John spent his days surrounded by other men whether he was at work, at the chapel or in the Council chamber. He must regularly have encountered men he knew from his schooldays such as his fellow Alderman Joseph Thompson, but we don't know the names of his particular friends. Alice, her daughter Mary wrote, "being so lovable and sympathetic" was "endeared to many".[1] Mary names four special friends: Miss Margaret Harrison, Miss J Knox Smith, Mrs West and Mrs Haworth. A quick look at these friends might help cast more light on Alice and her interests and sympathies.
Mrs Haworth was probably Mary Ann, the widow of Dr George Haworth, who lived nearby in Oxford Road and had five children who were much the same age as Alice's own children.
I think Mrs West was the widow of John West, who ran a well known gas meter manufactury at Oldham. Elizabeth West lived with her children at 151 Plymouth Grove, not far from Alice. She was clearly a woman of some enterprise and energy – when her husband died, she ran the business for a time. Born in Manchester and the same age as Alice, she shared Alice's love of gardens. Alice wrote of the garden at Grove House, their home from 1874
Our garden is lovely; the shadows fall so beautifully. There are some special elements of beauty about this place; it is a privilege to have something to feast the eye upon [2]
Mrs West was a life member of the Royal Manchester Botanical and Horticultural Society. In the Manchester Courier of 14 May 1880, I find her listed as one of the Lady Visitors at the Northern Counties Hospital for the Incurables in Ardwick Green for the week beginning 17 May. Her fellow Lady Visitor was "Mrs Hopkinson, Grove House". I wonder if this was actually Alice or whether it should have read "Miss Hopkinson", and it was really Mary, always an energetic volunteer worker, who was going to the Hospital that week.
 |
| Royal Society of Chemistry landmark at the site of Dr Angus Smith's laboratory in Grosvenor Square, Manchester, by Duncan Hull |
Dr Angus Smith's wide interests included spiritualism and his native Scotland. Jessie evidently shared Alice's love of mountain scenery. She and her uncle must have spent long hours beside Loch Etive, north of Oban, as she provided the delicate illustrations for Dr Angus Smith's book Loch Etive and the sons of Uisnach (which can be read online at the National Library of Scotland website).
Miss Harrison was a particularly close friend who came from near Skipton. Her Christian name was Margaret but she was always known to the Hopkinsons as Sissie. Fourteen years Alice's junior, she was the younger sister of Dr William Harrison, the husband of Alice's sister Lizzie.
