28
Aug
2020
Fanny Downing
Frances Susan Downing was the older sister of Thomas Lee Downing, and eldest daughter of William Downing by his second wife Susan Lee. She was baptised on 17 Apr 1865 and was known by the name Fanny. Continue reading →
15
Jul
2020
Pamela Downing’s Fashion Design Drawings 1940-41
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 →
11
Jul
2020
Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts, 1939-41
Pamela Downing left Edgbaston High School and after a period in France in Autumn 1938, she commenced studies at the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts, Margaret Street, Birmingham. Continue reading →
11
Jul
2020
Percy Shakespeare
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 →
08
Jul
2020
Pamela Morgan Paintings
Below is a collection of Pamela Morgan’s paintings, both in oil and watercolour. These were painted between 1977 and 1997. Continue reading →
18
Jun
2020
Beryl Margaret Brodribb White
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 →
16
Jun
2020
Beach Court School, Walmer
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 →
16
Jun
2020
Edith Turney Mathews
Edith Turney Mathews was born on 11 Oct 1889 and was a school friend of Molly Evans at Beach Court School Walmer. Their families both lived in the Stourbridge area. Continue reading →
15
Jun
2020
Randle Mathews family
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 →
08
Jun
2020
Pamela Downing
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 →
17
May
2020
Donald Morgan at JN11, Bletchley Park
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 India Continue reading →
13
May
2020
Donald Morgan Correspondence with Alan Stripp
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 →
10
May
2020
Bletchley Park Picnic in Brickhill Woods, Summer 1945
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 →
08
May
2020
First Day at Bletchley Park
In the first half of 1941, Pamela Downing was still studying at the Birmingham School of Art. On 28 Jul 1941, according to her mother Molly‘s diary, she learnt that she had failed to secure another year at the college. Both her parents had served in the First World War and it was clear that Pamela who had just turned 21 ought to be doing something a little more positive for the war effort. Continue reading →
07
May
2020
Bletchley Billet in Woburn Sands
Pamela Downing‘s longest and last billet, whilst serving in Hut 6 at Bletchley Park, was in Woburn Sands. Here she shared a house with her colleagues, Jane Morris, Daisy Genge and Margaret Bonser. Continue reading →
04
May
2020
Hut 6, Bletchley Park Reunion 1981
The Hut 6, Bletchley Park Reunion in May 1981 was the first big gathering after almost 40 years of secrecy. It was a significant challenge to reach as many people as possible as all official records had been deliberately destroyed.
Pamela Morgan (née Downing) who served in Hut 6 from Oct 1941 to Aug 1945 was amongst a small circle of Bletchley friends who started the process. According to documents kept in her archive 133 people were contacted and 79 came to the reunion (see below) which took place in London on 9 May 1981. Continue reading →
28
Apr
2020
VE Day at Hut 6, Bletchley Park
Pamela Downing served in Hut 6 at Bletchley Park as a civilian from 13 Oct 1941 to 29 Aug 1945. Hut 6 was at the heart of German Army and Air Force Intelligence Code Breaking. She was engaged with a team working round the clock in an intense environment repeatedly processing and entering coded messages directly into Enigma/Typex machines.
We have three photographs of her and her colleagues from Hut 6 (and a few from Hut 3) celebrating VE Day. These are rare examples of the very few taken at Bletchley throughout the period. Continue reading →
26
Mar
2020
William Hayward of Little Wenlock, died 1639
William Hayward of Little Wenlock died in 1639 and left a will. He was the son of William Hayward, who had died in 1602. William was the father of two sons, George and William Hayward. It is clear he was also the grandfather of a fourth generation, William Hayward (1642-1708), who married Mary Pudsey in Trysull, Staffs in 1665. It is less clear whether the son, George, or the son William, is the father of this fourth William. Continue reading →
17
Mar
2020
William Hayward of Little Wenlock, died 1602
William Hayward, Gentleman of Little Wenlock died and left a will with probate dated 1 Apr 1602. Continue reading →
09
Mar
2020
Humphrey Slaney of the Hem, Shropshire
There is an entry in the Holy Trinity, Much Wenlock parish register for the burial of Humphrey Slaney of “the Hemme” on 3 Oct 1603. It seems very likely he is the father of Richard Slaney also of the Hem who leaves a will dated 1620. Continue reading →