Wellingtonia Issue 16 : First Half 2014 Only £2.00 Newsletter of the Wellington History Group, rediscovering the past of Wellington in

EDITORIAL IN THIS ISSUE ****************** n recent years, two aspects of Page local history and heritage 2. Dr Charles Callaway Iprotection have given rise to 3. Grave Matters mounting concern. The first relates to 4. Public Houses? borough council’s poor record, 5. Notice Board seen as a continuation of measures 6. Midland Red experienced even before the reign 8. Thomas Lambert jnr (some would add ‘of terror’) of 9. CCC Remembered Telford Development Corporation which saw the demolition of more 10. The Wellington Gibbet Our new chair than a few historic buildings. Part Two Patricia Fairclough is our chair for Some should have been given 11. Misleading Myths the current year, having taken over the protection which is supposed 12. Granddad’s Medals the reins from Geoff Harrison at to be virtually guaranteed under 14. Samuel Corbett, our public talk last November. the terms of the Listed Building Pat has a degree in History from scheme (such as the former New Blacksmith University and taught Street Methodist church frontage, 16. Hundred the subject at a Charlton Arms Hotel, etc.) or of 17. Edith Picton-Turbervill; Grammar school. Her interests are significant local interest (as in Corset Demo in social and economic history. Edgbaston House). 18. 100 Years Ago: 1914 Pat’s election provides a A PhD student is currently valuable link for our Group with researching the borough’s attitude 20. Photocall the Wellington Literary Festival, to heritage conservation and which she also chairs as well as for promotion. All we can say is that professionally obtained local facts Wellington’s LA21 group, which borough councillors and certain of (not urban myths or History has produced several interesting its employees, who seem more According To Wikipedia) as they booklets on the area’s past. concerned with money than taking could be, or even interested in As if that wasn’t enough, Pat effective measures to preserve learning more about the area’s serves on Wellington Town what remains of Telford’s heritage, past. Like most councillors, Council as councillor for the need to rethink their approach to History teachers are seldom seen Shawbirch Ward. prevent another 40+ years of at talks given by our or other irreversible damage. The historical societies in the district. Heritage has been appointed Local Gorge does not This is a shame, not least Heritage Education Manager for represent the Telford conurbation. because Telford is able to offer Telford and for the The second refers to local examples relating to most periods next year or so. He is intended to history education in our schools. in ’s rich urban, political, ‘develop greater use and awareness of Yes, we all know teachers are economic and social history. local heritage in twelve partner overworked and at the mercy of Under a new Government schools in the area so that pupils can curriculum changes, but my funded Heritage Schools indentify with their immediate local experience is that not all schools programme to ‘bring history heritage’. are as committed to passing on alive’, a man from English Let’s hope he succeeds. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 1 DR CHARLES CALLAWAY David Blain

orn on 9th March 1838 at 2 to Wellington. The rocks of the Stratton Street, and Malvern Hills are among the Bson of Lemuel (an oldest in England and Wales and accountant) and Jane Callaway, would later be studied by Charles Callaway was schooled at Callaway. The pure water from Bristol and Cheltenham before these rocks was used in the entering Cheshunt College in 1859 famous ‘Water Cure’ treatment for where he studied Theology with a variety of disorders, and stress the intention of becoming a being one of them. (One of the Congregational church minister. main practitioners was Dr Ralph In addition he took BA Barnes Grindrod (1811-1883) who (Philosophy) examinations at bequeathed his collection of London University in 1862, and geological specimens to Oxford his MA (Philosophy and Political University.) Economy) a year later. (He later On 29 June 1876, Callaway obtained further degrees after married widow Hannah Maria developing an interest in Geology: Clark (nee Keay, born 1832 and First Class Honours in Geology, daughter of John Keay, a 1880s Carte de Visite studio photo of 1872 and DSc (Geology and Wellington boot manufacturer). Dr Charles Callaway, MA, DSc, FGS Physical Geography) in 1878.) She was a music teacher at Hiatt’s and (below) the Murchison Medal. After departing Cheshunt in Ladies College, Wellington, where 1864 he took up a Pastorate in her sister Mrs Elizabeth Hiatt was Society. He was also an honorary 1865 at Kirkby Stephen, principal. Callaway taught member of the Rationalist Press Westmorland. He remained there English, History and Science at the Association whose purpose was to until 1868. From October 1869 college, which gave him time to publish literature too anti-religious until mid 1871 he was at further his geological knowledge for mainstream publishers. Wellington and attended the and research. As a geologist, Callaway was Independent Congregational In the 1881 census Callaway focussed mainly on the ancient chapel in Tan Bank which had and his wife Minnie lived at 132 rocks of Shropshire, Anglesey, the opened in 1825.. Mill Bank Wellington. They co- Malverns, Scotland's north west Upon leaving Wellington, habited with six other women. Highlands and parts of Ireland. Callaway first went to Bradford Two were scholars, another two During his residence in and worked as a librarian and teachers and the others servants. It Shropshire, he began original museum curator. In 1872 he met would seem that there were no research into the area of The the noted American geologist children of this union. Minnie died Wrekin. He was able to prove that James Hall who invited him to in 1895; her husband survived her the ancient masses of The Wrekin work at the New State for almost twenty years. He and Longmynd represented a Pre- Museum at Albany. remained in Wellington until 1898 Cambrian formation which he This was a well-established and then moved to Cheltenham. named Uriconian after the nearby institution with a reputation for Callaway had by now left the Roman City. training and encouragement of Nonconformist ministry after He next studied Anglesey and several notable American seceding on doctrinal grounds. He concluded that the unfossiliferous scientists. Callaway was there became an outspoken agnostic and metamorphic rocks were probably during 1873-74 and learnt much supported the Cheltenham Ethical Pre-Cambrian. In 1880 he went to palaeontology (the study of the life in geologic periods based upon fossil remains). He later specialised in Archaean geology (ancient rocks containing the oldest fossils of life on earth). On returning to England, he became curator of the Sheffield Public Museum. This was short lived and, after disagreements with one of the Management Committee, he left in 1876. Following treatment at Malvern for a ‘nervous illness’, he returned

