A Face from the Past - Tiles from Warden Abbey

This almost life size clay tile of a youngish, bearded man looking straight out at the world is rare survivor from the 14^th century.

John Sell Cotman, Door to the Abbots
Hall, Rievaulx Abbey, sepia wash
and black lead, 1803. Trustees of
the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery

The tile is part of a group of rare Picture tiles found at Warden Abbey.  The Abbey was founded in 1135 as a daughter house of Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire. Over time the Cistercian order at Warden became very wealthy and the buildings were extended and lavishly decorated, this is certainly seen by the two exceptionally high quality tiled pavements, one in the church and the other in the Abbots lodgings.

In 1537 the abbey was dissolved, the abbey buildings were destroyed the materials sold off and the land passed into the hands of the Gostwick family who built a new mansion on the site. Though much of this early brick built mansion was destroyed in 1790 the north east wing is still standing.

Luckily most of the tiled pavements were not removed during the dissolution and remained fairly intact under the soil. The tiles were excavated in 1974 and are on loan to The Higgins from Mr Samuel Whitbread and the Southill Estate. This and several other tiles will be featured in our new displays from Spring 2013.

The remains of the Abbey in early 20th century in a 'ruinous state'. Today it is in far
better condition, restored in 1974 by the Landmark Trust.

Great Bedfordians: Dora Carrington

Dora Carrington by David Litchfield 2012

Unrequited love and Dora Carrington unfortunately go hand in hand, and no I'm not talking about her relationship with the homosexual writer Lytton Stratchey, but about her relationship with Bedford and in particular me. 

I love Dora Carrington. There, I've said it. It's been like this for years. We went to the same school you see, spent time in the same art room, walked along the same corridors, admittedly at slightly different times, me in 1993 her in the 1903. But whilst I remained happily in Bedford she couldn't wait to get away.

The Carrington family moved to Bedford, like many others, for the good but inexpensive schools. Originally living on De Parys they moved to Rothsay Gardens and remained there until all five of the Carrington children were educated. Art was always appreciated in their house, Dora's mother would bring home illustrated catalogues from the Royal Academy and there were reproductions of Millais, Velazquez and Alma Tadema hanging on the walls. At school Dora excelled at drawing and when she was 17 her teachers recommended that as there was no art school in Bedford for her to continue her training she should apply to the Slade School of Art in London.

Entering the Slade in 1910 was the beginning of Carrington's life, on outward appearance the dutiful daughter of Victorians, inwardly was a different story. She had found living in Bedford repressive and unbearable and within her first year at the school she started to rebel against her upbringing. She cut her hair into a short crop and began to make her own clothes in the style of the artist Augustus Johns muse Dorelia. She also dropped her Christian name, saying she found it vulgar and sentimental. Forever more she would be known simply as Carrington.

This new Carrington did not fit in on her rare trips back to Bedford, having explained her cropped hair to her parents as being necessary for a fancy dress party she wrote of attending a dance 'where the village boys had quite forgotten me, and taken unto them new lasses. They gaze askance at my shorn locks - little did they realise who it was in their midst! No, sad it is to relate but I was not appreciated'.

Her fellow students at the Slade were to become some of the brightest stars of the British art world; Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, CRW Nevinson and Mark Gertler were all amongst her friends. But whilst they went on to have glittering careers, hers stalled after she graduated, and for a time she was known more for her associations with the group of artists and writers known as the Bloomsbury group, than for her work.

This was due to a number of reasons. The year Carrington entered the Slade was a year of great change in British art. The first Post-Impressionist exhibition was held in London, introducing the work of Van Gogh, Cezanne and Picasso to England for the first time. This new art was against everything that traditional art schools like the Slade believed in. Artists like Carrington whose talent for drawing perfectly suited the Slade’s ideal of what an artist should be, found themselves torn between the new style of art and what their tutors where asking of them. For Carrington this confusion in her talent was further entrenched when she approached the art critic Roger Fry, who had organised the Post Impressionism exhibition for advice about her work, and he discouraged her from a career as a serious artist.

This and a lack of confidence in her own work led her to being described ‘as the most neglected serious painter of her generation’.

These days her work is exhibited in all the major galleries, there has been a film of her life starring Emma Thompson, and sales of her work increase in value yearly. Nowhere is she more appreciated than in Bedford, the paintings The Higgins have in their collection are amongst the most requested and talks on her are always packed with people travelling long distances to hear about her work.

