Category: In Search Of Something

Friday 25th May 2012

Penelope Welch writes ~

I have been trying to track down information about the life of my adoptive mother and the woman who brought her up in Warminster. The woman was a social worker, and they bought one of the new bungalows in Bradley Road in 1932 or so. My mother went to the local school and also became a scout/guide leader and a telephonist before she met my father during the war. She stayed there until the end of the war though and then moved to Essex. The older woman Emily Richens moved some five years later. She was quite a busy body and known by many, but I can find little trace of either her or the girl she brought up called Margaret (Peggie) Richens. I am particularly curious about her younger days. I do have my father’s diaries from that time which mentions how he met her at a local police dance. The diaries also give an insight into his travels to and from Southampton to visit and the nights he slept on the train when it didn’t make it back. He mentions his concerns whether Warminster could be bombed and his call to my mother to make sure she was alright.

I was actually adopted from Warminster, my natural mother was from Warminster too, this was unusual even in those days, but my mother had already moved to Essex so I think they didn’t consider it was a problem. Plus Emily Richens had instigated the adoption and usually what she said went. My natural family you are probably familiar with as my natural mother Betty Strong worked in the High Street for years and of course my brothers and sister are a large bunch of nine children, so I make the 10th. I like Warminster, we used to visit it when I was small, but I think my adoptive mother was terrified that somehow my natural mother would bump into me and claim me! Mind you I do have the look of the other children when they were young.

When I have visited Warminster there are many living there who are old enough to have remembered Emily and Peggie, but they are all new to the area, having retired there. The one person who knew them both quite well is Audrey Jeffries and I am still in touch with her, but she only met them during the war when she moved there to be with her husband Bob.

If anyone remembers Emily Richens and/or Peggie Richens in Warminster, please contact dannyhowell.net by emailing dannyhowellnet@gmail.com

Thursday 19th April 2012

Staff at Salisbury District Hospital are trying to contact relatives of Maurice Russell, or people who know him. If you can help, please contact the Hospital’s Customer Care Department, telephone 0800 374 208.

Friday 9th March 2012

John Widger writes ~

Dear Mr Howell,
I have seen some of your interesting commentary on Warminster’s history on the web – in particular a reference to a photographer Thomas Targett who ran a business from 1855 to 1863. I have a photograph (attached) mounted in a clasped case with the inscription (on the back): “Targett Photographic Artist Warminster”. I believe the photo is of an ancestor of mine who lived near Bath, and would love to be able to confirm this. I wondered if there was any chance that Targett’s records of clients might have survived? I would be grateful for any assistance or advice you are able to give. Thanks, John Widger, Manchester.

Danny Howell replies~

I note you have a photograph of a possible ancestor of yours, taken by Thomas Greenslade Target. It is from the entries in the Warminster Trade Directories and the advertisements in the local newspaper of the time, the Warminster Miscellany, that I know of Thomas Greenslade Targett trading as a photographer in Warminster. Fox-Talbot may take the credit as the pioneer of the photography process but Targett was the first person in Wiltshire to use photography as a business, taking photographs in return for payment, having a studio, and offering a framing service. His first premises (since demolished), from the 1850s onwards, stood in front of St. Laurence’s Chapel in the High Street, Warminster. He named his premises “The Warminster Photographic Rooms” and he also sold china and earthenware items as a sideline. By June 1861 he had moved to premises on the opposite side of the street.

In 1989, when I was taking a group of people on a guided tour of Warminster, to raise funds for Warminster Carnival, we paused outside St. Laurence’s Chapel and I told people about Targett and his business. I mentioned then that I was yet to see any of Targett’s photographs. A few days later a man who had been participating in the guided tour, came to me and gave me a collection of photographs taken by Targett, which had been discovered in the loft of a house in Bath. I donated those photographs to Warminster Dewey Museum.

Targett sold his business in Warminster in 1863 to another photographer, James Grant. I believe that Targett then moved to Bath and continued in business there as a photographer. Hence, I guess, those photos that were given to me, being discovered in Bath. I note that you say your ancestor lived near Bath.

