Reginald Coleridge was born in 1883 at 23 Bitton Street, Teignmouth, Devon.
He was the only son of Charles Coleridge (cabinet maker) and Annie. He had a younger sister named Augusta.
Reginald's grandfather, James Coleridge (1824-1904) a cabinet maker by trade, left Teignmouth in the mid-1850's and settled with his wife in the Cambridgeshire town of Walsoken. Not long after Reginald's birth he was taken by his parents to live there too.
The UK census of 1901 shows Reginald, aged 17, living with his father at 22 Park Road in Walsoken, he is described on the census as a 'pupil teacher'.
It was whilst at Walsoken that the Coleridge family made the acquaintance of the then curate of St Augustine's church, Rev. Alexander Chorley Crosfield.
It is unclear what later transpired but it appears that Rev. Crosley fell out of favour with Mr & Mrs Coleridge to the extent that they disowned their son.
Leaving Wisbech in 1901 Rev. Crosley took the curacy at Haverhill, Suffolk for 3 years and then the position of vicar in the Cambridgeshire parish of Hartford in the town of Huntingdon where he remained for the next 9 years.
It was Hartford that was to become Reginald's home and the base from which he worked as an advertising consultant. An increase in work commitments necessitated a move from Hartford and he then took up accommodation at 232 Strand, London.
In 1912 Reginald had business in Detroit, Michigan and he planned to combine this business trip with a holiday in Canada afterward on which he would be accompanied by Rev. Crosley. For the Atlantic crossing they were due to travel on another steamer but it transpired that the ship on which Rev. Crosley was booked as chaplain had no berth available for Reginald and he therefore arranged a 2nd class ticket for himself on 'Titanic'.
Reginald's estate totalling £455 14s appears to have passed to his 'adopted' father, Rev. Crosfield even though both his parents were still living at that time.
As for Rev. Crosfield he remained in Hartford, Huntingdon until 1913 when he moved to South Africa and spent the next year as curate and sub-dean of St Saviour's Cathedral in Maritzburg, Natal. From there he spent 1914 at the University of the Cape of Good Hope.
Returning to England in the latter half of 1914 he took the position of vicar at the parish of Chettisham near Ely in Cambridgeshire along with that of chaplain of Ely Cathedral, both of which he held until his retirement in 1923.
Following retirement he lived for a while at 15 Thorpe Road, Norwich then taking accommodation at the Homes of St Barnabas at Dormans Park, Lingfield, Surrey where he died on 19 October 1934. (This latter place was of charitable foundation and provided homes for retired Anglican priests.)
Comment and discuss