Chapter 9.

The Harvey Family.

Before we get to the family members that I have old photos for, I thought I would share some portraits and information about their ancestors, all of whom I have on the family tree.

I’m starting with John Harvey (Son of Robert Harvey)1666- 1742. The following from the Norwich Heritage website, “he was thought to be the founder of the Norwich dynasty, being originally born in Beachamwell. He was a worsted weaver and was admitted as a Freeman of the city in 1695. In 1710 he was voted the ‘Merchant of St Clements’. He started the family tradition of being appointed to great office being Sheriff in 1720, an Alderman in 1722 and Mayor in 1727“. John married twice, first to Ann Statham 1768-1706 on 25 May 1693 in Heigham, Norfolk. The couple had seven children, the second born was Robert Harvey 1697-1773 (he was one of the ancestors on the paternal line of my couple). After his first wife Ann died, John married Mary Ripper in 1707 at St. George-Tombland, Norwich, Norfolk, and they had three sons.

This is a view of the memorial to John Harvey and several members of the Harvey family that can be found in St Clement’s Church, Norwich, Norfolk, also from the same Norwich website.

The next in descent is Robert Harvey 1699-1773, and what a splendid portrait of him below.

Robert Harvey 1697-1773.

Robert Harvey married Lydia BLACK 1699-1759 on 22 March 1722 in Norwich, Norfolk. Here is Lydia below.

The following information from the Norwich Heritage site: “Robert Harvey ran the family’s worsted business in Norwich where he lived at 18-20 Colegate with his wife Lydia. He also owned Catton House. He followed the family tradition of taking public office, being Mayor in 1738.  He was renowned for his eccentric dress. He gloried in two pseudonyms the first being the somewhat dubious nickname of “Snuffy Bob,” earned for his habit of standing in front of his Colegate house taking snuff from his waistcoat pocket, and the second the somewhat grander “Father of the City.”. Not surprisingly, the latter is written on his mural tablet in St Clement Church“. From what I’ve researched it looks likely that Robert and Lydia had six children, five that died as infants/young children, some unnamed and just one that survived to adulthood and that was Robert Harvey 1730-1816.

Robert’s portrait with the inscription ‘Robert Harvey, born 1730, died 1816.  Mayor 1776 & 1800.  Robert married Judith Onley 1730-1810 in 1751, she was the daughter of Capt John Onley RN.  The only child of Robert Harvey of Catton, Norfolk & St Clement’s Norwich’.

Following information from Norwich Heritage site: Robert Harvey of Catton and Tharston Hall reached the grand age of 86. Like many of the family, he held several public offices, including Magistrate, Sheriff in 1766 and Mayor twice in 1770 and 1800. His mural monument also includes Judith Harvey, his wife, who died in May 1810 aged 80. The monument in St Clement Church was erected by their surviving children. All three of his sons similarly achieved high office, Robert (1753-1820) Mayor in 1787, John (1755-1842) Mayor in 1792 and Charles (1757 – 1843) who was MP for the city from 1812-1818. I’ve found eight children of the couple so far but not all of their possible marriage or death dates.

John Harvey 1755-1842

John Harvey above is our descendant and this information again from Norwich Heritage: Like many in his family, John was a textile merchant. He was responsible for introducing one of Norwich’s best-known “exports” the Norwich Shawl. He was a philanthropist and, when employment decreased and the price of bread increased he, along with The Rev Gee Smyth, started a subscription to supply provisions and coals to the poor at greatly reduced prices.  He revived horse racing on Mousehold Heath and started the “Thorpe Water frolic” which is depicted in a painting by Joseph Stannard. He was married to Frances the daughter of Sir Roger Kerrison of Brooke.

In 1779 he bought Thorpe Lodge, was Mayor in 1792 & High Sheriff in 1842. He was a Tory and in his mayoral year to show his pleasure in the restoration of the monarchy, on the anniversary of the revolution, he presided over a dinner at the King’s Head. He made various toasts including, “ May the seeds of sedition never take root in British soil. May pain be expelled from every British bosom.”

On the 27 Dec 1782, John married Francis Kerrison 1765-1809, and the couple had twelve children, four sons and eight daughters. I thought it might help to understand the family better with this group sheet of them with their children.

