The George Baker Family 1822-1905

This means that Francis Baker was born in 1790, and his wife in 1788. To this day the church stands in the corner of a charming green, low small houses on either side. In their day it would have been surrounded by fields and lanes; now Greater London sprawls all around. I went and saw their graves, so peaceful after the roar of the London traffic.

In the church there is the record of the baptism of the following children:-

Copy of Totteridge parish register

1820 Francis Baker, son of Francis (gardener) and Sarah. 1822 George Baker, 1824 Emma, 1827 Mary Ann Baker, 1830 John Baker, 1833 Alfred David Baker.

No other Baker entries. No marriages or burials.

Note: There is only one Anglican church in Totteridge and so it is almost certain these Bakers are buried in the church yard of the building which has its own web site here. This churchyard was visited by the project administrator in March 2006, and the tombstone was located, with one of a possible relative - click here
For going back in generation beyond Francis Baker, the death certificate seems to be this one, info from this web-site, and his father’s name etc. could be revealed in the records held at the General Register Office in London.

However, we do know there were three more children - the three eldest in the family - who are not mentioned in the above list: these are Katherine, Ellen and James, so presumably, these children were not born in Totteridge but elsewhere. The family then moved to Totteridge, and remained there for the rest of their lives.

We now come to his wife Sarah. Here we have conflicting reports - one account mentions that there was a widow by the name of Virgo when she married Francis Baker, but in some letters written from America by the granddaughter of Katherine, the eldest daughter of Francis and Sarah Baker, she definitely states that Francis Baker married a Miss Virgo, and also adds that when she and her father, George Wallace were over in England, after Katherine had died, they called on a Miss Virgo, who told them that the Virgos owned land from the time of King John (1199 AD). If she was the sister or niece of Sarah’s first husband, would they have gone to visit her? they were no relations of hers. I think there is a possibility that Sarah Virgo kept up her connections with her own family, and it was they who helped her find work for her children by her first and second marriages. George Baker, as a young boy, certainly worked for a time at the Virgo nursery at Wonesh.

Arthur Baker, grandson of the Francis Baker mentioned above, writes:-

“It is surprising how little I know of my father, George Baker’s history. My brother George Percival Baker and I visited grandfather in 1876 or 1877. The old man was bedridden, but what his occupation was I do not know. We saw him in the house where my father was born. His name was Francis Baker. He had three sons living, James Baker, Francis Baker (Frank) and George Baker my father, and one daughter Emma.”
End of extract.

Something is wrong here. Arthur came to school in the year 1876 or 1877, aged about 15, and Francis Baker, his grandfather, died in 1869. The only thing I can think of is that it was his grandmother he was told as being bedridden, this would fit as she died a year later.

Arthur then goes on with the sons of Francis Baker:-

“James Baker was a partner in a wholesale business and for years acted as his brother’s agent in Turkey. He entered the firm as an errand boy, and in course of time became the principal partner. He was one of the judges at the Paris Exhibition of 1873.
Francis Baker (Frank) was a tailor, he had a shop in Barnet, he was married but had no children, he was lame with a club foot. I saw him several times, he took an interest in Sunday school meetings and also addressed meetings.
My impression of both James and Frank was that they had had more schooling than my father had had.”
End of extract.

I will now give the obituary notice in one of the local papers of Francis (Frank) Baker’s death.

Death of Francis Baker. We regret to have to record the death on Monday morning last, at his residence, Greenfield Lodge, West Barnet, of Mr Francis Baker, an old and highly respected inhabitant of our town. Born we believe in a neighbouring village, he came something like 50 years ago to Barnet, where he served an apprenticeship to the tailoring, which business he subsequently pursued for many years on his own account at Hadley, and retired late in his life to the quiet little house which he bought for himself at West Barnet. During his long residence in the town he made himself useful in many useful ways...

As we know, he was born in the village of Totteridge, and it must have been in the year 1887 that he died.

Arthur Baker’s notes continue:-

“My father, George Baker, started life as a gardener’s assistant to a Judge Butt. He would at times talk of his early life, getting up at 5 to light fires, he often said that one of the greatest discoveries of his age was the lucifer or match, that replaced the tinder, also the quill. He started at 3/- a week and later in life he earned 5/- with perquisites for each wasp’s nest destroyed, and yet he managed to save enough to buy himself a very fine box of compasses, a book on landscape gardening and several costly books on gardening, which he had until his death. Judge Butt took an interest in him, because he saw that he was anxious to learn.”
End of extract.

A point to be remembered is that England in those days was divided into two classes, the aristocracy and gentry, and the rest. The aristocracy and gentry were educated at home with tutors, or went to the “Public” schools which were in all senses of the word “Private” and fee paying. The rest of the country went to the small village school, Church school or grammar school. They usually ended their schooling at the age of about 10, they then started to earn their living, really a form of being apprenticed to some trade. In the case of James and Francis, this would mean that they continued their studies in the counting-house. But George Baker working out of doors all day long, and away from towns, would not have the opportunity or inclination to continue his studies at night, the lighting alone would have been a problem, candles were the only form of lighting in those days, books were very expensive, and there were no lending libraries. How could a boy improve himself, and yet as we shall see George Baker did.

George Baker continued to rise in his profession, which by now showed that he was anxious to concentrate on landscape planning, so here I will try and explain the situation in England at the end of the 18th century. It was customary for the British aristocracy to send their sons on a tour of the Continent, before they finally settled down to manage their estates - this tour usually lasted a year. They travelled through France and Italy; this amongst other things, resulted in an interest in planned landscape gardening, after they had seen Versailles and the famous Italian gardens. When they came into their inheritance they then decided to make their own estates in to show places, and employed such men as “Capability Brown” and others to help them with these projects. These gardens are famous to this day, and are now thrown open to the public for a fee, which pays for their upkeep.

All this resulted in a great expansion of all horticultural matters. At the same time the British Empire was expanding and merchants, missionaries, civil servants, administrators and explorers were sending back plants from all over the world - in time these were collected at Kew. As we see, horticulture was in its infancy. If a boy wanted to take up this profession, he had to enter the service as an apprentice and work his way up the ladder. In those days there were no horticultural establishments with exams and diplomas at the end, it was all practical work in the field. The big estates with their arboretums, exotic greenhouses, walled gardens with fruit trees trained up them, and the large kitchen gardens that supplied the whole household with vegetables, were the only establishments that could supply this training.

