Emery Alexander Quait was born on July 11th 1823 and baptised the following month at Holy Trinity Church, Dartford. His
parents were Richard Quait (a draper) and his wife Amelia. He had four sisters of which two died in infancy. Emery’s father
Richard died in 1830 aged 43 and was buried in Dartford’s upper burial ground.
His will left his estate (£4,376, equivalent to about £3.3M now4) to
his wife Amelia for life. After her death it was to be divided equally between
their surviving children, namely Emery, Mary Emery and Martha Ellen Quait. Amelia
continued to run the family draper’s shop after her husband’s death. In the
1841 census she is shown as a linen draper aged 45 living in High Street,
Dartford with her son Emery, aged 17.
An 1847 directory of Dartford1 lists
Amelia Quait, High St under the headings “linen and woollen drapers” and
“pawnbrokers”. The 1851 census shows Amelia Quait as a linen draper and
pawnbroker employing 7 men, living in High Street, Dartford. Also at this
address were her son Emery (aged 27, a draper and pawnbroker), nephew Richard
Hackett (aged 14), three assistant drapers, one apprentice draper, two assistant
pawnbrokers, a cook, a housemaid and a groom.
Emery married Martha Cooper in 1859 at St John the
Baptist, Sutton at Hone. Emery was aged 35. Martha, a farmer’s daughter born in
Sutton at Hone, was 33. They went on to have three children; Amelia Emery (born
1861), Mary Alexander (born 1865) and Alexander Wortley (born 1868).
The 1861 census records Emery (36, a linen draper
and pawnbroker) and Martha Quait living in High St, Dartford with four
assistant pawnbrokers, a linen draper apprentice, a porter, a cook and a
housemaid. Emery’s mother Amelia died in 1862 aged 72.
In 1865, Emery was elected to the Dartford Board of
Health (at this time there was no town council). The board met regularly to
make decisions about the upkeep and public affairs of the town. He was
re-elected in 1868 and 1871.
A newspaper article about Emery2 says “for the greater part of his life he was the
moving spirit of the great drapery, millinery and furnishing trade in the
centre of the High Street, which flourished under his direction and made a
reputation far and wide. Allied to a handsome figure and pleasant manners, Mr
Quait possessed shrewd commercial capacity, and converted a once comparatively
small business into one of the largest furnishing houses in the neighbourhood,
with a trade and good name extending to distant parts of the county, and even
beyond the limits of Kent.” The address of the business in the 1871 census is
given as 28-32 High Street. The building no longer exists, but its site is that
now occupied by the Greggs and Dorothy Perkins shops, on the northern side of
the High Street, next to the entrance to the Orchard shopping centre. Street
numbers are not given in the 1851 and 1861 censuses, but from its position on
the enumeration list (next to the Black Boy Inn), it seems that the site of the
draper’s shop then was the same as in 1871.
By 1874, the drapers shop was known as Quait and
Standen, Emery having formed a business partnership with his manager, John
Standen. The 1874 Kelly’s directory for Dartford has the entry “Quait and Standen, silk mercers, linen &
woollen drapers, upholsterers & undertakers, 28, 30 & 32 High Street.”
I believe that undertaker here means a
company which undertakes work (not organises funerals). There is also another
entry “Quait Emery Alexander, pawnbroker,
New Court, 32 High Street.
Emery was warden at Holy Trinity Church for a total
of 23 years. He was a People’s Warden from 1867 to 1878. The Dartford Library
Local Studies Collection has an 1878 notice inviting townspeople to subscribe
to a “Testimonial as a public recognition
of his long and valued services” He was presented with a clock bearing the
inscription “Presented to Mr E. A. Quait
by 130 subscribers in recognition of eleven years’ services as Parish Warden of
Dartford from 1867 to 1878.” He then carried on as Vicar’s Warden until
1890.
Emery became a director of the Dartford Gas Company
in 1870. His father had been one of the founding shareholders and directors
when it was formed in 1826 to provide gas lighting for the streets and private
houses of Dartford. The company had expanded since then to meet increasing
demand and it paid a good dividend to shareholders. Emery was chairman for 25
years, from 1874 until 1899.
By 1881, Emery and his family were living at Hulse
Lodge, Wilmington. The household consisted of Emery, aged 57, a draper, his
wife Martha (55), daughters Amelia (19) and Mary (16) plus a cook, housemaid
and coachman. Hulse Lodge was a substantial house in its own grounds on the
southern edge of Dartford Heath. It is now part of Wilmington Grammar School
for Girls.
