THE LANGSTAFFS OF TEESDALE AND WEARDALE
BY
GEORGE BLUNDELL LONGSTAFF
Transcribed
by
CAROLE A.M. JOHNSON
COPYRIGHT 2001
All Rights Reserved

96 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle - Continued

PART 10

117 Chapter 8

The Langstaffs of Butterknowle
Continued:-

Thomas Langstaff, youngest child of George [1.] of Butterknowle, and only son of his second marriage, was born at Butterknowle on 9th September 1768, and baptised at Hamsterley on the 5th January following. His father who died six months later, was upwards of 68 years of age when Thomas was born, and probably for that reason the child was always delicate. Educated at Hamsterley at a school then celebrated, he was originally destined for the Church, but his health proved unequal to it, so acting as it would be on the principles of the First Gravedigger in “Hamlet”---- which then found favour with the medical profession---- his mother made him a tanner. He served his seven years’ apprenticeship at Bishop Auckland, after which he went to London, and was for some time in the tan-yard of Mr Hepburn in the Borough.
He pursued this trade in his own account at Bishop Wearmouth (were his two eldest children were born) with characteristic energy, and introduced great improvements in tanning, though unfortunately he lacked capital to carry them out. It was however, said at the time in London, not only was there nothing like leather, but no leather in the market was equal to his. He left Bishop Wearmouth towards the end of 1802 and went to York, where he was in business for three years. In 1806 he moved to Darlington. About 1813, or earlier, he farmed in Butterknowle. In 1822, he was described as “of Hamsterley.”.
Thomas was a serious man of a religious disposition. For some time he was a strict Calvinist but frequently feeling very uncertain as

118 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

to his being one of the elect, with a view to removing his doubts, he for two years read the Bible only, with the assistance of a Concordance. He gradually became more satisfied in his mind, and satisfied himself, that the Calvin’s views were not supported by the Scriptures; he also failed to find the Trinity there. He became an Adult Baptist for some years. While in York he took an active part in the services of the General Baptist (Unitarian) community there, expounding the Sciptures in a very impressive manner, and even baptising many persons in the river Ouse. He always spoke extempore, never using even a note. He had a good voice and a musical ear.
It was his success as a preacher which induced him to apply himself to the study of natural science with a view to becoming a public lecturer, at the same time taking pupils. This was in 1813 or thereabouts. He became a member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and availed himself as well of the Societies Library as of its collection of apparatus. His first lectures were given in Stockton and Darlington in the Autumn of 1813; these were followed in the next year by lectures in Whitby, Scarborough, Malton, Shields and Newcastle-on-Tyne. He then went further afield as the following list shows:-.

1815, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth, Inverness.
1816, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley, Greenock, Belfast.
1817, Dublin, Londonderry, Sterling, Leith, Edinburgh..
1818, Leeds, Birmingham, Kidderminster, Derby, Nottingham..
1819, Leicester, Northampton, London:- Russell Institutes, Tottenham, Crown and Anchor Tavern, Hackney, Hammersmith and Newcastle-on-Tyne..
1820, Ipswich, Bury St. Edmonds, Norwich, Witton-le-Wear and Darlington..
.
119 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle.
.
1821, Stockton, Doncaster, York, Kendal, Lancaster, Preston..
1822, Manchester, Liverpool, Chester..
1823, Bristol, Bath..
1824, Kilmarnock, Paisley..
1825, Busby, near Glasgow..
It should be remembered that in those days there existed nothing comparable to the popular scientific books of today, and students of science were few and far between. In 1820, Lord Brougham began his agitation in the cause of education, and in 1823 helped to found the London Mechanics’ Institution. Thomas Longstaff’s subjects comprised: the Properties of Matter, Mechanics, Pneumatics, Hydrostatics ,Hydraulics, Heat, Meteorology, Astronomy, and the Elements of Chemistry. During the greater part of the time, his eldest son, George Dixon Longstaff was his experimental assistant. So great was Thomas Longstaffs success as a lecturer that in the autumn of 1824 he was elected Professor of Mechanics and Chemistry, at the Mechanics Institution, Glasgow, a post which he appears to have resigned in the next autumn on his sons leaving him to take up the duties to take up the duties of Demonstrator and Assistant to Dr. Hope, the Professor of Chemistry at Edinburgh..
Thomas Longstaff was not a man of original research in science, but appears to have been an able expounder. He had testimonials from, among others, such men as Lant Carpenter, Professor John Playfair, and Sir David Brewster. The writers speak of his “precision of language,” his “clear definitions,” his “impressive manner of delivery,” his “distinct expositions of the subjects treated,” and his “perfect knowledge of the subject and address in rendering it intelligible” to all his audience. A quaint testimonial is that of Samuel Capper, a Friend, of Bristol, who in a letter of introduction dated 7th 4mo. 1823 says: “Thou wilt find T.L . a modest well informed man.” He had a quality of apparatus, unusually large for those days, some of it of his own devising..
In 1822, he appears to have invented a rotary steam engine..
It may be noted that his eldest son was also a most successful.
.
120 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle.
.
lecturer, and his two grandsons have done something in the same line, his facility of speech and clearness in expression --- and it may be added, his loud voice--- having descended to the third generation..
Sarah Dixon, (born 17 December 1765 ) was looked upon as the belle of Cockfield, so at any rate thought John Greenwell of West Auckland, the eldest son of Nicholas Greenwell,* of Witton Castle, to whom she was married at Cockfield on 3rd of February 1783..
They lived at Witton-le Wear “at the big house past the church.”
Her husband, however, died 27 February 1793, leaving four children.
Her son, George Dixon Longstaff, says that his mother, besides being pretty, was very popular (which was natural enough, at any rate with one sex), and moreover, had wonderful common sense. Be that as it may, this attractive young widow (she was only 28) married at St. Andrew, Auckland, 30 September 1794, Mathew Langstaff, a tanner of Bishop Auckland, a younger brother of George [1V.] who married her sister Elizabeth six years before. He was four years her junior, but he did not live long, and Sarah was again left a widow, with two more children.
Whether Thomas Longstaff was attracted by kinship ( Mathew was his “great nephew of the half blood” being a great grandson of his father, by his first marriage), or by the bonds of fellow tannership, or by her pretty face, or her wonderful common sense is not quite apparent, but anyway he took pity upon the widow and assisted in winding up her affairs. Finally he married the lady, probably in 1798. From this third marriage, issued four children, two boys and two girls--- one of the latter destined in her turn to marry three times and to have three families!
Contrary to what might have been expected, her third husband and great uncle by marriage was three years her junior. This perhaps unprecedented circumstances

*Nicholas was the third son of Thomas Greenwell, Esquire, of Greenwell par. Wolsingham, Co. Durham, where the family have been settled since 1150. They are mentioned in the “Bolden Buke.” Their Arms, confirmed by Camden are :- ( the description of the coat of arms is not legible on my film, C. Johnson) These Arms are upon Jno. Greenwells tombstone, at St. Helen’s, Auckland. The late Captain E.A. White, F.S.A. Of Durham, was descended from Hugh Greenwell, an elder brother of Nicholas. [See Pedigree of Greenwell]
The late Mr Thomas Marley, said that Sarah Dixon was a very beautiful woman.

121 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

was of course owing to the fact that George [1.] of Butterknowle married his first wife when he was a very young man. (21 or younger) his second when he was almost an old one. [64]
Thomas Longstaff, in his letter of application for the post of Lecturer to the Glasgow Mechanics’ Institution, dated Kilmarnock 12 August 1824, stated that during the greater part of the last twenty years his time had been exclusively devoted to the study of mechanical and chemical science, during which period, he had for three winters at Edinburgh attended the lectures of the late Professor Playfair [Natural Philosophy] and the late Dr. John Murray, [chemistry]; and that during the last twelve years, he had constantly given public lectures on a variety of subjects.

Drafts of nearly identical letters From Thomas Longstaff, dated Bishop Auckland 19 June
1827 and addressed to Jno. Geo. Lambton, Esq., M.P. for Durham, and to Henry Brougham Esq., M.P., respectively are in possession of the writer. They describe, the then economic condition of England and certain suggested remedies, and afford curiously interesting reading in the light of the present day. He speaks of the embarrassed state of the country, resulting from the redundancy of the population beyond its power of agricultural reproduction, which had in part lead to emigration, but mainly to a great increase of manufacturers.
The protracted French War had carried out manufactories and machinery into both continents; the high price of provisions in England had prevented us from meeting foreigners in the market, so that our manufacturers had been given to depend upon an extensive trade at a low profit. In this way they had succeeded beyond expectation, and after an expensive war of the revenue, had ridden above the expenditure, and taxes had been reduced. On this had followed over production, over stocking of the markets of both continents, and a general stagnation of the whole world. The manufacturing population had been thrown out of employment, and the revenue had fallen below the expenditure, Certainly some improvement of trade had set in, and a number of people were at work, but this was only in consequence of a virtual closing of the factories for eighteen months. Prices and wages were still low, and the market would soon be again overloaded. The remedy which he submitted to

122 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

these two eminent reformers (shortly to become respectively the Earl of Durham, and Lord Brougham and Vaux) was at least a bold one. The ports were to be gradually open to grain until the price should fall to 40s. a quarter, the highest price at which, in his opinion, the weavers could live comfortably by moderate labour on such wages as the manufacturers could afford to pay. On the one hand the price of manufactured goods must be so low that no other country could undersell us, and on the other hand the price of grain must be low enough to enable the manufacturers to sell cheaply. The price of grain having fallen to the requisite point should be as far as possible kept steady. Now assuming the fall to have been 30 per cent, all rents, the salaries of all Government servants, all ecclesiastical revenues, the interest on the National Debt, and the tariff on imported luxuries should be reduced in like proportion. He assumed that the price of grain regulated everything, and if the price of all commodities were reduced by 30 percent, all incomes might be reduced in like ratio without injury to anyone.

History does not say whether fair copies of the letter were ever dispatched, neither does it say that the suggested remedy was ever tried in practice.
The writer has a manuscript of 224 pages entitled, “A Treatise on Agriculture and Vegetation, Containing Theory and Practice,” by Thomas Longstaff, Civil Engineer and Lecturer on Natural Philosophy. It is dated Bishop Auckland, 7 January 1828 (a year before his death), and it is accompanied by a friendly criticism by George Taylor Esq., of Witton-le-Wear.
Thomas Longstaff, though a successful and popular lecturer, could not make more than a bear subsistence of it. * On leaving Glasgow in 1825, he went back to Bishop Auckland and devoted himself to the

* From an old account book, most beautifully kept, it is apparent that for the eight years 1814 to 1821 the average profits of the lectures did not reach £250 per year. This book shows that besides the lectures given on page 118 (derived from a fragmentary autobiography left by his son George Dixon Longstaff) he also lectured at the following places:- In 1813, at Yarm, in 1814 at Guisborough, Driffield, Bridlington, Bridlington Quay, and Stokesley; In 1815 at Alnwick, Berwick, Kelso, Montrose and Leith; 1816 at Ayr and Port Glasgow; in 1817 Armagh and Alloa; 1818 at Rippon, Hipperholme (Yorks) Halifax, Dudley, Wakefield, and Bewdley; in 1819 at the Argyle rooms. (London) Whitby, Scarborough, and Chelmsford,in 1820 Colchester Woodbridge (Suffolk), Hamsterley, Darlington,Wolsingham, Bishop Auckland and Staindrop and in 1821 Northallerton, Thirsk, and Blackburn.

123 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

management of a colliery at Shildon. His great nephew and brother in law, George Langstaff [1V] of Butterknowle, but then of Shildon, had a leasehold colliery called Coppy Crooks, and also on the same seam a small freehold coalfield, which he worked in a pottering way.
From a memorandum of an agreement, dated 26 May 1828, between Thomas Longstaff and Joseph Pease, junior (afterwards Member for South Durham), we learn that one third of this freehold was vested in Thomas Longstaff for the term of his wife’s life, and that he held a ten years’ lease of the remainder from his brother in law. Thomas’s lack of capital is made evident by the further conditions of the agreement, viz., that while Thomas Longstaff was to undertake the management of the colliery, to the best of his knowledge ability and skill, and to receive a reasonable remuneration therefore, Joseph Pease junior, was to pay one half the rent and to find the requisite capital. The profits to be equally divided between them. Whether a definite partnership was entered into, it is not known; but however this may have been, Thomas entered into the business with spirit and worked the colliery energetically, and upon what was then considered a large scale, under the name, (either then or subsequently) of the Adelaide Colliery, so called in honour of the Duchess of Clarence, later Queen Consort of William 1V. He employed his two cousins--- Thomas Longstaff as his foreman and Mathew above ground.
Taking advantage of the then recently opened Stockton and Darlington Railway, which passed close to the colliery, he was the first to ship coals from the Tees, sending two cargoes to London, and by allowing the vessels to go on demurrage rather than except an inferior price for coals, he succeeded in placing them on the market as best coals. He made money by this, but his health failing, he ultimately sold out to Joseph Pease, to the making of who’s fortune, the Adelaide Colliery notably contributed. *

* By the capital thus raised his son George Dixon Longstaff was enabled to set up in practice as a physician at Hull shortly after his fathers death in 1829.

He fell away in health and became subject to fits of mental depression, and died at Bishop Auckland 13 February 1829, in the 61st year of his age. He was buried 16 February at St. Helen’s, Auckland, and on the back of the tombstone of his father, George Langstaff [1.] of Butterknowle, close to the church door, is the following inscription:-

Also
In Memory of
THOMAS LONGSTAFF
Lecturer on Natural Philosophy
Son of the aforesaid GEORGE and ANN LONGSTAFF.
He died at
Bishop Auckland Feby.13th 1829
Aged 60 Years

Though dead he yet speaketh.
Thomas Longstaff was a most enterprising man, full of originality. His son George Dixon Longstaff, said of him, “He loved the truth and practised it. Upright in all his transactions, and charitable to the extent of his means.”

