Into the Twentieth Century

The Height of Empire

The latter part of the 19^th and the earlier part of the 20^th saw Britain at the pinnacle as a world power. British explorers and merchants were opening up world trade and where they went, missionaries soon followed

The Oxford movement had revitalised the Church of England and the number of services held increased steadily in all churches. Saints days and other festivals began to be observed again and Holy Communion became a frequent event rather than a four times a year observance.

By 1875 the State had begun to take a serious interest in education and was supporting and encouraging the opening of schools. The changes in social policy which had been given impetus by the 1832 Reform Act, gave birth to local authorities and the separation of the civil and ecclesiastical functions of the parish vestry. From 1894 the vestry was left with only a limited number of strictly church matters to deal with.

Charles Henry Travers 1875-1881

Charles Henry Travers was born in 1821 on board HMS Minerva whilst it was near St Helena. He was the son of Sir Thomas Otho Travers and was educated at Queens College Oxford, taking his BA in 1845 and MA in 1849. He was vicar of Stewkley in Buckinghamshire from 1859 to 1870 when he became vicar of St Giles, Reading, a post which he still held until he was inducted to Purley at a ceremony in Thatcham on 8^th December 1874.

After the estate of his predecessor had been settled he was presented with the land upon which the school and school house was standing by Richard Palmer’s sister. Negotiations for the sale of 22 acres of Glebe land to Major Storer started in 1874. This represented two fields out of the five remaining to the glebe at that time. The patron, the Lord Chancellor, was concerned that it would reduce the value of the living too much and he suggested that in part exchange the rector should get the meadow opposite the rectory. Major Storer however stated that the land was entailed and he was not able to dispose of it. The Lord Chancellor was also concerned that the price of land was liable to rise. However in the end he relented and authorised the sale. He forebad the use of the £2000 proceeds being put towards paying off a loan to Queens Anne’s Bounty and he ruled that it must be invested to yield income in perpetuity. He relented again on this point and when eventually in 1879 the sale was finally concluded, £575 was used to pay off the loan and the balance of £1425 was invested on behalf of the benefice by the Church Commissioners. A year later he sold off further land to the GWR for the widening of the railway between Reading and Didcot.

Also in 1879 he and his Churchwardens Thomas Barnes and Anthony Storer fixed new fees. The fee list was found when the church was spring-cleaned in May 1976. The standard burial fee was 1 shilling to the rector and 3/6 to the sexton. For one guinea you could have a brick grave or one with head and foot stones. For two guineas you could get a vault.

Charles Travers moved to Englefield in 1881 where he remained as rector until he died on 20th December 1884.

Matthew Powley 1881-1899

Matthew Powley was the son of John Powley of Longwathby in Cumberland and born around 1827. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford taking his BA in 1849. He was ordained the following year and served from then until 1859 as curate of Wallasey. He then moved to Malaga as chaplain to the British Community. The British Consul at Malaga was William Mark who had been born William Winslow. He had been assistant secretary to Nelson in 1803 and later Prize Agent at Gibraltar. His youngest daughter was Mary Anne Fernadino Mark and she married Matthew around 1862 and died in 1863 giving birth to their son Herbert. He remarried to Louise Jane soon after and Matthew moved to Gibraltar in 1866 where he was made a canon. He was the Spanish editor for the Anglo-Continental Society for many years and returned to England in 1869. He served as vicar of Christchurch, Whitley, Reading from 1869 until his induction to Purley on March 17th 1881 as part of a triple exchange between Purley, Englefield and Whitley.

At the April 1891 Census he was recorded as being aged 66 and living with his wife Louisa, aged 53 and their children, Margaret H aged 20, John Richard aged 13, Clement E aged 12 Allan D aged 10 plus three servants, a cook, a parlourmaid and a housemaid. His son Herbert (1863-1936) married Caroline Eva Henrietta Sykes (1872-1951) the daughter of Sir Frederick and Lady Sykes of Basildon Park and later of Westfield, Purley around 1870.

His son, Second Lieutenant Allan D. Powley of the First Battalion, Kings African Rifles, was killed in the First World War leading his men in a charge in German East Africa. He had been an actor until he joined the army at the start of the war. He died on 10th June 1916 and is buried at Kiringa in what is now Tanzania.

