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Number 59 May 2012

Leicester Town Hall

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Gild Banquet Weekend

9th / 10th June 2012This is to give you notice of the Gild’s Banquet Weekend inJune, we would very much appreciate your support.

The Banquet will be held onSaturday 9th June (7.00pm) inthe Holmes Suite atDevonshire Place, 78 LondonRoad, Leicester, LE2 0RA thecity’s renowned banquetingestablishment, located half amile from the city centrenear the railway station and

close to several hotels. There is a carpark at the rear of thebuilding in Prebend Street.

Following a bucks fizz/wine pre-dinner reception, an appetisingfour-course menu, plus coffee and chocolates, has beenselected, with vegetarian alternatives. Tickets cost £39 perhead, please use enclosed booking form. A wine table offeringreasonably priced wines will, of course, be available for dinner.

The Freemen’s Service will be held on the following day,Sunday 10th June (10.30am), at the Leicester Cathedral.

The banquet is open to allmembers, their friends andrelations. A booking form canbe found in the centre pages.

If you require any furtherinformation or require detailsof hotels please contact JohnTolton on 0116 283 5042

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Patron: Colonel Robert Martin OBEPresident: The Lord Mayor of Leicester

OFFICERS 2012 - 2013Master: J.E.Tolton

Deputy Master: A. ChettleClerk: L. Roffee

Chamberlain: M.B. Hill

WARDENSM.E. Ayres, E.L. Critchlow, J.D. Lewitt,

A. Marriott , B.W. Mudford, L. Kirk (co-opted)

Number 59 May 2012

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GILDHALL NEWSMay 2012

ContentsEditor’s comments 5

Report by Brian Mudford, Past Master of the Gild 5

Report on the F.E.W. by your representitive Michael Ayres 7

Report by Bill Hargrave, Chairman of the Board 8

Future programme - dates for your diarySunday 20th May, visit to the Swindon “Steam” museum and Designer Outlet

Saturday 9th June, Annual Gild Banquet at Devonshire Place

Sunday 10th June, Annual Freemen’s Service at Leicester Cathedral

Sunday 24th June, Freemen’s Garden Party at Freemen’s Holt

Sunday 19th August, visit to the Grimbsby “Fishing Heritage Centre”

Saturday 10th November, Fish & Chip evening with a talk on Family History

Contributions to the Gildhall NewsDistinguished Army carreer of John Ross by Paul Ross 13

Steam trains and Plums by Marianne Hancock 15

Another side of the Common by Maurice Hill 17

New Members 20

Subscriptions 20

For Amusement Only

The Green Thing 20

Have you changed your address? 22

Forms in the centre of the NewsletterBooking form for Visit to Swindon

Booking form for Annual Gild Banquet

Booking form for visit to Grimsby

Application for Membership & Associate Membership of the Gild

Standing Order form for Annual Subscriptions

Gild products order form

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Editor’s CommentsEvery issue of the Gildhall News that I have produced wasproof read in detail by Roger Allen. Another function ofmany that he carried out behind the scenes. He will besorely missed as a friend, a collegue and an organiser. Sothere is a good chance that you will find a fewgrammatical errors in this and future issues.

Family History seems to be very popular with many ofthe readers. I have received four articles with a Family History theme recently.With this in mind the Court is arranging a Fish & Chip evening in Novemberwith a speaker on Family History.

If you have a story that would be of interest to other members, please putpen to paper, or finger to e-mail. We don’t need a book, only a short article,possibly one or two pages long. It could be longer if it’s enthralling!!Preferably I would like to receive them as an attachment to an e-mail ifpossible, but pen and ink is acceptable.

Brian MudfordReport by Brian Mudford, Past Master of the GildAt this point I would like to record our deep sadness at the tragic death of ourChamberlain, Roger Allen, we have lost a true gentleman. His death has left ahuge hole in the organising ability of our Gild, and we will have to work veryhard to match his expertise.

