Childhood Years

“Peter loved Mary when she was quite a little girl and waited twelve years to make her his wife. These two often met at an aunt's house in London, near the school of a French Huguenot lady, which Mary attended.  On one of those occasions, Mary mentioned that she had observed that her schoolmistress, who was a Countess, seemed to be in great distress. As Mary explained her situation, Peter took careful notes about her sad case, and when leaving the house, he assured Marie and her mother that he would endeavour to her aid.  

​​The day on which this happened was a holiday—not a public holiday, but one confined to the manufactory—and Pierre, on his return, found that his uncle had gone to spend the day in the country and was not expected back until the following day.

At this time, Peter had been placed with an uncle, the head of one of the largest silk manufactories in Spitalfields. By his thoughtfulness, promptitude, and punctuality, he had already made himself indispensable and was entrusted with the establishment's bookkeeping and correspondence as a confidential clerk.

In addition to the business's mercantile concerns, he also managed the accounts of several benevolent societies—chiefly those assisting French refugees and their descendants—of which his uncle was treasurer. Pierre kept these accounts, corresponded with committee members, and received and registered petitions for assistance. A meeting was scheduled in three days to distribute the Royal Fund.

It was the last day on which petitions could be admitted. Undeterred, Pierre drew up three petitions, for the Count, the Countess, and their maid, setting out their circumstances with clarity and force. He then set off on foot to Walthamstow, his uncle’s country residence, and secured both his approval and signature, together with a donation of five guineas for their immediate relief.

Though urged to stay the night, he declined, anxious to return for duties awaiting him early the next morning. When the warehouse opened, he was already at his desk, but not before he had visited several members of the committee and enlisted their support. Most contributed privately and suggested other influential French gentlemen who might assist the cause.

That evening, once the warehouse closed, he set out again with a book recording the case and the subscriptions already received. His efforts were remarkably successful. By the time the committee met, the total exceeded one hundred pounds, and the schoolmistress, her husband and maid were placed on the largest scale of pensions.

He returned to share the news with his young cousin, and this act of kindness was long remembered by both Peter and Mary as one of the happiest incidents of their lives.

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Marriage and Beyond

Peter Beuzeville (1742–1812) married his first cousin, Mary Griffith Meredith (1744–1811), at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 16 January 1768. The Rev. Samuel Beuzeville, Peter’s uncle, officiated.

It is believed that they had fifteen children, though most died at or soon after birth, and only five survived beyond infancy. In 1787, Samuel and Charlotte died within eight days of each other, leaving three daughters: Bridget (1770–1828), Marianne (1776–1829), and Esther (1786–1851).

In later years, the family worshipped—along with many close relatives—at the French Church of St Jean in Spitalfields, situated near the family business at 34 Steward Street and not far from Christ Church.

In the early years of their marriage, Peter and Mary lived at Hackney, while Peter worked in his father’s silk-weaving manufactory in Spitalfields. The area then formed part of Tower Hamlets.

In 1789, two years after the deaths of Samuel and Charlotte, the family moved to Cheshunt in Hertfordshire. They retained a townhouse, probably in Hackney, where Peter stayed during the week with his eldest daughter, Bridget, who kept house for him. Each Saturday, they travelled to Cheshunt, returning to London on Tuesday.

By 1793, the family had returned to Hackney. Until the French Revolution, French was spoken in the household, and many French customs were preserved.

In 1797, the family moved to Henley-on-Thames and lived at 'Southfield House' in Reading Road (Duke Street), on the site of the present mail exchange. Emma Byles describes it as standing back from the road, enclosed by a mellow brick wall and surrounded by a garden with fine trees. It stood close to the Independent Chapel.

The repeated loss of children weighed heavily on Mary, especially the deaths of Samuel and Charlotte from smallpox in 1787.

Mary died in 1819 at Henley. Esther later wrote: “By the affecting death of two children, our dear mother’s constitution received a shock from which it never recovered. She was, for years, gradually sinking under accumulating infirmities.” There is, held in custody by a member of the Australian branch of the family, a pink, gold, and ivory mourning brooch that belonged to Mary, and it commemorates these two children. whose names are engraved on the back

Peter died seventeen months after Mary. Esther wrote: “He was taken off suddenly, though at a mature period of life, in the midst of usefulness.”

She remembered both her parents with deep affection, valuing their spirituality and their quiet influence for good.

Peter and Mary are buried in a north vault beneath the old Meeting House, later demolished in 1908 to allow for the widening of Reading Road. The headstone was removed and placed beside a fence separating the present church from the Manse, where the inscriptions were still legible in 1996–97.

Peter made his will in November 1776, leaving a substantial estate. However, by the time of his death in 1812, his executors had died, and those subsequently appointed also passed away. 

The estate was not finally settled until 1864, thirteen years after Esther’s death. After legal costs, only five pounds remained.

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Notes & Sources

​Extracted from Family Notes, by Emma Mary Byles,1926. Unpublished

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