▶Date of birth:   1855       Place of birth: Peterborough

▶Father: Henry Pratt      Mother: Mary Anne Davys

▶Spouse(s):  Gratiana Sophia Margaret Wilson    Date(s) of marriage: 9 September1884      Place(s) of marriage: Bibury, Gloucestershire

▶Occupation: Clergyman (Anglican)

▶Lifestory: (Henry) Madan Pratt spent much of his Church life based in Glougcestershire; he moved to Pittville in his retirement. Pratt was born in Peterborough in 1855, the son of the Revd. Canon Henry Pratt, of Peterborough, who was Rector of Shepton Mallet when his son Henry was born, and his wife Mary Anne (née Davys). Pratt was educated at Harrow School 1869-72, and matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1874, BA 1879, MA 1881.

Pratt entered holy orders and was ordained Deacon in 1880, and Priest (both Bath and Wells) in 1881. In 1880 he was licensed Curate of Castle Cary, Somerset 1880, and moved on to Bibury, Gloucestershire in 1881; in 1884 he married Gratiana Sophia Margaret, daughter of Mathew Wharton Wilson, of Abington Manor, at Bibury: they had four daughters.

He was appointed Rector of Great Witcombe, Gloucestershire in 1884, and of Sherborne with Windrush, Gloucestershire in 1886. In 1888 he qualified as a Magistrate for Gloucestershire; “extremely fond of country life, he hunted, played cricket, encouraged his parishioners to play outdoor games, and was a practical agriculturalist”. He left Sherborne in 1892 to take up the post of Rector of Alford with Hornblotton, back in Somerset 1892-6, transferring as Rector to Great Risington, Gloucestershire 1896-1914; in 1901 he was elected to represent Bourton-on-the-Water as a Conservative member of Gloucestershire County Council (he resigned three years later).

Finally he assumed the post of Rector of Cottesbrooke, Northamptonshire 1914-19. In his retirement he moved to Cheltenham, and lived at Southern House (now 28) Albert Road, Pittville; in April 1920 he sat on the bench at the Cheltenham Police Court. In 1934 he gave his Cheltenham address as the New Club, on the Promenade, and 5 Bayshill Terrace, St George’s Road, though at his death later in 1934 he was at 7 Suffolk Square in Cheltenham; he died at the age of seventy-nine, and his wealth at death was sworn at just under £19,950.

▶Moved to Pittville from:  Cheltenham      Moved from Pittville to: (deceased)

▶Date of death:    28 August 1934    Place of death:  Cheltenham

▶Date of burial:         Place of burial:

▶Notes: Western Daily Press 30 August 1934       ID: 14478

Contributor(s):  John Simpson/Alan Munden