On Friday 17th February a Long Alley Skittles Night was arranged at the Coach& Horses pub, at Field Head, Markfield. Forty one persons booked, includingeight from the Coventry Gild. Thirty seven persons attended, one not playingskittles. We had four teams of nine, and had a very enjoyable evening. Thefood selection of Faggots & sausage, Steak pie and Vegetable Lasagne,accompanied by chips and peas, was to everyone’s satisfaction, and we wereasked at the end of the evening to repeat at the same location next year.

On Saturday 24th March, we held a Cheese and wine evening preceded by a“Night at the Music Hall”. This was ably presented by Felicity Austin, whoentertained us with a history of the music hall, together with a certainamount of musical participation, thirty one people attended. The evening wasarranged by John Tolton and the setting up of the room and arranging thefood was done by Mick and Jean Ayres. The food and drinks were very muchappreciated and a good night was had by all. Thank you John, Mick & Jeanand those who helped during the day and with the raffle

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The Open Morning at Freemen’s Holt was held on Sunday 1st April.Subscriptions for 28 members and 18 Associates were taken on the day, and£61 worth of Gild products were sold. Tea and biscuits were served and theraffle raised £60. Many thanks are due to the refreshment helpers and raffleticket sellers, and of course to all those of you who attended.

Common Hall was held on Wednesday 18th April in the Council Chamber atthe Leicester Town Hall, and forty persons attended. It was disappointing thatmore of the new Freemen who had decided to join the Gild did not attend.Maurice Hill, Tony Chettle and Paul Ross retired by rotation from the Court.Paul Ross did not seek re-election, and he was thanked for his work on theCourt for many years. After a vote by the Members, Maurice Hill, TonyChettle, Andrew Marriott and Lynn Roffee were elected as Wardens of theCourt and Lorna Kirk was co-opted onto the Court.

Having completed three years, I retired as Master of the Gild. I would like tothank all of you who have make it a very enjoyable three years in office. JohnTolton was elected as Master of the Gild, Tony Chettle as Deputy Master,Maurice Hill as Chamberlain, Lynn Roffee as Clerk of the Gild, and John Toltonas Archivist. Congratulations to them all.

St. Mary de Castro again invited the Gild to attend their St. George’s dayservice on Monday 23rd April. Mick Ayres made the arrangements, and it wasattend by around twenty Gild representatives.

The Gild was again invited to attend the Crown Court service at St. Mary deCastro on Tuesday 24th April at 10am. John Tolton, Peter Staines, Tony Chettleand myself attended the service. The Letters Patent were not read in theLeicester Castle, as is nomal on these occasions, because the Castle was beingre-furbished. I hope that this means the Leicester Castle is being made fit foruse again and will be opened for public viewing, as should be the case.

You may remember that the Court was asked to look at having a website forthe Leicester Gild. This is still proceeding, and we are in the process of lookingat the pros and cons of having a combination of a website, Facebook pageand using Twitter.

It has been suggested that the events and trips organised by the Court werenot suitable for our younger Freemen members. If any of the younger ones ofyou out there agree with this, why not write in with suggestions of events ortrips that you would support.

Brian Mudford

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Report on the FEW (Freemen of England and Wales) byMichael Ayres

The FEW held their first Executive meeting for 2012 on Saturday the 17th

January at Freemen’s Holt. This meeting is only open to members of the FEWexecutive.

Monday 27th February. Tony Chettle and Michael Ayres represented theLeicester Gild at Moyra Johnson’s Funeral at All Saints Church Pavement, York,the Gild church of the York Freemen. Her coffin was draped with the Unionflag and followed in to church by a RAF standard bearer and the Freemen ofYork and other Guilds. Moyra a respected past Master of the York Gild duringthe year 2000- 2001 passed away in her 96 year. Taking up her Freedom in1981 and was a well known Glider pilot, she learnt to fly when she wastwenty years old. The Leicester Gild sends our deepest sympathy to herfriends and the Freemen of York. (Moyra unfortunately had no immediatefamily)

Saturday 17th March. For the second time this year the FEW visited Leicesterfor their Court Meeting held in the community centre at Freemen’s Holt.These meetings are open to all members of the Leicester Gild, which I haveemphasized in my previous reports. Only a few members of the Leicester Gildwere present at the meeting.

