10 – St. John’s

The “House that Jack built” was honoured with the 10th heritage blue plaque awarded by Ilkley Civic Society on November 27, 2007.

The plot of land had originally been purchased by Daniel Bateman, the owner of Folly Hall Card Manufacturing Mill in Wibsey.  The St John’s plot originally comprised 2 lots in the 3rd Middleton Land Sale Auction on 5th June 1868, however the Lots were withdrawn but Mr. Bateman did purchase one of them subsequently as a private sale for an unknown amount and the second plot at the 4th Middleton Land sale held on 26th August 1868 when it was placed up for sale again for £220.  It is possibly not a surprise that Daniel was interested in Ilkley land since he married Isabella Wade, the sister of Edward Hirst Wade, who in 1868 had taken on the leases of about 50% of the Sedbergh School land in Ilkley and went on to own Sedbergh House which stood where the Town Hall is today – See Blue Plaque no. 1.  A destructive fire broke out at the Folly Hall Mill in 1869, which may account for Mr. Bateman not building on the site immediately and it remained unbuilt on for nearly ten years.

The house was built in 1878 as a home for Leeds solicitor John William Atkinson (1825-1889) to designs by the influential architect Richard Norman Shaw, responsible for the New Scotland Yard building in London, as well as St. Margaret's Church in Ilkley.

Shaw designed the stone house in a Tudor style, and it is believed to have been built from local stone from B. Whittaker and Sons of Horsforth. Mr Atkinson's brother-in-law John Aldham Heaton collaborated with Shaw on other buildings and designed the interior of St John’s reproduction Tudor style furnishing.

John Aldam Heaton (1830-1897) was an artist, designer and businessman. He designed furniture, stained glass, wallpaper and textiles. He was a member of the Arts and Crafts Movement, an associate of William Morris and a friend of Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. His company produced furniture and interior designs for liners built by the White Star Line. After Heaton's death the Aldam Heaton Company was incorporated into White Star and designed the interiors for the RMS Olympic, Titanic and Britannic.

Among the original features preserved are an inscribed lintel on a stone fireplace, as well as a series of stained-glass windows illustrating the nursery rhyme “This is the house that Jack built”.  Included in the illustrations is a grey bearded face for Jack of the tale, thought to be John William Atkinson himself.

The clerk of works for the nearby St. Margaret's Church was Edward Schroeder Prior RA (1852–1932) from November 1877 to August 1879. He was responsible for the Church’s contract drawings and possibly for the design of the roof reinforcement and some of the detailing and furniture, such as the font.  It is believed Edward Prior was also clerk of works for St. John’s being built at the same time and a mortar mill was used for the two buildings.  Edward Prior, at this time was finalising his training under Norman Shaw, was eager to gain practical experience of construction, and the craftsmen at Ilkley made a deep impression on him: “He [Prior] went (to Ilkley) and then found that the idea of wonderful construction was all an imposture: there was no science of construction, but there was an experience of construction to be gained by the man who worked with his hands and not the man who made the drawing. with this practical experience.”  Edward Prior went on to be instrumental in establishing the arts and crafts movement. He was one of the foremost theorists of the second generation of the movement, writing extensively on architecture, art, craftsmanship and the building process and subsequently influencing the training of many architects.

The Owners of St John’s up to being converted to flats were:

1878-1886

John William Atkinson (1825-1889)

1886-1894

John Frederick Rouse (1847-1948, Yes 101 years old!)

1895-1900

Allen Lister Booth (1846-1917)

1901-1915

Francis Frederick Steinthal (1854-1934)

1916-1921

John Cecil Atkinson, Mrs Emily Harrison & Mrs Mary Evelyn West Symes (Son and 2 widowed daughters of John William Atkinson)

1921-1933

William Martello Gray (1850-1933)

1934-1945

Unknown – Possibly the Gray Estate. Not occupied as the 1934-1945 Electoral Registers have no registered voters living there and the 1939 Census shows the property unoccupied.

1878-1886
John William Atkinson (1825-1889)

John William was born to John and Mary, with his father being a Solicitor on Albion Street in Leeds January 21, 1825, and baptised in the Leeds Parish Church on February 10.  He joined his father and Mr. Dibb as a Solicitor in the business in 1850 and until 1885 he remained a member of the firm Messrs. Dibb, Atkinson and Braithwaite, Butts-court.  On October 1, 1851, John William married Marianne Heaton (1829-1899) at St Georges Church with both living in the nearby neighbourhood of Little Woodhouse.  Marianne was the daughter of John Heaton, a Leeds Merchant.  In 1855 John William succeeded his father as clerk to the Lieutenancy of Yorkshire.

Mr. Atkinson took an active interest in the promotion of music in Leeds.  He was one of the prime movers in the first Musical Festival of 1858, in connection with the opening of the Leeds Town Hall by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and it was through his instrumentality and that of a few other gentlemen that the Festival was resuscitated in 1871.  He held the position of secretary of the 1871 Festival, vice-chairman of the General committee, and Chairman of the Orchestra Committee in 1874, was joint secretary with Mr. F. R. Spark in 1877, and vice-president of the festival in 1880. This festival continued as the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival and the last one was held in 1985.  In addition, John William actively supported music at the St George’s Church, and was a leading member of “The Musical Union” and “Orchestral Concerts” committees.

After their marriage John and Marianne lived at 19 Woodhouse Square, Leeds.  In 1878 they moved into the newly built, St John’s in Ilkley.  Whilst in Ilkley the Atkinson’s were avid supporters of St Margaret’s Church and did much to fund raise to help pay off the building’s debt.

They had six children; the two eldest daughters did not move in with the family as they had married by 1878.  In addition, in 1881 the house included a cook, four maids and two domestic nurses.  Marianne was visiting her daughter Alice at the Tetley home in 1881.

The eldest daughter, Alice Margaret Atkinson (1853-1922) married Charles Francis Tetley one of the Directors of Joshua Tetley & Sons in 1875.  However, in the 1881 Census for St John’s three of their children, Charles Harold, Francis E and Mary are staying with their Grandfather John William.

Mary Evelyn Atkinson (1854-1939) married Dr Edward West Symes (Medical Officer at the Halifax Infirmary & Dispensary) in 1878, her address being St John’s Church Vicarage, Leeds implying that St John’s in Ilkley was possibly not yet habitable.  For some time, they lived at Hope Hall, Halifax.  Like her sister Alice she did not move into St John’s when it was built, however unlike Alice, Mary did, sometime after her husband’s death in 1912, move into St John’s with her brother John and sister Emily until 1921, after which all three moved into St Mary’s, 9 Stubham Rise, Middelton.  In 1939 when she died her daughter Evelyn Dorothy West Symes (1879-1964), an actress, was living there as well.

John Cecil Atkinson (1856-1923) was also a Solicitor, and when living in Tivoli Place in 1887 married Mary Fawcett, the daughter of Rev John Turner Colman Fawcett who had died in 1867.  John continued in the family firm for Messrs Dibb and Company, Butts Court, Leeds.  Although John moved out of Ilkley after marriage, his connection with Ilkley continued as he was one of the trustees of St Margaret’s Church and served the church as warden.  In 1916 he moved back to St John’s and there shared the house with his two sisters, Mrs Mary Symes and Mrs Emily Harrison and then all three removed to St. Mary’s, 9 Stubham Rise in Middleton in 1921.  His death was shock, as he was knocked down by a local butcher’s motor lorry whilst crossing Brook Street on his way to work via the railway station.  He was taken to Ilkley Coronation Hospital but died a few hours later from injuries to the head.

