Tewkesbury People and Connections

In a neglected grave in Tewkesbury Cemetery, deprived by the overhanging branches of a tree of a view of the Abbey he loved, lies one of the most important men of Victorian Tewkesbury - Thomas Collins. Collins was born to humble parents, John ...

When John Rogers died in February 1909 he was known as the Grand Old Man of Tewkesbury; having lived one hundred years, three months and two days. He spent most of his life in Tewkesbury and his quiet contribution to the town was celebrated in ...

(This introduction is entirely the work of Cameron Talbot, from the draft article written by him shortly before his sudden death in 2001. Ed.) It must be a dream, you think. You are sitting in a railway carriage of some ...

Mike English first became known to us when he attended my sessions for Computing and Family History.  However, he was already very knowledgeable and has contributed web addresses to our website. His researches led him to make contact with the ...

Historical research is often inspired by a chance discovery and enhanced by the sharing by enthusiasts of resources and information. The detailed research to flesh out the subject and to corroborate details takes a great deal of determination, time and ...

My great, great grandfather, Joseph Higginson , “for thirty-seven years surgeon of this borough”,^[1] was born not in Tewkesbury but in the little village of Severn Stoke, Worcestershire. The third of six children of Nathaniel ...

Samuel Hitch  was born in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, in 1800 and educated at the University of Oxford. He then attended the best medical schools in England, France and Italy, before returning to Gloucester where, at the age of just 28, he ...

Written on R.Y. Britannia in the Antarctic Ocean during the World Tour in December 1956 For a couple of years in my early youth I was a rather erratic member of the Wesley Guild.  We met in the room at the back of the ...

Almeric Henry Page was born on 4 January 1912, at the ‘Hermitage’,^[2]  Gloucester Road, Tewkesbury, the second son of Harold Page (1884-1947) and Florence Page (née Peters, 1887-1968). The family consisted not only of ...

Serendipity undoubtedly plays an important part in family history research. It was certainly a lucky accident that led me to visit Barton Street Museum^[2] on a recent trip to Tewkesbury. There on the top floor was a photograph of my ...

It is extraordinary that so many of Tewkesbury’s photographic pioneers met with untimely ends - but the statistics speak for themselves.^[1] And, even if my grandfather, Halsey Freeman , had been aware of this disquieting history of the ...

Humphrey Brown started life with, at least, a pewter spoon in his mouth as he entered the firm of ship-owners and carriers inaugurated by his eponymous father. He intervened in Tewkesbury’s fortunes as something of a saviour at a time of ...

If you mention the surname ‘Preston’ to any long-time residents of Tewkesbury, then their memories recall either or both of Ted Preston , who was the Town Crier for many years – or Mr. Preston , the tailor. They were not related.  The ...

Photographic archives form an important component of any social history collection. The photograph collection in Tewkesbury Museum is quite poor. Most of the museum’s photographic records relate to people and events no earlier than the 1960s.  ...

Cecil James Sharp (1859-1924) was an English musician, who awakened modern interest in folk song and dance.^[1] What is not recorded in our national history is the contribution to his work made by two people who lived in ...

Gordon (on the right) as a tourist in Tewkesbury in July 1948(Author – first published in Bulletin 18, 2009) Little did he then know his future life would lie in Tewkesbury?   

Whatever its reduced political status since 1974, it is still awe-inspiring to be able to sit in the Council Chamber of Tewkesbury’s Town Hall. Looking around at the portraits adorning the walls, one is burdened by a sense of history and the doubt whether ...