Author: Alison Hobson

The Society was treated to a fascinating lecture by Alison Hobson and Sue Middleton on the origin of Fairford place names in their presentation “In ffaireforde aforesaid”. The product of months of research in Gloucestershire Archives and elsewhere, Alison and Sue explained the origins of many of the familiar (and, in some cases, lost and forgotten) place names in and around Fairford, some of which date back to medieval times. Using original documents and maps unearthed during their in-depth study, they showed how names have changed over the years but the basic topography of Fairford has remained remarkably stable; even some medieval field boundaries can still be found in situ today. A new occasional paper (No. 11 Fairford Street Names) which records the origins of all of Fairford’s streets has been produced to accompany the lecture.

Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork gave a fascinating talk to a packed audience on the connections that the Cotswold district has had with aviation starting with the very early days of ballooning in the 1780s up to the testing of Concorde in the 1970s. He spoke about Royal Flying Corps airfields of the First World War, such as Rendomb and Leighterton, and the Royal Air Force airfields of the Second World War, such as Broadwell and Fairford. He also mentioned the county’s connection with the aviation industry, especially the ‘local’ firm of Gloster which made Britain’s first jet aircraft among many other types. The speaker focussed very much on the human side of aeronautical history as he spoke about some of the famous and less well known individuals who have played a part in the Cotswold’s aviation heritage.

To mark the 50th anniversary since the closure of the Fairford Branch Railway, to a packed audience Colin Moulden gave an extremely interesting and informative presentation of the route of the Fairford Branch Railway in its 100 years of existence until its closure. Colin showed views of the railway how it was then and what is there now. The talk satisfied both the local Fairford historians and the Railway buffs. You can find out more information about Fairford Branch Railway website.

Colin has also written a booklet to commemorate the 50th anniversary which is available from Fairford History Society.

Hugh Brewster from Toronto, who has recently a published a new book about the first class passengers on the Titanic ‘Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage’, came to Fairford especially to talk to members about Fairford’’s connection with the Titanic, the Countess of Rothes. She lived at Fayre Court, Fairford for a time and there is a memorial to her in St Mary’s Church. Hugh had been speaking at the Broadway Festival on Francis D Millet, the painter of Carnation Lily, Lily, Rose who painted the work in Broadway, Worcestershire. He has also written a charming children’s book entitled Carnation Lily, Lily, Rose which has references to our own Edwin Abbey, the artist who lived at Morgan Hall, Fairford. Francis Millet also died on the Titanic. Hugh gave the audience a riveting, well illustrated talk about his longstanding connection with the Titanic. As a publisher he was involved with Dr Robert Ballard in the discovery of the location of the wreckage on the ocean floor and published a book on the subject. He sold his publishing house to become a full time writer but it seemed he was always drawn back to the topic of the Titanic. He wrote a book in connection with the blockbuster film which came out and in 1997 and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking in April 2012, he produced his latest book. He has delved in the greatest depth about the social lives of this elite Edwardian set of first class passengers and their interactions which each other.

The talk reviewed the Titanic’s fatal voyage and the subsequent rescue of the survivors. It was a highly entertaining and informative talk and we are grateful to Hugh for taking time from his busy schedule to visit Fairford and talking to FHS.

He finished most poignantly with an image of a pair of shoes lying on the mud at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean indicating the position that a body must have lain until consumed by ocean organisms – reminding us what a terrible disaster it was.

June 14th 2012 at 7.30pm Fairford Community Centre

Hugh Brewster is the author of the recently published book ‘Gilded lives, fatal voyage: the Titanic’s First-Class Passengers and Their World’ and will specifically mention Fairford’s connection with the ship, the Countess of Rothes. Canadian, Hugh will have come straight from the Broadway Festival where is giving a lecture on Francis Millet, the artist who died on the Titanic.

Tickets Price £5 (Members £3). Books will be available for sale and signing.

For further details please contact Alison Hobson 01285 711768 email: enquiry@fairfordhistory.org.uk.

Chris Hobson, who has a long standing interest in graveyards and church memorials, gave members a very interesting and informative talk on Cotswold graveyards. He covered the history of burials, the design and architecture of gravestones and showed examples from all over the Cotswolds. A special feature of the Cotswolds is the bale tombs which is a chest tomb with a semicircular capping stone, originally said to represent a wool bale but more likely to represent a funeral pall cloth which covered the bier.

In Fairford Churchyard there are 7,452 recorded burials since the parish register started in 1617, but there are only 2,624 gravestone commemorations. He also showed some of the more interesting memorials in the area and showed what could be found out about the deceased from information on gravestones.