CAERPHILLY. PWLL-Y PANT QUARRIES.

CAERPHILLY. PWLL-Y PANT QUARRIES.—A correspondent writes as follows:—"These quarries, which are now worked by the Marquis of Bute, are situated on the Rhymney val- ley, on the confines of the counties of Glamorgan and Monmouth, near the highway leading from Caerphilly to the iron metropolis, which is not so much used now as in fermer times, people in our days patronising the rail more than the road. The unfortunate King Charles I. passed over thib road on his w*y to Brecon. The valley from Maesycwmmer down to Pwll-y-paat is nar- row but picturesque, and is studded on both sides with trees, in which the rooks form a noisy'crowd and make their habitation. Near the quarries stands Pwll-y-pant Hou-e, the residence of Mr. W. E. Williams, a county magistrate. This house and the adjoining grounds are kept in excellent trim. Close to the house there is a massive clock, erected by the owner, which can Reheard a long distance off, and is much valued by the neigh- bouring cottagers. Between Pwll-y-yant House and the quarries there stands a neat villa, the residence of Mr. Monfries, the esteemed manager of the works, who has won golden opirions uf his neighbours since he has been here. On the works there is a row of wooden houses, built for the benefit of the men who are em- ployed theie. These houses are perfect models, every care having t een taken when they were constructed to provide for the men's health and (comfort. Divine service is performed there every Sunday, and a reading room is attached to the houses. The quarries have done and are doing a great deal of good to the locality. The men are regularly paid on Saturday mornings, and the greatest part of the money is circulated in Caerphilly, among the grocers, butchers, bakers, &c. One thing in connection with these works is worthy of commendation, that is, the orderly conduct of the men. Since the works commenced we have not heard of a single disturbance. such as is too orten the case among men who are em- ployed upon public works. There is a rule that no disorderly person shall be employed, and a very good rule it is, and it would be a blessing to the country at large if all employers were to adopt it. On Friday night all the men employed on the works had their an- nual supper, the catering of which was entrusted to Mr. and Mrs. Baker, the Casile Hotel. The supper was a first-class one. and was served out to the men in the club room, which was decorated for the occasion. Mr. Thomas Reynolds occupied the chaIr, and the vice-chair Wll5 ably tilled by Mr. Nicholas Goodfellow. After doing ju-tice to the good things laid befo»e them, and the cloth having been removed, the Chairman proposed the usual loyal toast-, after which The health of the Marquis of Bute was drunk with acclamation, and re- sponded to. The health of Mr. Monfries, the manager, was then given, with three times three. The healths of Mr. Watson, Mr. W. E. Williams (Pwll-y-pant), the Chairman, Vice chairman and visiting friends, and Mr. and M-s. Baher, were all duly honoured. In the course of the evening some capital sinuirg was given, accom- panie I on the piano by Mr. Wi liam Edwards. Mr. N. Goodfellow sang The Death of Nelson" II 1: h excellent effect, and Mr. Thom.s Goadf 11 w was well received. Mr. Lockyer sang some capital comic songs. The pro ceedings were brought to a close by dancing The Highland Fling," after which the company separated highly pleased with the meeting.

Caerphilly

CAERPHILLY. PWLLYPANT QUARRY.—The men who are residing in the barracks at these works were entertained last week with a capital dinner. Mr. Monfries presided. After the cloth was removed, the health of the Mar- quis of Bute was proposed and drunk amidst great cheering and the healths of Mr. McConnochie and Mr. Monfries, the manager of the works, were also warmly received. The remainder of the afternoon was spent in various amusements. was spent in various amusements. ANNUAL SUPPER.—The annual supper took place on Friday evening at the Castle Hotel, and a re- spectable company sat down to partake of it. The viands were everything that could be desired, and did credit to Host Baker. The cloth being removed, Mr. Thomas Reynolds was voted to the chair, and Mr. Edward Elliott to the vice-chair. The usual loyal toasts were drunk, and were followed by others. Some capital songs were sung by Messrs. William Edwards, S. Baker, Thouias Goodfellow, S. Cempton; and recitations were given by Mr. Forester and Mr. T. Phillips. A very pleasant evening was spent by the company.

