The Kipling Carpet Manufacturers of

Francis <------|------> John Francis Edward | <------'------> "Mayor" Francis Lawrence Francis Alfred Edward dsmp | dsp dsp |------> Frank Ernest John Petrie | dsp? |------,------,------> Jeffery L Frank A Ernest A Eric S | dsp? dsp dsp? |------,------,------> Eric D Ernest J Michael R Norman G dsp dsp? | ? Simon S ?

Francis Kipling, son of Francis Kipling of Blackwell, weaver, was born in 1764 (see “The Kiplings of Darlington”). He was described as a weaver like his father at the time of his marriage to Jane Teasdale in 1794.

Darlington St Cuthbert BTs.

Their first son, John, was born in 1796 and a second son Francis in 1800. Young Francis met with an unfortunate end.

Burials, Darlington District - Record Number: 497410.2 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 17 Nov 1802 Francis Kipling, of Darlington, age: 2, died 16 Nov, son of Francis Kipling (weaver) & Jane his wife late Teasdale, scalded [to death]

A third son was born in 1805 but only baptised in 1811, also called Francis.

Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 251082.0 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 16 Jun 1811 Francis Kipling, born 8-Aug 1805, 3rd son of Francis Kipling (weaver, native of Blackwell) & Jane Teasdale (native of Cockerton)

Francis and Jane also had daughters Mary (1795; d1795), Mary (1798), Martha (1803, bpt 1811), Jane (1810, bpt 1811) and Ann (1813, bpt 1820) and another son Edward (1807, bpt 1811 – see ‘Edward Kipling – Mayor of Darlington’).

Francis is recorded in the 1798 land tax assessment.

Francis is first named as a carpet manufacturer in two documents of 1813.

SDD-62 and 63. 17 and 18 September 1813 (1) John Teasdale of Cockerton, farmer, younger son of John Teasdale deceased. (2) Francis Kipling of Darlington, carpet manufacturer, and his wife Jane. Joseph Johnson of Close House near Shadforth, farmer and his wife Ann. (Jane Kipling and Ann Johnson being the daughters of John Teasdale deceased). (3) John Sowerby of Scorton, Yorks., farmer. (4) Nanny Garth of Cockerton, widow. (5) Jonathan Backhouse of Darlington, banker. Samuel Forster of Darlington, gent. Copyhold pasture close, formerly part of Little Moor (5 acres). Freehold tithes of corn, grain and hay arising from the same. Lease and Release by (1) to (4) in respect of the freehold tithes; covenants by (1) and (3) to surrender the copyhold to the use of (5) in trust for (4); and discharge by (2) in respect of legacies charged on the premises under their father's will; all in consideration of the payment of £450 by (4). Lease 1m. Release, Covenants and Discharge 2mm. ef: M/Da 1138-1139. 14 and 15 January 1813 (1) Rev. Thomas Vasey (2) Green Atkinson, Darlington, printer; Robert Bland, Darlington, draper; Christopher Dove the younger, Darlington, currier; William Dove, Darlington, currier; John Davison, Darlington, machine maker; Matthew Davison, Cockerton, gent; William Forster, Darlington, grocer; Thomas Flintoff, Jolby, Yorkshire, gent; Thomas Laidman 1138-1139 Hodgson, Darlington, banker's clerk; James Ianson, Darlington, gent Francis Kipling, Darlington, carpet manufacturer, John Lowis, Darlington, grocer; George Middleton, Darlington, tanner; Robert Middleton, Darlington, currier; James Marshall, Darlington, cabinet maker, Matthew Naylor, Darlington, leather dresser; Thomas Pickering, Darlington, gent; John Pomfret, Darlington, currier; Henry Smith, Darlington, tallow chandler; George Spencer, Darlington, cabinet maker; Robert Stephenson, Darlington, linen draper; Jonathan Spark, Darlington, glover and James Thompson, Darlington, silversmith Covenant to stand seised of a parcel of copyhold land on the south side of Bondgate, Darlington; and lease and release of same, together with a declaration of trusts. (parchment, 5 membranes, applied seals) - [Acc: 1506 (D)]

In 1820 Francis and his son John were two of the executors of the will of Francis’s brother John. In it they are both named as carpet manufacturers.

