AUNTIE
GLADYS (1891-1985)
Home - Paul
Mrs G. Mantle (1985)
........ lost a well known resident by the death in her 94th year of Mrs. Gladys Braithwaite Mantle of Glenhayes.
She was the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. W.T Lye of Leagrave Hall, Leagrave, Bedfordshire. Her father
was a
highly respected magistrate and councillor and owned a hat manufacturing business
in Luton.
Gladys out for a walk with Georgie and self abt 1977
About 1899? at Leagrave
Leagrave Hall The Times, Saturday, Jun 16, 1934; pg. 24; Issue 46782; col A
Leagrave Hall (Knight, Frank & Rutley). The Times Thursday, Jun 14th, 1923; pg. 28; Issue 43367; col B
Gladys, Georgie and self on one of our Saturday walks on the
hills in 1979, almost til the end she walked several miles a day,
until a fall running for the phone
With her mother and brother abt 1914
Upon his death Gladys
and her mother moved to Harlington Manor, an historic house in Bedfordshire.
During the First World War she became actively involved in Red Cross hospital
work, nursing wounded soldiers.
| 1901
Census Leagrave Hall, Leagrave, Bedfordshire Walter T Lye Head M 44 Straw Plait Bleacher and illegible Employer ............. Bedfordshire, Luton Annie Lye Wife M 37 ...................................................................................................... Bedfordshire, Luton GLADYS B LYE Dau 9 ................................................................................................... Bedfordshire, Luton Caroline E Everitt S 41 Companion ........................................................................... Bedfordshire, Luton Jane Smith Servant S 26 Housemaid Domestic .................................................... Bedfordshire, Luton Rosa Turney Servant S 25 Cook Domestic ................................................... Bedfordshire, Eaton Bray Eleanor Wedd Servant S 15 Under Housemaid ............................................................ Camb, Foulness The Lodge, Leagrave Hall Jacob Goff Head M 43 Groom Domestic .................................................................. Northhants, Sulgrave Dinah Goff Wife M 45 ..................................................................................................... Northhants, Sulgrave Ella Goff D 4 ...................................................................................................................... Northhants, Braddon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RG13; Piece: 1519; Folio: 19; Page: 9 |
|
Alice used to come over from Cape Town with her two dancing teachers (gay men) with whom she seemed to perpetually travel the world. Last saw her after Auntie Glady's death in a hotel in Somerset. Years before I remember I had lost a signet ring feeding hill sheep with Auntie G and had been on the moors looking for it "How ridiculous" Alice said. The ridiculous was made more impressive by the rolled R. Alice had burned her husband's diaries after his death. A great loss. and when Gladys died she also destroyed many albums of beautiful water colours that her M in L Annie Lye (nee Blundell) had painted. |
 |
Her grandmother's second home at Marine Parade, Brighton.
|
|
|
Mary Muggleton's mother
was Mary Blundell. I remember the clock and sideboard very well.
The Picture was taken at Devon Lodge, Leagrave, Luton
|
Grandmother
Lye at home in Marine Parade, Brighton with her two maiden |
|
Harlington Manor where John Bunyan was held before his trial and where Auntie Gladys ancestral cousin Edmund Wingate the mathematician, and tutor of Queen Henrietta Maria in Paris, resided during the Protectorate. The Parish of Harlington
A painting by Gladys at Leagrave Hall. Although it looks very similar to the sitting room at Harlington Manor as I remember pictures of it. Particularly the centre piece at Harlington which had a detachable wooden rose. Painted always the winning colour in the war of the Roses.(Source pf picture Parisel)
Subsequently the Mantles
moved to a smaller residence in Leagrave, and it was from here that Gladys was
married to
Mr. Lionel Mantle.
They then sought the
county border between North Devon ............... for a small residence chiefly
because of
her happy memories of a summer holiday spent as a child at Glenthorne occupied
then by Mrs. Haliday.
It was whilst staying
at Glenthorne that Gladys first discovered what hunting meant to wild animals
and she became a resolute
opponent of everything connected with chasing an animal for sport.
She and Lionel were together
for nearly 40 years and after his death she continued to reside at Glenhayes.
Until quite recently
she used to set off every morning with her dog Georgie for a walk ..........
- she loved the country around
and it's wild life.
She maintained extraordinary
good health until a fall in her home. She had many friends and with her affectionate
nature gave a
ready welcome to all callers.
The funeral took place at on Friday.
Walter Thomas Lye and Annie Lye (nee Blundell) ( Source of pictures Parisel)
Publications of the Bedfordshire
Historical Record Society: Volume 3
Bedfordshire Historical Record Society - 1916 - Snippet view
At one time I thought the old Mill Head was Leagrave Marsh, but in that case
the mill itself must have been in Limbury, which would be highly improbable.
I examined the river course with Mr. Lye, of Leagrave Hall, who took
me to a place ...
The history of Luton
and its hamlets: being a history of the old ...
