Sepia Saturday 212 ~ Snow Abound

We have been lucky so far this winter. It has been very wet rather than snowy. Personally I would rather have it cold that wet. Either way, here is a look back at yesteryear!

This is from my Guildford & District Collection & is Farnham Road Guildford (Hogs Back) on 28th December1927. Brr!

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Sepia Saturday 205 - They are Good Sports in Surrey!

This week on Saturday Sepia I am going to go along with the sports theme.

By coincidence I had an email yesterday that talked about the Ellis family of Elstead in Surrey and several other associated names.

This morning whilst in the bathroom I recalled the first photograph I am going share here, as I thought I would share the photograph with the person who emailed me yesterday, then I spotted the theme for this week. Some things happen, by coincidence, but does it exist or is it destiny? What a deep question and all before lunch!

Elstead Football Club 1911

So here are the team, left to right

Standing Row - Herbert ELLIS, u/k, u/k, William BIAS, George WARNER, Alfred NOVELL, Guy BOVINGTON, Sandy TILSON, u/k, Henry ELLIS, Lewis NOVELL, u/k.

Sitting - first 3 u/k, Hubert HARDY, Jack BOND

Guildford Football Club 1905

Back Row - Left to Right - R.G.Harris, R. Jupp. A.Tyrell, W.G. Bridger, A.J.May, S.W. Turner, L.Green

Front Row - Left to Right - A. Groves, M.Avery. L.C. Ede, F.Luck (captain), C Ellis, W. Rossiter, Alb Giles

Wanborough Cricket Team - circa 1920

Sadly no one from this photograph of a Wanborough cricket team can be identified - I date this about 1930.

Sepia Saturday - 203

For this week's visionary prompt of standing in doorways, I thought I would share this image

The picture is of my Great, Great Grandparents Henry Harris (1843-1929) and Caroline Harris nee Ellis (1844 -1935). This photograph was taken on the occasion of their 60th Wedding Anniversary in 1924 and was taken at Wanborough Surrey. 

The photographer was my late Great Aunt, Rose Marshall nee Butcher (1900 - 1994). Caroline was apparently a bit of a stickler and though nothing of smacking her Grandchildren if they misbehaved, whilst Henry was a "sweet old thing" according to my Aunt. I asked if she could recall an example. This is from my journal what she told me back in 1990 -

 "Old Sam Marshall came across to tell Mum (Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris) that the Boys (Dick, George (my Grandfather), Arthur & Harry) had been scrumping again from the apple tree."

When I asked what happened to the boys - 

"The boys came home, all sweetness and light and Mum asked where they had been? They were vague and said the fields. When Mum asked if they had been over to Sam Marshall's they said they might have been. Mum, was not deterred. I wish you boys wouldn't. Do it again and you will get what for. What did you do with the apples? Oh we ate them was the reply, then one of the boys said, why do you want us to get you some? I don't recall which of them said that, but they were all sent outside. Later they came in for tea and Harry said he was sore, when Mum asked why he said Granny. Old Grandpa was listening in, he shook his head and said but those apples are nice, aren't they?"

The background is the Sam Marshall was a local farmer, and was in fact related to Caroline through marriage. Her sister Maryanne married Jim Marshall, the added complication was that the Marshall family were already connected to the family prior to that marriage and things were further complicated when in 1931 Rose married Maryanne's Grandson Ernest.  Something that Caroline disapproved of and my Aunt always vehemently denied.

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Sepia Saturday - 202

There was something about the prompt photograph that reminded me of a photograph of my Grandfather's Uncle.

In this photograph, Walter Butcher is standing in the fields at Wanborough with another labourer tending to the land.

Walter Butcher was born in 1874 in Wonersh Surrey and was the seventh child of a family of eight. My Great Grandfather, Charles Butcher was older having been born in 1869. Both Walter and Charles moved to Wanborough. Firstly Charles having met my Great Grandmother who was from Puttenham moved across the country roads to live in the area of his wife's family. He was later followed by Walter.

My late Great Aunt recalled Walter and from my notebook of 1989 she said "Walter was a mean spirited and weak man and nothing like Dad. (Charles) He had a tendency to follow and copy Dad, which frustrated and annoyed him"

I had heard this before from my another Aunt, and with that information I formed an opinion of Walter, and perhaps that was unfair; that was until I found this reference in the local paper.

Surrey Advertiser - 16th June 1917

"Cruelty to a Horse - Farmer heavily fined.

