Heddon-on-the-Wall Local History Society
  • Home
  • Calendar
  • Introduction
  • Where are we?
  • History Map
  • Timeline
    • Prehistoric
    • AD43 to 1599
    • 1600 to 1799
    • 1800 to 1899
    • 1900 to 1999
    • 2000 to 2099
  • Heddon's History
    • Prehistory
    • Hadrian's Wall >
      • Vallum excavation (1893)
      • Hadrian's Wall excavation 1926
      • Wall ditch, Bays Leap (1958)
      • Hadrian’s Wall: Archaeological research by English Heritage 1976-2000
      • Throckley & Heddon entanglements
      • WallWatch
      • English Heritage (2020)
      • Wardell-Armstrong Archaeolgy Reports
      • Historic England Archives
    • Six townships >
      • 1 Heddon township >
        • Heddon in the Middle Ages
        • Common Land
        • Middle Marches
        • Tithe Award
        • St Andrew's Church >
          • Stained Glass Windows
          • Churchyard
          • Monuments of church & churchyard (1991)
          • Monuments Page 2
          • Vicars of Heddon
        • Village property
        • Heddon Hall >
          • Sale of Heddon Hall 2012
        • Heddon Banks Farm
        • Frenchman's Row
        • Methodist Church >
          • Heddon Methodist Church Centenary 1877-1977
        • Men's Institute
        • Women's Institute
        • Welfare Field
        • Knott Memorial Hall
        • Memorial Park
        • Schools
        • River Tyne
        • Coal Mining
        • Quarrying
        • Water Supplies
        • Transport
        • Waggonway & Railway
        • Occupations from 1800
        • Miscellaneous
      • 2 West Heddon township
      • 3 East Heddon township
      • 4 Houghton & Close House township >
        • Close House
      • 5 Eachwick township
      • 6 Whitchester township
    • Rudchester
  • People
    • Sir James Knott
    • Cadwallader J. Bates
    • Richard Burdon
    • Hugh Sinclair (Tim) Swann
    • George Clark
  • Old Photos
    • Postcards
    • Old photos 1
    • Old photos 2
    • Old photos 3
    • Old photos 4
    • Old photos 5
    • Old photos 6
    • Old Photos 7
  • Old News
    • Community News
    • Letter from the Emigrant Clergy of Frenchman's Row (1802)
    • Alleged Brutal Murder at Heddon-on-the-Wall (1876)
    • Sad boat accident at Ryton (1877)
    • Coronation tree (1902)
    • 65 Years on a Ferry Boat (1929)
    • Come claim your kiss at Heddon (1953)
    • The Swan (1972)
    • Heddon WI (1987)
    • Church House (1966)
    • Happy return (1993)
    • Hexham Courant (1997)
    • Butterfly Garden (1999)
    • Foot & Mouth (2001)
    • Remembrance Day (1996)
    • Remembrance Day (2016)
    • RAF at Ouston (2007)
    • Close House Golf Course (2009)
    • Heddon pupils celebrate British heritage (2011)
    • Roman Wall Forge (2011)
    • Diamond Jubilee (2012)
    • Auction of Bronze Statue, Close House (2012)
    • Heddon WI (2012)
    • Puffing Billy Festival (2013)
    • Heddon Village Show (2014)
    • View of the North (2014)
    • The Wall at Heddon (2014)
    • Heddon Village Show (2015)
    • War veterans singing send-off (September 2015)
    • Anglo-Saxon history (2014)
    • Heddon WI at 100 (2017)
    • Hadrian's Wall discovery (2019)
    • Tulip Mews (2020)
    • Mike Furlonger
    • Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival
  • Memories
    • Olive White
    • Betty Cockburn
    • Betty Cockburn - miscellaneous information
    • Isabel Snowdon
    • William & Winnie Watson
    • Edith Ward
    • Mark Parker
    • Jack Lawson
    • Winnie Spoor
    • P Reay
    • Mr and Mrs Hall
    • Peter Chapman
    • Elizabeth Elenora Eames
    • Harry Murray
  • Other documents
    • Mackenzie (1825)
    • Bates (1886) >
      • Early & Roman
      • Townships
      • Heddon Church
      • Heddon & Houghton
      • Whitchester
      • Eachwick
      • West & East Heddon
      • Records
      • Addenda
      • Appendix A
    • History, Topography & Directory of Northumberland (Bulmer's) - 1886
    • History of Northumberland (1930)
    • Collingwood Bruce (1853)
    • Whellan (1855)
    • Post Office Directory (1879)
    • Prominent people in Heddon
    • Place names
    • Ad Murum
    • Archived documents
    • Thomas Bewick's History of British Birds (1826)
    • Census data 1801-1991
    • Historical Records 1888-1890
    • Knott Sale of Village Property (1924)
    • Extracts from Parish Council Records
    • Local colliery records
    • Blackburn (1938)
    • Clark (c.1963)
    • History of Church (1968)
    • Boundary Commission Report 1984
  • Walks
    • Walks 2
  • Blog
  • Contact us
  • Links
  • What's new
  • Site search
  • Past & Present
  • Photo of the Month
  • Place Name Studies
    • Meas & Meres
    • OS Name Books: Elsdon
    • OS Name Books: Allendale
    • OS Name Books: Cheviot Hills

