Don't look a guest's Pig in the mouth

Florence Payne Gallwey

There are two possible candidates to be Florence Payne Gallwey – a mother and daughter who lived in Chirk at the time of the signature. I don’t know which Florence signed the book, so this is the story of both of their lives.

Florence Payne Gallwey the elder was born on August 6th 1857, the second child of Arthur Lowry Cole and Elizabeth Francis Hatton. Arthur was a career soldier, having enlisted aged 16 ½ into 7th Regiment (foot) and rising through the ranks to become Colonel of the 17th Regiment. Arthur saw service at the Siege of Sevastopol and later was stationed in Canada where Florence and her younger sister Maud were born.

By the time of the 1861 census, Arthur had retired and the family were living in The Firs, Wimbledon which is located in Cottenham Park area. They remained in this area for many years to follow, although by 1867 (according to the Kelly’s Directory of that year) the family had moved to 12 Lansdowne Road, Wimbledon. Four further children followed the birth of Maud, meaning Arthur and Elizabeth had 4 daughters and 3 sons, with all 3 of their sons following Arthur into the military.

Florence married Rev. Francis Henry Payne Gallwey on 17th April 1888 at St Mary’s Church, Wimbledon. Francis had previously been the curate at St Mary’s Church, Lewisham, and the couple were married by the Vicar of Lewisham, Augustus Legge, who later became Bishop of Lichfield. After the marriage, the couple moved to Kirby Knowle, where Francis had been presented to the Rectory in 1886.

Two years later their first child, a daughter that they named Florence, was born. This is our second candidate for the Florence who signed the book. After Florence the younger, three more children were born in Kirby Knowle to Francis and Florence – twins Beatrice and Lowry in 1891, and a second son, Philip, in 1893. The family stayed in Kirby Knowle until 1897 at which point Francis took up the living at Worthenbury, Flintshire, where their youngest child was born soon after their arrival on 13th January 1898.

The family enjoyed spending time in Rhyl – in June 1899 the “family and nurses of Mrs Payne-Gallwey, Rectory, Wrexham” spent a month at 24 West Parade in the popular seaside resort.

In February 1901 (as per Llangollen Advertiser, 15th February 1901) the Rev F H Payne-Gallwey accepted the living of Chirk. It is likely that it was this move to Chirk that put the Payne-Gallweys into the sphere of the Lovett family, barely 2 miles away in Weston Rhyn. The family seem tohave thrown themselves into the social and community aspects of the area – the Rev. Payne-Gallwey became the vice-president of Chirk Football Club, which at that time had a reputation as being the football nursery of Wales.

The Payne-Gallwey family stayed in Chirk until 1912, when Francis accepted the living of Sessay, near Thirsk – going back to near where the family had begun in Kirby Knowle. The younger Florence met and married a near neighbour, Captain John Edward Utterson Kelso whose family lived at Brafferton Hall, near Helperley. They were married at Sessay on August 5th, 1915, at a time when Captain Utterson Kelso was on leave from the Royal Scots Fusiliers. The Utterson Kelsos had two daughters and a son, and as Captain Utterson Kelso was career army, the family can be seen travelling back and forth around the world depending on his postings.

Florence Payne-Gallwey died on December 10th 1927 and was buried in Sessay graveyard. Her husband, the Rev Francis Payne-Gallwey, retired the following year and died October 30th 1934. He too was buried in Sessay graveyard.

As for Florence Utterson Kelso, her only son, Lieutenant John Philip Utterson Kelso of the Grenadier Guards, was killed in action in August 1944. Her eldest daughter, Margaret (Peggy) married Lieutenant Commander W H B Wallace at the church of the Holy Trinity, Sliema, Malta in 1939. Florence’s youngest daughter married Lieutenant Arthur Kekewich in early 1945.

Florence Utterson Kelso died on 19th February 1955.