News and events from 2025
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.
Roots & Reflections
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Roots and Reflections is a Gloucestershire Libraries and The Roses Theatre's Heritage Lottery Funded project.
This is a countywide project involving senior citizens and young people living in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Coleford, Gloucester, Chipping Camden and Stroud. The aim of the project is to capture memories of the older generation and for young people to re-interpret those memories through creative performance.
The Roses Young Creatives Youth Theatre (RYC) will be giving a performance directed by Ellie Scanlan and inspired by the memories of senior citizens living in Tewkesbury.
This is taking place on Sunday 7 December, 2.30 – 3.15pm at Bishop’s Cleeve Library. Tickets are FREE and can be booked via the Roses website or by telephone by calling the Box Office on 01684 295074.
The performance will be followed by a 30-minute post-show discussion and reflection between our multi-generational participants and audience.
This initial performance will later be expanded and presented at the Roots and Reflections Live Performance Exhibition on Sunday 10th May 2026, along with five other groups of young people from across the county who will also present performance pieces.
Roger Butwell
The Society is sad to report that our long-standing Member, Roger Butwell, has passed away.Roger was a regular attendee at Society meetings and gave talks to us about his family's home movies, including the Queen's Visit to Tewkesbury in 1971 and the Last Train to Tewkesbury in 1961.
Roger's funeral will be held in the Oak Chapel at Cheltenham crematorium on Thursday 16th October at 12pm. Family flowers only, any donations to Macmillan Cancer. No dress code.
The hearse will leave his home in Newtown at 11.05 and head into town via Chance Street, East Street, Oldbury Road left down Sun Street and along High Street. Left at the cross and onto the bypass. That route will take in the majority of his homes and places of business.
The service will be live streamed, if anyone wants the link please ask one of the family or John Dixon.
Don Freeman
Don Freeman, a well known source of Tewkesbury local history, passed away on 15th of September 2025. Funeral service to celebrate Don's life will be held at Tewkesbury Abbey at 1.30 pm on Thursday the 2nd of October. Private family cremation at Cheltenham Crematorium. Family flowers only, any donations to Alzheimer's Society may be left in the collection box in the Abbey.Judy Dwyer
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On 19th August, we had the pleasure of a visitor from Australia, THS member Judy Dwyer, winner of the Woodard Award in 2018, researching her Tewkesbury ancestor who was transported to Australia. John Dixon and Derek Benson (both also winners of the award} enjoyed meeting her and her husband for the first time - and this was also the first time she has held the award trophy. Despite the distance, Judy is a willing transcriber of documents for the Society. We trust the rest of their trip goes well.
One of Judy's articles, My Relation: the ‘Notorious Highwayman of Tewkesbury’! is here on this website.
Bryan Jerrard Award
The President and Chairman are delighted that Membership Secretary Derek has been shortlisted for the tenth time.
Tewkesbury's Slave Labourers Talk
A video recording of John's talk can be viewed on our YouTube Channel here.
Codrington Talk: March 2025
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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.]
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.
War Graves Tour - Conducted by Sam Eedle
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
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A video of the talk is now available to watch in our YouTube Channel.
March 2025 Meeting
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A video recording of the talk is now available on our YouTube Channel.
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!
THS Social Evening
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