Thomas Alphonsus Elizabeth Reynolds
Thomas was born on the 7-9-1869 and baptised two days later at St Mary and St Anne's Cathedral, Cork.
In 1893:
"The Standing Committee have recommended that the under-mentioned candidates be adjudged to have passed the following examination: Incorporated Law Society Class 1.Thomas A. England." [1]
He passed his final law exams on the 7-11-1894 and qualified as a solicitor on the 9-3-1895.
Mr. Thomas England BA LLD, second son of Professor England of Cork was on Saturday before the Lord Chancellor sworn in a Solicitor of the High Court of Justice. Mr. England gained junior and senior scholarships in law at Queen’s College Cork, obtained honours with law degree at the Royal University examination; a first class pass at the intermediate examination of the incorporated law society and special certificate at the final. Mr. England intends practising in Cork.[2]Whether he practised in Cork is unknown but in 1896 he was listed as passing his Civil Servant's exams and he gained a Commission in the Inland Revenue. This was reported in The London Gazette, March 3rd.
In the 1901 Census a Thomas Aplonson England was living as a boarder in Streatham, London. He was thirty one, had an estimated birth date of about 1870 and born in Cork. It is likely that his second name was misspelt. His occupation was listed as Civil Servant.
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| Somerset House [Photo: Anthony O'Neil] |
We do know that he worked as a Civil Servant at Somerset House, London, and while there he researched the England family history extensively (anecdotal England information). Unfortunately his original research, including a family tree, was sent to America on the request of a supposed relative in the 1950's. It was never returned despite many attempts being made by Dr Patrick England (1908-1974), Thomas Alphonsus' nephew, who then had had the tree in his possession. Carol, Pat's grand-daughter, was successful in getting some pages back in the early 2000's but these were rather vague and not the detailed tree the family expected.
In 1907 the marriage of Thomas and Elizabeth (Reynolds) was registered (April-May-June) in the Fulham District of London. The witnesses were Edwin Bransby Rowley, Edwin Bransley Rowley and Ada Wheeler. Was there a mistake made with the first two names?
In the 1911 Census Thomas England was living at 18 Aynhoe Mansions, Brook Green, Hammersmith, London. He had been married for three full years, there were no children and he was born in Cork. His occupation was given as Civil Servant Class 1. Household members were Elizabeth England, (née Reynolds) forty, and Edith Barber, twenty three, a domestic servant.
In the 1916 list of members of the Cork Historical and Archeological Society there was a Thomas A. England of 18, Aynhoe Mansions, Brook Green, London.
In the 1919 Electoral Register he was living with Elizabeth at Aynhoe Mansions, Hammersmith.
In 1921 he was at the same address with Elizabeth but now a John England was living there too. This could well have been his brother John Joseph. Sometime after this they moved.
From 1927-1929 he, Elizabeth and John lived at 20 Luxemburg Gardens.[3]
In 1931 at the above address were Thomas, Elizabeth and John Joseph. John's full name was now used.
In 1932 Thomas and Elizabeth were there but not John Joseph who had died in 1931. 20 Luxemburg Gardens was now classed as Hackney. Thomas’s occupation was now listed as solicitor and not as a civil servant.
The date of registration of his death was Jan/ Feb/ Mar 1944 Dublin North so some time after 1932 they moved back to Rathgar, Dublin, where he died.
The National Probate calendar gave his date of death as: 16.2.1944. The date of probate from Llandudno was 24.6.1944.
"Thomas Alphonsus England of 9, Rostrevor Rd, Rathgar, Dublin died 16th Feb 1944 at Mater Misericordiae hospital, Dublin. Probate to Elizabeth England, widow. Effects: £1,799 19s 5d."
Footnotes
[1] Dublin Daily Express, 20-7-1893
[2] Cork Constitution, 11-3-1895
[3] See the Electoral Registers.
Elizabeth England (née Reynolds) (1871-1947)
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| Believed to be Elizabeth Reynolds in fancy dress [England family collection] |
Elizabeth was aged 30 in the 1901 Census. This would make her birth as around 1871. Her occupation was given as musician and pianist.
She was an extremely talented musician in an age where music flourished. Her career was unusual for a woman. While still young, she studied abroad with some of the finest musicians of the time and performed with well-known conductors at key venues.
