THS Bulletin 15

Tewkesbury Historical Society

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T.H.S. Bulletin No.15, 2006

Contents

The past year has been dominated by the sudden – and deeply saddening – death of our treasurer Bill Camp. His passing not only lost us a good friend but also made us realise how much the Society owed to his voluntary activities – it has taken a good deal of effort and the help of many to try to fill that gap. In this edition, we publish an obituary tribute to Bill, his wife, June, and his family. Bill was not a trained historian – but contributed so many of his other talents to ensure the success of our Society over the past fifteen years.

Fortunately sometimes change is not forced upon us and, last year, we altered the design of our cover by benefiting from the professional skills of our member Sam Eedle. I also reminded members that articles from our past bulletins were starting to win representational honours. Our own Woodard Award  for Bulletin 13 was won by the same Sam Eedle but little did we realise – although I had a feeling when I first edited his article – that it would be Sam who would be the first winner of the county Bryan Jerrard Award for 2005 with his article from Bulletin 14, ‘A Tewkesburian at Trafalgar’. Not only that but Derek Benson, a member of our editorial team, more known for his computing expertise, was short-listed for his article, ‘The Tewkesbury Races’. If that were not enough, a guest contributor, student teacher Martin Holt, joined Wendy Snarey in winning the national British Association of Local History award  for his article in Bulletin 13, intriguingly entitled, ‘Irresponsible and Self Seeking Faddists’.

The real significance of the awards to Sam and Derek is that both would not claim to be professionally trained historians. Undoubtedly they love History, but they have developed the skills of the professional historian ‘on the job’. With determination, diligence and perseverance, any member can, therefore, be a winner!

The Society has, this year, added to its portfolio of themed publications with Never has so much been owed…… written by your editor with a great deal of help from members such as David Willavoys and John Pocock. It was our contribution to the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the ending of World War II, the aim being to produce a short biography of each name that appears on certain local war memorials. That process involved a research project undertaken by Y9 (3rd Form) students of Tewkesbury School and a consequent exhibition at the Town Library, which drew in members of the families of those who had lost their lives: this produced yet more knowledge for the book. Once again the book was graced by a Sam Eedle cover and the project was underwritten by a grant from the Home Front Recall Fund of the National Lottery. This has also allowed us to purchase a Power-Point Projector for society and community use.

This 15th Edition also contains a salutary reminder that research does not necessarily end with the production of an article: sometimes the facts obstruct a good story. Sam has followed up his article, not only by adding the names of other local men who served at Trafalgar, but also in admitting that further research has required him to alter his original conclusion. His article, and the muted centenary of the battle, caused me to ascertain how the fame of Nelson affected the people and townscape. Cliff Burd has completed the important history of the forgotten Stocking Making Trade and we are delighted that other long-serving members continue to research quietly before presenting their researches to the Bulletin. Janet Devereux has used her local contacts to write about 89 Church Street whilst David Willavoys has followed up his interest in the Methodist Chapel by investigating its predecessor: the Market House. Derek Round has enabled us to benefit from his photographic collection and long experience as an angler by writing about the 1924 Floods and the fishermen involved. Nigel Druce continues his interests in local transport by researching the forgotten Coombe Hill Canal. Finally, we welcome the memories of Oldbury Road resident, John Lampitt.

We are also deeply indebted to guest researchers. Jenny Slack came along with an interest in feminism and has accepted a commission to write about a female activist, Harriet McIlquham in the Victorian vaccination scandal. Another chance enquiry, about the Crouch family of bakers, led to our receiving a wonderful, privately published book about Belgian Refugees in World War I, by Bernadette Matthys and her family. Finally, an article about the ‘Jew of Tewkesbury’, reminds us that there are professional historians living in Tewkesbury, like archaeologist Richard Surman, of whose talents we have been deprived – thus far!

I commend this 15th Bulletin – and thank all those active members who do so much for the Society.

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