fatal accident AT PWLLYPANT QUARRY.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT PWLLYPANT QUARRY.—An acci- dent of a very serious nature took place on Tuesday, in the quarry belonging to Lord Bute. While some men were removing the stones lately blasted, a very large stone, weighing about ten tons, fell upon a labourer of the name of Thomas Wheton, crushing him and caus ing his instant death. The deceased leaves a widow and three children to lament his sudden death. On Wednesday m rning an inquest was held at the Castle Hotel, before Mr R. L. Reece, coroner. The following evidence was given:—Ri-hard Crocker said he lived near the quarry, and where he had worked for four years. He knew the deceased, who had been engaged as quarryman in the quarry for eighteen months. Wit- ness was wording near the deceased on Tuesday. The deceased was working in one of the gangs. The de- ceased and witness worked at No. 2 on the north side. Between eleven and twelve in the forenoon, the de- ceased, by means of an iron bar, removed a small stone from under a large one. The latter stone then fell im- mediately upon him and nearly covered him. The stone was very large, weighing from eighth to ten tons. A good deal of rubble carne down fit the same time. The rubble or stone did not touch anyone else. Wit- ness heard the foreman. William Price, warning him to leave the place where the deceased was killed, because it was dangerous. Others warned him as well as his son. The deceased said ,lit was as iirm as a church," at the same time getting on the top of it. He then came off it, removed the little stene, when the big stone fell upon him. and he was killed instantly. —Mr. J as. L. Monfries said he was the manager of the quarry, and had been so from the commencement, 3k years ago. He was forty yards from the spot when the deceased met his death. He was at the spot about three minutes after it happened, when the deceased was nearly covered with rnbble, the stone having been removed. The stone was from eight to ten tons. The body was removed before he loft the spot. The doctor was sent for, but deceased was dead before he was got out.—The jury found a verdict of Accidental death," and stated that ne blame attached to anyone.

John McConnochie Monfries

Name: John McConnochie Monfries
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1871
Event Place: Energlyn, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom
Enumeration District: 1
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Marital Status: Unknown
Occupation: Saddler
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year (Estimated): 1853
Birthplace: Alderney, Alderney

MONFRISS—GOODEN.—June 29, at St. John's Cliu.-cb, Can- ton, by the Hev. G. A. Jones, Vicar of St. Mary's, John McConnocbie Monfries, to Anna, youngest daughter of the late Richard Nelson Gooden, Esq., M.D., of Nunea- ton.

MOnday 22, at Duttryn Cottage, Ilaiid Cardiff, the wife of John McCounoci.ie Monfries of a son. 8 DEATH. MoriFriES.—May 22. Junes Lauric Nebon lonfr¡e. the infant -Oil of John McConuochie Monfries, at Duffryn Cottage, Llandalr-road, Cardiff.


Name: Anna Gooden
Event Type: Christening
Event Date: 15 Mar 1858
Event Place: Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England
Gender: Female
Father's Name: Richard Nelson Gooden
Mother's Name: Ann Gooden

William J Monfries

Death of a Cardiff Lady. Intelligence was received in Cardiff on Satur- day by mail from Sydney, Australia, announcing the lamented death of Mrs. Monfries. wife of Mr. William Jeffrey Monfries, formerly of Windsor-place, Cardiff, son of Mr. Monfries, of Pwllypant. The deceased lady, it appears. contracted typhoid fever while nursing one of her children, who was suffering from the malady, and died after a. few days' illness. At the Bute Docks the greatest sympathy was expressed for Mr. Monfries, who is well known at Cardiff, ItnJ who has been left a widower with three young children.

Name: William J Monfrees
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1881
Event Place: Cardiff St John, Glamorganshire, Wales
Registration District: Cardiff
Residence Note: Windsor Place
Gender: Male
Age: 19
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Clerk
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year (Estimated): 1862
Birthplace: Guernsey, Channel Islands

Household	Role	Sex	Age	Birthplace
Charlotte Monfrees	Head	F	57	Exeter, Devon, England
Marion Monfrees	Daughter	F	21	Guernsey, Channel Islands
William J Monfrees	Son	M	19	Guernsey, Channel Islands
Annie C Monfrees	Daughter	F	17	Guernsey, Channel Islands

family Monfries

Name: Margaret Monfries
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 05 Sep 1864
Birthplace: Guernsey, Channel Islands
Father's Name: James-Lawrie Monfries
Mother's Name: Charlotte Chamberlain

