John Newton Lucraft. born 1822. was the village cooper in Broadclyst, and tinancially comfortable. He married Elizabeth, (or Ann) Martin, on 30th January 1850, in Broadclyst. John was a lu-st cousin of my forebear, Benjamin Lucrati; both John and Benjamin s fathers were sons of William Lucraft of Woodbury, and his wife, Esther NC\\10n. Esther Newtons grave is the oldest monument in this part of the family, in Broadclvst churchvard, where she was buried in 183 I. John owned a row of cottages in the village, but the leasehold belonged to the Lord of the Manor, one of the Aclands of Killerton House. One stormy night, one cottage caught fire. It spread to all the other thatched cottages and thev were all burned down. Under the terms of the lease, which had only a short term to run, John had to rebuild them all, before handing back the property and this took his lite s savings. The picture on page I is a contemporary drawing of the fire. from the probably from the London Illustrated News about 1870. The row of cottages still stands, opposite the churchyard in the centre of the village Their granddaughter, EvelineMallett.said the family had originally emigrated from France - into Exeter. wben the French Protestants Huguenots were persecuted - around 1685 onwards. This is a common theory among Lucrafts for their origin, owing something to the unusual name; but the family is strongly rooted in the South Hams in Devon.. even if we cant fit everything together yet. Little is known of John Newtons wife but she survived him. She was a short lady with a sweet smile who wore a white lace eap. She was tond of her grandchildren - especially Eveline who passed on these snippets. The old lady had once been a dressmaker to the Acland ladies and kept their muslin patterns exactly to each lady s measurements. Of course everything was made exquisitely by hand - vetv tiny stitches and she taught Eveline to be a good needlewoman. Eveline, at the age of 6, had to show her buttonhole as an example to the top girls in the village school. John Newton Lucrafts Children Susie, the eldest daughter of John Newton Lucratt, born 1851, was very pretty and dainty, twice married and TWicewidowed with no children of her own, but very fond of her wider family. Mary, the youngest daughter, born 1861, married William Bradford. a schoolmaster in Oxfordshire and had 3 children. One of these. Grace. a very clever woman.. owned her own Girls Exclusive Boarding School - Eden Hall in the Lake District. John Newtons second daughter, Annie Martin Lucraft, was born and brought up in Broadclyst. She went to Teacher Training College in Exeter, and at 21. became Headmistress of her own school. Most of her career she was Head of St Thomas Church of England School in Exeter. She always loved her family and kept in touch ~ith her nieces and nephews and children. working tirelesslv for the local church. When her niece Eveline was often ill, as a child, and she was sent to Broadclyst to recuperate. Anne was her mentor. When her great niece met her about 1926. she found Anne a delightful witty person. and great fun. The only surviving son of John Newton Lucraft was John Martin Lucraft. born 1856 in Broadclvst. He had 3 sisters, Anne, Susie and Mary, called Tit. He was a hand;orne man, full of charm. At about 15 year> of age, his father paid £100 for him to be apprenticed to a Grocer, Mr Merrvweather, in the City of London. There he learned his trade well, blending teas, weighing and stacking sugar and molasses. cutting bacon, cheeses - cleaning sticky cake fruit from the sacks - caring tor coffee, and all the manv skilled jobs performed by the practising grocer. He slept under the counter in the shop, but this may have only been on occasions. It would appear that there was no son left to carry on as the village cooper. At the age of21, his father bought John Martin his first grocers business. probably at Dartmouth, though he also lived at Kingsbridge for 3 while, In Dartmouth in 1878, he married Martha Hams, a seamans daughter. at Kingswear Wesleyan Chapel, on 17th November. The family storv floes that Martha, as a girl of 15 had been seduced bv the village organist, and Martha was sent to her older cousins, Jack and Urith Hams in Danrnouth. who brought up the baby, Maud. The dates dont quite match up. so the story may not be quite right in its meagre detail. Later Maud came to he with the family, as an orphan cousin and kept in touch all her long life. When John Martin and Martha were first married, they went to visit his parents at Broadclyst. and of course both were dressed very smartly. As they stood chatting outside the church after Sunday Service. Lady Acland approached, stopped and slowly looked at Martha from head to toe. and then said, very bitingly, I presume you are young John Lucrarts, the Coopers sons wife. You are dressed above your station. No wonder that incident was never forgotten by the family. And John and Martha 5 daughter, Eveline, was dared not to curtsey like the village children when the gentry passed. Eveline was born in Dartmouth but soon the family moved several times. John Martin was good business man with great charm. Unforrunatelv, after building up a good business, be wonld start drinking. Onlv a little drink would make him lose his wits. He used to treat everyone on sight and raid the shop till to pay for it. Before long he became bankrupt. His father rescued him several times. At one time they went to Tiverton and his last business was in Northam, Southampton. which went bankrupt in 1905. which accounts for their first granddaughter. Edith (Nicholas) being born there. John Martin then worked on the liners in and out of Southampton but soon settled in New Zealand for several years. His wife refused to follow him. His granddaughter, Edith, remembers seeing him tor the first time. as a child, towards the end of the First World War - a jaunry. gay man. wearing a white suit and a white Homburg bat and settled down with his wife - he was now a reformed character. He died about 1924. Martha settled in Millbrook, after her husband left, with her daughter Winifred and her family and lived with them until she died in 1930s. Martha was a handsome woman who dressed well and loved good jewellery. Her granddaughter, Edith, found her awesome. but did not see her often. Their eldest daughter, EveJine Susie. was born in 1890 in Dartmouth; she was a delicate child and was often sent to her grandparents in Broadclyst to recuperate, for long periods. There she met and loved her Bradford cousins. In 1905 Eveline married William Edwin Mallett in Northarn, Southampton and had 2 children. John Martin and Marthas son, William Lucraft, was born in 1882 in Tomes. At 17 he joined the army and was sent out to Boer War. Luckily peace was declared before he went into action. Most of his youth was spent in Southampton and he trained as a baker. He married a widow. Beattie - who had 2 children and they had, we think, 4 sons, one of whom died 3S a child after they settled in Caerphilly . Jack was in touch with hi cousin, Alan Baker of Totton until Alans recent death. During 2nd World War, he worked as a Baker on troop ships and died there. His name is engraved on big memorial to Merchant Seamen on Tower Hill, London, together with the name of one of his sons. Harold. who died in action in 1943. Beattie now dead, but their grand-daughter, Louise Beatrice Lucraft, married in 1977 and lives in Western Australia. Death on the Titanic John Martin and Marthas younger daughter Winifred. born 1887. was a pretty, sympathetic, woman. She married very young and her husband Fred Simmonds went down on the Titanic in 1912 leaving her with Ted as a babv. Sbe later married Robert Baker, and had a second family of three boys and one girl with him. [think her great grandson has been named after Benjamin Lueraft. There are many other people on this particular tree, though generally only one or two details about each are known. Anyone interested in this tree. has only to write and ask tor a copy of the complete tree. Especially if further da la is offered ! © lan
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 13:52:20 +0000
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