Carling, Gill & Carling Ltd circa 1937

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Julie Goucher

Swedford? No, it\'s Guildford!

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A Genealogical No Smoking Day

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Julie Goucher

*13th March 2013*


Over the years I must have had countless conversations about giving up smoking as part of the day job. Well, for the first time I don’t have to follow a pitch to patients or have that discussion, but I didn’t feel that I could let the day pass by without a mention.

A few weeks ago as part of Sepia Saturday I shared a few photos, one of which was of my Grandfather, complete with a cigarette. Someone made a comment that people were not usually photographed with cigarettes and I thought that was a good link in to No Smoking Day! You can read the original post HERE

I do vaguely recall both my Grandparents smoking. My Grandfather was in hospital during the early parts of my childhood and I recall missing him. He had breathing issues caused by asbestos, we are in the days before Health and Safety! and certainly smoking didn’t help.

After he passed away my Grandmother stopped, with none of the patches, gum or inhalers of now, she simply used willpower, but then that was very much her way.

A search through some other photos revealed this one of my Grandmother taken around 1941.

This second photograph was used in an exhibition held at Guildford a few years ago. The exhibition was about war time evacuees and I submitted this photo, although I was not 100% sure if it fitted the criteria. I was delighted that it was used within the display, which was on line and sadly now is not!

My understanding was the three evacuees who stayed with my Grandmother all came from London, one was Joyce Moore who remained in contact and friends with our family until she passed away about 10 years ago. There were also two others, both nameless and one of them is thought to have married an American or Canadian serviceman and returned back to either the States or Canada with him. On the back of the photo is the name of Edie Greenaway. My Grandmother is in the middle. So this is either a photo of my Grandmother with two of the evacuees or two people from the laundry.

I do wonder what happened to the evacuee who made a new life across the pond, and is she still alive today? The address of the house where the evacuees lived was 17 Walnut Tree Close Guildford. If that address rings bells with anyone please get in touch. Whilst my Grandmother is no longer here, we would love to hear more about the events of this time.

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Carling, Gill & Carling Ltd 1937

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Julie Goucher

CARLING GILL & CARLING Limited.
The Companies Act, 1929.
Special Resolutions passed 3ist March, 1937.

AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company, duly convened, and held at 59 and 60 High Street,. Guildford, Surrey, on 3ist March 1937, the following Resolutions were passed as Special Resolutions: —

(1) ” That it is desirable to reconstruct the Company and accordingly that the Company be wound up voluntarily, and that Mr. A. B. Keith, of Kennans House, Crown Court, Cheapside, London, E.G.2., Chartered Accountant, be hereby appointed Liquidator,for the purpose of such winding-up.”

(2) ” That the said Liquidator be hereby authorised to consent to the registration of a new Company to be called Carling Gill and Carling Limited with a Memorandum and Articles of Association which have already been prepared with the privity and the approval of this Company.”

(3) ” Tshat, the draft Agreement submitted to this Meeting and expressed to be made between this Company and its Liquidator of the one part and Carling Gill and Carling Limited of the other part be hereby approved and that the said Liquidator be hereby authorised to enter into an agreement with such new Company when incorporated in the terms of the said draft and to carry the same into effect with such (if any) modifications as they may think expedient.”

Dated this 3ist day of March 1937.
(099) W. T CARLING, Chairman.

Source – The London Gazette 2nd April 1937

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The Ruling Caste by David Gilmour

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Julie Goucher

Recently, I have been focusing my genealogical time on India as I work on a book about part of my family who spent time in India. Nothing special, except the research has unravelled some real surprises and I felt the stories were worthy of being shared through a wider audience.

The Ruling Caste: Imperial Lives in the…As part of that research I wanted to fully understand India during the Victorian period and I came across The Ruling Caste by David Gilmour.

As always I turned to the index and was delighted to see a reference to another family connection.

It is those references I thought I would share here –

“Lewin Bowring felt that the great void in his life was travel. In 1854 he therefore set off on a long journeys through Rajputana, China (where his father, whom he had not seen for 10 years, was Governor of Hong Kong), France, Italy and Central Europe (which he toured three times), and the British Isles, where he inspected seventeen cathedrals” (page 276 Source Unpublished Memoirs).

“Lewin Bowring, who joined the Bengal Civil Service in 1843, won several prizes at Haileybury for Persian, Sanskrit and Hindustani. Yet on arrival in India he found his proficiency in these languages was “nearly useless” “(Page 40 Source Unpublished Memoirs)

I think we always assume that those who travelled to overseas destinations did so with little chance of returning home. That is a inaccurate. The amount of travel depended on your means in terms of financial and your status. The family whom I have been researching made several journeys, yet the time it took to travel and the conditions must have been very trying.

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The Fishing Fleet – Anne de Courcy

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Julie Goucher

The Fishing FleetWhen the author was undertaking her research we did correspond rather briefly, but my interest regarding my ancestral links to India was out of the time frame for Anne’s book.

I waited rather eagerly for the book to be published. Once it hit the shelves of my local library I managed to grab the book and then quietly enjoy it.

