Chapter II: THE ALPHINGTON PONIES 

The Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924) was a local writer, novelist, antiquarian and folk song collector and one of those clergy of the Victorian era who tried his hand at all things.[1] An Anglican priest, he lived at Lew Trenchard in Devon where he had been born. The writer of hymns - most people over 50 can recall some lines from Onward, Christian Soldiers – and westcountry lore, in 1908 he produced an anthology of curious stories connected with the west country, Devon Characters and Strange Events.[2]

 

Fig. 1: Lithograph view of the Durnford Sisters for Cockrem

 The book is available at various on-line sites and can be enjoyed by all.[3] However, one of the more interesting stories is that of the Durnford Sisters in Torquay under the title of The Alphington Ponies. I hope I can be forgiven for quoting the story in full, together with the two illustrations which accompanied the story (Figs 2 and 3).

DURING the forties of last century, every visitor to Torquay noticed two young ladies of very singular appearance. Their residence was in one of the two thatched cottages on the left of Tor Abbey Avenue, looking seaward, very near the Torgate of the avenue. Their chief places of promenade were the Strand and Victoria Parade, but they were often seen in other parts of the town. Bad weather was the only thing that kept them from frequenting their usual beat. They were two Misses Durnford, and their costume was peculiar. The style varied only in tone and colour. Their shoes were generally green, but sometimes red. They were by no means bad-looking girls when young, but they were so berouged as to present the appearance of painted dolls. Their brown hair worn in curls was fastened with blue ribbon, and they wore felt or straw hats, usually tall in the crown and curled up at the sides. About their throats they had very broad frilled or lace collars that fell down over their backs and breasts a long way. But in summer their necks were bare, and adorned with chains of coral or bead. Their gowns were short, so short indeed as to display about the ankles a good deal more than was necessary of certain heavily-frilled cotton investitures of their lower limbs. In winter over their gowns were worn check jackets of a "loud" pattern reaching to their knees, and of a different colour from their gowns, and with lace cuffs. They were never seen, winter or summer, without their sunshades. The only variation to the jacket was a gay-coloured shawl crossed over the bosom and tied behind at the waist.

The sisters dressed exactly alike, and were so much alike in face as to appear to be twins. They were remarkably good walkers, kept perfectly in step, were always arm in arm, and spoke to no one but each other.

They lived with their mother, and kept no servant. All the work of the house was done by the three, so that in the morning they made no appearance in the town; only in the afternoon had they assumed their war-paint, when, about 3 p.m., they sallied forth; but, however highly they rouged and powdered, and however strange was their dress, they carried back home no captured hearts. Indeed, the visitors to Torquay looked upon them with some contempt as not being in society and not dressing in the fashion; only some of the residents felt for them in their solitude some compassion. They were the daughters of a Colonel Durnford, and had lived at Alphington. The mother was of an inferior social rank. They had a brother, a major in the Army, 10th Regiment, who was much annoyed at their singularity of costume, and offered to increase their allowance if they would discontinue it; but this they refused to do.

Fig. 2: THE MISSES DURNFORD. THE ALPHINGTON PONIES
From a Lithograph (from Baring-Gould)

 

When first they came to Torquay, they drove a pair of pretty ponies they had brought with them from Alphington; but their allowance being reduced, and being in straitened circumstances, they had to dispose of ponies and carriage. By an easy transfer the name of Alphington Ponies passed on from the beasts to their former owners.

As they were not well off, they occasionally got into debt, and were summoned before the Court of Requests; and could be impertinent even to the judge. On one occasion, when he had made an order for payment, one of them said, "Oh, Mr. Praed, we cannot pay now; but my sister is about to be married to the Duke of Wellington, and then we shall be in funds and be able to pay for all we have had and are likely to want!" Once the two visited a shop and gave an order, but, instead of paying, flourished what appeared to be the half of a £5 note, saying, that when they had received the other half, they would be pleased to call and discharge the debt. But the tradesman was not to be taken in, and declined to execute the order. Indeed, the Torquay shopkeepers were very shy of them, and insisted on the money being handed over the counter before they would serve the ladies with the goods that they required.

They made no acquaintances in Torquay or in the neighbourhood, nor did any friends come from a distance to stay with them. They would now and then take a book out of the circulating library, but seemed to have no literary tastes, and no special pursuits. There was a look of intelligence, however, in their eyes, and the expression of their faces was decidedly amiable and pleasing.

They received very few letters; those that did arrive probably contained remittances of money, and were eagerly taken in at the door, but there was sometimes a difficulty about finding the money to pay for the postage. It is to be feared that the butcher was obdurate, and that often they had to go without meat. Fish, however, was cheap.

A gentleman writes: "Mr. Garrow's house, The Braddons, was on my father's hands to let. One day the gardener, Tosse, came in hot haste to father and complained that the Alphington Ponies kept coming into the grounds and picking the flowers, that when remonstrated with they declared that they were related to the owner, and had permission. 'Well,' said father, 'the next time you see them entering the gate run down and tell me.' In a few days Tosse hastened to say that the ladies were again there. Father hurried up to the grounds, where he found them flower-picking. Without the least ceremony he insisted on their leaving the grounds at once. They began the same story to him of their relationship to the owner, adding thereto, that they were cousins of the Duke of Wellington. 'Come,' said father, 'I can believe one person can go mad to any extent in any direction whatever, but the improbability of two persons going mad in identically the same direction and manner at the same time is a little too much for my credulity. Ladies, I beg you to proceed.' And proceed they did."

After some years they moved to Exeter, and took lodgings in St. Sidwell's parish. For a while they continued to dress in the same strange fashion; but they came into some money, and then were able to indulge in trinkets, to which they had always a liking, but which previously they could not afford to purchase. At a large fancy ball, given in Exeter, two young Oxonians dressed up to represent these ladies; they entered the ballroom solemnly, arm in arm, with their parasols spread, paced round the room, and finished their perambulation with a waltz together. This caused much amusement; but several ladies felt that it was not in good taste, and might wound the poor crazy Misses Durnford. This, however, was not the case. So far from being offended at being caricatured, they were vastly pleased, accepting this as the highest flattery. Were not princesses and queens also represented at the ball? Why, then, not they? 