Name: Annie Chamberlain Monfries
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 10 May 1863
Birthplace: Guernsey, Channel Islands
Father's Name: James Lawrie Monfries
Mother's Name: Charlotte Chamberlain

Name: Marion Monfries
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 10 Jun 1859
Birthplace: Guernsey, Channel Islands
Father's Name: Jas. Monfries
Mother's Name: Chtte. Chamberlain

Name: Jessie Monfries
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1871
Event Place: Energlyn, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom
Enumeration District: 1
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Marital Status: Unknown
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Birth Year (Estimated): 1854
Birthplace: Alderney, Alderney

Name: James Alexander Monfries
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1871
Event Place: Energlyn, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom
Enumeration District: 1
Gender: Male
Age: 13
Occupation: Engineer
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year (Estimated): 1858
Birthplace: France

Name: JAMES ALEXANDER MONFRIES
Event Type: Burial
Event Place: Caerphilly, Caerphilly, Wales, United Kingdom
Cemetery: Saint Martin Church Graveyard
Latitude: 51.57098
Longitude: -3.21966
Birth Date: 20 Jul 1857
Death Date: 12 Aug 1875

Name: William J Monfrees
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1881
Event Place: Cardiff St John, Glamorganshire, Wales
Registration District: Cardiff
Residence Note: Windsor Place
Gender: Male
age: 19
Marital Status: Single
occupation: Clerk
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year (Estimated): 1862
Birthplace: Guernsey, Channel Islands

Masonic gathering

MASONIC GATHERING AT I MEP, [HYfi. At a meeting of the Loyal Cambrian Lodge (110) of Freemasons, held at the Masonic-hall, Meriiiyr, on Thursday night, a number of visitors being also present from the St David's Lodge, Aberdare, Merlin, Pontypridd, and Glamorganshire (Ct>rd iff), an interesting presenta- tion was made by Beo. D. Uses Lewis, W.M., on behalf of the brethren, to Bro. r. J. Dyke, in recognition of his masonic services during tbe 52 years he has been a member of the lodge. The presentation took the form of a beautiful ?:ohl jewel, upon the upper portion of which was pnfi;rav»jd T. J. Dyke, P.M., for his services 1839 ti) 1890," the words Loyal Cambrian Lodge 110" occurring on the lower part of the design. Brother Dyke responded in suitable terms. The brethren present were :—D. R. LAwis, W.M. D. E. Jones, S. W. E. B. Nash, J. W. D. Macdunald, Secretary W. Howfield, S.D.; W. C, Williams, J.D.; W. K. Harris, O.gawist; J. T. Docton, Steward W, Morgan, I.G. W. Ftook", tyler; J. J. Jones, P.1L; "T, E. DaYie, P.M. G, F. Harris, P.M. T. J. Dyke, PM. R. R. Divis, P.M. J. Piewa, P.M. S. Saudbrook, I.P.M. Thomas WAko, Moses Goodman, T. S. Edwards, R »bert H. Owen, A. Abelson, W. R. Cohen, G. Wood Davies, T. Williams, W. W. Roberts, J.M. Berry, {A. Macintosh, F. G. Gittslsohn, T. F. Elliott, D. Junes, T. Fiooks, J. Rogers, J. W. Lewis, W. Williams, A. C. Botterall, R. Edwards, A. H. Lewis. Visitors Ht David's. Bros. G. A. Oxunham, W. M. W. J. Thomas, P.M. Thwinai Harris, P.M. S. T. J iliffe, J.W.; M. Jones, J.W. Lewis William*, organist W. Hughes, W. Davie*, S.D. David Phillips, J. W. Glam., 36 McCounochie, Monfries, Conyers, N. Z J. Lewis E iwarde-, Merlin J. Francis McUiure, W.M. W. Williams, P.P.G.S. W. Howels K«y, P.M. Stwpheu Lewis, P.P.G. Supt. Works Arthur O. Evans, S. D. McGregor, W. Phillips, S. W. Sprag, P.M., P.P.D.C. E. H. Howard, P.M., P.A.S. H. Harris, S.M., P.P.G.I.W.; J. Hopkin Davies, C. J. Roberts, and Thomas Rsea.

