Susanna Narraway (1777-1856)

Susanna Narraway, daughter of John Narraway, was 15 years old when J.M.W. Turner visited the Narraways at their Broadmead address in Bristol in 1792.

Purpose

The objective here is to add context to the gifts of J.M.W. Turner's paintings given to John Narraway and subsequently disposed of by his niece, Ann Dart. This niece, Ann Dart, was related to John Narraway by John's marriage to his wife also called Ann Dart; in this essay now referred to as 'Mrs. Ann Narraway'. [married 4th Nov. 1773; Barnstaple Parish Register]

Susanna's Will

Written in 1854, Susanna Narraway's will leaves money bequests to various individuals and the residue to Ann Dart. Paintings are not specifically mentioned and were therefore part of the residue. We know that the paintings which Turner gave to John Narraway descended to Susanna and on her death to Ann Dart from Ann Dart's statement reproduced in 'The Portfolio 1880' (page 70); lines 13-15 [Ann Dart's Statement].
The probate office transcription is illustrated on the left, followed by our transcription. Below that, our line by line transcription is reproduced to enable the reader to complete gaps or errors due to illegibility.

This is the last Will and Testament of me Susanna Narraway of the City of Bristol Spinster

I give to my Cousin Mary Ann Browne of the said City of Bristol Spinster the sum of two Hundred pounds but under the belief that such a course will best promote her comfort I accompany the gift with the expression of my wish that my said cousin should on receipt of the said legacy invest one hundred pounds thereof in the purchase of a life annuity

I give to my cousin John Dart of London the sum of nineteen pounds and nineteen shillings

To William Tugwell of [Wick]. Farm [Sherston Magna] Gloucestershire Yeoman the sum of seventy five pounds and if he shall depart this life in my lifetime leaving his present wife Maria Tugwell him suriving then I give the same to the said Maria Tugwell and if they shall both depart this life in my lifetime then I give the same to the children or child of the said William Tugwell and Maria his wife who shall be living at the time of the death of the survivor of them and if more than one in equal shares

and I give to Elizabeth Grabham of the City of Bristol Spinster the sum of five pounds

And as to all the residue & remainder of my estate and effects Whatsoever and wheresoever not hereinbefore specifically bequeathed of or to which I shall be possessed or entitled at the time of my decease or over which I shall have a disposing power I give the same to my cousin Ann Dart of the said City of Bristol Spinster for her own absolute use and benefit nevertheless to the payment of my just debts funeral and testamentary expenses and the legacies hereinbefore given

and I appoint the said Ann Dart sole Executrix of this my Will hereby revoking every other Will by me heretofore made

In Witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this seventh day of April in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty four _ Susanna Narraway _

Signed by the said Susanna Narraway the testratrix and by her acknowledged to be her Will in the presence of us present at the same time who in her presence at her request and in the presence of each other have hereto subscribed our names as Witnesses -
Geo. E. Coles Accountant of Bath Buildings Cheltenham Road Bristol _
Louisa Parsons of St. James's Square, Bristol.

Proved at London 23rd Jan. 1856 before the Judge by the oath of Ann Dart Spinster the sole Executrix to whom Admin. was granted having been first sworn by ... only to administer.

People Mentioned in This Will

Line numbers refer to the line by line transcription below.

• Susanna Narraway herself
  She was living in the City of Bristol in 1854.
  The probate [line 32] confirms the year of her death; 1856.
• Cousin, Mary Ann Browne of the said City of Bristol Spinster [line 3]
  Susanna's cousin on the Narraway side of the family.
• Cousin, John Dart of London [line 7].
  It seems likely that this is a brother of Ann Dart. [line 19]
• William Tugwell, yeoman of Gloucestershire. [lines 7 & 8] Unfortunately, the transcript is not very clear except for the word 'Farm' in his address. (from a coroner's inquest we find that this is 'Wick Farm, Sherston Magna')
• Maria Tugwell [lines 10 & 11], the 'present' wife of William Tugwell.
• Elizabeth Grabham of the City of Bristol Spinster [line 15]
  Lived with Susanna and Ann Dart in St. James' Square [1841 Census]
• Cousin, Ann Dart [line 19]; often referred to as 'John Narraway's niece'.
  Ann Dart (1785-1865) inherited the residuary estate which included paintings given to John Narraway by J.M.W. Turner around 1791/92. Ann Dart was only 6 years old at that time so many of her 'recollections' may have been influenced by Susanna Narraway.
• Geo. E. Coles, Accountant of Bath Buildings, Cheltenham Road, Bristol. [lines 29 & 30]
  A witness.
• Louisa Parsons of St. James's Square, Bristol. [line 30]
  Another witness. Susanna Narraway was presumably still living in St. James's Square when the will was written.

