Flora Hastings Cluff

HISTORY OF FLORA HASTINGS CLUFF

Flora, eldest daughter of William and Ann Cluff, was born on July 18th 1839. She married William Carr Stevens in August 25th 1860 at St. Olaves, Hart Street, London.

Her father William Cluff was a silk weaver by trade having a factory and dwelling at 24 Spital Square, Shoreditch, London. It seems more than likely that he was a Huguenot as Spitalfield was the area of London that the protestant silk weavers fled to after leaving France. Louis XIV the Sun King of France had repealed the Edinct of Nantes about 1664 which caused over 300,000 Protestants to leave France. There were two important centres of silk production in France, Lyons on the Rhone and Villefagnon a few miles west of Ruffec. I would like to think that the Cluffs may have come from this latter town. I have also read that the Spitalfields' silk industry was run exclusively by Fench Huguenot proprietors, many of whom changed their names to sound English i.e. Monsieur Blanc became Mr. White. Futhermore, this area of London has streets like Fleur-De-Lys Passage, Founier Street, Calvin Street, Rochelle Street. La Rochelle being the templers port through which the silk was imported and delivered to Villefagnon.

Finally Ruffec was a protestant area, there being today many protestant temples, as they are called in France, in the town and villages in the area including the small town Villefagnon. From conversations I have had with people in this sleepy small town, they do not seem to be aware of their past local industry of silk weaving, which died out some 350 years ago.

From a history of the Courtauld family, who were Huguenots from the Ile do Rei, Goldsmiths by trade but became silk weavers after settling in Spitalfields, I gleaned that industrialisation of the silk industry occurred from about 1810 onwards, and due to the confining area at Spitalfields the more progressive Huguenot families moved into the small towns round London in Berkshire, Essex and Suffolk. They set up factories powered by steam and water, as did the Courtauld family. Incidentally this family even set up factories in America and Canada.

From William Cluff's last will and testament, of which I have a copy (William Carr Stevens' copy as he was an executor), he died in 1874. It seems that he did not move out of Spital Square and continued with his hand spinning and weaving methods. Work carried out by "outworkers" from whom stocks of silk had to be collected at the time of his death. It mentions all his other stock of silks to be sold.

One also gathers from his various many bequests that he died an extremely rich man. He owned many properties in London, including his house at Walthamstow called Grovenor House, which was sold at the time for £18,000. From this large sum one gathers it must have been a country estate of considerable size.

His family seems to be:-

• William George Cluff

• Charles John Cluff

• Flora Hasting Stevens

• Angelina Willington

• Samuel Napoleon Cluff

The legacy to Samuel was made out to Martha Cluff his wife for reasons best known to his father.

The main purpose of the foregoing is to make you aware of the background of Flora Hastings Stevens and of the extraordinary events concerning her naming at the time of her birth.

In a programme by Tony Robinson, he was able to produce evidence to the effect that Richard Duke of York's first son Edward IV was the illegitimate son of a bowman, his wife having conceived him while Richard was away fighting in France at Poitu.

Her second son the rightful heir to the throne was drowned in a barrel of Malmsey Wine for being a traitor in the reign of Edward IV. His name was George Duke of Clarence. Richard Duke of York, third son, was Richard III the last of the Plantagenets. After his death at The Battle of Bosworth the line changed to the Tudors, then came the Stuarts, and finally the George's who later became known as the Windsor's. Our present Queen as you will know is a Windsor.

However, some of the Duke of Clarence's children survived and his direct descendant a Plantagenet named Michael Hastings Duke of Loudon survives today, being found in the Australian outback by Tony Robinson, and told that he was the rightful King of England.

In the 1830's a George Hastings Duke of Loudon, had a very fine house in Scotland at Loudon, his family ancestral home. He had a beautiful very popular sister, her name was Lady Flora Elizabeth Hastings, she was lady-in-waiting to the newly crowned Queen of England Victoria in 1837.

Victoria had an enemy in Sir John Conroy who being in Scotland shared a coach with Lady Hastings destined for London shortly after Victoria's coronation .

Following this event Lady Hastings stomach started to swell up, and Victoria in order to have her revenge on Sir John, accused him of having an affair with the Lady Hastings. Victoria further damaged her reputation with the media by insisting that Lady Hastings should be examined by one of the royal doctors. They found that the Lady Hastings was a virgin and that she had a growth in her stomach from which she died in 1838.

It seems more than likely that William and Ann Cluff named a baby daughter born to them on July 18th 1839, Flora Hastings Cluff, after a woman of the time who bore herself with such courage and dignity when she was so viciously being maligned by her Queen.

The Queen became unpopular with her subjects so much so that they openly showed their contempt whenever she appeared in public.

From a picture we have of Flora Hastings Stevens taken following her husband's death in 1890, she is dressed in a black silk robe with white cuffs and collar. On her head she wears a while lace cap over fair or white hair. She would by this time be over 50 years of age. She looks regal with fine strong features with a strength of character about her bearing. In fact she would seem to have been like her namesake.

She died in 1908 at the age of 69 and was laid to rest in Horley Church yard with her husband William Carr Stevens, John Stevens her father-in-law and John's eldest daughter Margaret Stevens.

It is difficult to know exactly what happened to a family some 150 to 350 years ago. It seems to me important, however, to try and draw conclusions from the information available. So that those that follow on can share in the knowledge and add to it and where necessary change it.

By Micheal J C Stevens.

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