Amongst the Baker papers I came across the suggestion that George Baker and his brother-in-law, John Wallace, who had married his elder sister Katherine, had studied at Kew. I wrote to Kew and got the following answer:-

Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew, Richmond, Surrey.
“Our records for the staff employed at Kew during the 1840s are very incomplete. We have a manuscript list of gardeners at Kew during the 1840s to 1860s, but we have no means of checking whether this included all the gardening staff. Neither George Baker or John Wallace are on this list. At that time Kew came under the Department of Woods and Forests, but in 1850 we transferred to the newly instituted Board of Works and Public Buildings.”
End of extract.

However, sometime in 1848, John Wallace, who was the elder, was offered two Government jobs, one to California, the other to Constantinople. Katherine did not want to go to Constantinople, but did want to go to America. John Wallace and his wife left for America, George Baker applied for the Constantinople job. We have the following interesting correspondence in connection with this application.

Exotic nursery, Kings Road, Chelsea.
We, the undersigned Proprietors of this Establishment, being very frequently honoured by the Nobility and Gentry with Applications for Gardeners, feel it is an imperative duty we owe to them, to the respectable members of the Profession, and to ourselves, to recommend none in whom implicit confidence cannot be reposed, not only for perfect professional ability, but also for unexceptional private character. We have therefore drawn up the following for which we earnestly request those recommending persons to our notice to fill up faithfully and impartially, for in no way can we contribute to the respectability of a most worthy class of men, than by supporting the intelligent, good and deserving gardener, and by discountenancing the ignorant and worthless one.
Signed Joseph Knight and Thomas Perry.

GEORGE BAKER, born at Totteridge, near Barnet, Herts, July 2nd. 1822.
Where Apprenticed, to whom, and how long? Employed under his father in the gardens of Mr Thoroughgood, Totteridge.
Where employed as Journeyman, under whom and how long? One year with Mr Virgo, Nurseryman, near Wonesh, Guildford. And one year with Mr Allman, Nurseryman, Horsham, Sussex.
Where employed as Foreman, under whom, and how long? There years Foreman under Mr Grisby in the Gardens of Lord de Mauley, Canford, Dorset. And three years Foreman under Mr Porter in the Gardens of Sir J.W. Coply, Sprotbrough Hall, Yorkshire.
Where employed as Head Gardener, how long, and why he left his situation? One year with C. Hyde, Esq., No.1 Kentishtown, Highgaterise. Left there to go to Lord de Mauley for improvement.
Whether honest, sober, moral and of strict integrity in word and action? Strictly so.
Whether attentive to Religion he professes? Whether industrious and attentive? Whether good and quick worker? Whether clean in person and of methodical habits? Whether of good address, pleasing and obliging manners. To all the above the answer is yes.
...
Name and Address of the Recommender: Andrew Porter.

Next is a black edged letter with monogram.

Lady Charlotte Coply has much pleasure in recommending George Baker as an excellent gardener and most respectful well conducted servant. He has lived three years at Sprothro under Mr Porter who can fully recommend him as head gardener. Sir Joseph is out of Town at the moment or would add his high recommendation to the above.
Exotic Nursery.

My Lady,
Since I was applied to by some ladies last evening for a gardener to go to Constantinople, I have had some further conversation on the subject of gardening and am more convinced I have made a good choice of a very studious clever young man in George Baker, one who if spared for a long life will rise to the head of his profession, his knowledge in the various branches of his profession is first rate, his manners modest and good, his industry and trustworthiness cannot be surpassed. I enclose a note in his favour from Lady Charlotte Copley.
I have the Honour to be your Ladyships Obl and Humble servant.
Joseph Knight

As we see from the above, George Baker was first employed under his father, then later in the Nursery belonging to the Virgo family and finally worked his way up to being head gardener to Lord de Mauley.

So sometime in 1847 or 1848 George Baker left for Constantinople to lay out the two Embassy gardens, one in Therapia, up the Bosphorus, the other in Constantinople itself.

Here I must try to explain the situation in Turkey at that time. Russia, under Nicholas I, had been showing signs of interest in the “Sick Man of Europe”, in other words the Ottoman Empire, which in those days stretched from the Adriatic to the Persian Gulf. Nicholas was anxious to annex the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles and, most import of all, the entrance to the Mediterranean. England and France realized what this would mean to the balance of power in Europe, and decided to block this move. England also realized her overland route to India via Egypt, and the Indian Ocean and in some cases the mainland, was badly threatened. The climax came when an ultimatum from Russia to the Turks precipitated the Crimean War in the year 1854. As soon as the danger was realized the various Powers had been collecting in Constantinople, Embassies were being built, and all that this entailed, and in time it became one of the leading capitals of Europe. In diplomatic circles the order of promotion was London, Paris, Petrograd and Constantinople.

Again from the Arthur Baker notes:-

“In 1848, the Turkish Government gave our Embassy a plot of land at Therapia up the Bosphorus, to be used as a summer residence. It was a hillside of great beauty. Father went out for the British Government to lay out these grounds, also the Embassy grounds in Constantinople. His diary which he kept on the way out gives these dates. When he left England he sailed to Malta, and from there took the Packet. He had with him a collection of plants for the Embassy, also a collection of fruit trees for the Sultan. The diary mentions a list of plants, an interesting list because it shows that Kew had collected plants from many parts of the world, including Central Asia. He speaks of taking the collection to the Palace gardens, and seeing the Sultan, Abdul Medjid, digging. He notes that his trousers were badly cut and needed a tailor. (The diary must have been lost, it was not amongst the papers).
Father used to talk of his first steps towards making money, he started a nursery and took the cuttings and sold them, amongst other plants he introduced the wisteria to Turkey, he also laid out some of the Bosphorus gardens.
Whilst he was at the Embassy as gardener, H. Layard offered him a post as foreman to his Mesapotamian Archaeological Expedition. Father apparently accepted influenced more particularly by Burton, who later travelled to Arabia. Burton and father were pals, probably because of their botanical interests. Dufferin also intended joining but I cannot remember whether it was because of Layard’s illness or Dufferin’s but the expedition did not start until the following year.
Meanwhile George Baker had become engaged to Maria Butler, also he was making money and decided not to go.”
End of extract.

Sir Austen Henry Layard (from the Encyclopedia)
Sir Austen Henry Layard the famous archaeologist, conducted two expeditions to Nineveh and Babylon 1845 and 1849 and sent back to England specimens forming the greater part of the Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum.

