tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85227652726812833922024-02-02T08:04:59.671+00:00Corsham CommemoratesCorsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-84415429756134099072019-08-16T15:12:00.000+01:002019-08-17T07:30:50.856+01:00Mushroom Culture At Corsham<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mushroom Farm</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">ing.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The outbreak and extended duration of
the war will have had an impact on local business with the loss of labour,
shortages of materials and changes in demand. It would though also have brought
opportunities as reported by the Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette in October 1914.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "franklin gothic heavy" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A
NEW INDUSTRY<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mushroom Culture at
Corsham<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Messrs. Agarric and Co. Ltd. have
leased a disused portion of the quarries of Yockney and Hartham Park Co. for
the purpose of cultivating mushrooms after the French methods. The area of the
grounds consists of 25 acres, each section comprising three acres. It is under
the local management of Mr. W. Pepler, assisted by Mr. Chibleur, and is
supervised by Mr.Durbec, one of the Directors of the above firm. Large Towns
such as Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Covent Garden (London), and the large
liners will be supplied direct, and it is anticipated that a large amount of
labour will soon be employed. The difficulty in the initial stages of the
industry is to get a sufficient supply of manure from the farmers and others,
but those who do co-operate in this way will be amply repaid later by the
re-sale to them at a cheap rate of the manure. Already local men are employed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Underground
Mushroom Farming in Bradford on Avon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While this
was just a snippet from the newspaper about Corsham in 1914 our research has
now been given life by an internet contact from France and the family of
Monsieur Chibleur named in the article. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gustave-Louis
Chibleur came to Corsham in 1914 as a specialist in Mushroom farming – known as
a <i>‘Champignoniste’</i> and worked with
the Agaric Company who had taken ownership of underground space in Pockeridge
Quarry. Gustave brought his family with
him and they lived on Westwells. It is known that he was in Corsham during the
whole of WW1 and until at least 1919.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We have access to an
underground map showing the location of the Agaric Quarry space under
Pockeridge and know that the business did indeed thrive and remained in
existence until 1928. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">By 1923 there
were</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">5 hectares</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">in cultivation producing up to</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">136,000 kilos</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">of mushrooms a year.[Victoria County
History of Wiltshire, Vol IV, p.250]</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> . The
extensive warren of underground chambers even needed its own Narrow gauge
railway and rudimentary ventilation system. P</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">roduction ended in 1928
when the area became infected with a fungal disease. The trade ceased
completely in 1939 at the start of WW2 and was transferred to Bradford-on-Avon.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; padding: 0cm;">Newspaper reports from
September and October 1915 indicate that residents who lived nearby the Quarry
were less than happy with the regular routine of bringing in the fresh manure needed
to nurture the mushrooms. The practice appears to have been that manure was
brought in by train and carted to the Quarry via Pickwick Road where the smell
was described as ‘something dreadful’. The Town Council were petitioned to do
something about the nuisance which also included flies and hornets and were
invited to live for a short time on Pickwick Road to witness the impact first
hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gustave-Louis
Chibleur and his family photographed in Corsham in 1917. The soldier is his son
visiting while on leave from the French Army.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In a linked
and interesting story, later survey of the quarry area used by the Mushroom
Company found that after the Company had moved out a local entrepreneur had
moved in to take advantage of the space and the privacy – they discovered a
die-press used to forge fake half-crown coins. Arrests were later made and it is
now another aspect to Corsham’s underground story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanks to the Chibleur family, Alan
Payne, Julian Carosi and Nick McCamley for contributions to the Mushroom story.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-91271730216585146562019-07-31T16:57:00.000+01:002019-07-31T16:57:05.970+01:00Corsham's Women of WW1<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The women of Corsham, particularly
the young women, saw opportunity, excitement and duty in support of the war
effort. In 1914 at the start of the war, Corsham had relatively recently
received and welcomed the Women’s Suffrage Pilgrimage marchers into the Town raising
personal expectations in many and the war then opened up chances that may not
previously have been imagined.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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</div>
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As part of the war effort, women were
needed in organisational, administrative and physical roles previously the
reserve of men, to step into positions of influence and responsibility at home,
and sometimes into pioneering roles abroad as women were recruited into the
Services.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The War Records of Corsham details
among the 719 people who served during the war some 24 women who took up the
call of the recruiting posters and took on a service role. Some of those women
are known through the work of the Corsham Red Cross Hospital, others are not so
well known and others are not so straightforward to trace or to research. All
though were clearly important at the time and we have tried to find out more
about them through ancestry records. In some cases families today may not even
know about their relatives war service. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is clear as well that these were
24 of many other women that may have had equal claim to an entry in the War
Records Book or whose war time efforts were not in a service uniform.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have any information about or
photographs of Corsham’s Women of World War 1 then please contact Corsham
Commemorates through the Corsham Town Hall.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Corsham’s Women of WW1<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b>Service<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Margaret Jesse Allen</div>
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Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps</div>
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Jessica Beszant</div>
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Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Service Reserve</div>
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Florence Bishop</div>
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Wilts VAD 30</div>
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Evelyn Nellie Blackmore</div>
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WRAF</div>
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Margaret Bryant</div>
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Women’s Land Army</div>
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Annette Ina Crisp</div>
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WRNS</div>
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Florence Emily Crisp</div>
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Supervisor of Forage LAAS</div>
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Edith Emily Gerrard</div>
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Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps and RAF Patrol</div>
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Mary Gerrard</div>
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Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps</div>
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Alice Goldney</div>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Commandant Wilts VAD 30</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Florence Hemmings</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
WRAF</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Lena Hemmings</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
WRAF</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Ada Honour</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
VAD Wilts 40</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Maria Mizen</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Women’s Land Army</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Esme Mildred Parkinson</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service </div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Gladys Frances Parkinson</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
D Pearce</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
WRAF</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Rhoda Ellen Pinnock</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
WRAF</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Laura J Rigden</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Supt of Stores LAAS</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Mrs Ada Scott</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps </div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Hilda Shewring</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Women’s Land Army</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Agnes Tennant</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Women’s Land Army</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Gertie Uncles</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Women’s Forage Corps</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Charlotte Hedworth-Williamson</div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 231.05pt;" valign="top" width="385">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
British Red Cross. Commandant Wilts VAD 40</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margaret Jessie Allen.</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Private Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary
Corps. Enlisted in the Sudan, May 17<sup>th</sup>
1917. Served in France at Rouen and Amiens. Discharged medically unfit, March
28<sup>th</sup> 1918. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margaret
Jessie Allen is recorded in the War Records of Corsham as serving in the Army
Auxiliary Corps. This was her married name at the time that the War Records
were compiled – she was born and raised in Corsham as <b>Jessie Neate</b>. She was born in 1899 to parents Henry and Emily (nee
West) living in Priory Road in Corsham.
Her father was a Stone Quarryman but had previously been a Groom when
the family lived briefly in Hampshire and also then worked as a Labourer for
the Rural District Council. Jessie was one of 10 surviving children living in
Priory Street in 1911; she was 12 then and still at school. She left school at
14 and by March 1916 was living and working in London – she was a booking clerk
working for the London Electric Railway Company. Her next of kin was named as
Mrs Bromage, an Aunt living in Paddington. Jessie was very keen to join the War
effort and named Miss Lapham from Corsham and the Revd Winnington-Ingram as
character references for her application to the Army Auxiliary Corps. She
eventually was allowed to enlist although her employers stated that she was
employed ‘substituting for a man called up to the colours’. Her application was
approved in July 1917 in London (not the Sudan as referenced in her War Records
citation). Her service was however very brief. She was sent to Rouen and was
also in Abbeville but as early as October 1917 was admitted to hospital with
Rheumatic Fever. She was stated to be prone to fainting on exertion and,
appearing before a Medical Board in February 1918, she was declared medically
unfit for further service. There is a record of Valvular Disease of the Heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jessie
returned to Corsham and after the war married Alexander Allen in 1919.
Alexander had also served during the war with the Royal Engineers; he was at
the Battle of the Somme and was wounded and gassed during his war service. His
brother Albert Allen was killed during the war and is named on the Corsham War
Memorial. Jessie’s brother Albert Neate also had a war history including an
extended period as a prisoner of war forced to work in Russia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jessica Dorothy Beszant <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nurse, Queen Alexandra Imperial
Military Service Reserve. Joined the Civil Nursing Reserve, December 29<sup>th</sup>,
1915. Received orders for Malta from the Bristol General Hospital, May 8<sup>th</sup>,
1917. Joined Queen Alexandra’s Military
Reserve, and received immediate orders for Dublin. Demobilised May 8<sup>th</sup>,
1919.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqyKu3RSPHjf-dOc7CPZwj1mmB0NeTDwSbmEguP2ydBz1orzQOHzxNPI_o5NO675Xseo1BwVE0P41IjfHKAA9cAmebCpT1zfz-UGcV2KLucxEYqHQP3h-hZCXExfKsHP3lDzFPo2czxQ/s1600/scan0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1058" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqyKu3RSPHjf-dOc7CPZwj1mmB0NeTDwSbmEguP2ydBz1orzQOHzxNPI_o5NO675Xseo1BwVE0P41IjfHKAA9cAmebCpT1zfz-UGcV2KLucxEYqHQP3h-hZCXExfKsHP3lDzFPo2czxQ/s320/scan0016.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Photograph reproduced
by permission of Mr Steven Flavin of Corsham Postcards)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jessica Beszant</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> was born in Corsham in 1890 – her
father was William Herbert Beszant who owned the High Street Butchers shop. Her
mother was Edith (Austin) and she had a brother William and sister Ethel.
Jessica went to school locally and by 1901 the family were living on Lindley’s
Farm with father William now described as a farm owner and butcher.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jessica was
a career nurse and by 1911 was already working and living in Bath as a sick nurse.
