Tuesday 12 March 2024

Powderham Event Wednesday April 17th 2024

KENTON PAST & PRESENT and

STARCROSS HISTORY SOCIETY [SCHS]

 

Wednesday 17th April 2024

7.00-8.30 pm

 

The Music Room, Powderham Castle, Kenton

by kind permission of the Earl of Devon

 

David Holland explores:

 

The Exeter Conspiracy Through The Eyes Of

Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell

 

ADMISSION FREE

 

 

 

Introduction to an historical whodunnit  In the 1520s Henry Courtenay, King Henry VIII’s cousin and very close friend, was the most likely male heir to the throne. However, during 1536/37 the mood music dramatically changed.

 

Henry Courtenay and his family, staunch Catholics, were suddenly in deadly danger from Henry VIII’s all-powerful minister, ThomaCromwell, a Protestant. Cromwell accused the Courtenays and their powerful Catholic allies of plotting, The Exeter Conspiracy, to depose King Henry VIII, and replace him with a Catholic monarch… David Holland now takes up the story.

 

Please note the change in venue from the SCHS’s and Kenton Past and Present’s usual ones.

 

HILARY MANTEL’s WOLF HALL TRILOGY OF NOVELS and the TWO HENRYS: KING HENRY VIII & HENRY COURTENAY


Prelude to David Holland’ talk on 17th April 2024 in the Music Room, Powderham Castle: The Exeter Conspiracy Through The Eyes Of Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell


The Courtenay connection


Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived [just!] (1) is the well known chant to help remember the sequence of Henry VIII’s wives: that clutch of unfortunate, largely doomed ladies. Beside them sit other, less well-known victims like Sir Thomas More of Henry VIII’s psychopathic paranoia.  In Henry’s paranoid mind his victims were possible threats to his throne and dynasty. So, anyone whose head popped above the successional parapet was liable to have it involuntarily removed. None more so than the family members [Plantagenets] of Queen Elizabeth of York (d.1503) wife of Henry VIII’s father, the Lancastrian Henry VII (r.1485-1509), 


A Courtenay Story 


A starting point for a Courtenay Story is the marriage of Queen Elizabeth’s youngest sister Catherine to William Courtenay of Tiverton Castle, at this time Powderham Castle was not the family’s main residence. The Yorkist curse fell on the shoulders of their son, Henry Courtenay, Henry VIII’s cousin, childhood buddy and then close friend. The Courtenays were the most powerful family in the West of England with extensive estates from which it could raise its own private army that could even threaten the king’s. For Henry C. all was well throughout the 1520s; he was Henry VIII’s leading courtier. And, as Henry VIII’s oldest male relative, he was a heartbeat from the throne.  But note Henry C’s wife, Gertrude, was devoutly religious, a companion and friend of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s ageing, infertile wife whom Henry VIII hoped easily to replace with the fecund, doe eyed Anne Boleyn. 


Hilary Mantel’s First Two Novels in the Trilogy and Henry Courtenay


Wolf Hall Fate now cast its long, deadly shadow over Henry Courtenay. Henry VIII’s bitter divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the split from Rome saw Henry VIII replace the Pope as head of the Catholic Church in England so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. From c. 1530 Gertrude Courtenay, Catherine of Aragon’s staunch supporter, became closely involved with her and the Pope’s backers: Henry VIII’s enemies whom he hung, beheaded or burned. Hilary Mantel details how Gertrude’s religious fervour pointed to Henry Courtenay’s possible entanglement in this fevered poisonous web of rumour, accusations and duplicity but without any evidence of a conspiracy against Henry VIII. So, Henry C. survived, just, as a leading courtier. 


Bring Up The Bodies continues the tale, with the Courtenays perhaps surprisingly in 1536 playing a major role as Henry VIII’s allies in getting rid of their hated enemy Anne Boleyn once Henry VIII’s love for her turned to loathing and his eye latched on to a younger, more fertile possible queen. So, in 1536 Henry had Anne decapitated and he married Jane Seymour. A year later Jane bore Henry VIII his greatest wish: a baby Lancastrian son - Prince Edward. Yorkist Henry Courtenay was now in deadly danger - a potentially murderous wicked uncle who on Henry VIII’s death would kill Prince Edward and seize the throne as had a Yorkist uncle Richard III some 50 years ago.


