The Tewkesbury Historical Society
Welcome to our local History Society website
Cross HouseClick Image
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Please consider joining the Society or renewing your membership
July's Photograph:
Children performing for pennies before boat trippers,
19th August 1911
Bryan Jerrard Award
The President and Chairman are delighted that Membership Secretary Derek has been shortlisted for the tenth time.
Click on the PDF to see the full shortlist.
Tewkesbury's Slave Labourers
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15 August 2025, 7:45 at the Methodist Church. Free admission - donations welcome.
2025-2026 Talks Schedule
18 Sep 2025 Andrew Paterson – The Power and Pitfalls of Family History - the case of Alderman Frank Knight
16 Oct 2025 Charles Whitney – The Adventure of Discovering the History of Tewkesbury Abbey
20 Nov 2025 David Elder – Wildlife and Culture: Travels with a Camera Across Five Continents
22 Jan 2026 Social for Members and their Guests (Quiz)
19 Feb 2026 Simon Lawton – Baptists in 17thC England: 'An Island of the Godly in a Sea of the Ungodly'
19 Mar 2026 Jonathan Hart – ‘Peasants, Cows and Monks': the Archaeology of a Medieval Moat at Cowfield, Tewkesbury’
16 Apr 2026 Dr. Steven Blake – George Rowe (1796-1864), artist & lithographer - who illustrated Tewkesbury before photography!
21 May 2026 Adam Sapic – The World’s Oldest Industrial Heritage in the UK
(Please note that Season 35 AGM has been moved to 17 Sept 2026)
Diaries of Sir George Dowty Event
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Railway Commemoration Video
2025 AGM & Woodard Award
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Derek Benson was the recipient of the Woodard Award for his article Quakers: Keeping on their Hats in Tewkesbury.
Following AGM business, John Dixon gave an excellent talk on John Moore's Rogues. A video of John's talk can be viewed on our YouTube Channel.
Photograph is of Derek, with the award, flanked by the judges, David Aldred and Steven Blake.
John Stedman
We are sad to report the death of our past member, John Stedman, on Tuesday 29th April 2025, aged 83 years. A private cremation will take place followed by a Service of Thanksgiving at St Mary Magdalene Church, Boddington on Saturday 31st May 2025 at 12.00 noon. Family flowers only, donations if desired for Sue Ryder Hospice [https://www.sueryder.org/donate/#], may be left at the service or sent direct to the charity. All enquiries to:- B Sweet & Sons Funeral Directors, 12a Oldbury Road, Tewkesbury GL20 5LZ 01684 293180.
April 2025 Meeting
Steve GoodchildClick Image
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A video of the talk is now available to watch in our YouTube Channel.
Sir George Dowty book release invitation
The initial response to the release of the Sir George Dowty Diary book has been most enthusiastic - both here and overseas. It is a most fitting accompaniment to his statue erected a year ago. Few 20th century industrialists have received such international recognition - it reflects the magnitude of his achievements. The formal release of the book is to take place on the 9th June at the Graeme Hick Pavilion at the Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Rhodesian born Graeme played his entire domestic career of over 20 years exclusively for Worcestershire. The event commences at 10.00am in the presence of many distinguished guests and is to be followed by refreshments. The diaries from 1919 to 1975 will be on display including the fully restored 1953 edition. The setting is most appropriate given that Sir George Dowty was Worcestershire born, educated and apprenticed in Worcester and President of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club during their championship winning sides of 1964 and 1965. The Dowty Group acquired Worcester based mining engineers Meco in the late 1960s. To reserve a place at this iconic occasion email willmundy331@icloud.com
February 2025 Meeting
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On 20 February 2025, we welcomed the Shepherd's Crook Folk Choir with their "Songs from the Workhouse". They presented the songs, often collected by Percy Grainger and Cecil Sharp [you can see the poster of Richard Sermon's talk in September 2024 on this subject but we we unfortunately were not able to record that talk.] The choristers each took it in turns to relate relevant history to link the songs. Apart from the one, they came over very well as do the songs performed a capella with no accompaniment.
We, therefore, can only present an audio only video on our YouTube Channel but the sound quality of sections of it does vary. It was, therefore, an excellent oral presentation with lots of valuable information about the history of the Workhouses.
The choir is based in Winchcombe but the choral content is relevant with the history to Gloucestershire audiences. The leader, Carol [carol@sweetsofmay.co.uk], did invite the audience to join the choir which meets on Winchcombe on a Monday evening. If I were 10 years younger, I would have been tempted to respond!
So thank you, Carol and Choristers, for providing a stimulating historical evening!
Codrington Talk: March 2025
On 27 March 2025, the Society hosted a well attended meeting at the Methodist Church on behalf of a new organization that we are working with: ‘Tewkesbury Voices’ Town Councillor, Emma Ash is Chair. The new group aims to study various aspects of Black History in Tewkesbury.
In this public meeting, THS President, John Dixon, presented a long-contemplated talk entitled Tewkesbury in the Context of the Codrington Family in partnership with the Group and THS.
Sir William Codrington was MP for Tewkesbury 1761-1792, he provided the Council with funds in 1788 to build the first Town Hall. That is possibly controversial today since the family was also prominent in the use of enslaved labour in Barbados and Antigua in the sugar industry. His death in 1792 prompted a Parliamentary by-election in which the newly formed Anti-Slavery Society presented a candidate. In the event he withdrew, but this did encourage local anti-slavery activities that Derek Benson has studied in his article Anti-Slavery Activism in Tewkesbury which has now been published both in THS Bulletin 34 and as a single article which are available for purchase.
