Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Birth15 Dec 1856, Sea View, Holdenhurst, Bournemouth
Baptism8 Feb 1857, St Peter's, Bournemouth, Southhants
Death4 Apr 1888, The Croft, Wallingford
Burial7 Apr 1888, St Mary the Virgin, Whitchurch, Oxon
General3rd & 1st surv. s. Mayor of Wallingford: 1885-88; dvp. as mayor.
EducationMalvern School, left Easter 1872.
MotherAnn Phillis Greenwood (1825-1912)
Notes for William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe (born POWYS)
Martin P-L writes:

WILLIAM REGINALD LYBBE P-L, youngest child and heir, 1856-88.

Born at Sea View, Bournemouth, while his parents were on holiday.
1877 married Christina Cecilia Heywood.
1879 she died in Boulogne and was buried there, at Limetiere de l'Est.
1880 married Sarah Bartholomew of Ashley, Cambs., by whom he had 4 children:
         Reginald Cecil, Olga, Richard Barrington and Philip.

1885-7 (TFPL: in fact to his death in 1888.) Mayor of Wallingford, where he lived at The Croft.  He was much loved.  The corporation presented a silver cradle at the christening of his third son, and crowds attended the funeral after his untimely death.

Eileen P-L has a newspaper description of the funeral, in which his wife has to be restrained from leaping into the family vault after her husband.  There is irony as well as drama here, since she swiftly remarried, and consigned her eldest son, aged seven, to foster parents (APL reports these to be the Darnells who were RCLPL's aunt Julia Elinor plus Philip Shuttleworth Darnell - TFPL, Dec 1997.  Further it seems in fact that she kept all her children with her until she died and then they went to the Darnells - RCLPL's testament of c.1925; TFPL on Dec 28 2000.  Olga was married from the Darnell's house in Nether Wallop.).

She did, however, first erect a pulpit in his memory, in the Wallingford church of St Mary le More.  It is made of marble, and has bronze panels by E. Onslow Ford, a sculptor of some note.
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VCH Berks vol3, pp. 539-546, has this on Wallingford church of St Mary:

The pulpit is of marble with bronze bas-relief panels by the late Onslow Ford. It was erected in 1888 in memory of William Reginald Lybbe Powys Lybbe
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Note in RCLP-L's hand:

"Inherited Rush Court, Wallingford from his maternal great uncle, C.Greenwood on (?) 1879."

In the Berkshire Victoria History, vol 3, pp. 546-549, it has for Rush Court:

The manors remained in the Barker family for nearly 150 years. In 1749 they were held by Henry Barker, (fn. 78) and from him they passed to Henry Thomas Barker, who held the estate in 1813. (fn. 79) It was purchased soon afterwards from 'the Rev. Mr. Barker' by Mr. Charles Greenwood, (fn. 80) who left it to his nephew Mr. William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe. The last-named sold the property in 1886 to Mr. Charles Fuller, of whom it was purchased in 1900 by Mr. George Denison Faber, C.B., M.P.
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Note by Ellen Anna Philippa Powys in the notebook, p.109, she dedicated to WRLP-L and then also to RCLP-L:

"W.R.L.Powys-Lybbe died April 4th 1888 after only three days illnefs [note the spelling!] - at the Croft Wallingford - was buried at Whitchurch in the Family Vault on April 7th.  He was universally regretted."

(From the writing of the dedication I am certain this note was in her hand.  TFPL, Mar 1998)

