Ellen Barnes | website

ELLEN BARNES

THE QUINTA

1842-1920

The Quinta is a remarkable place that has touched so many lives over the years. Its ministry continues to influence lives all over the world. There is a cast of thousands if not millions.

Ellen Barnes who lived at The Quinta more than a century ago is one part of this amazing story. Her life from a very different era remains

an inspiration and challenge.

INTRODUCTION & SOURCES

An unexpected twist of events in 2022 led to my election as Chair of Trustees for the Ellen Barnes Charitable Trust. I felt I needed to explore the history of the Charity. I wanted to understand more of our benefactor’s original intentions and how they had been interpreted over the hundred years since she died.

This led to the discovery of a small metal trunk in the Charity Solicitor’s basement store where it had been untouched for almost two decades. In this I found a large leather-bound hand-written Charity Record Book. It had been started but never completed.

I was already familiar with the life of Ellen’s father-in-law, Thomas Barnes, through the work of Jennifer Barnes [not related] who published the definitive history: “Thomas Barnes of Farnworth and The Quinta [Quinta Press 2012]”. I also had some accumulated knowledge of Quinta history gained from working for Dr Barnardo’s at The Quinta School 1971–1980 and then from 1985 – 2014. I was the first employee of Centre Ministries at The Quinta Christian Centre. I worked there till I retired.

Despite all this, Ellen Barnes had been just a relatively meaningless name to me. When I opened the Charity Record Book, I discovered it began with a two-page biography of Ellen Barnes. I was blown away by the detailed information I discovered. There was so much I had not known. So, I set out to discover more about her as well as researching the history of the Charity.

Early in 2024, I thought I had come close to finishing the work, but I was contacted by Jennifer Barnes who had information she wanted to pass on about Ellen Barnes and the Trust. Her notes, documents and the various records she came across in her decades of research included a sixty-three-page account of James Richardson Barnes and his wife Ellen.

This came from Jennifer’s unpublished work on the Barnes Family. I shall be unable to do justice to all her material, but I hope to offer a glimpse into the life of an extraordinary woman whose legacy continues to have a remarkable impact one hundred years later. When these sources are used “[J. Barnes]” will normally appear in the text. Other specific sources will be specified.

I write not as a competent historian, but as someone trying to unravel Ellen’s contribution to The Quinta, a remarkable place that has touched so many lives over the years and one that continues to touch lives all over the world. Ellen Barnes is one part of this amazing story.

I am grateful to those who have helped me in correcting and adding to my original text. I reserve the right to publish this material elsewhere.

Peter Bevington, Summer 2024

ELLEN BARNES

1842-1920

‘A devoted and liberal helper in every good work’

Ellen Barnes [nee Cheetham] was born into a prosperous cotton manufacturing family in Stalybridge founded by her grandfather, George Cheetham [1757–1826]. Both her father John Cheetham [1802-1886] and her brother, John Fredrick Cheetham [1835-1916] also a Privy Councillor, were Liberal MPs. The family were non-conformists and attended Stalybridge Congregational Church. It is notable that her brother is remembered for his extensive public service and generosity.

It is not surprising that Ellen married into a remarkably similar dynasty. Her father-in-law, Thomas Barnes (1812-1897) was also the son of a mill owner. He too was a Liberal MP and a Congregationalist living in Farnworth, Bolton. Thomas’ early ambition was to be a church minister but the death of his brother, George, propelled him into the business and political worlds. It was Thomas who bought the large Quinta Estate, built Quinta Hall, The Quinta Church and the Quinta Sunday Schools building.

With their origins in Farnworth and Stalybridge either side of Manchester, the two families shared extensive faith, political and business interests in the same conurbation. Both families were heavily involved in the Liberal Party. Thomas Barnes was elected MP for Bolton on three occasions: 1852–57, 1861–65 and 1865-69. Ellen’s father was MP for South Lancashire 1852-57. Her brother was MP for North Derbyshire 1880-85 and for Stalybridge 1906-10.

