Monty and the Casket, 1947
February 13, 2016
Freedom of the Borough for Viscount Montgomery, 1947 During the hundred years of its existence, the Borough of Royal Leamington Spa awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Borough to sixteen individuals and three military establishments. Of those individuals, all were men who had had a close relationship with the town but there was one notable
Jan Berenska (1905-1968)
January 17, 2016
Musician & orchestra leader It is rather sad to think that a man whose accomplishments were such that a Leamington street was named after him is almost forgotten within a few years. Berenska Drive was named after Jan Berenska a multi-talented musician whose orchestra had a huge following in the heyday of radio. During the
Denis Matthews (1919 – 1988)
December 25, 2015
Concert pianist & writer When Denis Matthews left Warwick School in 1935 to take up a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music in London, one of his erstwhile masters said “They tell me that you are going in for music Matthews but what do you intend doing with the rest of your time?” The
The Relieving Officer
November 25, 2015
In the days before the introduction of the benefits system of the welfare state, it was the job of the Relieving Officer to identify the needy in his district and address those needs to the best of his ability. The 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act introduced a National Welfare System (of poor relief) covering the
Irish – Who’s Irish?
November 13, 2015
My great-great-grandparents were born in County Mayo, Ireland, John Jennings in 1838 at Killadoon, Ballintubber, and Anne in 1844 at Arthavalley, Ballintubber. I think that it is highly likely that the great potato famine after 1845 was the reason that John and Anne’s families decided that they needed to move in order to feed their
Dr John Hitchman. 1805-1867
October 23, 2015
The photograph is plainly of a mid Victorian gentleman: dark suit and waistcoat, high turnover collar, dark circle of cravat, and yet not over-tidy, rustic almost; a shortish man with a short neck, chunky rather than burly; leaning forward as if in conversation, fair hair flying as if he drags his fingers through it when
Alexander Marshall Lodge 1882 – 1938
October 21, 2015
Alexander Marshall Lodge (aka Alec) was the third son (of six sons and six daughters) of Sir Oliver Lodge, British Physicist and noted inventor, and the first Principal of the new University of Birmingham at Edgbaston. As did two other brothers, Lionel and Noel, Alec and his older brother Brodie eventually went into business using
Samuel Thomas Wackrill 1828 – 1907, First Mayor of Leamington
October 9, 2015
Samuel Wackrill, the son of a prosperous draper from Chelmsford, and an experienced draper in his own right, arrived in Leamington in 1861 and set up a drapery business with his brother Jack. In common with other tradesmen of the time, the brothers worked very long hours. There was no early closing, or Bank Holidays,
Frederick William Newton Whitehead (1853-1938) and Elizabeth Whitehead (1854-1934), Artists
October 1, 2015
Frederick and Elizabeth Whitehead were born at 3 Lansdowne Terrace (now numbered 5 Willes Road), Frederick on the 6th January, 1853 and Elizabeth the following year on the 21st November. The Whiteheads had been farmers and brick makers in the town since the eighteenth century but William, the father of Frederick and Elizabeth, had become
Sidney Flavel senior
October 1, 2015
Iron-founder & businessman (1819-1892) Sidney Flavel was the driving force behind the success and growth of Sidney Flavel Limited which manufactured cast iron cooking appliances in Leamington for so many years As in many such cases we start the story with Sidney’s grandfather, John, who had a small metal-working business in Bilton on the
