Oct 07 The
Victorian Attitude to Death
Sep 07 Guildford’s
Lost Railway
Mar 07 AGM and It's a Dog's Life
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Shere, Gomshall and Peaslake Local History Society
Images
of Death
On the 13th of November The Shere, Gomshall and Peaslake local history society
welcomed Andy Thompson to the village hall in Shere for a very informative
and graphic talk about war memorials and the work of the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission. 2007 is the 90th anniversary of the formation of the
CWGC and a superbly illustrated book entitled Remember with photographs
by Times photographer Brian Taylor was on sale.
Having started by researching the war service of a great uncle about 25
years ago and then tracing the service history of many other servicemen
including a number from our local area Andy, a retired school head-teacher
went on to organise visits to the battlefields for schoolchildren and other
groups.
One hour and twenty minutes was clearly only long enough for a brief review
of the enormous amount of background knowledge which Andy has accumulated
in his research of the 1914-1918 battlefields in France and Belgium. Graphic
pictures and narrative showed how the terrain and trench system resulted
in a high proportion of the horrendous casualties apart from enemy action.
We also had some fresh insight to the persuasive recruitment campaign, the
age of some men who joined-up and the awful consequences of the pals batallions.
Andy then explained how in 1915, having witnessed the loss of life in France,
the campaign by Fabian Ware to properly commemorate the dead resulted on
21st May 1917 in the formation of the Imperial (later the Commonwealth)
War Graves Commission with a charter to commemorate the dead. Fabian Ware
became chairman of the commission and was subsequently the only civilian
to be buried with a military headstone.
From the many pictures we saw some of the work of the three appointed architects,
Sir Reginald Blomfield, Sir Herbert Baker and Sir Edwin Lutyens which established
the monuments such as the Menin Gate memorial at Ypres and the cemetery
at Tyne Cot, two of the 21,000 sites in 150 countries managed by the CWGC.
We heard that the last minute of the brief issued to the architects by Fabian
Ware was that they (family visitors) must never fail to be impressed and
that when the Menin Gate memorial was opened in 1927 the occasion was the
subject of the first BBC outside broadcast which illustrates the degree
of public interest. We saw that the portland stone used for the headstones
carries either the Latin or the George Cross as decided by the army unit
or the Victoria Cross where that has been awarded and with the written text
being composed by Rudyard Kipling.
Altogether a moving and professional presentation for which Andy was thanked
by the large audience and presented by Barbara Karlsson with a copy of a
new book by Ann Noyes of the History Society entitled Engaged in War, the
Letters of Stanley Goodland, being letters of her parents family archive
and extremely relevant to the evenings talk.
Andy is a well informed and enthusiastic speaker who has thoroughly researched
his subject. His website www.eyewitnesstours.co.uk may give details of further
talks and fund-raising for the CWGC which will be well worth attending.
"The Victorian
Attitude to Death" may seem an odd subject to study but for Stephen
Furniss his interest has generated a fascinating collection of items. Death
is a taboo subject for many people and most dealers are almost embarrassed
to be offering funereal items for sale.
The biggest influence on life in the 19th century was the Industrial Revolution.
It certainly brought benefits, but with it came terrible evils. In 1790
twice as many labourers worked on the land as in towns; by 1840 that situation
was reversed. Between 1800-1830 the populations of Liverpool, Glasgow &
Manchester had doubled. Overcrowding was rife with the inevitable rise in
mortality rates. In the latter town in 1840, more than 57 out of every 100
working class children died before reaching the age of 5. Overcrowding led
to disease in cities. In 1849 cholera killed 16,000 people in London and
again in 1854 over 24,000 people died in a serious epidemic.
As the 19th century progressed, parish churchyards became increasingly overcrowded
with paupers buried 18 to a grave with no earth between the coffins. St
Martin in the Fields had a 200 square foot burial ground with around 65,000
bodies. This meant recently buried corpses were constantly disturbed & often
dug up after one week to be chopped up and burnt, while coffins were sometimes
sold to undertakers for reuse or sold as firewood. Gravediggers stole lead
from the coffins and sold the bodies to surgeons.
All this led to the new middle classes demanding permanent, peaceful, resting
places for their families and by the 1830's the new cemeteries had begun
to appear, based on the Parisian model. Joint stock companies began to build,
the first being 'the General Cemetery Company', who created Kensal Green
just off the Harrow Road in a rural landscape. To be buried here became
a sign of some affluence and people flocked to buy good sites & arrange
burials. The catacombs were the first to sell, then the sites near the main
avenues. Public vault burial cost from 8 guineas at Highgate Nunhead and
Kensal Green to 6 guineas at Brompton. Ostentatious family mausolea appeared
at all the cemeteries.
