Dane Law in Ewell

Researched and written by John Court
Volunteer with Sutton Archives Past on Glass Project

Manor House c.1906
Courtesy of Past on Glass  (DKW_23634B)

A picture in the Sutton on Glass archive with a notable difference was my starting point. It had a flag on it which I thought was the Swedish flag. After a little research I found that all the Scandinavian countries have the Scandinavian cross on them and the background may change but two, Sweden and Denmark, have a light-coloured cross on a dark background. The flag was said to be in the grounds of the Old Manor House Ewell. Other pictures of the Old Manor House in the London Borough of Sutton’s Archive, also had the name of Farlier, Furber and Faber associated with them. A brief tour of the 1911 census gave me a Danish or Swedish family living in Ewell turned up the Faber family. The eldest member of the family was one Johan Valdemar Faber a naturalised British subject born in Denmark and he was the Consul General for Denmark in London. Johan turned up on Ewell’s website Ewell’s website.

In about 1911 various electoral rolls and rate books gave his address as The Manor House, Cheam Road, Ewell, Surrey. He was appointed General Consul in London in 1904 but in the 1901 census he was living in Hexham and he is completely missing from the 1911 census. As some of his immediate family is also missing from the 1911 census it may be that he was abroad, possibly in Denmark. An interesting feature of the 1911 census has a daughter of his first marriage, Connie Faber, at the Manor House in Ewell with a daughter from his third marriage, Mollie Vivian Faber. Others in the house are a parlour maid, a chef, two house maids, a kitchen maid and a governess for Mollie. The governess was a German lady by the name of Elsa Kaiserling. A visitor to the household was Gerda Weber from Denmark, as she is given no function other than ‘visitor’ we may surmise that she may have been a family friend or relative.

Extract from the 1911 OS Map of Ewell

Kelly’s directory has Johan’s address as The Manor House, Cheam Road, Sutton, Surrey but the probate record for his will indicates that although he died in 7 Queen Anne Street, Middlesex (now Queen Anne Street, London W1) he had a house in Cobham which was Fairmile House, Cobham, Surrey. Fairmile House has since been turned into an hotel.

Newcastle Daily Chronicle – Saturday 22 December 1917

DEATH OF MR. J. V. FABER. A Former Danish Consul in Newcastle. The death has taken place at a nursing home in London of Mr. Johann Valdemar Faber, who was for many years Danish Consul in Newcastle. Subsequently he became Consul-General for Denmark in London. The deceased gentleman, who was well-known in the North of England, was in his 69th year. Mr. Faber came to Newcastle about fifty years ago and went into Elswick Works as a correspondent. He was there about two years, when he entered a local firm of butter merchants, where he gained a knowledge of the business. In 1875 he commenced business on his own account as a wholesale provision merchant under the title of J. V. Faber & Co. In this he was successful and conducted the business for about thirty years. For almost as long he acted as Danish Consul in Newcastle. He was in that capacity a very popular official and was on several occasions signalled out for distinction by his own country. He held the honour of Knight Commander of Danneborg¹ and was also the holder of the Cross of St. Olen, in addition to which he was decorated with Russian orders. Mr Faber was a well-known citizen of Newcastle, and a prominent figure in the Danish colony, as well as a loyal supporter of the Danish church in this city. Following the discovery by one of his compatriots, he presented an installation of the Finsen light to Newcastle Infirmary for use in the treatment of certain diseases. In 1904 he was appointed Consul-General for Denmark in London and he left Newcastle to fulfil the duties of that office. He occupied this position for ten years, when he retired. For some months Mr. Faber had been in failing health. He leaves widow and grown-up family. Three sons joined the army, and one of them, a lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps, fell in France. A son of the deceased gentleman, Mr. Leslie Faber, the actor, now serving in France, married a daughter of Mr. Henry Arthur Jones, the famous dramatist. The funeral of the deceased is to take place in London.

He was born on the 8th of September 1849 and on the 7th of November 1849 he was baptised in the church of Vor Frue (our lady), in Odense, Denmark. Nothing is known of his early life beyond the name of his parents. He must have arrived in Newcastle in the about 1870 to get the time and training in to be first a correspondent, then a trainee butter merchant and finally starting up his own import business in 1875.