At the Camberley Police Court on Thursday, John Knight of Cobbetts Hill Farm was summoned for permitting a horse to be cruelly ill treated on 24th May. A lad in the defendants employ said that when harrowing grass seed, the horse fell into a hole, where it laid until the knacker came to take it away the following day. Walter Butcher, carter, father of the last witness, said he killed the horse after it had been seen by a Veterinary Surgeon. The horse had fallen down at work two or three times.

Inspector Jones R.S.P.C.A said he saw the horse lying in the field. It was in a very poor condition, very thin and very old. It had not got one sound tooth. The horse fell on the morning of 24th May, and it was killed on the following evening. It was too weak to get up. Mr Carter, Veterinary Surgeon, Aldershot, said he thought the horse was between 25 and 30 years old. He advised it being destroyed.

Lily Strickland employed at Cobbetts Hill Farm, said the horse had been regularly fed, but would not fatten. The Chairman, (Mr H J B Hollings) said the Bench considered the case an exceeding bad one, and defendant would be fined £5 including costs.

Walter Butcher a witness on the last case was summoned for ill treating a horse on 24th May, and James Knight was summoned for permitting such cruelty. Inspector Jones said Butcher was driving a pair of horses attached to a large roller. One of the horses had a large sore on the off shoulder, and was quite unfit for work. Knight was fined £2 and Butcher 5/-, the Chairman stating that no doubt he felt that if he refused to take the horses out he might lose his place."

From further research and numerous conversations with now deceased members of my family I am going to build a life profile of Walter. He married and the numerous complexities of that union has really meant that up until now I have not wanted to examine this part of the family further.

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Sepia Saturday 186 - George Butcher 1908 - 1974

The prompt for this week is Boadecea. I have chosen the battle and uniform theme as it ties in rather nicely with this photograph, which I know I have shown before.

Today, commemorates the death of my Grandfather, George Butcher. Born in 1908 in Wanborough he was one of 9 children who survived into adulthood from a family of 12.

My Grandfather was a man of principle, at the time of the Second World War he was working for Unigate Dairies at Guildford. His three brothers and oldest sister Rose, who was married was living at Manor Farm Guildford. Two of his other sisters was living in nearby Shackleford, Hurtmore and the second eldest was living in Essex with her husband who was a military man.

Whilst it would have been a much safer and easier option to have started working at the farm, my Grandfather joined up. He had been married under a year. My Grandmother told me she was furious, but his principle was one of things she loved about him, and he was absolutely doing the right thing.

He joined Army and after training left for over 2 years in Sierra Leone, before returning to England and then onwards to Europe. I sent off for his service record a few years ago and I am trying to piece together his life during those war years. You can read about that at George's War.

Upon returning from the army, he resumed working at Unigate and did so until he retired in May 1973, having been asked to carry on working for a few months by Unigate. Looking forward to retirement he fell ill and suffered from breathing difficulties, and died at Milford Chest Hospital on 20th July 1974 aged 66 years.

My Grandmother spent the next 21 years a widow, and often talked about him. I once asked her if she had ever wanted to remarry. Her response was, "you only meet perfection once and one day you will know what I mean". When I married in the summer of 1994 I knew just what she meant.

George Butcher 1908 - 1974

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Sepia Saturday 184

This week's prompt falls upon the anniversary of Louis Pasteur successfully treating a boy with the rabies vaccine.

As I type this we celebrate the 65th birthday of the National Health Service and therefore it seems fitting to start this week's prompt with this first picture.

This next picture is from my Guildford Collection and features the Royal Surrey County Hospital. This picture dates from 1925. The name has since been transferred to the new hospital at Egerton Way, near the venue of the University of Surrey. 

This building I believe is what was the location of the Workhouse, before becoming part of the National Health Service and named St Lukes. I was born at St Lukes and when I worked in Surrey the Oncology unit was still based here. Since then, the equipment has been relocated to an oncology wing at the New hospital (Egerton Road site) and the building sold off. 

You can read about the Guildford Workhouse HERE and about the Spike, which is in the area known as Charlotteville HERE. There is also more details available at the St Lukes Hospital Heritage Project HERE

In 1952 my Mum contracted Polio. She was then 4 years old and spent months in hospital having various treatments. 

There was none of the gentle approach of children's wards, but the harsh reality of illness. Mum spent months at Rowley Bristol Orthopedic hospital. Mum tells me that she remembers her parents coming to see here in the isolation ward and not being able to actually go into the room, but had to view her through the glass window. How frightening that must have been to a little girl and her parents. 

This picture dates from July 1954. Mum made an almost full recovery and now has, developed a condition called Post Polio Syndrome, which was diagnosed in 1996. That was something that simply was not predicted back in the 1950s. You can read my other posts about Polio HERE

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Sepia Saturday 183

Just a quick entry this week.

