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Tag Archives: Thomas Mayer

The Mayer Family (Part 2)

15 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by Newcastle-under-Lyme Civic Society in Newsletter, Plaques

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Newsletters, Notable Local People, Thomas Mayer

By Diana Bevan

 

The veterinary practice in Queen Street, Newcastle, was established there in 1813 by Thomas Mayer (1764-1835) and his son, also Thomas, born 1791.

The sons of the younger Thomas also became vets. They were Thomas Walton Mayer and John Smith Mayer.

In 1835, when Thomas Mayer senior died, his grandson Thomas Walton Mayer, newly qualified, joined the family veterinary practice. So continued “Thomas Mayer and Son” of Queen Street.

The Royal Veterinary College in London had been founded in 1791 but there were no regulated standards or independent governing body for veterinary matters. There was disagreement nationally about this and Thomas Mayer and his son became involved.

They personally contacted every vet in the country urging support for a petition to the Privvy Council for a Royal Charter.

A committee was formed and the campaign started. After many setbacks they achieved their objective. In 1844, a “Charter” was granted to the “Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons”, a governing body at last.

Thomas Mayer and Son of Newcastle-under-Lyme had made their mark in the veterinary world.

The elder Thomas Mayer died in 1848 and his two sons then ran the practice in Queen Street, not always amicably it seems.

Both were active in civic life in the Borough of Newcastle, and in particular Thomas Mayer.

He had been elected to serve as a Newcastle Burgess and was a town councillor and magistrate.

He was a founder and committee member of Newcastle Literary and Scientific Institute.

From 1849-50 he was Mayor of Newcastle.

His book “Canine Pathology” was published.

Meanwhile the personal life of Thomas Walton Mayer was very complicated.

His first wife Mary Walters had died in 1841 leaving him with a young daughter. He remarried in 1844, Alice Mayer and they had two sons, one of whom died in 1850.

The 1851 Census indicates that Thomas and his wife were not living in the same household.

Alice Mayer was living in Wolverhampton. Thomas W. Mayer was living in Newcastle with his son and two servants. Sarah Millward, Nursery Governess, had lived with the family for over ten years and in 1848 had borne his child. She had a second son in 1852.

Shortly afterwards, Thomas made the decision to leave Newcastle and the family veterinary practice. He and Sarah Millward set up home together. Early in 1854 he joined the army and became a vet in the Royal Engineers and went immediately to the Crimean War.

In the summer of 1856, he returned to England. Alice, his second wife had been working as a governess in Suffolk and she died there in the August of 1856.

Two months later Thomas married Sarah Millward in London. They were living in Gillingham in Kent in 1861 where the census recorded him as Walter Mayer. A daughter was born at Aldershot in September 1861.

He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1867 before retiring from the army in 1871. He then became a college lecturer in veterinary science and also returned to practice for a while.

In later years he went through a difficult time financially. He died in Aldershot in 1887 and was buried in the military cemetery there.

John Smith Mayer had pursued other business interests as well as his veterinary work. He died in 1863.

So ended the veterinary connection of the Mayer family to Newcastle-under-Lyme, except that their houses, stable block and old veterinary surgery are still there in Queen Street.

Recently Newcastle-under-Lyme Civic Society placed one of their blue plaques on the old surgery. It is a reminder of the achievement of ‘Thomas Mayer and Son’ who led the successful campaign leading to the foundation of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 1844.

THE MAYER FAMILY

15 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by Newcastle-under-Lyme Civic Society in Newsletter

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Newsletters, Notable Local People, Thomas Mayer

