Person:Francis Valpy (1)

Francis Edward Jackson Valpy was chr 30mar1797 at Reading, son of Rev. Richard Valpy and Mary (beta search familysearch, batch I04871-5, film no. 1279466). Francis Edward J. Valpy (b. 1797) d. 4th qtr 1882 at Pancras (bmd). Will of Rev. Francis Edward Jackson Valpy (d. 28nov1882, 10 Regents Pk Terr.) clerk late of 10 Regents Pk Terr, reg Middlesex; probate 6jan1883 London, 11516 gbp, Gabriel Charles Blandy Valpy 48 Regents Pk Rd., gentleman, Henry Valpot Francis Valpy 5 Victoria St., Westminster, civil engineer, the sons (National Probate Calendar). Francis married (1) Eliza Pullen, daughter of John Pullen of Canonbury, London (information, P. Elfick). Francis married Eliza Pullen 22dec1825, Islington (web). Francis E.J. Valpy, MA, Trinity College, Cambridge, youngest son of Rev. Dr. Valpy of Reading, married Eliza, 2nd daughter of John Pullen of Canonbury (Quarterly Theological Review 1826). Francis E.J. Valpy, aged 31, married Eliza Pullen 22dec1825 at Islington (web). Francis attained BA (1819) and MA (1824) at Trinity College, Cambridge (P. Elfick). Francis E.J. Valpy married (2) Mary C. Champion 1st qtr 1866 at Marylebone (P. Elfick, bmd). Francis Edward Jackson Valpy, son of Richard, married Mary Carey Champion, daughter of John Champion (ancestry.com). Mary Carey Valpy (b. 1798) d. 3rd qtr 1872 at Mitford, Norfolk (bmd). Will of Mary Carey Valpy (d. 31aug1872 Garvestone Rectory) wife of Rev. Francis Edward Jackson Valpy, late of Garvestone Rectory, reg. Norfolk; probate 25oct1872 London, under 1000 gbp, James Hyde Champion, 17 Hareswood Sq., Regents Pk., Middlesex, esq., the nephew (National Probate Calendar).

Rev Francis Edward Jackson Valpy was son of Rev. Dr. Richard Valpy (1754-1836), headmaster of Reading School and one of the founders of the public school system. Francis published textbooks on Latin and Greek and succeeded his father as headmaster at Reading. However he lacked his father’s gifts for teaching and organisation (web). Some trees claim that Francis was b. 1794, Isle of Man, though 1881 census refutes this. Francis was presumably son of Mary Benwell.

Cambridge Alumni: VALPY, FRANCIS EDWARD JACKSON.Adm. pens. (age 17) at TRINITY, Feb. 15, 1815. [6th and youngest] s. of [the Rev.] Richard (Pembroke College, Oxford, 1773), D.D., schoolmaster.B. Feb. 22, 1797, at Reading School, Reading.Matric. Michs. 1815; Scholar; Bell Scholar, 1817; B.A. 1819; M.A. 1824.Ord. deacon (Norwich) June 18, 1826; priest, June 10, 1827.Succeeded his father as Head Master of Reading Grammar School, 1830, but had no success and resigned.Head Master of Burton-on-Trent School, 1839-42.R. of Garveston, Norfolk, 1845-73.Married (1) 1825, Eliza, dau. of John Pullen, of Canonbury; (2) 1866, Mary, dau. of John Champion, of Guernsey. Author, A Manual of Latin Etymology; The Third Greek Delectus; The Second Greek Delectus; Greek Exercises; Electa ex Ovidio et Tibullo; The Course of Nature, urged on Principles of Analogy, in Vindication of Scripture. Latterly of 10, Regents Park Terrace, Gloucester Gate, London, N.W., where he died Nov. 28, 1882; buried at Garveston.Father of Julius J. C. (1846), Anthony B. (1863) and Francis H. (1858); brother of Abraham J. (1835) and Gabriel (1807).(Boase, III. 1072; Crockford; D.N.B.)