Some “Lines on the death of Thomas Longstaff,” written by Mathew Adey, one of his colliery workmen , if not reaching a very high level of poetry, at any rate bear most feeling testimony to the respect, nay affection, which his work people felt for him. With this apology a few rugged stanzas may be given:-

Alas! our kind master is gone,
The generous Longstaff’s away,
His virtues like gems, richly shone,
To bright in our region to stay.

* * *

Ah! When shall another one come,
So beloved, so endearing as he ?
Sanguine hopes o’ercast with a gloom;
We look, but none like him can see.

* * *

* He would appear to have been the first of his branch of the family to spell his name with an “o,” a change that some of his descendants regret.

125 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

Fond memory still dwells o’er the scene,
When in the old cabin he sat,
Philanthropy marked on his mien,
With his men in familiar chat.

* * *

Ah! saw you each face when the news ---
The sad solemn reach’d our ears?
No cold stoic heart could refuse,
For such a kind master a tear.

* * *

Yes there with thy Newton thou’ll meet,
And the truth of each theory you’ll know,
Which often with eloquence sweet,
You delighted us with here below.

* * *

His wife survived him seven years and died 6 August 1836, aged 70 at Bishop Auckland Where she was living with her unmarried daughter, Mary Ann Longstaff, and attended in her last illness, by her grandchild, Sarah Bowman, who afterwards married Mark Pinkney of Middleton in Teesdale. She was buried at St. Helen’s, Auckland 10 August 1836, in the grave of her first husband, there being no room in the Langstaff grave along side.
Her parents, George Dixon and Sarah Raylton, were members of the Society of Friends and attended the Staindrop meeting. Their daughter Sarah would appear to have ceased to be at any rate a strict Friend.
[See Dixon and Raylton Pedigrees]
George Dixon Longstaff, the eldest child, was born at Bishop Wearmouth in the County of Durham on the 31st March 1799. He left the town when 31/2 years old, but returning thither with his father in 1814, he led the latter straight to the house where he was born, so strong was his memory of localities even at that early age. He first went to school at York, to one John Fox, who taught him to read, at what age cannot now be ascertained, but he was only 7 when he left York for Darlington (1806-1809) where he went to the school of one Thomas Taylor, a Quaker, from whom he learned to write, also arithmetic and English grammar. In 1810-13, he lived at Hamsterley and attended the grammar school at Witton-le-Wear.

126 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

The then master, the Rev. George Newby,* had brought the old endowed school into high repute.
A letter from the master to a pupil, written many years after George had left 1829), shows that the high esteem in which young George held his master was reciprocated.
He says:-

........ on Religion, think, read, and reflect deeply and freely; but let truth not victory be your object ....... As you possess great fluency of speech, be sure not to indulge in sarcasm or wit-- this may create enemies without ensuring friends ........With hearty wishes for your success,
I am, dear George
Your Sincere Friend,
G. Newby.

George used to tell the following story of his boyhood days:-
An old gentleman, who was but an indifferent horseman, rode a veteran troop horse; the animal was quiet enough and only too well trained. This the boys discovered, and they used to lie in wait for him, and when he passed them jogging along at a quiet trot they would shout out smartly, “Halt!” The old trooper stopped dead, with the result that his rider, if not actually deposited in the road, suddenly found himself high on the horses neck to the huge delight of the boys, who naturally kept well out of reach of the old mans whip.
When quite a small boy, George entered a field in which was a bull, that had been tethered, but had broken away; Somehow the child's feet got entangled in the trailing rope, and the bull taking fright, rushed away dragging the boy after it. If a man had not promptly stopped the bull and released the child, there is little doubt that he would have been killed.
After leaving the Witton School in 1813, he studied mathematics, surveying, and the elements of Natural Science under his father, who at that time took pupils, and was himself studying science with a view to becoming a lecturer.
In 1813-14 he spent a year with George Langstaff of Shildon (George 1V.). He went from High Butterknowle, the house of Isabella Longstaff, widow of George [111.] riding on a pillion behind

* He was incumbent of the parish and afterwards Vicar of Stockton on Tees. For connection of the families, Newby and Longstaff. See p. 97 also Newby Pedigree.

127 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

his Aunt Elizabeth, wife of George [1V.], a mode of transit now well nigh forgotten. At Shildon he went to school; moreover, he picked up a good deal about farming, which proved very useful in after life. George [1V.] took to the lad and having no son wished to adopt him. This his father would not hear of, for being a serious man he objected to seeing his son brought up by a sportsman, hunting and shooting. He said, “George this is not the place for you,” and took him away. It is a further indication of his father’s strong religious views that when George some years later expressed a desire to become a barrister he put a prompt stop to his ambition in that direction by saying, “Nay George, no son of mine shall have as his profession, to make the better cause appear the worse.”

When a schoolboy he was drilled as a cadet during the great volunteer movement at the beginning of the century, the smallest boys being assured that each was the match for three Frenchmen. In later life he often spoke of the drilling in those days as being practically universal. An officer of the local corps, whose bravery was doubtless greater than his military knowledge, ordered his company to fix bayonets, but could not remember the order to unfix, so that after some delay, he said: “Tack tops off lads, ye know what I mean.”

He was fond of saying how well he remembered an afternoon in the summer of 1815, when the stage coach drove into the market-place of Dundee with a flag flying and the guard fired his blunderbuss and both his pistols in the air, and then, as the people ran together to hear the news, shouted out, “Wellington has beaten Bonsparte at Waterloo!”
About a year before this, he remembered going to the sale by auction of the best hotel at South Shields. There also attended one Oysten, a Quaker, believed to have been a descendant of Catherine Oysten (his great-aunt). Oysten joined in the bidding without the least desire to purchase, “just to help the sale.” The house was, however, knocked down to him, and Quaker though he was, he kept the hotel and made a fortune by it. After the sale, young George took the coach to Sunderland; the guard was a woman, quite capable of the duties, and by no means to be trifled with!

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Young George as a lad travelled far and wide with his father, assisting him in many a lecture at the then new Mechanic’s Institute and elsewhere, on Astronomy, and then what was termed Natural Philosophy (Mechanics, Pneumatics, Electricity, etc.), subjects on which in later years he frequently lectured himself. He had charge of the apparatus and conducted all the experiments.

At the age of 17 or 18 he had a severe attack of confluent small-pox at Belfast. One day he was lying on his back in great pain, unable to move, to speak, or to see, but fully conscious, when he heard the doctor say to the nurse, “Mr. Longstaff cannot live through the night but I will call again in the morning.” The patient was unable to put in a word, but he felt that within him which proved that the crisis was passed, and said to himself, “You are wrong my dear Sir, I shall live through the night.” Morning came, but not the doctor; only his servant with the message, “At what hour did Mr. Longstaff die?” This was not the only occasion when he “cheated the doctors.” When 60 years of age, and there was every appearance of a general break up due to persistent overwork, he left home greatly against the advice of his medical attendant, going to Ben Rydding “to die.” He however did not die, but the complete change was so efficacious that ten years later found him a far stronger man at 70, aye even at 80, than he had been at 60.

The small-pox attacked him as a youth; it left him a middle aged man and greatly disfigured.
He used to say he would not have his greatest enemy to suffer from such a painful disease. There is little doubt that the mysterious influence of a long previous vaccination prevented the fatal issue. He grew about six inches in consequence of the attack, and it is singular that the writer also grew between four and five inches in the eight months following his 19th birthday, though in his case there was no critical illness.

When at Nottingham with his father in 1818 he made the acquaintance of Dr. Marshall Hall, which led to his adopting the medical profession.
At Leicester the following year, he saw a great deal of Robert Hall, the celebrated Baptist preacher.

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When staying with his father at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, and Aberdeen, he availed himself of the lectures given in the respective colleges on Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Natural History etc., the different Professors giving him free access as one engaged in the teaching of science. In this way he first attended Dr. Hopes lecture’s on Chemistry and Professor Playfair’s on Natural Philosophy in the spring of 1815.
A few months before going to Edinburgh, he stayed at Manchester, with his friends the Duffields, reading and practising Latin composition (then a subject of great practical importance at the Scotch Universities, where all the examinations were conducted in Latin). While there he made the acquaintance and passed several evenings in the company of the colour blind Quaker, John Dalton, the humble though renowned expounder of the Atomic theory. Amongst his papers of this time is the following:-

Insula Mone. PERMIT THE BEARER HEREOF Mr. G. Longstaff to pass for England upon his lawful occasions, without Lett, Stop, or Hindrance, he behaving himself as behoves all liege People, and departing this Isle within One month from the Date hereof.
Given at Castle Rashen, this 26th Day of July 1822.

“It so happens that the first chemical manufacture with which I was connected was that of coal-tar in the year 1822, together with my friend Dr. Dalston* of Edinburgh. We had a contract with a gas company, by which we were allowed to take all the tar away on the condition that we removed it gratuitously. A small manufactory was erected near Leith where we distilled the spirits from the tar, which we supplied to Mr. McIntosh of Glasgow, for waterproofing his cloth, and after that the residue we consumed and produced lamp black ........ I mention that as a matter of history.”

In October 1822, when between 23 and 24 years of age, he matriculated at Edinburgh University, and devoted himself to the study of medicine and science. In his first session in addition to Anatomical Lectures, Dissection etc., he attended the lectures of the

* Speech by Dr. Longstaff in moving a vote of thanks to Professor Roscoe for his inaugural address 28 June 1881. “Proceedings of the First General Meeting of the Society of Chemical Industry,” pp. 12-13.

* I note that George Blundell Longstaff refers to the Quaker John Dalton whereas George Dixon Longstaff refers to his friend, Dr. Dalston. I am not certain that these are references to the same person. [ C. Johnson]

130 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

Professor of Chemistry, Dr. Thomas Charles Hope, was so greatly attracted by the subject, that in May of the following year, we find him acting as assistant to the Professor, under Dr. J. W. Anderson, doing the greater part of the laboratory work. He occupied this position until the end of the summer session in 1824.

During the autumn of 1824, his father was elected Professor of Mechanics and Chemistry at the Mechanics’ Institution, Glasgow, and George left Edinburgh with a view to assisting him in the experimental part of his lectures. This however, did not involve the complete neglect of his medical studies, since during the session 1824-5 he attended at Glasgow lectures on Anatomy, Surgery, the Diseases of the Eye and the Practice of Physic as well as walking the General and Eye Infirmaries, while in the summer session he studied Botany at the Botanic Garden under Dr. (afterwards Sir William )Hooker.

On December 28th 1824 he delivered a lecture at the Mechanics’ Institution, Glasgow, on the “History of the Steam Engine,” the proceeds going towards the erection of the monument to James Watt, now standing in St. George’s Square in that city. In the course of the lecture, he traced the history of the machine from De Caus to Watt, and exhibited a number of working models, including one involving all of Watts latest improvements, which was made to drive a power loom so that a piece of cotton cloth was woven during the lecture. The Hall was crowded to excess, upwards of 800 people being present.
While at Glasgow along with Thomas Graham,* then a student there, and James Finlay Weir Johnston + and others, he founded the Glasgow Universal Chemical Society, of which he was president; the meetings by the permission of Professor T. Thompson, were held in the Chemical classroom. He was also a member of the Glasgow Medical Society.

It was at Glasgow that the younger Longstaff made his debut as a

* Afterwards Professor of Chemistry at the Andersonian University, and later at University College, London, and afterwards Master of the Mint.
+ Afterwards Professor of Chemistry at Durham: author of the popular work, “The Chemistry of Common Life.”

131 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

public lecturer, when, in consequence of his fathers failing health, he was appointed Assistant Lecturer on Mechanics and Chemistry at the New Institution. The M.S. of these lectures bears no date, but a note in his fathers handwriting refers to the interference with his son’s professional studies, and a letter from the Secretary of the Mechanics’ Institution dated Glasgow, May 30 1825 thanks Mr. George D. Longstaff for his assistance to his father in the course of lectures, speaking of his, “elegance of style, clearness of illustration and popularity of manner,” and regretting the necessity of his separation from the Institution. During the autumn of 1825 he gave a course of twelve lectures on Chemistry at Barrhead, a manufacturing village about six miles from Glasgow.
In October 1825 we find him hesitating whether to accept the Lectureship just vacated by his father’s resignation, or to return to Edinburgh as Dr. Hope’s assistant in succession to Dr. Anderson.
The Glasgow director’s were most anxious to secure his services, and he was thus in the fortunate position of being able to extract from the Professor somewhat better terms than he had first offered, so that he decided to return to his Alma Mater, where he remained for three more years.
Dr. Longstaff very rarely wrote to the papers; the following letter written in his old age is therefore the more worthy of quotation:-

SCIENTIFIC TEACHING IN GREAT BRITAIN

________________________

To the Editor of the Times.

SIR,
In your notice of Prof. Huxley’s fairwell address to the Royal Society in “The Times” of the first Inst. you quote and endorse the following passage of the address, “that when Prof. Huxley was a young man no ‘systematic practical instruction in any breach of experimental or observational science, except anatomy, was to be had in this country, and there was no such thing as a physical, chemical, biological, or geological laboratory open to the students of any University or to the pupils of any school in the three kingdoms.’”

This is a sweeping assertion which admits of correction as follows:-

During May 1823 a laboratory for practical chemistry and research was opened at Edinburgh University, under the superintendance of

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Dr. J. W. Anderson, the assistant to Dr. Hope, and myself, the laboratory was open until the end of July, and after the long vacation it was again open from the 1st. of November until the following July. During October 1825, I succeeded Dr. Anderson as Assistant to Dr. Hope. During the sessions of 1825-6, 1826-7, and 1827-8, I superintended the work of the laboratory. During 1825-6 the late Professor Graham commenced his researches in this laboratory, which was afterwards continued by him with marked success. I think it due to my Alma Mater that the foregoing statement of Professor Huxley should not be allowed to go uncorrected.

