An Historic Wedding at Llanthony Secunda Priory (1902) by Dr Chris Barnes

May 30, 2024

An Historic Wedding at Llanthony Secunda Priory (1902)

Local Farmers to Canadian Pioneers

Recently, I came across a black and white photograph of a wedding party taken in front of our Victorian Farmhouse and Medieval Range. After a little digging, I discovered that the photograph was taken in 1902 and that the happy couple were Thomas Nathaniel Fowler and Winifred Lois Fawkes. Thanks to archival records, and to the research of surviving relative David Brian Fowler, we can tell the story behind this marriage, their connection to Llanthony Secunda Priory, and the couple’s life together, from local farmers to Canadian pioneers.

A wedding photograph taken in front of the Victorian Farmhouse at the marriage of Thomas Fowler and Winifred Lois Fawkes (1902).

The Fawkes Family at Hempsted and Llanthony: Farmers, Druids, and Musicians

Whilst the Groom, Thomas Fowler, was a farmer at Church Farm in Leonard Stanley, Winifred Fawkes was the daughter of David Henry Fawkes, a farmer and insurance agent living in Llanthony Abbey Farm at the time of their marriage in 1902 – what is now the Victorian Farmhouse and Medieval Range. By this point in history, the surviving parts of Llanthony Secunda Priory had been a working farm for over 350 years.

David Fawkes' photograph from his obituary in the Gloucestershire Chronicle (29th January 1910).

David Henry Fawkes was a prominent figure in both Hempsted and Gloucester around the turn of the 20^th century and lived in Llanthony’s Victorian Farmhouse and Medieval Range between 1901 and his death in 1910. Originally born in Bisley, near Stroud, in 1846, he and his father eventually found themselves farming both Netheridge Farm (now the site of The Barn Owl Centre for Gloucestershire) and Simsbridge Farm (a former farm just off of Sims Lane) in Hempsted by at least 1871. When David's father, Maurice, died around 1877, David inherited Simsbridge Farm and several houses in Hempsted. At this point he also succeeded his father in entering into a tenancy agreement for Netheridge Farm with the landowner, the Lyson family in Hempsted, with the Bishop of Gloucester (Charles Ellicott) and Mr Lloyd Baker as trustees. However, this agreement would soon see David in great financial difficulty.

In 1898 David faced the ordeal of filing for bankruptcy, with the cause of failure given as ‘Money invested in Netheridge Farm in reduction of principal under agreement for purchase made in 1885, drainage charge on farm, and loss of 23 cows in 1894, and losses in farming generally’. David had unfortunately made an agreement that ultimately caused himself severe financial burden. This was not aided by poor farming conditions in general, the loss of 40-50 poultry to foxes, and the loss of 23 cows (worth between £500-£600) through drinking polluted water – evidently polluted with ammonia from a local gas company. Fawkes cited the loss of these cows as the beginning of his financial struggle. By 1898, besides the money owed to the trustees in the sale of Netheridge Farm, David owed almost £3000 to 49 different creditors, with only £219 in assets to his name; as the burden of interest and rents increased he was forced to borrow more and more from other individuals. When these loans were unpaid, he was repeatedly sued. Ultimately, when faced with the public humiliation of examination into his financial affairs upon filing for bankruptcy, David broke down in the witness box when all those individuals that were owed money were read to him. He became ‘very much upset and a chair was provided for him in the witness box. He remarked, in a most distressed tone of voice, that it was a devilish hard world’.