Frances Gertrude Atkinson (1858-1948) married Richard Tetley Glazebrook in 1883.  Richard became an eminent physicist establishing the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington as a world leader in physics research and the national measurement standards laboratory of the United Kingdom. It sets and maintains physical standards for British industry.  Richard was knighted in 1917 and hence Frances became a Dame.

Emily Atkinson (1859-1941) married Walter Holdsworth (a partner in John Holdsworth & Co Ltd of Shaw Lodge Mills, Halifax, Yorkshire; the acknowledged world leader in the design and manufacture of an extensive range of passenger transport fabrics for buses, coaches, rail & ferries) in 1882.  Unfortunately, Walter died in 1885 after a long illness.  Emily remarried in 1889 to Edmund Harrison a Land Agent and Auctioneer of Bramhall Lodge, Boston Spa.  After Edmund’s death Emily lived with her sister and brother at St John’s from 1916 to 1921 before all three removed to St. Mary’s, 9 Stubham Rise in Middleton.  Emily was still in St Mary’s in 1939, however it appears after her sister’s death she went to Surrey where her son lived and died there in 1941.

Arthur Rimmington Atkinson (1862-1890) became a mining engineer and married Florence Woodhouse on 19 February 1890.  Florence’s father was Edwin Woodhouse of Edwin Woodhouse & Co, a woollen manufacturer and the family were living at Armley Grange. An announcement of the marriage details stated that the couple’s future home was to be Peru.  The marriage was short as Arthur died 3 months later on 27 May 1890 in Iquique, Chile.  It is not known if Florence travelled with Arthur, but in the 1891 Census she was back with her family now at Brookleigh, Calverley.

John William Atkinson moved out of St John’s in 1886, moving to Hope Hall in Halifax until his death in 1889.

St. John’s, Ilkley for Sale
(Leeds Mercury 12 June 1886)

Messrs. HEPPER and SONS are instructed by J. W. Atkinson, Esq., to Sell by Auction at the Middelton Hotel Ilkley at four o’clock precisely on Saturday June Twenty-sixth, subject to conditions to be then produced,

THE Delightful RESIDENTIAL ESTATE, known as St. John's, Ilkley which is situated near to St. Margaret's church, and in the best part of this favourite watering place.

THE RESIDENCE

Was erected seven years ago, from the designs of R. Norman Shaw, Esq., R.A. and possesses much originality of arrangement and one of the most distinctive front elevations in the district.

Everything which can conduce to the comfort of family life, all the convenience of “receptions” has been carefully provided; And much of an artistic character in the fittings and decorations, which are in admirable order, has been introduced from the designs and under the superintendence of Mr. J. Aldam Heaton.

THE GROUNDS

are laid out with great taste and judgement and planted with many trees and shrubs of choice sorts which with the watercourse, the diversity of walks, the heath covered bank, the lawns, terrace, and flower beds give an impression of greater extent than the estate actually possesses.

THE VIEWS

from the property are amongst the finest to be seen from the southern heights of the valley and embrace an extensive range of country of the most beautiful character, as well as all the prettiest features of the immediate neighbourhood.

Printed particulars may, along with cards to-view, be had of the Auctioneers; or of Messrs DIBB and CO., Solicitors, Butts court, Leeds.

1886-1894
John Frederick Rouse (1847-1948, Yes 101 years old!)

Mr. Rouse was born at Eastbrook Lodge, Bradford the eldest son of William Rouse Jnr (1809-1868).  John Frederick’s grandfather William Rouse Snr (1765-1843) had started the family worsted manufacturing firm of William Rouse & Sons in the early 1800s and famously from 1820-22 Titus Salt spent two years with them ‘learning the trade’.

From a letter dated 21st June 1904 to Mr. Rouse (presumably John Fredrick) from his son in law Reginald W. Jeffrey, a Brasenose College Historian. suggests the Rouse Mill was established 23 years before the Bradford Old Piece Hall, completed in 1773.and suggests the mill was the oldest in England, or at least among the 5 oldest.

Rouse must have produced worsted stuff in the years before wool-combing was mechanised and they employed hundreds of hand-combers who worked producing the wool ‘tops’ needed for the worsted process.

John Frederick Rouse at the age of 21 took over the management of the business along with brothers Frank and Herbert, following his father’s death’.  The firm, located at Northbrook Mills, Bradford, had embraced the new technologies and at that time, was one of the largest woollen mills in Bradford.  In 1893 whilst at St. John’s The Century’s Progress, a work of self-publicity produced for Yorkshire industries said it “operated ‘a vast home and export trade’ and to have had 40,000 spindles and 900 workers”.

The William Rouse family were no strangers to the Ilkley area as from around 1860 they lived at Burley House in Burley in Wharfedale, which is where John Frederick grew up. He married Mary Josephine Taylor Ware in 1874 and moved to Baildon House.  From there he moved to St. Johns around 1886. The 1891 Census for St John’s list John and Mary, along with their six Daughters, a visitor, a Governess and six servants.

In 1895 John Frederick and his family moved to Frizingley Hall in Frizinghall and then in 1911 to Bellwood, Littlethorpe, Ripon.  In 1928, aged 80, he ceased managing the mills and sold the business.  Around 1939 he moved to Littlethorpe Lodge continuing his hobbies of agriculture and gardening where he died in 1948.

The Daughters who had lived at St. John’s:

Lois Mary Rouse (1875-1959) never married and appears to have continued living with her father and at Littlethorpe Lodge til her death in 1959.

Ursula Coraline Rouse (1876-1925) married Reginald Welbury Jeffery (1877–1956), a History and Hulme Lecturer at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1904. Currently Brasenose College in conjunction with the Department for Continuing Education at Oxford University is offering a Reginald Welbury Jeffery Scholarship to meet the course fees for the MSc in English Local History.

Lettice Maitland Rouse (1878-1956) never married.  She did travel to Buenos Aires in 1913 on the Royal Mail Steam Packet Desna.  In 1945-46 she is resident at Littlethorpe Lodge, however died in Scarbough in 1956.

Margaret Farmer Rouse (1879-1925) married Berners Whiteside Worthington (1880-1913), a Barrister in 1907 and moved to Sussex and then in 1913 was at 8 Beaumont Street, London.  After her husband’s death Margaret became a Tea Room proprietor at Burnham on Sea.

Sarah Monica Rouse (1883-1969) married Ivanhoe Alan Neville Beadle (1894-1985), in 1918 a Captain in the Royal West Kent and later in the war the RAF Music School.  In 1920 he filed for Bankruptcy as a Band Master whilst living in Maidstone. In 1926 Ivan left for Canada as a Director of Music without his wife and two sons. His UK address was Bellwood, Ripon, the home of the Rouse family. He was 10 years younger than Monica, so perhaps the marriage didn't work out.  Sarah Monica is at Bellwood from 1930-1936 and her sons were with her father in Littlethorpe Lodge in 1939.   Sarah in 1966 had moved to Scarborough where she died.