He must have travelled considerably as his first wife Jessie Virtue Wilson (1856–1887) was from Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland and they married on the 30th of September 1874 (the year before he started his own business).

Newcastle Courant – Friday 30 October 1874

Glasgow, at Suuchiehall Street, on the 28th inst., Valdemar Faber, Newcastle on Tyne; to Jessie Virtue Wilson, Glasgow.

The business must have taken his time and energy as the first child of the marriage was Leslie Emmerson Faber (1877–1929) followed by Edna Lilian Faber (1880–1885), Edmund David Faber (1882–1907), Connie Faber (1884–) and Winifred Beatrice Faber (1887–1887). Winifred Beatrice was born in January, her mother died in March and Winifred died in July 1887.

Glasgow Evening Post – Monday 14 March 1887

FABER – March 9th, at Tankerville Terrace, Newcastle on Tyne, Jessie Virtue Wilson formerly of No. 239 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, wife of J Valdemar Faber, Danish V. Consul.

After the respectful one-year mourning period Johan travelled south to Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire and married Louie Maslen on the 5th of May 1888.

The Queen – Saturday 2 June 1888

FABER — MASLEN. – On the filth ult., at St. James’s Church, Gerrard’s Cross, the marriage of Johan Valdemar Faber, Ritter of Danneborg, Danish Vice-Consul at Newcastle on Tyne, to Louie Maslen, niece and adopted daughter of Mr Martin Heathfield, was solemnised by the Rev. Phipps Onslow, rector of Upper Sassey, Worcester, and the Rev. Alfred Kennion, vicar of the parish. The bridegroom, attended by his best man, Mr Christian F. Esmann, arrived at the church at two o’clock, and shortly afterwards the bride, who wore a travelling dress of fawn. coloured faille Francaise, trimmed with steel, and with lace hat to match, carrying a splendid bouquet, the gift of the bridegroom, entered on the arm of her adopted father, attended by the bridesmaid who wore a dress of blue and gold, and whose exquisite bouquet el Marechal Niel roses and pearl and diamond bangle were the gifts of the bridegroom. Amongst the guests were the Count and Countess of Pourtales, Lady Amphlett, Mrs King-Harman, the Rev. Phipps, Mrs, and Miss Onslow, Mr and Mrs Frederick Roberts, Mrs Rigby, Capt. and Mrs J. J. Martin, Capt. and Mrs Drummond, and many others.

Johan and Louie had two children Louie Rosa Marguerita Faber (1890–1975) and George Valdemar Faber (1891–1958).

Louie Maslen and George Valdemar Faber are both on the 1891 census but soon after Louie Faber nee Maslen died making her life span from 1863 until the second quarter of 1891.

Again, after the respectful one-year mourning period Johan married for a third and final time. The lady being Emma Maud Stanley Vivian Vivian (1864–1934) was from Devon but they married on the neutral territory of Kensington, Middlesex in 1892. It may be worth noting that although ‘London’ had expanded in 1890 and taken over large tracts of Kent, Surrey and Middlesex there was some resistance in adopting new addresses just as some of us say Sutton, Surrey, and others now say Sutton, London.

Johan and Emma had three children, Vivian Valdemar Faber (1893–1985), Cecil Valdemar Faber (1895–1915) and Mollie Vivian Faber (1899–1967). Normally the name Vivian is for a boy and Vivien is for a girl but in this case Vivian is a family name and may be from the same family as the 1st Lord Vivian of Glyn and Truro. I have researched Lord Vivian’s tree and Emma Maud’s tree but so far there is no point of contact but this may be due to the sparsity of documentation around the 1800s. There is always the odd person that pops up like Alice Vivian Vivian that really, really should be a link but vanishes like the morning mists. The third Baron Vivian was, for a short time, the British Ambassador to Denmark but again no proof of any familial relationship.

