Frederick Carkeet William Bryant
Life in Elmbridge
Frederick Bryant acquired Woodlands Park as a country house in 1879, and substantially rebuilt it in 1885. There is an article about the building work in 'The Builder' of 20th November 1886. 'The Victorian Country House' by M. Girouard (OUP, 1971) asserts it was one of the first country houses to have electric light in the 1880s.
He married Lillian Hoddle, only daughter of Edgar Harry Howell of Blackheath, Surbiton and Reigate, on 23 May 1883 at Westminster. Frederick died only five years later in 1888.
He is buried in Stoke d'Abernon church yard.
Life outside Elmbridge
Frederick Carkeet Bryant was the son of William Bryant (joint founder of the match company Bryant & May) and Ann Jago Carkeet. He was a twin, born on 30 March 1843 at Falmouth and subsequently educated at Weymouth School, Plymouth, then Weston-upon-Mare.
In 1877 a patent was awarded to Frederick Carkeet Bryant, of the Fairfield Works, Bow, in the county of Middlesex, for the invention of "improvements in machinery for applying igniting composition to match boxes."
In 1884 Frederick, with his older brother and senior partner in the firm, Wilberforce, registered Bryant and May Ltd, with a large capital. The financial press was soon condemning the firm's annual reports as 'the most cynically meagre and imperfect documents published by any board in the country', and using insider dealings to rig the share prices for its own ends (Financial News).
The year of Frederick's death was also the year of the 'Match-Girls' Strike at the Bow match making factory of Bryant & May in protest at inhumane employment conditions and the dangers of continual exposure to yellow phosphorus. Frederick was at that time the Managing Director of Bryant & May.
The matchgirls had their main grievances, arbitrary fines and deductions, remedied, and secured the right to a trade union, albeit short-lived, collapsing after a strike in 1903.