Professor Huxley was born in 1825. I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Geo. D. Longstaff, M. D.
Wandsworth, Dec. 3, 1885.
The writer has before him, some official notices of these pioneer demonstrations:-

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

__________

Chemical Conversations

Mr. Longstaff, Experimental Assistant to Dr. Hope, will on Saturday, the 19th inst. At 3. o’clock P.M., in the Lower Laboratory of the College, commence a course of Chemical Conversations of the subjects treated of in the Lectures of the Professor.
In conducting these conversations, Mr. L. will endeavour to make them as subservient as possible to the views of the different Students.
Gentlemen wishing to attend will receive further information by applying to Mr. L. At Laboratory between the hours of 11 and 12.

Nov. 15, 1825.
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

_________

Practical Chemistry

Mr. Longstaff, Experimental Assistant to Dr. Hope, will open the Summer Class for Practical Chemistry and Pharmacy in the Lower Laboratory on Wednesday the 10th May inst.
Attendance from half past 10 to 12 o’clock, five days in the week until the end of July.

May 1, 1826.

133 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
___________

Practical Chemistry and Pharmacy

Mr. Longstaff, Experimental Assistant to Dr. Hope purposes opening classes for Practical Chemistry and Pharmacy in the Lower Laboratory at the College on Monday the 15th of January inst. at 3 o’clock P.M. and at 6 o’clock in the Evening: to meet three times a week until the end of April.

Fee, 3 Guineas.

Jan. 8, 1827.

N.B. The Royal College of Surgeons, in their late Regulations, recommend Candidates for a Surgeons Diploma, to attend to Practical Chemistry and Pharmacy.
The three preceding are printed; the following are in George’s own handwriting, and may perhaps be a mere draft:-

Chemical Examinations

Mr. Longstaff, Experimental Assistant to Dr. Hope, will commence his course of Chemical Examinations in the Chemical Classroom, on Wednesday the 15th November inst., at 3 o’clock P.M. The subjects will come under review in the order in which they are treated of in the lectures of the Professor.
Further particulars respecting the mode in which these examinations will be conducted will be given at the first meeting, which gentlemen are invited to attend. Fee 10s 6d.

Nov. 7, 1826.

Thomas Graham, afterwards Master of the Mint, but best known for his classical researches on Diffusion (1834 - 1861), was his most distinguished pupil. James Nasmyth , the inventor of the steam hammer, attended Dr. Hopes lectures in 1826 and may well have been a pupil of Longstaff’s.*
Professor Hope was an able man, but not a skilful experimenter and he relied greatly on Longstaff. One session he gave a course of popular lectures, open to others than members of the University, which were very largely attended. These lectures were illustrated with what was then considered an unusual profusion of experiments and much costly apparatus and at their conclusion he highly complimented

* Besides being a Demonstrator of Practical Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University, one document describes him as a Lecturer on Materia Medica, Chemistry and Pharmacy.

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young Longstaff on his contribution to their success, and gave him a cheque for what was, for a Scotch Professor, a large sum.
On Thursday the 15th June 1826, the following resolution was agreed to and signed:-

We agree to meet in Mr. Longstaff’s Laboratory (College) to constitute a Chemical Society, to be called The University Chemical Society of Edinburgh, on Saturday the 17th instant at half past 2 o’clock.

G. D. Longstaff _________________ Edmund Dowell
Jas. Alex. Ventriss _____________ J.S. Mc Dowell
G. C. Holland ___________________ Thos. Longstaff Junr.
Thos. Graham

At the first meeting, G.D. Longstaff in the Chair, a Paper on the “Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid” was read by Thomas Graham. G.H. Holland was appointed “Convener,” and Thomas Longstaff, junior, Secretary.

Eight weekly meetings were held in that summer session. Amongst the papers read were one by G.D. Longstaff on “Combustion” one on “Universal Gravitation” by Graham, and another by the same on The Manufacture of Alum,” and one by Thomas Longstaff, junior, on “The Combinations of Carbon and Hydrogen,” dwelling more particularly on coal and oil gases.
The minutes of the meetings survive, written apparently written in the neat hand of George’s younger brother Thomas.

He was an active member--- one of the founders--- and at one time President of the Hunterian Society of Edinburgh, the students society for discussing professional and scientific subjects. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Medical and Royal Physical Societies of Edinburgh.

On the mound between the Old and new Town, used to stand in those days a watchman’s box. The “Charleys” who played the part (but indifferently well) of the modern policemen, were somnolent folk; at all events, a certain one stationed there, used not infrequently to doze upon his duty. It was a favourite trick of the students to approach is box from behind, close the door, throw the box upon its side, and roll the whole down the hill, its many bumps affording, as may be imagined, great delight to the students. When extricated by

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some passer-by or brother watchman, attracted by his groans Charley was usually found but little hurt, since the folds of his countless capes gave ample padding to fill the small space between his portly body and the walls of the watch box.

Tradesmen's shops were then distinguished by signs above their doors. One of the students rising superior to the fashionable accomplishment of wrenching of door knockers, took it into his head to make a collection of these, and as the result of many marauding expeditions in the small hours of the night, amassed a large collection. For some reason, now forgotten, he had great difficulty in carrying off a magnificent grasshopper on which he had set his heart, but nothing daunted by many failures he at last succeeded. Alas! It was traced, and the indignant owner, accompanied by officers of the law, entered the student’s room, to find a strange collection of signs of all sorts, in the midst of which was the thief seated astride of the grasshopper with a stout stick in his hand. He exclaimed eagerly, “You may take all the rest, but this I will defend with my life!”

Before the passing of the Anatomy Act both students and teachers were hard put to it to get “subjects,” hence arose the practice of “body snatching.” The Doctor was very familiar with the modus operandi, and explained with something like glee, the strategy and tactics likely to ensure success. It having been ascertained that recent burials had taken place in the lonely churchyards not too far from the city, two dog carts were prepared, into each of which, two students provided with sets of gravedigger’s tools and a spare greatcoat mounted. A report had meanwhile been discreetly spread that an attempt would be made to carry off the body of the old man recently interred in the village to the West. Meanwhile, half an hour later, the other party would drive with the greatest circumspection, pursuing devious roads towards the grave of the old woman buried the day before in the village to the East. The “ruse” usually succeeded, the “resurrection” was speedily accomplished, the body taken out of the coffin, clad in the spare greatcoat, and placed in the cart between

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the two living occupants, one of who would support it in as natural a position as might be, with an arm placed fondly behind it! The next morning there would be great rejoicing in the dissecting-room.

The Doctor, while always refusing to admit that he had taken part in such a raid, never denied it.
As is well known, William Burke, an Irish shoemaker, was led by the high prices given for “subjects” actually to commit several murders.
His associate Hare, turned Kings evidence against him, and he was hanged in Edinburgh, early in 1829, or but a few months after George Dixon Longstaff left the University. One Bishop and an accomplice named Williams were hanged in London in 1831, on their own confession, for a like series of murders. The horrible revelations of these two trials led to the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832--- one of the last Acts of the unreformed Parliament.
At some time in his academical career Longstaff lived in the old observatory on the Calton Hill and had the use of the instruments ---- a reflector and a fine Dolland refractor. In the spring of 1826 he gave a course of lectures at the Mechanics’ Institution at Musselburgh, and in the summer, courses of four lectures on Anatomy and four on Chemistry in the town hall of the same town were advertised. In that autumn he gave a course of eight lectures on the Principles of Chemical Philosophy at Bishop Auckland.
In May 1827 he gave a course of ten lectures on Natural Philosophy at his old school at Witton-le-Wear. The prospectus described him as George Dixon Longstaff, Surgeon, since in 1827 he had qualified as Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. In October 1827, he gave a course of six lecture on Mechanics, etc., at the Bolton Philosophical Institution.
In 1828 he gave another course of lectures on Astronomy at Musselburgh.
As a lecturer he was distinguished for his readiness in speech, his powerful voice, his clearness in explanation and the success of his experiments.
Among the old papers is a receipt for 8s. Being half a years rent for two seats in the Edinburgh Unitarian Chapel, dated 11 November 1827.

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He did not go in for the M.D. at Edinburgh till July 1828, having previously attended the course on Midwifery at the Rotunda at Dublin. The examinations in those days were still held in Latin, and it was the practice of the students to study the art of answering all possible questions in the fewest possible words! Some of George’s M.S. Books of Latin questions and answers on Medicine are still in existence.
Absolute honesty and blunt straight forwardness were always characteristic of him. He had come to the conclusion that he had not time to get up the “Natural,” or the “Jussien’s” system of the classification of plants which was just beginning to threaten to displace that of Linnaeus; therefore he made no attempt to study it at all, but greatly tried the temper of the examiners by his persistent replies to all questions on the subject, “Nescio Domine.”
His thesis for the degree of M.D. was entitled, “Dissertatio Inauguralis de Calorico,” in which he proved to his own complete satisfaction (in accordance with the views then generally held) that Heat was a material substance.
His name still stands on the roll:
Georgius Dixon Longstaff, Anglus.
At about this time his father’s health again gave way, and George, after taking his degree, went to Bishop Auckland and stayed with his father till his death in 1829, assisting in the management of the colliery.
It was probably when engaged in coal mining that he made the acquaintance of George Stephenson. He used to say that he had often seen his younger brother Robert Stephenson * driving a locomotive on the colliery railway.

He was pressed to stay at Edinburgh after taking his degree, with a view to succeeding to the Chair of Chemistry, but in 1829 after winding up his father’s affairs, he decided to enter practice as a Physician at Hull, being enabled to do so by the small capital raised by the sale of his father’s colliery lease.

* Ancestor of the present family of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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Accordingly, 22 July 1829, he settled at Hull, his sister Mary Ann keeping house for him at 22, Whitefriargate.*
He was upwards of 30 when he began practice, but looked older.
His superior training and marked ability led to him being often called in, in consultation, frequently with men far his senior, so that he speedily acquired a good practice. Indeed, he used to say that he was making £600 a year when he gave up his practice for business in 1834. It was his consistent policy to attend public meetings, especially those of the Literary and Philosophical Society, and to take part in discussions. At the same time he did not hesitate to risk offending the orthodox by attending the Unitarian Chapel regularly.
Dr. Alderson, senior, who had for some time been the leading local physician, died a few months after George settled in Hull, so that there was a vacancy on the staff at the Infirmary.
George, with a view to making himself known to the Governors and putting his testimonials before them, became a candidate. + At the very last moment, during the meeting of the Governors, he withdrew in favour of Dr. Jas. Alderson. This was a most successful move and brought him many patients.
Dr. Longstaff set himself, so far as he dared, against the practice of heavy drugging, still very prevalent. Patients, however,, still believed in it, and had to be humoured. His “family pills” acquired considerable repute --- they were compounded of bread crumb and mucilage! He was a great believer in small doses. One patient felt himself insulted by having to take (as he thought) desert-spoonfuls of water, so he indignantly emptied the bottle at a draught, but greatly rued his rashness --- it was tartar emetic.

He was one day called in by a practitioner, much his senior, to see a patient in the country, supposed to be in extremis. He formed a favourable opinion, but saw that the man was very low and he had difficulty assimilating his food. He said to him, “You want some

* He would appear to have lived at first at North Street, Charlotte Street. + These showed conclusively what a high opinion his Glasgow and Edinburgh friends had alike, of his character and ability. E.g. John Lixars (or Livars) the surgeon spoke of him as “ a profound scientific physician.”

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thing?” The man replied, “Yes, doctor, but you won’t let me have it.”
“We will see;
What is it?” The man shyly said, “I should like a glass of my own home brewed.” The old family medical man said, “Why you are not going to let him have it?” “Nay, but I am,” said the younger, adding to the patients wife, “Serve it up in the usual jug or tankard that he is accustomed to.” Contrary to all rule and expectation, he brought his patient round with small but repeated doses of his own home brewed ale.
During his first year’s residence in Hull he became a member of the Literary and Philosophical Society and took an active part in its proceedings, seldom failing to raise a discussion whatever the subject brought before it. In April 1830 he read a Paper on “The Tides” which gave rise to a lengthened discussion. From May 1830 he was a member of the Council. He also became a member of the Library, and was early elected on the Committee.
On April 20th 1830 we find him making a speech on the occasion of the opening of the Hull Mechanics’ Institute. In June the same year he gave an address on “Popular Education,”* and later a long course of lectures on “Mechanical Philosophy.” These were well attended and to shew the value of such instruction a man came up to the Doctor many years afterwards and told him all his success in life could be traced to words which, when a working man, he had heard fall from his lips.
On 21st of October 1830 he delivered an eloquent and impassioned speech at an Anti Slavery meeting in Hull.+
During the spring of 1831 he read a Paper at the Literary and Philosophical Society on “Medical Education,” which led to the establishment of the Hull and East Riding School of Medicine and Anatomy, which was opened in Charles Street on the 3rd of October 1831 The lectures given at this institution qualified for the Apothecaries’ Hall, and the school was a success for years, until it was at length closed in consequence of new regulations for qualification

* This he appears to have substantially repeated at Nottingham in 1838 and again at Wandsworth in 1842.
+ William Wilberforce was a native of and Member for Hull; the Abolition Act was passed in 1833.

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being adopted by the Royal College of Surgeons and Apothecaries Hall. Dr. Longstaff was for three summer and three winter sessions (1831-1834) lecturer on Materia Medica, Medical Botany, and Therapeutics. *

At a meeting of the medical profession, held at the Hull Infirmary January 6th 1832, Dr. Ayre and Dr. Longstaff reported the result of their visit to Sunderland as a deputation to get information about the Cholera, then epidemic in that town. After giving an excellent description of the symptoms, they stated that the disease appeared to be confined to almost women and children; that Dr. Longstaff saw only two men affected out of fifty patients, while Dr. Ayre did not see a single man with it. Further, in no instance, had persons in comfortable circumstances---well fed, well clothed, and comfortably lodged and of cleanly and temperate habits been attacked. The infectious character of the disease seemed to be generally admitted, at the same time it was asserted that whether communicated by infection, or prevalent as an epidemic, or both ways, the fact remained indisputable that destitution and filth without intemperance, or intemperance without them, were necessary to the spread of the disorder. They decidedly condemned the indiscriminate use of brandy and opium. Among those taking part in the discussion were Mr. Thomas Blundell+ and Mr. Robert Craven.++
During the Cholera epidemic, Dr. Longstaff saw transfusion of blood from arm to arm tried in several cases; the immediate effect was almost magical, but its benefit was in all cases transitory.
In this year Dr. Longstaff gave two lectures on Chemical Action, at the Mechanics’ Institute and (probably in the same year) an Extempore lecture on “Disinfecting Agents” at the Literary and Philosophical Society.

