News from the stores

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

2012-03-08T16:39:00.000Z

Today is International Women’s Day, so I thought both anobject of the week and a celebration of a young woman, who was one of the firstwomen 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 byher sister, Dorothy in her memory. Elizabethwas born on 31^st December 1923 in South Yorkshire. In 1936, during the depression years, her fatheracquired work at London Brick Company, Stewartby. At that time it entitled himto a house in the growing village of Stewartby, then a newdevelopment 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 hereducation at Bedford Modern Schoolfor Girls and was still a pupil there when war started in 1939. When she leftschool in 1940, she worked for in the office of Bedford County Council’sHighways Department. While working there she volunteered to assist with CivilDefence duties and received training for Air Raid Precautions being able to actin “Report and Communication Measures”, her Certificate was issued in November1940.

Elizabeth's ARP Certificate awarded to her in November 1940

We do not know exactly when Elizabeth applied to become a memberofficially of the Home Guard, but it is likely to have been during 1942. The Home Guard was formed to resist an enemy invasionand, in line with government and military policy, women were not allowed in'front-line' or 'combat' units. Initially it was felt that there were enoughvoluntary organisations that women could join, including the Womens' VoluntaryService and Civil Defence and so they were not officially admitted into theHome Guard. Even though they were not technically allowed to do so, some unitsdecided to allow women to do administrative or other 'non-combat' duties withintheir unit. Then later in 1942 it was agreed that if needed women could betaken on to do administrative and non-combatant duties within their unit, butwere know as Woman Home Guard Auxiliaries. They were issued with a Home Guardbadge with the initials HG. By 1942, due to economiesrequired in the use of metal these badges were made of bakelite, an earlyplastic 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 theages of 20 and 30. When Elizabethreached calling up age in 1943 she failed on health grounds for acceptance intothe forces, but was instead seconded into working for the Post Officetelephones (now BT) in the Bedford Telephone Exchange doing repair work andsetting lines up, but not outside work. Elizabeth remembered there was one linethat had to be kept open whatever might happen and thought that perhaps it wasa secret line for Churchill and his cabinet to safely getaway from London, butas it transpired, she later realised it was to the Bletchley Park decodingCentre. She continued her role as a member of the Home Guard untilthe 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 hercontribution and far from being a standard response, comments; “Icannot help feeling proud that we were the First Unit to introduce women to theHome Guard, and that later this procedure was adopted universally. Pleaseaccept my thanks for the very real work you did, and for the splendid way you gaveup 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

2012-03-01T16:53:00.000Z

Last weekend, on Saturday 25th February, the Art Gallery and Museum staff were invited to join Bedford Creative Arts artistArabel Rosillo de Blas at her Conversations in Lace event at the TouristInformation 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 thereare so many beautiful pieces in the collection. Our largest collectionof lace was donated by Amy Lester the Grand-daughter of Thomazin Lester in 1947. Thomazin was alace dealer in Bedfordfrom the early 1800’s, and his sons Thomas and Charles Lester continued hisbusiness 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 shopare all of this type from this period. Lester exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851 and wonrecognition for his lace designs. Maltese lace was also exhibited andinfluenced the development of Bedfordshire Maltese Lace, which was a much moreopenly worked plaited lace.

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

The Maltese style of lace had benefits over the point ground inbeing easier and less time consuming to make, it could compete moresuccessfully against the machine-made lace being produced in Nottingham fromthe 1840’s and widening the sale of it to a mass market. Thomas Lester and his sonswere able to keep their business going by adapting the design and style of thelace to meet current demand and trends in fashion, producing collars, cuffs, shawls and caps, then later parasol covers and fans. The industry, however, wasgreatly 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 leisuretime handicraft through groups, such as the Aragon Lacemakers who were set up in1977, to try to preserve the craft for the future enjoyment of theirmembers and the general public. Aragon Lacemakers take their name from Katherine of Aragon, theSpanish 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 fromthe Lester Collection as you can see above, along with a few bobbins and prickings or lace patterns. There was one example of point groundLille 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 theBedfordshire style, with the recognisable trail of the river and leaf designs in several of the pieces. One of my favourite pieces is the LesterEagle design, which were produced possibly as a set with a collar, lappets andcuffs 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 antiquebobbins. She had a wonderful selection of hanging bobbins, which were producedby traders as a ‘souvenir’ of the day, including those of William Bull (1871), WilliamWorsley (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 theunveiling 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 tobring 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 countrieswhere they had previously lived or travelled to. A few people brought lace inwith 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 thefruits 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 muchit came back to her even though she had been just a child when she learnt andhad 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

Valentines Greetings

2012-02-14T17:05:00.001Z

Being Valentine's Day I thought I would pick some of my favourite Valentine's Cards from the collection to entertain - and perhaps inspire a romantic atmosphere!

The oldest Valentines Card that survives dates from around 1400 and can be found at the British Museum. Ours are not quite as old as that mainly dating from the 19th and 20th Centuries.

St. Valentines Day has been celebrated for centuries, dedicated to Christian martyrs (14 in total) named Valentinus and was first established in Rome by Pope Gelasius I in 496AD being celebrated on the 14th February. The day became associated with romantic and courtly love in Geoffrey Chaucers time and lovers would express their love by presenting flower, giving confectionery and giving papers with Valentine greetings. The 'Valentines' have changed in design and style over the centuries, but their purpose is much the same despite mass production these days. I hope you enjoy the selection below, as well as the rhymes that accompany them.

Printed, 19th Century Valentine, BEDFM 2001.120.1

" The meaning of these lines you'll guess,

And easily divine,

that you of all my other friends,

I choose as Valentine".

Hand decorated, printed, 19th Century Valentine of
Town Crier declaring a lost love, BEDFM 2001.120.5

"O Yes! O Yes!!

This is to give notice

LOST! A Heart in

this neighbourhood any

person having found the

same by giving information

will be rewarded with the

owners sincere love & a

comfortable home for life

God save my dear Sweetheart!"

Printed, 19th Century Valentine, BEDFM 2001.120.3

The Valentine above and the one below reminds me of Bedford bridge and the embankment.

"This Valentine to thee I send
to prove my love my dearest friend"

Lydia Saul

Keeper of Social History

From the Belgian Congo to Bedford - Tracking Down Donors of African Artefacts

2012-01-25T17:02:00.002Z

The core of the Bedford Museum collection originally came from Bedford Modern School. They had their own museum when the school was still based in the heart of the town centre, behind the Edward Blore designed facade that now fronts the Harpur Shopping Centre. The museum was on the first floor, roughly where Boots now stands and displayed a collection of weird and wonderful curiosities, as well as collections of Natural History, Social History and Archaeology.

Being an amateur museum from 1886 until the early 1962, the museum's record keeping wasn't quite up to the standards of today's museums so we are sometimes a little short of facts. One area where the records were not only brief but downright confusing was with regards to a collection of material from Kalembelembe in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo). The school's own Eagle magazine published an acknowledgement of the arrival in July 1932 of the Robinson Collection of African objects, whilst the accession register (the book that infers official museum object status to artefacts) listed them under the title Richardson Collection. Either way, both are sufficiently common names to make research challenging. Going through the school records revealed nothing, so I resorted to the trial and error of internet searches. Initially nothing turned up, but I had a hunch that a collection of material from an African village with no known mining, trade or British Colonial connections must have been a likely destination for missionaries. From the 1840s-1860s the Bedford Academy was the London Missionary Society's training centre, and as a hot bed of non-conformism has also been home to Evangelicals and Pentecostals. The search terms 'Kalembelembe' and 'missionaries' proved fruitful. I was led to a pamphlet of the Pentecostal Missionary Union called Confidence, the issue for January to March 1921. Reading through led me to the following article:

Mr & Mrs Arthur W. Richardson before
they left for Kalembelembe.
Image: Confidence, (Sunderland, Jan-Mar 1921)

Spanning several pages, the article was an account of 'Brother' and 'Sister' Richardson's journey across Africa to Kalembelembe where they would set up a new mission station. They were a devout couple who clearly felt strongly about their faith, and saw every trial they faced as God's will in some way. They were dismayed by the ritualistic practices they found in the village that differed so greatly from their own beliefs and urged the readers of their letter to pray for them in their work. I felt I had found the source of the collection - these were the only British people in this Village at the right time, and their name matched one of the two possibilities provided by our records.

But why had their collection ended up in Bedford? Bedford was mentioned within the newsletter, but only as a donor of funds in a long list of subscription gifts from towns all over the country, certainly not a firm link. Even with the full name of Arthur William Richardson I could trace nothing to connect him to the town or school, and the newsletter had been published in Sunderland.

I recalled that our collection of Palestinian archaeology came from a man named William J.J. Glassby, I didn't know much about him other that he had kept his fine collection, which included artefacts excavated by the famous pioneer achaeologist Flinders Petrie, in a Mission building in Costin Street, Bedford, before it was donated to Bedford Modern School Museum in 1932. Could this Mission Hall be the connection? I searched again, changing my terms to 'Pentecostal Missionary Union' and 'Bedford'. This hit the Google* jackpot. Numerous references came up mentioning both terms, and a man called Cecil Polhill-Turner. It seems that Polhill (he dropped the Turner as young man) was a Bedford man who had inherited the estate of Howbury Hall near Renhold along with a large sum of money. He was part of the 'Cambridge Seven', a group of born again Christians who joined the China Inland Mission and dedicated their lives to missionary work. He was also the president of the PMU, bankrolling many of the missionary journeys and partaking his of own in China and India. The Confidence pamphlet was the official voice of the organisation until founder member and editor of Confidence A.A, Boddy split with the PMU over differences of opinion. Confidence continued to promote their missionary work edited by Boddy but the official voice now came form Flames of Fire, a monthly newsletter published in Bedford and edited by Cecil Polhill's estate manager, none other than William Glassby.

Further research through the several years worth of issues of Confidence revealed that Arthur Richardson had died in 1925 of Blackwater fever, though his wife and child remained in Kalembelembe for a period afterwards. I then turned back to the Eagle magazine to see if there was anything I had missed in the article referring to the donation of the Richardson (though cited as Robinson) collection. There was: the first paragraph that introduces the school museum section said that the Palestinian antiquities collection had in fact been donated by Cecil Polhill and '94 subscribers' in memory of Glassby; then under a section titled 'Gifts' it listed The Glassby Collection in detail, immediately followed by The Robinson Collection. It seems very likely that the PMU had received collections from Richardson's wife and those may have been stored with Glassby's own collection in Bedford. When Glassby died and it was decided to send his collection to the Bedford Modern School museum,it must have seemed a logical place for the Richardson collection to go too, as there was already a strong collection of ethnographic artefacts in the museum.

I'll continue researching the connections, while also looking at other donors, with the 'Hillman' collection of Chinese artefacts another similar conundrum. Any memories or information anyone might have of family members having donated ethnographic artefacts to the BMS museum between the 1890s and1940s would be very gratefully recieved!

Kristian Purcell
Curatorial Assistant

*Other search providers are also available.

Sinclair Executive Pocket Calculator - it all adds up!

2012-01-19T12:06:00.002Z

We have recently been donated this original Sinclair Executive handheld calculator. This is one of the earliest electronic pocket calculators that can claim to actually be pocket sized - the New Scientist Journal reviewed it as 'the first calculator that can comfortably fit in the user's pocket along with his wallet and cheque book'. It was a third thinner than anything else on the market when it was launched in August 1972.

Sinclair Executive Calculator with Texas Insturments GLS 1802 chip inside. Dimensions: 138mm(H), 56mm (W), 9mm (D).

The significance to Bedford is the fact that the tiny silicon chip, known as the 'Calculator On' chip, that operated the display and components for the calculator was invented and manufactured by Texas Instruments in Bedford. Texas Instruments had moved and expanded from Dallas, USA to Bedford, UK in 1957 to built one of the largest semi-conductor research and manufacturing facilities, to assist their expansion into the European markets.
The miniature silicon integrated circuit chips were developed for a range of applications, the pocket calculator being just one. I am sure many of our readers will have owned or come across Texas Instrument calculators, computers and other devices available during the 1970's and 1980's. Other products aside from the calculator that used the 'microcomputer' chip, invented in 1971 by Michael Cochran and Gary Boone, included microwave ovens, sewing machines, telephones, vending machines and of course early electronic computer games.

Texas Instruments Offices built at Dallas Road, Bedford in 1958 © Texas Instruments Ltd.

Sinclair Radionics Ltd. was a firm basedat Huntingdon and the inventor of the pocket calculator was Clive Sinclair. Clive wanted the calculator to be truly pocket sized and designed it to use button cell (watch type) batteries, rather than the standard AA size batteries to allow the calculator to be much thinner. He also experimented with the TI chip, using it in a new way that allowed the cell batteries to last much longer through pulsing the power to the chip.

John, our donor, bought the calculator soon after it was launched while he was working at the Sunlife for Canada insurance company in Northampton. He remembers seeingit advertised in the Daily Telegraph on the train on his way down to London to the Ideal Home Exhibition at Olympia, where his company had a stand. The calculator was advertised from the recommended retail price of £84 at the discounted price of £59. He decided that he would purchase one for his work and thinks it was bought from a shop either inOxford Street or Tottenham Court Road. John remembers that at first hewould forget to turn off the calculator when not in use to preserve thebatteries, which did not last long – only around 2 hours. John bought the calculator for use by himself and others in his team – who he trained to use the equipment. It requires 4 button cell batteries and these became expensive and difficult to get hold of, so John stopped using the calculator after about 4 or 5 years. The calculator still has its red velvet case, instructions for operationand manufacturers details. It is certainly a valued addition to our collection as a contemporary item connected with Bedfordshire's technological development and industry.

If you think that you have an iconic Texas Instrument's object that you know was made or developed in Bedford along these lines then feel free to share it with us in the comments, on facebook, twitter, or get in touch via chag@bedford.gov.uk.

Lydia Saul

Keeper of Social History

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to our donor, John.

Thanks to Kenneth Sanders for the photograph of the Texas Instruments building.
For further information see Texas Instruments Timeline
For further information about Sinclair Executive Calculators see Vintage Calculators website

Christmas Greetings from Egypt 1916

2011-12-20T18:50:00.000Z

This Christmas present was sent in 1916 all the way from Egypt during the First World War from Michael Dillon, ‘Mick’, who was serving in the Royal Engineers to his sister Henrietta Dillon ‘Hetty’, who lived at Queens Park in Bedford.

Christmas present sent from Micahel Dillon to his sister 'Hetty' in Bedford, 1916

The embroidered material was probably meant to be used as a decorative table centre piece. I expect the local traders in Egypt made a profit from machine stitching commissioned messages on souvenirs, like this one, for troops and servicemen away from their loved ones. Egypt was of crucial significance during the First World War, with the Suez Canal being a vital supply route as well as key to shipping troops to the Western Front.

At this time of year if we are lucky we are able to take a break from work and spend at least Christmas Day with family or friends. I chose this object because it reminds me of those who are not so fortunate, and have made a self-sacrificing choice to work over the Christmas break, perhaps away from their loved ones in order to serve others in whatever way.

Recently on the news there was a Christmas message sent by video from HMS Ocean posted on ‘You Tube’ of the crew singing along to Mariah Carey’s ‘All I want for Christmas’. This was also aired on the BBC News Embed video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZcGz4vmJc. The ship and crew had been serving in Libya, but fortunately the service personnel were granted leave to return home before Christmas after filming this video and arrived a week or two ago back in England. I am a sucker for a happy ending at this time of year, and the video did make me smile.

I am in the process of trying to trace more information about Michael Dillon through his service records and census data online. We have one other embroidered souvenir, also we think bought by Michael, from Malta.

Malta was known as ‘The nurse of the Mediterranean’ during the First World War, with so many Military Hospitals situated on the island nursing wounded troops back to health and aiding their recuperation.

Florence May Dillon, Sister of Michael and Henrietta and seamstress for E P Rose and Co. Bedford.

We also have a charming photograph of Michael’s other sister (above), who perhaps received a similar gift to ‘Hetty’ in 1916, Florence May Dillon thought to be around 19 years old in this picture and was a seamstress for E P Rose. Michael also had one other brother called Harry, but unfortunately we know very little about him..

If anyone is related to the Dillon family of Bedford and Michael who served in the First World War and are able to fill in any gaps, I would be pleased to hear from them.

I’d just like to wish all our blog followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May it be a prosperous and blogtastic 2012!

Lydia Saul

Keeper of Social History

A Face from the Past

2011-12-06T16:47:00.000Z

All of the archaeological objects in our collections have been made, used, owned and finally lost by people and for nearly all of them we have no idea what the owner may have looked like. When we are working on these items we at best see in our minds eye a fuzzy human shape probably based on an illustration from a history book or a character from a TV series. So this is why every once in a while one our artefacts will stun and surprise us by showing us the face of a person from the past. The stone corbel of a man’s head found in St Mary’s Church, Bedford, is one such remarkable item.