Line by Line Transcription

Lines 1 to 17

Susanna Narraway does not give her home address in this will of 1854. In 1851 [Mathew's Directory; page 171] she was living at 8 St. James's Square. This was (or nearby) the premises where her brother (or half-brother) John had unsuccessfully carried on their father's business following his death in 1822. John's address is shown as 9 St. James's Square in 1830 Pigot's Directory [Transcript; cover, page 41] where he is shown as a fellmonger despite a bankruptcy order in 1824. It is thought that the move from Broadmead took place at around the same time as the bankruptcy but no supporting evidence has been found.

Mary Ann Browne (line 3) was Susanna's cousin on the Narraway side. (See below: 3. Susanna's Narraway Ancestors...) The £200 bequest is the largest in the will apart from the residue.

John Dart (line 7) was Ann Dart's brother, born in 1787. It appears that Ann and John were the only surviving Dart cousins in 1854 when the will was written. However, there was one, William, born 1781 for whom no further definitive information was found. Susanna gave John19 guineas; the other bequests were all itemized in pounds! (See below: 2. Ann Dart, John Narraway's Niece...)

William Tugwell (line 8) and Maria (line 9). (See below: 4. The Tugwells) Susanna bequeaths £75 to Tugwell, substantially more than her cousin John.

Elizabeth Grabham (line 15) was living with Susanna and Ann in St James Square in 1841. The census record is slightly inaccurate as regards the ages of Susanna and Ann so it may not be accurate as regards Elizabeth Grabham who it shows as 40 years old. The will records her as a spinster and gives no indication of a relationship. The relatively small bequest of five pounds suggests a friendship rather than any closer affiliation.
An Elizabeth Grabham death is recorded in Bristol in 1871. The person's age is recorded as 73 therefore born around 1798. She does not appear in any other sources so far examined.

The residue clause begins on line 16 and does not specifically mention paintings.

Line by Line Transcription

Lines 18 to 34 (The End)

In line 19 the residue is given to Ann Dart, Susanna's cousin, John Narraway's niece. (see below: 2. Ann Dart, John Narraway's Niece...)

The date of this will (line 25) is 7th April 1854.

The two witnesses are shown on lines 29 & 30.

• Geo. E. Coles Accountant of Bath Buildings Cheltenham Road Bristol:
  This appears to be George Edghill Coles [Mathew's 1851 page 93]. His address was in Freemantle Terrace but we can see from [page 26] that, as deputy registrar, he worked from an office in Lower Cheltenham Place.
• Louisa Parsons of St. James's Square:
  None of the sources examined showed Louisa Parsons at St. James' Square. The 1841 census recorded two Louisa Parsons (children of 7 and 8 years old) in Bristol. There were many other Louisa Parsons recorded in the surrounding area.

The probate is dated 23rd. January 1856, granted to Ann Dart. (Line 33)

1. Mrs. Ann Narraway (John Narraway's Wife), and the Dart Family

References found in respect of Mrs. Ann Narraway's family are not definitive. The most likely reference shows that she had a 'brother' called Samual Dart. However, this 'brother', son of William and Anne (née Alger) Dart, was part of a large Dart family in Barnstaple which did not include any sibling by the name of Ann (or anything similar). The eldest brother was William Dart (1730-1753) who married Ann Dew, born 1724, from Frome, in 1751. This would result in an 'Ann Dart, widow' who may have married John Narraway in 1773. She was much older than him. We examined the possibility that this was a second marriage for John Narraway but concluded that it was not. (Alternatively a similar situation could have arisen by marriage of a different Ann with Henry Dart (born 1736) or John Dart (born 1740).)

• William Dart (1704-1750) [Barnstaple Parish Register; page 136]
  + married 9th September 1729 [Barnstaple Parish Register; page 66]
  Anne Alger (died 1780)
  Children:
  • William Dart [born 1730; illustrated left][possibly died 1753 but there is some uncertainty here.]
    + married 1751, Frome [FreeBMD]
    Ann Dew (1724-?)
    She became Mrs. Ann Dart as a result of this marriage and is likely the later Mrs. Ann Narraway.
  • Mary Dart (1733-1735)
  • Henry Dart (1736-1810)
  • Mary Dart (born 1738)
  • John Dart (born 1740)
    
  • Samuel Dart (born 1744)
    William's brother and so Mrs Ann Dart's brother-in-law mentioned above.
    see below: 2. Ann Dart, John Narraway's Niece...