Sir Richard Burton
Traveller and orientalist, he was a subaltern in the Indian Army. He made himself master of 35 oriental languages, in 1853 he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, in 1854 he explored the interior of the Somali country. He translated the “Arabian Nights”.

From the Arthur Baker notes:-
“His first attempt at trading was either suggested to him by his brother James Baker or I am inclined to think (I am speaking from memory) forced upon him by his brother. Father had sent him some earnings and James Baker sent out a parcel of linens, etc., these were sold at a good price. The order was repeated and in time a room was taken in one of the back streets of Pera. When the British Embassy was furnished the contractors in England sent out carpenter, upholsterers, and others. Burness, Duff and Hayden and many others. The three I mentioned remained behind, each started a business. Hayden joined George Baker and they opened a shop just below Galata tower. Father gave up his business at the Embassy, he kept up his nursery business, but not for long.

It is curious to remember some of the incidents of life in Turkey of those days. Father’s shop had been a boot factory, where a German and his men made boots for the Army, machine boots were not known in those days. In Pera the houses were not numbered, some of the streets were not even named. Father called the square opposite his shop “Prospect Place” - it was really a cemetery. The headings to his bills bore this address and on the corner of the shop the old painted name was visible some few years ago.

In 1868 or 1869 Baker and Hayden dissolved partnership, both continued in business. I often used to take tea of an afternoon, that would be 65 to 68 years ago, and I remember going to write out the accounts, for even in those days he gave credit. At times, when I think of those days, I marvel how he made money.

The shop had a depth of about 18ft., two rooms on the ground floor and a staircase, one open room above, but the stock was surely the oddest collection of goods ever collected. Father still had some connection with gardening friends, so seeds and some gardening tools were stocked. Radish seed was imported by the sack. The old connection with Hayden, who was now amongst other things an undertaker, called for ornaments and fittings for coffins. Silvered crosses and particularly silvered cherups, so beloved of the early Victorians, formed part of the stock. Again the old connection with the carpenter’s shop called for tools, nails, screws etc., but apart from oddments, you could buy boots, collars, ties, cloth, cotton goods and blankets, hosiery, flat irons, sponge baths, quilts, beds, foolscap paper, copy books, quill pens, straw hats and even a Scotch cap or glengarry, for the Scotch boys working at the Arsenal always wore them. In those days there were some 800 of them working at the Admiralty. Do not run away with the idea that of a Departmental Store, the stock of beds might have been three or four, the time to select your first born’s cradle would not take long, for there were never more than two to select from, so too, the stock of patent medicines was limited. All the stock was in a glass panelled cupboard about 6ft x 3ft. I cannot remember them all but there was never a shortage of Cockles Pills, in spite of the fact that as boys we were all dosed with them for almost all our ailments.

Father never drew up a Balance Sheet, never reduced the prices of his stock and always kept to the good old rule of selling his goods at 75% on cost. The cost to him meant the purchase price, the additional cost of packing and freight was never considered, so a bedstead was comparatively cheaper to the purchaser than a vest.

Sometime before 1870 father opened another shop in the upper part of Pera, it was before 1870 as the great fire of Pera was at that date. He then bought a house, he then built another shop called 500, then in 1880 he built the house at Hissar, and then built another house. I mention this because it shows that from the time he parted company with Hayden, that is from 1869 to 1882 he was making sufficient to invest outside his business, but it was a great strain and responsibility.

Before Baker and Hayden dissolved partnership in 1869, they had joined hands with Heywood and Nixon who were putting up a floor mill and had got into difficulties. How much Baker and Hayden put in I do not know. Heywood soon found his mill not large enough and started to build another, which was ultimately the largest in Constantinople. It was completed before the Russo-Turkish war in 1876 and made money, but Father never got any dividends, for it was a mania with Heywood to continue building. One of the clauses of the contract stated that at the death of a partner the surviving partners were to pay the executors his share as shown by the last balance sheet plus interest, from that time on his capital to his decease, this sounds all right, but for a year or two before Heywood’s death the mills made no profits, no sooner had we fixed paying the Heywood estate, then Nixon died. Some portion of this amount was paid by Hayden, the rest by George Baker.”

This ends the account of George Baker’s early days, as written by Arthur Baker, his son.

I will now leave George Baker and go on to the Butlers, who now come into the picture. Until I started on the family history I had only heard vague stories of the Butlers. Who were the Butlers? and more important, who was this young girl Maria Butler who married George Baker in 1853? a year before the Crimean War.

The following extracts come from a letter written by Amy Percival when she was about 80, in answer to some questions from George Percival Baker, son of George Baker.

“I am not aware who Jonathan’s father was, by his mother was living when I was born in Hull in 1857. Whether the Butler family had long lived in Hull I do not know, but doubtless the parish registers would reveal this.

Great-grandfather had two sons and one daughter, John, Jonathan and Ann. John was a marine store dealer and lived in a house over his warehouse on Dockside, Hull.

The second son, our grandfather, was a master mariner, and chief carpenter of a wooden ship in the whaling industry. (I must explain that in those days a ship’s carpenter had much the same rank as an engineer in a steam ship.)

Grandfather was a much respected man. He, Jonathan, travelled between Hull and Greenland and had many adventures, was once iced in for six months, he used to tell my sister and me of these adventures, such as whilst walking for miles on ice ‘for sight of a sail’ his beard (which he had in those days) was frozen into a solid block of ice.

...

p.17
Siege of Kars, Russia-Turkish War, 1877.

At one time there was a Butler Bible, but it seems to have been lost. However, there is a copy of the entries which had been copied out by Leila Pulman and sent to her brother, Percy Pulman, they read as follows:-

Jonathan Butler born in the year 1787 of our Lord, married Sarah born in the year 1797.
Children: Sarah Ann 1820 died early, Amelia (1) 1821, William 1823, James Wrack 1825, Mary 1827, Elizabeth 1827, Mary Jane (Polly) 1831, Maria 1833, Jonathan 1835, Amelia (2) 1837.

Extracts from Percy Pulman, son of Polly Pulman, in answer to a letter from George Percival Baker, son of Maria Baker.