Objects like this offer us a direct link between us, the viewer and the face the stone mason had in his mind when he carved the corbel. We can only assume that the stone mason working on the rough lump of stone modelled it on someone he knew or at the very least of a stylised mans face of his time.

The carving shows the face of a man with well manicured moustache, beard and eyebrows and with locks of curly hair neatly tucked behind his ears. His eyes are fully open and he stares directly out at us and faint traces of red pigment are still just visible on his cheeks, lips and nostrils.

The date of the stone is put at about 1160 AD.

Our corbel was discovered a few years ago during restoration work at St Mary’s Church when a small Anglo-Saxon window, which had been blocked up in the fourteenth century, was being unblocked. The stone head had been used along with other stone rubble to fill in the window.

The basic details of the stone corbel are that it is 24cm wide, is 30cm high and is 23cm deep and as we have recently had to pack it away to be moved off site we can all vouch that despite its’ relatively small size it is extremely heavy too!!

The stone type has been identified as Caen Stone, which is described as a light yellow coloured, fine grained Limestone which outcrops in the north western part of France near to the city of Caen. This type of stone is known to have been quarried in the Roman period and then later in the Norman period and sculptures made from this hard, high quality stone are associated with important religious buildings such as cathedrals and churches or secular buildings of high status such as castles.

Unfortunately as this stone had been reused with other rubble to fill in the window in the fourteenth century we have no way of knowing where it may have come from originally. All we can be certain of is that its shape shows that it would have been used as a corbel to support beams for either a roof or a ceiling and because it is carved and painted with obvious skill and craftsmanship the building it was made for was fairly high status.

Liz Pieksma
Keeper of Archaeology

It's Good to Hoard...

2011-11-29T15:15:00.000Z

Back in 1856 a hoard of three Bronze vessels dating to the Roman period was discovered by chance near to the town of Sandy. Roman and Anglo Saxon artefacts were almost constantly being recovered whilst workmen were digging the railway line between Potton and Sandy. Most of these items were found in burials and included many personal items such as jewellery, pottery, keys and toilet sets. So the discovery of this group of rather fine bronze bowls instantly stood out as something very different.

The bowls are roughly the same size; the largest has a rim diameter of 32 cm and the smallest a rim diameter of 22cm. The only decoration appears on the top of the rim as delicate fluting creating a sort of pie crust effect.

Bronze Bowls of this high quality are rare and unusual from any period but for them to have survived for so long since Roman times and to still be in such a complete state is really very special. The original owner of the bowls would have been an individual with serious high status and maybe even have been a Roman official involved with some aspect of commerce and trade in Sandy.

Though hoards of bronze bowls are not common they are not unique either. Very similar bowls have been recovered nearby at Irchester, Northamptonshire, and further away at Sturmere in Essex and Knaresborough in Yorkshire.

Research carried out by DH Kennett and published in 1969 clearly shows that these hoards found in Britain are not unique within the Roman Empire. Similar bronze bowls have been found in Germany, Holland and in northern France. Nearly all of these continental bronze bowls have been found in the graves of wealthy Romans and from the coin evidence have been firmly dated to the late fourth century.

It is very sad for us today that so little is known about the Sandy bowls other than that they were found together as a hoard during the construction of the railway line a little over one hundred and fifty years ago. This is so very different to modern day excavations which routinely accurately record the exact location and the context of where and how objects are found.

It is tantalising to wonder who these bowls belonged to, how they got to Sandy and why were they buried. It is possible that like the examples from the continent these bowls were buried with their owner for use in the next world and that this information was not recorded by the workmen. Or what seems more likely, given the probable late forth century date of the hoard, is that the owner of the bowls buried them at a time of stress for safe keeping hoping to retrieve them later. The late fourth and early fifth centuries saw the collapse of the Roman Empire and it may be that the disintegration of law and order in the community in and around Sandy provoked their owner into the desperate act of hiding them in the ground.

Liz Pieksma
Keeper of Archaeology

Reference.

D H Kennett, “Late Roman Bronze Vessel Hoards in Britain, Jahrbuch des Romisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 16, 1969, 123-148

Object of the Week: The Eglinton Tournament Jug

2011-11-22T12:04:00.001Z

In 1839, after what some considered a meagre Coronation for Queen Victoria, one man, Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton, decided to stage a medieval style tournament to right this apparent wrong.

View of the Tournament

Held at the Earl’s ancestral home, Eglinton Castle in Ayrshire, the tournament attracted over 100,000 visitors travelling from as far a field as America and Europe, and many dressed in the themed medieval costume. Unfortunately, what had promised to be a great event was literally a wash out; a torrential downpour that did not let up for the entire three days of the tournament caused the ground to turn into a quagmire. The jousting pavilion and the roofs of the stands collapsed, and the banqueting tents and ballrooms began to leak. Visitors who wanted to leave, some of whom had been sleeping in the open air due to the lack of available lodgings, had to walk through mud and rain to the local village after heavy flooding stopped any form of transport having access to the castle.

On the third day, with a smaller number of spectators and some hasty repairs, aspects of the tournament still managed to go ahead, but the damage had been done and the press had a field day.

Although the event had not been the success it was hoped it would be, it captured the public’s imagination and was reported across the globe, shining a light on Scotland and making a hero of Lord Eglinton for his chivalrous attempts to help the stranded crowds. And for those who had been unable able to attend the actual event, adaptations of the tournament were staged in London theatres.

Jug, William Ridgway, Son & Co, c.1840, white stoneware with relief moulded decoration.

This jug was one of the many souvenirs of the tournament. Made by William Ridgway, Son & Co it is decorated with knights in armour similar to those that would have taken part in the tournament.

Victoria Partridge
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Arts

Cecil Higgins and the Arctic Explorer

2011-11-17T15:03:00.002Z

One of the nicest things about the redevelopment is that the curatorial team now share an office. In the past I would have to walk from my office in the old Higgins House on one side of the site to offices in the attic of the brewery on the other side to see Lydia (Keeper of Social History) and Liz (Keeper of Archaeology). This meant I tended to only see them when I had a specific purpose, so didn’t get the chance to talk to them about what we were up to with our work.

Now that we are so close, and can bounce ideas off each other at the turn of a head, we have found lots of links between our collections we never knew existed. For example, if I didn’t share an office with Lydia I would neverhave heard her talking last week about how she is researching into Arctic explorers from Bedford, and she would never have known that a few weeks earlier I had come across a medal in the Cecil Higgins Collection given for Arctic Exploration. This led to Lydia finding the name Henry Piers on the rim of the medal, me remembering that Cecil Higgins had an uncle by the name of Henry Piers and Tom (Head of Collections and Exhibitions) googling Piers and finding that not only did Piers’ dates, name of wife etc. match the Higgins Piers, but that he had been on the boat in 1851 that had discovered the North West Passage. Meaning, we had found an Arctic Explorer with a Bedford connection that was related to the Higgins’, which in Curatorial terms is like discovering gold.

Obverse and Reverse of the Campaign Medal awarded to Henry Piers, Assistant Surgeon on the HMS Investigator

Since the 15th Century explorers had been trying to find the North West Passage, a navigable channel that was believed to connect the North Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. By the early nineteenth century the eastern and northern ends of the passage had been charted, with only the link between the two to be found. In May 1845 Captain Sir John Franklin of the Royal Navy with 127 men set sail on the Erebus and the Terror to discover this last remaining part. By 1848 no word had been heard from the expedition and the search for Franklin and his crew became a national priority. In the course of a decade almost 40 expeditions were sent out on the search, and although none were successful in bringing Franklin home (sadly, he and his entire crew had long since perished), major explorations of the Canadian arctic were made; including the discovery by Robert McClure in the HMS Investigator, of the Prince of Wales Strait, which was the last link of the fabled passage.

Henry Piers an Assistant Surgeon had volunteered along with 66 officers and men for McClure’s expedition, which set sail in 1850. What Piers can’t have imagined when he left Woolwich, was that he would not return to England until 1854, after spending three harsh arctic winters trapped by ice onboard the Investigator before abandoning the ship and walking with the remaining crew for fifteen days across the ice to rescue. Although the crew’s original mission to find Franklin had been unsuccessful, during the first year that they were trapped they made several explorations by sledge and on the 31st October an entry in the ships log stated that the existence of a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean had been established.

On his return to England he married Ellen Colburne, Cecil Higgins’ maternal aunt in Bedford and a year later continued his naval career as surgeon various ships before retiring in 1873.

Colburne and Higgins Family Tree

What makes finding Henry Piers even more interesting is that unlike the Higgins, who we have very little personal information about, Pierce kept diaries of his travels, which are now in the National Maritime Museum.

More research needs to be done, but Henry Piers is turning out to be a very exciting member of the Higgins family.

Victoria Partridge
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Thanks to Jane Wickenden the Historic Collections Librarian at the Institute of Naval Medicine and Jean Forshaw at the Institute of Naval Medicine for all their help with the research into Henry Piers.

Remembrance Day 11-11-11-11: Sergeant Henry Hector Manton

2011-11-10T15:31:00.000Z

As we will be commemorating Remembrance Day tomorrow on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day, of the 11^th month, of 2011, today's blog is dedicated to a local Bedford family and a man who courageously served his country during World War I.

Henry Manton Senoir and his wife Kate outside the Woolpack Public House,
Commercial Road. Landlord for 28 years.
Picture Courtesy of Colin Manton.

I am sure that many of our reader’s local to Bedford will recognise the name Manton, after which the road Manton Lane is called. The Manton family had been potato, pig and cattle dealers and farmers connected with Bedford from 1652. Descendant Mr Henry Manton (1845 -1922) was also a farmer and pig dealer, occupying the Hoo Farm and lane up the hill to the waterworks Reservoir off Clapham Road. One son of a family of seventeen Mantons.

Image of Mr Henry Manton Snr with his eldest daughter, Doris,
Courtesy of Bedford Times and Citizen, Beds Times archive, obituary printed, 5.4.1922.

Henry farmed at Brickhill, Turvey Park, and Rookery as well as the Hoo. At one time he had quite a substantial property portfolio and lived in a large house in Alexandra Road. He later turned to the licensed trade as one of Charles Wells respected landlords. For over forty years he was landlord of the Swan at Clapham, the Woolpack at Commercial Road and the Hop Pole in Cauldwell Street, respectively.

Henry Hector Manton (1895-1917).
Picture Courtesy of Colin Manton

Henry Hector Manton (known as Harry) was born in 1895, the first son of Henry Senior and his second wife, Kate. Harry was educated at Bedford Modern School, sited then at Harpur Street with the Blore Façade (now the Harpur shopping Centre). The school now resides, rather ironically, at Manton Lane having moved in 1974 to land that was once owned and farmed by Harry’s father.

The First World War broke out in 1914. Harry decided to join the Army Veterinary Corps (AVC) in January 1916, receiving his training at Milton Ernest. He would have experienced training with horses, perhaps something like the AVC recruits featured here in this film from the Pathe archive.

Click here to see the Pathe AVC Film

Henry Hector in his Military Uniform c.1916
Picture Courtesy of Colin Manton.

This was probably a good fit for a young man who was used to being around a farm and was experienced with horses. The AVC was well tested in WWI and were responsible for the welfare of the cavalry horses when they were injured on the Front. There were 2.5 million injuries treated, mainly on the Western Front and 80% of injured animals were treated and returned to duty. Without these men taking care of and treating the horses, the Allies may not have won the battle.

Picture of 'Harry Hester' Manton on a motorbike outside the Hop Pole Inn with his mother, father and youngest brother. Courtesy of BLARS, ref: Z50-142-809

Sadly Harry was in

France

just eight months, in that time receiving a promotion from Private to Sergeant, credited for his skill and knowledge of treating horses. On the 16^th January 1917, only a year after he had been recruited into the Army, it was reported (according to the obituary in the Bedfordshire Times) to the family that Harry had undergone what was believed to be a successful operation for appendicitis. However, just 2 days later, further news came that he had unfortunately not recovered following the surgery and had in fact died on the 12^th January, age 22. He is buried at Heilly Station Cemetary, Mericourt – L’Abbe, Somme,

France

An AVC decorative badge passed down the generations of the Manton Family and recently donated to Bedford Museum, these types of objects were often given by the soldiers as presents to their loved ones.

It seems likely that, although he was not directly killed in action, in being based at the 2^nd Veterinary Hospital at the Somme he would have witnessed many casualties of men and horses coming from the Front over the months preceding his death, requiring both strength and bravery on his part.

His obituary in the Bedfordshire Times on the 28^th January 1917 stated; ‘He was a promising young man, and in the town and county was well known, and very popular’.

A decorative embroidered hankerchief, these hankerchiefs varied in quality, this one appears to be factory made,
and sold to troops, with the relevant 'arms being added 'AVC' in this case.
This one was bought and given by Harry Manton to his family during the war.

Many families must have been relieved when the Armistice was signed between the Allied forces and Germany at Compiègne, France, marking the end of hostilities on the Western Front. This historically took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. Following the end of the War the AVC was credited for its outstanding contribution and became known as the Royal Army Veterinary Corps on 27th November 1918.

The Manton family grieved for their son, as have many who have lost loved ones through both World Wars and other military engagements over the last century. Give them and their families a thought and your gratitude this remembrance day for their bravery and courage to fight when our country needed them. A minute or two's contemplation seems the least we can do considering the sacrifices that have been made by these men and women. Remember 11-11-11-11.

Lydia

Saul
Keeper of Social History

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Colin Manton and the photographs and the family tree information.
Thanks to BLARS for the photographs of Henry Manton and information.

Thanks to Bedford Times and Citizen for the article 'The Man of Mantons Lane', printed May 1967 and picture of Henry Manton Snr printed in his obituary in Beds Times, 5.4.1922.

Object of the Week: Medal for a Hero in the Mist

2011-11-09T17:12:00.000Z

Our object of the week is a special First World War medal, awarded to Sergeant Augustus Edwin Brawn. Sergeant Brawn was the only person in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry to be awarded both the Military medal and the bar (in addition) to the medal during the First World War. During the war Sergeant Brawn was attached to the 15^th King’s Hussars, a cavalry regiment serving on the western front.

Family photograph of Augustus Edwin Brawn of the 15th Hussars, Bedfordshire Yeomanry

Brawn was Lance-Corporal in 1916 of the 9th Cavalry brigade, and was one of a number of people who received a personal letter on the 15th February 1916 after returning from 6 weeks at the front, receiving thanks from the Brigadier General.

"I wish to convey to all ranks of the brigade my high apprecaition of the way in which they carried out their many duties. Nothing could have exceeded the keeness, energy and high state of discipline of all ranks.

The excellence of the trench discipline was undoubtedly in part responsible for the low percentage of casusalties incurred by the battalion."

The Military Medal, awarded during the First World War to Sergeant Brawn. The bar above the medal was given in addition to mark his bravery in battle.

He was promoted to Sergeant and it was reported that on 8^th August 1918, whilst mounted on his horse at Rosieres, Sergeant Brawn was seriously wounded, receiving a rifle bullet to his neck. He recovered surprisingly quickly from his injuries and just thirteen days later he took part in further action at Achiet-le-Petit. The action started at 11.15pm on the 20^th August, the 15^th Hussars saddled up and started to approach Achiet-le-Petit via Souastre. The following morning a thick mist developed and did not lift until late into the day, at least providing them some protection from enemy fire and as a result the cavalry suffered few casualties.

Brawn's cavalry patrol proved their value in being able to communicate with the firing line and give them a constant stream of information about the enemy. It was here that Sergeant Brawn displayed ‘conspicuous gallantry, courage and tenacity of purpose’. During the fighting he went forward, despite his recent injury, four times under a very heavy barrage of shells and gas, facing enemy rifle fire and machine-gun fire. The information he brought back was ‘of the greatest value’, earning him his commendation and medal. Sergeant Brawn was one of the lucky ones surviving the war and having his bravery recognised, but it would seem the risks he was prepared to take to protect his men and his country went above and beyond a call of duty.

Lydia Saul
Keeper of Social History

Thanks to Mr Peter Brawn who gathered together much of the above information from "the Bedfordshire Yeomanry in the Great War", "The History of the 15th Hussars", as well as the King's Royal Hussars Museum at Newcastle, alongside family documents and photographs.

How I found out about Life in the Loop

2011-11-03T17:01:00.001Z

All of the changes at the Art Gallery & museum over the past few years have led to a much closer way of working between all the areas of the collections. For the first 6 years I worked almost exclusively with the Fine & Decorative Arts collection, initially under James McGregor and since 2008 under the current Keeper, Victoria Partridge. Since the collections have been packed away and we all moved off-site I have been documenting and reconciling the Foreign Archaeology and Ethnography collections, working closely with Liz Pieksma, the Keeper of Archaeology. This post is also a collaborative effort between the two of us.

One of the first things I had to learn about these kind of collections, in comparison to the art collections, is the importance of location context: where they were made or found is crucial to understanding. The location can be a very different kind of starting point for these collections. Of course with art, you can look at the output of a London art school between 1890-and 1910 or a Bedford Arts & Crafts furniture manufacture, but the whole process of engaging with an archaeological context is quite different. The objects in this sense are more important to archaeologists as carriers of information - a broken pot to an art historian needs repairing, to an archaeologist it reveals the material the pot was made of which can date or locate the origin of the pot which can tell you about trade, population migration or all manner of things.

