S. M. Crawley-boevey
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1850 - 1911
A descendant of the seventeenth-century philanthropist Catherina Boevey, Sybella Mary wrote two volumes of stories inspired by historical records at her family home of Flaxley Abbey in the Forest of Dean. She also wrote several children's stories, two novels, and many articles for the burgeoning journal and magazine market of the latter nineteenth-century. |
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birth & early lifeSybella Mary Crawley-Boevey was born on 25th May 1850 at the family home of Flaxley Abbey. She was the younger daughter of Sir Martin Hyde and Elizabeth Crawley-Boevey. Sir Martin became 4th Baronet Barrow, of Hygrove (Minsterworth), in 1847, on the death of his father, Sir Thomas Crawley-Boevey. Sir Martin (born in 1812) was for some years both a JP and a Verderer within the Forest of Dean. He died in November 1862, when Sybella was only 12 years old. Sybella’s mother, Elizabeth Daubeney (born 1814), was daughter of the Rev George William Daubeney. She died in August 1891, at her home of Flaxley Cottage, Newnham (her memorial stone states that Elizabeth was responsible for the building of Flaxley Rectory in 1886). It seems likely that Sybella was so named after an aunt.
Flaxley ABBEYSybella was brought up primarily at the family home of Flaxley Abbey.
Founded in 1150 as a Cistercian Abbey it was visited by a number of mediaeval kings. Dissolved in 1536 it passed into the hands of the Kingston family, and remained a little used residential property for over a century. In 1648 the property was jointly purchased by James Boeve (later Boevey) a merchant, and his half-brother William Boevey. After passing through various members of the family, in 1727 on the death of the widowed Catherina Boevey, the Abbey was bequeathed to a kinsman, Thomas Crawley, who adopted the additional surname of Boevey (pronounced Boovey). Subsequent generations have continued to use the double barrelled surname. The title of Baronet was created in 1784 for Charles Barrow. The second Baronet, Thomas Crawley – Boevey was the husband of a granddaughter of Charles’ brother. The title thereafter remained within the Crawley – Boevey family. LIFEGrowing up, Sybella and her siblings would have undoubtedly had ready access to records related to the history of the Abbey, on which she was to draw heavily as background material in her two volumes of Dene Forest Sketches.
Her brother Thomas married in 1865, and was by then the fifth baronet. Fifteen year old Sybella and her older sister were two of the eight attendant bridesmaids. Newspaper accounts of the wedding note that the bridesmaids wore ‘white dresses trimmed with blue’. (Cheltenham Chronicle, 1st Aug 1865, p.2) The wedding took place in the bride’s home village of Eastington. After the ceremony the wedding party, which included the High Sherriff and his wife, attended a ‘dejeuner’ at the rectory home of the bride’s father. The wedding was followed a short time later by an event for ‘the tenantry’ at Flaxley Abbey, complete with the ringing of the church bells, music from the Forest of Dean fife and drum band, and the firing of cannon (Gloucester Journal, 29th July 1865, p.5). In 1868 Sybella was one of the witnesses at the marriage of her elder sister Martina, in Flaxley, to Rev. William Cotton Risley. The novelist and Christian campaigner Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823-1901) was Sybella's cousin, and was editor of The Monthly Packet magazine for which Sybella contributed a piece in 1890 and the two corresponded. In census records between 1871 and 1891 Sybella is still recorded as living at Flaxley with her widowed mother, by 1891 at Flaxley Cottage, on the family estate. By the early 1900s Sybella was resident in Cirencester. In 1906 she donated magazines to the local Cottage Hospital and, when a former family butler died in January 1907, she was one of various family members to attend or send a wreath (Gloucester Journal, 12th Jan 1907). Sybella did not marry. She died at the age of 61, on 12th August 1911 at her home, Magnolia Lodge, in Cirencester. Newspaper reports after her death note that she became unwell on her return from visiting Flaxley Abbey, this resulting in her requiring surgery. Although she initially seemed to rally, she died a few days later (Hereford Times, 26th Aug 1911, page12). Sybella left an estate of a little over £8,500. A memorial, in the form of a new stained glass east window, was installed in 1913 at Flaxley Parish Church, by the family. This window gave thanks for the life of the fifth Baronet, Thomas, his wife Frances and his sister Sybella (Gloucestershire Echo, 8th May 1913, page2). |