On the 17th of October 1833 he married at Sculcoates Parish

* It is just possible that the Doctor acquired some of his knowledge of the art of “body snatching” in connection with this school.
+ Brother of Henry Blundell.
++ His son, now Sir Robert Martin Craven, took the chair 47 years later, 8 April 1879, when Dr. Longstaffs younger son, George Blundell Longstaff, gave a lecture on the “Health Statistics of Hull,” at the Literary and Philosophical Society.

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Church, Maria, eldest daughter of Henry Blundell, merchant of Hull. By Maria Porter* his wife.
A small account book begins with the day of his wedding, and gives his expenses on his wedding tour. It would appear he left Hull with his bride 17th October 1833, having £125 18s 6d in his pocket, including £100 which he got from his father-in-law. They travelled partly by chaise, but mostly by coach, and in London mention is made of hackney carriages. They visited York and Cambridge and then went to London, where they saw the National Gallery, the Coliseum, and the Zoological Gardens, and a performance at the Olympic Theatre.
From London the took for £2 8s. “two insides” to Bristol, calling at Bath on the way. From Bristol they went to Cheltenham and thence took for £1, “two outsides” to Oxford.
Returning to London they spent one day in driving to and from Deptford,. By November 7 they had got as far as Barton Ferry on the return Journey when the account abruptly ceases.
He left among his papers a diary commencing January 1834, and continued to within a few days of his death, so that short daily notes ---- memoranda of calls, visits, journeys, and expenses are available for the last 58 years of hi life.
From this we learn a little of his early married life at 22 Whitefriargate. From January till October 1834 his sister Mary Ann was living with him. They appear to have seen a great deal of company in a quiet way. The frequent notes of fees received shew that he was doing a good practice. To those who remember his extreme aversion to smoking in later life, an occasional entry such as, “in the evening I took wine and a cigar at Uncle Joseph’s[Blundell] are interesting, but the very small amounts for cigars in his account books prove that he cannot have smoked regularly.
At this time we find him with Marshall Hall and Mathew Davenport Hill, Q.C., M.P., and on July 5th there is the

* Mr. Blundell was (then or subsequently) an Alderman and an active Magistrate. In 1852 -3 he was mayor on the important occasion of the visit of the British Association to Hull. His only son, Henry Spence Blundell, was one of the secretaries of the chemical section. The writer had two play bills printed on satin in honour of his Worship’s state visits to the Theatre Royal and the Queen’s Theatre respectively.

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entry, “Memorialised Lord Melbourne,” the new Prime Minister; the object does not appear.

July 14, Began German with Dr. Hippe.
July 23, I spoke at the British and Foreign School Society.
Aug. 1, Foundation stone of Wilberforce’s monument laid by Mr. Bethel. Sep. 5 Read a Paper at the Philosophical Society. (at Sheffield)
Sep. 27, Maria, Sara [Blundell], and I heard Braham sing at the theatre.
Oct. 13, Maria safely delivered of a daughter at 20 min. Before 1 o’clock A.M. A six month’s child.
Oct. 16, Our baby died in the evening.
It was natural that Henry Blundell, who was engaged in the manufacture of colours, as well as other commercial speculations, should desire to make use of his son-in-law’s scientific knowledge.
Accordingly, we find that but a year after his marriage he induced him to go to North Carolina to see after some gold mines in which he was largely interested.
On retiring from the Medical School, in consequence of this appointment, he received the following letter from his colleagues:-

Hull.
Oct. 23, 1834.
We, the undersigned colleagues of Dr. Longstaff, in the Hull and East Riding of York School of Medicine and Anatomy, in testifying to his superior talents and high attainments, which have so well qualified him for a public lecturer, embrace this opportunity of expressing the high regard we entertain for him as a friend and colleague, and cannot allow him to leave without our best wishes for his success accompanying him, feeling assured that he will be an ornament to any situation he may be called on to fill.

( Signed) James Alderson, A.M. and M.D.
Robt. Craven, Surgeon to the Hull General Infirmary.
Edward Wallis [Surgeon, Lecturer on Anatomy].
Robt. Hardey [Surgeon, Lecturer on Midwifery].

On the 25th of October 1834, he left Liverpool in the American sailing packet, “Roscoe,” Captain Delano, in company with a Mr. James Magnus, who would appear to have been one of the directors of the Anglo American and Victoria Gold Mining Association. He left a full diary of this and of his return voyage. A receipt

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tells us that his “cabin passage without wine” cost 30 guineas, and his account book notes that he tipped the stewards £1 (on return voyage £1 1s), so that 60 years would appear to have worked little change in this respect.
A steamer towed them out beyond the light ship. The “Roscoe,” 600 tons, was one of the best of the line, well manned and well found, with good accommodation for some thirty cabin passenger’s as well as twenty-five in steerage; there were two stewards , and a stewardess and a cook, all black. The ship’s company consisted of captain, three mates and twenty one seamen. For fresh provisions she carried a milch cow, five fat sheep, and seven pigs, with “geese, turkey, ducks, and fowls almost innumerable.” The ship was lighted with spermaceti candles. Another old fashioned custom was dinner at four o’clock. Shuffle-board and whist were the amusements. Fellow passengers were so-so. The Scotchmen we have in the cabin are the most ignorant, dogmatical, and ungentlemanly set I have ever met with in a similar state of society.” Service on the second Sunday out was followed by a calm, concerning which the chief mate said, “Yes, this praying has sent of the wind; I never knew it otherwise, In my opinion it was never intended that anything of the kind should be done at sea. Praying and preaching is all very well on shore, but it never ought to be practised at sea. I recollect once before when we had a parson on board, we never had a good wind, and consequently the passage was tedious. There is always sure to be tedious weather when there is a parson on board.”
The Doctor was a very good sailor, and after ten days fine weather was able to appreciate the “magnificence and awful grandeur” of an Atlantic gale. The escape of the pigs heralded its onset; he never forgot a tremendous sea striking the ship’s quarter towards its close.
A lottery was established when they had been twenty-one days out, in which the Doctor would not take part. The modern monotonous daily lottery would appear to have been then unknown.
He read a good deal during the voyage, amongst other books, “Jacob Faithful,” “Peter Simple,” and Bulwer’s “England and the English.”
New York was reached on 22 November, after a voyage of twenty-

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nine days. On landing, the passengers treated the captain to a dinner at the City hotel, and the Doctor was voted to the chair. *
From New York he went by way of Philadelphia and Lexington to Charlotte, North Carolina, reaching his destination in early December. After inspecting the mines he returned to New York and visited New London and Norwich, Connecticut, on business connected therewith. While in New York he visited Washington Irving at the house of Judge Irving [?a brother].
Some years before this Irving had contributed to the periodical called “Salmagundi, or the Whim Whams and Opinions of Lancelot Langstaff, Esq., and others.” Likely enough they laughed together over the pseudonym.
He appears to have stayed at New York till 24 January 1835, long before which he declared himself heartily sick of it.
On the day named, he sailed for Charleston in the brig, “Jones,” Captain Hayden. The voyage was not a success. His fellow passengers were very disagreeable, thus he writes;

Heartily tired of the brig “Jones” and all connected with her. There is a French Catholic priest on board, two dirty French women, a very dirty German, a Dutchmen, and a very conceited and licentious American.” The weather was bad with fog and rain, “spent a miserable day, and flogged myself well for coming to sea in such company.” They were blown off shore into the Gulf Stream and the Doctor was much impressed by the fact that the temperature of the sea was 75 degrees Fahrenheit, although the decks were covered with ice and the blocks frozen up. He speaks of a tremendous night; thunder, lightening, wind, and sea, all in violent commotion; apprehensive of being lost.” Referring to his fellow passengers he says “never so uncomfortable at sea before; only once on shore not catch me at sea again in a hurry.” On 5 February, after a voyage of thirteen days, he landed at Charleston, “with heartfelt gratitude.” After a short stay at Charleston he took the railroad to Branchville, and went thence by coach to Columbia. At the latter place he went to a party at Professor Nott’s, where he was much struck with the noise of the ladies and the little attention they paid to Mrs. Nott’s song. From Columbia he went through the pine forests by coach, bumping over

* This dinner cost him $5.59. His accounts tell us that haircutting was 6d in England but 1s. In America.

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wretched “corduroy” * roads to Claremont House near Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which he reached on 13 February.
Having been much impressed by the insatiable curiosity of the Yankees, he thought he would anticipate it. A gentleman on the opposite seat of the coach eyed him for some time, and at last said; “Guess you come from the old country?” “Yes” replied the Doctor; “I left Liverpool by the ‘Roscoe’ on ... reached New York on .... left there on, etc., and I am going to Charlotte to see some gold mines”---- answering by anticipation all the questions he expected.
“Wall, you are a right smart fellow, I reckon,” was the reply of his startled fellow traveller.
After about a month at Charlotte, during which time he was busy about the mines, he went by coach and rail to Petersburgh.

April 23, This day a young woman brushed her teeth in the stage with ruff.?
April 26, Petersburgh. Much disappointed to find my journey of no avail. I expected to have met Maria and Sara. +
May 2, This day I read all my dear Maria’s letters to me.
He returned to Richmond where he went to the races and was introduced to the Judge’s stand. Here and elsewhere he speaks of much enjoying the cold drinks --- sangaree, iced buttermilk, iced punch, etc. He got back to Claremont House on 10 May, and the same night it was decided that he should go to London to report on the mines and confer with the shareholders.
Starting on the 13th he travelled by coach and rail, and called en-route at the Whitehouse, were he saw President Andrew Jackson, who’s first remark was very characteristic: “Well, Doctor, what do they think of me in the old country?”
By travelling rapidly, not taking off his clothes for a week, he reached New York at 5 A.M on 20 May, and sailed for England at 11 A.M. By the American ship

* Made of logs of wood laid transversely.
+ A letter from William Spence dated 155, Albany Street, Regent Park,10 March 1835 shews that his wife and sister in law had decided to cross the Atlantic to join him. Moreover, the furniture of the Whitefriar Gatehouse, or the greater part of it was sold by auction 19-20 March. It fetched £345

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“Ontario” Captain Kearney, having been in America some six months. *
There were but six cabin passengers, two of whom spoke Spanish only, but there were fifty in the steerage. There is a detailed diary of this voyage, during which the Doctor was very homesick and sentimental, e.g.:

Well, here I am on board the “Ontario” on my way to merry old England! yes, it is indeed so; two weeks ago I little dreamed of this pleasure. In a few weeks I hope to have the pleasure of seeing again, all my dear, dear friends I left with such regret last year. My dear Maria little imagines that I am on board the Atlantic, hastening with all the impetuosity of a fond and loving husband to the place where she is, that I may once more take my station by her side, and prove to her that my love for her is unabated. Oh, what a happy, happy, meeting we shall have! Dear creature, I wish she knew of my being on the way home that she might participate with me in pleasing anticipation of our meeting.
At first it was rough and the Captain and the Doctor were often tête-à-tête at the dinner table. Then they had head winds and calms, which caused much annoyance to sentimental husbands and others, who “dedicated a glass of brandy and water to wives and sweethearts before going to bed.” The steerage passengers published a newspaper to wile away the time, and this shortly had a rival, and it was even

* Some Memoranda, apparently of articles to be taken on a second visit, contains the following: J.P.’s clothes: black coat and vest and blue trousers.” This looks as if he had expected to be a magistrate, but there is nothing to shew that he was. Among a number of letters of introduction that do not appear to have been presented was the following:-
Foreign Office,
October 21. 1834.
Sirs,
This Letter will be delivered to you by Dr. Langstaff, (M.D.), a man of science who is about to visit the United States of America. At the request of Lord Althorpe, I beg leave to recommend him to your protection and good offices, if he should have occasion to require them.

I am Sir, Your most obedient humble servant ,
Palmerston.
George Manners Esq.,
H.M’s Consul, Boston.
Lord Palmerston was then Foreign Secretary. Lord Althorpe was M.P. For South Northamptonshire and Chancellor of the Exchequer: In that year he became 3rd Earl Spencer.

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threatened by a third! The Doctor read a good deal. He speaks of Mudie’s “Beauties of Nature” as a delightful book; also says that he was forcibly struck with the truth of the following passage in T. Hamilton’s “Men and Manners in America.”:-

One of the most remarkable features in the American character is a restless and insatiable appetite for praise, which defies all restraints of reason or common sense. It is far from enough that a traveller should express himself delighted with the country and its inhabitants, that he should laud the beauty and fertility of the former, and all that is wise, dignified, and amiable, in the latter; he is expected to extend his admiration even into the upper air; to feel hurricanes and speak of zephyrs; to gaze on clouds and behold the pure azure; and while parching under the influence of a burning sun, to lower the thermometer of his words, and dilate on the genial and delightful warmth of an American summer.

