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A History of Preston in Hertfordshire
1811c
1766
1
Michael and Dorothy (nee Firth) Dewar of Stagenhoe, Herts
It is high time for an article to be written which is devoted to the Dewar family and their connection to
Preston. Usually these word-pictures include brief details of the subject’s ancestors to put their lives
into context. In Michael’s case, because the story of his parents is remarkable, it will be first described
in detail.
Michael Bruce Urquart Bevan was born on 5 August 1886 at 9 Montpellier Grove, Cheltenham, Glos.
He was the only son of William and Anne Evelyn (nee Sadler) Dewar.
William Dewar was Scottish, being born on 6 October 1846 at Cluny, Aberdeenshire, which is near
Midmar (this was often given as his birthplace to census enumerators) and around ten miles west of
Aberdeen. He was the son of William and Jessie (nee Urquart) Dewar. William senior was a
veterinary surgeon and farmer of 100 acres.
One family tree on Ancestry has him as a ship’s boy in the Royal Navy as per the 1861 census. This
is laughable. He was at home with his widowed father at Lyne Farm, Cluny. William then began a
career in teaching in England: in 1871 at The Grange School, Ewell, Surrey and ten years later as a
private tutor of four children aged nine to nineteen at Stainborough Hall, Barnsley, Yorks. In 1883, and
teaching now at Cheltenham College, Glos., he married Annie Evelyn Sadler (the daughter of a
physician) at Barnsley. There was an age difference of around eighteen years between the two.
The news announcement above indicates that William had a degree. The couple had three children in
quick succession at Cheltenham: Agatha Mary (born December Qtr of 1884) and Evelyn Hester
(Dec. Qtr 1885) followed by Michael in 1886:
By 1901, William was teaching at the prestigious and public Rugby School and he and Annie were
living at the twenty-four-roomed Horton House, Hillmorton Road, Rugby, which served as
accommodation for eight to eleven pupils.
Horton House
photographed by Brian
Mawdsley and Horton
House boarders in 1908
(Reproduced from the
‘Our Warwickshire’
website’) In 1901 and
1911, Horton House had
a cook and three maids,
and so was certainly a
boarding house.
William Dewar at Rugby with his children in 1894 (Reproduced from the ‘Our Warwickshire’ website’)
William Dewar with his family. Evelyn is far right . She was later the Headmistress of the Laurels
School for Girls, Rugby. She married The Ven. Claude Blagden, Rector of Rugby and Archdeacon
of Warwick, in 1922. They had one child, Claudia, born at Rugby in 1927 when Blagden had just
been nominated, Bishop of Peterborough. (Reproduced from the ‘Our Warwickshire’ website’)
As a consequence of this decision, in July 1909 when King Edward visited Rugby, William (who was
now the Chairman of Urban District Council) was presented to His Majesty, gave the address of
welcome, presented the King to other dignitaries and finally saw him depart from the town. His
address was reprinted in the Rugby Advertiser:
In April of 1903, William decided to enter the arena of local politics, apparently egged on by the
populace:
(This is one of those occasions when I‘ have had to
decide whether the quality of the photograph is such
that it shouldn’t be used. Other times, I judge it
should be used because of what can be seen)
Two events in June 1909 made it a momentous month for William - The Proclamation and the
marriage of Agatha:
…
The 1911 census was similar to the previous two counts, although the pupils and staff had changed.
News reports indicate that William retired in that year - he was sixty-four at census time.
William continued with his commitments to civic duty, but in October 1916, news came from Europe of
the death of his son-in-law:
In May 1910, William was involved in the Proclamation of King George V at Rugby. The image below
gives an impression of the occasion and similar photographs in newspapers were captioned, “Mr
Dewar reading the Proclamation”.
William died on 27 April 1917. The plaudits that followed indicate his work in the town of Rugby and
the esteem with which he was held:
The 1921 census shows Mrs Dewar’s situation following her husband’s death - she was still living at
Horton House with her father for company and three servants.