Curiously two weeks later, his sister Edith Mary Hill also died inThe Croft and was buried at Whitchurch.  This was also recorded in EAP Powys's notebook.
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RCL P-L wrote, in his 1925/26 testament, of his mother: "She was an excellent wife to my father and supported him admirably in his work."  
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At the time of his second marriage, WRL PL describes himself correctly as William Reginald Lybbe POWYS.  But he gives his father's name as Philip Lybbe Powys Lybbe, with no hyphen.
In 1881, for the registration of the birth of his first child, Reginal Cecil Lybbe, WRL PL is still POWYS (as is RCL POWYS).
I have some (supposed) copies of entries in The Times of births of Olga in Sept 1882 and Richard in May 1884 where the entry is "the wife of W.R.L POWYS-LYBBE".  Both these births were at Tonbridge Wells.  Sounds like he changed his name on returning to this country.  (As an aside, I believe that Edith Hill, his sister, lived at Tonbridge, or near it, as her first child, Philip, was Christened at Tunbridge Wells in August 1882.)
In his 1887 codicil to his will he announces that he has changed his name to "William Reginald Lybbe POWYS LYBBE of The Croft, Wallingford in the County of Berks Esquire"!  Note the lack of a hyphen in the above due possibly to lawyers leaving out all punctuation, but his signature is reported in the manual copy as hyphenated.

From his Baptism Certificate No 197 on page 25 of the district of Bournemouth in the County of Southampton:

Baptism date:  8 Feb 1857
Name:          William Reginald Lybbe
Father:        Philip Lybbe
Mother         Annie Phyllis
Surname:       POWYS
Abode:         Bournemouth
Profession:    Esquire
Date of copy:  6th March 1907

TFPL, June 2001: Just found a snippet in Palmer's index to the Times that WRL P-L changed his name to P-L in 1882.  Recorded on 24th July 1882, p. 1, col b.

TFPL, May 2004: Found the Times entry of his name change, in the issue of Monday 24th July 1882:

"CHANGE of NAME. -- I, William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe, of The Croft, Wallingford, in the County of Berks, formerly residing at 71, Rue Tour, Notre Dame, Boulogne-sur-Mer, in the Republic of France, but now residing at Croft-house, Tunbridge-wells, in the County of Kent, Esquire, hereby give notice that, by Deed Poll, under my hand and seal, bearing date 21st day of July 1882, and intended to be duly enrolled in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, I have declared my intention henceforth to ASSUME and USE the surname of LYBBE, in addition to and after that of Powys and that I shall henceforth, by the name of William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe, subscribe, write, and call myself in and upon all deeds, instruments, and writings, upon all occasions whatsoever: and I hereby give notice that I shall henceforth assume and use the said surname of Lybbe in addition to and after that of Powys, and by the name of William Reginald, Lybbe Powys-Lybbe henceforth subscribe and call myself in and upon all deeds and writings, and upon all occasions whatsoever, as stated in the said Deed Poll. - Dated this 21st day of July, 1882.       W. R. L. Powys-Lybbe
  "Witness - D. H. Witherington, Solicitor, Reading."
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TFPL, Dec 2001: It has just occurred to me that he was named after his mother's adoptive father, William Stephens.  I wonder if Philip Lybbe Powys was party to this?  Next question is where did "Reginald" come from?
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TFPL, March 2003: I have seen his entry in the record books of the College of Arms.
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Oct, 2004: On his birth certificate, recorded on the 27th December 1856, he was un-named, his mother was "Ann Phylis Powys formerly Greenwood"and his father was Philip Lybbe Powys of Sea View, Holdenhurst, Bournemouth.  But by Feb 8th of the following year for his baptism, names had been decided.

TFPL, Dec 2017: The new GRO birth indices confirm his mother’s maiden name - and confirm that the nameless son in the originally published index was him:

Name:        Mother's Maiden Surname
POWYS, -     GREENWOOD
GRO Reference: 1856  D Quarter in CHRISTCHURCH HANTS  Volume 02B  Page 509
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On his death certificate it says he died of Acute Pleuro Pneumonia Sponcea, certified by Edward Horne, Surgeon.  The informant was M A Sadler, of Wallingford (no further details of any of the addresses).  From other sources we know he died at "a little before 9am".

ON FreeBMD his death is recorded under the name ‘Lybue’; I’ve sent in a correction.
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In 1888 there was some correspondence with the Diocese of Oxford for a faculty to disinter him.  This is in the Oxford Record office, ref DIOC/1/C/5/2070/1.