On the 15 June, he landed at Cowes after a voyage of twenty seven days, the last ten of which were very tedious owing to lack of wind. Leaving Portsmouth that night by coach he reached London the next morning ---- a ride of ten hours. Here his home sickness reached such an acute point that he penned a letter to his wife in verse(! ?), which however, the reader shall be spared, After transacting some business in town, he went to Hull by stage coach ---nineteen hours. He was greatly disappointed not to find anyone on the look out for him; this was owing to his father-in-law not having opened the letter the Doctor had written from London. In July 1835, he went from Hull to London by steamer, the usual mode of communication at that time. Among the “sights” he saw were the House of Commons, the Surrey Zoological Gardens, the English Opera and the Thames Tunnel; the latter was still under construction, his first cousin* George Dixon (son of Thomas Dixon by his wife Tace Alder) being the resident engineer. At this time he sat for his portrait to Professor Carl Schmid. +
* He had another first cousin, Margaret, daughter of George Dixon [111.] of Cockfield by his wife Rachel Coates, of whom he once said to the writer, when looking over a draft pedigree,
“Ah! She was my first cousin, and nearly my wife!” This lady, however, married in 1826, one John Allason of Sunderland, otherwise where would the author have been ?
+ Brother to Chevalier Louis de Schmid who married Eliza, daughter of William Spence by his wife Elizabeth Blundell, sister of Henry Blundell

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7th August. He gave some account of the North Carolina Gold mines to the Philosophical Society at Sheffield.
In this summer the directors of the Gold Mining Company decided to send him to Saxony to examine and report upon the processes there. Accordingly on the 16th of August accompanied by a young German named Knapp as interpreter, he left London by steamer for Antwerp. They travelled by diligence by way of Aachen and Koln to Koblenz, and thence by steamer up the Rhine to Mainz; the steamer of those days was feeble by comparison, and on nearing Bingen it was necessary to hitch on several horses to tow the vessel up the rapids. Travelling in Germany was tedious work in those days. The lumbering stell wagon was stopped frequently as the frontier of each petty state, with its inevitable custom house, was reached (for the Zol-verein was still imperfect), while the changes of coinage were less frequent.
Thus laboriously they journeyed from Mainz to Frankfurt, thence by Erfurt, Gotha, and Leipzig to Dresden and finally reached Freiberg in Saxony 25 of August. They spent three busy days in and about the neighbouring mines and in the Laboratory of Professor Lampadius, noting the methods of working underground as well as the process of crushing, sorting and washing the ore, and the separation of the silver by amalgamation with Mercury. He found time not merely to make the acquaintance of the one English student, but even to give a few lessons in the English language to a native. Staying at day at Dresden and another at Berlin. They sailed from Hamburg in a steamer on 2 September, reaching Hull in fifty one hours.
The Doctors Prussian passport, dated, Aachen, 18 August 1835, is interesting as containing the following description of his person :-

Religion; evangelical, age; 36, height: 5 ft. 6 1/2 ins. Hair; black, forehead; high, eyebrows; black, eyes; blue, nose; large, mouth; medium, beard; black, chin; large, face; oval, complexion; healthy, stature; medium, special marks of recognition; scarred by small-pox.*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

* A passport granted curiously enough, “ Au nom du Roi, par L. M’ Ambassadeur du roi des Francais ? Londres” dated 21 November 1847, also describes him but not so fully or accurately

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It may here by remarked that he had certain striking physical characteristics; his black hair, which curled so strongly as to stand up all over his head; his rapid walk and upright carriage, never more remarkable than when he was shrunken with age; and his enormous h The latter he said was only exceeded in size by that of Napoleon; it certainly was far larger than Lord Salisbury’s, no mean sconce. *

Sep. 17, At Doncaster; saw the cup run for.
Sep. 21, I wrote a Paper for the “Mining Journal” on the North Carolina Gold mines.
At the end of September, he visited Auckland, Shildon, and Hamsterley, to bid goodbye to his mother and other relatives. Then, having received his instructions from the “Anglo-American and Victoria Gold Mining Association,” he left Hull for Liverpool. From Selby to Leeds and from Manchester to Liverpool, he travelled by rail, the rest of the way by coach.
8th October. Accompanied by his wife and her sister Sara Bundell, he embarked at Liverpool on the packet ship “Virginian,” Captain Harris. The voyage lasted twenty six days, during the greater part of which time the ladies were in their cabins and anything but happy. A great contrast to this was the experience of the Doctor’s brother Thomas Longstaff and his nephew John Greenwell, who left Liverpool the week after he did, but did not reach New York until 20 January, 1836---- a voyage of ninety seven days! Long delayed by contrary winds they had been driven to Bermuda for provisions.
On the night of 16 December, 1835, they were playing cards at their lodging in New York when the door was flung open and a total stranger rushed in hatless and breathless, and flinging onto the card table an armful of papers, cash books, and ledgers, exclaimed “For God’s sake take care of those!” and rushed out again. It was their first intimation of the outbreak of the Great Fire. A strange and appalling spectacle it was. The night was intensely cold, the thermometer about zero, so that the fire-engines at once froze up and were

* The writers head is not a small one, yet Lord Salisbury’s hat comes down well over his ears, but his father’s would sit loosely upon his shoulders.

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useless. The inhabitants in the houses opposite to the fire hung out wet blankets to protect them from the sparks; these at once froze as stiff as boards. Nevertheless the fire spread steadily against the wind, the radiant heat being so great as to ignite the woodwork of the houses opposite. The burning of the Marble Exchange was a grand sight; the fine rows of columns glowed a rich rose red, when owing to the calcining of the marble, the whole structure collapsed. Ultimately several blocks of buildings were blown up with gunpowder, and the conflagration was stayed, but not until 674 buildings had been destroyed and damage caused which was estimated at nearly $20,000,000. A friend living a long distance from the fire to the leeward spent the whole night on his roof extinguishing with his broom the numerous sparks that fell on it.
During his stay in New York he appears to have been to some extent drawn into the vortex of American journalism. At all events we find in his diary such entries as, “Spent the evening with Price, concocting articles for the ‘Mirror.’ ” In February Mr. Magnus arrived, and three days later they all left for the mines, travelling by way of Philadelphia, Washington, and Richmond. Towards the end of the journey the stagecoach upset but no one was hurt; a few hours later it stuck fast in the mud! The journey was, however, accomplished in a fortnight, and they settled in Jamesville in March, but in August moved to Claremont House.
It was in September that one Major Morris, of the State Militia, rode up, and expressed a wish to deal for the Doctor’s horse, a showy black, named “Byron.” “Well, Major, is it to be between gentlemen, or how?” The gallant officer replied: “Wall, I reckon if a man knows a thing or two he has a right to make the most of his knowledge.” “Done,” said the Doctor; “You are a Down-easter, I am Yorkshire, let us begin.”
Accordingly the old-country man shewed of “Byron’s” best points, and flattered the Major’s vanity by saying how handsome he would look on such a charger at the forth coming training. The Major rode a dun of poor appearance, but possessing, as the Doctor saw, good practical qualities, and suggested an exchange with a make-weight. Ultimately the major rode off in high glee on the high-

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stepping black, leaving behind him his old dun and $67, both parties were pleased with the result, but the next day Major Morris turned up again on “Byron.” He dismounted, hitched up his horse, and sat down “whittling” a stick in silence. When accosted by the Doctor, who asked how he got on with his new purchase, he somewhat gloomily suggested that they should make it a “rue bargain.” This Longstaff refused, stating that the Major, relying on a supposed superior knowledge of the noble quadruped, had refused his offer to be plain spoken, with the result that he had been deceived by the attractions of a long mane and tail and prancing step. After a vain appeal he rode away a sadder and a wiser man. The Doctor rode the dun many a long mile, with an inward chuckle at the thought that the old-country man had proved as smart as the Yankee. The laugh of the settlement was turned against the vain Militiaman, while the Doctor gained proportionately in public estimation.

Dec. 14. Wrote a letter for the “New Era.”
1837. Feb. 2. Almost distracted with headache and sickness.

Throughout the diary are frequent recurring allusions to the severe headaches to which he was constitutionally liable. These recurred at least once a fortnight, and levied a serious tax upon his useful time. It is believed his father was subject to the same, and they have descended, unfortunately, two generations further.

1837. Feb. 5. Had a glorious treat in reading newspapers from England.
March 31. This day completed my 38th year. Oh, how old I am getting and how little I have done.
April 13. I had a dreadful row with the Negroes about stealing.
Aug. 1. Marcus ran away after dinner.
As no free labour was to be had it was necessary to employ slaves. The Doctor could not however bring himself to buy a man, so all his Negroes were hired. He adopted the plan of exacting a certain minimum of work, and for all overtime he paid cash. After some distrust at first the Negroes, as they came to understand the system, greatly appreciated it. The result was not, however, exactly what he had anticipated. One fine fellow, with some such name as Caesar, *

* The following slaves are mentioned by name:- Cyrus, Paris, Old Tom, Sambo, Israel, Hector, Cato, Peggy, and Mira.

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worked many hours’ overtime, singing gaily the while. His master said to him one day: “Well Caesar, you are earning a lot of money, tell me, what are you going to do with it?” The coal- black labourer replied: What me do with my money? I know what massa tink; massa tink me buy my freedom. Me buy my freedom? Me no such damn fool. Massa find me a house, massa find me food, massa find me clothes; what Caesar want with his freedom?” “Then what will you do with the money?” said the Doctor. To this, Caesar, grinning from ear to ear, replied; “Ah! Me by finery for me and my gall.” The next Sunday morning the Doctor was greeted by a low bow from a gentleman of colour, dressed in the best fashion that Charlotte, N. Carolina, could supply. A closer examination revealed his slave Caeser!
There was one domestic who could not be managed by kindness alone, and one day Longstaff, said to him, “Why do you behave so that I am forced to flog you?” The Negro answered, “I don’t know, Massa, but whipping do Sambo good sometimes.” Probably it was not very severe.
Dr. Longstaff, as we have seen, had been an active supporter of Wilberforce in the Abolition movement, but his practical experience of the Negroes impressed him greatly with the importance of proceeding gradually; he saw that older slaves were not fit for emancipation, and that the rising generation needed to be prepared by education. Later in his life, during the war of the Secession, 1861---65, he constantly expressed the opinion that any measure of emancipation should be gradual in its operation, extending over a considerable time; any other course he apprehended would produce disastrous results.
Amongst actions which in Europe would be considered rude, but in America at that time passed without comment, may be mentioned that on going into a store at Charlotte, a gentleman asked him how he tied his cravat, since all his efforts at imitation had failed. The Doctor demonstrated on the gentleman’s leg there and then.
Before leaving England he had had a coat specially constructed for shooting, with an unusual number of pockets --- a sort of forerunner of the Norfolk jacket. An American gentleman came up to him one

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day in the street, and said, “That is a smart coat of yours, Sir; will you trade?” Another day his attention was attracted by a cart in the lane with its horse tied up to the orchard fence. Going up to find out what might be the explanation, he saw a man filling a sack with apples, who naively remarked, “You have some nice apples here; I am just taking a few.” But it may perhaps be said in excuse this wholesale stealing of apples was a trivial affair where the pigs were fattened on peaches!
The following incident shews how purely conventional are the views of even civilised nations as to what constitutes true modesty.
A gentleman acquaintance, Mr. A., an American, had met with an accident causing an injury to his leg. A short time afterwards Mr. B., a mutual friend, also an American, called at Claremont House, and was talking with the charming Miss Blundell, when the latter naturally enough asked Mr. B. How Mr. A.’s leg was getting on. This greatly shocked Mrs. C. an American lady who was present. After giving a reassuring report of the progress of the injured limb, Mr. B. Left, whereupon Mrs. C. Burst in with: “Miss Blundell, you did a dreadful thing in asking that question; you must not mention gentlemen's legs in this country! But of course Mr. B. was scarely surprised, since he knows that English young ladies are not modest!”
Mrs. Longstaff sat one day in the garden and made a careful drawing of Claremont House. A black domestic, who appeared to have no power of understanding a drawing, gazed at it for some minutes, and then remarked “La! Misses, it is beautiful. Is it a ship?” *
A settler in a remote part of the country was bitten by a deadly Black Moccasin snake. The nearest doctor being six or eight miles off, the victim was mounted on a horse, and a bottle of brandy was put into one saddle bag and a bottle of whisky into the other; he was told ride fast and drink freely. By the time he had reached the doctor’s house, he had emptied both bottles but was quite sober. And he recovered!
Some of Longstaff’s other stories may be given here, though they

* On a subsequent occasion when sitting under a tree in this garden sketching, Mrs. Longstaff looked up and was horrified to see a large snake slowly descending towards her! She fled into the house and it was with the utmost difficulty that she could ever be induced to enter the garden again.

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do not come quite in biographical order. He remembered at Edinburgh hearing Sir Walter Scott discussing with others in the back-room of Black’s shop (then a sort of lounge for literary men) who was the “Great Unknown,” as the “Author of Waverley” was then generally named.
It was perhaps when he was at Hull that a man left a will bequeathing his body for anatomical purposes.
When in practice he often dined out at houses where it was important for him to avoid all possible cause of offence. Now, the usual practice of wine drinking in those days far exceeded the young Doctor’s habits and principles, but few or none then had the courage to refuse to conform, so Longstaff used to fee the manservant to put a spittoon under his chair, into which he poured the greater part of the wine offered to him.
A lady patient with an indolent ulcer on her leg absolutely refused to give it the rest for a cure in spite of all his arguments. At last she broke her leg, and the Doctor said in triumph; “Now Madam, we shall cure your ulcer.” The requisite weeks in bed, naturally cured the lesser ill along with the greater.
He varied his life about the mines by farming and insisted on planting “corn” (maize) so far apart that it was possible to plough between the rows, and so keep down the weeds. For this he was laughed at until the plants ultimately grew to such an unwonted size as to completely hide three teams ploughing in the field, and when he gathered in an unprecedented crop, his neighbours were feign to admit that the doctor was not so mad as they had thought. The Diary also shewed that he was studying French. The climate was trying, the thermometer on 31 July 1837 indicating 94 degrees Fahrenheit while by 6 August it had fallen to 64 degrees Fahrenheit, and a fire was welcome. He appears to have had an attack of fever.
Despite every effort the mines were not profitable, since it took about a guinea to win a sovereign’s worth of gold. Working through the abandoned refuse proved more profitable than following up the lodes. But the Company was evidently in constant financial difficulties, and even the quicksilver had to be pledged at the bank to pay wages. Finally, on 4 September the hands were stopped, and on 6 September Dr. Longstaff with his wife and her sister started from

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Claremont for New York by stage, leaving the mines and mills in charge of his brother Thomas.
Mr. Magnus left the next day but appears to have crossed the Atlantic in their company. He was something of a poet and Miss (Sara) Blundell’s beauty--- she was then 21, had a sweet face, a fine carriage, and a charming manner--- inspired him to write the following In Miss Blundell’s Album,

Say, sweet enchantress, from a distant land,
What fond inducement bade thee leave
Thy own sweet groves on Humber’s flow’ry strand,
The friends who at thy absence grieve?

