Radical Reformers and Respectable Rebels
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Radical Reformers and Respectable Rebels This page intentionally left blank Radical Reformers and Respectable Rebels How the Two Lives of Grace Oakeshott Defined an Era Jocelyn Robson © Jocelyn Robson 2016 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-31183-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2016 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-67227-1 ISBN 978-1-137-31184-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137311849 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India. For my sister, Liz 1944–2007 Much loved, much missed This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations ix List of Maps xii Acknowledgements xiii Timeline xv Family Trees xvii Introduction 1 Prologue 4 Part I 1 Radicals in Suburbia 9 2 Learning Curves 19 3 Finding Their Own Way 31 4 ‘Another Word for Suicide’ 43 5 ‘Fellowship is Heaven’ 53 Part II 6 Answering the Call 69 7 Not Much ‘Home’ About It 85 8 Behind Closed Doors 97 9 Girls in Trades 110 10 Medical Men 122 Part III 11 A Place to Begin Again 137 12 ‘Ignoble Motives’ 146 13 The Politics of Knitting 162 vii viii Contents 14 Landfall 176 15 After Lives 186 Notes 199 Select Bibliography 220 Index 227 List of Illustrations 1.1 Elizabeth Cash with the children in about 1876 (reproduced with the kind permission of James Cash) 10 1.2 Poster advertising the ‘fresh air’ suburb of Upper Norwood in about 1900 (reproduced with the kind permission of Melvyn Harrison, Chairman, Crystal Palace Foundation) 12 2.1 Harold Oakeshott as a young man (reproduced with the kind permission of Gillian Oxford) 22 2.2 Senior pupils at Croydon High School for Girls c.1888 (reproduced with the kind permission of Croydon High School) 28 2.3 The Upper Sixth Form at Croydon High Schools for Girls in 1891 (reproduced with the kind permission of Croydon High School) 29 3.1 Class of juniors at Croydon High School for Girls (probably in 1891 or 1892) (reproduced with the kind permission of Croydon High School) 37 4.1 Downside Cottage in Fanfare Road (later Downs Road) in Coulsdon, Surrey (reproduced with the kind permission of Gillian Oxford) 48 5.1 Hand traced map (taken from the sailing log for 1899) of the Hampshire, Dorset and Devon coastline (reproduced with the kind permission of James Cash) 62 5.2 Photograph of Walter, Harold and Grace, on the East Coast cruise of August 1900 (reproduced with the kind permission of Cherry Dingemans) 65 6.1 Walter as a small boy (reproduced with the kind permission of Cherry Dingemans) 70 6.2 A view in 1827 of The Church Missionary Society College in Islington, London (© London Metropolitan Archives, City of London) 71 6.3 A photograph, taken in 1901, of an early steamer in the Northwest Territories (NWT Archives, Yellowknife, C. W. Mathers, fonds/N-1979-058:0008) 73 6.4 The pulpit in the modern-day St David’s Anglican Church, Fort Simpson (photograph taken by the author in 2011) 75 ix x List of Illustrations 6.5 William Day Reeve in the 1890s, soon after his consecration as the second Bishop of Mackenzie River (reproduced with the kind permission of Cherry Dingemans) 84 7.1 A view of the Home in Highbury Grove, Islington, London (© London Metropolitan Archives, City of London) 86 7.2 Monkton Combe’s First XV in 1892 (reproduced with the kind permission of Monkton Combe School) 95 8.1 Working at home: making matchboxes (c.1900) (reproduced with the kind permission of Bishopsgate Library, Bishopsgate Foundation and Institute, London) 103 9.1 A class in waistcoat-making at Borough Polytechnic Institute, in the early 1900s (reproduced with the kind permission of London South Bank University) 116 9.2 The Stanley Gymnasium at Borough Polytechnic Institute in the early 1900s (reproduced with the kind permission of London South Bank University) 118 10.1 A view of Guy’s Memorial Park, taken from the colonnade in 1925 (reproduced with the kind permission of the Gordon Museum, King’s College London) 125 10.2 The