The course of true Pigs never did run smooth

Arthur Lovett and Mary W Lovett

The next people to sign their name and pigs were Arthur and Mary Lovett, the parents of Violet Lovett.

Arthur was born on 25th October 1863 the 3rd son of Colonel Thomas Heaton and Cecil Elizabeth Lovett. He was baptised at Whittington Church in January 1864. He was one of 10 children born to the couple. His early years were spent living at Ebnal Hall in Oswestry, a Grade 2 listed building before the family moved to Belmont (now called Henlle Hall) which had been the seat of the Lovett family for some time. Arthur was a prominent member of the Shropshire aristocracy. He attended Society weddings and balls and hunted with several packs of hounds.

Margaret Mary Lilian Willes Johnson, better known as Mary, was born in 1857 in Bath to John Samuel Willes Johnson and Margaret Ann Pugh. Margaret was the daughter of David Pugh, MP for Montgomery, a role that John Samuel Willes Johnson took on after David Pugh’s death in 1861. Mary was the eldest of three daughters born to John and Margaret, and grew up in Hannington, Wiltshire. After the death of John Samuel Willes Johnson, Margaret and the children lived with Margaret’s sister Mary Lovell. At the time of the 1871 census, they were at Cole Park in Malmesbury, the seat of Mary Lovell’s deceased husband, and at the time of the 1881 census, Margaret, Mary Johnson and Mary Lovell were at Llanerchydol Hall, Welshpool – the family home of the Pughs.

The first appearance of Arthur Lovett and Mary Johnson together in a newspaper article happened on 4th May 1889 in the Wellington Journal. In that edition there is a short write up of a dramatic performance at Adcote, Shropshire in aid of The Shropshire Mission in London, the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society and the Queen Victoria Orphanage (Kilburn). Arthur and Mary both took part in this performance. Later in 1889, their engagement was announced, with their wedding taking place in June 1890.

The Bridgnorth Journal and South Shropshire Advertiser carried a report of the wedding in the June 14th edition. The wedding “took place at St Marys Church, Welshpool at one o’clock on Tuesday afternoon………..The bride walked down the aisle on the arm of her brother in law, Captain Scobell of the Royal Scots Grays, (in the unavoidable absence of her cousin, Captain Lovell, Coldstream Guards)……..she was attended by six bridesmaids:- Miss Muriel Long, niece of the bride; Miss Gwladys Mytton; Miss Ethel Lovett and Miss Mabel Lovett, sisters of the bridegroom; Miss Audrey Battye and Miss Rachel Battye.”

Arthur and Mary moved to Withymoor Farm, Dodcott, part of the Combermere Estate of Cheshire and North Shropshire. They then moved to the house where they would spend the rest of their lives – Greenfields in Weston Rhyn. Their eldest daughter, Guinevere Violet Mary Lovett was born there in 1893, and in 1900 a second daughter, Pretoria May, was born. Tragically Pretoria May died aged just 10 days.

Arthur and Mary were prominent within local Society, attending fairs and balls, and getting up musical and dramatic productions. Arthur was a founding member of the Weston Rhyn National Conservative League lodge.

Arthur died on 23rd November 1914 at Greenfields. Perhaps he had been ill for a while because on the 1911 census two male nurses were working at Greenfields.

With the outbreak of war, and the need for volunteers, Mary threw herself into working as a Red Cross VAD. She commenced service in 1915, volunteering in Winchester and Exeter initially before moving to Ardmillan Auxiliary Military Hospital in 1916 where she completed over 2200 hours of voluntary service. Mary then also spent time doing Canteen Work in both Wiltshire and France before transferring back to Shropshire to work in Pentre Pant Hall.

Margaret Mary Lilian Willes Lovett, of Greenfields, Weston Rhyn died on 5 November 1937.