  

Fig. 3: THE MISSES DURNFORD. THE ALPHINGTON PONIES (BACK VIEW)
Lithographed by P. Gauci, Pub. Ed. Cockrem (from Baring-Gould)

 

One public ball they did attend together, at which, amongst others, were Lady Rolle and Mr. Palk, son of the then Sir Lawrence Palk. Owing to their conspicuous attire, they drew on them the attention of Lady Rolle, who challenged Mr. Palk to ask one of the sisters for a dance, and offered him a set of gold and diamond shirt studs if he could prevail on either of them to be his partner. Mr. Palk accepted the challenge, but on asking for a dance was met in each case by the reply, "I never dance except my sister be also dancing." Mr. Palk then gallantly offered to dance with both sisters at once, or in succession. He won and wore the studs.

A gentleman writes: "In their early days they made themselves conspicuous by introducing the bloomer arrangement in the nether latitude.[4] This, as you may well suppose, was regarded as a scandal; but these ladies, who were never known to speak to any one, or to each other out of doors, went on their way quite unruffled. Years and years after this, you may imagine my surprise at meeting them in Exeter, old and grey, but the same singular silent pair. Then, after an interval of a year or two, only one appeared. I assure you, it gave me pain to look at that poor lonely, very lonely soul; but it was not for long. Kind Heaven took her also, and so a tiny ripple was made, and there was an end of the Alphington Ponies."

 

The girls were, indeed, twins; Arabella and Eliza Durnford were born on 30th December 1800 and were christened at St Clement's, London, the daughters of Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Montague Isaacson Durnford (b.1774, London) and Barbara Ann Blake Shea (b.1779 in Dublin). Barbara Ann was the illegitimate daughter of Sir Patrick Blake by Peggy Shea, “a Mulatto woman” on Patrick’s plantation in the West Indies. Andrew and Barbara married in St Clement Danes, London in 1796.[5]

The family lived for a time at Alphington, part of Exeter, but had moved to Torquay by 1834. The twins apparently had three siblings who were not living with them at the time they moved to Torquay. Furthermore, their father Andrew Montague Isaacson Durnford had further children: five children with Mary Hadley; and six more with a woman called Harriet. When he died in 1858, his last will and testament (written in 1854) named all his children with Barbara.

According to Baring-Gould they lived in one of the two thatched cottages on the left of Tor Abbey Avenue when they relocated to Torquay from Alphington, Exeter. According to Arthur Ellis[6] this was Lavender Cottage in Avenue Road, close to the gates to Tor Abbey. As they had no servants, all three shared the housework which clearly identified their social status to others. The ponies they brought with them had to be sold to make ends meet; although it is interesting to note that the idea of carriages as tourist taxis was just beginning to flourish in Torquay at this time.

The sisters became notorious for their antics, but not all the stories can be corroborated and many of the episodes recounted by Baring-Gould were simply repeated by others. The tale of the “half a 5 pound note” is curious: no one questions how you can get hold of only half a bank note of that denomination in those days. The story of the Duke of Wellington is not so far-fetched. One legend surrounding them was omitted by Baring-Gould but mentioned by Ellis[7] and is frequently recounted; their eccentricities were due to a tragedy in their lives - they were supposedly engaged to two brothers, one of whom accidentally shot and killed the other, and who then died of a broken heart.

Certainly by 1834 they had moved to Torquay and were being summoned to court. A short announcement that Eliza Durnford, late of Tormoham, the County of Devon, spinster, (sued with Arabella Durnford) were due to be heard at the Court-house at Exeter, in the County of Devon, on the 23rd day of June, 1834, at 10 o'clock in the morning appeared in Western Times of Saturday 31 May 1834.

The stories of the sisters´ financial escapades is substantiated by another account in the papers of October 1850.[8] In a case brought by Mr Broad, a grocer, one of the sisters first attempted to claim she was the victim of mistaken identity as she was called Burrough. Then she alleged she had changed her name in anticipation of being wed to a rich gentleman.  As Mr Broad was loathe to see the two women committed to prison (on a debt of £10 17s 6d), he proposed a two week “stay of execution” and the judge granted the same. However, the ladies answer was to say “If we don't then pay the money we will with pleasure go to prison” at which they then left the Court and entered a first class carriage for Torquay, by rail.

The 1841 census records the family as resident at Balsdon Terrace (along with a number of other families). This address was probably just one very large Victorian villa along Abbey Road and is listed in Westley´s plan published in the 1880s (Fig. 4). Their mother died in 1851 and they moved back to Alphington. Their father died in 1858 and left the sisters money in his will. At the time of the 1861 census the sisters, still together, were visitors at the White Hart Hotel in St John´s Street, Salisbury.[9]

  

Fig. 4: Balsdon Terrace is House 14 on Abbey Road (K7, green).

The two sisters were still listed as spinsters in announcements concerning savers in the West of England and South Wales District Bank in 1860[10] and still infamous due to their clothing excesses as late as 1863.[11] At the Bath & West of England Agricultural Society show of that year there was a detailed account of the women´s fashion sense.

Among the greatest curiosities of the day were a couple of ladies known in the ancient city as “the Alphington Ponies." These fair damsels, who were the observed of all observers, seem to have a very remarkable fondness for contrast in colour. They had each a dress of silk Velvet magenta, surmounted by a peagreen mantle, with parasols of the same. Their hats were á la mode, coming close to their flowing ringlets, and showing off to the full the whole of their faces. The countenances vied in colour with the magenta of the silk velvet. In their hats they had decided yellow feathers, and their pretty hands were covered with gloves the same colour. Just peering below, reaching to the very heel, were what appeared to very long continuations, also of the favoured magenta; but whether silk velvet, or thin fabric, our opportunities of knowing do not enable us to state. The whole costume was exceedingly “loud,” and as they kept moving throughout the day there was no one in the field but what had an opportunity of admiring them.