Margaret Monfries

Name: Margaret Monfries
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 05 Sep 1864
Birthplace: Guernsey, Channel Islands
Father's Name: James-Lawrie Monfries
Mother's Name: Charlotte Chamberlain

AVATCHURST—MONFRIES.—On 1st inst., at the Presby- terian Church, Cardiff, by the Rev. J. Douglas Watters, M.A., assisted by the Rev. C. H. Hocken, the Rev. Percy Lcese Wateliurst, of Leicester, to Margaret, fifth daughter of tho late James Laurie the Rev. Percy Lcese Wateliurst, of Leicester, to Margaret, fifth daughter of the late James Laurie Monfries, of Pwllypant, near Cardiff. 2823

January 5th,1899 at Ashbonrno Housp. Mere-rnfjd T/cicester, Mare-aret, wife of Rev. P."rcy Watehurst. "11(1 daughter of the late James Laurie Monfries. of Cardiff.

Jessie Thomson Monfries

Name: Jessie Monfries

Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1871
Event Place: Energlyn, Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom
Enumeration District: 1
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Marital Status: Unknown
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Birth Year (Estimated): 1854
Birthplace: Alderney, Alderney

MARRIAGE. DAVENPORT-MONFRIES.—September 17, at St. Andrew's Church, by the Rev. J. Holme Russell, B.A. Howard Howelld Davenport, to Jessie Thompson, eldest daughter of the late James Monfries, Esq., of Pwlly- pant.

 census 1911

Charlotte Chamberlain

As we know from Richard Morgan’s life story in the blog, on the sudden death of James Lawrie Monfries in 1871, Charlotte Monfries, Richard’s mother-in-law, was left a widow at 47 with six young children. Charlotte was born in Broadclyst, a village just outside Exeter in 1824, and all her children born in her 30s. Her marriage to James must have been about 1856: Charlotte Laura is b. 1857, James Alexander 1858 (died 1875), Marion 1860, William Jeffrey 1861, Ann 1863 and Margaret 1864; Jessie Thomson (1854) and Merivel may have died in infancy in 1859 and 1862. However, Charlotte was already a widow when she married James, as she had been married first to William Ernest Hall, whose birth, death and marriage dates we do not yet know. This marriage, like that to James, took place in India, where William Ernest seems to have been in government service. Charlotte was clearly a talented milliner and dressmaker: although one business fell into bankruptcy in 1869, in 1880 she is listed in the Cardiff Business Directory as trading at 29 Windsor Place, at the heart of the city. Charlotte and Charlotte Laura, on the eve of her marriage to Ernest Hall in Calcutta in 1880, are living in the terraced streets of Crockherbtown just outside the East Gate, one of the lost districts of Cardiff. And here we have a fascinating puzzle. Ernest is b. 1854, so three years older than Charlotte Laura; his father is Arthur Hall (his mother, probably Maria, was dead in 1915 when their only son, also William Ernest, was killed at Gallipoli), who must be a brother or cousin of Charlotte’s first husband.

1904

MONFREES.—On the 18th inst., at 12, Chamber- combe-terrace, Ilfracombe, Charlotte, wido a of the late James Laurie Monfries, of Pwllypant,



Name: Charlotte Chamberlain
Gender: Female
Christening Date: 03 Nov 1822
Christening Date (Original): 03 NOV 1822
Christening Place: BROAD CLYST,DEVON,ENGLAND
Father's Name: John Chamberlain
Mother's Name: Sarah Willey

fire in Broadclyst in 1870

Five other blocks of houses destroyed in the same road were occupied by Samuel Tar, a carpenter, his wife and four children; John Northcombe and wife; Thomas Wilkins and family; Robert Southcott, cooper and wife; Wm Ascott and wife; Mr. John Chamberlain, builder and family, whose workshop and stock were also destroyed. Mr. Chamberlain had a valuable stock of timber upon his premises. He is engaged in building a parsonage house at Brampford Speke and had a quantity of materials in his workshop to be used there. A new staircase that had been prepared was alone worth £40 and his loss of stock and tools that are uninsured is not less than £200.