The full report of the meeting will be published in the Freemen of Englandand Wales Journal 170. If any member of the Leicester Gild requires a copyyou can contact me on 01162242353. The report will be published on theFEW website.

http://www.freemen-few.org.uk

The next meeting of the FEW will be the AGM. This year it is hosted by theFreemen of York over the weekend of the 14th to 16th September, to coincidewith the York 800 year charter. When I receive the booking forms and costsfor the weekend, I will publish them in the Gildhall News. Please contact meon 0116 2242353 if you require any other information.

If any member of the Leicester Gild or associate member would like tobecome a member of FEW, membership forms are available from theMembership Secretary Eileen Forth, 88 Whitethorn Close, Huntington, YorkYO3 9EU. Telephone 01904 638361.

Michael Ayres

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Report by Chairman of the Board - Bill HargraveIt is a great honour to be elected Chairman of theBoard of Deputies. I look forward to a challengingand interesting term of office.

I would like to thank my predecessor, WayneManship and the committee chairmen; for theirwork during the past year. Also, Jeff Lewitt, whoafter 14 years has retired from the Board. Jeff hasserved on all committees and was chairman of theboard in 2003 and 2004.

The year started with great sadness with the passing of Roger Allen. Rogerwas our auditor for many years, working closely with the clerk to ensure theintegrity of our financial record keeping. He was a committed ambassador forthe Freemen of Leicester. He will be sadly missed by us all.

New Deputies

In January this year a letter was sent out to all Freemen, inviting them toconsider taking up a position on the Board. This proved extremely successfuland resulted in several requests for further details and six Freemen puttingtheir names forward. I am pleased to welcome to the board of deputies:Jane Bell, Susan Cave, David Chettle, Barry Daniel, Lynn Roffee and JaneWildbore.

This boosts the number of deputies to 17. There are still four vacancies yet tofill so if you would like to discuss this further please contact Lynda Bramley,Clerk to the Board on 0116 2834017 or e-mailleicester.freemen@talktalkbusiness.net

Freemans Courts

There have been three Freemans Courts held recently, two in March and onein April, with a total of 54 people taking up their Freedom including my twodaughters, Emma and Laura together with my sister, Brenda.

I would like to take this opportunity of paying special tribute to Lord MayorRobert Wann, who has presided over 4 Freemen’s Courts during his term ofoffice. This has reduced significantly, the large backlog of applicants who haveapplied to take up their Freedom.

I am told by the Lord Mayor’s office that there are now less than a dozenpeople waiting for the next ceremony. However, there are a further 50 or so

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applications which are awaiting the return of the necessary documentationwhich is required as evidence of their qualification to inherit the freedom ofthe City of Leicester.

Recent developments at the Holt

After the refurbishments of bungalows 35 and 16, we welcomed newresidents John & Josie Tolton and Ronald Freer. Work continues on bungalow34 which will provide another two-bedroom property.

The annual inspection of the estate took place on Saturday, 21 April. Thedeputies have developed a project plan for improvements and any necessaryremedial work.

There have been a few changes to the flower and shrub beds over the pastfew months and I hope you will agree that they continued to improve theappearance of the Holt.

We are all looking forward to the Garden party planned for Sunday, 24 Juneand I hope that you have noted this in your diaries. A steering committeeunder the guidance of Maurice Hill is working extremely hard on aprogramme which they say will have something for everyone.

The tremendous success of the last Garden party which was held in 2010 is abenchmark which Maurice and his team are confident of meeting. Althoughwe hope for good weather again this year the committee says that will just bea bonus. The only thing necessary to ensure the success again is that yousupport this event.

Bill Hargrave

Letter from Mrs Pat Allen.

Pat and family of the late Roger Allen wish to thank the Gild of Freemen andthe Freemen’s Deputies for all their support at Roger’s funeral. He would havebeen very proud that so many turned out for him, and that his son Martincould wear his father’s gown with pride.

