Ingatestone: Disney family

Received
6 September 2010

Chris Harvey is writing a history of Ingatestone United Reformed Church.

Hi Andrew,

I attach a photo I took last Saturday of the memorial to Edgar Disney in the Anglican Church at Ingatestone. I'm told there is an identical one at Blackmore. Are you able to confirm this please? Edgar Disney made available the land on which Ingatestone manse and hall were built - in fact I think the Disneys held a fair amount of real estate in Fryerning and Ingatestone – it’s a pity Hyde Hall was destroyed by fire in the 1960s.

Regards.

Chris


Replied
7 September 2010

Dear Chris

Thank you for your e mail. I was very interested to see the photograph of the Edgar Disney tablet from Ingatestone Church and can confirm that there is an identical one on the north wall of the Priory Church of St Laurence, Blackmore. Edgar Disney (1810 – 1881) was associated with Jericho Priory next to the church. I attach a document which has been transcribed onto my history website. (Go to http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/blackmorepriory.html). It includes the Blackmore version of the tablet.

In ‘The Journal’, September 2010, which is delivered to all in the CM4 postal district, there is an item on a ‘Presentation to St Edmund and St Mary’s Church of NADFAS Church Record’ which is the culmination of five years’ work by Church Recorders of the Brentwood & District Decorative and Fine Arts Society to record the entire fixtures and fittings of the church interior. The item specially mentions the memorial to Edgar Disney which “displays the heraldic ‘quarterings’ of 23 different families”. Two guided tours of the church are planned, to be led by Graham Brereton, the leader of the recording group. The first is on Thursday 30 September about ‘The Petre Family and Ingatestone Church’ and the second on Thursday 28 October entitled ‘What you may not know about Ingatestone Church’. Both meetings start at 8.00pm.

There is another, but different, memorial to the Disney family at Fryerning Church. The family are buried in a large vault to the north side of St Mary’s Church.

The Disney Family had a connection with The Hyde in Ingatestone. I believe Edgar’s father inherited and added to a large number of ancient artefacts which now form a collection in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. I must investigate this further.

A few years ago someone suggested that the family were associated with the famous cartoonist, Walt. I enquired via the internet with a family descendant who told me, in so many words, that this was a Mickey Mouse story.

Best wishes.

Andrew

Received
9 September 2010

Hello Andrew.

The memorial to Edgar Disney at Blackmore appears identical.

Re. the Brentwood & District FAS history. When I was at Ingatestone on Saturday, the church was open to the public. The man on welcoming duty showed me the NADFAS record, though it was not on open show. It is an excellent record with photographs of everything of interest and background information about the various artefacts, memorials etc. It has been produced to a very high professional standard and is in the form of typed A4 sheets (many photos of high quality) inserted into plastic pockets (for protection I assume) and filed in a large A4 hard backed binder. The folder is full and I guess it must comprise 100+ pages.

I am aware of the tours by Graham Brereton. He has also written a short article (available at the church) providing information about Thomas Hollis and the Disneys.

Walt Disney came from a separate branch of the family.

Regards

Chris