TFPL, Aug 2014
: Apparently there are two letters.  On was from John Slatter, Rector of Whitchurch and the other was illegible,  John Slatter wrote on 5th July 1888 to the Registrar of Deaths:

“I apprehend that application may be made for a faculty to disinter the body of the late Reginald Lybbe Powys Lybbe - esq who was buried here in April last.

“I do not know that my objection to such a course would prevail to prevent it - But I write to say I entertain a strong objection (& I think reasonable) to such a proceeding and if occasion arise would state it formally for consideration.”

It looks like the proposal came to nothing.  I wonder if they were intending to find out more about the cause of his death?
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From the London Gazette:

18 May 1888: “WILLIAM REGINALD LYBBE POWYS-LYBBE, Esq.,
Deceased.
Pursuant to the Act of Parliament 22ud and 23rd Victoria, chapter 35, intitled "An Act to further amend the Law of Property, and to relieve Trustees."
NOTICE is hereby given, that all creditors and other persons having any claims or demands upon or against the estate of William Reginald Lybbe Powys-
Lybbe, late of the Croft, Wallingford, in the county of Berks, Esq., Mayor cf the borough of Wallingford, deceased (who died on the 4th day of April, 1888, and
whose will and two codicils thereto were proved in the Oxford District Registry of the Probate Division of the High Court of Justice, oa the 5th day of May, by William Frank Blandy and Duncan Henry Witherington, both of Reading, in the county of Berks, Gentlemen, the executors therein named), arc hereby required to send in particulars, in writing, of their claims or demands to the said executors, under cover addressed to us, the undersigned, Solicitors for the said executors, on or before the 9th day of June, 1888, after which date the said executors will proceed to distribute the assets of the said deceased amongst the parties entitled thereto, having regard only to the claims and demands of which
they shall then have had notice; and the said executors will not be liable or accountable for the assets, or any part thereof, so distributed to any person of whose debt or claim they shall not then have had notice.—Dated this 15th day of May, 1888.
BLANDY, WITHKRINGTON, and CO., 1, Friar street, Reading, Solicitors for the Executors.”
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Apr, 2010, TFPL: Just found the Malvern College register in the Berks FHS library and he was there.  Regrettably the register does not include the date of entry:

“Powys, William Reginal Lybbe
Son of Mrs Powys, St Thomas, East Cowes.  Left Easter 1872.”

He would have been 15 and a half on leaving, a tad early.  Was he expelled?  Or was this that he was out of control and decided to leave?  The other point to note is that his mother was still using St Thomas, if only as an address.

In March 1871 he had been at Twyford School and was 14 (one of four of that age), so presumably went to Malvern later in 1871, shortly before becoming 15.  Thus he did little more than six months at Malvern.

Also in March 1871, his mother had been in Clifton, Bristol with her two daughters, Julia and Edith.  
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In 1893 there was an In memoriam notice in the Reading Mercury of Sat 8th April: “In loving memory of … Never forgotten”.  I wonder if Sarah caused this to be placed, or perhaps his mother, Annie.
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July 2013, TFPL: Some information has come to light about how he and Christine went to Boulogne.  Almost certainly it was to join Christine’s stepmother and a sister or two, Juliana Haywood née Gibbons.  Juliana and three of her stepdaughters were last recorded in England in 1871; in 1897 Juliana was buried in Charlton-by-Dover, Kent and was recorded as living and dying in Boulogne; Cecilia Mary Helen Dashwood, widow, was her executor and must have been her stepdaughter born in 1843 as Cecilia Mary H Haywood but later known as Mary H Haywood.  Cecilia’s marriage to a Dashwood cannot be found in the British isles so Boulogne seems an obvious candidate location.

All that said, Christine gave Folkestone, Kent as her residence when she married William Powys in 1875.  So it is likely that Chrisine, her sisters and Juliana together decided to move to Boulogne, William going along with this.

