-
I mentioned in the last entry in this series that I had been experimenting with a photography set-up. I chose this book from my collection next, which is considerably larger than a typical autograph book, to see if the set-up would still work. The result was so-so, with a bit of rejigging needed. I have been unable to …
Read More -
In my last piece, about the Printer and the Presses , I mentioned that I had come across a signpost in the second to last issue of the Wipers,now named the Better Times, in relation to the printing of the final two issues. This was the signpost: Our new paper is born in very different circumstances to the old Wipers …
Read More -
Private Alfred Edmeades Bestall, Army Service Corps Service Number: DM2/112832 Born: 14 December 1892, Mandalay, Burma Died: 15 January 1986, Porthmadog, Wales (Aged 93) I am the type of person, who when visiting an art gallery, bowls past the information desk, brushes off the tour guide, and boots the audio-headset …
Read More -
In my post on the Wipers Times Staff, Suspects, and Witnesses, I mentioned that there was ambiguity around who the printer on the paper was. One of the names associated with the role was that of Sergeant Leslie Tyler — found in a letter he sent in 1916 to his local paper. However, research has uncovered that these were …
Read More -
For the third entry in the series, a very battered, missing its front cover — as well perhaps half of its original contents — autograph book which once belonged to a Doris Edith May Orridge (1896 -1988), who attended St Margaret School, a mixed aged and sex, boarding school in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. She attended with her …
Read More -
This is the first 'Mystery File' relating to the soldier-cartoonists who had their contributions published in Blighty but, at this moment in time, the trail has gone cold as I have been unable to find any further information about them — though I am not ready to give up. First, getting published in Blighty brought more …
Read More -
In tracking down details on Dorothy Violet Hall, the writer behind the ‘Chronicles of Fashion’ feature of the Wipers Times, I am at somewhat of an impasse. In my initial article, I mentioned that I believed, given his prominence in the Nottingham art scene, that her brother, Henry Cecil Hall, may be the key to …
Read More -
The Book For the second entry in this series, I have chosen to add an autograph book which, in some regards, is a very typical example — containing poems, memes, toasts, and quite a few pictures of Union Jack flags. On closer inspection, however, it becomes a mystery starting with a distinct lack of personification. …
Read More -
Corporal Bertie Inward, 2/19th (St Pancras) Battalion, London Regiment Service Number: 613219 Born: 22 April 1887, Medway, Kent Died: 27 October 1922, Romford, Essex (aged 35) Fred Karno (1886-1941) was a music hall impresario, known for nurturing the careers of a young Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel — as well as …
Read More -
Following on from the previous article, I got my first lead regarding tracking down the identity of Violet, of 'Violets Chronicle of Fashion', in the form of letters written by Thomas Moore Emmanuel Ward (1895-1947). Ward was a Lieutenant in the 12th Battalion (Pioneers) Sherwood Foresters as well as a contributor to …
Read More