When Eliza died suddenly in 1866 her death was reported in many local papers (Fig. 5).[12]

SUDDEN Death.—An inquest was held on Friday afternoon at the Red Lion Inn, St. Sidwells, … on the body of Eliza Durnford, a maiden lady, residing at No. 8, St. Sidwells. Arabella Durnford said: l am sister to the deceased. We have lived together since we were children. My sister had not been well since Tuesday night when she took to her bed. I thought she had a cold. … About half past eight on that evening she became much worse. She said she thought she was dying and asked me to lift her up in bed. I rang for our landlady, Mrs. Brice, but my sister did not speak afterwards, and died immediately in arms. … The deceased and her sister were well known in this city from the eccentric way in which they dressed. We believe they were twins, and were born in the year 1800. They were the daughters Colonel Durnford, of Stonehouse.

Arabella died only a few years later, in 1871.

 

Fig. 5: Newspaper announcement on the death of Eliza Durnford in Exeter 1866. 

The two illustrations which accompanied Baring-Gould´s accounts, both taken from contemporary lithographs, caught my eye. It would seem that the first was published by Edward Croydon in the 1840s (Fig. 6). The dealer who sold an original from which Baring-Gould´s illustration was probably taken writes: a rare original lithograph published at Croydon's Circulating Library Torquay of Twin Ladies - reverse is inscribed in old ink pen Miss Durnford (measuring approx. 35 x 25 cm incl. margins).[13] 

Fig. 6: Lithograph view of the Durnford Sisters by Croydon.

Croydon also issued a matching view from the back and a copy is held at the Devon & Exeter Institute. This has the sisters in similar, but different, attire. In both pictures the paving stones are shown but no buildings (See Chapter III: Croydon, Elliott and Ardley). Edward Croydon of Teignmouth was, from the beginning, Cockrem´s main competitor and his Guide to the Watering Places … Between the Exe and the Dart as well as The Teignmouth Guide were very successful.[14] Edward had premises at Regent Place, Teignmouth, but his eldest son (also Edward) opened his own shop in Torquay and library on Victoria Parade. This print was published by Edward at Croydon´s Circulating Library 10 Victoria Parade Torquay.

The view from the back in Baring-Gould´s publication is more intriguing. The lithograph (I have a copy in full colour) measures approximately the same as the Croydon view (37 x 26 cm) but is signed in the picture R P Yeo del. There are three lines of text below: Signature P Gauci, lith, North Crescent, Bedford Square, London; Title TORQUAY; and an imprint Published by Edward Cockrem. Besides the two ladies, the most prominent feature of the view is the advertisement for Cockrem´s Directory Office below the attractive shop front window.

 

Fig. 7: Torquay and Tor Directory issued by Croydon, Nov. 1845.

A copy of the Torquay and Tor Directory for November 1845 carries a page of advertisements for Cockrem´s various wares. Almost lost at the bottom is a short insert announcing: Just Published – A Portrait of the Misses Durnford, by C Woolnoth, Esq. One of the pictures adorning the walls of the Devon and Exeter Institute happens to be an image of the sisters. Drawn from the life by Woolnoth the picture was Pubd by E Cockrem, Bookseller & Stationer, 10 Strand. The print is also signed Gauci, lith, North Crescent, Bedford Square, London. (Fig. 7). It would appear that Gauci, a well-known and respected London lithographer was specially commissioned to print these portraits (Fig. 8). This is certainly one of the best images of the sisters and it is not inconceivable that this is the counterpart to the view from the back used by Baring-Gould.

Charles Woolnoth was a landscape and portrait painter. He offered his services to instruct in figure and portrait painting in crayon and black lead as well as oils. He would also exhibit his views in his home at 5 Park Street. 

Fig. 8: Lithograph view of the Durnford Sisters by Woolnoth. 

Certainly, the two ladies were renowned for their daily stroll around the harbour area and it is hardly surprising that several portraits of them were published by local companies. A rather simpler view was published by Ardley of Torquay. He is known to have published books of prints and added his own imprint to several (see Ardley and Other Torquay Booksellers). The two ladies even apperared briefly in a vignette by Townsend executed for Henry Besley of Exeter.

Fig. 9: Staffordshire pottery figurines created between 1838 and 1850. 

The ladies must have attracted some attention at the time. In addition to the two lithographs in the text, Staffordshire potteries were soon selling figurines of the two sisters (Fig. 9)[15]. Various colour combinations have been seen, and with or without Souvenir of Torquay written on the base. Most of these are dated to 1838-40. The Staffordshire wares show Arabella (Annie) Durnford (1800-1871) and her sister Bertha (Eliza) Durnford (1800-1866): known as The Alphington Ponies. Rather coyly the description reads: The two sisters standing arm in arm, in top-hats, long jacket, short skirt, and pantalettes and carrying sunshades. It fails to notice the underwear hanging below their skirt seams (the nether latitude) which seems to have been rather provocative to some.

Rather surprisingly, the ladies get no mention in any of the contemporary histories and guide books of the day. Neither Croydon (1854) nor Cockrem (1855-56) in their guides mention the ladies and J T White´s History is also silent. Arthur Charles Ellis, compiling his An Historical Survey of Torquay in 1830, was given access to many pictures from the collection of W Winget of the Torquay Directory and includes two further views which are well worth noting. There is an interesting view of The Strand and Harbour in 1840 and the two sisters are clearly seen on the quayside (Fig. 10).[16] The more interesting view has the ladies passing Elliott´s Library on Vaughan Parade (See Chapter III: Croydon, Elliott and Ardley). 

  

Fig. 10: View of the Durnford Sisters and Strand illustrated in Ellis.

The sisters were possibly around just too early for a real photograph. Recently I came across a page from a scrapbook. Making scrapbooks was a popular Victorian hobby and we know that H M A compiled a scrapbook of cuttings, including various views of Torquay and Neighbourhood in the 1860s. Along with two views cut from Croydon prints there is the obituary of Eliza Durnford from a local newspaper. However, there is also an original photograph which shows two women, who could be twin sisters, in identical outfits and is typical for photographs taken in the late Victorian period. Unfortunately, it has the style of photographs of the 1880s, so it does not actually show Eliza and Arabella: it would be nice to find one (Fig. 11). 