It was the couple’s tenth-born child Rosa Harvey who is our descendant. If you remember the name it’s because I have already written about her and her family, as she married John Ranking in 1824, the Ranking family was Chapter 7. This is the picture of Rosa that I have in my Holworth Collection.

Now we have some history of the Harvey family, I will concentrate on the super photos that I have of the different members in the collection, all are descendants of the original Harveys at the beginning of this Chapter.

The first CDV in this group is Emma Kerrison HARVEY, she was born in 1838, in some records her name is Emma Lacon Harvey, and her father was Roger Kerrison Harvey 1802-1882. Roger was one of John Harvey and Francis’s (Kerrison) sons, and Emma’s mother was Eliza Beecroft (Lacon) 1805-1881. Emma’s parents had married on 28 March 1826 in Ormesby St Margaret, Norfolk.

Emma married William Norman LESLIE (1841-1876) on 14 December 1864 at St Peter, Eaton Square, Pimlico, London, and I’m thinking this fabulous CDV above may have been taken at the time of her marriage, she’s wearing a fabulous dress with some beautiful jewellery, it looks very likely. William Norman Leslie was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, his father was Patrick Leslie 1815-1881, and Patrick has a fascinating life story! Link here to his Wikipedia page: Patrick Leslie William‘s mother was Catherine (MacArthur)1818-1894. Catherine and Patrick were both born in Scotland.

Emma and William Norman Leslie had five children together, William Leonard LESLIE 1865-1928, Ethel Maud LESLIE 1867-1948, Mabel Marsailie Kathleen LESLIE 1868-1952, Aline Ella LESLIE 1870-1959 and Leila Isobel Guilda Agatha LESLIE 1872-1951. I have spent ages reading accounts about the family, as I wanted to know more about the couple and why William died so young, then I found this interesting article about the Leslie family in Australia and New Zealand, full article here: Electric Scotland Website PDF

Here’s a little from it” THE NEW ZEALAND STORY.
On the 3rd of July 1868, Patrick, Kate, and their children, Emma, William Norman, Leonard, Ethel and Mabel sailed from Gravesend (Australia) on the Shaw Saville and Albion ship “Siam”. They arrived in Auckland New Zealand on the 12th of October 1868, and rented a house on Symonds Street, near Government House. They were frequent visitors to Government House, where the Governor was Sir George Bowen, who had been the First Governor of Queensland, after separation from New South Wales. Patrick put “Wartle” up for sale in 1880, and some of the land was not sold until 1885. During these years, Patrick’s son, William Norman had been the cause of much trouble for his father, borrowing money and selling shares that he did not own. William Norman was born at Vineyard in Sydney, the home of his
maternal Grandfather, Hannibal Hawkins Macarthur. In 1860 when he was admitted to Sunbury Military College, he studied well and passed his exams with good marks. He was offered a position with the 53rd Regiment as an Ensign, at a cost of Four Hundred and Fifty Pounds. He joined various Regiments, until in 1864, he met the daughter of family friends, Emma Lacon Harvey. William Norman proposed to Emma, and finally, she accepted, and they were married on the 14th December 1864, at St Peters Church, Eaton Square, London. William Norman had become a very handsome young man but was also a gambler, drinker and philanderer. Finally, in 1867, he was declared bankrupt, and Patrick had to meet William Norman’s debts. Patrick decided that he had no other course than to take his family to New Zealand, as he could no longer afford to keep on paying for William Norman’s scandals. William Norman carried on his scandalous ways in New Zealand, and finally on the 3rd May 1876, William Norman died at “Wartle”. His death certificate states that the cause of death was a “Disease of the Brain, Cerebral Paralysis”.

Previous to his death on 3 May 1876 it seems that Emma had left her husband after the birth of their youngest daughter in February 1872, as stated in a newspaper report inserted by William, in the Auckland Star dated 19 Jun 1873, it says that he would not be responsible for any debts occured by Emma in his name. When William died sitting in an armchair ‘so peaceably that when found he was at first thought to be sleeping‘ it was said that he had been suffering for a long time with heart disease (Waikato Times May 4 1876) He was buried in the Hamilton East Cemetery.

