ST GILES was PATRON SAINT of outcast people.
He was born 640.
Beggars crippled. lepers[ disabled people.
He is celebrated on September 1st each year
The first vicarage of St Giles Northampton was in Abington Street .
By the mid 17th century it became unihabitable and was sold in 1654 to Matthew Sillesby.
A new house was purchased on the site of the present vicarage.
The new vicarage was then destroyed in the Great Fire of Northampton 1675.
The Great Fire of Northampton started in St Marys Street from a spark from an open fire, near to the Northampton Castle.
In 6 hours three quarters of the town was destroyed.
The wind had flamed the fire and it spread to Dern Gate and into St Giles Street.
Every house was destroyed except one , it was built with a higher wall than its roof
The vicarage was rebuilt.
In 1880 it was pulled down and rebuilt at the cost of £1940-10-0d in 1881.
The Rev Richard Allen White had the house enlarged at his own cost of £448-12-9d.
He came from Ireland to England
He was married to Octavia Malvina nee` Watts.They had children and lived at old St Giles Vicarage with servants who lived in the attic rooms according to the census . The house is still full of her presence , keeping an eye on how things are looked after in her house. A few people has felt her presence walking down the stairs with her hand out stretched with two children. She appears to be wearing white, but her face is cannot be seen.Octavia daughter Hester Beatrix was 10 years old when they lived in the vicarage. Her two brothers were older than she. She had been born in Ispwich when he father had been vicar there.
Hester when on to marry well. She married Reginald Louis Crichton 1844-1972 grandson of John 3rd Earl Erne of Crom Castle Estate Northern Ireland. This where the series for BBC [BLANDINGS] is filmed currently showing on BBC 1 early Sunday evening.
This brings a connection of Watts,White,Crichton,Hamilton,Spencer and Diana Princess of Wales and Prince William and Prince Harry and PRINCE GEORGE,
Cynthia Hamilton was Diana`s grandmother, She has a hospice named after her in Northampton.
Reginald Louis Crichton`s mother was Leticia Hamilton , a distant cousin of Cynthia Hamilton wife of Earl Spencer of Althorp.Northamptonshire.
To me it is a joy to work in the old vicarage , having been in the building twice before. Once in 1950`s a group of us from St Giles School visited the vicar at his home. In the early 1960`s to visit again and ask the Vicar Rev Bransby to take our grandmothers funeral as we didnt have a vicar at the church of St John at Blisworth Northamptonshire.
Octavia Watts came from a wealthy family.
Her father was Vice Admiral George Edward Watts. His first wife was Jane Waldie the famous landscape artist who wrote a travel book on Italy. She and her sister were in Brussels during the Battle of Waterloo and wrote and drew pictures of the battle. She died at Langton Grange Staindrop 1826 the year her son William Charles was born.His second wife was Elizabetth Foulis.
George Edward Watts was descended from a respectable family of that name who settled in Northamptonshire before 1615.
One of his sons Conrad Watts became a RN commander.
Another member of the Watts family was George Edward Oscar Watts 1832-1905. His son Right Rev Charles Christopher Watts 1877-1958. he became Bishop of Helena.in 1936 , he wrote a book.
more can be found on Ancestry.co.uk
He was a direct descendent of James Watts Esq Capt RN , Line of Battle Ship. He was paternal uncle to Dr Isaac Watts 1674-1748 Hynm Writer.pastor, preacher. poet,author of books.
Isaac Watts was born the eldest of nine children to Isaac Watts and his wife a Huguenot in Southampton.
When Isaac was a young man he kept the company of an elderly man Richard Cromwell who was the son of the Oliver Cromwell the Protector.
Isaac may have been influenced by him as lots of his hymns were written about battles , fighting , armies. marching and conflicts.
Against Idleness and Mischief.
How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour.
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower.
^
How skilfully she builds her cell
How neat she spreads the wax.
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.
^
In works of labour or of skill
I would be busy too
For satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.
^
In books or work , or healthful play
Let my first years be past
That i may give for every day
Some good account at last
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
by Isaac Watts
www.victorianweb.org
George Edward Watts died in 1860 at Malvern Worcester.
