GEORGE WRAGGE Art Metalwork 1863-1932

 

George Wragge 1863-1932

I began researching the life of George Wragge as a result of seeing one of his brochures for his art metalwork company, the Wardry Works in Salford Lancashire. His name sparked my interest as George Wragg (without the ‘e’) was the name of my Uncle and Great Grandfather.

George was born in the latter part of 1863. He was baptised on 22 Nov 1863 at Bramshall church, son of Charles Wragge, a farmer and cattle dealer from Nottinghamshire and his wife Sarah Barker. In 1871 George was 7 years old living with his parents at The Farmhouse, Little Bramshall, near Uttoxeter, Staffs.

George’s mother died young, aged only 29 in July 1871, probably as a result of giving birth to George’s younger brother William Wragge (born Nov 1870). Only three years later, on 2 Feb 1874, George’s father, Charles Wragge died. The guardianship of the children- George, Annie, Elizabeth and William was placed with Charles’s brother William Wragge.

In the next census in 1881, George was described as an ‘apprentice’ aged 17 living with an aunt, Mary White in Claremont Road in Chorlton, Manchester. His siblings were living with their paternal grandmother. Maria Wragge nee White in Chaddesden, Derby. By 1891 George was aged 27, an art metal worker and along with his sister Elizabeth aged 23 was visiting their married sister Annie Morley nee Wragge at 54 Osmaston Rd Eckington, Derby.

On 7 November 1891 George Wragge married Edith Cooper nee Jones at Manchester Cathedral. Edith was described as a ‘widow’ on the marriage certificate but this is where the story becomes a Victorian melodrama with devastating consequences.

Edith Jones, was born in March 1857 in Ardwick, Manchester, daughter of Josiah Jones and Eliza Burd. She had married George James Barker Cooper on 6 Nov 1878 at St Thomas Ardwick. George was described as a ‘gentleman’ living at Timperley Hall, Cheshire, son of George Cooper, gentleman. 

George and Edith had two children in the first few years after they married: George Herbert Cooper born in 1879 in Dunham Massey, Altrincham and Hilda Cooper born 1880 in Altrincham.

On 14 March 1882 George James Barker Cooper aged 25 ‘merchant’ was accused of “feloniously shooting at one Edith Cooper with a certain revolver then and there loaded with powder and a certain leaden bullet, with intent with so doing then and thereby feloniously, wilfully, and of malice aforethought to kill and murder the said Edith Cooper at Altrincham”.

On 21 April 1882 George Cooper was acquitted and discharged.

Edith, not surprisingly, filed for divorce in May 1882 on grounds of assault, desertion and adultery. The divorce was finalised on 27 Oct 1891. She married George Wragge on 7 November 1891.

That wasn’t the end of the story of Edith’s ex-husband however.

In Oct/Nov 1891, only weeks after his divorce, George James Barker Cooper married Edith Annie Cooper (same surname) in Solihull, Warwickshire. The following year, on 3 Sept 1892, George Cooper stabbed his wife to death at the Regent Hotel, Douglas, Isle of Man. He was accused of murder but convicted of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10 years penal servitude. George James Barker Cooper died on 26 Aug 1901 of a heart attack at Pacific House, Hull, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA. The Boston Globe report says he was known as Dr George Hall and was married with a son!!  The death of Edith Annie Cooper was reported in the Birmingham Daily Post 9 Sept 1892.

His name came up once more on the marriage certificate of Harold Adrian Cooper to Ivy Ruffell in Sept 1918 where the bridegroom’s father is ‘deceased’. Harold’s age gives him a date of birth about 1885 but I can find no record of a birth around that time.

It seems that Ethel Cooper nee Jones had a lucky escape and we can only hope she had a quiet peaceful life being married to George Wragge. At the time of their marriage George was aged 28, an ‘art metal worker’ and gave his address as The Mitre Hotel, 1 Ivy Mount, Stretford, Manchester. In 1901 George and Edith Wragge were living at 22 Edge Lane, Chorlton Cum Hardy. George was described as a manufacturer of metalwork and stained glass. In 1911 the couple were visitors at The Hollies, St John’s Road, Buxton. They had been married for 19 years and had no children. In 1919 the couple were living at 29 Hornton Court, Holland Park, London.

In the 1921 census, George was aged 57 and a ‘retired manufacturer’ and Edith was 62. They were living in Newmarket, then in Cambridgeshire. They employed a widowed 53 year old, Ellen Kitson, as a domestic maid.

They travelled between the wars. They are on a passenger list arriving in Plymouth from New York on 19 May 1930 and other references to arriving in California and Honolulu.

George and Edith died within a few months of each other in 1932. Edith died in July Quarter 1932. Registered Wycombe, Bucks.

