The Beard(s)more One-Name Study

Formerly Registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies - Member no. 2221

Origins of the Name

The late Olive Dale (neé Beardmore) spent many years studying and transcribing old records throughout Staffordshire and elsewhere in her search for Beardmore origins and family links. She left all her papers in the care of the William Salt Library at Stafford (acquisition no. 213/79). The Salt Library is run as an extension of the adjacent Staffordshire County Record Office and the papers may be examined by prior appointment.

[Olive Ada Beardmore (1898-1979) was born and raised in Kingsley, Staffordshire, and she traced her family there back to a Thomas Beardmore, whose will was dated on March 12, 1568, and proven on April 10, 1573. Her access to local records, and the accessability of her papers in the Salt Library, make her work on the Beardmore family a valuable resource.]

The earliest record of a recognisable variant [of the Beardmore surname which Olive Dale] unearthed was of Richard de Berdesmor, in 1290 in Whiston, Froghall and Kingsley, all close together in north Staffordshire, not far from the Derbyshire border. It is not known whether he was of Norman or Saxon stock, but his first wife Matilda was said to be a sister of the King (Henry III did have a sister named Matilda, who had three husbands, but none of them was this Richard). 'Our' Richard and his Matilda had one son, also named Richard, and his second wife (? Phillipa) bore two more sons, William and Robert, before Richard died in 1295. His son Richard is recorded at Whiston in 1311, with his surname then spelled de Berdmore.

An authority on Staffordshire place-names, Dr Oakden, of St Andrew's University, Fife, confirmed a place of Berdmore at Whiston in the 13th Century. The name seems to derive from Old English 'berd', meaning border or edge (including hillside) and OE 'mor', moorland, marsh, mere or fen. This indicates a location probably on the edge of Whiston Moor (the present day remnant of which is Whiston Common), and there is indeed a place Beardmore on a hillside, close to the hamlet of Whiston Leys.

A Far-Flung Family - England, Queensland and Ontario (and forenames Owen and Wathen)

The earliest certain ancestor of this particular Beardmore line was Joseph (1746-1829), who may have been a son of Jonathan, a hosier of Nottingham, who seemingly died before 1775, and whose parents were possibly George and Rebecca, who lived at Woodthorpe Mills, Derbys, in the 17th Century. They may also have been the parents of Joshua, who came to London before 1750 and lived at the Barbican. He left a will when he died in 1775, which is said to be a mine of information, but I have yet to read it or a transcription. There also seems to have been at least one other son and some daughters.

Joseph had at least two brothers, William (1744-1809) and John (died 1814), but nothing else is known of them. Joseph married Mary Owen (1750-1809) , sister of the Ven. Archdeacon Owen, one time Rector of St Martin, East Horsley, Surrey, and Chaplain-General to His Majesty's Forces. Thereafter, the name Owen was frequently used as a secondary forename in succeeding generations. Joseph lived at Cheapside in his early days in London, later at Canonbury and Islington, but died at Juniper Hall, Dorking, Surrey, which he or another family member had acquired earlier. He and Mary had at least eight children: the first unknown, possibly died in infancy, then Elizabeth (1778-1831), who remained a spinster and also died at Juniper Hall, Mary (1780-1838), who married Nathaniel Wathen (both his names being given as forenames to later generations) and died in London (being buried in a vault at City Road Chapel), William (1781-1786), Joseph (1783-1823), remained a bachelor, John Owen (1785-1786), Joshua (1787-1860), who married Marianne Dorothy (sometimes Dorothea) Cox at St Mary, Nottingham, in 1812, and resided at some time at Chudleigh, Devon, and Frances (1790-1868), another spinster, also died at Juniper Hall. Both Elizabeth and Frances are buried at East Horsley, Surrey, in their Uncle Owen's vault there, but there is a memorial tablet to them in Mickleham church, near Juniper Hall. Both sisters left estates of some value. Mary has a memorial window at East Horsley.

Joshua and Marianne had eleven children, some of whom were to carry the name Beardmore overseas. Their first was Mary Owen (1813-1891), baptised at St Peter, Nottingham. Another spinster, she died at Croydon, where she had lived some years, and left an estate of over £8,000. Next was Frederick Joshua (1814-1853), who became the Australian patriarch and who was a surgeon by profession. He married Eleanor Nicholls in Maitland, New South Wales, in 1843, and is buried there, though his wife, who died 30 years later, lies in Cooktown, Queensland.

The third child was Nathaniel (1816-1872), baptised at St Mary, Nottingham. He became a Civil Engineer, with a detailed entry in the Dictionary of National Biography, which records his involvement in the River Lee (nowadays Lea, running through London's East End to the Thames) drainage and navigation. He seems to have been a favourite son and something of a dynamo within the family, being executor of several wills from at least two generations and warranting an accolade on his parents' tomb. He married Mary Bernard at Newington, Surrey, in 1841. They lived for many years at Great George Street, Westminster, and latterley at Broxbourne, Herts, where he died leaving an estate valued at close to £12,000. Mary died at Croydon in 1890, her estate valued at £8,000.

