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Scrapbook
from Ickenham (part 1) |
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An interesting event occurred
at Uxbridge Union Workhouse on Monday, when Fanny Collins, an inmate
of the infirmary, celebrated her hundredth birthday. Fanny was born
on 5th February, 1800, and on the occasion spoken of as having come
off on Monday she was the recipient of congratulatory messages by poet,
telephone and telegraph. Several ladies called during the day and brought
presents to gladden the old lady’s heart. One present received
was a nice birthday cake supplied by Mr. F. Cooper, High-street, Uxbridge,
which bore the inscription "With best wishes to Fanny Collins,
age 100 years, Feb, 5th, 1900." It is needless to add that the
centenarian was very grateful to her kind donor.
The subject of our notice first saw the light at Ruislip Common, where she
had lived with her father (himself a native of the parish of Ruislip), and
mother for years. The father's name was Thomas Collins and he had been a shepherd
at Manor Farm, Ruislip, at that time occupied by Mr. Wilshin. Mrs. Collins
had been a cook in her maiden days. Fanny is one of a family of four sons and
three daughters and has outlived all her brothers and sisters. Her start in
life was as a humble dairymaid in the neighborhood of her home. Being active
and industrious she progressed to the honorable sphere of a housekeeper and
as such filled situations in the houses of the late Mr. Matheson, farmer, Eastcote,
and of Mr. Rush, Eastbury, at each place for many year-. As a servant she gained
the esteem of her employers and earned the respect of all who knew her as an
industrious woman. To her brothers she was ever kind and ready to lend a helping
hand. Never known to be idle, her needle, when other duties allowed, was always
stitching and patching, patchwork being her delight. Miss Collins never traversed
far from the scene of her childhood, her situations all being within the precincts
of Ruislip, Eastcote and Eastbury. Her figure was a familiar one for years
at Uxbridge market whither she went on behalf of her uncle Mr. Matheson, farmer,
Eastcote, with produce. She has paid £5 for one sack of flour at the
shop now occupied by Mrs. Bradfield, and has taken home £22 for one load
of wheat after paying Mr. Bassett market toll. She has brought from Eastcote
14lbs of butter a week to the Old Treaty House, in the time of the running
of the old stage coaches, and has given 11d, per llb for moist sugar. After
going home one day from market she found her chest of drawers had been broken
open and £47 extracted. Miss Collins has been blessed with very good
health. One misfortune she has had and that was she never could read, but this
drawback did not prevent her from being an interesting person. Of a cheerful
and jolly disposition her company was much sought after by her friends. When
advancing years precluded her continuing in service she retired to live on
her savings at a cottage at King's End, Ruislip. The loneliness of her retirement
aroused the sympathies of her friends and the aged woman was persuaded to accept
more cheerful quarters at her sister-in-law's house in Hillingdon-road, Uxbridge.
Here she lived for some years until circumstances necessitated her sister-in-law's
(herself an old lady) removal to the union. Fanny was then offered a comfortable
home at her nephew's at Ruislip. Thither the went to stay but old age had begun
to work its way and to prey upon her mind. She was a little "hoity-toity," and
one fine day in the height 0f last summer - on one of the hottest days experienced,
Fanny took it into her head to start and walk to Uxbridge, a feat at her great
age utterly beyond her strength. She managed to toddle the length of Harefield-road,
where overcome with exhaustion she slipped on a stone, and fell into the ditch.
As Mr. F. Gregory, billposter, was riding past in his trap he observed the
hapless condition of the old lady. He had her conveyed to her niece's house
at the bottom of the High-street, where it was found on medical examination
that Fanny had badly cut her temple. Her injuries were carefully attended to
and then she was conveyed to the Union infirmary which she entered on the 19th
July last. There she has remained ever since and there she at present is looking
very well and feeling well. Our representative had the pleasure of shaking
hands with her on Wednesday morning and found her bright to talk to. Fanny's
memory and hearing are gone a little bit, but in her other facilities seems
quite alert.
