"Memoirs of the Hartley Family of Bingley and Staveley,  Yorkshire"
by Minnie Growse (1864-1939),

Foreward
Introduction
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Low Hall
Notes
Hartley, Staveley
Hartley, Bingley

memoirs Continued 13

Bishop Hartley and the ffoulkeses

My grandfather retired leaving the living to my Uncle Bishop. He had also eloped with his wife (Aunt Maria' ) and they too had no money to live on.  Aunt Maria' 's father had been an invalid and had stayed for his health on a farm in Wales belonging to the ffoulkes, it being on one of their estates.  The ffoulkes were very kind to this sick man and after his death Aunt Maria  and her sister (afterwards Mrs. Hool) went to school in Paris.

IM grandmother's two sisters, my great aunts, Sarah Sophia  and Margaret Mather ffoulkes were living for a time in Paris and  were very kind to these two English schoolgirls.  They invited them  among other things to an English Christmas dinner.  My aunts carefully  explained to the chef how to make Christmas pudding, they gave all  the ingredients, but alas quite forgot to tell the chef to put them  when mixed into a basin to boil or steam.  So when the looked-for  pudding came it was in a soup tureen and was simply a sort of porridge,  Alas, also  What a disappointment for the schoolgirls and my poor  aunts who were so longing to see them happy.

After their elopement Uncle Bishop and Aunt Maria went  straight to these dear kind ladies.  They financed them, and then  they went to my grandfather too and had to  live in that huge Rectory.  I really think he must have had a premonition when he built that huge house,.  Uncle Bishop was a hunting parson and nobody liked his choice  of a wife.  He died before he was old, at Ventnor, where he had gone  for his health,

Aunt Maria  went to live in Rome, and from there made visits  to England bringing us weird little gifts which she said ^he Pope had blessed.  One of my cousins at Halton said she had given her a pair of garters blessed by His Holiness, but I can't believe this was true. When over in England and staying with Aunt Char, Aunt Maria  went to be presented at the court of Queen Victoria and afterwards had a coloured photograph of herself taken.  She was a plain woman with dark snakey eyes.  She had told the photographer to make them a lovely blue, and also give her a pretty colour in her cheeks, which she never possessed.  The servants at Aunt Char.'s were allowed to come and see her and among them was a little girl - the daughter of a former butler of Aunt Char.'s who was an orphan and often stayed with her.  Aunt Charlotte did much to help her.

"What do you think of my dress, Charley?" said Aunt Maria. , fishing for compliments.  "I don't like your neck all bare like that", (It was as low as it could be).  Said Aunt Maria- "The Queen likes it like that,"  Charley replied "What a nasty old woman the Queen must be then."  Poor proper old Queen, it was a little hard.

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