1901 vandalism

When does an act of vandalism become a bit of interesting history? This piece of minor vandalism was carried out at a property owned by the perpetrator’s family. And it is minor, being initials and dates carved into a tree.

The person who committed his initials to history was James Frank Welch, otherwise known as Jack. He carved his initials into a beech tree at Beech House in 1901. Of course it would have been good to have a 1901 photo so that changes could be seen. In fact we have one photo which was taken just before the tree was felled in 1965 (We have had pictures of the felling on this blog. Click here.)

Jack Welch carved his initials in this family owned tree in 1901

This reasonably clearly says JFW 1901. That means this engraving was 64 years old at the time.

The photographer chose the best time of day for this photo with the sun casting deep, dark shadows within the engraving.

Jack didn’t see his handiwork chopped down for he had died the previous year.

Condolences on the death of Queen Victoria

The death of a monarch produces an outpouring of grief and this was certainly true when Victoria died after more than 60 years on the throne.

This must have been good news for Royal Mail as letters of condolence were sent and replies received.

Here we see one of the replies.

Letter received by James Welch of Market Lavington following the death of Queen Victoria

This letter, we see, was sent in reply to a resolution from the Wiltshire Agricultural Association whose secretary was James Welch of Market Lavington. James was the grandfather of museum founder, Peggy Gye.

The actual letter has a black border as befitted a mourning item. We have missed that out on this blog to allow more space and greater legibility for the letter’s content.

We can imagine that thousands of very similar replies were sent. The bulk of the letter is pre-printed with just a few gaps to be hand written in by royal workers – in this case a man called Charles Ritchie.

James obviously felt this letter should be kept and it was handed down through the family and then became a Market Lavington Museum item.

Paying James Neate

James Neate’s name crops up quite often in this blog. He was the wine and spirit merchant who moved to Market Lavington when a railway was proposed through the village. In the event he had to wait more than fifty years for the railway to be built, and that only through the northern edge of the parish. But it seems, for the most part, business flourished and James took an active part in life.

It also seems from this bill, that he sold more than just wines and spirits for amongst a list of items, bought by Mr Gye in 1901 there are no drinks at all.

A bill from James Neate of Market Lavington in 1901

However, the billing address is The Brewery, Market Lavington. This was sited behind the Red House on High Street, close to The Clays. The Neate’s retail outlet, The Brewery Tap, was on White Street. The bill indicates that the stationery had been purchased in the 1880s and was still in use in 1901. We also note at the bottom that James’ son, Norman, had receipted the bill on behalf of his father.

The items purchased all seem to have been grain related. Presumably the Gyes had poultry to feed.

Once again, the amount of free credit that traders had to extend to customers is made clear. Items purchased in July were not signed off as paid for until the end of October. In today’s terms the total of £2/11/3 is equivalent to more than £220 and up to £2000. There are different ways to calculate these things!

The Photographer’s Children

We believe Alf Burgess set up his photography business in Market Lavington in 1886. The following year he married Marion Gray who hailed from Lanarkshire in Scotland.

The couple were blessed with a number of children.

At the time of the 1891 census they had two boys, Robert (who was always known as Robin) and George. We might speculate that a first born had already been lost since Robert was just two and George was one.

In 1901 there were six sons. Robert W was 12 and Alfred G was 10. Then there were John G (8), Hugh Cecil (6),  Allan H (3) and Charles F (1)

The 1911 census tells us that Alf and Marion had been married for 24 years and had produced 7 children of which 5 were still alive. They all lived at home so we know they were Robert William (22), Alfred George (21), Hugh Cecil (16), Alan Herbert (13) and Charles Frederick (11). John Gray Burgess had died in 1902 aged just nine.

All of which brings us to today’s photo which shows the 6 boys of Alfred and Marion Burgess.

The Burgess Boys – sons of Alfred, the Market Lavington photographer and his wife Marion.

The photo must have been taken in about 1901 and shows from left to right, George, Robert, Hugh, John, Allan and Charles.

Alf has vignetted this photo – the corners have been faded. No doubt it was thought to be a delightful romanticised family snapshot.  And quite right too, for that is just what it is.

The Black Bordered Envelope

Back in Edwardian days as well as earlier and later, things were done properly. If someone died then letters were sent in a black bordered envelope. These, of course, were the days before the widespread use of the phone, let alone E-mail or social media. Your notification that someone had died would drop through your letter box in a black bordered envelope,

But propriety required that black bordered envelopes were also used for a period of mourning afterwards. Our envelope today covers that period of mourning following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.

Black bordered envelope received by James Welch of Market Lavington in 1901

James Welch, as we can see, was Secretary of the Wiltshire Agricultural Association. This body of men had obviously sent their condolences to the close relatives of Victoria which included, of course, the new King, Edward VII. The letter in the envelope was to thank the association for their kind thoughts. It is a form letter, making use of what we’d now call mail merge although back in 1901 this involved a scribe in handwriting in various sections.

The letter to James was in his role as Secretary of the Wiltshire Agricultural Association

As we see, the King did not deal with this himself. He commanded the signatory and he got someone else to do the scribing. But obviously the Welch family thought this was worth keeping – until it was passed to the museum.

James Welch was our museum founder’s grandfather.