Name: John Chamberlain
Spouse's Name: Sarah Willey
Event Date: 06 Oct 1818
Event Place: Broad Clyst,Devon,England

Forestry

CAERPHILLY. FORESTRY.—We are glad to find that Forestry is rapidly progressing here. Some years ago a Court was opened at the New Inn, and for tome time it did not progress very rapidly, but tor the last two years the numbers have increased greatly. On Monday" last the members of the 1 ourt celebrated their anniversary. They met at the court room, dressed in the regalia of the Order, and a procession was formed, which was led by the Pontymeistr Volunteer band. The procession perambulated the village, after which they marched to Pwllypant Villa, the residence of Mr..1.' L. Monfries and were hospitably received. They retnrnod to the New Inn to partake of a capital repast. A long list of toasts, both loyal and local, were drunk. In the after- noon a fete and gala too; place in a field, which was kindly lent for the occasion by Mr. T. Rev uo'ds. Prizes were given for running, &c., and the youne; people amused themselves by dancing &c.

marriage Richard Morgan and Annie Chamberlain

MORGAN—MONFRIES.—June 23rd, at- the Presby- terian Church. Cardiff, by the Rev. J. D. Watters, M.A., Richard, eldest son öf Charles Morgan, of Iloath, Cardiff, to Annie Chamberlain, fourth daughter of the late James Laurie Monfries, of Pwllypant. No cards

SUDDEN DEATH OF MR. MONFRIES, OF I PWLL-Y-PANT

SUDDEN DEATH OF MR. MONFRIES, OF I PWLL-Y-PANT. We have to rcord the awfully sudden death of James Laurie Monfries, manager of Lord Bute's Pwll-y-paut quarries, which took place on Wednesday night, a little before ten o'clock. The deceased bad been engaged in his usual occupation during the whole of Wednesday, and though he bad recently been i:asl did not complain of any ailment on the day in question. In fact, he was congratulating himself on his speedy convalescence. He retired to rest at his usual hour, but had not lain down many minutes before he expired, by the side of his wife, without so much as uttering a single word. Mr. Monfries has left behind him a widow and It numerous family, souie of whom are very young. The deceased gentle- man had been engaged for the last five ° years us superintendent of Pwll-y-pant quarry, now the property 01 Lord Bute, and out of which has been obtained the stone used iu the construction of the new harbour works at Car. diff. He was previously employed unuer the Duke of Somersetshire at his Grace's quarries in Devonshire, and for many years before that time he held an appointment on the Government Works in the Channel Islands, Mr. Monfries was a man of a large heart and a generous dispo- sition. He was universally esteemed, not only by his em- ployers, but by the men over whom he exercised" control. A t the tunc of his death he was in his lifty-third year.

James Lawrie Monfries in court: the case of the injured quarry horse

James Lawrie Monfries in court: the case of the injured quarry horse
The Cardiff Times of 30 July 1870, reporting on the cases brought before the
Glamorganshire Summer Assizes, featured ‘a suit to recover £50 damages for
injuries to a horse by the negligence of the railways’. The plaintiff in the case was
James Lawrie Monfries, who had to provide horses to work in the Pwill-y-pant
quarry, ‘the property of the Earl of Bute’. In March 1870 he had bought three
horses at the Brecon Fair, which he had intended to send back to the quarry by
the Mid-Wales Railway. There was no proper horse box at Talgarth Station, so
the horses were put in a cattle truck; when they arrived at Talyllyn, it was found
that one of them had severely injured two of its legs after falling through a hole
in the truck floor. James was suing the railway company, as carrier of the horses,
for being negligent in their duty to provide ‘suitable and proper accommodation’
for their ‘passengers’. James Lawrie said that when he loaded the horses, he was
instructed not to tie them up in the truck, ‘as they would ride better unfastened’.
He travelled as a second-class passenger, and when he had to change carriages at
Talyllyn he found the injured horse; he paid for a vet to attend the accident and
his view was that it had happened solely through the ‘unsoundness of the truck’.
However the horses had been loaded at the plaintiff’s risk, and the railway would
be liable only if the truck was indeed unsound when it left the station, which it
contested. Its case was that while plunging about in an untethered state, the
horse’s hoof had got caught in one of the gaps in the truck floor and wrenched a
board out while trying to get free, which the company could not have been
expected to guard against. The jury did not believe it and upheld the suit, leave to
have a stay of execution to review the case was refused, and James Lawrie got his
£50 (£5,000 today).
Thanks are due to The Cardiff Times of 30 July 1870 for their court report. and to Barbara.

more on James Lawrie Monfries
James Lawrie Monfries 
James Lawrie Monfies

James Lawrie (Laurie) Monfries

James Lawrie (Laurie) Monfries

We know James as the second husband of Charlotte Chamberlain and father of Charlotte Laura and Ann Monfries, but his career has great interest in its own right.

