My Ten most popular posts in 2015

Visiting Bodmin Jail

A fascinating building filled with sad stories which is well worth visiting.

A Scottish Farm in the 1950s 

Nostalgic photos of my grandparents’ farm.

Dressing cardboarddolls

A children’s occupation from the 60s and 70s.

The Changing Face of Pedlar’s Acre

Looking at the south bank of the Thames.

The Fishermen Thieves of Lambeth

Crime on the Thames in the early 19^th century

A Bundle of Old Letters

The discovery of some old letters which brought my ancestors to life.

A Family Struggling to Survive

Living in the Workhouse and emigration to Canada was the fate of these children.

The Edwardian Seaside

The golden age of postcards show the popularity of the seaside in Edwardian seaside.

A 19th Century Romeo and Juliet

A tragic story of a soldier and his love.

A Veteran Tar

An old soldier in the Workhouse

#Murder in the sand dunes

On Thursday February 20th 1908 a schoolmaster named Spurgeon was walking on the cliffs at Southbourne in Bournemouth when he noticed the clothing of a young lady between two sand hills.  On investigating he discovered that she was face down so he quickly rushed to tell the Coastguard half a mile away.  The body was that of Miss Emma Sherriff, a dressmaker, who had gone missing from her lodgings in Palmerston Road, Boscombe two days earlier.  She was found to have a muff over her face and had two handkerchiefs stuffed inside her mouth. 

Southbourne Cliff

Police investigation quickly lead them to picture dealer and ex-guardsman, John Francis McGuire, who had been seeing Miss Sherriff regularly.  Like Emma, he was in his early twenties, but according to Miss Lily Hatch, her close friend of 12 years, the relationship the couple had, was like that of brother and sister.  Emma had last been seen alive by her landlady, Mary Lane, at 1 pm on Tuesday when she seemed very distressed by a note that had been left for her.  At 6.30 Emma went out but did not follow her usual habit of leaving her key under the door mat.  On Wednesday a telegram was delivered for Miss Sherriff but as there was no sign of her, Mrs Lane forwarded it to Mr McGuire’s mother.

By Wednesday afternoon, Mrs McGuire, Miss Hatch and John Francis McGuire were outside the door of Emma’s bedroom.  McGuire forced it open but they could find no clue as to the whereabouts of Miss Sherriff.  After her body was found on Thursday an examination revealed several serious injuries caused by blows made by foot, knee or a blunt instrument.  It was later reported that some of her jewellery had gone missing.

The trial of John Francis McGuire, which commenced in late March, was full of conflicting evidence.  McGuire said that he had last seen Emma on Monday 17^th February and that he had returned to his home in London on Tuesday and yet a witness saw him catch a tramcar in Southbourne at 8.12 on Tuesday 18^th February, quite close to where the body had been found.  He had in fact been seen in London on the Tuesday by a shoe black who knew him well.  The shoe black stated that McGuire gave him 2 letters earlier in the day asking him to post them after 8 pm. that evening.  There was evidence that McGuire did sleep in London that night but train timetables proved that he could have caught a train to London from Bournemouth at 8.45 pm. 

There was considerable disagreement amongst the jurors and so the prosecution was withdrawn on July 2^nd and the magistrate released McGuire.  Within a few days McGuire was charged at Barnet of desertion from the British Army.  He had joined the Royal Horse Artillery in 1901 but later transferred to the Royal Horse guards.  In 1904, he was court martialed for stealing a pin from a corporal’s kit and was dismissed from the army.  One month later he joined the 2^nd Life guards, but deserted in 1906.  Now that he had been discovered he was imprisoned for 84 days.

McGuire may not have been convicted of murder but his life lurched from one misdemeanour to another.  After his imprisonment had ended towards the latter part of 1908 he moved to Mundesley-on-sea, Norfolk where he and a young lady took a furnished cottage.  Calling themselves Captain and Mrs Francis, they paid no rent and were soon in debt with local tradesmen.  Finally, McGuire jumped on a train to London, with no ticket, leaving the young woman destitute.  We pick up his story again in February 1909 when he was taken into custody in Westminster with another man for fraudulent conspiracy to obtain goods from a firm of house furnishers, earning himself 12 months’ imprisonment.

But what of poor Emma?  She can be found in a list of 36 unsolved murders between 1890 and 1908.  There is no doubt that John Francis McGuire was a cad and a wastrel.  He said at his trial for conspiracy that he had had no home since he was 14 (when he joined the army) but his mother was a friend of Emma Sherriff so at that stage of his life he appeared to be cherished.  Many of the witnesses at the murder trial were unreliable so no clear verdict could be declared.

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

Music, comedy and #murder #EdwardianActress

Probably the most popular type of postcards to be collected in the early 20^th century, were those of Edwardian actors and actresses.  It was the golden age of British theatre and just like today, everyone wanted to know more gossip about their families.

Ellaline Terriss made her London debut at the Haymarket in 1888, aged 16. She was a talented actress and singer who began her career in musical comedies.

 

She was the daughter of William Terriss, who after trying the merchant navy, tea planting in India and farming in the Falkland Islands, had become a member of Sir Henry Irving’s company at the Lyceum theatre.  Besides being a noted Shakespearian actor, he was also known for his swashbuckling roles such as Robin Hood. 

William Terriss

A year earlier than Ellaline, Edward Seymour Hicks also began his career on the London stage at the age of 16.  As well as becoming a popular actor he soon became a prolific author of light comedies.  The public were thrilled in 1893 when he and Ellaline Terriss were married.