ONE AGAINST THE MEAN MAN.
A CAPITAL joke is related of a
man who positively made a fine art of meanness. When traveling, as
he very often did, he would
keep railway porters busily
attending to his luggage, and then purposely defer the much-deserved
perquisite till the starting of the train made its payment practically
impossible.
One morning however, when about to journey to Birmingham he executed
this manoeuvre once too often on the same man.
" Dear ! dear I am so sorry,' he said, as the train give a lurch forward. "I
quite forgot to get change"
" And I am rale sorry, too, sir," was the porter's dry retort; "I
quite forgot about that brown portmantay of yours -it's lying on the platform,"
THE SHORDICHE FAMILY AND ICKENHAM
An enquiry of ours in our leader columns some few weeks back has brought
us, from unimpeachable authority, the following very interesting
information.
From a hook entitled "The Mistakes we Make," by C. E. Clark,
I take the following extract. "Shoreditch as a matter of fact really
takes its name from the old family of Soerdiches who were Lords of the
Manor in the time of Edward III. Stowe mentions a house at Hackney called
Shore Place which was probably the mansion of Sir John Soerdiche who was
one of the brothers-in-arms of the Black Prince." The family is also
mentioned in Cassell's " Old and New London," Chapter 25 on Shoreditch.
The Parish Magazine for June 1885 of St. Michael's, Shoreditch, has this
notice: "Sordig, Sordich, Soresditch and Shoredyeb, for by these names
it is called in ancient records, is of imperfect origin. The manor of Shoreditch
gave name to a very eminent family of whom Sir John de Sordig was Ambassador
from Edward III to the Pope to remonstrate against the frequent presentations
of non-resident foreigners to English Benefices. He was buried in Hackney
Church." The family of Shoreditch afterwards removed to Ickenham
in Middlesex, where it devolved on Elizabeth Shoreditch of Ickenham-1784.
It at one time ranked amongst the wealthiest commoners of England,
having lands in Hackney, Shoreditch, Hillingdon, Hendon, Uxbridge
and Ickenham.
There are monuments to the family in St. Leonard's and St. Michael's,
Shoreditch, also in Ickenham Church. The mural tablets in this latter
had been removed
some time back, I was told, for the purposes of cleaning the walls.
I trust they have been restored to their original places. Some from
their ancient
dates could testify to the antiquity of that sweet little village
church. None but one family has ever borne the name ; hence it is
uncommon.
Two little ones grown tired of play
Roamed by the sea one summer day,
Watching the great waves come and go,
Prattling as children will, you know,
Of dolls and marbles, kites and strings ;
Sometimes hinting at graver things.
At last they spied within their reach
An old boat cast upon the beach ;
Helter skelter, with merry din,
Over its sides they scrambled in
Ben, with lrs tangled nut-brown hair,
Bess, with her sweet face, flushed and fair.
Rolling in from the briny deep,
Nearer, nearer, the great waves creep
Higher, higher up the sands,
Reaching out with their giant hands,
Grasping the boat in boisterous glee,
Tossing it up and out to sea.
The sun went down with clouds of gold ;
Night came with footsteps damp and cold ;
Day dawned ; the hours crept slowly by ;
And now across the sunny sky
A dark cloud stretches far away,
And shuts the golden gates of day.
A storm comes on, with flash and roar,
While all the sky is clouded o'er ;
The great waves rolling from the west,
Bring night and darkness on their breast ;
Still floats the boat through driving storm.
Protected by God's powerful arm.
The home-bound vessel, ,Sea-bird, lies
In ready trim 'twixt sea and skies ;
Her captain paces restless now,
A troubled look upon his brow ;
While all his nerves with terror thrill—
A shadow of some coming ill.
The mate comes up to where he stands,
And grasps his arm with eager hands ;
"
A boat has just swept past," says he,
" Bearing two children out to sea;
'Tis dangerous now to put about,
Yet they can not be saved without."