“Personally I think the Butler girls did go out to Constantinople through the Baltazzi family and I think that William Rennison recommended them. Perhaps he was in the Baltazzi business. The Baltazzi family were big Greek [actually Levantine] Bankers. Alexander Baltazzi won the Derby in 1876 with a horse called Kisber. Maria presumably went first as governess to Madame Baltazzi and then when she married at 20 Madame Baltazzi asked if one of her sisters would come out and I fancy mother went out. I have a register of this marriage which was signed by George Baker, Eliza Baltazzi, W.J. Rennison and Amelia Butler. This shows that another sister Amelia Butler was out there too, she was only 20 at the time, she subsequently married Heywood, but she died in Constantinople in 1864. It also shows that Rennison was there and gives point to your story that he had something to do with getting the Butler sisters out there.”
End of correspondence.

Note: Mr Alex Baltazzi has confirmed Eliza Baltazzi was the British descended (nee Sarell), wife of Theodore Baltazzi resident in Tarabya along the Bosphorus. Mr Baltazzi reasons being born in Constantinople she was cosmopolitan in outlook and conducted relations with the local British families and others.

All these girls married men who had come out to Constantinople attached to the Office of Works.

There is another point to be remembered, their brother, James Wrack Butler, had married his cousin Sarah Ann Rennison and she would have known the Butler girls in England.

From the above we see that the three Butler girls went out to Constantinople. Maria Butler married George Baker, Mary Ann (Polly) was presumably with the Baltazzi’s, and Amelia must have followed shortly after.

...

p.20
Henry Pulman was apprenticed to Sir Charles Barry, the architect, who, amongst other buildings, was involved in the building of the Houses of Parliament. Henry was apprenticed to him at the age of 14, and his first task was to make a drawing of the privy at the bottom of the garden, he continued his studies for the next seven years. Amongst other buildings, he worked on repairs on Westminster Abbey, the new Natural History Museum, and the Royal Mint etc.

Then at the age of 21 in 1855 he was sent out to Constantinople as Clerk of Works to Her Majesty’s government, to build the new summer Embassy at Therapia. This building was later burnt down and another put in its place. However, he built several other Government buildings, including the Embassy Chapel at Constantinople.

It was while working at Therapia at the Embassy that he met George Baker and his wife Maria, and her sister Polly Butler, who was most probably governess to the Baltazzi family. I can remember that in my day all the various Embassies had their summer houses at Therapia, but the big Greek bankers had even bigger houses.

Henry Pulman and Polly Butler were married at the Embassy Chapel that he had just built, this was in 1856, he was 23 at the time, she was 26. Polly was very pretty and Leila told me that her wedding dress was pale dove grey satin, and that she looked lovely. Henry was tall and dark with a square beard - they made a handsome couple.

I think that all the Butler girls must have had charm, Maria was the quiet one, Polly the gay one.

I now come to the fourth daughter of Jonathan Butler. Elizabeth married her deceased sister’s husband as his second wife. A law had just been passed making this marriage legal. The marriage certificate says that they were married in 1856 at the Parish Church at Bradford, Yorkshire, he is described as a widower, son of Richard Percival, aged 32, profession, salesman, Elizabeth as a spinster aged 26, daughter of Jonathan Butler, carpenter. They were both residing in Bradford at the time of the marriage.

Leila Pulman once told me that the Butlers were of Irish extraction, “dark Irish” and their women were noted for their good looks. Some studies were done of them by some members of the pre-raphaelite school, this must have been done at some later date, after they were living in London. The Percivals had a charming oil painting of one of these girls in mid-Victorian dress, her hair parted down the middle, smooth to her head and then looped at the sides. They always added she had died young.

Chapter 2

The picture in Constantinople, sometime after the year 1857 is, therefore, as follows:-

George Baker and his wife Maria living in a corner house opposite Galata Tower, and which George Baker eventually bought. Heywood, his brother-in-law, and his wife Amelia living in a large red painted house parallel to the Baker house, and connected with a large garden and pergola. The Pulmans, Henry and his wife Polly, also living in this house as we know that Leila Pulman was born there.

In time the George Baker family consisted of the following children: Louise 1854; George Percival 1856 (always known in the family as G.P.B. to distinguish him from his father George Baker); Harry 1857; Fred who died young; Arthur 1861; Fred 1862; James (Jim) 1864; Amelia (Milly) 1866.

We know that Louise and G.P.B. were born at Therapia, in a house near the water’s edge, while George Baker was still working for the Embassy. In a red house next door the Pulmans had the following children: Edith 1856; Leila 1861.

In his early reminiscences G.P.B. mentions several small incidents that show very vividly the life the family were living in Constantinople at that time, a very strong English middle class flavour Victorian flavour, with unexpected Eastern highlights. He starts by saying he remembers Dr Sarell coming to the house to see Fred, the third boy who was ill with rheumatic fever, and who then died: he goes on to say at this time that he, G.P.B., was missing, and could not be found and that “it being the time of the Passover, it was surmised that I had been killed by the Jews.” The police were notified and then when it was about tea time he appeared on the scene from the cupboard under the stairs. He was about five at the time, and adds it was about time he went to school.

“My first school was a Franciscan Monastery where I started to learn Italian. On Sunday evenings it was the custom for the children to read aloud to Father from the Bible. I have no doubt I was also put to the test with my Italian.”

Another incident happened about this time, told by someone returning home; they looked up and saw that the small boys had put a plank across the window sill and were see-sawing up and down, one inside, the other outside the window, a big drop below.

Another time G.P.B. climbed into the Heywood house via the pergola and window, and made for the grocery cupboard that stored dried fruits, etc. He brought down the cupboard on to the mangle below, and smashed its main axle, luckily he himself escaped any damage.

“For this disaster I got the broom stick from mother and was sent to bed. When Uncle Heywood returned in the evening he came across and blamed himself for not having fixed the cupboard to the shelf.”

By this time, the year 1863, the British community realized the need of a boys’ school. A master was sent for from England, and a school was opened at Taxim near the British Embassy. G.P.B. at the age of 8 was sent to this school. The school started in a large marquee, left over from the Crimean War, and used by the troops as a canteen.

In the summer the family moved to Halki [postcard views - info on the island], an island on the Sea of Marmora, off the Asiatic coast. This island was partly covered with pine trees, growing right down to the water’s edge, the coast in places was rocky with lovely sandy coves at intervals, small paths wandered through the pines, which gave off a delicious scent as you walked along. The bathing was excellent, no tides, clear sparkling water, and the younger children could paddle safely in the coves.