Thy father’s halls, thy mother’s circling arms,
And him who at thy parting sigh’d,
And whisper’d in thine ear fond love’s alarms,
For thee, his sympathising bride.

Why these forsake to tempt the treach’rous sea,
The darkling forests of the West?
Why make Columbia proud possessing thee,
And Charlotte with thy presence bleat?

Say, was it that two world’s might view
Creation’s form in happiest mould:
To kindly shew to the delighted New
The sweet perfection of the old?

Or that Columbia’s freeborn sons might drag
Love’s golden fetters ---- bend to sue;
To British Beauty strike their vaunted flag,
And gladly wear their chains for you.

The above were written in Carolina; the following, as we learn from his preface, in England:-

In Mrs. Longstaff’s Album.
Soft woman, to her love as true
As man to fickleness inclined,
Her lover’s virtues keeps in view,
And ever to his faults is blind.

Or should a fault the fair perceive,
No sooner angers than forgives;
And if she chide, she’ll chiding's grieve,
And haste to soothe the pain she gives.

Wolosky: "A Tragedy, and other Poems." By James Magnus. Privately Printed, London 1838. P.175. She was then about 25.

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On his way north he spent two days in Washington, and records that the President; Martin van Buren, was very polite to him, also that he saw Daniel Webster in the Senate Chamber. It is not clear whether it was on this occasion, or on his previous visit to Washington, that he had an interview with that celebrated statesman Henry Clay, who speaking of the “old country” said to him, “Whatever you do, keep clear of universal suffrage; it is the curse of this country.” These words Doctor Longstaff never forgot, and like Robert Lowe and Mr. Goschen, he always viewed with disfavour all proposals to extend the suffrage.
Two other political lessons he took to heart: one was the seriously disturbing effect of the perpetually recurring presidential elections, which effectually prevented him from ever, in his most radical moments, adopting republican principles; the other the grave results of the educated classes standing aloof from all government, alike central and local, so as to leave public affairs in the hands of the ill educated and inexperienced, and throw open the doors to jobbery and wire pulling. Hence in after years he constantly inculcated on his sons the importance of taking their share in parish and municipal affairs, and so placing any knowledge or ability they might possess at the disposal of the community. Moreover, he himself devoted so much time to unpaid public service as to seriously impair his health.
There is little that calls for remark in connection with the homeward journey. He notes that at Baltimore and again at New York he saw Mr. Peabody, but there is nothing to shew whether or no this was the great philanthropist. On the 22nd of September he left New York for Niagara Falls via Albany, going some 200 miles of journey ( Utica to Lockport) by canal, spending two nights on board the packet-boat. He stayed at the Clifton House (the same hotel that the writer stayed in 47 year’s later). From Niagara he visited Toronto and Kingston, thence returning to Albany, going again by canal about 100 miles from Oswego to Utica. He speaks with delight of the steam boat journey down the Hudson from Albany to New York. At New York he twice heard Catlin lecture on the American Indians and was much gratified. Another incident noted in New York was an oyster supper with “excellent whisky toddy.”

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After a sojourn in the United Stares of nearly two years he sailed for England on 16 October per “Hibernia.” That he was a good sailor may be inferred from the simple fact that on the second day out he notes, “enjoyed the porter amazingly.” It was probably a vivid reminiscence of home. Mr. Jones, an Indian, preached on the second Sunday out, and after a stormy voyage they sighted Cape Clear 4 November but did not get into Liverpool till 7 November---- 22 days.
It may be noted that from Liverpool he took the train to Birmingham, travelled thence by coach to Boxmoor, where he again took the train for London, the Birmingham and London Railway (later London and North Western) being then in course of construction.
9 November 1837.--- on reaching London they called at Lombard Street (Dr. T.L. Blundell’s) and “found all gone to see the Queen’s procession.” Later in the day the saw “ the Queen return from the Guildhall, the Illuminations, etc. A round sight seeing included Covent Garden Theatre, Colosseum, Swiss Cottage, Pantheon, Zoological Gardens, and Westminster Abbey.
11 November.--- To Wandsworth, saw the works, house, etc.
This was his first visit to the town where he was destined to spend the rest of his life, very nearly 55 years.
2 December.--- He moved to Bridgefield House, Wandsworth, which he took for a short term, furnished. It was opposite the old Fair-field --- now York Road. The next day being Sunday he and Mr. Henry Blundell went for a stroll through Battersea Fields and the banks of the Thames, returning to the 3 o’clock dinner that was not unusual in those days. Towards the end of the year he went by steamer to Hull, and thence to Darlington and Auckland, Shildon and Hamsterley.* Returning to Hull he went by coach via Doncaster and Sheffield to Nottingham, where he delivered the Inaugural Address to the members of The Mechanics’ Institute. (16 Jan. 1838). For this he received £5, but in addition the members passed a resolution: that the thanks of this meeting be presented to Dr. Longstaff for the

* Visiting his family. These journeys he appears to have greatly enjoyed, thus, speaking of Hamsterley, the Diary tells us, “Spent a merry evening and stayed all night. I have not laughed so much for a long time.”

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able, eloquent, and comprehensive Introductory Lecture which he has now delivered .....so readily, at personal inconvenience, according to their wishes.” *
It was at about this time that he entered the business of Blundell, Spence, and Co., oil and colour makers, which had been founded in Hull in 1811 by Henry Blundell and his brother-in-law William Spence, the entomologist. The Doctor established the London House, which then included a candle factory in Garrett Lane, Wandsworth.+
At this period it would still appear that he still occasionally saw patients in consultation and once indeed acted for ten days as locum tenens for his wife’s uncle, Dr.T.L. Blundell of Lombard Street.
An entry in the Diary shews that a phlebotomy was still resorted to:-

1838, Jan. 8. Opened a vein for Mrs. Lax. [His Half sister]
His time was, however, fully taken up with the factory, and almost daily visits to the office in Queen Street. The motive power was steam, and it would appear that colours were either made or used in the manufacture of candles. The Doctor was usually at the factory before 7 A.M., and frequently on Sundays. Such entries as the following are frequent:-

1838, Feb. 8. At the factory all day experimenting on colours.
1840, Jan. 1. Experiments on stearine in progress.

It was probably on such an occasion that an experiment nearly cost him his life. He was standing on a step or stool looking into a large pan in which ferrocyanide of potassium was being boiled with some other reagent; the result was the evolution of large quantities of prussic acid in the gaseous form. The Doctor, as he stirred the mixture, found himself suddenly overcome by the deadly fumes, but had the presence of mind to throw himself backwards, so that he fell down into a healthier atmosphere in a state of unconsciousness, from which he fortunately shortly recovered.
* In 1888, on the occasion of the Jubilee of this institution, he was invited to revisit Nottingham, but at his advanced age (89) did not feel equal to the exertion. Its members had increased to between four and five thousand.

+ Marked in Lee’s Map of Wandsworth, 1838, at the bottom of All Farthing Lane.

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Much of his time must have been taken up with going to and from London. At first he often used the steamer, but this was given up. There would appear to have been three coaches daily, besides omnibuses. But he often drove himself in chaise or phaeton; later he usually rode, and his horses are mentioned by name in the Diary, e.g., Robin, Daisy, Primrose, Logic. There are almost daily entries for tolls, 5d. or 7d. Occasionally he walked e.g.:-
1838. Jan. 28. Walked home to Wandsworth from the Royal Institution.

March 21. I walked into town.
He moved to Tooting 30 May 1838.
It is interesting to have a glimpse of the amusements of such a busy, hard working, and somewhat austere man. The following are gleaned from the Diary of 1838:-

3. April. To Drury Lane, saw C. Kean play “Hamlet,”
May 22. Olympic,
7. July. Vauxhall, saw balloon go up and staid till 11 P.M.
25. July. Went to Thames Tunnel, afterwards dined at George Dixon’s.
13. Aug. To Surrey Zoological Gardens, we staid and saw the eruption.
17. Aug To Astley’s.
4 Sept. To Astley’s.
1. Oct. Olympic.
3. Oct. Polytechnic.
4. Oct. At Covent Garden, saw Macready an Vandenhoff in “Othello.”
10. Oct. saw Macready in “ The Lady of Lyons.” ; supped at the “Rainbow”
11. Oct. Olympic.
16 Oct. Drury Lane, returned to Tooting at two next morning.
19. Dec. To Haymarket to see Power.
Some of the entries have interest, that is historical as well as personal:
1838, Apr. 30. Saw Faraday at the Royal Institution.
May I. At London University (then at Somerset House), had a long chat with Prof. Graham.
May 12. After lunch accompanied Maria (and several ladies) to the Heath to see the railway opened.[ This must have been the experimental railway with a circular track, of which some traces still remain, between the Windmill and Tibbetts Corner.]
June 6. Maria went to Wandsworth Fair.
June 22, Maria and Sophia went to see the crown
June 28. Queen Victoria crowned .......got places at Devonshire House, saw the procession return ....... saw the fireworks and illuminations ....... Getting back to Tooting 3.30 A.M.
July 25. Went to Thames Tunnel, afterwards dined with George Dixon. [ the superintending

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engineer under Brunel. He was the Doctor’s first cousin. See Pedigrees No’s. 9 & 14.
December 22. On the [Hull Steamer] “Wilberforce,” met Smith the Geologist[ probably William Smith the “Father of British Geology” and compiler of the first geological map. He died 28. Aug. 1839, aged 70.]
The last entry of the year 1838 is pathetic! His wife was at Hull on a visit; his only guest spent the night in town:-
Dec. 31. I saw the year out solus.
The Diary gives many illustrations of the time then spent in travelling. Thus, the express coach from Nottingham to the “Bull and Mouth” in Hart Street, Bloomsbury, took 16 1/2 hours for the journey, an average rate of 7½ miles an hour. The voyage from Hull to London by steamer occupied 27 to 35 hours according to the weather. These were the days of the pioneers of the modern Ocean Greyhounds, thus:-
1838, March 31. Wrote to Thomas per “Sirius.”--- Wrote to Thomas per “Great Western.”
The “Sirius” sailed from Queenstown on her first transatlantic voyage on April 4, reaching New York in 17 days. The famous “Great Western” did the distance from Bristol to New York in 15 days; the Doctor’s letter to his brother went on the second voyage.
On the flyleaf of the Diary for 1840 was an M.S. Timetable of the three steamships, “British Queen,” “Great Western,” and “Liverpool,” which appear to have sailed once a month from London, Bristol, and Liverpool respectively, returning from New York a month later, but as the “Great Western” was to return a few days within the month, it may be assumed, perhaps, that it was a faster vessel.

6. Feb. 1839. Henry Blundell, accompanied by his son Henry Spence Blundell, sailed for America in the steamer “Liverpool,” he returned August 1841. Letters from him and others from Thomas Longstaff, refer to the “Washington Gold Mine.” Mrs. Blundell during this period spent much of her time with the Longstaffs.

1839. Feb. 18. Covent Garden, saw Macready in “Lear.”
Apr. 9. Removed to Wandsworth.

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This was to a house on West Hill, nearly opposite the entrance to the Convent of the Sacred Heart. There his elder son was born.
A visit to Auckland in April, via Manchester and Lancaster, is remarkable for the fact that he travelled partly by rail, but partly by canal. He went north again in June probably in connection with his sister Mary Ann’s fatal illness.
July 16. Called on Roland Hill.
1840, Feb. 10. Gave the men a supper in honour of the Queen’s Wedding.
March 20. The factory paid Church Rates, 17s.5d.
Dec. 7. The factory paid Church Rates, £1.13s.7d.

Nine Elms was then the terminus of the London and South Western Railway, and Edward Dixon (who subsequently by marrying Sara Blundell, became Longstaff’s brother-in-law) was living at St. Cross, superintending the completion of the portion of the line south of Micheldever.
1840, May 11. At the opening of the South Western Railway, went through to Southampton, dined at Warren Farm, (at one time apparently a station between Basingstoke and Micheldever) all night at E. Dixon’s.
1840, June 1. Pistols, £3 2s. 6d.

This purchase, the object of which is not clear, appears to have been made at Hull; - A pair of pocket pistols, which years afterwards were viewed by the author with the greatest reverence and awe. To be allowed to handle them was the greatest of treats.
In June he went to Walmer with his wife and three of her younger sisters, where his great friend George Hughes had settled.

1840, July 13. At 8 P.M. To House of Commons. [?To meet Gurney]
1841, March. 31. At “Crown and Anchor” anti corn law meeting.
A letter written in March by Mrs. Longstaff to her brother in America, after saying that all was going well at the factory, added that George was not strong, being overworked and tired at nights, --- a fatigue amply explained by the activity testified to by the Diary.
His father-in-law had returned from America two days before, and we read:-

1841, Aug. 19. Fluxed gold and took it to the Jeweller.
Sept. 11. Gold chains &c., 27s.

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He and his wife, for may years wore chains made of the North Carolina gold, and doubtless the above refers to some of these trinkets.
The Chemical Society was founded in March of this year. The Doctor took an active part in the birth of the Society. His old friend and pupil Thomas Graham President. Dr. Longstaff never lost interest in the Society. He was on the Council 1850-52 and 1857-61, and a Vice President 1853-56 and again 1874-76.
The Minute Books of Wandsworth Select Vestry shew that Dr. Longstaff was an active member during the years 1841-47. He took part in the discussions one of which (4. June 1841) was in reference to plans submitted for the Church Tower. Few Wandsworth people are now aware that what they now look upon is a casing of modern date, enclosing and concealing the ancient tower within.
As early as 1842 Dr. Longstaff’s name appears among the subscribers to the Wandsworth British School. He continued to support it to the day of his death ( in 1868 giving a donation of £150). He took an active part on the Committee of Management from 1849 to 1877.
In 1842, January 3. He lectured on the “Advantages of Scientific Education in the Working Classes” before the Wandsworth Working Men’s Association for Promoting Useful Knowledge.*
Somewhat later we find him an earnest supporter of the Wandsworth Trade School, founded in 1855 and believed to be the first Technical Day School in the United Kingdom.
No note of the removal from West Hill has been found, but a daughter was born at North Street, 23, December 1843. The house, the largest in the road, with good stabling, now numbered 24, was tenanted by a succession of medical men. When Longstaff took it, the garden was much larger than now, and it looked out at the back over the cedar trees of Tonsley Park, and in short was a much more “desirable residence” than might be supposed from its present appearance and surroundings.
1844. In this year he was near losing his elder son under very tragic circumstances. The boy had been staying with his grandparents in Hull and, on 30, March his grandfather was bringing him back by rail. As the train was in motion, by Chesterfield, the little boy

* They had rooms in South Street, nearly opposite County Court.

