The Brettargh Family of Liverpool

Brettargh, Yeates Aigburth, Brettargh Holt, Childwall, Ives, Liverpool, Toxteth, Woolton 4

The Brettargh Family of Liverpool

Overview

I have used family correspondence and memoranda of pedigree from the College of Arms to trace the family back to James Brettargh who died in 1664. The original copies of all of these documents were originally in our possession, but have now been donated to the Kendal Record Office, in Cumbria, along with all the other Yeates related correspondence and diaries, and made available to the public.

For information about the Brettargh family earlier than that date I have relied upon an excellent article written by R Stewart-Brown MA FSA entitled the Brettarghs of Brettargh Holt in Woolton. This article was published in Vol 88 of Transactions 1936 and the information therein is reproduced with the kind permission of the editor and council of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.

Margaretta Brettargh

“Madge” Brettargh as she was known to her family was born in Liverpool, England on 6 August 1802, the eldest daughter of William Brettargh and Margaret Kendall. Her story is told here.

The Brettargh family can trace their heritage in Liverpool back to the twelfth century, or to the reign of King John as her husband, John Richards, describes it in one of his letters to his wife.

This page is an overview of the Brettargh Family. I have deliberately avoided trying to document the direct line of succession. That information is available in other places including my tree on Ancestry.co.uk. Instead I wanted to focus on the connection to the family and also provide some anecdotes about the rise and fall of the fortunes of this family over the centuries.

Letter from John Richards to his wife

Childwall

The letter opposite is dated April 27th 1831. It is a letter from John Richards to his wife Margaretta “Madge” Brettargh. John Richards is in Childwall, Liverpool, which was the original home of the Brettargh family since the twelfth century.

It seems that John had gone to Liverpool to try to find a connection between his wife’s father William Brettargh and the Brettargh family from Brettargh Holt which is near Childwall. Maybe, he just wanted to do a little family history research or perhaps he hoped to enhance their social standing by association with a notable and armorial family. His letter transcribes as follows:

Childwall April 27th 1831

My dear Madge

You told me not to write long letters, and this is likely to be the shortest you will ever get. I have been too long in the church searching the Registers that I am quite tired, and half blind, but you will wish to hear me safe, my morning’s work has convinced me that there is something wrong about this family Estate. Give my love to Mr Anthony and Mr George and believe me,

Yours ever affectionately

John Richards

PS John Haswell very kindly came with me. JR

Draft Pedigree of Brettargh and Yeates

The draft pedigree opposite shows the confirmation by the York Herald, Rev William King, that the attached pedigree may be considered to be proved subject to the supply of some additional documentary evidence. The transcription reads as follows:

“I think that this pedigree may be considered as proved from James Brettarghe and Deborah his wife to their great grandson John Brettarghe who died in 1779. It will be desirable however that copies of the wills mentioned should be procured, as the abstracts are not very clear.”

“The issue given to John, abovementioned require to be somewhat corroborated as the evidence of their baptisms is scarcely sufficient for their identification; and the affiliation of William Brettarghe who died in 1804 to Henry must be identified.”

Rev Wm. King, York Herald

Heralds College

17 Jan 1865

As the Pedigree was eventually accepted by the College of Arms, I assume that the deficiencies identified by the York Herald were rectified.

Draft Pedigree of Brettargh

Holt Hall Farm before demolition.

Holt Hall Farm, Woolton, Liverpool

Brettargh Holt was the ancestral seat of the Brettargh family. It has now been demolished, but it was located in what is now the Childwall area of Liverpool. All Saints Parish Church in Childwall contains many memorials and graves of the Brettargh family.

The original Brettargh Holt was located on about 300 acres of land to the west of Tarbock Hall and north of Childwall Brook on land that is now occupied by Childwall Golf Club.

The original building became known as Holt Hall Farm and has now been demolished.

Location of Brettargh Holt 1929

Holt Hall Farm is located on the top right of the map and is circled in red ink.

The railway line and many of the roads still exist today which enables us to locate the position of this building before it was demolished.

Map of Brettargh Holt

William Brettargh died 1804

William Brettargh

Opposite is a small extract of the pedigree that was submitted to the York Herald at the College of Arms. William Brettargh was Madge Brettargh’s father and died when she was just two years old, just like her husband’s father died when he was also aged two. No wonder this couple want to establish their pedigree!

The Herald’s comments are marked on the pedigree in red ink and read as follows:

“There is no evidence at present to show that he was the son of Henry. His Uncle’s will might establish the fact.”

We have to assume that these deficincies were rectified as the Draft Pedigree was eventually accepted by the College of Arms.

Connecting the two families

It seems that John Richards and John Haswell continued their search of the parish registers and gravestones in All Saint’s Church in Childwall. John Richards writes again to his wife and an extract is transcribed below.

John Haswell has found a paper amongst his fathers, which fully establishes the connexion of your father’s family with the Holt Estate, it is an account of the payment of eight hundred and ten pounds, which seems to me to be a compensation in lieu of Dower, due to your great grandmother, but tomorrow I have to see it. Leigh whose father seems to have been the attorney upon the question.

