Meet the Robinsons
Jummy belonged to Mark Heaton Robinson and his wife Emma. Mark was born in Kent in 1844, and Emma Louisa Webb Richmond in 1847 in Hampshire. They married in Richmond in 1864, when both were under-age, and went on to have 16 children, incredibly all of whom were living at the time of the 1911 census.
Their marriage certificate reveals Mark’s father was a commander in the Royal Navy while Emma’s was a surgeon. Mark’s career evolved over the years. At the time of their marriage and the 1871 census, he was working as a clerk in the Admiralty, which isn’t surprising given his father’s profession. Ten years later he was a manager for the brewers Watney & Co, and in subsequent census returns he appears as an engineer and company owner.
About 1880, Mark became the partner of talented engineer, Peter William Willans, who started Willans and Co to manufacture engines. As Willans and Robinson, Peter and Mark expanded the original business at the Ferry Works, Thames Ditton, to construct both engines and steam yachts. Their constant high speed stationary engines were particularly suited to driving dynamos and the company prospered as the electricity industry expanded. Tragically, Peter Willans was killed in 1892 by a fall from his pony chaise and Robinson took over as Chairman. At their peak, nearly 70% of the country’s electrical power was generated by the company’s engines.
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Mark and his family moved from West London to Rugby when the company expanded. The Rugby works opened in 1896, covering a 20-acre site, followed by another factory at Queensferry, North Wales. But in the early years of the twentieth century the company experienced a dramatic downturn in profits. There was ‘decidedly slow trade’ in 1903 and in April 1904, losses resulted in no payment of shareholder dividends. Robinson ascribed this to several issues: a general decline in trade, the fact Queensferry had yet to make a profit (the works were closed in 1906) plus an increase in competition and improvements to rival designs.
In June 1904, the Robinsons, who were living in Overslade, a suburb of Rugby, made the move to London, to No.9 Belsize Grove in Hampstead. This was a substantial property, but given the size of their family, they needed a large house.
Meet Jummy, ‘an ordinary medium-sized black cat’
Seven-year-old Jummy was the family pet and he travelled in style from Rugby inside a box in the family car. By all accounts he wasn’t particularly pleased by the move, but the final straw came when the furniture arrived, and he decided enough was enough. A few weeks later several newspapers reported his amazing arrival back in Rugby, with titles such as ‘Cat’s Record Walk’. His trek was reprised as far afield as Cleveland Ohio, and a postcard of Jummy was printed. It describes him as, ‘The Cat which walked from Hampstead to Rugby, a distance of 85 miles, June 1904’.
Postcard of Jummy (Marianne Colloms)
Did he walk or was Jummy ‘carried’?
There are many reports of animals travelling long distances, returning to old haunts. But they tended to take a long time, maybe years, to travel as far as Jummy was supposed to have done. Although he was thin and his coat was tangled, neighbours recognised Jummy when he turned up in Overslade. One theory is that he might have travelled on a canal barge, but if he had such a good sense of direction, why would Jummy walk south to the Regent’s Canal instead of northwest, in the direction of Rugby. Marianne has another suggestion. Several years ago, a neighbour’s cat disappeared for a year, only to resurface living about five miles away. It seems the cat jumped into a delivery van, making his exit at the van’s next stop. His identity was discovered when the new owner took him to the vet and found the cat was ‘chipped’. Marianne thinks it’s more likely that Jummy escaped London inside one of the pantechnicon furniture vans that returned to Rugby. No matter how he got back, it’s a great story!
What happened to the Robinsons?
They stayed in Belsize Park for a few years. The 1911 census shows Mark and Emma had moved to Fassett Road Kingston upon Thames, by which time Mark had resigned from Willans and Robinson, due to ill health. He opened his own mechanical engineering business, H.E.C Robinson in Chiswick, moving to the Heaton Works, Strand on the Green, by 1921. He died two years later at his home in Kingston upon Thamas.
What happened to Jummy?
It’s always satisfying to be able to tie up the loose ends of a story, but in this instance, we don’t know what happened to Jummy. Here’s hoping he lived to a ripe old age.
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