Fig. 11: Victorian photograph of twin sisters, c.1880.

 

Click to return to start or go to next chapter:

Chapter I. Edward Cockrem: his life and publishing output

Chapter III. The Strand Torquay: the main thoroughfare in the mid-1800s

Chapter IV. Croydon, Elliott and Ardley: and the Durnford Sisters

Appendix I. Cockrem´s published works 1829 – 1873

Appendix II. Croydon´s prints, 1817 - 1860 

  

NOTES:

---

[1] The on-line catalogue, JISC, has over 3000 entries for Baring-Gould.

[2] Text and illustrations as in S. Baring-Gould; Devonshire characters and strange events (with 55 full-page illustrations reproduced from old prints, etc.); London & New York; J Lane; 1908. The printer was local: William Brendon and Sons of Plymouth.

[3] Read the stories for example: (https://archive.org/details/devonshirecharac00bariuoft) or Gutenberg Project at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48507/48507-h/48507-h.htm; go to (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabine_Baring-Gould) for the life of Sabine Baring-Gould.

[4] The footnote here reads: They are not so represented in the three lithographs that were published at Torquay. But two others beside this correspondent mention their appearance in "bloomers."

[5] See especially the Durnford Family Website at https://edurnford.blogspot.com/which has a tremendous amount of information on the rather promiscuous Durnford males! See also the website https://www.durnfordfamily.com/ponies.html which has been posted by Cynde Durnford-Branecki (who notes Eliza Durnford as christened in 1813 at Oswald's Church, Ashbourne, Derbyshire).

[6] Ellis, Arthur Charles; An Historical Survey of Torquay; Second Edition; Published by the Author at the Torquay Directory offices; Torquay; 1930.

[7] Ellis, Arthur Charles; 1930; page 341.

[8] See for example, Western Times of Saturday 12^th October 1850, from which this account is taken.

[9] Note that in the 1841 census Ann is 50, while the girls are only 20 years old. This is repeated in 1861: the girls ages are entered as 37. The White Hart is a late Georgian listed building today and still an hotel.

[10] Monmouthshire Merlin and Western Times in February 1860.

[11] Western Daily Mercury of Tuesday 9^th June 1863, for example.

[12] Exeter and Plymouth Gazette of Friday 12^th October 1866.

[13] From the Worth Point Corporation website in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, see https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/torquay-twins-alphington-ponies-1777637147.

[14] See Batten, Kit; Tourist Maps of Devon; Entries on the two Croydons are combined (August 2022).

[15] The images are from the National Trust at https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/341671  and the website of Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood, auctioneers of Exeter. See also https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/news/staffordshire-portraits-of-the-great-and-the-good-and-the-very-bad.

[16] Ellis, Arthur Charles; 1930; page 341. From an engraving lent by Frank Clark, who bought a number of properties in Tormohan (from the Haldon estate) in the early 1900s. The source of the illustration is not clear but probably was in the possession of Mr W N Winget, who had taken over the Torquay Directory after Cockrem´s death

 Sources of Illustrations:

Figs. 2 and 3: See Footnote 3 - Archive Org.

Fig. 6: See Footnote 13 - From the Worth Point Corporation website in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Fig. 7: Courtesy of the Devon and Exeter Institute, Exeter. Coloured copy Frontispiece in author´s collection.

Fig. 10: Courtesy of the Devon and Exeter Institute, Exeter. 

Fig. 11: See Footnote 15.

All other images in the collection of the Author. For another view of the ladies, by Ardley, see the next chapter: Ardley and Other Torquay Booksellers.

 

Chapter IV. Croydon, Elliott and Ardley: 

and the Durnford Sisters 

Thirty years ago this (Torquay) was a mere fishing village, containing half a dozen straggling huts along the beach, with a rude pier of loose rocks to shelter the miserable craft

This was the description used by the writer of The Teignmouth, Dawlish, and Torquay Guide published in 1830[i]. Torquay had, indeed, gone through some sort of metamorphosis and was beginning to take on the appearance of a small town. Over the next 10 years it would increase in size and importance to overtake all other watering places in Devon.

Maxted has charted Torquay´s progress through representation in topographical prints. The results are astounding. Whereas in the period to 1800 not one print depicting the cove is recorded, by 1876 no other town or tourist site in Devon had been illustrated so often. Between 1800 and 1810 Exeter and Plymouth led the field, with 20 prints published for each in that decade as well as accumulatively 44 and 56 respectively between 1636 and 1799. In the next two decades Sidmouth took the lead through the work of Wallis at his Library. But from 1840 Torquay stands out as providing the most views with 124 images published 1840-49 alone or one sixth of all Devon prints.

This growth reflects Torquay´s importance as a health spa: from the beginning much emphasis was placed on the benefits of its climate and charts of temperature fluctuations were frequently included in the tourist guides. As it expanded, more tourists came, typically convalescents to begin with, and services expanded to keep up with demand. This is also reflected in the number of booksellers and printers, although this number stayed comparatively low.

In Blewitt´s Panorama the various booksellers etc are listed as:

Cockrem, E. (Printer to his Majesty)[ii]  5, Mill street, opposite the Lower Terrace.

Cole, P. Lawrence Place.

Croydon, - adjoining Poulton´s Hotel.

Luscombe, R. near the Commercial Inn [in Market Street]. 

 

Fig. 1: View of Torquay Harbour from Croydon's Torquay Guide.

In the Croydon view of 1841 (Fig. 1), the viewer sees over the rear of the row of buildings on Vaughan Parade and across to Victoria Parade which led one to the harbour and to the hill leading to Park Hill Road. Croydon had moved from Poulton´s Hotel (now Webb´s) to No. 10 Victoria Parade by 1848 when Hunt´s Directory appeared. There were now several other booksellers besides Cockrem, Croydon and Peggy Cole, although none of these also ran circulating libraries.