A big thank you goes to Lynda and all her helpers at the Holt for all their hardwork on the day of the funeral, it was greatly appreciated. I would very muchlike to donate twelve yellow rose bushes for the garden at Freemen’s Holt inremembrance of Roger.

Pat Allen

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Roger Allen, 30th September 1943 – 27th March 2012

It is with great sadness that we have to report thedeath of Roger Allen, our Chamberlain, who passedaway after a short illness on Tuesday 27th March2012.

Roger was born and raised in the Charnwood Streetarea of Leicester and would often enjoy recountinghis fond memories of the location and of his yearsat Charnwood Street School. He left ‘Charnie’ in1955 to attend Wyggeston Boys’ Grammar School,after which he was articled to a local firm of

chartered accountants for seven years. His hard work and study paid offand he became a chartered accountant, at which point he decided to spreadhis wings and move to Peru to work for a mining company. During his timein Peru he returned to England for a visit in 1976 to take up his freedomalong with his father Frank and his brother David. He eventually returned toEngland permanently in 1984 with his two children, June and Martin andsettled in Coalville.

It did not take long for Roger to make his mark on the Gild of Freemen, Hewas elected as Chamberlain to the Gild in 1985, a post he held until his lastbreath, which made Roger by far and away the longest serving officer onthe Gild Court in the same post. Not only did Roger manage the accountswith great skill and diligence he also organized the many events and activitiesof the Gild with much enthusiasm. The climax of his organizational skillscame to the fore in 2007 when he managed the arrangements for the 900th

Anniversary weekend and Freemen of England and Wales AGM, an eventwhich received many plaudits from freemen up and down the country.

His other interests in life were too numerous to count, but his main interests,after his family and friends, were in sport, especially horse racing, cricket,and his beloved football team, Leicester City.

Roger will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him. He was a truegentleman who would go out of his way to help people and his presenceenriched the lives of many who met him.

Our sympathies go out to Pat, his wife, and his children, June and Martinand to all his close friends and relations.

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Programme of Future Outings and Events

Housed in the nowrestored GreatWestern Railwayworks the SwindonDesigner Outlet hashad over £40millionspent on itsdevelopment andconstruction and isnow reputed to be thelargest shopping mallin Europe with over 90stores including HugoBoss, John LewisHome Outlet, M & Soutlet, Next Clearanceand Pavers Shoes.More than 3 millionPeople visit the Outleteach year, and withprices your purse willlove too you’ll findeverything you couldwant in the Outlet –even a train.

2 for 1 Visit toSwindon

Sunday 20th May2012

Visiting two venues

“Steam” museumof the

Great WesternRailway

andThe Swindon

Designer Outlet

Our Luxury Coachleaves the Holt at9.00a.m. prompt

£22.00 adults£18.00 childrenTo book seats on

this popular trip donot delay

Complete theenclosed

Booking Form

Visit “Steam” telling theremarkable story of themen and women whobuilt, operated andtravelled on the G.W.R.railway “God’sWonderful Railway”Hands on displays, drivean engine, work the signalbox, see World famouslocomotives, areconstructed stationplatform, posters andholiday memorabilia thatrecreates the glamour andthrill of the golden age ofsteam. Meet IsambardKingdom Brunel with hisfirst locomotive “NorthStar” and learn about hisgreat engineering genius.So whatever your age,fun, excitement andadventure is there to behad.

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The Gild Annual BanquetSaturday 9th June 2012

Devonshire Place, London Road, LeicesterThe Gild are again holding a banquet at Devonshire Place on London Road inLeicester. In previous years the event has been a great success and attendedby freemen from many other guilds/gilds up and down the country. Ticketprices this year have been maintained the same as last year at £39.00 perhead, which includes drinks at a pre-dinner reception and a delicious four-course dinner.

Devonshire Place is an excellent venue providing top class food accompaniedby top class service and, of course, the company will also be top class. TheBanqueting Hall is set out with round tables which make for easy conversationwith fellow guests.

All freemen, not just Gild members, are invited with their friends, and thebanquet is an ideal way for new freemen to find out what we are all about andmeet other freemen.

