Detailed account of the Death of Lieutenant Colonel A C Gordon

Hemel Hempstead Gazette, 22^nd December, 1917

The Battle of Cambrai

... ...

While the 235^th Brigade was supporting the Guards Division, the 236^th  Artillery Brigade, under Lieutenant Colonel A. H. Bowring, were allocated to help the 20^th Division on the Welsh Ridge in the neighbourhood of La Vacquerie.

Over the next week the Germans shelled indiscriminately in the area, including Havrincourt Wood. They killed a mess carthorse on 8^th December, while the A/235 Battery lost two horses killed and three men wounded on the 10^th, and the wagon lines moved to a safer position at Fins. On the 12^th there was a major regrouping of artillery and the C.R.A. war diary records that “The Divisional front is from 4 p.m. today covered by one Field Artillery Group, under the command of Lt. Col. Bowring, consisting of 77^th (Army) Brigade R.F.A. and 235^th  and 236^th Brigades R.F.A.” The war diary also reports that there was very little hostile fire with “only a few rounds on Havrincourt and our trenches.” Unfortunately, half an hour after the regrouping of the Divisional artillery one of the few shells to fall on Havrincourt that day found a target in the B/235 Battery position. Captain Pilditch recorded what happened in his diary:

December 12^th. ... I was just going comfortably to bed when a message came from Brigade to say that Colonel Gordon had been killed and Major Hatfield badly wounded. It was a great shock, the worst I’ve had since Gorell’s death, especially as everything seemed reasonably quiet in front and we had had no casualties to speak of since we came into action here. It was not so much surprise at a Colonel being overtaken by the fate more commonly reserved for gunners and subalterns, (a year of Ypres had scattered all illusions and put us all on a level as far as that was concerned) but Gordon was certainly a man whom one unconsciously thought of as one who goes on and prospers and is not killed. He has done splendidly during the last week as C.R.A. to the artillery covering the Guards, and after ten days’ momentous action with so few casualties in our immediate circle, one had, as so often, become lulled into a false sense of security and hardly gave a thought to the tragic side of war. Now that pleasant illusion was shattered. The two senior officers of the Brigade had been hit, Hatfield was reported very badly wounded, and the Doctor [Hebblethwaite] had had a miraculous escape. It could, we felt, have been quiet on our front, but it was a reminder, as in the case of Kimber, and again when Gorell was killed, that on the quietest, sunniest days, death lurks quietly unseen and unthought of, but never absent and never asleep, I felt very miserable for some days after this. Gordon was a fine C.O. and a good friend to our Battery and to me personally. I slept badly, thinking of Gordon and that the last important link with the old days was gone.

December 13^th. ... Flynn rode back with me along the cord-wood road to Trescault for the funeral at Havrincourt. There were ten officers from the Brigade there. He was buried in a little graveyard by the side of the road [at Ruyaulcourt]. Eighty men and two trumpeters followed. As at all funerals I felt profoundly miserable. I think at such times most of us feel ‘which one of us will be the next?’  There is one thing, however, about deaths out here. There is too much action and work in one’s life to allow of much worrying and brooding over sad happenings. One man goes, another takes his place, and still the war goes on, full of vital interest and concern for the survivors. We shall, I expect, those of us who are alive when the war stops, feel the deaths far more then than now. Also, I think, we feel that a proportion of us (in the Infantry a majority) will soon pass the same way, and the consciousness that it is but a step forward is stronger, here and now, than in the piping times of peace. So after the funeral, at which we all felt very miserable, we came back to our pigsty billet and had a good dinner and cheery game of bridge and personally I slept like a log. Gordon is not forgotten but God is merciful and blunts the edge of these sorrows while we have other hard things to bear.

The Brigade Chaplain wrote a letter of condolence to Gordon’s widow, Irene, which, in the light of Pilditch’s diary and General Fielding’s letter, seems more genuine than many which were sent to grieving relatives:

He was one of the finest commanding officers that any brigade could have. He had all the qualities which go to make the ideal leader of men, and they would have followed him anywhere. He died just after the accomplishment of the greatest achievement in his military career, having done something with his brigade which it is given to few artillery officers to be able to do. His name has been on everybody’s lips in this division, and not in this division alone. Further honours would certainly have come to him in the near future. I have known him for over two years now, and I have lost a much respected and large-hearted friend. I shall always remember him as one who inspired, by his example, the boys and men whom he led (and whom I have worked among and love) to achieve things which seemed almost impossible.