The Victorians felt it only proper to bury their dead in the style and custom
which would befit the deceased in relation to his wealth and importance
in life. Soon lavish funerals were the order of the day and the working
classes often crippled themselves financially trying to ape the funerary
pomp of the new middle classes. The blinds of the house were drawn & the
undertaker would post two 'mutes' outside the door. 'Mutes' were employed
to walk with the procession and assume melancholy expressions. (So called
because they were not permitted to speak). They carried black crepe covered
wands which were symbolic of staves used to beat off any likely bodysnatchers.
The hearse was pulled by 6 black horses each with plumes of black ostrich
feathers on their heads and black saddle cloths. The best horses were stallions
specially imported from Belgium but were hard to handle and the bearing
rein was cruelly used to bow the horses head and mustard was applied to
their eyes to make them weep.
The wake was often held before the funeral so that relatives could view
the corpse and satisfy themselves that no foul play had taken place. Large
quantities of drink were consumed to fortify the mourners against the weather
and the long funeral. Photographs were taken of the deceased on their deathbed,
or in the case of children, on the parlour sofa.
Catering would include sherry, ham, pies, port, jelly, trifle and cakes.
At genteel funerals a mourning teapot would be in use. Whole families and
even pets were expected to wear mourning when a death occurred in a household.
A widow would undergo a lengthy period of mourning. Crepe would be worn
for the first year, to be replaced with silk trimmed with crepe. After 6
months it could be lightened and then jet could be introduced. After 2 years
the widow entered half mourning when grey, lavender, mauve, violet and stripes
might be gradually introduced. Mourning rings & brooches of gold and black
enamel work and seed pearls symbolic of tears were worn. Mourning cards
and stationery with varying width of black borders were produced.
Stephen presented a beautiful display of items he had collected including
exquisite black crepe clothing, china, jet, hair jewellery, cards, funeral
bills, memorial inscriptions in frames. Judy Potter gave the vote of thanks
and members enjoyed a drink and Victorian seed cake.
The
intriguing title “Guildford’s Lost Railway” was our first talk after
the summer break and Howard Mallinson, the author of a book of the same
name, was our excellent speaker. His story opened with the catastrophic
harvest of 1879, which had a great impact on land values, and the extension
of the railway from Mansion House in the City in 1880. For the first time
the north bank of the Thames at Fulham was connected to the City.
Furthermore, the American Government wanted to open up the vast prairies
and so offered land at ridiculously low prices to encourage people to settle
there and grow wheat. Railways and ocean going ships brought grain to Europe
at a lower price than we could grow it, thus further lowering UK land values.
Enter here Lord Onslow whose restoration of Clandon Park, which he inherited
at 16, had caused him to be very short of money. He proposed selling some
of his 2000 acres for a new railway to run from Guildford through Kingston
to Mansion House, which would include a station at Clandon and an extra
station at the top of Guildford town.
London South Western Region had always refused to build a railway through
Cobham because of the proximity to other lines (no new customers, only diverted
ones). Queen Victoria, who regularly stayed at Claremont House near Cobham,
did not like the idea of the railway close by. Mr Mallinson was given access
to the archives at Windsor, where her views were clearly set out. (“We are
not amused,” presumably.) Lord Onslow’s proposed railway would have enabled
travellers from Guildford to cross the Thames without changing at Waterloo.
There was great backing from Kingston as they had no station and from Guildford
as a station at the top of the town would save 50 feet of vertical haulage
of goods up from the existing station.
The proposal went before Parliament and a battle ensued as LSWR were worried
about falling business and profits from the new line. After ten days’ wrangling
a compromise was reached with LSWR proposing to build a railway from Surbiton
to Guildford (which is the line we have today) and also saying they would
take the line from Surbiton to Putney, but this was never built. The proposal
pleased Lord Onslow, who sold his land for £50,000 and acquired a station
at Clandon. Cobham was the loser and still has no station in the village.
The Lovelace
Bridges
William, Earl of Lovelace (1805
- 1893), inherited the title 8th Lord King, on the death of his father in
1833. He was schooled at Eton and entered the diplomatic service. He married
Lord Byron's daughter Ada, a keen mathematician. They had a cool relationship
and he had little time for their 2 children, preferring to pursue his estate
buildings projects.
