Reeve Family Archive

Gift day, refreshments plus ...

Reeve Family Archive

The Reeve family moved to the Stondon Massey Rectory in 1849, and lived in the village for almost a century.  This archive is a generous donation by one of their descendants.  It represents an interesting social history of a well-to-do family of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Please handle these items with care.

1.                   The commonplace book of Captain Edward Reeve (1785-1867).  He wrote this manuscript at The White House, Ongar, in about 1860.  Edward Reeve purchased the Rectory for himself and the advowson for his clergyman son Edward James for £700 in 1849.

2.                   ‘Jottings’ by Edward Henry Lisle Reeve (1858-1936) written in 1881.  He was known as Lisle to his family.

“My father you know is always telling us the same old stories, and then he will turn to me and ask ‘if I remember that’.”

3.                   ‘Plauti Comoediae. Tom. I’.   Lisle was educated at Harrow School.  This book is dated September 1875.

4.                   Lisle was a keen athlete and cyclist during his youth.   The trophy shows success in 1880 in a one-mile and ten-mile race, with a contemporary photograph.  ‘Safety bicycles’ had just been invented, allowing the rider to touch the ground with their feet, and were first catalogued in 1885. 

5.                   Two books belonging to Edward Reeve.  ‘Watts’, a hymn book dated 1815.  Highlighted is the hymn ‘Give to our God immortal praise’.

6.                   ‘Prayer’ dated 1815.  The Book of Common Prayer, which then included prayers for the deliverance of King James I from the Gunpowder Treason (illustrated above), and a form of prayer with fasting in remembrance of the martyrdom of King Charles I.  These remained in the Prayer Book until 1859.  The service of Morning Prayer included a prayer for “our most gracious Sovereign Lord King GEORGE” (George III who had reigned since 1759 – and by 1815 was bonkers) and “our gracious Queen Charlotte, their Royal Highnesses George Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the Royal Family” (George Prince of Wales was Regent and later, from 1820 to 1830 King George IV).

7.                   ‘Church Services’.  A Book of Common Prayer inscribed “Elizabeth Jane Reeve. Aug^st. 22^nd 1884. With her father’s love”.  Jane was one of three daughters of Edward James Reeve (1821-1893), then Rector of Stondon Massey.  The book was given on her 25^th birthday. The same Morning Prayer records “our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen VICTORIA” followed by a prayer for “Albert Edward Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales and all the Royal Family” (Albert Edward eventually became King Edward VII in 1901.  Queen Victoria’s consort, Albert, had died in 1861).

8.                   ‘Hymns for a Week’ and ‘Concordance’.

9.                   ‘Death Certificate of Edward James Reeve’ and Hymns sung at his funeral at Stondon Massey, August 1893.

10.               ‘British Museum. Reading Room’. Rules, dated 1894, reflecting Lisle’s interest in local history.

11.               ‘Stondon Massey’.  The parish history written by Revd. E H L Reeve (Lisle).

12.               Miscellaneous Papers.

The archive is the generous donation of a descendant of Edward Henry Lisle Reeve.

Reeve Family Archive to go on display

Books, manuscripts and documents relating to a Victorian Rector and his family will go on display for the first time at Stondon Massey on Saturday 15 October.

The archive highlights the life and times of a well-to-do family from the Essex / Suffolk border.  

Edward Reeve (1785-1867) served in the West Suffolk Militia before purchasing Stondon Massey Rectory in 1849 for his clergyman son and moving himself and his family into comfortable retirement.  Among the items on display at St Peter & St Paul Church will be his commonplace book written in the last years of his life and another manuscript of 'Jottings' written in 1881 by his grandson, Lisle.  Edward Henry Lisle Reeve, the subject of a recent biography, was born in the village and was the Rector of Stondon Massey, succeeding his father, from 1893 to 1935.  He died 75 years ago this year. 'Jottings' is a combination of family history and stories, told presumably after dinner. It is a fascinating social history about the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.  Reeve's cycling trophy (dated 1880) and photograph can also be seen. A Book of Common Prayer, dated 1817, will be on display which contains prayers associated with the Gunpowder Plot and the Martyrdom of King Charles I.

Canon Reeve is credited by many for bringing William Byrd to local public attention during his incumbency in the early twentieth century.

The archive is a generous donation by descendants of the family. 

Visitors will be able to purchase for the first time three booklets transcribing extracts from the commonplace books.  Also available will be the recently published biography and 'William Byrd Some Notes'. Booklets are £2 each and support the upkeep of the church and churchyard.

St Peter & St Paul Church will be open on Saturday 15 October 2011 from 10.00am to 3.00pm.  Refreshments will also be available on what will be the church's annual Gift Day.

William Byrd Festival: Come and See Stondon Massey

Opening the church this afternoon is as much a tribute to Revd. Edward Henry Lisle Reeve (pictured) as it is to William Byrd. Reeve, as is written elsewhere, was a keen local historian and in no small measure brought the great composer of Stondon Massey to public attention. Illustrative of his hobby is a note of a visit he made 100 years ago today.

Now preserved in the Essex Record Office for all to see, the Archdeacon of Essex and of Colchester records dating back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I were stored in a quite different way a century ago. Revd. Reeve, the rector of Stondon Massey and a keen local historian, made a visit on 8^th May 1911 to Mr Gepp, the Registrar at Chelmsford. He wrote, “Matters had improved since my last visit [11 years ago]. The books had been brought downstairs from the loft, and had been lodged in shelves. This, however, without any regard at all to order or classification. I was treated by Mr Gepp & his Clerks with the kindest consideration and given free access to the library, with a candle in wire lantern to assist me in the dark corner to which it was relegated, and a duster with which to move away so much dust as should be necessary and to keep my fingers free for movement.” Reeve noted the work of Mr Hollingsworth-Browne who was in the process of transcribing the records: “but only some 15 have yet been examined, and I suppose there must be over 150 volumes”.

Source: ERO T/P 188/2 loose paper between f612-613.

'Reverend Edward Henry Lisle Reeve. The Last Gentleman Clergyman of Stondon Massey (Essex)'

A former Rector of Stondon Massey is celebrated with the publication of his biography. Canon Edward Reeve was parish rector for 42 years, succeeding his father in the role. His family moved to the village in 1849 from Dedham. Edward Henry Lisle Reeve was born in 1858, and died at Stondon in 1936. He inhabited an age which has long gone, and he is truly the last gentleman clergyman of his era. Lisle, as he was known only to his family and close friends, was also a keen local historian. During his years as parish priest he did much to promote the image of William Byrd. It was through Reeve’s connections that the Byrd Tercentenary Memorial Tablet was erected on the south wall of the church in 1924. Richard Turbet, our guest speaker at the William Byrd Festival (7 May), describes Reeve as being among “the right people in the right place at the right time” and with “no trace of self-aggrandizement he [Reeve] was successful”.

‘Reverend Edward Henry Lisle Reeve. The Last Gentleman Clergyman of Stondon Massey’ is available, price £2.00 (or £3.00 posted to UK address).

For more information on this clergyman visit Blackmore Area Local History, clicking on this link http://blackmorehistory.blogspot.com/search?q=reeve