Jessica did not serve in Corsham Hospital but the War Records of Corsham detail
her as one of only a few women who had active service roles during the war. She
joined the <span style="background: #F9F9F9;">Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military
Nursing Service Reserve and served in Bristol, Malta and Ireland as a Staff
Nurse qualifying for distinguished service and military medals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: #F9F9F9; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She continued to nurse after the war and was registered under the
Nursing Council and as a Physiotherapist and Masseuse in Bristol until at least
1946 during WW2.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jessica
never married and died in Bristol in 1954. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Her father
was living in South Street in Corsham and her brother William Beszant took over
as the High Street Butcher. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence Bishop. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;">V.A.D. Wilts 30. Awarded Royal Red
Cross, 2nd Class, August 8th 1919 for nursing wounded at Corsham Red Cross
Hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi25n1Gk0PVx-Y-hMRTlqdRxaq2vFTiYdOyv_ilPObupXWz208Mea0LOrOyjFga1YmVcRN6CHqBt9GioXMhseQN100dS9pjOgDo6MfGN5bMCcNXD8ZexV7Q6Lfne1JvpAAb3t6QSj1-8c4/s1600/scan0036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="1600" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi25n1Gk0PVx-Y-hMRTlqdRxaq2vFTiYdOyv_ilPObupXWz208Mea0LOrOyjFga1YmVcRN6CHqBt9GioXMhseQN100dS9pjOgDo6MfGN5bMCcNXD8ZexV7Q6Lfne1JvpAAb3t6QSj1-8c4/s320/scan0036.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Florence Bishop
pictured top left.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence
Bishop was one of original and core members of the Corsham Red Cross Hospital
Nursing team. Born in 1898 she was the youngest daughter of George and Emily
Bishop who lived in Priory Road in Pickwick. She had a brother Fred and sisters
Edith, Emily and Elizabeth. Her father was a stonemason. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence is
named on the Red Cross memorial tablet in Corsham Town Hall which was the site
of the Corsham Hospital between 1914 and 1919. She would only have been 16 at
the start of the war when she started working at the Hospital on a part time
basis. Her registered address was recorded as High St, Corsham. She very soon
moved to full time working and stayed at the Hospital through until it closed
receiving recognition for her outstanding service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Her brother
Fred also served during the war – he was a Sapper in the Royal Engineers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After the
war Florence married William Woodburn. They were living in Somerset prior to
WW2. William was a Railway Fireman. Florence died in 1994 aged 95.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence was awarded the Royal Red Cross which had
been introduced to award nurses in the army and in the then Army Nursing
Service for exceptional services in military nursing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Evelyn Nellie Blackmore. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Chief Section-Leader, Women's Royal
Air Force. Joined at Hursley Park Camp,
Winchester, May 5th 1917. On home
service. Demobilised September 20th
1919.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Service
Number 5906.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Evelyn
Blackmore is recorded as being a Chief Section Leader in the Women’s RAF during
WW1. The WRAF was only formed in 1918. It was made up of Women who would
previously have been in the WRNS or Auxiliary Army Corps and most likely
working at one of the Air Stations. Evelyn enlisted at Hursley Park in Winchester
in 1917 and would have been one of the earliest to join the new Service. In
those early days Women would have largely been employed in staff or support
roles.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Evelyn was
born in Corsham and was 21 when she joined the war effort. She was previously recorded
as a Domestic help in 1911 when she was 15. Her father George Blackmore was a
Plasterer and Tiler and he and his family were living on Priory Street before
the war. George and his wife Rhoda had 4 children and 3 of them served during
the War – Nellie in the WRAF, George as a Sapper in the Royal Engineers and Tom
was a Lance-Corporal in the Hampshire Regiment. All returned safely from the
war. Evelyn’s mother, Rhoda, was a volunteer at the Corsham Red Cross Hospital
from the start of 1916 involved in washing duties, specifically socks and ties;
she took on a paid role from March 1919. Her Red Cross record gives High Street
as the family address.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Margaret Bryant. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Women's Land Army, Served from April
to October 1918. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Margaret was born in 1896 in
Corsham – the only child of Frederick and Emma Eva (Sully). Frederick Bryant,
also from Corsham, was the Town sub postmaster and Bank Agent living at the
Post Office on the High St next to Alexander House. Her mother Emma was from
Bayswater in London. There are no service records for the Women’s Land Army but
the Corsham War Records detail that Margaret joined up for 6 months towards the
end of the war when she would have been 24. It may be that she responded to a
suggestion to enrol posted at her own Post Office or that she was approached by
one of the local Land Army agents.
Margaret continued to live locally after the war and was still living in
17 High St when she died in 1960<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Annette Ina Crisp. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Women's Royal Naval Service. Joined March 1918. After training in London, appointed
Vice-Principal, Devonport Royal Naval Barracks.
Awarded M.B.E. June 26th 1919.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Annette
Crisp was the daughter of local doctor and surgeon Dr James Crisp. She was born
in 1892 and lived in Alexander House on the High Street with her father and
mother, Florence, and sister Kathleen and brother Ellis. They were a well known
and respected family and they all had roles during WW1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Annette had
a short but clearly highly responsible and successful role during the war when
aged 26 she joined the emerging Women’s Royal Naval Service in Plymouth. She
was recruited into a senior supervisory position and clearly made her mark
quickly as evidenced by the award of an MBE.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;">The
following reference was provided by the WRNS to Messrs Rowntree Ltd of York
when Annette applied for a professional position at their company in York in
October 1919 immediately after she left the service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.35pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Miss Crisp entered the WRNS on
20.4.18 and was appointed as Officer in Charge of WRNS ratings working in the
RN Barracks at Devonport. She had entire charge of the station until her final
release owing to general demobilisation on 23.10.19.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the number of women ratings
employed in the barracks increased she was promoted to the rank of Deputy
Principal and given an assistant. Miss Crisp was responsible for the good
behaviour and general wellbeing and attention to duty of the women who were
employed at the barracks as stewards (waitresses), cooks, sick bay cooks,
bakeresses, storewomen etc. She also had charge of the Clothing Store for the
South Western Division and was responsible for the issuing of it, checking
returns etc. She carried out her duties most efficiently and was awarded the
MBE in recognition of her services.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Miss Crisp is extremely hard working
and conscientious and was very keen in her endeavours to provide recreation for
the women as well as in their supervision. She is reported as being
particularly successful in her handing of the working class women. Her clerical
work was business like and accurate. She can be recommended for a position of
responsibility. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is
presumed that Annette was successful in her application to Rowntree and she was
certainly still living in York in 1939 prior to the Second World War – the 1939
register records that she was also a designated ARP Warden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence Emily Crisp. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Forwarding Supervisor of Forage. Joined August 1st 1915. Served under the D.P.O.S. Wilts, Western
Area, until January 1920. Mentioned in Dispatches,
September 5th 1918.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence
Crisp was the wife of local doctor and surgeon Dr James Crisp. She was born in
1868 in Corsham, the daughter of Thomas Montgomery-Campbell who was a Royal
Naval Commander. They lived in Westbourne Villa on Pickwick Road. She married James Crisp in 1888 and then
lived in Alexander House on the High Street. She had 3 children Annette,
Kathleen and Ellis. Florence was reported as welcoming and introducing the
Suffragist Movement Marchers when they came through Corsham in 1913.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">In the War Records of Corsham Florence is recorded as being a
'Forwarding Supervisor of Forage' joining in 1915 and serving until 1920. This
was a specially created Supervisor role for women in the Army Service Corps to
co-ordinate the collection of hay (forage) from farms and arranging the
logistics of onward transmission to Army Units. An unusual but important
role. Agnes Tennant, Laura Rigden and
Gertie Uncles were also recognised as working for the Forage Corps suggesting
some local collaboration. Florence is also named on the Hospital memorial
tablet in the Town Hall as part of the Corsham Voluntary Aid Detachment as is
daughter Kathleen and husband James Ellis as one of the attending Medical
Officers. Kathleen Crisp was one of a number of the nurses that are known to have
maintained a scrapbook or autograph book to record the names of patients at the
hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Daughter Annette served in the WRNS and son Ellis in the Royal
Navy carrying on the Campbell family naval tradition.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Edith Emily Gerrard and Mary Gerrard.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Edith Gerrard. Queen Mary's Army
Auxiliary Corps and Royal Air Force Patrol.
Served in England, France and Germany.
Demobilised December 6th 1919.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mary Gerrard. Head Cook, Queen Mary's
Army Auxiliary Corps. Joined at Bristol,
August 1917. Employed on home service. Demobilised November 1919.</span></b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Edith Emily
Gerrard and her sister Mary would have joined the Army Auxiliary Corps in 1917
as it was formed. Edith was 18 and Mary was 22. They were part of a large
Corsham family – 12 children in total – and when they enlisted they had 5
brothers serving in different parts of the world. Their father Joseph, who was
a Brush Maker, and mother Eliza Mary (nee Poore) lived in Westrop in Corsham
and when Edith and Mary enlisted they would have had 7 of their children involved
in active service. In October 1917 soon after the sisters enlisted, their
brother, Sergeant Oliver Charles Gerrard, was killed in action at Ypres. He is
named on the Corsham War Memorial. Another sister, Lottie, was a volunteer
helper at the Red Cross Hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Much of the
service record history for the Army Auxiliary Corps was destroyed by Air Raids
during WW2 so it is not immediately possible to establish individual service
histories beyond the brief summary in the Corsham War Records Book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alice F H Goldney OBE. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Assistant Commandant, Red Cross
Hospital, Corsham from October 1914 to June 1915. Commandant from June 1915
until the hospital was closed in August 1919. Awarded Order of the British
Empire.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Alice
Frances Holbrow Goldney was born in India in 1878 – the daughter of Frederick
Charles Napier Goldney who was a Major in the Indian Army. After returning from
India the family lived in Middlesex and was still there at the time of the 1911
census – Alice was 32 and was living at home with her parents and younger
sisters Vera and Marjorie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1913
Alice married Sir John Tankeville Goldney in Ealing where she had lived. Sir
John was the brother of Sir Frederick Goldney and had previously been married
to Jane McGregor who died as Lady Goldney in 1911. They lived in Monks House,
Monks Park in Corsham. Sir John was a Bank Director of the Capital and Counties
Bank but had also been <span style="font-family: inherit;">A</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ttorney-General
and Admiralty advocate of Leeward Islands, Judge of British Guiana and Chief
Justice of Trinidad. He had been knighted in 1893. He was also a J.P. for Wilts
and High Sheriff for Wiltshire.<span style="background: #F0EEE9;"> </span></span><span style="background: rgb(240, 238, 233); font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-background-themecolor: background1;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: rgb(240, 238, 233); font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At the start of the war, Alice, now Lady Goldney, was
a Nurse, volunteer worker and also Assistant Commandant of the Red Cross
Hospital (Lady Methuen was the First Commandant) but she then became Commandant
in her own right from June 1915. She remained as Commandant until the Hospital
closed in August 1919, supported by Sir John. She was awarded an O.B.E. for her
service. Lady Alice’s sister Marjorie also served as a nurse at the Corsham
Hospital. </span><span style="background: rgb(240, 238, 233); font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; mso-background-themecolor: background1;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f0eee9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sir John Goldney died in 1920 and Lady Goldney is
known to have sailed back to India soon after. She re-married in 1943 to Harold
Robinson. She died in 1957 aged 79. </span></span><strong><span style="background: #F0EEE9; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDY36fh0uj66b14AO-OUvbnRkWe_vp3XPwT9w-STHNcng2JreilOXsvi0n5rZzaLwkVwoLG3hysSJHpZvf4nc1Y8abWfDKpqD9i4_OA2rEBbSSp4A3tk8gyIm6FgQz1sPYdvsY3zFn94/s1600/ladygoldney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDY36fh0uj66b14AO-OUvbnRkWe_vp3XPwT9w-STHNcng2JreilOXsvi0n5rZzaLwkVwoLG3hysSJHpZvf4nc1Y8abWfDKpqD9i4_OA2rEBbSSp4A3tk8gyIm6FgQz1sPYdvsY3zFn94/s320/ladygoldney.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /><!--[endif]--></div>
<div class="Standard" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence Hemmings and Emmelina
Hemmings. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence Hemmings. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Member of Women's Royal Air Force. Served in England.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Emmelina (Lena)
Hemmings. Member of Women's Royal Air Force.
