Vale View before 1923
Schoolmaster's House, Threlkeld
I am writing a history of this house (actually named Vale View by "Squire" John Crosier who built it)
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Vale View before 1923 |
It was occupied by four Schoolmasters and their families from 1895 to 1975. They were:
James ("Daddy") Whiteley 1895-1923
Albert Alfred Joyce 1923-1926
William James ("Pal") Moore 1926-1954
George Hill 1955-1975
After George Hill moved out into a house that he had built in Skelton, the Trustees decided to sell the house. Though there was controversy at the time, the money raised has been of great benefit to the School in the years since.
The house was bought by Gordon Bainbridge - a Newcastle businessman who sold it to the Cresswell family in 1996.
We have worked out much of what has happened to the house in its 110 years, and are in contact with the grandchild of James Whiteley and the children of Pal Moore and George Hill who have been very helpful in the history, as have several villagers.
I am seeking the descendants of Albert Joyce, who may have not only information about the family and its life in Threlkeld but also pictures of the Village in the first quarter of the 1900s.
The Whitely Family
There is much more to be added about James Whiteley's time in Threlkeld where he was much more than just the Schoolmaster.
After 31 years as Schoolmaster in Threlkeld, James Whiteley his wife Lavinia (nee Crowther) emigrated to Perth, Western Australia, in 1923 following their daughter Edith Evelyn who had gone out a few months earlier. They called their house there "Blencathra" - the hill under which Threlkeld nestles. Lavinia died in Perth in 1936 and James in Sydney in 1941.
Edith married Ernest James ("Jim") Whitaker and they had a daughter Edith Rosamund in 1924. when her mother died. Rosamund married Lt Cdr Horace Granville ("Dick") Jefferis RN and had two sons and two daughters. Rosamund and her two daughters visited Vale View in June 2005 bringing the photographs below.
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Lavinia, James, Edith The Whiteley family were all teachers, as was Edith's husband Jim Whitaker
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This scroll was presented to james Whiteley on his retirement. It has been presented to the Village by his grand-daughter Rosamund Jefferis.
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The Joyce Family
Albert Joyce had a wife Lavinia and two daughters Eva Audrey Roberta and Irene
Caroline. He left Threlkeld for a more important headship at Distington after
what, I believe, was an unhappy relationship with the School Managers. However
the only pupil I have been able to meet speaks highly of his teaching and stayed
on beyond the normal leaving age. In 1936 he was allowed one day's leave of
absence (by the County Education Committee) to travel to his new job - where
I do not know, though I believe he may have died in 1971 in Bradford. I am keen
to get in touch with his daughters or their children. If anyone knows of them
please tell them of my interest and ask them to make contact my e-mail address
is: stuart.cresswell@threlkeld.org.uk
6may2005