Francis was also described as a carpet manufacturer at the time of youngest daughter Anne’s baptism.

Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 791398.0 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 3 Feb 1820 Ann Kipling, of Darlington, born 18-Aug 1813, daughter of Francis (carpet manufacturer) & Jane Kipling

Anne later married banker Andrew Common and their daughter was the second wife of the well-known Congregationalist preacher, Joseph Parker.

Commercial Directory of Scotland, Ireland & Northern Counties Of 1820-21 Bombazet is a thin plain or twill-woven worsted cloth with smooth finish used for dresses and coats.

Daughter Martha married William Nicholson in 1825 and son John married Amelia Kane in 1827.

Durham County Advertiser - Saturday 01 October 1825

Marriages, Darlington District - Record Number: 339559.1 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 3 Jul 1827 John Kipling (bachelor), of this parish married Amelia Kane (spinster), of this parish, by licence Witnesses: Richard Appleton, Francis Kipling, Elizabeth Kane, Mary Ann Kane, Mary Kipling

A daughter, Elizabeth Jane, was born in 1831 and baptised at the Methodist chapel of which his father was a trustee. John at this time was in the leather trade. Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 1429180.0 Location: Darlington Church: Bondgate Wesleyan Methodist Denomination: Methodist 13 Sep 1831 Elizabeth Jane Kipling, of Darlington, born 3 Oct 1830, daughter of John (currier) & Amelia Kipling

“Nicholas Bragg was born in 1813 in Barnard Castle. His father, Sergeant Bragg, was among the Scots Greys who fought at Waterloo. As his hometown was the carpet capital of the north, Nicholas became a carpet weaver. In 1827, Barney had five carpet factories whereas Darlington – a much bigger town – had only two. Something, though, drew Nicholas to Darlington and he found work in Francis Kipling and Son’s carpet factory on the banks of the Skerne, in Northgate”

Chris Lloyd, Deputy Editor, Northern Echo / Wednesday 19 May 2010.

Piggot’s Directory 1828. Darlington

Durham County Advertiser - Saturday 27 December 1828

Westmorland Gazette. Saturday 7 March 1829

Newcastle Courant Saturday 14 March 1829

At some time, Francis’s son, Francis jnr (1805) joined the business. He was witness to the marriage of one of his mother’s relatives in 1830.

Marriages, Darlington District - Record Number: 347348.1 Location: Haughton-le-Skerne Church: St. Andrew Denomination: Anglican 29 May 1830 John Teasdale (bachelor), of this parish married Mary Elstob (spinster), of this parish, by licence Witnesses: William Unthank, jun'r, Francis Kipling, jun'r, Jane Elstob, Mary Kipling

History of Durham (1834). Mackenzie and Ross

John and Francis voted in the 1832 general election. They both gave both their votes to Joseph Pease, a Liberal was the first Quaker MP.

Westmorland Advertiser and Kendal Chronicle - Saturday 20 July 1833

Francis senior died in 1834

The Durham County Advertiser 04/04/1834

He was buried at St Cuthbert’s in Darlington and the inscription on his grave reads as follows:

Erected in memory of Francis KIPLING who died March 1834 in the 71st year of his age. ‘He died as sets the morning star, which goes not down behind the darkened west nor hides, Obscured behind the tempests of the sky; But melts away into the light of Heaven’ Also Jane his wife who died Dec 30th 1850 in the 79th year of her age.

His will is long and intricate, leaving amounts to his widow and children and appointing his sons and two of his wife’s brothers (Thomas Teasdale of Cockerton and John Teasdale of Darlington) as executors and trustees. His will refers to his dwelling house at Northgate, Darlington and to stock in the Darlington and the North of England Joint Stock Banking Companies. In the will, his status is given as ‘gentleman’.