The news soon reached Hemel Hempstead, as one of the gunners formerly billeted in the town wrote with news from the front on 15th December:

We are now billeted in a village, which our boys have named “The Better Hole” on account of its being but a heap of ruins. I regret to say we have lost Colonel Lowe, who had been made a Brigadier-General, and was posted to another Division. He had been there only a month when a piece of shrapnel pierced his lungs. ... Lieutenant Colonel Gordon, D.S.O. was also killed a few days ago. No doubt you will remember him when he was at Hemel Hempstead. He was Major at that time. Corporal Gilman  was also wounded this morning but not very badly. He used to be in the Battery office at the Manse [in Alexandra Road] in the old days.

The London Gunners Come to Town Chapter 23, pages 199-201

The London Gunners Come to Town describes life in a Hertfordshire market town [Hemel Hempstead], its overnight transformation into a garrison town, and the war’s impact from three very different viewpoints. ... ... "The Soldier's Tale" describes life in the town, and military training in the surrounding countryside, as recorded by the soldiers at the time. To emphasize the reason why they had come to Hemel Hempstead, the book briefly follows the military career of Major Gordon of the 2^nd London Division (later the 47^th Division) on the Western Front. The battle of Loos is described by men from the town. The book also reports on the local men who joined the Hertfordshire Regiment and marched out of town in August, 1914

More about Hertfordshire Wrench Cards

Allen Warren has written from Canada to say that he is compiling a catalogue of all the post cards by Wrench from the early years of the last century He has provided a list of all the Hertfordshire cards and I have used this to update my Wrench page. He has also provided a copy of this view of the Gates on Cassiobury Park, in Watford.

There are a number of Hertfordshire cards which he has not identified:

Bishops Stortford Nos 6289 and 6291

St Albans 6300 and 6306

Barnet 7757

Hitchin 8835 and 8836

If you can identify any of these cards please let me know (ideally with a digital copy) and I will forward the information to Allan.

Fehrenbach, Clock & Watchmakers of Bishop's Stortford

Following a query about this family of clock & watchmakers I have updated the Fehrenbach page on this Bishop's Stortford company by adding a picture of one of their clocks, details of a theft of clocks and jewelry, and two brief obituaries.

Early Post Cards of Hertfordshire - by Wrench

Bishops Stortford

Sir John Evelyn Leslie Wrench (1882-1966) was actively interested in the unity of the British Empire and his post card activities only occupied a few years of a very active life. As a teenager he founded a post card publisher which expanded in a couple of years to become one of the biggest British publishers - and then went bankrupt because it had expanded too fast. He published a number of Hertfordshire view cards in 1903/4, all but one example seen so far having being printed in Saxony. All cards carry a negative number and those recorded so far are:

• 2195 The Parish Church, Watford
• 2196 The Fig Tree Tomb, Watford
• 2198 The Footbridge, Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 2199 The Swiss Cottage, Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 2664 Woodcock Lane, Hertfordshire (location uncertain)
• 2665 Beckhampton Place, Hertfordshire (location uncertain)
• 4919 Church [Interior], Kings Langley
• 4920 The Old Ruins, Kings Langley
• 4921 Church, Kings Langley (wrongly labelled)
• 4922 The Castle Ruins, Kings Langley ("Wrench" name/logo omitted)
• 4923 The Mill, Kings Langley ("Wrench" name/logo omitted)
• 4924 The Mill Bridge, Kings Langley (pub W. Baldwin)
• 5197 Pound House, Kings Langley (pub W. Baldwin)
• 6288 High Street, Bishops Stortford
• 6290 On the Stort, Bishops Stortford
• 6292 South Street, Bishops Stortford
• 6294 The George Inn, St Albans
• 6295 St Michael's Church, St Albans
• 6296 St Albans Abbey from S.W.
• 6297 St Peter's Church, St Albans
• 6303 French Row, St Albans
• 6304 Sopwell Nunnery, St Albans
• 6307 Town Hall, St Albans
• 7758 Congregational Church, New Barnet
• 7760 Hanley Church, Barnet
• 7762 Church & High Street, High Barnet
• 7765 Wesleyan Church, New Barnet
• 8584 Grand Staircase, Hatfield House
• 8586 View from N.W., Hatfield House
• 8587 South Front, Hatfield House
• 8631 Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 8632 The Chalet, Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 8638 Waterfall, Cassiobury Park, Watford

> > > See Pictures of Cards, etc.

