Collected Correspondence
volume

EDWARD ELGAR :
COLLECTED CORRESPONDENCE

Further Information and Corrections A-F


The entries below, in which amendments and additions appear in red, should be regarded as replacements in full for the current entries except where otherwise indicated.

* * * * *

ABERDARE, LORD 1851�1929
Henry Campbell Bruce, 2nd Aberdare, was the eldest son of Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare, who had served as Home Secretary. He was educated at Rugby School and at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. He succeeded to the title in 1895. An army man, he served in the Welch Regiment. He wrote to Elgar in September 1910 inviting him to adjudicate at the Easter Monday Eisteddfod at Mountain Ash in 1911, an invitation declined by Elgar.

ALMA-TADEMA, SIR LAWRENCE & FAMILY
Laurens Tadema (1836�1912) was born in Holland and studied art at the Antwerp Academy. He moved to London in 1870, changed his name to Lawrence Alma-Tadema and became a British citizen. As an artist he was both commercially and critically successful. He was knighted in 1899 and in 1902 was created a member of the Order of Merit. The Elgars met him in May 1905 at Ridgehurst, Edward Speyer's (q.v.) Hertfordshire home, along with his younger daughter, the painter Anna Alma- Tadema (1867�1943). His elder daughter, the writer Laurence Alma-Tadema (1866�1940), corresponded with Elgar in 1915 about the Polish Victims Relief Fund.

ASHDOWNE, FRANK *
Misreading of Elgar's handwriting: see ASHDOWN, EDWIN

ATHLONE, EARL & COUNTESS
Prince Alexander Augustus Frederick William Alfred George (1874�1957) was the youngest son of the first Duke of Teck and brother of Queen Mary (q.v.). Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, he had a career in the army. In 1904 he married HRH Princess Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline (1883-1981), a grandchild of Queen Victoria. In 1917 he relinquished all foreign titles and was created Earl of Athlone. He was, for eight years, Governor-General of South Africa and, for six, Governor-General of Canada. The Elgars met the Earl and Countess at a recording session at Hayes in February 1920, Alice describing the visit as an incursion of Royalties'.

AUSTIN, ERNEST & FREDERIC
The Austin brothers were born in Clerkenwell, London, sons of Edward Austin, a cabinet maker. The composer Ernest Austin (1873�1947) was self-taught. In 1927 he sent his Hymn of Apollo to Elgar in the hope that it could be included in that year's Hereford Three Choirs Festival. Frederic (1872�1952) had a considerable reputation as a baritone, making his debut in London in 1908. In 1922 he became Artistic Director of the English National Opera. Like his brother, a composer, he is perhaps best remembered for his version of The Beggar's Opera.

BAUER FAMILY
Maurice George Bauer (1875�1948) was the son of Gottlieb Moritz Bauer (1845�1936), a chemical and mineral merchant from Hamburg, and joined him in the family business. In 1904 he married Madeline Speyer (q.v.), daughter of Edward Speyer (q.v.). Their daughter, Dorothea Cecilia (1905�1946), married Philip Knight Haworth (1895�1946), a chartered accountant, in 1930. Their daughter, Madeline Elinor Theodora (1906�1981), moved to Los Angeles and became an American citizen in 1950. The Elgars knew the Bauers through their friendship with the Edward Speyers.

BELLOC, HILAIRE & FAMILY
Joseph Hilaire Pierre Ren� Belloc (1870�1953) was born near Paris, the son of a French lawyer and an English mother, Elizabeth Parkes, from Birmingham. After his father's death in 1872 the family returned to Birmingham, where Belloc attended the Oratory School, going on to Balliol College, Oxford. He became a British citizen in 1902, entered politics and was an MP from 1906 to 1910. He was among the most prolific writers in England in the first half of the twentieth century. Carice heard a broadcast debate between Belloc and Bernard Shaw (q.v.) in June 1925.

BERKELEY FAMILY OF SPETCHLEY PARK
AMEND 3rd paragraph:

Robert Valentine Berkeley (1853�1940), eldest son of Robert and Catherine, inherited Spetchley Park. In 1891 he married Rose Willmott (1861�1922), daughter of Frederick Willmott sister of the garden expert Ellen Willmott. Three of their four children survived beyond infancy and are mentioned in the diaries. Eleanor Mary Berkeley (1892�1930) married John Brennan (1895�1961), of Barraghcore, Goverbridge, Co. Kilkenny, in 1930. Robert George Wilmot [the spelling of Wilmot' here is correct] Berkeley (1898�1969) served with the Westminster Dragoons and the Machine Gun Corps. in the Great War and with the Royal Artillery in the Second World War. He was High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1933 and, like Maurice, played cricket for the county. He was married to Myrtle Dormer, daughter of the 14th Baron Dormer of Wyng. Margaret Elizabeth (Betty) Berkeley, (1902�1998) became Mother Edward of Sion in the Order of Our Lady of Sion in Rome.