The outline of Johan’s family:

Parents

Mauritz Trap Faber and Marie Magdalene Qvaade

First Wife & Family

Jessie Virtue Wilson 1856–1887
Leslie Emmerson Faber 1877–1929
Edna Lilian Faber 1880–1885
Edmund David Faber 1882–1907
Connie Faber 1884–
Winifred Beatrice Faber 1887–1887

Second Wife & Family

Louie Maslen 1863–1891
Louie Rosa Marguerita Faber 1890–1975
George Valdemar Faber 1891–1958

Third Wife & Family

Emma Maud Stanley Vivian Vivian 1864–1934
Vivian Valdemar Faber 1893–1985
Cecil Valdemar Faber 1895–1915
Mollie Vivian Faber 1899–1967

What proof is there for Johan Valdemar Faber in Ewell? Well there is a newspaper report in 1906

Hampshire Chronicle – Saturday 09 June 1906

On Saturday afternoon the Consul-General for Denmark and Mrs. Faber gave a big garden party at the Manor-House, Ewell, to celebrate the birthday of the King of Denmark. Fortunately, the weather was fine, and many well-known people journeyed down by the special train provided by Mr. Faber to Ewell. A delightful afternoon was passed, and some capital music was provided for the guest’s entertainment.

Mollie and Connie continue to live in The Old Manor House, Ewell.

Johan Valdemar Faber and Mollie Faber (About 1906)
Courtesy of Past on Glass  (DKW_23626A)

West Surrey Times – Saturday 24 July 1909

[Edited]
The newspaper reported that at the Woodcote House horse show Miss M Faber was second in the Riding competition. 

(If this was Miss Mollie Vivian Faber then she would have been ten years old.)

Surrey Advertiser – Saturday 01 June 1912

Reigate Horse Show Edited pieces
[In the Hunter class Mr Faber’s Harlequin was placed Reserve (4th place)]
In the Entire Horses class [Mr Faber’s The Squire was placed third]
Harness Horses [Mr Faber’s Bell Mere was reserve (4th)]

Surrey Advertiser – Saturday 31 May 1913

By this time Miss Faber was entering Harlequin into the Reigate show where it won the 13st 7lb category. [Harlequin has been described as a light hunter in other reports]

Various 1913

A number of Turf Accountants were offering odds in races [I assume local point to point races] on Miss Louie Faber of Ewell riding light weight hunters of any age.

The Newspaper reports are so many and referring to many members of the family so I stopped at this point. Many newspaper reports are impossible to ascribe to family members as Miss M Faber down in Devon in the 1930s could be Mollie but equally could be any Miss Faber whose first name starts with M.

Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser – Saturday 26 July 1913

OXTED HORSE SHOW Challenge cup, 20 guineas, presented by Mr. H. Faudel-Phulips, for the best hunter in the show. — l, Sir W. L. Lindsay Hogg, Free and Easy r. Miss Louie Faber. Harlequin.

Silver medal of the Hunters’ Improvement and National Light Horse Breeding Society, for the best hunter mare or gelding, of any age. — l. Sir W. L. Lindsay Hogg, and Easy”; r. Miss Louie Faber, Harlequin.”

Covert or park hack, mare or gelding, any bright. — l, Mrs. Wm. C. N. Chapman, Heppington, Canterbury; 2, Miss Louie Faber, “Harlequin “

Daily Telegraph & Courier (London) – Friday 10 June 1910

THE INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW. The fourth great International Horse Show opened on Monday. ……..
A pretty picture of the afternoon was the class for ponies not exceeding 13’2 hands, ridden by girls not exceeding fourteen years of age, daughters of gentlemen not in any way professionally interested the purchase or sale of horses. Some of the youthful riders seemed to be as young as five years, riding ponies as diminutive themselves, and all were prettily dressed, and rode astride. It was a spectacle which gave the spectators intense delight. The first prize was gained by Frisky, ridden by a little lady clad in a red hunting costume, and exhibited by Miss Mollie Faber, the Manor House, Ewell, Surrey.

Surrey Advertiser – Saturday 18 October 1913

Experienced single-handed parlour maid wanted, able to valet and carve; 5 servants kept: age over 25; wages £30; 5 in family at home. – Apply stating all particulars to Mrs. Faber. Manor House, Ewell, Surrey. 

Mostly the Faber family passes through history with little trace of their passing but occasionally there is a newspaper report like the one on the wedding of a child from his second marriage Louie Rosa Marguerite Faber.