If you would like to reserve your places at the banquet please complete thebooking form in the centre of the Gildhall News and return it to John Tolton atthe address on the form.

General inquiries about the banquet, or any other Gild matter, should bedirected to John Tolton at johntolton@hotmail.com.

Visit to the deep sea “Fishing Heritage Centre” at Grimsby19th August 2012

For our second trip this year we have arranged a visit to the Fishing HeritageCentre in Grimsby. This multi-award winning museum recreates Grimsby’smaritime history. Deep sea fishing has been described as one of the toughestjobs in the World, the Centre invites you to witness firsthand what life waslike for trawler men and their families in the 1950s.

Experience the sights, sounds and smells of the times that follow visitorsthrough the interactive displays. Plot your course in search of the catch as youtake the wheel in the skippers wheelhouse, experience the rolling seasthrough the moving deck, the urgency and excitement of the catch, crampedliving conditions and the heat of the engine room.

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Safely back on “dry land” explore the reconstruction of the twisting backstreets and alleys of 1950 Grimsby, peep into the living room, join thefishermen in the Freemen’s Arms, visit the dockside shops and join the queueat the “Settling office” to collect your pay.

Climb aboard the “Ross Tiger” trawler moored alongside the Centre andimagine what it would be like out at sea. Listen to some of the tales thetrawler guides will entertain you with from their days at sea.

The Centre is suitable for all ages, there is also an easy access route. The seatprice of £20 adults , £15 children under 16 years and £23 for non-Gildmembers includes admission to the Centre and the visit to the Ross Tiger.

We are hoping that to end the day we will be able to arrange a fish and chipsupper before returning home. If we are successful believe me you will look atyour piece of fish in an entirely new light.

To reserve your seat on the trip please complete the enclosed booking form.

Contributions to the Gildhall News*****************************

Distinguished army career of John Ross, Freeman of Leicester.

This is the army career of my great uncle 5x removed. The county hasproduced some notable soldiers but up with the best of them must beLieutenant General John Ross, Peninsula War veteran and one-timeLieutenant Governor of Guernsey.

John Dawes Ross was born on September 28, 1769 – the same year asWellington and Napoleon – the first-born son of the Rev John Dawes Rosswho had 18 children (this is where many of the people with the surname Rossdescend from. The future general was baptised at All Saints’ Church, Leicester.He became a freemen of Leicester on 18th May 1790 and he marriedKatherine Brownrigg, the daughter of Sir Henry Moore Brownrigg, on October2, 1811, at St George’s Church, Hanover Square, London.

Ross got his first commission in 1793, as an Ensign in the 36th (Herefordshire)Regiment of Foot, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the 52nd(Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot in May 1796, becoming captain in the sameregiment in 1800. With his regiment, Ross took part in the unsuccessful FerrolExpedition later that year. He became a major in the regiment in 1804. InJanuary 1808, Ross purchased a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 91st Regiment ofFoot, but exchanged back into the 52nd in February 1808.

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He served in the Peninsular War with the 2/52nd, which he commanded atVimiero, where he was mentioned in despatches. In the battle the Britishunder General Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington), defeated theFrench under General Junot, putting an end to the French first invasion ofPortugal. Ross continued to command the 2nd Battalion through Sir JohnMoore’s famous campaign that winter, and five companies of the regiment inthe Walcheren Campaign.

Ross subsequently returned tothe Peninsula to command the1/52nd, with whom he foughtat Pombal, Redinha, CasalNovo, Foz d’Arunce, Sabugal,and Fuentes de Oñoro, duringthe French general Masséna’sretreat from Portugal in thespring of 1811.

In 1811, Ross was appointedDeputy Adjutant-General to

the Forces in Ceylon. He served there until June 1814, when he returned toEurope for reasons of health. He was promoted colonel in the 66th(Berkshire) Regiment of Foot in June 1814. He was made a Companion of theBath in June 1815. After serving as Deputy Adjutant-General in Ireland from1815 to 1818, Ross was made Commandant of the Depot on the Isle of Wightin 1819, and went on half-pay in 1820. In May 1825, he was promoted Major-General. Ross was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey in 1828 andretired from that post in 1837.

