Foreword Through marriage, the male line of descent of our Harris family has Our work on Part Two of our story has brought an added bonus. By links with Clark, Matthews, Price, Jones and Graves families. delving more deeply into the lateral branches of our tree, our findings have thrown new light on the family of our first known ancestor, John Through the siblings of the Harris males and the families of their Harris, who married Mary Clark in Eastham on 30 December 1779. spouses, we are also linked to such diverse family names as Apperley, Baldwin, Birkin, Boulton, Bray, Browning, Butler, Craik, Brian Harris, Cowbridge, February 2012 Davies, Davis, Garbett, Godfrey, Gore, Gould, Griffiths, Hall, Harrod, Hehir, Homer, Hughes, Moon, Passey, Pitt, Postans, Pound, Preece, Prime, Robotham, Sewell, Skyrme, Sprittles, Stinissen, Thomas,Thurston, Tingle, Turner, Twinberrow, Ward, Yarnold and many more. They are part of a network of Harris connections which takes us beyond the boundaries of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the rest of the British Isles to Belgium, Australia, Canada and the USA. It may come as a surprise that two of the siblings of Edward James Harris who emigrated to Canada before WWI had already married and started a family in England before leaving these shores. They were George and Edith. Even more surprisingly, Agnes and Hubert, who arrived in Canada as singletons, chose partners who were – like themselves – recently arrived ex-pats and married siblings from the same family of Scottish emigrants, the Craiks. Cover photographs (clockwise from top): There are more surprises in store, including clandestine christenings in a remote Knights Templar church, the mysterious disappearance of 1. The families of Hubert (Bert) Harris and Agnes (Aggie) Craik (née an English Rose, odd-sounding occupations like spade tree makers Harris), Ontario late 1930s and monthly nurses, the legend of Beatrix Potter, the patriarchal 2. Suzanne Harris née Stinissen, Hoboken, Belgium 1943 relationship of the lord of the manor of Kyre Park with his employees, 3. Ethel Homer (née Harris), Church House, Upper Sapey, the annus horribilis of 1859, deaths through war and disease and Herefordshire, 1930 stories of prosperity and poverty, fertility and childlessness. In the 4. Lucy Sophia Skyrme (née Harris) with first son Bill, New Grove, tradition of Victorian melodrama, we also have subplots of forbidden Hanley Child, Worcestershire, 1918 love, unrequited love and the occasional love child alongside the 5. Mollie (née Graves) and Jack Davis, Birmingham 1914 recurrent theme of the extended family support network in times of 6. Caroline Sprittles (née Harris), Crewe, Cheshire 1878 need. 7. Arthur Nevil (Artie) Harris, 1928 8. George Clement Harris, Toronto early 1960s Contents 1 Introduction 2 Harris Old Boys and Girls of Upper Sapey School 1910-1931 3 The Harris Family Tree 4 Sibling of John Harris (1795-1829) Elizabeth (Betty) Harris, b.1789 Bishops Frome, bpt. 1789 Eastham THE STORY OF 4A Family of John’s wife Elizabeth MATTHEWS (1791- 1858) A WORCESTERSHIRE 5 Siblings of James Harris (1817-1884) HARRIS FAMILY Mary Ann, b.1816, Hanley Child John, b.1821, Holly Wall, Hanley Child Sarah, b.1823, Holly Wall, Hanley Child 5A Family of James’ wife Susannah Baldwin née PRICE (1816-1894) 6 Siblings of William Harris (1853-1944) Caroline, b.1847, Hanley Child PART TWO James, b.1848, Hanley Child Susannah, b.1850, Hanley Child THE SIBLINGS Mary, b.1852, Hanley Child Richard, b.1856, Hanley Child Elizabeth, b.1859, Hanley Child Arthur John, b.1861, Hanley Child 6A Family of William’s wife Caroline JONES (1849- 1929) 7 Siblings of Edward James Harris (1874-1967) George Clement, b.1875, Hanley Child Amy Beatrice, b.1876, Hanley Child Edith Mary, b.1878, Hanley Child Arthur William, b.1881, Hanley Child Agnes Priscilla, b.1882, Hanley Child Hubert Charles, b.1886, Hanley Child Lucy Sophia, b.1889, Hanley Child 7A Family of Edward James’ wife Ellen GRAVES (1881-1975) 8 The Lives of Others 9 Update 10 Farewell 1. 2. Introduction Harris Old Boys and Girls of Upper Sapey Even at this early stage in our research, it appears that The Story of All nine children of Ted and Nellie Harris attended the school School 1910-1931 a Worcestershire Harris Family is already something of a misnomer. between 1910 and 1931 before the family’s move from Church That’s because Part Two reveals that we have, via generations of House in Upper Sapey to Hanley Cottage in Broadheath. Their The school records the siblings and wives of our direct male ancestors, very strong links great-great-aunt Mary Ann Boulton née Harris (b.1816, elder sister The school records comprise the Admissions Register and the Log with Herefordshire, too. of James Harris) actually lived at Upper Sapey School House as Book. The