Daniel Ardley, primarily a hairdresser (see below) was listed as Bookseller and Stationer

William Elliott at 1 Vaughan Parade (see below),

William Hall at 21 Lower Union Street,

Ann and Jane Jago on Market Street,

William Poulton also at Lawrence Place (No. 3),

Grace Richards (stationer) at 93 Lower Union Street,

and two printers who also did business as booksellers and stationers were John Robinson in Paignton and William Stark at 8, Braddon´s Row. 

By 1850 when White´s Directory of Torquay appeared the scene had expanded again: with John Laskey Narracott registered as both bookseller and stationer but also bookbinder and B T Wreford had possibly joined William Stark at 8 Braddon´s Row. The biggest omission is that of Peggy Cole´s library which has now ceased operation.

Three of these booksellers are associated with engravings of the Durnford Sisters: Edward Croydon, William Elliott and Daniel Ardley.

 

Edward Croydon

Edward Cockrem´s main rival throughout his career would have been the Croydons. Among the first Devon publishers to publicly make use of the Ordnance Survey maps were the Croydons of Teignmouth and Torquay. In 1817 Edward Croydon printed and sold a most attractive guide book of south Devon.[iii] A Guide to the Watering Places, on the Coast, Between the Exe and the Dart; Including Teignmouth, Dawlish, and Torquay, embellished with a general view of Teignmouth and Dawlish, and the various seats around them, with a short description of the neighborhood.… consisted of sixteen highly attractive aquatints. One of these depicted the Croydon´s premises in Teignmouth.[iv]

Edward Croydon was possibly the son of John Northam Croydon and Anne; if so, he was baptised in Totnes on 13th December 1784. He married Sally Warren on 3rd January 1807 at West Teignmouth according to a mention in the Exeter Flying Post of the 8th. They had at least 7 children: Helen (1810), Sally (1811), Jessey (1814), Edward (1816), Eliza Mary (1819), George Henry (1820) and Maria Louisa (1822) all born at East Teignmouth^[v]. Edward was printer, bookseller, publisher, stationer, engraver, ran a print and music warehouse as well as managing a circulating library^[vi]. Throughout his career he was associated with premises at Regent Place and is listed in many directories from c.1823.

Fig. 2: View of Croydon´s Public Library from Croydon's Teignmouth Guide.

Croydon’s may have been established as early as 1806. Their library, built in Regency Gothic style, opened in June 1815 and survived to 1990 as W H Smith's newsagents (Fig. 2). The library kept the London and Exeter papers and prior to the official publication of The Teignmouth Arrival List a listing was kept at the library for consultation. Edward published his Guide to Watering Places in 1817 and began publishing prints c.1820^[vii] and a Billiard Room followed in 1830. He began trading as Edward Croydon and Son c.1850; and as Edward and George Henry Croydon 1852-1862 and together they published the Teignmouth Gazette. In common with many printers and publishers Edward had many functions and was also an agent for Eagle Insurance, examiner of weights and measures & clerk to magistrates 1848-1857, and water bailiff for the manor of Kenton 1848.[viii]

He also published books of views, e.g., Views in South Devon (JVSC S.65) c. 1821; and of Teignmouth in sets of four or more (JVSC S. 92), with aquatints by W Read after L E Reed c. 1825 (see below). If Cockrem earned most of his income through printing, then the Croydons most likely had a good turnover selling prints, many printed and/or published by Edward senior in Teignmouth.

Works not involving prints printed and / or published by the Croydons are few and far between and tend to be between 1840 and 1860: William Robert Brownlow´s Walks at Templecombe: or, scenes in the history of Constantia and Fanny was a work of fiction which was also published by Hamilton, Adams & Co., and Whittaker & Co. in London in 1840.[ix] In 1848, Henry Phillpotts (Bishop of Exeter) had A sermon preached by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Exeter at St. John's Torquay, on Sunday the 26th Nov. 1848. On occasion of a Collection for the Devonport and Plymouth Spiritual-Destitution-Relief-Fund published. 

Works specifically published by Edward Croydon in Torquay are also comparatively rare. Lawrence Palk wrote a poetical work entitled, The hunt of the pilgrim and Sir Courtenay Carew : a tale of dread and this was illustrated by Rev. John Parlby (1857). Robert Stewart`s Handbook of the Torquay flora : comprising the flowering plants and ferns growing in and around Torquay was published in 1861 and helps to date the second edition of Croydon`s Handbook for Torquay. One devotional work seems to be J Dicker`s A godmother's address to her godson : with miscellaneous papers  by a female member of the Church of England. This was published in Torquay at Croydon's Royal Library (1861). Another work simultaneously published in London, this time by Whittaker & Co., was Ye Book of Sense, an illustrated collection of limericks each set below a comical illustration (1850).

Illustrated works and guide books

Although all title pages to the first printing of Watering Places are dated 1817, at least seven of the views included are dated June 15 1818 suggesting the title page was issued with the first instalment and bound in after the series was completed. The text to this work was enlarged and appeared again in 1830 in The Teignmouth, Dawlish, And Torquay Guide suggesting that the original text was written by N T Carrington (see below). Croydon also published The Natural History of the District by W Turton & J F Kingston which lists the different species of flora, fauna and minerals of Devon and is believed to be Part II of Watering Places circa 1820.

William Bonneau Noble (1780-1831), who executed the drawings for the Watering Places, was a landscape painter in water-colours who began life as a teacher of drawing. For some years he was very successful, but although he had two views in the exhibition of 1811, he became dejected and after failing to commit suicide in 1825, he finally died of decline in 1831.

A slim volume followed circa 1826: The Teignmouth Guide containing a Description of the Town which was reissued until circa 1864 and which included a small map Reduced from the Ordnance Grand Map by W Read of King St., Covent Garden, London. George Henry Croydon was born in East Teignmouth where he was baptised 5th October 1820. He also became a printer, working in Teignmouth from his father's address at Regent Place from c.1848. The two Croydons were trading as Edward and George Henry Croydon and published the guide together from about 1848 to 1862. However, this does not seem to have been true for their map publications. The Teignmouth, Dawlish, and Torquay Guide from 1830 used the identical text on Devon but was a revised version of this.