Gladys Nowell Rouse (1889-1978) married Geoffrey Tattersall (1882-1972) in 1914.  Geoffrey was the Managing Maltster for William Tattersall and Sons whilst being boarders in Saltburn in 1921.  By 1939 they were living in Alnwick where Geoffrey is a General Supervisor of Malt Making.  They appear to have retired to Harrogate where they both died.

1895-1900
Allen Lister Booth (1846-1917)

Allen Lister Booth was born to Samuel Lister, a Solicitor in Bramley, and Sarah Davenport Booth and grew up in Bramley, training as a Solicitor.  By 1881, his father had died, and he was living with his mother at The Hollies, Bramhope and as a Solicitor himself employing six clerks and a coachman.  He practiced from Park Square, Leeds with the firm Messrs. Booth, Clough and Booth.  In 1887 he married Frances Leyland Nickols (1946-1925) the daughter of Richard Nickols a Leeds J.P. and partner with Mr. William Beckworth of Joppa Tannery, Kirkstall.  In 1888 their only son Allen Leyland was born.  Around 1890 he moved and rented Plainville in Pool in Wharfedale.  Plainville was subsequently known as Pool Court Restaurant and linked with Ilkley in the 1980-90’s as Monkman’s Bistro.

From 1895 -1900 the family lived at St. John’s before moving to Stourton Ford, Ilkley.  Allen Lister had business premises in London as well as Leeds and in 1911, whilst his wife and son were at Stourton Ford he was at 71 Gower Street.  Allen Lister and Francis moved to 14a Homefield Road in Wimbledon shortly after their son married.  In 1917 Allen Lister died with Frances dying eight years later.

Allen Leyland Booth (1888-1939) married Ada Fanny McCreedy (1887-????) at St. Margaret’s in Ilkley in 1913.  Allen and Ada had made numerous trips together to the US over the years.  Allen was resident at 87 Boulevard Passice, New Jersey when he died in Oslo, Norway in June 1939.  Ada only returned from Oslo in 1946.  Why Allen was in Oslo at the start of the war is unknown.

1901-1915
Francis Frederick Steinthal (1854-1934)

The 1901 Census for St John’s does not include Francis, who did not feature in the 1911 census either.  His business took him regularly away from home and overseas to Europe and hence not unexpected to find him not at home on a census date.  Included are the following:

Emmaline Steinthal (1855–1921) – Wife, aged 45

Paul Telford Steinthal (1883–1930) – Son aged 18

Francis Eric Steinthal (1886–1974) – Son aged 14

Paul Cuthbert Steinthal (1888–1980) – Son aged 12

And 4 servants, Cook, Waitress, Housemaid and Under Housemaid.

Missing from this census is Miss Dorothea Steinthal (1884-1978), Mr Steinthal’s daughter, who is also not found in the 1911 Census records. Dorothea went on to take a diploma in social organisation and public services at the University of Leeds.  Towards the end of the first world war, she volunteered with Red Cross, as a nurse in the St John’s Voluntary Aid Detachment.  Her volunteering (after an initial posting at 2nd Northern General, Leeds) took her to the Duchess of Sutherlands Hospital, France in Feb 2017, before transferring to 1st Anglo Belgium Hospital and finishing her service in Dec 1918, receiving the Victory Medal from Belgium only.  After the war she stayed with her father at Mount Stead and moved with him when he retired to Leicester House, Oakwood Road, Burgess Hill, East Sussex.  Following her father’s death, she moved next door to her brother, Paul Cuthbert at Mount Stead Cottage during the second world war before returning to East Sussex and finally to Cley-Next the Sea where she died in 1978.

Mr Francis Frederick Steinthal was born on 23 August 1854 in Bradford to Carl [Charles] Gustav Steinthal (1823-1890) and Rosa Sophia (nee Hormuth) (1834-1889), the eldest of five children.  His father was born in Hamburg, Germany, and married Rosa in her home city of Heidelberg in 1853 after which they moved to Bradford. Carl moved to Bradford along with many other Germans, who brought woollen expertise to the flourishing worsted woollen trade and operated as a Yarn Merchant from 5 Currer Street in Little Germany, Bradford.  In 1871 the family was living at Oak Tree Villa, Manningham, the parents as naturalised Germans (Carl taking the name Charles), however Francis, aged 16, is away at St Andrews Hall school in Heston Middlesex.  By 1887 Charles and Rosa had moved back to Germany, this time in Frankfurt, although Charles is still registered in the Trade Directory as a Yarn Merchant at 5 Currer Street.  Both Charles and Rosa died in Frankfurt.

Francis was originally baptised Franz Frederick, however from an early age took the anglicised name of Francis.  Francis was prominently associated with the Bradford wool trade, where he was a member of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce.  He entered his father’s a firm of wool merchants and in time took control and expanded it.

In 1881 Francis is a visitor to the Ben Rhydding Hydropathic Establishment, which may well have guided him to eventually moving to Ilkley, and in his later life living at Mount Stead next door to the Hydro.  The benefits of the Hydro may have been made known to him by John Bright, MP from Rochdale, who had stayed at Ben Rhydding Hydro in March 1856 for a month (it was reported in the Leeds Mercury – “His general health is good, but the undue strain to which devotion to the public interest has exposed his mental faculties is now evident from his inability to attend these familiar subjects  without pain.  He is therefore very wisely giving his over-taxed brain the repose which it requires”) and again for a few weeks in 1858.  John Bright MP was a family friend of his future wife, Emeline Petrie from Rochdale who he married on 5 April 1882 a year after his stay at the Hydro.  In November 1886, the Steinthal family moved to 2 Walmer Place between Apsley Crescent and Manningham Lane.

In 1887 Francis was living at 6 Selbourne Grove, Manningham but by 1890, at least, he had moved to Middleton Villas, Ilkley in Wharfemead, 8, Stourton Gardens, Ilkley as it was addressed at the time.  In 2024 this is 114 Skipton Road.

1890 was the year the Ilkley Golf Club opened on Rombold’s Moor and Francis Steinthal was one of the original members of the club.  He was a committee member from the start and at times the honorary treasurer. In 1890 he offered a very handsome claret jug, which was competed for by members of the club four times a year, by handicap, the competitor who wins it twice, in one year, becoming the absolute winner.  In 1898 a new course by the river was opened and Mr Steinthal moved with the Ilkley Golf Club when it left the moorland course shortly afterwards.  The moorland course continued as Ilkley Moor Golf Club until World War 2.  At the Riverside Ilkley Golf Club, Mr Steinthal continued as treasurer and was President in 1912/13.

In 1900/1, Mr Steinthal purchased St. John’s and moved his family there.

Mr. F. F. Steinthal was a governor of Ilkley Grammar School, a Justice of the Peace and sat on the Otley Bench of Magistrates.  In Ilkley, however, it is in connection with the work of the Guild of Help that his highest honour.  Some years before the first world war he founded the guild based upon the “Elberfeld” system, which was not an organisation for dispensing indiscriminate charity as for helping people through all kinds of difficulties of which financial difficulties were but a part.  There was no National Health or Unemployment Insurance, and through the guild a work was done on behalf of the less fortunate residents which was remembered with the highest gratitude and appreciation.  During he war its work passed largely into the hands of the Soldiers and Sailors’ Families Association, and since then was carried out by the Ilkley Council for Social Welfare, many of the members were from the old Guild.  The work continued until various Insurance acts and pensions became available.