The climate was glorious, warm but never too hot in the summer months. The accomodation called a “hotel” was more like lodgings at the seaside in England, usually run by a Greek or Italian couple [postcard view of hotels in the nearby island of Prinkipo]. One could also rent a house for the season. Altogether an ideal spot for the children.

It must have been here that the Baker boys became so proficient either in or on the water. Harry in particular became a very powerful swimmer; this stood them in good stead in later life.

George Baker used to catch the 7.30 a.m. paddle boat to work, a leisurely half-hour or so crossing the Bosphorus to Galata Bridge, and then a steep walk up to his office.

One morning G.P.B. accompanied his father to the boat, but instead of returning home by road, he went off with another small boy, round by the cliffs, here he got stuck - the other boy pushed off. Finally a boatman passed and picked him up. He arrived home at tea time, very wet; he had taken off his elastic-sided boots and could not get them on again, he walked home bare-footed, told his mother some yarn and was put to bed. That evening the boatman turned up and wanted his “bakshish”, then the whole story came out. The boatman got his bakshish, and G.P.B. got the broomstick again. Why always a broomstick?

...p.22

...p.27
13th. Up early to see what I could see of the land, but found we were still some distance from the Bosphorus. After waiting patiently I saw the dear old country before me, my memory came back to me, I began to remember as I went along. What occured at that place, and what fun I had once had at another, etc. Then on the hill I saw a beautiful building, it was the College that Arthur was at. At last I saw Galata Tower, again a nice old English Church with its steeple, then a mosque, what a fine city it looked, what beautiful blue sea. I thought at the time, what would Londoners say if they had seen the Bosphorus.

Then we went in a boat for home. I knew how to get around as well as I did before I left. In the afternoon we went in a steam boat to the Island (Halki) where we found them all well.”

G.P.B. was away from home for nearly five years. On G.P.B.’s return to Constantinople the family were still living in the town house in the winter and spending their summers at Halki, but Arthur, the third son was now a boarder at the new American school up the Bosphorus at the village called Roumeli Hissar (this is the building G.P.B. mentions in his letter). At the same time, other American missionaries had started a small school for boys at Bebek, but in the year 1871 a new building called Hamlin Hall was officially opened on the top of the Roumeli Hissar [hill], the next village to Bebek. The opening ceremony was performed by Mr Seward, ex Secretary of State in Lincoln’s cabinet, who was sent out specially for the occasion. In time this became known as Robert College of international fame, many more buildings were added in time.

Arthur, aged about 10, remembered watching the scholars from the Bebek school winding up the hill to the new building, each carrying some piece of furniture. He always said the effect was biblical. George Baker, in his best clothes and wearing his top hat, then took the small boy and enrolled him in the small school. Fred, his younger brother, was to join him there a year or so later.

Louise must by this time have returned to Turkey - she must have been in charge of the young family while her parents were in England. When the family spent their summers at Halki they met a young man who was an instructor at the Turkish Naval School in Halki, his name was Charles Edwards. He had come out to Turkey in 1869, before that he had served in a firm called for short S.M.U.D.A., a ship building firm on the Thames, in return for his services they gave him a cheque which he decided to spend on travel. At that time Turkey was a power in the Mediterranean and Charles Edwards, who was now a naval architect, obtained employment with the Turkish Government as their Naval architect. The Turks ordered two battleships which were built by the Thames Ironworks. Only one was ever delivered to the Turks, they were sister ships, and were designed by Charles Edwards. The Turks could not pay for them when completed. The first was called the Messoudieh and was sunk by Holbrooke in the First World War, the other was named Superb and became part of the British Navy. Besides designing ships for the Turkish Navy, Charles Edwards taught at the Naval School at Halki.

Louise was very pretty, she met Charles Edwards and in the year 1873 they were married, and for the first few years of their married life lived at Halki, in the house “up the hill”. Charles Edwards was 30 when he married, Louise 20.

About this time Harry returned from England and started working with his Uncle Heywood at the mill, then in 1876-77 Arthur and Fred left for school in England.

At first both Arthur and Fred went to a private school, but we next hear of Arthur studying for a short time at the London University, and then he went to France to study at the University of Montpellier in the South of France, here he took a course in all commercial subjects, also French, to prepare him for his future career with his father in Constantinople. It was while in France that he found he had a mathematical brain, this proved useful when he returned to Turkey and had to sort out George Baker’s accounts.

Fred remained in England for the rest of his life.
Jim, the youngest son remained in Turkey and was educated at Robert’s College, and in 1880 he joined his brother G.P.B. in England.

It was in about 1880 that George Baker decided to build himself a house at Roumeli Hissar. In this he was helped by his son-in-law, Charles Edwards. The family always said that the men had forgotten to cater for the staircase, it was added at the last moment, and was certainly very steep. Charles Edwards must have been thinking of a ship’s ladder.

Here is an extract from Arthur Baker:-

“When the house at Hissar was being built, Father and I walked from Bebek to see how the work was progressing, as we got near to the site we heard a fight going on and found that the hamals [hammal = porter] from Hissar were fighting hamals from Constantinople who had just arrived with material for the new house. The hamals are the porters of the East and have very definite union laws - they are only allowed to work in their own district.

When they saw us they all rounded on us, the situation looked very nasty, as they were armed with sticks and stones, I was very frightened. Father stepped forwards and talked to them in a quiet voice, he was a small man, but had authority. The men stopped to listen to what he had to say, by this time father spoke fluent Turkish, they finally agreed that while the house was being built the Constantinople men would deliver the material, but once the house was built, the local men would be used by the family, this father kept to all his life and there was never any more trouble.”
End of extract

Arthur always said this incident made a great impression on him. It helped him to deal with similar situations in later life when he travelled alone all over the Balkans and Asia Minor.

But here I must say something about this village Roumeli Hissar (European Fort). From now on I will refer to Roumeli Hissar, as just Hissar, as it was always known in the family. Hissar, half way up the Bosphorus on the European side, is the narrowest part of the Straights, this was the place the invading Turkish Army crossed over from Asia to Europe to attack the Byzantine Empire in 1453 [in reality the crossing into Europe happened way before, 1360s, the the forts were a way of preventing aid arriving via the Black Sea], they then fortified both sides of the Bosphorus, and to this day the great towers stand spaced in a triangle, the same but smaller [and older] on the Asiatic side, known as Anadolu Hisari (Anatolian Fort). The walls were built in a record time of nine days [incorrect]- a great feat of engineering skill.