View Biddenham Loop in a larger map

Mike Luke, Life in the Loop,
Albion Archaeology (Bedford, 2008)

I chanced upon all of this when while writing about architecture in Bedford. I was looking at an online map of listed buildings, and followed a link to a map of scheduled ancient monuments - archaeological sites registered as significant. This showed me far more sites in the Bedford area than I expected, including an oval barrow just west of Queens Park in Bedford, an area I once lived. I asked Liz about how to go about finding out about a site from the location and whether we had any finds, and this led on to the main point of this blog. The barrow, I learned, was on the edge of a very important area known as Biddenham loop, a landscape enclosed on three sides by the meandering River Great Ouse. The history of it I'll let Liz explain, but this led me on to the other organisations that the Museum works with with regards to archaeological records. The area has been well researched in the past 20 years or so, and was allready earmarked to feature in our new displays. The archaeology in the area has been done by Albion Archaeology and Mike Luke has produced a book, Life in the Loop, of their findings. When all the research is complete they pass their finds to the Museum and their records to the Bedford Borough Historic Environment Records (HER) department. The book sums things up nicely, but if we want more information or images for displays it will be HER that we go to. HER, as well as Bedford and Luton Archive Service (BLARS) will possibly also have records of more recent life and occupation of 'the loop' which can add to our understanding of the entire history of the site.

So now I'll hand over to Liz...

The recent excavations prior to the expansion of development around Biddenham and the even more recent publication of all of this archaeological evidence and research has enabled a fascinating series of landscapes for the area around Biddenham to be understood.

Evidence for the earliest settlements in the Palaeolithic, the Mesolithic and the Neolithic is sparse. Concentrations of manmade flints along the edge of the river terrace but out of the flood plain, show human activity whilst several rectangular enclosures and an oval shaped monument strongly suggest ritual and funerary ceremonies took place.

The evidence for human activity during the later Neolithic/ Bronze Age is more abundant and the presence of pits and flint concentrations shows that the whole area within the loop of the river is being utilised far more. The presence now of three separate barrow cemeteries spread out across the woodland landscape shows the continuation ceremonial importance of the area.

Towards the end of the Bronze Age and into the Iron Age the settlement becomes more organised. A larger, main settlement on the western part of the loop becomes established with a smaller area is situated to the east. However the most interesting feature of this period is the establishment of a numbers of deliberately dug pits which form a line across the southern part of the area between the bend in the river .This line of pits would have been a very significant feature in the landscape and has been interpreted as a physical boundary.

In the middle and later Iron Age the settlement pattern transforms into six separate farmsteads spread out along the river terrace. Several of the small farmsteads were found to have round houses and storage pits at their core and two of them were situated at either end of the earlier pit alignment.

The pattern of small farmsteads continues into the early Roman phase and becomes more formalised with the addition of individual enclosure ditches to demark space. The presence of individual burials on the outskirts of the farmsteads and a small cemetery next to one particular farmstead shows that the people farming in the area were also buried there. Overtime it seems that enclosures, boundaries and track ways around and between the farmsteads become more established in the landscape. The overall impression is that the small farmsteads situated close to the river terrace were using the interior woodland and grassland communally.

Evidence from the excavations shows that few finds or features dating to the Saxon period were recovered and this strongly suggest that whilst people still remained in the area it was at a much reduced level of activity.

The remarkable story to come out of this archaeological investigation is that people have been using a range of natural resources over and over again through time. The constant resources have been the river, the floodplain for pasture and the wooded interior for grazing. Amongst this landscape they have made farms, worshipped and buried their dead.

Kristian Purcell & Liz Pieksma

Object of the Week: 'Mary Boteler of Eastry, Kent', 1786, by John Hoppner

2011-11-03T10:22:00.000Z

When I recently saw the new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery advertised I was immediately stuck by the painting of Mary Robinson as 'Perdita'. This was partly because it's a very fine bit of 18th century portraiture, with all bravura and richness that epitomises that era, but also because it was unmistakably by John Hoppner.

Hoppner (1758-1810) was one of the leading society portraitists of his day, and regularly patronized by royalty. Stylistically he was heavily indebted to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was dominated the art scene as the first President of the Royal Academy. Hoppner is no longer as well known today but anyone who has spent any significant length of time in the Victorian House displays at the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery would have become very familiar with his striking portrait of 'Mary Boteler of Eastry Kent', 1786 (below).

John Hoppner, 'Mary Boteler of Eastry Kent', 1786, detail.

The portrait of Mary Boteler is not as opulent as that of Mary Robinson, but in its quietness and confident handling, the portrait is still very distinguished. The brooding clouds of the background were a regular feature in Hoppner's portraits: here they add a melodramatic undercurrent to the mood of the piece. The palette and lighting is also carefully muted. The greys of the lace and silk merge into the clouds, framing and emphasising the pinkness of the lips, cheeks and eyes. Light falls most strongly across the silk bow on the front of the dress but it only serves to lead the viewer in to the picture and up to the clear focus of the picture - the face, and that marvellous open expression. It is an emotive and touching portrait, and draws a sympathetic response to the sitter. Mary (nee Harvey) was her husband's second wife. His first, Sarah Fuller had died following the birth of their first son, but in contrast Mary went on to give William a further six sons and five daughters.

The partner piece, a portrait of William Boteler, is far more serious in tone. With precision, Hoppner depicts Boteler's features and the details of his outfit. He pictured in a pose that is relaxed, but also professional, as if he has just turned from writing some official letter to give his attention to the viewer. Boteler was a surgeon and an amateur historian, a man whose brain was his sharpest tool, and the viewers focus is drawn just above his expression to the light upon his brow, to reflect on the mind behind the brow. The unfussiness of Hoppner's depiction of Boteler gives us a very matter-of-fact character. Instead of a picturesque backdrop of brooding clouds, the eye is halted by the wall of his study, and brought back to the man in front of us. The red fabric of the chair seems to serve a purpose too: the brightest patch of colour in the picture, it serves to detract from the pinks in the face. Where Mary's femininity is expressed through the soft reds of the lips and, more subtly, of the eyes, which are strikingly emotionally communicative, William's masculinity is reinforced by his lips seeming comparatively paler than the fabric, and his eyes are engaged in intelligent enquiry, rather than emotional expression.

Kristian Purcell

Curatorial Assistant.

Black History Month Past and Present

2011-10-27T10:41:00.000+01:00

The purpose of Black History Month is to acknowledge the contribution that people of African descent have made to history, so that they can celebrate their ancestral heritage and it can be embraced by all people in British society. It was started in 1987 and continues to be celebrated in October every year with a range of events celebrating the African diaspora (people of African descent 'dispersed' around the world).

Family photograph from Claudia Rennie

It is commonly thought that people of African descent were absent from Britain until the arrival of the immigrant ship Empire Windrush from Jamaica in 1948. However, there are records of black people in the British Isles since at least the 3rd century AD, when an African division of Roman soldiers is believed to have been stationed at Hadrian’s Wall. References are made to black people living in Bedfordshire from 1661 in Parish Registers, which note both baptisms and funerals.

Extract of William Rudd's will leaving part of his estate and an annual stipend to his maid servant Sabina.
Courtesy of BLARS, Ref: abp-wl745-22

A connection existed between the Caribbean and Bedfordshire as a result of local ownership of plantations by wealthy land owners. For example, the Payne family had plantations in St Kitts from the beginning of the eighteenth century. There were individuals locally that also fought for the abolition of slavery on plantations, including Henry Thornton of Moggerhanger Park. Some plantation owners would bring their maid and man servants with them back to England when they visited. One example is Sabina, who was maid servant to William Rudd of Carlton. He specified in his will that ‘Sabina the black’ would live in a cottage as part of his estate with a stipend of £5 per annum. Sabina became the first black woman to be recorded to marry in Bedfordshire. She wed Robert Newson at St. Paul’s Church on the 23^rd December 1745.

Moggerhanger Park, originally home to the Thornton family and supporters of the anti-slavery campaign.

Discrimination against black people is reported in the Bedford Bee local newspaper 19^th November 1879. A letter was written by American Harvard graduate, De Witter Dumas, who had been unable to find employment in Bedford despite his qualifications and references, leaving him starving and homeless.

Jamaican born Joe Clough became a local celebrity in Bedford during the early 20^th Century. He was well known as a local bus, and later taxi, driver, having come to Bedford in 1912. Most notably he drove the Poppy Bus for the British Legion every year. Joe Clough was probably the first West Indian from the area to join the Army Service Corps at Kempston barracks in 1915 and drove an ambulance in France during the First World War. Many people from African Caribbean descent also served in the British Army during the Second World War, supporting their ‘mother country’, and to them we owe a great debt.

Joe Clough in front of the ' Poppy Bus', Eastern National Omnibus Company, who Joe worked for from 1919 until 1947.
Courtesy of BLARS Ref: Z1306/13uncat

Ten years ago Bedford Museum celebrated Black History Month with an exhibition called 'The Front Room' exploring the history of individuals from the Caribbean coming to Bedford during the 1950s and 60s. Following the war, due to a lack of employment opportunities in their homeland many people from the Caribbean came to England in search of an income to support their families. Some companies with labour shortages encouraged applications by immigrants, including the brickworks and Britannia Works. In 2001 some oral history recordings were carried out with local groups, such as the Cabana Club, to record local people’s experiences. Their photographs were also shared with visitors through the ‘Memory Bank’ computer in the gallery, some of which you can see below (press play).

Here is an extract from an interview with Josephine Corrion, who shared her story with us of coming to Bedford from Trinidad, during the 1960’s.

“I was born in Carriacou, sister island of Grenada. At the age of 19 I left home and went to Trinidad to get married, that was 1954 and in 1955 my first child was born. I lived there for 7, 8 years. I’ve got four children and 3 of my 4 children were born in Trinidad …My husband got a job; my brother got him a job at the Britannia steelworks, iron foundry …I took a job on a farm planting peas and beans and potato. There were hundreds of us on that ship and my brother was waiting for me and we boarded a train. It took about a week and a half …when we arrived at Southampton the immigration …officers were nice.

I applied at Bromham Hospital, domestics and … I got a letter telling me that (I had) an interview … When I got there the Matron called me in and she … asked me all sorts of questions and I answered, to the best of my ability and in the end she said “I’m sorry Mrs Corrion, I haven’t got a job for you as a domestic”. I thought to myself “Oh no, you’ve kept me talking all this time and she hasn’t got a job for me”. She said “But I have got a vacancy for a nursing assistant. Would you like that?” I said “Oh please.” … I was accepted and that was in 1963 and I worked there, in Bromham Hospital for 31 years.”

“I must tell you the Bedford Carnival started in my dining room!

My daughter Elma being born in Trinidad and always hav(ing) the sound of the steel band drum in her head. She started it. I explained how things should be done and what they should do and do it on the cheap and they did. She had open(ed) up a workshop and the people bought their costume themselves. It went for three years and I don’t really know what happened. Bedford Carnival is no more, but it was nice, it was nice.”

Before Bedford Museum closed for re-development an exhibition was hosted in 2010, as part of our Audience Development HLF funded work, in association with Utopia Mas, a Carnival Troupe run by Bedfordians David and Judith Brown. David and Judith run workshops for young people to encourage their appreciation of the Carnival tradition and to bring communities together. Below is a slide show of some of the carnivals Utopia Mas have taken part in (press play).

“I am very lucky that Mrs Brown works at my school St Gregory’s, so I was amongst the first to join Utopia Mas when she started it. I have always liked singing and dancing so this was a great way to meet new people, have fun and learn new dances. As part of the group, I have travelled to different carnivals all over the place from the local Luton carnival that is one of the biggest, all the way to the Isle of Wight. My favourite carnival was Notting Hill Gate because it was one of the largest carnivals I had been to. I had always wanted to go there from a young age and taking part in it was a very exciting time for me.

We’ve danced in the sunshine and also in the pouring rain but it was still fun being with all the friends I have made. Utopia Mas consists of many different schools with people from all ages. I am happy that I have been able to mix with people I never would have met if I hadn’t of joined the carnival band in the beginning of 2009.

I am now looking forward to 2010 and many more years of dancing and I hope they shall be bigger and better, and pray more people will join to make our dance group greater”.
Claire Collins, age 12, Utopia Mas participant.

Our next venture at the Art Gallery and Museum is to expand both our oral history archive and our collections to better reflect the culturally diverse heritage of Bedfordshire. Through our Audience Development Project, funded by the HLF, we have plans to work in partnership with the Bedford African and Caribbean Forum. This partnership will help us to make our collections and displays more representative and inclusive of all Bedford’s diverse communities in the future.

The BACF are rounding up the Black History Month celebrations with their ‘We are Amazing Finale’. This is a culmination of events that have taken place during the month with a variety award show. It will be held at the Addison Centre, Kempston on Saturday 29^th October, from 6pm. All are welcome! See their Black History Month Diary for ticket prices and further details.

Lydia Saul,

Keeper of Social History

Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Bedfordshire and Luton Records and Archives Service (BLARS) for the information and image of William Rudd's Will and picture of Joe Clough.
Thanks to the participants of 'The Front Room' exhibition for their photographs.
Thanks to Utopia Mas for giving us permission to show their photographs.

Object of the Week : ‘La Mort Poursuivant le Troupeau des Humains’ by James Ensor

2011-10-25T12:40:00.000+01:00

'La Mort Poursuivant le Troupeau des Humains' 1896, James Ensor, etching on paper

With Halloween fast approaching I thought I would share with you one of my favourite spooky images from the Cecil Higgins collection, ‘La Mort Poursuivant le Troupeau des Humains’ or ‘Death Pursuing the Herd of Humanity’ by the Belgian artist James Ensor (1860-1949).

Ensor's work contains carnival masks, puppetry and skeletons which were probably influenced by his family’s souvenir and curiosity shop in the seaside town of Ostend.
‘My childhood was filled with marvellous dreams and frequent visits to my grandmothers shop, with its iridescent glow from the reflections of the shells, sumptuous lace, strange stuffed animals and terrible savage weapons that terrified me’.

The flying web footed skeleton brandishing a bladed scythe, terrorising the hoard below is one of Ensor’s more gruesome images of skeletons. They could also be reminders of mortality in the same way as memento mori jewellery or the 17th century ‘Vanitas’ still life paintings of Northern Europe. He would even paint himself as a skeleton as seen in 'Skeleton Artist in his Studio', 1896.

James Ensor in his studio, Anonymous, 1896/1897 AMVC House of Literature, Antwerp

Skeleton Artist in his Studio, 1896 Koninklijk Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp

However, what is far scarier than Ensor’s print is the thought that the drawing that it is based on, in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp, is still missing after being stolen from an exhibition in the The Hague in June. Now that's the stuff of curators nightmares!

The Triumph of the Death, 1887 Koninklijk Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp

If you want to find out more about Ensor and see other works by him there is a great online museum that you can visit.

Victoria Partridge
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

The Curious Mr Howard

2011-10-20T17:13:00.001+01:00

When packing the library collections I noticed an extensive number of biographies produced over the centuries about Mr John Howard. He, aside from Bunyan, is the most familiar name within and outside of Bedford connected with its history, and there is still recognition for his valiant efforts as a prison reformer. As one of his biographers put it, Howard "was as eager to get into prisons as Bunyan was to get out".

John Howard, Lithograph by Antoine Maurin, 1820's - 30's, after artist Mather Brown 1789,
original in National Portait Gallery, reproduction from Lantern Slide, BEDFM 1974.27.1537

John Howard’s accurate birth date is not known, but it is generally acknowledged as 1726. His mother died when he was a boy and John’s father sent him to boarding school in Hertford around 1733. When John’s father died in 1742 he was an apprentice to Newnham and Shepley, grocers and sugar merchants near St. Paul’s in London. Following his father’s death, using the money he inherited, he set off on a Grand Tour of Europe, which was a popular thing to do during the age, and discovered an enthusiasm for travel abroad. John was taken ill with a ‘nervous fever’ and cut his travels short with a visit to Hotwells in Bristol. Around 1751 he lodged with Sarah Lardeau at Stoke Newington who cared for him during his illness and he married her a year later. She unfortunately died after three years of marriage.

Bristol Delftware Plate from Howard's dinner-service. BEDFM 2006.198

In 1757 Howard set off for Lisbon following a devastating earthquake there – curious to see the damage to the country and still recovering from the loss of his wife. The ship he travelled on, the Hanover, was captured by privateers and he was imprisoned firstly at Brest Castle, later some of the crew were held at Dinan. “In the castle at Brest I lay six nights upon the straw; and observing how cruelly my countrymen were used there … I had sufficient evidence of their being treated with such barbarity, that many hundreds perished; and that thirty-six were buried in a hole in Dinan in one day”.

