Early on in my research I visited St George's Hanover Square in London. This is the church where John Mayhew and William Ince married the sisters Isabella and Ann Stephenson on 20th February 1762. The report in The London Chronicle refers to 'Nancy Stephenson', which lends an air of frivolity to her. All four signed the entries in the Parish Register, and the witnesses were John Mayhew's father and William Ince, for John and Isabella, and again John Mayhew's father and this time John Mayhew for William and Ann. The curate, Thomas Vincent, performed the service along with the other three marriages that took place that day. The marriages were permitted by licence, rather than the reading of Banns. As Nancy was only nineteen her mother signed a paper to confirm Nancy had no father living, and she gave her permission for the marriage to take place. Jean Stephenson wrote that she was too old and infirm to testify in person. As many a family historian will relate, to take time to sit quietly in the church where your ancestors were married is a moving experience. I found it good to ponder on their marriage, how young they all were, still in their teens and twenties, but presumably hopeful and excited about their future together. Sadly Isabella died within the year, but William and Nancy survived to the early nineteenth century, producing thirteen children, nine boys and four girls, of whom only six survived them. I had a most enjoyable visit to Christie’s last week to see the giltwood armchairs and stools and the superb serpentine serving table made by Ince & Mayhew in the 1770s. It was a pleasure to meet some of the staff, including Charles Cator. They were very knowledgeable about the pieces and emphasised the quality of the furniture produced by the firm. I wondered if Ince & Mayhew had some sort of quality control, inspecting pieces before they were delivered to make sure the standard of workmanship was satisfactory. It was interesting to see the bottom of one of the chairs with the deep V-notches that were carved to allow clamps to hold the legs in place when they were being glued, necessary with the rounded backs. The Auction was held on 8th March and the armchairs were sold for £20,000, the stools for £25,000, nearly three times the estimate, and the table for £65,000, more than double the estimate. The National Library of Wales owns two letters written by William Ince to Richard Myddleton at Chirk Castle, one on 3rd October, 1782 and the other on 11th September, 1783 (E5126-E5128). I was able to purchase digital copies of them for my research. Interestingly one sheet has the address written on it with the wax seal that was used to seal it. At first I thought the seal said I & M, then I realised that the letter had been folded so the seal should be read the other way up. Turning the photo round revealed a very clear M & I stamped on the wax. I have traced the lettering to create a rough impression of their 'logo', bearing in mind that the wax would have spread and that the letter is over two hundred and thirty years old. The I is very similar to the I in William Ince's signature and is cleverly wound round the front of the M. I am using a mini-version of the seal as the favicon for this website - the little icon on each page. Three auctions in March in London have Ince & Mayhew furniture for sale.
At Christie’s, London on 9th March there is the sale of items from Linley Hall, Shropshire: Property from The Collection of The Late Sir Jasper & Lady More. This includes a set of four George III giltwood open armchairs by Ince & Mayhew 1774 – estimate £15,000 to £25,000. The Lot Notes are interesting, revealing that the chairs are part of a suite of seat-furniture supplied to Sir Thomas Edwardes (d. 1785) for the Drawing Room of his London mansion in Portman Square. The firm was responsible for the refurbishment of the principal rooms. The seat-furniture is recorded in an estimate and invoice dated 22 August 1774. There is also a George III mahogany serpentine serving-table (1770-1780) estimate £20,00 to £30,000 and a pair of giltwood stools estimate £5000 to £8000 one attributed to Ince & Mayhew 1774, the other 20th century. Sotheby’s are holding an auction on 8th March called Pelham, The Public and the Private. It includes a George III satinwood, harewood and tulipwood breakfront bookcase, circa 1780, attributed to Mayhew and Ince, estimate £40,000 to £60,000, and a pair of George III harewood, satinwood and fruitwood floral marquetry inlaid cabinets-on-stands, circa 1790, attributed to Ince & Mayhew, estimate £20,000 to £30,000. The bookcase was ‘almost certainly made for Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston (1739–1802) for Broadlands House, Hampshire’ and is ‘possibly one of the 'Two Comode Bookcases in Satton Wood' listed in the Book Room in the Inventory of furniture and household items at Broadlands, 1786’. Bonhams have a Britain Defining the Interior auction on 9th March which includes a fine George III sycamore, harewood and tulipwood banded bowfront marquetry dressing commode attributed to Mayhew and Ince, estimate £20,000 to £30,000. I hope to view some of these items before the auctions, as it is always enjoyable to see furniture made by my ancestor. Welcome to the Ince & Mayhew website. My aim is to create a space where you can find anything to do with William Ince and John Mayhew and their furniture.
I have already found numerous images from the National Trust, other stately homes, museums and auction houses which you can see on the Pinterest Board on the Furniture page. The Board probably needs sub-dividing already there are so many. I will also post up information about the lives of both families. As a descendant of William Ince, through his son Frederick, I obviously have a lot more information about the Inces, but I am happy to include more on the Mayhews as well. Let me know if you have any verified facts to add. I have only sketched over the Ince ancestor information on this website. My book has five chapters on the early period, including 'the redoubtable Maude Ince' as Sir Hugh Roberts describes her in his foreword. Her Will written in 1602 is a delight. Please feel free to comment or send me a message through the contact page. |
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Sarah Ingle is the great great great great grand-daughter of William Ince and has been researching her family history for a number of years. She thoroughly enjoyed the detective work involved in tracing William’s lineage. Archives
December 2022
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