Wiltshire Family History Society
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WILTSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY APRIL 2021 ISSUE NO 161 Wiltshire Family History Society Registered Charity No 290284 PRESIDENT – Mike Stone, BA Hons, CertEd MITG VICE PRESIDENTS – John Hurley and Steve Hobbs, FSA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – WFHS Trustees (Postal address through the Resource Centre) CHAIRMAN – David Weaver, [email protected] VICE-CHAIR – Cy Cutler, [email protected] GENERAL SECRETARY – Barbara Fuller, [email protected] ELECTED MEMBERS Bob Knightley, [email protected] Tony Rutter, [email protected] David Weaver, [email protected] Rodney Whale, [email protected] Persis Wiltshire,[email protected] BRANCH REPRESENTATIVES Cy Cutler (Chippenham/Calne), Barbara Fuller (Devizes), Mike Langtree (Malmesbury), Sue Wight (Salisbury), Jenny Pope (Swindon), Graham Warmington (Westbury) CONTACTING THE SOCIETY via email or through the Resource Centre WILTSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY RESOURCE CENTRE, Unit 3, Bath Road Business Centre, Devizes, SN10 1XA; [email protected] MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY – Doreen Jones, [email protected] or 11 Caird Lawns, Nursteed Road, Devizes, Wilts SN10 3EB WEBSITE MANAGER – Kevin Hurley, [email protected] WEBSITE – www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk MEMBERS’ INTEREST SECRETARY – Katy Jordan, members-interests@wiltshirefhs. co.uk PUBLICATIONS OFFICER – Jane Syckelmoore, [email protected] Sales leaflet via Website: ‘Publications’->’Sales Leaflet’ RESEARCH REQUESTS – Preferably by email to [email protected] after check- ing our Website for research arrangements and charges. Send postal enquiries to the Research Coordinator at the Resource Centre. Note that response times will depend on the availability of volunteers. More detail on Website under ‘Research’ MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS/RENEWAL – Annual membership is £12. Preferred payment or renewal is by BACS or Bank Standing Order. Otherwise through GenFair (link at bottom of Website ‘Home’ page) (credit/debit card), through the Society’s Website (PayPal), or cheque drawn on a UK bank. Contact Membership Secretary (above) for details. Membership will lapse if not renewed within three months of the renewal date. CHANGES TO PERSONAL DETAILS – To ensure receipt of the Journal and access to the Society’s Website ‘Members’ Area’, the Society needs to know of any changes to postal and email addresses, either to the Membership Secretary (above) or through the Website. Wiltshire Family History Society Journal April 2021 Issue 161 Editor’s Comments 2 Springford alias Springbatt 15 Two Milestones – D Weaver 3 – G Springford Letter to the Editor 3 Mark Cogswell – B Davey 22 Diary Dates 2021 4 Murder and Suicide – M Jefferies 26 Amy Hutchins – J Kirk 32 Visiting the Resource Centre 4 Winterbourne Bassett – Y Neal 34 Branch Programmes 4 American Cousins – L Argent 37 From the Branches 4 Gunner SG Grant – P Spencer 44 Zoom Meetings – G Warmington 7 Publications – J Pope 46 Archive News – D Plant 8 Useful Websites – R Whale 48 Spanish Flu Epidemic – A Espina 10 Book Review – B Afton 50 In Memoriam – J Dewey 12 Members’ Surname Interests 51 CONTRIBUTIONS, articles, letters, comments, photographs, illustrations, and other items are welcomed. The deadline for letters and items routinely submitted for the Jul 2021 Journal is 1 May, 2021. Articles may be submitted at any time and will always be acknowledged, but the date of their inclusion in the Journal is entirely at the discre- tion of the Editor. Please submit material electronically if possible. Send material for the Journal electronically to [email protected] or to by post to The Editor, Dr Bethanie Afton, 1 Yerbury St, Trowbridge, BA14 8DP. Enquiries about non-receipt of an issue should be sent to the Membership Secretary at the address inside the front cover. The Journal is the official publication of Wiltshire Family History Society. All submissions are the copyright of their authors and the Society and must not be reproduced in any form without written permission. The Society does not accept responsibility for personal views expressed in the articles or in letters to the Editor. All material submitted may be edited to conform to the requirements of the Journal. FRONT COVER: Ernest Pike and Family, c 1905 The tragic story of a murder and suicide within the police force (see ‘A Murder and Suicide in the Police’, pp 26-31). 