Fairford Community Centre
Work on the Community Centre is progressing well. The builders hope to finish at the end of April; May will
be a month of equipping and moving in and it is hoped the Centre will be open for business at the beginning of June.
There will be various opening events to which the Community will be invited.
The refurbished building will have Council and Parish offices and an Information room and Conference chamber
as well as rooms for community and youth activities, and will be fully accessible to the disabled. The former
church tea room will provide Visitor/Heritage Centre facilities. There will be a small exhibition with items on
display, a timeline round the room, and an audio visual presentation. At the top of the building FHS hopes to have
an Archive Room where all the historical material collected so far can be stored. The Archive Room will used for
research purposes and will be open to visitors by request. MB
Publications
All FHS publications are available from fhs@cotswoldwireless.co.uk
or by contacting the secretary 01285 711768. They are also on sale at St Mary’s Church, Fairford.
NEW is FHS Monograph 3 – The Raymond Barkers of Fairford Park
The long and complex story of the Barker and Raymond Barker family of Fairford Park is told in this new monograph
in some detail. The story starts at the end of the English Civil War when Andrew Barker arrived in Fairford and built
his grand new house at Fairford Park. The Barkers and their relations the Farmors and the Micos were intimately
involved in the creation of Fairford Free School which later bore the name of Elizabeth Farmor, one of the benefactors.
In addition to being lords of the manor, major landowners and JPs of Fairford the family was also very active in county
and national affairs and many of them became prominent in business and commerce as well as the church, both Anglican
and Presbyterian. The family was not without trial and tribulation including the tragic death of John Raymond Barker’s
first wife Martha who died when her hairpiece caught fire after dinner one night in 1796! The surviving wills of the
family have proved to be a useful source of information. For example John’s second wife Margaret held very strong views
on her burial: “It is my very particular desire that wherever I may die that my remains may be removed to Fairford Church
in Gloucestershire for Interment there by the side of my late dear husband John Raymond Barker Esq of Fairford Park
deceased and that such removal may take place by a hearse in the old fashioned mode and not by railway or steam boat
which I consider unkind, indecent and showing great want of respect and feeling to the departed …”
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June Lewis-Jones has published a new book “Fairford Images” which contains 250 evocative
images to create a visual outline of the town’s history over the last 100 years. £12.99 ISBN 978-0-7524-44758.
Enid Johnson
All will be touched by the news that FHS should benefit from some of the money donated to Enid’s memory.
We have received £700 which we will spend on a suitable project in remembrance of Enid’s kind generosity.
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Membership Sept 07-Aug 2008
Members can join or renew at any meeting or by contacting Ian Westlake (712329) or by downloading a
form from the FHS website
and giving it to any committee member or handing it in at the FTC Office, 3 London Street . £3.00 p.a.
www.fairfordhistory.org.uk
e-mail: fhs@cotswoldwireless.co.uk
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FHS Committee
Sadly we have lost a valuable member of the Committee, Lesley Pincombe has moved from Fairford to a new job
but we hope she will still be able to attend meetings. Our thanks go to her for her invaluable support.
The result is that there are now two vacant places on the Committee; please contact any committee member
if you are interested. Someone with an artistic bent is also needed to help with setting up the displays in
the new Heritage Room in the Community Centre. Officers: Keith Cottam (Chair) 711054, Brian Routledge
(Vice Chair), Alison Hobson (Secretary) 711768, Geoff Hawkes (Treasurer) 712053, Ian Westlake (Membership) 712329,
Margaret Bishop (FCC rep), John Read (IT), Maurice Jones (FTC rep).
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See Situations Wanted from the Archives
Wills from the Archives
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