The Lincolnshire Mantua
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RESEARCH WELL Lincolnshire www.researchwell.co.uk Historical Research Service Inheriting the Lincolnshire Mantua Historical research commissioned by Lincolnshire County Council Report by Susan Payne 21 December 2012 1 | P a g e © Susan Payne, BA (Oxon), Dip Arch Admin (Bangor) RESEARCH WELL Lincolnshire www.researchwell.co.uk Historical Research Service THE BRIEF o Reconstruct Miss Charlotte Mary Epton’s ancestral lines with a view to identifying an ancestor who may have worn the mantua when it was new in about 1735 and assess how the mantua could have passed down from one generation to the next. o Consider the most appropriate high-ranking families with links to the ancestors of Charlotte Mary Epton, who may have commissioned the mantua in about 1735 and then passed it on to an ancestor of Miss Epton. o Seek mantua-makers working in Lincolnshire in the 1730s. Information supplied by Lincolnshire County Council: “The Lincoln Mantua was donated to the Usher Gallery in 1937 by a Miss Charlotte Mary Epton. It had previously been loaned to the gallery for an exhibition celebrating the coronation of King George VI. She claimed the Mantua had been in her family for 200 years, having been passed down from one generation to the next and was her mother’s favourite dress. Miss Epton was a schoolmistress at North Willingham village school between 1936 and 1942. The Lincoln Mantua consists of a gown and petticoat made from silk. The ground weave is dyed black and is decorated with a white lace pattern, brocaded with large, brightly coloured flowers. The Mantua is a very rare survival, possibly the only example of its style still existing and, although it is known that black was a fashionable colour in the 18th century, very little black fabric has survived from this period because the methods of dying black were destructive to the fibres, particularly silk. In 1998 Natalie Rothstein, an internationally renowned expert on 18th century woven fabrics, and former curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, positively identified the Mantua as a rare survival of the 1730s, possibly the only remaining example in England, dating it precisely to 1735 (so Miss Epton’s claim in 1937 that it had been in her family for 200 years was quite accurate). She identified the fabric as Spitalfields silk and that at some point the train of the gown had been dismembered and re-assembled in the wrong way.” 2 | P a g e © Susan Payne, BA (Oxon), Dip Arch Admin (Bangor) RESEARCH WELL Lincolnshire www.researchwell.co.uk Historical Research Service The Lincolnshire Mantua Summary of findings Miss Charlotte Mary Epton was the head-mistress and only teacher of North Willingham junior school, near Market Rasen from at least 1925 until her retirement in 1942. If the mantua passed to Miss Epton on the death of her mother in 1926, then it was possibly kept at Miss Epton’s home, the school house in North Willingham. Most of Miss Epton’s ancestors in the 18th century were farmers, but they were not major county landowners likely to have commissioned the mantua for a grand event or court occasion. They would, however, have associated with the local gentry in the administration of local affairs, or as servants, substantial farmers, landowners or tenants. Miss Epton, her immediate family and a large proportion of her 18th century ancestors lived in villages in the vicinity of Wragby, a small market town approximately 10 miles (16 km) north-west from Horncastle and about 11 miles (18 km) north-east from the city of Lincoln. Ancestors on her father’s side had moved to the area from North Hykeham. On her mother’s side, her forebears had moved from Laughton, near Gainsborough, and Lincoln City itself. Miss Epton’s great (x 2) grandfather moved to Bullington sometime between 1778 and 1782. His descendants continued farming there for the following two generations until Charlotte Brocklesby (nee Farr) moved from Bullington Hall in about 1875. Connections by marriage have been found with the well to do county families of Pell and Brackenbury. The Vyner, Grantham, Gace and Turnor families were also major families with extensive estates around Wragby. The will of Elizabeth Farr (née Pell) of Minting, who died in 1786 and was the widow of Miss Epton’s -grandfather’s second cousin, specifies three items of her own clothing: a “silk gown”, a “black gown” and her “Jacket Habit and Hatt” which she left to her sisters. Mrs Mary Varlow was a mantua-maker who is known to have taken two apprentices from the parish of Langton by Wragby in 1758 and 1760. She could have been making mantuas in the Wragby area in about 1735. Miss Epton’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather Epton were all parish officers of Langton by Wragby, as also was Thomas Farr, her great-grandfather’s cousin (whose son married Elizabeth Pell). It was he who administered the grant to Mrs Varlow from Saltmarsh’s charity. 