Matthew and Louisa also had four daughters: Margaret, Frances, Phyllis and Daisy. Margaret Helen (b 1871) married Lieutenant John Arthur Tapman of RMLI Gravesend on 4^th August 1896 at Purley. Their daughter Marjorie was baptised at Purley on 17^th October 1897. Frances Grace (b c1873) married Sydney Henning Belfrage (b c1871) at Purley on 7^th September 1899. Phyllis Mary was baptised at Purley on 23^rd April 1882. Daisy married Mr J. Seton Henderson and lived in Reading.

Matthew retired in 1899 but he continued to officiate until Easter 1800. He died on August 24th 1904 aged 78 and was buried at Purley. A plaque to his memory was erected in the chancel in 1946. His widow Louise moved to live in Southcote Road in Reading but she was always given the first crop from the asparagus beds at Purley Rectory until she died on 10th April 1922 aged 82.

Purley retained the Gibraltar connection for many years after Matthew's death as up to 1924 regular contributions were made to various charities administered by the Bishop of Gibraltar.

During the inter-regnum Purley was served by a number of local clergy. The longest spell was by Albert Ennor who was officially curate of North Stoke at the time. Albert had been ordained in 1873 and served as curate at Holcombe Regis in Devon until 1874 when he was appointed rector of Ubley in Somerset. He served there until 1893 when he moved to be rector of Crowmarsh-Gifford. In 1898 he emigrated to California to be rector of Los Gatos returning to England in 1900. He then served at Purley from September 9^th 1900 until New Years Day 1901. The other clergy included G H Gwilliam who served from 29/4/00 to 30/5/00 and from 29/7/00 to 8/7/00; W S Wrotham 6/1/01 to 28/4/01; Edgar Priestley 17/6/00 to 22/7/00 and Henry Lancelot Warneford 12/8/00 to 2/9/00.

John Henry Dudley Matthews 1902-1914

John Henry Dudley Matthews was the only son of Charles Matthews of Bradnich, Devon. Born in 1844 he was educated at Rugby School under Dr Temple and at University College, Oxford where he took his BA in 1866. He took his MA in 1869 from Christs College. He was a good oarsman and rowed for his college. Ordained in 1868 he became Tutor and Assistant Master at Wellington College from 1868 to 1884 when he was made Headmaster of Leeds Grammar School. While Headmaster he held a General Licence to preach in the Diocese of Ripon. In 1871 he married Edith Selfe, daughter of a former magistrate and they had five sons and four daughters. His daughter Rose later wrote an article for the Parish Magazine on her first impressions of Purley.

Almost immediately upon his arrival in Purley, the Lord of the Manor, Major Storer died and John assumed his mantle as the leading light in the village and chairman of the Parish Meeting. He found life somewhat difficult as Major Storer's daughter, Mrs Leila Downing-Fullerton made several attempts to run the village as the old Major had done. She tried valiantly to get the bells rung for her daughter's wedding but John refused on the grounds that they were unsafe.

Within two years he had sold off the old and curious piece of tapestry which had been used as an altar covering to the Victoria and Albert Museum for £60. This is described in more detail in section 18.

A few years later he achieved notoriety for his part in what became known as 'The Purley Incident'. Mrs Moule had been mistress of the school for twelve years and her daughter had become pregnant and was rushed into marriage. This did not last and the daughter came back to live with her mother in the school house bringing her baby with her. This outraged the Reverend Matthews and he ordered Mrs Moule's dismissal after conducting an enquiry later condemned by the County Council as being 'in the worst traditions of the inquisition' He was particularly incensed that she had sought the aid of the National Union of Teachers and was adamant that she could not be re-instated despite widespread criticism and having the matter raised in Parliament.

The outbreak of war in 1914 evoked a generous response from Purley. In the first year a donation of £3-17-6 was made for the aid of Belgian refugees and £5-16-10 to the Prince of Wales' Fund. Throughout the war there were regular donations to the red Cross and occasional donations such as £3-6-7 to Lord Kitchener's Memorial Fund and £2-11-5 to support war blinded soldiers' children.

On December 20th 1914 John was drowned in the Thames after helping out his old friend, J St J Thackery by taking evensong at Mapledurham Church. His boat was swept away as he tried to re-cross the river and his body was eventually recovered near Henley five weeks later. He was buried near the porch on January 26th 1915 and a memorial was erected to his memory in the chancel. At his memorial service on 30th December 1914 the choir from St George's Tilehurst accompanied and the service was conducted by the Reverends W.J.Conybeare (Rector of Newington), E.J.Norris (Rector of St Bartholemews in Reading) and H.Wilder (Rector of Sulham).

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JG1 28/3/2008