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
December 1936. Two women shop for a turkey at a farm just outside Tewkesbury. Happy Christmas!
2025 Dowty Themed Calendar
October 2024 Meeting
Simon LawtonClick Image
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A video of the talk is now available to view on our YouTube Channel:
Hazel Crisp
Woodard Award 2024
Woodard Award 2024Click Image
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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.
May Meeting - THS Annual General Meeting
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34th Season - Programme of Talks
The schedule of talks for our thirty-third season is set out below.
At the Methodist Church at The Cross, all are welcome - entrance fee for THS Members is £3.00 and for visitors is £5 (includes tea/coffee/biscuits after the talks).
19 Sep 2024 Richard Sermon - The Leather Bottle: Cecil Sharp (1859-1924) and his Tewkesbury folk song collection
17 Oct 2024 Simon Lawton - Making the Invisible, Visible: The Story of the Old Baptist Chapel, a 17th Century Baptist Meeting House21 Nov 2024 Andrew Mellor - Cider Making in Gloucestershire - from Fox Whelps to Firkins!
23 Jan 2025 Social - For Members, Friends & Guests
20 Feb 2025 Carol Davies - Workhouse Songs
20 Mar 2025 Andrew Chapman - Imagining History: the case for Historical Fiction
24 Apr 2025 Steve Goodchild - The Battle of Tewkesbury newly r-examined
22 May 2025 AGM followed by John Dixon - John Moore's Rogues
80th Anniversary of D-Day
The members of Tewkesbury Branch of The Royal British Legion wish to extend an invitation to members of the Tewkesbury Historical Society to attend a service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving for the above anniversary.
This will be held at Tewkesbury Methodist Church on Sunday 9th June commencing at 3pm, with any attendees requested to be seated in the church by 2.45pm.
The service will be followed by a short Act of Remembrance at The Cross War Memorial to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Overlord.
To assist with seating at the church, could any attendees please email me as soon as possible.
Rod Gurney, Honorary Vice-Chairman, Tewkesbury Branch, The Royal British Legion.
GLHA Local History Day 2024
Gloucestershire Local History Association Local History Day was held on Saturday July 27th 2024. At the Graze building at Hartpury University, Gloucester.The event was very successful and was attended by 92 people. Thanks to the two speakers, Maureen Anderson and Steve Blake, and to the 17 groups (including THS) who brought displays - which were much admired by all. Also thanks to all the volunteer helpers who helped to make the Day go smoothly.
The Society was represented on the day by our Chairman, Sam Eedle.
April 2024 Meeting
Michael TrottClick Image
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You can read a review by John Dixon of Michael's book by clicking on 'Read More'.
Bishops Walk Plaque
Plaque UnveilingClick Image
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Photograph left to right: John Dixon (THS), Angela Devereux (John Moore Society), Maureen Turland (Civic Society), Alan Purkiss (Civic Society).
Bulletin 33
Bulletin 33 (2024)Click Image
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Click on Read More to see the Forewords which give details about the articles.
Sir George Dowty
Event at Pershore Abbey to commemorate Sir George Dowty and will include visiting the newly erected statue of him. Full Details.
John Dixon
Talk by John Dixon at the Baptist Church, Station Road, Tuesday 20th February 7:00pm.
Aspects of Hidden Tewkesbury
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Dowty Group
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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.
February Meeting
Kat KeldeenClick Image
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John Dixon
Joan Smith
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We have learned, sadly, of the death of Mrs. Joan Smith, late of the Maltings, who volunteered to use her secretarial experience to type up information for the Woodard Database. If you search for “Joan Smith” in the database, you will find her work, especially on the Tewkesbury Register. She fell ill with pneumonia in early December and died in Tewkesbury Hospital on 22 January 2024 – her daughter is very impressed with the care she received there and asks that any donation in her honour be made in favour of our Hospital. Her funeral is on Friday, 9 February 2024 at the Willow Chapel, Crematorium, followed, at 14.00, by the Bell Hotel.
I met Joan after her son, David, volunteered to use his computer skills to produce the exhaustive Burial Records, which we maintain on the website and were on the DVD rom which accompanied our History of the Tewkesbury Cemetery.
THS thus passes on our condolences to the family of this reliable volunteer over so many years.
THS Social Evening
The Spread!Click Image
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Lionel Perry
Long time member of the Society, Lionel Perry, passed away peacefully after a long illness at Cheltenham General Hospital on Saturday 16th December 2023, aged 86 years.
Dearly loved Husband to Erna, Step-father to Mark and Paulette, Grandfather to Emma and Tom, Brother to Glenys and Uncle to Nicola.
A private cremation will take place followed by a service of thanksgiving at Tewkesbury Abbey on Thursday 11th January 2024 at 2.30pm.
Family flowers only, donations if desired for the Salvation Army and Air Ambulance may be sent c/o B Sweet & Sons Funeral Directors 12a Oldbury Road, Tewkesbury GL20 5LZ. Telephone 01684 293180.
Tewkesbury Workhouse
Tewkesbury WorkhouseClick Image
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Results of Tree-Ring Dating for Tewkesbury Buildings
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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!
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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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.21 Jan2025Tuesday7:00pm
Breaking the Mold: Alberta Sturges [BALH webinar]23 Jan2025Thursday7:45pm
THS - Social - For Members, their Friends & Guests
Meetings Videos
Video recordings of talks given at our meetings are often made and can be viewed on our YouTube Channel
Remarkable Incidents Relative to Tewkesbury
1739. On the 25th of December, a very severe frost began, and continued till the 19th of February following during which time, the Severn was so hard frozen, that loaded waggons and horses passed over at the upper and lower lodes. A sheep was roasted on the ice above the quay bridge. What was roasted on the ice above the quay bridge. What advanced price from 5s. to 9s. 6d.; beans from 2s. to 5s. 7d. the bushel; and hay from 15s. to 3l. per ton.
Heritage Hub
Upcoming events at Gloucestershire Hub.
Tudor House Hotel
A comprehensive building assessment has been published by Johanna Roethe of 'Historic England' - click here to read on their website.
Victoria County History
Friends of Glos. Archives Autumn 2023 Newsletter
Sir George Dowty
BBC Points West had a feature on the statue of Sir George Dowty that was erected in 2024. The recording can be viewed on YouTube Also visit their website at dowtyheritage.org
William Thomas Clarke
The Winter of 1962-63
'True Blue Farm'
Lionel Walrond
Lionel Walrond, curator of Stroud Museum 1955 to 1990, took many photographs of Gloucestershire. A searchable collection is available on the GlosDocs website.
Dowtys