Note: wicked uncle Richard III, line 2, Catherine, line 4, fifth person along - second sister of Elizabeth of York who married the Lancastrian Henry VII

 


Henry Courtenay 


Henry is ranked second in the kingdom in the pecking order the procession reveals.  

The three oval red circles on his surcoat are taken from the Courtenay coat of arms.



Monday 11 March 2024

Please join us on Saturday afternoon




A STARCROSS HISTORY SOCIETY WORKING PARTY: STARCROSS CELEBRATES THE 1920S

 

§  We need your help to plan and manage a Starcross Celebrates the 1920s project. Starcross History Society is establishing a working party in liaison with Devon History Society to review what the Starcross programme might entail.


The project will happen in 2025.

 

§  If you are interested in the Starcross Celebrates the 1920s project and might like to join its working party, we would be delighted if you could attend a public meeting on:

 

Saturday, 16th March at 3.00 p.m. in

Starcross Pavilion, Generals Lane, Starcross, EX6 8PY

 

If you cannot attend, but are interested in participating in Starcross Celebrates the 1920s, please let us know at starcross.history@gmail.com and we will keep you informed.



 

Thursday 8 February 2024

Meeting at Powderham Castle Wednesday 17th April


STARCROSS HISTORY SOCIETY [SCHS)

 with 

KENTON PAST & PRESENT 

Wednesday 17th April 2024

7.00-8.30 pm

The Music Room, Powderham Castle, Kenton

by kind permission of the Earl of Devon

David Holland explores:

The Exeter Conspiracy Through The Eyes Of

Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell

 

ADMISSION FREE



Introduction to an historical whodunnit  In the 1520s Henry Courtenay, King Henry VIII’s cousin and very close friend, was the most likely male heir to the throne. However, during 1536/37 the mood music dramatically changed.

 

Henry Courtenay and his family, staunch Catholics, were suddenly in deadly danger from Henry VIII’s all-powerful minister, ThomaCromwell, a Protestant. Cromwell accused the Courtenays and their powerful Catholic allies of plotting, The Exeter Conspiracy, to depose King Henry VIII, and replace him with a Catholic monarch… David Holland now takes up the story.

 

The connection with the Courtenay family and hence their relevance to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy is previewed in A TALE OF TWO HENRYS - Henry Courtenay and Henry VIII on the Starcross History Society’s website https://starcrosshistory.blogspot.com

 

David Holland is kindly giving this talk as a prelude to the “Wolf Hall Weekend” event he is arranging in June at Cadhay House - https://wolfhallweekend.com/

 

Please note the change in venue for the 17th April meeting from the SCHS’s and Kenton Past and Present’s usual ones.

 

 


Prelude to David Holland's talk on 17th April 2024 The Exeter Conspiracy Through The Eyes Of Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell

HILARY MANTEL’s WOLF HALL TRILOGY OF NOVELS and the TWO HENRYS: KING HENRY VIII & HENRY COURTENAY


Prelude to David Holland’ talk on 17th April 2024 in the Music Room, Powderham Castle: The Exeter Conspiracy Through The Eyes Of Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell


The Courtenay connection


Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived [just!] (1) is the well known chant to help remember the sequence of Henry VIII’s wives: that clutch of unfortunate, largely doomed ladies. Beside them sit other, less well-known victims like Sir Thomas More of Henry VIII’s psychopathic paranoia.  In Henry’s paranoid mind his victims were possible threats to his throne and dynasty. So, anyone whose head popped above the successional parapet was liable to have it involuntarily removed. None more so than the family members [Plantagenets] of Queen Elizabeth of York (d.1503) wife of Henry VIII’s father, the Lancastrian Henry VII (r.1485-1509), Fig. 1.   


