Reader Story
Teacher, balloonist, newsagent, farmer, writer of musical comedy – Steve Parker’s relation Robert Layer-Parker was a man of many trades who ultimately fell foul of the law, he tells Claire Vaughan
Teacher, balloonist, newsagent, farmer, writer of musical comedy – Steve Parker’s relation Robert Layer-Parker was a man of many trades, but fell foul of the law
One of the most fascinating aspects of family history is coming across unexpected parallels with an earlier generation. “I’d always believed that I was the first member of the family to leave Blackburn and train as a teacher,” says WDYTYA? Magazine reader Steve Parker. Then he discovered his relation Robert Layer-Parker and his father. However, it wasn’t just Robert’s teaching that made him so interesting. The life of this colourful character was full of twists and turns – and, eventually, a shocking fall from grace.
Computer Connection
The discovery that you could build your family tree using a computer program was what first drew Steve (at the time an IT teacher) to genealogy. “I loved the way you could attach photos and notes.”
One of Steve’s cousins is Julie Aspin, whose ancestor Isaac Parker lied, stole and sold bad meat, and was the subject of the Reader Story in our Summer 2018 issue. The pair came across a branch of the Parkers who had moved away from Blackburn, where Steve had grown up.
“This intrigued me as in our family everyone for generations had lived in Blackburn, working in the engineering factories once the cotton mills had closed
‘We think Margaret had had enough of the Parkers or Blackburn – or both’
down.” What was even more surprising for Steve was that one of the Parkers in question, Joseph Edward, had left Blackburn to train as a teacher. On the 1871 census he was at Battersea Teacher Training College, London, aged 20.
But why did Joseph leave Blackburn? Steve thinks the answer involves Isaac Parker.
“Joseph’s parents, Robert and Margaret, managed the Shoulder of Mutton public house in Blackburn, according to the 1851 census. Robert died in 1854, but Margaret continued to run the pub on her own. By 1881, however, she was working as an innkeeper in London, so Joseph probably moved there with her.” But what happened between those years to make her up sticks?
Steve and Julie discovered that Robert had owned property that he rented out. After his death, the rent was collected by Isaac Parker who was supposed to pass it on to Margaret – but he kept the money. This resulted in a messy court case. “We think Margaret had perhaps had enough of the Parker family or Blackburn – or both – because of this. Maybe her pub connections helped her find a job down in London.”
Once he’d qualified, Joseph began teaching in Hackney. He married Sarah Ann Turner, also a teacher, in 1883. The marriage record shows her father was Hezrai Layer Turner. The couple had three children: Robert Layer Parker named after his grandfather, Margaret Evelyn Parker and Gertrude Alice Parker. Margaret and Robert also became teachers, like their parents.
Robert trained at St John’s
College in Battersea and qualified in June 1904 aged 20. In 1912, he married Maud Elizabeth Ethel Morley. But then he went off the radar. Steve searched high and low for months, but there was no sign of him after this date. It wasn’t until he mistakenly typed Robert’s middle name and surname into the same search field on ancestry.co.uk that he discovered that he had hyphenated his names to create a double-barrelled surname.
From Teacher To Farmer
Searching under his new moniker revealed the next chapter in Robert’s life. He turned up in 1914 as a farmer at The Chase, Chigwell, in Essex. But why did he change his name, and for that matter his occupation?
When the First World War broke out, Robert joined the Territorial Force, enlisting at Putney. “He was allocated to the City of London Yeomanry (known as the Rough Riders) as Trooper Robert Layer-Parker No. 2815, probably because of the fact that as a farmer he was able to ride a horse,” says Steve.
He was part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, then the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and also saw action at Suvla Bay at Gallipoli, before being evacuated with dysentery and paratyphoid. “I applied to The National Archives for his service records,” explains Steve. “They number 70 pages and include not only records of his service, but also copies of letters he wrote to the War Office pleading his case that he should be made an officer. There are dozens of them.”
The letters give a fascinating insight into Robert’s personality. “I think he had a strong desire to do better for himself. Maybe his teacher training led him to believe that he should have a better station in life than he had.”
His application was successful, and he was appointed a lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in
September 1916. Steve was surprised to see that he was later transferred to the Balloon Training Section at Richmond Park in London. “It seems unusual that he should be put in the balloon corps. He flew sorties over France. The balloons were used for reconnaissance and taking photographs.” But his ballooning was short-lived, and he was invalided back to England for an operation on his nose and throat. Following his hospital stay, he was discharged from active service and made a lecturer in the theory of ballooning.
After the war, he returned to teaching. “In 1926, Robert wrote to the Military Records department at Percy House School in Isleworth claiming his service in the forces should count
towards his teachers’ pension. His Teachers’ Registration Council record reveals that he was appointed assistant master at Princess May Road School in Stoke Newington on 1 April 1920, after serving there before the war from 1905.”
A Brush With Bankruptcy
However, in 1927 things began to unravel for Robert, with records showing him at bankruptcy hearings in Chelmsford, Essex. “Teachers could not be declared bankrupt, and after lengthy investigation I discovered that he was running a newsagent,” says Steve. On 13 February 1928, Robert was given a two-year suspended sentence.
“The next few years are a mystery, for the most part. Robert seems to have tried his hand at many things. He’s recorded in the 1936 edition of Kelly’s Commercial Directory as a business consultant with premises in Mayfair. He also had a hand in writing a book for the musical comedy Maritza in 1938.”
Then came Robert’s fall from grace, which Steve discovered when he searched TNA’s online catalogue discovery. national archives. gov.uk. “I’ve sifted through more than 60 pages of archive material in connection with a criminal case brought against Robert and his partner, William Dutton.”
Robert and William established the British Commonwealth Wine Society in 1945, registered in Holborn to “supply carefully selected Empire wines to its members”. They even claimed to have introductions from the Australian Wine Board and the South African government, which turned out to be false.
“By then though, at a guinea a share, the club had over 1,000 subscribers including government ministers, lawyers and judges. No one received any wine, and a police investigation followed.”
Since MPs were involved, Steve checked Hansard, and discovered that the matter had been raised in the House of Commons.
“Altogether, 22 charges of fraud, forgery of cheques and theft were brought against Robert and William at the Old Bailey in November 1946. Their counsel argued that they thought they would be able to supply the wines, but were unable to get hold of sufficient supplies in postwar London. The records have been redacted in places – no doubt to protect their victims, who were the high and mighty of London society. I have to wait until 2020 and 2030 to see the full extent of who was involved,” says Steve.
After a trial lasting five days, both men were sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment. The trail then goes cold once more and Steve next found Robert on the electoral register, living at 87 Conway Road in Southgate, North London, as a widower. His occupation is company director. But what was the company? The registers show that Robert stayed there until the 1960s. However, he had moved to Enfield by the time of his death in 1970, aged 86. “More mysteries than answers!” laughs Steve.
So was Robert a hapless, ultimately tragic character who indulged in daydreams of personal triumphs that came to nothing? Or was he trying to get on at any cost, like Julie’s ancestor Isaac?
“I think Robert was misguided, rather than bad,” says Steve. “He got in too deep without setting the business up properly. His great tragedy was his desire to take a step up in the world without the background or the money to see that through. It’s quite a sad story when you think of it like that.”