Arthur & Sarah Marina Wadham

ARTHUR WADHAM was born in Barnstaple, Devon around 1853. He was 23 years old, a coke and iron merchant living at 38 Bondgate, Darlington, Yorkshire when he married SARAH MARINA SWANN (known by her family as ?Bema?) in Hallfield Chapel, Manningham, Bradford on 30 May 1876. Bema was born at 13, St James Square, Horton, Bradford on 8 May 1852. Bema was the daughter of William Swann and Rebecca Sharp.

Arthur Wadham founded a publishing firm called 'The Machinery Market' and was described in the 1891 census as a proprietor and editor of a trade journal aged 38. At that time the family were living at 5 Townley Park Villas.

They were living at 11Ridge Rd, North London when Bema died on 30 December 1910 at Southend-on-Sea, at the age of 58. She was buried on 3 January 1911at the Friends Burial Ground, Winchmore Hill, London.

Mary Marina (Biddy) Crosland's only memory of her grandmother Bema was going to visit her when she was about 4 years old. Bema was in bed in a first floor bedroom, and Biddy remembered her as being a sweet old lady. She was quite happy for Biddy to amuse herself by picking some flowers in the garden, putting them in a basket and then pulling the basket up on a piece of string, from the garden below, to her grandmother's window.

Arthur and Bema?s great grand daughter, Elizabeth Yates (nee Crosland) remembered, "The Machinery Market developed into a successful business. It was later run by their son Rob, who in turn handed on the running of it to his 3 sons, Ralph, Robin and Bertie. I think Robin was the name - he looked after the accountancy side, but, unfortunately, died fairly young. Ralph continued the magazine until quite late in life, but having no sons it was not passed on in the family, although I believe one daughter was quite involved. Ralph was very interested in yachting and during his career had bought "Yachts and Yachting" magazine which lost quite a lot of money and eventually stopped printing, I think. "Machinery Market" carried on for sometime after that and was eventually sold.

Arthur and Bema had three children, two girls and a boy:

MARY WADHAM (known as ?May?) was born at Darlington in 1878.
About 1899 May married her second cousin DONALD TRACY NEWBEGIN. Donald was the son of Edward Joseph Newbegin and Marina Warne. May and Donald had three children:
Donald Newbegin in 1900;
Mary Marina Newbegin on 5 November 1903;
Philip Wadham Newbegin in 1907.
May died at the age of 30 from infection following the birth of their son Philip on 20 June 1908.

ROBERT was born in Darlington 1879. He spent some time in his father's business then went to Sweden for further study with an English engineering firm. A few years later he married ESTHER (Essie) CALVERT, his chief's daughter. Esther was born in Gothenberg. Their sons were sent to school in England at Sidcot, a Quaker school.

MILLICENT was born in Darlington in 1882. She was a noted sculptress who had 6 works exhibited at the Royal Academy in London between 1909 and 1919. She sculpted a white marble sculpture titled 'Peace' in an art deco/ancient Egyptian style.
Elizabeth Crosland remembers, "She used to come and stay with us occasionally during the war. She used to live at Shortlands, on the outskirts of London, and needed respite from the bombing. She was a quiet, gentle little lady, who did not seem to be very strong physically. I'm not sure that I heard it from her or from Granty [Ethel Crosland], that Millicent felt spiritually restless during her life. She had travelled quite extensively when young, looking for a spiritual teacher and had lived in India for a year or so, I believe. She never married. Not long after the war she became very ill with cancer and died. I remember waiting in the car outside a London nursing home while my parents [Alan and Biddy Crosland] visited her."

I would be very happy to get any further information about the origins or descendants of Arthur & Sarah Marina Wadham.