Correspondence

Nov

2022

Charles Hellier Davis Evans

Charles Hellier Davis Evans, known as Hellier, was the eldest son of Charles Evans. He was born on 28 May 1873 in Gisborne, New Zealand. Just as his father Charles communicated with his brother, Henry, back in England so too did Hellier with his first cousin Molly Downing. Continue reading →

Sep

2022

The Griffin family at Beacon Lodge

The Sep 1939 register helps us understand who was living and working at Beacon Lodge in the 1930’s. It shows that up at the remote lodge, Emma Griffin, the widow of William Henry Griffin, was still in residence. She was born on 16 Aug 1883 making her 56 and is described as ‘Caretaker’. Living with her were Clifford Jones , a 16 yr old ‘farm worker’ and Beatrice Burton , a 15 yr old ‘domestic servant’ Continue reading →

Sep

2022

Lady Shakespeare’s Postcard

One postcard from Amy Shakespeare, wife of Sir Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare has survived in our archive. Continue reading →

Sep

2022

Jessica Campbell Segrave

Jessica Campbell Stone was the second wife of Charles William Segrave, whose first wife Mary Lucy Harwood, an American, had died in 1898. The couple married in St George Hanover Square on 11 Jun 1901. Continue reading →

Aug

2021

William Lyon Browne

William Lyon Browne was born in about 1845 and was a corn merchant from Shrewsbury. He had extensive business dealings with William Edmund Downing and the Downing’s malting business. This included social gatherings and shoots in Church Stretton and Ratlinghope from about 1880 to 1900. Continue reading →

Aug

2020

Tom Kendrick’s Letters

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

Jun

2019

Rev John Whitehead Postcard from Congo

One postcard amongst the stamp collection of William Henry Morgan is particularly interesting. This comes from Rev John Whitehead a Baptist missionary in Congo in the early 20th century and conveys Christmas greetings and best wishes for the new year of 1914. Continue reading →

Dec

2018

Harry Loftus Barlow

Hal Barlow was born in Bath on 10 Apr 1888, the son of an army officer. He attended Shrewsbury School, from 1903 to 1905, and was a good friend of both Wilmot Evans and Noel Downing. Continue reading →

Nov

2018

Elizabeth Hardy

Elizabeth Hardy was born on 5 Jun 1889, the only daughter of Rev Theodore Bayley Hardy, VC Before 1914 she worked as a schoolmistress, having obtained a degree from London University. After war broke out, she trained with the Red Cross in London and later joined the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Dunkirk on 7 Feb 1917. She became a life-long friend of Molly Evans. Continue reading →

Oct

2018

Old Mulgravians’ War Memorial

The Old Mulgravians’ War Memorial, a stained-glass window in Lady Chapel of St Oswald’s Church, Lythe near Whitby, was unveiled on 28 Mar 1920. Noel Downing was among the former pupils of the Mulgrave Castle School who together with the headmaster Lord Normanby contributed in honouring their fallen friends. The surviving correspondence below includes 2 letters – a letter of appeal and a detailed description of the Memorial on its completion. The list would indicate that about 20 per cent of all the school pupils were killed. Continue reading →

Oct

2018

Sir Joseph Trounsell Gilbert

Sir (Joseph) Trounsell Gilbert, by Walter Stoneman, 1955, © National Portrait Gallery, London Trounsell Gilbert was born in Bermuda on 30 Aug 1888 and won a Rhodes scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford, matriculating in 1907. He was a contemporary and life long friend of Noel Downing. Continue reading →

Oct

2018

21st Battalion (4th Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers

Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Noel Downing enlisted and joined the 21st Battalion (4th Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers. In early Oct 1914 he arrived in Ashtead, Surrey where he was billeted. Noel kept a series of postcards that illustrate the new recruits’ arrival and early training and the construction of a vast encampment of huts in Woodcote Park, Epsom. Continue reading →

Feb

2018

A.K. Gibbs to Mary Downing Letter, Nov 1917

Annie Katharina Gibbs’s letter to Mary Downing dates from 17 Nov 1917. She congratulates Mary on receiving her decoration (Royal Red Cross) and as an ‘old friend’ uses the opportunity to catch up with the family’s news. The letter is part of a number of congratulatory letters preserved in Mary’s Writing Box. Continue reading →

Dec

2017

Joseph Dezitter’s Pictures of Bergues

During the First World War, Joseph Dezitter (1883-1957), a Flemish artist, was mobilised and participated in the Belgian campaign where he was seriously wounded in 1914. After recovering he joined the ambulance auxiliary services in Northern France. Travelling between military hospitals, he took the opportunity to paint the places he visited. Continue reading →

Oct

2017

William John Back

William Back was the partner of William Morgan when they together formed the accountancy partnership of Morgan Back and Co in 1935. Continue reading →

Oct

2017

Morgan Back and Co

Morgan Back and Co, a firm of Incorporated Accountants, was founded in 1935 after the dissolution of John R Woodley, Morgan and Co. The draft letter of agreement between William Henry Morgan and William John Back has survived. This document was held in the offices of 34-36 Gresham Street when the building was blitzed in about 1941. Despite the burnt fringes it has been kept and is still legible. Continue reading →

Oct

2017

Noel Downing to Mother Letter, Mar 1915

This is the only war letter that has survived written by Noel Downing to his mother Hannah Pitt Downing. It has no date but it seems to recount his early experiences at Ashtead as a private with the Royal Fusiliers and that would make it most probably around Mar 1915. It would seem to post date the other letter address-headed Ashtead to his sister Mary as the Public School boys are being moved from billets (like Mrs Drew) into the new camp. Continue reading →

By topic