According to the page dedicated to him in The Western Mail of 13 January 1871, 

reporting his ‘awfully sudden’ death two days before, leaving ‘a numerous family, some of whom are very young’, he had for the previous five years been Superintendent of the Pwill-y-Pant mine in Caerphilly, South Wales, owned by Lord Bute, from where stone had been sent to build the new Penarth Dock that opened in 1865. We have another Cory/Monfries connection here, as it was Corys who saw that a new dock on the Ely tidal harbour would be ‘advantageous to shipowners’ and ‘lucrative to merchants’. They put money into the project and the steamer ‘The William Cory’ was the first ship the pass through the dock gates on the opening day, as cannon were fired and the crowd cheered. G. H. Andrews painted two beautiful water colour pictures in the same year, showing ships at anchor below Penarth Head Hill.

James’ career before that point is less certain. The Western Mail obituary has him employed, presumably also as Superintendent, at the ‘Duke of Somersetshire’s quarries in Devon’. These were the Bourton Hall and Afton Tor mines on the duke’s estate at Berry Pomeroy, near Totnes: unlike the stone quarries at Pwill-y-Pant, the Devonian limestone deposits were prized for architectural use, such as the cream and coral-banded stone in the Afton Red Rift mine or the pale and black-banded marble from Bourton Hall used for the floor in Exeter Cathedral. James must have worked there for only about two years, however, as we know he went to Pwill-y-Pant around 1866 and his youngest child Margaret was born in 1864 when he was still in the Channel Islands. The Western Mail says he had ‘for many years held an appointment on the Government Works’ in Guernsey, and we know that all his children (apart from his eldest son, James Alexander, who was born in Cherbourg) were born there over the previous nine years. He could have been employed to oversee work in the granite mines on the island, which grew significantly with the building boom in London in the 1860s and 1870s: Guernsey granite was used to build London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral and the Embankment and Strand in the capital. But ‘Government Works’ implies that he was working in the Engineers Department on the repair and upkeep of the extensive defences  – forts, gun batteries and coastal fortifications at Castle Cornet, the Clarence Battery and Fort Le Marchant – that had been erected during  the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars to repel any invasion from France.

We know James, born of an old Scottish Family in Musselburgh outside Edinburgh in 1818, as ‘James Lawrie’, but his headstone in the ancient chapel of  St Martin in Caerphilly has ‘James Laurie’. On the assumption that Charlotte Laura, born in 1857, was the eldest surviving child, Charlotte Hall and James must have been married about 1855–1856; James would have been in his late 30s so might also have been a widower, or just deferred marriage until he was settled in his profession. The records showing his marriage in Calcutta may be an confusion with that of their daughter (Charlotte Laura) who certainly did marry Ernest Hall in India in 1880. We also do not know how their eldest son, James Alexander, came to die as a teenager in Cardiff in 1875; his death is recorded on his father’s headstone in Caerphilly. We do know that, like Richard Morgan, ‘he had a large heart, a generous disposition, and was universally esteemed by both his employers and the men over whom he exercised control’.

Thanks are due to The Western Mail of 13 January 1871, that gave us the skeleton from which we could build a life.

Thanks to Barbara for all this information!

James Lawrie Monfries

Name:	James Lawrie Monfries
Sex:	Male
Wife:	Charlotte Chamberlain
Daughter:	Annie Chamberlain Monfries
Other information in the record of Annie Chamberlain Monfries from Channel Islands Births and Baptisms
Name:	Annie Chamberlain Monfries
Gender:	Female
Birth Date:	10 May 1863
Birthplace:	Guernsey, Channel Islands
Father's Name:	James Lawrie Monfries
Mother's Name:	Charlotte Chamberlain

James Laurie Monfries on Alderney

We now know a little more of James’ earlier history.