3 | P a g e © Susan Payne, BA (Oxon), Dip Arch Admin (Bangor) RESEARCH WELL Lincolnshire www.researchwell.co.uk Historical Research Service Methodology The question as to how the mantua came to be so well kept within the family has been investigated by reconstructing family relationships and their locations from the early 20th century back to the 18th century. Sources: census returns, probate records and parish registers. To assess the likelihood of Miss Epton’s ancestors having commissioned the mantua, or received it as a gift, the locations and the socio-economic status of her ancestry have been researched. Sources: parish registers & records, marriage bonds, probate records, trade directories. The high ranking families of the relevant locations and dates have been identified. Sources: published and manuscript genealogies and published works. The existence of mantua-makers in the appropriate locality has been researched. Sources: historical local newspapers and apprenticeship records (parish and Lincoln city freemen lists). Copyright Susan Payne asserts her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this report. 4 | P a g e © Susan Payne, BA (Oxon), Dip Arch Admin (Bangor) RESEARCH WELL Lincolnshire www.researchwell.co.uk Historical Research Service CONTENTS 1. Charlotte Mary Epton Page 6 2. Inheriting the mantua – Miss Epton’s paternal ancestors Page 8 3. The King family Page 10 4. Inheriting the mantua – Miss Epton’s maternal ancestors Page 11 5. The Farr family Page `19 o Saltmarsh’s Charity & Mary Varlow, mantua-maker Page 22 o Elizabeth Farr (née Pell) Page 24 6. Lincolnshire mantua-makers Page 26 7. County families& their houses Page 28 Online indexes, catalogues & sources Page 29 Bibliography Page 29 Original sources Page 30 Abbreviations & citations Page 43 Cover references Page 44 Acknowledgements Page 45 5 | P a g e © Susan Payne, BA (Oxon), Dip Arch Admin (Bangor) RESEARCH WELL Lincolnshire www.researchwell.co.uk Historical Research Service 1. Charlotte Mary Epton Miss Epton was the last custodian of the mantua when she donated it to the Usher Art Gallery in Lincoln. Her information that it had been passed down in her family over a period of 200 years is the starting point for the research into its origins. Her comment that it was her mother’s favourite dress may indicate that there were other gowns which had also been retained by the family on her mother’s side. Miss Epton did indeed donate a second dress, made of Chinese silk, which has been dated to between 1770 and 1780. As the head-mistress of North Willingham school, Miss Epton was responsible for maintaining the school log book. In line with typical school log book entries, Miss Epton noted the attendance records of the pupils, the preponderance of whooping cough and other illnesses, as well as the regular reports of the school inspectors. Miss Epton started the log book on 26 November 1925. She noted on 12 April 1926 that, following re-organisation, CM Epton was the certificated head mistress. She wrote her last entry on her retirement at School log book, North Willingham School the age of 65 on 31 March 1942. 1925- LA: SR 803/8/1 On 8 May 1937, she copied an extract from one of the reports: “Miss Epton is to be congratulated on the results she obtains”. Miss Epton was a dedicated teacher. She occasionally allowed pupils to go into her house to hear special reports on the radio, such as the Empire Day address in 1927, or the Armistice Day service from the Cenotaph in 1932. She also commented on the problems arising from the poor repair of the school and the lack of adequate heating, even taking the children into her own house when the stick man had not delivered fuel for the fire. The pedigree chart below shows Miss Epton and her ancestors to three generations. A complete chart is presented separately due to its large size. 6 | P a g e © Susan Payne, BA (Oxon), Dip Arch Admin (Bangor) RESEARCH WELL Lincolnshire www.researchwell.co.uk Historical Research Service Robert EPTON Born: 9 Apr 1786 in "Great Carlton, Lincs" William Martin EPTON Died: 11 Sep 1841 in Langton by Wragby, Lincs Born: 25 Nov 1809 in Langton by Wragby, Lincs Died: 1871 in Langton by Wragby, Frances "WATTAM" Lincs Born: "19 Oct 1780" in "South Willingham, Lincs" Marr: "16 May 1808" in "Ravendale, Lincs" Died: 25 Nov 1841 in Langton by William EPTON Wragby, Lincs Born: 1841 in Newball, Lincs Died: 1918 James KENNEWELL Born: 19 Nov 1775 in North & South Hykeham, Lincs Charlotte KENNEWELL Died: 29 Jan 1841 in Hatton, Lincs Born: 30 Dec 1813 in ?Reepham Marr: 19 May 1835 in Hatton, Lincs Died: 1880 Elizabeth