BETHELL, JOHN *
John Bethell, Butler & to wait on E', worked for Elgar for two years from the autumn of 1911.

BILLINGTON-GREIG, TERESA MARY 1877�1964
AMEND surname spelling in heading as above; text of entry is unchanged.

BUSCHKÖTTER, WILHELM 1887�1967
AMEND date of death in heading as above; text of entry is unchanged.

BUTHS, JULIUS & HELENA
Julius Emil Martin Buths (1851�1920) was a German conductor, pianist and composer. He was musical director in Düsseldorf, where he conducted the first performance in Germany of The Dream of Gerontius in Germany in December 1901 � only its second complete performance � using his own translation. Skizze is dedicated to him. The Elgars first met his wife, Helena, in Düsseldorf in December 1901.

BUTTERWORTH, GEORGE & FAMILY
Rev. George Butterworth (1823-1893) was the Vicar of Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, from 1856 until his death. He was the grandfather of the composer George Butterworth. He lived with his daughters Susan Justine (1852�1941) and Clara Frances (1853�1943). The Elgars met the Butterworths in December 1891 while spending Christmas with the Bakers (q.v.) at Hasfield Court, Gloucestershire.

BUXTON, SYDNEY CHARLES 1853�1934
AMEND forenames in heading as above; text of entry is unchanged.

CARRINGTON, SIR WILLIAM 1845�1914
William Henry Peregrine Carington was the second son of the 2nd Baron Carrington [the spelling is correct � an r' was added to one's surname on inheriting the title!]. He was educated at Eton and served in the Grenadier Guards. He was Liberal MP for Wycombe from 1868 to 1883. He served the Royal Family from 1880 and was a courtier to Queen Victoria (q.v.), Edward VII (q.v.) and George V (q.v.), for whom he was Keeper of the Privy Purse. Elgar received a letter from him in January 1904 inviting him to dine with the Prince of Wales and to meet King Edward.

CAULFEILD, FRANCIS WADE & FAMILY
Francis Caulfeild (1872�1947) served in the Royal Navy, retiring with the rank of Vice-Admiral. In 1898 he married in Katherine Anne Hawkshaw (1868�1940), the daughter of Sir John Clarke Hawkshaw, a civil engineer who lived at Hollycombe House, Liphook. The Elgars stayed at Hookland, the Caulfeild's house near Midhurst, Sussex, in July 1915. They also knew the Caulfeild's children: Cicely (1899�1985); Wade Toby (1902�1991), who became a banker; and Ann Katharine (1907- �191992); and met Mrs. Caulfield's sister, Dorothy Mary Hawkshaw (q.v.).

COCKERILL, JOHN THOMAS 1890�1962
The harpist and pianist John Thomas Cockerill was born in King's Norton, Worcestershire, the son of John Henry Cockerill, harpist of the Hall� Orchestra, He studied at the Royal College of Music. He was principal harpist in the London Symphony Orchestra. He went to Severn House in November 1916 to play through the special harp part that Elgar had written for his abridged recording of the Violin Concerto with Marie Hall (q.v.).

CUFF, ANNIE ELIZA 1868�1938
Annie was born at Hasfield, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Alfred Cuff, who with his father was a gamekeeper on William Meath Baker's (q.v.) estate. She was a housemaid with the Elgars from June 1896 to August 1898, when she married William Henry Glazier (1867�1917), a grocer, who had moved to Malvern in the 1890s from Lincoln. They later moved to Stafford, where William continued to work as a grocer.

DAWKINS, LADY BERTHA MABEL 1866�1943
Lady Bertha was the daughter of the 1st Earl of Lathom. In 1903 she married Major Arthur Dawkins of the 5th Fusiliers. She was a Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Mary from 1907 to 1935 and an Extra Woman of the Bedchamber thereafter. She wrote to Elgar in 1917 to acknowledge receipt of a copy of The Spirit of England.

DEANE, MARY *
Mary Deane was cook at Severn House in 1919.

DEBALTA, S. *
Elgar corresponded with S. Debalta, editor of La Vie Musicale, in 1902 about a proposed visit to Paris.