Thirteen years later, in 1939, she was living at 17 Whitehall Road, Rugby
with a cook and a maid.
She was still residing there when she died on 15 January 1955. Her
volume of work, as revealed by obituaries, was impressive:
Michael Bevan Urquart and Dorothy Gertrude (nee Firth) Dewar
Michael Bruce Urquart Dewar was born on 5 August 1886 at Cheltenham, Glos. He was educated at
Rugby School and Trinity College Cambridge and served an apprenticeship at Vickers Ltd of
Sheffield. He married Dorothy Gertrude Firth on 26 October 1910 at her local church at Whitecliffe,
Yorks:
The wedding news reports were dominated by references to the bride’s father, Sir Algernon Firth, who was a
‘Captain of Industry’ and owner of Messrs T F Firth and Sons Ltd. of Bailiffe Bridge, carpet manufacturers.
This may explain the lavish three-column, page-length news spread in the Halifax Daily Guardian which
describes a long list of presents and the interest of local people in the wedding. The paper also mentioned
that the couple’s home at Priestley Green had been ‘acquired and equipped for them’ by Sir A Firth:
A more succinct report was carried by another local newspaper, but still the bride’s father was
featured:
The 1911 census confirmed their home as being at Priestley Trace and the couple had a cook and
two maids.
As we will see, Michael became even closer identified with the armaments industry, likely because of
his apprenticeship with Vickers Ltd (and not his work with carpets!). It is somewhat odd that two men,
Douglas Vickers and Michael Dewar who were involved in heavy armaments manufacture should
have such close connections with a peaceful village in Hertfordshire.
In 1921, the census enumerator found Michael and Dorothy with four children at Bridge House,
Dunkeswick, Yorkshire and described his work as Managing Director of Leeds Forge Co Ltd, Leeds -
rolling stock manufacturer.
Michael and Dorothy had seven children but two sons died - Richard (born and died in 1925) and John
Michael Firth Dewar, who was killed in action during 1941. They were Grizelda (born 1914), Jean M C
(1916), William Quentin (1922), Alastair Richard (1926) and Alison Susannah.
By 1923, the Dewar family had moved nearer London to Danesbury, Welwyn, Herts, although their
children were born in the Leeds, Yorks area. Later, Michael, who was a keen sportsman, hit the
winning runs in a cricket match in the grounds of their new home, Danesbury House in 1932. Their
daughters, Grizelda (who was photographed hunting with the Hertfordshire Hounds in 1925) and Jean,
married at Welwyn in 1934 and 1935 respectively, while Alison Susan married at St. Paul’s Walden in
1939 - which illustrates the family’s movements in the 1930s. In a news report of October 1935 that
Michael was described as being at Stagenhoe house and ‘late of Welwyn’.
Weddings: Top, Grizelda Dewar to Spencer A Block, (Surrey cricketer, Cambridge Blue
and ‘Rugger player); right,Jean Myrtle Dewar to R M Handfield-Jones (POW WW1, Military Cross
and London surgeon and, bottom, Alison Susan(nah) Dewar to Peter Woolbridge (Cricketer)
Another event impacted on the lives of the Dewar family. Dorothy’s father, Sir Algernon Firth, died on
1 November 1936. After various bequests and gifts to family members (which amounted to less than
£100,000) the residue of his estate which totalled £390,483 was left to Dorothy Gertrude Dewar.
Meanwhile, Michael’s work with British Timken, based in the Midlands, of which he was made
Chairman in 1928, was progressing. In 1937, he announced that increased profits were due to a
greater volume of output and improved methods of manufacture. Timken was making roller bearings
and ball bearings for various applications and this was proving to be almost as important as the
invention of the wheel, it might appear.