If you know of other Hertfordshire cards in the series please let me have details.

I would be particularly interested if there were any on undivided backs, or cards with a style and number which suggests they were in the Wrench series but which do not carry the Wrench name/logo 

The Funeral of Admiral Vander-Meulen, Bishops Stortford, 1913

Some years ago I acquired the card and there was a major bit of detective work to find out who the deceased was. Accounts of the death of Admiral Vander-Muelen have now appeared on the British Newspaper Archive and I have added then to "The Funeral" page.

The Joys and Distractions of Historical Research.

Sir Walter Gilbey's Funeral, November 1914

One of the joys and distractions of historical research is finding an unexpected clue - and before you know where you are you are hard at work on an interesting side issue - which becomes more interesting the deeper you dig.

Some years ago I obtained a pair of photographs of a funeral - but who was being buried, and it took about 5 years to be certain it was the funeral of Sir Walter Gilbey, of Gilbey's Gin fame, who was being buried in Bishops Stortford in 1914

Earlier this week I was looking at an account of the 1915 AGM of the Tring Agricultural Society, which described Sir Walter's contribution to the Society in these words:  

"Sir Walter had been a member of Tring Show for 22 years, and he must often in his younger days have trodden the ground where our annual show is held, when a pupil on the Tring Park Estate."

I wanted to know more - and then more ... If you are intrigued to know why a very rich man such as Sir Walter started out a "a pupil on the Tring Park estate" see Auctioneer's Apprentices in Tring, 1828-1848

Where to get a drink in Bishops Stortford in 1854

Brewing

I have added a list of about 70 beer houses, inns, maltings, etc., that were trading in Bishops Stortford in 1854 to the page Inns & Brewing, Bishops Stortford. It would be interesting to know how many are still trading in the same premises under the same name today. And perhaps some of you are related to the 1854 publicans!

Anchor Maltings, Bishops Stortford, after the 1907 fire

Did your ancestors spend time sitting in the stocks.

Subject Index

Many of the villages in Hertfordshire would have stocks (see Early Crime and Punishment). Bishop Stortford Museum has kindly provided the following picture of the stocks that formerly stood in Thorley churchyard.

Thorley Stocks

The stocks at Aldbury still survive in the open air - but time has taken it toll. Do you know of any other Hertfordshire stocks that can still be seen  - preferably in their original location?

Every Picture tells a Story - The Bishops Stortford funeral.

The funeral in Hockerill, Bishops Stortford, 1913

Old Post Cards

Bishops Stortford

I enjoy finding old post cards which tell us something about the past. Over 5 years ago I published two pictures of a funeral, and by looking at the pictures in considerable detail I was able to work out that the photographs were take in Bishops Stortford, in the winter months between 1912 and 1916. However I could not identify the name of the deceased but speculated that it might be Sir Walter Gilbey (of Gilbey's gin fame). The problem is that I did not have easy access to the Bishop's Stortford papers of the time.

Jill has now contacted me with additional information, which I have added to the page, which clearly shows that the deceased was Admiral Frederick Samuel Vander-Meulen, a local magistrate. She also supplied a modern photograph which clearly identifies the location of the other 1913 photograph.

River Stort Navigation - Picture Update

On the Stort south of South Mill Lock

Bishops Stortford

Derek, who has been canoeing along the Stort for year has correctly located this picture as showing the Stort Navigation south of South Mill Lock, with the lock keepers cottage on the right. I have reprocessed the picture to give a better image. I have also provided higher resolution images to this and half a dozen other pictures of the Stort Navigation.

NOTE - The aim is to provide larger images for most post cards on the main web site. If there is not larger image on a card that interests you just ask. Even larger scans (at 600 dpi) can be produced in many cases if required.

Recent Correspondence Report

Help Desk

Since the middle of the month I had problems with updating the main web site and where appropriate changes relating to the following items will appear there as soon as the problem is resolved.

