Glemsford Local History Society
from the archives
Society Newsletters: 1995
The revival, over the last couple of years of the Glemsford Local History
Society newsletter, has been a very welcome and very well-received development.
The new format and variety of contributions emphasises what a
lively Society the GLHS is.
The new Newsletters do appear on these pages, in "electronic form", so it
seems wholly appropriate also to reproduce some of the earler versions.
Two from 1998 and 1999 already exist online, but a rummage through the files has also unearthed
these two editions from 1995, and one from 1994, when the late and much-missed Mary
Chapple took responsibility for producing and publishing the Newsletters.
I hope to be able to add more such reproductions as these pages develop.
Stephen Clarke
February 2007
Autumn 1995 Edition
Autumn 1994 Edition
Issue No: 8 Spring 1995
In this edition:
From the Editor
April, and the last lecture of the current season which will be given by Mr Robert Malster on 'Industrial Suffolk'
and will be a new departure for the Society and which, I am sure, we shall all enjoy.
Throughout this whole season we have had some extremely good speakers and these are due chiefly to Stephen Clarke who
arranged the programme. However, there are two who were outstanding and these were Leigh Alston and Clive Paine and arrangements
will be put in hand for a return visit of these gentlemen so that they can take us on the next stage of their subjects.
Several members have said to me how they are now always looking for the small leaf lime - a tree they had never heard of before -
and Court Wood has obtained a new significance as one of the ancient woodlands left in Glemsford.
It may be possible to arrange a walk with Mr Alston so that we can practise our newly discovered fieldlore.
Clive Paine's talk on 'The Aspects of Bury' came at a most opportune moment as an outing to the Manor House Museum was on offer,
and it was plain that his lively manner and enthralling details of Bury made this very attractive.
The visit will take place on
June 8 at 7 pm, costing £2 per head which will include coffee and biscuits.
Some 30 members have already signed up but a few more can be accommodated. Please let me know.
A walk round Bury St Edmunds, conducted by Mr Paine, is also to be arranged.
Mr A M 'Joe' Gentry has very kindly agreed to make the display cabinet to house the Book of Remembrance for
Cremated Remains buried in the Churchyard, and which will be dedicated to the memory of Richard Deeks.
This will be Mr Gentry's personal contribution to Richard and will thus leave a sum of money from the memorial fund which can be
put to an alternative use, possibly to house some of the many papers left by Richard and which could be offered to Glemsford
Library for reference. This will, of course, require further discussion.
The Rector will be arranging a Service of Dedication in the Church of St Mary the Virgin in due course.
Full details will be circulated and it is hoped that as many of you as possible will attend.
VJ DAY celebrations: 19/20 August.
Paul Edmondson is chairing the arrangements which include a display of wartime
memorabilia to be displayed in the Church Hall, sports events on Tower Meadow for children and the young in heart, a 40's style dance
in the evening and a service of Remembrance on Tye Green on Sunday morning, conducted by the Rector, the Rev Adrian Mason,
to which all denominations and residents are invited.
Any memorabilia which you may have will be gratefully received, nearer the time, by Sandra Game.
Two members have written some interesting articles, one of which entitled 'Suffolk's Soldiers' by Gillman Game, tells the
story of The Suffolk Regiment in wartime in the far east, while the other gives some fascinating details about non-Conformist
Chapels in Glemsford in the early days, and is written by Tommy Brown.
It is proposed to have these duplicated and sold at a small cost to form the nucleus of a series of pamphlets for posterity.
Outings: Stanford Battle Ground on the 14th June: bookings can still be taken for this outing.
A new kind of outing - Woolpit History Society are being invited to come to 'A Walk Through Glemsford' - date to be confirmed -
and your participation in this event will be appreciated.
I hope you all spend an enjoyable spring and summer and look forward to seeing you all again, together with any new members, in the autumn.
Mary Chapple
PS Since compiling the above, the display case has been delivered by Mr Gentry, and it looks very good indeed. Thank you very much 'Joe' Date of dedication service - 14 May - 10 am
Suffolk's Soldiers - 1939 (Cont'd)
(This is the second instalment of Gillman Game's well researched article)
Under the terms of the Geneva Convention no Prisoners of War should have been used on the construction of the Burma -
Thailand railway.
In fact, 46,000 Allied Prisoners worked on the railway and 16,000 died.
Each mile of the railway cost the lives of 64 POWs and 240 coolie slaves.
British soldiers were instructed that in the event of capture the only information they should give their captors would be their rank,
name and regimental number.
When British Intelligence became aware of the treatment of prisoners by the Japs,
soldiers facing the Japs were warned that, in the event of capture, they could be subject to torture if the Japanese wanted to
obtain information.
In these circumstances they could give some information but were urged to try and withhold important information.
During the war the Suffolk Regiment raised another first line battalion – the 7th. In 1941 it was equipped with Sherman and Churchill tanks and became 142 Regt ., Royal Armoured Corps. They landed at Algiers in January 1943 to take part in the Tunisian campaign and then the Italian campaign, being disbanded in January 1945. They wore the Suffolk Regimental badge on the black RAG beret.
The Regiment also raised six second line battalions (Holding Bns., Training Bns., Lines of Communications Bs., etc.)
The Suffolks were awarded the following Battle Honours:
Dunkirk 1940, Normandy Landings, Odon, Falaise, Venraij, Brinkum, N.W. Europe 1940, '44 and '45, Malaya 1942,
Singapore Island, North Arakan, Imphal, Burma 1943-45.