In 1915 the Steinthal’s moved to Mount Stead in Ben Rhydding, where Francis remained living until retiring and moving to Leicester House, Oakwood Road, Burgess Hill, East Sussex with his daughter in 1930, where he died in 1934.

Emeline Petrie Steinthal (1855–1921), Francis’s wife was a devoted supporter of husband, however in her own right was an exceptional person. She was a sculptor and, painter of renown, regularly exhibiting sculptures and miniatures at the Royal Academy and later taking up watercolours and brush drawing.  She sculpted a bust of the family friend John Bright MP which stood in the vestibule of the Oldham Town Hall.  Mrs Steinthal had studied art first at the Manchester School of Art and afterwards at Julian’s Studio in Paris. Emeline was the daughter of Mr. George Petrie, of Stonehill, Rochdale and educated at Wintersdorf, Birkdale, taking a great interest in matters educational, particularly art.  She taught in the Rochdale Sunday School while still in her teens; and her organising ability by collecting the wildest ragged boys from the street of Rochdale and holding regular meetings through which these wild elements in many cases became sound citizens.  This education interest led to Emeline being co-founder of the Parents National Educational Union along with Charlotte Mason.

More is learned about Emeline in Margaret Coombs’ book Charlotte Mason: Hidden Heritage and Educational Influence from which the following has been extracted.

Charlotte Mason’s friendship with Lienie, as Emeline was known to Charlotte, started in 1887 after Lienie read a newspaper article about Home Education (Charlotte Masons recent lectures and publications) and discovered that the author lived near the Steinthal’s in Bradford.  Lienie wrote to Charlotte, and they met in the spring of 1887 starting a warm friendship that lasted her lifetime.  Miss Mason took wholeheartedly to this enthusiastic young mother: That so charming a woman, so full of vitality and many interested should be prepared to go so deeply into thought about education was a surprise to the writer.  So sympathetic and so full of understanding was she that a project nursed for years (and that had taken form in ‘Home Education’) was divulged to her and she threw herself heartily into the aims and hopes of what was to be the P.N.E.U.

The Parents’ Educational Union was founded that year by Charlotte and Emeline in Bradford.  It was an organisation providing support for children being home educated following the philosophy and ideas of Charlotte.  The word “National” was added in 1890 forming the Parents’ National Education Union.  From 1890 it published The Parents' Review - A Monthly Magazine of Home-Training and Culture, Edited by Charlotte Mason and from the first issue Emeline was a frequent contributor and editor for two years whilst Miss Mason was ill.  This is a link to the article in the first issue - https://www.amblesideonline.org/PR/PR01p033ArtTrainingNursery.shtml

Charlotte was a godmother to the Steinthal’s fourth son Paul Cuthbert and Dorothea recalled that Charlotte became ‘Aunt Mai’ to all the Steinthal children.

In Mrs Steinthal’s obituary in the Shipley Times in 1921 it was noted that the PNEU’s methods were well known and adopted in many elementary schools in the West Riding, in which area Mrs Steinthal had worked untiringly and successfully to introduce, having been co-opted as a member of the Bradford Education Committee.

Emeline’s interest in art education extended beyond the PNEU.  She published a small book on clay-modelling for children which was much used in schools, and with a view to spreading her ideas she began a class for art teachers in Bradford in 1899 icing practical lessons in clay modelling and brush drawing.  The Bradford School Board gave her free use of a room at the Belle Vue Scholl and the classes were held on Saturday mornings continuing, week by week for over 20 years.  From the beginning the classes attracted attention and drew together a large number of teachers from all kinds of schools in Bradford and the West Riding.  Throughout the whole of those years, she gave her services freely and resolutely refused any offer of remuneration.  Mrs Steinthal also wrote little primers on brush drawing from nature, and for some years she taught a class in the infants’ school at Ilkley.

Along with her husband she worked with the Ilkley Guild of Help, for a time being its Chair.  Other social efforts included for ten years from 1903 to 1913 being Hon. Secretary of the Mothers Union in the Ripon Diocese and president for many years of the Girls’ Friendly Society in the diocese.  In these capacities Mrs Steinthal travelled the diocese often speaking two or three times a week and her obituary said “she had a wonderful gift of speaking born of her sincerity, and the charm of her character and words always left a deep and lasting impression on her hearers.  Perhaps she loved best her audiences of mothers, where her understanding of their difficulties, her sound and practical sense on the subject of bringing up children, and her true womanliness always found such delightful expression.”

With Mrs E. P. Arnold Forster she founded the Loan Training Fund, whereby needed gentlewomen could be trained for various professions, whilst she also had a long connection with the Yorkshire Ladies’ Council of Education and the Gentlewomen’s Employment Fund and acted as Chair of the Women’s Arts and Crafts Section at the Bradford Exhibition of 1904.

K. Chesterton (1874-1936) and “Father Brown”

Listed first after the family members in the attendees of Mrs Steinthal’s funeral is Mr G. K. Chesterton who along with his wife, Francis, were close family friends.  It is said that the Chesterton’s came to stay at St. John's two or three times a year.

Two events demonstrate the closeness of the friendship between Chesterton and Steinthal families.

In 1904 Chesterton (from ‘G. K. Chesterton’ by Michael Ffinch) wrote a masque for Mr. Steinthal’s fiftieth birthday with the Steinthal children playing parts in the masque.

Upon this place in after time shall stand

A splendid house that shall be called St John's.

This glade of which I am king, this Yorkshire vale

Of this hereafter Steinthal shall be King

Here, on this barren glade on which we tread

Steinthal shall have a garden

Then in 1925 Maria Petrie, the wife of Francis Eric, was commissioned to produce a bust of Mr. Chesterton that ended up in the National Gallery, after being exhibited in the Royal Academy exhibition in 1926.

Whilst visiting Keighley, in 1903, Chesterton met Monsignor John O’Connor, catholic parish priest of St. Cuthbert’s, Bradford at the house of Mr. Herbert Huell, who was an even older “fan” of Chesterton and who possessed one of the four copies of “The Wild Knight” which constituted the first issue of the first edition.  Mr. Chesterton and Monsignor O’Connor agreed to walk one March day over the moor to Ilkley, where Chesterton was spending a short holiday, at St. John’s, after delivering a lecture to the Keighley intelligentsia.  Mgr. O’Connor recalled in the biography he wrote about Mr. Chesterton (‘Father Brown on Chesterton’), that he related some of his experiences to Chesterton, one incidentally, concerning a padded room in the men’s side of Bradford Imbecile Ward, from which a madman escaped.  They ended their walk in time for lunch (shepherd’s pie apparently) at St. John’s, Ilkley “opposite the best-kept church in the world, St. Margaret’s”, where Mrs. Chesterton awaited them.