2 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 Scotland and was drawn into the ‘Highlands Controversy’ debate GRAVE MATTERS Wendy Palin with leading geologists on Pre- Cambrian strata and their relationship with later geological ost family historians find period formations in the north themselves in graveyards west Highlands. Today he is given Mfrom time to time and I rather more credit for this work am no exception. I find them than at the time, when his fascinating places and always assertion that older rocks at the leave with more questions than Moine had been forced over answers. Fortunately, the internet younger formations by allows us access to papers and geomorphic activity was regarded places that shed light on our as somewhat revolutionary; until queries and, if you read on, I will share one such experience. then, it had been taken for granted © Shane Spargo, GSSA web site. that younger rocks were always In my family tree there is a found on top of older. tenuous link to the Clift family Callaway was a Fellow of the who owned the Excelsior Carriage Geological Society from 1875 to Works on Tan Bank. I had reason 1906 (why he left then is not to track down the grave of the first known) and awarded the Clift to live in our town, Edward, prestigious Murchison Medal in who came to Wellington from 1906. This was in recognition of Leominster, , to set his pioneering work on Pre- up his coach building business Cambrian rocks and valuable (see 1899 advert, right). contribution to the increasing Nearby, the memorial to his know what he went out to do. My knowledge of Cambrian and son, John Wesley Clift and his wife resource would now be his Ordovician systems. caught my eye; I read it and obituary in the Wellington Journal Various papers over many moved on. After a little from 1942 (available in the years were published in meandering I found myself at the Community History section of Callaway’s name, one of which rear of JWC’s grave and was Wellington Library). was On the Quartzites of Shropshire surprised to find a lengthy This revealed that he was which appeared in the Geological inscription upon it. (The graves known as Brian and the family Society quarterly journal in are near the chapel; on entering had lived at Hillside, Waterloo January 1878 and followed earlier the cemetery from Linden Avenue, Road. Coming from a staunch writings on similar subjects. walk until you are level with the Methodist family he had been sent When Callaway died in building; the headstones are in the to Rydal School in North Wales Cheltenham, his body was area ahead and to the right.) before attaining his degree at returned to Wellington. After a I read that Richard Edward . After his studies he nonreligious funeral he was Brian Clift was remembered here, worked in South Africa for buried with his wife in the town having died on active service in Hoffman’s, a fledgling engineering cemetery. South Africa in 1942. Initially I company in Johannesburg that still The inscriptions on the thought that, like many of our exists today. At the outbreak of headstone of Charles and Minnie’s pilots, he had been sent to the war he joined their Air Force grave reads: clear skies of South Africa to learn where he had been an instructor at his trade, but closer inspection of the Central Flying School. In the In loving memory of the words told me that he was in autumn of 1942, shortly before his Charles Callaway MA DSc the SAAF. untimely death, he had been Who died September 29th 1915 An internet search showed me promoted to Flight Commander. aged 77 years. that he was included on the The final resting place of Brian “Truth shall spring out of the University of Birmingham Virtual is Pietersburg, now re-named earth” War Memorial and a response Polokwane, which lies roughly from them told me that he had halfway between Gauteng (300 In memory of Hannah Maria graduated from their School of km) and the Zimbabwean border (Minnie) Mechanical Engineering in 1933. I (200 km). The ever-powerful The beloved wife of presumed he had emigrated after internet allows us to search and Charles Callaway DSc of this and, checking the passenger find the headstone pictured here Sandown, Wellington. lists that are available on Find my with ultimate ease. The wording Born July 6th 1832 Past web site, found a departure closely matches that on the Died Nov 4th 1895 date of 23rd November 1934 on headstone in our cemetery with “Love is strong as death” the Balmoral Castle headed for the addition of the word ‘Proud’ South Africa. Now I needed to and an interchange of locations. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 3 was not merely a pub but an early PUBLIC HOUSES? Allan Frost administrative centre for town governance, with solicitors’ offices, magistrates’ clerks, Poor Law wo historic buildings in Guardians and Town Wellington have been given Commissioners, and a place for Tnew leases of life in the last holding important meetings, few months. Good news, you dinners and assemblies. might think but, in one case, you The oldest (easternmost) part may not be quite so pleased. of the complex is believed to have The Pheasant originated as two dwellings in a The first is The Pheasant pub late Medieval terrace; if so, it’s the (right) in Market Street which, as it oldest building in Wellington. It happens, is the second pub in the later became the town dispensary, town to have that name (the first and an arch led into a farmyard, lay behind the present market hall then at the edge of town. and closed in the mid 1830s). light in an historic building survey When the Borough acquired It has been purchased by commissioned by (then) the property from Gwynne’s brewers Everard’s of Conservative leaders of the solicitors, it was intended to and, after tasteful refurbishment, Borough, which revealed several demolish it as part of the ‘Civic leased to the Ironbridge Brewing impressive fireplaces, coving, Quarter’ development. After a Company which also runs the internal lights (corridor windows), public outcry, council leaders went renowned Fighting Cocks pub balustrades and ceiling beams, through the motions of trying to (also owned by Everard’s) in almost all have been removed by find a suitable community use, . Everard’s brew ales workmen gutting the inside in like a much-desired museum. and supply their own pubs but the preparation for creating a number After fruitless discussions and firm also, as in the case of The of bedsit apartments with shared a lack of commitment, the Pheasant and Fighting Cocks, kitchen facilities. borough’s Estates & Investments leases other pubs to independent What this means is that the Department supported a planning microbrewers like the Ironbridge shell of the buildings which application by a developer to Brewing Company. comprise Edgbaston House have provide the present apartments. Not only is the fact that an in- been allowed to remain standing. Of course they did: they’d put town pub has been saved but so is Many believe they should have Edgbaston House up for sale in the equally encouraging fact that been retained as a public amenity the first place and, despite a brewing has returned to of substantial historic significance reasoned request, neither they nor Wellington, almost 45 years to the and given a new lease of life the Planning Committee thought it day since the Wrekin Brewery, commensurate with its heritage. necessary to ask the developer to once located on the opposite side The tallest part of the ‘House’ preserve internal architectural of Market Street from The was originally the Sun Inn, erected features. Apparently, money is Pheasant, closed for good. in the mid eighteenth century. It more important than heritage. Even more satisfying is that the ales brewed behind The Pheasant, in the building previously known as the Ptarmigan Suite, are produced by the evocatively- named subsidiary of the Ironbridge Brewery: ‘Wrekin Brewing Company’. The Pheasant reopened on Friday 2nd may and brewing commenced soon after. Edgbaston House The survival of this second building, in Walker Street, is not without controversy and has become regarded as an example of how little regard certain Borough council employees and elected councillors have in preserving heritage buildings, inside and out, within the Telford conurbation. Despite discoveries of unique August 2013: Dan Thomas and Matt Broadhurst of developers Craven & Ellis architectural features coming to remove material from Edgbaston House as part of the refurbishment programme.

4 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 NOTICE BOARD OUR PUBLIC TALKS 2014–2015 All talks begin promptly at 7:30 and are held in Wellington Library unless otherwise advised. Admission is free but donations are invited. * * * Wednesday June 18th ALLAN FROST: A VISUAL CRAWL AROUND OLD PUBS * * Wednesday July 16th PETE JACKSON: HISTORY OF WELLINGTON TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB 7:30 at the Buck’s Head Football Ground Learning Centre Donations after this talk will go to the club’s current charity appeal rather than for History Group funds. * * Wednesday October 15th WELLINGTON IN THE 1920S AND 1930S LITERARY FESTIVAL: ALLAN FROST BY ALLAN FROST This collection of archive images, many WELLINGTON 1900 - 1919: THE GOOD AND THE BAD never before published, documents life in * * Wellington between two World Wars. Wednesday November 19th It reveals how people recovered from the NEIL CLARKE: RAILWAYS OF EAST SHROPSHIRE effects of one devastating war before they were obliged to make preparations for * * coping with another. 2015 It’s another ‘must read’ for everyone Wednesday January 21st interested in the town’s past. TOBY NEAL (SHROPSHIRE STAR): WELLINGTON IN THE NEWS Fonthill Media, £12.99. * * Wednesday February 18th DR TAMSIN ROWE: THE CORBETTS * * Wednesday March 18th JOHN SHEARMAN: THE PARISH * * Wednesday April 15th WENDY PALIN: KING’S SHROPSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY IN WWI * * Wednesday May 20th RAMBLINGS OF A STRANGER ON THE GEOFF HARRISON: THE GREAT WAR AND FAMILY HISTORY * * BY GEOFF HARRISON Wednesday June 17th An exploration of the Weald Moors on ALLAN FROST: SCENES OF OLD WELLINGTON foot, looking at how its history has * * affected the views we have of today. Wednesday July 16th £5 + £1.50 p&p from the author. MARC PETTY: PHILLIP LARKIN’S WELLINGTON Call 01952 247946 or email [email protected] * * *