Admissions Register contains the pupil’s name, date of housekeeper to the schoolmistress of the day between the 1870s, admission, name of parent/guardian, address, date of birth, last It looks increasingly likely that our first known ancestor John (who when the school was built, and the 1890s. The school, which was date of attendance and reason for leaving. The Log Book provides married Mary Clark in 1779) originated from Herefordshire. Our located near Church House, closed in September 1969 and was details of the day-to-day running of the school as recorded by the hypothesis regarding the family connection of Susan Harris and her later demolished to make way for a residential development. Head Teacher along with occasional comments and reports by the illegitimate son Richard (bpt. 13 July 1789, Eastham) still stands. Upper Sapey School: The teaching accommodation is on the left HMI (school inspector), the Rector and the Chairman of the School At the same time, our theory that John Harris and Mary Clark were When the eldest of the Harris children attended Upper Sapey and the School House, formerly occupied by the headteacher and Governors. itinerant farm workers is further strengthened. School, the school boards had been abolished and replaced by housekeeper, on the right Local Education Authorities (LEAs) under the provisions of the 1902 The Admissions Register In our postscript to Part One, we made our apologies for our inability Education Act which raised the minimum school leaving age from 10 The Admissions Register confirms where our Harris family was living windows, lavatory bowls, the map of England & Wales and the to do justice to the lives of Eddie Harris’s siblings in Part Two. So, to 12 years. By the time the youngest Harris children were admitted, at the time of the children’s admission (whether Yearston Cottage, impure water from the pump. On 23 May 1911, he writes: “Mens while we are on the subject of the Herefordshire connection, we the 1918 Education Act made school obligatory for all children up Dudshill Court or Church House). Vera was admitted in 1910, sana in corpore sano impossible – the school is insanitary in have a good excuse to feature them all in the following chapter – as to the age of 14. Under the 1918 Act, additional services were followed by Bert (1911), Arthur (1912) and Olive (1914). excelsis”. (It could have been worse: The use of slates in school had former pupils of Upper Sapey School, Herefordshire. provided in schools, including medical inspections, nurseries and been abolished on 28 June 1907 “for moral and hygienic reasons”!) provision for pupils with special needs. The Register also shows that the five eldest Harris children ‘left the He is also driven to distraction by the problem of dirt and dust, made district’ for six months between leaving Yearston Cottage at the end worse by the use of the school room for village dance nights and the of April 1915 and moving into Dudshill Court in October of that year. Monday evening whist drive. When they are re-admitted to Upper Sapey School, they are shown Mr Addenbrooke departed in 1911 and was replaced by Mr H W as having been attending school in Broadheath across the county Paine who served until April 1914. In September 1914, the school boundary in Worcestershire. It is not known where the family lived appoints Mr A C Pritchard as Head Teacher, his daughter Olive E nor what Ted Harris was doing for a living during this period. One Pritchard as Assistant Teacher and the Rev. E F Tallents as Rector, possibility is that he was helping out at Hanley Court where both he while Mr W J Holder of Yearston Court, employer of our Ted Harris, and Nellie had been previously employed by the Newport family prior continues as Chairman of the School Governors. Vera, Albert, Artie to their marriage in 1904. and Olive Harris would have formed part of the crocodile led by Mr Pritchard on 1 February 1915, when his log entry read: ‘Marched The Log Book the children to Bromyard Road corner to give a send-off to a number The Log Book is more of a diary in which the head teachers record of recruits from this village at playtime this morning’. The youngest their concerns about the condition of the school building and the five Harris children are admitted from 1915 onwards: Henry (1915), health and attendance of the pupils. Between 1907 and 1911 the Margery (1918), Eddie (1921), Roly (1922) and Ethel who joined the head teacher (Mr Addenbrooke) complains regularly about ‘things new nursery class at the age of three in 1923. needing repair’: Stoves, door fasteners, the roof, wall plaster, broken View from Hanley Child churchyard, looking west over Herefordshire Harris Old Boys and Girls of Upper Sapey School (cont’d) Mentioned in despatches All nine Harris children are mentioned in despatches.