George Baker built his house higher up the hill, I always thought this a mistake, for although higher, the house has no real view of the magnificient sweep of the Bosphorus below, it was too shut in. The Bosphorus is one of the most beautiful waters in the world, especially in the spring when the hillsides are covered with the cyclamen coloured Judas trees, and all the fruit trees are in blossom, the old Turkish houses built along the waters edge, and then rising in tiers up the hill side, the blue, blue water below.

However, the house was large and comfortable. There is nothing to say whether they now lived here all the year round, or whether they still moved to Galata for the winter. When George Baker travelled to work he had to walk down a very steep hill, catch the ferry as he had done when living in Halki, and then on up to his office. Constantinople is built on 7 hills and the shore line of the Bosphorus on either side hilly all the way up to the Black Sea. In those days there was no road along the water’s edge, most of the houses were built right on the water’s edge, in fact you walked out of your front door on to a small landing, down some steps and into your boat. I understand this has all changed now.

All the time running through the story are two people in the background, George Baker and his wife Maria...what do we know about them?

By this time George Baker was the complete Victorian gentelman, autocratic with his own family, but as I remember very gentle with his grandchildren. He was clean shaven with side whiskers, and very fastidious about his clothes - his shirts, all hand made in those days, had to be of the finest quality Irish linen. He always kept up with his horticultural interests, he had a large garden, as well as several greenhouses where he grew orchids and other exotic plants. I think his heart was always in his old horticultural days, all his spare time was spent with his plants. When he returned from work, after a rest and drink, he always went out to his greenhouses. I used to be allowed to go with him but had to keep quiet. I remember that he once explained that a flower that took long to grow, lasted longer than one that grew quickly.

I remember in about 1903, as a child of about 7, being taken to see Grandfather in his office in Galata. A dark gloomy building, and at the back of his office. The old man was sitting at a large desk, a round, black velvet smoking cap on his head, this was made and embroidered by his wife Maria. As it was disrespectful for a Mohammedan to be seen bareheaded in those days, George Baker got round this difficulty by wearing this cap when he had dealings with the Turks, the rest of the time he wore the top hat then in use. It must be remembered that George Baker was one of the first British merchants to start trading with the Turk, and particularly with the Palace. He must have been about 80 at the time of my visit. I suppose he liked to keep an eye on things, but I know it made it rather difficult for Arthur at times.

Maria, his wife, was always spoken of as a very sweet woman, sympathetic and understanding - I can’t remember her at all. The story goes that she would be sitting in the corner of the nursery, braiding some small garment, five small boys rampaging round her, and she quite oblivious of the noise. But in spite of her quiet manner, quite capable of standing up to her husband on occasions, and very efficient in all ways. I have an old Spode cup, given to her by her son Arthur and bought by him with the first money he ever earned. It was extra large, she had her breakfast in bed, and the boys used to carry up her second cup of coffee.

We have now seen how the George Bakers, and the Henry Pulmans spent their first few years in Constantinople, and the kind of life they were having at that time.

p.31
Chapter 3

I will now continue with a condensed account of the George Baker children, and what happened to them in later life.

Louise as we know married Charles Edwards in 1873. They had the following children: Middleton (Mid), Charles, Vivian, Mabel, Cecil and Milfred. Mid married Winifred Seager, they had no children. Charles died young. Vivian died unmarried in middle-age. Mabel married Harry Stock and they had the following children: Joyce, Vivian and Betty Stock. Cecil married Clara Case, an American, and they had one son, Arthur Cecil Edwards. Milfred married Cuthbert Binns, and they had the following children: Beryl who died young, Howard, Cynthia and Victor Binns.

Note: There is a book, Mekânlar ve Zamanlar [Abodes and times]: Bebek- Cahit Kayra – Akbank, Istanbul 1993, p.155, that has a partial 1947 listing of phone numbers and addresses in Bebek, which include the following:
Alfred Heil Brown - professor
Professor Andeas B. Shwartz (Refugee from Nazi Germany, and professor of law) – Cevat Bey ap., no:5
A.N. Sellar – Insirah sok., no:29
Muvaffak Menemencioğlu – Villa Lâle - check Osman Streater’s submission for further information on this individual
Swan T. Angus – Yoğurtçu sokak, no:9
C.E. Binns – Arslanlı Konak, no:3 [lion mansion, near Bebek village itself, no longer standing]
Edwards W.G. Middleton – Arslanlı Konak,
showing both Mr Binns and Middleton Edwards resident in the area at this date.

At this stage I always feel rather biblical, “and Ram begat”, but I have been asked to explain all the various relationships, and this seemed to be the only way to do it.

In 1875 Charles Edwards joined the firm of Bakers. “There was not enough scope for his future in the Turkish Admiralty”. In 1876 it was decided to open a new branch of Bakers at Stamboul to deal with a new export venture. Charles Edwards was put in charge of this venture. He was about 32 at the time.

In 1895 Mid joined his father, Charles Edwards. He was then about 19, he had just returned from a sea-voyage to Australia, after having had a tubercular leg amputated, it was wonderful how he was able to overcome this handicap in life, and lead a perfectly normal life. This part of the firm of “Bakers” was now known as “Baker and Edwards”.

In 1898 Charles Edwards died.

In 1899 Cecil Edwards, now aged about 18, joined his brother Mid, the firm was now known as “Edwards and Sons”. It was at this stage that they broke away from the Constantinople Bakers but they still had connections with G.P. and J. Baker in London through the carpet side of this firm.

At the end of this chapter I will give a synopsis of dates and ramifications of all the various Baker undertakings, and how they developed.

At first Louise and Charles lived at Halki, but at some future date they moved to Hissar opposite the house George Baker built for himself. After Louise was left a widow she continued to live in this house.

It was an established custom that at Christmas all the Baker family collected at her home, this also included any stray young people who found themselves homeless at this time. Being winter the weather was often very bad, so we all stayed the night, beds were made up all over the place, and food was prepared in abundance. We sometimes sat down 25 or more.

One year Leila had made an enormous plum pudding of cardboard, in sections, red ribbons attached to the centre. At a given word of command everyone pulled at his ribbon, and the whole thing fell apart, everyone had a small present. We children never forgot this thrill, it was a real old fashioned Christmas, nothing sophisticated about it.

Louise was small and dainty, but as children we were rather frightened of her, she kept us at our place. I was told by Milly, her sister, that Louise was very fastidious, she always refused to wear patched underclothes, and this in the days when all garments were made at home by hand.