Faith, politics and business aligned for both families and were expressed in a genuine interest in their communities. John’s and Thomas’ worlds would have overlapped significantly, both in Manchester and at Westminster, as they interacted with the great issues of their day. Thomas, for example, was one of the first to pay former slaves on his Caribbean cotton estate. They would be well acquainted with William Gladstone and many of the leading figures of this amazing era of British history: the peak of the Victorian era and of British Empire, making its mark for both good and bad right across the world.

It is hard for us in the 2020’s to grasp the full implications of this. We live at a time when much in the UK, and across the world, is dysfunctional. Trust in politics and systems of government is low. Morale is poor. Until the later years of her life and the First World War, Ellen Barnes and her contemporaries would have experienced a completely different mindset. This would be especially the case for families like hers: relatively new wealth; riding the crests of the waves created by the Industrial Revolution; and a time when “Britain ruled the world”.

The atmosphere, despite the many issues of the time, would have felt very different: anything was possible. Both Thomas Barnes and John Cheetham built Congregational Sunday Schools and gave significant resources to local public services. Both were the benefactors behind public parks that still exist in Farnworth and Stalybridge to this day.

It is worth digressing slightly to give greater depth to our understanding of these people. They were more than dour driven Victorian protestants: they knew how to party! When Ellen’s future husband James Richardson Barnes came of age in 1860, Thomas celebrated by giving the local People Farnworth Park and holding a massive party. Details shown in this extract from “The Farnworth of the Past” by H. Clare.

The park was finally opened in 1864. About 30,000 assembled to see the procession. Thomas Barnes left the speech-making to William Gladstone who was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time. The engraving is entitled “The Opening of the People’s Park at Farnworth, Bolton” [Media Storehouse.com] It gives a graphic flavour to this event and to the place and role of the Barnes Family in their community.

This is where Ellen Cheetham came on the scene.

The original opening of the park was to have been Wednesday 21st September 1864 but to enable Gladstone to be present it was postponed till the 12thOctober the day before James and Ellen’s wedding.

Jennifer Barnes discovered a long report on the wedding from the Farnworth Observer 15th October. It was a big event in Stalybridge with thousands of people lining the route to Melbourne Street Congregational Church. The church was packed with almost a thousand people who were in the church two hours before the service. The bride, Ellen, is reported as “... looking extremely beautiful in a white corded silk dress with flounces of Honiton lace and a very elegant Brussell’s Lace fall covering her from head to foot with a wreath of orange blossoms and jessamine”. Meanwhile, in Farnworth, a canon was fired throughout the day at the cotton mills and the band paraded.

After a honeymoon in the Isle of Wight, they lived for a short time in the newly completed Quinta Manse until James’ new home, Brookside in Bronygarth, was ready.

As was the custom in those days, Ellen’s role was first and foremost to be James’ wife. She is therefore normally referred to as Mrs James Barnes. James appears not to have been deeply involved in the cotton business or in public life at Farnworth. Instead, he carved out a life for himself in and around The Quinta. Jennifer Barnes records that he was clearly involved with the running of the Quinta Estate as early as 1871 when the census described him as a landowner. Although his father was alive and living in Quinta Hall, by 1885 James owned the estate as evidenced by his will. He did follow the family’s political allegiances and was involved in Liberal events in Shropshire and Denbighshire. In 1894 he was Chair of the Oswestry Divisional Liberal Association.

