MACHEN Family and SMITH Family Letter 1873-1889 (General)

by Mike Pinchin , Bedford, England, Sunday, September 11, 2016, 18:56 (2995 days ago) @ jevans

If the letter could have been written in the first half of the 1880s this might just be a possibility. This is the only TEMPLE I can see who became associated with the immediate area.

BNA Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser - Wednesday 25 November 1857

MARRIAGES. Nov. 17, Axminster, Devon, by the Rev. Francis Tate, M.A., vicar, the Rev. John Temple, eldest son of Rev. W. S. Temple, rector of Dinsdale, Durham, to Elvira Mary, youngest daughter of the late Charles Bond, Esq., of Axminster-

GR 1861 Census, Welsh Bicknor

John TEMPLE, Head, Mar, 32, Curate of Welsh Bicknor, b. Durham
Elvira M, Wife, Mar, 27, Devon, Axminster
Mary H.S, Daur, 8m?, Devon, Axminster
Charlot BOND, Mother in law, W, 68, Landed Proprietor, Devon, Axminster
Sarah J BOND, Sister in law, Un, 35?, Landed Proprietor, Devon, Axminster
Sophia C BOND, Niece, 7, Devon, Axminster
+ 2 servants

The report of the death of Rev John TEMPLE in the BNA Bridport News - Friday 08 December 1893 gives these details of his life,

DEATH OF THE REV J. TEMPLE
Born 28th May 1828. Son of the Rev William Smoult Temple of Over Dinsdale near York.
Educated at Marlborough and University College Durham
Ordained Deacon in 1851
Ordained Priest in 1853
Curate at Kinington? Devon ? -c1857
Curate in charge of Welsh Bicknor 1857 to 1866.
Curate in charge of Wambrook, Somerset, 1866 to 1882.
Vicar of Bothenhampton, Devon, 1882 to his death in 1893
Wife Elvira died 8th Dec 1885

These are his other Census details,

GR 1871 Census, Wambrook, Somerset, Rectory,

John TEMPLE, Head, Mar, 42, Curate of Wambrook B.A., b. Durham, Durham
Elvira M, Wife, Mar, 37, Devon, Axminster
Mary H.S, Daur, 10, Devon, Axminster
Arthur W, Son, 7, Devon, Axminster
John G, Son, 5, Devon, Axminster
Eleanor S, Daur, 1, Dorset, Wambrook
+ 3 servants

GR 1881 Census, Wambrook, Somerset.

John TEMPLE, Head, Mar, 52, Curate of Wambrook, b. Durham, Durham
Elvira M, Wife, Mar, 47, Devon, Axminster
Mary H, Daur, Unmar, 20, Devon, Axminster
John G, Son, Unmar, 15, Devon, Axminster
Eleanor S, Daur, 11, Dorset, Wambrook
Edward B, Son, 9, Dorset, Wambrook
Gwladys M, Daur, 3, Dorset, Wambrook
Anthony, Son, 1, Dorset, Wambrook
+ 3 servants.

GR 1891 Census, Bothenhampton, The Vicarage

John TEMPLE, Head, Wid, 62, Vicar of Bothenhampton, Durham, Durham
Arthur Walter, Son, 27, Solicitor, Devon, Axminster
Eleanor S, Daur, 21, Dorset, Wambrook
Gwladys M.W, 13, Dorset, Wambrook
Anthony, Son, 11, Dorset, Wambrook
+2 servants

Elvira TEMPLE certainly had a son, Anthony (1880), but if they really were the people in the letter there would be only a short time window for the visit to happen. The implication is that Mary Smith had seen Anthony before so the visit would have had to be more towards 1885 when Elvira died.

I can find no evidence that an Elvira TEMPLE visited America around this time but Anthony seems to have gone to Kelowna BC in 1910 (Ancestry). He was a solicitor like his brother Arthur. Eleanor S. also went to Kelowna to visit her sister-in-law, Mrs A. TEMPLE in 1920 (also Ancestry). She gives her birthplace as Wambrook, Dorset (It's close to the Devon and Dorset borders). All the indications are that this family were very comfortably off.