While there have been less posts directly to the Newsletter recently this is because I have been heavily involved in "quickie" correspondence on the following subjects:

Find My Past: Several transcription corrections to census returns submitted and accepted. (Catchside -> Catcheside; Lateiner -> Latimer; King -> Tring; Barlow -> Barber) Do you report errors when you come across them?

Flamstead

William BURCHMORE and his wife Hannah DOLLING of Flamstead are my great great great grandparents and are part of the complex web of cousin marriages described in Who is related to Who? Joy (who must be a distant cousin of mine) writes that she has an In Memorium brooch with the centre containing the plaited hair of Hannah Burchmore. I have written to her asking for a picture of the brooch and will be digging out some information on her Bates ancestors from my 1980s research on the Burchmore family and their farming relatives. At the same time I discovered that a set of photographs of the extensive plot of Burchmore graves at Flamstead have not yet been documented and have put this on my "To Do" list.

ELBORN, Hertfordshire area, 19th Century: In 2008 Kym had asked about the distribution of the surname Elborn and its variants and it turns out that the name normally seems to be confined to Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire plus smaller numbers in adjacent counties. Now Mara is seeking a James Elborn, who turned up in Maryland but was born in 1769. Checking the online indexes show only one James Elborn baptism within years of 1769 - at St Albans. So it looks simple - but a little additional research shows it is another case for Right Name, Wrong Body? For instance there appear to have been four other James Elborns living within 30 miles of St Albans of about the right age, one of which married in St Albans and another turns out to have been born in 1769 (from age at death).More work needs to be done before I do a full report but so far no birth/baptism records have been found for these four other James!

GILBERT, Bishops Stortford, 1902-14: Bruce provides an update: Seems my grandparents (perhaps NOT/NEVER married!?) used the surname GILBEY on arrival in Sydney, and technically my father's birth surname, and death, has been recorded as GILBEY. And ... he came from Bishops Stortford !!!. Now, ain't that a tonic?

A. E. Nichols, Photographer of Luton: Arising out of my posting linking W. H. Cox of Luton and St Albans with Ricardo Studios, St Albans Anthony commented: Another Luton photographer with WWI photos was A. E. Nicholls. Tales of Gustard Wood has pics of the FMS Hospital at Blackmore End, Gustard Wood, and convalescent soldiers. (See postcard}  The 1911 census brings up an Albert Ernest Nicholls photographer then at Potton Beds as a visitor. I can find no other records that match but perhaps your trade directories might help? There is a Luton postcard on Flickr. He later added: He may have had friends in Herts as in 1901 he was with his parents at Albert Villa, Albion Road, St Albans. Profession greengrocer on own account at home. He seems to have been a jack of all trades. By the way there are some quite detailed accounts of the FMS Hospital at the National Library Singapore site.

R. N. Salaman

SALAMAN, Barley, Early 20th Century: Susan has provided a useful online account of Redcliffe Nathan Salaman (1874-1955) in Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.

St Faith's, Hexton: Brief note on Rootsweb.

Napsbury Hospital: I responded to a query on rootsweb with links to pages on the Long Stay Hospitals of the St Albans Area and to Napsbury Hospital as a Military Hospital.

Paper Making at Nash Mills, circa 1770: Ed Papenfuse, Archivist for the State of Maryland, wrote: Are there any records relating to the Blackwell papermill?  We have many examples in our archives that closely resemble the crown/posthorn/GR watermark that Tom Gravell identifies as being a water mark of the Blackwells.  The examples we have are on correspondence from London and trade records and believe that the paper may be from the Blackwells and was purchased by a London Firm, of Wallace Johnson and Muir in partnership with a Mathew Ridley and imported into Maryland between 1783 and 1787/8.  Any information about the Blackwells and papermaking by them would be very much appreciated as would any suggestions as to where I might find examples of their watermarks. I passed on a couple of references to Blackwell papermakers from the 18th century Militia lists, and suggested that Ed contacted The Paper Trail and the Kings Langley Local History Society.

Preston: Philip is writing yet another article and I was able to help him on the subject of poor relief. I will post details of his article here when it is published.

Electrical Engineering Works, St Albans, 1940s: Correspondence on Rootsweb including pointing out that most "electrical engineers" listed in trade directories would now be called electricians, and would not have a works big enough to employ a millwright.

