Introduction
The Hurnall sisters, Cecilia and Mary, were among a small number of middle-class newcomers who settled in the village during the 1920s. They bought a cottage at Hardington Marsh and were recorded in the 1921 census. Their precise relationship with the cottage and with the village as a whole is unclear. They may have initially intended it as a permanent home and later changed their minds, or they may have acquired it as an investment or occasional retreat. By 1923, they were listed on the voters’ registers for Buxted, but they did not put the property up for sale until 1929.
This study examines their social and marital status, the sources of their private means and the reasons for their moving to and from Hardington. It begins with a wedding that took place in Belgravia at the turn of the twentieth century.
A society wedding
On Thursday, 5 July 1900, Cecilia and Mary, accompanied by their father, Charles Wallace Hurnall, and their brother, Charles Wallace Leonce Hurnall, attended a pretty and stylish wedding at St Peter’s, Eaton Square. Their cousin, Emily Florence Wood, married John Herbert de Paz Thorold Gosset, LL.M., Cantab, a barrister-at-law, and the only son of Mr John Jackson Gosset of Copper Hall, Thames Ditton. The ceremony was conducted by the Archdeacon of Huntington, and the reception was held at the Belgravia Hotel. Afterwards, the newlyweds left for Weymouth, en route to the Channel Islands. Among the long list of wedding presents was a silver inkstand from Cecilia, Mary and their brother and a pair of silver candlesticks from their parents.[1]
Charles Wallace Hurnall’s wife, Jane, was absent, probably because the family were in mourning for the oldest daughter, Jane Margaret, who had died on 9 June 1900 at the age of 32. Significantly, she had died from pulmonary tuberculosis at the London Lunatic Asylum in Norwood, which suggests serious mental illness.[2] Admission registers show that she entered Church Street Asylum in October 1891 and was discharged in February 1892.[3] In her twenties, she lived with her two maiden aunts, Sarah and Mary Claridge, who were her mother’s older sisters.
The Claridge family
The Claridge sisters—Sarah, Mary, Jane and Emily—were born in or near Leighton Buzzard. They had one brother, William, who was the middle child. Their father, Daniel Claridge, farmed about 250 acres at Eggington.[4] Following his early death in 1847, at the age of 40, his widow, Sarah, continued to run the farm until at least 1863, after which it passed to William.[5]
Under the terms of Daniel’s will, upon Sarah’s death in 1886, each daughter inherited £1,000, with the remainder of the estate passing to William.[6] Over time, the family’s capital effectively flowed to the children of Jane and Emily, since Sarah and Mary never married, and William married but had no children.[7]
Jane and Emily both married in 1866. Emily married Alfred Wood, a local bookseller, printer and stationer, in July, while Jane married Charles Wallace Hurnall in October. Charles was the youngest son of Rev. John Hurnall, M.A., of Emanuel College, Cambridge, who served as the Vicar of Eggington from 1860 to 1881.[8]
Early life and family circumstances
Before his marriage, Charles Hurnall worked as a bank clerk in London. Following his marriage, he appears to have relocated to Bushey in Hertfordshire, where his first two children were born: Jane Margaret in 1867 and Charles Wallace Leonce in 1870. By 1871, the family had moved to Livingstone Villa, Chaucer Road, Lambeth. Cecilia was born on 8 June 1873, and Mary on 21 June 1875.[9]
By April 1881, the family had moved to 33 Thornsett Road, Penge, where they remained until the 1890s, when they moved to “Barrowdale” in the growing hamlet of Northwood, a place characterised by large villas and detached houses.
Although Cecilia and Mary grew up in an urban environment, they were exposed to rural influences from family history. Their father was born on the Isle of Wight and spent his boyhood in the Hertfordshire village of Stocking Pelham, while their mother grew up on the family farm at Eggington. It is possible, though unproven, that the sisters visited the farm as children.