I like to think that although she left us as soon as she could, she would be pleased the town that where she was once not ‘appreciated’ now consider her as a Great Bedfordian.

Victoria Partridge

Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Thanks to: 

David Litchfield for his lovely illustration

Article reproduced from November issue of the Bedford Clanger newspaper

Barbara Hepworth - The Hospital Drawings

Barbara Hepworth, Quartet – Arthroplasty, 1948. Oil and pencil on board.

Quartet – Arthroplasty, detail

At the centre of the frenzied lines and smeared paint of Quartet – Arthroplasty, is a remarkable stillness and sense of calm. The drawing, by Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), shows a group of surgeons performing a complex operation to relieve the diseased joints of the arthritic patient, but there is no blood or gore to be seen. The focus is the beautifully drawn left hand of the surgeon in the centre. Where the scalpel connects with the patient the white of the ground shines brightly through with an almost religious glow - but here the miracle is science, the skill of the surgeons, and the calm coordination between. The last factor transfixed the artist and is emphasised by the title, which alludes to the harmonious and synchronised movements of the figures and intuitive understanding between them reminiscent of a musical quartet (though in fact there are six figures depicted). Barbara Hepworth later wrote of the experience of watching the surgery in her autobiography:

In 1947 it was suggested to me that I might be interested in watching an operation in a hospital. At first I was very scared but then I found there was such beauty in the coordinated human endeavour in the operating theatre that the whole composition-human in appearance-became abstract in shape. I became completely absorbed by two things: first the extraordinary beauty of purpose between human beings all dedicated to saving life; and secondly by the way this special grace (grace of mind and body) induced a spontaneous space composition, an articulated and animated kind of abstract sculpture very close to what I had been seeking in my own work.

Barbara Hepworth photographed in the early 1970s

The piece has come out of The Higgins store and travelled to The Hepworth Wakefield to feature in a new exhibition which runs from 27^th October until 3^rd February. Hepworth – The Hospital Drawings is the largest gathering of these powerful studies and reveals a very different side to an artist best known for the organic forms and highly finished surfaces of her sculptures such as The Higgins own Four Figures Waiting of 1968.

Quartet isn’t the only work out and about, the Dulwich Picture Gallery are currently borrowing two of our works by John Sell Cotman (1782-1842) for their exhibition Cotman in Normandy which continues until 13^th January 2013.

Barbara Hepworth, Four Figures Waiting, 1968. Cast bronze.

Kristian Purcell 

Curatorial Assistant 

China in the East

An exhibition showcasing spectacular Chinese collections at Epping Forest District Museum 7th July – 25th September 2012

Chinese Shoes

China in the East is an exhibition that has drawn together Chinese collections from several local museums in the Eastern region, including several artefacts from The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford.
This exhibition is part of Eastern Exchanges, a major festival celebrating the culture and colour of the east to mark the London 2012 Games. Eastern Exchanges is an official part of London 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme Stories of the World which presents exciting new museum exhibitions across the UK, created by young people.

The exhibition tours the eastern region starting in Epping Forest District Museum and then going to Ipswich Town Hall, Hertford Museum and ending at Lowewood Museum in Hoddesdon

A bamboo hat

The artefacts that The Higgins has leant to the exhibition include a hair ornament, a bamboo hat, a pair of shoes and an opium pipe. We don’t know a huge amount about the objects, other then they are from China. The items originally formed part of the Bedford Modern School Museum which was founded in 1885. During the 1920’s and 1930’s the museum curator Rev P. G. Langdon was keen to promote both local archaeology and the collecting of objects from further a field. Many of the old boys were actively encouraged to bring back objects for the museum from their postings overseas to inspire the pupils to join the colonial service.

Beaded Hair Ornament

An Opium pipe

Volunteers have been instrumental in the long process of photographing and documenting many of these objects and they are also helping us to research their histories. We’ll hopefully have a guest post from one of our volunteers soon, detailing her findings. Watch this space...

Sunday Scholars at Bunyan Meeting

As with many exhibitions, the idea for ‘Sunday Scholars’ came from discovering a “forgotten” item in the store.  Last year I came across a handful of Sunday school stamp books. They had belonged to Lillian Whiting who had attended Bunyan Meeting Sunday School during the 1920s. The stamps were given out each week to the children to mark their attendance. At the end of the year (or sometimes the quarter) children would get prizes and rewards for good attendance.