He moved from Ockham Park taking over the estate in 1846, building it up
to 10,000 acres. He was a keen forester and architect. Horsley is known
for the characteristic architectural style that features flint and brick.
All the escutcheons and decorative brickwork were made locally at his brickworks
in Ockham. But his style went beyond mere buildings - Lord Lovelace created
15 horseshoe shaped bridges along the tracks in the woodland.
The Lovelace Bridges are now the focus of the Horsley Countryside
Preservation Trust. A group was formed in 2002 with the aim of preserving
these splendid Grade II listed masonry structures. Forest Enterprise own
5 bridges and 5 are privately owned. Peter Hattersley and Andrew Norris
explained how the project was launched by the Lord Lieutenant, Sarah Goad,
in 2003. Fittingly, since Lord Lovelace with the first person to hold the
title.
All the bridges were named and dated with brick plaques, but none survived.
Delightful titles such as Falcon, Hermitage, Outdowns, Meadow Platt, Robin
Hood, Raven, Troy. However, all the attendant publicity at the launch caused
two local residents to come forward with items they had independently found
lying in the undergrowth when out walking. These proved to be the 2 plaques
'Stony Dene' and '1871'. These are now back in place on the first bridge
to be conserved in 2003.
Volunteers play a vital role in restoration work under the guidance of professionals.
Recording each bridge is vital and it is always a challenge to find the
balance between renewal and repair. Owners are, of course, happy for volunteer
help and the grants obtained. Quality work, as Andrew pointed out, comes
from committing time and money. Funding has come from the HCPT, SITA, Forest
Enterprise, GBC and Surrey Historic Buildings Trust. You can go to Greendene
car park, study the interpretive panel there and start your circular walk.
Allow a good 3 hours. Robin Gates gave a hearty vote of thanks on behalf
of the society for a fascinating, well illustrated lecture. Barbara Karlsson
WILLIAM
COBBETT
We gathered on 8 May
to hear Barbara Biddle’s excellent talk on a fascinating man—William Cobbett.
The title was “Journalist Extraordinaire” but “Man Extraordinaire” would
have suited him as well. He was the foremost political journalist of his
age and a radical, reforming politician.
He was born in Farnham in 1763 and had several jobs whilst still a child
including hoeing peas and driving horses at harvest time. However, at a
young age he decided to become an MP and practised making speeches to unsuspecting
trees and bushes. Although much notable literature was published in his
lifetime, he always preferred to read about politics.
Whilst a very young man on a visit to Guildford he boarded the London coach
on impulse and once in the capital obtained employment in a Law Office working
from 5 am to 8 pm. On leaving his law job he joined an artillery regiment
and was posted to Canada where he became Clerk to the Regiment. Here he
met his wife, with whom he went on to have seven children.
A corruption scandal which he was about to expose concerning the officers
caused him to flee to France, where the French Revolution was about to begin.
However suspicion of the English necessitated further flight, this time
to America where he became a journalist and publisher calling himself Peter
Porcupine.
His defence of George III meant yet another flight, full circle, back to
England. William Pitt offered him the editorship of a newspaper, but Cobbett
preferred to remain his own man and began to publish “Cobbett’s Political
Register” which continued until his death in 1835 and sold 4000 copies weekly.
Also at this time Cobbett was institutional in starting the Hansard official
report of the House of Commons. He moved to Botley House near Winchester
where he championed the rights of the labouring classes and tried to improve
their lives. He was now an MP and strenuously fought corruption in politics.
In 1816, he wrote an influential pamphlet warning of the plight of disaffected
soldiers and sailors from the Napoleonic Wars who were jobless and starving.
This worried him greatly as he had witnessed the French Revolution at first
hand. He urged the men to press for reform by peaceful means but the Government
was furious and he left for America again.
On returning to England in 1819 he was bankrupt and friends bought him a
house in London. His wife died in 1821 and Cobbett now began his famous
“Rural Rides”, a series of documented rides on horseback. He visited Shere
in September 1822, declaring there are “very few prettier rides in England.”
Cobbett became an MP again, this time for Oldham. His lifelong efforts on
behalf of the labouring classes and his exposés of corruption were rewarded
by the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832.
He died at Ash in 1835 and is buried at Farnham. The Times wrote “William
Cobbett was in many respects a more extraordinary Englishman than any of
his time.”
