The Tewkesbury Historical Society
Welcome to our local History Society website
November's Photograph:
The 2nd Tewkesbury of B.P. Scouts
Respected Gloucestershire Pubs history site grounded by copyright claim
For researchers and the curious public there are fewer and fewer hobby websites in this age of social media platforms, audience consolidation and AI. So when one more disappears it is very disappointing. Many will have come across Geoff Sandles’ website https://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk while googling places to visit or to understand their local pub and village. Over twenty years he had researched and compiled the history of more than 3000 Gloucestershire pubs – many now sadly gone due to the pressures small businesses are under. Each story too small to be recorded except as a footnote in a local newpaper (perhaps) but once the heart of people’s lives and communities.
The best an amateur historian can do with no funding or ad revenue stream is tap the archive of local newspapers – the first and often only drafts of history. But doing this at the scale of a county has drawn the attention of Reach Plc, owners of many of the relevant titles who have now asserted their copyright on their clippings. Geoff reports that separating the pre-1930 public-domain material from later copyrighted items, and attributing ownership accurately (credits were always present), is a great deal of work, so the current site is down, but hopes a redacted version will come back online soon.
We all know local newspapers are struggling with decreased sales and relevance. Few would argue that publishers should receive nothing for contemporary work. The harder question is how far copyright should continue to lock away historical local reporting once the commercial life of the paper has long ended. Facts themselves are not protected; rewritten accounts based on the same facts are generally allowed; and pre-1930 text is already out of copyright. Yet the practical effect of a broad claim is that a non-commercial, painstakingly assembled public resource becomes unsustainable.
Researchers can still find much of the raw material in the British Newspaper Archive, where Reach has licensed it. What is lost is the work of people like Geoff who stitch the primary sources together, add context, and make the history accessible in one place. It is one more small erasure of work done by ordinary people in the public space, and one more example of how easily we yield when power speaks.
October Meeting
2026-2027 Schedule of Talks
The Jerrard Award winner 2026
to Expand
Tewkesbury Community Day
Tewkesbury Cemetery War Graves Tour
to Expand
Tewkesbury History Festival
People News
to Expand
On Monday May 19th, two of our longstanding members, Wendy Snarey and John Dixon, were given ’Town Community Service Awards’, during the annual Mayoral meeting at the Watson Hall.Many from the town were there to witness the occassion.These awards were for voluntary service for our town over many years, and were richly deserved. Fullest congratulations to them both!
Furthermore, during the same ceremony, THS member Emma Ash was appointed Tewkesbury Town Mayor, 2026-2027.We offer her our congratulations and best wishes for the year ahead.
Woodard Award 2026
to Expand
Normandy Missing '99'
Imjin River 75 Service
Sir George Dowty
Bill Shakespeare plaque unveiling
March 2026 meeting
to Expand
David Page
The funeral of David Page will take place on 26 February 2026 at 10.30 at the Crematorium in Cheltenham. David was the only son of Almeric Page and he, with his father, have contributed articles to the THS Bulletin. His last article was in Bulletin 34 last year when he wrote about the Sea Cadets.February 2026 Meeting
Our Man at Trafalgar
Social Evening
Dowtys
New Book: A Wonderful Childhood
A Wonderful Childhood is a book written by members of the Priors Park History Group, led by James Baker of Charity CCP. The book was edited by John Dixon with cover design by Sam Eedle.
The book is available for purchase from our online ‘Shop’. publication date is 21 November 2025.