Served in England.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Florence and
Lena Hemmings are listed in the Corsham War Records Book as being Members of
the WRAF during WW1. No other information or service detail is available. The
WRAF was only formed in 1918 by which time Florence would have been 26 years
old and Lena 21. They were both born in Corsham and their father Henry, a stone
miner and then a jobbing Gardener and his wife Selina lived originally in
Priory Road and then in Ashford Cottages on Priory Street in Corsham. They also had a son William who aged 15 had
joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor in 1910. Prior to the war Florence had
moved from Corsham working as a Domestic Nurse to a wine and spirit merchant
and his family in Bath. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After the
war Florence married Abraham Spackman in 1921 and died in 1967 aged 75.
Emmalina married Arthur Oatley in 1923 and died in Corsham in 1984. Their
brother William died in March 1920 after the war but is named on the Corsham
War Memorial. He is buried in Ladbrook Lane Cemetery with a Commonwealth War
Graves Commission headstone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ada Honour. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">V.A.D. Wilts 40. Joined September 1916.
Head Cook, G.S.V.A.D. Served one year in England and one year in France.
Demobilised February 10<sup>th</sup>, 1919. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ada Honour
is named in the Corsham War Records Book and has a Red Cross Service Card which
confirms that from May 1917 she was attached to Voluntary Aid Detachment
Wiltshire 40 which was the Biddestone Branch. Her permanent address was
recorded as being Hartham Park. The card does not specifically mention Corsham
Hospital but it is presumed that she was the Hospital cook through until it
closed in August 1919. She had previously served in Huddersfield War Hospital
and in France at the 52<sup>nd</sup> Stationary Hospital in Le Havre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It has not
been possible to conclusively trace Ada Honour and why she was residing in
Hartham Park and named in the Corsham War Records. Edith Honour, possibly a
sister, also has a Red Cross Service Record showing her residing at Hartham
Park and giving time to the Hartham Park Work Party no 1625 between January
1918 and January 1919.</span><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gladys and Esme Parkinson. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Esme Mildred Parkinson. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service
(R). Joined Devonport Military Hospital,
September 1914. Served overseas on
hospital ships between Peninsula, Lemnos and Egypt, (June 1915). Later served in Egypt, Mesopotamia (with
first hospital staff to reach Baghdad) and India. Mentioned in dispatches by General Murray.
September, 1915 and other "mentions".
Demobilised on return to England March 15th 1919. 1915 Star.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gladys Frances Parkinson. Queen
Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.
Joined Devonport Military Hospital, June 16th 1914. Served overseas: at Lemnos, October 1915;
Egypt and the Sudan. Mentioned in
dispatches by General Murray (Lemnos).
After the war served at Kitchener Military Hospital, Brighton, April to
November 1919. Resigned November 26th 1919. Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class; 1915 Star.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Both Gladys
and Esme Parkinson were nurses prior to the war. Both were in Bath Royal United
Hospital in 1911 so were ideally positioned and trained to join the Queen
Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service in 1914 as the war started. They were used
to the Military way of life as their father, Percival George Parkinson, was a
senior officer in the Royal Ordnance Corps. Gladys was born in Portsmouth in
1886 and another sister, Irene (1887), and Esme (1888) in Woolwich in London as
their father was regularly posted around the Country. Their mother died in 1890
when the sisters were very young and soon after the birth of their brother
Claude. Percival and his family then had a tour of service in the Channel
Islands where the children continued their education. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As recorded
in the Corsham War Records Book Gladys and Esme were both in the Queen
Alexandra’s Nursing Service and spent most of their war service overseas. Both
were well travelled, mentioned in dispatches and recognised by the Red Cross
for their outstanding service. Their brother Claude was in the Royal Field
Artillery and fought in Belgium and France. He survived the war and was
demobilised in February 1919. Sister Irene was part of the Corsham Voluntary
Aid Detachment as a nurse as the Corsham Hospital opened in October 1914. She
was nursing until April 1916 when she became the Hospital Quartermaster. She
was serving at the hospital until it closed in August 1919. Their father
Percival also had his own WW1 history playing a senior role on the Staff of
Armies for Home Defence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gladys
remained on the Nursing Register after the war until at least 1937. Her address
was recorded as the family home of Dunsford, Corsham. Esme married Lt. Frank
Symonds in a military wedding in Corsham in August 1919. They lived in Sussex. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rhoda Ellen Pinnock. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Women's Royal Air Force.
Enlisted at Bristol, November 1918.
Served in England. Demobilised
November 1919.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rhoda Ellen
Pinnock was born in Melksham in 1897. Her father, Charles Pinnock, originally
from Box was a stone quarryman. Her mother was also called Rhoda and she had
three daughters, Rhoda, Laura and Eva who, prior to the war, were living at
Westwells in Corsham. The only service information for Rhoda is that she
enlisted for the WRAF in Bristol in 1918 – the year it was formed - and she
served for the remainder of the war. She would have been 21. Rhoda married in
1926 in Ledbury in Herefordshire. Her father died in 1927 but her mother
continued to live in Westwells through WW2 and until she died in 1953.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Laura Josephine Rigden. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Superintendent of Stores, L.A.A.S.
Served as Forwarding Supervisor of Forage under the D.P.O.S., Somerset from
January 1<sup>st</sup> to end of March 1916; and under the D.P.O.S. Wilts until
May 1917. Appointed Superintendent of Stores for Wiltshire, Women’s Land Army,
December 31<sup>st</sup> 1917, continued until the W.L.A. was demobilised,
December 31<sup>st</sup> 1919. Medaille de la Reine Elizabeth (Belgian). <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Laura Rigden
was a Teacher at Clarement College in Corsham for more than 25 years prior to
the War years. Born in Kent in 1866 and one of 11 children she was first listed
as a Music Teacher at the College in 1891. She was teaching at the college
together with her sister Isabella and with her long term partner Agnes Tennant
with whom she was recognised as Principal or Head Teacher by 1901.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From the
Corsham War Records Book we know that Laura Rigden became a Superintendent of
Stores in the Women’s Land Army having also had a supervisory role in the
Women’s Forage Corps which was established to manage the huge requirement for
hay and fodder for the Army’s horses at home and at the war front. Horses were
the main form of transport for the Army during the whole of WW1. Women employed
by the Army Service Corps were responsible for managing the production and
forwarding of hay and fodder to army barracks and camps. Laura served in this
role between 1916 and 1919 but was also hugely instrumental in co-ordinating
efforts in Corsham to house and manage Belgian Refugees that were brought into
Corsham. Laura’s responsibilities included managing a local Supply Depot at
Grove Stables in the town from where refugee families were able to collect
various supplies on a weekly basis. She also organised regular fundraising
events with local entertainment. Laura’s efforts were recognised by the King of
Belgium with the personal award of the Medaille de la Reine Elizabeth for her
‘spirit of sacrifice and service’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Laura Rigden
was offered the opportunity to join the Parish Council in 1919 immediately
after the war, an opportunity that she declined but she did join the Council in
1934 and served for 3 years until 1937.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Laura was
living in Kent in 1939 as a retired teacher prior to WW2 but we know that she
retained strong links with Corsham and in 1946 after the war she and Agnes
Tennant generously gave a piece of land and funding for a garden of remembrance
in Stokes Road. There is a plaque naming the Misses Tennant and Rigden on the
gate to the war memorial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Laura Rigden
lived in Elham in Kent with her sisters until she died in 1962 at the age of
96.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hilda Shewring. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After being trained in farm work,
joined the Women's Land Army, June 12th 1917.
Demobilised November 30th 1919. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hilda Shewring hadn’t even reached
her 16<sup>th</sup> birthday when she responded to a National Appeal for Young
Women </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">to enrol in a new Women’s Land Army, it was confusingly called ‘Army’
but it was a civilian organisation staffed and run by women and it was part of
the National Service Scheme. The purpose of the scheme was to replace men who
had been sent away to war and in particular to increase food production. Over
20,000 women joined the scheme. Recruits were given initial training at either
agricultural colleges or local farms and were then registered for the Women’s
Land Army. Local Village agents would have kept registers of trained local
women farm workers and would have worked with local farmers to employ these
newly trained recruits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hilda was born in 1901 and lived in Ashford Cottage, Priory Street with
her parents and family. Her father Daniel was a Bath Stone Sawyer at one of the
local quarries. She was one of 9 children and would have seen her brothers and
cousins enlisting for the war while she was still at school. Her brothers
Daniel and William Shewring had long military careers and survived the war. Hilda
was part of the Land Army for the whole of its WW1 existence – she joined for
training in 1917 and left on the 30<sup>th</sup> November 1919 when the scheme
was disbanded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hilda married Albert Ward in 1922 and continued to live locally. Prior
to WW2 she and Albert were living in Potley Lane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Agnes Tennant. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">County Organising Secretary, Women’s
Land Army. Appointed Forwarding Superintendent of Forage, July 26<sup>th</sup>,
1915. Commandant of Bracken Cutters’ Camp, Savernake Forest, August to October
30<sup>th</sup> 1916. Transferred to the Board of Agriculture, March 1917 and
appointed Organising Secretary for Wilts Women’s Land Army. Resigned on account
of ill health, Aug 11<sup>th</sup> 1918. Volunteered as Motor Driver, September
1918 and attached to RASC Devizes until after the Armistice, November 1918.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Agnes
Tennant was born in Ayrshire in Scotland in 1867 – she was one of seven
children and her parents farmed their own land. Her father died in 1878 and by
1891 aged only 24 Agnes was a Boarder at Claremont College in Corsham employed
as a Teacher of English. Agnes was a Teacher and then Principal or Headteacher
at the College for more than 25 years prior to the outbreak of WW1. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It is not
known if the College closed during the war but from the Corsham War Records
Book we know that Agnes Tennant joined The Women’s Land Army and progressed to
become a, splendidly named, Forwarding Supervisor of Forage which was
established to manage the huge requirement for hay and fodder for the Army’s
horses at home and at the war front. Horses were the main form of transport for
the Army during the whole of WW1 and women were employed in the logistic roles
of managing the production and forwarding of hay and fodder to army barracks
and camps. Agnes served in this role in 1915 and 1916 when she then took on a County
wide role within the Board of Agriculture including, according to the Corsham
War Records Book, a Commandant role at a Camp in Savernake Forest. Ill health
caused her to resign from this role in 1918 but she remained fully involved as
a volunteer motor driver attached to the Army Service Corps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Immediately
after the war Agnes was elected as a Parish Councillor and she served the
Council until 1941 including spells as Deputy Chairman and then Chair between
1930 and 1932. She was also a local magistrate. Intriguingly Agnes Tennant
resigned from the Parish Council in 1941 during WW2 citing unspecified
‘important war work’ as the reason for her departure after 22 years on the
council.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Agnes was
living on Stokes Road prior to and during the war and in 1946 she and Laura
Rigden gifted land on Stokes Road together with funds to build a garden of
remembrance as a memorial to those local men that died during the war. There is
a plaque naming the Misses Tennant and Rigden on the gate to the war memorial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Agnes
Tennant continued to live locally until she died in 1950. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gertie Uncles. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Women’s Forage Corps, attached
R.A.S.C. Joined at Chippenham. Served til January 9<sup>th</sup>. 1920<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gertie
Uncles is named in the Corsham War Records as being a member of the Women’s
Forage Corps. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It has not
been possible to trace Gertie Uncles or to establish any link with Corsham.
