Notes on the Family of Phelps of Madeira
(The following was sent to Mr Noël Cossart of Funchal in 1956 by Frances Ann Roper (née HUBBARD.)
Joseph Phelps,
born 24th 8ept. 1791 died 3rd April 1876, came of an old family which was
established for many years at Dursley in Gloucestershire. He was born in Madeira
the seventh child of his father, who had emigrated to Madeira in 1784, where he
founded the firm of J. and W. Phelps in 1786. Joseph Phelps succeeded his father
as head of the firm. He married on 17th Aug 1819, Elizabeth Dickinson,
born 16th Nov. 1195 died 14th April 1876, youngest daughter of Captain Thomas
Dickinson R.N. (1753-1828) and Frances do Brissac (1760-1854) and sister of John
Dickinson (1782-1869) the, founder of the firm of paper manufacturers which
still bears his name. Another sister, Anne (1791-1883) married the Rev. Arthur
Benoni Evans, and was my great grandmother.
In 1821 Joseph Phelps became the first Treasurer and one of the Founder Members
of the Funchal Association, which was formed for the promotion of education in
the island. At his own expense he established a school for boys in 1822, which
was known as the Escola Lancasteriana.
The Phelps family lived for many years in the Carmo House, Funchal, Madeira,
their country house being the Quinta de Praza. During this time they appear to
have been the leading English family in Madeira, for it fell to them to house
and entertain all the visiting royalties and notabilities, In the last years of
her life, Aunt Janey (Jane Phelps, youngest child of Joseph and Elizabeth
Phelps) told me that she remembered, as a small child, being brought down to the
dining-room after dinner, and sitting upon the knee of the Emperor Napoleon III.
and being fed by him with dessert and nuts.
During the early part of the last century Madeira was almost entirely denuded of
trees, owing to fire, and the ravages of earlier settlers. Elizabeth Phelps
realised that reforestation was essential to the well-being of the islanders,
and frequently sent to England for suitable trees, seedlings and seeds, which
were planted all over there estates. When she organised their customary enormous
picnic parties, each of the guests would be given a seedling tree and required
to plant it at the spot before returning home. In after years these clumps of
trees grew and flourished, and to within living memory were always known as
“Mrs. Phelps’ picnic places.”
Joseph and Elizabeth Phelps had a large family of seven daughters and four sons,
the eldest of the family being Elizabeth (1820-1893) the founder of the now
famous Madeira Embroidery Industry.
The family owned very large vine growing estates in the island. As the native
workers were at that time in a state of great poverty, Elizabeth, (always known
in the family as Bella) started in 1854, a little school for the women and girls
on their estates in which they wore taught to work embroideries from original
designs drawn by Bella Phelps herself. A large folio of these original drawings
was in the possession of the youngest member of the family Jane de Brissac
Frederica Phelps (1842 - 1926) with whom I went to live immediately on leaving
school, and whom I knew intimately during the last years of her life and from
whom I leaned most of the information contained in these notes. This folio
unfortunately disappeared when her house and possessions were dispersed after
her death.
In the early days the embroideries were sold privately among personal friends of
the family, and later, on becoming increasingly popular, they were entrusted to
an agent in England who handled them on a commercial basis for the benefit of
the native workers. A great quantity of the early embroidery was in the
possession of members of the family at the time of my birth, and as, by then,
most of the older generation had passed away, all this embroidery was sent to my
mother by the surviving members, for my use, I being by a long way the youngest
female descendant. I well remember being told that the trimmings on my childish
frocks and underwear were “real Madeira work”, though at the time it meant
little more to me than the discomfort of starched and scratchy frills.
Mrs Phelps’ sister, Anne, married the Rev. Arthur Benoni Evans, and of their
surviving children the two eldest died unmarried. The third was Sir John Evans
K.C.B. the famous archaeologist and scientist, and father of Sir Arthur Evans,
the discoverer of the Minoan civilization at Knossos in Crete. The fourth child,
George (1825-1847) became a Medical Student at Guy’s Hospital, but there
contracted tuberculosis. In April 1846 he was invited by his aunt, Mrs. Phelps,
to come and stay with them in Madeira in the hopes that the climate would prove
beneficial, but by October he was so ill that it was decided that Mary Wade, who
had been nurse to the whole family, should go out to him. The old lady sailed
alone, a great adventure at that period, but George died in her arms on the 25th
Jan. 1847. He was buried in the English Cemetery Funchal, where a tablet
commemorates his short life. While in Madeira, Mary Wade had the accompanying
sketch made on the corner of cemetery, showing the tablet, and brought it home
for his sister Emma Evans, who became my grandmother.
time and this corner cut away to make a roadway, so this sketch is of interest
as showing the Cemetery before alteration.