Booklet of Sunday School Stamps previously owned by Lillian Whiting, 1920's © John Bunyan Museum

With my exhibition hat always on, I thought that Sunday schools would be an interesting theme, allowing the link with Bunyan Meeting church to be explored and possibly linking with the wider community.

What I didn’t realise at the time was how potentially large a subject the history of Sundays schools was, and the many directions which could be followed. I had to remember that I have only a fairly small exhibition space and I had to keep a tight focus. I felt that the most interesting aspect to explore in the exhibition was the vital role that Sunday Schools played in helping the poor working majority of people in this country to learn to read. This is a story of national importance, now largely forgotten, which, I discovered also has strong local connections.

For instance the local lace-making schools, set up to teach reading and lace-making, relied heavily on the Sunday schools to teach reading and writing. Lydia at the Higgins who discovered this fact through her own research was able to loan us a bobbin used in lace making with ‘John Bunyan’ written on it.

Children making lace at Bletsoe, August 1914. BEDFM 2000.341 

Through research we found that Bunyan Meeting and its Sunday schools, also linked to The Higgins, as Bunyan Meeting used part of what is now the Bedford Gallery for its Sunday school between 1848 -1867.  That Bunyan Meeting’s large hall (now used for badminton club and Wednesday lunches) was made specially to house the huge number of children attending the Sunday school (approx. 400 children!).

Bunyan Meeting Sunday School, c.1910 © Brian Stevens

I also discovered a reference to the first school mistress at Bunyan Meeting Mary Woodward, that on her grave it reads - “This worthy woman founded Bunyan Sunday School. Robert Raikes was her guest”. Robert Raikes was the founder of the Sunday school movement. After a bit of searching in the flower beds in the church garden, I found the grave now tucked behind a tree and only just legible.

Grave of Mary Woodward, first school mistress, died August 9 1820, age 75, © John Bunyan Museum

As well as the help given by The Higgins, I also borrowed objects from the British Schools Museum, Hitchin and Warwickshire Museum Service, and used pictures from Bedfordshire and Luton Archives Service. Lots of items, including more stamp books and prizes came from members of the Bunyan Meeting. I felt it would be a good opportunity to collect some of the local memories of Sunday Schools, which can be read in the exhibition. Here's one contribution:

"My grandparents were caretakers at a large Victorian Baptist church in Yorkshire. During the war when my father was away weekends would be spent at my grandparents, so from the age of three Sunday School was a part of my life. I can remember a table sand tray and singing, Jesus wants me for a sunbeam and hear the pennies dropping. Later anniversaries in new  frock and outing by train to Southport."

If you have any memories of Sunday Schools, it would be great to hear them and share them too!

You can see John Bunyan's Bobbin, a school slate, Robert Raikes commemorative Sunday Schools medal and a tea ticket from a Sunday School Meeting at Elstow, all from The Higgins collection, on display as part of the Sunday Scholars exhibition at John Bunyan Museum.
The exhibition is open until the 15^th September 2012, during the normal museum opening times – Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm. There are lots of family friendly activities, including the chance to draw your own animal to join our ‘Noah’s Ark’, and every Friday in August we have a fun programme of children’s craft activities. www.bunyanmeeting.co.uk/museum . 


By Nicola Sherhod, Curator of John Bunyan Museum

The Case of the American Bittern

American Bittern - a very rare accidental visitor

I first came across the American Bittern specimen whilst auditing the natural history collection at the art gallery and museum in October 2010, prior to it being packed up for storage. Subsequently, I have been given the chance to plan displays for two cases in the new Collectors Gallery when the art gallery and museum re-open in 2013. I knew I would like to display the American Bittern and wanted to learn more about it.

This American Bittern is the only example that has ever been seen in Bedfordshire and it exists as a cased taxidermied specimen in the natural history collection. It formed part of a collection of birds, eggs, and nests donated by Jannion Steele Elliott (1871-1942). How he acquired it is unknown but he refers to it in his book, 'The vertebrate fauna of Bedfordshire' ,under:

American Bittern Botaurus lentiginosus

“An example of this rare straggler from a far-off continent was shot by Mr Cocking, from the brook by the old race-course at Elstow 13th November, 1886, and in whose possession it still remains. Mr Covington in whose hands I saw the bird whilst being set up informs me that it was a female, and in very good condition, the stomach contained at the time the remains of three small dace and a water shrew.”

