The booklet “The History of the GFW Estates Limited” was written and compiled in 1976 by Joanna Harwin, Diana Baring, and Timothy Whidborne.
Link to pdf copy of The History of the GFW Estates Limited
Since this pamphlet was written in 1976 it has been possible with additional information to see that corrections and amendments need to be made to the clarify the story, especially of “The Lucas Family” section and this is the one of the many next projects to work on.
The following is a direct transcript up to page eight of the pamphlet [page 13 of the pdf file], done by Devitt Elverson.
The History of GFW Estates Limited : The Story of a Family Company
Introduction
[page 4 pdf]
The following is an account of a family company, known as G.F.W. Estates Limited, which was established under the Companies Act in January, 1932, and held its last official meeting on March 30th, 1973.
G.F.W. are the initials of George Ferris Whidborne, a father and son, who died within a few years of each other: the father in 1910 and his son of wounds received during the First World War in 1915. The Estates left by the father were extensive, but two lots of death duties in such a short space of time left the family financially embarrassed. So G.F.W. Estates Limited was formed to administer theses estates to the best advantage of all concerned. Three families were involved in the formation of the Company. An outline of the history of these families and several reminiscences are given to add understanding and interest to this booklet.
We should like to thank the following for their contributions and photographs: Miss T. Whidborne, Mrs E. Gelsthorpe, Mr F.W. Alston, Mr. J. E. Richardson, Mrs J. Harwin, Mr. R.F. Whidborne and Mr H.F. Chambers.
Much of the information of family histories has been taken from “Memoirs of George Ferris Whidborne, M.C.” by Margaret Whidborne (published in 1917) and “Salt Junk” by Admiral B.M. Chambers (published 1927) and “The Dictionary of National Biography” (1900 edition).
Joanna Harwin
Diana Baring
Timothy Whidborne
[page 6 pdf]
The Lucas Family
THE year was 1790—Joseph Lucas was sitting at his desk looking out of the window across the busy wharf of Lucas and Spencer at Cherry Garden, Bermondsey, towards the Pool of London. Two ships were being unloaded, while a third, fully laden, was standing out in the river waiting for the tide to turn. Trade was good. On the desk in front of him were the title deeds of some property in Tooting, which he had that day purchased from the Duke of Bedford. lt was adjoining the land that he had already acquired in Deptford and would be the beginning of a fine estate. At the age of 51, Joseph could look back with satisfaction to all he had achieved since he had arrived in London as a young man. Coming as he did from a well known Quaker family, the Lucases of Hitchen, a career in any of the professions was barred to him, but as a partner in the flourishing firm of Lucas and Spencer he was now a wealthy man. In fact, he was considering having his portrait painted; he would look quite distinguished, he thought, if he wore his best full-skirted brown velvet coat, high white stock and short grey wig.
Joseph never married, so on his death in 1807 he was succeeded by his nephew and name-sake who lived at Irthingborough, near Hitchen. Young Joseph did not enjoy his inheritance for long as he died, according to family tradition, from eating mushrooms when on a visit to his old home.
James’ younger brother, John, now came into possession He made great improvements to the existing property, adding to it by buying land in Clapham and Battersea, which in those days were in the country. By 1824 John, who was living in Deptford, had a family of seven daughters and one little son with the long name of James John *Seymour Spencer.
Little James grew up to be a great philanthropist, in 1855 he donated a site for a Church and Parsonage in Lewisham Road, Deptford, and contributed £1 000 towards an endowment fund for this. The following year he gave the site and £100 for a Government School to be built in the same road. His hobby was his valuable collection of clocks. He had so many that over 100 years later their chimes can be heard in the homes of many of his descendants.
[page 7 pdf]
James’ sister, Rosa, married a young Devonshire clergyman, George Ferris Whidborne at Battersea Church in 1844. But it was his eldest sister, Maria, who was the real business woman of the family. She looked after the interests of the property as a whole as well as the interests of Rosa and George’s children. Letters written to her nephew, Ferris, between 1868 and 1892, are still in existence. Her instructions on matters of the Estates were clearly written with much underlining and she expected him to carry them out without delay. She also showed great concern for his health and well being. Maria and her unmarried sister, Sarah, lived in their later years in a large house at Clifton near Bristol called the Priory. Both sisters lived to a great age, always maintaining their Quaker-like black dresses, white kerchiefs and bonnets, and Mid Victorian customs. Their great nephews and nieces spent many happy holidays at the Priory (which eventually became their own home) idolized, not only by the Great Aunts, but also by their faithful and equally ancient retainers. As well as Harris, the butler, there was Mrs. Harris, the housekeeper, and their daughter who waited at table complete with starched cap with long tails. Then there was Mrs. Pittard, the cook, who later became the much loved biscuit-providing housekeeper of their Hammerwood days. Outside worked old Worthington amongst his many coloured geraniums and Cooper, the cowman, who milked the Jersey cows, old Alan the coachman, seated proudly on the box controlling the
[page 8 pdf]
impatient prancing horses, his son “Young Alan”, in top hat and cockade, ready to spring to the box once “the Family” were seated.
