year-old Henry Jr. (below right) was charged with sexually assaulting two young girls, Annie Clarke and Florence Coombs, at the Racecourse recreation park in Northampton. He was tried at Petty Sessions and found not guilty, with all witnesses for the defendant backing up his innocent love of children. After the trial, he continued his work as the rector of Church Brampton, apparently untainted, until his retirement in 1912 aged 85.

Charles (below left) died of Bright’s disease on 17th Feb 1884 at his home at 17 Devonshire Terrace, Hyde Park, London aged 52 (with an estate valued at £1.25m today), followed by the death of their mother on Christmas Day 1885, aged 87 (at Elizabeth’s home). She was buried in the family plot alongside their father and brother Frederick on New Year’s Eve. Earlier that year Elizabeth’s husband Walter had been appointed Governor of the Windward Islands, an administrative grouping of British colonies. He was created CMG (Companion Grand Cross) two years later and became the Governor of Barbados and Knighted as KCMG (Knight Commander Grand Cross) in 1889, making the couple Sir Walter Sendall and Lady Elizabeth Sendall. Elsewhere in the Calverley family, the son of Elizabeth’s 1st cousin married the niece of the late Prime Minster Benjamin DISRELI.


Elizabeth was a dedicated fund-raiser who tirelessly supported local charities. In 1892 she joined her husband in Cyprus when he became High Commissioner and successfully raised enough money to construct a Greek Orthodox church for the eighty residents of the leper colony outside Nicosia, as well as funds for a new Anglican church in the same area. Elizabeth’s passion for needlework, which began as a young girl in South Stoke in the early 1840s, significantly impacted her time in Cyprus, where she helped the local women earn better money from the sale of their lace and embroidery.

A sale of work of unusual interest will be held on Nov. 27, at 45, Brompton-crescent (now Egerton-crescent), S.W., by permission of Mrs Antrobus. For some three years past, Lady Sendall, wife of the Governor of Cyprus, has made efforts to help the poor women in the island to sell their work for rather better prices than the miserable ones they obtain from the middleman. Sales have been held, with the result that over £300 has been realised in a short time. The goods offered have only to be seen to be appreciated. Hand-made linen is trimmed with a handsome coarse linen lace in square Greek patterns, most of the patterns being handed down for hundreds of years. Fine linen cloths are worked with delicate embroidery in true Eastern colours and gold. A quantity of hand-woven silk and cotton stuffs suitable for teagowns will be on sale, and striped cottons, which would make charming blouses. The wares are priced low, and ought to find ready purchasers. (The Queen, 28th November 1896)

The couple remained in Cyprus until 1898 when Walter was appointed the Governor of British Guiana, arriving in March. The following June Elizabeth set up a needlework competition for teachers and pupils, soon after named “Lady Sendall’s Needlework Competition.”

Educational Notices.
COMPETITION IN NEEDLEWORK.
NOTICE is hereby given that Examinations in Needlework will be held at the undermentioned places on Friday, 22nd December, 1899, at 11 a.m., and that the successful competitors will receive Medals or Certificates from Lady Sendall.
The competitors will be given a piece of calico about 8 inches square on which they will be required to do, (a) about three inches of hemming, of back stitching, and of over seaming; (b) to sew on a linen button and to make a button hole; (c) to make a patch; and (d) to insert a gusset. Time allowed, 3 hours.
Each teacher will be permitted to present for examination one fourth (or any less number) of the number of girls in attendance, but no scholar who is over 15 years of age will be eligible. The prize winners will be required to furnish proof of age after the award is published.
Schoolmasters who desire that their scholars shall take part in the competition are requested to inform the undersigned with as little delay as possible. The names, number of competitors, and the Centres at which they propose to sit need not be sent before November 1st.
W. BLAIR, Inspector of Schools. Education Department, 21st June, 1899.

Over 1000 pieces of needlework were entered into the completion, which Elizabeth examined and graded. The results were printed in the local newspaper in Feb 1900.