Local research suggests that she was Gertrude Uncles born in 1895 in Calne. With her parents Henry and Harriett she was
living in Paul St Chippenham before the war working as a shop assistant in a
Drapers’ shop. She married Gideon Doel in Bath in 1924. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mrs Charlotte Hedworth-Williamson. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lady of Grace of the Grand Priory of
the Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem in England. Hon.
Divisional Secretary of Chippenham Division Red Cross Society. Commandant of
the V.A. Biddeston Detatchment, Wilts 40 B.R.C.S.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mrs
Charlotte Hedworth-Williamson is known to us in the First World War as the
Commandant of the Biddestone Voluntary Aid Detachment and the leader of the
Work Party of Ladies that met at her home – Middlewick in Corsham – to
undertake Red Cross related Needlework.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Charlotte
was born in 1861 in Yoxford in Suffolk – her full name was Charlotte Campbell
Campbell-Johnstone. Her father Alexander was a Foreign Office Diplomat and she
probably lived abroad during much of her early years. At the age of 25 she
married Captain Cecil Hedworth-Williamson of the 4<sup>th</sup> Dragoon Guards
– he was a Military Man from a Military family who was 16 years older than
Charlotte and by 1891 he was retired from the Army and living in Dumfries in
Scotland with Charlotte and their son Hudleston Noel Hedworth-Williamson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Captain
Hedworth-Williamson died in Bath in 1909 and is buried in the cemetery in St
Bartholomews Church in Corsham. Charlotte was living in Middlewick House as a
widow in 1911 prior to the war.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The War
Records of Corsham Book and her Red Cross Service Card detail that Charlotte
was Divisional Secretary of the Chippenham Division of the Red Cross Society
which managed and organised all of the support to the local hospitals. It also
records that she was recognised for her service with the award of the title of
Lady of Grace of the Grand Priory of the Order of the Knights Hospitallers of
St John of Jerusalem. Indeed this is inscribed on her gravestone in St
Bartholomew’s Cemetery – she died in 1941.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Her son
Hudelston was a Major in the Royal Field Artillery and had a distinguished
military career – he received a Military Cross and was awarded a Distinguished
Service Order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kevin Gaskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12156358553553034898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-60213391239983051262019-06-24T15:24:00.003+01:002019-06-24T15:24:27.279+01:00Women's Work For The TroopsOne of the emerging stories from research of the Corsham area during 1914 – 1918 is the unswerving and generous support of local women for servicemen at the front and for hospital patients and refugees who were resident in the area.<br />
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The article quoted below comes from the Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette Newspaper published on 20th November 1914. <br />
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<i>Towards the end of October, a parcel containing 118 knitted belts and 138 pairs of socks was sent as a contribution from the women of Corsham towards the gift from the Queen and women of the Empire to the troops at the front. By command of the Queen a gracious letter of thanks was sent to all who had contributed, these included knitters from Slaughterford, besides some of the Belgian refugees in Corsham. Special belts have been made to suit the needs of the Indian soldiers. The next effort the Corsham women propose to make is to provide as many flannel shirts, socks, mittens, and mufflers as they can for our soldiers and sailors on active service, and any help towards this end, in work, money for materials, or kind, will be gladly welcomed. Particulars from Miss Haynes, Corsham. <br /></i>Knitting for the troops was a heavily publicised campaign to encourage women to support the servicemen away on active duty – there are patterns for socks, mittens, gloves, balaclavas, leg warmers – even waistcoats for officers. <br />
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We are trying to find out all we can about the Corsham WW1 Knitters.<br />
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If you have any artefacts or information that might help, please get in touch!Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-52665151132192793352018-11-11T15:11:00.000+00:002019-08-17T08:46:55.540+01:00Albert Sylvester<h3>
<br />At The Heart Of The WW1 War Committee</h3>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="https://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/5/3/26537051/8124856_orig.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="249" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Albert Sylvester with David Lloyd George</span></td></tr>
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Albert James Sylvester was born in Harlaston in Staffordshire in November 1889 the son of Albert and Elizabeth Sylvester, his father Albert was a tenant Farmer. He left school at the age of 14 to work in a local brewery but was astute enough to learn Pitman’s shorthand and touch typing. So from humble beginnings Albert progressed to the point in 1911 when he was living in London and working as a professional speed typist. Those specialist skills were obviously recognised and sought after and he went on to play an integral role in World War 1 as private secretary to the Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence between 1914-1921, to the Secretary of the War Cabinet and the Cabinet between 1916-1921 and to the Secretary of the Imperial War Cabinet in 1917. He would have been at the very heart of all major decisions relating to the War and dealing with all of the war leaders. He was reported to be the first man to take shorthand notes at a Cabinet meeting and in respect of World War 1 he recalled how he had typed the First World War Armistice Terms on his own Underwood typewriter and was personally entrusted by the Government to carry those documents to France in his briefcase. <br />
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Albert married Evelyn Annie Wellman from Kingston on Thames and the daughter of a Baptist Minister, in 1917 and continued his service working to the British Secretary of the Peace Conference in 1919 and impressively then going on to serve three successive Prime Ministers between 1921-1923: David Lloyd George, Andrew Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin. Remarkably he then served as Principal Private Secretary to David Lloyd George from 1923 until his death in March 1945 – 22 years running Lloyd George's private office in London. This time would have included meetings between Lloyd George, Hitler and Hess in Germany in 1936. After Lloyd George's death, Albert earned his living as a member of Lord Beaverbrook's staff from 1945 until 1948, and spent a further year as unpaid assistant to Liberal Party leader, E. Clement Davies. In 1947, he published The Real Lloyd George, a book based on his diaries and in 1949 when he retired from political life he chose to move with his wife to Wiltshire and moved to a farm at Chapel Knap in Corsham. In later life he moved to Gastard House and then to Rudloe Cottage in Box carrying with him his publicised ambition to publish a full-scale autobiography but this was never realised. He was living in Rudloe Cottage in 1962 when his wife Evelyn died. He did complete a second book in 1975 called Life with Lloyd George but he did not complete the story of his own life. There are however diaries and personal papers now owned by the National Library of Wales which must provide a unique insight into the personal life of Lloyd George. Albert lived to the age of 99 and died in October 1989 just weeks before his hundredth birthday. <br />
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<h3>
The following articles are from the Gastard News and give further personal insight into his later life.</h3>
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<h4>
From Donald Carpenter.<br />Albert James Sylvester CBE JP 1889 -1989</h4>
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I have two typewritten notes sent to my father in the late 1940’s by Mr. A.J.Sylvester. He owned the land that is my home, Chapel Knap Farm, Timberleaze Cottage and what are now 5 and 6 Chapel Hill. He also owned Gastard House for some time. He was an excellent and generous landlord taking a keen interest in the farm and the local environment.<br />
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What is particularly special about the notes is that they were typed on the same Underwood machine that saw the tumultuous events of WW1, for Albert Sylvester was the first person to record the Cabinet meetings in 10 Downing Street. He was summoned there in 1914, from his secretarial work in the Admiralty, and rose to become private secretary to three Prime Ministers: David Lloyd George, Bonar Law and Stanley Baldwin. In his time he met and worked with the greatest people in the land including Lord Kitchener, Beaverbrook and Churchill. He remained a close companion to Lloyd George working as his private secretary – ‘recorder and keeper of secrets for 22 years’, and he used the same typewriter throughout his working life.<br />
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Some people in Gastard may remember Mr Sylvester for in later years he lived in Rudloe Cottage, Box where he attained the great age of 100 years. He started working at the age of 14 in a Staffordshire Brewery but he then taught himself Pitman’s shorthand and the skill of touch typing. He was a truly remarkable person, ‘Rising’ as he said, from a peasant background to become the most trusted custodian of state affairs in the country.’ Not only did he attain this distinction but he was also awarded the CBE, was a Justice of the Peace, champion golfer, horseman, writer and at the age of 87 a prize ballroom dancer. It was a privilege to have known him.<br />
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<h4>
<br />A follow on piece from Ian Thompson</h4>
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I was interested to read the item in September’s newsletter by Donald Carpenter regarding Mr. Sylvester of Rudloe.<br />
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I had the pleasure of having several conversations with Mr. Sylvester and recall him telling me how he had typed out the First World War Armistice Terms on his Underwood typewriter. He related how he was entrusted by the Government to carry the Armistice Terms over to France in his briefcase.<br />
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This connection with Corsham is of particular interest; this year being the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of WW1.<br />
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The story of Albert Sylvester is continued in the book Corsham Revealed More written by Julian Carosi.Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-37829629520169064672018-08-07T14:58:00.000+01:002019-08-17T07:42:53.097+01:00Harold Simmons: A Corsham Boy Missing His FatherIn January 1918, Corsham lad Harold Simmons of Pickwick Road, wrote a letter to his father serving at home with the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC).<br />
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Like many children, he would have seen little of his father through the war years and his enthusiastic sharing of news conveys how much he must have been missing an absent and idealised parent.<br />
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<i><br />Dear Dad, just a few lines to tell you about us. We have 6 German prisoners in the Methuen Arms, all of them can talk English, and there are 2 guards there. One has a revolver in his belt, and they have ploughed Farmer Fry’s field and they go to Chippenham every night. Now they work up Bradford Road, of course that means they have to pass our house every night and morning. <br /><br />Thank you for the birds on cards, all the boys are saving them here. Now I am in standard 2 I find that the sums are harder. I have still got the pencil box you gave me. I am glad to tell you that I am getting on alright with the piano. Roy loves to play with me on the pavement nights. Mam is sewing. <br /><br />Goodnight Dad </i><br />
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Sadly, Harold died of consumption on 7th August 1918 – and so did not see his father again.<br />
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This story was donated by Corsham Commemorates Researcher, Pat Whalley, as told by the soldier’s grandson, Jack Simmons.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 12.600000381469727px;">F Simmons, Harold’s father who in January 1918 was serving in the RASC. Sadly, son Harold died in August 1918 and father and child would not see each other again.</span></td></tr>
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Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-3691347497524517382017-06-22T15:01:00.000+01:002019-08-17T08:01:46.700+01:00The Military Funeral Of William Robbins<h3>
William Henry James Robbins</h3>
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<span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Most soldiers that were looked after at the Corsham Hospital were recovering from wounds or operations and were either returned to service or prepared for discharge. There were however a number of losses at Corsham Hospital. One of those was Private William Robbins who died on the 22nd June 1917. This is how his death was reported in the Wiltshire Times. Private Robbins is buried in Ladbrook Lane Cemetery in Corsham. </span></h3>