This is confirmed by an inscription on the back of the case:

Inscription reads ‘American Bittern shot on Elstow Brook Nov 13/86 by Mr J Cocking’ 

label inside case

  

The ‘Mr Covington’ referred to is Arthur Silas Covington (1847-1915), who was a taxidermist operating a business in Bedford. He was born and died in Bedford and during his lifetime had workshops in St Paul’s Square, Lurke Street, and Foster Hill Road. His occupation on the 1871 census for St Paul’s Square is actually given as ‘Birdstuffer’! In later census’ he is listed as a taxidermist and naturalist but also as a hairdresser. 

Getting back to the American Bittern, the species was first described in 1813 by Colonel George Montagu (1753-1815) from the first British record. Montagu was regarded as one of Britain’s great naturalists and a number of species are named after him.The Bittern was collected near the River Frome, Puddletown in Dorset in the autumn of 1804. It was shot by Mr Cunningham who sent the corpse to Colonel George of Penryn, Cornwall. Described initially as a Great Bittern (Botarus stellaris) it was then mounted as a Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus). The specimen was later purchased as a Little Bittern by Montagu who was apparently quite taken aback when it arrived as it was not what he expected and he subsequently described it as a new species, naming it Freckled Heron.

Currently the American Bittern breeds across much of North America and winters in the southern United States, Central America and the West Indies. It is a rare migrant to the British Isles and according to Philip Palmer in his book First for Britain and Ireland “American Bittern was presumed to reach Europe by resting on the surface of the sea using outstretched wings!” There have been about 65 American Bitterns recorded in Britain, with the majority occurring prior to 1960. The most recent was recorded at Walmsley Sanctuary, near Wadebridge, Cornwall in 2010. It is a wetland specialist but numbers have seriously declined since the 1960s due to habitat loss and degradation of sites particularly in the United States, which would explain perhaps why very few have turned up in Britain in recent decades. The species is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List as a species of Least Concern.

The American Bittern male has a very unusual call, which I have been privileged to hear in the wild, and this call has given rise to various local names including ‘Bogbumper’, ‘Thunder Pump’, and ‘Stake-driver’.

Click this link to listen and enjoy!

This YouTube link has some nice footage of an American Bittern and is informative too. 

Melissa Banthorpe
Volunteer at The Higgins, working with the Natural History collection.  

References

The Vertebrate Fauna of Bedfordshire J Steele-Elliott, reprinted 1993 by Bedfordshire Natural History Society (first edition published 1897-1901)

First for Britain and Ireland 1660-1999 Philip Palmer 2000

Rare Birds in Britain & Ireland – a photographic record David Cotteridge and Keith Vinicombe 1996

The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford

We are very pleased to be able to unveil our new name and brand, The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford.The new name and brand for the former Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum brings a fresh new look and provides a glimpse of what is to come when we reopen in Spring 2013. They mark a new beginning for the art gallery and museum, illustrating the bringing together of the organisations and the buildings.


We love our new name and look but it does mean we're going to be making some changes.


Our main blog will be changing its address to www.thehigginsbedford.blogspot.co.uk 
Our News From The Stores blog will be moving to www.thehigginsbedfordcollections.blogspot.co.uk
Our Out & About blog will be moving to www.thehigginsbedfordoutandabout.blogspot.co.uk


We will be moving to these new addresses on the 20th April 2012.

Our Mystery Mog fends off witchcraft in Lancashire

During our packing project, a dried, ‘dessicated’, cat was re-discovered in the collection and nicknamed Mystery Mog. Unexpectedly, this unusual creature was requested for loan and is currently on tour in Lancashire, being privileged by its inclusion in the 400th anniversary exhibition of the infamous Lancashire Witch Trials.  

Our 'Mystery Mog' in the collection on display at Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire, March 2012

Objects such as dried cats, horse skulls, old shoes, written curses and charms, witch-bottles and ritual marks were often placed in buildings. These objects, and many other kinds of object, were usually concealed in buildings and sometimes outdoors for use as spells or counter-spells, currently not a lot is known in detail about them, but often relate to common superstitions of the time.


