Chapter Four - The Unexpected

View of Presteigne by Joseph Murray Ince

       Often marriage was the expected outcome when a single woman conceived, but this was not the case for Charlotte and Henry P. Pyefinch. Even with no immediate family to question his actions, it seems Henry P. was still putting stock in what his peers might think. His life was laid before him, busy with friends, associates, and career. They would expect at his age if he were to marry at all, that he would marry within his social standing. Better yet, they would expect the marriage to generate an alliance between two landed families. No matter how he looked at it, it would not be acceptable for him to marry Charlotte. No matter how witty or beautiful she may be, no matter what indiscretions occurred, it would still be about preserving the family's good name. Charlotte, on the other hand, would be fearless in whatever decision she made. 

 

       A key to their relationship remained tucked away in the Presteigne parish records for almost two centuries. The Reverend James Beebee, rector of Presteigne church, then in his seventies, was a figure of reform for many years and acquainted with the Pyefinch family. Whatever went on in town, he would know. It was the Reverend Beebee who officiated the marriage of Charlotte's sister Elizabeth to William Boulter and baptized many Vaughan children over the years, including Joseph Jesse and Henry Pateshall Pyefinch Vaughan. When a child was born out of wedlock, it would carry the mother's surname. In the parish records, the only mention of the father would possibly be in the child's first or middle name. If the mother were employed, her occupation would be given, such as servant. In Charlotte's case, no occupation was given - that is, until now, with the recent birth of baby Henry. Caught entirely off guard, I had to do a double take, for in handwriting lighter than anywhere else across the parish book pages, as if a bold muted whisper, the Reverend James Beebee dutifully pens the word "courtesan". 

Henry Pateshall Pyefinch Vaughan baptism entry, 1826, Presteigne. 

       There is one more entry stating "Courtesan" in the Presteigne church records, and again it refers to young Charlotte. In 1825 when baby Matilda's baptism was officiated by James Jenkins, filling in for Reverend Beebee, the occupation box was left empty. But in comparing the original baptism to the bishop transcripts (a copy of the initial records submitted annually to the parish bishop by Reverend Beebee himself), he took it upon himself to fill in Charlotte's occupation. The old-style pen had once more hushed a barely visible "courtesan", or rather, "courtezan." 

Matilda Jessie Pyefinch Vaughan's baptism transcribed in the Bishop Transcripts, 1825, Presteigne

    Mistresses and courtesans were not unusual in mid to upper-class circles, especially when considering the novelty of marriages formed out of love. They could offer what a wife did not. In the realm of hypocrisy, Charlotte would be judged harshly by some and yet looked upon as a status symbol by others. Publicly there would be ridicule, but Charlotte was a romantic at heart, and her willingness to take risks was as animated as her spirit.

      I come to imagine Charlotte, taken under Henry P's wing, and as a girl of humbler background, she would be eager to avoid the mundane life of a servant. A relationship with a courtesan or mistress was more than sexual or that of a prostitute. She would be shown the finer things in life, perhaps even schooled in reading and writing, aware of art and fashion, taking pleasure in music, dancing, and poetry. Having learned to converse on a broad array of topics, as both lover and nurturer, she would make an attentive companion yet free to speak her opinion openly.

     Those who have written about the life of a courtesan suggest an unhindered desire for independence, especially the role set before them at birth. A quote from London's daring courtesan Harriette Wilson comes to mind, "to live as free as the air from any restraint but that of my conscience". Would this be Charlotte? Was she a courtesan? Or was Reverend Beebee politely upscaling the relationship she had with his compatriot Henry P.? Was it much more than that, or was Charlotte's connection to Henry P. as indefinite as the word courtesan on the parish pages? Either way, she had gained her place with Henry P. Pyefinch not only as a flirtatious consort but as the mother of his children. The risk she may not have considered was the risk of falling in love.

     It was a fellow surgeon and first cousin of Henry P. Pyefinch's father named Dr. Edward Jenkins, who is said to have encouraged my third great grandfather, Henry Robert Ince, an assistant surgeon at the wounded soldier's hospital at the Tower of London, to leave life as he knew it around 1811, to practice medicine in Presteigne. Just how Edward Jenkins and Henry R. Ince met is pure speculation. Both being members of the Royal College of Surgeons, it could have well been through the association. Presteigne must have seemed like another world to Henry R. Ince. One that he entered readily and where he remained for the rest of his days. With his wife Anne Elizabeth, and their two boys, they rented a house diagonally across from St Andrew's Church at the lower end of Broad Street from Dr. Edward Jenkins. With four bedrooms, a servant room, gardens, and a coach house, it made a comfortable home. It later became known as Roseland and still stands today.

      Not just neighbours and medical associates, Henry Pateshall Pyefinch and Henry Robert Ince soon found themselves attending the same gatherings. On numerous occasions, they would raise glasses at the Radnorshire Arms, cheering on fellow huntsmen, glancing across the aisle at Sunday service, present at the same noted affairs, and Henry P. Pyefinch occasionally standing boldly with young Charlotte on his arm.

     The ambiguous romance of four years and three babies still makes me wonder, but now Charlotte's life was about to take a twist.