Some property was sold later in the year to help meet the bequests under the will.

Newcastle Courant 01/11/1834

Francis jnr. was clearly a bit of a lad, unlike his two brothers (John - and Edward, currier and later Mayor of Darlington) who were pillars of the Methodist church.

Leeds Times - Saturday 29 August 1835

Leeds Times - Saturday 16 May 1840

In 1841, John was living in Darlington. He was now in the carpet business.

Northgate, Darlington 1841 Francis was most probably living at the house of Navy sailor Samuel Ramsey at Seaton Carew.

Francis senior’s widow, Jane, was living with youngest daughter, Ann, in Bondgate.

In 1842, the firm sued a rival for copying its carpet patterns – and won.

London Standard - Monday 08 August 1842

Carlisle Journal - Saturday 03 September 1842

At the National Archives are the books of design registration. The earliest entry for the Kiplings is actually from 1843, the year after the above trial

BT 43/105/7750-1. Ornamental Design Act 1842 Representations. June 1843. A similar pattern was registered in August that year:

John and Francis were meanwhile playing an increasingly wider role in the Darlington community.

Durham County Advertiser - Friday 29 March 1844

Newcastle Courant - Friday 18 October 1844

Newcastle Journal - Saturday 15 February 1845

Carlisle Patriot - Friday 10 October 1845

Newcastle Courant - Friday 31 October 1845

Yorkshire Gazette - Saturday 07 February 1846

Durham County Advertiser - Friday 14 April 1848

John was also a railway director.

North British Daily Mail - Monday 30 July 1849

North British Daily Mail - Monday 24 September 1849 The records below are from the 1847 Tithe records of Darlington. They show John and Francis as landlords of two properties, with John owning and occupying a third, all in Northgate. The one John owns and occupies may well be the site of the carpet factory. Francis also leases two fields on the north-west edge of the town.

Darlington Tithe records 1847 Francis married in Liverpool in 1847 and a first child was born the following year in Darlington.

The Albion - Monday 16 August 1847

Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 763015.0 Location: Darlington Church: Holy Trinity Denomination: Anglican 20 Sep 1848 Francis Alfred Kipling, of Darlington, son of Francis (carpet manufacturer) & Eliza Kipling

Jane, widow of Francis senior, died in 1850. The newspaper report would appear to have the wrong name and the burial record the correct one.

York Herald: Saturday 04 January 1851 (Died 30 Dec1850)

Burials, Darlington District - Record Number: 937778.2 Location: Darlington Church: St. Cuthbert Denomination: Anglican 3 Jan 1851 Jane Kipling, of Darlington, age: 78

Hagar & Co’s Directory of Durham 1851

Northgate, Darlington 1851

Bondgate, Darlington 1851 From 1851 to 1853, John and Francis (and uncle John Teasdale) were involved in a court case which related to the calls on shareholders of the North of England Joint Stock Banking Company, which had failed in 1847 (C14/1248/H124 and C32/150). Francis senior had been a shareholder and a sum of over £3,000 had been adjudged as due from his estate (the Bank itself had debts estimated at £140,000). On John Kipling’s death, his widow and son were made party to the case.

The London Gazette. 8 November 1853

John Kipling had died in November 1851 and in his will divided his estate equally between his sons and daughters, with the income therefrom for his widow Amelia for as long as she lives. He also allows son Francis Lawrence to draw up to £1000 “for the increase of the capital of the carpet manufacturing business in which he is now engaged”. Interest at 5% is, however, payable.

He was buried at Holy Trinity, Darlington.

John Kipling fell asleep in Jesus Nov 22 AD 1851 Aged 55. Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

Also Amelia his Wife who died March 13th 1866 aged 75. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.