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was playing with the strap of the door when it suddenly flew open, dragging the child out. Mr. Blundell was naturally horrified and instantly raised the alarm, but the train had proceeded about another two miles before it could be stopped. The grandfather’s feelings may well be imagined, for the little child in his charge was endeared even to himself as his (then) only grandson; but to his parents he was especially precious, for their first child, a girl, had lived but a few days, and their third child, also a girl, was even then at the point of death. Of course he never expected to see the boy again alive. As soon as might be, the guard of the train walked back to look for the mangled corpse, but was delighted to be greeted by a little chap of two years and three months sitting up and cheerily asking, “where’s grandpa?” Fortunately when the accident happened the train was passing along an embankment, down which the child rolled suffering but trifling bruises. Had the train been in a cutting or had the child been heavier, the result would probably have been very different. Some story was invented to explain to the mother a bruise on his forehead, for she had enough trouble just then - her babe of three months died the next day. Shortly afterwards, a gentleman, a chance acquaintance, said to Dr. Longstaff, “ What ridiculous stories the newspaper’s tell; why I recently read an account of a child falling out of a train going at full speed, without being injured!” “Here is the boy, Sir,” replied the Doctor, introducing the child to his astonished fellow traveller.

The following entries shew that he took an active part in the historic agitation for the Repeal of the Corn Laws, especially associated therein with his friend Mr. John Prout (a farmer be it said):-

1844, March 6. League meeting at Covent Garden Theatre.
April 17. Peter, Harriett, and I at Covent Garden, Anti Corn Law League.
June 3. At meeting Elephant and Castle.
Nov. 28. At Elihu Burritt’s lecture. [”the learned blacksmith”]

In 1845 the Wandsworth Book Club was founded, Dr. Longstaff being an original member.
He attended the meetings pretty regularly to the end, and was for many years Secretary.
In 1887 the members of the Club placed a memorial in the Longstaff Reading Room,

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Recording the fact that he had then resided in Wandsworth for fifty years, for forty two of which he had been a member of the Book Club.
1847, At the end of September he went with his wife via Havre and Paris to Tours to see his wife’s sisters, Mrs. Bernhard Samuelson and Mrs. Wood (then a widow); on the way back, they stayed some days in Paris seeing the sights and returned via Boulogne
1848, This was the year in which the Chartists, probably inspired by the risings in many European capitals, threatened London by a monster meeting to be held on Kensington Common, which was to be the prelude of a menacing procession to the House of Commons with a monster petition. This was forbidden by the Government of the day. Great precautions were taken. The Bank of England was occupied by soldiers and strengthened by sand bags. Artillery were posted at the bridges, etc. But more than this, something like 150,000 special constables were enrolled amongst whom were Louis Napoleon and Dr. Longstaff. His shewed his high courage and determination by announcing his intention of attending a Chartist meeting, summoned at Wandsworth on the eve of the Kennington meeting. His friends in vain strove to dissuade him, but he said he had no fear, and that he would get a hearing, as in fact he did. He assured the meeting that he had great sympathy with their views, and approved of most of the Six Points of the Charter, but that no good could come of the monster meeting, urging that they should confine themselves to constitutional methods. He concluded by telling them that he was a Superintendent of Special Constables, and appealed to them to enrol themselves under him. To the surprise of all, he carried the meeting with him, and a majority were sworn in.*

The Diary is very disappointing in its modest allusions to these stirring events:-

1848, April 10. Chartist Meeting.
May 5. Dinner to Specials.
June 10. Special Constables, £3.

* His elder son was a Superintendent of Special Constables at Hull in 1868, when Fenian disturbances were apprehended. The Diary contains the note, 1867, Dec. 30. “Our men sworn in, Special Constables” His younger son was an Inspector at Wandsworth in 1887 in connection with the disturbances in Trafalgar Square.

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1849, Early in this year are some entries of intense personal interest to the author, but probably no one else! It is therefore enough to quote one:-

Feb. 12. Birth in the Times, 6s.
Another entry doubtless refers to the resistance to early encroachments on Wandsworth Common, which resulted in the pulling down of newly erected fences.

June 12, Anti enclosure Aassociation meeting.
Nov. 15. Thanksgiving as day.

This was for the cessation of the terrible epedemic of Cholera, which had caused upwards of 50,000 deaths. Mr. Thomas Wainwright, of Barnstaple, in a letter to the writer, said: “ I attended the Service at Westminster Abbey, in the afternoon, when the Dean (Buckland) preached from the text, ‘If the prophet had bid thee to do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? How much rather then when he saith to thee, Wash and be clean?’ I yet well remember how he thundered out the last four words, and how he denounced holders of slum property and heedless municipal authorities.” That epidemic and the lessons of the Crimean War were the main causes of sanitary reforms in the latter half of the past century.
1850, He lectured on the Tides at the Point School and in March gave three lectures on Astronomy at the Spread Eagle. At the end of January we find him concerned with the opening of the Wandsworth Collegiate School, of which the Rev. T. N. Staley, afterwards Bishop of Honolulu, was Principal. The school was first established in the house between the brewery and the Wandle, but afterwards was moved to Down Lodge: both the Doctor’s sons received the early part of their education there.

Thomas Longstaff, the Doctor’s only brother, nearly eight years his junior, died at Charlotte, North Carolina, 6, May 1850.
It has not been possible to learn much of Thomas Longstaff, but he was a Mechanical and Mining Engineer. In 1829 he occupied an important position in the once famous engine works of Timothy Hackworth at Shildon, near Bishop Auckland. Thence he was sent by Hackworth in charge of the locomotive ‘‘Sanspareil’’ to the great trail at Rainhill, near Liverpool, in October 1829. Dr. Longstaff always claimed that his brother, not George Stephenson

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was the real inventor of the “Steam Blast,” which made the locomotive a practical machine.
Prior to the simple device of turning the exhaust steam-pipe into the smoke stack and directing it upwards, it had been found impossible to maintain for long, a sufficient “head of steam.” He said that Thomas though urged to do so, would not patent his invention. When the morning of the trial came the “Sanspareil” was always blowing off steam. Its handy little rival, Stephenson’s “Rocket” ran splendidly for a certain distance, but lacked steam to keep it up. The story goes on to say that at midday Mr. Longstaff went away to his dinner leaving the “Sanpareil” in charge of engine driver or fireman. On his return the latter said:-

“We have had Mr. Stephenson’s man here, Sir,”
“Well, what did he want?”
“He wanted to know how we kept up such a supply of steam,”
“Of course you did not tell him?”
“Why no, I only opened the door in front and pointed to the exhaust pipe.”

The Doctor did not tell what his brother said, but added that, restraining himself sufficiently not to strike the man, he struck the locomotive with his fist, breaking all his knuckles!

The “Rocket” was taken off that day, on some pretext or another, but turned up the next morning with as much steam as its rival, and by virtue of its lighter weight and multi tubular boiler, easily one the prize of £500.

Such is the story as the writer heard it from his father’s lips.
Some autobiographical notes of the Doctor’s contain the following:-

My brother Thomas was a Mechanical Engineer, and for some time Superintendent of the Locomotive Department of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, when he applied the exhaust steam to create a draught in the chimney and thus enabled high and continued speed to be attained. Smiles gives Stephenson credit for this application, but he is in error, Stehenson saw it first in a locomotive constructed at Shildon by Timothy Hackworth under my brother’s superintendence.

The author possesses several letters from Timothy Hackworth to Thomas Longstaff, written in the Autumn of 1829, shortly after the trials. Those dated Oct. 30 - Nov. 20, are written from New Shildon to Manchester or Rainhill, but the last, dated Nov. 26, from Rainhill to Manchester.
In one of them, Hackworth says: “Perhaps it is not so very wrong to copy as for men to claim the merits of other men’s labour, but this we may expect; however we will attempt something more.”
Details are given of suggested arrangements for increasing the heating-surface. Great secrecy is constantly urged: “Let no one come near you, but the workmen work as much as possible at nights.” Longstaff is to tell the engine-driver to “let no one handle the engine: it is his

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duty to stay by it as much as possible lest anyone do a mischief. Tell him to keep up his heart, there is gear to win he never saw.” Again: “My determination is, if possible, to keep them in the dark respecting the alteration.” He adds: “If the thing should answer well, will it be worth while taking out a patent? I have thought about it. I know there has been something like it tried.
Say in yours what you think about it. Tis my opinion I have not done yet making locomotives.”

The question of the credit for the invention is discussed at length by Samuel Smiles in his “Life of George Stephenson.”* From the facts there arrayed it would appear that the steam blast in its simple form was used by Stephenson in his early colliery locomotives as early as 1815, but that Timothy Hackworth did apply to the “Sanspareil” a modification-- the sharpening of the blast by the contraction of the orifice --- to which he attached great importance. It is therefore probable enough that the picturesque details of the story are essentially true.

There were many claimants to the invention: thus, it is alleged that William Hedley used it in 1812. As late as 1859, Goldsworthy Gurney claimed to have suggested it to Timothy Hackworth. On the other hand, the writer gleaned from a series of articles in a North-country newspaper the following variant of the story:-

That Timothy Hackworth, son of a boilermaker, born in 1786, built his first locomotive with Mr. T. Walker in 1811, at Wylam Colliery. (Stephenson’s first was built at Killingworth in 1814.)

That Hackworth went in 1824 for a short time to Stephenson’s factory in Newcastle. That in 1825 he was Resident Engineer and General Manager of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
That in 1827 his “Royal George” was first worked (Stephenson’s engines proving inefficient).
That this, the first engine, with a blast pipe, “settled the question of steam versus horsepower.” It had six coupled-wheels and could run at nine miles an hour for twenty miles. That the “Sanspareil,” built in 1829, was the second steam blast engine; it worked till 1844, and after that was used as a fixed engine for pumping and winding till 1863. That Hackworth took the company's engine works at Shildon, contracted for the haulage of the line, and began to manufacture for the public. That he moved to Soho works at Shildon and died in 1850.

From 1836 to the time of his death Thomas Longstaff was engaged as a mining engineer in the North Carolina Gold Field. The author learned from his father that Thomas, when on a journey, was attacked by two ruffians, lost an eye and was injured in the leg. An extensive abscess formed in the knee joint, which ultimately wore him out, as he absolutely declined to submit to

* Lives of the Engineers, vol., iii. pp. 261-266. Also Appendix page 488 and pp. 497-504.

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the amputation which was recommended. Thomas suffered from the constitutional melancholy of his father, and the lonely life of the backwoods did not suit him. An American friend and neighbour wrote to Dr. Longstaff these simple words: “I can say of him for the long time that I have known him that he was a gentleman, and none more than I do deplore his death.”

1851. The Great Exhibition is often mentioned, at first under its original name The Crystal Palace.
It is difficult to realise how much was at the time hoped for from the Great Exhibition, the first of an international character. Many looked upon it as an inauguration of the reign of peace on earth. Children were sent there so that they might be able to speak of it in afterlife. Thus the author, aged 21/2, was taken to the show, even Mrs. Edward Dixon’s second child, Sara Leam, a baby in arms (born June 13). It is told of the latter that as the child (generally admitted to be a pretty baby) was carried, its hand lay on the nurses arm, when a kindly old gentleman came up and said, “Nurse, of all the beautiful things in this beautiful building, I have seen nothing so pretty as that child’s hand!”

Nov. 13. Maria and I heard Kossuth.

It was probably in 1852 that he purchased the South Church Brewery, Bishop Auckland. It was the subject of a law suit and after some years he sold it.
1852, Nov. 18. At the procession of Duke’s funeral.
1853, June 18. At the camp, Chobham.
Aug. 11. At Naval Review, Spithead.
The great Commander passed away near the end of the long reign of peace, but in spite of the Great Exhibition the shadows of the coming war soon after passed across the stage.
After a visit to Jersey with his wife, his elder son, and Mr. Joseph Blundell, he went into lodgings at Southsea where he contracted enteric fever, which laid him up for a month. During convalescence he went with his wife for a fortnight to South Devon.
The Diary for 1854 is missing. In that year he went to Scotland with his wife, her younger sister, Isabel Blundell, and his elder son. The latter, on the eve of their departure, told his young brother (Five and a half years old) in all seriousness that his father and mother would have to speak Scotch on this tour, and by so doing would assuredly forget English!

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The author still remembers his distress at the idea that he would not be able to understand his parents on their return, so simple was he! At Edinburgh they met William Henry Moss and his wife (Mrs Longstaff’s sister), and travelled with them. The Clyde steamer ran on to the Gantock rock of Dunoon, and broke its back shortly afterwards. The Doctor exhibited great coolness in assisting in preserving order among the passengers who were landed without difficulty, thanks to fine weather and some pleasure boats

. 1855, Jan. 9. Wylde’s Globe 1s. (then in Leicester Square.)
Feb. 15. Trades School Committee.
Feb. 23. At House of Commons.
June 5. At assessing. (Several similar entries.)
June 21. Removed to new House.

