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Rooted in Northampton

Rooted in Northampton
Rooted in Northampton

When the composer Sir Malcolm Arnold’s parents, William Arnold and Annie Hawes, got married in Northampton in 1907, two important families were brought together. Malcolm Arnold’s family tree:

Called Rooted in Northampton: The Arnolds and the Haweses, the book contains a large amount of genealogical information, newspaper cuttings and photos, and is a valuable reference work, not only for information on Malcolm Arnold’s ancestors but for finding out about life in Northampton in past times.

The book is 190 pages in large format (A4)

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The riches really emerge, however, with the enormous wealth of researched materials that unfold in the book’s second chapter, tracing the development of the Arnold family through an abundance of newspaper cuttings between 1850 and 1950.

Review from the Light Music Society

This book addresses, in style and with plentiful photographs and document extracts, a recondite subject and does it with every appearance of being definitive.

Review from MusicWeb International

When the composer Sir Malcolm Arnold’s parents, William Arnold and Annie Hawes, got married in Northampton in 1907, two important families were brought together. The Arnolds originated as farm labourers in the nearby village of Everdon, but became involved in Northampton’s boot and shoe industry, and the Arnold family ran not one but two major factories in the town. The Haweses were a musical family, Annie’s great-grandfather being the composer, William Hawes, who introduced Weber’s Der Freischütz to England; his daughter Maria was a noted singer, for whom Mendelssohn wrote the contralto part in Elijah. Annie’s aunt and cousins also married into some important Northampton families: the Ratliffes, who were brewers, the Mulliners, who were car makers, and the Rays, who were Mayor and Mayoress in 1928-29.

Alan Poulton has collected together a large amount of information and photos from newspapers and other sources to detail the lives of these ancestors of Malcolm Arnold. They give an impression of life in Northampton over the centuries and introduce us to some of the personalities who influenced the development of the town and who form the backdrop to Malcolm Arnold’s early years. On the way, we meet bankruptcy and libel, business successes and failures, philanthropic endeavours, royal visits and mayoral elections, local politics and church officialdom, to say nothing of the musical achievements of the Arnold and Hawes families.

From the back cover of Rooted in Northampton: The Arnolds and the Haweses: Malcolm Arnold’s family tree