In December 1897 tragedy struck.  William Terriss, who was known for his kindness, had helped out a young actor, Richard Archer Prince.  He gave Prince work but the young man proved to be unstable and drank too much, so he was dismissed.  Terriss sent Prince money and the Actor’s Benevolent Society found him another part.  However, finding himself unemployed again, Prince blamed all his woes on William Terriss, so one evening he waited outside the stage door of the Royal Adelphi theatre, carrying a knife.  When Terriss arrived, Prince stabbed him and he sadly died.  The trial was read avidly by the general public and there was a great outpouring of sympathy for Ellaline and Seymour Hicks.

 

Their popularity was immense.  During the following year Seymour Hicks co-authored “A Runaway Girl” in which Ellaline starred at the Gaiety Theatre and the couple also adopted a four year old Irish girl, Mabel Magdalene.  In 1914 Seymour Hicks recalled, “My wife saw and fell in love with the sweetest of little Irish girls, and we adopted her, calling her Mabel. To-day she is a sweet and gentle girl of eighteen, and is dearly loved by us."

 

In 1902 Ellaline and Seymour Hicks appeared together in Quality Street by J M Barrie.  They had recently bought a new home called The Old Forge at Merstham in Surrey and their cul-de-sac was renamed Quality Street.  Two years later Ellaline gave birth to their baby, Betty.

 

Edward Seymour Hicks became so successful that in 1905 he built the Aldwych Theatre and in 1906 The Globe, although at that time it was called The Hicks.  After 1911 Ellaline appeared mainly in comedy and music hall.  During the First World War, the couple gave concerts to the troops at the Front in France and in 1940 they went to the Middle East with ENSA.  Having been the first British actor to perform in France during both World War I and World War II, Hicks was awarded the Croix de Guerre twice for his services and he was knighted in 1934.

Following the Second World War, Ellaline and Edward moved to South Africa, but after the death of Seymour Hicks in 1949, Ellaline returned to England where she took up painting and had an exhibition in London.  She died in Hampstead in 1971, aged 100.

The #Edwardian Seaside #postcards

My love for the seaside began with Sunday school outings in the 1950s to places like Brighton, Eastbourne, Margate and Bognor, but the height of popularity for seaside towns was in Edwardian times at the beginning of the 20^th century.

A family poses next to the beach

Many seaside resorts became popular destinations during the Victorian era when the expansion of the railways made travel accessible and affordable.  Most, but not all of the visitors, were middle class and their visits coincided with the popularity of the picture postcard. 

While sitting on a deckchair listening to the Municipal Band many young ladies and young men penned a postcard to friends and relations.  They would show donkeys, boat trips, walking en masse along the promenade or venturing along the pier to visit a place of entertainment.

There was no need to worry about getting sunburnt

and there were often beach tents or chalets for shelter

And if it rained there was always somewhere to go.

but sometimes you just needed a balmy evening.

#Postcards from a soldier #WW1

Sorting through my Grandma's postcard collection, I realised that some of the cards were all sent in 1917 from my grandfather, who was in the Royal Field Artillery, to his young son George.

My grandfather trained as an architect in Bournemouth at the very beginning of the 20th century.  In 1910 he went to work in New York, which must have been an interesting experience.  In 1912 he moved to Montreal where my grandmother travelled to marry him.  Two years later their first son was born and they probably planned to stay living in Canada.  However, after the onset of the First World War, they returned to England.  By 1916 Grandpa was a Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Artillery.  While training at Catterick Camp, he sent several postcards of nearby Richmond in Yorkshire to George and to his wife Connie.

Some of the postcards used patriotic propaganda about the country's brave young men.

Others showed the history of the Royal Artillery.

                   

The motto Ubique reflects that "wherever" the British Army fought there would be members of the Royal Artillery.   Quo fas et gloria ducum means "where right and glory lead."

My grandfather survived the war but he was gassed so this might explain the following two pcs.

              

The second card shows a soldier wearing hospital blues so that anyone seeing him would know that he had fought and was not a shirker.

The following postcard was sent in December 1917 from an army post office in France.

Finally here are two of the beautiful silk embroidered cards which George received.

Which show the badge my grandfather wore on his hat.

My grandfather returned home safely.  His son George died of peritonitis in 1924 aged 10.

The church of São Lourenço #Portugal

As you drive west from Faro in the Algarve along the busy N125 towards the popular holiday resorts of Quinta do Lago, Vilamoura and Albufeira you might catch sight of the roof of an intriguing church.  Once you know that this is the amazing Igreja de São Lourenço you can follow the signs and visit the church.

Originally a crumbling medieval church it was rebuilt in the mid-18^th century after the villagers prayed to Saint Lawrence for water as they dug a well, during a desperately dry season.  As an abundant gush of water appeared, they determined to build a new church, in gratitude.  The Brotherhood of the Church of São Lourenço had important connections within the Algarve and worshippers contributed to the building of a simple white church with an extravagantly ornamented interior.

Two brothers, Manuel Borges from Faro and Antão Borges, an azulejo artist, from Lisbon started the rebuilding.  Azulejos are the beautiful blue and white tiles which can be found on buildings, especially churches, all over Portugal, but in this case the entire church surface was lined with the tiles apart from the gilded areas.  Generally, the tiles are attributed to Policarpo de Oliveira Bernardes, a famous painter from Lisbon, but possibly some of the azulejos may have been made by a painter in his vicinity.

Luckily the earthquake of 1755 which so badly damaged Lisbon and was strongly felt in the Algarve, only damaged 5 glazed tiles.  There is a barrel-vaulted nave and a small cupola.  The azulejos show scenes from the life of St Lawrence, who was martyred in 258 AD.

On the pillars of the church are the seven virtues: wisdom, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope and love.  This stunning Baroque church is well worth visiting, preferably when there are no coach parties present.

You can see other Azulejos on my Pinterest page here

Once again Ed Mooney has kindly included me on his Capturing History Challenge here