Henry James Chapman

3/4/2015

0 Comments

 
Gillian Massiah recently sent me more information and some photos of this family, her relatives.
Picture
Chapman family c.1911. Photograph kindly supplied by Gillian Massiah (2015).
As described here, Oakwood Lodge, west of Houghton on the Hexham Road, in 1911 was the home of Henry James Chapman (49) working as Head Gardener. Sharing the lodge was his wife, Elizabeth (46), and six sons. He had been employed for his experience in propagation and cultivation of orchids, a passion of Norman Charles Cookson (Tyneside Industrialist, 1841-1909) at Oakwood House. One of the greenhouses still exists today and is to be restored by its current owners.
From Left to Right Standing:
William Henry Chapman (b.1893; colliery clerk);  Harold Thomas Chapman (b.1896; school); Wallace Chapman (b.1900, school); George Lewis Chapman (b.1894, teacher)
Seated:
Henry James Chapman (b.1862, gardener): Frederick Charles Chapman (b.1905, school); Elizabeth Chapman (nee Lewis; b.1865, married 20 years)
Standing:
Albert Edward Chapman (b.1903, school).

The dog is either Digger or Trencher.
Picture
Two Calanthes hybrids raised by Norman Cookson. Facing p.76, Watson & Chapman (1902).
Picture
Odontoglossum ardentissimum 'Norman Cookson'. Shown by Mrs N C Cookson, Oakwood House, Wylam. Awarded RHS Award of Merit (1909), later raised to First Class Certificate. Photo by Mr H J Chapman. The Gardener's Chronicle April 16th 1910 p.242.
The family moved north somewhere between 1901 and 1902 [Albert Edward was probably born at Oakwood Lodge in 1903 - the 1911 Census has Wylam crossed out as his birth-place, and corrected to Heddon]. The 1901 Census shows the family living in London.

Henry James himself was born in Devonshire [Holne Chase, Ashburton] and I think that he was apprenticed or worked at the famous Veitch Nursery in Surrey. Legend has it that Henry James actually served his time as a gardener at Sandringham and that's where he met Elizabeth who was a ladies maid to one of the guests who stayed there.

When Henry James was working at Oakwood there were about 20 or 30 gardeners under him, all engaged in orchid cultivation. Orchids used to be sent to the RHS London shows by train   packed in spagnum moss in large pine chests with carrying handles at either end. It was a rich man's hobby and the Cooksons were very wealthy at that time. However I gather the First World War brought an end to the indulgence of orchid growing, at least in the UK.
From memory the family left Oakwood Lodge about 1920. They went to live in a house called Mornington in South Wylam. Henry James died in 1931 but Elizabeth lived on at Mornington until 1942 when she was killed in an accident at Wylam Station. Elizabeth's eyesight was failing  and she was hit by a train as she was crossing the tracks on the pedestrian crossing.
Picture
Picture
Henry James Chapman was the editor of the third and most comprehensive edition of William Watson and Henry James Chapman's 'Orchids their Culture and Management', published in 1902. This was the standard work on orchid cultivation of it's day and is still in print. The blurb describes HJC as 'one of the most able Orchid Growers and Hybridists in the country'. He was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal by The Royal Horticultural Society in 1910 for services to orchid growing and frequently judged at RHS shows as well as exhibing himself.

In 1904  HJC was awarded two RHS First Class Certificates: the first on 22nd March for Odontoglossum ardentissimum cooksonae and the second on 5 April for Odontoglossum xanthotes  cooksoniae. His youngest son Frederick Charles born on 12th April 1904 was named so that his initials commemorated this splendid  double. The commemoration lived  for another 97 !years!
Picture
Henry James Chapman with orchid buttonhole c.1910. Photograph kindly supplied by Gillian Massiah (2015).
Above photograph (left) of Henry James Chapman with the orchid buttonhole was taken in Newcastle so must have been taken after 1901/2, perhaps in 1910 when he was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal.  I also discovered that before HJC was employed by Norman Cookson he was employed by R. H. Measures of Camberwell who was also a keen orchid grower.  R. H. Measures was a director of Measures Brothers Ltd. of Southwark Street, London, who were in the iron trade as suppliers of cast iron pillars, mouldings etc. used in the building trade.
Picture
Last remaining orchid greenhouse near Oakwood House. Photo A Curtis (2014).
In February 1905 the great philanthropist and celebrated orchid grower, Sir Jeremiah Coleman of the Coleman's Mustard family, invited HJC to lecture on orchids and their cultivation at his newly founded Coleman Institute in Reigate, near his home at Gatton Park in Surrey. He was presented with an inkwell as a token of Coleman's appreciation.