My current thought is that Christine may have been pregnant at some stage and this was what brought Sarah Bartholomew over to Boulogne too, Sarah having been an established child’s nurse to a Suffolk family in the 1871 census.
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On 20 Apr 1888 The Western Daily Press carried a notice of his successor:

“Mr Thos Frederick Wells was on Wednesday elected Mayor of Wallingford, in place of the late Mr W.R.L. Powys-Lybbe, who died suddenly on April 4.”

I would guess that T F Wells was a slightly distant cousin of his predecessor.  See our Greenwood ancestry.
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May 2014, TFPL: In 1871 census he was aged 14 and at Sionford (?) School, Twyford, Berks with, remarkably, William Gillett aged 11, the uncle of his future daughter-in-law, Lilian Frances Gillett Trotter.
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TFPL, Sept 2016: Found the entry of his marriage in the GRO Consular Marriages record set on FindMyPast:

First name(s)   WILLIAM REOINALD L
Last name       POWYS-LYBBE
Year range      1876-1880
Marriage place  BOULOGNE
Country         FRANCE
Record Source   GRO Consular Marriages (1849-1965)
Volume          6
Page            359
Record set      British nationals married overseas 1818-2005

In addition to being the first person with the surname of “Powys-Lybbe” (with a hyphen) he was also the first such to die.
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Will notes for William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe (born POWYS)
The England probabte index has:

5 May.  The Will with two codicils of William Reginald lybbe Powys-Lybbe formerly Powys late of the Croft Wallingford in the County of Berks Esquire Mayor of the Borough of Wallingford who died 4 April 1888 at the Croft was proved at Oxford by William Frank Blandy and Duncan Henry Witherington both of Reading in the said County Gentlemen the Executors.  Personal Estate £21,334 7s 7d.
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Mon Inscripts notes for William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe (born POWYS)
In the church of St Mary the Virgin, Whitchurch on Thames, Oxon

On middle row on east side of Vault, in the churchyard:
  William Reginal Lybbe Powys-Lybbe
  born December 15th 1856 Died Apr 4th 1888

On plaque at foot of his grandfather's window:
  In loving memory of
  ...
  Also of William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe
  Born Decr 15th 1856, Died April 4th 1888
  ...
  Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord

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From The Berks and Oxon Advertiser of April 6th and April 13th 1888, reprinted as a pamplet:

To The

Town and people

of

Wallingford


In Memoriam W. R. L. Powys-Lybbe

  A little before 9 o'clock on Wednesday morning, April 4th, Mr W.R.L. Powys-Lybbe, our very popular Mayor, our affable neighbour, and at the same time our excellent fellow citizen, passed away, and never in the history of the town has a death here caused such general and really genuine sorrow.  The illness was of very short duration.  Mr Powys-Lybbe was well up to Thursday last, on which day he contracted a chill while taking a ride horse-back.  Inflamation of the lungs followed, attended by pneumonia, and the illness which first assumed a serious, speedily developed into a very dangerous, character.  Mr Horne was unremitting in hiss attention to the patient, and a leading physician was also called in on Monday, all that loving sympathy backed by ample means could support, being done to arrest the progress of the disease.  As the serious nature of the disease became known, it was the chief topic of conversation in every house, and the first question asked by one of another all day on Monday and Tuesday was "How's the Mayor?" while in the villages all around every vehicle coming from Wallingford was surrounded to get the latest news, Mr Powys-Lybbe being as popular in all parts of the neighbourhood as he was in the town.  The calls at The Croft became so numerous that at length a bulletin was posted outside the house and this was anxiously read by a great number of people.  It became known on Tuesday afternoon that the doctors had abandoned all hope, and later still that he had taken leave of his wife and children.  The news was received with great sorrow for miles around, high and low and rich and poor shewing the greatest

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anxiety to glean the newest item of intelligence.  The best news however, that could be got late at night was that he was still alice, and most people still hoped that a turn for the between might yet take place, it being so hard to realise that one so courteous, so generous, so useful, so young, and so beloved, was about to be taken away.  