The Hospital Committee

Waltham Cross Hospital Committee:  Carolyn writes: I found the exact same photograph in an old trunk.  The man seated on the front row second from the right with a dark moustache is Edward Sewell of Waltham Cross.  He was my great grandfather.

Heath Farm, Watford, early 20^th century: In 2010 Justin asked about a family photograph album he gad found that contained interesting pictures of this farm and the unknown family who lived there. Mary-Anne now writes: Our family the Phillips owned the house.(my father's grandfather Alfred Phillips bought the house although we are not sure of the exact year).  Justin mentions pictures of Mabel and Violet and holidays in Jersey.  Alfred had five children Mabel, Violet, Reg, Cyril and Alfred.  I spoke to my father (who is now 85) and he confirmed that these two ladies were his aunts and that they lived in the house for most of their lives.  The house was eventually sold to developers in 1970s.  Mabel Brunton was widowed in the first world war and never remarried.  The cottages attached to the main house were also lived in and my stepgrandmother Kath Spur lived in one of these. ...

Other Queries: I have had a couple of very general queries from complete beginners - who appear not discovered any of the major genealogy web sites or any "How To" books. They get a friendly letter directing them to suitable sources - and where relevant suggest one birth or marriage certificate they might find it useful to buy, in order to get them started.

Please help the Mentally Ill

The Genealogy of Ebeneezer SCROOGE: In the last five weeks there has only been one donation to the mental health charity this site supports, which suggests that many people asking me to help them with their family history are related to Scrooge. Running this site is hard work and I have many other calls on my time. If I stopped running the site and donated what I spend to keep it going to a charity the charity would be better off at this rate. If I help you, failing to donate is rating my time as worth nothing and I could be doing other things to help the charity.

Did Charles run off to Australia with the cinema cashier?

Answers

Bishops Stortford

Bruce sent me extensive information about his grandfather, Charles Gilbert, who lived in Bishops Stortford for a short time in the early years of the 20th century. For a time he was publican at the White Horse Inn, but was out of work at the time of the 1911 census. However the following year went into partnership with F. A. Dando to open the Empire Picture Palace, which only traded for a short time, with Charles emigrating to Australia in November 1913 with a Mrs Annie Gilbert - but the key question is whether the Annie he emigrated with was the Annie listed as his wife in 1911, or Norah Maddocks, from Bishops Stortford, - who was the mother of the family in Australia!  For details of the complex story, and my advice, see GILBERT, Bishops Stortford, 1902-1914.

Another Buchanan Card helps in dating school photographs.

Old Post Cards

Percy A Buchanan was a photographer who went around schools and similar institutions, from about 1907 until the 1930s, typically providing the schools with a set of perhaps a dozen different post cards. I have been collecting information on the Hertfordshire Schools he photographed with a view to more precise dating based on changes in the company name and address and the negative numbers on some of the cards.

Games Pavilion, St Mary's Convent, Bishops Stortford

Jane has kindly provided me with a card showing the Games Pavilion, St Mary's Convent, Bishops Stortford which was posted in 1935. While it has no negative numbers the back suggests that it was printed after the move to printing in France (believed to be after Belgium was invaded in 1914) and the use of "Ltd" but before the use of a Thornton Heath address rather than a Croydon address. While a firm date cannot be given the photograph was probably taken around the time of the First World War.

Gamel's Hall, Rush Green, Little Amwell

Mike asked if I could locate Gemmells Hall Farm and provide a picture. It turns out that Gamel's Hall - also known as Amwellbury - was rather more a gentleman's residence than a simple farm. It was at Little Amwell, also known as Hertford Heath. William Willson was there in 1841 but he had moved out and was the master of a workhouse in 1851, which would have been a definite fall in social status. I decided to look in the British Newspaper Archive to see if I could fill in any details but nothing definite turned up.  [More information]

The query highlights the need to look at census information for social status information, the problems of places that change their name, and the potential value of the British Newspaper Archive.