"Naught but their safety
will suffice;
They must be saved !" the captain cries;
" By every thought that's just and right,
By lips I hope to kiss to-night,
I'll peril vessel, life and men,
And God will not forsake me then."
With anxious faces, one and all,
Each man responded to the call,
And when at last, through driving storm,
They lifted up each little form,
The captain started with a groan,
"
My God!" he cried, "they are my own."
ROSE HARTWICK THORNE
THE AMAZING MARRIAGE.
At Christ Church, Mintern-street,.New North-road, Islington,
yesterday, at half-past nine, was solemnised the marriage of George Augustus
Keen, A.B. sea-man, and Adelaide Carr, of 327, New North-road, There
was so large en attendance of guests, mostly unbidden—about 25,000
of them, in fact—that only a very small number could be accommodated
in the church. The others had to be content to wail, outside, and to
cheer the happy pair as they left, a duty which the crowd discharged
enthusiastically. After the ceremony the wedding breakfast, followed
by a strictly limited reception, took place by kind permission of the
owners of the premises, in a shop window in Essex-road. The unbidden
guests, who for obvious reasons could not be invited in had an open:
air and joyous, if demonstrative gathering in Essex-road and neighbouring
streets, police men mounted or on feet acting as stewards, and keeping
ladies and gentlemen, for their own sakes, on the move, as far as motion
of any kind was feasible in the crush. Once or twice the outside gathering
nearly got inside, through the window, the pressure on which all but
smashed it in. Happily, policemen managed to restrain the flattering
eagerness of the crowd, and none of the uninvited guests landed on the
luncheon table.
Early on Saturday evening the unbidden portion of the wedding party began to
gather in Essex-road. One penny per head was charged for admission to the shop
window and five minutes admiration of the tables set out for the luncheon.
A total sum of £5 1s 6d, including a dozen sixpences, was thus realised,
and will be handed over to charity. By nine o'clock yesterday morning not only
Essex-road, but adjoining streets, were crammed. An hour later, when the wedding
party proper sat down to lunch, most of the neighbourhood was blocked, tramways
and 'buses stopped. No one could approach within a quarter of a mile of the
shop window, and the crowd was quite credibly estimated at 25,000 persons.
It was an amazing marriage! Mrs. George Augustus Keen, to whom the representative
of The Daily Telegraph had the honour of being introduced when she was still
Miss Carr, did not mind much the drawbacks of the situation. Anyhow, the ten-guinea
brass bedstead and the champagne lunch were well worth the trifling inconvenience
of a little publicity. As she observed, when she first closed with the offer,
she was going to take jolly good care she did not, as had a previous bride,
back out at the eleventh hour, and she did not. She sat pluckily and coolly
through the lunch, facing the window, the easement of which framed a - curious
picture o hundreds of faces pressed against the panes, and arms and caps waving
above. On Saturday Miss Carr that was a trifle nervous about showing herself
when she came to inspect the preparations, as she was afraid of the crowd,
which then already had gathered in the street, becoming familiar with her face—a
pretty, gentle, rather plaintive little face, with a white, almost waxen complexion,
and a small nose somewhat tip-tilted. But on the great day George Augustus
Keen bore up gallantly. All in white silk, with a wreath of orange blossoms
on her light brown hair, as she stepped out of the church into one of the four
carriages which conveyed the party to the shop she looked bravely round at
the crowd, and merely nodded to the shouts of “Hooray!” “Buck
up!" "Don't be afraid," while the bridegroom, sturdy and well
set-up in his black Sunday suit, gave but a flitting glance to the scene, and
was heard, as he buried himself quickly away from eight in the carriage, to
ejaculate some prayer for a blessing on his stars. At luncheon, Mrs. George
Augustus Keen never winced when the crowd nearly broke through the window.
