We have read of the private letters that revealed a romantic attachment between Rev. Sir John Culme-Seymour of St. Mary’s Northchurch and Maria Smith in The Diaries of Tring Park. Rather less private were the revelations in the press world-wide of another local rector.[1] One hundred years ago, in May 1914, shocking news emerged of the elopement of Rev. Henry Constable Curtis.
The Curtis family lived at Berkhamsted Hall. Wealth was evidently inherited from colourful ancestor Sir William Curtis or ‘Billy Biscuit’ (his father Joseph was successful as a ship’s biscuit manufacturer).[2] He became Lord Mayor of London in 1795-6 and is credited with coining the phrase “reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic” in a speech he made to the Board of Education.
Source: Museum Store (DACHT: 11945.18)
William married Anne Constable in 1776 and their descendants living in Berkhamsted were military men. Captain Timothy Curtis was in the Royal Navy and his son Constable Curtis was a Captain of the 12th Royal Lancers.
In common with many other younger sons of the gentry, Constable’s son Henry entered the church to make his living. His name appears in the list of rectors on a brass plaque in St Peter’s church, from 1902 to 1908. The story covering his elopement was covered in great detail.[3]
“A romantic, and at the same time a most sensational, elopement is reported from the quiet market town of Retford. Both parties are well connected and exceedingly well known. They are the Rev. H. Constable Curtis, Rector of Babworth, a hamlet on the outskirts of the town, and Mrs W.A. Mason, of Morton Hall, the wife of a county magistrate. Mr Constable Curtis, who formerly had a living at Berkhampstead, had been at Babworth rectory for several years, and, strange to say, Mrs Mason is a daughter of a former rector, the Rev St. Aubyn. She is the second wife of Mr Mason, and became acquainted with Mr Curtis through his frequent visits to Morton Hall after succeeding to the Rectorship. Mr. Mason… [is] a justice of the peace, he is a barrister-at-law, a member of Notts County Council, and had identified himself prominently in church work. Both he and his wife have mixed in the best society, and were in touch with most of the county families in the district.
That anything unusual had occurred first became known… when a communication was received from the Bishop of Southwell, who wrote to… the Rev Canon Gray, intimating that Mr Curtis had sent a letter
RESIGNING HIS ORDERS IN THE CHURCH,
and stating that he was going abroad.
The real story of the elopement, however, which must have been premeditated, did not come to light until Monday. It seems that the previous week Mr Curtis announced that he was going away, and the children attending Sunday school were accordingly given a holiday.
Mrs Curtis and her daughter have been spending a holiday in Scotland, and it was surmised that her husband was about to visit her. This, however, was not the case. Instead of meeting his wife by arrangement, he met Mrs Mason in the South, whence they went to Southampton, and, according to the Bishop’s letter, ‘if they have not already sailed, they are contemplating going abroad.’
It appears that after leaving the rectory last Tuesday Mr Curtis motored to Retford station, where he had his luggage labelled for Sheffield, this course, no doubt, being adopted to
PUT PEOPLE OFF THE SCENT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
On the same day Mrs Mason left Merton Hall on a supposed visit to her sister. She, however… subsequently met Mr Curtis. She was to join her husband shortly, as arrangements had been made to go abroad.
It appears that Mrs Constable Curtis while in Scotland, received a letter from her husband telling her of the occurrence, and she and her daughter arrived at Babworth Rectory in the early hours of Sunday morning, only to have the news confirmed by the letter her husband had sent to the Bishop.
In his letter, the late Rector informed his wife of what had occurred, stating that he had no intentions of returning. At the same time he sent a letter to a firm of local auctioneers to make arrangements for the sale of the furniture at Babworth Rectory, which was accordingly done yesterday.
The ‘Sheffield Telegraph’ was informed that both parties have been seen together frequently, but their elopement has come as a great shock and surprise to everyone.”
So what happened next?
Alice and William Mason were divorced in 1915.[4] However, it was not until 1942 that Henry and Alice M Mason (also recorded with names Curtis and St. Aubyn) finally married, just after the death of Ann Horsfall Curtis, whose probate record states “Wife of Henry George Constable Curtis”.
Alice died in 1953 and Henry was living in Leicester-court Hotel in South Kensington when he died four years later. He left his estate to his brother Frank Maynard Constable Curtis and his solicitor.[5]
[1] ‘Rectory Romance’, New Zealand Herald (20 Jun 1914)
[2] Gash, Norman ‘Curtis, Sir William, first baronet (1752–1829)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004)
[3] ‘Romantic Elopement’, Hull Daily Mail (May 1914)
[4] Mosley, Burke’s Peerage
[5] Marriage, death and probate records found on Ancestry.com
Travels Through Time 