HISTORY GROUP CONTACT DETAILS Other officers of the Wellington History Group committee are: President: George Evans. Please send emails to WHG Secretary: Joy Rebello at [email protected] Chairman: Pat Fairclough. and letters to Wellington History Group, Treasurer: Wendy Palin. 2 Arrow Road, Shawbirch, Telford, Shropshire, TF5 0LF. Wellingtonia Editor: Allan Frost. DISCLAIMER: Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is correct at the time of going to press. Wellington History Group cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, nor do opinions expressed necessarily reflect the official view of the Group. All articles and photographs are copyright of the authors or members of the Group and must not be reproduced without prior permission and due credit. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 5 MIDLAND RED Neil Clarke

ost people who lived in this the growing fleet of buses outgrew area three decades or more Mansell Road, which ceased to be Mago will have fond the home of Midland Red in memories of Midland Red. The Wellington in July 1932. distinctively coloured vehicles based The new garage in Charlton in Wellington provided most, but not Street (below, left) was purpose all, of the local bus services in East built on behalf of the Birmingham facings and a brickwork Shropshire for almost 70 years from & Midland Motor Omnibus Co.; it ornamental column surmounted the late 1920s to the 1990s. began with eleven single-decker by a flagpole. Again, although suitable for double-deckers, none Arrival in Wellington buses transferred from Mansell were ever allocated to the garage. Midland Red, or to give it its Road, but had a capacity of 15. It The number of buses, around the proper name, the Birmingham & was designed to accommodate 40 mark, remained more or less Midland Motor Omnibus Company double-deckers, but low railway stable until the late 1960s and then Ltd., was established in November bridges in the area at places such further development of the land 1904 and began operating in as Aqueduct, and available at the rear provided an Birmingham in the following year. Oakengates prevented their extension for up to a total of 75 Competition from Birmingham general use. buses. Following the building of Corporation’s motor omnibuses Expansion the new garage, the office was and electric tramways meant The buses based at the Wellington moved to premises in Queen Midland Red made little headway garage provided a growing Street (above). before the First World War. But number of services from the town. Local Railways gradually routes were developed Early photos show Midland Red In the period following the end of outside the city and by the 1920s buses at Ironbridge, and the Great War, railways began to the Company was, to use its , and these were vehicles feel the impact of competition slogan, ‘beginning to paint the built to the company’s own from road vehicles. Competition Midlands red’. specifications. Midland Red came not only from the carriage of Midland Red had first appeared in continued to grow throughout the goods by lorries, many of which as early as 1916 when and to publicise its had been snapped up cheaply it leased premises first in Abbey services for business and pleasure. from the War Department by Foregate, and then Roushill, But the outbreak of war in 1939 entrepreneurs such as Harry Price before moving to a purpose-built affected the Company’s services, of Dawley; but also from the two-bay garage in Ditherington in and revised timetables were put carriage of passengers by the November 1920. Four Tilling- into place. There was a gradual burgeoning number of local bus Stevens single-decker vehicles increase in the size of the operators like the Midland Red. were allocated to this depot, and it Wellington fleet, more so in the The railways appear to have was the Shrewsbury garage that years following the end of the tackled this development in two provided Midland Red’s first Second World War. By May 1949, ways. First of all, the years regular service into Wellington in 27 buses were allocated to the following the creation of the Big 1922. garage, and a decision was taken Four railway companies in 1923 They continued to do so until to rebuild it. saw large scale investment in bus July 1926 when Midland Red’s The new garage opened on the companies by the railways, and in first garage in Wellington was site in September 1953, with a April 1930 half the Ordinary opened in Mansell Road, rented capacity of 50 single-decker buses shares in the Birmingham & from the Wellington Transport Co. but housing at first an allocation of Midland Motor Omnibus Co. were Ltd. The initial allocation to this 39, including these S9 types purchased by the Great Western garage was three single-decker (below). At the time, this steel- Railway and the London Midland Tilling-Stevens TS3s from framed garage was very different & Scottish Railway. Secondly, in Shrewsbury, and the Shrewsbury from any other on the system and the 1930s, the GWR opened a depot was still responsible for the very modern in appearance. The number of halts in this area in an maintenance of these buses at the triple entrance/exit and flat brick- attempt to boost passenger Wellington dormitory garage. But built frontage included stone numbers. Examples are: —on the main line, New Hadley; —on the Wenlock Branch, Town, New Dale, Doseley, Green Bank and Farley; —on the Crewe Branch, Longdon;