West London Observer – Friday 05 June 1914

MISS FABER’S WEDDING. — On Wednesday Captain Walter Andrew Stirling Royal Field Artillery, son the late General Sir William Stirling, was married in Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, to Miss Louie Rosa Faber, daughter of Mr. Valdemar Faber, Consul-General for Denmark. Bishop Taylor Smith, Chaplain-General to the Forces, and the Vicar of Brompton performed the ceremony; and the bride, who was given away by her father, wore a dress of white charmeuse, draped with lace and pearl and diamante embroideries, while her train was chiffon embroidered in silver and lined with pale pink. There were six bridesmaids, with Master William Stirling and Master Geoffrey Hobbs, in Highland costume, acting as pages; while Major William Stirling, Royal Field Artillery, was best man to his brother. Among the many wedding presents were silver tea and coffee service and tray, and a pearl and diamond brooch, from the members of the Danish colony in London to the bride.

Miss Connie Faber
Courtesy of Past on Glass  (DKW_33492A)

Exeter and Plymouth Gazette – Friday 05 August 1938

BIDEFORD HORSE SHOW. Thunderstorm Interrupts. The quality of exhibits was exceptionally good at Bideford and district annual Horse Show, on Monday, where there was an entry of 150. In the HACKS AND HUNTERS. Hacks, open. — l, Mrs. Savile Petch; 2, Miss Molly Faber (Tiverton)

Miss M Faber is a name associated with a number of horses and riders. She also entered Point-to-Point races both with an aim to win and for fun as she, if we assume Miss M Faber is her, is in a few local gymkhana fund raisers in fancy dress.

1938 is the last year that Mollie pops up in the records until her death in Ballybrack, County Dublin, Ireland in 1967. The 1938 register of England lists everyone who will not be needed in the Army, Navy, Airforce or reserved occupations. It may be that nursing was a reserved occupation or with war on the horizon she left for Ireland.

A last but by no means least mention of one of the family Leslie Emmerson Faber. Why is he worth a mention? Well let us start at his Cambridge degree, to this we add a very successful acting career. In the middle of his acting career he went off to fight in WWI in which he won the Military Cross medal. He then returned to his acting career. Leslie married Winifred Amy Jones in 1902 and they had two children, Svend Emerson Valdemar Faber (1904-1917) and Jean Virtue Faber (1905-1974) Jean is not declared blind on the 1911 census but on the 1939 register is registered blind. In 1922 Leslie and Winifred divorce and the following year Leslie married Gladys Isabel Gray. Leslie made provision for his daughter Jean in his will.

Researched and written by John Court in 2019

¹Denmark was an ally of France, so the French Legion of Honour was used as the model for transforming the Order of Dannebrog. Napoleon had instituted the Legion in 1802 to reward French citizens who, regardless of status, had made special efforts for France’s cause. The new rules for the reformed Order of Dannebrog on 28 June 1808, the birthday of Valdemar the Victorious. In accordance with the King’s decision, appointments to the order thereafter were to be regarded as an outward sign of recognised civic worth, and they should in principle be granted to every deserving Dane regardless of rank or class. As a result of that widened scope, the order was divided into four increasing degrees of distinction. [J V Faber achieved Knight Commander, the highest level]

ADDENDUM

In March 2023 Stephen Spark contacted us to say:

I was glad to read your biography of the former Danish Consul-General Johann Valdemar Faber, not least because of my own family’s business connections with Denmark – our house was effectively a sub-office of the Danish shipping line DFDS whose ships brought JV Faber & Co’s Danish butter to Newcastle, among other places.

You may be interested to know that by June 1917 Mr & Mrs Faber moved to Fairmile House, Cobham. The house faced Fairmile Common, but Johann probably spent very little time there, as he died the same year. His widow, ie Mrs Faber no 3 and listed as Mrs Maud Vivian Faber, remained at Fairmile House until 1922.

Incidentally, the “Mr H Faudel-Phillips” (actually Major Henry Faudel Faudel-Phillips) who presented Louie Faber with the Challenge Cup at Oxted Horse Show, taught my mother to ride in the 1940s. He was quite a character and once challenged my mother to ride a pig – which she did, successfully! He came from a rather grand family and was a superb horseman and the author of one or two books on the subject.

Stephen Spark