Emma Evans was the fifth child of Anne Dickinson and Arthur Benoni Evans. In
1855 she married Dr. John Waddington Hubbard, and their eldest child, Arthur
John Hubbard. M.D. was my father. In 1870 John Waddington Hubbard contracted
tuberculosis and was invited by the Phelpses to come and stay with them in
Madeira, as in the case of his brother in law George Evans, a quarter of a
century earlier. However the same sad story repeated itself, and my grandfather
is buried in the English Cemetery, the tablet to his memory standing at the side
of that in memory of George Evans. He died on the 15th of June 1871, leaving my
grandmother with four small children.
The Phelps’s returned to settle in England towards the end of the last century,
and made their home in one of the big house facing Clapham Common which was at
that time one of the smartest and most exclusive residential areas. All the
members of the family became very stout with advancing years, and it was a
family joke that “a ton of Phelpses" went to Church each Sunday in the family
coach.
Elizabeth (1820-1893)
the eldest child of Joseph and Elizabeth Phelps, died unmarried. Apart from the
fact of her being the originator of the Madeira embroidery, the only other thing
I know about her is a story which was often told to me with great delight by my
father and his brother, George Hubbard. F.R.I.B.A. This story was always known
as “Bella and the Bath”, and runs as follows:
After the return of the family to England, Aunt Bella, like the rest of the
family, became extremely stout. One evening she retired early to her room, for
the purpose of taking a bath. At that time, of course, baths were always taken
in the bedroom in the small hip bath of the Victorian period. Shortly after Aunt
Bella had gone upstairs, the family below in the drawing room wore alarmed to
hear cries for help, accompanied by strange knockings and bumpings. Several of
the sisters ran upstairs to see what was the matter, and found Aunt Bella
sitting in the bath with her feet on the floor, which was swimming with water
The bath was firmly fixed around her like the shell of a snail and she was only
liberated by the concerted action of the entire family. The standard sentence
descriptive of the painful incident was “When Bella got into the bath the water
got OUT”. This story was very popular all round the large circle of cousins, but
when once, with youthful temerity, I ventured to mention it to Aunt Janey, I was
snubbed with the full weight of the old lady’s forceful personality.
Mary (1822 - 1896)
the second child, also died unmarried. All that I have heard about her is the
odd fact that she never wore corsets, but supported the voluminous nether
garments of the period by means of braces of masculine design. In that much
corseted age, this speaks volumes for share of the family characteristic of
strong-mindedness and originality.
Anne (1824 - 1895)
Married Robert Bayman, and had two children. One of them, Arthur, was surrounded
by a mystery which I never penetrated, but he was ostracised by the entire
family, with the sole exception of Aunt Janey. She was the only one who showed
him any kindness in his later years, and I remember him as a sad silent old man
on the occasions of his rare visits to her. He died in dire poverty while I was
living with Aunt Janey, and as she was then too old and feeble to go and see him
herself, she sent me, as representative of herself and the family, to visit him
on his death bed in Leytonstone Workhouse Infirmary. It was a strange experience
for a youngster fresh from school as I was.
Frances (1826 - 1890)
married her cousin, Sir John Evans, as his second wife. His first wife, another
cousin on the Dickinson aid had died, leaving him with five children under seven
years of age. To these she became the ideal step-mother devoted to them and
beloved by all, though she had no children of her own.
Harriet (1828 - 1925)
Married the Rev, J.L. Crompton, and had ten children. They settled in Natal,
South Africa and one of her children, a Mrs. Pennefather, also visited Aunt
Janey during my time with her.
Joseph Francis (1829 - 1922)
the first son, took Orders and later in life became Rector of Iffley,
Oxfordshire. He had nine children, one of whom, Frank, became Bishop of
Grahamstown, South Africa, and finally Archbishop of South Africa. Frank, whom I
met a number of times at Aunt Janey’s, was badly deformed and had spent most of
his younger years in irons. He was one of the most charming and saintly men I
have ever met.