BOOKS, stories & ARTICLES
SIBLINGSSybella was one of eleven surviving children. The lives of each gives some insight into large middlingly-wealthy families of the period. Thomas Hyde (1837 – 1912) - 5th Baronet. John (b. and d. July 1838). Francis Gibbs (1839 – 1865) - died in his mid-20s. Walter Daubeny (1841 – 1896) – Went to Australia in 1872, dying Sept 1896 at Yarra Bend, Victoria. Martina Elizabeth (1843 – 1891) - Married Rev. William Cotton Risley in 1868. Edward Barnston (1844 – 1888) - Became a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. Arthur William (1845 - 1913) - Attended Balliol College, became a barrister. Also an author, writing mainly about the Abbey and the preservation of ancient buildings. Octavius Charles (1846 – 1897) – By 1872 living in Peru, where he also died. James Henry (1848 – 1898) – Became a solicitor, living and dying in London. Rev. Richard Lloyd (1852 – 1928) - Became vicar of Flaxley in 1883. Antony Page (1855 – 1924) – Buried at Flaxley, possibly died in France. |
BECOMING AN AUTHOR
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The first known publication of Sybella’s fiction writing is dated to 1885, when she was 35 years old. This is Topsy Turvy, (in some sources listed as Jack, a Topsy Turvy Tale) stories aimed at ‘Children aged 10-14’. The press advertisement for the book describes it as ‘full of adventures, and teeming with fun and humour’ (The Morning Post, 12th Nov 1885). The illustrator for this and other of Sybella’s works for children was the artist H. J. A. Miles (1841 – 1919). Helen Jane Arundel Miles was a fairly prolific illustrator of children’s books, active across several decades. She also created outline colouring books for children (Shields Daily News, 3rd Dec 1883, p.1). Other stories by Sybella aimed at children followed. In 1887 Full of Wonders was serialised in the magazine Little One's Own. Sybella was also one of eight authors contributing to children’s book By the Light of the Nursery Lamp. To Storyland’, published in 1892.
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dene forest sketches
It was in 1888 that Sybella had the first of two books published, utilising manuscripts and family records held at Flaxley Abbey. This volume, entitled Dene Forest Sketches, was followed some years later by a second series bearing the same title.
In these volumes Sybella weaves adventurous and romanticised stories centring on key events from the long history of the Abbey. Spanning several centuries, the sketches cover the period from the establishment of the Abbey through to its ownership by the author’s own ancestors.
Each story blends recorded fact and historic background (described by the author as ‘a groundwork of truth’) with dramatic tales having themes based around children brought up by poor villagers, not knowing their true identity; evil doing – often by moneyed nobility; noble acts by people of humble yet honest heritage etc. The majority of the sketches are set in and around the Forest, many interwoven with events involving the Abbey and its inhabitants.
Many of the young characters make good their way in the world. A typical example is in ‘A Right Revenge Heaps Coals of Fire’, which has as its hero the young Adam Tostock, raised but not loved by a family not his own. He is taught to read by a local hermit-like man and after further hardships arrives at Flaxley Abbey. Sent from the Abbey via Gloucester to Oxford, Adam has further adventures along the way. The story resumes when he is an adult, a captain. It is only then that the truth of his heritage is made known to him. He is, it emerges, the son of a murdered father, and the rightful owner of the home usurped by the killer!
Sybella often refers to places within the area by their earlier names such as Magna Dean (Mitcheldean) and Parva Dean (Littledean).
The two volumes of Dene Forest Sketches are peppered with illustrations attributed to F. H. Crawley- Boevey. This would appear to be Francis Hyde Crawley-Boevey, a nephew of Sybella’s, born in 1868. He is listed in the 1901 census as an artist, living in London. He would have been aged around 20 when the first volume was published.
The son of Thomas, the fifth baronet, Francis later assumed the baronetcy on the death of his father.