In 1894 she gave an interview to a reporter from the Magazine of Music and The Cork Constitution dated 11-4-1894 reprinted it. In it we were told that Elizabeth was, “a young lady who is rapidly coming to the front in the highest musical circles in Germany.”
She was,“tall, dark and rather stately, but with a vivacious manner, and a noticeable quick way of speaking.” The reporter added that he had, “little trouble in gaining the information I wanted.”
Born in Cork her musical talent was not inherited as neither of her parents was very musical. She began to play when she was three.
I used to hear my sister play and then imitate her, and any air that my brothers would whistle after coming from an opera, I was sure to imitate on the piano. At seven or seven and a half I played the piano part of Mozart and Beethoven’s violin sonatas entirely by ear as I could not read a note. I remember a violinist who used to play with my sister once asking me to play with him. All went well as long as they were pieces I had heard, but when asked to read of course I could not do so.
In 1882 she entered the Cork School of Music and her teachers were Mr. T. J. Sullivan, Herr Swertz and Mons de Prins.
In 1884 and 1885 she passed her exams and left the school in 1887.
The newspaper article then stated that Elizabeth came to Germany when she was “a little girl of about thirteen and a half.” However, she was sixteen or seventeen in 1887’
To continue her studies Elizabeth entered the Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin. Her teachers were von Peterson and Woldemar Bargiel. There, she composed a prelude and a fugue and played them at a concert at the school.
In overall charge of this Royal High School of Music was Professor Joseph Joachim and he gave Elizabeth a letter to present to Anton Rubinstein after he had heard her play.
On leaving the Hochschule, Joachim gave her a letter to Anton Rubinstein, saying that although Rubinstein was averse to giving lessons nothing would be lost by going down to see, and if possible, play to him. Rubinstein heard her, but did not want to bother with giving any lessons. He, however, after some hesitation accepted her, and she was fortunate enough to have lessons from him for no less a time than one year. Considering how averse Rubinstein is to lesson giving, this must be considered a great compliment.
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| Anton Rubinstein playing |
At that time Rubinstein only had two regular pupils. One was a Russian – a Fraulein Jakimowski. The other was Josef Hoffmann.
After a year, with Rubinstein giving up his pupils, Elizabeth returned to London and received a letter from Eugene D’Albert. He advised her to return to Germany.
On seeing D’Albert... he gave her a letter to Martin Krause, of Leipzig, the great German music critic, pupil of Liszt, and President of the famous ‘Liszt Verein,’ and one of the finest teachers in Germany. With Herr Krause she has remained ever since, and expressed herself to me as more than satisfied.Elizabeth made her formal debut (1894)
...at the second Liszt Verein concert. The great Albert Hall in the Crystal Palace here was crowded, perhaps out of curiosity to see Siegfried Wagner make his first bow here as a conductor. Miss Reynolds was very successful although they might have provided a better piano for her.[This is confusing as her London debut was said to have been at the Queen’s Hall 1896. See below.]
Before this Elizabeth had been playing in Holland, Dresden and Altenburg. Asked what her plans for the future were Elizabeth replied,“I have none, excepting to work.”
In ‘Cork Artiste’s Debut’ The Cork Constitution dated 27-11-1896 noted.
"Miss Reynolds has made many public appearances in Germany but her first appearance in London was giving a pianoforte recital at the Queen’s Hall, Langham Place."
The article went on to give a summary of other newspaper reports.
The Times reported that Elizabeth’s "sound technique, remarkable musicianship and individuality of style should soon secure her the success she undoubtedly deserves."
The Standard spoke of ”a young musician to whose playing it is a pleasure to listen to.”
The Daily Telegraph. “Miss Reynolds is well equipped as regards technique.”
The Globe. “For Miss Reynolds there is already promise of high distinction.”
The Cork Constitution finished the article. “It is very rarely that a young artist receives so much praise and encouragement on her first appearance.”
She lived in London before marrying Thomas as post cards were sent to a Miss Elizabeth Reynolds, 18, Aynhoe Mansions, Brook Green. [1]
In 1900 she played at Worcester. The conductor was a certain Mr Edward Elgar.