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From the Wiltshire Gazette. 28th June 1917</h3>
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<br /> Military Funeral</h4>
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Apart from the pathetic side of the question it was a coincidence that a trumpeter under Lord Methuen in the South Africa War should come to Corsham to die. Private W.H.J.Robbins, while on duty in Gloucester, contracted a severe chill which developed into acute bronchitis, and the disease had made serious havoc with him when he was removed from Bristol Hospital to the Corsham V.A.D. Hospital. All the care which the greatest experience could bring him did not avail, and he succumbed on Friday in the presence of his wife. Private Robbins was at one time in the Duke of Beaufort’s Regiment and served in Egypt. He has seen 30 years service, and it was while on guard in the Royal Defence Corps at Gloucester he contracted the fatal cold. He comes from a Military family, his father being an old Crimean soldier.<br />
<br />
The funeral took place with military honours, on Tuesday afternoon. The procession formed up at the lower end of Priory Street, close to the mortuary, and was headed by the firing party (members from the Royal Defence Corps by permission of Lieut. Bevir). Following them were the wounded soldiers from the hospital (those in a fit condition to walk the distance) who drew the conveyance with the remains with ropes. Then came the funeral carriages (lent by Lady Goldney, Commandant) containing the mourners – Mrs Robbins (widow), Miss Robbins (daughter), Mrs Glover (sister), Mrs Latham (sister), Miss Glover (niece). Next in order was Lieut. Bevir, followed by members of the Corsham Ambulance Detachment, under Commandant P.J.Gane, and with measured tread they went through the High Street. Arrived at the burying ground, they were met at the gates by the Vicar (Rev. A.J. Winnington-Ingram) who officiated. Thanks to previous arrangements made by Commandant Gane, and the regulation of the public by Sergt. Nicholas, everything went through in excellent order. Lady Goldney (Commandant) and the Assistant-Commandant (Mrs FitzAdam-Ormiston) were at the graveside with many of the sisters and nurses from the hospital. Immediately after the ceremony three rounds were fired by the Defence Corps, and Trumpeter Fowler, (No.1 ward, Melksham Hospital) sounded the “Last Post”. The following were the wreaths sent:- In loving memory of dear Uncle Will, from Lois; With deep sympathy from the nurses and sisters; With deep sympathy from the Misses McLaughlin; In remembrance from Lady Goldney; In remembrance from the Matron; With deep sympathy from the Assistant-Commandant, Mrs FitzAdam-Ormiston; Deep sympathy from a neighbour, Mrs Parnell; With deepest sympathy from the patients at the V.A.D. Hospital; With deepest sympathy from Miss Hart; With deepest sympathy from Miss Halhed; In remembrance from Miss Sainsbury – “Though our warrior’s sun has set, Its light shall linger round us yet; Bright, radiant, blest”; With great sympathy from the Biddestone Commandant, Mrs Hedworth Williamson. Borne upon the coffin were the Union Jack, the trumpet, side arms, and cap of the deceased. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>William was survived by his wife Adelaide who lived in Leyton in London.</b>Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-36653769677728784052017-04-27T15:19:00.000+01:002019-08-17T09:35:40.487+01:00Etched Into History: A Canadian Link With CorshamThe WW1 hospital established in the Town Hall during 1914 – 1918 will have brought many soldiers to the Town and probably established enduring personal links but one soldier from Canada left a more permanent reminder of his time in Corsham with an inscription on the cornerstone of a stone bridge on the Corsham Court estate. <br />
<br />
<img src="https://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/5/3/26537051/1463851_orig.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<br />
Councillor Phil Whalley first brought attention to the inscription back in 2005 but with the Centenary commemorations now upon us has raised it to the fore once again. The inscription is dated 27th April 1917 and is attributed to Private W.L. of the 27th Battalion Canadians. Interestingly the N’s in Canadian are carved back to front.<br />
<br />
We know that Lord Methuen allowed recuperating patients from the hospital to walk through the grounds of the estate so it is quite possible that this Private was a wounded or ill soldier sent back from service in France to receive treatment. We cannot trace any admission records for soldiers to the hospital but, challenged by Councillor Whalley, students from the Corsham School History Department are aiming to investigate further to find out about Private W.L. who spent some time in Corsham etching his name into history. <br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="https://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/5/3/26537051/8203229_orig.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<img src="https://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/5/3/26537051/1827303_orig.jpg" /><br />
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If you have any information about Private W.L or his family <a href="mailto:corshambridgeresearch@gmail.com" target="_blank">please get in touch</a>.Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-16867383973691762902016-09-26T15:21:00.000+01:002019-08-17T09:29:45.660+01:00Anyone For Cricket?The soldiers being cared for in the <a href="http://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/corsham-stories.html">Corsham Hospital</a> were, we know, often entertained by concerts arranged by local people but in August 1916 we find the men of Corsham challenging the soldiers to a cricket match. Local reporting of the time seems quite harsh to describe the play as ‘pathetic and humorous’ but it was clearly enjoyed by players and spectators alike:<br />
<h3>
INTERESTING CRICKET MATCH.</h3>
<br />
Pathetic and Humorous. <br />
<br />
Corsham C.C. v. Corsham Wounded Soldiers.<br />
<div>
<br />
Considerable interest was attached to a match on Saturday between the Corsham Cricket Club and Corsham wounded soldiers, as nearly all the local team were veterans, and to see Mr Edward Sainsbury amongst them took one back to the Club’s rosiest days in the ‘seventies.’ Then came Kinneir, Spackman, Jessie Smith in the ‘eighties,’ another successful period. The match had its pathetic and humorous side, pathetic to see some of the wounded limping about the field from the results of the “Great Push,” and humorous, to see the veterans “roaming” about, trying to rouse sleeping muscles. A very pleasant game resulted in a win for the local team by 40 runs on the first innings. The soldiers fielding was excellent, quite a pleasure to watch, but in the batting they seemed puzzled with Spackman and Fido’s slow breaks. As one of them remarked “I like bowling that comes on a bit, not that ‘wriggley stuff.’”<br />
<br />
In Private Johnson the soldiers had a good cricketer.<br />
<br />
The wounded improved in their second attempt, making 67, Alexander bowling well. The Matron and nurses from the Hospital attended and provided tea. Scores: - –</div>
<div>
<br />
<h4>
<br />CORSHAM WOUNDED SOLDIERS</h4>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<b>1st Innings</b><br />
<br />
Lce. Corpl. Lewis, run out ..................0<br />
<br />
Pte. Howth, run out.............................1<br />
<br />
Pte. Johnson, b Spackman..................8<br />
<br />
Pte. Wood, b Spackman.......................8<br />
<br />
Pte.Tridgitt, c Davis b Spackman........1<br />
<br />
Cpl. Walker, b Smith...........................1<br />
<br />
Pte. Wall, b Spackman........................2<br />
<br />
Pte.Campbell, b Fido...........................2<br />
<br />
Pte. Green, c Kinneir b Fido...............12<br />
<br />
Pte. Carter, c Smith b Fido..................0<br />
<br />
Pte. McKight, b Spackman..................0<br />
<br />
Pte. Doherty, not out...........................0<br />
<br />
Extras...................................................6 <br />
<br />
Total.........................................41 </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>2nd Innings</b><br />
<br />
b. Aust................................4<br />
<br />
c Smith b Aust...................9<br />
<br />
c Kinneir b Alexander.......4<br />
<br />
b Smith.............................10<br />
<br />
b Alexander.......................6<br />
<br />
b Fido.................................1<br />
<br />
b Alexander.......................15<br />
<br />
b Gibbons...........................1<br />
<br />
ht. Wkt. b Alexander..........2<br />
<br />
b Smith...............................0<br />
<br />
not out................................3<br />
<br />
b Alexander........................16<br />
<br />
Extras..................................2<br />
<br />
Total............................67<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
<br />CORSHAM C.C.</h4>
</div>
<div>
A.C. Kinnear, b Green................................8<br />
<br />
A.Aust, b Johnson......................................5<br />
<br />
W.Alexander, c Campbell b Johnson.........0<br />
<br />
J.Fido, b Johnson........................................5<br />
<br />
C.F.Spackman, b Tridgitt............................8<br />
<br />
J.Smith, c and b Johnson............................4<br />
<br />
E.Sainsbury, b Howarth..............................3<br />
<br />
H.Gibbons, c and b Johnson.......................2<br />
<br />
J.Davis, c and b Johnson.............................10<br />
<br />
E.Hudd, b Tridgitt........................................11<br />
<br />
J.Aust, c and b Johnson...............................14<br />
<br />
E.Merrett, not out.........................................4<br />
<br />
Total.................................................81<br />
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Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-46674669757167900552016-09-01T06:42:00.000+01:002019-08-18T06:46:37.570+01:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "franklin gothic heavy" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
life and autograph book of Nurse Elsie Cuss.</span><span style="font-size: 36pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Elsie Cuss
from Crudwell was just 17 at the start of WW1 but her war was spent looking
after returning wounded soldiers as a Red Cross Nurse based in Malmesbury with
the 20</span><sup style="line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Voluntary Aid Detachment. She kept a WW1 autograph book
which she asked her own family and friends and wounded soldiers in her care to
sign. Interestingly some of those autographs were from staff and soldiers in
Corsham Hospital suggesting that Elsie moved between hospitals. The entries are
a mix of simple signatures with name and rank, some left details of where they
were injured, others wrote poems or limericks, there are jokes and some drew
little sketches. There are entries from British and Irish soldiers and one
Canadian and a Belgian.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Soldiers
often wrote about their experience in the trenches but they also related their
comments to their nurses or to their enemies. The language and the stories
reflect the feelings at the time and some are politically incorrect, certainly
not repeatable today. As a young nurse Elsie seems to have been popular and
received advice from soldiers and family alike.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elsie
received a Red Cross Medal for her service during WW1 and was also awarded
medals for Nursing service in WW2. Elsie was later a nurse in Malmesbury
General Hospital to complete a lifetime of nursing. She died in 1973.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanks to Elsie’s niece
Chris Sparrow from Hankerton for sharing Nurse Elsie Cuss’ story and her
autograph book.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Soldiers Autographs
from Nurse Cuss’ Diary 1915 -1919.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Malmesbury and
Corsham Hospitals.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">24450 Bombadier P.Summers. No.9 Siege Battery RGA. Wounded
at Festubert May 16<sup>th</sup> 1915</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Corpl. Reg A Barrett. London Irish Rifles. Wounded at
Givenchy. 31/5/15</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">L.A.Holmes 17<sup>th</sup> Batt. London Regt. Wounded at
Givenchy. 1/6/15</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte W Herbert 2<sup>nd</sup> E Surrey Regt (with sketch)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">RJM(?) Cousins. 1<sup>st</sup> R.I.R. wounded Formells 9<sup>th</sup>
May</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Spr.F.Atkins no 670 Royal Bucks Hussars. Wounded by shrapnel
in the left foot at the Dardenells on the 28<sup>th</sup> August on Hill 70.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte R. D. Board 6<sup>th</sup> Batt. Glos Regt. May 15<sup>th</sup>
1915. (with sketch)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sapper P Jarvis 41770 65<sup>th</sup> Field Coy Royal Eng 10<sup>th</sup>
Division. Wounded 18 days after landings at Suvla and Anafarta Bays
Dardenelles. 14/10/15</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Act/Cpl H Mycock. 13<sup>th</sup> Batt Rifle Brigade.