[Typing to be continued...]
Arms Generally notes for William Reginald Lybbe Powys-Lybbe (born POWYS)
Quarterly, i and iii, ermine a bend between two lions rampant gules (Lybbe)
      ii and iv, or, a lion's gamb erased in bend gules between two cross crosslets fitchée of the last (Powys).

Granted to him by Royal Licence after his death, in 1907:

1st & 4th LYBBE: Ermine a bend between two lions rampant gules, 2nd & 3rd POWYS: Or a Lion's gamb erased between two cross crosslets fitchée in bend sinister gu.

Crest of LYBBE: On a wreath of the Colours a dexter arm embowed in mail armour a hand supporting a spear erect, all proper.

Crest of POWYS: A lions gamb erased and erect gules holing a sceptre headed with a fleur-de-lys, or.
Notes for William Reginald Lybbe & Christine Cecilia (Family)
From a copy of the marriage register, made on 24th June 1925:

No: 5 of the District of St George, Hanover Square, London, 1975
At: Registry Office, S.G.H.S.
On: 21st July 1875
Groom: William Reginald Lybbe Powys, aged 19, Bachelor, Gentleman, of Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road
Bride: Christine Cecilia Haywood, aged 21 years, spinster of 8 Longford Terrace, Folkestone
Father of groom: Philip Powys (deceased)
Father of bride: James Haywood (deceased)
Witnesses: Edwd. Harvey, J. Hooper Mercer
Registrar: Henry Tull
Superintendent registrar: Thomas Worlock
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On the 23rd July 1875, this notice was placed in The Standard:

“LYBBE-HAYWOOD 21st, Wm. Reginald Lybbe Powys, only son of P. L. P. Lybbe Esq., of Hardwick House, Oxon, &c., to Christine Cecilia, youngest daughter of the late Jas Haywood, Esq., of Dosthill House, Staffordshire”

I wonder who inserted this notice?  Philip Lybbe himself, or his lawyer?  I don’t think it was done by Wm Reg.
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Notes for William Reginald Lybbe & Sarah Ann (Family)
Witnessed by Edith May Powys, Wm Reg Lybbe Powys's sister, and Isabella P E Stiglurch. The registrar was William Stiglurch, British Consul, Coulogne.  So Isabella Stiglurch must have been his wife or daughter.  That is, Sarah Bartholomew had no friends or relatives present.

(The registrar for Christine Cecilia's death was "William Stigand", probably the same chap.)

Further Sarah's address is the same as William's: 71 Rue Sur Notre Dame.

From the certified copy of the church marriage:
Page: 47
Married at: Church of St John, according to rites of Church of England, at Boulogne sur mer, pas de Calais, France
Celebrant: Henry Moysey-Turton, Chaplain
Date: 25th Sept, 1880
Groom: William Reginald Lybbe Powys, of full age, Widower, Esquire, of 71 r. Tour Notre Dame
Bride: Sarah Bartholomew, of full age, Spinster, "do" [for address].
Father of groom: Philip Lybbe Powys-Lybbe, [occupation "not mentioned"]
Father of bride: William Bartholomew, [occupation "not mentioned"]
Witnesses: Edith Mary Powys, Arthur N Moysey-Turton [relation of chaplain?]
Date of copy: 8th March 1907
Copy made by: J E Dutton-Tomson,, Chaplain of St John's
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The two index entries for this marriage are on FindMypast as:

First name(s) WILLIAM REOINALD L
Last name POWYS-LYBBE
Year range 1876-1880
Marriage place BOULOGNE
Country FRANCE
Record Source GRO Consular Marriages (1849-1965)
Volume 6
Page 359
Record set British nationals married overseas 1818-2005

and

First name(s) SARAH
Last name BARTHOLOMEW
Year range 1876-1880
Marriage place BOULOGNE SUR MER
Country FRANCE
Record Source GRO Consular Marriages (1849-1965)
Volume 6
Page 359
Record set British nationals married overseas 1818-2005
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Last Modified 31 Jan 2022Created 14 May 2022 by Tim Powys-Lybbe
Re-created by Tim Powys-Lybbe on 14 May 20220