After his death Emma returned to England, firstly living with her parents in Bath, although it says in some reports that she came back with ‘her children‘ I believe she may have only returned to England with her youngest daughter Leila. It seems that William’s parents Patrick and Catherine moved back to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia from New Zealand after William’s death and that they had three children with them, which would mean that Emma brought two back with her but I’m not sure on this as I am unable to find a passenger list that matches Emma and her child/children to confirm as yet. There is definitely no trace of another child coming back with her, I’m still inclined to think that she just brought Leila back to England with her. As you can see below her four eldest children lived and died in Australia and New Zealand, their Grandparents had money so they would have been well looked after, although Patrick died in 1881, Catherine was alive until 1894 by which time they were adults. Did Emma stay in touch with her children or ever see them again?

Leila stayed in England, marrying Bertram Blakiston Cubitt (1862-1942) on 21 Apr 1897. Bertram Cubitt was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1911 and Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 1920 New Year War Honours, so he became a Sir and Leila became Lady Cubitt.

After being back in England for a while Emma then married Arthur RABY (1823-1898) on 17 June 1880 in Bathwick, Somerset. It looks like he was a more stable choice than her first husband, and 15 years older than her, he worked for the British Government for the HBM (Her Brittannic Majesty’s) Consul. Emma died on 16 July 1919 at 81 years old and was buried in Bathwick, Somerset.

Luckily we have two lovely CDVs of Emma and in the one below she is wearing another stunning dress.

Next, we have this young lady who was born Susanna Abney ELWORTHY in 1840 in Stonehouse, Devon, the daughter of Henry John Rice Elworth 1801-1881, who was an Attorney of Law, and Frances (Richardson). Susanna was the second wife of Augustus John Harvey, they married in 1862, he had previously been married in 1854 to Mary Gudgeon Nelson 1828-1857, the couple had had 2 daughters, Mary died 10 days after the birth of her youngest daughter in February 1857. Augustus John Harvey was the grandson of John Harvey and Frances (Kerrison) and son of George Harvey, the eighth child of John and Frances, and his wife Marie Anne Julia (Beevar).

When I first looked at my Harvey Family Tree on Ancestry to identify ‘Mrs Augustus Harvey‘ above, I actually had two men that were called Augustus, one was Susanna‘s husband Augustus John Harvey 1821-1892 and the other was Augustus George Harvey 1863-1917, who was one of Augustus John and Susanna‘s sons, their younger son was Henry Beevor Harvey 1868-1948. Because of the dates of their birth, it had to be the wife of the elder man.

While researching them I came across the son Augustus George Harvey‘s tragic death, he had never married. But here’s a transcription of the newspaper report of the inquest. Augustus George Harvey was a Photographer.