By 1901, David and his family were living in the Victorian Farmhouse and Medieval Range of Llanthony Secunda (then known as Llanthony Abbey) and farming poultry and pigs on some plots of land onsite. The site had been purchased by J. M. Collett, a chemical manufacturer, in 1898, hoping to build a factory there. However, the site was instead sublet to William Goulding, who occupied farms both here and at Newark, who in turn sublet it to Francis Bond, a medical officer of health not in practice. Whilst Bond lived at Llanthony between, at least, 1891 and 1896, he was subletting it himself in 1901 to David Fawkes and his family. This is particularly intriguing as Bond was both the individual who examined the contaminated water source that killed his cows at Netheridge Farm, and an individual with whom Fawkes disagreed vehemently with regarding vaccination. Fawkes was part of a vocal anti-vaccination movement within of Gloucester’s Board of Guardians, even getting prosecuted for not vaccinating his children against smallpox on numerous occasions, whilst Bond was a massive advocate for enforced vaccination.

Llanthony Abbey Farm and front garden, facing the Tithe Barn (c.1926).

Regardless of these financial issues, Fawkes was a significant figure in Gloucester and Hempsted. Besides being a chief landowner in Hempsted, he was also an active member of the Conservative party, and was Grand Master of the Gloucester Conservative Benefit Society in 1894. He was also part of, and was Vice Chairman for some time, the Gloucester Highway Board. He was also a prominent Freemason, being attached to the Royal Lebanon Lodge, no.493, meeting at the Freemason’s Hall in Cross Keys Lane, Gloucester. Notably, he was also a very prominent member, and at one time Noble Arch Druid, of Gloucester’s Lodge (no.96) of the Ancient Order of Druids, who met at the Ram Hotel on Southgate Street. Fawkes attended many ceremonies, including an initiation ceremony at Stonehenge in 1905 and a ceremony surrounding the planting of a sapling at the base of the infamous Lassington Oak in 1908. He was fondly remembered by the citizens of Gloucester for deliberately flooding some of his meadows at Netheridge Farm in the winter, allowing them to skate for a small fee. David Fawkes died at Llanthony in 1910 from heart affection, leaving three daughters – Winifred Lois, Edith Victoria, and Nora Louise Muriel.

The coat of arms of the Ancient Order of Druids in 1837.

Winifred, the eldest sibling, was born in 1879, with the three sisters having a comprehensive education. The household clearly had a keen passion for music. David was a member of Quedgeley’s church choir, Norah was also a renowned local concert singer, and the family even hosted Ambrose Probert Porter, Gloucester Cathedrals’ Assistant Organist and a resident music teacher (and future Organist and Master of the Choristers at Lichfield Cathedral), as a boarder at Llanthony for many years; Winifred herself was a trained elocutionist and pianist. In David’s bankruptcy examination, it was claimed that the ‘cottage piano, music stool, etc’ was exempt from his assets and belonged to Winifred. It had been given to Winifred by her mother as a gift a few years prior, and originally belonged to her grandmother – music was clearly at the heart of the family.

The Wedding: Fowler and Fawkes

St. Swithun's, Hempsted

The wedding took place on 18 June 1902 at nearby St. Swithun’s, Hempsted. Thomas was then 25, whilst Winifred was 22. The wedding was announced within the local papers:

‘On Wednesday afternoon the marriage was solemnized at St. Swithins Church, Hempsted, of Thomas N. Fowler, second son of Mr. F. G. Fowler of Cedars, Leonard Stanley, with Winifred Lois Fawkes, of Llanthony Abbey, Gloucester. The officiating clergy were the rector (the Hon. And Rev. C. A. Sinclair, M.A.) and the Rev. W. H. Butlin, M.A., vicar of Leonard Stanley. The bride was attired in a costume of silk crepe a laine and lace, made in old-fashion polonaise style, a wreath and veil with orange blossoms. The bridesmaids were misses V. and N. Fawkes (sisters of the bride). L. Fowler (sister of the groom) and C. Hill (cousin of the bride). They were attired in muslin de laine dresses with crepe de chine fichus, crinoline hats with pink and blue flowers and black velvet trimmings and wore gold brooches and carried baskets of flowers (gifts from the groom). Mr. Gilbert Prout, Coaley (cousin of the groom), was best man. Later in the afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Fowler left en route for North Wales, the bride’s travelling dress being a grey cloth bolero and skirt with cream hat trimmed with black roses and velvet. Their future residence will be Church Farm, Leonard Stanley’ (Gloucester Journal, Saturday 21 June 1902).