Part taken from the book.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ST GILES NORTHAMPTON.by ROBERT MEYRICKE SERJEANTSON 1911.
And from my own research.from www.hymntime.com. www.wholesomeWords.org
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St Giles Voluntary Primary and Junior School .St Giles Terrace Northampton was a Victorian school.
It was called a Shoe school. Children were allowed to attend school part time for learning the three R`s.
Provided they made parts of shoes for the rest of the time.
Most pupils came from families that worked in the shoe factories.
Later on this practice was stopped and pupils attended school full time.
Each Wednesday morning the whole of the school attended the church for a service.
Assembly took place each morning before lessons started.The infants in Miss Whitneys class room. The juniors in Mr Kitcheners class room, where time was made for the children who had miss behaved and their punishment was the cane across the hand in front of the school.I too had the cane for talking in class after being told to be quiet.
July- August 2012
There is still a connection with shoes and Northamptonshire. There are a few independent shoe factories left. One of them.Horace Batten of R avensthorpehas been commissioned to make the leather ridding boots size72 for the Giant Puppet GODVIA.The cost for the boots£10.000. She starts her journey from Coventry to Rugby, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Luton, Hatfield, Waltham Abbey, London. Thttp://GOVIDA PUPPET NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BOOTShe giant puppet will be powered by 50 cyclists.
She was on the Northampton Market Square before going in a parade around the town centre of Northampton, passing by St Giles Church and St Giles Street.
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This is my list of the teachers of St Giles School.
From 1950 onwards.
Miss Witney
Miss Smith
Mrs Moore / Mrs Groombridge
Mr R. Kitchener
Mr C. Hill
Head Master. Mr Johnson
Caretaker. Mr Tew
The caretaker lived in St Giles Terrace with his family.
His daughter attended St Giles School. Her name was Mary Tew.
my memories bring back thoughts of girls dressed in navy pinafore dresses and boys in short trousers, the school toilets were across the playground outside. In the winter months it wasnt much fun going across a cold snowy sometimes icy playground.
the winter months we had a coal fire in the class room, the caretaker kept check on them. the milk man would deliver the crates of milk in 1/3 pint bottles. for us to drink at playtime.In the winter the milk froze up and started to come out of the bottle. it was placed on the old big radiators to melt . the milk was warm but not very nice/
In the infants class with Miss Whitney as our teacher, she was very strict but kind. We was to learn our alphabet .
Around the classroom was pictures of objects with a letter for the begining of the word.Afor APPLE. B for BALL etc. we learnt these by endless chanting. one side of the room was a sand pit. if we was good we was allowed to play in it.
Somedays we had the radio on and did Scottish dancing to the music. other days we sang shanty songs
Our desks were of the victorian design,solid wood and metal.
We all sat close to one another.
For writing we used a small slate blackboard and chalk.
As we got older we began to use pencil and paper. We read Janet and John books among other books.
We was given a box of tinned fruit . It had arrived from Australia for our familes. We did projects on Australia and the people there. we took in the labels off the tins and saved them on a chart on the wall.http://Melbourne Australia
Ever since that day i have been interested in Australia . From research i have found family that descend from the Clarke family from Northamptonshire England living near Melbourne Victoria Australia. It was 161 years ago that the first of the Clarke family emigrated to Australia .
Anne Clarke had married and had children , they was all to travel to Australia for a new life.
I recall one day while our teacher. Mrs Moore was away ill our headmaster took over our class . He took us all to the Derngate Bus Station. In there was a very big old clock.
It was a 24 hour clock. Mr Johnson thought it time we learnt to tell the time by a 24 hour clock. He had learnt it when in the RAF. It has helped me and so many others as lots of timetables are written in 24 hours time. It was under the clock that many people arranged to meet. [See you under the clock]
One activity we was taught was Scottish dancing which i really enjoyed.
One year a group of us was invited to a bungalow near the General Hospital in Bedford Road.