The Plan of Teignmouth (cf Croydon 4) published precisely during this period is only Published by Edward Croydon. George Henry was also Clerk to Magistrates from 1848 to 1866[x]. He was Clerk to the Deputy Lieutenant for Totnes or Bridgetown Division 1848 and County in 1866. He represented the Atlas insurance company.[xi]

It was another Edward, fourth child and eldest son of Edward Senior, who chose not to remain in Teignmouth but opened his own business in Torquay. He was born in East Teignmouth and baptised there on 12th May 1816. He also worked as a printer, stationer, bookbinder, librarian, music seller and, like his father, ran a Berlin repository (1840).^[xii]

Edward Croydon senior gave the Ordnance Survey as source for his map material in both Watering Places and in The Teignmouth Guide. This latter appeared in 1826 but was reissued later as The Teignmouth, Dawlish, And Torquay Guide with an account of the surrounding neighbourhood and, as such, was one of the earliest guides conforming to a modern-day format (see JVSC S.95). Probably written by Nicholas Toms Carrington (whose name is on the cover, but together with others), it was published by Edward Croydon. This volume included lithographic views as well as the map ‘By Special Permission from the Right Hon'ble the Board of Ordnance' engraved by W Read. The book was also sold by C and J Rivington, Baldwin and Co. in London, by Gore in Dawlish and by Cole and Luscombe in Torquay.

N T Carrington was a poet and local historian. His work The Banks of the Tamar; a Poem: with after pieces was published by John Murray in 1823 and was frequently republished. Dartmoor: A Descriptive Poem, a further poetic work was also published by John Murray, 1826 (JVSC S.80) with etchings by P H Rogers. One critic suggested that Carrington's verse is a bit on the heavy side, but his notes are fascinating snippets of local history.

W Read, who engraved the small map for the Teignmouth Guide, was a line and stipple engraver of portraits, landscapes as well as topographical views after his contemporaries.[xiii] He produced a number of other engravings for Croydon and these found their way into a small booklet of 4 (or more) aquatints by Read after L E Reed and published by Croydon c.1825; and he also produced 4 or more aquatints after T E Chapman for Aquatint Views of Dawlish published by Jane Gore and J Knighton in Dawlish, c. 1828.[xiv]

The same map, but with a new title, was included in a “companion” volume on Torquay first published in 1841 (in Torquay by Edward junior). It had the same size and format as the Teignmouth Guide, above. The Torquay Guide seems to have appeared only in 3 editions, while its older brother was finally published in a 16^th edition in about 1864 (all editions after 1848 in Teignmouth by E and G H Croydon).

Fig. 3: View of Torquay from the Pier from Croydon's Torquay Guide. 

Croydon´s Handbook to Torquay and its Neighbourhood appeared in 1854 (Fig. 3). It was only slightly revised once and reissued circa 1860. This guide included a new, specially prepared, map. It was probably as a response to this that Edward Cockrem published his first Torquay guide. Some copies of Croydon´s later edition (which was undated) have been seen with a new set of engravings not listed by Somers Cocks.

As we have already seen, Croydon had prints of the Durnford Sisters, the Alphington Ponies executed, probably before 1851 and before they returned to Exeter. The first was that used by Sabine Baring-Gould to illustrate his accounts of the sisters: the second was a view from the back. Published at Croydon´s Circulating Library, 10 Victoria Parade, Torquay, it must have been a companion to the view Baring-Gould had copied. Unlike Cockrem´s view, there is no sign of Croydon´s Library in either of the two views.

 

Fig. 4: The Alphington Ponies from behind by Croydon (detail). 

For a list of Croydon´s prints – click here. 

Daniel Pettikin Ardley

Views of the two sisters are comparatively rare and I have only come across half a dozen examples. Daniel Pettikin Ardley^[xv] of Torquay published and sold a small vignette illustration of the sisters about this time. Ardley´s premises were at 12 Braddon´s Row and he is listed in both Hunt & Co.´s Directory & Topography of 1848[xvi] and in White´s Directory of 1850. In the former work he is listed twice: once as Bookseller and Stationer; and once as Hair Dresser and Perfumer. There is an advert for his services which reads (Fig. 5): D. ARDLEY, (From Mr. Holmes', Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, London,) HAIR CUTTER, PERFUMER, STATIONER & BOOKSELLER, 12, BRADDON'S ROW, TORQUAY. SOLE AGENT FOR KAYE'S WORSDELL'S PILLS. In Kelly´s 1856 directory he is also listed as Ardley Daniel, hairdresser & stationer, Fleet street.  

Fig. 5: Advert in Hunt & Co.´s Directory & Topography

Maxted^[xvii] notes that Ardley flourished between1848-1856 and only one work is actually credited to Ardley; 12 steel engraved vignettes published circa 1870 as Views of Torquay. However, this should probably read 1848-1870 and the book of views may have been one of his last “publishing” ventures before handing the business over to his son. Daniel Pettikin died in 1898 according to the Torquay Times and South Devon Advertiser. He had been living in London for 20 years since handing over to his son, Daniel.

Two stories concerning Daniel made their way into the newspapers illustrating how difficult it was for traders in late Victorian England with petty justice. In 1878 Mr. D … Ardley, hairdresser and perfumer of Fleet Street, was summoned for permitting his chimney to be on fire.  In 1890 he was fined the obligatory 6 Guineas for a contravention of the bye-laws of the Local Board, by having his shop blinds below the height required.

It is worth noting that five vignette views attributed directly or indirectly to Ardley found their way into a manuscript scrapbook, Drives in and about Torquay, kept by H M A in 1863-64. H. M. A. was Harriette Matilda Armytage, the daughter of Sir George Armytage, 5th Baronet (1819-1899).^[xviii] She spent some time in Torquay and accumulated copious engravings and compiled three scrapbooks of her convalescence.

Book 1, Page 1; View of Waldon Hill & Sulyard Terrace. Imprint (below title): Published by D Ardley. Imprints: (left below vignette) A Cowen & Sons, Cannon St. West. and No. 447 (right below view). (Not in Somers Cocks).

Book 1, Page 13; Cockington Church, near Torquay. Imprint (below title): Published by D Ardley. (Variation of Somers Cocks SC0398 ascribed to Rock & Co., No. 1137).

