NEW PUBLICATIONS
FHS Occasional Paper 4 – ichard Green - Schoolmaster (1713-1767) by Chris Hobson.
A short biography of Mr Richard Green, one of Fairford Free School’s earliest masters, he was a
highly respected citizen of the town. His memorial plaque is on the old school building today. Price 50p
The St Mary's Church, Fairford Tomb Trail.
This leaflet provides a brief guide to 25 tombs in the church and churchyard that are of
either architectural or historical importance from John Tame to Tiddles the Cat! The leaflet
provides an entertaining accompaniment to a short walk around the churchyard. Price 60p
Fairford Polish Hostel, 1947-1959 by Alicja Swiatek Christofides
A brief history of the Polish Displaced Persons camps in Britain and the programme that was written
for the unveiling of the commemorative plaque at the site in Leafield Road on May 30th 2009.
Price £1.00 (published by the author)
The Son and Lumiere Memories of 1978
CD is also now available.
All FHS publications are available from fhs@cotswoldwireless.co.uk
or by contacting the secretary on
01285 711768. They are also on sale at St Mary’s Church, Fairford and at the Community Centre, Archive Room.
See From the Newspapers
See What Lies Beneath
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Archive Room
This room is full to bursting already and we have only been in situ a year BUT if you have any Fairford
memorabilia we are very pleased to copy and record items, especially photographs, and return them.
Rob Winney, who has been a stalwart in finding items for the Society, recently donated a lantern from
the old Fairford signal box. Thanks to him and all others who have donated items.
Enquiries
In 2009 FHS has already responded to over 20 family or local history enquiries. One of these was a phone call
from Alicja Christofides which resulted in our wonderful Polish Event. An asset to answering enquiries is the
graveyard list which is used for people searching for the graves of their ancestors, even if they are only shown
a space! Recently a new headstone was erected on the grave of Nelson Lane. He was a coachman at the Bull Hotel
for 20 years and he disappeared the night of September 23rd, 1929 and was found drowned in the River Coln,
it appeared he had fallen in. The result of the inquest said he died an accidental death. The day of his death
was Monday night and the story goes that the Bull did not pay the grieving widow up to the end of the week as
his week’s work was not completed. The relatives were very pleased that Nelson’s memory is now properly
commemorated as the site was previously unmarked.
Acquisitions
Another story is the tale of Ann Ind from Quenington who attempted to murder her father by obtaining
arsenic from the chemist in Fairford. The full story is told in a book Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths
in Gloucestershire by Nell Darby. Published by Wharncliffe this year, it is a new acquisition for the
FHS library. Other recent acquisitions are:-
Place-Names of Gloucestershire by AH Smith in 4 volumes and The Village School by June Lewis, which
although not a new book, gives some very informative and interesting background of the history of
education.
These books and others in the collection may be consulted in the Archive Room. The Archive Room is
open on Monday afternoons 2-4pm or at other times by special arrangement (01285 711768).
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