The owners was holding a fete in aid of charity and we was asked to do the entertaining by doing Scottish dancing.Years later when a teenager i was trained to do country dancing and joined a local group. We went and opened fetes in villages doing country dancing. The place i remember best was Courteenhall , owned by Sir Hereward Wake. There is a fete held very two years in the grounds of the hall. Sir Hereward wake would later be friends with my father as they used to meet up a village council meetings. Mum and Dad would be invited each year near dads birthday to tea at the big house at Courteenhall. He was always sent a signed birthday card each year.history-of-st-giles-old-vicarage-and-school.php
Other ouside school activity during the summer months we would go in St Giles Church Yard and rub paper with a crayon on the bark of a tree to get a design on paper.
Many times in the early 1950 the town would be covered with smog.
The buses were unable to run. The only way to school was to walk.
As we lived in Far Cotton it was quite along way to walk.
We wasnt on our own , our mother walked with us .we had to cover our mouths and faces.
Sometimes a group of mother`s took it in turn to take us to school on the bus, this gave the other mothers time to get on with work. My mother worked a few days a week looking after the house of a man and his daughter who both worked full time. We was allowed to go with her when we was on school holidays. I enjoyed visiting as he had a well stocked garden and in the summer a greenhouse full of begonias.In the winter time we was allowed to read Woman and Womans Own magazine and try on his daughter high heel shoes, something i didnt feel very good with as i couldnt walk far in them.
During my time at St Giles School we was partnered with a boy if we was a girl .
I met many children from different backgrounds to me.
As most of the children came from the town centre. we all mixed together.
One girl Mary Tarry . She lived at the railway crossing Bedford Road .
For her mid morning break she brought Marmite and toast[ cold] .
I soon made friends with her as i enjoyed Marmite and toast.
The family lived in a railway house beside the railway .
Her father was the gate/ crossing keeper .
His job was to shut the gates if a train was coming and open them when it had passed by.
The school was in Northampton Town centre. Children were sent to school with us while their parents performed at the New Theatre.
They would be with us as long as the show lasted.
On our way home from school we liked to try to go through the back stage entrance of the New Theatre in St Giles Terrace and hope we didnt get caught.
We hoped to see famous people that had been on stage. We never did.
A photo of the backstage entrance can be found on www.britishpathe.com.
More information and photographs can be found www.arthurlloyd.co.uk
Also the video can be seen of Laurel and Hardy going into the New Theatre back stage entrance and causing lots of trouble.
I remember the back stage dressing rooms were very small and and just like i remember them when we performed at the theatre for charity.
It was taken in 1953. In the back ground can be seen St Giles Church and School and St Giles old Vicarage.
One boy in our class, his parents ran the Grand Hotel in Gold Street.
I was invited for tea at the hotel.
I felt rather good to be invited to a posh hotel.
Another pupil, his mother was mangeress of Wallis dress shop.In the cellar of the shop i was told there was a ghost. On buying goods from this shop in 2011 the shop assistant told of ghostly goings on in the cellar even today.
The town is very old i am not surprised that there are ghosts about the town
One pupil came to St Giles School for a short time.
His father was in the Army and they was staying in town with family.
Later on his family was posted to Bengazi.
It wasnt until 2011 and all the troubles in the Middle East that i learnt where Bengazi is.i found he had gone in the army as his father had been. with out the internet so much information would have never been known.
Another former pupil of the school who lives in Suffolk attended the school from 1947-1953. She describes the vicar as Rev Edmunds of St Giles Church. The first one i remember was Rev Hughes , he took over from the former vicar. Rev Hughes had three daughters.
Susan Murray goes on to say on Facebook in a message to me.
" We had knitting lessons with Mrs Piggott. mostly uniform socks and tea cosies.
Mr Jones used to cane our hands for minor offences, like talking in class. the teacher would throw the blackboard duster at us. We performed a play at Cherry Orchard School.
She remembers kiss chase in the playground. Outside toilets. Going to Vernon Terrace school for dinners.
The dinner lady was Mrs Green. Her husband was a fireman they lived at the station on The Mounts.
We went to church every wednesday morning.Susan Murray was in the school choir.
The school nurses. Nitty Nora and Bertha went through our hair, and weighed and measured us once a year.