operating theatre at Guy’s Hospital, 1890 (reproduced with the kind permission of the Gordon Museum, King’s College London) 127 11.1 Overlooking Wellington City, 1905 (reproduced with the kind permission of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Watt, T (Miss), fl 1978: Photographs of Wellington and Napier scenes. Ref: 1/2-080439-F) 142 11.2 The fire at Parliament Buildings, Wellington, in 1907 (reproduced with the kind permission of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Zachariah, Joseph, 1867–1965. Lawes, Mr, fl 1961: Photographs. Ref: 1/2-019528-F) 144 12.1 Redstone’s coach travelling north of Gisborne in about 1910, possibly on Makorori beach (reproduced with the kind permission of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Williams, F. J. (Mrs), fl 1967: Photographs of coaches in the East Coast region. Ref: 1/2-029781-F) 147 12.2 A postcard view of Kaiti taken in about 1910 by an unknown photographer (reproduced with the kind permission of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Johnston, I. F. H. (Mr): Postcards of New Zealand. Ref: PAColl-6001-18) 150 List of Illustrations xi 12.3 A kindergarten class in Gisborne in about 1912 (reproduced with the kind permission of Cherry Dingemans) 152 13.1 Pupils of Cook County College for Girls in front of their school in about 1916 (reproduced by kind permission of the Tairawhiti Museum, Gisborne, New Zealand, Ref. 251–4) 167 13.2 Boys and girls sewing and knitting in the city schools of Auckland (reproduced with the kind permission of Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19150715-37-1) 169 13.3 The Reeve family with friends in 1918, at Waihuka, near Gisborne (reproduced with the kind permission of Mike Stockwell) 173 14.1 ‘Ranmore’, in Duart Road, Havelock North (photograph taken by the author in 2008) 178 14.2 A street in Havelock North, Hawke’s Bay, in about 1925 (reproduced with the kind permission of Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. Smith, Sydney Charles, 1888–1972: Photographs of New Zealand. Ref: 1/2-046113-G) 181 14.3 The headstone on Joan’s grave in the Havelock North cemetery (photograph taken by the author in 2008) 185 15.1 Harold with Dorothy, at the time of their engagement (reproduced with the kind permission of Gillian Oxford) 188 15.2 Henry Cash on ‘Peggy’, in about 1948 (reproduced with the kind permission of James Cash) 194 15.3 Harold with his youngest child, David (reproduced with the kind permission of Gillian Oxford) 195 List of Maps Map of Surrey, 1885 (© Sophie Devine) 8 Map of the Northwest Territories, 1870 (© Sophie Devine) 68 Map of North Island, New Zealand (© Sophie Devine) 136 xii Acknowledgements There can be few things more disconcerting than a stranger fetching up on your doorstep knowing more about your family than you do. The families in this story have always responded with grace and generosity to my inquiries and the book could not have been written without them. Sophie Dingemans, Grace’s great-granddaughter, was first to let the cat out of the bag (with her fictional play Grace performed in New Zealand in 2008) and special thanks are due to her. Her mother, Cherry, has patiently replied to my many questions over several years and warmly welcomed me to stay whenever I was in New Zealand. James and Susan Cash, Gillian Oxford and Marion Shea have also trusted me with their sto- ries, memories, photographs and family papers. Thanks also to Anna Hannam (for leading me to her parents), and to Joanne Jones, Mary Miles, Martin Reeve and Mike Stockwell for their recollections of family life. Robin Dingemans (and other Reeve family descendants), Susan Cash, Priscilla Oakeshott and Claire Hill have kindly contributed findings from their genealogical research. Thank you also to those who have shared their local knowledge and expertise, including Jim Farrell (for showing me Limpsfield and its environs), Malcolm Gifford (for a trip to see the East Coast rivers) and Margaret Peterson (for tak- ing me to Rae in the Northwest Territories).