The book looks at women who migrated to India looking for a husband during the period of the mid 19th Century until 1947, when India gained it’s Independence.

I loved the colour of the cover which for me set the tone of the book. I enjoyed the depth of the research, which was gathered from letters and memoirs of the time and the focus of the book.

There is a suitable explanation of why the women were there, and why they risked travelling the globe to find a husband, but there was little detail on how the women adapted to the change in culture and their experiences. The author further explores the processes in India at this time, the bureaucracy of India and mixed raced children and how they were viewed.

Despite all that, I was a little disappointed. There is little scope given to how these women coped, not only with the country and culture, but also how they experienced married life with the men they met in India. I felt as though the author ran out of steam with the subject matter before the end of the book.

I enjoyed it, but it could have been better.

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Roadford Lake

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Julie Goucher

Earlier in the week I spotted on Twitter that there was to be a Fly Fishing event at Roadford Lake. I forwarded the details to hubby incase he wanted to go.

So at lunchtime we headed off to the event. Roadford Lake is situated on the edge of Dartmoor, not too far from Launceston in Cornwall. Where else can you drive through a hamlet called Broadwoodwidger? Isn’t that a great name?


The weather was a bit gloomy, although not as foggy as at home. In fact I think a glimpse of the sun was seen. The lake is fairly big and I managed to get a couple of snaps.

We had a lovely couple of hours, although I am not overly in the slightest interested in fishing.

There was a selection of trade stands and a whole assortment of tackle delights – lines, rods, flies and other equipment all to aid the fisherman secure his catch. As I commented to hubby they didn’t have this kit 200 years ago and they still caught fish!

Much to hubby’s delight this appears to be an addition to the fisherman’s calender.

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Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Julie Goucher

Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
Just before Christmas Maisie and her employee, Billie see a man commit suicide in the street. The man was clearly a War Veteran and events very quickly turn Maisie back to her nursing days during the Great War. Soon after an anonymous letter is received by the police threatening violence if the comments in the letter are not adhered to.

Soon, Maisie is seconded to the Police as she and the police try and unravel the circumstances of the two issues. Is that deceased man part of the conspiracy to cause chaos in London? Next some animals in an animal shelter are found dead, the potential result of inhaling a poisonous gas, and then on the back of another letter some birds are found dead.

Maisie springs into action as she and Billy try to discover the truth whilst confronting their own fears. Billy meanwhile, is still struggling with his wife Doreen who can not move past her grief following the death of their little girl and soon Doreen is admitted to hospital to receive treatment.

In this book, which I think is one of the best, the author has tackled some real issues for the early 1930s. There has clearly been research done into early offerings by the War Office and poisonous gases and the 1930s treatment of those who were suffering from some kind of mental illness.

About Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education, and in marketing communications in the UK.
She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.
Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Elegy for Eddie, A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, and Among the Mad, as well as five other national bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. She now lives in California and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.
Find out more about Jacqueline at her website, www.jacquelinewinspear.com, and find her on Facebook.

Book Tour Hosts
Monday, March 4th: The House of the Seven Tails – Maisie Dobbs
Monday, March 4th: BookNAround – Birds of a Feather
Wednesday, March 6th: Peppermint PhD – Pardonable Lies
Thursday, March 7th: Melody & Words – Birds of a Feather
Thursday, March 7th: The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader – Messenger of Truth
Thursday, March 7th: Anglers Rest – Messenger of Truth
Thursday, March 7th: Lavish Bookshelf – An Incomplete Revenge
Friday, March 8th: Olduvai Reads – Maisie Dobbs
Friday, March 8th: 5 Minutes For Books – Pardonable Lies
Friday, March 8th: In the Next Room – An Incomplete Revenge
Friday, March 8th: Anglers Rest – Among the Mad
Friday, March 8th: The Road to Here – Among the Mad
Friday, March 8th: A Bookish Way of Life – The Mapping of Love and Death
Friday, March 8th: The Book Garden – The Mapping of Love and Death
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Library Loot – 6th March

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Julie Goucher

badge-4Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire fromThe Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries. Marg has the Mr Linky this week!

I finally made it to the library. I don’t know the weather and just greyness of England has made me want to stay home and read, work and actually avoid the continual mess in my study. Well the library books were due back, so it was either head out into a dash of spring sunlight or get a library fine. I opted for the going out method!
Women of the Raj: The Mothers, Wives, and…A few weeks ago I reserved a book to aid my research and I had received an email advising the book was in and please collect within 2 weeks….the clock had been ticking and the book was in danger of being returned from where it came, which appears to be Budleigh Salterton.
I staggered down with a few books for renewal and subsequently bought them home again, along with the requested book and another book. I also collected the book which is the read for the March book group meeting.
A Year of Doing Good: One Woman, One New…The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The help is the book for the book group at the end of the month and will be a re-read. I also notice that I have not added my review to my blog or LibraryThing, which I will do at somepoint.
Today is World Book Day and I didn’t notice any signs in the library, but then I was disappearing under the mountain of books I was renewing!. 
The IslandI heard last week that I have been selected to receive 20 books as part of World Book Night on 23rd April. The book I chose and know I have been allocated was The Island by Victoria Hislop.
I read this book back in 2007. The central character, Alexis is about to go on holiday with her boyfriend, to the country of her mother’s birth Greece. She knows nothing about her heritage and suggests that she might visit the village her mother was born in. Armed with a letter to one of her mother’s friends Alexis embarks on a journey that she will never forget.

