‘The neat little village of Church Lawford, with its equally pleasant tributary, Kings Newnham, are most favoured localities, and the inhabitants of those rural places ought to be, and no doubt are, proportionately happy, for all is done that can be accomplished to make village life enjoyable’.1
The history of the Townsend family based around Church Lawford and Kings Newnham in Warwickshire is in many ways the story of a typical upper-middle class family who were not quite gentry but farmed a little land, had lots of family connections and were part and parcel of the local community.
A little less typical
The survival of so many of the family’s personal papers, however, is a little less typical. Due to a preponderance of daughters who never married and the untimely death of an only son, the family lost their direct connection with the area during the twentieth century, the descendants of a younger son based in Surrey having emigrated to Canada in the 1940s. The resulting collection of items deposited with the Warwickshire County Record Office in 2014 (collection reference CR 4651) therefore provides a unique snapshot of the family in time. The family photographs and letters in particular provide a wonderfully intimate glimpse into their lives and relationships, revealing a network of connections far beyond the parish boundaries yet always revolving around and referring back to the villages they inhabited.
Prominent positions
The family held prominent positions in the communities they lived in: William Henry Worth Townsend, for example, was J.P. for Warwickshire, an Alderman, and Chairman of Rugby Rural District Council and Board of Guardians. All members of the family regularly attended their local parish church for services (several times on a Sunday) and the importance of religion and charity in their lives is reflected in many of their records. The family were prolific letter writers, ensuring that their friends and family kept up to date with all the latest news and gossip. Social rounds of visits also ensured that the family kept in touch. The family were well educated: the girls were sent away to small ‘household’ schools to be educated whilst the boys attended Rugby school and went on to University at either Cambridge or Oxford. Continental excursions were undertaken for leisure as well as for education and health benefits, though their letters home reflect that, far from soaking in the local culture, they fraternised most with fellow English (sometimes American) tourists!
In part two, I will look a little closer at some of the male characters of the family and will look in more detail at some of the women in the family in part three.
References
1 Newspaper cutting, Warwickshire County Record Office reference CR 4651/637
Comments
The Rev. Harry Townsend Powell was an energetic vicar of nearby Stretton on Dunsmore (from 1830-1855) and chaplain of the Warwick County Asylum in Stretton. I wonder if he was related to the Townsend family?
Last weekend (25th, 26th & 27th April) my wife and I staged an exhibition of local history in St Peter’s Church, Church Lawford, attracting a great deal of interest. We visited the clock loft in the church tower during the weekend and photographed the clock mechanism including the plaque recording the benefactors of the clock in 1872: Mr & Mrs William Samuel Townsend and sister to William: Miss L H Townsend. We have studied the newspaper accounts of the time which describe in great detail the reopening of the church in 1873 but can find no accounts of the circumstances surrounding the ‘donation’ of the clock. We would be pleased to hear from anyone who could provide information regarding ceremonies or correspondence marking the ‘gifting’ of the clock to the community.
Hi Keith
I can’t remember seeing anything in the collection regarding the clock in the tower of St Peter’s Church in Church Lawford though there is a subscription list for the church restoration fund dated 1870 which is specifically ‘exclusive of Tower’ [Warwickshire County Record Office, CR4651/677]. There is also a reference to L.H. Townsend – Louisa Hackett Townsend – in the collection referring to the Reading Room in Long Lawford. William Samuel (who married Elizabeth Selina Stuart) and Louisa Hackett Townsend were distant cousins of this Townsend branch of the family (according to a family tree). Hope this helps but if anyone has any further information please let us know!
Hello Rachael, and thank you for your comment – and thank you for the work you have done on the Townsend family, we couldn’t believe our good fortune when we discovered your accounts of the family! We do intend to visit the Record Office soon to do more research on the family. Incidentally, we now believe that Miss L.H.’s names are Louisa, Hartlet(t), ref. the churchyard survey my wife did with her WI associates (Warwickshire County Record Office, CR 2373/15).
I am a Worth descended from the Worths of Kings Newnham; at the top of my family tree are Michael and Judith Dawes. I cannot find anything beyond there. It is lovely to see granny Ann Townsend photos; are there any more or is there any more info on the Worths?
Regards
Chris Worth
Hi Chris
Thank you for your comment – I am glad you like the photographs of Granny Ann Townsend! There aren’t many items in the collection relating to the Worths – there are several bundles of deeds relating to land in Wolston with a Worth connection 1657-1880 (descriptions of these are available to view on Warwickshire County Record Office’s online catalogue). There’s also a couple of items relating to Ann’s father George Worth and a notebook listing Worth family baptisms, marriages and burials at Lawford between 1628-1864 [Warwickshire County Record Office ref. CR 4651/663]. The full catalogue of the Townsend collection (including a description of each of the photographs) will soon be accessible online as well. Hope this helps and good luck with your family research!
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