Name: James Lawrie Monfries
Gender: Male
Christening Date: 12 May 1818
Christening Place: , CARRINGTON, MIDLOTHIAN, SCOTLAND
Father's Name: Alexander Monfries
Mother's Name: Maron Ingles

In 1851 he was married to Charlotte and working on Alderney in the Channel

Islands. In the 1850s and 1860s Alderney, like Guernsey, saw extensive

Government Works on strategic fortifications against the French – 13 forts, a

protective harbour of refuge, a breakwater and in particular Fort Albert

(originally Fort Touraille, but renamed after Prince Albert’s death in 1861), built

in a unique state-of-the art polygonal design with fortifications arranged in a

defensive ring. This was the prototype of the ‘Palmerston Forts’ built along the

English coast from Plymouth to Dover after the report of the Royal Commission

on the Defence of the United Kingdom in 1859 (also known as ‘Palmerston Follies’,

since they required significant expenditure and were thought by many to be an

overkill response: William Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, resigned

in protest at what he saw as a waste of public money). James and Charlotte must

have moved to Guernsey around 1856, since at least five of their surviving

children were born there, and then to Pwill-y-Pant ten years later. If their

marriage was around 1849–1850, it is strange that we know of no child born in

Alderney or before 1856/1857 (Charlotte Laura).

There is also still the mystery of Charlotte’s first marriage. The 1841 Census

places a ‘Charlotte Hall’ in Guernsey but only 17 years old (if her birth date of

1824 is correct), and a ‘William Hall’ aged 20, and a there is a record of a

marriage in that year: is this them?

Ernest Hall of Shimla

Ernest Hall of Shimla

One handwritten line on a faded school admissions’ document can open up a life.

Exeter School still holds the ‘home’ address of Ernest Hall – ‘Fontainebleau, Simla’ – from when his son, William Ernest Hall, entered the School in 1905. ‘Fontainebleau Cottage’, to give it its proper name, was built in  sandstone and light blue limestone some time in the 1880s in the heavily ornamented Indo-Saracenic style, with the ‘sun and moon with morning star’ motif on a pediment, the house name above the door and exquisite ornamentation on the columns holding up the roof. The house was almost certainly the work of Jacob Henry Irwin, ‘the architect of British India’. Situated just off The Mall, at the heart of the administrative district of the city, it housed the staff of the Civil Secretariat who administered British India in the summer months from Gorton Castle further along The Mall – Simla (now Shimla)  became the ‘summer capital’ of India in 1864. A photograph taken in 2015 shows it to be a derelict wreck, but one taken in 1890 show what a beautiful house it must have been.

So Ernest Hall, like Reginald Peel and ArchieVlieland, was in Government service – Archie would have recognised Fontainebleau Cottage, as much of Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Selangor when he was in Malaya, was built in the same style, attempting to combine Mughal (Mogul) and British traditions. Ernest must have entered the administration in 1876, but since he married Charlotte Laura Monfries in Calcutta in 1880, their surviving son was born in Darjeeling in 1892, and Ernest was in Shimla in 1915 when William Ernest died and in 1919 when Richard Morgan died, it looks as if he may have been in some branch of government that had him moving about  the subcontinent. There is a question about the Hall children. If William Ernest was born 12 years into the marriage there must surely be older children who predeceased him. The Exeter College Oxford Roll of Honour listing William Ernest’s death in the second battle of Krithia in Gallipoli in May 1915 has him as the ‘only son’ of Ernest Hall, but this could imply ‘only surviving son’, and Ernest is the only relative apart from Arthur (Ernest’s father), listed, so Charlotte Laura must also be dead by that time. Exeter School is a day school, which William Ernest entered aged 13, so there must have been a ‘British home’ in Exeter that we do not know about, where Ernest and Charlotte spent their furlough time on home leave and their son came home after school, unless he lived with a Hall/Monfries relative while his parent(s) were in India. There is a big cluster of Hall families in the St Leonards area of the city (the district including Southernhay, where the Vlielands lived), so it is almost certainly somewhere there.

Many thanks are due to Karen Dart and Kevin White at Exeter School, without whose archival research this story could not have been told.

And to Barbara!