Wounded Mametz Wood. Aug 11<sup>th</sup> 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte E Prothers. 7<sup>th</sup> Batt R.S.L.I. Wounded at St
Eloi nr Ypres Belgium June 10<sup>th</sup> 1916.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Frank C Ferris.2/1<sup>st</sup> R.W.Y. 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">E.P. 7<sup>TH</sup> RSLI Corsham Oct 5<sup>th</sup> 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte. A.E. Trowbridge. 1<sup>st</sup> Dorset Regt. 16.10.16</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">F Jewell Sergeant. Wiltshire Regt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">H.Fulchorpe. Princess Patricia.s Canadian Light Infantry.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte J Martin 2<sup>nd</sup> Lincoln’s January 31<sup>st</sup>
1919</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">12884 John J Green. 10<sup>th</sup> DLI. Wounded left fore
arm on the Somme 16<sup>th</sup> Sept 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte J Hamilton Border Regt. Wounded at the Dardenelles on
the 28<sup>th</sup> August also wounded in France</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Artificer L Wolfe. 48<sup>th</sup> Battery. RGA. 3<sup>rd</sup>
Division BEF</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Francis Lovell Hall. 2<sup>nd</sup> Essex Regt. 31/1/19</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Tom W Pirrie No 2 F Amb RAMC</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">9173 S W Wakefield. 1<sup>st</sup> Wilts. Frost Bitten Feet.
November 1914 Ypres. Wounded at the Battle of the Somme July 1916.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte J Daiph 5<sup>th</sup> Seaforth Highlanders 12<sup>th</sup>
July ‘15</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lucina M Law Aug 19<sup>th</sup> 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">18611 Pte A Wade. 8<sup>th</sup> Royal Berks. VAD Bed X
Hospital Corsham Wilts</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rfm. E C Wallis 12<sup>th</sup> London Regt. ‘The Rangers’ .
wounded Gillemont 9/9/16</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bdr E Lewis. Royal Field Artillery. VAD Hospital Corsham</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">A.M.Gough Royal Flying Corps. VAD Hospital Corsham 30/10/16</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Merriman Box Ward Corsham</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Capt Fowler VAD Hospital Box Ward Corsham 30/10/16</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">H. Hartley Sgt. L.F.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte J Martin. 2<sup>nd</sup> Lincolns. January 31<sup>st</sup>
1919</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Robert Blythe 10<sup>th</sup> Northumberland Fusiliers
October 11<sup>th</sup> 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">L.C.Evans 12 (WSY) att S.L.I . Wounded Dec 9<sup>th</sup>
1917 . gassed at St Quantin Sept 18<sup>th</sup> 1918</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Stansell Box Ward Corsham VAD Wilts 30</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte J Dart 2/4<sup>th</sup> Som. L. Iny Red Cross Hospital
Malmesbury Oct 4<sup>th</sup> 1918</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Robert Blythe 10<sup>th</sup> Northumberland Fus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Harrison No 097733 496 Company Corsham Wilts Oct 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte Slade</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte P Sortin. VAD Hospital Corsham</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">H Smith Sgt. Wounded at Thiepval August 25<sup>th</sup> 1916</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yos Milans. Belgian Soldier. 11 Rigement de ligne ¾. 3
Division Arme Begium. 17 May 1915</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sgt Cranness 14425 11<sup>th</sup> Essex Regt 29.10.16</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sgt Young Box Ward</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sgt Wood RFA Wounded June 16<sup>th</sup> Ypres</span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Pte W.G. Dulake. 2<sup>nd</sup> Batt Queens R.W.S. Wounded
at Festubert 16/5/16</span></div>
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Kevin Gaskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12156358553553034898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-71851640009635562542016-05-31T14:56:00.000+01:002019-08-17T07:38:28.590+01:00Battle of JutlandThe Battle of Jutland was fought on the day and night of May 31, 1916 and was the largest Naval Battle of the First World War. At the outbreak of war the British Fleet effectively imposed a blockade on Germany restricting access to raw materials from around the world. There were a number of German challenges to the Royal Navy and to the blockading action during the war but the most significant of those was at Jutland off of the coast of Denmark. It was the single occasion in the war when British and German Battleships came up against each other and came about when both the Germans and British tried to lure a small detachment of the enemy fleet into the jaws of its main force.<br />
<br />
The British lost more ships than the Germans in the battle, but overall the battle is usually seen as a British victory as the German Fleet did not enter into action again during the war.<br />
<br />
25 British and German ships were lost with a huge loss of life – over 9000 men were killed and another 1000 injured – huge numbers mostly because ships were packed with ammunition. When the battle cruiser HMS Indefatigable was hit in her ammunition magazine over 1000 sailors were killed in the explosion.<br />
<br />
As well as the Indefatigable the British ships lost included the battle cruisers Queen Mary and Invincible.<br />
<br />
While the largest proportion of local men that served in WW1 enlisted with the Army there were 75 that were in the Royal Navy or the Royal Marines at some point in the war and there were 3 men serving on ships that were lost during the Battle of Jutland.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://bit.ly/1PjEJdU">Reginald Tanner</a> aged 20 was a leading telegraphist on HMS Tipperary; <a href="http://bit.ly/23VBMb2">Joseph Leonard</a> aged 20 was a Private in the Royal Marines onboard HMS Indefatigable and <a href="http://bit.ly/1opRPxD">Albert Jones</a> aged 21 was a Private in the Royal Marine Artillery onboard HMS Queen Mary.<br />
<br />
All are remembered on the Corsham War Memorial and with their colleagues and shipmates they are named on the Naval Memorials in Plymouth (Leonard) and Portsmouth (Tanner and Jones).Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-37274759814249555712016-04-09T15:01:00.000+01:002019-08-17T08:03:02.124+01:009th April 1916, MesopotamiaFighting in World War 1 and the associated loss of life is most often associated with France and Belgium and now with the war cemeteries in Normandy. The 9th April 1916 is another day that reminds us that the war was also being fought in other parts of the world. <br />
<br />
With the entry of Turkey into the war at the end of 1914 it was decided to send an Expeditionary Force from India to Mesopotamia. The Force was headquartered in Basra with the task of providing security in the Persian Gulf and to protect the Admiralty's oil supplies. What became known as the Mesopotamian campaign was fought in the Middle East between allied troops from Britain and India and what was then called the Ottoman Empire. <br />
At first all went well, the Turkish regular army and Arab irregulars being defeated at every turn but the terrain was difficult with movement restricted to the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and then only when the water levels were propitious. Allied troops advanced as far as Baghdad but opposition forces by this time were too large and a retreat was forced to a defensive position at Kut where, in late November 1915, began the siege of Kut and the extended efforts of relief Allied Forces to relieve that siege. Fierce battles took place between January and April 1916 with thousands of men on both sides killed in pursuit of their opposing goals. <br />
<br />
The 5th Wiltshire Regiment were part of the relief expeditionary Force involved in the first Battle of Kut which started on the 5th April 1916. 4 men from Corsham were among the 23 men killed from the Regiment on the 9th April 1916 as well as another 37 men missing and 161 wounded. The war diary for that day records that the Regiment was dug in just 650 yards from the enemy. Private <a href="http://bit.ly/1KayaeU">Frederick Hemmings</a> from Corsham, Private <a href="http://bit.ly/1LffhSV">Stanley Mizen</a> from Corsham, Private <a href="http://bit.ly/1XgWOfK">Harry West</a> from Neston and Private <a href="http://bit.ly/1UOuhQG">William Sutton</a> from Corsham were all killed on that day and are all commemorated on the Basra Memorial in what is now known as Iraq.<br />
<br />
All of the relief efforts at Kut were ultimately unsuccessful and the Allied Forces surrendered on the 29th April 1916 after a siege lasting 147 days. Over 23,000 men were killed or wounded in the relief effort and 13,000 men were taken as prisoners of war.<br />
<i><br />Kevin Gaskin<br />(With thanks to John Jones from Neston for his contribution and particularly reference to the 5th Wiltshire Regiment).</i>Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-30687680123914345712015-02-04T15:09:00.000+00:002019-08-17T08:39:28.147+01:00The Corsham Ammunition Magazine<b>Our Research into Corsham’s contribution to the First World War established that the Stone Quarry at Monks Park was used for Ammunition storage well before Central Ammunition Depot Corsham (CAD) was established ahead of WW2. There are rumours of Military personnel being appointed to Corsham presumably to guard the Munition Stores. <br /><br />The article below, written by David Pollard the owner of the Hartham Quarry and Director of the Bath Stone Quarry Museum Trust, is drawn from the records of the Stone Mine Quarries and it answers many of our questions. Our thanks to Mr Pollard for allowing us to publish this article.</b><br />
<br />
In September 1915 the Great War was in its second year, the output of munitions was growing, and the need for suitable places to store munitions became pressing. In September the War Office negotiated with the Bath and Portland Stone Firms to use Ridge Monks Park Quarry for the storage of munitions, it is assumed that the initiative came from the War Office, in the following fortnight Capt. Fell from the War Office, and Capt. Carey a mining engineer accompanied by Isaac Sumsion (Chairman) and Thomas Sturge Cotterell (Manager) made an inspection of Ridge Quarry, Pictor's Monks Park and the Hartham Park Quarries. This visit was followed by formal notification that the Ridge Quarry had been taken over by the Government for the storage of munitions under the Defence of the Realm Act. Sturge Cotterell also reported that General Savile had instructed him to prepare a section of Pictor's Monks Park Quarry as quickly as possible for the same purpose. <br />
<br />
It seems that the practical issues were dealt with first and the legal and financial aspects later, these were still being discussed by the Stone Firms Board in November, the Board then decided, to either, cover the risk and the workmen against accidents and charge the Government, or to get an indemnity from the Government, the latter course was adopted. On the 3rd December 1915 the Company seal was affixed to an Agreement dated 6th September 1915 with the Director General of Explosives Supply on behalf of the Minister of Munitions under which the Company was appointed contractors for adapting and equipping the mines at Corsham for the storage of munitions and for services rendered in connection with the storage. <br />
<br />
On the 6th January 1916 the Stone Firms' Directors met General Savile and Colonel Kempster who had returned to Bath after an inspection with Sturge Cotterell of the Ridge and Monks Park Quarries. The officers 'expressed their extreme satisfaction with the equipment of the mines and the way the munitions had been handled and stored'. They asked that Cotterell be authorised under a minute of the Company to act as Superintendent of the Mines and to carry out on the Company's behalf all the obligations of the Agreement, this was done and minuted. <br />
<br />
The officers also said it would be of great advantage to them if Cotterell's services could be made available for the purpose of advising in the establishment of magazines in other parts of the country, they asked and the Board gave its consent to allow Cotterell to undertake those duties for the Ministry of Munitions. Cotterell was soon offered the post of Superintendent of Munition Stores under the Ministry of Munitions, he tendered his resignation at the Board meeting of the 28th January 1916 and desired it to take effect from the 31st January, and he went with the best wishes of the Board who gave him £100 by way of adjustment of salary. At this meeting the Stone Firms agreed to relinquish part of the agreement with the Ministry of Munitions whereby the Company provided superintendence, clerical and tally work and travelling expenses <br />
<br />
In March 1916 Sturge Cotterell applied to the Military Service Tribunal in respect of his son, Eric W Cotterell, who was described as an assistant superintendent of explosives. The grounds of the claim was that the attested man (Eric W Cotterell) was confidential clerk to his father, one month's certificate was given for medical examination and for the matter to be referred to the Minister of Munitions. <br />
<br />
<h3>
The Store </h3>
<br />
At Ridge Monks Park Quarry an area of about six acres (2.428 ha) was cleared, which could hold 16,000 tons of TNT and Cordite, the munitions were stacked on raised platforms served by 2 feet gauge (610 mm) Decauville type tramways, the track in the shaft was mixed gauge track it seems that the loads could be transhipped from the tramway trolleys both on the surface or in the quarry. <br />
<br />
<h3>
The Tramway </h3>
<br />
