A Literary Mystery
JEROME K.Jerome’s classic Victorian comic novel, Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog! (1889) is still in print today, yet until recently little was known about its original illustrator.
Amongst the new discoveries is the fact that many of his relatives lived in Wokingham, one was even married to the town’s mayor, and that he and at least seven members of his family were buried in St Paul’s churchyard.
Frederick Arthur Hipp (1849-1929), later known as Arthur Frederics, was a descendant of the official baker to King George III. His grandfather, George Frederick Hipp, moved to Wokingham shortly before he died in 1857, and most of his children (three of Arthur’s aunts and an uncle) had also arrived in the area by 1860 and are all buried in St Paul’s churchyard.
Arthur himself was born in London but studied at Reading School of Art, as had his eldest sister, Amelia, who by 1861 was living with three of their aunts in Station Road, Wokingham.
It is thus likely that Arthur also stayed there as a student.
After graduating, Arthur returned to London where he trained as a stained-glass artist and worked briefly as an actor before becoming an illustrator and theatrical costume designer.
It was in 1889, shortly before he left Britain with his wife and three children to work in Australia, that Three Men in a Boat appeared with his illustrations.
Meanwhile,in1867, his sister Amelia had married Tyndale Heelas, grandson of the founder of the Heelas department store and later mayor of Wokingham.
They lived in three properties named Weston House, first in the Market Place, then in Murdoch Road and finally in Sturges Road where Amelia died in 1922. She is buried in St Paul’s churchyard.
Arthur’s older sister, Edith, also lived in Wokingham, staying with their aunts in Station Road for more than 30 years before moving to Fair View Road, near Murdoch Road. She and another older sister, Jesse, are also buried in St Paul’s.
In addition Emma, Arthur’s younger sister, lived in the Sturges Road house in the early 1920s.
After returning from Australia, Arthur continued to work in London but occasionally visited his nephew Frank Heelas, Amelia’s fourth son, at the Mill House, Emmbrook, in the early 1920s.
However, by 1926 he had become ill with a heart condition and moved to Wokingham to be with the remains of his family.
His children still lived in Australia, where his estranged wife had died in 1923, and five of his six siblings had died before him – three of whom are buried in St Paul’s.
At the time of his death on December 28, 1929, Arthur was living at ‘Hensington’, Edneys Hill, which was still standing in the 1950s but later demolished.
His death was registered by his nephew Arthur Tyndale Heelas, Amelia’s eldest son and by then head of Heelas Ltd, another resident of Fair View Road.
However, three mysteries remain. The first is where exactly in Wokingham did Arthur’s grandfather, George Frederick Hipp die, and where is he buried?
The second is where exactly was Arthur himself buried in St Paul’s churchyard? No trace of either has yet been found.
The third mystery concerns Montmorency, the dog from Three Men in a Boat.
Jerome was adamant that he was entirely fictional, though the story was based on the real-life adventures and himself and two friends, but a copy of the book owned by William Smith of the Jerome K Jerome Society seems to suggest otherwise.
It is inscribed by Doreen Heelas, Arthur’s great-niece, daughter of Amelia’s third son, from Weston House, stating: “This is one of the original ‘author’s copies’ given to E.G.Heelas (my father) by the author.
“The book is illustrated by Grandma’s brother, A. Fredericks [sic]. Jerome K Jerome, the author, was a great friend of the Heelas family and often visited them.
“The dog Montmorency died during one of these visits and was buried in the garden at Weston House.”
A photograph of the dog was also enclosed. Is it possible that Arthur could have based his drawings on his sister’s pet? And, if so, might the garden of one of the buildings once known as Weston House contain his mortal remains?
As Jeremy Nicholas, the actor and writer, and President of the Jerome K. Jerome Society, said regarding Arthur Frederics: “It is very sad to learn that the grave of this important artist cannot be found.
“It would be very fitting if a memorial plaque or headstone could be erected to his memory in the town in which he died.”
Perhaps it might also be nice to mark the final resting place of Montmorency the dog?
Dr Mark Bryant lives in South London and is a member of the Jerome K. Jerome Society. His recent anthology, Dogs: Stories and Poems contains a number of extracts featuring Montmorency’s adventures from Three Men in a Boat.