Contributed by Diana Bevan

Most people could tell you that there is a veterinary practice in the Brampton but I suspect that very few know the fascinating story behind the Mayer family who founded it in 1812.
Many families in Newcastle have the surname Mayer!  They may or may not be related.  There are several theories behind its origins.  Some claim it to be French.  Others say it has its roots in the village of Maer.
The spelling of the name varies, Mayer/Mare, and in North Staffordshire it is usually pronounced like the female horse!
Thomas Mare, baptised at St. Giles church, Newcastle, in 1732, was the son of a tailor, Thomas Mare and his wife Elizabeth (Viggars).
Thomas junior became a farrier, a trade which combined the skill of a blacksmith with that of a horse-doctor.  His training would have been a practical one, working with an experienced farrier, then maybe branching out on his own.
This family in question had at least five generations called Thomas Mayer/Mare, maybe more.
The next Thomas Mare was baptised at St. Giles in 1764.  He followed in his father’s footsteps and he too became a farrier.  He had a very successful business in the Ironmarket.  His son, Thomas, born in 1791, joined him there after training at the London Veterinary School.
This Thomas was well educated and ambitious
 In 1813 he married Mary Smith, and in the same year his father moved his business from the Ironmarket to Queen Street, where he had purchased a substantial house with land. (The house had been the home of John Pepper, a Newcastle architect and builder).

An extension provided for two households.  With great enterprise they also erected a purpose built veterinary surgery and a stables withy accommodation above it.
The 1818 Staffordshire Directory mentions the following:- Thomas Mayer and Son, Veterinary Surgeons, Queen Street.
Their investment paid off and their reputation grew.  They were acknowledged as experts in their field and counted amongst their patrons the Sneyds of Keele Hall and the Leveson-Gower family of Trentham.   (Later to become Duke of Sutherland in 1833).
The younger Thomas and his wife had five children.  Their two sons, Thomas Walton Mayer and John Smith Mayer both trained as vets.
Thomas Walton qualified in 1835. In that year his grandfather died aged seventy two and was buried in St. George’s churchyard opposite his house in Queen Street.
From 1835 onwards, Thomas Mayer and son continued but it was a different father and son!
So far this has been a family history story but the vets in Queen Street were always forward-looking and wanted progress not only in their business but in the veterinary world at large.
Since Thomas Mayer (born 1791) had qualified he had always dreamed of having a regulated and trained profession with practical skills and academic knowledge.
So it was that Thomas Mayer and his son, Thomas Walton Mayer led a campaign which led to the granting of the ‘Charter of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ in 1844.  This created a profession from what had formerly been a trade, and restricted the title ‘Veterinary Surgeon’ to qualified practitioners only.
In veterinary circles the name Mayer is legendary.
 The house, stables and surgery constructed around two hundred years ago remain In Queen Street.

Very soon there will be a Civic Society plaque on the old surgery to remember the achievement of the two Thomas Mayers of Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Look out for the continuing story of the Mayer family in the next issue; the problems, intrigue and scandal!

THE BLUE PLAQUE SCHEME UPDATE February 2009

07 Saturday Feb 2009

Posted by Newcastle-under-Lyme Civic Society in Plaques

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Charles Darwin, Emma Wedgwood, Fanny Deakin, Henry Faulds, Thomas Mayer

On Saturday 17th January members of the Fingerprint Society were in Newcastle to visit the home and grave of Dr Henry Faulds in Wolstanton and tour the Dr Henry Faulds Forensic Science Laboratory at Keele University. Dr Henry Faulds (1843 – 1930) was a medical missionary and pioneer in the science of fingerprint identification. He lived at 1, James Street, Wolstanton from 1922 to 1930.

The plaque to commemorate the marriage (29th January 1839)  of Charles Darwin to Emma Wedgwood has been handed over to “The Darwin Committee” for installation and unveiling in St Peter’s Church, Maer on 29th January 2009.  The plaque also commemorates the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.

We are currently considering commissioning plaques to mark the lives and works of Fanny Deakin (Kinsey Street, Silverdale) and Thomas Mayer (Queen Street, Newcastle).

Fanny Deakin was very active in local politics first as a Labour  Councillor and then as a Communist. She fought hard for better maternity care and to improve the welfare of babies and young children. In 1947 she achieved what most people remember her for when a maternity home was opened bearing her name for use by women in the Borough. To find out more visit the Newcastle Borough Council Website at http://www.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/leisure_content.asp?id=SX7EE1-A7808455&cat=1341

Thomas Mayer opened what is considered to be the country’s first veterinary surgery in Queen Street, Newcastle in 1812. He and his son led the campaign for the Royal Charter of the Veterinary Profession that was granted in 1844. The Mayer family played a major part in developing the role and professionalism of veterinary surgeons through improving standards of training and practice and the development of veterinary morals and ethics.

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