Thomas N Fowler Snr (1902).

Winifred Lois Fawkes (aged 33), Stanley Fowler (aged 5), and new-born David-Fowler (1912).

The Fowlers: Canadian Pioneers

A view of Madge Lake in Saskatchewan's Duck Mountain Provincial Park. Credit: Other Justin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

They did not reside at Leonard Stanley long, for in 1903 they emigrated to Canada. The local papers at the time were filled with adverts enticing prospective farmers to Canada with free grants of 160 acres. The attraction of great prospects abroad clearly enticed them. They first lived at the Lake of the Woods in Ontario before homesteading section 26, 11km south of Kamsack, Saskatchewan. By 1907 they had a 14x24ft log house, a log stable, two granaries, two oxen, four horses, five cattle, and 30 acres broken in (estimated value of $525).

In addition to farming, Thomas also surveyed the first road into Madge Lake, which is now part of the Duck Mountain Provincial Park near Kamsack. The family were living at Madge Lake by 1913, following a house fire, where Thomas was then serving as the first Game Guardian (Conservation Officer/Ranger) for that area until 1915.

However, life in Canada was unfortunately interspersed with misfortune for Thomas and Winifred. Whilst they had six children in the 11 years following their marriage, only two would outlive Thomas, with one of those being born following his untimely death. Whilst the first son, Maurice Gilbert, was born in Stroud in 1903, the following five were born in Canada (Stanley Thomas, Nancy Lois, Winnifred, David Edward, Thomas Nathaniel Jr). The year of 1912 was a particularly tragic one, where the baby Winnifred lost their life in a house fire, and both Maurice and Nancy also losing succumbing to the combined effects of Scarlet fever and Diphtheria within the same year. Thomas himself lost his life in 1915, at the age of 38, following surgery for appendicitis. He was buried in the graveyard alongside all his children who predeceased him at St. Leonard’s Anglican Church, south of Kamsack – a church that the family had help establish and even name after their original home at Leonard Stanley. His youngest son, Thomas Nathaniel Jr. was born five months after his death.

Following Thomas’ death, Winifred met Samuel Warriner, a widower who came to Kamsack from Ontario with his three daughters. They were married in 1917 and made the decision to sell the farm at Kamsack. Winifred and Samuel moved to a homestead northeast of Clair, Saskatchewan. They lived an earnest life. Severe weather saw both crop and property damage, requiring the whole family to contribute to family welfare. In 1919, disaster struck again when both David and Stanley caught Diphtheria, through which David lost his life. Only two of Thomas and Winifred’s six children survived.

Life seemed to rebuild in the 1920s. Winifred had two more children with Samuel and the family became fully involved within the community. Alongside enjoying activities such as horseshoes, croquet, miniature gold, baseball, card games, and tennis, music remained a large part of Winifred’s life. Many evenings were spent around a piano, and a family orchestra, known as the ‘Wooler Serenaders’ and consisting of a piano, drums, banjo or ukulele, trombone, were formed. The group played for free at many fundraisers in a wide area. Meanwhile, at home, the family were selfless and neighbourly, always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need.

Winifred and Samuel retired to Regina, Saskatchewan in 1944 until Samuel died in 1949 at the age of 66. Having gone to live with her daughter, Winifred later passed away on 20 January 1955 at the age of 75.

Winifred Lois Fawkes was evidently an energetic, strong, and resilient woman who responded to her own misfortunes with efforts to make the lives of others better.

Weddings Today

Today, Llanthony Secunda Priory frequently sees similar photographs of Brides, Grooms, and their family and friends, taken on their happy day in almost the same identical spot over 100 years later.

For more information, please visit here.