The next year, he was promoted Lieutenant General. He became Colonel ofthe 46th Regiment of Foot in August 1839 and died on May 17, 1843 inSouthampton. Lt General John Ross is recorded as having been buried at AllSaints Church 24 May 1843. His address is given as Anglesea Place and his age65. There are no more details. All Saints Church was bombed in WW2 and the

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remains in the churchyard were exhumed and reinterred at HollybrookCemetery 2 Aug 1944. John Ross was amongst them and the list we haverecords the plot number as D4 33.

Paul Ross

Steam Trains and Plums by Mariane Hancock

In the fifties (and possibly earlier?) my dad, Eric Tolton, fed his family of fouron an ample supply of good garden produce from his allotment at WelfordRoad. If anyone was to ask me about my childhood, that allotment would takeabsolute precedence in memory. Most Sundays, we would wobble along onold push bikes, Dad with empty bags and I, with thoughts of plums, play andtrains. As a child, those allotments held a rural world of winding lanes andgardened strips, separated by rickety gates, homemade fences and tiedlengths of string, each piece of land boasting rows of vegetables, compostheaps, fresh turned soil, fruit bushes and trees … and at some junctionnearby, an old cast iron water pump served to fill watering cans, buckets anddry mouths.

In Dad’s allotment, the piece de resistance for me was the Louis Bonne peartree. A mature fruit bearing stairway that, once climbed, overlooked a vista ofallotments, countryside and railway tracks – the latter along which regularly

chugged the steam train, belchingwhite clouds as it hooted and trundleddown the line. I often wandered to thenearby bridge and leant over as thetrain emerged from the tunnel belowsticking my head in that snow whitefog, only to end up bizarrely with asmutty black face! And the gardenshed - sometimes a castle, sometimes

a cottage, but whatever, I’d always fill a jar with fresh dandelions and daisiesto stand on the old nailed shelf. Depending on the time of year (although itwas always summer to me then) I’d feast on gooseberries, plums, pears,apples, peas and blackberries. Whilst I gorged and explored, Dad would busilywork his plot until several hours later, we happily wobbled back home, ladenwith fruit and veg and full of sunshine. It’s funny what sticks in your mind,but the end of my day peaked watching Sunday Night at the Palladium beforethe once a week Sunday bath and bed!

Of course, as a child I didn’t think where or how this allotment had comeabout. I didn’t know that my great grandfather, William Tolton the Younger

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had been made a Freeman of Leicester almost a hundred years earlier.William, (the son of William of William of William and William) was born in1837 and in 1851, at the tender age of 14, became an apprentice to MrJoseph Warburton, a tobacco pipe maker, residing at 47 George Street. As Iunderstand it, men were made “Free” either through inheritance or bycompleting an apprenticeship to a Freeman, and, in 1858, having completedhis apprenticeship, he was made a Freeman and thereby started the honourthat we, in our family, carry to this day.

That same year, 21 year old William also married Sarah Whitworth. He andSarah went on to have eight surviving children, four girls and four boys, andguess what they called their first born son?! But it was not a William who wasmy grandfather, it was the youngest, Archibald, born in 1880, who broughtthe privilege to our personal family lineage. To be honest, I’m not sure whenthe Freemen’s Common was made available as allotments to Freemen, in factwriting this has given me more questions than answers. Did Archibald have anallotment? Or any of the previous Williams’ before him? In fact, when didWelford Road’s share of the donated land become Freemen’s Common?

But finally, in the 1960s, as the Beatles became more important to me thansteam trains and plums, the Freemen’s Common was purchased by the CityCouncil, ending an era for many of us. I’m not sure when Dad gave up hisallotment or if he worked it until the land was sold, but I wonder if he knewhow precious those early years had been for his youngest daughter?