South Western Star – Friday 18 May 1917
SEVERUS ROAD MAN KNOCKED DOWN AT PUTNEY.
While taking photographs at Lower Richmond road, on Sunday week, Augustus George Harvey, aged 54, of 16 Severus-rd, Battersea, was knocked down by a motor car. He died from his injuries at Putney General Hospital on Tuesday. May 8. Mr Oddie conducted an inquest on the body at Wandsworth Town Hall on Friday. The deceased was an amiable character and was a great favourite with the children. He practised photography in the streets and by the commons, more as a hobby than for gain. Though he charged a penny for tintypes. he generally returned the money to the sitter.” good nature manifested itself in various ways. We have seen him taking part in a war charity entertainment, obviously enjoying the proceedings as much as those who had paid for admission. Henry Harvey, 16 Severns-road, said the deceased was his brother, who was formerly a clerk. He was of independent means but used to take photographs in the street. A witness saw him last on Saturday evening. At that time he was in good health. Joseph Rhodes, 10 March-place, Putney, a shop assistant, said that on Sunday at about 2.30 p.m. He walked from Putney Common to Putney Bridge. I saw a motor bus coming towards him. It was going towards Putney Common and was close to the footpath. Deceased was standing with one foot on the pavement and the other on the road. He had his camera, and the witness believed the tripod was standing on the pavement near the kerb. The deceased’s back was towards the bus. The witness saw a motor car travelling in the same direction as the bus. It swerved from the back of the bus and its right wing caught deceased in the back. As it turned the officer’s hat blew off. The deceased was knocked down but was not run over. The ear pulled up on the near side of the road. It was about Bye or six yards from the deceased’s body. It was travelling at • moderate rate. When the deceased was struck he was standing in the gutter. Frank Toone. 14 Festing-road, a soldier now working on the land, said he agreed with the last witness’s evidence, with the exception that he thought the tripod was in the gutter.
The Coroner: I thought so. It is against the regulations for it to be anywhere else. Witness went on to say that the deceased was stooping at the time, had stepped back and was struck by the car. Percy Thomas Campbell, 29 Woodborough-road, Putney, said he was in the car. He was going home but was in no particular hurry. The car was travelling about twelve miles an hour. The driver blew his horn as he rounded the bus, and at that moment his hat blew off. The car had to pull out behind the bus, and as it did so witness saw the old man. The Coroner. Don’t call him an old man, he was only 54. The witness went on to say that the deceased was standing in the road with something like a telescope. The Coroner: That’s called a torpedo camera. It takes photographs at a penny a time. Perhaps you don’t know. The witness further said that the driver’s hat blew off. and while the witness was looking around deceased was knocked down. The car swerved slightly towards the deceased when the driver’s hat blew off. The Coroner: If it hadn’t swerved do you think the man would have been hit? Witness: Yes. Did the driver pull up promptly?—Yes. P.S. Edwards stated that he saw the deceased lying on the footway bleeding from the ears. He thought the deceased’s leg was broken. The deceased was taken to Putney General Hospital in a motor ambulance. The Coroner: Is there any regulation about these tripods standing on the pavements? Witness: Oh, yes. P.C. Andrews, coroner’s officer for Wandsworth. said he had visited Putney General Hospital and seen the doctor, who told him the deceased was admitted on Sunday suffering from a fracture of the legs and a fracture of the skull. Death was due to these injuries. Honorary Officer White, attached to the War Office, said he placed his car at the disposal of the authorities. He went wherever he was told. On Sunday he was returning from the War Office with Mr Campbell and his brother. On Lower Richmond road when passing a motor bus his hat blew off. He instinctively put up his hand and the car swerved a little. The deceased stepped back as a witness was about to pass him. The car struck him. The Coroner: Had your hat ever blown off before? Witness: Oh, yes. The Coroner: Don’t you know what to do? Take no notice of it. If you lift your hand the car is bound to swerve. All motorists know that. Witness went on to say that his pace was about 12 miles an hour. He pulled up on the opposite side of the road after the accident had occurred. The Coroner: Was there any other traffic on the road besides the bus? Witness: No, Sir. The witness added that he had been driving for seven years. The jury returned a verdict of ‘Accidental Death’

This next chap above had me searching for many hours through various records and looking at exactly what the various members of the family with these names, there are a lot of John‘s, the significant dates in their lives, what their occupations were, finding their marriages and in general getting to know them more and finally I am almost sure I have identified him and he’s not a John. His parents were Roger Kerrison Harvey and Eliza Beecroft Lacon, who I have mentioned before. Now in the majority of records, Roger was the only person that I have found who called himself Kerrison Harvey dropping his first name, so he was the father of this man but this man above is not John Harvey. Roger and his wife Eliza had six children, John Edmund Julius Harvey 1827-1889, Eliza Adelaide Harvey 1830-1915, Harry Lacon Harvey 1832-1832, Emma Kerrison Harvey 1838-1919, Charles Lacon Harvey 1839-1922 and lastly Henry Beecroft Harvey 1840-1912. The eldest as you can see is John but for one thing, he was born too early for this chap as this CDV. I estimate this was taken around 1865, so he would be too old by then, also John and his brother Charles were both Military men and in the mid-1860s even Charles although younger and the age would fit, would have been more likely to favour a photo in uniform I think. But the youngest son Henry born in 1840 was a Civil Engineer, he married Eleanor Frances Julia Tyndale 1845-1924, and they had one daughter born in Sri Lanka/Ceylon May Tyndale Harvey. They lived in Kendall, Cumbria during their later lives.