Carpet patterns continued to be registered in the brothers’ joint name until early 1853. Some of the last of the 40 patterns the firm registered are shown below.

BT 43/105/87687, 87688. Ornamental Design Act 1842 Representations. Nov 1852

BT 43/105/88868. Ornamental Design Act 1842 Representations. Jan 1853 Around this time, Francis and Eliza may have been living in London, as daughter Marion Jane was baptised in Islington in early 1853. The carpet business was dissolved in 1855 (Francis Lawrence was John’s son)

London Gazette 2 October 1855 Francis was unsuccessful in his bid for election to the Darlington Board of Health in 1855, quite possibly in part because by that time he was trading in Liverpool, Eliza’s home town, as a leather factor. Nephew Francis Lawrence had meanwhile moved into the bleaching business (see ‘The Kiplings of Darlington’ for the subsequent lives of John’s children). Francis’s youngest child, Edward, was born in Liverpool in the summer of 1856.

Newcastle Chronicle - Friday 12 October 1855

Perry's Bankrupt Gazette - Saturday 17 November 1855

Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser - Thursday 12 February 1857

Liverpool Mail - Saturday 23 January 1858

Perry's Bankrupt Gazette - Saturday 12 June 1858

Francis’s wife Eliza died in 1860, leaving him with four young children to raise.

Liverpool Mail - Saturday 04 February 1860

6 Brunswick Terrace, Litherland, Lancashire. 1861 Looking after the children was niece Elizabeth Middleton, daughter of Michael Middleton who had married Francis’s sister Jane in 1837. The same year the carpet factory in Northgate was sold.

Ref: D/XD 108/1/A/149

22 November 1861 (1) William Russell of Darlington, plumber and glazier (2) Francis Kipling of Liverpool, county of Lancaster, leather factor and Francis Lawrence Kipling of Gigg near Bury, county of Lancaster, gentleman (3) William Thompson of Darlington, sharebroker (4) John Pease of Darlington, esquire (5) Henry Hutchinson of Darlington, gentleman Conveyance by (1), (2) and (3) to (4) of a messuage, tenement or building, lately used as a carpet factory, but now unoccupied, with yard, outbuildings and garden [boundaries specified]; also a messuage, tenement or dwelling house, with yard in front and garden [boundaries specified], both of which are situated on Northgate, and containing 4653 square yards Consideration: £800 to (1) from (4); £l,400 to (2) from (4) (parchment, 2 membranes)

Francis was recruiting for his firm in Liverpool in 1863.

Leeds Mercury - Tuesday 18 August 1863 However, he died only two months later, leaving his four children orphans.

Liverpool Mail - Saturday 31 October 1863

Francis and Eliza are both buried at Toxteth Park cemetery (section C, plot 430).

The children of Francis Kipling

In 1865, eldest son Francis Alfred was apprenticed in the merchant navy.

He was unfortunately drowned in a shipwreck in the Philippines less than two years later.

Shields Daily Gazette - Saturday 06 April 1867

In 1881 daughter Eliza was governess to the children of shipbuilder Ebenezer Cory.

1881 Stanton nr Hartlepool

In 1891 she was working at the home of H H Asquith MP in Hampstead. Asquith was Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916.

I have not been able to trace Eliza after that. It is possible that she married later in 1891.

Marion, too, was a governess until marrying a Bradford man in 1883.

Waterloo. Mrs Sophia Jones’s school (Boarder). 1871

Bramt Farm, Burley in Wharfedale. 1881

Leeds Times - Saturday 17 February 1883

Edward was sent to boarding school and then entered the cotton trade in Bradford.

William Bowman’s School, Gainford, Durham (boarder). 1871

24 Harris St., Bradford, 1881

Later he moved to London, married, and followed various manual occupations.

49 Summer Road, Camberwell. 1901

1911

Edward died without issue in 1927.

The children of John Kipling

John married Amelia KANE.