6 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 —on the Severn Valley line, and the Wrekin in summer; and upwards (with gaps). Some and Jackfield. some Association members also examples of heavily used daily But nothing could stop the operated other services. services were: march of the bus and, when the The Shropshire Omnibus 897: Wellington to Ironbridge, via wholescale closure of our local Association services operated from Dawley and Madeley; branch lines took place between the Victoria Street bus stop. 904: Wellington to , 1952 and 1964, buses were in most Individual members of the via Horsehay and Ironbridge; cases already providing services Association had their own livery, 909: Wellington to Kidderminster, on these routes. but the Association bought tickets via Ironbridge and ; The Shropshire Omnibus in bulk and published a timetable 917: Shrewsbury to Edgmond, via Association for the rota routes, which often Wellington and Newport. The expansion of Midland Red in included members’ other services. The daily services run on the the West Midlands in the 1920s led Midland Red continued to Oakengates and Donnington to uneasy relations with, and cover most of the Shropshire routes from Victoria Street were competition from, other bus Omnibus Association routes with shared with members of the operators. However, the Road its own frequent services and from Shropshire Omnibus Association: Traffic Act of 1930 brought 1950 cooperated with publishing a 894/899/900: Wellington- regulation to the industry, and joint timetable. However, Oakengates-St Georges-New Yard; operators who obtained licences following the designation of 913/914/915: Wellington- for services enjoyed the protection ‘Telford New Town’ in the 1960s, Donnington (Coal Wharf/ of the Traffic Commissioners. big changes were on the horizon. Garrison/Roundabout). This made it more difficult for With the growth of the Telford and independents to poach on the the resultant changes in traffic Midland Red also ran works company’s best routes, and flow and shopping patterns, services (Mon-Fri) and Sunday similarly the Midland Red could Midland Red acquired the several services to hospitals: no longer use its superior might to shares of Cooper’s of Oakengates 886: Dawley to Hadley Castle crush the opposition. in 1973, and they had taken over Works; Nevertheless, the company the remaining Association services 889/890: Ironbridge and Madeley continued to expand up to the by 1978. Reorganisation followed, to Donnington COD; outbreak of war in 1939 by the with new circular routes based 902: Wellington to Shirlett purchase of over 150 small primarily on the Shopping Centre. Sanatorium (near ); 961: Wellington to Bicton Heath businesses and their services. Original Routes It’s against this background Mental Hospital (later known as Prior to these changes, Midland that the operators of a number of Shelton Hospital). Red timetables for this area in the local bus services in this area 1950s and 60s showed a wide Privatisation formed the Shropshire Omnibus range of services: In 1969 Midland Red became a Association in 1931. At this time Long Distance & Seaside Services subsidiary of the National Bus most of the 20 or so members of Service C: Birmingham – Company, having been partly the Association were one-vehicle Llandudno, via Wellington (daily, nationalised since 1947. It was operators, and the two main Whitsun–end of September); split into five new companies in routes they operated were: Sevices G & H: London- 1981, with the Shropshire area —Wellington-Trench- Llandudno, via Birmingham and coming under Midland Red North, Donnington (with variations at the Wellington (daily, March-October). based at . Donnington end to Muxton Local identity titles were Corner, Coal Wharf and Express Services introduced for services at that time Humbers); and X96: Northampton-Birmingham- – the Shrewsbury area adopted —Wellington-Oakengates- Shrewsbury, daily via Wellington; ‘Hotspur’ and the Telford area (with seven X97: Leicester-Birmingham- ‘Tellus’. Midland Red North was variations including Priorslee, St Shrewsbury, via Wellington (Sat. & privatised in 1988 and was Georges and Lamb Corner). Sun.). rebranded as ‘Arriva’ in 1997. These were ‘rota operations’, Local town services for Charlton Street and Queen which means the two routes were Wellington and Bridgnorth Street lost their bus stands some worked cooperatively by the W40 – W44: Charlton years before when the main several private provider Street/Queen Street/Victoria Wellington terminus moved to the companies in the Association, with Street to the Arleston and Orleton revamped Victoria Street bus the particular journeys worked estates; station; and everything changed changing usually month to month B90 - 91: Bridgnorth. with the setting up of the new bus according to a rota, so that all took Regular Services station on the Parade in 2009. The their share of the good and not-so- Midland Red ran a wide range of last direct link with Wellington good timings. Apparently, before services in this area radiating from was lost with the transfer of the the Second World War a third rota Wellington, which were given the bus depot from Charlton Street to service ran between Wellington service numbers from 886 Stafford Park in 2012. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 7 years with some sort of regularity. THOMAS LAMBERT JNR Geoff Harrison The major ‘movable feast’ of Easter must fall on the Sunday following the first (paschal) full when the crop was matured and moon following the spring ripened. equinox. This was decreed at the The only special days of the Council of Nicea in 325 and, as the year were saints’ days and the paschal full moon determined the religious festivals of Christmas date of the Jewish Passover, and and Easter. A villager would know Christian belief sets the these two festivals but, beyond Resurrection as the Sunday after that, only days designated by the the Jewish Feast of the Passover, local priest would be significant. the date for Easter is set. Fixing The local church would dictate the date for Easter seems the passage of time from one year complicated enough but before to the next; it was more than likely 1582 the known western world that individuals would be was using the inaccurate Julian unaware of their birthday and calendar. probably didn’t ‘celebrate’ it The Julian calendar, which was walking around Salisbury anyway. It was common to Julius Caesar adopted in the year Cathedral in the summer and measure their age by the number 46BC, consisted of a solar year of Imy attention was drawn to a of winters they had endured. twelve months. It began on tomb set into the floor that must The Church and its priests January 1st and leap years were have been walked over thousands would have some knowledge of every third year, but the calendar of times without anybody the year; after all, they needed to evolved and adapted particularly particularly noticing it. ‘control their flock of with the rise of the Christian faith. The inscription reads ‘The body parishioners’, and higher church This calendar was changed of Tho. sonn of Tho.Lambert Gent officials had important jobs in the through the centuries. It would who was borne May 13 An Do 1683 government of the country: they appear that there was no & dyed Feb 19 the same year.’ Here is needed some measure of time and consensus across the countries and evidence that Thomas died in had to measure years with some regions as to when the year began; February 1683 yet wasn’t born degree of certainty. However, they in England the year started on until May 1683! A conundrum, or did not number years as we do 25th March and ended on 24th is it? Surely there must be a simple but generally recorded the year of March. Then astronomers explanation. Of course there is. In a monarch’s rise to the throne and discovered that there was an error 1683 Protestant England was still count the years from that date of eleven minutes a day, or three using the Julian calendar, whereas until the next monarch. These are days every four hundred years. the Catholic countries of Europe called Regnal Years. This error had been accumulating were using the Gregorian calendar. The first Regnal year of a over the centuries so that every The lives of our ancestors, particular monarch would begin 128 years the calendar was out of certainly 500 years ago, were not on the day of their accession to the sync with the equinoxes and controlled and directed by time; throne, not their coronation, and solstices; thus, between the year there was no ‘clocking on and off’ would end when they left the 325 to 1582, the error amounted to at the beginning and end of your throne by death, being deposed, or ten days in all, and the ‘fixing’ of shift; no change of lesson when abdication. The next monarch’s Easter became inaccurate. This the ‘bell goes’; no frustration when regnal years would then begin. was especially troubling to the the bus or train isn’t ‘on time’; and Each monarch would begin their Roman Catholic Church because no getting confused when the first regnal year on a different the date of Easter by the sixteenth clocks go back in the autumn or date: a confusing system of century was well on the way to forward in the spring. The only counting years which did not die slipping into summer. time control which governed your in our country until 1963, ‘In Pope Gregory XIII reformed the life was the rising and going down England, and later the United calendar to match the solar year so of the sun. The day began when it Kingdom, until 1963, each Act of that Easter would once again ‘fall was light enough to work and Parliament was defined by its serial upon the first Sunday after the first stopped when the day-light faded. number within the session of full moon on or after the Vernal Similarly, the year was parliament in which it was enacted, Equinox.’ measured by the seasons: no which in turn was denoted by the This ‘Gregorian’ calendar, the annual holiday, no regular Bank regnal year or years in which it fell.’ calendar used today, was first Holidays. The soil was prepared Perhaps we are indeed introduced by Pope Gregory XIII when the crop was harvested, seed fortunate in that the Church, via a Papal Bull in February 1582 was planted when the days Catholic or Protestant, was always to correct the errors of the old lengthened, harvest was taken present and needed to measure the Julian calendar. The Gregorian

