Hildebrand Wolfe Harvey, 1887-1970

Abstract

Hildebrand Wolfe Harvey came of a family which had for long lived in Essex. His ancestor Sir John Morley of Blue Bridge, Halstead, had found a cure for scrofula, the King’s Evil, more effective than the touch of the sovereign. Sir John’s granddaughter, Dorothy Morley, in the mid-eighteenth century had married the Rev. Bridges Harvey. A later Bridges Harvey, a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn, married Ellen Brown of Ipswich in 1846, their second son, Henry Allington, being born at Shenfield in 1849. On 13 January 1885 at St Annes Church, Dawson Street, Dublin, Henry was to marry Laetitia, daughter of Peter Kingsley Wolfe, a descendant of General James Wolfe, the hero of the Battle of Quebec in 1759. Henry was a partner in the firm of Foster, Mason and Harvey of Mitcham, Surrey, later to amalgamate with Hadfields. The firm manufactured high-quality, long-lasting paint. It seems that the firm failed to adapt to the demand from do-it-yourself customers who prefer often to change their colour schemes using cheaper paint at frequent intervals. The firm has now gone out of business.