Towards the end of her life she moved to a small house at Bebek to be near her son Mid. who was also living at Bebek. She died there in 1938 at the age of 84.

As we know G.P.B. returned to Constantinople with his parents in 1871. He immediately started work with his father, but still continued with his French studies. He worked at Baker’s for the next four years, but in 1874, while his father was away in England, he got a telegram to say he was to leave for England immediately. His Uncle James Baker, brother of George Baker, and the London agent, had just died and he was to take his place in England.

G.P.B. just had time to take part in a rowing race, which he won in a borrowed “gig”, he then left for England.

Extract from G.P.B.: -

“One of my first duties on reaching London was to be taken to the bank by my father to be introduced to the manager, who quickly asked my age, and on being told that I was only 18, said he would not open an account with a minor, and that the account must be in father’s name, so it was decided in a year’s time, my father would return and learn how I had behaved. For the next four years I remained the agent of the firm, engaged in executing indents and seeing to the shipments, besides receiving consignments of various produce.”
End of extract.

G.P.B. remained on in England living with his Auntie Polly. While living there it must be remembered that as the older male of the family, and this being the Victorian Age, he felt himself responsible for the welfare of the two widows, Percival and Pulman and their 7 children, as well as his own four brothers; he was also to a certain extent in charge of the money bags. This must have matured him beyond his age, he kept this feeling of family responsibility all his life, he was always ready to help anyone in the family, although perhaps apt to be overbearing at times, but his integrity was never questioned. In many ways I think he was most like his father, George Baker.

However, I cannot forget the eager young boy, who returned to Constantinople a few years earlier, but still young enough to carry his dormouse about with him.

When G.P.B. was 21, he was given three months holiday, he decided to spend it in Persia, so he and his father travelled there together.

It was this trip in Persia that first started him off climbing, he and a friend climbed Mount Ararat, but coming down a very steep slope the friend got out of control and just stopped himself from going over the edge. G.P.B. had to cut steps in the ice to get to his friend, who had damaged his hand. By this time it was dark so they dug themselves into the snow and ice and spent a very uncomfortable night. In the morning G.P.B. helped his friend down to the valley below, where their cab was waiting for them.

It was also this trip to Persia that made G.P.B. first realize the possibility of exporting carpets to England. He also collected Persian and other textile prints with the idea of having the designs adapted to the European market. He was already showing his capabilities, later on he was to show his administrative abilities as well.

After G.P.B. returned from his holidays, as well as acting as his father’s agent, he started to sell carpets that were being sent over from Turkey. Charles Edwards acting as agent to the firm of “Baker’s”, in Constantinople.

G.P.B. now started to have the prints he had brought back with him adapted to western standards, a man called Fletcher was the designer, and the work was printed by Swaisland Co., Crayford. Both these projects expanded rapidly and in 1900 when Jim Baker, the youngest brother joined him, Jim was put in charge of the carpet department with, in time, his cousin Percy Pulman to help him. G.P.B. remained in the Textile department and he had the other cousin, Charles Percival, to help him in this department.

In 1884 the two brothers, G.P.B. and Jim, formed the company of G.P. and J. Baker, the capital supplied by George Baker. G.P.B was 28, Jim 21 at this time. A manager was put in charge of the Retail Branch of “Baker’s” of Constantinople.

In 1895 G. P. & J. Baker bought the Swaisland Printing Works and after that they did their own printing. From this time on the firm really forged ahead.

Extract from G.P.B.:-
“My aim whether in carpets or textiles was to produce the best designs regardless of cost. The work of the firm was appreciated wherever we offered our production, whether in England, U.S.A., Canada, Germany, France or Spain.”
End of Extract.

The carpet side was expanding too, by this time as well as carpets being made in the Middle East, India had also entered the export market.

In 1908 it was decided that the carpet side of G.P. and J. Baker should amalgamate with various other carpet firms in the Near East. In this way the Oriental Carpet Manufacturing Co. was formed, known as O.C.M. for short. G.P.B. remained one of the Directors.

After this G.P. & J. Baker consisted of the Textile Department only. They moved to new premises in Giltspur Street, and in time became one of the leading Textile Printing firms in England. They still remained the agents for the Constantinople G. & A. Baker firm.

In 1884, at the age of 28, G.P.B. married Minnie Davis. They had the following children: Violet, Robin [incorrect, should be Martin, correction provided by descendant Belinda Levitan], Cyril, Daisy, Douglas, Francis (Frank) and Brian.
Violet married Ernest Cutcliffe before the First World War, he enlisted and served in France. They had the following children: Nancy, Dick and Michael. Dick served in the Second World War.
Robin [Martin] entered G.P. & J. Baker’s after training in Germany on the technical side of Textile Printing, he was then in charge of the works at Crayford. In the First World War he enlisted and remained in France to the end of the war. He married Muriel Bamber and they had the following children: John and Martin. Both boys enlisted in the Second World War, John was killed in a motor accident while serving.
Cyril entered the O.C.M. and was in Persia at the outbreak of the First World War. He returned to England via North Russia, enlisted and was killed in Salonica.
Douglas, after training at Magill University as an engineer, returned to England, enlisted, was sent to France and was killed on the Somme.
Frank, after he left school, enlisted and was sent to German East Africa, contracted cerebal malaria, and died a few years later.
Brian, the youngest son, entered the Royal Navy as a boy, and served during the latter part of the First World War. After the war he married Mardie Younger, an Australian. They had three children: Louise, Marigold and David. Brian then left the Navy and joined G.P. & J. Baker, but at the outbreak of the Second World War was recalled to the Navy, Mardie was out in Australia at the outbreak of war, and with all the vicissitudes of war did not see Brian again till the end of the war, a matter of seven years. David was killed sometime later in Australia in a motor accident. Sometime after the war Brian and Mardie were divorced, and in later years Brian married Rachel Lowry-Cole.

However, in spite of all G.P.B.’s responsibilities, he was always able to cut loose from that side of his life and indulge in his hobby, mountain climbing. In time he became on the leading Alpine climbers of his day. He climbed in the Alps, the Caucasus, the Rockies, the Himalayas, the Atlas mountains and many other places, there are many articles in old Alpine journals written by him. His honeymoon was spent in Norway, but I think it was this trip that decided his young bride to stay at home on future expeditions.