Another Lucas cousin–also Joseph–was the Family Lawyer. He died in 1903 at the age of 92, having been married for 67 years and having had 17 children. One of his sons, Edgar Lucas, now became head of the firm of Lucas and Sons, which had their offices in Surrey Street off the Thames embankment.
In 1921 Rosa’s youngest grandson, Seymour Whidborne, joined the firm, first as an articled clerk and later as a partner.
Seymour’s children remember the Surrey Street Office which they visited once a year and from whose windows they would watch the Lord Mayor’s show and in 1935 the Silver Jubilee Procession of King George V. The building was surrounded by iron railings and one went down two or three steps to reach the front door. Inside it was very dark but a coal fire was kept burning in the iron grate. There were large chairs covered in black leather, high desks and stools, huge dusty ledgers and black deed boxes. There must have been such modern innovations as typewriters and filing cabinets, but they weren’t in evidence. In fact, if Uriah Heep had appeared rubbing his hands, they would not have been surprised. The man who did appear, however, was quite the opposite of Uriah Heep. He was the chief clerk, Frank Alston, who had been with the firm since he was a lad of fifteen. He would take them out into the street to buy little gilt models of the Lord Mayor’s coach. when Frank Alston had joined the firm in 1912 all letters were written by hand, although there was a large wooden press which, with the use of water, was used for making copies of letters.
The Whidborne family
THE year was 1610—Early one morning Captain Richard Whidborne was standing by the side of the harbour of St John’s thinking of all that had been suffered and achieved by the little settlement in Newfoundland during the few years it had been in existence. Suddenly he saw a strange creature swimming swiftly towards him. In his book “A Discourse and Discovery of New Found Land” he describes it as being: “by the face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, necke and forehead it seemed to be so beautiful and in those parts so well proportioned having round about the head many blue streaks, resembling haire; but certainly it was no haire, yet I beheld it long. —This (I suppose) was a Maremaid or Mareman—whether it were a Maremaid or no, I leave it for others to judge”.
Richard was born at Exmouth in Devonshire and was a traveller
[page 10 pdf]
and adventurer in foreign countries from the age of 15. He visited France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Savoy, Denmark, Norway, Spruceland (Sweden), the Canary Islands and Soris Islands (?Azores). He made his first visit to Newfoundland in about 1579 and was there again in the harbour of St John’s in 1583 when he watched Sir Humphrey Gilbert formally annex the country in the name of Queen Elizabeth, thus starting what was to become the British Empire. During a third visit two years later he witnessed the capture of “many Portugal ships laden with fish” by Sir Bernard Drake. In 1588 Richard equipped a ship at his own expense to serve against the Spanish Armada, commanding her in person, and on taking leave of the English Admiral, Lord Howard, received “favourable letters” from him.
He made several other voyages to Newfoundland and occasionally fell in with pirates, once with the then famous pirate Peter Easton, for whom he subsequently solicited a pardon at court. On May 11th, 1615, he sailed from Exeter in a barque equipped at his own charge, bearing a commission from the Court of Admiralty to hold courts of Vice-Admiralty in Newfoundland. “The first attempt to create a formal court of justice in the country. He proceeded to the various harbours, called the masters of the English ships together and held courts, in which he carefully inquired into the disorders committed on the coast, receiving presentments and transmitting them to the Admiralty”.
Misfortune then followed. In 1616 he lost more than £860 when one of his ships was plundered by a French pirate called Daniel Tibolo.
[page 11 pdf]
A year later he lost the rest of his fortune while attempting to settle a detachment of Welsh colonist at Golden Grove (now Trepaney Harbour) in Newfoundland. The venture failed largely owing to the idleness of the colonists. Thus after 40 years of endeavour Richard could write, somewhat sadly: ‘There remains little other fruit unto me, saving the peace of a good conscience and the contentment of health.”
He then settled at the “Sign of the Gilded Cocke” in Pater-noster-Row London, where he published in 1620 his “Discourse and Discovery of New-Found-Land” in which he gives many reasons to prove “how
[page 12 pdf]
worthy and benefiticall a Plantation there be made after a far better manner than now is. Together with laying open of certain Enormaties and abuses committed by some that trade to that Countrey and the means laide downe for reformation thereof”. His treatise found favour with James I and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York were “enjoined to require collections to be made in severall parishes of the Kingdome” to defray the printing costs and for the author. Although the proceeds of these collections were negligible the Discourse received considerable fame at the time of its appearance and a second edition was published two years later. It has been quoted on numerous occasions and was also translated into German.