Clara (1831 - 1897)
married the Rev. (later Dean) John Oakley, and had seven children. One of these,
Violet, made her permanent home with Aunt Janey whom she adored to such an
extent that she could not endure that the old lady should show any kindness or
affection towards me, and made my life a perfect misery. In order to keep the
peace, Aunt Janey always adopted a stern and almost harsh manner towards me in
Violet’s presence, which was more than compensated my the kindness, deep
understanding and love which she showed when Violet was out of the way.
Charles (1833 - 1911)
married but had no children, and I never heard anything about him.
of the Examiner’s room. Willy like most of the family, was very short sighted
and he knew that this test would be far beyond his capacity, and that he would
certainly be rejected that on that score. He therefore arranged with a friend
who was entering at the same time that the friend should go to the Examiner just
ahead of him, and relay to him all the necessary features of the view. When
Willy's turn came, he described the view which to him was no more than a blur,
with quite remarkable accuracy passed the test triumphantly, and went on to a
long and successful career in the Army.
Arthur (B.1837)
married and had four children one of whom I vaguely remember as a middle aged
man who visited Aunt Janey occasionally but I know nothing of Arthur's
profession or career.
Jane de Brissac Fredrica (1842 -1926)
the youngest, never married but she was all the mother they ever knew to many
hundreds of children. Strong-minded, original, capable autocratic, and
extraordinarily loveable to those who found favour in her eight, she was quite
the most remarkable character I have ever known. As a young woman in her early
twenties, she had left the comfort and luxury of her Madeira home, and had come
to England and founded an Orphanage with her own private fortune. The children
she had collected in the slums of London, which she visited alone and
unattended, an unheard of thing for a young lady in the 1860's At that time no
provision was made for children in bad homes, or who had one parent living, and
it was upon this type that Aunt Janey concentrated. From small beginnings the
Orphanage grew rapidly, till for many years she had over a hundred children, and
a big establishment in Kilburn. At about the end of the century, when public
opinion was beginning to awaken the numbers began gradually to lessen and she
moved from Kilburn to the big house near Peckham Rye where she lived till her
death, housing on an average about forty children.
From the beginning, Aunt Janey's staff had always been recruited from
gentlewoman who worked on a voluntary basis, and until after the end of the 1914
war she had never had the least difficulty in finding plenty of able assistants
of this type.
After the war, however, changing conditions made it more and more difficult for
her to get helpers, and then it was that she wrote to my parents asking if I
might go and help during a temporary difficulty over Christmas. My parents had
always bad the greatest regard and admiration for Aunt Janey and her work, and
agreed at once, even though it meant curtailing my schooling. They felt, and
rightly, that her influence would be worth more to me than another year at
school. Fortunately I satisfied Aunt Janey's critical eye and exacting
standards, so I stayed on, teaching and helping: in the care of girls of any
ages, many of whom were older than myself. At first I was frankly terrified of
the stern old lady, but after a time an affection and mutual understanding
developed between us, which was quite remarkable in view of the fact that we
were separated by two generations.
An enormous amount of furniture and family relics had devolved on Aunt Janey, as
the last survivor of her family and the private rooms at the Orphanage were
filled to overflowing with treasures from the Carmo, ranging from huge tables,
sideboards etc. of Madeiran timber and workmanship, to an infinitude of family
portraits miniatures, and knick-knacks of every description. As I rose in Aunt
Janey's esteem, so she manifested it by putting more and more odd jobs upon me,
till eventually I was the only person who was allowed to handle her treasures,
which honour entailed the daily dusting of the huge drawing-room with all its
assimilations. This in addition to my routine work with the children.
Between my intimate knowledge of the family treasure and Aunt Janey's stories of
Madeira and life at the Carmo, it is small wonder that I developed a deep
interest in the family history, and in the island of Madeira together with a
firm determination that, by hook or by crook, I would visit Madeira before I
died, and see as much as I could of the places of which I had heard so much.
This I have at last achieved after thirty years. It is as a tribute to the
memory of Aunt Janey and her family that I have written this brief account of
the Phelps’s of Madeira which together with such photographs and sketches as I
have been able to collect, I am presenting to Mr. Noel Cossart of Funchal, to be
preserved by him together with the other early records in his possession, of the
English families
of Madeira.