George Wragge died 22 Sept 1932 at King Edward VII Hospital in Windsor. His home address was “Paerata” in Penn, Buckinghamshire.

 

 

 

Lucy Carrington Wertheim nee Pearson

 I first became aware of Lucy Wertheim because of a Facebook post describing her donations of paintings to the Astley Cheetham Gallery in Stalybridge. Posted by Tameside Libraries it read: 

On #internationalwomensday here's a look at the influential art collector Lucy Carrington Wertheim (1883-1971) who helped shape many public art collections during the twentieth century, including the Astley Cheetham Art Gallery in Stalybridge.

Wertheim ran several galleries across the country during the 1920s and 30s and championed modern artists such as Henry Moore, Cedric Morris and Feliks Topolski.

In 1935 she donated several paintings to the Astley Cheetham Art Gallery, including the works - Llangennith Church by Cedric Morris, Littlehampton Front by Philip Padwick, and The Mother by Paul Soyer.

So who was Lucy Carrington Wertheim? She was born Lucy Carrington Pearson on 4 April 1883, daughter of William Henry Pearson and Annie Dearden. Her father, William was a cotton yarn agent born in Pendleton, Lancashire. He was a respected botanist. Whilst living in Eccles, Greater Manchester, William became a friend of  Benjamin Carrington and studied botany in some of the classes taught by Carrington. William and his wife Annie had four daughters: Lucy Carrington Pearson (presumably her middle name came from Benjamin Carrington) , Phyliis Marian, Hilda Hewetson and Annie Theodora.

In the 1891 census Lucy was eight, the eldest of three daughters. The family were living at The Polygon, Barton upon Irwell.

By 1901 William Henry Pearson had moved his family to Legh Road in leafy Knutsford, Cheshire. Lucy's sisters Hilda (13) and Annie (8) were still living at home but Lucy is missing from the household.

In 1906 Lucy Carrington Pearson married Mari Paul Johan Wertheim in Chorlton Manchester. Paul, as he was usually known, was a Dutch citizen working as a manager of a merchant office, shipping trade.

He later became the Consul for the Netherlands in Manchester and was awarded Knight of the Order of Oranje Nassau.

In the 1911 census Lucy Wertheim (32) was away from home, visiting a farmer Ben Wear and his wife in Loughrigg in the Lake District. Paul aged 32 was at home in a large house (13 rooms) at 37 Palatine Road, Withington, Manchester. Lucy's 18 year old sister, (Annie) Theodora was at the same address. Lucy's parents and two of her siblings, Phyllis (25) and Hilda (23) were also living on Palatine Road at number 18, in a similar sized house..

Paul Wertheim was naturalised as a British citizen in May 1915 and was baptised on 21 June 1915 at Burnage St Margaret in Manchester.

By 1921 Paul and Lucy were living at 82 Palatine Road. Paul was 42 and employed as a shipping agent for the company P. Wertheim Ltd. (probably his own company). Lucy was 38 and a housewife. They had two children by then: Hilary Grace Wertheim born 1915 in Gatley Cheshire and Robert Hugh born 1917 in West Didsbury. The family had three servants.

In the 1939 register Lucy C Wertheim was living at 1 St Mark's Square, St Pancras, London. She was the Director of an Art Gallery. In the same household was Lancelot D Rust born 18 Jul 1882, an artist. Paul meanwhile was still living at 82 Palatine Road, Withington,. His adult children: Hilary aged 24 working as an actress and Robert Hugh aged 22, assistant manager at a biscuit factory were in the same household. Paul was Consul for the Netherlands and a Company Director.

Lucy, together with Paul, ran galleries in Derbyshire, London, and Brighton and was known for encouraging many young artists and sculptors. In the 1920s she bought many works by Henry Moore and encouraged Cedric Morris.

In 1930 she opened her first gallery at 3-5 Burlington Gardens, London. It may have been the artist Frances Hodgkins who finally persuaded Lucy Wertheim to move from enthusiastic supporter of 'modern art' to a fully fledged gallery owner. In her 1947 book 'Adventure in Art' - Lucy recalls the incident "Frances exclaimed to my husband, 'Your wife should open a gallery for us poor artists: her enthusiasm would make it a success!'...Those words however spoken more than half in jest, sowed a seed in my mind that was to bear fruit later."

In the early 1960s she lent works to decorate the then new and radical Sussex University at Falmer near Brighton.

.Paul Wertheim died suddenly at his home at 2 Lyme Park in Chinley Derbyshire on 31 March 1952.

Lucy Carrington Wertheim died on 13 December 1971 at Kensington Gardens, Brighton Sussex.