James and Ellen’s faith underpinned their lives. They were influential long-term members of The Quinta Church that was opened in October 1858 by Thomas Barnes some two years after he moved into Quinta Hall. James led the choir and Ellen was the organist. The Quinta Church was a central element in the lives of the Barnes family and those close to them in the locality. William Frith, the Quinta Estate Manager and one of the Charity’s first Trustees was also heavily involved with the church. Ellen and James are buried outside the church. It is said that: “Her sympathies were not confined to her own denomination and she was a liberal supporter of all religious and philanthropic organisations in the area.” [Charity Record Book]

About 100 yards from the Church, Thomas Barnes built the Quinta Sunday Schools. Jennifer Barnes supplied me with a detailed account of the cost of this building which amounted to a total of £3,405, 4s 8p. The 46,500 Ruabon bricks used cost £46 8s!

Approximately a third of the cost was found from the Sunday School’s own resources, fundraising and public subscription. The rest was given by Thomas Barnes, his family and friends. No expense was spared, and the building was deliberately elaborate and finished to a high standard because Thomas and the family wanted this to be a memorial to his second wife, Anne.

The designer was Thomas Raffles Davison, a famous architect. He happened to be the son of the minister of Quinta Church. This listed building is sadly underused today but in Ellen’s time it was a vibrant element in community life with concerts, shows and other events held there on top of its primary function. At one time the Sunday School had an amazing attendance of about 300, including nearly 80 infants.

As it happened Ellen opened the building herself in 1883 because Thomas was ill. She was given a silver key for this as a memento. On top of everything else she did, Ellen led a girls’ class in the Quinta Sunday Schools to within a few years of her death. The pictures show the Sunday Schools building as it is today and the remarkable tile mural inside.

James was passionate about music from an early age. His father bought him a concertina. Ellen shared his love of music. Occasionally they performed together. Ellen was a notable pianist. James combined his music with his faith. He was the choirmaster at The Quinta Church and Ellen the organist. They were top of the bill in a grand concert to mark the opening of the Quinta Sunday Schools building in 1883. [J.Barnes]

Other events illustrate the role of music in James’ life. In 1860, four to five hundred of his father’s employees at the mills in Farnworth travelled to The Quinta for the day. The Band of the Farnworth Rifle Corps accompanied them. James was the musical director of the band. On this occasion they were joined by many local people making about 1,000 visitors. It rained all day, but a large canvas covered shed had been put up to accommodate the activities and refreshments: a remarkable precursor of The Quinta Conference Centre days to come some 125 to 150 years later when marquees for 1,500 from all over the UK would be erected!

James was to go on to be director of the Band of the 27th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers and over successive years provided concerts in the park at Farnworth. In 1867 he became a Captain and later commanded the Llangollen Troop of volunteers retiring after 25 years with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.

James did support his father, Thomas Barnes, by accompanying and sometimes deputising for in a whole range of meetings and events even if he did not follow in his footsteps as an entrepreneurial businessman and someone politically active at a national level. Instead, James carved out a life for himself at The Quinta and exercised significant leadership in the area. He was a Denbighshire magistrate from 1868 and was still active in the 1890s. He was one of the 48 people elected to the new Denbigh County Council. In fact, he came second in the election, only one vote behind the leader. So, in 1889 he was a Justice of the Peace with commitments at the Quarter Sessions and the Assizes and an Alderman of Denbigh County Council. He served on several committees. [J. Barnes].

Both James and Ellen were involved with Thomas in the life and activities of this large country estate. From the early days of the new Quinta Hall there were many visitors apart from individual guests to this relatively modest Victorian House. Quinta Hall was far smaller than many country properties of that nature built by those that grew rich on the back of the Industrial Revolution and the Empire.

Together the family made The Quinta “a hospitable centre of non-conformist life in North Shropshire and the Welsh Borderland” [J. Barnes]. From 1870 onwards the Park and Gardens were regularly used as a destination for Sunday School and Church trips.

Jennifer Barnes mentions a visit by the Oswestry & Welshpool Naturalists Field club. In 1876 they visited the Quinta Colliery, the millstone grit and limestone quarries at Bronygarth and the gardens at Quinta Hall. They were “most hospitably entertained” at Brookside.