In the 17th Century cats were regarded as being particularly gifted with a sixth sense and connection with the afterlife. So, perhaps it was hoped that the family cat, who served so well in life, could exercise its hunting prowess against vermin and its psychic abilities in the afterlife, to continue to protect the home and family in death. Cats were regarded as being capable of warding off evil spirits, witches spells and curses. They were believed to protect the home and were hidden in walls, floors or attics for this purpose. This was done intentionally, sometimes with the cat’s innards being removed, like ours, and being dried and stuffed with straw. Often they were placed in a hunting position – indicating their protection from rats and mice in the home.

Close up of the head of our dessicated cat, packed for transportation.

From the early 1600s whole districts in some parts of Lancashire were perceived as riddled with the presence of witches; men and beasts were though to be haunted by their charm, and this superstition which preyed alike on the learned and the poor did not allow any family to suppose that they were beyond the reach of the witch's power.

Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire, venue for the exhibition March - July 2012

Our cat is currently on display at the very grand Gawthorpe Hall, which is the first venue for the “bewitching and fascinating” exhibition 'A Wonderfull Discoverie; Lancashire Witches 1612 - 2012' until 8 July, when the exhibition will tour to Lancaster City Museum from 21st July until 29th September 2012.  The exhibition marks the 400th anniversary of the witch trials held at Lancaster Castle in 1612, among the most famous in English history. The twelve accused people lived in the area around Pendle Hill in Lancashire and were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. 





Watch the video above for a short introduction about the Pendle Hill Witches and the 400th anniversary.


The trials examined the following events: Elizabeth Southerns, also known as Old Demdyke, had  persuaded her daughter, Elizabeth Device, to sell herself to the devil. She in turn initiated her daughter, Alison Device, into these dark arts. Accused of killing men, children and animals that they bore a grudge against by using clay figures and pricking holes in them with pins, as well as casting spells against them, they were found guilty of these crimes.


The Justices of the Peace, Roger Nowell and Nicholas Bannister, learned that a barn called Malkin Tower in Pendle Forest, the home of Old Demdike and her daughter, was the meeting place of the witches, and arrested Old Demdyke, Elizabeth and Alison Device, imprisoning them at Lancaster Castle. 

The front gate at Lancaster Castle, courtesy of  Lancashire Museum Service

Once they had been sent to Lancaster prison, a grand meeting of seventeen witches and three wizards is said to have been held at Malkin Tower on Good Friday, 6th April 1612, where they decided to kill Mr. M'Covell, the governor of the castle, and blow up the building, to enable the witches to make their escape. Reported upon at the time once the meeting ended the witches “walked out of the barn, but on reaching the door, each mounted his or her spirit, which was in the form of a young horse, and quickly vanished”. In total twenty witches and wizards were arrested and tried, ten being found guilty and executed in August 1612.
Elizabeth Southerns, Old Demdike, escaped her fate, worn out by age and trouble, she died in prison. But her daughter and the others were brought to trial. There are accounts of the confessions made by them at trial written up after the event by Thomas Potts one of the Clerks of the court, although his work is understood to be leading in its language and is not a word by word account of the proceedings. See here for his account of the Confessions of the Witches.

'A Wonderfull Discoverie' Exhibition gallery at Gawthorpe Hall.

If you are visiting or live near Lancashire why not find out more about this curious part of history and the Pendle Hill Witches – our cat will be there warding off any bad spirits, so you needn’t worry no harm will come to you!


 "A Wonderfull Discoverie" will be on display at Gawthorpe Hall until 8th July, and Lancaster City Museum 21st July – 29th September 2012.


Lydia Saul,
Keeper of Social History

Thanks to Lancashire County Museum Service for requesting the loan, including facilitators Sue Ashworth, Caroline Wilkinson and Heather Davis.

All images of Gawthorpe Hall and Lancaster Castle, courtesy and copyright of Lancashire Museums Service

Frank Wild's Final Journey

Shackleton’s right hand man, Antarctic Explorer Frank Wild has recently been re-discovered and his memoirs, after years in obscurity, have finally been published by author Angie Butler in her book 'The Quest for Frank Wild'.

Frank Wild on the cover of his published memoirs and biography by Angie Butler.

