The Tewkesbury Historical Society
Welcome to our local History Society website
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An Upsetting Discovery in our Cemetery
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Black Sal
Time and Tide
On 19 November, John Dixon presented via ‘Zoom’ what was meant to be Jon Talbot’s talk on Time and Tide (Tewkesbury photographs related to the rivers). This is a PDF of the slides used in the presentation (reduced quality to make accessible). David Bagley then quickly came up with some excellent follow up research. We are hoping members will keep digging for us to learn more.
Tewkesbury Medical Volunteers at Mitton in WWI
Bletchley Girls
'True Blue Farm'
William Thomas Clarke
Online Resources Guide
'The Making of Miss Brown'
Message from David Elder, author of joint THS Publication, Literary Tewkesbury
One of the projects I've been doing during these strange times is to write and produce a film version of a play about the life of Elizabeth Brown (1830-99) who was an accomplished amateur astronomer who lived in Cirencester.
The 30-minute film is called ‘The Making of Miss Brown’. It is viewable online for £3 from the Stroud Theatre Festival 2020 web site. To access it:1. Please set up a simple account at http://stfonline.co.uk.
2. Then go to Watch Now! (https://stfonline.co.uk/watch-now/). Please note it will be available for a 24 hour period after registration.
Further information about the play
Winner of 2020 Woodard Award
VE & VJ Days 75: a Virtual Commemoration
Even though the government moved the May Day Bank Holiday away from the usual Monday so we could commemorate VE75 on 8 May, all public commemorations are now impossible.
- Biographies of all those who lost their lives fighting the Germans from the Tewkesbury area [including neighbouring villages]
- The context of this war.
New: 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)Bulletin 29
Ray Base
Janet Benson (nee Martin)
We regret to announce that our secretary, Janet Benson, passed away on December 28th. This news is something of a shock to us all, even though Janet had been bravely fighting a long illness. She had been our secretary for many years and will be sadly missed by all her friends here in the Society.
Book by John Dixon: 'Tewkesbury's Two Forgotten Railways!'
With the support of THS, John Dixon has published his labour of love – Tewkesbury’s Two Forgotten Railways! – along with a reissue of Roger Butwell's 2011 commemoration dvd.
Although THS has now sold out, digital copies are available from the 'Shop'.
Review Railways Dec 2019
Dear John As a birthday present, Cathy gave me a copy of "Tewkesbury's two Forgotten Railways!" earlier this week. I have not been able to put it down (except when forced to the sink to do the washing up). I have to tell you that it is quite wonderful, really well written and evidently the product of much and exemplary research. Rarely have I enjoyed an historical document so much. I have often wondered why I have never seen a photo of a steam engine crossing the high street, but now I have and I understand why I haven't (if you see what I mean). Best wishes Spencer
Also reviewed by David Aldred and Andrew Reekes:
November 2019 Meeting
October 2019 Meeting
THS 29th Season - First Meeting
Bryan Jerrard Award
Derek has revealed that nothing is as simple in history as we would like it to be and he explains thoroughly all the issues surrounding it. Suffice it to say that Baron Tewkesbury was the winner and reigned - reasonably happily ever after - as King George I!
THS Bulletin 27 is available from Alison’s Bookshop in the High Street.
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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Through the Magic Door
Through the Magic Door is a 244-page illustrated biography by Colin Davison of local author Moray Williams. She was a prolific author of the children's classics Gobbolino, The Little Wooden Horse and many others. She lived for much of her life at Teddington Hands - where she wrote and illustrated The Good Little Christmas Tree, and then at Beckford and Kemerton. The biography tells of an exceptional life and how many of her stories were drawn from an extraordinary childhood with her identical twin sister at an isolated, tumble-down mansion in the woods. Ursula was also a very talented artist and the book includes many illustrations, a large number of them her own. The biography had endorsements from fan Nick Park, creator of Wallace & Gromit, friend Anne Wood, creator of Teletubbies, and Ursula's illustrator Shirley Hughes.
If anyone would like a signed copy, they are available from the author at £6 each, of which £1 would go to THS. Colin can be contacted on colin.davison@hotmail.co.uk
Margaret Day
The Society is sad to announce that our Life Member, Margaret Day, died peacefully at home on Saturday 27 April 2019. Dearly loved wife to Cliff, much loved mother to Paul and Peter and Grandma to Lucy and Amy. Our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.April Meeting
Gloucestershire Local History Association
The Gloucestershire Local History Association includes representatives from many local history societies in the county, the county archives and local studies centres, and meets quarterly to discuss matters relating to local history in Gloucestershire. Details of events organised by the Association and member organisations may be found on their website:
March Meeting
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.THS February Meeting
November Meeting
THS Life President, John Dixon, with Peter Dawson who gave an interesting and well attended talk on 'Burgage Plots in Medieval Towns' at our 15 November meeting.
Find My Past
Find My Past is currently providing free access to their records. THS would like to research Tewkesbury people appearing in their Prison Records. If you are interested in helping with this, email John Dixon on presidentths@gmail.com who will provide details of how to go about it.
Account of 1931 Pageant
Tewkesbury Historical Pageant of 1931.
"Anchor University" Lectures
Remarkable Incidents Relative to Tewkesbury
1853. On 11th July: Not for many years past has the season been so fraught with losses and disasters. The immense quantity of rain speedily overflowed the Avon, and the luxuriant valley of that river between Evesham and this Town, was for several days submerged to such a degree that the whole fields were denuded of their crops, which came whelming down, large ricks of hay being floated away entire, and in one or two instances bearing upon their tops the implements which had been used in their construction. At Bredon and Twyning considerable damage was done, while nearer here, at Mytton, Messrs. Pike and Firkins have sustained losses to the amount of several hundred pounds. In the Town itself considerable alarm was felt on Saturday, when it was discovered that the Stanchard Wall ( the weir between the Severn and the Avon) had been partly washed away, and great fears were entertained that the whole of it must go, in which case the dwelling of Mr W. Bathurst, close by, would most probably have followed; This catastrophe was fortunately avoided by the prompt and energetic endeavours of a number of men who dammed the water with boards and clay and shored up the wall with timber until the flood had subsided.