Frequently there would be fetes, flower shows and other gatherings at The Quinta where the family members both hosted, had significant roles and took part with their own entries. Especially in 1890s there were reports of large marquees. Horticulture and agriculture were significant aspects of Quinta life.

The Quinta Head Gardener, Mr James Louden, was a gardener of some repute locally, often winning himself or being a judge at shows. Thomas and he won prizes for The Quinta grapes at the RHS show in London. Garden parties and shows across the area took up a lot of James and Ellen’s time.

Ellen also became involved in an area event entitled ‘The Ceiriog Vale Industrial Art and Loan Exhibition in the 1890s to be held annually at either Chirk Castle Park, Brynkinalt Park or Quinta Park. Ellen Barnes was one of the lady patronesses and the aim of the exhibition was “to encourage those attending schools and young people generally in handicraft, art, etc”. Ellen was also an honorary secretary. This involved a lot of work.

The second exhibition was held at The Quinta in 1892 and was a great success. The numbers of competitors rose to over 600 and there was a very large attendance. Jennifer Barnes devotes over two pages to describing this: the competition entries displayed in the Quinta Sunday Schools and the field nearby; and the loan collection consisting of an art gallery and museum which was displayed in Quinta Hall. There were some varied and valuable artifacts, some sent from all over the country.

In 1882 The Quinta was one of the first places in the area to have home generated electricity and lighting. It used its own coal gas and had a gasometer behind the estate buildings close to a smithy and a timber yard. These were connected by a horse-drawn railway to the Quinta Colliery, the brickworks and the Llangollen Canal – at that time part of the Shropshire Union Canals. The Bronygarth lime kilns were added to the estate around the turn of the century.

The life of The Quinta makes a great story in itself, but, in addition to all this, Ellen also carved out her own special interests. Ellen enjoyed the privileges of her class with a modest staff at Brookside. So, she could have had a very relaxed life as the wife of the local landowner. Instead, she energetically expanded the interests of the Cheetham and Barnes families and made them her own: interests that would shape the lives of many people and extend to future generations through her Trust.

Alongside the things already listed, education was possibly Ellen’s leading passion. Within a decade of her arrival, through the generosity of her father-in-law, the Bronygarth School was built. It was opened in Ellen’s presence on April 8th, 1872. 18 girls were the first pupils. It was equipped in a style ahead of the elementary schools of those days. Ellen was described as the Lady Manager. The Charity Record Book claims that “Mrs Barnes covered most of the maintenance costs of the school till it was taken over by Shropshire Education Authority in 1903”.

According to the School Record Book held by the current owners of The Old School House, Ellen visited the school almost every week for the first five years. This started five days after it opened. On April 12th the teacher records Ellen’s first visit. The teacher talks of giving a more advanced lesson on the cow and she comments that: “Almost without exception, the children are exceedingly backward and dull”. Perhaps the teacher had not yet begun to appreciate that her new pupils had a lot more to offer than the purely academic, especially when it came to cows!

In 1887 three cottages were built opposite the school. One was for the Head Teacher, one for a Teaching Assistant and one for the School Caretaker. This enabled the pupil numbers to rise from 100 to a remarkable 140 in the main school building.

When one puts together Ellen’s weekly commitments to the Bronygarth School with those to the Sunday School and considers the numbers of children involved in these places for many generations of children over almost half a century, the extent of her influence over so many young lives suddenly comes to life.

If nothing else this was a very remarkable achievement. But Ellen’s work for children and young people did not stop in Weston Rhyn and Bronygarth. She was also heavily involved in education in the area being one of the first co-opted members of the Shropshire Education Authority and one of the first governors of Llangollen County School.

In 1876 James and Ellen decided to transform the Britannia Inn on the Bronygarth Road into a working men’s institute. The Barnes family and Ellen herself sympathised with the Temperance movement and aspects of this were behind this initiative. So, the change would not have been universally popular with those that liked their beer.

