How did 'Angela Court' get its name?
Angela Court started life as the vicarage for Tipton St John church, ( which was built in 1840's) and the vicarage came soon after. The vicarage was obviously well maintained, with a housekeeper and gardener. Many church meetings and fetes were held in the grounds over the years. In 1887 a fundraiser was reported in the Western Times;
'If it is true that a country house lawn never looks so well as when used for some beneficial purpose, then the vicarage grounds at Tipton St John were in good trim'
In the early 1900 the then vicar Rev G.Every, decided to move to Glebe Cottage, as he felt that the vicarage building was too big for him. The vicarage was put on the market by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and was purchased by Mr and Mrs Anderson Morshead who moved into the vicarage and renamed it 'Metcombe End'.
Captain RY Anderson Morshead and his wife Angela married in Salcombe Regis, at the beginning of The Great War and when he was posted to India and Mesopotamia with The Devonshire Regiment, his wife accompanied him. After the war they returned to Devon and in 1922 moved to Tipton. They immersed themselves immediately into village life. Mr Anderson Morshead became President of the Football club and The Horticultural Society, was an Honorary member of the Billiards club and Gun Club and he was also Chairman of the local British Legion. Mrs Anderson Morshead was heavily involved with the Tipton St John WI and at this time;
'one of the most progressive branches of the WI is to be found at Tipton St John '. ( The Western Times)
Together they both did a tremendous amount for the church at Tipton, both of them heading the committee that oversaw the placing of the marble World War 1 memorial plaque in the church, dedicated to the men from the village who gave their lives in the Great War. Mr Anderson Morshead also paid for the installation of electricity into the church, in the 1930's. His wife Angela, supplied many of the church flowers, that she grew in her garden, especially at Easter and Christmas, and she took a keen interest in raising money towards the Ottery St Mary Cottage Hospital funds.
There are many newspaper articles relating to them holding fetes and garden shows within the grounds of their house, benifitting local causes, which often went onto include music and dancing until late into the evenings!
Sadly it is also often noted in newspaper articles of this time that Mrs Anderson Morshead was ill,there were times when she was unable to attend events due to her feeling unwell.
In 1931 Angela Anderson Morshead sadly died from her long suffered illness, Bowel cancer, leaving her husband bereft. In her obituary she is described ;
'her lovable personality and sympathetic being endeared her to all with whom she came in contact, she did many charitable acts in an unostentatious manner'.
In her Will , Angela requested that those attending her funeral should not wear mourning and should only bring flowers gathered by themselves or donate their money to Ottery Hospital. Her funeral was well attended and mourners included Lord and Lady Coleridge, Lord Cave and representatives from many local groups. Angela's grave was lined with narcissi and ivy. She is buried in the churchyard at Tipton, next to the Vestry door near the path that leads to the Angela Court.
As they had no children it was her wish that on her and her husbands death that their house be used for the benefit of ill children. Soon after her death this report was published in the Western Times, of a meeting of the Devon Association for Cripples'Aid, chaired by Dame Georgina Buller;
...'a most valuable bequest in the shape of a house with acres of ground at Tipton St John, by the late Mrs Anderson Morshead. Captain Anderson Morshead was so anxious to see the home of his late wife occupied by cripples, that he has made arrangements for the hospital to have the property straight away instead of at his death. It is to be known as the "Angela Convalescent Nursing Home" Angela being the christian name of the late Mrs Anderson Morshead, as part of the Princess Elizabeth Hospital.
Soon after her death, her husband decided to leave the village and he was presented with an armchair, as a leaving gift from his friends to take to his new cottage. Rev Every was reported to say that the gift was;
' proof of the parishioners affection, 175 subscribers asked him to accept the handsome armchair. Capt Anderson Morshead, greeted with applause, referred to the very happy times he had spent in their midst and paid a glowing tribute to the late Mrs Anderson Morshead, to whose initiative and warm support, he said, he owed any popularity which he might have attained'
In 1932 Captain RY Anderson Morshead paid to have the electric lighting fitted into the church in memory of Angela with a marble tablet inscribed;.
'lux perpetua in eam luceat' 'let light perpetual shine upon it'.
It seems Angela left a permanent light upon not just the church but also the village
So then the "Angela Convalescent Home" was opened, in memory of Angela, but that's another story for another Tipton Times...!