A Courtenay Story 


A starting point for a Courtenay Story is the marriage of Queen Elizabeth’s youngest sister Catherine to William Courtenay of Tiverton Castle, at this time Powderham Castle was not the family’s main residence. The Yorkist curse fell on the shoulders of their son, Henry Courtenay, Henry VIII’s cousin, childhood buddy and then close friend. The Courtenays were the most powerful family in the West of England with extensive estates from which it could raise its own private army that could even threaten the king’s. For Henry C. all was well throughout the 1520s; he was Henry VIII’s leading courtier. And, as Henry VIII’s oldest male relative, he was a heartbeat from the throne.  But note Henry C’s wife, Gertrude, was devoutly religious, a companion and friend of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s ageing, infertile wife whom Henry VIII hoped easily to replace with the fecund, doe eyed Anne Boleyn. 


Hilary Mantel’s First Two Novels in the Trilogy and Henry Courtenay


Wolf Hall Fate now cast its long, deadly shadow over Henry Courtenay. Henry VIII’s bitter divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the split from Rome saw Henry VIII replace the Pope as head of the Catholic Church in England so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. From c. 1530 Gertrude Courtenay, Catherine of Aragon’s staunch supporter, became closely involved with her and the Pope’s backers: Henry VIII’s enemies whom he hung, beheaded or burned. Hilary Mantel details how Gertrude’s religious fervour pointed to Henry Courtenay’s possible entanglement in this fevered poisonous web of rumour, accusations and duplicity but without any evidence of a conspiracy against Henry VIII. So, Henry C. survived, just, as a leading courtier. 


Bring Up The Bodies continues the tale, with the Courtenays perhaps surprisingly in 1536 playing a major role as Henry VIII’s allies in getting rid of their hated enemy Anne Boleyn once Henry VIII’s love for her turned to loathing and his eye latched on to a younger, more fertile possible queen. So, in 1536 Henry had Anne decapitated and he married Jane Seymour. A year later Jane bore Henry VIII his greatest wish: a baby Lancastrian son - Prince Edward. Yorkist Henry Courtenay was now in deadly danger - a potentially murderous wicked uncle who on Henry VIII’s death would kill Prince Edward and seize the throne as had a Yorkist uncle Richard III some 50 years ago.


Figure 1 Yorkist Family Tree  :  showing Catherine – sister of Elizabeth of York, wife of William Courtenay

A diagram of a family tree

Description automatically generated

Note: wicked uncle Richard III, line 2, Catherine, line 4, fifth person along - second sister of Elizabeth of York who married the Lancastrian Henry VII




 


S


Figure 2 Henry Courtenay, in a royal procession in 1535 

A close up of a painting

Description automatically generated

Henry is ranked second in the kingdom in the pecking order the procession reveals.  

The three oval red circles on his surcoat are taken from the Courtenay coat of arms.



Monday 6 November 2023

Villages in Action Archive

Click HERE to link to the archive footage from the Unearth project, which was run in Starcross in 2016 by Villages in Action

The project was organised by then Churchwarden Alison Miles. 

The video footage includes The Starcross Ferry,  The Annual Swim Race from Starcross Pier to Exmouth followed by Hugh Payne presenting the prizes, The Royal Western Counties Hospital and scenes of The River Exe

These are some of the photographs, but the link above takes you to much more. For example:
letters,  which include one to his wife from Isambard Kingdom Brunel,  newspaper cuttings and 2 songs about Starcross from Jim Causley



Wednesday 25 October 2023

Talk on Armistice Day

Todd Gray will talk about the First World War war.memorials in Devon 


His talk will be at the Starcross Pavilion on Saturday November 11th, from 3pm until 5pm. ADMISSION IS FREE but to cover costs we sell teas and coffees and have a raffle. Please bring a raffle prize.

Starcross’s war memorial does not stand alone – there are some 2,000 in Devon, a network of memorial beacons that uniquely recognise and light up the collective identity of each community. Each memorial was the outcome of its community’s local committee that discussed, argued, rowed, debated and decided upon what kind of memorial it wanted and the form it would take, and then built it.