Next came George Lissant (1818-1893, the origin of his curious second name is not known). Born at Chudleigh, he became the Canadian patriarch, emigrating from England in the 1830s and setting-up a tannery at Hamilton, Ontario, later expanding into Acton, Toronto. By 1870 he was so successful that he bought a large plot of land at the corner of what is now Beverley and Dundas Streets, Toronto, and in 1875 built a large (35-room) house in the French style known as 'Second Empire', which he named 'Chudleigh'. It remained the Canadian family HQ until the 1930s, when it had to be sold as the firm suffered financially in the Great Depression. In the 1980s it was still standing and in use as the Italian Consulate. George married Elizabeth Dowker (1828-1898).

The remaining children were Joseph (1819-1852), who remained a bachelor, Clemency Marianne (1820- 1872), who married Robert Warren in 1857, Frances Constance (1822-1890), who married Charles Greaves at Hemel Hempstead in 1851, John Raleigh (1823-unknown), who became an Accountant, married Elizabeth (surname unknown) and had three children, Elizabeth Pine (1825-1905, her second forename honouring an aunt's married name), who married Wharton Metcalfe in 1862, Owen Charles Joseph (or Joshua) 1827-1910, who also went to Canada, served with the Hudson's Bay Company 1846- 51, later went to Australia and married three times there, and Samuel Septimus (1829-unknown). Nathaniel the Civil Engineer had a number of children, many with distinctive forenames: Frances Mary, known as Marietta, born c.1843, who married Henry Austin Dobson at Broxbourne in 1868, Grace Avondale Constance (born 1845), married Henry Eaton at Broxbourne in 1865, Clemency Marianne (or Mary Anne), born about 1847 and believed to have remained a spinster, then Nathaniel St Bernard, another Civil Engineer who held a Government appointment as Assistant Superintendent on the Madras Harbour Board, married a Rosalind and died in Madras, India, in 1885.

Next was Charles Francis Hartshorne, who rose to Lieutenant-Colonel in the army. At some time with the Commissary Control Dept, he served in many parts of the Empire, including the Ashanti War 1873-4 and Boer War 1901, also with the Christian League Society's Ambulance in the Servo-Turkish War of 1876 and was awarded various campaign medals and clasps. He was also awarded the Royal Humane Society's Bronze Medal for saving a native from drowning in Ashanti in 1873. He married in 1877 (wife's name not known) and his only known child was Charles Leslie Halifax, who took Holy Orders and married Ethel Margaret (surname unknown). He served as a Chaplain 4th Class in World War I and was Mentioned in Despatches. His one known child was John Owen, born c.1911, who as Gunner7978 of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force, is recorded as having died on 24 Jun 1943, presumably as a Japanese PoW, and is buried at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand.

The remaining children of Nathaniel were Elizabeth Rachel (1851-1853), James Leslie (1854-1855), Henry Leslie (1856-1933), who attended Clare College, Cambridge, gaining a BA in 1878, MA 1886, Deacon in 1879 and Priest 1880. He was Rector of Ripple 1897-1910, of Duxford 1910-14 and is believed to have served some years in St Lucia. He must have married, as he is known to be the father of Gladys Leslie and a son who was born in 1892. Then came Emily Dora, about whom nothing is known, and finally William Lee, born 1858 at Broxbourne, another Civil Engineer, who never married and died in 1916 at Winnipeg, Canada.

Meanwhile, Frederick Joshua, the Australian patriarch, had also borne children. First was Frederick Joshua Wathen (1843-1884), who married Emily Ann Commins (or Cummins) and they had six children: Eveline Clemency (1871-1951, married T M Thomson), Frederick Joshua (1873-1968, married Margaret Kenway), Ada (1875-1964, married J W Beveridge), Frank Hoyt (1877-1954, bachelor), Ethel (1879- 1885) and Ruby Mary Owen (1883-1969, spinster). Frederick Joshua Wathen was buried at Cooktown, Queensland, in 1884. His son Frederick Joshua had no children, so that particular Beardmore branch ended with that generation.

Frederick Joshua the elder's second was Francis John Wathen (1846-1913), who married Lydia Frances Street and they had nine children: possible twins Constance Eleanor (born and died 1881) and Lydia Constance (1881-1900), Francis Welch (born and died 1883), Charles Athelstone (born 1884), Edward Bernard (born 1886), Louise Maud (born 1887), Frances Emily (born 1888), Jesse Ellicott (born 1890) and Carolyn Amy (born 1892). I have reports that these last six were all alive at the time of the First World War and that Frances and Jesse lived into the 1970s, but I have no other details. For many years Francis John Wathen and Lydia Frances lived at 'Balcomba', Rockhampton, Queensland, and he is buried at Rockhampton.

