A Search for a House
by Sue Jackson
Members of Exeter Local History Society were able to have a guided tour of Thomas Hall, formerly known as Great Duryard House (and in more recent years a University of Exeter hall of residence) on 30 May 2014 just as it had been purchased by the Steiner Academy and before any renovation had taken place. A re-visit was eagerly awaited and this took place on Saturday 12 September 2015 at the start of the Academy’s new academic year. On our first visit the Surveyor showed us over the severely decayed main house with warnings to be very careful for our own safety. On our second visit, the occasion of the Academy’s Open Day, we were able to see the site’s complete transformation with its very impressive new school buildings and the old house completely and sympathetically cleaned up and restored.
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WALTER OTTON & SONS
by Sue Jackson
As members will be aware from earlier Newsletters, the Society email receives queries from the general public and Frances forwards these to me to see if I can help. An interesting one received was from someone renovating a 1920s semi in Birchy Barton Hill where the cladding was removed to reveal a fire surround bearing the name of the maker as W.Otton & Sons which included photos as evidence and asking if anything was known of the history of the firm and its employees.
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GUNNER ERNEST NEWSOME
by Sue Jackson
At the beginning of September 2022 another research query was received by Frances and forwarded to me. It was from Tony Dunlop, a not-for-profit local history researcher in West Yorkshire, mainly in the Batley, Dewsbury and Morley areas. His current research concerned a story of a WWI Dewsbury casualty, the end result being a “Little Book” aiming for donations for this year’s Poppy Appeal. The subject in question was Gunner Ernest Newsome who lost his life following the sinking of ‘The Osmanieh’ on 31 December 1917.
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Tom Stanier's Query
by Sue Jackson
An interesting enquiry received recently was from a Tom Stanier asking for help in locating the grave of his grandfather Charles Edward Stanier who he knew was buried in Topsham Cemetery in 1936. Sue already knew that burial index cards were on-line for Higher, Exwick and Topsham Cemeteries so it was a case of searching for the record. [Many years ago, these were housed in card index drawers and it was necessary to visit the Civic Centre and undertake a manual search.]
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EXETER'S POST WAR HISTORY:
A PERSONAL VIEW FROM A FOUNDER MEMBER ON OUR NEWSLETTER`S 100TH ANNIVERSARY
by Robert Crawley
Born in 1945 meant that the first impressions I had of Exeter as my home town was of streets around the centre being largely devoid of any buildings. “Waste ground” my parents would say, not wishing to explain the episodes of war that had caused such dereliction. These bombed sites had been adopted as unofficial car parks, not that many people had cars in those days, so traffic jams were yet to come.
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Click here to see the materials about World War II installations in Exeter
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