Funds from this land were used to buy the 7.5 acres on which 36 bungalows, acommunity hall, a warden’s office and allotments were built - known, ofcourse, as The Freemen’s Holt. Although change inevitably brings some loss,there is no doubt it brought my parents, and many others, a well deserved,secure and contented retirement and will hopefully continue to do so. Mumsadly died in 1992, but not only do I have these wonderful treasuredchildhood memories, but they are followed by the safe reassurance myparents, and then just Dad, had such comfortable and secure accommodationfor their remaining years.

After Mum died, a visit to Dad caught him in a reflective mood. I asked himhow he was. He smiled, cast his eyes around and gestured to infer thecommunity, the warden, the support, the grounds, the allotments, thewildlife, the bungalows, the friendship …

Good old William Tolton – youngest son of William, William, William andWilliam!

Marianne Hancock (nee Tolton)

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“Another side of the Common” by Maurice HillFreemen’s Common was not entirely just summerhouses, flowers andvegetables there was that side that was given to a more social or nongardening activity. I have gathered together some examples to illustrate this.

The first example concerns the Chawnerbrothers Joseph and Arthur who lived atnumber 48 Lower Brown Street. Thephotograph on the left shows houses in LowerBrown Street approximately 20 years after theChawner brothers engagement and still lit byparaffin lamps.

When they became engaged to Lillian andEdith in 1910 they felt that the Common was amore attractive place to have theirphotographs taken than in Lower Brown Street.and went to the allotment of their fatherAndrew Chawner.

Their photographs were taken outside theopen doors of their father’s summerhouse.

The engagement photographwith left to right Joseph,Lillian, Edith and Arthur

outside their father’ssummerhouse

The second example concerns my family. When my auntie Alma was married in1925 the reception was held at the off licence on X Road and there was a fullfamily gathering.

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In the group photograph note the gentleman 5 from the left is my Uncle Bill(Chairman of the Board 1941), the shorter of the two gentlemen behind thebride is my Grandfather William and of the two boys to the right of the groupthe one in the suit is my cousin Bill. These were the three Williams who insuccession ran the off licence. The tall gentleman on the left of the group is myfather Rowland. It is interesting to note that the young Bill eventually took upthe Freedom and with the three others there were only four Freemen in thepicture. With the present day ruling of Lady Freemen if this had been in force atthat time then there would have been a total of 10 Freemen and potentialFreemen in the Picture

Apart from the off licence which I believe was previously a public house andthe overseer’s shop selling sweets and chocolate pre WW2, there were othercommercial activities on the Common.

In 1900 the Mugglestone family lived in a summerhouse on W road and theymade and sold herb beer for a 1d a bottle. The photograph at the top of thenext page shows Arthur Mugglestone and his wife Ellen (nee Cowell) outsidethe summerhouse they lived in on W Road with four of their eventual thirteenchildren. The notice attached to the tree advertises herb beer for sale.

The photograph next to it shows the W Road summerhouse awaiting demolitionin the 1960’s.

in the latter part of the 1800s on M Road at number 25&26 was a family businesscalled the Alma Tea Gardens which opened in 1851 and “accommodated visitorsto the Common”. The business was run by the English family and a letter written

Auntie Alma’s wedding reception in front of the off licence.

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by George English in 1864 records that afterthirteen years the business is still going strong.

George English was born 18th July 1849 and attended Alderman Newton’s School.He wrote the letter on 25th August 1864 and died aged only 15 in October 1864.Quoting his letter he says that,

“We now dwell on the Freeman’s Common Leicester, we are in a small business.We keep tea gardens for the accommodation of visitors. We have been in thisbusiness for nearly thirteen years. The situation is very beautiful and pleasant inthe summer but in winter it is very cold”

The letter was written in an exercisebook which was possibly part of hisschool work. Of special interest inside thecover of his book he has recorded hisaddress as;

Freemans CommonLeicester25.26 M RoadAlma Tea Gardens

Alfred English (born 1857) Nephew ofGeorge English with his wife Mary and

daughter Amelia outside theirsummerhouse on M Road. Was this

part of the Alma Tea Gardens?