A new wing was built comprising a bagatelle room, a kitchen, a laundry and a room for entertainment. It was named the ‘Bronygarth British Workman’s Institute’ and placed under a management committee elected by the members with James as Chair & Treasurer. No rent was charged. James and Ellen made frequent contributions for improvements. The picture is from The Quinta Estate Sale Catalogue, April 1929.

The family had connections with overseas missions but it was Ellen who took this further. Ellen was the first woman to be appointed as a Director of the London Missionary Society: the oldest of the British missionary societies, inter-denominational and evangelical. This was in line with both her faith and her politics. The L.M.S. had connections to the movement for the abolition of slavery. David Livingstone the missionary, explorer and abolitionist was a L.M.S. missionary at one stage.

Ellen regularly attended meetings of this society and others till failing health precluded her from travelling. Little did she know that about a century later in 1985, her home The Quinta, was to become the UK HQ of one of the world’s largest missions: Operation Mobilisation working in over 100 countries with people of over 100 nationalities.

Shortly before Thomas Barnes’ death in 1897, Ellen and James moved to Quinta Hall. James, whose health had never been robust, died only two years later in 1899. Ellen became the owner of The Quinta Estate for twenty years.

So, no longer in her husband’s shadow and already well respected, Ellen at the age of 57, found herself in charge of a 3,500 acre well organised ‘modern’ Victorian Estate. She owned over 40 farms and small-holdings and over 100 further properties with almost 600 acres of woodland. Add all this to her personal interests and it is easy to see that her responsibilities were extensive and formidable.

A local person whose family goes back a long way in the area, reports hearsay that William Frith, Ellen’s Agent, was widely regarded as being one of the most uncharitable agents in the area. He was Ellen’s ‘enforcer’ and ‘can-carrier’ in the management of this large estate: not an easy popular role to start with. But it must have been a role on which Ellen would become increasingly dependent as ill health began to incapacitate in her last years. One can imagine she would have devoted later years and dwindling capabilities to her priorities: her faith, education, mission and community life.

A century later we cannot know for sure exactly what Ellen was like as a person to live and work with. Nor can we know the dynamics of all the relationships within the hierarchy of the estate. In our humanity we are normally a collection of strengths and weaknesses, and we are all children of our times. What we do know is that Ellen’s actions and her legacy clearly demonstrate that she cared. She was not a remote landlord: she got involved with people at all levels.

Further, it is worth reflecting that, at the beginning of the twentieth century, Ellen is successfully occupying roles that her female contemporaries are fighting for. To bring this point home there is a noteworthy member of the Barnes family that Ellen would have known well. A close relative of Ellen’s by marriage was Harold Barnes [1856 -1941]. [Harold succeeded Thomas in running the family business and would become Chair of EBCT]. Some 14 years younger than her, Harold also married a girl from Stalybridge, Mary [1864 -1942], who is remembered as a leading Suffragette.

In this context, it would seem that Ellen continued to thrive and make her mark. Jennifer Barnes described her as “a woman to be reckoned with”. She had key roles in the Oswestry Division Liberal Executive and was twice President of the Oswestry Choral Society.

The Charity Record Book claims: “She took the greatest interest in the comfort and welfare of her tenants and was keen to carry out improvements on the estate. Many new cottages were built, and farmhouses were renovated”. The building work is confirmed by a recent EBCT Trustee, David Herbert, whose grandfather worked on the estate as a bricklayer and was kept extremely busy. A yearly garden party for the tenants became “a much hoped for event”.

In running the estate, Ellen was not only supported by her agent William Frith who lived at Temple Garth, but she had the services of the family firm of solicitors: Hulton, Bailey & Co. in the Barnes’ hometown of Farnworth. These people, together with Harold Barnes. became the nucleus of people who would be EBCT Trustees.