Coleman's own orchid collection was vast, totalling some 30,000 orchids and another 20,000 seedlings. It was given to the Cambridge University Botanical Garden in the 1930s.
Picture
Inkwell presented to H J Chapman by Jeremiah Coleman in appreciation of his lecture at the Coleman Institute, February 28th 1905. Photograph kindly supplied by Gillian Massiah (2015).
Picture
Obituary of H J Chapman in The Orchid Review, March 1931 p.96. Photo courtesy of Gillian Massiah (2015).
The youngest son Frederick Charles Chapman became a colliery manager with the Mickley Coal Company and was Manager at Acomb Pit from 1937-45. From there he joined the Lambton, Hetton and Joicey Colliery Company being Manager for the Beamish Mary group of pits until 1953 when he moved to Silksworth Colliery near Sunderland. He was in charge of the  modernisation of  both Beamish Mary pit and Silksworth Colliery, changing them from steam power to electric power. The Silksworth modernisation was a major £5million project in 1953/4 (about £500.million in today's terms). He was awarded an M.B.E for services to the coal insustry in 1953. He died aged 97 in 2000.
Picture
Harold Thomas Chapman in his WW1 Royal Flying Corps uniform with his brother George Lewis Chapman. Photo supplied by Gillian Massiah (2015)
Picture
Harold Thomas Chapman in 1957. Photograph kindly supplied by Gillian Massiah (2015).
Picture
Harold Thomas Chapman conducting Winston Churchill round the Armstrong Siddeley Works after the blitz on Coventry. Photo supplied by Gillian Massiah (2015).
Another of Henry's sons, Harold Thomas Chapman (4th August 1896 - 4th May 1985; above), went on to become a leading aeronautical engineer and was accorded the lead obituary in the Times. He was managing director of Armstrong Siddeley playing a leading part in keeping production going in WWII.

Photo (above left) is of Harold Thomas Chapman as Managing Director of Armstrong Siddeley Motors and a Hawker Siddeley Group Director in 1957 at the height of his powers. On the right above is a photograph of him conducting Winston Churchill round the Armstrong Siddley Works after the blitz on Coventry in 1940. He invited Churchill to visit the factory to raise morale.

He was responsible for the introduction of the Sapphire jet engine for which work he was awarded a C.B.E. in 1951. He was subsequently a director of the Hawker Siddeley Group and Chief Executive of the Industrial Division which he established. He was also deputy chairman of Bristol Siddeley and a friend and colleague of the aviator Sir Thomas Sopwith who was the grandson of the mining engineer.
Picture
Obituary of Harold Thomas Chapman in The Times.

Dorian Pritchard, the current owner of Oakwood Lodge, told me that the building was completed in January 1903, because he found a 'time-capsule' in the form of a Newcastle newspaper nailed under the floorboards of the main room that was so dated. He was told by his father, who was a builder in his early adult life, that this would usually be done just before they completed the floor.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Author

    Andy Curtis

    Archives

    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011


    Categories

    All
    Agricultural Engineering
    Archaeology
    Barrow
    Bays Leap
    Beamish Museum
    Beer
    Beer-mat
    Bewcastle
    Books
    Border Line
    Brewery
    Brown
    Cabinetmaker
    Charlton
    Cheviots
    Churches
    Civil War
    Clennell Street
    Close House
    Coal Mining
    Cullercoats
    Cumbria
    Eachwick
    Earl Grey
    Elswick
    Family History
    Fishing
    Fishwives
    Folkestone Warren
    Forth Banks
    Furniture
    Gardens
    General
    George Clark
    Gibson
    Goods Station
    Hadrian's Wall
    Harbours
    Heddon
    Heddon Hall
    Hexham
    Hidden Chains
    Houghton
    Howick Hall
    Hunting
    Iron Sign
    Isaac Jackson
    John Grundy
    John Smith
    Knott
    Landslide
    Lead Works
    Lemington
    Lindisfarne
    Maritime
    Meetings
    Military Road
    Mill
    Monument
    Newburn
    Newcastle
    Newcastle Assizes
    News
    North Lodge
    North Shields
    Northumberland
    Northumberland Records Office
    Old Middleton
    Oral History
    Ouseburn
    Outings
    Photography
    Place Names
    Place-names
    Ponteland
    Ports
    Prehistory
    Pubs
    Quarries
    Railways
    Redesdale
    River Tyne
    Rock Art
    Roman
    Sadler
    Sanderson
    Schools
    Seaton Delaval
    Ships
    Shot Tower
    Slave Trade
    Songs/Poems
    Spearman
    Stagecoach
    Stained Glass
    St. Andrews
    Stephenson
    Swann
    Tea Robbery
    Throckley
    Town Farm
    Transportation
    Trinity House
    Victorian Panorama
    Walbottle
    Walk
    Water Supply
    William Brown
    Williamson
    Woodhorn
    Ww1
    Ww2
    Wylam
    Yetholm

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.