Robert

Robert Holdway 1801-1855

Robert was the son of (Charles Holdway b.1761 d.1837) and inherited his estate in St. Mary Bourne, and Stoke. Robert married Sarah Dowling on 30th.April 1829 at Upper Clatford. He died prematurely on 8th. April 1855 as the result of an accident this was written about him in the Salisbury and Winchester Journal on the 14th.April 1855. .......".Shocking Accident----On Saturday evening last, an accident, which terminated fatally, happened near St. Mary Bourne, to Mr Robert Holdway, a highly respectable farmer. It appeared that he was returning from Andover market, and when within 200yrds.of his residence, his horse, which he was driving in a dog cart, shyed, as it is presumed, at a tree which had been throne on the side of the road, and ran up the bank, throwing him out with considerable violence. The unfortunate man was found in the evening by the side of the road. Insensible and bleeding profusely. He was speedily removed to his residence, at Stoke, where medical aid was soon supplied, but it was of no avail, and death put an end to his sufferings on the following morning. On Monday an inquest was held on the body when the verdict of "accidental death from concussion of the brain" was returned. The deceased was respected by all, and his loss will be severely felt, indeed the melancholy event has cast a gloom over the whole parish. We should mention the horse was found grazing near his suffering master, on the road with portions of the vehicle hanging about him, another correspondent say's--in the death of Mr. Holdway his tenantry have lost a considerate landlord, his neighbours a pleasant companion, and the poor a generous benefactor."

Robert had written his will the year before and in it he instructed his executors to sell all his lands and convert the monies into government bonds and securities and to set up trust funds which shall be used to benefit the people of the parish, a fund of three hundred pounds was to be used for the poor of the parish to be paid out on or about the twenty first day of December annually by the church wardens to purchase "food, fuel or clothing to be distributed amongst the poor of the said parish". Also a fund of two hundred pounds to pay for either a "school master or mistress”, or towards the “better maintenance of the school."

Obituary for Sarah Holdway (1801- 18-12-1883) December 1883

Funeral of Mrs. Robert Holdway--->

The universal gloom which overspread this village and the surrounding district on the announcement of the death of Mrs. Robert Holdway. Of Haven House, on the 18th.inst, bore testimony to the great esteem in which she was held by all fortunate enough to enjoy her friendship, and also to the irreparable loss sustained by the poorer inhabitants of the place. The deceased lady was in her eighty second year, and died after a lingering illness, born with true Christian fortitude. She was the relict of Mr. Robert Holdway, of Stoke House, in this parish, and upon his premature death in 1855, her attention was almost exclusively devoted to the alleviation of distress amongst her poorer neighbours. Like that of the good parson of genial Goldsmith,

“Her house was known to all the vagrant train,

She chid their wanderings but relived their pain”

The almshouses near the vicarage were erected by her in remembrance of her husband, and are now, by her death, endowed for the support of four aged women, eligible at the age of fifty-five. These old persons will thus pass the remainder of their days in comparative comfort, secure from the haunting fear of the workhouse. This good work will prove an enduring monument of her wise forethought and care for the deserving poor. She also showed a just appreciation of that great movement---the spread of elementary education, which ranks among the accomplished facts of our time, by her staunch support of the national school of the village, and particularly of that institution dear to the juvenile mind, the annual treat. By her lamented death a blank is left which it seems impossible can be filled, and the poor will regret the loss of a kind and constant friend. The funeral took place on the 22nd.inst. in a style befitting the position of the deceased, and her remains were followed to the grave by a large number of sorrowing friends.

In her obituary in December 1883, this is written "Her good work will prove an enduring monument of her wise forethought and care for the deserving poor. She also showed a just appreciation of that great movement the spread of elementary education which ranks among the accomplished facts of our time, by her staunch support of the national school of the village, and particularly of that institution dear to the juvenile mind, the annual treat. By her lamented death a blank is left which it seems impossible can be filled, and the poor will regret the loss of a kind and constant friend."

Death of a Centenarian

On the same day, immediately afterwards, and near the same spot the burial of another and remarkable person took place, that of Mrs. Mary Goodyear, the oldest inhabitant of the parish, who celebrated her hundredth birthday last May. She had lived in the almshouses mentioned above, and was a recipient of the bounty of Mrs.R. Holdway. Her health and appetite, which had been wonderful to within a very recent date, suddenly failed, and she died very quietly on the morning of the 20th.of mere decay of nature, and in possession of her faculties almost to the last