For all this Richard was knighted, but his circumstances continued straightened and he grew tired of the inactivity of life ashore. The date of his death is unknown and the last we hear of Sir Richard is in 1627 when he was appointed as a lieutenant on the “Bonadventure” to hasten the ship round the downs.
[page 13 pdf]
Sir Richard’s great grandson, also Richard, married Sarah Ferris in 1733 and from this time en it would seem that the eldest son of the family has been called George Ferris. If the name George was used by the father then the son was referred to as Ferris and his son George and so on. This makes it somewhat difficult to know who was who.
The George Ferris Whidborne who married Rosa Lucas was born in Devon in 1809 and received a M.A. degree at Queen’s College, Oxford, in 1844. They lived in the Rectory at Hanley and raised a family of five daughters and one son another George Ferris, born 1845. Another son, Seymour, was a frail little boy who died young. Ferris, a thoughtful, serious-minded boy, idolized by his five sisters, was educated first at Cheltenham College and then at the then newly founded Clifton College near Bristol. Did he, one wonders, board with his Lucas Aunts, Sarah and Maria, or visit them on his half holidays? Was it here that he met the Chambers brothers whose sister, Margaret, he later married? He graduated in 1865 from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, with a “Senior Optime” in Mathematics and a third class in the Classical Tripos.
As a young man, Ferris, like others of his generation, had a burning desire to become a missionary in “darkest Africa”. His father, fearing that this was chiefly due to the boy’s passion for natural history, dissuaded him. Instead, Ferris was ordained in 1881 but all his life maintained his burning zeal for Africa and the Mission Field. It was his daughter, Elfrida, who fulfilled this ambition, when in 1929 she went as a missionary doctor to Sudan.
In 1883, while travelling to Switzerland to take up an appointment
[page 14 pdf]
as Chaplain to the English Church at Chamonix, Ferris was involved in an exciting incident. This was reported in “The Penny Illustrated Paper” on July 7th, 1883 (see page 6) with a spirited drawing on the front page. According to his wife, when Ferris escaped from the carriage, “he did not enter the next compartment because there was a lady alone in it and he did not wish to alarm her, as he certainly would have done covered with blood as he was”. While Cauchois was serving sentence, Ferris helped to support the prosoner’s wife and family.
Ferris’ early love of natural history continued throughout his life and he became a noted palaeontologist specialising in Devonian Geology, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. His valuable collection of geological specifmens was presented to Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge.
It was quite in character that in 1889 Ferris became Rector of St George’s Church, Battersea, going to live in the unfashionable district which he had inherited amngst his riches. The same year he married Margaret Chambers and soon a family was growing up happily at the Vicarage in spite of its somewhat squalid surroundings. George Ferris was born in 1891, followed by Charles Stanley Lucas and Bertram Seymour in 1892 and 1893, then Margaret Lucas (Rita) in 1896. The family then moved to the Priory where Ida Constance Theodora (Dora) and Edith Elfrida Victoria were born in 1897 and 1900 respectively. In 1903 Ferris bought a beautiful home, Hammerwood, near East Grinstead in Sussex, where the little Whidbornes grew up in neaer idyllic surroundings. Here Margaret and Ferris’ youngest daughter, Hilda Rosabel, was born in 1906.
At Hammerwood Ferris became a “Country Squire” while still retaining his interest in geology and mission work and still struggling, with the help of Edgar Lucas, to improve the living conditions of his tenants in Battersea, Clapham, and Deptford. The money came in to support his family in comfort but most of it went out again on missionary work, including a thousand pounds to Japan and large sums to Uganda.
Ferris’ four unmarried sisters lived in Charante, Torquay, always delighted to be visited by their many nephews and nieces. The house stood high on the cliffs overlooking the bay. In 1895 Ferris bout 183 acres of some of the most beautiful of the surrounding country to prevent it being built on*. One of their great-nieces remembers staying at Charante. She remembers Aunt Lucas wearing a white lace cap pouring
*Ilsham Estate descended to Timothy Whidborne via his father. Part had been sold by public auction in 1922. The rest, consisting of a small stretch of cliff top and foreshore and three small islands, Oreshore, Leadstone and Thatcher Rock, was sold by Timothy to the Torbay Council for a nominal fee on the understding that they be kept as beauty spots.
[end of p. 14 pdf]
[transcription incomplete! More to add but you can refer to the pdf file in the meantime!]
This link actually goes with p.24 of the pdf file, but it shows what happened to the offices during the Blitz in May 1941. Here’s a photo of Going to Work in Middle Temple Lane.