1 Editor’s Comments Bethanie Afton (6817) A year ago, I announced that we were between them. Before I can use an looking for a new Editor. My thought article, these have to be removed and was that we needed new ideas. Well, then redone by the publishing pro- no one came forward so I’ve agreed gramme. It’s not a big problem, just to continue for the foreseeable future. simpler for me. And because I have had a plethora Images are best sent separately. If of lockdown articles, the Executive they are combined in a Word doc- Committee have agreed to a slightly ument, I have to take them out. longer Journal for this year. Please, Again, these are dropped into Adobe keep those contributions coming. I Photoshop to get the resolution enjoy reading them and hope to get and format needed for the Journal. many into a Journal this year. However, please, don’t send me tiny It seems like a good time to answer images. They go out of focus when a recurring question that I get from enlarged, so can’t be used. authors: In what format do I want Having said all this, don’t worry too material sent? The first thing I ask much about the format. All the years is that the document is done using I’ve been editing have taught me how MS Word or a similar programme. to deal with most problems. I’ve had several that are .pdfs. These have to go through a process of text One of the biggest jobs that has to recognition that sometimes creates be done to get an issue to press is unpredictable results. The original proofreading. Each author receives a is much easier. I’ve had articles sent .pdf of their article to look over just as photos. I don’t retype articles so before it goes to press. Additionally, can’t use these and will send them Jerry King and David Chilton check back to the author. and proofread the whole Journal. For their work, I am especially grateful. It About 2,500 words is the maximum takes a lot of time and effort on their length. The font and other format- parts. Also graphic designer Mike ting you use make little difference. Wicks has a final check through and After I’ve run it through MS Word adds his touch of magic. To all of to check spelling and grammar, you, my thanks. each goes into an Adobe publish- ing package. It is helpful not to So please, keep the material coming have paragraphs indented or spaces in to me and enjoy the results. 2 Two Milestones David Weaver, WFHS Chairman By the time you read this article the daughter of Robert Kempton and Society will have reached two impor- Mary Rawlings, and was born in tant milestones. Burbage. On her mother’s death, Wiltshire Family History Society was Alice moved to Great Bedwyn with founded in 1981 by Wiltshire resi- her two sisters, before entering dents of the Bristol and Avon Family domestic service in London. History Society and, therefore, cele- To mark this second milestone, brates its 40th anniversary this year. WFHS offered Heather complimen- The second milestone is that, in early tary life membership along with a January 2021, Doreen Jones, the choice of three society publications. Membership Secretary, issued mem- She has initially chosen the download bership number 10,000 to Heather of CMB 26 which covers Burbage Wise, a resident of Lesmahagow, and the surrounding villages. We Lanarkshire. hope this will further her researches in that area. Once this pandemic is Heather’s interest in Wiltshire over, she would understandably like began because her paternal grand- to spend some time to explore the mother was Alice Kempton, Burbage and Marlborough area. Letter to the Editor Pleased to be Back the web pages display very pleasingly I have just rejoined the Society, hav- on there. Of course when I joined ing originally signed up in 1982 as in 1982, there was no website and member no. 521, but lapsing in the no Internet. The old era! I am very late 1990s. My breath is taken away delighted to see all the past WFHS that the membership numbers now Journals on the Website and am exceed 10,000, roughly equivalent to immediately impressed by the attrac- the 12th largest town in Wiltshire! tive design of the latest issues. Immediately, I am very much Also, I am hugely impressed by the impressed by the Society’s Website very wide range of research resources – clearly a large amount of work that members of the Society have cre- and thought has gone into it. I use a ated, and I anticipate buying numer- desktop PC with a wide screen, and ous items from the publications list. 3 Unlike before, I now know my Puzey You can deduce that I am very pleased ancestors were living in the north of to be back! the county dur ing the whole of the 18th Tony Puzey (10013) century and the first half of the 19th. Diary Dates 2021 We recommend that you check event websites for any updates. 19 Jun The Family History Show, online (previously York) 25-6 Jun The Genealogy Show, online (previously at the NEC)* 25 Sep The Family History Show London, Kempton Park* 2 Oct Oxfordshire FHS Family History Fair, Woodstock* Autumn RootsTech London, ExCel Centre * WFHS plans to attend. An extensive list of genealogical events can be found at GENEVA, the online calendar of GENealogical EVents and Activities – http://geneva.weald.org.uk/ Visiting the Resource Centre We will restart our programme of monthly ‘Open Saturdays’ and other visits at the first opportunity.