 When you pass Starcross Station, do you ever stop to look at the war memorial at the bottom of the station’s steps, and B, see page 2? If so, have you thought how  it, and similar memorials, relate in the past to your family or friends who died in World War I, 1914-18? ‘Our family roots are now our branches’ applies to our own family members, some four generations ago, who were killed in the World War I fight for national survival against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

 

What had the deaths of that generation of our relatives achieved? And today,

what memories of what they fought for do we remember, recognise, honour and meditate upon annually during the 11th of November commemorative national Remembrance Day two minutes of silence on the 11th minute of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 that marks the end of World War I?

 

From 1918 to the mid 1920s the British government supported every community in Britain, be it a hamlet, village, town or city to create, design and build its own war memorial to remember and honour men and women who ’Died For King and Country’ in World War I, some 12,000 in Devon alone.

Friday 22 September 2023

The Swan of the Exe on Exeter Quay

 On Saturday, September 23rd and Sunday 24th, FREE RIDES will be offered on The Swan of the Exe Rickshaw on Exeter Quay . 

Places can be booked by emailing info@burnthecurtain.co.uk by today, Friday 22nd September, or by booking from 2pm on the Saturday and Sunday at Exeter Custom House

This is part of the Heritage Harbour Festival. Here is the link to the program on the Exeter Custom House website 








Thursday 27 July 2023

Could this be the old Starcross Racecourse?

William Morgan would please like opinions about the site of The Stsrcross Racecourse. for his second book about the history of racecourses.. 

William has discovered that the 1863 course was on land in the occupation of John and Thomas Haydon of Staplake and 5 minutes from the station (in 1865). His research on Google Earth demonstrates that the area is " pretty flat " and he suggests that the course  would be 6 furlongs round, positioned as shown on this map. He asks "How does this seem to you?"


 

Monday 8 May 2023

Videos from the Royal Western Counties Hospital



Many thanks to the Royal Western Counties Facebook for these 4:YouTube links

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oTjwpa9bZqE&feature=youtu.be#bottom-sheet

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxlvWEYvPBg&feature=youtu.be

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KDRMWJwl7fE&feature=youtu.be

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5zXz4JuNMs4&feature=youtu.be

Sunday 9 April 2023

Meeting in Starcross Pavilion Saturday April 15th


Saturday 15th April

3pm until 5pm

Starcross Pavilion on Starcross Sportsfield,

General’s Lane, EX6 8PY


Dr Kathryn Edwards 

"In Vogue: William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon"



ADMISSION FREE

but to cover the room hire, we will sell tea and coffee,  have a raffle and a collection pot 

Please bring a raffle prize 


Contact: Monica Lang 890650

starcross.history@gmail.com

https://starcrosshistory.blogspot.com






Monday 27 February 2023

Reg Colley. "Looking Back"

 Here are the links to Reg Colley's remarkable books which paint a picture of Starcross from before the First World War until 1983


Reg Colley "Looking Back" part 1


Reg Colley "Looking Back" part 2




Wednesday 22 February 2023

Turkey - Syria Earthquake Donation


Many thanks to Suzanne Jones, who made no charge for her wonderful presentation "240 Years of Gardening and Horticulture in Dawlish"
The Starcross History Society was able to donate £100 to the Turkey Earthquake Appeal






---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Disasters Emergency Committee <support@dec.org.uk>
Date: Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 6:33 PM
Subject: Thank you for your donation



 

Dear Starcross History Society,

Thank you so much for your donation to the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal.

Donation amount:

£100.00

Thank You
 

As you know, the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria have caused widespread devastation. Thousands of people have died and survivors have been left without shelter. They desperately need emergency shelter, medical care, food and clean water.

Your donation of £100.00 could be worth an extra £25.00 if we were able to claim Gift Aid on it. Please consider doing so by making a Gift Aid declaration – it can make a very substantial difference. If you’re interested in making a Gift Aid declaration, please contact our Supporter Care Team via our contact form. If you want to find out more about the Gift Aid scheme, please visit https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid.