This was the house in Melrose Road, Southfield, later called “Butterknowle,” where he spent the remainder of his life. At that time it commanded an extensive and beautiful view, which he sought to preserve by the purchase of adjoining lands from time to time. The Metropolis Local Management Act 1855 constituted the Wandsworth District Board of Works. Dr. Longstaff, an original member, attended the first meeting, 8 December 1855; he continued a member until June 1858; was re-elected 29 February 1860, remaining on the Board until June 1864; he was again re-elected in 1873 for one year. He was an assiduous attendant of the meetings, in which he took a very active part. In fact, the energy that he threw into his local duties probably largely contributed to his serious breakdown in 1864 - a breakdown which threatened his life.
The diaries from 1856 to 1859 inclusive are lost.
In 1856, he was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London by purchase. He never sought civic honours, though repeatedly requested to offer himself as alderman of his ward. In the same year he visited North Wales, taking with him both of his sons.
In 1857, accompanied by his wife, both his sons, and Dr. And Mrs. Finch, and Mr. Mrs. Lewis, he visited Switzerland and Rhineland, the farthest point attained being Chamounix, then in Italy. His elder son and young Finch were left on the way at Frank- furt-am-Main to study German.

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In 1858, the year of Donati’s comet, he again went to Germany to visit his son. They spent much time on the Rhine, visiting the Baron de Schmid at Pfaffendorf near Ehrenbreitstein, and returned by Holland. The Doctor recalled the great comet of 1811, and remarked that both these comet years were famous for good vintages.
It must have been about this time that his half sister Mrs. Lax [See Pedigree No.59.] an old lady who had spent her life in out of the way places and was curiously old fashioned in her habits, came to visit at Butterknowle. She retired to bed, when it suddenly occurred to Mrs. Longstaff to see if she was all right. On opening the door a strong smell of gas suggested the question: “How did you manage the gas?” The reply was, “Oh, quite easily, my dear; I put the extinguisher on it and it went out at once.”
In 1861 he visited the chief cities of Italy with his wife and his elder son, accompanied part of the way by the Baroness de Schmid. [See Pedigree No. 60.] They travelled chiefly by vetturino, which must have given them a far more intimate knowledge than the more commodious railway train. Their route more than once crossed that of “George Elliot,” who was collecting materials for “Romola” (published 1863).
In 1862 he made a short tour with Henry Spence Blundell (his brother in law), visiting Guernsey, Brittany, and Normandy.
In 1863 he visited the English lakes with his wife and younger son, afterwards going to Bp. Auckland and Hamsterley. In October he went to Cornwall (? with Henry Blundell).
In 1864 his health broke down seriously with symptoms of nervous exhaustion, such as double vision, making walking difficult, and almost complete loss of taste, so that he said he could distinguish but two things, bitter beer (which he drank by the wine glass) and everything else. Against the advice of his medical attendant and intimate friend, Mr. Alfred Brown, F.R.C.S., he went to Ben Rhydding, as he was told --- to die. Either the treatment or the air or the methodical life, or all three combined, did wonders for him, so that he was a stronger man at seventy than he had been at sixty.
He paid five more visits to Ben Rhydding during the four following years.

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In 1865, when the then Governor of Jamaica, Edward John Eyre, by timely and rigorous measures, with great promptitude and success put down what was believed to be a very dangerous insurrection of the Negroes, Dr. Longstaff, always a man of peace and one who put the highest value on human life, espoused his cause strenuously, saying that he new enough of the Negroes to fully realise what might have happened had not the insurrection been crushed in the bud. A near neighbour, Richard Congreve, the eminent Positivist, took the opposite view, and once in the Doctor’s presence said, “If we cannot get Eyre convicted, sir, we will ruin him by legal proceedings.” “Never!” was the reply; “we will subscribe for his defence, whatever may be necessary.” As a matter of fact the attempt was seriously made, but was frustrated by the subscriptions of his admirers, who felt that the horrors of the then recent Indian Mutiny might have been repeated but for Governor Eyre’s courage and determination.
In July 1867 he had his first attack of gout.
In August 1867 when driving himself back from town , a wagon ran into him at Kennington The shafts of the dog cart were broken, and the old man of sixty-eight fell among the mare’s legs! Fortunately the latter, his favourite chestnut “Daisy,” stood quite still, and no further harm was done, but it is believed that he never cared to drive himself again.
In the early Autumn of 1867 when returning with his wife and younger son from a visit to North Devon, the train in which he was travelling ran into and cut in half a cattle train, near Wilton Station. Some twenty sheep were killed, but the passenger train was not seriously damaged. As in the shipwreck, the Doctor remained quite self possessed, though the corner of one of the cattle trucks, knocking a hole in the side of the carriage, came within a foot of him. It was said that the signal man, knowing the up express from the west to be twenty minutes late, thought it was not likely to come soon, so he shunted the cattle train without putting up the signal!
A few years afterwards he was in another railway accident between Putney and Waterloo. This shook him a good deal.

1868, May 17. Tooth drawn.

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It is remarkable that in his seventieth year he lost his second tooth, having parted with the first when a young man! Some years later they all got loose, and most of them fell out! --- a very uncommon experience in those degenerate days.
In 1868 Dr. W. A. Miller suggested that the Chemical Society might encourage research by grants of money, and up to the end of 1875 the Society made several small grants, in all some £60. On 3 February 1876 Dr. Longstaff, then a Member of the Council, offered to give £1000 to the Society to be invested and the interest expended in the promotion of chemical research, provided that another £1000 could be raised. It was a stipulation of the Doctor’s that a gold medal of not less than £20 should be given triennially to the Fellow of the Society who in the opinion of the Council had done most to promote Chemical Science since the last award.
It was subsequently agreed that a bronze medal, to be called the LONGSTAFF MEDAL together with a purse of £20, should take the place of the proposed gold medal. The additional £1000 was soon raised; Moreover the Goldsmiths Company gave £1000, and the Draper’s, Cloth maker's, Merchant Tailor’s and Mercers’ Companies smaller sums.
By 1897 the investment of the Research Fund amounted to £6434, and up to that time grants amounting to £2941 (practically the whole income) had been made.
Mr. A. Bruce Joy, the Sculptor, made the medallion, an excellent portrait, * from which Messrs. Wyon sunk the die. The recipients have been:-

1881 Thomas Edward Thorpe.
1884 Cornelius O’Sullivan.
1888 William Henry Perkin.
1891 Francis Robert Japp.
1894 Horace T. Brown.
1897 William Ramsay.
1900 William Henry Perkin, jun.
1903 William Jackson Pope.
1906 Walter Noel Hartley.

* reproduced on the title page.
(My scanner could not reproduce the silhouette on the medallion. C. Johnson)

173 The Langstaffs of Butterknowle.

His sight had been failing for some time, and in January 1877 he underwent an operation on the left eye for cataract. The writer, who was present, will never forget the tall, dignified figure and handsome face of Sir William Bowman (himself 61) as he quietly and deliberately operated with the left hand (for he was quite ambidextrous) on the old man of 78, who absolutely refused any anaesthetic and maintained perfect composure.
On 15 December 1879 he lost his wife after a very short illness. She was nearly thirteen years his junior, being but 67, and her end was quite unexpected. Their married life had lasted 46 years. His wife's favourite sister, Mrs Edward Dixon, who had lost her second husband* two years before, was staying in the house at the time, and never left it. She made “Butterknowle” her home, and her gentle nature, charming presence, devotion, and tact greatly soothed his latter years.
Maria Blundell spent some time as a child at Hamburg, staying with Mrs. Ramsden, her mother’s sister. In 1823---1824, aged 12, she was at Brussels, staying with her grandparents (John and Sarah Blundell). Letters to her parents shew that she went to day school there, and studied French, drawing and music. Later she went to a once fashionable school at Crofton, between Wakefield and Pontefract. This school, founded by Miss Magnall (author of “Magnall’s Questions) was then kept by the Misses Hollingsworth. Her sisters Sara and Eliza went to the same school. She was married at 21, a man 13 years her senior, but died in her 68th year, nearly 13 years before her husband. She was extremely fond of children and one of her greatest pleasures was to buy them presents; the death of her three girls in infancy cast a lasting shadow over her life. In the absence of children, flowers and ferns were her great delight; indeed, were it not for her hospitality and her many acts of kindness, she might almost be said to have lived for her garden. Several diaries of her travels still remain; they indicate greater appreciation of scenery than of pictures or architecture. Comparisons of European scenes with the North River (New York) are frequent. In the Spring of 1858, Mrs. Longstaff went with her father to Switzerland and the Italian Lakes. Mr. Blundell visited the Poste Restante of an Italian city several times to enquire for expected letters. Traveller and Post-Master at last both

* Edward Dixon was a widower with three sons when he married Mrs. Wood in 1849. Shortly before the wedding the youngest boy, about 10 years old, plaintively asked his father: “Do stepmothers always kill the children?”

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lost their tempers, when the latter, in reply to the assertion that he must have letters for Mr. Blundell, replied with warmth, “ I tell you I have no letters but these for Mr Esq.----” In religion, Mrs. Longstaff, like her father, though a Unitarian, often attended the services of the Church, only anxious to believe enough; her husband on the contrary, if no Chapel was accessible, stayed at home, always over anxious not to believe too much.
Not content with being a founder of the Chemical Society and an early and active member of the Cavendish Society, he was also one of the founders and at one time a Vice-President of the Society of Chemical Industry. At the inaugural meeting, 28 June 1881, Dr. Longstaff, then in his 83rd year, proposing a vote of thanks to the first President ( Professor, afterwards Sir Henry E Roscoe), referred to “ Those who have been acquainted with chemical manufactures for the last half century.” He proceeded to give the account of his early coal tar manufacture quoted on page 129.
On the adoption of the Public Library Acts by Wandsworth in 1883 Dr. Longstaff received the largest number of votes at the election of Commissioners; he was accordingly elected Chairman, and continued to hold the position till his death. This new work greatly interested him, and he threw into it an energy quite extraordinary for his age. He gave over £2000 towards the extinction of the debt, but his chief gift was the Longstaff Reading Room, which was opened by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts 12 March 1887.*
In 1886 he purchased the farm (part copyhold, part freehold) called Red Barns, in Newton Cap, Bishop Auckland.
In 1888 Dr. Longstaff resigned the Chair of the Board of Directors of Blundell, Spence, and Co., Limited, in favour of his elder son, Mr. Llewellyn Wood Longstaff.
The charity in which he took most active interest was the Royal Maternity, of which he was many years chairman, and an oil portrait of him, subscribed for in 1885 as a token of the regard and respect in which he was held by the committee, hangs in the Board Room of the Charity.
Dr. Longstaff was a good instance of the truth of the adage attributed to Tallyrand: “He that does not learn to play whist in

* His younger son, Dr. G.B. Longstaff was elected as a Commissioner 7 April 1886, and continued to hold office till 8 June 1893, when he resigned having for the last year, succeeded his father in the Chair.

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his youth lays up for himself a miserable old age. For many years a rubber was his sole recreation, especially as reading became more and more laborious.
The attainment of his 90th birthday (31 March 1889) in possession of all his faculties* was commemorated by striking a small medal, in gold, silver, and bronze, the head ,being a reduction of that on the Chemical Society’s Longstaff medal. The medals were distributed amongst relatives and old employees of Blundell, Spence, and Co.
By nature he was austere, masterful, stern, and quick-tempered, though a powerful voice made strangers think his temper worse than the reality, and he never sulked or bore malice. He spared no personal trouble in helping friends or relatives in their business or other difficulties. Like many who have been pinched in early life he was strangely close, even to meanness in small things while generous in great. He once severely rebuked the writer for taking a cab from Putney Station when somewhat late for dinner at “Butterknowle,” and so wasting 18d.; yet the very next day, he gave him (entirely unasked) several hundred pounds for the purchase of a plot of land opposite Southfield Grange! The explanation is that the old man very rarely took a cab himself; on the other hand, though he lacked his wife’s keen love of flowers, he set much store on a secluded residence.
Though he was greatly impressed by the results of the higher criticism and the articles of his belief tended to diminish in number, he was always imbued by a strongly religious spirit, and the buildings of the Wandsworth Unitarian Chapel and adjoining lecture rooms found a very liberal supporter in the Doctor in the last few years of his life. Yet he was by no means narrow in his religious sympathies. He offered a site opposite “Butterknowle” for Holy Trinity Church. Again, he used to tell the following story with gusto: A Nonconformist minister called one day and unfolded an ambitious plan for a new chapel and other buildings. “Yes, this is all very well,”

* He was somewhat deaf and since his operation could not walk, or read, without glasses. There was evidence of some impairment of power and judgement in the last few years, but his mind remained clear up to the day before his death.

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said the Doctor, “but where are you to get the funds?” The minister replied, “Oh! The Lord will provide.” He then kept the old gentleman in conversation till, from very weariness, he gave a few guineas towards the scheme, when the minister triumphantly closed the interview with the remark, “Did I not say that the Lord’ would provide?” Like many unmusical people he was greatly moved by a large number of voices united in singing a simple air, such as “ The Old Hundredth.”
In politics Dr. Longstaff was a stanch Liberal of the old school, but not an extreme man. His experiences in the United States undoubtedly had a permanent effect on his political views. He greatly admired Mr. Gladstone as a financier, but had little confidence in his foreign policy, and after the introduction of the Home Rule Bill, voted for a Conservative candidate. Though his opinions remained unchanged he was present at a political garden party at the house of his younger son but a few months before his death. The victorious Conservative, Mr. (later Sir.) Henry Kimber, M. P., alluded to him in touching terms as a veritable patriarch (over 93 years of age) supporting a Government which he felt carried out the principles which all his life had guided his actions. Many present desired him to speak, and doubtless he would have done so, but his son wisely put a professional veto upon the proposal, since the excitement, coupled with the exertion of speaking out-of-doors, might well have been too much for him.
He was active to the end, and in fine weather would walk the mile from “Butterknowle” to Putney Station in twenty minutes, his upright carriage with the large head thrown back making him a striking figure.
In the course of his long life he had been nearly killed by a Bull, nearly poisoned with prussic acid, had been shipwrecked, had been upset in a coach, had sundry accidents with dog carts, had been given up by his doctor’s at the age of 18, and again at 64, not to speak of enteric fever at 55.
After a very short illness he died 23 September 1892, in his 94th year, having survived his wife nearly thirteen years. He left two sons and eleven grandchildren.

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