William Glasby: A Life

Early Life

William Glasby was born on 28 December 1863, in the Lying-in Hospital, Endell Street, St Giles, Camden. His father was William Henry, a carpet warehouse porter, and his mother was Rebecca. They lived in Waterloo Road, London.

Richard Platell, who lives in Australia has carried out extensive research on the Glasby family. he writes to us in an email:

"William Glasby was a nephew of my 2nd-great grandmother, Elizabeth Sophia Glasby. I have built up an extensive family tree of the Glasby family over the years, researching the descendants of Thomas Glasby & Ann Salter (William’s great grandparents - my 4th-great grandparents). Thomas & Ann were from the Isle of Wight. I have amassed a lot of documents over the years.".

Richard Platell tells us that William Glasby "... was the third child of William Henry Glasby & Rebecca Harris. William Henry was one of nine children (though two died in infancy) of Thomas Salter Glasby & Mary Ann Buss. He was a warehouse porter. He married Rebecca Harris in Combe, Oxfordshire in 1858. By 1871 they were living in Battersea. Rebecca died there in 1891 and William Henry in 1896."

Richard Platell provided us with the 1891 Census information:

18 Chesney Street, Battersea:

William H Glasby, head, W, 59, carpet porter, London Clerkenwell

Sarah Glasby, daughter, S, 22, laundry packer, London Battersea

Ada M Glasby, daughter, S, 16, laundry packer, London Battersea

(RG12 Pc-421 Fo-142 Pg-49)

This information is missing from Ancestry.com, but it is on FindMyPast!  The page is damaged, but luckily the entry for 18 Chesney St is legible.

We have also heard from another family member who has researched the Glasby family, Thomas Tideswell.

William Henry Glasby born Clerkenwell Middlesex 1831; died Morden Surrey 1896 married Rebecca Harris born Combe Oxfordshire 1837;-died Wandsworth London 1891.

They married at Combe Oxfordshire 15th August 1858.

William Henry Glasby is employed as a warehouse porter and from 1881 their address was 18 Chesney Street, Battersea in London . (Information gleaned from John and Frances marriage certificate) .

The children of William Henry Glasby and Rebecca Harris :

Rebecca Glasby 1859-1925 married John Kingsnorth 1858-1938.

Henry Glasby 1862-1863.

William Glasby 1863-1941 married Emily Constance Brett 1862-1953.

Ann Glasby 1866-1937 married Vincent Farris Law 1860-1910.

Sarah Glasby 1869- 1939 married William Douglas Hill 1873-1935.

John Joseph Glasby 1871-1897 married Frances Tideswell 1869-1933.

Ada Mary Glasby 1874-1949 married Benjamin Fuzarrad Woollacott 1876-1956.

Richard Platell has informed us that there was another child: Edward Joshua Glasby, born 1878 at Battersea and died the same year, at age 3 months.

From this new information we discovered that William Glasby's younger brother John Joseph also worked for Powell & Sons. Thomas Tideswell provided us with this Information:

" In March 1891 Joseph's mother Rebecca died aged 53 and later in that year Joseph married Frances Tideswell on September 6th at St Saviour church in Battersea.

On the 13th of May 1894 Frances gave birth to their first daughter Winnifred Frances Tideswell Glasby.

In the year 1896, on the 18th of March, Frances, Joseph and Winnifred departed for Cape Town South Africa onboard the ship Tainui bound for Wellington New Zealand: They are classed as "Travellers” on the passenger list, with Frances referred to as Mrs Glasby.

It is possible that Joseph was going out to work in South Africa – James Powell had significant contracts with various churches which were being constructed in the growing country. Most notable of these was the cathedral in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. There is some evidence that his brother produced work for that area.*

Another theory is that John Joseph was suffering from ill health due to the effects of Silicosis brought on by working within the glass cutting industry.

The loss of their son, John Hilton Henry Glasby, soon after his birth in 1895 and the poor health of John possibly prompted William Glasby to use his influence within James Powell’s to recommend his brother for the work in South Africa.

Either way it was a month’s journey from England to get to Cape Town and must have been important enough to involve the whole family making the voyage.

During their stay in South Africa their second child, daughter Beulah was born on the 24th of March 1897.

The couple made the return journey to England in June 1897 aboard the Donald Currie and Company's Colonial mail line ship Norham Castle docking at London. Their daughters are logged as Winnifred aged 2 and Ada aged 4. This is an error with the children’s names.

N.B. The logging of Beulah’s (Ada) age could signify 2 months old as that would be correct. Given the time that Frances and John stayed in South Africa it would be possible that the child had been conceived and born there."

*see Logs 165 and 166 St Mary Tarkastad, S. Africa. {Eastern Cape].

Little is known about the early life of William Glasby. In an interview with Phyllis Buchanan Cooper for Homes and Gardens, in May 1946, Glasby’s daughter, Barbara, reveals that as a schoolboy “… decorations would creep over the pages of his lesson books” [page 18]. It would seem that Glasby had a perpetual love of design throughout his life. [1]

Glasby married Emily Constance Brett on 27 July 1885 at St Saviour’s Church, Battersea, Surrey. [2] He was 21 years old and she was 23. [Constance was born on 10 December 1861 in Islington.]

Richard Platell has informed us that in the censuses from 1891 onwards, Constance gave her place of birth as Margate, Kent. He wonders if the fact that that the Beaumonts were from northern Kent, she regarded this as her ancestral home?

On the marriage certificate William is described as a “glass painter” and no profession is recorded for Constance. Barbara Glasby reveals that Constance was a promising journalist, but put aside her career to work with Glasby. The Henfield Museum Blog states that Constance was a successful author, writing under the name of “William Beaumont”.Blog - Henfield Museum

Richard Platell told us that this was her grandfather’s name on her mother’s side.

In the John Collins archive there are some plays written by Constance and correspondence. We suspect that there may be more documents in the Henfield Museum archive.

Richard Platell informs us that Emily Constance had three siblings – (Augustus) Clyde, Beatrice & Marguerita. In 1871 the family were still living in Islington, however by 1881 her mother was a widow and they had moved to Battersea.

Constance Glasby survived her husband by several years, dying at the age of 91 in 1953.

Constance’s father, John Brett, lived at 41 Kelton Street and is described as an artist. We made enquiries, but were disappointed that this was not the famous Victorian artist. , Richard Platell told us that at her baptism in 1863 he was described as a stationer and in the 1871 census he was a photographer. Constance appears to have artists on both sides of her family. Richard Platell informs us that in 1871 William and Constance "...were sharing a house with a William & Sarah Beaumont – he was possibly Emily Beaumont’s brother. He is also described as an artist, as was her father William Beaumont, "

William and Constance had two daughters, Daisy Constance (known as Barbara) and Phyllis Daisy Barbara was born 15-Mar-1886 in Peckham, Surrey. By 1891 the Glasbys had moved to Hampstead, where their second daughter, Phyllis Dulcima, was born on 23-Jul-1893.

Notes

[1] There is a copy of the Magazine in the John Collins' archive.

(c) Erika Szyszczak 22 June 2021