Wednesday 17th January 1996
Danny Howell writes ~
Bill Sloper: Taxi Owner And Driver Was At One Time Lord Bath’s Chauffeur
Gloria Sloper’s father, William James Sloper, was a descendant of an old Warminster family, the Slopers, who once owned land which reached from Boreham (in the area where Battlesbury Barracks now stands) to parts of Norridge Woods.
Taxis, including William Sloper’s, parked in the middle of the road at the eastern end of the Market Place, Warminster, during the 1930s.
William Sloper, or Bill Sloper as he was referred to, was best known as a local taxi man for over 40 years. The photograph above shows where Mr Sloper (and others) parked their taxis in the Market Place, Warminster, during the 1930s. At one time William Sloper was Lord Bath’s chaffeur.
Born at Steeple Ashton, Mr Sloper’s first love was trains, and he worked in Trowbridge railway engine sheds on leaving school. He left when he was 16 and began what eventually became his driving career, working at a Trowbridge garage owned by a Mr Bodman.
Mr Sloper, who was well respected and liked over a wide area, was one of Lord Long’s first volunteers the night the First World War was declared in 1914, joining the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment. Early in the war he was groom to the then Lord Heytesbury. Mr Sloper was wounded at the Battle of the Somme, and was sent to recuperate at a convalescent home at Crystal Palace on the Jordan family estate at Sutton Coldfield, where he met Eva Jordan. (It took seven years for pieces of shrapnel to work their way out of Mr Sloper’s body).
William Sloper married Eva Jordan. He then decided to return to Warminster with his new wife, and they resided with Eva’s mother, Lady Florence Jordan, at East Street, Warminster, before moving to Boreham Road in the 1930s.
Mr Sloper rented Folly Farm, Warminster, for a year, before working for 15 months as a chauffeur to the 5th Marquess Of Bath at Longleat. Daughter Gloria worked for a period at the Longleat Nurseries for the 6th Marquess, Henry Thynne. Mr Sloper described Lord Bath’s family as “the finest people I’ve ever worked for.”
Mr Sloper, who was nicknamed Ally Sloper, after a comic book character, was a keen coin collector and also owned many leaden ‘bull’ seals which he had dug up locally. Among his other souvenirs were a number of early German helmets, which were spiked and made of tough leather.
After leaving Longleat, Mr Sloper started his own car-hire business which he ran for over 40 years. His car was a regular sight outside Warminster Railway Station where Mr Sloper had preference over the other taxi drivers, Mr Cuff and Mr Garrett.
In those days the taxis also waited for customers by the Morgan Memorial Fountain outside the head Post Office at the junction of Station Road, East Street and Market Place. Mr Sloper is remembered by many people as an ever-helpful and obliging driver.
William James Sloper died, aged 81, on 13th August 1972, having held a clean driving licence for over 60 years. He was buried at the Minster Churchyard, Warminster.
Family Fortune Lost
Both Gloria Sloper and her father William Sloper worked at Longleat for the Thynne family – but they had some titled connections themselves. Local historian Danny Howell, who knew Gloria, has retraced various branches of the family tree.
Gloria’s grandmother was Lady Florence Jordan, who lived in Warminster for many years – after the family fortunes were lost in a mysterious fraud.
Gloria’s mother, Eva Winifred Jordan, was a direct descendant of the famous Dr Jenner, whose patient medical research and study made possible the discovery of vaccine. She was also related to Lord Penrhyn, Lady Poynter and Lord Culrain.
The marriage of Eva Winifred Jordan and William James Sloper was registered during the quarter April, May, June, 1918, at Warminster. Gloria was born on 31st July 1922. She was christened Gloria Penryhn Sloper – her middle name was a reference to one of her mother’s ancestors: Lord Penrhyn.
Eva’s mother (Gloria’s grandmother) was Lady Florence Jordan, of Sutton Coldfield Park, Birmingham. Lady Florence Jordan (1861 – 1932) is buried at the Minster Churchyard, Warminster.
Gloria’s grandfather was Thomas Jenner Jordan, a well-known silversmith in the Midlands, who lost his considerable fortunes when the trustee of his affairs absconded abroad with all his wordly wealth and was never traced.
A memorial to Thomas Jenner Jordan was enshrined in the impressive Crystal Palace at Sutton Coldfield, for he freely gave all the glass used in its construction.
On Thomas Jenner Jordan’s large estate were seven lakes, a polo ground, a miniature railway, and a portion allotted to donkey rides for children. It was here, also, that the BBC erected their first television station and transmitter to broadcast outside London and the Home Counties (1949).
This was the childhood environment of Gloria’s mother, surrounded by beautiful parkland and living in one of the finest houses in the Midlands.
When Thomas Jenner Jordan died, having lost the estate, Gloria’s mother became a member of the working class, joining the staff of Jones and Willis, of Birmingham, who fashioned robes, surplices and cassocks, for ecclesiastical customers. Gloria’s mother became a staunch worker for the church, and as chief seamstress and machinist for Jones and Willis she helped to make and fit robes for the then Bishop of Salisbury. An artistic person, she embroidered silken book-markers for Bibles used in churches throughout Britain, usually in the shape of a cross and superbly patterned.
In her younger days, Eva Jordan acted in church plays. Of a courageous nature, she was one of the few females who dared act in St. Gabriel’s Church at Sutton Coldfield during that period – for this was a rough, tough slum area, where the safety of a woman was imperilled unless she was escorted. Eva Jordan bravely ventured alone through the dismal streets to rehearsals and the actual performance, the bullies leaving her alone and respecting her courage.
Eva Winifred Sloper died at her home Penrhyn, at Boreham Road, Warminster (the house was named after her ancestor Lord Penrhyn), on Friday 14th December 1962, and was interred at the Minster Churchyard, Warminster.
Uncle In The Blitz
Eva Jordan’s brother (Gloria’s uncle) was Albert Ernest Jordan, a painter and decorator by trade, who came to Warminster from the Midlands after the First World War. He lived at 27 East Street, Warminster, above what was Mills’ shop, and worked for local builders R. Butcher And Son. He also worked at one time for Messrs. Culverhouse And Son, and went to London during the Second World War, helping to clear and rebuild the blitzed areas. A life-long bachelor, Albert Jordan died, aged 72, on Wednesday 2nd December 1964, and was buried at the Minster Churchyard, Warminster.