Munitions came to the Stone Firms wharf at Corsham by train, were unloaded on to trolleys and taken up the tramway to the Ridge and stored in Ridge Monks Park Quarry or taken down the Firms' private tramway from the Ridge to Pictor's Monks Park Quarry or vice versa. A new Agreement between the Stone Firm's and the Ministry of Munitions dated 10th July 1916 for services rendered in the transit of munitions was sealed on the 8th September 1916; meanwhile the No.3 (Ridge) Tramway had been taken over by the War Office from the 16th July 1916 under the Defence of the Realm Act. However the Stone Firms continued to run the tramways as before, the Firms charged 2d/ton for use of the trolleys, the toll on munitions was the same as on stone, i.e. 4d/ton, was payable to Mr G P Fuller of the Neston Park Estate. <br />
<br />
All haulage was by the Stone Firms' horses which were hired by the Ministry of Munitions at the rate of 7.5 pence per horse per hour, the Firms asked for 9d but got 8.5d in April 1917, they then asked for 10d and got 9.5d in November 1917, it was difficult to replace horses during the war and the horses were in poor condition by March 1917. In October 1919 the Firms somewhat belatedly claimed payment for the use of the private tramway to Pictor's Monks Park Quarry, they asked for £25, the Ministry of Munitions offered £10 which the Firms declined. Similarly the men employed on munitions got an increase from 7d to 9d an hour.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Runaways</h3>
<br />
In early March 1916 an accident happened when a load of munitions was being lowered down the Ridge Quarry slope shaft resulting in the death of a horse, Isaac Sumsion and Alfred Taylor held an inquiry on the spot which led to safeguards being adopted to prevent it happening again. Unfortunately there were further incidents, on the 9th January 1917 a trolley loaded with munitions was being lowered down the shaft at Pictor's Monks Park when an iron coupling hook snapped and the trolley broke loose, no one was hurt but two trolleys and some munitions were damaged. A similar event happened at Ridge Quarry on the 13th December 1920, a loaded trolley was being lowered down the shaft when a coupling link broke, the trolley ran away, leapt the points at the bottom and came into violent collision with two trolleys that were being pushed by William Wootton and others towards the shaft to be drawn up. Wootton was killed outright, the Stone Firms noted that they were indemnified by the Government, therefore the Ministry of Munitions bore the responsibility for compensation. Meanwhile Wootton's widow needed help with the funeral expenses, the Board authorised Alfred Taylor to grant her £10 or £15, the compensation from the Government was £300. <br />
<br />
<h3>
After the War </h3>
<br />
The Great War ended on the 11th November 1918; early in January 1919 Alfred Taylor had an interview with Major Bishop of the Directorate of Lands of the War Office at Corsham regarding the reinstatement of Pictor's Monks Park and Ridge Quarries. At Pictor's Monks munition stocks were running down towards the end of 1920, the War Office then proposed to burn off what was left of the TNT on the top of the surface rubble heaps, however the Stone Firms decided that before anything was done, Alfred Taylor, who was now Managing Director, should consult with Lady Goldney. Digging of stone restarted at Pictor's Monks Quarry in or by 1921. It is assumed that the last munitions were cleared from Ridge Monks Park Quarry in 1921 or 22. <br />
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Near the Ridge Quarry one or more huts were put up by the Army on Pond Close Farm, one, allegedly an officers mess, was bought by the Bath and Portland Stone Firms from Mr G Coates shortly before June 1926, newly married George Arlett and his wife moved in, but soon afterwards the bungalow was totally destroyed by fire. The Stone Firms received an insurance pay out of £160, the Arletts who had lost everything were given £5 by the Firms towards replacing their furniture. Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-35798550864619938512014-11-04T15:13:00.000+00:002019-08-17T08:48:59.863+01:00Rats As Big As Cats<b>An extract from a letter from the Front written by Private Percy Aust of Neston who served in the Coldstream Guards.</b><br />
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<i>On the day your parcel arrived we had been inspected by Lord Kitchener. It rained in torrents all the day. We have been out of the trenches for a few days. I saw a few of the Wilts Yeomanry there the last time we were in. We had just a few of them in with us to show them how to go on. I was talking to one of them – his home was in Melksham. Glad to hear that Coleman and Farmer have been home on leave. I saw Jack Bull a fortnight ago. He was in the pink then. There is plenty of mud at the best of times in the trenches and you would never believe the number of rats there are, some of them are as big as cats: you have to be very careful of your rations or they will soon see them off for you. It will be a good job when it is all over. I expect there will be something doing when the weather gets finer.</i><br />
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It is interesting to note that Charles Coleman, William Farmer and John (Jack) Bull were all killed in action.<br />
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(extract taken from the Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette)Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-78405267051606369462014-10-31T11:38:00.000+00:002019-08-17T07:37:44.271+01:00Restoring St Bartholomew's War MemorialDuring the First World War, a small wooden shrine was attached to the wall of St Bartholomew’s, as a focus of prayer during the fighting. After the war was over, Harold Brakspear designed a stone memorial (built by Osborne Bros) to replace it, bearing the names of all those Church of England men of Corsham who had died.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">The memorial at St Bartholomew's Church, Corsham.</span></td></tr>
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The 92 names were carved into the limestone, but not painted. After a hundred years of weathering, some had become rough, small areas of stone had fallen away, and a few names were quite illegible.<br />
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Having done a similar job on the Town memorial, I was asked to restore the lettering on this Church memorial to legibility, by painting in the letters. I brushed the stone down, and Rob Fleming (stonemason) carefully replaced one missing area with stone filler. We scraped out a few of the shallower letters with a point to give a bit of depth again. Then, using Humbrol enamel paints, from a model shop, and a tiny brush, I painted in each name with two coats of grey undercoat, which gave a fairly smooth surface on which to paint another two coats of brown gloss enamel - over an hour on each name in total. It was like painting on very rough sandpaper to start with, but each coat helped, and I aimed to make it all look quite uniform despite the variation in definition of each name. It was quite a challenge to do so !<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Before the restoration.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">And now, after the restoration. </span></td></tr>
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The font used is attractive, with a bar across the top of the A, and an interesting letter R, and it was good to see how the stonecutters (there were at least two, with slightly different styles) had adjusted the spacing and the abbreviations of longer Christian names (including 12 Fredericks) to fit the space. While I was working, many people came and told me about their great-uncles or grandfathers whose names I was painting, and we held those names in our hearts, and talked about the dreadful loss of so many young men. Although poignant, it was a solemn joy to bring these names back into legibility and remembrance, on behalf of the congregation and the town of Corsham.<br />
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Celia James<br />
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2014<br />
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'Corsham Commemorates' would like to thank Celia James for her incredible work restoring the war memorial at St Bartholomew's and for writing this post. You can find Celia on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/celiajjames">here</a>.<br />
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We encourage everyone to visit St Bartholomew's to see the restored memorial which is also one of the sites on our <a href="http://bit.ly/VBFasc">Memorial Walk</a>. Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-1792006668245480182014-10-18T11:40:00.000+01:002019-08-17T08:33:28.879+01:00WW1 Commemoration ConcertA feature of life in Corsham during the war years of 1914 to 1918 was the regular concerts that were put on to entertain troops or to raise funds for different causes. Without the present day enticements offered by the likes of X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, Downton Abbey or wall to wall football matches the entertainment of the day was home made. Concerts were the thing and Corsham was where it was happening. Weekly reports in the local paper tell of Music at the Hospital, concerts at the Recreation Hall, social events at Mr Butts Gym and dances at Priory Street Hall. Reporting of the day proclaim events ‘attended with great success’, of ‘charming recitations’, of performers ‘creating a very favourable impression’ and ‘demonstrating good training and pure quality of tone’. Local artists and actors had plenty of opportunity to hone their talent with regular mention of the Misses Hatch giving violin duets, musical contributions from various members of the Spackman family and ‘glees’ in which Mr C Davis and Mrs Clarke assisted. All contributions were invariably ‘thoroughly appreciated’ and were ‘loudly applauded’. <br />
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This was the backdrop for the Corsham Commemorates WW1 Concert staged at the Corsham School on 18th October 2014. Sponsored by Corsham Area Heritage and by Corsham Town Council and produced by Pat Whalley the concert brought together singers and readers to tell a story of lives and of life during 1914 to 1918 when the war was being fought and when Corsham was coping with so many of its young men away from home. <br />
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The concert started with the Wiltshire Regiment March and a photo of Wiltshire Soldiers resting in Pickwick Road uncertain but excited about the prospect of war brought on by events far removed from the daily routines of the people of Corsham. Graham Paton, as Narrator for the evening then led the audience through the unfolding events of the next four years using songs of the time, extracts of letters from Soldiers, poems, diary entries, newspaper articles, photographs and a performed sketch to both entertain and inform. Corsham Choral Society, Gita’s Choir and, most entertainingly I thought, singers from Lingmara and Find Your Voice Community Choirs sang favourite songs of the time – Silent Night, Daisy Daisy, Home Sweet Home, Over There and Pack up your Troubles and, with the words enlarged on the screen, led the audience in Keep the Home Fires Burning, Mademoiselle from Armentieres and Roses of Picardy. It’s a Long Way to Tipperary was the favourite with the Choral Society encouraging audience participation with train sound effects and noisy passengers. <br />
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Linking the programmed pieces was a script that told the story of the war at the Front and of Corsham and Wiltshire waiting for news of its sons. The meticulous research of Pat Whalley evident in her histories of Corsham was put to excellent use to identify local soldiers such as Stephen Brown and a nurse Mary Deane who expressed the views and worries of their generation in their letters and their diaries – entirely personal but representative of so many. Actors from The Ad Hoc Theatre Company played the parts in authentic costume and accents adding to the impact of the words themselves.<br />
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The Concert was the latest of a number of events planned across the Corsham Area to commemorate the centenary years of World War 1. The re-creation of a Recruiting Office at the Town Hall, a period front parlour display at Arnold’s House, a talk and display of Trench warfare at the Batters and various productions at Pound Arts have set the basis for events still to come over the next 4 years. The displays and the research for all of these events, including the Concert, all help to uncover the individual and collective stories of Corsham as it was during WW1. <br />
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In the newspaper reporting style of 100 years ago; the evening of the concert passed very pleasantly and quickly with the audience warmly expressing their appreciation for the effort and talent of the assembled performers. They were royally treated to home baked refreshments provided by Lin Wheeler of Corsham School who in all respects proved to be most welcoming hosts. The performance concluded with a solo rendition of Imagine by Tony Emery and a final act tableau in which all those who had taken part in the performance, including those in costume, stood to receive generous applause. With appropriate reverence the Narrator singled out Pat Whalley as researcher and producer for the concert for particular thanks. A seasonal bouquet of flowers was presented.<br />
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Contributed by Kevin Gaskin, CCAN Co-ordinator. </div>
Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-50677577928540507092014-10-05T11:39:00.000+01:002019-08-17T08:59:52.071+01:00The Batters And A Soldier's Life In The TrenchesPeople generally know that life in the trenches in World War 1 was unpleasant and nasty work for soldiers but WW1 historian and expert Steve Williams from Trowbridge provided interested residents from Corsham and equally interested local schoolchildren with a vivid presentation of some of the practical realities of what it meant to be serving and working in the trenches. <br />