Eliza Carteretta Valpy was b. 1837 at Reading, daughter of Francis Edward Jackson Valpy (22feb1797 Reading-25nov1882 Pancras, headmaster of Reading school and later vicar of Garvestone, Norfolk) and Eliza Pullen (1797) (P. Elfick, ancestry.com tree). In 1841 Francis Valpy (1801 school master), Eliza (1801), Eliza (1836), all b. outside county, were at Burton on Trent, Staffs (census). In 1851 Francis E.J. Valpy (1797 Reading, rector), wife Eliza (1797 London) and sons were at Garveston, Norfolk (census). In 1871 Frenie E.J. Valpy, wife May Carey (1799 Germany) were at Norfolk (census); possibly Guernsey is meant instead of Germany. In 1881 Francis R. Elwell (1834 London, photographer, MA Cambs), wife Eliza C. (1837 Reading), children (b. Weston Super Mare), father in law Francis D.J. Valpy (1797 Reading, retd C of E clergyman, MA Cambs) were at 10 Regents Pk Terr., London (census).

From <http://www.burtongrammar.co.uk/?cat=45> Rev. Francis Edward Jackson Valpy (headmaster of Burton school, 1839-43) was the son of Rev. Dr. Richard Valpy who was, for many years, the Headmaster at Reading School and one of the founders of the public school system. On the death of his father, Francis succeeded him. He was by this time himself a Greek scholar of some repute and had published several textbooks on the subject that had been adopted by a number of schools as the ‘standard’ work. He lacked however, his father’s gift for teaching and organisation and during his time as Reading Headmaster, the number of pupils decreased from over 200 to just 30. He moved to Burton Grammar School to take the vacant headmaster post! This he was able to do largely through his brother-in-law, Rev. Peter French who was successful in his post at Stretton. Francis Valpy was however, no more successful than he had been at Reading and once again, the school fell into decline with a greatly reduced number of pupils. He only managed to survive for four years by which time, there was considerable pressure for him to be replaced. The only known account of him reads “He is only remembered for his very tall beaver hat with neither crown nor brim, referred to as ‘the chimney-pot’, and his swallow-tailed coat with shiny buttons which he wore as everyday wear”.

From Oxford Dictionary of national Biography: Valpy, Richard (1754-1836), schoolmaster, was born at his father's landed estate in St John's, Jersey, on 7 December 1754, the eldest of the six children of Richard Valpy and Catherine, daughter of John Chevalier. Richard Valpy's sixth and youngest son, Francis Edward Jackson Valpy (1797-1882), Church of England clergyman and schoolmaster, was born at the headmaster's house, Reading School, on 22 February 1797. He was educated at Reading School and, from 1815, at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a Bell scholar and where he graduated BA in 1819. Six years later, in 1825, he married Eliza, daughter of John Pullen of Canonbury; they had eight sons. In 1826 he was ordained and in 1830 he was made headmaster of Reading School. He inherited a court judgment, ignored by his father, requiring grammar schools to teach classics free to local pupils. Reading people, still aggrieved over the school, disinclined the corporation to repair the increasingly crumbling leasehold premises. Though Valpy resembled his father in scholarship and preaching eloquence he was not an inspiring teacher and lacked the decisiveness required to overcome the school's problems with the town. By 1837 it had only twenty boarders and seventeen day-boys, nine with free places.In 1839 Valpy resigned and, until 1842, he taught at Burton upon Trent School. From 1845 to 1873 he was rector of Garveston, Norfolk, where in 1866 he married his second wife, Mary, daughter of John Champion of Guernsey. He published several Greek textbooks, etymological dictionaries of Greek and Latin, editions of Sophocles' Ajax and Electra, and The Course of Nature … in Vindication of Scripture. He died on 28 November 1882 in London, whither he had retired, at 10 Regent's Park Terrace, Gloucester Gate, and was buried at Garveston. He left £11,500.

Mary, 3rd dau of John Pullen, Fore St., London, was married by Rev. W. Pullen, to Capt Waterfield of Bombay Army, 16jul1828 at Caversham, Oxon (Times). The curate of Caversham (1827-30) was William Pullen, b. Cripplegate, London, son of Joseph (clergy list). William Pullen (b. Cripplegate, London, son of Joseph) went to Clare College, 1823, and was rector of Little Gidding from 1831 (Alumni Cantabrigiensis). It is interesting that Mary Benwell, the mother of Francis E.J. Valpy, came from Caversham (Cambridge Alumni, entry on Abraham John Valpy).

1. ↑ Birth marriage death index for England and Wales.
2.   England. 1841 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.).
3.   England. 1851 Census Returns for England and Wales. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.).
4.   England. England and Wales. 1871 Census Schedules. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.).
5.   England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.).