Earthquake at Lisbon, 1755. BEDFM 1974.27.1570

Howard was fortunate that he was treated as if he was an English officer and was paroled to live as an almost-free man. He was eventually released and returned to England in exchange for a French Officer being released in his stead. When he returned he immediately complained about the abuses of the Englishmen he had witnessed to the Commisioners for the Care of Sick and Wounded Seamen, including Prisoners-of-war. This was the first attempt by Howard to reduce the suffering of prisoners. The event appears to be formative in his interest in seeing justice for those imprisoned inhumanely.

Henrietta Leeds, John Howard's second wife. BEDFM 1974.27.1542

After 1757 Howard moved to Cardington to his father’s estate and started making improvements to the cottages for the workers on the estate. On 25^th April 1758, he married Henrietta Leeds and moved to Watcombe Park in Hampshire for three years due to Henrietta’s poor health. In 1763 he made improvements to his own house at Cardington.

Howard's House at Cardington before improvements. BEDFM 1974.27.1544

On 25^th March 1765 Henrietta gave birth to their son, Jack. Sadly, a few days after the birth, Henrietta died suddenly. John struggled to come to terms with Henrietta’s death and decided on a period of travel abroad, which was again to be interrupted by restorative visits to Bath and Bristol for his health.

He returned to Cardington in 1770 as at this time he is recorded as contributing £50 toward a new Pulpit. He later split from Bunyan Meeting Church in 1772, after a disagreement with the then minister over disallowing child baptism and went on to form his own Congregational Church further along Mill Street in 1774.

Howard Congregational Church, Mill Street. BEDFM 1974.27.131

John was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1773, after being nominated by and with persuasion from Mr Samuel Howard Whitbread to take up the role.

His attendance at the Assizes Court was the first time since his own imprisonment as a Prisoner of War that he had come into contact with real prisoners. Afterwards he decided to investigate the conditions of prisons locally, with his first visit to Bedford and Cambridge jails in that same year. He then travelled up and down the country gathering evidence and statistics for his report, published in 1777, on the State of the Prisons. He highlighted that a great deal of reform was needed to relieve the suffering and in particular he pursued the issue of debtors being trapped in prison by the release fees, set and administered by the jailor and forced to languish in jail. His main suggestion was the abolition of the Jailors fees, and paying the governor a fair annual salary by way of compensation from the state. He raised the issues of disease, malnutrition and lack of adequate facilities for prisoners that equated not only to a harsh punishment, but in effect a death sentence for many.

John Howard visiting prisoners, thought to be by James Gillray,
reproduction from Lantern Slide BEDFM 1974.27.1528.

Howard became obsessed with providing the evidence, not just in England, but also for comparisons of prison conditions Europe wide. He extended his travels to France, Switzerland, Holland, Germany and the Netherlands. In 1781 he extended his visits to Russia and Poland. In 1785 he set off to explore the causes of the plague and in 1786 he became quarantined at a lazaretto (a quarantine camp) near Venice. Following his publication Lazarettos and Tuscan Law on his seventh foreign visit he arrived at Kherson in the Ukraine. In January 1790 he nursed a young woman at Kherson who was suffering from a fever and unfortunately he caught the disease himself. He died just 12 days later. He was given a grand funeral in the Ukraine, although this was against his wishes and a memorial was created in his honour, that survives in Kherson today. At John Howard's express wishes a modest memorial was placed at St. Mary's Church, Cardington above his wife Henrietta's inscription.

Photograph of the unveiling of John Howard's Statue in St. Paul's Square, 1894. BEDFM 1974.27.1554a

Over a hundred years later in 1894 Bedford commemorated John Howard by unveiling a statue in St. Paul’s Square. A ha'penny was also produced in commemoration of his work, with the inscription 'Remember the Debtors in Jail'.

The Howard Penal Reform League was first formed in 1866 based on the principles John Howard had established through his international prison research, and to be a society for debate and reform in prisons for the future. You can find out more at The Howard Penal Reform League website .

Front cover of Tessa West's new biography The Curious Mr Howard, published 2011

The Curious Mr Howard by Tessa West is a newly published biography about the prison reformer. Tessa’s background of working both in education and within prisons gave her an insight and empathy with John Howard. In her introduction she states she was inquisitive to know what motivated Howard to travel as widely as he did and explore such horrendous conditions in prisons at considerable risk to his own health. She was interested in seeking a little more from known sources about his personality and character. Tessa endeavours to move away from the glorifying biographies to look more realistically at the man and his actions.

One aspect of John Howard that Tessa West explores in some detail in her biography is a scientific exploratory paper from 2001 by a psychiatrist looking at whether Howard may have suffered from Aspergers syndrome or something similar. His awkwardness with people, his strict religious beliefs and routines, his difficulty with numbers and writing, his insistent punctuality, his numerous re-visiting of prisons over and over are all suggestive factors. Many of his contemporaries noted his unusual or peculiar behaviour and at times even he referred to himself as ‘Mad Jack Howard’. The Gentleman’s magazine wrote the following obituary, when having received news of ‘the not unexpected, yet certainly untimely, death of the eccentric but truly worthy John Howard, Esq.”. Perhaps it was his eccentricities that made him well suited for the task he set himself of striving for prison reform, and gave him comfort from a life that had been less than ideal, but at least had proved worthwhile.

Lydia Saul

Keeper of Social History

Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Tessa West author of The Curious Mr Howard from which most of the facts cited above were compiled. Thanks also to Waterside Press, the publishers for providing a complimentary copy for the Museum and Art Gallery Library.

Object of the Week: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Heritage Henredon Furniture

2011-10-19T12:30:00.000+01:00

Bookcase and Chest of Drawers, Frank Lloyd Wright about 1955, Cecil Higgins Collection

In fifties America, if you couldn’t live in one of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s houses, the next best thing was to fill your existing house with his line of home furnishings.

Frank Lloyd Wright Heritage Henredon Fine Furniture advertisement, 1950s

The range, which was designed by Wright and produced in partnership with five different companies, included fabrics, wallpapers, a palette of 36 custom mixed paint colours, rugs and 75 pieces of furniture made by Heritage Henredon.

Wright had been designing furniture for his buildings since the 1890’s, writing in 1908 that ‘the most satisfactory apartments are those in which most or all of the furniture is built in as a part of the original scheme.’ So his decision in his late eighties to produce furniture commercially was seen by some as a compromise of his ideals.

Wright designed three separate lines for Heritage Henredon, ‘Burberry’ circular in form, ‘Honeycomb’ more triangular and ‘Four Square’ which was the most conservative of the designs. ‘Four Square was the only one chosen by the company to go into production, renamed ‘Taliesin’ after Wrights Wisconsin home.

‘Furniture by Frank Lloyd Wright’ Margery R. Phillips

The Seattle Times 25 December 1955

The furniture was designed to have ‘infinite adaptability to American living’. Desks could be used as dressing tables, small tables could double up as chairs and bookcases had moveable tops so that could be used as room dividers or on top of chests of drawers. Smaller pieces could fit together to form larger ensembles; the sofas had cushions with cut off corners to which smaller tables could be fitted. Decoration was limited to the edges so that ‘is of the piece, not on it’ and there were no handles only drawer pulls which could ‘catch light and shadow for interesting and changing patterns’.

Frank Lloyd Wright Heritage Henredon Fine Furniture advertisement, 1950’s

‘Furniture for the living-dining area has never been so thoughtfully designed. Mr Wright has been working with the combination area over 50 years, so it is no wonder that the low dining table and chairs keep their place and blend so beautifully for more comfortable, relaxed living.’

Unfortunately whilst the advertising at the time stated ‘We have been asked who will like this totally new-type of furniture and our answer is that everyone will because it is the next trend’, the furniture failed to be popular with the American public. Whilst the line wasn’t unprofitable, repeat orders from stockists were insufficient to justify its production and Wright ended his contract with the company in 1956.

Victoria Partridge
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

P.S. I could have written a whole other blog on Wright’s beautiful ‘Taliesin Ensemble’ fabric and wallpaper designs, but unfortunately we don’t have any in the collection. To see some online have a look at The Metropolitan Museum of Art website who have this amazing fabric by F. Schumacher and Company.

Design 104 in wood brown Manufactured by F. Schumacher and Company, Metropolitan Museum of Art

or the Victoria & Albert Museum who have some of Wright’s wallpaper.

Baillie Scott in Bedford

2011-10-14T12:21:00.002+01:00

When you walk around Bedford, it wouldn't immediately strike you as the home of one of the leading lights of the Arts & Crafts movement. Whilst the unkind treatment of the town by the 1960s often detracts from the more interesting architectural features of the town, you haven't unwittingly walked past the evidence: Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott's (1865-1945) 12 years living and working in Bedford unfortunately left no obvious landmarks in the heart of the town. So, for the uninitiated, who was Baillie Scott, why did he come to Bedford, and what did he do while he was here?

Who was Baillie Scott?
Baillie Scott was an important figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, which was the most significant form of architecture from 1890 to the First World War. Scott was a designer of houses and furniture who had great success in this country and in Europe. Born in Ramsgate, Kent, in 1865 he grew up in a world already familiar with William Morris's ideals of good design. Despite an initial education in agriculture in Gloucestershire, his reading of Morris, Philip Webb and Norman Shaw led him to take up architecture. After first taking a position in Bath, he moved to the Isle of Man were he spent 12 years and where he came to maturity as a designer. He developed an idea of the intergrated interior, where the furnishings should be in harmony with the structure of the space, and details such as the mantlepiece would be designed with the decoration to sit on it in mind. Stylistically, he moved from a medieval Morris-inspired style to a cleaner and simpler approach, following in Voysey's footsteps, eschewing elaborate decoration of surfaces and creating furniture in simple, elegant forms. He clarified his ideas in the book Houses and Gardens, 1906.

Blackwell, Cumbria, photo from the Lakelands Trust.

One of his most famous houses is Blackwell, in Cumbria, run by the excellent Lakelands Arts Trust. The house is open for visitors, and you can even see some of our collection of W.A.S. Benson lighting on display in the stunning rooms. The German architect Hermann Muthesius described Blackwell as "…one of the most attractive creations that the new movement in house-building has produced" and credited Baillie Scott with the "new idea of the interior as an autonomous work of art...each room is an individual creation."

Why did he come to Bedford?

Bedford had one very strong asset to a designer of interiors. John P. White's Pyghtle Works was renowned for the quality of its output and was patronised by important designers and architects, such as Sir Raymond Unwin, for its wood and metalwork. Positioned by the railway, the Pyghtle was well connected to the rest of the country and J. P. White had a showroom in London on Margaret Street to sell its products. In 1901, the year he moved to Bedford, Baillie Scott produced a catalogue of furniture for White and for one with such attention to detail, being able to visit the works on a regular basis must have very beneficial. Scott was also a family man with young children, and the strong reputation of the town's schools, which had been so important in the late 19th century growth of the town, would also have been an attraction.

Surely someone in Bedford would have commissioned him to design their house?

While Bedford wasn't completely devoid of artistic, forward thinking people in need of a house, the social make-up of ex-colonial types, who had come to Bedford to school their children, was overwhelmingly traditional in its outlook. Miss Susan Margaret Collie, appointed head of Bedford High School in 1899, was one exception to the rule: on her appointment she commissioned the young Scottish Architect Andrew N. Prentice to design the Norman Shaw inspired 56 De Parys Avenue, and, in fact, Baillie Scott's first contact with Bedford may have came from another artistically minded Bedfordian patron.

56, De Parys Avenue, by A. N. Prentice.

Design for a house in Bedford for Carl St Amory.
Published in The Building News, August 30th 1895

Carl St Amory was an extravagant figure for Bedford at that time, a musician and a writer of operettas, he regularly held concerts at the Corn Exchange. In 1895 he commissioned Scott to design a house for him. The designs were exhibited at the Royal Academy and published in The Building News (pictured right) but for it may have been that the more rural setting of Bedford's surrounding villages suited his designs better. Scott designed two houses for clients in Biddenham, a Miss Steele and a Miss Street, and Mr A. A. Tealby commissioned a house in Sharnbrook. Scott himself set up home and office in a converted cottage on the site of Fenlake Manor, after initially setting up at 4 Windsor Place, on the corner of St. Cuthbert's Street and Goldington Road. It was at Fenlake that he wrote Houses and Gardens, but tragically the house burnt down in 1911 taking with it all of his records, and after a disrupted period in St. Johns Street and Elstow he eventually moved to London in 1913. See the interactive map below.

Kristian Purcell,
Curatorial Assistant

The core of the information in this blog came from two essays by Simon Houfe, 'The Villa Architecture of Bedford III - M. H. Baillie Scott', Bedfordshire Magazine Vol. XII (Luton, 1971) p141-146, and 'Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott - Craftsman Architect' the Foreword to: M. H. Baillie Scott, Houses and Gardens (Woodbridge, 1995)

A Google Map of Baillie Scott related locations:

View Bedford Architecture: M H Baillie Scott in a larger map

The Primrose League for Empire and Liberty!

2011-10-11T15:24:00.001+01:00

Following the Conservative Party conference last week, this object of the week looks at the history of the Primrose League. I stumbled across a group of very attractive badges in the collection during the packing project that had been presented to members of the political organisation, the Primrose League. The Primrose League was set up by Lord Randolph Churchill (father of Winston Churchill) in the memory of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) in 1883.

Portrait of Benjamin Disraeli for the Primrose League, Item 158,

On the 19^th April every year Primrose Day was celebrated in remembrance of Disraeli, because Primroses were said to be his favourite flowers. Queen Victoria sent two wreaths of Primroses on the occasion of Disraeli’s funeral. There is also an oil painting titled Primrose Day, 1885 by Frank Bramley in the Tate Collection.

The League's motto was ‘Imperium et Libertas’, Empire & Liberty, which features on many of the badges and insignia issued, as well as their PL monogram. Co-incidentally, Bedfordian Col. Frederick Burnaby was instrumental in the early establishment of the Primrose League and sat on the first Ruling Council. The first ‘Habitation’ was set up at the Strand on Primrose Day, 1884.
The League was important at this time as an agent of progress within the Tory party. It marked a split from the more traditional supporters within the landed classes, to encompass a more popular appeal. The new League became much more inclusive of women and younger members than previously encouraged by the Party.

Ladies Grand Council Member's Badge, this particular ribbon also contains several Special Service badges, a PL Champion badge and a badge 'For Recruiting'.

The League was based on a friendly society style organisation, by subscription rather than eligibility to vote. The structure included a National Grand Council for which individuals could be elected. Each region also had its own Divisional Council and at grass-roots level individual ‘Habitations’ or lodges were set up locally for members to gather political support for the Conservative Party. From 1885, a separate branch under the title of the Ladies Grand Council was set up specifically representing female members.

Primrose League Warrant for the 'Harvey' Habitation being set up at Potton,
1st August 1894. BEDFM 1999.398

Typically each Habitation consisted of a Ruling Councillor, Honorary Secretary, Executive Council, and Wardens aside from the standard membership. The Wardens performed a number of tasks essential to the operation of the association including recruiting members, collecting subscriptions, circulating pamphlets, and assisting in the canvassing and registration efforts undertaken to assist political candidates. The general membership was divided into Dames for women and Knights for men, with other members being known as Associates. Habitations could also be served by Dame Presidents, who were at a similar level to the Ruling Councillor.

Membership was graded one (the lowest) to five. Star medals were awarded to Knights and Dames who had made an outstanding contribution to furthering the principles of the League.

Primrose League Star Medal awarded for outstanding contribution

Also Special Service badges were awarded to members in recognition of their efforts within the organisation. The Junior Primrose League members became known as Primrose Buds.

Primrose League Ribbon with many badges attached including Juvenile Branch Secretary, 1918 Special Service badge, Delegate badges for 1921, 1923 & 1924, and General Election Badge 1922.

The types of fundraising events attended included summer village fetes. This photograph shows one such fete at Bromham in 1912 when well-known aviator Claude Graham-White a previous Bedford School Pupil visited. Unfortunately he was running nearly an hour late and a vast crowd had gathered both within the fete boundary and outside it. The crowd went mad with excitement when Claude arrived, tore down the hessian fence you can see in the background of this photograph and mobbed the plane. Claude was so alarmed at the lack of crowd control that he flew off, almost as soon as he had arrived. You can see Claude Graham-White on the right hand side shaking hands and facing the camera. You can also see the threat from the heads of the external crowd poking over the fence moments before it collapsed.

Aviator Claude Graham-White (far right facing camera) at Bromham Primrose League Summer Fete, 1912.
Courtesy of BLARS, Ref: Z1306-21-10

Poster for Primrose League Summer Fete at Melchbourne, 1908
Courtesy of BLARS, Ref: PK10-2-1

The Primrose League was incredibly successful in its early years, by 1891 having recruited over a million members. At this time the League was the largest and one of the most influential groups affiliated to any political party. After WW1 their activities and influence waned and towards the end of the 20th century the League’s role was superseded by the Conservative Central Office. The League finally came to an end quite recently, closing its membership in 2004.