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It is part of the Corsham WW1 history that the Scots Guards billeted in the Town at different times between 1914 and 1918 used the area known as the Batters to practice and refine their trench digging skills and this area, maintained now by Corsham Town Council, was used as the backdrop for the series of presentations set in a mock up trench labelled Piccadilly Circus. Steve explained that the series of trenches on a war front would have been named like streets to provide some sort of sense and structure for the soldiers and their officers. Trenches were at first dug in straight line ditches but as the war progressed they changed to a zig zag pattern to provide better cover and more effective firing lines and this was practiced first in areas like the Batters and on Salisbury Plain. Digging trenches was a skill in itself but living in them was something else and we learnt about the perils of buckets used as latrines and associated infections, of rats the size of rabbits, of treating outbreaks of fleas and lice and of standing for long periods in wet and horrible conditions. With really helpful and authentic exhibits Steve told us about bombs, fuses and shrapnel, about sniper distraction techniques with dummy heads and periscopes, about homemade grenades made out of used food tins, about the explosive distance of Mills bombs, about helmets and headwear and most graphically about up close self defence skills including the best way to disable an enemy with your club, using Roman looking swords, using hand held skewers and using your trench spade as a weapon. He showed us the difference between light and heavy artillery and expertly demonstrated the fast firing capability of the Lee Enfield rifle and explained why being left handed meant that you were probably given different trench duties that didn’t involve lobbing grenades or firing rifles.<br />
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Black and white photos of toiling soldiers standing in recently dug trenches in a field in 1916 Corsham is a great story for the Town recorded forever in a number of books but the reality of those soldiers then being sent to the war in France and Belgium is something else and talks from experts like Steve Williams can only put across some of the harsh reality of what it must have been like to be there in the confusion and mess of a front line trench.<br />
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Thanks to Steve Williams for his time, his props and his enthusiasm, to Dave Martin and Sharon Thomas and the grounds team from Corsham Town Council for the planning and the setting up, to the Cubs who provided refreshments and to those that came to the Batters over 2 days of presentations. Over 140 children from local schools walked to the Batters for a series of presentations on a very wet Monday morning but it did mean getting out of school for an hour and their teachers did get wet too.<br />
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Kevin Gaskin<br />
2014<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">And the dog came too! Steve Williams talks to a group of residents from his mock up trench at the Batters.</span></td></tr>
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The Batters is featured as part of our Memorial Walk, which you can download <a href="http://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/memorial-walk.html">here</a>.<br />
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To find out more about the other events that will be coming up as part of Corsham's centenary commemorations please visit the <a href="http://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/key-dates.html">Key Dates</a> page.<br />
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If you attended the Trenches Day at the Batters and have any comments or feedback, you can either leave them on this blog post or via our <a href="http://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/contact-us.html">Contact Us</a> page.Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-77978052769672096842014-08-21T11:35:00.000+01:002019-08-17T07:32:28.106+01:00Recruitment Day - 19th August 2014The 19th August saw quite a change to Corsham Town Hall, transported a hundred years back in time to a First World War Recruiting Office, it was full of local people waiting to be signed up.<br />
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Featuring a team of re-enactors, from the Recruiting Sergeant himself to a number of clerks busying around with clipboards, the day was very realistic and very busy. It really gave a sense of the hype of the time and proved a great way for people today to experience what their ancestors must have experienced all those years ago.<br />
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A total of 250 people attended the event and of those 163 were signed up, having being passed for military service by the doctor.<br />
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The Youtube clip below features an audio slideshow created about the event and many thanks go to Mr Ford for agreeing to be interviewed about his experience.<br />
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We were also lucky enough to play host to the team from BBC Points West, and you can watch their report on the event <a href="http://bbc.in/1oR2zD9">here</a>.<br />
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If you attended the Recruitment Day and have any comments or feedback, you can either leave them on this blog post or via our <a href="http://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/contact-us.html">Contact Us</a> page.</div>
Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-78065539138126115482014-08-06T15:20:00.000+01:002019-08-17T09:34:53.178+01:00HMS AmphionThe HMS Amphion was the first ship of the Royal Navy to be sunk in the First World War when, on 6th August 1914, she struck a mine in the North Sea, only 32 hours into the war.<br />
Involved in a successful action to destroy a German ship laying mines east of the Suffolk coast, and having picked up German survivors, the Amphion was returning home when she tragically struck mines laid by the same German ship and sank after a series of damaging explosions<br />
151 British lives were lost, together with those of 18 German prisoners.<br />
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Below are the stories of two Corsham soldiers who lost their lives on the Amphion that day.<br />
The men of HMS Amphion are remembered on the Plymouth War Memorial, and a complete list of those on board can be found <a href="http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1914-08Aug.htm">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.corshamacf.co.uk/william_a._carter.html">William Arthur Carter</a> </h3>
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Private Royal Marine Light Infantry</h4>
William was born in 1882 to George and Marie Carter, the birth was registered in Chippenham but the family lived in Easton in Corsham. His father was a local man born in Corsham himself and he was a Cattleman on a local farm. By 1901 William, still living in Easton with his family, was working as a Freestone Quarryman. He had younger siblings – Alice, Maud, Henry and Florence. He married in 1903 to Florence Hayward and they soon had children; Hilda, Ivy and Allace. <br />
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In the 1911 census William was already in active service as a Royal Marine, his wife and children living with her parents still in Easton.<br />
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William, aged 32 and as a Private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry was onboard HMS Amphion when the ship was sunk, just two days after the start of the war.<br />
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Tragically, William's brother <a href="http://www.corshamacf.co.uk/frederic_g._carter.html">Frederic</a> was also killed at sea, just two days before the end of the war when HMS Britannia was torpedoed by a German submarine on 9th November 1918. HMS Britannia was the last Royal Navy ship to be sunk in the war.</div>
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<br /><a href="http://www.corshamacf.co.uk/frank_lewin_fisher.html">Frank Levi Fisher</a> </h3>
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(recorded as Lewin on the Corsham war memorial)</h4>
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Born in Box in 1874 Frank lived initially in Box with his parents, Elijah and Elizabeth, together with 3 brothers and a sister. His father Elijah was a night watchman on the Railway. By 1891 they were living in Westwells in Corsham and Frank at age 17 was working as a Quarryman. Frank joined the Navy as a Stoker and was living in Plymouth when he married Lucretia Codd Brooking in 1899. <br />
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Census records show that he was in barracks in HMS Drake in Plymouth in 1901 and in 1911 he was serving as a leading stoker on HMS Mutine on Surveying Service in Australia. <br />
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Service records show that he was killed in action on 6th August 1914 as a Stoker Petty Officer onboard HMS Amphion.<br />
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Frank's father Elijah and second wife, Mary Charlotte Hayward, were still living in Westwells at the time of the war.Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-37726438705757332072014-07-31T15:17:00.000+01:002019-08-17T09:34:01.190+01:00Military Exemptions: The Military Service Act And CorshamDuring World War 1 the Government introduced the Military Service Act which meant that single men aged between 18 and 45 were likely to be called into military service. There were allowances for men that were widowed and responsible for children and also for ministers of religion. There were also local Tribunals set up to consider applications for exemptions from individuals who believed that their work was of greater importance or because of their health. There were also conscientious objectors who firmly believed that they should not take up arms or use violence. The local Tribunals also considered these cases to consider the sincerity of men claiming that they were objectors. Conscription was in place between 1916 and 1919.<br />
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We don’t know who sat on the Corsham Military Service Tribunal – usually it was retired military men, businessmen, shopkeepers and local landowners - but we do know the details of some men that applied, and they provide some interesting insights into the lives of local people.<br />
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You can download the list of <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/klppqfc1ncphmow/corsham_-_military_exemption_tribunals_wwi_1.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Corsham's Military Exemption applications here</a>.<br />
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Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-80787159684059964252014-07-30T09:09:00.000+01:002019-08-18T09:09:36.957+01:00Wiltshire Wall of Remembrance<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As part of a
County wide Commemoration Event, Corsham Primary Schools were invited to
research names from our local war memorials and to create a simple cross with a
poppy and message for each named fallen soldier. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">10,000 crosses were made in
total – a staggering number representing and remembering each soldier lost who
was born or lived in Wiltshire. The wall included a panel remembering all those soldiers named on the Corsham War Memorial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The display
was the centre piece of a commemoration service held at Tidworth Military
Ceremony on the 30<sup>th</sup> July 2014 attended by Councillors Phil Whalley and Alan Macrae. The display is a moving tribute made more
poignant by the involvement of young children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kevin Gaskinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12156358553553034898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8522765272681283392.post-59582224890744125602014-07-25T15:15:00.000+01:002019-08-17T09:32:34.713+01:00Conkers For Cordite?<b>This rather obtuse article appeared in the Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette in July 1917:</b><br />
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<h3>
Horse Chestnuts.<br />Required For Munitions.</h3>
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<i>As a result of the statements that an important war-time use has-been found for horse chestnuts and that chestnut clubs might be formed to arrange for the collection of the nuts, correspondents have asked for whom the nuts are needed.<br /><br />They are required by the Government for the Ministry of Munitions, so that any fears that private firms or persons may benefit by the voluntary service of those who do the collecting may be dismissed. The nuts will replace cereals which have been necessary for the production of an article of importance in the prosecution of the war.<br /><br />Circulars will be sent to all bodies whose assistance would be welcomed giving information regarding the collection and dispatch of the nuts.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/null" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img src="https://corshamcommemorates.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/5/3/26537051/9163437_orig.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Image from the BBC World War One website.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Encouraged by these reports, posters throughout the town and the lead of the local Boy Scouts, in just a few weeks the children of Corsham managed to collect three tons of Horse Chestnuts that were then delivered to the Parish Council in November 1917.<br />
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It is believed that 7s and 6d (about 40p) was offered for every hundredweight of conkers collected. 3 tons equals 60 hundredweight - so about £24.00 was made in extra pocket money!<br />
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Conkers were used towards the end of the war because they contain a small amount of acetone which can be used to make cordite, an ingredient used in munitions factories to create exploding shells and bullets. At the time, however, the Government were loathe to spell out the actual use for fear enemies might copy the practice.<br />
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Disappointingly, later reports suggest that the use of conkers was not particularly successful.</div>
Corsham Town Councilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07582477437300396137noreply@blogger.com0