Frank Wild was born in Skelton Yorkshire on 10^th April 1873 and believed himself to be the ‘secret’ great great grandson of Captain James Cook. From a young age Frank had wanted to join the Navy and at eight already had an interest in arctic adventure. When Frank was 11 his father took a headmastership at Eversholt School and the family moved to Bedfordshire. Frank joined the Merchant Navy at 16 years old and then the Royal Navy in 1900, allowing him to apply for the National British Antarctic Expedition under Captain Scott. He was selected from over 3,000 applicants to join the crew of the Discovery and was proved wrong in thinking Scott would only choose ‘big hefty men’.

Wild’s memoirs, which he began in 1934 but never completed, provide an insight into life on polar expeditions. Frank’s knowledge and survival techniques are fascinating as one of only a few men who had first hand experience of the perils of Antarctica. Despite the tests of each expedition Frank writes ‘Even now, after five Antarctic expeditions and one to the Arctic, that longing (for polar exploration) is not extinguished’.

Icebergs in Antarctica from Crossing Continents photo album

 He was held in high esteem by Captain Scott and his good friend Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton, who was quite critical of other expedition members, when interviewed simply said; 'There is nothing to say about Frank Wild, he is my other self'.

His most famous expedition was the Nimrod expedition with Shackleton, getting just 100 miles from the South Pole before being forced to turn home. It is the Imperial Trans-Atlantic expedition in 1914 though that shows Wild at his best in dire straits.

Within weeks of setting sail in early 1915, the Endurance was trapped in ice and 10 months later it was crushed; "It was a sickening sensation to feel the decks breaking up under one's feet, the great beams bending and snapping with a noise of heavy gun fire…”. Later, once the men had abandoned the ship and were camped on the ice, Shackleton shouted, 'She's going boys!'. "Running out, we were just in time to see the stern of the Endurance rise and then a quick dive and all was over… I felt as if I had lost an old friend."

Illustration of Frank Wild by artist David Litchfield, created  for the Bedford Clanger local newspaper 'Great Bedforidans' feature in the March 2012 issue. For more of David's drawings go to his website.

Having retrieved a banjo, and smuggled out a bottle of whisky from their sinking ship, Frank organised evening concerts, complete with liquid refreshment, to try to keep up the crew's spirits whilst they were forced to camp for many weeks exposed on the ice. When they finally travelled to Elephant Island Frank was heroic in his leadership in building a secure dry shelter from two upturned lifeboats, some rocks and wood. Shackleton left in the third life boat to alert others and bring a rescue team. This took him over five months and four attempts, being prevented by the extreme weather from reaching them. Two weeks after Shackleton had left for a rescue party Frank would roll up his sleeping bag remarking to the others, "Get your things ready boys, the boss may come today".  The men were kept alive by eating seal and penguin meat and seaweed and were very fortunate to survive the bitter cold of - 45C.

Despite his wishes to be buried with ‘the boss’ as he affectionately called Shackleton, Frank was cremated in South Africa on 19^th August 1939. Angie Butler discovered his ashes whilst researching Frank Wild for her book and sought to return his remains to South Georgia to be re-united with Shackleton’s. You can listen to a recording about the journey that descendants from the Wild and Shackelton families took to attend Wild’s final journey back to Antarctica on the BBC Radio 4 Crossing Continents Podcast. You can view pictures of the trip on the Facebook Crossing Continents album.

There will also be a BBC2 programme about Frank Wild, due to be aired in April 2012 – so keep a look out in your TV guide.      

Lydia Saul,

Keeper of Social History

Thanks to: 

Angie Butler for her permission to reproduce quotes from her book 'The Quest for Frank Wild'

David Litchfield for the fantastic illustration of Frank Wild

Article reproduced from March Issue of the Bedford Clanger newspaper

Celebrating International Women's Day: Miss Elizabeth Brooks, a Woman of the Home Guard

Today is International Women’s Day, so I thought both an object of the week and a celebration of a young woman, who was one of the first women recruited into the Home Guard during the Second World War would be something well connected to blog about. It is not really widely known, but women were accepted as members of the Home Guard. 

Elizabeth Brooks Home Guard badge from c.1942 - 1945, made from bakelite by A Stanley and Sons, Walsall, BEDFM 2009.14.1

This Home Guard badge belonged to Miss Elizabeth Brooks and was given to the collection by her sister, Dorothy in her memory. Elizabeth was born on 31^st December 1923 in South Yorkshire. In 1936, during the depression years, her father acquired work at London Brick Company, Stewartby. At that time it entitled him to a house in the growing village of Stewartby, then a new development for families of workers at the London Brick Works.