[Update: the printed book is now sold out but a digital PDF copy is available via the 'Shop']
Jane Gill book
In 2019, Jane Gill, gave a talk to THS on her book Dance With Fireflies, a novel inspired by the Indian connections her grandmother. Jane has now published a sequel, In the Shadow of the Tamarind Tree which is available on Amazon
Railway Commemoration Video
Sir George Dowty book release invitation
The initial response to the release of the Sir George Dowty Diary book has been most enthusiastic - both here and overseas. It is a most fitting accompaniment to his statue erected a year ago. Few 20th century industrialists have received such international recognition - it reflects the magnitude of his achievements. The formal release of the book is to take place on the 9th June at the Graeme Hick Pavilion at the Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Rhodesian born Graeme played his entire domestic career of over 20 years exclusively for Worcestershire. The event commences at 10.00am in the presence of many distinguished guests and is to be followed by refreshments. The diaries from 1919 to 1975 will be on display including the fully restored 1953 edition. The setting is most appropriate given that Sir George Dowty was Worcestershire born, educated and apprenticed in Worcester and President of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club during their championship winning sides of 1964 and 1965. The Dowty Group acquired Worcester based mining engineers Meco in the late 1960s. To reserve a place at this iconic occasion email willmundy331@icloud.com
Woodard Award
to Expand
Even more Census Data
We are pleased to announce that the Tewkesbury Census Data for 1841 to 1891 has doubled in size. We now have 37,608 people spread over 9,575 property records. Take a look here.Dowty Group
Cemetery and Burials database for Tewkesbury
Over the years we have collated information from the various burial grounds in the town and now is the time to release a one-stop location for all of them on this site. The new Burials Database in our Research section tries to do this. There is also an accompanying history and guide to finding the resting place of persons buried in the town. There are currently an impressive 18,564 records. For the decades 1841 to 1881 we can also link to the Census Database (not guaranteed they are same people)Two large scale maps of Tewkesbury from 1811 and 1880
We are proud to present two maps on our site using new zoom and pan technology.We have the 1811 Enclosure Map of Tewkesbury and the huge 1:500 scale map of Tewkesbury created in the 1880s, both full of amazing detail. Use your mouse wheel to zoom and left mouse to drag.
 |
 |
1832 Cholera Epidemic in Tewkesbury
One of our members, Dr Peter Raggatt, who is a retired NHS Clinical Biochemist at Addenbrookes Hospital and Lecturer in Cambridge University School, was moved to research and write an article about this epidemic with its comparisons with the present pandemic. [see attached PDF above] It links in with previous research on Cholera in Tewkesbury. Such was the impact of these two epidemics on the town that a monument was commissioned which now resides in the Cemetery, adjacent to the ‘Cholera Pit’ where many victims received a mass night burial [see attached]. Although John Snow, clean water for the Mythe Waterworks and improved housing conditions have ensured that 1849 was the last appearance of cholera, the brutality which occurred in World War II Japanese POW camps caused the death of several Tewkesbury soldiers of cholera in 1943-44. Here is a biography of one of them, Frederick Key.
Smallpox was another medical curse of the18-19th centuries but by the late 19thC vaccinations were made compulsory and a significant number of people in Tewkesbury became anti-vaccination. For more on this familiar tale, see Martin Holt's award winning article.
History is always so topical!
Results of Tree-Ring Dating for Tewkesbury Buildings
to Expand
War Graves Tour Booking
Book your place on the 19 Sep 2026 tour HERE
Elizabeth Wyatt Hall Exhibition
Remarkable Incidents Relative to Tewkesbury
On the 18th of February, 1661, the great west window of the church was blown down by a violent wind.
Alley Walks
Glos Building Record Group
Tewkesbury Weather
![Alleys Walk [Steve Goodchild]](/images/Alleys Walk 8 Nov 2026.jpg){kind=link}
Meetings Videos
Video recordings of talks given at our meetings are often made and can be viewed on our YouTube Channel
Sir George Dowty
Tewkesbury Museum
GLHA Societies' Events List
Lionel Walrond
Lionel Walrond, curator of Stroud Museum 1955 to 1990, took many photographs of Gloucestershire. A searchable collection is available on the GlosDocs website.
William Thomas Clarke
The Winter of 1962-63
Tudor House Hotel
A comprehensive building assessment has been published by Johanna Roethe of 'Historic England' - click here to read on their website.
'True Blue Farm'