My visit to Childwall was very satisfactory, the register confirmed the abstract which I have got, but I do not wonder at your father’s name being omitted for I could barely ? from the bad spelling (Bretar).

Extract of letter from John Richards to his wife from Childwall.

Brettargh Chart

Pedigree

This is the section of the Brettargh Pedigree which includes John Richards and it describes John Richards as follows.

John Richards of Kirkland in the Parish of Kendal, Co Westmorland. In the Commission of the Peace for the Borough of Kendal & for the County of Westmorland 1837. Took the name & Arms of Yeates only by Royal Sign Manual dated 31 May 1837.

The Pedigree does not include George H B Yeates who was not born until 1841, so it was reasonable to assume that the Pedigree was created between 1837 and 1841. But it is a mystery why the comments on the pedigree by the York Herald are dated 1865, unless George Yeates wanted to verify that the heraldry to be used in the stained glass window, which he was installing in Holy Trinity Church, Kendal in memory of his parents was correctly designed in terms of the heraldic shields.

James Brettargh

Our family papers record the history of the Brettargh family as far back as James Brettargh, who died in 1664.

James Brettargh of Brettargh Holt

Memoranda GHB Yeates

Memoranda

I found the document opposite amongst George H B Yeates’ papers. It is entitled Memoranda, but reads very much like a To Do list that we would use today. It reads as follows:

To enquire of Reveley if he has an old Memorandum sent to my [father] by Mr Martin of the Heralds Office, taken from a book given by the late Duke of Norfolk to the office in which the Brettarghs are traced up to King John’s time.

Information included below about the Brettargh Family before this date has been derived from an article in Vol 88 of the Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, and is reproduced with the kind permission of the editor and council of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire.

The Brettargh Family

The Brettargh family can trace their history back to 1180, when John, Constable of Chester granted the “vill” of Brettargh to william de Suonis. In 1324 William de Huyton settled Brettargh and about 100 acres of land on Avice, who was thought to be either his daughter or his discarded wife. At this time, Avice was the wife of Roger the Walker, and together they became de Brettargh.

By the end of the fifteenth century the family pedigree can be traced fairly accurately to current times. Though never a family of the front rank, the Brettarghs of Brettargh Holt were of prominence and position in Lancashire.

Probably never a wealthy family, but fortunes began to go downhill in the seventeenth century largely due to the extravagance and recklessness of Nehemiah Brettargh and his son James. Further heavy liabilities were incurred by James grandson of James. He sold the valuable property at Aigburth, which had come to the family in the sixteenth century by the marriage with the heiress of John Toxteth.

The entail of “The Holt” was broken and the ancestral estates heavily mortgaged. Before his death in 1747 James Brettargh seems to have been forced to leave “The Holt”, and he was the last Brettargh to live there. About 1790, The Holt estate was thrown into Chancery, for non-payment of a mortgage.

Brettargh Pedigree

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Cyril Yeates and Gretta Wright

Bisley, Black and White Cat Club, Brettargh Holt, Dublin, Ireland, James Joyce, Rutland, Uppingham School, Westmorland, Winnall Down Barracks 0

Cyril Yeates and Gretta Wright

Cyril Ernest Brettargh Yeates

Cyril was born in Brettargh Holt, Levens, Westmorland in the Lake District on 10 July 1875. His parents were George Henry Brettargh Yeates and Caroline “Beatrice” Boulger. Their story is told on a separate page.

Margaretta Mary Teresa “Gretta” Wright

Gretta was the oldest of six children of Peter MacFie Wright and Margaretta Lyons of Dublin, Ireland. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 11 October 1884. Her parents story is told on a separate page.

Sketch of Cyril Yeates by C Atkinson

Cyril Yeates

Within three months of his birth at Brettargh Holt, Cyril’s father George Henry Brettargh Yeates died at the age of 34. Cyril’s mother Beatrice, decided to put Brettargh Holt on the market and moved back to London.

Beatrice’s sister Jemima Boulger was married to Charles Webb from Wimborne Minster. Beatrice met and married Charles Webb’s brother William Bridges Webb on 13 September 1878.

William was the Chairman of the Baltic Exchange. The Baltic Exchange is a membership organisation for the maritime industry, and freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts.

Beatrice and William had three more children together and although they were half-siblings to Cyril, they all grew up together in London and he would have known no other family.

Cyril Schooling

When Cyril reached secondary school age he was sent as a boarder to Uppingham School in Rutland.

The photograph opposite was taken in 1890 when he was 15 years old, and presumably on holiday from school as the photograph was taken in Portsmouth.

The Webb family were from Wareham in Dorset and Dorset seems to held a special place in Cyril’s heart as he repeatedly returned to Dorset all through his life.

Cyril Yeates 1890 when he was a pupil at Uppingham School

Group of children. Cyril Yeates, second row with white hat

Group Photograph

This photograph of a group of young children appears to have been taken in London.