Book 1, Page 37; Chapel Hill Torquay. Imprints: (left below vignette) Rock & Co. London. No. 1490 and Published by D Ardley, 1st 1850 (right below view). (Variation of Somers Cocks SC3324 bearing Ardley´s imprint within view).

Book 2, Page 03; Abbey Crescent, Torquay. Imprints: (left below vignette) Rock & Co. London. No. 4413 and 1 Nov 1861 (right below view). Imprint (below title):  Published by D Ardley, Torquay. (Variation of Somers Cocks SC3069).

Book 2, Page 09; Torr Church, Devon Torquay. Imprint (below view right): Published by D Ardley, Torquay*. (Not in Somers Cocks).

Ardley was one of many traders in seaside resorts who was encouraged to have a stock of Rock & Co. vignettes or, more likely, small books of 6, 12 or 20 views bound together and with the proprietor´s name printed on the cover. While several others of this nature have been seen for Torquay, e.g., both Cockrem and J Harris of Torquay were selling the same views by Kershaw etc. in booklets of 20 views with their own imprint. Ardley´s Views of Torquay were 12 of the same batch. Similar sets of Rock & Co. views were printed and sold by C Way or by M C Oldrey of 1 Strand.[xix]

Two of the above views (*) have Ardley´s imprint below the vignette and not below the title as usual. One further view must have been executed before 1850: an engraving of the Durnford Sisters.

Fig. 6: Vignette style view of the Durnford Sisters by Ardley of Torquay

Ardley´s illustration of the sisters measures 67 x 78 mm and the dealer who offered it attributed the engraving to Rock & Co. As they had produced two of the five Ardley engravings included in the Armytage collection, this would make sense (Fig. 6). The company of Rock & Co were the foremost producers of views at the time and had a west country connection. Rather sweetly, the image was sent to a friend tipped onto part of a contemporary humorous letter dated July 20th 1849. It begins: "you will perceive that the accompanying engravings supply the representation of two remarkable ladies - so that, if William is not really fixed, now is the time for him to make his choice."

William Elliott

As we have already seen, William Elliott had a certain connection with Edward Cockrem. There were rumours of a partnership in 1834 which did not materialise although two jointly published books of views did appear in 1841. William Elliott had been an apprentice to Lazarus Congdon of Plymouth Dock and was registered first at (1) Vaughan Parade (1840-1855) and later at 2, Lawrence Place (1856). He was proprietor of the Torquay Chronicle from 1856. Somers Cocks dates one engraving of Watcombe near Torquay by Smart and published by Elliott to 1830 making it his earliest recorded work (3357) but Elliott is reported to have not begun his business before 1837 in a conversation with William Pengelly.

Be that as it may, a joint work published by Cockrem and Elliott was A Guide to Torquay which appeared under their combined imprint in 1841. This guide, containing general history and explanation of the panorama from Park Hill, contains one of the most attractive of Devon "maps". It is actually a 360° panorama of the view seen from Park Hill over the bay at Torquay. A further nine vignettes illustrate this charming, but fairly small work. The text explained the attractions visible.

A further example pointing to some cooperation was Scenery of Torquay and Babbicombe. This was published in Torquay by Cockrem, Elliott and Barrett and in London by R Ackermann in the same year, 1841. This was a set of five lithographs by W. Gauci after T C Dibdin and E Vivian. Views of Torquay. .[xx]

Elliott published one further map of Torquay about the same time as the small guide book appeared. Some time prior to the arrival of the railway in 1848 he published a map A New Map Of The Environs of Torquay which was executed by E W Gribble as architect and Lewis of Exeter as engraver. Edward Wynne Gribble may have been the architect of Barton Hall (1830s) and of Bishopstowe (which later became the Palace Hotel) in 1841 for the then Bishop of Exeter, Henry Phillpotts. Gribble’s address was 8 Park Place, Torquay. 

At some time before 1866 Leonard Seeley became the proprietor at 2, Lawrence Place, presumably taking over Elliott’s business.[xxi] Elliott´s output was small: he seems to have published one further guide book: History and description of the ruins of Berry Pomeroy Castle, Devon. 1848. This had just one folding illustration.[xxii] Three or four further works appeared between 1848 and 1855, all of a religious nature, and all but one in collaboration with other Torquay booksellers. A small booklet of 24 pages was An appeal to my fellow townsmen in Torquay: and through them to the people of Devonshire and of the three kingdoms, on behalf of the Rev. James Shore, M.A., of Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge, and Minister of the chapel of H.G. the Duke of Somerset, at Bridgetown, Totnes, now imprisoned for costs in St. Thomas's Ward, Exeter, at the suit of the registrar of the Right Rev. The Lord Bishop of Exeter by Culling E. Eardley. This was published in Torquay and sold by Elliott, Cockrem, Croyden, and Wreyford; London: Partridge and Oakey. 1849.

In 1855 Brief sketches of the early history, conversion, and closing period of the life of Mary, second daughter of the Hon. John Grey. Communicated in three letters to a nephew by Rev Harry Grey was published in London by Wertheim and Macintosh, in Winchester by Jacobs & Johnson in Exeter by Roberts & Holden and in Torquay by Elliott, Cockrem, & Matthews.

Another interesting case of collaboration was that of the Rev. William Maskell of St Marychurch. The parishioners became quite agitated that the said Reverend was preaching “doctrines differing little from those of the Church of Rome”.  A great amount of correspondence took place between George Atkinson, Sir C Eardley, the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Tozer (secretary of the local committee), and the Rev. Maskell. Much of this was printed subsequent to meetings to determine whether the parishioners were prepared to split away from the Established Church and found a new (free) church. Some papers relative to the state of the parish of St. Mary Church, near Torquay, Devon. Published by Sir C.E. Eardley. Including correspondence with the Bishop of Exeter. Third edition .. The resolutions of a meeting of "Protestant heads of families," and correspondence with W. Maskell. - 3rd edition, including the resolutions of a meeting of "Protestant heads of families" and a correspondence with the Rev. W. Maskell. Torquay: Printed by Edward Cockrem. 1850. Torquay: Sold by Cockrem, Elliott and Wreford; St Marychurch: Mr Tozer, Butcher.