William Austin, Joseph Hight Blundell - 1928 - Snippet view
Edward Barnard, chairman of the Council ; Joseph R. Scroggs ; Richard Andrews,
and George Morton, members of the Council; Walter Thomas Lye, of Leagrave
Hall; and William Austin, clerk of the Council. ...
| 1891
Census "Malzeard" 1 Bedford Road, Luton, Bedfordshire Thomas Lye Head M 62 Straw Plait Dyer (Employer) ................... Kirkby Malzeard, Yorkshire Ann Lye Wife M 61 ......................................................................... Little Kimble, Buckinghamshire Margaret Lye Daughter S 35 ............................................................................. Luton, Bedfordshire Louisa Lye Daughter S30 .................................................................................. Luton, Bedfordshire Thomas Lye Son S 27 Straw Plait Dyer ......................................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Helen Taylor Servant S 18 House Maid (domestic) .......... Newton Purcell, Buckinghamshire Jane Freeman Servant S 19 Cook (domestic) ............. Barton Hartshorne, Buckinghamshire "The Firs" 2 Bedford Road, Luton, Bedfordshire (next door) Walter Thomas Lye Head M 34 Straw Plait Dyer .......................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Annie Lye Wife M 27 ............................................................................................. Luton, Bedfordshire Ernest Blundell Lye Son 4 .................................................................................. Luton, Bedfordshire Harriet Everett Servant S 42 Cook (domestic) ................................. Great Chishill, Hertfordshire Sarah E Armsden Servant S 22 ? Housemaid (domestic) ................... Eversholt, Bedfordshire ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RG12; Piece: 1271; Folio 67; Page 1; GSU roll: 6096381 |
| 1871
Census 183 New Bedford Road, Luton, Bedfordshire Thomas Lye Head M 42 Straw Plait Dyer ................................................... Yorkshire, Kirkby Ann M Lye Wife M 40 ............................................................ Buckinghamshire, Little Kimble Margaret Lye Daughter 15 Scholar ......................................................... Bedfordshire, Luton Walter T Lye Son 14 Scholar .................................................................... Bedfordshire, Luton Louisa Lye Daughter 10 Scholar ............................................................. Bedfordshire, Luton Thomas Lye Son 7 Scholar ....................................................................... Bedfordshire, Luton Amelia Chessum Servant Unmarried 18 Domestic Servant .............. Hertfordshire, Ware ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ RG10; Piece: 1570; Folio: 50; Page: 36; GSU roll: 829800 |
(1922) Straw Hats: Their History & Manufacture
The dyeing of straw plait in England, done individually some time on a small scale, commenced as a separate industry about 1845, when a Mr. Randall opened some for dyeing works at Sundon, a village about four miles from Luton. Black, and a very poor brown and dark blue, were the only colours then dyed. Shortly after Mr. Thomas Lye, who came from Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, Yorks, which was a plait making centre, started His gamut of shades business as a dyer in Luton. numbered only four or five, and the standard of colour then demanded was very low. Mr. Lye's first signal " success was a grey," which at that time no other had attempted. In 1857 his business was competitor transferred to its present site. Other colours quickly followed, and the invention of aniline dyes revolutionized " " the old vegetable dye processes .............
Messrs. Lye & Sons brought out a novelty on straw plait, particularly effective on the Japanese wide patterns, which produced the same iridescent effect that is " " obtained on shot silk. This, however, was bathdyed and not sprayed.
The National Archives | Access to Archives
The Thomas Lye Convalescent Home: register of patients; 1938-1950. HB/61
Royal Sussex County Hospital: papers of Charles Druce, solicitor, as executor
of ........
Below
her mother's family the Blundells with grandparents Henry and Sarah Blundell
| 1881
Census Moulton Lodge, Crescent Rise, Luton, Bedfordshire Henry Blundell Head M 47 Draper Master emp 22 M & 27 F assistants & Methodist Minister..... Luton, Bedfordshire Sarah W. Blundell Wife M 44 Drapers Wife ....................................................................................................... illegible, Suffolk Ernest Blundell Son Unm 19 Drapers assistant ..................................................................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Annie Blundell Dau unm 17 Scholar .......................................................................................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Alice M. Blundell Dau 10 Scholar ................................................................................................................ Luton, Bedfordshire Hilda Blundell Dau 8 Scholar ....................................................................................................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Hubert Blundell Son 6 Scholar .................................................................................................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Walter Blundell Son 5 Scholar ..................................................................................................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Mary Ann Blundell Niece unm 26 Straw Hat Merchant's Daughter ..................................................... Luton, Bedfordshire Emma Munn Governess unm 28 Governess teacher .................................................................. Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Sarah Horrleth Servant unm 29 Domestic Servant nurse ....................................................................... Newmarket, Suffolk Harriet Everith Servant unm 32 Domestic Servant Housmaid .................................................... Gt Chashill, Hertfordshire Mary Ann Paxton Servant unm 29 Domestic Servant Cook ................................................................................ Ford, Bucks ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RG11; Piece: 1651; Folio: 44; Page: 33; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341394 |
|
1901 Census 4 Biddulph Place, Leicester, Leicestershire Ada
E Mantle Head M 32 Tailoress ............................................................
Northants, Kettering |
Did Lionel have a daughter? Who was his first wife?
Gladys had been in Germany when the first world war broke out. As she and her
parents and brother left
the country the bridges were blown up behind them. Her father died soon after
- as a result of a further trip to
the Holy Lands - where he had drunk water from an animal bladder which had poisoned
him. Gladys and
her mother left Leagrave Hall and moved to Harlington Manor, Harlington, Bedfordshire
- a house which her
ancestors the Blundells had owned - and in which she had heard the ghost of
a lady walk down the corridor
to her bedroom - the lady's
silks dragging on the floor boards as she walked. A cousin (Wingate Pierce?)
60 years
before
in the same bedroom had seen the same lady sit beside his bed when he had been
ill in the 1850's.
It had been at Harlington that Gladys's ancestor had held John Bunyan before
his trial..
In
1948 her actions saving a deer from the hunt on her land by grabbing it whilst
her husband got the hounds off
made headlines across the world, even inspiring a cartoon in the Times in which
she is depicted at Badminton House
and which says "Your Grace, this lady has come to ascertain your views
on hunting ? "
it shows Gladys in sensible dress approaching the Duke of Beaufort who is attired
in hunting gear with a whip.
.
e-mail me - It
would be great to hear from you..
|
Elementary
Education Endowment Files ED 49/56 Luton: Walter Thomas Lye for
Leagrave and Limbury Schools . Luton:
|
e
