Sunday 15 July 2018

The Lewis Family - From Spring 1901 to the Mayoral Year of 1904/5

This post continues with the history of Josiah and Ellen Norah Lewis and their family.

The next big event for the family is the wedding of their 4th born daughter, Fanny Elizabeth, to Mr Frederick William Penny, on Tuesday 22 April 1902 [1]. The ceremony was held at the Silver Street Baptist Church, conducted by Reverend John Pickles Tetley. A long article was published in the Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser (too long to feature here!) on Wednesday 23 April 1902 [2], going into great detail about the event, including the weather on the day down to the details of the outfits worn by the bridemaids and wedding gifts given to the couple.

On Wednesday 2 November 1904, Josiah was unanimously selected as Mayor of Taunton at a private meeting of the Town Council. The following article was in the West Somerset Free Press on 5 November 1904 [3]:

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

There were other notices in local newspapers including the Western Gazette, Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, Chard and Ilminster News and Western Chronicle to announce the news. He is also listed along side other elected Mayors in the Times on Thursday 10 November 1904 [4].  

There is a Mayoral Portrait of Josiah Lewis, taken by John Chaffin & Sons of 65 East Street, Taunton, c1904 available to view at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton, Somerset, England [5]. It shows Josiah in his Mayoral Chain of Office and formal Robes. 

During his year as Mayor, Josiah keenly advocated for the working classes, taking a particular interest in health, education and literacy. There are numerous articles in the local newspapers from the period when he and his wife undertook many public duties as the Mayor and Mayoress of Taunton.

One example is when Josiah as Mayor opened the Taunton Public Library on Corporation Street on 24 August 1905. The library was built following a donation from Mr Andrew Carnegie in 1902 of £5,000. Below is a clip from a long article which featured in the Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser on 30 August 1905 [6].


Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A plaque was unveiled at this ceremony and now hangs in the new Taunton library on Paul Street [7].




The inscription is as follows:


Taunton Public Library
Built with funds provided by
Andrew Carnegie LLD   
On site purchased by Public Subscription and 
the work carried out under
TRUSTEES
 Josiah Lewis J.P. Mayor
       A E Perkins J.P.  Chairman of the Trustees        
          H J Spiller J.P.                                B Chivers          
H Corner                                        A J Spiller
A Hammett                                           C Tite
J E Kirkpatrick                                    J G Vile
T Penny J.P.                                  A Villar J.P.
T S Penny                                        W J Villar
W Poole J.P.                             W H Westlake

   A Colbourne Little &  } Architects T H Moggridge    
Ingleson C Goodison }                                Builder

Presented to the Corporation and opened  
by the Mayor the 24th August 1905

George H Kite
Town Clerk

Sadly, the library on Corporation Street closed in 1996 and today is home to a public house instead.

On October 13th 1905, as Mayor and Mayoress of Taunton, Josiah and Ellen Norah attended a Ball for the Lord Mayors and Mayors, and the Lord Provosts & Provosts of the United Kingdom in London. It was hosted by the Right Hon. Sir John Pound, Baronet, the Lord Mayor of London, at the Mansion House. According to the Mayor's Programme of Dances [8], he danced the first Valse 'Weinerhaft' with the Lady Mayoress. Others, whose names are handwritten onto his dance card, include the Princess of Wales, with whom he danced the Lancers 'The Earl & the Girl, the Princess Victoria, dancing the Valse 'Choristers', the Queen of Holland, stepping out to the Valse 'Phonographen' and the Duchess of Albany, for the Valse 'Bleu'. However, I think that we can be certain that these Royal guests were not present at this event they are not mentioned in newspaper articles regarding the Ball, such as the one in the London Evening Standard on Saturday 14 October 1905 [9].      


Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The next update will take us beyond 1905 for Josiah and his family. 

[1] Ancestry.com, FreeBMD, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915
[2] Britishnewspaperarchvie.co.uk, Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, Wednesday 23 April 1902 - Image (c) The British Library Board - All Rights Reserved. 
[3] Britishnewspaperarchvie.co.uk, West Somerset Free Press, Saturday 5 November 1905 - Image (c) The British Library Board - All Rights Reserved. 
[4] "Election Of Mayors." The Times [London, England] 10 Nov. 1904: 6. The Times Digital Archive
[5] Somerset Heritage Centre; Taunton, Somerset, England; Pictures of former councillors, aldermen, mayors and officers of the Borough. 1877-1964; Reference Number: D\B\ta/42/17.
[6] Britishnewspaperarchvie.co.uk, Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, Wednesday 30 August 1905 - Image (c) The British Library Board - All Rights Reserved. 
[7] Photograph of the Taunton Public Library plaque taken by Lucy Sarson on 2 July 2018.
[8] Somerset Heritage Centre; Taunton, Somerset, England; Scrapbook of Josiah Lewis, Mayor of Taunton, 1882-1915; Reference Number: A\DSG/1.
[9] Britishnewspaperarchvie.co.uk, London Evening Standard Saturday 14 October 1905 - Image (c) The British Library Board - All Rights Reserved. 

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