In 1938, the Birmingham Gazette devoted a complete page to Timken which was ‘building a vast
business’. They had started building rollers for horse-drawn vehicles and cars and had now diversified
into many other fields such as supplying bearings for train locomotives world-wide, in countries like
South Africa, Egypt and India. It was their incredible accuracy and quality which had been at the heart
of their success. Now a World War was looming and the demand for roller bearings was about to
rocket.
Like many business men, Preston and its environs was an attractive village in which to live being within easy
commuting distance from London. It was Dorothy (perhaps bankrolled by her father) who purchased
Stagenhoe house and estate in around early 1934:
Of Michael Dewar’s parents, William and Annie Evelyn (nee Sadler) Dewar
Michael and Dorothy Dewar’s wedding photographs
15 February 1935
It is clear from news reports and from the terms of her will (which will be shown later) that Dorothy took an
interest in farming. In 1936, she presented prizes in a ploughing competition. Then, in March 1939 she
entered an exhibit at the National Pony Society’s show in London. (Sadly, it was her love of horses which led
to her death.)
Note here that Dorothy was a Justice of the Peace. She was also President of the Preston and Stagenhoe
Women’s Institute from 1939 to 1943.
It is against this backdrop, that it seems incredible that, like Douglas Vickers, Michael became
involved with farming at Preston - which is some distance from the West Midlands, but not from
London. In 1935, the heading on his personal notepaper indicates that he had offices in the
metropolis at 10 Mayfair Place, London W1. On New Years Day 1935, Michael asked Reginald Hine,
the Hitchin historian, asking if he was in a position to write a History of Stagenhoe. He wrote, “he
wrote “I should very much like to to have some research work done on Stagenhoe. Could you give me
some idea as to what it would cost and whether you would be prepared to undertake it? I should like
to try and find some old drawings and prints there are of it, and its real history. I hope in the summer
to open up the secret passage which Mr Baillie Hawkins tells me exists, and if possible to follow it to
its end.” Hine was enthusiastic about the commission.
In around 1936, Dorothy and Michael bought Home Farm, Preston which is beside the St Albans
Highway. A herd of Ayrshire cattle was purchased by Dorothy for the farm:
In the late 1930s, Michael also purchased the “prizewinning Preston herd” of Saddleback pigs which
had been raised by Douglas Vickers at Castle Farm, Preston and was exhibiting them in June 1939.
He was to sell them in 1945.
Home Farm occupied 560 acres and in 1939 Michael was described as Managing Director of a farm
of national importance.
The shaded portion was the land occupied by Home Farm in 1945
We have now arrived at the time of WW2 and Michael was not in Britain:
Michael was closely involved with the design of the Sherman
tank which was used by many British units during the war.
When the second model rolled off the production line in 1942,
it was sent to Britain with the name “Michael” on its side in
capital letters and was displayed at Horse Guards Parade,
London. The significance of this was apparently lost on
Winston Churchill and the public.
Michael was in the US in 1943 when newspapers reported the death of Dorothy.
When the terms of her will were made public, this story was featured in several newspapers:
There is a Memorial to Dorothy and their son, John, in All Saints Church, St Pauls Walden Herts.
In 1945, Michael was appointed High Sheriff of Hertfordshire. Also that year, Home Farm was sold
with three other farms in a newly constituted Minsden Estate and Michael married his secretary,
Josephine Mullins, in the private chapel at the Palace, Peterborough in October 1945. The couple
settled at Little Horwood Manor, Bletchley, Bucks where Michael suddenly died in 1950. By this time
he had been awarded an OBE and was a local magistrate.
(Note: there is a section devoted to Sir Algernon Firth in Google books: Link
google.co.uk/books/edition/Joseph_1917/kb7eDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Dewar%22+AN
D+%22sherman+tank%22&pg=PA111&printsec=frontcover )
Michael is memorialised by this section of a stained-glass window at St Nicholas, Little Horwood,
Bucks. Reproduction of this image has been kindly allowed by www.buckschurches.uk