We'll report back on how your donation was spent on our website after the first six months of the appeal. You can also keep updated on social media by following us on FacebookTwitter or Instagram.

Thank you again for your generous donation to help those devastated by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Yours sincerely,

Saleh Saeed
Saleh Saeed

Saturday 11 February 2023

Dissertation on Captain George Peacock

 The Starcross History Society has permission from Patricia E Barton, the author of this dissertation, to put a link to it here. Anyone may download it. 

Captain George Peacock by Patricia E Barton


This bust of
Captain George Peacock
is with his descendants
in The Wirral 


Some of this dissertation will be published on this weblog, in sections 

Tuesday 17 January 2023

240 Years of Gardening and Horticulture in Dawlish

 

Prize List for 1874
Dawlish Horticultural and
Cottage Garden Society 


On Saturday, February 18th, from 3pm until 5pm in The Starcross Pavilion on the Starcross Sportsfield, Suzanne Jones will present 

"240 Years of Gardening and Horticulture in Dawlish "

Suzanne will describe: the very active Garden Society, which was formed in 1861; what happened during both World Wars; and the large industry of horticulture that sustained many families and employed hundreds of people at its height.

Suzanne is intrigued by this subject and she continues her research, spending many hours every week searching local archives for information. 

If anyone has any photographs, press cuttings posters or stories about the history of gardening in Dawlish and surrounds, please  get in touch, or even bring them to the meeting.

Admission is free but it's around £40 for the hire of the pavilion and its facilities, so we sell tea and coffee, have a collection pot, and have a raffle.

Please bring a raffle prize

Thankyou 




 



Monday 28 November 2022

Excellent details about The Atmospheric Railway

 

Entrance to the Brunel Tower,
 owned by
 The Starcross Fishing and Cruising Club 

Link to an absolutely fabulous account about The Atmospheric Railway. Did you know that the Brunel Tower had to be rebuilt TWICE in 1845 and 1846?

The Atmospheric Road.



Mr Charles W. Mayer

 

The Royal Western Counties Hospital 

Please does anyone know anything about the Late Mr.Charles W. Mayer,  who was Superintendent of the Starcross Western County Institutions during the 1920s? He was awarded the MBE (Civil) 

Are his descendants living in Starcross or anywhere else?

A grateful man from Chennai, Tamilnadu, India is anxious to contact them.

 He writes: 

" I am a state government retiree aged 69. I lived with my parents with the late Mr.George Hugh Mayer in Pune, in the state of Maharastra, India. He was very kind and gave me an education till he passed away in 1965. 

...I was 12 years old then. I am very grateful and cannot forget his kindness to me and my parents who are no more. I just want to know whether there are any ...descendants. I will be very grateful if you could help in searching them out...





Sunday 20 November 2022

Starcross Hospital. What the voices tell us. Part 4.

 

Western Counties Institution
Starcross
Twas a never ending world

Why the Starcross era came to a close

quotes are from David King , The District General Manager,  Exeter Health Authority, recorded as one of the interviewees for the Starcross Oral Archive Project in 1988 .

With more and more admissions, but few discharges, of patients, the buildings became overcrowded and too full – not as intended by their philanthropic founders.

It is shocking that people were packed into hospitals in the recent past and hypocritical that the conditions were described as “Dickensian”, for in Dickens’ day the inmates enjoyed a better environment. Not only was the overcrowding squalid, it also contributed to the lowest standards of behaviour.

The peak in numbers was reached in the 1950s, but then there was a gradual removal of social pressure to place people in institutions.

The official attitude to learning disability was changing… No longer… regarded as disqualifications from membership of society but disadvantages to be solved or helped within it

In time, there was a realisation that institutional care was unsatisfactory.

For people with learning disabilities, the hospitals did more harm than good… there were better and more practical alternatives to help them. 


