George MacPherson was born on 28 May 1851 in Edinglassie Lodge, Aberdeenshire. He became an Ironmaster and industrialist based in the West Midlands, living in Lloyd House, Penn.Continue reading →
Isbergue Marie Elizabeth Dekeuwer was born on 7 Aug 1900 near to Dunkirk, France and came to England as a Nanny to the young Downing family in Edgbaston in the 1920’s. She was affectionately known as ‘Nan’ and features in numerous family photos. Continue reading →
Two items engraved in similar script bear the monogram ‘RE’ and are presumed to have belonged to Richard Evans (1797-1859). They are a late eighteenth century glass rummer and a slightly battered silver Toddy Ladle, hallmarked London 1727. Continue reading →
Pamela Downing and her two sisters, Hazel and Jill all attended Edgbaston High School in the 1930’s. Jill was evacuated to Stroud at the beginning of the war. Continue reading →
A folder of letters and photos concerning the estate of Ida Downing, who died in 1946, has survived. Most concern the Downing property in Llandudno called Tan-yr-Allt. Amongst the correspondence are 11 letters from Tom Kendrick to Noel Downing, his cousin. The two were residual legatees of Ida’s will. Continue reading →
Pamela Downing attended the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts from 1938 to 1941. After an initial period of basic training in a full range of Artistic methods and techniques, she seems to have moved in the latter part of these studies to a period where she was studying in the Handsworth School of Dress design. Continue reading →
Percy Shakespeare was an artist and teacher who was working in the School of Painting in the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts in 1938-39. Continue reading →
Beryl White was born in Crouch End, London in 1891 and was a long-standing friend of Molly Evans. It is not entirely clear how the two met but it would seem to be likely it was around the activities of Miss Rawlins, principal of the school at Beach Court, Walmer. Continue reading →
Both Molly Evans and her friend, Edith Mathews, were involved with Miss Rawlins and her school in Walmer, Kent based in Beach Court. A number of photographs and correspondence have survived. Continue reading →
A group of seven photos has survived in a an envelope marked ‘Randle Mathews Photographs’. The writing on the envelope and on the back of three of the photographs is in the hand of Molly Evans. Continue reading →
Pamela Downing was born on 16 Jul 1920, a year after the marriage of her parents Noel Downing and Molly Evans. The attached sequence of photos was taken at roughly yearly intervals throughout her growing-up. Continue reading →
Donald Cecil Morgan served in the Intelligence Corp in the Second World War and worked for two years in JN 11, one of the Japanese Naval sections at Bletchley Park. In Dec 1945 he was sent to IndiaContinue reading →
Donald Morgan wrote a letter to Alan Stripp, author and historian, in 1995, which represents the only written explanation of his time at Bletchley Park before he died in 1997. The book he refers to is “Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park” edited in 1993 by Alan Stripp and Harry Hinsley. Continue reading →
After VE Day, code-breaking operations at Bletchley Park entered a new and final phase. Some staff were transferred to the continuing Japanese sections. Pam Downing and her Hut 6 colleagues seem to have embarked on a period of much needed respite and relaxation. Continue reading →