Monsignor O’Connor is not certain when he originated as “Father Brown” in Chesterton’s books, but he says that during their walk over the moor Chesterton expressed his ambition to increase and improve the breed of detective stories.  Chesterton next visited St. John’s in late autumn 1903, and Mgr. O’Connor was asked to spend the day with him.  Mgr. O’Connor wrote that perhaps Chesterton had already started Father Brown, for after dinner he met the two young men who occasioned the Brown Epos. after his departure.  A third invitation was to dine and sleep and was after “Wisdom of Father Brown” as there was a deep plot to capture a likeness for the dust cover of the “Innocence”.  Monsignor O’Connor describes how he discovered a young woman sketching him, for the portrait of Father Brown for the dust cover of “Innocence”.  He wrote “The whole thing was a plot, but it was quite a year before I saw it.  For I am a bit of an owl, always was; and the creation of Father Brown came from the fact that I noted and chronicled small beer, whereas Chesterton was the very opposite.  He never forgot anything he heard or read, but he never remembered what day it was of if lunch were still to come.  My native talent for detection was of the slenderest, but it appealed to Chesterton’s faculty for wonder.

Mgr. O’Connor wrote that dreaming suspicion became waking certitude when he was presented to some jolly undergraduates and to Miss Maisie Ward (G. K. Chesterton’s publisher) as “Father Brown” and at the same event was presented with the whole manuscript of Chesterton’s “The Ballad of the White Horse” (published in 1911 and has been described as one of the last great epic poems in the English language) and asked to censor it, as so much of it was his.

Mgr. O’Connor includes in his anecdotes that G. K. Chesterton was arrested by Ilkley for “pinking the forestry” but was released when it was found that he was staying with Mr Steinthal, the local justice of the peace.

Paul Telford Steinthal (Petrie) (1883–1930) known as Telford- M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., Chief Engineer to the Manchester Steam Users Association

Telford received his general education at Rugby, and on leaving this school in 1901, took the Engineering Course at the Yorkshire College, now the University of Leeds, from which he graduated in 1903 with the degree of B.Sc. (Eng.). To acquire practical experience, he then spent a year in the shops of Messrs. John Petrie and Company, Rochdale, a firm which had been founded by his grandfather, and supplemented this by another year at the works of the General Electric Co, Schenectady USA. On his return to England in 1907, he was employed in the London office of the A.E.G. of Berlin, and later on was entrusted with the management of their offices at Birmingham and Leeds.

With a view to securing the degree of M.Sc., he carried out at Leeds, in 1909, an elaborate series of experiments on the deflection of flat plates, the results of which formed the subject of a paper published in Engineering, vol. xci, page 677 (1911). He subsequently secured a position as one of the outside inspecting staff of the Crown Agents of the Colonies, but, in 1912, started work as director and works manager (on own account) of small machinery manufacturer (Marriott and Stewart of Twickenham), also part time consulting engineer of Victoria St., London.

In 1910 he married Edith Mary Fraser of Ganthorpe House, and they were to have four Children; Mary Margaret Fraser (1916-2013), twins John Telford (1917-2008) and Christine E (1917-2007)and a younger daughter Pauline M (1921-2010).

After the outbreak of war in 1914, Telford changed his name by deed poll to Petrie (his grandfather’s name) to disassociate from the German Steinthal on 9 Sep. His brothers were to also change their names; however, Francis Eric’s was only done in 1919 whereas Paul Cuthbert’s was done in 1915.  Unlike his two brothers, who did join up a damaged hand meant service in the Army impossible.  So, Telford for three years was head of the engineering department of Uppingham School, and in the early part of 1918 he became lecturer in mechanical engineering in the Victoria University at Manchester and in the College of Technology. With Professor Stoney be conducted a War research behalf of the Lancashire Anti-Submarine Committee, into the production of sound under water.

Whilst at Uppingham, Telford was a Temporary Captain with the 1st Bn Rutland Volunteer Regiment from July 1917 to July 1918, having been a temporary lieutenant previously and continued with the Manchester volunteers until resigning in 1922 due to work commitments.

Telford was best known, however, in connection with the work of the Nozzles Research Committee, with which he was associated first as superintendent, and finally as reporter, responsible for the five Reports of the Committee published between 1920 and 1927.  During almost the whole of this research, Petrie retained his post as university lecturer, taking the degree of Doctor of Science in 1926. In 1928, he received the appointment, on the retirement of Mr. C. E. Stromeyer, of chief engineer to the Manchester Steam Users Association.

However, this was proved a difficult time for Dr Petrie, as in January 1930 (Liverpool Daily Post 22 January 1930) when a boiler explosion at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead (two killed, seven injured) the previous April was investigated, the company was not found at fault, however “with regard to Mr Telford Petrie, D.Sc., it is difficult to know what to say.  We cannot relive him from responsibility, because he has undertaken to carry out duties which he is wholly incompetent to fulfil.  The chief engineer of a boiler association or company should be a person of skill in everything which relates to the construction and use of boilers, and without such knowledge we do not see how Dr. Petrie can possibly hold the position of chief engineer under the association and exercise control of, and give directions to, the engineering staff under him or to the numerous boiler inspectors.  We hold the association primarily to blame for the explosion.  We also hold Dr. Petrie to blame.” He was made to pay £150 towards costs.

As well as work Telford took up his mother interest in the Parents National Education Union and was Chair of the Ambleside Council when he died suddenly in May 1930 at Ashton on Trent, Nottinghamshire although his home at the time was Foxley House, Lymm, Cheshire.

Francis Eric Steinthal (Petrie) (1886–1974) – Known as Eric

Eric went to Trinity College, Oxford where we obtained a Third in Modern History.  In 2022, a photograph album belonging to Eric came up for auction which gave a view of Edwardian life at Trinity. Altogether there were 22 full-page photographs depicting college societies, Trinity and Varsity teams, commemoration balls, plus a charming group of seven final-year undergraduates standing awkwardly outside their lodgings. There were then a further 11 leaves containing assorted snapshots of young men relaxing around college, entertaining girls to picnics on the river, and enjoying family holidays sailing on the Norfolk Broads and skiing in Switzerland. Every image was captioned, and Trinity members identified with names, nicknames, or initials.  Trinity College now owns this collection.

Eric was a skilful Rugby Union three quarter, playing centre.  Having played for and captained Ilkley Rugby Club (returning from Oxford University when possible, having gained his “blue”) he went on to represent Yorkshire from 1909-1914 and England in 1913. In 1911 both Eric and his younger brother Paul Cuthbert (Captain of Ilkley Rugby Club by then) played for Yorkshire in victories against Durham, Northumberland, and Lancashire where the Durham match report commented on how well the two brothers played together.  Paul was injured in the win against Lancashire; however, it was reported that Eric was “brilliant” and much improved from his Oxford University days such that Eric played in the England trial match that December but was injured during the game.  In 1912, the brothers played in at least two county matches where Eric scored two tries and Paul one in a victory against Durham.  In December Eric represented the North in their losing match against the South African touring side at Headingly. Eric went on to represent England in two tests making his debut in a 0 v 12 victory over Wales at Cardiff, Jan 18, 1913, and a 20 v 0 victory against France at Twickenham, a week later.  He lost his place in the next match against Ireland “by sticking to the ball too much”.  Following his marriage in 1913 the Ilkley Rugby Club presented Eric with a smokers’ cabinet and a case of pipes, both as a wedding present and to commemorate his promotion to international football rank.  Mr Steinthal, in accepting the gift, said he owed much to the Ilkley club, for it was in playing for Ilkley that he practically learnt his football.  In March 1914 Eric captained Yorkshire against Durham with his brother Paul playing alongside him, however they lost by 1 point.