The bashful mariner, her husband, on the contrary, was decidedly shy. He kept
one eye on that weird picture of faces, as long as the blinds were up, and
breathed more freely, and ate and drank more heartily, when they were afterwards
drawn down. Mrs. Keen mere, a lady of most dignified demeanour, preserved perfect
composure, and was not displeased to show that she knew now to deport herself
with a gravity befitting the occasion. Within the shop window—though
without there were some lively moments between the police and the crowd—luncheon
proceeded with order and regularity. The tables strewn with white flowers and
decorated with silver surtouts, among which towered the four-foot high wedding
cake, had been placed all round the shop, which had been completely cleared
for the occasion. The happy pair occupied places of honour and conspicuousness,
facing the window. Once the bidden guests had been safely got inside the shop,
and the van of the 25,000 others had been securely shut outside, smart waiters—one
hailed from Simpson’s served roast beef and roast fowl, which were succeeded
by York ham, tongue, and pressed beef, and washed down with ale. Then came
blancmange, jellies, custards, cheese, with champagne, and, to complete the
menu quite fashionably, black coffee. Speeches followed, but were rather cut
short, as the anxious eye of the shop-owner observed that the outside party
was once more trying to get inside through the window. The bridegroom drank
to the guests, and the comprehensive toast was fully honoured. The manager
of the shop proposed the bride's health. Other speakers were prepared to rise,
but it was thought wiser to wish the young couple—their added ages do
not make forty-five years—God speed at once, and they drove off to their
home, whither the cake was sent on after them, to be cut in privacy, which
must have been rather a relief after so much publicity. The ten-guinea bedstead
and wedding breakfast offer will, the manager of the shop promises, be renewed
once every year, and he wants all prospective brides and bride-grooms to know
that it is open, not only to Islingtonians, but to all England. The caterer
says, how-ever, that he does not think he will undertake to work a shop-window
wedding breakfast again.
RIOT AT WATFORD
SPECIAL CONSTABLES SWORN IN
(June 1901)
The postponement of the local festivities in connection with the Coronation
gave rise to rioting of a disgraceful character at Watford on Thursday
night and early yesterday morning. The event was to have been celebrated
by a round of amusements in Cassiobury Park, which had been lent for
the occasion by the Earl of Essex, and a strong committee of the towns-people
had provided for a parade of the urban district council, a procession
of various trade societies and Volunteers, sports, presentation of
money to school children, a dinner to the poor, and a huge bonfire
and fireworks. But when the news of the serious illness o his Majesty
was received a meeting was' hastily summoned and the members of the
committee came to the commendable conclusion that it would be improper
at m a time to adhere to a programme which had been arranged at time
of public rejoicing. It is not too much to say that every respectable
citizen o the Hertfordshire town applauds the action taken by these
gentlemen. The nature of the Watford Hooligan, however, did not permit
him to understand the loyal and sympathetic feelings which prompted
the action of the town committee, and he, being deprived of the amusements
he anticipated, endeavoured to find a new outlet for his boisterous
spirits. Early on Thursday evening a large number of roughs assembled
in the market place, and it was evident to the police that mischief
was brewing. Soon after sunset the crowd thinned somewhat, and, no
doubt in accordance with a preconceived plan, a move was made to the
Harwood estate, on which the wood for the bonfire had been placed.
The rowdies speedily set light to the pile and hustled a watchman out
of his box in order that his shelter might be added to the flames.
Hurdles and palings were also torn down and thrown on the fire. The
surveyor, Mr. Water-house, remonstrated with, the mob, but so violent
was the demeanour of the roughs that he had to beat a hasty retreat
to a house near by, the windows of which were broken by the stones
hurled at him.