Lydia Saul, Keeper of Social History

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to the Conservative Party Archive at the Bodleian Library.

Thanks to the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) for the pictures relating to Primrose League Fetes.

A Glimpse of Life from the Edge Or "Let’s get something out of the freezer for dinner"

2011-10-06T15:23:00.000+01:00

Whilst trying to unravel the evidence for early human occupation of our area during the Ice Age I have been struck by not only the wealth of artefacts we have in our collections but also the depth of pioneering research carried out by some of our notable Victorian antiquarian collectors. Some of these names include James Wyatt (1816-1878) and Worthington G Smith (1835-1917).

Both of these collectors were amongst the first to realise that these roughly hewn flint shapes appearing deep down in the river gravels were not the result of natural rolling and bashing in the riverbed but were very deliberate, specialised, manmade tools.

They also realised that because the flint tools were appearing in the same deposits as those containing the bones and tusks from ice age mammals that early man had to be contemporary with many of the larger mammals. The concept that mankind have evolved over time did not always sit very happily with the official church doctrines or even with society in general at the time.

More recently an internationally renowned expert in the field for this period, Dr.John Wymer (1928-2006), wrote of the gravel pits at Biddenham as having “the distinction of being the first prolific Palaeolithic sites to have been discovered in Britain.”

The flint tools retrieved from these sites tend to be fairly large, roughly shaped hand axes and flakes. Today when we handle these items they seem smoothed and worn and this is precisely what has happened to them. These once razor sharp tools have been removed from their place of discard or last use and have been swept along by ancient rivers which became flooded and turbulent with the melt waters from ice sheets and glaciers melting and refreezing over a long period of time.

The sort of time period experts are talking about for the Palaeolithic period is 1,000,000 BC to 10,000 BC. Looking at this almost incomprehensible span of time we are doing well to find any evidence for large mammals let alone humans and even when we have found them, we have to be able to recognise them!

A selection of flakes and hand axes from Biddenham, Beds.

So what were our ancestors doing with these flint tools? Evidence for their use comes from two main sources, the objects themselves and a more recently evolved method of study, Experimental Archaeology.

Some finds of bones of Ice Age mammals have been found cracked and broken in a specific way and this has led archaeologists to believe that humans were using the heavy and sharp hand axes to deliberately open up the bones to remove the nutritious bone marrow from within. Other bones show cut marks and scrapes indicating that the sharp flint tools were used to cut flesh and sinews from the bone.

We are really fortunate to have in our collections from Kempston a bone which shows this very direct activity, which we still to this day have in common with our ancestors. At first sight the small rather tatty bone looks nothing special but closer inspection shows a series of parallel cut marks, evidence of the sharp edge from a flint blade cutting into the bone as the user was stripping the flesh from the bone

A bone from Kempston with visible cut marks.

The popular image of early man and their diet often starts with the premise that people hunted in bands killing large wild animals and supplementing their diet with berries and leaves. Whilst some of this may be the case it is more likely that early hunters were more scavengers of already dead or nearly dead game. The need to keep close to the animals that roamed around the landscape would lead them by necessity to have a nomadic life style. During the warmer periods throughout this vast expanse of time they could dine on elephant, deer, oxen, rhinoceros, hyena and maybe even hippopotamus. During the colder periods the choice of menu would change to mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, reindeer, bison and arctic hare.

Once you start to think more deeply and consider the evidence we have today of what conditions and life was probably like back in the Palaeolithic period it is just amazing that mankind has survived at all and that the whole of human history is a real testimony our resilience and adaptability as a species.

Liz Pieksma, Keeper of Archaeology

Cecil Higgins and the Philosophers Stone

2011-10-04T14:42:00.000+01:00

Many years ago in a land called Prussia there lived a young man who, it was said, had discovered the legendary Philosophers Stone and with it could turn metal into gold. Word spread amongst the land of this extraordinary power until it reached the ear of the King who summoned the young man to his court. The night before the meeting, as the King dreamed of untold riches, the young man trembled with fear as he hadn’t really any powers at all. He had tricked his friends by slight of hand and though he had asked them to keep his alleged power a secret they had been so excited that they had not been able to keep it to themselves. He could not face the King with his lies, so he fled under cover of darkness to the neighbouring land of Saxony where he hid.

When the young man did not arrive at the Prussian King’s court he sent out soldiers to find him, and offered a huge reward of for his capture. Tales of the young man's powers had already spread beyond the borders of Prussia and it wasn’t long till Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, had heard of the young man hiding in his lands. Augustus wanted the young man's power for himself, so locked him away in a castle in the city of Dresden until he could make him piles of gold. If the young man told the truth he would surely face his death, so instead he continued his lie. For three long years he toiled in his castle prison trying to turn metal into gold, and every time the King asked if he had finished he would lie and say ‘not long now’.

Finally, the King had had enough and demanded that his prisoner set a definite date when the gold would be made. The young man promised that in sixteen weeks he would be able to produce gold and in the eight days following those weeks he would produce two tonnes of gold for the King. Sixteen weeks and eight days came and went and the King, realising that no gold could be made, planned to execute the young man for his lies. However, his wise advisors intervened and told the King that he would look a fool for all the money and time he had spent waiting, and instead suggested the young man be set another task.

As you read this you may be thinking what has this story to do with Cecil Higgins? Well, the young man's name was Johann Friedrich Böttger, and the second task that the King set him was not to produce gold but something far more delicate…. porcelain. There is some debate as to whether it was Böttger who can be fully credited with making porcelain, or the court official and scientist in charge of the project Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhausen. In 1707, a year after Böttger was spared death, the two men succeeded in producing a red stoneware with similar properties to porcelain.

On the strength of this discovery Augustus the Strong set up a factory in Meissen. Early shapes were made by moulding or casting from Chinese originals with either no decoration or simple reliefs of sprays of plum blossom.

Teapot made from red porcelain moulded with plum blossom, about 1710 - 1713, Meissen

The teapot above, bought by Cecil Higgins in 1934 from one of his favourite dealers Hyam & Co, is an example of these early wares. It is dated about 1710 and is very similar in design to Chinese originals, such as this one in the V&A collection. These red wares described by the factory as 'red porcelain' or where only produced until 1713 by which time Böttger's second invention, white porcelain, became the standard porcelain produced.

In 1715 Böttger was finally granted his freedom, but the years of imprisonment had taken its toll on his health and he died four years later at the age of 37. Despite the fact he had never managed to make gold from metal, his porcelain was the finest in Europe. The factory he ran went from strength to strength producing the most inventive and beautiful works in Europe for many years to come. As for Augustus the Strong, although he never got his magical gold, he made plenty of real money from Böttger’s invention and his name will forever be remembered as the owner of the first European porcelain factory.

Victoria Partridge
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Object of the Week: Women’s Voluntary Service Uniform

2011-09-27T16:11:00.000+01:00

“If it should be done the WVS will do it”. Established in 1938 by Stella Isaacs, Marchioness of Reading, the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) for Civil Defence was there to assist the Air Raid Precaution Service during the Second World War. Often this meant setting up rest centres that could provide shelter, food and comfort to those who had been affected by the Blitz. In particular they also aided the evacuation of children from London to safer, often more rural, areas, such as Bedfordshire. They supported their fellow land army recruits, for example by making pies to help keep up their strength during harvest time. Often they provided refreshments for troops stationed locally. ‘British’ restaurants and Rest Centres were set up across the country to care for the displaced that the WVS managed.

Visit to Bedford's British Restaurant, 1942, the kitchen. Left to right: unidentified WVS member, Lady Reading, Miss Rogers wearing official uniform jacket and skirt, Hon. Pearl Lawson-Johnson, unidentified WVS member wearing official white overalls. © The Bedfordshire Times/ Times and Citizen

In the Museum collection we have an example of one Bedfordshire woman’s WVS uniform, sadly we have not been able to trace as yet the original owner. The uniform of the WVS had to be designed in a hurry between April 1938 and the start of the war. The uniform was designed by London couturier Digby Morton and included a suit, blouse and overcoat. Lady Reading also managed to talk the head of Harrods into making and supplying them.

The Hon. Pearl Lawson-Johnson escorting Lady Reading to the British restaurant in Mill Street.
Both are dressed in official WVS coats and felt hats bearing the WVS badge.

The coat and hat were for sale from 20 different outlets around the country at first. These were available to any WVS badge-holder, although it was stated that no one was obliged to wear the garments.

By October a tweed jacket and skirt, as well as red blouses and WVS overalls extended the range. In December the embroidered badges, scarves and white overalls were launched at 229 shops, which were listed as authorised retailers for the merchandise.

WVS Civil Defence embroidered badge with Bedfordshire name tab.

Name tabs for counties and county boroughs were issued, alongside instructions on how uniform should be worn; “It should be complete and should not be mixed with ordinary clothes; brown low heeled shoes and no jewellery are advised”.

There had been many enquiries for a suit in a lighter material for summer use, but wartime difficulties in the supply, dying and distribution of woollen and cotton materials, meant that it wasn’t possible. The solution to this was the launch of the official dress in green, manufactured to start with only by Lillywhites of London. By early 1942 all uniforms were administered centrally by the Ministry of Supply due to rationing. Material was provided for those who desired to make their own. The dress in our collection is a Utility dress manufactured by Brilkie.

WVS official dress, manufactured by Brilkie, BEDFM 1997.8.1

In the collection we have a group of photographs published by the Bedfordshire Times of a visit by the founder of the WVS, Lady Reading to Bedford in February 1942. She visited the British Restaurant, 36 Mill Street, at the old fire station.

Lady Reading speaking to Sergeant Pedder. Behind the Sergeant is Miss Rogers.

The WVS continued as an organisation after the war and changed its name to the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service in 1966, now known as WRVS, which continues to provide charitable assistance to those in difficulty.

Lady Reading enjoying a hot bowl of soup at Bedford's British Restaurant.

If you or someone you know have memories (such as enjoying a bowl of soup) at the British Restaurant or as a member of the WVS/ WRVS in Bedfordshire and their contribution during the Second World War, then please do share them with us on the blog comments, email chag@bedford.gov.uk, post on Facebook , post your pictures to our Flickr group, or Tweet.

Lydia

, Keeper of Social History

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to Bedford's Times and Citizen for permission to reproduce the images of Lady Reading’s visit to Bedford in 1942.

Thanks to information provided by WRVS and their factsheet WVS uniform, written by Matthew McMurray, WRVS archivist, http://www.wrvs.org.uk/Uploads/Documents/About%20us/wvs_wartime_uniform.pdf See link for copyright restrictions.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…..

2011-09-20T15:44:00.000+01:00

This morning, as like every other, the last thing I did was to check my appearance in the mirror before I left the house to brave the world, and that is when it all started. When and how did mirrors begin? They must have been invented by someone, somewhere surely?

A quick look at various websites came up with a wealth of information about mirrors from around the world, through the past, modern day scientific types and even some scary futuristic uses of mirrors!

It turns out that simple mirrors made from pieces of polished stone such as obsidian and volcanic glass have been unearthed in Central and South America dated to 2000 BC. More sophisticated mirrors, manufactured from sheets of polished copper, have been found from at a number places around the world including Mesopotamia from 4000 BC, in ancient Egypt from 3000 BC and from China around 2000 BC.

The oldest mirrors in our collections found in Bedfordshire, dated 400 BC to AD 100, and are mere babies compared to those from the ancient world!

Two near complete mirrors showing the decorated handle and highly stylistic
Celtic Art design engraved on the back of the mirror plate.
Left: Old Warden Mirror. Right: Bromham mirror.

At least 4 bronze mirrors have been found in Bedfordshire; 2 from Old Warden, 1 from Bromham and 1 from the south of the county at Pegsdon. This is quite a lot considering only 58 mirrors from this period, the Late Iron Age, are known of in the whole of Britain.

Making a bronze mirror would have called upon specialised skills. The first step would be to extract and smelt copper and tin from the natural ore, these metals would then be merged to produce bronze. The handle would then be formed from bees wax and covered in clay to form a mould. This would then be heated to allow the melted wax to be poured off and to be replaced with molten bronze. Once this was cooled the bronze handle would be broken out of the clay mould.

Detail of engraved pattern on the Old Warden mirror.

The plate would either be made from cast bronze or a sheet of bronze which would then be painstakingly hammered and formed to the required shape, size and thickness. The backside of the mirror would then be decorated with engraved interlaced swirling, patterns and the front ground and polished to produce the reflective surface. Finally the handle would be riveted to the mirror plate.

A typical mirror of this type is about 350 to 400 mm long and the round or kidney shaped plate is about 200-300 mm in diameter and is 1 to 2 mm thick. Serious archaeological, academic research into this restricted group of functional yet highly decorated objects has concluded that they represent so much more than merely a way of checking personal appearance.

The polished side of the mirror, now tarnished.

The very rarity of these objects combined with the sublime skill and craftsmanship need to produce them would ensure that only the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in a community would be able to own them.

As many of these mirrors were found during the Victorian period the exact location of where they were excavated is not known. Those with known provenance seem to be associated either with ritual deposition in watery contexts such as lakes and rivers or in burials as grave goods to accompany an individual into the next life. The association of mirrors with either a group ritual at a waterside shrine or as a treasured procession for an individual reinforces their high almost magical status.

Mirror ownership as a symbol of power seems to be even more powerful when you actually consider the properties a mirror has. Its reflective qualities allowed the user to see not only their own face but if positioned correctly the user could clearly see behind. This “third eye” effect could be of great practical benefit to the user as well as making them appear to be all knowing.

Yet more magical power stemming from the mirror surface is unleashed when the owner turns the reflective surface around to face the sunlight or moonlight. Now the mirror surface acts as a miniature version of either the sun or the moon and the captured rays could then be made to dazzle on lookers. The appearance that the mirror and its owner were able to command rays of light and use them to induce blindness would have been a powerful weapon to control and instil fear into a community.

As an archaeologist I have long realised that late Iron Age mirrors are extremely rare and Bedfordshire is rather fortunate to several complete examples I had not really appreciated the symbolism and power associated with them, until today.

Liz, Keeper of Archaeology

Frederick Burnaby: Victorian Bedford's Hercules

2011-09-15T12:35:00.002+01:00

Frederick Burnaby has been described as a modern day (well Victorian) Hercules and was born in Bedford in 1842 at St. Peter’s Rectory (now part of Bedford School buildings). Colonel Burnaby’s achievements precede him, having survived frostbite, typhus, an exploding air balloon and arsenic poisoning. He successfully explored Uzbekistan, where it was so cold his beard froze solid and snapped off, was Colonel of the Queens household cavalry, became an MP, founded the society newspaper Vanity Fair, crossed the channel by air, wrote a string of bestselling books, commanded the Turkish army and died a heroic death in battle – welcome to the remarkable life of Bedford-born Fred Burnaby.

St. Peter's Rectory, Bedford where Fred Burnaby was born in 1842

Even as a child, Fred Burnaby was known for his fearless nature. Friends commented on how they would stand aghast at Burnaby’s daring in jumping the wide backwater at Newnham to save walking over the wooden bridge. As Frederick grew up (quite literally: he reached a whopping 6’ 4”) this confident and fearless nature would lead him to some astonishing achievements. Not content with the more common pastimes of the day, Frederick became interested in ballooning in the summer of 1864, he joined Monsieur Goddard a French balloonist in taking a flight from Chelsea gardens over London. Unfortunately, Goddard decided last minute that Burnaby would be too heavy for his balloon ‘The Eagle’. Undeterred Fred jumped into the balloon at the point of take-off as a stow-away. Amazingly, Burnaby’s 16 stone weight remained undetected by Goddard who was busy fuelling the fire.

Burnaby’s ballooning career excelled when in 1882 he departed from Dover in a balloon borrowed from Mr Wright. Setting off for the Channel, he arrived later that day in Normandy, startling some local chickens and becoming the first hot-air balloonist to travel solo from England to France.

Photograph of Colonel Frederick Burnaby by Thomas Fall.

Fred Burnaby was also renowned for his amazing strength. He could break a horseshoe apart with his bare hands and his party trick was to bend a poker double round a dull dinner guest’s neck. The most comical demonstration of his strength was at Windsor Castle. Burnaby was a member of the Royal Horse Guards, an elite brigade called the Blues. A horse dealer had come into possession of a couple of very small ponies, and brought them to show Queen Victoria. As a joke, Burnaby’s fellow Blues drove the ponies into Burnaby’s upstairs room. Fred was suitably amused, but then came the difficulty that the ponies would not descend the stairs. Burnaby solved the dilemma. Taking a pony under each arm he walked downstairs with them and set them in the courtyard to the great relief and amazement of their owner.

David Litchfield's Cartoon of Burnaby taking the ponies down the stairs at Windsor. To see more of David's fantastic artwork go to http://www.davidlitchfieldillustration.com.

Frederick Burnaby died at Khartoum, Asia in battle in 1885. He was killed during an ambush by Sudanese warriors, aged only 42. He was mourned by the nation, especially here in Bedford where a memorial window was placed in St. Peters Church in his honour. Burnaby was a favourite of Queen Victoria and she reportedly fainted when told of his death.

