The Wedding of John Marriott and Cordelia Nevers in 1902

08 October 1902 – Captain John MARRIOTT, D.S.O., of the 2nd Norfolk Regiment, and Cordelia Caroline NEVERS were married at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Pretoria. At the time, John was stationed in Potchefstroom, and Cordelia was living in Pretoria.

The young people of the congregation decorated the church with roses, and they placed an arch of oak leaves and roses below the choir railings, under which the bridal party was to stand. The early mists soon rolled away, and bright sunshine filled the day. The wedding ceremony started at 11h00 as Rev. James GRAY walked the bride down the aisle. Rev. William MACCULLOUGH, a chaplain to the Princess Louise’s Highland Regiment of Argyle and Sutherlanders, conducted the ceremony.

The young people of the congregation decorated the church with roses, and they placed an arch of oak leaves and roses below the choir railings, under which the bridal party was to stand. The early mists soon rolled away, and bright sunshine filled the day. The wedding ceremony started at 11h00 as Rev. James GRAY walked the bride down the aisle. Rev. William MACCULLOUGH, a chaplain to the Princess Louise’s Highland Regiment of Argyle and Sutherlanders, conducted the ceremony.

The bride wore a gown of crepe de chine over white silk. The skirt had deep flounces of pleated chiffon and the bloused bodice was of soft chiffon and silk appliqué. She wore a wreath of orange blossoms and a tulle veil and a crescent of opals and diamonds gifted by the groom. Her bouquet contained white roses, carnations, and maidenhair ferns.

The groom and best man, Captain F.C. LODGE, both captains of His Majesty’s forces, wore the field service khaki uniform, with the captain’s stars, belt and sword.

The bridesmaid was Miss Pughe JONES, of North Wales, who was one of the inspectors at schools in the Orange River Colony. She wore a cream gown trimmed with lace and satin ribbon. She also wore a crescent of Paris, the gift of the groom, and carried a bouquet of pink roses and carnations. The two flower girls were Frances and Bessie GRAY. They wore white silk dresses and carried baskets of roses and rose petals. They also wore turquoise and pearl brooches gifted by the groom.

After the service and the signing of the register in the vestry, the bridal party walked down the aisle, preceded by the flower girls who strewed rose petals in their pathway. They drove to Kya Rosa, the residence used as a teacher’s hostel, as the builders were still constructing the new Presbyterian manse. Rev. James GRAY and his wife, Mary Williams TYLER, hosted the event. The newly-weds stood under a horseshoe of oak leaves and crimson roses, with the Union Jack and Star-Spangled Banner draped behind them. The florist decorated the room with roses, lilies and other seasonal flowers. The caterers spread refreshment tables under the spacious verandas screened by climbing rose bushes. The servers offered fruit salads, dainty sandwiches, cakes, bonbons, and orange sherbet. The bride cut the pyramid of wedding cake with her husband’s sword, assisted by both the groom and best man.

Wedding gifts included a silver salver with an inscription from the officers of the regiment; a silver egg stand and butter dish from the sergeants of the regiment; a silver butter dish from the mess sergeant; a silver-mounted biscuit barrel from the NCOs and troops of the groom’s company; a silver teapot from the bride’s school children; and silver serviette rings from the Mafeking teachers. During the reception, they read telegrams from towns and camps all over Cape Colony, Orange River Colony, and Transvaal.

Among the guests present were many officers of the British army. The education department was represented by the director of education, Edmund Beale SARGANT; the assistant director, Fabian WARE; Dr MULLIN; and the Misses BRIDGES from New Brunswick, and by many others from the different schools of the Transvaal, as well as many of the leading citizens of Pretoria, among whom Cordelia was esteemed.

At 13:00, the bride changed into a dress of pale blue with bands of blue silk, a bolero jacket and a white lace collarette. She wore a dainty Parisian hat made of burnt straw, tulle, and forget-me-nots. The couple left the reception under a pointed arch of drawn swords formed by the groom’s fellow soldiers and showers of rose petals and rice. They drove to the railway station en route to Johannesburg and Natal. During their Natal honeymoon, and before returning home, they hoped to visit the historic battlefields of Colenso, Spioen Kop, Ladysmith and Majuba. Early in November they settled down in Potchefstroom, where the Norfolk regiment was stationed.