Leeds Times - Saturday 16 May 1840

John was also a prominent Darlington businessman (e.g. Aberdeen Journal 19/06/1850: 1850 Ward’s directory)

Obituary York Herald 29/11/1851

His gravestone in Holy Trinity churchyard (plot 120, railed) reads:

John KIPLING fell asleep in Jesus 22 Nov AD 1851 aged 55. Also Amelia his wife who d 13 Mar 1866 aged 75.

Newcastle Courant - Friday 19 December 1851

John3 and Amelia had three children, Francis Lawrence (b 1828 Sunderland), Elizabeth Jane (b1830) and Amelia (b 1832).

Frances Lawrence married Margaret Petrie in Rochdale in 1854 and they had children Agnes May (1856) and John Petrie (1857) and Frank Ernest (1867). He was a chemical manufacturer (see entry in 1873 PO Directory).

John Petrie Kipling’s baptism (1859) – Manchester Brunswick United Methodist church– note F L Kipling as a baptising minister in the record below (as for several other children in the same register)

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Saturday 01 September 1860

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Saturday 10 November 1860

Haywood, Lancashire 1861

Having reired as a bleacher, he set up a chemical manufacturing company at Seaham Harbour in 1865 (see Watson Kipling & Co.).

Newcastle Chronicle - Saturday 11 March 1865

Poll Book 1868

St Georges Square, Bishopwearmouth 1871

Boston Spa News - Friday 17 October 1873

Margaret died in 1874 and Francis Lawrence in 1875. Both are buried in Bishopwearmouth cemetery.

Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette - Wednesday 03 November 1875

Billion Graves - photo by J.M.Hutson

On census night 3 April 1881, son John Petrie was staying at a hotel in Houghton-le- Spring (“Do” = visitor; the initial is incorrect )

John appears to have emigrated to the US later that year (the Kentucky coal mines were expanding around this time), and passed through Nashville in 1882, Salt Lake City in 1883 and Santa Cruz in 1886.

‘Caspian’. Liverpool to Baltimore (arr 1 Oct 1881)

Santa Cruz Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 59, 22 June 1886

In 1887, he was briefly engineer to the Coronado Railroad at San Diego.

Coronado Mercury, Number 72, 8 August 1887

Coronado Mercury, Number 82, 19 August 1887

Coronado Mercury, Number 95, 3 September 1887

Coronado Mercury, Number 108, 19 September 1887

Coronado Mercury, Number 156, 7 November 1887

I have found no evidence that he ever went to Australia, and the next referenc to him is in San Francisco in the following year.

Daily Alta California, Volume 42, Number 14137, 14 May 1888

Daily Alta California, 27 September 1888

After this, the trail goes cold.

Daughter Agnes May married in Sunderland in 1878.

Frank Ernest was a pupil at Cheltenham College (juvenile department. ‘Teighmore’) in 1881

He initially trained as a civil engineer.

Picton Place, Newcastle. 1891 (he was a ‘boarder’)

Later, he moved to Scotland, where he married, worked as an artist and art teacher and had a family.

Buchannan Street, Glasgow. 1901

Sunset at Largs, Frank Kipling (Largs Museum)

An east coast harbour (Frank Kipling)

A son was born in Belfast in 1903.

A second son was born in Glasgow three years later.

Alexandra Parade, Denistoun, Glasgow. 1911

Springboig (1920-21)

One of his daughters made the news in 1927 as did son Ernest Alexander, tragically, in 1932.

Evening Telegraph - Tuesday 10 May 1927

Edinburgh Evening News - Friday 25 November 1932

Sunday Mirror - Sunday 27 November 1932

He was buried in a common grave in Brompton cemetery.

Son Geoffrey married in 1936.

Geoffrey’s son Michael Ross was born in 1944.

Frank Ernest’s wife, Mary, died in 1951….

…and Frank Ernest himself died in 1957.

The last known Kipling in this line was Michael Ross’s son, Simon Stanley, born in 1971.