Metal and enamel Home Guard badge issued in the early part of the war, before metal became economised,
 BEDFM 2003.350

Elizabeth continued her education at Bedford Modern School for Girls and was still a pupil there when war started in 1939. When she left school in 1940, she worked for in the office of Bedford County Council’s Highways Department. While working there she volunteered to assist with Civil Defence duties and received training for Air Raid Precautions being able to act in “Report and Communication Measures”, her Certificate was issued in November 1940.

Elizabeth's ARP Certificate awarded to her in November 1940

We do not know exactly when Elizabeth applied to become a member officially of the Home Guard, but it is likely to have been during 1942. The Home Guard was formed to resist an enemy invasion and, in line with government and military policy, women were not allowed in 'front-line' or 'combat' units. Initially it was felt that there were enough voluntary organisations that women could join, including the Womens' Voluntary Service and Civil Defence and so they were not officially admitted into the Home Guard. Even though they were not technically allowed to do so, some units decided to allow women to do administrative or other 'non-combat' duties within their unit. Then later in 1942 it was agreed that if needed women could be taken on to do administrative and non-combatant duties within their unit, but were know as Woman Home Guard Auxiliaries. They were issued with a Home Guard badge with the initials HG. By 1942, due to economies required in the use of metal these badges were made of bakelite, an early plastic to save on materials. This particular badge was made by A Stanley and Sons, Walsall.

Back of Elizabeth's badge, showing manufacturers name.

 Women were conscripted for wartime work from 1941 onwards between the ages of 20 and 30. When Elizabeth reached calling up age in 1943 she failed on health grounds for acceptance into the forces, but was instead seconded into working for the Post Office telephones (now BT) in the Bedford Telephone Exchange doing repair work and setting lines up, but not outside work. Elizabeth remembered there was one line that had to be kept open whatever might happen and thought that perhaps it was a secret line for Churchill and his cabinet to safely getaway from London, but as it transpired, she later realised it was to the Bletchley Park decoding Centre. She continued her role as a member of the Home Guard until the end of the Second World War.

Letter thanking Elizabeth Brooks for her service in the Home Guard

We have a letter sent from Elizabeth’s Commanding Officer (signature unfortunately illegible) in the “E” Company, 5^th Bedfordshire Battalion. He thanks her for her contribution and far from being a standard response, comments; “I cannot help feeling proud that we were the First Unit to introduce women to the Home Guard, and that later this procedure was adopted universally. Please accept my thanks for the very real work you did, and for the splendid way you gave up your spare time.”

Woman Home Guard Auxiliary Certificate

Certainly there were many women, with whom the Country relied upon during the Second World War to keep the nation running, whilst such large numbers of men were at the front. It did help women become more independent and prove, both to themselves and others, that they were just as capable as the men in fulfilling roles in the work place, which eventually led to a fight for equality. Allowing women into the Home Guard, even though regarded as a separate department, was one small step toward a more equal society for women.

Lydia Saul
Keeper of Social History

Thanks to Dorothy Brooks for donating her sister's badge and correspondence.

Conversations in Lace Event and the Lester Lace Collection

Last weekend, on Saturday 25th February, the Art Gallery and Museum staff were invited to join Bedford Creative Arts artist Arabel Rosillo de Blas at her Conversations in Lace event at the Tourist Information Centre, which is part of the Lace in Place season. Deciding which pieces of Bedfordshire Lace to take out for display was quite tricky as there are so many beautiful pieces in the collection. Our largest collection of lace was donated by Amy Lester the Grand-daughter of Thomazin Lester in 1947. Thomazin was a lace dealer in Bedford from the early 1800’s, and his sons Thomas and Charles Lester continued his business until the turn of the twentieth century.

Thomazin Lester (1791 - 1867), dealer in lace in Bedford from 1811 onwards, picture c.1860.

The early Nineteenth Century pieces are influenced by lace design from Lille, France in a Point Ground (net like backing with decorative motifs) style and the sample books we have from Lester’s shop are all of this type from this period. Lester exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851 and won recognition for his lace designs. Maltese lace was also exhibited and influenced the development of Bedfordshire Maltese Lace, which was a much more openly worked plaited lace.