8 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 ripped apart by its own strife, the Civil War. Hence England was a CCC REMEMBERED very troubled land during the 170 years between the Papal Bull and the Act of 1751 (below). England came into line with the majority of Europe after 1752; we had a common calendar. The changes were made by the 1751 Calendar Act of Parliament ‘for Regulating the Commencement of the Year; and for Correcting the Calendar now in Use’. This came into force in September 1752 when 11 days were omitted from the year; the day after 2nd September 1752 was 14th September 1752. This loss of 11 days was not welcome to the populous: teve Spragg posted a photo of ‘Give us our Eleven Days’ was a his Clifton Children’s Club popular political slogan of the time. Sbadge on the Telford calendar was adopted There was a second change Memories Facebook page. The immediately upon the which the Act introduced, as stated former cinema is currently in the promulgation of Pope Gregory's in its title which changed the first news because of a campaign to decree in the Catholic countries of day of the year. Prior to 1752 in preserve and turn it into a Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland, England the year began on 25th community arts centre with, and shortly after in France. During March (Lady Day). The Act naturally, a cinema (visit the next year or two most Catholic changed this so that the day after www.theclifton.org.) regions of Germany, Belgium, 31st December 1751 was 1st January Steve told us: ‘I belonged to the Switzerland and the Netherlands 1752, New Year’s Day. As a club. The Clifton used to be also accepted this calendar. consequence, 1751 was a short year packed out every Saturday Protestant nations did so later, at - it ran only from 25 March to 31 morning. Usually cartoons were various times. December. A ‘pit-fall’ for the shown and the last item was In Britain the change to the unwary family historian. always a serial; I particularly Gregorian calendar was not until Thomas Lambert (junior) lived, remember one was Rocket Man. 1752. No doubt there were all but briefly, at the time of the ‘Near the end of the every political reasons as well as the Julian calendar; he had been born in episode, it looked like some religious turmoil to account for the May 1683, after the Civil War and catastrophic disaster was going to ‘delay’. The whole religious scene Restoration of Charles II when happen to him and you had to was chaotic; Henry VIII was King England still used the Julian wait until the next Saturday to see just prior to the Bull of Pope calendar with the year beginning in what happened. Of course nothing Gregory, and at Henry’s death 25 March, and he sadly died the really did; the hero survived ... but England was plunged into following February, yet still in the loyal children had turned out to religious chaos for many decade same (Julian) year of 1683; not the cinema once again! That’s afterwards. Then England was really a case of burial before birth! really all I can remember. I was about ten years old at the time (I’m now 58) so it was a long time ago.’ In the early seventies Wendy Palin went to a similar showing at Oakengates Town Hall. Besides films, there was road safety with Pierre the Clown and a birthday slot where you were invited onto the stage if your birthday was that week. This was before TV schedulers realised it could have an audience of children on Saturday mornings. Multi-coloured Swap Shop, the first Saturday show aimed at youngsters, first aired in October 1976. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 9 map. The large, half -timbered THE WELLINGTON GIBBET, PART TWO Wendy Palin farmhouse was pulled down within living memory. The barn, site of the crime, stood until about Wendy continues her History of Shrewsbury, Volume I, by 1830 and showed marks of the Owen & Blakeway, published in fray on the beams. investigations to track down 1824. On page 581, this entry is Wellington’s gibbet. From Parish records, our found: second murder victim Walter “1723. Sept. 4th. Robert & Whitcombe was buried as a aving found reference to a William Bolas were executed for the pauper in graveyard gibbet somewhere in the murder of William Matthews and on June 21st, leaving wife, Mary vicinity of The Horseshoe Walter Whitcombe at Beslow, June and daughter Martha not quite a H 19th. They were hung in chains on Inn at Uckington, I have continued year old. Some accounts state that to search for the facts of the crime, the south side of the London-road, a he was guarding his own wheat, the punishment dealt out and a little beyond the 7th mile-stone, where but burial as a pauper brings that more precise location for the the writer of this remembers the gibbet into question. elusive gibbet. in 1775.” The Uppington Registers also I felt I had to find definitive Travelling from Shrewsbury list the life events of the Bolas answers to the discrepancies that towards Wellington, the gibbet Family. Robert Bolas, Yeoman and had appeared in the various was on the right hand side of the Churchwarden and his wife versions of the story. I had two road; seven miles takes us more or Catherine had a son Robert on murder victims, William Matthews less to the tree-lined lane that 30th May, 1675. (who had been buried in leads to Uppington. Going beyond This man was 48 years old Wellington churchyard somewhere there in 1723, the London road when he committed the double near where the Lych Gate now followed a different course to its murder. He married Elizabeth stands) and Walter Whitcombe, present path, heading to the right Bagshaw on Oct 9th, 1698 at something of an unknown entity. of the current route and up . I cannot ascertain if How they met their end was Overley Hill. The gibbet William was a relative but think he unknown except that it was at the framework must have stood probably was. Therefore, siting the hands of Robert and William somewhere here, well away from gibbet between Uppington and Bolas, the former giving rise to a dwellings but in full view of Beslow would seem to be the story that has been repeated travellers along the road. perfect spot. The names of world-wide for almost three The scene of the crime is Whitcombe and Bolas disappear hundred years (see Wellingtonia named as Beslow, in the parish of from the local records within a issue 15). , a cluster of houses just year of these dreadful events. Surfing the internet allows us south west of the Horseshoes and However, all the facts I had to find and access articles that inaccessible today. Using Google gathered about the crime had would, in all likelihood, remain Earth allows us a bird’s eye view come from secondary sources, undiscovered without its power. of the location as it appears now. some of which contradicted each I found a newspaper article in the John Rocque’s map (below) shows other, so I decided to try to locate Leicester Mercury from December how it was in 1752 with the the actual records from the trial of 29th, 1883, which referred to The seventh mile indicated on the the two Bolas men. In 1723, the men would have been tried at Shrewsbury by the Oxford Assizes, a travelling court. Records for this, if they still existed, would be held at the National Archive at Kew. Calling up the Crown and Gaol Book for 1723 produced the record (top of next page) that reads “For ye murder of Wm Mathews the said Robert Bolas Striking him with a hedging Bill on ye head face neck shoulders breast stomach & sides to giving him severall mortall wounds of which he instantly died the 20th June last at Wroxeter and the said Wm. Bolas being then present and assisting therein. On the Coroner’s Inquest for the same Murder.”

10 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 MISLEADING MYTHS

he excellent news that refreshments at the Halfway THouse on The Wrekin Hill will be continued by its new Andrew Ffox of Eyton (on Severn, owner has been greeted with I suggest), John Dyos, Thomas enthusiasm. However, yet another Eyton, Edward Welling, Peter ‘urban myth’ (i.e. made up Lambert, Robert Clarke, James history) has been supplied in Eashen and John Court. recent issues of Shropshire Star and Possibly unaware of the Telford Journal. number of men called to witness It was bad enough to see the against him, accounts tell that Shropshire Tourism web site Robert thought his trial would stating categorically that The result in an acquittal and that he Wrekin was the inspiration for would dance in his chains and say, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Wethertop hill in ‘I would that these troublesome The Lord of the Rings. This came A similar entry for Walter times were over, as I want to go Whitcombe cited wounds to the from an article written by and home and get my barley.’ This also made ‘fact’ by journalists and ‘head face throat and back’, again became a Shropshire saying causing instant death. (See image attention seekers wishing to recorded at the time. elevate the famous Shropshire for samples of hedging bills.) By Sept 4th, all Robert’s hopes The inconsistent date seems to landmark to celebrity status. came to nothing when he and It is untrue; there is no proof indicate that the crime took place William were hanged in late on the night of the 19th June whatsoever from any source Shrewsbury and afterwards (including Tolkien’s own writings) or early on the 20th. gibbetted near Uppington. I hoped to find the Coroners’ to support this. A recent peek at The next question arises from a shropshiretourism.co.uk showed Inquest but, with limited time, I comment in three of the secondary was only able to photograph a that the comment has not been sources. The newspaper report of removed but merely watered number of recognisances or bonds, 1883, Charles Harper’s The most written in Latin with English down to ‘It has been suggested that Holyhead Road and Emma Boore in the Wrekin may have been the below, ordering the men listed Wrekin Sketches all say that ‘William here to attend the next Assizes to inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Matthew’s tombstone stood in the Earth’, thus continuing the fallacy. give evidence against Robert and portion of the churchyard that was Wm Bolas. One is shown below Shropshire Star says that the some time ago taken for the purposes Halfway House was an 1842 mentions Thomas Lee and Edward of the railway’ at Wellington. Miles while other examples hunting lodge. No it wasn’t; it was Can we prove this? a dwelling for orleton estate farm include the following: John Only time and more research Spencer of Cross Houses, Weaver, workers and game keepers. will tell. As these examples show, journalists tend to repeat ill- researched findings, thus creating ‘facts’. History in general and The Wrekin in particular don’t need speculative comments to make them interesting. The public deserves better than this and official web sites, the Press and the people approached for comment should know better than to mislead. It isn’t clever. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 11 GRANDDAD’S MEDALS Geoff Harrison

The answer could be easy, resulting in either complete success or nothing. address and fortunately his My wife’s grandfather served in records existed. A simple search the Great War. We know this brought up two pages, and how because he sent a post card to her illuminating! His Attestation father, a young boy of six at the Papers (‘Signing on’, bottom left) time. But this is all, apart from one showed that he volunteered for photograph of him in uniform. the Royal Engineers on the 9th There are no Service Records March 1915. Preliminary searches existing of what he did. Over half had already confirmed his date ‘I’ve got granddad’s medals and of the Service Records of soldiers and place of birth, marriage and some memorabilia from the First of the Great War were destroyed present address, so I was certain World War, but I don’t know in the second Great Conflict, the so that this was the soldier, about his war record, can you called ‘burnt records’. Granddad Perry, even though the help?’ If your relative was a soldier in age of 44 years and four months Many of us will be faced with a the Great War and his records are on the Form didn’t exactly similar question, particularly as not part of those ‘burnt’ in the correspond with his date of birth. the Great War will be the focus of Second War, you could be very But there were problems much reminiscing over the next successful. If it happens that your arising from the second page of year or so. We want to know what relative was an officer, the records records – he was ‘discharged as our grandfathers or great- still exist in their fullness. I’m ‘unlikely to become an efficient soldier grandfathers did in the Great War. fortunate in that two of my being overage’, even quoting King’s mother’s brothers Regulations! Importantly, this was both served, one an dated 15th April 1915, just one officer, the other a month after his enrollment. soldier, and in both Samuel Perry served from cases their Service March 1915 to April 1915, a very Records still exist. short period of time, yet it left us Those of the officer with the problem of the medals. can only be accessed Original medals issued during the at the National Great War were inscribed around Archives at Kew but the edge with the name of the those of the soldier recipient, and this clearly are ‘on-line’, albeit identified S Perry. via a subscription, as well as at the National Archives. Searching for Granddad Perry’s Re-reading the Records, I record was easy – we noticed on the Attestation Form knew his age and that Samuel had served in an

