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Images Index> Images of People> This page |
| Mrs. Robert Wildgoose | |||||||||||||
| People who lived in the Matlocks : Photographs, Postcards, Engravings & Etchings | |||||||||||||
The photographs below are from the album of Mrs. Robert Wildgoose. The album now belongs to the Ash family and was in the possession of Ray Ash's step-grandmother Ash (Dora May Wheeldon before her marriage) who was Mrs. Wilgoose's companion and housekeeper in later years. |
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| Maria Elizabeth (Marian)
Wildgoose was born in Clifton, Bristol. She was the daughter of James
and Emma Painter and was baptized on 9 Mar 1856 at St. Michael's Church,
Bristol. She became the second wife of Robert Wildgoose; they married
in Kensington, London towards the end of 1891. She was to be found
living in London in 1881, next door to her brother Frederick George,
later Sir F G Painter, who was a Chartered Accountant. At the time
of her marriage, and for many years afterwards, she lived at The Gables
on Chesterfield Road but at some time between 1916 and 1925 she moved
to Stoneycroft, the house she had built on Cavendish Road. She died
on 19 May 1937 at the Queen Mary Nursing Home, Derby. Her husband, Robert Wildgoose (1822 - 1900), was described in the 1881 census as the Trustee Manager For Hosiery Manufacturer Employing Nine Hundred Work People. He was managing Lea Mills at that time and living in at The Poplars, Holloway, with his first wife, Ann, and their servants. He was still living at Holloway in 1887, by which time he had become a Justice of the Peace. But by 1891 he had retired from the Mill and was living at The Gables with two of his female cousins, Elizabeth and Hannah. He was by then a widower. He was baptised at Matlock Church on 3 Nov 1822 and was the son of John and Fanny Wildgoose of Greenhill. He married first Ann, the daughter of Aaron Stoppard of Lea, on 20 Dec 1847 at Ashover Parish Church. Robert became involved with the management of Smedley's Hydro. 'In 1875, the institution was acquired by a limited company, of which Mr. R. Wildgoose was the chairman, a post he continued to fill until his death in 1900.' (Bryan, p.224) Whilst he was chairman the company invested £30,000 on modernization and also enlarged and improved the building on three occasions in 1881, 1884 and 1886. He was also one of the directors of the Tram company and made a gift of the Tram Shelter and its clock to the town. 'The structure was formally opened for use and the clock started by the donor and his wife on the 12th December, 1889, the Chairman of the Urban Council, Mr. E. Slack, and many inhabitants being present to express their hearty acknowledgements. A suitably inscribed brass plaque perpetuates the name of the generous donor, the cost to whom was £250.' (Bryan, p.77-8) He was also listed as one of the Board of Governors of Matlock's Causeway Lane Almshouses (Bryan, p.74).  Details
of Bryan's book |
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| Mrs. Wildgoose was a good friend of Canon Kewley,
the Rector of St. Giles' Church, and his sisters. She is pictured
above with Canon Kewley; the other lady in the photograph may have
been Miss Kewley (Eleanor). A little booklet about the church* gives some details of the Bells, which were rehung in 1936 but had been recast in 1904. The recasting of Tenor Bell was the gift of Marian Wildgoose and the Treble Bell was in memory of her husband. Both Marian and Robert were buried at St. Giles. *"Matlock Parish Church, Pictorial Guide and Souvenir" (1969) ed. unnamed, The Church Publishers, Ramsgate |
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| The photograph above shows
Mrs. Wildgoose sitting on the running board of her motor car, which
was a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. She didn't drive the car herself but
employed a chauffeur to drive her around. When she died she left the
open-topped Rolls Royce to the Reverend W H Nixon who was Vicar of
All Saints. It is said that Nixon subsequently used the car.About All
Saints' Church Mrs. Wildgoose spent quite a bit of time in Devon and took many pictures of Tavistock and Dartmoor. It is probable that she owned another house there. She was clearly a keen photographer and her subjects included her servants, the Rector and his sisters. |
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| Whilst the main subject of the above photograph was of her cat, Peter, the stone house in the background with the beautiful bay windows is The Gables and is why this picture has been included. The Gables became part of Dalefield / Lilybank Hydro, the buildings joined through a conservatory that was built on the left hand side of the house. So Mrs. Wildgoose's home became part of the hydro. Her other home, Stoneycroft, was occupied by Henry Hetherington after she died. It was later bought by Derbyshire County Council as living accommodation for male students of Matlock's Teacher Training College, along with other properties on Cavendish Road. It has now reverted to private ownership. | |||||||||||||
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All the images published here with kind permission of Ray Ash. Image scans Ray Ash Information carefully researched by the webmistress and Ray Ash and is intended for personal use only.The details of Mrs. Wildgoose's family provided by Norman Ash. If you have any further information, or know more about the car Mrs. Wildgoose owned, we would really appreciate knowing ouselves. Please contact both the webmistress and Ray Ash |
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| You may like to view more
onsite informationBank Road and
the TramWater CuresMatlock BiographiesSt. Giles
Church Hatches, Matches & DispatchesMemorial Inscriptions,
a Surnames IndexRobert
Wildgoose was living at The Gables in 1891Matlock Wills
Calendar for Post 1858 Wills (Robert Wildgoose)Matlock,
Lilybank Hydro (Dalefield) There is a One Name Study for this surname See
Kay Feltham's site at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~willgooseweb |
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