Nothing is known regarding their formal education. Their brother Charles, however, was academically talented; he enrolled at the University of London as a Whitgift Scholar and later worked as an insurance agent.[10]
In January 1892, Rev. John Hurnall died at Leighton Lodge, Jersey, at the age of 89 or 90, leaving an estate valued at £2,982 18s 2d.[11] He placed certain shares and bonds in a trust fund for the children of his deceased daughter, Sibylla Frances, and divided the remainder between his son, Charles, and his son-in-law, Leonce Stievenard.[12]
Between 1901 and 1903, Charles and Jane Hurnall, along with their daughters, Cecilia and Mary, moved to Bridge House, Beaminster. This move may have been prompted by Jane’s declining health, as she died at Bridge House on 22 January 1904 at the age of 67.[13] She was buried at Beaminster three days later.
After Jane’s death, Charles stayed in the West Country, living in several residences: a nine-room house named The Rosery at Alderholt near Fordingbridge from at least 1909 to 1911, Hill Cottage at Hythe near Southampton in 1914 and later Endian Priors at Kingskerswell.[14] Cecilia lived with him throughout this time, but Mary is recorded on the 1911 census as staying with her maiden aunts, Sarah and Mary Claridge, at “Emoren,” Park Road, Hastings.
When Cecilia completed the 1911 census schedule, she described a question about her occupation as “grossly impertinent,” suggesting defensiveness about her lack of paid employment.[15]
Inheritances and means
Charles died at Endian Priors on 12 August 1918 at the age of 80. His estate was valued at £716 17s 5d gross and £588 9s 7d net. He left a life policy for £200 to his son, subject to his repaying a loan from the assurance company, and divided the remainder of his estate between Cecilia and Mary.[16]
The value of his estate appears modest in relation to the size and grandeur of some of his residences, suggesting that he had lived ostentatiously at the cost of depleting his capital. The value of his capital was probably also diminished by his long life and wartime inflation. His will refers to a loan advanced to him by an assurance company, suggesting cashflow issues. Although he was legally entitled to spend his money as he wished, he had not prepared his daughters to earn a living should that become necessary.
Following the death of their aunt, Sarah Claridge, in October 1921, Cecilia and Mary inherited more funds, but the amount was modest. Each received approximately £200, which included a sum originally left by Mary Claridge upon her death in 1912.[17]
Hardington and Buxted
Around 1920, Cecilia and Mary bought a cottage at Hardington Marsh.[18] The 1921 census recorded them living there, aged 48 and 45 respectively.[19] However, their stay was brief.
By 1923, they were listed on the register of electors for Buxted in East Sussex with their address recorded as Hewings, Hurstwood Road. This bungalow became their long-term home.[20]
The move may have been planned with their brother, Charles. Although he lived at Nethercroft at West Wickham, at that time, he may have had plans to retire to Maresfield.[21] When the Gatehouse at Maresfield was sold by auction on 12 August 1925, he may have bought it and let it out until he was ready to retire.[22] By 1931, he and his wife were living at the Gatehouse.[23]
Cecilia and Mary retained their cottage at Hardington for several more years, either renting it out or keeping it as a second home. In November 1929, they advertised it for sale, describing it as a “picturesque” cottage with five (possibly six) rooms, a good garden and offering an “Opportunity for Quiet Country Lovers,” with the added benefit of a bus service three days a week.[24]
The 1939 Register recorded Cecilia and Mary living at Hewings with two school-aged sisters, who were probably evacuees from London. By December 1941, they may have been struggling to make ends meet, as they advertised half of their bungalow to let as a self-contained unit.[25]
Death
Cecilia died on 11 January 1968 at the age of 94. She died intestate, leaving an estate valued at £1,881. Mary died on 24 February 1971 at the age of 95. She, too, died intestate, leaving an estate valued at £7,624.[26] Administration of both estates was granted on 16 October 1972. As their brother, Charles, died in 1956, both estates probably passed to Charles’s children, Winifred Mary Hurnall and John Sinclair Hurnall, both of whom lived into their nineties.