Maurice Hill

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New MembersIt’s great to welcome Mrs J.E.Langley, Eileen Greenwwod, Margaret Warner,Elma Summers, Nicholas Cave and Rachel Allen, who have recently joined theGild as members. We look forward to seeing you all at Gild functions soon.

SubscriptionsAs mentioned previously, subscription rates for members and associatemembers increased from April 2012 to £9.00 and £6.00, respectively.

This means that those members who kindly pay by standing order, if youhaven’t amended your standing order, as requested in the last issue of theGildhall News, your bank will have paid the incorrect amount on 1st April2012.

If you are a new freeman who were previously an associate member of theGild who paid by standing order, then obviously you will need to amend yourstanding order.

Would you please check your bank statement. If you have under-paid wouldyou please send a cheque for amount owing together with a new standingorder using the form that appears in this issue of Gildhall News. This formshould be sent to Maurice Hill, who will process the new Standing Order withyour bank ready for your next year’s subscription.

The Gild Court much prefers payment by Standing Order, as it makes foreasier administration. However, if you prefer, you may pay by cheque in thetraditional manner, sending in the enclosed form with your payment.

The green thing

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the olderwoman that she should bring her own shopping bags becauseplastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman

apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlierdays.”

The cashier responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did notcare enough to save our environment for future generations.”

She was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day. Backthen, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. Thestore sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, soit could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. We

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refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replacedthe razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor justbecause the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back in ourday.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every shop andoffice building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right.We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machineburning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes backin our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers orsisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’thave the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room.And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?),not a screen the size of the county of Yorkshire In the kitchen, we blendedand stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to doeverything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the post, weused wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plasticbubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn.We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by workingso we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate onelectricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank water from a fountain or a tap when we were thirsty instead ofdemanding a plastic bottle flown in from another country. We accepted that alot of food was seasonal and didn’t expect that to be bucked by flying itthousands of air miles around the world. We actually cooked food that didn’tcome out of a packet, tin or plastic wrap and we could even wash our ownvegetables and chop our own salad. But we didn’t have the green thing backthen.

Back then, people took the tram or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to schoolor walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service. We hadone electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power adozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive asignal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find thenearest pizza joint. But isn’t it sad the current generation laments howwasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing backthen?

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Have you changed your address ?In the event that is necessary to inform the Gild or the Board of any changein circumstances then the information should be sent to:

Lynda BramleyClerk to the BoardLeicester Freemen’s Estate32 Freemen’s HoltOld Church StreetAylestoneLeicester LE2 8NH

Telephone: 0116 – 283 4017E-mail: leicester.freemen@talktalkbusiness.net

Leicester Freemen web site: www.leicester-freemen.com

Copy for the next issue should reach the Editorby

Friday 13th July 2012

For your News and Views write to :

Brian Mudford11 Huntsman CloseMarkfieldLeicestershireLE67 9XE

Telephone 01530 245414e-mail: brianmudford@tiscali.co.uk

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John Tolton being congratulated by Brian Mudford after he was elected theMaster of the Gild at Common Hall on Wednesday 18th April 2012

The Lord Mayor of York with Masters of the various Gilds of Freemenafter the service held on Sunday 22nd April 2012, the day following the

Gild of Freemen of the City of York’s Banquet.

Seated from left to right either side of the Lord Mayor, Cllr Robert Wann are BillHargrave, Vice Chairman of the Board of Deputies, Wayne Manship, Chairman of

the Board of Deputies, Brian Mudford, Master of the Gild of Freemen, MichaelAyres, Warden of the Court . The twelve ladies and five gentlemen in the photograph

are the new Freemen after their swearing in ceremony on 1st March 2012

Seated from left to right either side of the Lord Mayor, Cllr Robert Wann are BillHargrave, Chairman of the Board of Deputies, Paul Ross, Honorary Treasurer ofthe Board of Deputies, Michael Ayres, Warden of the Court, John Tolton, Clerk ofthe Gild of Freemen. The fourteen ladies and three gentlemen in the photograph

are the new Freemen after their swearing in ceremony on 17th April 2012