Contemporary reviews of Dene Forest Sketches were, in the main, positive:
In these volumes Sybella weaves adventurous and romanticised stories centring on key events from the long history of the Abbey. Spanning several centuries, the sketches cover the period from the establishment of the Abbey through to its ownership by the author’s own ancestors.
Each story blends recorded fact and historic background (described by the author as ‘a groundwork of truth’) with dramatic tales having themes based around children brought up by poor villagers, not knowing their true identity; evil doing – often by moneyed nobility; noble acts by people of humble yet honest heritage etc. The majority of the sketches are set in and around the Forest, many interwoven with events involving the Abbey and its inhabitants.
Many of the young characters make good their way in the world. A typical example is in ‘A Right Revenge Heaps Coals of Fire’, which has as its hero the young Adam Tostock, raised but not loved by a family not his own. He is taught to read by a local hermit-like man and after further hardships arrives at Flaxley Abbey. Sent from the Abbey via Gloucester to Oxford, Adam has further adventures along the way. The story resumes when he is an adult, a captain. It is only then that the truth of his heritage is made known to him. He is, it emerges, the son of a murdered father, and the rightful owner of the home usurped by the killer!
Sybella often refers to places within the area by their earlier names such as Magna Dean (Mitcheldean) and Parva Dean (Littledean).
The two volumes of Dene Forest Sketches are peppered with illustrations attributed to F. H. Crawley- Boevey. This would appear to be Francis Hyde Crawley-Boevey, a nephew of Sybella’s, born in 1868. He is listed in the 1901 census as an artist, living in London. He would have been aged around 20 when the first volume was published.
The son of Thomas, the fifth baronet, Francis later assumed the baronetcy on the death of his father.
Contemporary reviews of Dene Forest Sketches were, in the main, positive:
'Miss Crawley Boevey has successfully weaved the historical records at her disposal into the most interesting narrative.....This (she) has done in a complete and most interesting manner, and we heartily recommend the volume’
Gloucester Journal, 18th June 1887, page 6
the Forest OF DEAN in Dene Forest Sketches
Sybella was born to a wealthy family, whose properties included Flaxley Abbey, where she spent much of her childhood and early adult life. Her father’s role as a Verderer would have brought Sybella a heightened level of awareness about the everyday working of the Forest, this coupled with easy access to the many historical records held by the Abbey.
Many of the stories within the 2 volumes of Dene Forest Sketches include passages describing the Forest. The opening paragraph of 'Alice Hoyle’s Dowry', the second Sketch within the first volume, describes the Forest in early spring:
Many of the stories within the 2 volumes of Dene Forest Sketches include passages describing the Forest. The opening paragraph of 'Alice Hoyle’s Dowry', the second Sketch within the first volume, describes the Forest in early spring:
'It was an evening in early spring-time. There was a faint green flush over the elms and undergrowth of Dene Forest, but oaks still reared leafless brown heads in the April sky, and wind-flowers spread their pink-stained petals in hundreds far below. Pigeons cooed softly, bees warmed their stiffened wings in the sunshine; and there was a pleasant hum of life everywhere, telling of the yearly resurrection after the winter’s sleep'.
(Dene Forest Sketches, page75)
Another passage again gives a still recognisable description of the Forest; this time in the Sketch entitled The Gypsy’s Fosterling:
‘The ladies had been for some time sauntering along one of the red-soiled forest paths, thick in parts with wild strawberry plants, yellow St. John’s Wort, and a tangle of graceful ferns and grasses. Here and there bramble arms stretched across the path to twine with the undergrowth of hazel-bushes, and white honeysuckle climbed in profusion over these, filling the air with sweetness’.
(Dene Forest Sketches, pages 371-2)
Sybella describes the setting of Flaxley Abbey itself, from the perspective of a young man viewing it for the first time. This passage reflects the locale as she knew it, augmented by her interpretation, based on the historical source material, of how it may have appeared when the story was set.