After leaving university Eric was assistant master at Durham School until the outbreak of the first world war in 1914.  In August 1913 Eric, in Neubronn church, Baden-Württemberg, Germany married Maria Sophia Zimmern (1887-1972) who was born in Frankfurt.  Marie had studied sculpture at the Staedel Art Institute in Frankfurt for three years, and then became a pupil of Aristide Maillol in Paris. Her sculpture was exhibited in Paris and Brussels before the outbreak of World War One.

In September 1914 the Henson journals of the school record that “Steinthal desires to enlist, presumably to demonstrate that a German name can coexist with British patriotism! In his case there arises the question of making provision for his wife during his absence. If he were to fall, or be permanently disabled, presumably there is some provision made by the Country, though probably most wretchedly inadequate.” and a week later “Steinthal came to see me. He has enlisted, & is now concerned for his wife, who will continue to live in Durham. Would the Dean & Chapter, as Governing Body, make his wife an allowance? I said that the disposition of the D. & C. would certainly be as favourable as the circumstances permitted: & I asked what amount he considered would be sufficient. He mentioned £100. I said that I would consult my colleagues & let him know what we would do.”

It was not until 13 January 1919 that Eric formerly changed his name to Petrie by Deed Poll, which was announced in the Yorkshire Post.  Eric served in the Royal Fusiliers, rising from Private to Captain and it is possible that he was known as Steinthal throughout the war.

By 1916, after their only son, Martin Alfred, was born Eric and Maria moved to 21 St Bernard’s Crescent, Edinburgh with another couple; Leonard Gray, a local munitions manufacturer and his wife Maidie, which is where Maria and Martin lived whilst Eric was at the front.  The house was at the heart of the Scottish equivalent of the Bloomsbury set, a Scottish Bohemia. Across the road lived the artist, John Duncan. Eric Harald Macbeth Robertson and Cecile Walton, daughter of Glasgow Boys artist Edward Arthur Walton and an artist in her own right, all were regular visitors.  All this is learned from the letters and biographies of war poet Wilfred Owen. who, in 1917, was in Edinburgh at Craiglockhart Hospice for Neurasthenic Officers, being treated for shellshock.

Wilfred Owen mentions both Francis Eric and Maria in his letters. He said that “Maria was a mighty clever German sculptress who had studied under Maillol and other modern masters”. He also enjoyed dinners and parties at St Bernard’s Crescent. Maria taught him German and painted his portrait ‘in an impressionist style’, which Owen liked. Sadly however, the painting is no longer with us as it was apparently destroyed by Owen’s mother.  Owen also befriended Maria’s mother-law, Emiline Steinthal, however since the friendship was post 1915 Owen will not have stayed at St. John’s

Maria’s time at St Bernard’s Crescent was cut short abruptly. Leonard and Maidie Gray had a ‘complicated’ relationship rife with infidelity, as was the relationship between Eric Robertson and Cecile Walton, with Maria caught in the middle.  Maidie confessed to Cecile that Leonard was in love with Maria ‘but it is all quite spiritual with no sex about it’. Cecile however knew that Maidie had two young officers courting her and was just looking for an excuse. When Maria’s husband, Eric returned on leave and discovered the situation, he immediately moved Maria and his son into a hotel.

After the war, Eric and Maria Petrie returned to Yorkshire and Eric went back to teaching living at 2 Riddings Road, Ilkley until 1928.  Eric was one of the founders of the Ilkley Branch of the League of Nations, of which he was secretary and afterwards president.  In 1928 they moved to 3 Belle Vue and then from 1930-33, they were living at 25a St Peters Square, Hammersmith, presumably Eric had a London teaching job at this time before taking up a post at Abbotsholme School on the banks of the River Dove in Derbyshire, England near the county border and the village of Rocester in Staffordshire.

At some point Maria followed her husband into teaching, becoming an art teacher and in 1936 published a book called Modelling for Children, at which point both Eric and Maria appear to be teaching at Abbotsholme School.

During the Second World War, their son Martin joined up. In the summer of 1940, he married Barbara Spells, however unfortunately by January 1941 he had died in action in Kenya and in the summer of 1941 his son, Brian Martin, was born.

In 1946, they were still at Abbotsholme and Maria had written another book, Art and Regeneration, this time on the emerging new field of Art Therapy.  The book was dedicated to her grandson Brian who, at aged three, did the painting that was used for the cover.  Although Maria Petrie’s early life was dominated by the practice of art, the latter part of her life left us with a very different legacy. When she wrote Art and Regeneration, art therapy was in its infancy and Maria became a pioneering and influential practitioner and lecturer, mentioned in books on the history of art therapy and still cited in articles today.

By 1949 they had emigrated to the United States and became naturalised citizens that year and were living in Santa Barbara, California.  Maria was still active as an artist. In 1959 she produced a bust of the author Aldous Huxley that is now in the National Portrait Gallery.  Maria died in Santa Barbara, California in 1972 at the age of 85.  Eric returned to the United Kingdom where he died two years later in Sussex, close to where a number of his brother, Telford’s children were living.

Paul Cuthbert Steinthal (Petrie) (1888–1980) – Known as Paul.

Paul went to Loretto School and then, rather than going to university he went to the Continent.  As mentioned in Eric’s biography, Paul and Eric were distinguished Rugby players.  Paul made his debut for Yorkshire County side in Sep 1907.  In February 1908 it was reported in the local newspaper that Paul would be unavailable for rugby due to engagements on the continent (Germany) for the next 3 years.  By June 1910 the Ilkley cricket club hoped to welcome Paul back from the Continent.  Paul in 1910/11 made the Rest of England v England rugby trial, however he never made it into the England team.  At a Yorkshire Rugby Football Union meeting in 1913 where support for a proposed Olympic Games Fund was left to the English Union to decide, Paul stated “I was in Sweden on the occasion of the last Olympic Games, and it was disgraceful the way the English athletes refused to train.  If we want to do anything, English people will have to take training seriously.”  He continued to make non international representative appearances in trials and represented Yorkshire up to 1914.

On returning from the continent in 1910 Paul took a commission in the Royal Field Artillery, 4th West Riding (Howitzer) Brigade stationed in Ilkley at the Drill Hall (Blue Plaque no. 19).    Paul would most likely have been part of the commissioning of the Drill Hall as its construction was finished in September 1911.  He was promoted to full Lieutenant in January 1913.  By the date of his marriage on Oct 3, 1914, to Miss Eileen Mary Fell, elder daughter of Mr. Henry Fell (Lead manufacturer), Nesham House, Wilton Road, Ilkley he had been appointed Captain Paul Cuthbert Steinthal.  Paul was stationed with his regiment at Doncaster, and it was a quiet wedding at St. Margaret’s Ilkley with no bridesmaids.