Conclusion
This study clarifies Cecilia and Mary’s social status and reveals the sources of their financial means. The question of why they chose to remain single is more difficult to answer. Middle-class women were consistently less likely to marry than their working-class counterparts, and it is estimated that around a fifth of women born in the early 1870s never married. Furthermore, evidence has emerged of a sister with mental health issues who died young, the influence of two maiden aunts and, at least on Cecilia’s part, a willingness to challenge societal norms.
Their motivation for moving to and from Hardington remains unclear. They may have been drawn to Hardington because they had lived in Beaminster and liked the surrounding area. They may then have found the cottage too isolated and the access roads prone to winter flooding. Their inheritances may not have been as substantial as they had hoped, which could have led to difficult decisions. Given potential future misfortunes, they may have deemed it prudent to live close to their brother, Charles. Although it is uncertain whether their move was part of a plan for all three siblings to live near one another, this is what ultimately occurred. While these explanations are speculative, they are consistent with the available evidence and the pattern of their lives.
References
[1] Hunts County News, 14 July 1900, p.5.
[2] Death certificate of Jane Margaret Hurnall.
[3] Lunacy Patients Admission Registers, 1846-1921.
[4] The farm was 267 acres in 1851, 300 acres in 1861, and 170 acres in 1871 and 1881.
[5] Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette, 20 October 1863, p.4.
[6] The will of Daniel Claridge, dated 7 February 1841, proved in London on 20 March 1847.
[7] William Claridge died in 1899 at the home of his sister, Mary. His wife had died nine years earlier. He left an estate valued at £2,866, and probate was granted to Mary. William’s will has not been consulted.
[8] Bucks Herald, 7 July 1866, p.8; Bucks Herald, 13 October 1866, p.8; Crockford’s Clerical Directory, 1885, p.620.
[9] Civil Registration Birth Index; 1939 Register.
[10] University of London Student Records, 1836-1945.
[11] London Evening Standard, 29 January 1892, p.4. The death announcement states that he died in his 90th year.
[12] The will of Rev. John Hurnall, dated 3 November 1876 and dated 31 January 1879, proved in London on 22 March 1892.
[13] Bridport News, 29 January 1904, p.8.
[14] Voters’ lists; RG14, piece 12232; the will of Charles Wallace Hurnall, dated 5 March 1914, proved in London on 9 October 1918.
[15] RG14, piece 12232.
[16] The will of Charles Wallace Hurnall, dated 5 March 1914, proved in London on 9 October 1918.
[17] The will of Mary Claridge, dated 21 June 1904 and codicil dated 17 May 1910, proved in London on 16 May 1912; the will of Sarah Claridge, dated 23 March 1912 and codicil dated 5 November 1912, proved in London on 13 March 1922.
[18] There is no evidence that they bought it in the estate sale of October 1920.
[19] The 1921 census recorded Mary’s age as 46, but she was two days short of her 46th birthday.
[20] Buxted voters’ lists.
[21] The grant of probate of Sarah Claridge, dated 13 March 1922.
[22] Sussex Express, 4 December 1925, p.12.
[23] Maresfield voters’ lists.
[24] Western Gazette, 29 November 1929, p.9.
[25] Sussex Express, 12 December 1941, p.3.
[26] Civil Registration Death Indexes; National Probate Calendars.
Appendix
A note on Rev. John Hurnall
John Hurnall was born in Holborn, London, in about 1803. He may be the John Hurnall who was baptised at St Andrew’s, Holborn, on 20 March 1803. The entry reads, “John Hurnall son of John Hurnall by the Body of Mary Ann Potman Grays Inn June 20.” His father, John Hurnall, may have been a wine merchant, as several London directories list a wine merchant with that name.
John Hurnall junior graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1826 and was ordained in 1828.