Ann Dart's Statement from The Portfolio 1880 vol. 11, page 70

In April, 1860, at the time when Mr. Ruskin purchased the small Portrait and Sketch Book, Miss Dart made a statement of what she knew to the following effect :—

‘ The father of J. W. M. Turner had an old friend in Bristol—my uncle, the late John Narraway, who was a Fellmonger and Glue-maker, conducting an extensive business in Broadmead. ‘Turner, when a lad, visited my uncle, sketched in the neighbourhood, and left from time to time several drawings as presents. My uncle, on one of these visits, after Turner had taken likenesses of my aunt and two cousins, said to him, “Before you go away you must take a portrait of yourself and leave it as a remembrance.” My uncle had some difficulty in getting him to do so, but eventually prevailed. This was the small oval portrait which Mr. Ruskin purchased. The Sketch Book was one in which Turner made drawings when at home and when on visits in Bristol; he left it after him on one of these visits to my uncle’s house. I was living myself in Bristol at the period of these visits, and have often seen young Turner at my uncle’s house, and can recollect his leaving the Portrait, and Sketch Book, and other drawings with my relative as slight remembrances. These visits were, to the best of my recollection, about the years 1791 or 2. My uncle, John Narraway, died in 1822. Turner’s father was the last friend who paid a visit to his house; on his death the Portrait, Sketch Book, and other drawings became the property of his daughter, Miss Narraway, with whom I resided in St. James’s Square, Bristol, and, on her death in 1856, I became by will possessed of all these works. ‘They have always been kept with great care, and, to the best of my knowledge, they have been in no way painted upon or altered, but are now just in the same condition as when left by Turner. The above facts I have often heard related by my uncle and others connected with the family, and I myself believe them to be true. (Signed) Ann Dart.’

2. Ann Dart, John Narraway's Niece, Susanna Naraway's Cousin

A much clearer picture emerges here in the list of Samuel Dart's children. William (born 1781) has not been traced. However, it is probable that only John and Ann were living in 1854 when Susanna's will was written.

• Samuel Dart [born 3rd Feb 1744 to William and Anne (née Alger) Dart] Mrs Ann Narraway's brother-in-law.
  + [married 7th May 1778]
  Elizabeth Normand
  Children:
  • Ann Dart (1779-1781) [birth; death]
    This is very likely the first of Samuel & Elizabeth's children but the child's mother is shown as 'Ann' - a possible mistake in the register.
  • William Dart (born 1781)
  • Samuel Dart (1783-1787)
  • Ann Dart (1785-1865) [birth: Barnstaple Parish Register]
    This is John Narraway's niece and Susanna Narraway's cousin who inherited J.M.W. Turner's paintings from Susanna in 1856.
  • John Dart (1787-?)
    This is probably the 'cousin, John Dart of London' in Susanna's will.
  • Samuel Dart (1789-1790)

The information is far from complete but what we do have is a fairly accurate record of the ages of Susanna Narraway, Ann Dart, and John Dart when J.M.W. Turner visited John Narraway in 1791 and 1792. These visits took place when John Narraway lived in and worked at a property in Broadmead, Bristol.

An extract from 'The Portfolio' (left) supports the relationship between Ann Dart and Susanna Narraway. However, Ann Dart's statement, made in 1860 (left), speaks of 1791-1792 when she was aged just 7. Susanna was 15 so it is more likely that these are Susanna's memories shared with Ann during their lives together at the house at 8 St. James' Square.
[Hunt 1850; Mathews' 1851; Gravestone (shows their ages)]

John Narraway's parents; marriage record from Familysearch.org

Mary Narraway and John Narraway birth records from FreeREG

3. Susanna's Narraway Ancestors and Relatives Including Mary Ann Browne

These are well documented but the name 'Narraway' has been mis-spelled or badly read in OCR. The literature often describes how John Narraway and William Turner (JMWT's father) were friends from childhood.

There are earlier references; however, the first definitive record is found in the marriage of William Narraway to Joanna Clark in Bideford, Devon in 1741. Records of the birth of their two children show William's occupation as a tanner which suggests that John Narraway's trade was inherited from his father. Further proof of this lineage is found in the bequest to Susanna's cousin, Mary Ann Browne.