The Suffolk Artillery
In 1938 the 55th (Suffolk and Norfolk Yeomanry) had Batteries at Swaffham, Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft and Norwich.
For those unfamiliar with the structure of an artillery regiment with a number of variations it usually consisted of two
batteries of twelve guns or three batteries of eight guns.
The regiment took part in the invasion of Europe as part of the 49th (West Riding) Division .
At the end of the war the full title was 55 (Suffolk Yeomanry) Anti-tank Regt., Royal Artillery.
The 65th (Suffolk and Norfolk Yeomanry) were formed in 1939 and served in France in 1940 with the 50th (Northumbrian) Division,
then in Libya and Italy with the redoubtable 7th (Armoured) Division before returning to England to take part in the invasion of
Europe in 1944.
Its title at the end of the war was 65 (The Kings Own Royal Regiment, Norfolk Yeomanry) Light Anti-aircraft Reg.,
Royal Artillery.
After so much action I wonder how many of the original Gunners were still with the regiment at the end of the war ?
(Final instalment in Autumn News Letter - don't miss it)
Indentures and Conveyances
by Tony Schaffer.
We use the generic term 'Deeds' when referring to property title documents.
When examining these for properties with a history, some are headed 'Indenture' and other 'Conveyance', although they are
used as the written contract to transfer the said property during past years between different vendors and purchasers.
The Oxford dictionary defines Indenture as a sealed agreement, or contract, e.g. an apprenticeship, and conveyance as the transfer
of property from one owner to another. As this was my previous understanding of the terms it didn't answer my question,
so I sought the legal distinction between them.
The term Indenture was derived in medieval times from 'Indent'. All written contracts whether- for property, apprenticeship, etc.
had to be given to each party to the transaction, but printing was in its infancy, machine duplicators had to
wait a few centuries to be invented, and most of the population was illiterate. This was solved by taking a large sheet
of parchment and inscribing the details twice with a wide gap between them. After checking that both were identical
in written content, the sheet was cut upon a random irregular line, and one written half was given to each party.
To prove title at a later date, both parties met before witnesses, presented their parchments which, when joined together,
had to match exactly along the 'Indent'.
A mismatch was, of course, invalid.
My informant was unable to say when 'conveyance' was first used, but both terms frequently appear in 19th century documents by which
time the Indenture was usually so named where it covered another aspect of a property transfer, such as a private mortgage or
loan agreement.
The Conveyance is now used for all property contracts, other matters being the subject of separate documentation.
N.B. An interesting sidelight on the subject of Indentures. My husband has the original of his Indenture to the
engineering trade, dated 13 October 1932, which bound him for a period of five years to learn his craft and adjured him to not
'wilfully disobey the lawful orders of his Employers or to grossly misconduct himself'.
I wonder if this still applies to a modern
apprentice, if there is such a thing.
Editor
Correspondence
Through a telephone contact, I have recently received a letter from a Miss Val Chatters, a resident of Cardiff.
Miss Chatters requested any books that I could find her dealing with the locality as she is busy endeavouring to trace some
of her ancestors.
She states in a letter
"Glemsford Church is where my Great Grandparents, George and Elizabeth Chatters were married in September
1846, they had seven children and it is very unusual, the children were all christened in Glemsford Church on 25 December, 1859.
My Great Grandfather was a checker and my Great Grandmother was a Silk Weaver so she must have worked in the Silk Mills.
In the books you sent me, I notice some names appear as Pettit, Suttle, Maxim and in my research a James Chatters married Mary
Pettit in 1808, a Emily Chatters married Henry Pettit in 1853 and a Great Uncle Alfred Chatters married Susan Suttle in 1834.
My grandfather Albert Chatters was a coconut mat weaver, but moved to Sudbury.
Now trying to find out about Great Great Grandfather James Chatters who, I am given to believe, came from Cavendish.
An Ann Chatters married a John Thetford in 1600 - its amazing to think that there were Chatters in the days of Queen Elizabeth I. "
If anyone can throw any further light on this very interesting family, please let me know when I will pass on the information.
Future Programme
Next season's programme is in the course of preparation, and some very good speakers have been booked -
some old friends and some new to the Society.
Please be certain to make a note of SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9 our President's Evening at 'Chequers’ when I am pleased to announce
that David Dymond and Mrs Dymond will be our guests and will give a short
illustrated speech.
David had been booked to speak in the early days of the Society, but had been taken ill; he was a great friend of Richard Deeks
so I am certain you will all enjoy meeting him in December.
The photographs ... have been kindly loaned by our Chairman.
Space only permits two to be copied this time, but there will be a further one in the next issue.
Photo No. 1 appears to me to be late Victorian/Edwardian origin.
Back Row children 2, 3 and 5 are named as K A Well, C Farrow and Michael Dillon. Second Row No: 2 is Mona Challis
and third row Nos. 4 and 11 named as Ethel Piper and Blanche ?
Photo No: 2, probably early 1920's and of class who appear, by their aprons, to be a Cookery one.
Back Row Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5. 7 and 8 are named as Gladys Cook, Hilda ? Rita Moffat, Joan Moore, Blanche ? Second Row No: 3 Mona Challis, 5 Winnie ?, No: 6 Eileen Farrow.
If any further names can be put to these children, please let Chris know or if they, or their descendants, can be traced.
Produced by the Glemsford Local History Society - April, 1995.
Edited by Mary Chapple.
All views expressed are those of the contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of the society as a whole.