JOHN’S LIFE

John MARRIOTT was born on November 3, 1861, in New Brighton, Cheshire, England. He was the son of John MARRIOTT of Stowmarket, Suffolk (Advocate General, Bombay). He died on 07 May 1953 at Clare Lodge in Ipswich, Suffolk.

He joined the Norfolk Regiment on December 5, 1883. On September 5, 1890, he was promoted to captain. He was captured by brigands in Asia Minor in October 1896, who demanded a ransom of £16,000, but he was released by Turkish troops.

He served in the Anglo-Boer War (1900-1902) and took part in operations in the Orange Free State (February-May 1900), including at Paardeberg (17 to 26 February); actions at Poplar Grove, Karee Siding, Vet River (5 and 6 May) and Zand River; operations in the Transvaal in May and June 1900, including actions near Johannesburg and Pretoria; and operations in the Transvaal from 30 November 1900 to 31 May 1902. He was mentioned twice in despatches (08 February and 10 September 1901); received the Queen’s Medal with three clasps and the King’s Medal with two clasps; and was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in recognition of services at Paarderberg. It was presented to him in Potchefstroom on 11 January 1903.

In early 1903, he was transferred from service in the Transvaal to Colchester, England, where he was stationed for the next two years.

He was promoted to Major on 12 March 1904 and served with the Military Survey and Reconnaissance of Manaqualand and Bechuanaland in 1907.

He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 12 January 1909 and was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 1909.

In 1908–1909, he was based at Britannia Barracks, Norwich, England.

He was promoted to colonel on 30 October 1912 and was based at Aldershot.

Beginning in 1913, he served as the Surrey Infantry Brigade’s brigade commander.

From 1913 to 1914, he lived at Round Oak in Weybridge after being relieved from command of the Norfolk Regiment, and he remained on staff duty for the rest of his service.

During World War I, he commanded the following brigades: the Surrey, 2/1st Surrey, 112th in France, 200th, and 221st Mixed Brigade. He was mentioned for valuable services in connection with the war in 1918.

He was made a CBE in 1919. He retired from the military with the honorary rank of brigadier-general on 11 April 1919.

He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Zoological Society and was an authority on big game.

CORDELIA’S LIFE

Cordelia Caroline NEVERS was born on 03 April 1870 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, the daughter of George NEVERS and Annie Matilda. She died on 21 January 1957 in Ipswich, England.

According to Cordelia’s US passport application of April 1900 in Pretoria, her father immigrated to the USA from New Brunswick and lived in Hopkinton, Massachusetts from 1881 to 1901. He was a naturalised US citizen.

Cordelia attended Northfield Seminary, St Johnsbury Academy, and Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA. In 1896 she published “Wellesley Lyrics”, as a souvenir and holiday gift book which comprises poems by Wellesley students and alumnae. She attended Wellesley College from 1891, graduating in 1896. During 1896-99 she was superintendent of Fiske Cottage

She attended the Moody School for two years prior to going to South Africa. She accepted a position as teacher in a girls’ seminary to be established in Johannesburg. She left the USA on 09 October 1897 on board the ship Rotterdam for Holland, arriving in Rotterdam on 19 October 1897. After visiting the schools in Holland, she sailed to South Africa.

Upon arriving in early 1898, her trunk was stolen from the train while en route from Cape Town to Johannesburg. All its contents were taken. The trunk contained her best clothes, jewellery and gifts from her friends. She was also taking to Mrs. James GRAY of Pretoria, a sister of William C. TYLER of St Johnsbury and a former resident, a number of gifts from her St Johnsbury friends. All these were in the trunk that was stolen.

