Olive Dale to George Beardmore, 7 August 1967

92 Hassam Parade, Newcastle, Staffs. 7th August, 1967.

My dear George,

Many thanks for your letter and enclosure from your Aunt Miss Arrowsmith, which I have taken the liberty of copying and now return it herewith.

I should certainly very much like a copy of your new book, with a nice note from the author inside, of course! Thank you very much.

Now, to business. The old John referred to by me as the “Brassfounder” was not your grandfather John of Pidduck & Beardmore, Burslem, who must have been in his turn the son of George Beardmore, born July 18, 1787, the first entry in your family Bible. If you will consult the tabled pedigrees, you will see that the “Brassfounder” John states that he was the son of Benjamin, and grandson of John bp. Audley Nov. 2, 1792; this John was the sixth son of the old William and Mary, whereas George was the third son. I have not seen the baptisms etc. of the later descendants, but John “Brassfounder” must have crossed the two brothers’ descendants, as he gives George born July 18, 1787 as grandfather of the Rev. Wm. George of Highbury, and Thomas as your ancestor. Have you a verification of the ancestor of the Rev. W. G.?

At any rate, John “Brassfounder” was described on his letter-headings as “Iron and Brassfounder,” of Hallfields Foundry. Somehow, I do not think he was married; I will check up with my cousin Olive, dau. of my Uncle George who was engaged with the two of them in 1905. She may remember.

There is just one thing, in John’s list he gives Thomas b. Apr. 7, 1789 as father of George, grandfather of John (P. & B., Burslem and Edward of Barlaston) but your Bible gives George as bap. 1787. On thinking it over, I hardly think your Aunt Agnes Arrowsmith even if elderly would have a grandfather born 1787, and this generation may make the difference of name. However, try to find this out. I must tell you that my dear old friend, Mr. S. A. H. Burne, M.A., Barrister, etc., who used to be the Coroner for North Staffs., is still going strong, and his grandfather was born in 1775! My great-grandfather, Thomas Beardmore, was born 1775. It just depends how many children and what age at marriage, of course.

If this does not explain it, John Brassfounder must have crossed the descendants of the two brothers, Thomas and George. You say that Benjamin Beardmore married Hope Thomas. John only gave her initial as H., I did not know her name was Hope, but oddly enough, Hope is the name of Jeremiah’s niece, Miss Beardmore of Longton.

This morning, Frank my husband had a Planning Meeting at Stafford, so I took the opportunity of looking at the Burslem Register. I found the following indexed under Beardmore – there were also Aaron, Chris. and Charles indexed, but no entries to be found.

1771. Mar. 31. Sarah, dau. John & Hannah Beardmore. Bapt.
1775. Mar. 20. Hannah, wife of John Beardmore. bur.
1780. June 4. Mary, dau. John Beardmore. bur.
1811. Dec. 1. Mary, dau. George & Hannah Beardmore (Furlong). Bapt. (in Bible)
1812. Dec. 20. Sarah, dau. Josiah & Rebecca Beardmore.

If you can tell me when your grandfather John was born in addition to when he died (you say 1909) it might help to sort the generations out. I must admit that I have examined the will of Edward of Barlaston and one or two recent wills, but the maddening part to a researcher is that one or two crucial ones either never made one, or they are lost. By the way, talking about baptisms, as we were at Wolstanton, in the Burslem registers there are incidents of four children of varying ages being baptised at the same time.

I took the opportunity this morning of also examining a “Rentall” of the Earl of Shrewsbury dated 1581, etc., and found several Beardmore entries, including William, will pr. 1598, and Francis Beardmore’s wife (really widow) paying tithes, etc. and rent “for her ferme”. However, I shall have this Microfilm on again at a later date, as I had to use the beastly wornout machine, a young couple using the new big one (which, privately, I “pushed” my husband to agree to the purchase of). The old one is useless and almost crippled my arm to get it to work, so will look later.

Now, one point in your aunt’s letter intrigued me very much. She refers to the Beardmore dwarf’s photographs, and says that “Joan” has the actual painting from which the photograph was taken. Who was Joan, please, and is it possible to obtain any additional copies of this photograph, do you know? If only one, I could get it rephotographed at the Record Office, probably. The odd thing about this is, that, Miss Beardmore (Jeremiah’s niece) lent me a copy of this painting, calling it the “Beardmore Dwarf”. I have unfortunately mislaid it, and am unable to return it to her, although after I had sent her Jeremiah’s pedigree back to 1568, she said not to worry, send it back when it turns up, but if she could see the papers at my house (although we have a garage full waiting for the salvage men to take it for burning) she would wonder when that could be! Now, your aunt says the “2 dwarf’s names” escape her, but on searching my long-suffering memory after reading the list of names from your Bible, I recall that this girl was called ..something Leigh Beardmore, and there is an entry “Elizabeth Leigh Beardmore, born June 3, 1818, Burslem, Staffordshire.” Now, how did Miss Beardmore, Jeremiah’s set, obtain this photograph? She could not recall who had the painting. On looking at the picture, I do so wonder whether in actual fact the child was a dwarf (and ? two) as she looks more like a child in Georgian dress, with the long white frock and wide sash – see “Pinkie” the wellknown painting, and the “Little Mob Cap”, just that style. What do you think? I should so like to get another two photographs, one to send to Miss B. and one for myself.

The last entry, “Mary Beardmore sister to the above George B. died Feb. 17, 1860, aged 77” was the eldest dau. of William & Mary, bap. Mar. 24, 1783, died unmarr., as did his other two daughters. I have all their wills somewhere, but the darned old Wm. did not make one, and if he had, of course, a thousand to one he would never have said who his parents were! Strangely, Frank and I have visited Audley C/yd. several times, have found the grave of Mary and dau., but not that of William. Samuel is also there.

The Burslem registers have only been printed up to 1812, so I could not check the other children’s entries, but no doubt they were the children of George, born 1787 and his wife Hannah, d. 1816. There is a Hamlett Johnson referred to; there is a Hamlet Beardmore somewhere, but I have not got the will handy where he is mentioned. If you can find out anything further about the “dwarf” and the Leigh connexion, I will look up again.

By the way, in 1955 you sent me a note of rate books you had examined with Beardmore, Birks, etc., Earthenware Manufacturers, also including “Jerry” or “Jeremiah” Beardmore. On consulting the pedigree lists, you will see that the Robert who we think was the father of the old Wm. had a son named Jeremiah, and these are the Jeremiahs potters, etc., of Lane End, etc.

Shall be glad to hear from you again soon. Have had a letter this morning from my distant relative in Australia, whose pedigree (some of it mine, also) I have helped to trace right back to 1529. We are intrigued by the murder of one William Mountford, a famous actor, connived at by Lord Mohun, who engaged him in conversation whilst Capt. Hill stabbed him. This was occasioned by unfounded jealousy of Mountford’s friendship with the famous Mrs. Bracegirdle, with whom he acted: Hill tried to abduct Mrs. B., but fled the country after killing Mountford. There is an account of the State Trial of Lord Mohun for the murder, but he got off as he did not strike the actual blow; Mohun was afterwards killed in a duel with the Duke of Hamilton. Mountford was born in Staffs. 1664, son of Captain Mountford, and was a protégé of Judge Jeffries! Best wishes, Olive