Miss Elizabeth Reynolds...gave an intelligent and effective rendering of the long and trying piece. [Beethoven’s Piano Concerto number 4] Her technique was perfect and her performance throughout most sympathetic...At its conclusion Miss Reynolds was rewarded with the tumultuous applause of the audience and chorus, in which even the conductor joined.The Worcester paper reported that Miss Reynolds was a “Malvern lady." [2]
The following year the Northampton Evening Telegraph reported on a song and pianoforte recital given by a Mr Dennis O’Sullivan and Miss Elizabeth Reynolds at St James’s Hall. It was “a most unqualified success.” It also noted that “after two years at Leipzig Miss Reynolds won the Liszt prize, a thousand marks, which is only given once a year.”[3]
In the 1901 Census she was at 20 Aynhoe Mansions and was noted as born in Ireland.
In 1904 she was playing piano at the fourth Gloucester and Cheltenham chamber concerts which were being staged at the Montpellier Rotunda. Pieces from Mendelssohn, St Saens and Beethoven were included in the programme.[4]
By the 1911 Census she was only listed as a Musician not Pianist, she was married and both her and Thomas Alphonsus were living in 20 Aynhoe Mansions and both were listed as born in Cork.
In 1942 an Elizabeth England was born in Cardiff to Gwen. At her baptism one of the Godparents was Elizabeth England (Reynolds). Did she travel to Cardiff from Dublin or was she an absent Godmother?
She was alive in June 1944 as she was granted probate.
In 1945 Elizabeth donated a green tunic to Cork Museum.
The 1782 club tunic donated by Elizabeth Reynolds refers to a club formed after the Act of Union. Its aims included campaigning for the repeal of the Act of Union and the establishment of legislative independence. This tunic belonged to her late husband’s Grandfather, a Michael England of Bandon, brother of Bishop England.[5]Between her husband's death in 1944 and her own in 1947, Elizabeth sent a container of England Family effects including furniture, paintings and objects to Thomas's nephews and nieces in Cardiff. This may have been as she had no children of her own to inherit them. The effects contained portraits of Bishop England, his mother and sister, Joanna, and Thomas the Architect and various objects from Professor John England.
An Elizabeth England died in 1947, in Dublin with an estimated year of birth 1872, who we presume to be Elizabeth England (Reynolds).
Possible links to Elizabeth
An Elizabeth Reynolds was born in Cork 14.3.1871. Her parents were Nicholas and Elizabeth Reynolds.
Another Elizabeth Reynolds was born in Cork in 1871. Her parents were William Reynolds and Catherine O’Brien.
Elizabeth herself mentions her sisters Eva and Ethel in her postcards so it should be possible to identify which of these were her parents if they had other children named Eva and Ethel.
Historical Context
Mons De Prins: was the organist at St Mary’s Cathedral, 9 St Patrick Terrace, Cork.
Woldemar Bargiel: (1828-1897) was born in Berlin and was the half brother of Clara Schumann. It was Clara who introduced him to Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn.
Anton Rubinstein: (1829-1894) was a Russian pianist, composer, conductor and educator. He founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and was the composition teacher of Tchaikovsky.
Josef Hoffmann: was born near Krakov, Poland in 1876. A child prodigy, he gave a debut recital in Warsaw when he was five. Anton Rubinstein took Hoffmann as his only private student in 1892 and arranged his debut in Hamburg in 1894. Hoffmann toured and performed extensively over the next fifty years.
Eugene d’Albert: (1864-1932) was a Scottish born German pianist and composer. He studied with Frank Liszt in Germany and in 1907 became the director of the Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin succeeding Joseph Joachim.
Siegfried Wagner: (1869-1930) was a German composer and conductor. His father was Richard Wagner.
Martin Krause: (1853-1918) was a pupil of Frank Liszt and in his early career he was a piano teacher and writer of music at Leipzig.
Queen’s Hall: It opened in 1893 and had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London’s principal concert venue but was destroyed in the London Blitz in 1941.
Footnotes
[1] See postcards sent to Elizabeth in Carol Jones’ collection.
[2] Worcester Chronicle, 12-5-1900
[3] Northants Evening Telegraph, 9-3-1901 and 16-3-1901
[4] Cheltenham Looker-On, 13-2-1904
[5] Letter to Carol Jones from Cork museum
Place Name
Altenburg: a city in Thuringia, Germany. It is twenty five miles south of Leipzig and fifty six miles west of Dresden.
John England and Jane O'Connell had six children. The youngest child, Patrick Joseph, is dealt with in the next blog.
The father of Elizabeth Reynolds was Nicholas Reynolds who , if I remember rightly , was a master mariner . Carol x
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