Thomas Lester's Sample Book from his shop, BML.1

The Maltese style of lace had benefits over the point ground in being easier and less time consuming to make, it could compete more successfully against the machine-made lace being produced in Nottingham from the 1840’s and widening the sale of it to a mass market. Thomas Lester and his sons were able to keep their business going by adapting the design and style of the lace to meet current demand and trends in fashion, producing collars, cuffs, shawls and caps, then later parasol covers and fans. The industry, however, was greatly in decline toward the end of the Nineteenth Century and gradually lacemaking came to be kept up by just a small number of specialists.

More recently it has survived through interest as a leisure time handicraft through groups, such as the Aragon Lacemakers who were set up in 1977, to try to preserve the craft for the future enjoyment of their members and the general public. Aragon Lacemakers take their name from Katherine of Aragon, the Spanish first wife of King Henry Eighth who, the story is told, whilst imprisoned at Ampthill castle during the early Sixteenth Century, would go to a summer house in the village and teach the villagers lace there.

Lester Lace display from our collections for BCA Conservations in Lace event 

We took a selection of lace from the Lester Collection as you can see above, along with a few bobbins and prickings or lace patterns. There was one example of point ground Lille style lace displayed to see the difference in style between this and the Bedfordshire Maltese lace designs.

Lille Point Ground lace with a pineapple design, BML.162

The display included examples of cuffs and collars in the Bedfordshire style, with the recognisable trail of the river and leaf designs in several of the pieces. One of my favourite pieces is the Lester Eagle design, which were produced possibly as a set with a collar, lappets and cuffs in the collection, and the detail of which is exquisite.

Lester Eagle Design Bedfordshire Maltese Lace Cuff, BML.126

Marilyn from the Aragon lacemakers also joined the event, bringing her own lace pillow and making lace with her fantastic antique bobbins. She had a wonderful selection of hanging bobbins, which were produced by traders as a ‘souvenir’ of the day, including those of William Bull (1871), William Worsley (1868) and Joseph Castle (1860), which we have examples of in the collection also. Marilyn also had a John Bunyan bobbin, which was created to celebrate the unveiling of the Bunyan statue in 1874.

Marilyn from Aragon Lacemakers showing me (Lydia) her wonderful bobbin collection on her lace pillow.  

The purpose of the afternoon from Arabel's point of view was to invite the public to bring their own pieces of lace and share stories of what lace meant to them. We had a wide variety of visitors, many happy to talk about lace from countries where they had previously lived or travelled to. A few people brought lace in with them that had been handed down to them from family or made themselves.

Arabel Rosillo de Blas, artist from Bedford Creative Arts  talking to a member of the public about their lace.

One younger Bedfordian, Tracey, remembered being taught lace at her school when she was eight and brought the fruits of her work to show us. She also impressed us all by taking up the practice lace pillow and making some lace on the day, saying that she was surprised how much it came back to her even though she had been just a child when she learnt and had not touched a bobbin since!

Tracey's Bedfordshire Lace made when she was eight years old. 

If you want to get involved in BCA's lace events then please visit their website for further details click here for BCA Events. The next event is the Large Lace at Bunyan Meeting Museum on 24th March 1pm, where you can become a human bobbin. Arabel's commission will be launched in early May and is proposing to decorate a building in St. Paul's Square with enlarged lace patterns - can't wait to see the finished work. Do get in touch with BCA if you have some lace that might be of interest to Arabel and a story that you think relevant to the project. If this blog has inspired you to get more involved with taking lacemaking up as a hobby, then you would be welcome to contact Marilyn, the Secretary of Aragon Lacemakers. The Aragon lacemakers also have their 25th Anniversary event at St. Paul's Church on the 25th April later in the spring. 2012 will be a great year for celebrating Bedfordshire's lace-making tradition.


Lydia Saul
Keeper of Social History


Thanks go to Arabel Rosillo de Blas, Lyndall Phelps (Project Manager for Lace in Place), Jennie Stoddart (Curator Producer, BCA), Marilyn Two and the Aragon Lacemakers, Gemma and Cathy for their assistance on the day. 


For further information on Bedfordshire Lace and the Lester Lace Collection see the following:
Bedford Borough Introduction to Bedfordshire Lace

Lester Lace, Lace as Fashion and Bedfordshire Lace History

Lace Booklist