Frederick Joshua's third and fourth were Frances (Fanny) Constance (1849-1933, married Ernest Carr) and Samuel Charles (? Owen) Edward, (1851-1919, a bachelor, he was born at Maitland, New South Wales, and buried at Burgessville, Queensland).

In Canada, George Lissant and Elizabeth produced six children. First was Walter Dowker, born c.1849, who married Melinda Elizabeth Williams in 1874 and they had six children: Frances Constance (1875- 1956, married Charles E Kingsmill 1900 and became Lady Kingsmill), George Lissant (1877-1936, married 1905 but wife's name not known), Walter Williams (born 1880, married Katherine McKenzie 1908), Charles Owen (born 1882), Adelaide Mary Clemency (born 1885) and Everett Clement (born 1888).

Next was George Wathen (1851-1934). He remained a bachelor and after his father's death took over the family home, 'Chudleigh', at 136 Beverley Street, Toronto (described above). George's great passion was riding to hounds (and horses generally). While the Toronto Hunt was building its new premises in the 1890s, the club's hounds were kept in the stables behind 'Chudleigh'. When the club opened in 1893, George was elected to its most important position, Master of Hounds, a post which he held for the next 38 years. He was President of the Canadian National Horse Show for 18 years and Canadian Director of the International Horse Show in London for 25 years, becoming involved with the English racing set and was presented at court. 'Chudleigh' became one of the central points of the Toronto social world, with the 'set' practically fighting over invitations to its New Year's Eve parties.

Following George Wathen were Frances Elizabeth (born 1854, married Albert Angus MacDonald 1876), Adelaide Augusta (born 1857, married Harry Julius Fisk 1894), Alfred Owen (born 1859, married Jennie/Jeanie/Jane Margaret Gibb Torrance 1884 - they had Alfred Owen Torrance (born 1886), Dorothy Torrance (born 1890) and Gordon Torrance (born 1892)) and Frederick Newman (born 1871, married Helen Louise Gzowski 1902).

Of the Canadians, special mention must be made of the George Lissant, son of Walter Dowker Beardmore. Born at Toronto on 16 Jul 1877, he apparently gained an early reputation as a 'dare devil'. His mother noticed that he was developing a fine singing voice and he was sent to Europe to study singing at music academies in Dresden and Paris. However, upon returning to Toronto in the early 1900s it was made clear that he should 'settle down' and enter the family business. He became tenor soloist at the Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, and came to the notice of several concert managers. In 1907 he started accepting engagements to sing at concerts outside Toronto, and in 1908 made a successful tour of Eastern Canada. He then quit the family business and went to Europe to study as an opera singer. He made his debut on 14 May 1911 as Tannhauser in Hirschberg, Germany.

He was appearing in Berlin when the First World War broke out in 1914, and was promptly interned. Within a year he escaped and, reaching Switzerland, cabled his parents "Escaped capture. Lost everything. Enlisting." He then served with the British Secret Service and after the war bought an interest in an English opera company that toured the provinces, but never became more than moderately successful as an opera singer.

In 1930 he started taking flying lessons. The following year the Daily Mail newspaper announced a prize of £10,000 to the first man to fly across the English Channel in a glider. George determined the prize should be won by a Briton, and approached a rival newspaper, the Daily Express, owned by the Canadian Lord Beaverbrook, for sponsorship. George personally designed and supervised construction of the glider, and on 19 Jun 1931 was towed to a height of 14,000 ft above Dover by a light aircraft, then cut loose and headed for France. Despite extreme cold and thick cloud, about a half-hour later he landed safely at the small French airfield of St-Inglevert. He was then aged 53, rather stout and needed strong glasses to read the cockpit compass! The British Gliding Association refused to recognise George's achievement, because he had not made a round trip, that honour going to the Austrian, Kronfeld, for his flights on 1 Jul 1931. George purchased a light aircraft, a Miles M2F Hawk Major, in 1934. Designed by F G Miles and built by Phillips and Powis Aircraft (later Miles Aircraft) at their Woodley factory, an airfield near Reading, west of London, it was a two-seat, all-wooden, low-wing monoplane of 33 ft wingspan, with a fixed, trousered undercarriage, powered by a 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major engine, giving a maximum 150 mph and cruise of 135 mph. George's aircraft was entered on the British Civil Aircraft Register as G-ACWX. He may well have kept the aircraft at Woodley, as did other Miles private owners, and it was at Hurst, not far from the airfield, that G-ACWX crashed on 2 Jun 1936, killing George.

As ever, further information on any members of this family and its descendants, will be very welcome. [I am grateful to Pat Pickering of the Australian Capital Territory and to Tony Harris of Sheffield, England, both of whom are linked to this group, for much information herein, also to the late Dennis W Beardmore and to Shirley Lancaster, both of Canada, for contributions from their researches some years ago]

by Ralph Goring [and modified from an archived 8/25/2008 copy of his original website]

Formerly located at http://www.goring1941.freeserve.co.uk/beard01.html - last accessed 23 Aug 2013