Chapter Two

 The Reverend Charles Henry Craufurd

The Reverend Craufurd was Rector of St. Mary’s Church, Oldswinford from 1835 until his death in 1876 [a period of 41 years]. He was the main force behind the establishment of the new schools in Old Swinford and in recognition of this, School Street was renamed as Craufurd Street in 1898. We know from the school Log Books that not only the Reverend Craufurd and his curates but also members of the clergy families were regular visitors to the schools.

The Reverend Craufurd was of an aristocratic family, listed in Burke’s Peerage. Shortly after coming to Old Swinford he married Eliza Hickman of Old Swinford Castle and they had seven children. Eliza Craufurd was a frequent visitor to the Girls’ Department where she was especially interested in the girls’ needlework. She also visited the two other departments. On 24^th December 1863 the Log Book of the Boys’ Department tells us that ‘Mrs. Craufurd came about 3 o’clock and gave each boy a bun and left some marbles’. This was to be the last Christmas visit by Eliza Craufurd as she died in November 1864, when she was aged 48 and the Reverend Craufurd was 61 years old. He continued as a widower until he was absent from the parish in early 1868.When he returned in late March 1868 he announced that he had married his cook, Mary. She was then aged approximately 29, less than half his age and at the time would have been considered his social inferior.

The marriage caused a furore. The Reverend Craufurd preached a sermon justifying his marriage, which increased the discontent of the parishioners. The incident was reported in the National Press.

On 5^th May 1868 Mrs. Mary Craufurd visited the Girls’ Department, and on the 13^th May 1868 she visited the Boys’ Department along with the Reverend Craufurd and ‘the lads sang for them’. Despite the humble origins of the new Mrs. Craufurd she assumed the duties of a mid-nineteenth century clergyman’s wife. On 14^th July 1868 she ‘gave the boys a tea in school this afternoon’. In 1874 she was visiting the school and paying the fees for some of the poorest boys. On 4^thNovember 1874 she visited with ‘the Mistresses Craufurd’ her stepdaughters, to distribute fruit to the boys. Her visits to the Girls’ Department were yet more frequent.

Following the death of the Reverend Craufurd in February 1876 [aged 73] Mary survived him by less than a year when she died aged 36. They had one child, a daughter Lucy, who survived into adulthood and married in London in 1889.