St Mary’s Schools Prize, 1895

Our Parish Archivist, Diana Wells, writes about meeting a recent visitor to Twickenham and receiving a very special gift...

Beatrice Maloney, from New York, was delighted to attend St Mary's Summer Fair 2025, visit Twickenham Museum and look round central Twickenham where her ancestors had lived until emigrating to New York around 1900.  

She brought a present to offer to St Mary’s Church archives: a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin awarded to her great-aunt in 1895, a school prize for “Regular Attendance, Progress and Good Conduct”.  This 1884 edition has a long introduction to provide the background to the anti-slavery novel of 1852 by Harrier Beecher Stowe and was obviously considered to be  appropriate reading for a 10-year-old at that time.  

Her great-aunt was Elizabeth Bertha (Roberta) Wright (1885-1923), the eldest of three children born to Beatrice’s great-grandparents, Robert Wright, gardener, and Rebecca Jane (née Idle, 1861-1887). Rebecca’s father, Charles Idle, was listed in census records as a shoemaker and cordwainer.  Elizabeth was baptised at St Mary’s on 10 August 1884.      

Elizabeth Wright, 1885-1923

Rebecca Jane (Idle) Wright, 1861-1887

Beatrice also donated a small book, Annals of the Poor, by Rev. Legh Richmond, with the dedication “Rebecca Jane Idle, a present from Miss Crawfurd Xmas 77”, a book of moral instruction as a guide to living a Christian life.  The book shows the lives of the poor, with their spiritual journeys and the grace of God as seen in their everyday struggles. The central character, Elizabeth, the Dairyman's daughter, is transformed from a life of worldly pleasures to one devoutly centred on her faith.   

I took Beatrice to see the location of three family graves, the one for John and Elizabeth Idle in Holly Road being visible against the perimeter wall having been moved from its original central location. Its inscription was no longer legible but documents in the archives show the original wording for John (died 25 December 1834 aged 64) and Elizabeth (died 30 August 1850 aged 72) and also show the current location. Thankfully the inscriptions were noted in 1930 and stored first in Twickenham Library and today in the Local Studies section of Richmond Library. The gravestones were moved in 1953 and the current playground and fencing installed in 1991. 

Several other family members were buried in Twickenham Cemetery which was opened in 1878, in the earliest section A used for late 19^th century burials. Many families were clearly unable to afford a stone memorial and it is often necessary to explain this to descendants who enquire. The Richmond Cemeteries Department has a plan of the location of burial plots but it is still difficult to be sure exactly where a burial was located. The final visit was to Hampton Cemetery which I had never visited before, a beautiful graveyard beside Broad Lane with many mature trees and which is still used for burial of ashes. Again it was not possible to be sure exactly where the grave was but the atmosphere was very peaceful on a June day among the mature trees and birdsong.  Beatrice also visited Strawberry Hill House, Kew Gardens and Hampton Court and felt she had really seen the area her family had come from.