Not too far from us is the tourist site of Kents Cavern. According to their website, the caves have been tempting explorers since 1571. Despite being a mere 7 miles from us I have never been and it is not on my tourist bucket list either.

Here is a postcard that I spotted recently, that dates from circa 1960

Despite the fact that I am not over keen with going underground, the caves that feature in this week's prompt from New South Wales I have been to. Sadly I could not easily get to the photographs that we took in January 1997, the days before digital!

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Sepia Saturday 182 -

As I looked at this week's prompt I had thoughts of my family. My Grandfather and his love of having a flutter and being quite a grump if his horse didn't win!

I pondered this morning why it was that it was fashionable almost to have a flutter and then as I watched the news and saw the press coverage of Ascot yesterday including the delight from the Queen as her horse won a race. The race that she usually presents the cup to the winner no less. At the turn of the 20th Century the Royal household owned horses and raced them, in much the same way as they do now. That fact would have been reported in the newspapers, these were days before television. So it would have been fashionable to have raced horses, after all they were not subjected to the real need of farm work and we would been working towards a time when they were used less for transport purposes.

This photograph came to me from my Grandfather's first Cousin James Butcher. The description he gave me was it was
"One of the Crook Grandmothers" 

As Jim's mother was Sarah Crook before she married Walter Butcher I can surmise that this is one of Sarah's Grandmother's but which one? I have not done too much on this particular line as yet. The Crook's originated from London and came south to Worplesdon just outside of Guildford. There they marry into or are connected to the Butcher, Langford and Gunner families that were in the Worplesdon, Normandy and Wanborough area including Passengers Farm. The horse looks a bit on the slim side!

This postcard is of Manor Farm at Wanborough in 1915, so my family would have seen this actual view, which I think is just wonderful!

The pathway on the left leads to the church and where the grass verge is on the left is a row of cottages, one which is where my Grandfather lived with his parents and another that is where Walter Butcher lived with his family. There were other families there too. The house on the corner was lived in by the Spicer family.

This next photograph is of my Grandfather's brother Percy. He lived with his family at Manor Farm Wanborough up until about 1930 then the family moved across to Onslow Village. This was taken in 1953 by my Aunt, Percy's sister for the Coronation Procession.

My Mum recalls that my Grandfather's other brother, Arthur had two horses like this one called Dolly and Jack. When I asked if this was either of them Mum said no. Although how she could tell I do not know!

So there seems to be a love and affection for the horses in addition to the enjoyment backing them race.

Personally I have never ridden a horse, nor do I have a burning ambition to do so! They are rather large and should be in fields enjoying the grass and an apple or two!

As to a flutter on the horses, well it has been known. The odd Grand National. I have been to the races twice, once with some former colleagues and we went to Epsom and also in Australia I saw the Melbourne Cup.

This has been a great prompt and has inspired me to do a little work on establishing what happened to my Great Uncle, as he moved away from this part of Surrey. He did marry and had at least one son, but nothing further is known which is a great shame.

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Sepia Saturday - 181

The theme for this week is adornments. I didn't really have anything that sprung to mind. Then I thought I might think a bit outside the box this week.

If you read my blog, you will know that earlier in the week I visited the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. It was during this visit that I spotted this exhibit.

The title of the piece is called Genealogy and was produced by the New Zealand & Samoa born artist Rosanna Raymond in 2007 as a commissioned piece from the Museum.

The actual artistry is a pair of denim jeans adorned with stitched pieces of decorated barkcloth. Here is a photograph of the information plate.

Each piece of barkcloth reflects the importance of Polynesian qualities which as the plate above states "female creativity and the artist's own identity"

I stood for ages looking at the detail and stitching. Pondering on just what had inspired the artist to create such a piece and the name she gave it. 

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Sepia Saturday 179 - Fairgrounds

Whenever my Grandmother was being a bit awkward or contrary my Grandfather would say, "oh, its the gypsy in you Lil"

I often wondered if there was perhaps any truth in the statement and my Grandmother's skin, certainly on her forearms was always rather tanned. When I started my genealogical research I established that my four times Great Grandmother was Bethsheba Drakeley.

Bethsheba had been born in Nuneaton in 1797 and married William Matthews in 1818 in Nuneaton. Together they raised 9 children. Bethsheba died in 1878 in Newbold on Avon in Warwickshire.

Old Arm Canal near Rugby  circa 1915

The name of Drakeley is fairly well known for involvement in fairgrounds and canal work, and this week's prompt gave the inspiration I perhaps needed to seek some images of Drakeley fairgrounds. There are quite a few images on the website for the National Fairground Archive.