Hulse
Lodge, now part of Wilmington Grammar School for Girls (2011)
Mary Alexander Quait, the younger daughter of Emery,
married Charles Franklin Simmons (a land agent) in 1885. They set up house in
Basingstoke, where they had six children (including two sons who became
Captains in the Hampshire Regiment and died fighting in the Middle East during
the First World War). The following year, Amelia Emery Quait, Emery’s elder
daughter, married James Husband Carvosso, a civil engineer who had become manager
of Dartford Gas Works in 1882. They had five children before James died in
1900.
Lord Randolph Churchill was Chancellor of the
Exchequer in 1886, when he visited Oakfield Park near Dartford to make a speech.
There was a crowd of about 20,000 people. Emery was one of those who,
representing Conservative Associations, gave an address before Churchill spoke.
The 1891 census shows Emery (67, living on own
means), his wife Martha (65) and son Alexander (23, a student of medicines)
living at Hulse Lodge with a cook, housemaid and coachman.
Dartford became an Urban District under The Local
Government Act of 1894. An Urban District Council of fifteen members was required
to replace the nine members of the Dartford Local Board of Health (on which
Emery had served), as the town’s governing body. Thirty one candidates put
themselves forward. Emery came fifth in the poll (with 515 votes) and so was
elected.
Emery’s son, Alexander Wortley Quait, was cited as
co-respondent in a divorce case3. Frederick George Freeman (a
consular assistant) married Mary Elizabeth Blanche Musgrave in 1890. He filed
for divorce in 1894, stating that his wife had committed adultery with
Alexander on several occasions between 1891 and 1894, claiming damages and
costs from him. A jury trial was held in the divorce court in 1895. It ordered
Alexander to pay £1500 damages and £316 costs. The total sum is equivalent to
about £700,000 now4. The marriage was officially dissolved in 1896
and Alexander married Elizabeth later that year.
Martha, Emery’s wife, died in 1897 aged 71, after a
“long and severe illness”5. In 1901 Emery was living at Hulse Lodge
with his son Alexander (33, a physician surgeon) and his wife Mary (31) plus a
cook and housemaid. Emery died later in 1901 aged 78. A local newspaper1
reporting his death said
For
some years past Mr Quait had been in precarious health, but with the
indomitable perseverance which had characterised him throughout his life, was
frequently to be seen reclining in his carriage, with a lady attendant, driven
about the town of Dartford, to take a glance at the scene of his earlier
activities, and to receive the sympathetic salutations of his many friends
amongst the townsfolk.
An item in the Dartford Chronicle6 said
Mr
Quait’s association with Dartford was life-long and the prominent part he took
for many years had made his name a household word, and few men were better
known and respected.
He is buried in East Hill Cemetery in the same grave
as his mother and wife. The monument is inscribed
Wi…..
[AMELIA QUA]IT / who [died Dec 20th 18]62 / aged [72 years] / Also
of EMERY ALEXANDER QUAIT / who died July 15th 1901 / aged 78 years /
Also of / MARTHA / wife of the above / who died Feb 18th 1897 / aged
71 years.
Emery’s estate was valued at £45,146, which is
equivalent to about £15.5 million now4. Probate was granted to his
son Alexander Wortley Quait and son-in-law Charles Franklin Simmons. The death
duty record shows that Emery made small bequests to various relations and
servants, with his personal possessions and most of his wealth going to his
three children.
Photo
(supplied by St Michael’s Church) of memorial window
In 1907, a memorial window was installed in St
Michael’s Church, Wilmington. It depicts biblical scenes in stained glass with
the words “To the glory of God and loving
memory of Emery Alexander Quait and Martha his wife of Hulse Lodge, Wilmington”
below.
References
1.
General History of Kent (Volume 1), Samuel Bagshaw (1847)
2.
Death of Mr Emery A. Quait, newspaper (not Dartford Chronicle)
article in Dartford Library Local Studies Collection, 20 July 1901.
3. Documents J77/537, held by the National Archives
4. Calculated with respect to average earnings using
the website “Measuring Worth” www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/
5. Death and
Funeral of Mrs Quait, newspaper article in Dartford Library Local Studies
Collection
6. The Late Mr
E. A. Quait, Dartford Chronicle, 23 July 1901
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