GOMSHALL
TANNERY
Although the Gomshall tannery closed 19 years ago, Colin Woolmington was
able to identify many local people both in old photographs of the tannery
works and in the audience when he spoke enthusiastically to a packed meeting
of the Shere, Gomshall and Peaslake Local History Society in the Tanyard
Hall, Gomshall on 10th April which is adjacent to the old Tannery shop,
now the Veterinary practice.
Colin covered a brief history of leather production over a period of hundreds
of years which saw about 40 tanneries in Surrey. Tanneries were an important
source of employment and certainly the local tannery had a key role in the
life of Gomshall with many owners until 1917 when Union International, a
big group of companies including six tanneries in UK and overseas bought
Gomshall Tannery which employed over 200 people at one time in very much
a family atmosphere until it was finally closed after a serious fire in
1988.
Colin explained that the room which we were in had at one time been the
main factory office which housed the General Manager, Progress Office, Wages
Department, Export Office, Accounts and Switchboard and having trained as
a Lab Technician and worked in process development he had developed an extensive
knowledge of tanning processes and the workings of the Gomshall factory
in particular from inspection of new skins to the analysis of the effluent
discharge from the factory to ensure that it was clean.
Using an aerial photograph of the factory taken in 1963 and numerous pictures
from inside the factory, Colin explained the tanning process and with the
help of members of the audience, was able to name many of the workers including
one who had worked there for 46 years. We heard recordings of interviews
with staff msde by County Sound radio in 1983 and were shown samples of
some of the quality specialist fashion leathers produced over the years
such as the 0.45mm thick "Elegance" skin produced in the 1960s.
We learned that there were some tough jobs in the unpleasant and messy processes
for treating the skins such as the lime-yard and tanning pits and although
some manual operations were gradually mechanised, a lot of processes continued
to be carried out by hand in producing the very high quality of leather
for which the factory became known. The local area was ideally suited to
provide oak bark, chalk and water from the Tillingbourne stream, all used
in the processes which treated about 1.5 million skins per year, 80% of
which came from New Zealand.
Colin also explained the use of registered tannage marks and the elastomer
tests and tensometer tests which were part of the quality checks carried
out on the finished leather product which is all measured in dozens and
square feet. Colin described pickling, splitting, vacuum and heat drying
and why fungicides and water-proofers are added and how suppleness and good
wear properties were ensured as in the 14 month tanning process to make
good sole leather.
This important aspect of local history is well covered in the book "A Tannery
in Gomshall" published by Twiga Books and available through the Shere, Gomshall
and Peaslake Local History Society.
Jeff Nellist.
HISTORY
SOCIETY AGM & "IT'S A DOG'S LIFE" LECTURE
Fifty members came to the AGM, which was swiftly conducted. My previous
appeal for a new Treasurer was kindly answered by David James. He was warmly
welcomed to the committee by a unanimous vote of the members.
We then welcomed Geoffrey
Hutton of Hutton & Tostron from Netley House in Gomshall. The strange
title of the talk soon became clear when Geoffrey explained that they specialise
in using dogs to seek out dry rot in buildings. He explained that you need
a dog to have curiosity, patience and be biddable. He finds working breeds,
in particular gundogs, to be the best workers, and often uses Labrador cross
dogs. They obtain the dogs from Blue Cross.
We learned that dogs have 3,000 times the nasal capacity of humans! Dry
rot comes from the Himalayas. The spores live in the wild there, but survive
in the UK because we provide the perfect conditions in terms of ventilation,
humidity and temperature. It does not survive in the open air.
The dogs need to sniff out the newly incubated dry rot before the damage
is done. In a specially constructed test chamber at Netley House the dogs
are trained, when wearing their harness, to find the rot. The special guest
of the evening was then let off her lead and into the hall! Lottie, in harness,
then ambled around the room, sniffing all the way and swiftly found the
hidden rot behind the stage curtain, and sat down to indicate the find.
She quaffed her reward of chocolate!
We then enjoyed an unexpectedly detailed slide presentation of the terrible
fire at Windsor Castle and the restoration work undertaken by H & T as one
of the 6 main contractors. They have installed hundreds of sensors in walls,
the roof timbers, under floors, by windows, gutters, lights, behind panelling
etc. which relay information on temperature, moisture and humidity levels.
The information is recorded and sent to Netley House. They are thus able
to chart the 'drying out' rate in all areas of the castle, and attend to
any problems quickly. It was a fascinating lecture - all the more so as
the society had visited Windsor Castle soon after the reopening and seen
the exquisite restoration work up close.
Michael Dodd thanked Geoffrey for an excellent lecture, particularly for
the free check-up of the village hall's structure, undertaken by Lottie!