Cyril is in the second row with the white hat.

Gretta – Early Years

Gretta grew up in an affluent area of the West End of Glasgow. Unfortunately that came to a sudden end with the bankruptcy of her father in 1897. Gretta would have been 13 at the time.

Three of the children were placed in the care of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul. Gretta’s mother moved to London where by the 1901 census she was living in Fulham with her youngest son Leo.

Gretta’s grandmother, Julia Clare Flynn, who had been living with them in Glasgow, returned to Dublin, where she died in 1905. I believe that Gretta Junior probably moved to Dublin and lived with her grandmother.

She was friends with her cousin James Joyce and they corresponded regularly throughout their lives. This does seem to suggest they were both living in Dublin at the time.

By 1911 Gretta was living in London in Highgate as the Lady Nurse to the Fisher White family. John Fisher White and his wife Edith Blackwell were both famous actors at the time, and Gretta was appointed to look after their daughter Thalia.

1911 Census

Marriage Certificate 1911

Marriage

Cyril and Gretta were married in St James’ Church, Spanish Church, Manchester Square, London on 9 November 1911. Cyril was 36 and Gretta was 27.

London

Gretta and Cyril seem to have settled into married life in London, and they moved to 21 Talbot Square, Paddington.

Gretta Wright

Cyril Yeates & Gretta Wright in Chideock, Dorset

Dorset

Life in London was relieved by their many trips to Chideock on the west coast of Dorset, in the shadow of Golden Cap. In this photograph, they both look to be in a very relaxed holiday mode.

Cyril’s stepfather William Bridges Webb died on 25 August 1913, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

Birth of Margery Yeates

Their first and only daughter Margaretta Mary Beatrice Yeates, known as Margery, was born on 14 November 1914.

Two days before Margery was born, Cyril’s mother Beatrice Boulger died. She was buried in the same grave as her husband, William Bridges Webb, in Kensal Green Cemetery.

Gretta Yeates with her daughter Margery Yeates

National Rifle Association to Cyril Yeates

Cyril Yeates holding his daughter Margery.

First World War

Cyril was a member of the National Rifle Association at Bisley and regularly took part in shooting competitions there.

As he would have been nearly 40 at the outbreak of the First World War, he was probably considered too old to be conscripted, but his marksmanship skills would be a valued skill and he served in the Army Training Regiment in Winnall Down Barracks, on the downs to the north east of Winchester.

He seems to have lived in the village of Easton, just to the north of the barracks. His letters to Gretta at the time , show that life at the barracks was quite boring and at weekends, Gretta would come down from London and they would stay at a hotel in Easton or sometimes go to a guest house in Bournemouth.

The Black and White Cat Club

Cyril was a gentleman of independent means, having inherited land in the Lake District. Although he did not work in the normal sense of the word, his hobby was breeding show cats. These cats were bred for show, and were very definitely not domestic pets. Children were not allowed to play with them.

Gretta with two of their exhibition cats.

Aunty Mary, Margery Yeates and her father Cyril Yeates, during the First World War.

Aunty Mary

Cyril and Gretta hired the services of a children’s nanny called Mary Fahy. Mary’s family were from Ireland, but she had grown up in a children’s orphanage in Westbury on Trym, Bristol. Mary was Margery Yeates nanny when she was a child.

When Margery was older, Mary worked for several important families in London, but returned to look after Cyril in his old age and also become the nanny to their daughter and son, Anne and Anthony Turner. She is remembered with great affection by the family as “Aunty Mary”.

Brittany

Cyril’s Photograph Album has many photographs of holidays in Brittany. With only two pairs of shoes on the beach, this was presumably taken before Margery was born.

Gretta relaxing on the beach.

Cyril Yeates

Cyril

A very relaxed looking Cyril Yeates, apparently enjoying a walk in the country.

Gretta with Billy Myers

Gretta talking to Billy Myers, who was the second husband of Cyril’s half sister Violet Webb.

Judging by the formal attire this photograph was probably taken at a family wedding.

Gretta talking to Billy Myers. Cyril Yeates on right.

Gretta Wright Death Certificate

Gretta – Death

After a short illness in a nursing home in Bexhill on Sea, Gretta died of a brain tumour on 29 August 1937.

Headstone

Gretta was buried in Bexhill on Sea. The monumental inscription reads:

“In ever loving memory of Margaret Mary Teresa Yeates (Gretta), The dearly beloved wife of Cyril Yeates, who fell asleep 29th August 1937. In our hearts we keep, sweet memories of thee, so rest in peace beloved.”

Cyril Yeates died on the 27 February 1950. He was cremated and his ashes were interred in his mother and step father’s grave in Kensal Green Cemetery. It is thought that a memorial stone for Cyril Yeates was erected in Highgate Cemetery, and we are currently trying to trace the location of this memorial.

Gretta’s headstone in Bexhill Cemetery

Ancestor Chart