Burnaby related places in Bedford are: A commemorative window in St Peter’s Church, Burnaby House on Burnaby Road (A boarding house for Bedford School students founded in 1891), and the Burnaby Arms pub on Stanley Street - cheers Fred!

Memorial window at St. Peter's Church: Depicts Isaiah (2:4) "And they shall beat their swords into plow shares and their spears into pruning hooks.... (In memory) ...of Colonel Burnaby born in this parish fell at Abu Klea Jan 17th 1885"
(© NA 2005 - see Bedford Virtual Library)

We would love to know, inspired of course by Burnaby's dinner party antics, what party tricks you have up your sleeves, so feel free to share them with us on the blog comments, email chag@bedford.gov.uk, post on Facebook , post your pictures to our Flickr group, or Tweet.
Lydia Saul, Keeper of Social History

This article has also been published in The Bedford Clanger newspaper this month - this can be viewed online at http://www.scribd.com/doc/64064341/sept2011-issue4 or is available from local information outlets, as well as local cafes.

Object of the Week – Andy Warhol’s ‘Tomato: Campbell Soup I’

2011-09-13T12:57:00.000+01:00

Usually on the Object of the Week blog we show you an object which you won’t be able to see in the flesh until we reopen, but this week’s object is one that you can, as it is going out on loan to an exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.

Exhibitions seem to work in seasons, with galleries opening and closing exhibitions at the same time. Exhibitions that started at the beginning of the summer are closing now and new exhibitions are opening which means lots of paper work, packing and assessing the condition of objects. It’s great, as not only does a wider audience get to see the works in our collection and find out about us, but we build good partnerships with other galleries, so that if they have something in their collection that we want to show in Bedford it’s a lot easier to arrange. Our popular Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition was the result of just such a partnership with the British Museum.

Examining the condition of a Warhol screeprint.

This month you can see works from Bedford in Suffolk, Cumbria, Bath, Kent, Sussex, and if you want to travel a little further afield, Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The Warhol is quite a straight forward loan, but it’s not unusual for our works to travel to several venues. Frederick Etchells ‘Progression’ 1914-15 has just returned from a touring exhibition which ended at Tate Britain, after previously being at Nasher Museum of Art in North Carolina and The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.

Warhol’s ‘Tomato: Campbell Soup I’ will form part of the ‘Warhol is Here’ exhibition, which looks well worth a visit. Warhol first exhibited his iconic soup cans in Los Angeles in the early sixties as a series of 32 paintings: each one a different flavour from the Campbell catalogue, lined up on narrow individual shelves as if in a supermarket. Like Coca-Cola, Campbell had become an enduring image of American life, its label design had not changed in over fifty years and its price in almost forty. Through Warhol’s work it became one of the most recognisable images of Pop Art.

On being asked why he decided to paint soup cans, Warhol answered “Because I drink it”.

Victoria Partridge
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

‘Tomato: Campbell Soup I’ was purchased with the aid of a grant from The Art Fund
De La Warr Pavilion ‘Warhol is Here’ 24 September 2011 – 26 February 2012

Mammoth Traffic Problems Hit Bedford High Street Again!!

2011-09-08T12:59:00.000+01:00

Like most of us, I have watched films and read books about life in the Ice Age. More often or not these films have involved a variety of hairy but funny and cute animal characters either struggling through an endless frozen landscape or fleeing catastrophic floods. Though I enjoyed the films I did not really give them a second thought, until recently when my attention was grabbed by some information that I came upon as I was sorting through our database. The records showed photographs of Mammoth tusks and Woolly Rhinoceros bones!

As I got more and more drawn into the database I discovered that a whole host of Ice Age mammal remains have been recovered from under our pavements and roads, and not just in one location but all over the place.

Map of Ice Age Mammals found in Bedford and surrounding areas. The finds include Mammoths, Straight-tusked Elephants, Reindeer, Hippos, Bison and Woolly Rhino's.

You can download a PDF of this map here.

The story with our collections it seems starts in the 1860s and is directly connected to quarrying for gravel in the river valleys. This gravel was an essential building material for the urban expansion of Bedford town, its roads and railways, in the Victorian era.

During this period the digging of gravel was done by hand with shovels and wheel barrows. As the workmen dug down into the valley soils they were in a brilliant position to notice anything unusual and odd in amongst the gravel pebbles. The finding of fossils and old objects from the ancient past in the gravel was commonly known and often antiquarians would cultivate and encourage the men to find and keep such finds by buying the items from them.

Mammoth tooth found at St. Cuthberts, Bedford

Though a large part of our Ice Age mammal remains were collected during the mid to late nineteenth century, finds from modern day mechanised gravel extraction quarries are still regularly made and these form an important part of the collection too.

So, it appears that our image of a mammoth walking down the High Street is not fictional but is based on solid fact. Finds of Mammoth bones and tusks have been dug up from not only the High Street but from Horne Lane, Midland Road and St Cuthbert’s church yard. Even more amazingly it is not just mammoths, remains of extinct Bison, Reindeer, Elephants and Woolly Rhinoceros have come to light too.

Bison tusk found at Horne Lane, Bedford

Elephant/Mammoth tusk found at Bedford High Street

So, next time you are walking along the Embankment, the High Street or out in the Ouse Valley countryside imagine you are walking with Ice Age mammals.

Liz, Keeper of Archaeology

Object of the Week - Armorial Teapot

2011-09-06T09:15:00.000+01:00

For the last week I have had my head well and truly stuck in teapots. Despite being one of the few people in this country that doesn’t drink tea, it’s been fascinating. There are nearly 100 teapots in the collection, from delicate early 18th century China teapots to beautiful Victorian gothic teapots.

Meissen teapot about 1725-1730 and Charles Meigh Gothic teapot about 1842

To begin with I was just looking at them from a purely aesthetic point of view but after looking below the surface each one can tell an important story. For example, there is the early Meissen teapot decorated by Christoph Conrad Hunger who ran away to Vienna with Meissen’s secrets and helped set up a rival company. Another is a Staffordshire teapot that has the secret emblems of the Jacobite Rebellion hidden in its decoration. Even the size of teapots is interesting, the earlier they are the smaller they are reflecting the exorbitant price of tea before taxes on it were dropped.

For me, what is really interesting about teapots is their role in the race to produce porcelain in Europe. Like the tea that brewed inside them, the first teapots came from China. Though silver and ceramic factories imitated their shape and decoration, it was the delicate Chinese porcelain that was most prized. Potters realised if they could match the hardness and delicacy of the Chinese teapots they could create a whole new market that could not only compete with the imports but eventually take over. Only one problem… they didn’t know how! The factory of Meissen in Germany were one of the first to discover the technique and by 1719 they had the monopoly on European porcelain. Unfortunately for Meissen (but great for the rest of Europe) unscrupulous Meissen employees sold the secrets of porcelain and rival factories were started up. In England, it wasn’t until the 1740s that several factories succeeded in producing porcelain, but it took many years of experimenting with different materials to produce a porcelain that could cope with hot water as well as its Chinese equivalents.

One result of the inability to produce porcelain in England was that if an Englishman wanted his coat of arms painted on a tea set he would have to have it done in China and then sent back to England. Which brings me to this week’s object of the week, an armorial teapot from about 1760.

Armorial Teapot from China, about 1760

Though on first glance you might be thinking “out of the 100 teapots in CHAG’s collections surely there is a more beautiful one than this?” You would be right. I could have shown you the gilded teapot shaped as a Roman soldier holding a dolphin or a fantastical teapot shaped like a monkey. But this particular teapot has had me playing detective, and I still haven’t found all the answers.

If you look closely at the motto below the arms it reads ‘LOYAL AU MOAT’.

Detail from the Armorial teapot

This was my first mystery, try as I might I could not find a coat of arms for a family that was ‘loyal until a deep water filled ditch that surrounds a castle’ which made me think the motto was wrong. This isn’t unusual with armorial china. When an image of a family’s coat of arms was sent to China important details could be lost in translation. Here, the ‘A’ in moat should be the ‘R’ of mort. The inscription would then read ‘Loyal until Death’ – the family motto of Michael Barnwell.

So who was Michael Barnwell? This is where it gets more interesting. A little research revealed that Michael Barnwell worked for the East India Company and died in 1792. The East India Company had had the monopoly on all trade between Britain and Asia since 1600. From 1678 tea became one of its most profitable cargo, and with the tea came porcelain, which acted as ballast for the light load. So Michael Barnwell’s teapot not only illustrates China’s prowess in porcelain production and the trade in armorial china, but is also inextricably linked to the importing of tea to Britain. Not such an ordinary teapot after all.

Victoria Partridge
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

What I found out this week: If you ask a certain kind of question when you work in a museum you can find yourself on an interesting journey.

2011-09-01T10:07:00.001+01:00

Liz, our Keeper of Archaeology, has been preparing a blog post on mammoths in Bedfordshire coming next week!), and while chatting about it, it raised the question in my mind about the way the climate in Bedford has changed over the centuries and millennia, and the things that have caused this. In the museum's galleries (now all packed away for the redevelopment) were geological specimens from Bedfordshire’s pre-historical past and information about the various different eras in the Earth's history. Words like Jurassic and Pre-Cambrian were clearly explained and illustrated. But with the text panels in store and the objects packed carefully in boxes where do I start?

All our collections are carefully packed away in many, many boxes.

Books, books, books...

When I first posed my question I presumed that we may have objects that might help answer it – stones that revealed that Bedford had been under the sea, or a tropical forest, or whatever the truth turns out to be. But I also needed context and I was first handed a book that could provide that. Museums are stores for all kinds of things and we have books that are some of the first written on geology and archaeology, which in themselves could offer a fascinating insight into how our understanding has changed over the past 150 years or so. Thankfully, this book, ‘Digging up the Ice Age’ was published in 2009 by the University of Birmingham and gave me an very readable and up-to-date introduction to the subject. Technology and industry have made the last 30 years a period of great advancement in what we know about the earth and that that advancement continues at pace: scientific understanding is based on what we know today and can often be changed by what we find out tomorrow. One fascinating aspect of this advancement was that it wasn't only technology that was the cause but it had also come from the way geologists and companies who extract gravel have learnt to work together.

There is so much to absorb about the different causes of climate change: from continental drift, with England crashing into Scotland millennia ago while moving from somewhere low in the Southern Hemisphere on its way past the equator up to its present position relatively high up in the Northern Hemisphere; the variations in the earths orbit around the sun, or the tilt of its axis; the balance of life and death producing different gases into the atmosphere; and ‘positive acceleration’ where a frozen landscape, being white and icy reflects the sun’s rays and makes it colder still (or vice versa). Distilling all this into a simple answer can make your head spin. We think of the Ice age as one period of time but in fact the have been many ice ages "The" ice age is really just the last one (on which there'll be more next week).

A Bedfordian standing on Bedford soil.

So the ground beneath a Bedfordian's feet has covered most latitudes between the south pole and its present spot and survived numerous ice ages and warmer periods. But what was happening above this moving landscape? A clearer picture of the local environment's changes over the millenia came from the Bedfordshire Geology Group who will be helping us with our new displays. They have a very helpful map here that shows the different layers of rock across the length of the county. During the Jurassic period (150-200 million years ago) tropical seas covered Bedfordshire and were variously shallow and warm or deep and cold containing the smallest of life forms to huge reptiles. The clay that formed at the bed of that sea is at the surface in north Bedfordshire but deep beneath the chalk escarpments and other layers of rock by the time you get to Dunstable, which in itself revels something else - the erosion of the landscape due to glaciation and the melting of the glaciers.

And then Liz says “Have you looked at pollen?” and a whole other possible direction of how the climate of our town has changed has opened up before I have even got to any objects! It's certainly going to be fascinating to see how the experts put all this together and pull out the story of Bedford's Geological past for our new displays.

Kristian Purcell,

Curatorial Assistant

Object of the Week: Lars Kinsarvik chair

2011-08-30T09:37:00.004+01:00

When looking through the collections to choose objects to post about on this blog, I’m always fascinated to find an object that can tell a story about the motivations behind design ideas: how the ideas of the time - whether political, moral, or aesthetic - and the personal beiliefs of the designer come together to inform the physical shape of an object.

The object I’ve chosen this week is a chair made by the Norwegian woodcarver and designer, Lars Kinsarvik (1846-1925) between 1900 and 1905. It used to occupy a corner of our 'Burges Room' where works by William Burges sat side by side with Gothic Revival pieces, Arts & Crafts metal work, and other Victiorian ephemera. In 2005 it was displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum as part of the International Arts & Crafts exhibition. In our new galleries the chair will have a more seperate space as we look at the more individual works in the collection.

In it's previous location Kinsarvik's chair could be mistaken for a fantastical Norse curiousity: a picturesque plundering of design ideas from the Viking past, just as the Aesthetics looked to Japan, or the 18th century Gothick's looked to medieval castles. This chair was made with a different philosophy, one informed by British Arts and Crafts but one that evolved in a very different context.

The British Arts and Crafts movement was interested in reviving lost crafts and methods of working in part as a response to the impact of the industrial revolution on both product design and the individuals dehumanised role in the production process. Norway, like many other smaller European countries was not heavily industrialised and these countries had there own reasons for looking at their cultural past.

Norway at this time was not yet an independent country, having been controlled by Denmark for 400 years up to 1814 and then by Sweden up until it claimed independence following a referendum in 1905. Norwegian Romantic Nationalism emerged during the mid-years of the 19^th century as a way of identifying, understanding, and raising the status of a Norwegian national culture. The people of Norway's cities felt that true Norwegian culture existed only in the country's rural communities and set out to record it.

Composers and writers documented the melodies and lyrics of the folks songs of their country, just as Antonín Dvořák in Bohemia, or Bela Bartok in Hungary also did. In Norway and in many other smaller European countries people documented dances, folk tales and stories, collated poems and the myths of their countries, and published collections or compiled the folk legends into a national epic - such as the Kalevala in

Finland

. In Norway and Sweden open air museums were created to display buildings transported from the country to the city, one in Olso even includes a wooden 'Stave' church transported from 100 miles away in Gol.

Archaeology also contributed to this sense of a reclaiming of a lost culture with the discovery and excavations of Viking ships at Tune in 1867, at Gostad in 1889, and a particularly impressive ship at Oseberg (detail pictured below left).

Detail from the Kinsarvik chair (left) detail from the Oseberg ship, Vikingskipmuseet, Oslo (right)

Doorway from the Hedal Stave Church,
Oppland, Norway.

Lars Kinsarvik was a designer and wood carver and has been described as an "enlightenment man, fiddler, poet and a goalkeeper". He studied with the Norwegian painter Anders Askevold in Bergen, then moved to establish a school in woodcarving in Hardanger. Later, he taught at a school of arts & crafts in Dovre and became a leading educational istitution and continues to have prominence today. Kinsarvik wanted to revive Norwegian folk art, and was particularly adept at Norse decoration, such as the 'Karveskurd' - the name given to the kind of geometrically symmetrical carving shown above. The style of his work became know as the 'Dragon' or 'Viking' style; it's motifs coming from details on Stave Church doorways and other sources of Viking age design. The main feature of the chair is this large symmetrical interlocking pattern culminating in a Queens head. She is flanked on either side by the jawless heads of two Viking knights that rise out of the frame of the back rest. Whether the Queen is symbolic of a person real or mythological, or emblematic of something else, we are unsure.

Kinsarvik's approach to furniture is to take a simple robust form in an easily carvable softwood and use it as platform for his sculputral forms, decorative reliefs, and paintwork. These forms and patterns aren't just playful historicism evoking Viking legends, but a serious attempt to contribute to a Norwegian national style at significant time in the country's history.

Kristian Purcell,
Curatorial Assistant.

Talking Business

2011-08-25T09:47:00.001+01:00

Following on from Victoria’s popular ‘The Etiquette of Visiting’ blog I have been looking at the trade cards in the museum collection. These have been produced by a variety of businesses in Bedford over the last couple of centuries. Visiting cards were the precursor of the trade card, but the two served very different purposes and to mix them up was regarded as an insult both in the past and in some circles even today. Today’s modern business cards lie somewhere between the two types, often forming the basis of introducing the individual as well as the business they are in.

John King and J Baker, Sadlers at Offa Street and High Street, Bedford, late 19th Century

The earliest form of trade cards can be found in London during the 17^th century and grew in popularity as printing methods grew up across the country.

Early trade cards could be printed by Letterpress, which was invented as an alternative to Calligraphy. The type was hand cast and individual letters were hand set into lines, until machine set composition made this process more straight forward. Woodcuts were the other kind, which involved the technique of engraving letters into and printing from a woodblock. Copper-plate engraving became the most popular form in the 18^th and 19^th Century for trade cards, until Lithography came in from 1830 onwards as the established method and provided the opportunity to print in colour.

The rise of the middle class during the Industrial Revolution and an overall lessening of social formality meant that a class of private entrepreneurs emerged that needed to promote their business services and exchange contact information. This class merged the idea of the visiting card and trade card to produce the first variation of the modern business card. These were handed out widely at presentations and exhibitions, but were often looked upon with disdain by members of the upper class.