I have not seen or ever heard of a list of Targett’s being in existence. Although such a thing could exist in the hands of a collector somewhere?

Maybe someone reading this website can shed further light on Mr. Widger’s enquiry. Email: dannyhowellnet@gmail.com

Tuesday 24th January 2012

Alain Charpentier is researching airmen who served in the RAF, including those who were in Bomber Command during the Second World War. He wants to know more about one pilot in particular, namely W/C Ernest Neville Monkhouse Sparks who served as a Pathfinder pilot with 83 Squadron during 1944.

Ernest Sparks was born at Lewisham, Kent, in 1912. He was shot down on 4th May 1944 in the attack on Mailly Le Camp. He escaped and found his way back to his squadron. He resumed operations, only to be shot down again, this time during the bombing of Stettin. Although he survived he ended up as a prisoner of war. After the Second World War he stayed in the RAF.

Ernest’s father, Francis George Monkhouse Sparks, was also a pilot and was Chief Air Instructor at London Aeroclub before the Second World War. Francis Sparks died in Canada in 1934.

And Ernest’s brother, W/C George Bryan Noble Sparks was Commanding Officer of 356 Squadron – a B24 Liberator Squadron – in the Far East. George died of polio on 11th August 1945.

Alain wants to hear from anyone who was related to or knew Ernest Neville Monkhouse Sparks or his family. Ernest died at Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1980, so there could be local people who remember him or knew him.

Alain Charpentier’s address is BP 1623, 98729 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia. He may be contacted by email: alain-charpentier@live.fr

Saturday 21 November 2009

Above: Robert Hallmann’s mysterious photograph
of a priory in a misty field.

Benton Priory? Warminster?
Last week Danny Howell received an enquiry from Robert Hallmann of Hadleigh in Essex. His photographs have been published in several books, including The Landscapes Of Essex (with text by Stan Jarvis) and Norfolk, A Portrait In Colour(with text by Keith Skipper), both published by Countryside Books. Robert has also written about times gone by, and his published work includes A History Of Canvey Island, published by Phillimore.

Robert wanted to confirm some details for a photograph he took a long while ago – a photograph which had been labelled on the back: Benton Priory, Warminster. He wanted to confirm the subject of the photo was in Warminster, and he intends, it seems, to discover some history concerning this building. His enquiries led him to phone Warminster Information Centre, where Barbara Gilmour was very helpful and passed on to Robert the contact details for Danny Howell.

Robert then phoned Danny Howell. Danny was able to tell Robert straight away that there is not and never has been a building called Benton Priory in Warminster. Danny asked Robert to e-mail him the photo to see if he could recognise it. Robert soon e-mailed the photo (the one pictured above), which shows an unusual building with all the traits of an early religious edifice. The view looks across a misty field towards it, and as Robert himself said, the picture has something of an eerie atmosphere about it – the photo would easily lend itself to illustrate a ghost story.

The good news is that Danny has now been able to identify the building and its location. It is in Somerset and a few miles from Warminster. It stands adjacent to the A36 Warminster to Bath road, beyond Woolverton but before you get to Limpley Stoke. It is situated between the villages of Freshford and Norton St. Philip. It is on the left side of the road, opposite the turning for Abbey Lane which drops down into Freshford.

Danny says: “I thought the building in the photograph was similar to one I had glimpsed through some trees there whenever I travelled to Bath. I had always been aware of it, but, of course, when you’re driving a car on a busy road, you don’t get the chance to have a good look. I had to go to Freshford this afternoon (Saturday 21st November 2009) and I used the opportunity to park up and have a closer look at that building. It is indeed the one in Robert Hallmann’s photograph. The building and its grounds are not accessible to the public, and the drive leading to it is barred by an iron gate. The pillars of the gateway bear plaques which read Hinton Priory.”

So, for Benton Priory read Hinton Priory. Mystery solved.

There are several websites with information concerning Hinton Priory, so Robert should have no problem researching its history.

Danny Howell was happy to be of assistance, as always.