Stuart Majendie was the vicar of Cocking for less than a year from mid-1859 to mid-1860. His “reign” followed two long-serving vicars who clocked up over 60 years between them. Likewise, his two successors were in post for a combined period of 67 years.
His father, Henry William Majendie, was Bishop of Chester from 1800 to 1809 and then Bishop of Bangor until his death in 1830.
Stuart Majendie was born on 20 October 1799 at Windsor Castle, where his father, Henry William Majendie was the vicar of the collegiate church. Stuart was the fourth of six sons (and seven daughters) born to Reverend Henry Majendie (1754–1830) and his wife, Anne née Routledge (1754–1839).
In 1814, Stuart was admitted to Eton College from where he matriculated on 28 January 1819. He was a student at Christ College, University of Oxford, graduating as Bachelor of Arts in 1822.
On 2 September 1822, he was ordained as a deacon at Bangor Cathedral in North Wales where his father was now Bishop. He was ordained as a priest on 30 November 1823, following which he was inducted as vicar of Longdon, near Lichfield, Staffordshire.
On 1 June 1824, he was appointed as rector to the parish of Llanrhydlad with Llanfflewyn and Llanrhwydrys in Anglesey. He was still recorded as rector at Llanrhydlad in 1839.
On 13 October 1835, 35-year old Stuart Majendie married 17-year old Mary Angelina Hughes at St Helens, Lancashire. She was the daughter of Michael Hughes, a Welsh industrialist and mine owner, of Sherdley Hall, Prescot. The service was conducted by Stuart’s brother, Henry William Majendie, Vicar of Speen near Newbury in Berkshire.
Stuart and Mary Majendie had 13 children (five sons and eight daughters) all born at Longdon and baptised at St. James the Great Church there, as follows:
Mary Anne Stuart 5 April 1837
Ellen Amelia 12 July 1838
Henrietta Margaret 2 October 1839
Stuart 22 April 1841
William Francis Henry 2 October 1842
Mary Emma 3 March 1844
Rhoda 26 October 1845
Agnes Anne 17 January 1847
Stuart Routledge 23 July 1848
Charles Clinton 20 January 1850
Isabel Ada 7 March 1852
George John 10 September 1853
Constance Katherine 2 December 1855
Two of the sons died young: the first-born Stuart died on 4 June 1847, aged 6, at Speen Vicarage, the home of his uncle, Revd. Henry William Majendie. George died in 1867, aged 13, at Alverstoke in Hampshire.
Stuart’s wife, Mary died in Brighton on 1 April 1857, aged 38.
Stuart Majendie remained at Longdon until June 1859, when he transferred to Cocking, following the death of Thomas Valentine in March, with Revd. Joseph Boord Ansted replacing him at Longdon.
After less than a year at Cocking, in May 1860 he was appointed rector at St Andrew and All Saints’ Church, Barnwell in Northamptonshire, where his successor at Cocking, Revd. Richard Drummond Ash, had been curate. The rectory, in the gift of the Duke of Buccleuch, had an annual value of £350.
At the time of the 1871 census, Stuart (aged 71) was living at Barnwell Rectory with his four youngest daughters and youngest surviving son, Charles, and four staff.
Later that year, Stuart Majendie was on a trip to Bavaria where he died at Berchtesgaden on 28 September. The cause of death was recorded as “typhus fever”.
Sources
Ancestry.co.uk:
1841 England Census
1851 England Census
1871 England Census
Anglesey, Wales, Electoral Registers, 1832-1977
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538–1975
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
Eton School Lists, 1791-1850
Lancashire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1936
Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886
UK, City and County Directories
UK, Crockford’s Clerical Directories
Brighton Gazette. 14 July 1859. Ecclesiastical appointments
Cambridge Independent Press. 2 June 1860. Ecclesiastical appointments
Chelmsford Chronicle. 6 October 1871. Deaths
The Clergy Database: 18377: Majendie, Stuart (1822 – 1826)
Cocking History Group (2005). A Short History of Cocking. p.32
The Globe.
3 April 1857. Died
5 October 1871. Ecclesiastical vacancies
Reading Mercury: 12 June 1847. Died
Staffordshire Advertiser. 8 April 1857. Deaths
Staffordshire Tithe Awards Index, 1836 – 1845