DIGHTON FAMILY
AMEND 2nd paragraph:

John Henry Dighton was born in Warwick and was a captain in the army and a JP. In 1844 he married Caroline Raikes (1823�1920), Aunt Car', the sister of Alice's mother. John and Caroline lived at Oak House, Newland, Gloucestershire and had six children: Caroline Mary (1846�1937), Julia Maria (1847�1904), Catherine Key (Kitty) (1849�1943), Edward Horace (1852�1925), Stanley Moore (1858�1920) and Richard (1860�1937). Kitty married Fred Parker (q.v.) in 1885; Edward Horace married Annie Machen (1862�1932) in 1894; Stanley married Alice's friend Georgie Deane (q.v.) and, after her death, Bertha Angelita Miles (1874�1926). He emigrated to Canada with his family, including his son, David Onslow Dighton (1893�1982), who served as a Private with the Canadian Infantry in the Great War, later becoming a Captain in the West Yorkshire Regiment.

DUNCOMBE, WILLIAM & ISABELLA
Prebendary William van der Horst Duncombe (1832�1925) was born in the West Indies and graduated from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1853. He was ordained in 1858 and from 1867 he was at Hereford Cathedral, where he was Minor Canon and Custos of the College of Vicars Choral and Chaplain to Hereford General Infirmary. In 1862 he married Isabella Maria Twyning (1843�1918), daughter of Rev. William Henry Twyning, Rector of Grosmont, Monmouthshire. Alice records that she and May Grafton (q.v.) called on the Duncombes in April 1909.

ELWES, GERVASE & WINEFRIDE
The tenor Gervase Henry Cary Elwes (1866�1921), a substantial landowner, worked in the diplomatic service before deciding to become a professional singer. He became a notable interpreter of Gerontius. He was killed when he stumbled and fell under a moving train in Boston, USA. In 1889 he married Lady Winefride Mary Elizabeth Feilding (1869�1959), daughter of the 8th Earl of Denbigh, and sister of Francis Feilding (q.v.). She was National President of the Catholic Women's League. The Elgars met them at a luncheon party given by Frank Schuster (q.v.) in June 1903 on the occasion of the first London performance of The Dream of Gerontius in Westminster Cathedral.

ELWES, JOAN & FAMILY
AMEND 2nd paragraph:

Joan was one of the four daughters of Edward Leighton Elwes (1848�1930). He was educated at Eton and University College, Oxford, and ordained in 1872. In 1903 he was made Archdeacon of Chichester and in 1914 Chancellor of Chichester Cathedral. In 1877 he married Emily Fownes Somerville (1853-1952), daughter of James Curtis Somerville, barrister and Deputy Lieutenant of Somerset. Carice, a good friend of Joan, met them both and also Joan's sister daughter Constance Periam Elwes (1900�1982) who in 1930 married John Francis Cyril Glover (1892�1982).

ESHELBY, EDWIN 1852�1912
Edwin Eshelby was born in Upton St Leonards, Gloucestershire, the son of George Eshelby, a coachman. The manager of the London showroom of Steinway and Sons for many years, he corresponded with Elgar in 1904 when Samuel Sanford (q.v.) had offered to present Elgar with a Steinway upright.

ETTLING, HENRY & FAMILY
Henry Ettling (1854�1908) was a wine merchant from Mainz, nicknamed Uncle Klingsor' by Elgar after the sorcerer in Parsifal because of his conjuring tricks. A friend of Hans Richter (q.v.) and an amateur timpanist, he played for the Worcestershire Philharmonic Society and even, on occasion, for Richter's Hall� Orchestra. Elgar wrote to his son, Ernst, in 1902

EXTON, FRANCIS 1859�1934
Francis Exton was born in Herefordshire, the son of John Exton, a gamekeeper. He earned a living as a road surveyor, but is best remembered as a flautist in Elgar's youthful wind quintet. He sent birthday greetings to Elgar in 1932.

FANING, JOSEPH & CAROLINE
ADD new 2nd paragraph:

In 1882 he married Caroline Pare Galpin (1858�1932), the daughter of Thomas Dixon Galpin, owner of the publishing house of Cassell. She wrote to Elgar in 1930.

FEILDING, FRANCIS HENRY EVERARD JOSEPH 1867�1936
The second son of the 8th Earl of Denbigh (and sister of Winefride Elwes (q.v.)), Everard Fielding studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar in 1894. He was President of the Psychical Research Society. In 1919 he married the Polish medium Stanislawa Tomczyk (q.v.). The Elgars met him in 1914 at The Hut, Frank Schuster's (q.v.) home near Maidenhead, when he and Stanislawa came to tea.


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