A great believer in the free church and free belief he supported many who felt that the Anglican church was not sufficiently separated from the Catholic church. Sir Culling and Lady Eardley were occasional Torquay visitors occupying Hillsborough House on Braddon´s Hill (1846). From 1850 to 1853, Sir Eardley sponsored, and gave financial support, to the construction of an evangelical church at Furrough Cross, Babbacombe[xxiii], in defiance of the Bishop of Exeter, who comes out extremely badly in all this as he supported Maskell, even making him his domestic chaplain. 

The church did not have an easy start and the Reverend Hugh Kelly (ex-Free Church Minister) was convicted for an alleged assault on his maid. The parishioners and many of the leading Torquay citizens were outraged and once again there were letters to and fro including A Letter to the Right Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, M.P., … in Reference to the Case of the Rev. Hugh Kelly, … Who was convicted of an alleged Assault at the Torquay Petty Sessions, June the 7th, 1852. This was published for George Atkinson by W Elliott, and sold by all booksellers at One Shilling.

The second print of the Durnford Sisters which appeared in Charles Ellis´ History of Torquay (1930) apparently shows the two ladies outside Elliott´s Library (Fig. 7). Certainly, the library would have been a significant site in the 1840s, vying with Cockrem´s reading rooms and Croydon´s Royal Library. However, the view might be stylised rather than accurate, but could be depicting the shop at 1 Vaughan Parade.

Fig. 7: The Alphingon Ponies in front of Elliott´s Library.

The Durnford Sisters have not quite disappeared from Torquay altogether. According to Kevin Dixon[xxiv] their walk is often replicated.

Chapter I. Edward Cockrem: his life and publishing output

Chapter II. The Alphington Ponies: the Durnford Sisters

Chapter III. The Strand Torquay: the main thoroughfare in the mid-1800s

Appendix I. Cockrem´s published works 1829 – 1873

Appendix II. Croydon´s prints, 1817 - 1860

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[i] The Teignmouth, Dawlish, and Torquay Guide; Edward Croydon; Teignmouth; 1830. The title page is undated but when sold in publisher´s printed boards there was a date on the spine.

[ii] His Royal Highness Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence visited Torbay in 1828. He was crowned William IV on 26^th June 1830. Croydon dedicated his Teignmouth Guide to him.

[iii] In reality, apart from three of the four fold-out panorama views, the views show houses belonging to the gentry. Affluent visitors could often arrange visits.

[iv] Usually hand-coloured, by D Havell, T Shury, and J C Stadler, after drawings by W B Noble (JVSC S.64). Originally issued in three parts between 1817 and 1818, there was a second edition (1821) but further printings in 1819 and 1823 have been reported; only the first issue (and an edition of 1819, see Croydon 1) included the map.

[v]  Interestingly a Miss Croydon took over the Circulating Library previously owned by Jane Gore in Dawlish about 1830. In 1930 a Mr S A Croydon was managing director of The Teignmouth Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd in Station Road, Teignmouth: Kelly's Directory.

[vi]  The following address gives a listing of private libraries: http://www.r-alston.co.uk/england.htm.

[vii] See Somers Cocks: S.64, S.65, S.76, S.95, S.117. There were also single prints of Dawlish and Teignmouth: in 1825: 635; 1827: 2883, 2884; c.1835: 2835, 2892, 2920; c.1845-6: 2856, 2857, 2908, 2926A; c.1848: 2928, 2930; c.1850: 2822, 2859. Also 219 Bishopsteignton Lodge, c.1822; 3021, Ansty's Cove, and Bishopstow, Torquay (1855?).

[viii] Maxted.

[ix] This included a frontispiece of Templecombe Church Drawn on by L Mucklestone (Louisa Mucklestone). Copy at Bl.

[x] Kelly's Post Office Directory of Somerset with Devonshire and Bristol.

[xi] Maxted.

[xii] Billings (1857; Pp. 191 and 535) has Edward Croydon, printer, stationer, bookseller, engraver, and Magistrate's clerk, circulating library and Berlin fancy repository at Regent Street, Teignmouth as well as Edward Croydon, printer, book and music seller, and stationer; Berlin repository, Royal Library and Reading Room at 2, Victoria Parade, Torquay. Both are listed in Kelly (1866) but Edward senior is now only stationer, bookseller and music seller.

[xiii]  Mackenzie p. 258.

[xiv] See Somers Cocks entries S.76 and S.92.

[xv] His full name is given in an announcement to savers with the West of England and South Wales District Bank placed in The Welshman, 24th February 1865. He is given as Hairdresser.

[xvi] Full title: both Hunt & Co.´s Directory & Topography for the cities of Exeter and Bristol. London; E Hunt & Co., 1848.

[xvii] Exeter Working papers: Devon Book Trades: Torquay. Ardley, D.  Views of Torquay. D. Ardley, [1870]. Contents: 12 steel engraved vignettes. Copy at Devon Heritage Centre: sB/TOR 7/1870/VIE.

[xviii] See https://etched-on-devons-memory.blogspot.com/2017/03/drives-in-and-about-torquay-by-h.html for a complete overview of Miss Armytage´s scrapbooks.

[xix] For an overview of these albums of views visit my blogspot, which illustrates a number of sets issued about this time.

[xx] Somers Cocks S.153. Copy also sold at Bonhams March 2016. Views: Tor Church; Torbay, from Tor Abbey Ruins; Torquay, from Waldron Hill; Torquay, from Park Hill; Torquay from the Summit of Park Hill; Babbicombe, from Petit Tor.

[xxi] A Besley guide of 1869 has an advert for L Seeley.

[xxii] Two known copies: Devon Heritage Centre (p725.18/BER/HIS) and National Trust libraries.

[xxiii] See, for example, http://furroughcross.org/index.html.

[xxiv] https://wearesouthdevon.com/the-alphington-ponies-in-torquay/. The photograph is taken from the website. All other images are among my collection.