Next, we have ‘Mrs George Harvey‘ who was Mary Anne Julia Beevar 1797-? I haven’t managed to confirm a death date for Mary as yet, too many options with the name Mary Ann. George Harvey 1793-1831 married Mary Anne on 25 April 1816 at St Giles, Norwich, Norfolk. The couple had five children, Matilda b1818, Mary Ann b1820, Augustus John b1821, Josephine Louise b1823 and Caroline Frances b1824.

Mary‘s husband George Harvey died very young and I found this fascinating account about him on the Norwich Heritage website ‘He was Captain of a boat subject to a mutiny and left with no food or water by the crew, on an uninhabited Indian Island. After three days, he was rescued by local Indian fishermen and eventually returned to England. He lived in Tavistock Square in London, however, whilst on holiday in Norfolk he drowned, swimming in the sea at Winterton at the age of 39 (In 1831) A monument in St Clement Church was erected “in the testimony of his many virtues by his affectionate brother Robert”

Fanny Harvey was the eldest daughter of John and Frances, she was born on 26 February 1784. Fanny married Rev Edmund Bellman (1773-1843) on 26 November 1811 at Thorpe Episcopi, Norfolk. For many years his parish was Helmingham and Pettaugh, Norfolk. The couple had six children, Edmund 1813-1890, Henry 1814-1896, Arthur Horatio 1816-1905, Charlotte Fanny 1818-1908, Rev Augustus Frederick 1819-1896 and John Harvey Bellman 1820-1856.

Scandal in the Family!

We all like a bit of scandal in our family history research and this is it. I found out most of this information before I came across this website while compiling the family tree for this branch of the family and this is an excellent account I found on a family history website: Androom Archives

Daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel John Harvey and Frances Kerrison. She was pretty, cultivated and modern thinking. Little is known about her youth, but a miniature painted by John Linnell in 1827 survives.

In 1827 she married Sir Harry Dent Goring from Highden, Sussex. He treated her badly and in 1838 she met E.J. Trelawny, with whom she eloped. She pretended to be Mrs Ann Granby and gave birth to a son, Edgar, on 5 Aug 1839.

Sir Henry brought the case to court and was awarded damages in April 1841, but now Augusta and Trelawny were free to marry and they decided to do so. They lived in Wales and had two more children (Frank and Laetitia).

Augusta was a close friend of Mary Shelley, but in 1838 Trelawny had broken off relations with Mary after she refused his proposal of marriage. It was not until 1848 that Augusta and Mary met again (a correspondence followed).

Around 1858 Trelawny installed a young mistress in their house at Usk (a certain Miss B.) and this was too much even for the patient Augusta. They broke up and Trelawny returned to London in the company of Miss B. Augusta left for Italy in 1858 and died there in 1875.

After her mother died Laetitia made contact with Augusta’s son by her first marriage, Sir Charles Goring, to tell him the news. They had never met before and Sir Charles fell madly in love with his half-sister. This resulted in a spectacular divorce case in 1878, but eventually, all charges against Charles and Laetitia were withdrawn. Stated Sources:
• Armstrong, Margaret, Trelawny, A Man’s Life, Robert Hale, London, 1941
• Crane, David, Lord Byron’s Jackal, The life of Edward John Trelawny, Harper Collins Publishers, London, 1998
• St Clair, William, Trelawny, The Incurable Romancer, Vanguard Press, New York, 1977

Information from my family tree:

WOW! I am so very lucky to have a fabulous CDV of both these ladies, firstly Augusta HARVEY was born on 18 July 1807, again her parents were John and Frances. Augusta was their fourteenth child. She married Harry Dent GORING on 2 August 1827 and they had one son together Charles Goring 1828-1884, Charles became a Sir later in life. She then married Edward John TRELAWNY 1792-1881, who was a friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the Poet, and they had three children together, Edgar Brereton Trelawny 1839-1872, Frank Trelawny 1845-1862 (he died of Consumption) and Laetitia Trelawny 1847-1938 who died at the Hotel Balmoral, Avenue St Nicholas, Cannes, France.

Augusta died on 8 August 1875 at Chambery Savoy, France, at the age of 68.