If there is any truth in the story it will be interesting to explore the Gypsy culture and history. At the moment I can not see any evidence of my branch of the Drakeley's being involved, but who knows what I might discover.

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Sepia Saturday 178 - Eyes, windows to the soul

The moment I saw this week's theme I knew exactly what photos I was going to share.

The two photographs are of the same lady, Emma Jane West nee Ellis. Emma Jane was the daughter of Henry and Caroline Harris nee Ellis and was born to the couple just after they married in October 1864.

The first picture (left) shows Emma Jane as a young woman. There is something very appealing with this photograph. Emma Jane married her Cousin William Arthur West, a widower in 1897 and I think this photograph dates from around that time.

The second photograph is of Emma Jane around the period of the end of the First World War. Emma is wearing a locket with a photograph of her son, William James West born in 1898. William sadly died in France in 1918 just two months before the First World War ended. If you look very carefully, you can just make out the picture of William James.














Incase, though you can not see the photograph clearly of William James, here is is. This photograph dates from before William sees the horrors of France. He was so young.















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Sepia Saturday 171 - Ruins, Monuments & Historical Buildings

First up is the Castle at Guildford displayed here in this picture, which dates from 1916 with the Bandstand.









St Catherine's is somewhere where my Grandmother and I used to often walk to. We always used to pack a plastic beaker as we would have drink of the fresh spring water when we arrived before we walked back home again.

This picture appeared recently on the A-Z challenge. It was one of the highlights of my Australia trip as it is the last remaining evidence of the farm and house that was lived in by my ancestor John Ellis. John emigrated to Australia in 1854 from Elstead Surrey.

Culzean Castle, Ayrshire Scotland - June 2008

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Sepia Saturday 170 - Coffee shops!

Happy Easter Folks!

A quick medley of coffee and tea establishments I think for this week.





This was taken around 1910 and is of the Compton coffee house.







This one is of Vokes Tea Gardens at Normandy taken around 1902.

Here is a picture of the cafe area and stalls in Liberation Square, St Helier Jersey - taken July 2011

This final picture, taken in July 2011, is the cafe at the Underground Hospital on Jersey. The boards at the back of the room show pictures and some information on those who were deported from the Channel Islands during the German Occupation. They went to camps across the occupied territories and sadly, many never returned. You can read about the various days we spent on the island HERE. 

We visited the Underground hospital on a very cold and wet July day. There was a very sombre mood from the visitors, driven by the weather and the venue. Once we were in the cafe having a rest and reflect on what we had seen the mood didn't change, except there was a degree of urgency from visitors as we all headed to the wall to discover the fate of the individuals, whose name appeared on the facsimile identity cards we had each received upon paying the entrance fee.

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Sepia Saturday 168

Having a mooch around my Guildford collection postcards.

This first picture is of St Catherine's school in Bramley and taken around 1905.











This postcard is after the effects of the storm in August 1906

Now in my original notes I had a question mark around the location.

On reflection, I think this is showing the Rodborough Buildings in the background. This is dated around 1904.



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Sepia Saturday - 164

I searched several times for photographs in our family collection. Nothing with an tortoise, and I can not see one that I had of my father in law, where I was sure he was smoking a pipe, anyway here is one I did find - I am sure a cigarette counts!

This is of my Grandfather, George Butcher and taken circa 1960. He is in the garden of the family home which was near the railway station at Guildford. Behind the small fence is the River Wey and the tall tower like structure is in the grounds of the former laundry at Guildford. I am sure that large bushy flower behind him is either marigolds or wallflowers as they seemed to be favours. In this photo he is wearing a waist coat that matched the suit, which is rare, he  usually wore a brown jumper with an orange fleck in the wool. So I wonder if this was him getting ready to go to an event.

I recall the laundry which was a derelict building during my childhood. It had been used during the war as dealing with sheets and alike from the military. During the war my Grandmother worked there and after then hated ironing with a passion and the smell of starch.  Gradually the laundry knocked down and Guildford Crown Court built on the site.

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Sepia Saturday - 163 Snow

The moment I saw that this week's prompt was snow I  knew that I had to use this photo. This is from my Guildford and District collection. It is a photograph of Farnham Road at Guildford which was the main road to Farnham and it was along this road that was the most direct route to Puttenham

The photo is dated in the bottom right, and reads "Farnham Road, 28 Dec 1927

I know the recent snow here in parts of the UK had been challenging, but we don't see Winters like this anymore and it was all coped with on a very different scale to these days.

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