On the Dent Blanche, which he climbed with his brother-in-law, Stafford Anderson, and two Swiss guides, a pass is called the “Vierezelgrat”, they were the first to attempt this way up. In Canada there is a Baker Pass called after him. When he was too old to climb he used to collect alpine plants. These he collected in Cyprus, Crete, the Caucasus, Macedonia and the Atlas mountains. Arthur, his brother, joined him on several of these expeditions, they took tents and camped.

G.P.B. made many friends and kept them all his life. Anything he took up he did very thoroughly, and in time was recognised as an expert in his speciality. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and the Royal Society of Arts, and obtained many awards with his various alpine plants.

Harry, the second son, after leaving school, returned to Turkey at about the age of 18 and went into the Mill with his uncle Heywood. After Heywood and Nixon died Harry was in sole in charge. There is very little in the notes at my disposal about Harry. We know that he was a very powerful swimmer - he once swam round the island of Halki.

Harry married Mary Jew and they had the following children: Winifred and George Noel Baker. Winifred married Alan Ramsay who made a fortune in tobacco. They had two children: Margaret and Allan Ramsay. When Allan Ramsay, the father, died Winifred then married an Italian, Count Dari. George Noel Baker married K[C sp.]atherine Anderson, an American, and they had two children: George and Katherine Baker [incorrect - Theodore and Nina]. In time they left Turkey and went to America, but Noel Baker left his wife and has not been heard of since [incorrect]. Harry Baker died in 1906 aged about 48: he died of cholera. The mill was then sold to a Greek syndicate, and a trust set up for the widow, Arthur Baker one of the executors.

After Arthur Baker, the third son, had finished his training in France, he joined his father in the “Baker” firm in Constantinople , this must have been about 1880 when Arthur was about 19. In 1887, at the age of 25, he married his cousin, Leila Pulman, at St Paul’s Chapel in the Parish of St John’s, Battersea, in the county of Surrey. They had the following children: Elsie, Dollie, Warden, Ruby and May. Arthur continued to work with his father on the retail side of the business but in time they expanded and were doing a great deal of Contract Work for the Turkish Government, amongst other things something connected with two boats for either the Tigris or Euphrates, which was then all in the Ottoman Empire. It must have been sometime during this period that Edwards and Sons were formed.

As a proposed to give a detailed account of the Arthur Baker family I will add no more at this stage, except to say that they were heavily involved in both wars.

Fred Baker went to England with Arthur, and after he left his school, remained on in England and started to work in the city of London. Unfortunately there is no record of what this actually involved, but he worked his way up and in time made a name for himself in the world of High Finance. He made and lost fortunes, but years later someone who knew him well said that when he had money he spent it right royally, but when he had none he did without.

All the brothers were tall, all 6ft., G.P.B. 6ft. 2in., they were good-looking with very nice speaking voices, but Fred had an air about him. Arthur once told me that he made an excellent Chairman at any financial meeting, and was very able. He lived in London and then built himself a wonderful house down in Cornwall on a site blasted out of the rocks, facing the Atlantic, a swimming pool to one side, when the tide came up the pool filled, when it went down they bathed. In the locality it was known as “Baker’s Folly”.

Fred married Winifred Rickards, and they had four children: Cecil, Forbes, Bay and Hugh. Cecil flew with the R.F.C. (Royal Flying Corps) which in the Second World War was known as the R.A.F. (Royal Air Force). He won the Flying Cross, the Croix de Guerre, and the Legion of Honour. Forbes was also in the R.F.C. and was killed. Bay married Clinton Winant, brother of the then American Ambassador to England, they had three daughters: Ursula, Hilary and Valerie Winant. In time Clinton and Bay were divorced. Hugh the youngest son, was in the Army in the First World War, he finally settled in Argentina. Hugh married - Cooke and they had three children: Fred, Caroline and Mary Anne.

Note: Further information was obtained following an e-mail contact with Mr Anthony Armitage Bishop, in Cornwall, in April 2006, who wrote ‘I knew Winifred Winant and family (family structure) as they lived near here in Newquay Cornwall. Fredrick Baker was to say the least an individual. He was wealthy, but not wealthy enough. He had a dream of having a luxury house on the north AND south sides of Pentire headland - archive postcard view - on the outskirts of Newquay. Unfortunately he built the wrong part first, on the north side. The dream was to drill right through the headland, a length of close on 100 yards of solid rock and then build another section on the sunny south side. The north side had its own swimming-pool filled by the sea twice daily. However he had not allowed for the force of the sea and each winter the sea broke windows and came pouring in right down through the house. I have bathed several times in the pool with Winifred’s family and other relatives. I remember well a Mrs King with blue rinsed hair and a daughter Elizabeth. I am not sure of their connection. Unfortunately for you when they sold up and returned to USA I lost touch. I would think they left here when Winifred’s brother-in-law finished his tour of duty as ambassador to England. For this reason I suggest you contact the foreign office of USA, who may be able to shed some light on the Winant family who in turn might be able to shed light on the Bakers. This is a wonderful contact for us as we did not even know that Fred Baker had any other relatives. I would also like to make contact with Winifred’s girls who must be in their 70s, I am 75. Incidentally “Baker’s Folly” as his house is fondly called if now split into flats for letting.’

James Baker, always known as Jim, the youngest of the five brothers, spent all of his school days at Robert College, which by this time had developed into one of the leading Colleges in the Near East, with a very high scholastic reputation, the pupils were drawn from the whole of the Balkans, Greece and Asia Minor. The instructors were from America, and many handsome new buildings had been added to the hillside, where the original Hamlin Hall still stood.

After Jim left Robert College he spent a short time with his father, but about 1880 joined G.P.B. in England, to help with all the new ventures that were now expanding at a great rate. It was decided that Jim should concentrate on the carpet side. To this end he was sent to Ouchak in Persia, to learn the business from that end. He lived for a year in a native khan, where incidentally he contracted smallpox. He then returned to England, and it was at this stage, as we know, that G.P. and J. Baker was formed, the capital supplied by George Baker.

In 1908, as we know, the carpet side of G.P. and J. Baker amalgamated with other firms to form the O.C.M. Jim was made Manager of this firm now established in London, with agents in various parts of the world. Mid Edwards still the Constantinople agent, Seager in Smyrna, and Yeld in India etc. Percy Pulman was the manager of the London branch, and in time Cecil Edwards took over when Percy Pulman retired.

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Chapter 4

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