'The Cistercian Abbey of Flaxley lay in a lovely dell between two rising banks of woodland, part of which had been cleared away around the building, that it might become grazing for cattle. And better grazing ground there could not be, for down the whole length of the valley ran a stream of the purest water, thanks to a spring which long ago had been dedicated to St Antony, the patron saint of hogs! Round the spring was built a circle of stones, and a yard or so on was a square basin, with steps leading down into the water, where poor folks afflicted with skin disorders were sent to bathe, many afterwards professing a cure from the boasted virtue of the water'.
(Dene Forest Sketches, page 142)
Novels
Beyond Cloudland (1888)
Not all of Sybella’s works were, however, so well received by the critics. In particular, she received a number of less than enthusiastic reviews for her book Beyond Cloudland (1888). This book has an unusual premise: that in one’s dreams the spirit can leave the body and travel to other worlds, there meeting the spirits of others - those still living and the long dead. The book's heroine has been ‘let down’ by her young fiancé whose actions indicate him to be bent on a path of excess living. Awake, the heroine, Blanche, interacts with family and friends. However, in her dreams she is guided by a recently deceased vicar in travels ‘beyond Cloudland’ to distant worlds, including Saturn and Mercury, her aim being to ‘reclaim the soul who has wandered from your love, aye from love both human and Divine’. In her travels Blanche encounters those still living and those who have passed ‘beyond the veil’, including Mendelssohn and Handel. The story intersperses philosophical / theological discussions between the priest and Blanche, with the everyday happenings in the waking hours of the heroine and other principal characters. Elements of emerging knowledge of the stars and solar system also are interwoven into the plot.
Typical of these less than enthusiastic reviews of Beyond Cloudland is this one, stating:
Not all of Sybella’s works were, however, so well received by the critics. In particular, she received a number of less than enthusiastic reviews for her book Beyond Cloudland (1888). This book has an unusual premise: that in one’s dreams the spirit can leave the body and travel to other worlds, there meeting the spirits of others - those still living and the long dead. The book's heroine has been ‘let down’ by her young fiancé whose actions indicate him to be bent on a path of excess living. Awake, the heroine, Blanche, interacts with family and friends. However, in her dreams she is guided by a recently deceased vicar in travels ‘beyond Cloudland’ to distant worlds, including Saturn and Mercury, her aim being to ‘reclaim the soul who has wandered from your love, aye from love both human and Divine’. In her travels Blanche encounters those still living and those who have passed ‘beyond the veil’, including Mendelssohn and Handel. The story intersperses philosophical / theological discussions between the priest and Blanche, with the everyday happenings in the waking hours of the heroine and other principal characters. Elements of emerging knowledge of the stars and solar system also are interwoven into the plot.
Typical of these less than enthusiastic reviews of Beyond Cloudland is this one, stating:
‘There is surely no comfort .....in fancying that other worlds in general as just as narrow and muddle headed as our own....we regret to say that ‘Beyond Cloudland’ is imagination wasted, and is only saved from being called absurd nonsense by its obvious and, indeed pathetic sincerity’.
The Graphic (26th Jan 1889, page 29)
Other reviews are equally disparaging, one commenting that the writer lacks the ambitious ‘imaginative power’ demanded by the subject matter. On a slightly more positive note, one reviewer does comment that the book makes ‘a literary "Salmigundi’"[stew] far more wonderful than pleasant’.
Conscience Makes the Martyr (1894)
Published in a volume of Arrowsmith’s Bristol Library in 1894, it is a tale of a mysterious murder. The setting is a mining district that is markedly similar to The Forest of Dean. Several reviews of this tale mention good ‘portraiture of characters’ (bearing such names as Polly Spry and Parson Blake) while The Gentlewoman describes it, ‘As good a shillingsworth of fiction as you can get anywhere’.
Published in a volume of Arrowsmith’s Bristol Library in 1894, it is a tale of a mysterious murder. The setting is a mining district that is markedly similar to The Forest of Dean. Several reviews of this tale mention good ‘portraiture of characters’ (bearing such names as Polly Spry and Parson Blake) while The Gentlewoman describes it, ‘As good a shillingsworth of fiction as you can get anywhere’.
Many thanks to Caroline Prosser-Lodge for her research and writing for this page.
