Selwyn, of Matson, and had issue Thomas, John, and Albinia. John entered the Church: Albinia married Thomas Winstone, of Oldbury Court, in this county. Thomas, who succeeded his father in the estates, was in 1763 appointed Chairman of Quarter Sessions, which office he held for many years. He also represented Ludgershall in several parliaments. He was succeeded by his son Charles who, dying unmarried, was followed by his brother William, who had taken the name of Winstone on succeeding to his uncle's property at Oldbury. William Hayward Winstone had one son, who died in 1797, and three daughters. The eldest of these, Albinia Frances, married in 1799 the Rev. John Adey Curtis, Rector of Bitton; and their eldest son, John Curtis, the subject of this sketch, was born at Bitton, on 28th September, 1804. Mr. Curtis died in 1812. His widow, on the death of her father in 1818, succeeded to the Quedgeley property and took the name of Hayward for herself and children. At an early age John was sent to a small school at Nibley, then for a short time to the Bristol Grammar School, then to Corsham and afterwards to Winchchester College. His school holidays were partly spent at Quedgeley with his grandfather, his mother and family living at Bath till 1822, when they took up their residence at Quedgeley House. In that year he went to Oriel College, Oxford. Bishop Wilberforce and some other remarkable men were among his contemporaries; and Keble was at that time Professor of Poetry, and a lecturer at the College. On leaving the University he went for a tour on Continent, and returning in 1828 spent three years in London, reading for the Bar. He then practised for a short time in Gloucester and other places on the Oxford Circuit. In 1833 he settled at Quedgeley, taking one of his mother's farms in hand, which he continued farming to within a few years of his death. Mr. Hayward qualified as a magistrate in 1835, and the manner in which he discharged the duties of this office was most assiduous and efficient. This was so recognised and appreciated that in 1843 he was appointed Second Chairman of Quarter Sessions, and in that capacity assisted with Mr. Bransby Purnell, Sergeant Ludlow, and the Rev. F. E. Witts, in discharge of the business of the County. In 1861, on the temporary retirement of Mr. Purnell from the Chairmanship of Quarter Sessions, Mr. Hayward was called to undertake the duties of the office and subsequently, on the resignation of Mr. Purnell he became his successor as County Chairman. His election to this important and honourable office took place on the 6th January, 1863, and was made on the proposal of Earl Ducie, the Lord Lieutenant, seconded by the Duke of Beaufort. On that occasion Mr. Hayward, acknowledging in felicitous terms, the honour conferred upon him, concluded with these words:" And when from ill-health or other cause, I am unable satisfactorily to discharge the duties in a manner that will enable me to retain the confidence you have now expressed in me, I shall feel it my duty to resign the trust into your hands." How faithfully and well his official responsibilities were borne and fulfilled cannot be fully told. He was Chairman of the Visitors to the County Lunatic Asylum; and a most active member of the Board for establishing and continuing the Barnwood House Benevolent Asylum. Of his services on the Board of Guardians, the Chairman, the Rev. H. W. Maddy, has said—“ Mr. Hayward was one of the few county magistrates who attended this Board, and during his busy and active life he attended the meetings whenever he possibly could." During his term of office the Highway Boards were established; the District Houses of Correction were closed; and Petty Sessional Courts were erected throughout the county. In providing these; in dealing with cattle plague; in the furthering of the Reformatory movement; and in every county matter he took a chief part. Nor were his activities confined within official lines. He was an energetic supporter of the Gloucestershire Agricultural Society, the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, and the Cheltenham College. Through all this period of his life his time and attention were largely devoted to those public affairs of the county with which his office brought him, more or less, into contact. His benevolent energies, however, found exercise in other directions also. Thoroughly sympathising with his neighbour, Mr. T. B. Lloyd Baker, he gladly co-operated with him in his good work at Hardwicke Reformatory. Among other efforts for the good of the agricultural labouring class were his endeavours to abolish the objectionable and demoralising system of hiring, as practised in the public streets at the Michaelmas Fairs and Mops. In furtherance of this object he published a small pamphlet full of good feeling and sound sense. The results were not all that could be wished, but some improvement was effected. He was much concerned for the spread of useful education, and liberally aided the schools. in his own village. In reference to his character, work, and influence as a Churchman, Bishop Ellicott wrote: "Words cannot express my sense of the loss which the diocese-the whole diocesehas sustained in the death of Mr. Curtis Hayward." The clergy of the Rural Deanery of Gloucester, influenced by a similar sentiment, assembled, in a special meeting, "to place on record their profound sorrow at his decease." His brotherin-law, Canon Lysons, presided on that occasion, and in the course of some brief remarks pathetically said, We were boys together at school, when he was seven and I was five; and I have entertained the sincerest love and regard for him ever since." Numerous testimonies to his excellence and usefulness were borne by those who had long known his worth, and been associated with him in various Christian works. One of these works was the restoration of his own parish church, in which he took a deep interest, and which was mainly effected at his own cost. It was by one of those events called accidents that this good and useful life was brought to a close. It is the sublime teaching of Christ that not even a sparrow falleth to the ground without the knowledge and permission of our Heavenly Father, and it is the consolation of Christian mourners to see the hand of God in all their bereavements, however unexpected or painful. In returning home from Gloucester, where he had been attending a Guardians meeting and keeping other engagements, on Tuesday, April 28, 1874, Mr. Hayward was thrown from his horse and received serious injuries to his head. Everything that skill and kindness could suggest was done to avert fatal results, but in vain ; and death followed on May 8th. In accordance with the wish of his family the funeral was of a quiet and unostentatious character; but it was marked by many interesting features. A large number of his old friends-magistrates, clergymen, and others-assembled at the Lodge entrance to Quedgeley House and joined the cortège as it passed on to the church. The procession was headed by the tenant farmers of the estate, and the body was borne by labourers. "As it was seen from the churchyard slowly approaching its destination," says a spectator, "the coffin and the black dresses of the mourners contrasted sorrowfully with the leafy elms, and the verdant colour of the surrounding fields, filled with wild flowers of every hue. The scene, though simple, was solemn and effective in the extreme." "The funeral says Canon Lysons, was, I think, the most solemn I ever attended." 66 His resting place is a vault which had been built some years before his death: it bears the following inscription : JOHN CURTIS HAYWARD, Chairman of Quarter Sessions: Born 28th Sept., 1804, died 8th May, 1874. In 1840, Mr. Hayward married Elizabeth, daughter of Benjamin Harrison Esq., of Clapham Common, by whom he had two sons and five daughters. He is succeeded in his estates by his eldest son, Colonel John Curtis Hayward, of Quedgeley House. Some graceful lines which appeared in a local paper, at the time of his death, may be appropriately re-produced here: In Memoriam. J. CURTIS HAYWARD, Obiit Maii viii, 1874. Still is the heart that beat for others' good; None, equal, can his vacant place supply, Nor, by an inmate strange, those hearts be stirred, With whom his honoured name dwelt as a household word. |