She first taught at Langlaagte in Johannesburg. From 25 October 1899, she lived in Pretoria. She attended the Fourth of July celebration in Pretoria in July 1899, which was reported in the Pretoria News. The paper published illustrations of President MCKINLEY and Consul General MACRUM of Pretoria. During the day some of the Americans paraded through the city carrying the Stars and Stripes and plenty of fire crackers, and the day wound up with a banquet, toasts and a dance. Rev. and Mrs. James GRAY also attended.

During the Anglo-Boer War, Cordelia remained in Pretoria. Her organisational skills were recognised by Mr SARGANT, director of education, and she was promoted to school inspector. She met many of the new teachers from Britain, Australia, and Canada, and took them from the seaports to the different concentration camps.

FAMILY

John and Cordelia’s children:
1) Letitia Gertrude MARRIOTT was born in 1903 in Colchester, Essex. She was baptised in December 1903 in Stowmarket parish, which had been attended by the Marriott family for two hundred years. On 11 September 1926, she arrived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to teach at Havergal College in Toronto.
2) Dorothy Joan MARRIOTT was born circa 1905 in Norwich, Norfolk.
3) Hilda Dorothy Rose B MARRIOTT was born circa 1909 in Great Warley, Essex.

In the 1920s the family lived at Cedarhurst in Bath Road, Cheltenham, and they had two female servants. By 1939, John and Cordelia were living in Ipswich, Suffolk, and had one female servant.

CORDELIA’S ANGLO-BOER WAR LETTER

During the Anglo-Boer War, Cordelia sent letters to family living in St. Johnsbury. Some of the letters were printed in the local newspaper, including this one in the St. Johnsbury Caledonian dated 14 March 1900:

“Since coming over to Pretoria I have made one trip on a Red Cross train to Elandslaagte which lasted about, two weeks. We went to Dundee for a few patients who were able to be removed to Pretoria, and there we had the battle described to us by men who had fought on both sides. One.train brought up from the camp near Ladysmith thirty three sick and wounded. The hospital at Dundee was full of English wounded but they were too badly off to be moved.
This trip to Natal gave me a good opportunity to see that part of the country. We found Dundee completely deserted except for the hospital, and every house and shop was looted. The Boers had driven in from miles around and loaded up their wagons with furniture. They had taken absolutely everything; pianos, stoves, carpets and all. Their little reed-thatched, mud -floor houses must be crowded with such things as they never saw before. It is sad to see how in their desire to destroy they have torn paper from the walls and broken windows. They have done everything but burn. It is told how one Boer went into a store, and taking a bolt of light blue silk, tied one end of it to his horse’s tail and galloped through the streets. We do not hear of acts of cruelty committed by the Dutch, but this spirit of destruction is ripe. At farmhouses far down in Natal where it is impossible to carry away furniture to the Transvaal they destroy it. They think nothing of jumping up and dancing on the top of a fine piano, and smashing the keys.
This war is indeed a terrible thing, as is every war I suppose.
Today there is great excitement in Pretoria. There have just been a series of fights all along the border and the news coming in is sickening.
This afternoon five bodies are to arrive from Ladysmith. One is of a fine young business man who lived not far from here. He leaves a wife and three little ones. Another body is that of an American from Columbus, Ohio. He leaves a wife and children at home. When be was hereabout a month ago we remonstrated with him for his family’s sake, and tried to prevent his volunteering. But he would go, and now so soon he is brought back. The war is not so near us as people thought it would be, but we feel the losses because in almost every battle some friend or acquaintance falls. And we feel it is all to no purpose. I do not see how more good than harm can come out of this race struggle. The hatred which is thus increased between Dutch and English is something most deplorable.
When in Natal I visited Col. BLAKE, an American army officer who has charge of an Irish brigade which is fighting for the Boers. He was wounded at the battle of Modders Spruit, and was staying at a farm house which bad been appropriated as a hospital by the Dutch. It was the residence of a wealthy Natalian Mr. P ; a member of the Natal parliament. This man had voted for the war, and this being known to the Dutch, they of course had no mercy on his things. All of Mrs. P ‘s clothing and most of the portable articles of furniture and ornaments had been carried off.
Your letter of Nov. 12 came to me this week and was the first word I had had from any one at home since the war began. I wonder when the letters sent via Cape colony will reach me. They are most careful of the mail down in the colony. They have even had the cheek to keep all the Transvaal mail down in Cape Town which arrived there the first three or four weeks after the war began. Mr. MACRUM did his best to get the American mail sent up, around by Delagoa Bay and all the consuls made a big row about it, but to no purpose as yet. We hear every now and then that it is expected soon. Mr. MACRUM advised the United States government to send all mails for us via the German or French steamers down the East coast and your letter must have come that way. This keeps our letters out of English hands. and saves their officials the trouble of reading them.
They have the satisfaction of censoring to their hearts content all the cables going to Europe, but they can hardly prevent us sending mail through on a German boat. It is a blessing to us in more ways than one that England has not control over Delagoa Bay. This is queer war in this respect, that the Boers win their victories so easily and with so little loss, while they are fighting against far famed troops of Great Britain.
It is hard to believe, but it is true, that the loss on the English side in killed and wounded and prisoners is at least ten to one of that on the Boer’s side. From Natal papers we get the official lists of the English losses. Both sides exaggerate largely the losses of the enemy. Some statements in the home papers and even in the Outlook about the battles here are most amusing. An Ohio paper reported 500 Boers, killed in a battle outside Mafeking while not that many have been killed or fatally wounded in the whole war up to date. (Dec. 30)
Then 1500 were blown up by dynamite.
Mafeking is untouched and surrounded by dynamite mines, but the Boers know it and they do not get blown up.
It is reported that the Irish of Philadelphia have given $25,000 for Red Cross work here. I hope it is true Germany and Holland have sent out fully equipped hospital corps, and we have heard that one from Russia is on the way. The Maine is coming too I suppose with her thirty nurses for the English, who need hospitals more than the Boers. People suggested that when the Germans and Hollanders came out that we send them to the English with the message that we didn’t need them.
I have been surprised at the inhumane way in which the English have left their dead and wounded to the care of the Boers. After the battle of Stormberg when Gen. GATACRE had to retreat he left 27 dead and over 70 wounded where they fell. Our Red Cross train received from wagons at Bethulie, O. F. S. 70 wounded English and took them to the hospital at Bloemfontein. They were brought in across the veldt in wagons. They said that their people pick up the wounded officers first, and if they have time they take the privates who are not very bad. If they think a man will die they just leave him where he is to save trouble. War is so cruel and heathenish.
The battle near Scholtz Nek where the Black Watch and the Gordons were so cut up was it seems to me, the most terrible of the war. By a very clever trick Gen. CRONJE drew tne English regiments right down between two bills where the most of his army were lying with their Mausers.
When the English were near, the Dutch opened fire and the Black Watch fell like fruit from a shaken tree. After the battle of Colenso it is said that when Gen. BOTHA saw the piles of English dead on the field he broke down in tears at the thought that his men had needed to do that. The Dutch know how to fight and tney do fight well, but they are not cruel.
I am for the present with Dr. and Mrs. GUNNING. Dr. GUNNING is a finely educated Hollander who has charge of the state museum here in ordinary times. He is now in charge of the temporary prison for the English where Churchill was. They have now in this prison 85 officers. He has made it possible for them to draw books from the library and it is interesting to note the different lines of reading they follow. One Colonel takes only Zola; another history by Motley, Carlyle and the like; another the very lightest fiction; Colonel MULLER chooses only books on South Africa. One of their number is a Dutch clergyman, and he has three Dutch classes among them. One officer has organised a signalling class; and so they pass the time. They have twenty privates there as servants and by paying three shillings a day they have procured a mess which is very good.
Lords ROBERTS and KITCHENER are expected to arrive in South Africa on Wednesday, and the Boers have the past few day put forth all their energies to do what they can before their arrival. You will know that an attempt is being made to take Ladysmith and it is expected to fall soon.”