12 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 earlier period. He was a ‘time expired’ soldier of the South Staffordshire Regiment. It was at this point the family remembered that there were stories of his earlier service and perhaps he served in the Boer War. This was another avenue to search – some Military Records exist for the time before the Great War. This search revealed twenty pages of Service Pension Records for this same Samuel Perry. It would appear that, as a single man, he joined the South Staffordshire Regiment at on the 23rd October 1887, aged 18 years and four months, on a Short Service enrollment. A further page provides a ‘being too old to make an efficient uniform, particularly overseas but description of this 18 year old soldier’, turned to his old Regiment sometimes for service in the UK) man. and volunteered for service with and the Victory Medal (awarded the South Staffs. in May 1915 and to those who served in a theatre of was welcomed back into their war outside of the UK after ranks. It is interesting that, one January 1916). This latter was not month earlier aged 44 years, he awarded alone but only to those had been rejected by the Royal who had another service medal. Engineers, yet now, giving his age These two formed part of a trio, as 48, he is accepted. Ageing four irreverently referred to as ‘Pip, years in one month appears to Squeak, and Wilfred’. Missing These pages of Records are have been the key to his from Samuel’s medals is the 1914- rewarding in that they show he acceptance! 5 Star issued for service to those served initially in Lichfield, then As an ‘old’ soldier Samuel was who served in 1914 and 1915. moved to Devonport (4th January not given a ‘cushy number’ on the The story of his service in the 1888) and, on 25th September ‘home front’ but was sent to serve 1880s and particularly his attempt 1889, was sent to the Curragh in his country in France; ‘Embarked to join up in March 1915, being Ireland. BEF’ in 1917. rejected in April 1915 and his The majority of these records As was common during the subsequent four years service from relate to his medical history; it is Great War, soldiers were May 1915 to February 1919 recorded that in January 1890 he transferred from one unit to certainly justifies some reward, had an accident which damaged another where there was a need, but the jury is still out as to his left shoulder so that in March and this happened to Samuel. His whether his persistence was the 1890 he was discharged. There record shows he served with a act of a hero wanting to serve his were no medals for his three years number of units, often changing country, or an old man trying to service, no travelling beyond the his Regimental Number from the regaining his youth. Irish Sea. He was ‘invalided out of South Staffordshire Regiment, his I am indebted to Dorothy the Army’. original unit, and including the Vickers (nee Perry), daughter of This summary of his service Royal Engineers. So much for their the late Bill Perry from The Old with the South Staffs was only a rejection! This movement from Bike Shop, Park Street, Wellington, few pages out of the all those unit to unit is more easily seen on who provided the initial enquiry, available, and it was as I read on the Medal Roll (bottom right). and personal materials and the real story unfolded. These medals were awarded to memories. Samuel, having enrolled in the Samuel Perry of Wellington: the Royal Engineers in March 1915 British War Medal (awarded to and discharged in April 1915 as anyone who had served in

www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 13 SAMUEL CORBETT, BLACKSMITH Judy Meeson

’ve long been fascinated by a months pregnant at the time. large, cast iron, monument to In 1841 Samuel was listed as a Ithe Corbett family that lies in whitesmith, living at Prospect the grounds of All Saints church. Row, Back Lane, with his wife Elizabeth and young son, William, and by 1851 he appears to have expanded his business and had Advert for S. Corbett & Sons, 1906. taken on another blacksmith, recorded in his household as a Street, he also had an ironmongery servant. business in Church Street, From sales particulars held at Wellington, an outlet for the sale Shropshire Archives we can of his goods. Both businesses ascertain that shortly after this, in continued to flourish, and by the 1853, Samuel had acquired a time of Samuel’s death in 1885 he property in Park Street, left a personal estate of £4,488, the Wellington, and it looks as if he equivalent of £397,800 today, The monument is somewhat took the opportunity at this point, based on historic standard of dilapidated now, but at one time to purchase adjoining land, with living, but in terms of status and would have stood as testimony to the intention of expanding his power worth far more. the wealth and prosperity of this business (see 1853 plan and 1882 After Samuel’s death the family. Curiosity aroused, I map below). business continued to be run by decided to see what I could two of his sons William and unearth about the family. George, Thomas had already set The inscription on the primary up his own business in face of the monument is to Shrewsbury (see commemorate the life of Samuel www.madeinshrewsbury.co.uk Corbett of this town, his wife for a biography of Thomas Elizabeth and his son George Corbett), Walter was in business as Wycherley Corbett. a printer, and Samuel Jnr., blinded Samuel Corbett was born in from childhood, was a professor of 1819, the youngest son of Richard music (See Songs of the Wrekin in Corbett, a labourer, of New Street, Wellingtonia issue 5). Wellington. However, by the time By the 1890s, the company was of Samuel’s marriage in 1840, his among the country’s best-known father is recorded as a brick maker. manufacturers of agricultural Evidence from the 1840 tithe machinery, winning numerous map of Wellington, shows that accolades at prize field trials Richard owned the ‘Duke of York’ throughout the country. public house in New Street, where In 1892 the company won first I believe the family lived, seven prize at the Royal Show at properties in the yard to the rear for their grinding mill, (Corbett’s Yard) and a further five an achievement capitalized on in properties in Water Lane (bottom their future advertising. of Wrekin Road), the large garden William Corbett died in 1904 of one he used as his brickyard. Slater’s 1859 Directory lists leaving an estate valued in the Unlike his older brothers, Samuel as a blacksmith, iron region of £12,757 and George in Samuel didn’t follow his father founder, whitesmith and beer 1916 leaving personal effects to the into the family business but retailer of Park Street. Ken Corbett, value of £31,356, further indication trained as a blacksmith and a direct descendant of Samuel, of the success of the business. whitesmith, possibly apprenticed reminisced that when the property to George Wycherley of Back Lane in Park Street was re-decorated, a (now King Street), whose large sign for the Travellers Rest daughter Elizabeth he married in public house was found on the 1840. plasterwork, evidence to it having The marriage took place in been used for that purpose. By instead of the local 1861 Samuel was employing church, probably because eighteen men and five boys and in Cheque produced Elizabeth was already seven addition to the foundry in Park for S. Corbett & Son.

14 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 Samuel’s eldest son William, upon Samuel’s death, and became known as W. Corbett & Son. Upon William’s death in 1904 the business continued to be run by his son Howard Corbett, who had already been acting as manager of the business. By1909 the business had expanded, and renamed W. The Brooklands (above) and (below) Corbett & Co, was not only Albert Samuel Corbett and Florence operating the ironmongery sitting on the front doostep. business in Church Street but also owned premises in Alexandra Road for the manufacture of galvanised tanks, sheep racks, pig troughs and many articles for agricultural use. Albert Samuel Corbett with wife In the 1930s the business Florence, daughter Phyllis and son acquired new premises nearby in Albert Kenneth. Hollies Road and became known as W. Corbett & Co. (Wellington) Albert Samuel Corbett, son of Ltd. This company continued to William Corbett became the operate from these premises until principal of S. Corbett & Son and 2000 when it moved to Halesfield the company continued to trade as in Telford. The Corbett family a private family business until its ceased to be involved with the incorporation as a limited business in 2005. company in 1951. The business After a brief spell in continued to operate from Park Wolverhampton, the family Do you have any photographs relating Street until 1974. (See returned to live at ‘Burleigh’ in to the Corbetts? I’m in close contact http://youtu.be/4xIY_1JEVig Vineyard Road and later moved to with the family and they are for images of Samuel Corbett’s ‘The Brooklands’, previously the particularly interested in obtaining exhibits at agricultural show in the home of Sir Charles Henry MP. copies of photographs relating to the early 1950s.) The ironmongery business in Iron Works in Park Street and any of At its height, the business Church Street, Wellington (below) William and Samuel Corbett and their employed in the region of forty to appears to have passed to families. fifty men and during the war, when it became difficult to find male labour, they employed women. There were considerable demands upon the company at this time to produce more machinery as food production was paramount. After the war they won a contract to produce one thousand grinding mills for the United Nations Rehabilitation Organization, in a period of eight months, which cost in the region of fifty to sixty pounds each, and were sent all over the world. Although the business continued to operate from the premises in Park Street, the family moved to more prestigious addresses to reflect their rising affluence. Albert Samuel’s first property was in Albert Road, he then moved the family to Highfield House in Wrekin Road. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 15 WROCKWARDINE HUNDRED George Evans