Kilpin and Son, Ironmongers at 17 High Street, Bedford, late 19th Century

Other industries aside from the Sadler's cards, who often depicted horses on their cards, would also take an illustration of a key feature of their business, such as this one produced by Rowland Hill of 40a High Street, Bedford, Printer and Stationer.

Rowland Hill "Bookseller, stationer, printer, engraver,
bookbinder, periodicals regularly delivered, paper hangings, schools supplied".

Thomas Lester, lace designer and manufacturer similarly depicts a lacemaker on some of his business cards.

With business often going on personal recommendation from other customers, having a business card that could be handed to current or prospective customers was essential, for example for businesses that were quite specialised like Clock and watchmaker, S Miller.

Even less specialised shops though like the local grocers, such as Jelley and Clarke, with their delivery service, would also have their own cards for customers.

The George Inn’s card depicts the building itself and this was often a technique used on trade cards to help customers find their location. This was certainly the case in the early years before street naming was formalised and often maps would also be provided on the card to help guide customers to the shop.

The range of businesses shows that most viewed business cards as an essential promotional tool. This was perhaps later supplemented and overridden by the growth of local newspapers like the Bedford Times and the local Kelly’s directories by way of advertising their services to potential new customers.

The combination of services within one business as advertised on these cards always fascinates me, showing the versatility of many of these local craftsmen. Below is the card for Mr Handscomb who combines his woodworking skills in being both an established cabinet maker and undertaker at his shop in Ampthill.

The trade card has evolved and today Corporate branding and individual business identity is promoted through a combined personal and business card, usually with corporate logos in a digitally designed and printed card. The fact that this form has changed relatively little over the last few hundred years shows their effectiveness. The e-business card seems to have become their next evolution, attached to emails, but also available in a printed format.

If you feel inspired by the cards in this blog and have any historic trade cards from local Bedford businesses, or indeed any unusual and individually designed more modern versions, then please email them to chag@bedford.gov.uk and I will upload them to the blog. Alternatively find us on Facebook or post pictures to our Flickr group.

Lydia Saul,
Keeper of Social History

Object of the Week - Bonbonnière

2011-08-23T14:54:00.005+01:00

In the 18th century, when regular trips to the dental hygienist weren’t really an option, what was a lady to do about the bad smell of gingivitis emanating from her lips? To mask this problem, 18th century women would carry around sugar coated nuts or herbs that they could slip on the tongue. But of course, a fashionable lady would need something beautiful to contain the mints - so what was basically a ‘tic tac’ box turned into a fashion accessory to be shown off in society. Known as a Bonbonnière, from the French for Bonbon meaning sweet, these small ornate boxes came in various forms from standard box shapes to animals and figurines.

Cecil Higgins collected various Bonbonnière’s the finest of which were made at the Chelsea Porcelain Factory. This one from the 1760’s is particularly lovely.

Chelsea Bonbonnière, about 1755-1760 (7.5cm tall)

In the form of a mans head it is made from porcelain painted with enamels, the gilt collar opens to reveal even more decoration with painted sprays of flowers inside and out.

Side view

Cecil Higgins bought the Bonbonnière in October 1937 during the height of his museum collecting from one of his regular suppliers, Hyam & Co Antiques on Brampton Road, London. It was a profitable day for the company that specialised in ‘Old China and Pottery’, as Higgins spent nearly £200 on porcelain including a pair of Bow dancing figures, a Ludwigsburg Gallant and his Lady, and a Alcora teapot in the form of a hen with a chick on its back.

Unfortunately whilst the ladies who carried Bonbonnières may have had more pleasant smelling breath, the sweets - largely made of sugar - would have done nothing to help the initial cause of the problem, as sugars' potential to rot teeth was not widely known.

Victoria Partridge,
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Fire Fire! Part 2: A Great Service

2011-08-18T11:42:00.002+01:00

Following on from my previous post last month concerning the objects donated connected with Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade we have received some supporting documents to Mr Mead’s collection. Mr Mead was an active member of the Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade between 1892 and 1930. The letters include his “election” as a member in June 1892, as well as his first Rule book for the brigade.

Rule Book issued to Mr Mead as a new member of Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade, 1892

June 1892

Dear Sir,

I have great pleasure in informing you officially that you have been unanimously elected a member for the Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade. Can you arrange to meet me at the Engine House on Saturday Afternoon at 4 O’Clock to make arrangements about your uniform.

Yours Faithfully

Oliver C. Coombs

Hon. Sec.

Mr Mead photographed having won the Captains Challenge Cups, courtesy of BLARS, Ref: AD1082-3p46

Walter summarises his career in a letter written to Mr Keech on June 14th 1949.

Dear Sir,

For reference to your enquiry Re: Bedford Fire Brigade. I was elected June 1^st 1892.

My Service as an Active Member over the age of 55 years as per Brigade Rule was extended until Feb 12^th 1930 with their appreciation of my services; also I was informed by the Management Committee I was appointed Honorary Member of the Bedford Fire Brigade for Valuable Services extending over 35 years, 7^th of June 1930. Was Liason Officer during the 1939-1945 war at the Control Room for the Borough Brigade. I have the National Fire Brigade’s Union Silver Medal for 20 years (Reg no. 936) with 3 five year bars also the Defence Medal 1939-45 and some 30 years ago was made a Life Governor of the National Fire Brigade Widows and Orphans Fund.

Yours A/C

W N Mead

Mr Mead's National Fire Brigades Union badge

Not long before the end of his career in July 1926 a letter is written from Francis Corby, The Chief Officer, informing Mr Mead that he will be left in charge of the Brigade while he is away in Blackpool for a week. He comments "I have full confidence in leaving you in charge and am not going to give you any instructions but would remind you that you can call on Messrs W. H. Allen's men and also Peak Frean's if you require them, and also in case of a really big fire do not hesitate in sending for outside help". Both the Allens factory and the Peak Frean, also known as Meltis, Factory had their own private fire brigades in the event of a fire on site.

Meltis Factory Fire Brigade Cart, part of Bedford Museum's collection.

Letter from the Committee February 1930 informing Mr Mead that they can no longer extend
his active service at Bedford Fire Brigade.

It would appear that because Mr Mead was a highly valued member of the brigade he was allowed some grace over his retirement age, which was 55 years in 1926 and Mr Mead appears to have been allowed to continue until 1930 when a letter from the Committee was written with concern over the precedent being set for other members of the brigade in extending his service any longer with the brigade.

Shortly following his retirement the Recreation Committee wrote to Mr Mead offering him an Honorary membership to the Recreation Room and he is also elected an honorary member of the Brigade allowing him to continue some involvement with his colleagues. He appears to have been recalled during the Second World War to operate as the Liason Officer for the fire service at a time when every person counted for Civil Defence service with so many younger men now in the forces, and certainly an experienced fireman like Walter would have been invaluable with the threat of during the Blitz.

Fire Guard armband worn by Fire Wardens as part of the Civil Defence programme
to assist with fire incidents during World War Two.

Thank you to Mr Cole and Mr Lazenby for the contribution of the objects and letters donated to Bedford Museum collection. Thank you to Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Records Service (BLARS) for the original photograph of Mr Mead.

Lydia Saul,
Keeper of Social History

Object of the Week: Reliquary Pendant found at Ampthill

2011-08-16T17:19:00.001+01:00

Often our most delicate and pretty objects tend to be some of our smallest objects.

This is certainly the case with the reliquary pendant which was found a few years ago at Ampthill. The pendant, a golden coloured lozenge shape, is about 46mm high and 14mm wide.

The pendant displayed opened, with St. Ann on the left.

The stunning beauty of the pendant is only really revealed when it is opened up to show two miniature pictures inside made in gold and coloured enamels. One of these images is thought to show St. Ann teaching Mary to read. The other image is not so easily recognised but most likely depicts another saint.

Though the images show a bit of damage the fine detail and skilled craftsmanship of the maker is still very obvious to see and the delicate images are made even more remarkable because they are so small. Similar reliquaries found on the continent have been attributed to specialised workshops located in France, especially in Limousin and Poitou, operating in the 1300-1400’s.

The pendant itself, even though it is incredibly beautiful, can only tell a small part of the story. To try to understand more about it we need investigate the bigger picture and travel beyond Ampthill.

The first thing to do is to find out more about St. Ann herself. Also why would such a fine piece of devotional jewellery have been made and who may have worn it?

A small amount of research instantly explained the importance of St. Ann. We learn she is the wife of Joachim and one day whilst she prayed beneath a laurel tree an angel appeared to tell her that she was going to have a child. The child that Ann gave birth to was named Mary. In later life Mary was to become known as Mary the Blessed Virgin.

Some of the gold leaf and enamel has flaked but the craftsmanship can still clearly be seen

The worship of St. Ann is generally thought to have begun in the east during the fifth century and slowly spread across to the west during the medieval period. A shrine at Douai in northern

France

became established during the 1300’s. Over time many shrines dedicated to St. Ann sprung up in France and her popularity spread to England: a shrine dedicated to her is found at Buxton. As her following grew St. Ann became established as the patroness of women in childbirth, housewives, cabinet-makers and miners.

Looking at our pendant from Ampthill it is tempting to visualise that such a beautiful and precious object showing such a touching snapshot of parenthood, a mother teaching her daughter to read, may have been worn by a young woman who worshipped St. Ann and who was anxious to keep her own young daughter safe.

The stark truth is we will never be able to say for certain how the reliquary pendant came to Ampthill or to say how many owners it had and who they may have been. But what all objects like this show is that people in the past went through the same array of expectations, actions, emotions and all of the ups and downs of life as we do.

Liz Pieksma,

Keeper of Archaeology.

The Etiquette of Visiting

2011-08-11T14:33:00.001+01:00

Last week we handed over the Gallery and Museum to the builders. The buildings that we have wandered around so freely are now only accessed by special permission and under a strict code of dress. It’s a strange parallel with what I have been researching this week; the Victorian etiquette of visiting, where, although Victorian women weren’t required to wear hard hats and high visibility jackets when entering houses, their dress had to adhere to the strict rules of polite society. Before you were allowed through the doors of a Victorian host’s house it was more than likely that you would have had to have taken part in the ritual of the visiting card (something which I may get funny looks for if I try it out on the builders).

My main source of reference has been Cassell’s Household Guide to Every Department of Practical Life which has amongst other gems cures for Chronic Gout, the care of German Canaries and a rather disturbing section on cooking otters. It also has four pages on visiting etiquette to guide people through the mine field of turned down corners of cards, visiting during illness, respectable time left to return a call etc etc.

‘On a stranger of family arriving in a neighbourhood it is the duty of the elder inhabitants to leave cards. If the acquaintances thus presenting themselves are desirable, it is usual for the visit to be returned personally or cards left, within one week.’

‘Cards turned down at the corner signify either that they have been sent by a servant, or that the visitor had no intention of paying a personal visit beyond the threshold of the residence’.

Mrs Beeton in her Book of Household Management also has lots to say on the subject including helpful hints such as ‘A strict account should be kept of ceremonial visits, and notice how soon your visits have been returned. An opinion thus be formed as to whether your frequent visits are, or are not, desirable’.

Unfortunately we don’t have any of the Higgins family visiting cards, we know that Cecil had them as we have a receipt from a stationer in Baker Street for 40 of them, but none of them were kept which is a real shame.

What I have found, is a selection of cards belonging to the Bower family who ran the Springfield Asylum in Kempston, a private asylum referred to in a note with the cards as a ‘mental home for the aristocracy’. What is nice about the cards is that they are good examples of the different types of card a family would need. There are cards for home and work depending on the nature of the visit they were left at and cards for times of mourning when the card is framed with a black border.

Dr Bower's visiting cards, the black bordered card would have been used at times of mourning

They also show the difference between men and women’s cards: Mrs Cedric Bower’s card is larger than her husbands as men used smaller card cases to fit into their waistcoat pockets and off course whilst Mr Cedric Bower’s card is in his own name Mrs Bower’s is addressed as the wife her husband.

Mr Cedric Bower's visiting card

Mrs Bower's visiting card which is larger in size than her husbands.

Visiting cards allowed very little room for individual taste and were described at the time as resembling one another, 'much as one dress suit resembles the next'. At least Victorians could carry them in a variety of beautiful cases, such as this one from the 1840’s.

Tortoiseshell visiting card case with mother of pearl decoration, about 1840

Victoria Partridge,
Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Polhill to the Polls! Election Excitement 1830 & 1832

2011-08-04T15:44:00.000+01:00

In 1830, when it was declared that Lord John Russell would be a Bedford election candidate alongside William Henry Whitbread, the Conservatives decided to try to break the Russell domination by putting forward a new candidate, Captain Frederick Polhill. Polhill agreed to stand as an Independent candidate. The election opened on the 2^nd August and lasted 13 days. The hustings were held on St. Peter’s Green, Bedford.

The Candidates: William Henry Whitbread

William was first elected in 1818 as MP for Bedford, as a Whig following in his father’s footsteps, a brewer and politician. He also supported many of the causes his father had previously promoted, such as Catholic emancipation, the Reform Bill, the Poor Law and the Abolition of Slavery Bill.

Captain Polhill's Election Poster

Courtesy of Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service ref:BorBG10/1/33

Captain Frederick Polhill 1798-1848

Frederick, who had been born in London, moved to his inherited family home Howbury Hall, Renhold in October 1828. In 1830 he decided to run in his first election encouraged by a group of Conservatives led by John Pulley. Frederick addressed the electors at the end of the first day of opening in Bedford, you can see his election slogan above.

First Day Results:

Polhill 200; Whitbread 200; Russell 186.

'Polhill Forever' inscribed on this election bobbin, BEDFM 7554
Created as propaganda to show support for Polhill.

Lord John Russell 1792-1878

John was the third Son of the 6^th Duke of Bedford and later became a great Whig reformer, introducing the 1832 Reform Act to Parliament. He had previously represented Tavistock, Huntingdonshire and Banson (Co. Cork).

According to election propaganda an address was printed by 'A FREEMAN' suggesting that the friends of Mr Polhill were making attempts to “bribe and cajole and terrify those who have promised their votes to Mr. Whitbread and Lord John Russell.”

In view of the support of Russell’s father, the Duke of Bedford, his defeat in the Bedford election was unexpected and a great triumph for Captain Polhill. It was reported that due to the attitude of the Wesleyans, who were incensed by some unwelcome remarks by Russell about prayer, that this swayed the vote in Polhill’s favour. Polhill won against Russell by one vote.

The final count: Whitbread 515, Polhill 491, Lord John Russell 490 – a very closely run contest.

Lord Russell was not long out of Parliament, gaining a seat at Tavistock later in the summer. The Duke of Wellington and the Tory party resigned in November and the Whigs succeeded under Earl Grey who offered Russell a seat in the Cabinet. In December 1831 Russell introduced the Third Reform Bill to be passed by the Commons, but it was rejected by the Lords. Throughout 1831 Polhill as an Independent candidate supported the Reform Bill. The Duke of Wellington agreed to withdraw enough Tory peers so that the Bill might become law, which it did on 7th June 1832. By modern standards the proposals, which caused so much alarm in 1832, were moderate, resulting in enfranchising only one in six of the adult male population, but were indeed revolutionary for their time.

Bedford Election of December1832.
Whitbread, Polhill and Crowley outside the Swan Hotel and George Inn, Fp.114

In the subsequent election of December 1832, Captain Polhill lost his seat at Bedford. A petition was raised alleging malpractices by William Henry Whitbread and Samuel Crowley, which was unsuccessful. Polhill had at least won the earlier 1830 election against John Russell, a victory that ironically enabled him to participate in supporting the Reform Act of 1832 that Russell later introduced. Polhill had the last laugh though, successfully regaining his seat from Crowley in the 1835 election.

Lydia Saul, Keeper of Social History

Thanks to Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service for the Polhill Election Poster image.

Object of the week: Nècessaire

2011-08-02T15:12:00.000+01:00

When Cecil Higgins died in 1941, he had already made provisions for the foundation of a museum in his name. The collection he had been amassing over the previous ten years was stored in various places: the porcelain, glass and ceramics were in country houses to protect them from air raids, the silverware in Lloyds Bank (I assume to protect it from thieves) and other pieces, including furniture and ‘objects of vertu’ were in his house at Queen Ann Street, London. The entire contents of the house were catalogued from top to bottom, from morning room to the Maid’s room and marked either ‘M.E.’ for items exempted from Duty being of National, Historic and Artistic importance, ‘M’ for items for the proposed museum but not exempt from duty, or left blank (for example the ‘linoleum flooring’ listed as being in the cistern room which sadly didn’t make it into the gallery’s collection).

I have been spending quite a lot of time trawling through this inventory over the last few weeks and in the ‘objects of vertu’ section I have found some lovely pieces. Marked as ‘M.E.’ is an oak box in which there is an embroidered rosewood casket, in which there is a collection of all manner of bronze and pinchbeck treasures from chatelaines to watches and snuff boxes to scent cases. But the first thing that is listed is ‘an elaborately fitted small nècessaire’ which I have chosen as this week’s object of the week.