The following letter on the subject of the above Competition is published by the kind permission of Lady SENDALL :-
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, BRITISH GUIANA, 26th February, 1900.
Dear Mr. Blair,
I have at length, with the aid of kind helpers, finished the examination of the 1,050 specimens of needlework – (120 of those on the original lists, were not sent in) and I forward you the results.
We examined every specimen and found fully 3-fourths hopelessly out of the pale of competition for prizes. We then went carefully through the remainder, giving marks according to your plan for the Pupil Teachers, to each of the 6 kinds of work in every specimen. I am, by my special wish, as you know, wholly ignorant of what schools the numbers represent, but now that the examination is over, I shall be much interested in learning the names both of schools and children.
Having no clue to the ages, made the judging a little unsatisfactory, as what would be very good work for a child of 7 or 8, might be obviously not so for one of 13 or 14, and the specimens had to be judged as if all were done by one standard of age, and of time in school. Having followed your scale of marks, I have made 59 the minimum for any prizes, being just below that for “Very Good,” but amongst those who are not included within this limit, there are many who did well in one or more of the 6 kinds of work shewn, although not in the other kinds – the hemming and stitching are often very good, much better than the sewing. Some of the children merely turned down the calico once, for sewing, which is of course, quite wrong, being simply overcasting. In all these cases I deducted one mark, as only fair towards those who had sewn two pie pieces together in the right way. I have also made the same deduction, where stitching is done without any turning down, on the single calico.
Some of the work is extremely good, so far as it goes, and we were really sorry that in no case could we give the highest marks to all the 6 kinds in our specimen, and that therefore none reached the maximum of V.G.
Centre IX. sent the greatest number of specimens and has been the most successful, the hemming, gussets and patches being specially good – in many instances, the gussets are put in simply as a triangular piece, which is not the most correct way; but as the children had been taught in this manner, we gave all equal marks, according to the neatness of the work. In Centre XIV. a specimen was sent by a girl with only one hand, and is really wonderful, making her the 15th of the 33 successful competitors – she deserves special recognition for work done well under such disadvantages.
I am afraid we do not consider that any specimen quite merits a silver medal, as none have obtained full marks, but No.276 comes so near the maximum of V.G. that I think she might have one – and, with your approbation, I propose to give the next fourteen a plated medal, which will include No.443 (the girl with the one hand.) All the thirty-three will, as we arranged, have a certificate.
If I am here another year, I shall hope to have another competition, and many more successful competitors, also more kinds of needlework than the six now shewn – and I should like to say, through the Managers or Teachers, to all the children who have competed, that the unsuccessful ones must not be discouraged, because they have failed at their first competition, but that I hope they will take all the more pains to improve, and will be ready to try again, when the next chance comes.
Thanking you, most heartily, for all your assistance and trouble,
I am, sincerely yours,
E. S. SENDALL.

Walter was created GCMG (Knight Grand Cross) in 1899 and retired from his post as Governor of British Guiana in Jul 1901 with the last of Lady Sendall’s Needlework Competition held in Dec 1902, well after the couple had departed. The yearly competition continued to run for several years but was no longer associated with Elizabeth. Walter represented the West Indian Colonies, Bermuda and the Falkland Islands at the Coronation of Edward VII in 1902 and two years later died at their large 6-storey, 17-roomed home at 91 Cornwall Gardens, Kensington on 19th Mar 1904 aged 71. Elizabeth’s sister Mary had predeceased him, dying on 3rd Aug 1902 at her home at 9 Carlyle Mansions, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London aged 74 with an estate worth £1.4m today. Henry, her last remaining sibling, retired from his duties as Reverend in May 1912 and he and his wife Mary moved to Ealing, London where he died on 7th Feb 1916 aged 90. Despite the serious accusation back in 1882, he had been very well-liked and respected by his parishioners.

Elizabeth moved to 22 Kensington Court Gardens in 1918/1919 after the war ended, a modest five-storey, eight-roomed property (plus servants), where she died there on 19th Dec 1925 aged 92. Her estate was valued at £11370 5s 10d (about £580k today). Walter’s remains had been cremated at Golders Green in 1904, as too were Elizabeth’s. Her title at death was Dame Elizabeth Sophia Sendall, and in her will she left generous gifts of £500 each to her former housemaid and butler (over £25k each today).

 


DESCENDANTS

Elizabeth and Walter did not have any children, nor did her brother Henry or sister Mary. Of her brother Charles’s three children, one died at age two and the other two sons did not marry. Sadly, this means there are no direct or close living relatives to whom Elizabeth’s girlhood sampler can be passed on.

Looking at her wider family, Elizabeth had eighteen paternal cousins, some of which married and had children. A few have traceable (all be it distant) living descendants in England, Ireland and Canada, but very few retain the Calverley name.

RESOURCES & REFERENCES

I use many different resources during my research, a majority of which I do online. For this project, I used:

Newspaper articles reproduced with the permission of the British Newspaper Archive and The British Library Board. Maps reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

If you have any questions regarding my research or would like anything added or amended, please contact me.

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