Wrockwardine?’ they asked, Moors,. Hadley, Haughton, when I suggested there should , Horton, Howle, ‘be an article about it in , Kynnersley, Lawley, Wellingtonia. ‘It’s not in Leegomery, Leighton, Lilleshall, Wellington’. ‘Ah,’ I replied, ‘but Longdon upon Tern, Longford, Wellington used to be in Longner, , Poynton, Wrockwardine, according to the Preston upon the Weald Moors, Domesday Book’. That’s how I Puleston, , Sambrook, Wrockwardine church as sketched by come to be writing about Shawbury, Stoke on Tern, Sutton David Parkes in July 1812. Wrockwardine in Wellingtonia. upon Tern, Tibberton, Uckington, When the Normans and their Uffington, Uppington, Waters Its ownership by the previous king allies conquered England they Upton, , Wellington, may give us a clue. Perhaps ordered an audit of what they had Withington, Woodcote, Laurens was right and that there just acquired, nicknamed the Wrockwardine, Wroxeter and had been a military headquarters Domesday Book. It was written in Little Witheford. here, and the ‘capital’ of the first the Latin of the churches and the So how did all these places English settlers, the French of the conquerors with lots come to be in the Hundred of Wreokensaetan or Wrekin Settlers. of abbreviations. Shires were Wrockwardine? And how did little That could be the historic reason changed to counties but the Wrockwardine come to be the for its importance and why it was hundreds, into which the shires chief place of the district? the chief settlement of the were divided, remained and Shropshire was then known as hundred. After all, many things Wellington is shown as in the Sciropescire. Most of it had been can happen in the five centuries hundred of Wrockwardine. given to the new Earl of between the establishment of the Laurens Otter, in his book Shrewsbury (Sciropesberie) by village and its take-over by Earl Wellington, a Town with a Past William the Conqueror (aka Roger. It’s just that we know so suggested that when the first William the Bastard) who then little about that time, though that English came here they established ‘owned’ the whole country. The is no reason to suppose nothing Wrockwardine as a military Earl, Roger Montgomery, had been happened. headquarters, the ‘wardine’ of The vital to William in the Battle of The hundreds were an English Wrekin, with Wellington as its Hastings, when an exhausted system of spreading the religious centre, ‘The Temple in English army was defeated and responsibility for law and order the grove’ and Orleton as the King Harold killed. and the Normans kept them. residence of the Earl. Nobody, so Manors like Wrockwardine and Eventually there was a far as I know, has proved him Wellington had been owned by the reorganisation and Bradford wrong, though there are some Mercian English lords; now they Hundred appeared, to be later (including me) who are dubious. changed hands. King Edward (the divided into North Bradford and Much of the information that Confessor) had been lord of South Bradford, which was our follows is taken from an excellent Wrockwardine but now Earl Roger area and similar to Wrockwardine, version of the Domesday Book held it apart from the church, though then the administrative edited by John Morris and which had its own land. There centre became Wellington. published by Phillimore. It not were 13 villagers, 4 smallholders a There is a lot of history only translates the original into priest and a rider; they had 12 between the conquest and 2013 plain modern English but also ploughs, 8 ploughmen, a mill and and no more space, so we will explains its meaning. woodland. Before 1066 it paid £6 make a huge jump into modern Wrockwardine hundred had a 13s 8d tax but now it paid £12 10s times. Modern Wrockwardine similar area to the old Wrekin tax. village has a wonderful church District, now called the Borough of Wellington had been owned by and an interesting collection of or more Edwin; there were 12 villagers and people but little else. Is it even a succinctly the county of The 8 smallholders with 9 ploughs village? There’s no pub, no shop, Wrekin. The Wrockwardine (and another 9 possible), a mill no school. All these things have Hundred included; Albrightlee, (probably at Walcot) and 2 been taken away from the village Atcham, Berwick, Beslow, Bratton, fisheries. Before 1066 it was taxed nucleus and spread around the Brockton, Buttery, Charlton, at £20 but now only worth £18. parish – mostly to Admaston and Chatsall, Cherington, Chetwynd, So, even then Wellington had a Bratton. Before the Last World Cross Hills, , Dawley, slightly larger population (the War, Admaston was already Eaton Constantine, Edgmond, figures are for families, not people) bigger than Wrockwardine. Childs Ercall, , Eyton and was worth more. Why was What will happen in the on Severn, Eyton on the Weald Wrockwardine more important? future?

16 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 have been very determined and EDITH PICTON-TURBERVILL Sue Crampton strong. The family chapel has a plaque with the words ’a sometime Member of Parliament’ off to India to set up hostels for – how dismissive and sad! She had women and girls. so much energy and achieved so She became disillusioned with much. She was a trailblazer and an the work in India and felt that the example to us all. truly needy were not being I decided to honour and attended to. On her return to the celebrate her by trying to bring her UK she was asked to become Vice to life as a person. I wrote the first President of the YWCA and part of ‘A Head Above Others’ as campaigned for funds to support a diary and in the second part women munitions’ workers in the transcribed words from her own First World War, helping to set up book Christ and Woman’s Power canteens for them, as well as (published in 1919). creating hostels in France. I have put her on Wikipedia t was only by chance that I After the war she met many and think it is time the town of found out about Edith Picton- others who were becoming Wellington should also remember Turbervill and that she had involved with the fledgling I her somehow and be proud of been the first and, so far, only Labour Party and was asked to what she did. female member of Parliament for join it and stand as an MP. She A Head Above Others the area. agreed and was adopted by The fictionalised memoir of Edith I was curious to find out more Wrekin constituency where she Picton–Turbervill O.B.E. aabout her. Why did a crowd of canvassed and helped at the Perigord Press three thousand miners and their miners’ soup kitchens during the ISBN 978–9573977–81 families spontaneously burst into General Strike of 1926. She became Paperback available from Amazon song in Market Square when they well known and appeared at all for £7.99 and also as an ebook. heard she was to be their Member sorts of functions. of Parliament in 1929? She never forsook her religion When I delved into Edith or strong feelings that women CORSET DEMO Picton-Turbervill’s past, I should be at the centre of the discovered some of the reasons Anglican Church. She wrote books she was so well liked despite her and pamphlets campaigning for CORSET DEMONSTRATION privileged background. As my women to be priests and was the MONDAY NEXT, SEPTEMBER 28TH TO admiration and knowledge about first woman to preach a sermon at SATURDAY OCTOBER 3RD INCLUSIVE her grew, so did my anger that she a statutory service (in MISS GRACE HUTCHINSON, had been forgotten. But, as a Lincolnshire). The Great Authority on deep writer, I realised that words and Although her political life was breathing and expert in Corsets, writing would be one of the best cut short by the Stock Market who has given advice free to ways of restoring and resurrecting Crash and divisions caused by the Ladies in London, Birmingham, her into history. I purchased some National Government, Edith , Liverpool, and all the of her books and read her continued to work and campaign largest Provincial Towns in autobiography Life is Good. for the working class, the poor and England, Scotland, Ireland, and She was born in 1872 into a for women. Wales, will be present at the large family. Her father had She travelled extensively. She SHOWROOMS of MESSRS. J.L. & E.T. inherited Ewenny, formerly a visited Russia in the Thirties and MORGAN, WELLINGTON, when Norman priory near Bridgend in met Kemal Ataturk of Turkey. She Ladies may consult her as to the South Wales, which had land and was President of the National kind of Corsets most suitable to profitable coal mines. She was sent Council of Women Citizens. She them, without any obligation on to the Royal School in Bath with even appeared on television in the their part to buy. her twin sister Beatrice and had an Sixties. A Free Invitation is here given education but didn’t want to My research revealed what an to all Ladies interested to view the remain at home until she married. interesting and important Enormous Variety and to Consult She had a religious ‘epiphany’ contribution Edith Picton- Miss Hutchinson. Our stock has and persuaded her father to allow Turbervill made to Women’s been largely augmented, and all her to be a missionary with the History, and what an are welcome to this Corset Young Womens’ Christian extraordinary woman she was. Exhibition. Association. During her training, She forged an independent life We trust our Customers will she was exposed to the poverty in and career, and devoted herself to avail themselves of the unique the slums of the East End of trying to improve the lives of opportunity now offered. London but, undeterred, she went those less fortunate. She must Wellington Journal advert, 1908. www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 17 100 YEARS AGO: 1914 Allan Frost