Dutch nècessaire, about 1800 made from ormolu and garnet

Nècessaires were designed, as their name suggests, to contain a range of ‘necessary’ accoutrements for women. This one includes items a lady might still use today, such as a writing tablet, tweezers, and bottles for various beauty potions, as well as more outdated items such as a spoon for earwax.

Victoria

Mourning Jewellery

2011-07-28T15:06:00.000+01:00

In the Higgins archive are a few pieces of mourning jewellery related to the Higgins family. The most poignant and beautiful are two pieces in memory of Mary Ann Higgins, Cecil Higgins’s great aunt who died in 1829 when she was just 14. They are both made from gold and black enamel and engraved with Mary Ann’s name and the date of her death; the brooch contains a piece of her plaited hair under glass.

Memorial Ring for Mary Ann Higgins, about 1830

Memorial Brooch for Mary Ann Higgins, about 1843

Reverse of brooch showing the engraving to Mary Ann

I have always thought of mourning jewellery being the preserve of the Victorians, and though they certainly produced it on a mass scale, jewellery that remembered the dead had been made since the 17^th Century when Memento Mori (literally ‘remember you must die’) jewellery was worn as a reminder of mortality.

In the 18^th century one of the most popular items of jewellery was the mourning ring, usually set with the deceased’s hair. One ring in the collection was made to remember Ellery Sydenham who died in May 1770 when she was just 10. A quick internet search brought up an Ellery Sydenham, buried at All Saints Church Dulverton in Somerset on 2 June 1770 aged 10, but I will need to do a bit more research to be sure if it is her. Like Mary Ann Higgins’s memorial brooch, the ring is also set with hair, this time surrounded by diamonds.

Memorial Ring for Ellery Sydenham, about 1770

The Sydenham ring was a donation to the collection, which is how the majority of jewellery has been acquired as Cecil Higgins did not leave very much in his original bequest. The largest donation of jewellery came from Mrs Hull Grundy, who gave over 120 pieces in the 1970s. We were not the only museum to benefit from her gift, with jewellery going to over 70 collections including the British Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum. Bed-bound from her early twenties due to a respiratory condition, Mrs Hull Grundy bought much of her collection by post and, guided by the principal that ‘if you don't fall in love, don't buy it', she amassed a collection of thousands of exquisite pieces.

It is from Hull Grundy that the majority of our Victorian mourning jewellery comes. The rituals of death became increasingly elaborate in the Victorian period mainly due to the example set by Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert in 1861. Mourning jewellery became mass produced, and whole industries were set up around the manufacture, particularly in Whitby where the most popular material for mourning jewellery, jet, was found. What’s interesting about some of the pieces in the Cecil Higgins Collection is that on first glance you wouldn’t think they were mourning jewellery at all. This includes pieces made from ivory carved to simulate wood, which are quite subtle in their depiction of remembrance. The brooch below, at first glance, looks merely decorative, but on closer examination you notice that one of the acorns is empty, which to the Victorians represented the inevitable end of love in death.

Ivory Brooch, about 1850

Another piece from the Hull Grundy collection is also a bit confusing as to whether it was made for mourning or another occasion. Made from plaited hair with gold clasps, the bracelet is typical of Victorian hair-work which could either be made from the deceased’s hair, or with the maker's hair, when it would be exchanged at happier occasions such as engagements or weddings.

Hair work bracelet with an engraved gold clasp, about 1860

These are just a few of the many beautiful pieces in the collection which we will be researching over the coming months, so there'll be plenty more to follow.

Victoria

More news on Lucy

2011-07-27T13:07:00.000+01:00

Back in June we blogged about a previous resident of the museum - Lucy the Locust. We've just come across something in the Christmas 1939 edition of The Eagle (the magazine of Bedford Modern School) which we thought we'd share. Be warned, though, as it's a bit of a tear-jerker!

'It will be recalled that early last February we received a live locust, which soon became very popular under the name of Lucy. It lived all through the Easter and Summer Terms and the long vacation, eating nothing but fresh privet leaves. The first spell of cold (or old age?) proved too much for Lucy, and she breathed her last on October 3rd. Her corpse, however, is still on view and still quite popular.'

Object of the week: Ceramic Tiles by William Frend De Morgan

2011-07-26T16:38:00.003+01:00

An owl catches a mouse on this tile c.1895.

This week's Object of the Week looks at some of the tiles in the collection by William Frend de Morgan (1839-1917) who produced some of the most imaginative ceramic work of the late 19th century.

De Morgan trained at the Royal Academy Schools at he same time as the painter Simeon Solomon, and through his friendship with another painter, Henry Holiday (who also painted furniture for Williams Burges and William Morris) was introduced to Morris, later designing ceramics, furniture and stained glass for Morris & Co. In 1887 he married the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Evelyn Pickering.

A typical De Morgan motif - a
galleon with fish, c.1895.

De Morgan was a keen inventor and the technical process of glazing was fascinating to him. He rediscovered lost methods such as the metallic finish lustre, and would make his own blanks, preferring the uneven surface and lower absorbtion of his own tiles to manufactured ones. It seems that emphasis on beautiful decorative effects was far greater for De Morgan than the commercial success of the business, which was continually beset by difficulties. In 1907 he retired from the pottery he had established in 1872, which continued without him, finding that despite continued technical advances and discoveries in the techniques of glazing his designs were now seen as old fashioned.

The tiles in the collection feature De Morgan's classic themes of fantastical creatures and galleons. His early work shows an influence or awareness of the ideas of the Arts and Crafts Movement but his style develops away from the medieval motifs of his peers as De Morgan becomes enamoured with Persian ceramics (today what would be known as fifteenth-and-sixteenth century Iznik Ware).

The striking tile below uses a two tone pattern in lustred red and a muted pink. The background is made of plant forms stylised to a geometric decorative extreme providing a back-drop of pure pattern for the fanciful scene. In the foreground an eagle rampant and a curious coil-tailed, bird-beaked creature face each other in profile. A similar tile, with the motif in reverse was used with others in Arnold Mitchell's 1900 designed house, The Orchard, in Harrow, London.

Lustre glazed tile, c.1900

Other pieces in the collection include two large jars designed for the Tsar of Russia's in 1894. They were intended for a new Summer palace in Livadia, near the black Sea, but were never delivered.

Kristian Purcell, Curatorial Assistant

Fire Fire!

2011-07-21T14:11:00.002+01:00

The Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade was founded in 1870. This was a group of part-time volunteers, under the command of a chief officer. One full-time engineer was also employed who lived at the engine house in Mill Street, which was built in 1888. The brigade was paid for by public subscription until 1919 when it was taken over by Bedford Borough Council. The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) have the Bedford Brigade scrapbooks for 1896-1935, which contain accounts of fires attended, as well as those employed by the brigade. There are group photographs of the personnel, as well as images of the aftermath of fires attended by the service. In 1941, due to the demands for countrywide control of fire services the National Fire Service was formed. The Fire Services Act of 1947 created a nationwide service merging all the local brigades, which was regionally centralised from Bedford, and came under the newly formed County Council Fire Services Committee until 1974.

Photograph of Bedford Fire Brigade at Longholme Lakes, with Fireman Mead driving (1905), Ref: AD1082-3p51, Courtesy of BLARS

Recently, a donation was made to the museum of a collection of objects relating to Foreman Mr Walter Mead of the Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade from the 1890’s into the early 20^th Century. Walter Norman Mead was born in Bedford in 1872, son of Norman Mead a painter and glazier from Cranfield and Elizabeth, a lacemaker from Cople. The couple had moved to Derby Street in Bedford after their marriage. Walter was the eldest of 5 siblings according to the census data of 1881. Included in the group of objects donated are his certificate to operate a “Shand Mason Steam Pump”, as well as many awards and medals.

Picture of Walter Mead with his championship cups. Ref: AD1082/3[45]* courtesy of BLARS

These items are supported by documentation in the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives of his participation in similar competitions. The annual championship of the brigade for the Captains cup was the combined success of three events, getting the manual engine to work, getting it to work from a street hydrant and mounting the escape in picking up, carrying down and depositing a dummy to safety. Mr Mead is recorded as winning the challenge in 1904, taking 141 seconds and was awarded the three cups you can see in the picture above.

We have also been given personal items from Walter’s uniform, such as his BVFB armband and his watch chain with decorations of his achievements engraved. This group is a wonderful addition of items closely associated with the Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade and the people that served bravely the local community in this profession.

Bedford Volunteer Fire Brigade Armband

Walter Mead's Watch Chain

Medal for the Captains Drill Prize, W N Mead

If you would like to find out more about the fire service records in the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service please visit http://www.bedfordshire.gov.uk/CommunityAndLiving/ArchivesAndRecordOffice/GuidesToCollections/FireServiceRecords.aspx

Lydia Saul, Keeper of Social History

Pagan Saxon Window Urn from Kempston

2011-07-19T15:35:00.000+01:00

The function of many of the objects in our archaeological collections tends to be fairly straight forward and obvious for instance even if we have never thrown a spear or cooked soup in a metal cauldron over an open fire we have an educated idea as to how these items work and what we can do with them.

However once in a while we encounter objects in the museum which at first sight seem easy to understand and we can even relate to the use, but then when you examine them more closely their function becomes more unknown and even mysterious.

One such item is a small ceramic vessel found by workmen digging in Kempston during the mid 19^th century. The report of the find published in the Notes of the Bedfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society, dated February 1857, describes,

“the discovery of a unique specimen of Saxon pottery. It is unburnt clay of a dark brown colour, 31/2 inches high, of beautiful proportions, and has 14 deep flutings from the shoulder to the base. It is not however in the outline or ornamentation that its peculiarity exists, for there have been several urns discovered in this country exhibiting somewhat similar design and workmanship; but on being carefully cleaned it was found to have a piece of glass about an inch in diameter inserted into the bottom” The report goes on “ This is the first and only instance of glass being let into the clay by the Saxon potter which we have met with, and the discovery has created great interest amongst antiquarians”

The inclusion of a fragment of reused Roman glass into the base of the vessel led to it being referred to a “Window Urn”.

This very detailed woodcut of the vessel accompanied the report

The window urn was not the only item found in the grave by the workmen, another report goes on to say ,”shortly after this discovery the men found another skeleton, in a crumbling state; and near the lower jaw a number of pieces of metal, thin and of the size of a florin; a quantity of small beads, apparently of glass; and fragments a twisted wire”

The practice of placing personal items to accompany the body in the grave is not an unusual occurrence in the Pagan Saxon period however what is unusual is the inclusion of a complete, and at the time unique window urn.

Since this find in 1857 a few other windows urns have been discovered both here in England and in Germany, so though the Kempston window urn is no longer unique it still belongs to a group of odd and rare vessels. However, even though there are more known examples we are still none the wiser as to the function of this group of highly specialised pottery and glass vessels.

View from the side showing the fluting on the body of the vessel.

View of the base showing the fragment of Roman glass inserted into the base.

Liz

The Higgins’s of Castle Close

2011-07-14T15:22:00.001+01:00

Work has been quite hectic these last few months, with moving the collections off site but when we are not doing that the curatorials are all working hard on the redevelopment project, looking at what stories we can explore and researching which objects best tell them.

I’ve been working predominantly on the fine and decorative art galleries, such as a new William Burges Gallery and a Design Gallery, but for the last month I’ve been working on the Victorian House, ‘Castle Close’ and researching its previous residents.

Castle Close forms part of the gallery and museum complex (complex being the operative word!), a mixture of an early Victorian villa, brewery buildings, a hexagonally-shaped former militia depot, Bedford Gallery, and a 1970s gallery extension.

The Higgins family may not be as well known today as other Bedford philanthropists such as William Harpur and John Howard, but if you live in the borough you may well have stepped inside one of the many buildings associated with them.

Hopefully it will have been the Art Gallery and Museum, but if not then it could have been one of the many public houses once owned by the Higgins & Sons brewery, including the Embankment Hotel, the Swan Hotel, the George and Dragon on Mill Street, the Slaters Arms in Box End, the Bell in Odell and the Royal Oak in Woburn. Even when you’re buying sandwiches in Bedford’s Marks & Spencers you’re standing on the remains of one of their pubs ‘The Star’. Others, such as the brilliantly named ‘Cat and Custard Pot’ in Shelton and ‘The Mad Dog’ in Odell are still there but have long-since become private residences.

The Bedford Times Coach, Bradford Rudge, 1846

Charles Higgins Jnr is in the forground tying a handkerchief around his face to protect from dust.
Charles Higgins Snr is at the door of the Swan Hotel, wearing red carpet slippers
seeing his son off on his journey.

But it’s not just their successful business that I have been finding so interesting whilst researching the family. It’s also the individuals themselves. They are all so intertwined with Bedford’s history: Charles Higgins (Cecil Higgins’s grandfather) was Mayor of Bedford in 1848 and was honoured for his work in saving the town from a cholera epidemic; his son George (Cecil’s father) was a Councillor, Alderman, Justice of the Peace and a County Magistrate; George’s second wife Mary (Cecil’s stepmother) was sister to another of Bedford’s Mayors and was on the Governing body of the Harpur Charity’s girls school.

The last of Higgins’s to live at Castle Close were Cecil, his two brothers and his sister. George, the eldest, was a Commander in the Navy. Lawrence spent most of his life at Castle Close running the brewery and like his father was a Justice of the Peace. Edith, the only daughter, is more of a mystery. She lived at Castle Close all her life but her obituary mentions only her being a keen member of the Oakley Hunt in her younger days.

And then there is Cecil Norman Colburne Higgins himself, who even after moving to London in 1902 was still an active member of the Bedford community, for instance acting as a local magistrate. When he decided to start collecting ceramics and glass it was in Bedford that he wished his collection to be housed.

‘It has long been my desire that there should be founded in Bedford for the benefit of the inhabitants of that town a museum of works of art of all kinds and that if practicable such museum should be housed in the Castle Close at Bedford which for many years belonged to my family.’

We’ve got a lot more finding-out to do about the Higgins family and we’ll be using this blog to share the interesting stories we come across.

Victoria

Object of the Week: Domestic Lighting by W.A.S. Benson

2011-07-12T17:15:00.001+01:00

Oil reading lamp, with tilting reflector in brass and copper.
Accession no. M.359

William Arthur Smith Benson has been described as “one of the most original metalwork designers", and was connected with both the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau. The Cecil Higgins collection contains a number of pieces designed by Benson and the lamps in the collection display all of the finest aspects of his work.

Benson had hoped to be an engineer but with direct encouragement from William Morris decided to set up his own workshop to produce sinuous teapots, kettles, and gas and electric light fittings. Morris & Co. sold his products and Morris and others, such as Philip Webb frequently used him on architectural commissions to provide the lighting. When William Morris died in 1896, Benson took over directorship of the Morris firm. Later, he was a founding member of the Design and Industries Association in 1915.

Benson’s interest in art preceded his architectural training, and the practical skills that gave him such an intimate knowledge of the problems of constructing parts for his products in metal were learnt within his family. His maternal uncle, William Smith, had introduced the young Benson to the lathe and this first-hand experience of machine production marked him out from his Arts and Crafts peers who rejected machine production on principle and without any direct knowledge of that method.

After he established his firm, the first year was spent training his team of craftsmen, getting them to hone their technique. That year, from Easter 1880 to Easter 1881 was well spent because the sheer quality of the products coming out of the Benson factory after that point was the bedrock of his reputation, and the defining factor between his produce, and that of the copyists and imitators that sought to make a living off of his reputation.

Initially his designs were for lamps were fitted with oil burners and in our collection we have a beautiful hanging oil liamp with a reflector of polished curved copper petals. It used to hang in the panelled Baring room, for those familiar with our Victorian House. The lamp at the top of this article (M.359) shows a desk top reading lamp with an elegant reflector made from one expertly cut copper sheet, which also includes little chain pulley to adjust the angle of the light emitted on to your reading material.

Hanging oil lamp in copper, brass and glass, Accession no. M.364

The electric light bulb had been invented in 1878 but only the wealthiest were able to afford the generators needed for an electricity supply until a general supply of domestic electricity became possible in the 1890s. Benson was a pioneer of electrical light fittings and incorporated the electrical fittings and cables into his designs while still incorporating his familiar fluid lines and foliage inspired shapes. Below the hanging 'stem' and light 'bud' emerge from the base with a sprouting of leaves, but refrain from twee-ness by clearing showing the hook form that the shade hangs from and the clean, regular forms of the petals that make up the light fitting.

An electric table lamp c.1902, Accession no. M.367

His use of organic flowing lines and simplified floral forms were part of the evolution of Art Nouveau, and were sold in the shop that gave the style its name, Seigfried Bing’s Salon de L’art Nouveau, Paris. Benson’s products were amongst those selected by Bing as the best Eurpoe and America had to offer when his shop first opened in 1895.

Kristian Purcell