It was in the summer of 1915, having taken charge of the Brigade (which was to be renamed D battery 245th Brigade RFA) as Major Paul Steinthal that he changed his name by deed poll.  The book '1915: The Death of Innocence’ by L. Macdonald 1997 '1915: details the circumstances of this change through a recollection of one of the Battery’s soldiers.  “Paul Major Paul Petrie was our Commanding Officer, and actually we'd lost him a few weeks before we went to France. It was a strange affair, because he wasn't called Petrie then. His name was Steinthal, a German name, and he'd been forced to leave the battery, because the powers that be were suspicious about his antecedents and thought he might have German sympathies. He was in the wool trade in Bradford, and there were a lot of families in that business who were German from generations back. Anyway, he was forced to give up the command while they checked all this out and we got a nasty little fat short-arsed fellow in his place. Nobody liked him.  He had a high opinion of himself and he used to give orders in a high-pitched, snarling voice. … Fortunately our own Major came back to us just before we left. He came back as Major Petrie. Someone who knew him said Petrie was his wife's name and he'd adopted it to avoid any more trouble.”

I PAUL CUTHBERT PETRIE, heretofore called Paul Cuthbert Steinthal, of Mount Stead, Ben Rhydding, in the county of York, Merchant, now serving as Major of the 4th West Riding Howitzer Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery (Territorial Force), being a British subject, born in England of natural born British parents, give public notice, that (as declared and evidenced by deed under my hand and seal dated the 29th July, 1915, and enrolled in the Central Office of the Supreme Court of Judicature on the 10th August, 1915) I have assumed the surname of Petrie (being the maiden surname of my Mother) in lieu of the surname of Steinthal, and that I intend henceforth to sign, use and be known by the surname of Petrie.—Dated the 10th day of August, 1915. (London Gazette Issue 29262 published on the 13 August 1915)

A Record of D245 Battery 1914-1919 by Sgt Gee M.M. and Cpl Shaw, Renwick, details the activities of the unit, under his command, throughout the war.  In the June 1916 Birthday Honors he was awarded the Military Cross whilst Captain (Temporary Major).  The battery history records how at 9:00 am, just before the armistice, “Major Petrie himself fired the last shell from his battery (which at the time was the British battery which could claim to be nearest to Germany). In view of the impending armistice, he despatched it with the safety-cap still on. The Germans responded at 10:45 with a dozen shells with the safety-caps most certainly off.”(p.167-168).

In 1915 he had a son Ronald Arthur George (1915-1939), who became a flying officer in the RAF and was killed in April 1939 prior to the start of WW2 when his Lysander two-seat aeroplane attached to No, 2 (Army Cooperation) Squadron stationed at Hawkinge near Folkestone, struck the landing ground of the aerodrome and burst into flames. The inquest concluded that Petrie had probably died due to cramp because The Squadron Leader had tried a similar manoeuvre and established that if Petrie had applied right rudder (which as a “fearless but absolutely safe pilot” he would have known) he would have levelled out and not crashed.  His other son was Paul Douglas (1919-2001), who was a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF and also award a D.S.O.  In 1922 he had a daughter Eileen Anne (1922-2205)

Returned from the war, first living at Belcaro, Kings Road, Ilkley (1918-1924), then High Stead (1929-32) before moving to Mount Stead (1932-1964 +), Major P. C. Petrie joined his father’s firm as wool and yarn merchant.  By 1934 he was a partner in the firm of Messrs. A. Hoffmann and Co., Bradford, a firm which Mr. Steinthal’s business had been amalgamated.  The partnership between John Achier Hoffmann and Paul Cuthbert Petrie, in business as wool and yarn merchants at 8, Burnett Street Bradford was dissolved by mutual consent in September 1939, with Mr. Hoffmann continuing the business at the same address and under the same firm’s name.

During the second world Paul was appointed, in 1941, Colonel and Group commander of Ilkley Home Guard.  Sometime before 1971 Col P. C. Petrie moved to Willerby Lodge, Staxton where he lived until his death in 1980.

Left panel reads

ALSO OF EDITH MARY PETRIE BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER
BORN MAY 1ST 1882 DIED NOV. 2ND 1971

ALSO OF DOROTHEA BELOVED DAUGHTER OF
FRANCIS AND EMELINE MUCH LOVED AUNT
BORN APRIL 12TH 1884
DIED JAN. 16TH 1978

ALSO OF PAUL CUTHBERT PETRIE D.S.O. M.C.
BORN JULY 18TH 1888
DIED JAN. 30TH 1979

Left base reads:

EMELINE ANNE PETRIE DAUGHTER OF PAUL AND EILEEN
7.7.1922 ~ 26.8.2005

Left floor reads:

MARGARET M F LANE ROBERTS
BORN 27TH JAN 1916 DIED 7TH OCT 2013

 

Centre panel reads

IN MEMORY OF EMELINE PETRIE BELOVED WIFE OF FRANCIS F STEINTHAL
BORN JULY 26TH 1855 DIED AUG 7TH 1921

ALSO OF PAUL TELFORD PETRIE D.Sc THEIR ELDEST SON DEVOTED HUSBAND OF EDITH PETRIE
BORN FEB 12TH 1883 DIED MAY 19TH 1930

ALSO OF FRANCIS F STEINTHAL J.P. DEAR HUSBAND AND FATHER
BORN AUG 23RD 1854 DIED MARCH 30TH 1934

ALSO OF RONALD ANTHONY GEORGE FLYING OFFICER ROYAL AIR FORCE SON OF PAUL AND EILEEN PETRIE
BORN DEC 15TH 1915 KILLED APRIL 28TH 1939

Centre base reads:

ALSO EILEEN MARY PETRIE WIFE OF PAUL
BORN 13TH JULY 1897 DIED 27TH JUNE 1980

Centre floor reads:

CHRISTINE E DEEGAN
BORN 13TH NOV 1917 DIED 29TH JUNE 2008

JOHN T PETRIE M.B.E.
BORN 13TH NOV 1917 DIED 14TH AUG 2008

Right panel reads

ALSO OF MARTIN ALFRED SON OF ERIC AND MARIA PETRIE AND HUSBAND OF BARBARA
BORN MARCH 3 RD 1916 DIED JAN. 25TH 1941 ON ACTIVE SERVICE IN KENYA

ALSO OF JULIA COLLIER
BORN AUG. 23RD 1894 DIED MARCH 29TH 1957
A DEAR FRIEND TO FOUR GENERATIONS

ALSO FRANCIS ERIC PETRIE M.A.
BORN NOV. 21ST 1886 DIED MAY 23 RD 1974

AND HIS WIFE MARIA PETRIE
BORN AUG. 14TH 1887 DIED OCT. 25TH 1972

Right base reads:

PAUL DOUGLAS PETRIE D.F.C. D.S.O.
BORN 21ST NOVEMBER 1919 DIED 23RD MARCH 2001

Right floor reads:

PAULINE M MARSHALL
BORN 23RD FEB 1921 DIED 3RD DEC 2010

1916-1921

John Cecil Atkinson, Mrs Emily Harrison & Mrs Mary Evelyn West Symes
(Son and 2 widowed daughters of John William Atkinson)

1921-1933

William Martello Gray
(1850-1933)

Mr William Martello Gray was one of the oldest chartered accountants in Bradford, and one of the most noted philatelists in the country.  Mr. Gray was founder and principal of Messrs. William M. Gray, Son and Co. Manor Row, Bradford, the second oldest firm of chartered accountants in Bradford.  He was also for 20 years a director and for a period (1921-27) Vice-President of the Halifax Permanent and later the Halifax Building Society.