William Frith was Chairman of a committee that raised funds to build the Weston Rhyn Institute. Charles Price, also a liberal MP but born in Weston Rhyn and well known to the Barnes / Cheetham families and probably a product of the Quinta Sunday School, had provided £300 to buy the land. Charles and Ellen and thirteen other residents were the first Trustees of the Charity started to run the Weston Rhyn Institute. Ellen and her sister had each given donations of £50 and she had hosted a three-day bazaar in 1907 to raise money.

Ellen also maintained an influential philanthropic interest in Farnworth, providing land for a new council school and for an addition to the park as well as further funds for the congregational churches.

One of the pictures of Quinta Hall of the time may be featuring a garden party or a similar event for estate workers or tenants during Ellen’s time at Quinta Hall. It could be her seated towards the middle on the terrace.

Ellen returned to Brookside around 1910. Failing health compelled her to withdraw from all public activity a few years before her death. A current photo from County Cottages Online show what Brookside is like today.

The European War now known as the First World War occurred in the concluding chapter of Ellen’s life. She would have seen many of her ‘children’ from the Bronygarth School, the Sunday Schools and from her tenants go off to fight and some never return.

It must have been a time of difficulty and despair. There would be much grief on the estate and many practical problems created by the brutality of the great war.

Ellen died on 23rd February 1920. She was buried alongside her husband in the grounds of The Quinta Church. On her instruction her coffin was taken to the church on one of the estate timber wagons. The cortege was led by an open carriage carrying all the flowers and the road to the church was lined on both sides by estate workmen. [J.Barnes]

So, in concluding this summary of what we know of her life, I’m reminded of advice on discerning the nature of individuals that Ellen would have known well:

“By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” [Jesus]

If ever there was a ‘Rhyner’ who passed this test with flying colours, it was Ellen Barnes.

ELLEN BARNES’ WILL

With her husband, James, dying only a couple of years after her father-in-law, Ellen added The Quinta Estate and more to her own more modest wealth. Since she had no children, there was no direct heir.

The extent of the Quinta Estate with 22 farms and a further 20 small holdings can be seen from the sale poster when the whole estate was later sold off at a number of sales from 1929 - 1934. This large, floor to ceiling, poster from the main sale in 1929 is now displayed in Oswestry Town Museum.

Several local families still have sale catalogues. This is a fascinating historical document. It contains detailed descriptions of all the 200 or so lots. It contains many photographs of the properties. The following are the first two pages of several that provide details of The Quinta itself.

Reproduced below is an enlargement of the detail of Quinta Hall and it’s immediate 50 acres from the maps that accompanied the catalogue.

Ellen’s will dated 5 July 1913, [with codicils added in 1919 after the death of her brother] appointed Wilfred Bailey of Surrey, William Frith of Templegarth, the Quinta estate manager and Charles Hulton, her solicitor in Bolton as her executors. The will was proved, and taxes paid in 1920. The gross value of the estate was £453, 000.

In broad terms Ellen left much of the estate that she regarded as inherited from her husband to his family. From her own money including her marriage settlement she left £8000 [later enhanced by inheritance from her brother] in trust to her executors and to her husband’s cousin, Harold Barnes, and his son George Le Maire Barnes.

She also devised to the Trust the Quinta Church, the Manse, Bronygarth School, and three cottages. The Charitable Trustees were to invest the bequest and use the annual income for the benefit of such charitable institutions of an educational, religious or philanthropic nature in the neighbourhood of The Quinta or the Parish of Weston Rhyn or any adjacent parish as they thought.

At the Trustees’ discretion she wished to support, in order:

The Bronygarth School
The Evangelical Free Church
The Sunday School
The British Workman’s Institute
The wages of a District Nurse
And, any public or private scheme for the benefit of Weston Rhyn and also of Farnworth.

This provision closely followed her life-long interests and her commitments.

THE MAPS

Two maps accompanied the catalogue. The first of these maps is a larger scale showing all the estate on the English side of Offa’s Dyke. The second smaller scale map shows the parts of the estate that extended into Wales.