Having reached Crete she leaves her boyfriend heads to the village. She heads off on a trip to the nearby deserted island of Spinalonga, which she establishes is a former leper colony. She spends a few hours there and heads back to the village to seek out her mother’s friend. She meets up with Fortini who then shares with her the loves and lives of her mother and the generations that went before her and the connection the family had to Spinalonga.

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Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Julie Goucher

This is the fourth book in the Maisie Dobbs series. This series gets better and better and as the character develops and takes further shape, we as readers are drawn in all the more to a great series.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline WinspearThe central character is Maisie Dobbs, a former nurse during the Great War. Now, though Maisie is a private investigator working in London and owns her own business, car and home. A rarity for the 1930s, this book is set during 1931. During this page turner Maisie is asked by Georgina Bassington-Hope to investigate the death of her brother, a former soldier and artist who died tragically whilst he is setting up an art exhibition. Nick has experienced war. His way of coping with the events he witnessed, first as a front line soldier and then as a war artist, is to paint what he sees and this does not always bode well with those around him. As Maisie investigates she encounters secrets, war stories, smuggling and does eventually seek out the truth.

Meanwhile, her associate Billy encounters a tragedy of his own and Maisie breaks off her relationship with her latest suitor.

The author has captured the essence of a “modern woman”, perhaps Maisie was a woman before her time as she sets out on the road to independence and maintaining that independence. Very well researched and despite being a fictional book based upon tragic life events and the aftermath.

About Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in the county of Kent, England. Following higher education at the University of London’s Institute of Education, Jacqueline worked in academic publishing, in higher education, and in marketing communications in the UK.
She emigrated to the United States in 1990, and while working in business and as a personal / professional coach, Jacqueline embarked upon a life-long dream to be a writer.
Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Elegy for Eddie, A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, and Among the Mad, as well as five other national bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. She now lives in California and is a regular visitor to the United Kingdom and Europe.
Find out more about Jacqueline at her website, www.jacquelinewinspear.com, and find her on Facebook.

Book Tour Hosts
Monday, March 4th: The House of the Seven Tails – Maisie Dobbs
Monday, March 4th: BookNAround – Birds of a Feather
Wednesday, March 6th: Peppermint PhD – Pardonable Lies
Thursday, March 7th: Melody & Words – Birds of a Feather
Thursday, March 7th: The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader – Messenger of Truth
Thursday, March 7th: Anglers Rest – Messenger of Truth
Thursday, March 7th: Lavish Bookshelf – An Incomplete Revenge
Friday, March 8th: Olduvai Reads – Maisie Dobbs
Friday, March 8th: 5 Minutes For Books – Pardonable Lies
Friday, March 8th: In the Next Room – An Incomplete Revenge
Friday, March 8th: Anglers Rest – Among the Mad
Friday, March 8th: The Road to Here – Among the Mad
Friday, March 8th: A Bookish Way of Life – The Mapping of Love and Death
Friday, March 8th: The Book Garden – The Mapping of Love and Death
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The Elstones: A Novel by Isabel C Clarke

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Julie Goucher

I have had this book on my list of things to check out for a while. The book itself was published in 1919. The reason for my interest is that my Great Grandmother had the surname of Elstone and lived in Hampshire before moving to Surrey. The family though had spent about 200 years in the same area, where the boundaries of Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire meet.

By chance about 10 years ago we were driving from Exeter to North Devon and drove through a hamlet with the name of Elstone. Brief research revealed that the Elstone’s in this part of Devon had links to the paper making industry, as did my Elstone in the Sussex & Hampshire area. So I was immediately intrigued.

This book eventually made it to the top of my pile and I stepped into reading it. I made sure I had a notebook as I wasn’t completely convinced that this was a novel. Perhaps there might be a grain of non fiction?

The first scenes are set on the Downs in the County of Sussex. Lady Cynthia Elstone is looking out and makes a visual comparison to her native Devon. Meanwhile, her husband who she married 28 years previous and is unwell and dying. Sir Simon requests that his wife call for the priest in the Shawhurst and Cynthia refuses. The family are not Catholic hence the refusal. Meanwhile, her daughter, Irene, nicknamed Ernie overhears the conversation and asks her brother Luttrell to go and fetch the priest. He does and despite all the general confusion and anger from Cynthia, Simon Elstone converts to Catholicism on his deathbed.

The eldest son, called Ivo does not play a very prominent role in the book which is surprising for the time. There is real anger of the religious conversion and the daughter Irene returns to school complete with a hidden rosary and as I read through the pages it is clear that she is turning her religious mind.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It was refreshing to read and I had to keep remembering that this book was written before women achieved the vote here in the UK. I was surprised by the anti Catholic feeling at this time. I feel sure that this is a novel, but I can not help wondering why the author chose the name of Elstone and who and what provided the inspiration behind the plot.

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