KYA ROSA

Kya Rosa, a house in Skinner Street, was a love declaration built in 1895 by Leo WEINTHAL, then owner of The Press (today Pretoria News) to his wife, Rosa. Kya (kaia) means house in Zulu. It later became the home of the Transvaal University College (TUC), the predecessor of the University of Pretoria. The university was established in 1908 with four professors and 32 students.

By 1915, the house was no longer in use. In 1980, the university commissioned the construction of a replica of the house where it stands today – at the Roper Street entrance to the university. Precise measurements were taken from the original building and old photographs were used as reference to ensure that the reconstructed building closely resembles the original house. Many of the original Victorian fittings were used in the reconstruction.

THE GRAY AND TYLER FAMILIES

The GRAY and TYLER families and Cordelia were very close through their common residence in St Johnsbury, Vermont.

Josiah TYLER was born on 09 July 1823 in Hanover, Grafton, New Hampshire, the son of Rev. Bennet D. TYLER (president of Dartmouth College) and Esther STONE. He graduated from Amherst College in 1845 and East Windsor Theological Seminary in Connecticut in 1848. He married Susan Wright CLARK on 27 February 1849 in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was ordained on 28 February 1849 and sailed for South Africa a few weeks later under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Other Congregational church missionaries joined the couple as they sailed together for the Zulu mission in Natal. Josiah was mostly stationed at Esidumbini Mission Station, which he founded in 1849. In 1882 he was stationed at Umsundusi Mission Station. He published three books: Livingston’s Life Work: Or Africa and its Explorers; Livingston Lost and Found; and Forty Years Among the Zulus.

During his final years, his health was poor. A week before his death, he delivered an address at the Congress on Africa, held in Atlanta, Georgia. He died on 20 December 1895 of heart disease in Asheville, Buncombe, North Carolina. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in St Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., Vermont.

Susan Wright CLARK was born on 22 March 1828 in Northampton, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. She died on 17 November 1887 in Umsunduzi, Natal. She had been in poor health for some time. Her daughter, Martha, living in St Johnsbury, was cabled in the latter part of 1887 and set sail for South Africa but did not arrive until early December. Susan’s funeral was conducted in Zulu.

Josiah returned to the US in 1889 and lived with his son in St Johnsbury.

Josiash and Susan’s children:

1) Edward Bennet TYLER was born on 23 May 1851 in Natal. He died on 22 June 1892 in Alpine, San Diego Co., California.

2) Mary Williams TYLER was born in 1854 in Natal. She died in 1946 and was buried at the Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria. She was educated at Maplewood Institute in Massachusetts. After returning to Natal, she taught and worked as a missionary.

On 24 March 1886, she married Rev. James GRAY (1852-1938) at Umsindisi. He was a Presbyterian minister who had left Scotland in 1883 when ill health forced him to seek a healthier climate in South Africa. He settled in Harrismith in 1883, where he established a Presbyterian church. He conducted the first Presbyterian service in Johannesburg in 1887, in the unfinished building of the Heights Hotel in Doornfontein. This led to the formation of the congregation of St. George’s in 1888. He also founded St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Pretoria in 1889. President KRUGER laid the foundation stone of the St Andrew’s Church in Schoeman Street.

In late 1899, during the Anglo-Boer War, Mary and the children left Pretoria for Natal. The local newspaper in St Johnsbury published Mary’s wartime letters. During the war, James left Pretoria to work as a chaplain for the Scots Fusiliers.

He was interested in literature and had an extensive library of over 6000 books. Together with Frederick Thomas NICHOLSON (1856-1920), he collected £700 for the establishment of a state library in Pretoria. After the fall of Pretoria in June 1900, he was appointed state librarian and held this position until 1902. He was also chaplain to the local military hospitals at the same time.

In 1903 Mary and her husband visited Cordelia in England. In July 1903, Mary arrived in St Johnsbury to visit her siblings. Cordelia and her husband joined her on the voyage from England.