(‘Dreadnoughts’) with bigger guns renamed ‘Wrekin’) College, whose capable of shooting bigger shells band led parades (as above in his momentous year began at targets much further away and Church Street after a service at All with the above cartoon, more accurately than hitherto. No Saints parish church) through the showing a witch casting a one in their right minds really felt streets to Market Square, where T that war was just around the occasional drills to musical spell to reduce the size of an over- large camel named ‘Rates’ so that corner, so life continued as normal accompaniment took place, much it could pass through a narrow (apart from levels of taxation to the enjoyment of onlookers. Public Opinion crevice, otherwise which had been steadily By the end of July, tensions known as the Needle’s Eye on The increasing since about 1870). reached breaking point, and a Wrekin Hill. At a local level, the Wellington combination of Nationalism and The cartoon signified the branch of the Shropshire Imperialism led to some stupid extremely unlikely chance that Yeomanry continued to train, as decisions ... and war. Shropshire County Council would did boys from the Officers’ Below, townsfolk assembled in ever reduce the high rates charged Training Corps at Wellington (later Market Square on August 4th, to the county’s residents. In the event, all forms of taxation would impose an even greater burden with the onset of the First World War, whereupon the camel’s rates, which later did increase, would seem relatively insignificant. There was almost nothing to indicate that 1914 would be any different to previous recent years. Yes, the arms race with Germany continued to cause concern, yet in the context of the day it said more about each participating country’s sense of insecurity than feelings of aggression. Germany had a massive army because it felt threatened by France and Russia, who in turn increased the size of their standing armies and even introduced conscription to boost numbers. The British Government wasn’t (apparently) too concerned and sat back, comforted that the English Channel gave adequate protection against these nervous foreigners; and who needed the expense of conscription anyway? The ‘race’, which, among a range of measures, included the production of bigger ships

18 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014 awaiting the announcement delivered by telegram that Britain was now at war with Germany. Within days, mounted soldiers of the Cheshire Regiment arrived in Wellington (previous page, bottom), and used the Market Hall in Market Street as a temporary barracks while their horses were billeted on the field immediately north of the High School (now New College) buildings in King Street. This led to the weekly general market having to be relocated for just one day to The Green and part way along Church Street ... the former location of the town’s market which had last met there some fifty years earlier at which time it moved to the market hall itself. The photo top right was taken on that historic day. Once the Cheshire Regiment had departed to continue its journey to the Western Front, long convoys of vehicles descended on the town. They had been commandeered from businesses throughout the country by the British War Office; those in this photo (right) taken on the railway bridge in King Street came from Bury in Lancashire and, like the Cheshire Regiment, were on their way to war.

THE GREAT WAR IN WELLINGTON BY ALLAN FROST

Wellington Town Football Club staged a special match in 1914 when a team of former Town players who now played for ‘first class clubs’ elsewhere in the country was scheduled to play against a team of players who currently played for Wellington and Shrewsbury Town. Many books and articles have been Former Wellington Town players (and their present teams in brackets) as seen written about the origins and above are top, left to right: Gordon Jones (Shrewsbury), Lloyd Davies battlefields of the Great War as well (Northampton), A. Causer (Glossop), G. Harris (Coventry), J. Freeman (Llanelly). as tales of soldiers’ lives during the Bottom: R. Firth (Notts Forest), H. Hampton (Aston Villa), W. Littlewood (Aston conflict. This book is unique in that it Villa), W. Ball (Birmingham), G. Hampton (Glossop), F. Banks (Notts Forest). shows the impact of the war on This special team played the Wellington/Shrewsbury combined team which Wellington itself, how it coped and comprised Hedgecox (Wellington), Crump (Shrewsbury), Slater (Wellington), W. played its part. Jones (Shrewsbury), Nevison (Wellington), Harvey, Rogers and Joyce Wrekin Books, £5.99. (Shrewsbury), Burden, Deacon and Davies (Wellington). www.wellingtonhistorygroup.wordpress.com 19 sources of information for family PHOTOCALL researchers as well as anyone interested in the history of the town. For example, a magnificent amount of information can be obtained when the tithe map is used in conjunction with its ‘Apportionment’ (a listing showing ownership and occupancy of all properties) and the 1841 Census. Also, the parish map shows which townships and villages fell within the Wellington parish, thus giving pointers to where information regarding people, businesses and streets for those settlements can be found. We are in the process of 0th January 2014 saw the Lanyon Bowdler solicitors whose producing a detailed background official handing over of three head office is at Shrewsbury. to the maps together with them in 3Victorian maps of Wellington. After negotiation with officials computer-viewable format, plus The maps, comprising an 1853 at Telford council, we secured an abridged version of the version of the 1840 Tithe map permission for the maps to be Wellington tithe apportionment so (above) a late 1830s hand coloured hung in two secure meeting rooms that you can peruse and make use street map and an 1850s map for perusal by members of the of them at home. All this will be showing all the townships in the public when the rooms are not in made available on a DVD. (then) Wellington parish were use. Please ask a member of It’s taking some time, but we’re generously and kindly donated to library staff to arrange access. confident the wait will be well Wellington History Group by The maps are wonderful worth while! Michael Gwynne sent our editor this photo of Wellington Half- Holiday Football Club, 1907-8 season. The club played when shops had ‘early closing’ on a weekday afternoon, hence the name. Back row, left to right: F. Bean, E. Bethell, W. Gwynne, J. Owen, E. Nickless, V. Stretton, W. Wellings, J. , H. Whalley, H. Knowles. Front: B. Richards, C. Wood, H. Ward, J. Phillips, J. Plant.

Bob Coalbran submitted this photo to our editor and asked for any information connected to it or the ‘Old Swans’ whose members are pictured outside the Forest Glen Pavilion at the foot of The Wrekin Hill. We have been told that the Old Swans in question refers to a social club at the Swan Hotel on Watling Street and the photo may date to the 1920s or 1930s, if not earlier. Do you recognise any of the men and do you know anything about the Old Swans? If so, please get in touch with us.

20 Wellingtonia: Issue 16: First Half 2014