• William Narraway (occupation: a tanner)
  + (married 1741, Bideford, Devon)
  Joanna Clark
  Children:
  • Mary Narraway (1742-1802). Born at Kilkhampton, Cornwall (left).
    + (married 1767 at Barnstaple, Devon)
    Richard Browne (from Canterbury)
    Child:
    • Mary Anne Browne (1777-1862). Born at Exeter.
  • John Narraway (1744-1822) (friend of William Turner). Born at Kilkhampton, Cornwall (left).
    + (married 1773)
    Ann Dart , (?1724-?1799) Mrs Ann Narraway (possibly previously Ann Dew b. 1724)
    ( the record found of Mrs. Narraway's death in 1799 does not provide an initial.)
    Children:
    • John Narraway (1775-1837)
      According to the Portfolio 1880 page 71 para 3 this is the son who 'dunned Turner'
    • Susanna Narraway (1777-1856) (Her will the subject of this essay)

Wiltshire Coroner's Inquests 1801-1920

Tugwell, Maria 1861 April 13th Sherston Magna

An inquest was held before Mr Whitmarsh at Sherston Magna, on the body of Maria, widow of the late Mr William Tugwell, farmer, of the same parish, 76 years of age. It appeared in evidence that deceased had come from Wick Farm to live at Sherston, on Thursday last, and that for several months past she had been under much excitement of mind. The following Saturday she was missing in the afternoon, when search being made she was found in the garret suspended to a beam with a rope round her neck. On being cut down life was extinct. Mr Smith, surgeon was called to attend her in the morning of that day, when he recommended to the family that she should be taken care of at home, or be removed to a lunatic asylum. This gentleman deposed that during the last six months she had been labouring under much excitement bordering on insanity, and that when she committed suicide she was in a state of unsound mind. Verdict accordingly.

4. The Tugwells

William Tugwell's wife, Maria, appears to be Maria Robins of Newington, Surrey. This, taken together with the way she is described in the will as beneficiary only if William predeceases her suggests that the focus of the bequest is on William Tugwell.

No relationship was found between William Tugwell (1784-1857) and Susanna Narraway (1777-1856).

• William Tugwell (1784-1857)
  +
  Maria Robins (1785-1861)(In the 1841 census, Jane Robins (born 1783) and Walter Robins (born 1791) are shown to be living in the same household and appear to be Maria's siblings.)
  Children:
  • Maria Tugwell (born 1820)
  • Ann Tugwell (born 1822)
    

William Tugwell died in the October-December quarter of 1857. Susanna Narraway's probate was granted 23rd January 1856. William probably therefore received his £75 inheritance and the survival clause had no effect.

Much of the information about the Tugwells is found in a coroner's report into the death of Maria Tugwell who became mentally unwell several months before she died in 1861 aged 76 (left). The verdict was suicide by hanging but one has to wonder how a rather unstable lady of 76 managed to hang herself.

In 'The Portfolo', 1880 page 71; lines 9-10 and penultimate paragraph, Atkinson writes of a meeting with an old lady of 80+, her daughter and a friend. This meeting took place in 1879. Maria Tugwell née Robins died in 1861 and therefore cannot be that 'old lady'.

Broadmead and St. James' Square

1783; There are references to a 1783 directory which place John Narraway (senior) in Bristol in 1783 [Hamlyn; 1783 reference]. He would have been around 40 at that time so certainly old enough to have established his business there. His wife, Mrs Ann Narraway (if she was the Ann Dart née Dew mentioned above), was 59; his son, John, was about 8, and daughter Susanna was just 6 years old. It can be seen, from these ages, that a great deal of doubt surrounds Mrs. Ann Narraway's identity. However, there is no reasonable doubt about John Senior's marriage to Ann, 1773, of John Junior's year of birth, 1775, or of Susanna's date of birth, 1777. This 1883 reference by Hamlyn has not been confirmed and the article is found only as an extract linked to Princeton University Art Museum accession number x1957-1, the sketchbook mentioned in Atkinson's list in 'The Portfolio' 1880. Hamlyn quotes from a 1783 directory (but is silent on which directory) that Narraway was a 'Leather dresser and glue maker', a slightly different statement from Mathews' 1793 directory (illustrated left). Overall it seems safe to assume that Narraway and his family were resident in Broadmead in 1783.

1793; Mathews' directory for that year places Narraway in Broadmead.(left)

1822; John Narraway (senior) died.

1830; John Narraway is shown at 9 St. James' Square, Bristol. [Pigot, Gloucestershire Directory [cover] [page 41]]. (There is probably an error of transcription since the Hunt 1850 and Mathew's 1851 directories, for which we have scanned pages, show the address as "8" St. James' Square.)

Broadmead and St. James' Square (continued)

1850; [Hunt 1850]

1851; [Mathew's 1851]

1854; Susanna Narraway wrote her will.

1856; Susanna Narraway died.

1860; Ann Dart was residing at St. James' Square in 1860 when visited by Mr. J. Beavington Atkinson (author of 'Studies Among the Painters' 1874). He wrote in 'The Portfolio, 1880'; page 70:

[The Portfolio 1880 pages 69-71, pdf]

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