Having tired of damaging the surrounding property for the purposes
of the bonfire, the roughs again trooped into the musket-place, and
soon after ten commenced a series of outrages on private property which
the police were for a time utterly unable to prevent. It should be
mentioned that in consequence of some disturbances at Hemel Hempstead,
a portion of the Watford police had been taken away, but had the whole
force remained in the town their numbers would probably have been insufficient
to cope with the unruly element. Emboldened by the success which had
already attended their plans, the mob made an attack on the shop of
Mr. Fisher, the chairman of the urban district council, and the only
reason that can be imagined why he should be made the butt of the crowd's
violence is that he felt it his duty, as chairman of the celebration
committee, to propose the postponement of the festivities. Stones were
thrown, every window in the front of his premises was demolished, and
the iron shutters protecting the shop were pulled down. Having done
considerable damage there, the attention of the rowdies was attracted
to the drapery establishment on the opposite side of the square be-longing
to Mr. Longley, another member of the committee. A hoarding fixed to
protect the lower windows was demolished, the plate-glass windows were
smashed, and linens, articles of clothing, boots, shoes, and umbrellas
thrown into the streets. All the available police were brought to the
spot by Superintendent W. Wood, of the Herts Constabulary, and a barrier
prevented further depredations for some time. A message was sent for
assistance, and the Watford men returned from Hemel Hempstead. From
Bushey and St. Albans more constables arrived, and after midnight a
detachment from the S Division of the Metropolitan Police, which had
been telegraphed for, came to the assistance of the local men. Meanwhile
a second rush had been made on Mr. Fisher's house, and a quantity of
paper and drapery goods looted from Mr. Longley's premises were burnt
in an endeavour to create a conflagration. The fire brigade experienced
no little difficulty in reaching the spot, and before they could get
to work a dastardly attempt was made to cut the hose. The fire was,
however, speedily got under.
At this period matters looked so ominous that it was deemed desirable
to take extreme measures, and Mr. W. T. Coles, a magistrate, read the
Riot Act. Many peaceable citizens came forward to tend their aid in
quelling a disturbance which they considered a disgrace to their town,
and in a short space of time Superintendent Wood had enrolled 200 of
them as special constables, and armed them with truncheons. The order
was then given to clear the streets, and the police, with the new force,
soon began to get the crowd under control. Any resistance on the part
of the roughs was treated as it deserved, and by half-past two yesterday
morning Watford was quiet again. Some fifty arrests of men and woman
were made, and in every case the men belonged to the lower class. Two
benches of magistrates sat at St. Albans to hear the charges, and most
of the prisoners were remanded and taken back to Watford, where, handcuffed
in twos, they were marched through the streets to the goal, strongly
guarded by police. There were several casualties among the members
of the force, Inspector Boutell end several constables being severely
hurt by stones, while the horses of the mounted men were badly cut.
Among the crowed, it was stated, there were many broken heads a fact
which the appearance of the antiquated, but serviceable-looking, weapons
placed in the hands of the special constables would seem to bear out.
The police spoke in the highest terms of the manner in which the special
constables performed their duty.
As the sequel to the abandonment of Coronation festivities, some singular
scenes have been witnessed in several places in South Lincolnshire.
At Sutton Bridge there was a hostile demonstration against the committee.
The malcontents paraded the streets, set fire to a bonfire which had
been prepared, and otherwise expressed their displeasure. At Holbeach
and other places the Coronation bonfires were prematurely lighted.
A huge bonfire erected on Rodborough-common, overlooking Stroud,
was ignited early on Friday morning, despite the presence of a watchman
and the supervision of the police. It has taken a week to build,
and
cost £50, being one of the most prominent in the county.
Great friction has been caused at Harrow owing to the abandonment of
the tea and dinner arranged as Coronation festivities. A procession
visited the house of Dr. Steven, chairman of the council, where a hostile
demonstration, in which tin kettles played a conspicuous part, was
indulged in. Yesterday the children of the Waifs and Strays School
marched with tickets in their hands to the recreation ground, but there
was nothing for them. Another procession was formed last night, and
the police and firemen were engaged in guarding the bonfires.