A video of John's talk can be viewed here
[Please note that this video is a reconstruction of the actual talk as the recording of the event is not usable due to technical issues.]
Bulletin 34
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Details of Bulletin 34 and how to buy can be found in our Publications Section.
It is also available in Alison's Bookshop in the High Street.
Will be available for purchase at our next meeting on 20th March. £7 THS Members, £9 non-members.
Woodard Award
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At the AGM we were not able to present the winner of the Woodard Award, Derek Benson, with his individual medal. That was because the manufacturer had ceased business - but our supplier, Tewkesbury Trophies, made a great effort to find an alternative. Thanks, Nick!
Derek received his just reward at the meeting of Tewkesbury Voices on 30 May 2025 and the photo is of Chair, Emma Ash, with Derek and the medal in the Mayor's Parlour.
Competition for the award this year was so intense that it is beneficial that Dr. Blake sent us his deliberation.
War Graves Tour - Conducted by Sam Eedle
March 2025 Meeting
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A video recording of the talk is now available on our YouTube Channel.
THS Social Evening
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2025 Dowty Themed Calendar
Woodard Award 2024
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The winner for 2024 is Joanne Raywood for her article Two Views of the Severn Ham. Joanne is pictured with the independent judges who choose the winner, historians, Steven Blake and David Aldred.
Even more Census Data
We are pleased to announce that the Tewkesbury Census Data for 1841 to 1891 has doubled in size. We now have 37,608 people spread over 9,575 property records. Take a look here.Dowty Group
Now available is a booklet charting the hugely successful careers of the three Dowty Group Chairmen.
A.W. Martin - sometime Chairman of the world renowned wood and stone carvers H.H. Martyn, Gloucester Aircraft and Dowty. Hitherto unpublished material on his life story and his association with businesses of world renown.
Sir George Dowty - his son's thoughts on his father’s amazing career.
Sir Robert Hunt - his daughter's ideas of the reasons for her father’s remarkable life story.
Over 50 pages of riveting history and a fitting sequel to Dowty Days Remembered.
Email Martin Robins on martinrobins@btinternet.com for a copy- £5 posted.
Cemetery and Burials database for Tewkesbury
Over the years we have collated information from the various burial grounds in the town and now is the time to release a one-stop location for all of them on this site. The new Burials Database in our Research section tries to do this. There is also an accompanying history and guide to finding the resting place of persons buried in the town. There are currently an impressive 18,564 records. For the decades 1841 to 1881 we can also link to the Census Database (not guaranteed they are same people)Two large scale maps of Tewkesbury from 1811 and 1880
We are proud to present two maps on our site using new zoom and pan technology.We have the 1811 Enclosure Map of Tewkesbury and the huge 1:500 scale map of Tewkesbury created in the 1880s, both full of amazing detail. Use your mouse wheel to zoom and left mouse to drag.
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1832 Cholera Epidemic in Tewkesbury
One of our members, Dr Peter Raggatt, who is a retired NHS Clinical Biochemist at Addenbrookes Hospital and Lecturer in Cambridge University School, was moved to research and write an article about this epidemic with its comparisons with the present pandemic. [see attached PDF above] It links in with previous research on Cholera in Tewkesbury. Such was the impact of these two epidemics on the town that a monument was commissioned which now resides in the Cemetery, adjacent to the ‘Cholera Pit’ where many victims received a mass night burial [see attached]. Although John Snow, clean water for the Mythe Waterworks and improved housing conditions have ensured that 1849 was the last appearance of cholera, the brutality which occurred in World War II Japanese POW camps caused the death of several Tewkesbury soldiers of cholera in 1943-44. Here is a biography of one of them, Frederick Key.
Smallpox was another medical curse of the18-19th centuries but by the late 19thC vaccinations were made compulsory and a significant number of people in Tewkesbury became anti-vaccination. For more on this familiar tale, see Martin Holt's award winning article.
History is always so topical!
Results of Tree-Ring Dating for Tewkesbury Buildings
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15 Aug2025Friday7:45pm
Tewkesbury's Slave Labourers13 Sep2025Saturday4:00pm
Deerhurst Lecture 2025
Gloucester History Festival
Tewkesbury Museum
Tewkesbury Museum are seeking to recruit more volunteers so that they can aim to open for longer hours and on every day of the week. Click here for more details.
Heritage Hub
Upcoming events at Gloucestershire Hub.
Meetings Videos
Video recordings of talks given at our meetings are often made and can be viewed on our YouTube Channel
CLHS Local History Afternoon
Dowtys
Remarkable Incidents Relative to Tewkesbury
1775. Before harvest wheat sold at 8s. 6d. and 9s. per bushel; but, before Christmas, the same sort was sold for 5s. the bushel, owing in a great measure, to the vast quantities imported from foreign parts.
GLHA Societies' Events List
Wheelie Bins
Tewkesbury Civic Society have started a petition calling for Tewkesbury Borough Council to address the issue of wheelie bins permanently stored on pavement areas and alleys. The PDF gives details.
'True Blue Farm'
Article on 'True Blue Farm' in Kinsham Worcs. by Joyce Tole-Moir.
The Winter of 1962-63
William Thomas Clarke