Mr. Gray moved to Little, Horton, Bradford from his birth place of Hull, where his father (also called William Martello Gray a native of Hovingham) was a Master Tailor, between the ages of ten and twenty. At aged twenty he was a bookkeeper and cashier for a worsted and woollen warehouse. He then went into a partnership with an accountancy firm in Kirkgate before going into business on his own account and founding the firm that was to be Messrs. William M. Gray, Son and Co. He was one of the first to be admitted to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Bradford. Perhaps in business Mr. Gray was best remembered as having been liquidator in the winding up of the Yorkshire Investment and American Mortgage Company. This consisted almost entirely of Bradford shareholders and was formed to purchase land in America for development. He had charge of the company's assets for 20 years, and he was the means of the shareholders receiving 23s. in the pound from investments on which most of them had become resigned to a total loss. The winding up was completed around 1927, shortly after he moved to St. John’s.  Mr. Gray married Fanny Smith Barnett (1856-1943) in 1872 and had 3 daughters and 3 sons.  They lived in the Heaton area of Bradford and prior to moving to St. John’s at Sefton House.

A Valuable Collection 

Mr Gray had an international reputation as a philatelist. In 1904 the Philatelic Journal of Great Britain (Click here to read the article) said his ‘business career in the sixties (1860’s) with a manufacturing concern that had extensive commercial relations with various European countries, particularly with Germany, then issuing many interesting varieties of postage stamps.  This led to his taking up stamp collecting as a hobby, and regarding this we cannot do better than quote Mr. Gray’s own words : —“I soon acquired a love for collecting stamps, and my recollection is that this special hobby had made considerable progress amongst my young friends in 1866”’.

His collection of Great Britain stamps was twice judged at international exhibitions in London as the best in the world. The collection had been described as probably the finest in the country after that of King Edward. Carefully stored in the safe at St. John’s, he had 15 volumes containing about 15,000 to 16,000 stamps comprising all British Issues since the institution of the penny post. All were unused stamps, and there were individual stamps probably worth up to £400 in 1933.

Following his death in 1933 there was a notice of an auction of his furnishings at St. John’s in Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 03 March 1934 and in 1935 St. John’s was put up for Auction with the following details included in Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 15 June 1935:

ILKLEY-IN-WHAREFDALE

Convenient for Leeds, Harrogate or Bradford, WITH VACANT POSSESSION ON COMPLETION. Sale of a SUBSTANTIAL DETACHED RESIDENCE in a well-chosen position opposite St. Margaret's Church, Ilkley, close to Wells House Hydro and enjoying commanding views over Ilkley towards the Moors beyond.

HOLLIS and WEBB will sell by Auction at the Crescent hotel, Ilkley, on Saturday, July 6th 1935 at 3pm subject to such conditions as shall be produced and read, the

DETACHED FREEHOLD RESIDENCE

known as

ST. JOHN'S

situated at the junction of QUEENS ROAD with PRINCESS ROAD, ILKLEY, close to St. Margaret's Church and given complete privacy by its own extensive gardens, which cover approximately 1¾ acres.

THE STRUCTURE is very substantial, being of stone and grey slated roof, with mullioned windows and ornamental Gables, the elevation being attractive and imposing.

THE ACCOMADATION comprises -

On ground floor - Spacious Entrance Hall 24 ft by 16 ft 6 in. Cloakroom, 14ft 6in by 12ft 8in, with two lavatory basins (h and c) and wc: DINING ROOM, 25ft by 19ft 6in (excluding the bow window with fitted seat): on the upper Ground Floor, which is approached by an imposing stairway 5ft 10in wide from the main entrance hall, are THREE LARGE RECEPTION ROOMS, of which the first measures 29ft 9in by 17ft 9in plus 17ft 5 in by 8ft (excluding the bow window with fitted seat) having also large recessed mahogany fireplace with dog grate and brass canopy; the second measures 20ft 9in by 18ft 9in (excluding the large square bay window) with window seat and white painted mantel (this room also communicates with a small lean-to CONSERVATORY); whilst the third is 31ft 6in by 17ft 6in (excluding the large bay window in recess).  These three rooms are all in splendid decorative condition.  The DOMESTIC OFFICES, which are shut off by a service door comprise well fitted BUTLER’S PANTRY, SCULLERY 16ft 6in by 8ft 7in with sink (h. and c.) and Milner's Plate Safe, HOUSE KEEPER’S ROOM, 18ft 10in by 13ft 8in; KITCHEN 22ft by 17ft 6in with generous cupboards and drawers and two sinks (h. and c.), Larder with stone shelves and tradesmen’s entrance.

There are in addition useful Cellars including keeping wine, coal and storage cellars, together with boiler house for the central heating system.

ON THE FIRST FLOOR is a spacious Landing; FOUR PRINCIPAL BEDROOMS; DRESSING ROOM; THREE LARGE SECONDARY BEDROOMS; THREE PRINCIPAL BATHROOMS; Housemaid’s Closet (fitted); Linen Room (heated), separate w.c., can filling place for hot water, etc.  Two of the principal bedrooms have fixed lavatory basins (h. and c.).

ON THE SECOND FLOOR, in addition to two useful rooms and storage on the half landing, are FOUR SERVANTS’ BEDROOM (one with lavatory basin (h. and c.), spacious Landing, SERVANTS BATHROOM, separate w.c. and Housemaids Closet.

The rooms throughout are of generous proportions, the accommodation provided is considerable and the fittings and fixtures are of a luxurious character.

THE OUTBUILDINGS comprise a large GARAGE of timber construction 36ft by 17ft (heated); a range of useful tool, wood and other stores; a Greenhouse; three frames; Servant’s w.c.; Potting shed, and store with loft and hay chamber over; large covered space, back entrance and yard.  Overlooking the gardens but set into the front of the house is a SUN SHELTER with wooden seating.

THE GARDENS AND GROUNDS are extensive, well timbered and sheltered, and cover nearly 1 ¾ ACRES, being well stocked with flowering shrubs and divided into lawns with large gravelled terrace before the house.  The Estate is intersected by woodland paths and traversed by a small stream.

CENTRAL HEATING. ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER.

Cards to view and any further information required may be obtained on application to HOLLIS and WEBB, Auctioneers, Valuer, Estate Agents and Surveyors, 3 Park Place, Leeds or to WATSON, SON and SMITH, Solicitors, Argus Chambers, Leeds Road, Bradford.

1934-1945

Unknown – Possibly not occupied as the 1934-1945 Electoral Registers have no registered voters living there and the 1939 Census shows the property unoccupied.

These photos show the property in disrepair prior to conversion to 9 Flats.

1945 onwards

The electoral register lists 9 apartments being occupied from 1945.

The building has been 9 apartments since about 1945. St. John’s was refurbished in 2007 by Remstone Construction limited and The Venmore Partnership.

This plaque has been sponsored by Remstone / Valedown

Ilkley Local History Hub would like to hear from people with pictures or information about St John’s - localhistory@civicsociety.ilkley.org

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