YOU might think the story of a bank collapsing has a decidedly 21st-century feel to it. Global economy troubles, Euro crises and all the rest. But not necessarily so.

Because the Farley, Lavender and Owen Bank went down the pan in Worcester in 1858, a long time before hedge funds, credit cards and even the introduction of the Gold Standard.

It owed its demise to the profligacy of one John Mathew Gutch, a man described as “wise in all things save the discharge of his business affairs”.

He had a particular weakness for fine art and spent a fortune on it.

Unfortunately, the money wasn’t his, but belonged to the bank, of which his wife’s father John Lavender was a partner. The result was the closure of the bank and much financial misery for many Worcester folk, most of whom could ill afford it.

However, and this does strike a familiar chord, the people at the top seem to have squirreled away sufficient funds to carry on regardless. To be fair to John Lavender, he had stepped back from the bank before its collapse and presumably invested his money wisely. But the shadow that Farley, Lavender and Owen cast over the community was a stain on the good name of his family.

The Lavenders rectified the matter in a most generous way and the legacy they left still stands proud in Worcester today.

This year, St Stephen’s Church, the family’s gift to the community, celebrates its 150th anniversary with a series of events, including a new play, A Gift to Barbourne, which has been written by Swan Theatre producer Ann Moore and tells the story of the church from its conception to the present day.

The production is based on the Lavender Legacy, the name given to the church’s history recorded by local historian Joan Harris for the Millennium. It will be performed by the Lavender Players, a group of enthusiastic members of the Barbourne community who have come together specially for the project. They may lack a Richard Burton or a Maggie Smith, but under Ann’s direction there could be an Oscar waiting for someone, especially for the rock ‘n’ roll dancing in the aisle of the church.

The play is also a fitting tribute to the sisters Jane and Mary Lavender, who spent their childhood at the family home Barbourne House, a Georgian residence on the north east side of Gheluvelt Park.

Jane never married, but Mary fell for the charms of John Gutch, who had already spent the fortune of his first wife. Something of a literary romantic, he was a friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge, but hopeless with money.

He must have been viewed with some suspicion by John Lavender, who had been Mayor of Worcester in 1833 and was a governor of the County Gaol. Lavender died in 1846 and it was the actions of his daughter Jane 11 years later which saved the family’s reputation.

In 1857, she donated money and land to build not only a new church, but also a day school nearby.

The church was consecrated on August 22, 1862, and parishoners became used to seeing the vicar, the Rev Thomas Gale Curtler, arriving on horseback from his residence at Bevere House and probably stabling his horse at a nearby hostelry, of which he would have had a choice.

Over the years, St Stephen’s has been the benefice of some interesting characters, none more so than the amiable Welshman in exile, the Rev Elvet Lewis, who regularly flew the Welsh flag over the church whenever his national team was playing rugby.

However, on one famous occasion, his love for the oval ball game got him into hot water with the diocesan authorities.

The induction of a new Bishop of Worcester is normally a three line whip event, which all the local clergy are supposed to attend.

But this time it clashed with the Wales v England match at Cardiff Arms Park.

“The one day in the year that is sacrosanct, boy,” he told me.

“Nothing interferes with Wales v England at Cardiff Arms Park.

When I gaze on the Arms Park I believe I have seen the Promised Land.”

So together with his friend and fellow eccentric Welshman the Rev T Malcolm Richards from across the city in St John’s parish, he produced a “sicknote” for the cathedral ceremony and the pair disappeared to Cardiff.

All was well, until the television cameras scanning the cheering crowd picked out two characters in clerical collars amid the gloom of a February afternoon.

They were spotted and there was some repenting of sins to be done once they returned over the Severn Bridge. “Ah, but it was worth it,”

said Mr Lewis. “Because Wales won.”

I do hope there is a place in A Gift for Barbourne for the character of the Rev Elvet Lewis, who is now sadly no longer with us, because in these financially challenging, bank collapsing times, we could all do with a smile now and again.

􀁥 A Gift for Barbourne will be performed in St Stephen’s Church, Barbourne, Worcester, at 7.30pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 4-6. Tickets, at £5, are available from the church, Johnsons Newsagents, Ombersley Road, by calling 01905 453818, or on the door.

 

PICTURE CAPTION: A PART TO PLAY:

First picture: Performers Lilly Bunn, Emily Forest, Maddie Dancox, Maddie Clerk-Newell, Anoushka Clerk-Newell and Millie Haywood.

Second Picture: Director Ann More, the Rev Jan Webb as Jane Lavender, Millie Haywood, Emily Forest, Karen Parkinson as a Land Army girl and the
Rev Canon Dr Stuart Currie.
Third Picture:  St Stephen’s Church.
Pictures by Bob Brierley.