Beales family papers, 1811-07-06 - 1940-09
Scope and Contents
The Beales Family papers include the personal letters of Edmond Beales and Eliza Beales (nee Marshall) as well as newspaper clippings providing biographical information on Edmond Beales and the causes in which he was involved, such as the political Reform Movement, Italian independence, and the plight of Polish Refugees.
Dates
- Creation: 1811-07-06 - 1940-09
Biographical / Historical
Patrick Beales, the uncle of Edmond Beales and brother of Samuel Pickering Beales, leased the Armitage site, on which Darwin College now stands, in 1785 were he built his business as a coal and corn merchant. This business was picked up by Patrick Beale’s brother, and Edmond Beales’ father, Samuel Pickering Beales who carried on the business for 20-40 years after Patrick Beales’ death in 1792. The building that would be named Newnham Grange by Charles Darwin was completed in 1793 presumably the building was started by Patrick Beales and completed under Samuel Pickering Beales. Samuel Pickering Beales had a daughter, Madge (Martha) Powell (nee Beales), and three sons, Edmond Beales, Charles Beales and Patrick Beales, all of whom appear in the following letters. Madge (Martha) Powell (nee Beales) was married to John Powell, Charles Beales married Kate Paske, and Patrick Beales married Catherine Hurrell, the sister of Swann Hurrell. The Beales’ connection to Newnham Grange continued after Samuel Pickering Beales’ death in 1836 when Charles Beales and Patrick Beales were left all the property. They carried on the business together until 1842 when they dissolved their partnership. Patrick Beales continued to live at Newnham Grange despite nearly going bankrupt in 1850, which he got out off with the help of Swann Hurrell, his brother-in-law, as well as Edmond Beales and John Hazard. Edmond Beales was born on the 3rd of July 1803. He gained a B.A. and M.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge, before becoming a barrister in 1830. He had an interest in politics and was involved with the Polish refugees, organising General G. Garibaldi's visit to England, as well as agitating for manhood suffrage with the Reform Movement, records related to these causes can be found in this collection. He was President of the National League for Independence of Poland in 1863, Chairman of Circassian Committee, and President of the Reform League from 1865 to 1869. In 1868 he was also a parliamentary candidate for Tower Hamlets but ended his career as County Court judge for Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon from 1870 to 1881. Edmond Beales was married to Eliza Beales (nee Marshall), and they had three daughters called Annie, Alice, and Helen.
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Letters found in GBR/2511/DCPP/BEALES/11/8 suggest that the letters had been transcribed and arranged by Frances Beales and annotations on files, in red ink, show that some files were checked and organised by John Hurrell Collier-Wright. The arrangement of the letters seems to have taken place over two stages the first being the numbering of letters, which matches the transcribed letters, and putting the letters into chronological order. It is unclear whether the numbering or the chronologically order was imposed on the letters before Frances Beales got to them or if both were done by Frances Beales. Only the letters of Edmond Beales are acknowledged in the letters found in GBR/2511/DCPP/BEALES/11/8. It is assumed that the rest of the material that makes up the Beales family papers accrued or was part of the collection during this time and was included in the arrangement. The original order of items has been maintained within each file but the files themselves have been reorganised by the archivist; the previous order is indicated by the number on the top left-hand side of each file. The files were reordered to reflect their contents, bringing files with similar contents together and listing chronologically.
Custodial History
Letters in file GBR/2511/DCPP/BEALES/11/8 show that the files were copied and arranged by Frances Beales, who contacted the publisher MacMillan & Co. Ltd. It is not clear if she was also the one who wrote the biography of Edmond Beales. It is unclear who had possession of the collection between Frances Beales and John Hurrell Collier-Wright, and whether it came to John Hurrell Collier-Wright through Phyllis Collier-Wright (nee Walters). [The original papers date from 1818 to c. 1881, Mrs Collier-Wright's drafts from c. 1911 to c. 1934] John Hurrell Collier-Wright has made annotations on some of the files, usually in red ink between 1980 and 1982. These annotations show that John Hurrell Collier-Wright checked and changed some of the order of letters and documents within the files.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Beales family papers were donated to Darwin College by John Hurrell Collier-Wright who is the son of Phyllis Collier-Wright (nee Walters) the great-neice of Edmond Beales. The family papers were donated to the college on January 20, 1982.
Repository Details
Part of the Darwin College Archives Repository
Ms Jacky Cox
Darwin College
Silver Street
Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB3 9EU United Kingdom
+44 (0)1223 335683
archivist@darwin.cam.ac.uk