Update to the Gilbey Funeral at Bishops Stortford

A few years ago I acquired two photographs of a grand funeral procession and by carrying out some detailed research, using clues such as poster on the wall, and in windows, in the background was able to identify the place where one of the photographs was taken, and to date it to a very narrow period. While it has not yet been confirmed it seems very likely that the funeral was of Walter Gilbey, of Gilbey's Gin fame, in Bishops Stortford, in November 1914. For details of the interesting story behind the pictures see The Funeral, Bishops Stortford.

 At the time the location of the above picture was not known, although it shows the same hearse with the same floral arrangement on the top. Now David Brown, of Bishops Stortford writes: 

From the houses - particularly the small gable end you can see behind the house on the left, and the windows in the attic - it is pretty clear that the procession is in London Road just south of the junction with South Street (the Whitepost roundabout).  The procession is heading south along London Road and presumably would have turned right up Thorley Hill towards the cemetery

 I have also added a brief news report of the funeral, which took place on November 16th, from The Times and a portrait from the Illustrated London News.

A Buchanan card of St Mary's Convent, Bishops Stortford

Yet another Hertfordshire school for my collection of post cards published by P. A. Buchanan. This one is of St Mary's Convent, Windhill, Bishops Stortford and appear to have been sent by "Mildred" sometime around 1913 (unfortunately the post mark date is unreadable), but the number and publisher address sugests a publication date of around 1910.

If you can add to my list of " Buchanan" schools in Hertfordshire - particularly if the cards can be dated or have a reference number, I will be delighted to have details and this all helps to construct a time line for dating other school photographs by him.

A Wesleyan Minister with links to the West Indies and China

In 2001 a query from Adrian lead me to investigate how many people living in Hertfordshire at the time of the 1881 census had been born in China. This showed that two children of the Rev. John S. Parkes, living in Bishops Stortford, had been born in Canton. 

Flora has now written to ask if I could throw any light on the father of  John Sowter Parkes of Bishops Stortford. It turns out that he was the son of another Wesleyan Minister, John Parkes, who was in the West Indies when his son was born - while the grandfather was probably a Marmaduke Parks of Derby. Some of this information came from recent correspondence on Genes Reunited. 

The detailed story throws a light on the way that Wesleyan Methodist ministers regularly moved from place to place, and further connections with Hertfordshire involving the Ashwell family. It also reveals the existence of what is best described as a small dames school, of the type where it is often hardto prove they existed. I looked at the origins of the three pupils in 1911 and the two I could identify came from families where I would not expect the parents to send a child to a boarding school in Hertfordshire, which raises a number of questions.

Was your ancestor baptised by a translator of the King James Bible?

Issue 18 of Herts Part and Present includes an article The Hertfordshire men who translated the King James Bible by Richard N W Lambert. The abstract reads:

This series of mini biographies of the Hertfordshire men who worked on the translations for the King James Bible takes us back to Jacobean Hertfordshire and the lives of eight scholarly priests. Jeremiah Radcliffe, Richard Fairclough and WilIiam Dakins were Hertfordshire born and five others, John Layfield, Francis Burleigh, John Spencer, John Overall, and Samuel Ward had links with Hertfordshire towns and villages. Learned men who shared in the work of translating from the Latin, Hebrew and Greek, many combined distinguished academic careers with a plethora of priestly appointments. One died after being imprisoned in his Cambridge college during the Civil Wars and one sailed to the New World as chaplain to the Earl of Cumberland.

It is quite possible that several of them held a pastoral appointment in Hertfordshire and if you ancestor was baptised in the right parish at the right dates they could have been baptised by one of the translators. John Layfield was rector at Graveley from 1606-1613. Francis Burley was rector of St James the Great, Thorley,  between 1594 and his death in 1619 and was also rector of Bishop's Stortford between 1590 and 1604. Jon Spencer was vicar of St Augustine's, Broxbourne, between 1592 and 1599. John Overall was rector at Clothall between 1603  and 1615 and nearby Therfield between 1605 and 1614. Samuel Ward was rector at Great Munden between 1616 and 1636.

Unfortunately the fact that your ancestor was baptised in one of these parishes at an appropriate date does not automatically mean that they were baptised by one of the translators of the best know English language bible. Often rectors did not even live in the parish, having appointed a curate to minister to the population. This is highlighted by case of Jerimiah Radcliffe who was simultaneously vicar at Shudy Camps, Cambridgeshire, Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, and Heversham, Westmorland.