DEATH OF MR. M. R. JOSEY
His Fine Work at Droitwich Church
The death occured recently at Margate [Shepherds Bush] of Mr. Maurice R. Josey, the clever mosaicist, who, with his assistant, executed the whole of the magnificent mosaic work in the Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Catherine, Droitwich.
His work, extended over a period of nearly 13 years, has been greatly admired by thousands of visitors from far and wide, and his interpretation in mosaic of the designs of Mr Gabriel Pippett are a splendid example of craftsmanship combined with great patience and a devotion to duty.
Mr. Josey’s work has provided Droitwich with one of the finest examples of mosaic decoration in the world, and the lovely interior of the church will be a lasting memorial to him.
Mr. Josey resided in Droitwich during the latter years of work at the church and it is a matter of regret that his death deprived him of the opportunity of returning to execute the mosaic work which is to be carried out in the new chapel to St. Richard, now in the course of erection.
‘Guardian’ Droitwich Spa and District, 1938
Notes
The mosaics in the St Richard chapel were completed by Maurice’s younger brother Tom.
Death of Mr M. R. Josey
The Josey family has its origins in Aldworth, Berkshire, England because this is where the name was first written this way, seemingly by a clergyman at a baptism around 1746. The line can be traced back to Timothie Jose born c.1640, who lived in Aldworth.
The Josey name can now be found across the world from the UK to USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and other places too – wherever you are, we’d like to hear from you.
Some newspaper cuttings have come to light recently in family papers regarding the mosaics at Westminster Abbey Cathedral, London.
One of the articles (unknown publication at the moment) mentions the ‘head man, Josey’, the other article is from The Catholic Times.
In due course these will be scanned and also transcribed for the website.
There is a Josey family tree at Ancestry.co.uk which starts with Timothie Jose in 1640 in Berkshire, England. All Joseys are welcome to view and join. It would be a great help if people could add their line. This could become the biggest Josey tree ever.
View the Josey Family Tree
Contact me with a request to join if you would like to contribute.
Welcome to the new-look Josey family website. It’s been around 10 years since the first Josey website appeared on the web and there have been a few different looks and even a change of domain name.
In the early days, I created a HTML family tree which was so complicated and a real mess to work with. These days there are great resources on the web for making a family tree such as genesreunited and ancestry. These sites make finding each other’s trees a lot easier too.
The site is now built upon the Wordpress format, which makes it easy to update and easy for people to contribute. The ‘look’ of the site will be improved over time. The content will grow and grow.
Over the past decade, many Joseys have emailed me about their connection to the Aldworth, Berkshire Joseys, or have requested more information. A lot of these Joseys already had a good idea about their own ancestry. Some had found the site when searching their surname and never realised that they ‘originated’ in Berkshire, England – the surname Josey came about by a mispelling at a baptism.
I’d like to thank all those that have written to me over the last 10 years. It was a rewarding feeling knowing that people around the world had found the little website I made. It has sometimes exceeded expectations. Sometimes, I’ve been able to pass on contact details for people who are quite closely related.
It should be said that my part has been in putting some information on the web. The credit for genealogy research belongs to many people, including Diana Wetherall of Berkshire and Linda Josey of Australia.
I hope that more Joseys will find this website useful in future.
Alan Wyatt
Torquay, England
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