Rev. GRAY travelled to Bulawayo and Salisbury to establish the Presbytery of Rhodesia. In 1909, he moved to Grahamstown, where he was a minister at Trinity Church until 1920, when he returned to Johannesburg and ministered at the Clifton Congregation. He retired from active ministry in March 1928. The University of the Witwatersrand recognised his contribution to the city of Johannesburg by awarding him an LL.D. (honoris causa) in 1933. In 1934 he was invited to unveil the Livingstone statue at the Victoria Falls. He died at home in Kensington in November 1938.

Mary was committed to the upliftment and enfranchisement of women; she was involved with the Christian Women’s Temperance Union and belonged to the Institute of Race Relations. She wrote several booklets, including A Long Trek: Memories of Mary W. Tyler Gray; Some Americans and Their Achievements in South Africa; and Stories of the Early American Missionaries in South Africa.

Mary and James’ children:

a) Marion Amethyst GRAY was born on 02 September 1888 in Harrismith. She died on 11 November 1893 in New York City. She was buried at Bridge Street Cemetery in Northampton, Hampshire.

b) Frances Helen GRAY was born on 22 June 1890 in the Transvaal. She died on 08 March 1906. She was a flower girl at Cordelia’s wedding.

c) Elizabeth Tyler GRAY was born on 05 December 1892 in the Transvaal. She died on 14 September 1921. She was a flower girl at Cordelia’s wedding.

d) Alan Theodore GRAY was born on 24 November 1898 in Pretoria. He died on 16 September 1917. During World War I, Alan, a flight sub-lieutenant with 1 Squadron Royal Naval Air Services, went missing on 16 August 1917 in northern France. His parents in Grahamstown learnt about his capture as a prisoner of war in October 1917, but they received no further updates. His parents wrote to the Spanish king in May 1918, expressing their concern and mentioning that they had heard the King of Spain was involved in efforts to trace prisoners. They included a photograph of Alan in the letter. Mabel MASHOURN also sent a letter from Connecticut, dated 04 November 1917, requesting a search for Alan. The daughter of the Marquess of Movellán, Carmen Sánchez de Movellán, resided in France and was instrumental in uncovering Alan’s fate. It was later confirmed that he was killed in action and was not taken prisoner of war. His Sopwith Triplane (N6304) was last seen over Ypres, shot down in Zillebeke Lake.

3) Susan (Susie) Esther TYLER was born on 20 March 1856 in Pietermaritzburg. She died on 10 February 1948 in South Natick, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. She was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in St Johnsbury. She lived in Burlington, Vermont.

4) William Chester TYLER was born on 13 May 1859 in Natal. He died on 09 October 1933 in LaGrange, Cook Co., Illinois. He was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in St Johnsbury.

He arrived in the USA when he was 12 years old and graduated from St Johnsbury Academy. His first marriage was to Laura Leland BROOKS in 1884 in St Johnsbury. He graduated from the Theological Seminary in East Windsor Hill, Connecticut. He settled in LaGrange in 1908. His second marriage was to Etta Adeline SINGER in 1920 in Chicago. While living in St Johnsbury, he worked for E & T Fairbanks & Company and later for Brooks-Tyler Dry Goods Company. He moved to Chicago in about 1913 and worked for Blakesly Printing Company.

5) Martha (Mattie) Goddard TYLER was born on 07 May 1861 in Natal. She died in 1933 and was buried at Greenmount Cemetery in Burlington, Chittenden Co., Vermont.

She married Matthew Henry BUCKHAM. It was his second marriage. He was president of the University of Vermont from 1871 to 1910.

6) Nellie Clark TYLER was born in June 1868 in Natal. She died on 26 September 1936 at the Old People’s Home, 36 Jefferson Street in Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut. She was buried at Bridge Street Cemetery in Northampton, Massachusetts. She arrived in the USA in 1886 and was a naturalised citizen. She was a registered nurse in the Army Nurse Corps during the Spanish-American War. From 1900 to 1930, she was single and working as a nurse in Hartford.