Sir Charles Goring 1828-1884, Charles was born on 2 June 1828. He first married Margaret Anna PANTON (1826-1856) on 11 February 1850, after her death, he then married Eliza MOLYNEUX (1837-1920) on 21 April 1857. His wife Eliza filed for Divorce in 1877 after his liaison with Laetitia. Charles died on 3 November 1884 in Horsham, Sussex, at the age of 56.

William Michael Rossetti described her as “a highly intelligent and pleasant lady, unfortunately of late years quite deaf” (as of 1908)

Laetitia married Colonel Charles Call (1842-1939) on 27 March 1882 in Florence, Italy. She died on January 20th, 1938, in the south of France, her husband Charles Call died the following year on 25 May 1939 in Cannes, France.

While researching the Harvey branch of this family I came across this astonishing website https://www.jjhc.info/ with so much information about the Harvey’s and also this amazing painting by the Artist George Clint ARA.  I contacted Jeremy James Heath-Caldwell to ask him if I would be able to use this picture in my blog to show you all, and he very generously gave me permission to use pictures and anything else I might need from his site.

1. Rosa Ranking nee Harvey (1805-1865), 5th daughter of John Harvey of Thorpe Lodge (8).
2. Harriot Blakiston nee Harvey (1803-1886), 4th daughter of John Harvey of Thorpe Lodge (8).
3. Robert Harvey (1697-1773) of St Clements, ‘Father of the City’.
4. Emma (1790-1880), probably the daughter of John Harvey (8).
5. Sir Robert John Harvey (1817-1870), 1st Bt.
6. Maj Gen Sir Robert John Harvey (1785-1860), founder of Harveys Bank, son of John Harvey (8).
7. Robert Harvey (1730-1816) of Catton and St Clements, ‘Snappy Bob’, son of Robert Harvey (3).
8. John Harvey of Thorpe Lodge (1755-1842) brother of Robert Harvey (21).
9. Fanny Bellman nee Harvey (1784-1867), eldest daughter of John Harvey (8).
10. Augusta Trelawney nee Harvey (Augusta Lady Goring,1807-1875), 6th daughter of John Harvey (8).
11. Lydia Harvey nee Black (1699-1759), wife of Robert Harvey (3).
12. Marianne Day nee Harvey (1786-1812), 2nd daughter of John Harvey (8).
13. Sir Robert Kerrison (1740-1808) of Brooke House, Norfolk, father-in-law of John Harvey (8). After the portrait by Opie.
14. Charlotte Blake-Humphrey nee Harvey (1809-1894), 7th daughter of John Harvey (8).
15. George Harvey (1793-1831), 2nd son of John Harvey (8), drowned bathing.
16. Lady Kerrison (died 1825), wife of Sir Roger Kerrison (13).
17. Sarah Morrison nee Harvey (1767-1828), only daughter of Robert Harvey (3).
18. John (died 1806), son of John Harvey (8).
19. Charles Harvey (Savill Onley, 1756-1843), took the name of Savill Onley, son of Robert Harvey (7).
20. Onley Savill Onley (1795-1890), son of Charles Savill Onley of Stisted Hall.
21. Robert Harvey (1753-1820), of Catton and Stoke Holy Cross, eldest son of Robert Harvey (3).
22. Frances Kerrison (1765-1841) wife of John Harvey John Harvey (8).
23. Caroline Savill Onley (1820-1845?) daughter of Onley Savill Onley (20).
24. The Rev Charles Onley of Stisted Hall, brother-in-law of Robert Harvey (7).
25. Roger (1802-1882), 3rd son of John Harvey (8).
26. Caroline Mary Harvey (1797-1845) married her cousin Onley Savill Onley, 3rd daughter of John Harvey (8).

Jeremy writes: Probably commissioned by Maj Gen Robert John Harvey in the early 1840s. Missing? Charlotte Mary Harvey (1793- 1869). Charlotte was the wife of Maj Gen Sir Robert John Harvey and hence would be expected to be in the above portrait. The fact that she is not identified may indicate that some faces are not correctly labelled. She could possibly be No 9 and her father certainly looks like No 13.

Chapter 10 from The Holworth Collection will be about the connection between the Harvey Family and the Savill Onleys.

Till next time then…….