Why Starcross should not be forgotten

David King asked for an oral archive to be created before the memories of Starcross faded. He thought it right that the good intentions of those who had set up and run the institution should be recognised, and at the same time that the limitations should be remembered.

He foresaw a day when potentially the institutions would be recalled through rose-tinted glasses, and the realities forgotten, or those involved wrongly maligned.

Institutional care was a phase in our social history that should be recorded so it would be better understood in future years when the bricks and mortar of the Victorian hospitals were no longer there to remind us.

The project was also intended to help society understand the importance of succeeding with the difficult transformation from institutional to community care: 

Enthusiasm for community care will only be generated if more is known about the handicaps of hospital life and how community solutions can better serve the varied needs of people. 

Interviewed for the Starcross oral archive David was asked: What made you decide it was worthwhile to chronicle the history of Starcross and attempt this reconstruction of what it was like to be in Starcross? 

It’s nice to get the voices and experiences of people down. Much that has been written about the hospitals has failed to bring out the fact that they, particularly the mental handicap hospitals, were creating a “sub-class” in society, people who were excluded from society permanently and, if they had any abilities, were treated as slave labour…One of the particular reasons was that funny little book called “The First Hundred Years” and its glowing appreciation of the Institution.

The First Hundred Years was a booklet published by Starcross Hospital in 1964

Friday 18 November 2022

The Preservation of The Brunel Atmospheric Pumping House

 In June 1979, after a campaign by The Brunel Tower Action Group, who were based in Starcross, an application against a decision to refuse demolishment of Starcross's  Brunel Atmospheric Tower and Pumping Station was withdrawn

Here's the link on the Teignbridge Planning website

79/00141/LBC | Demolition of building (appeal withdrawn) | Brunel Atmospheric Tower And Pumping Station (teignbridge.gov.uk)

The building was saved by Mr and Mrs Dick Forester, who moved into the derelict site with their family. They opened it as a museum about Brunel's Atmospheric Railway. 

The Starcross Fishing and Cruising Club  are now the proud owners of the tower, and they are anxious to preserve it. They acquired some old red sandstone which they had hoped to use to restore and preserve the tower, which Brunel built using local red sandstone from a now closed quarry. Sandstone has proved to be prone to weathering, 

Planning permission was granted in 2009 for remedial work on the wall alongside the A379. The work was not allowed to be other than render. The result is a pink wall that doesn't blend in with the original red sandstone.

The rendered wall
next to original
red sandstone 

The original red sandstone
at the entrance to
The Brunel Tower 

The rendered wall adjacent to
original sandstone wall

 English Heritage had no objections to this. Here's the link to the planning application, which was given "Conservation LBC   LBD   Approval" 
Application for remedial work to the walls

The 2022 planning application by The Starcross Fishing and Cruising Club, for repairs and rendering to the stonework has been withdrawn. Documents associated with this planning application include a forthright letter from " The Victorian Society (Listed Building Society) " 

The Victorian Society  object to the proposal and want it to be withdrawn  so that a new application can have the input of  a stone conservation specialist. Their letter can be viewed in the associated documents on this link

Link to the withdrawn planning application f or remedial work to the crumbling walls


Monday 14 November 2022

Captain Peacock: Wedding Guest

Despite his death in 1883, Captain George Peacock was Guest of Honour at a wedding less than 30 years ago. Here's the picture 

Captain George Peacock
Guest of Honour
at wedding in the 1990s
This marble bust of Captain Peacock has pride of place in the family home of his descendants, the Cookson family in The Wirral
Marble bust of
Captain George Peacock 

Neil Mathew Peacock Cookson writes that  Captain Peacock still keeps a strict eye on the family 

Captain Peacock's Walking Stick

 Captain George Peacock's walking stick was cut for him on the Isthmus of Darien( overlooking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans) when he was undertaking an initial survey for what would later become The Panama canal.

Captain
George Peacock's Walking Stick 

The top is also a snuff box. It's made in silver and engraved 
The engraved silver snuff
box on top of Captain
George Peacock's walking stick 

Many thanks to Neil Cookson for these photographs