Brodsworth Hall Goes to War... with Edna
A major 'country house and war' exhibition is being planned which could open to the public in 2011 at the spectacular Victorian mansion near Doncaster, South Yorkshire
A ten-strong team of volunteers is working with curators on the exciting project, scouring archives and re-examining the testimonies of local people who took part in an English Heritage oral history project.
Edna Tagg, 82, from Carcroft, Doncaster, has already pitched in with her reminiscences.
Her father John Tyreman was a locomotive driver at Brodsworth Colliery, established on land leased by the estate, and took the King's shilling to fight in the First World War.
To mark the safe return of soldiers from Brodsworth, hall owner, Charles Thellusson, gave them all a beautiful silver shaving kit. The one presented to John, now a treasured family heirloom, could feature in the exhibition. Caroline Carr-Whitworth, English Heritage Curator, said:
"Paving the way for an exhibition is a bit like detective work, using all the clues and resources we can muster to track down compelling human stories, often from fragmentary information. The two world wars were pivotal periods, when men went off to fight, women did their jobs, officers bedded down in the Hall and POWs and land girls tilled the fields. We want to know more about all these kinds of stories, not just tales of heroic deeds, but also how life continued on the home front at Brodsworth and whether their were war-time romances."
Brodsworth underwent a social revolution during the 1914 war. With the men away, the head gamekeeper's wife filled his shoes and women worked in the woods, both unheard of before hostilities broke out. There was also a touch of derring-do in the shape of Charles Thellusson's dashing nephew, Stuart Grant-Dalton, who became one of the world's first fighter pilots – a 'Biggles-like' picture of him in the cockpit of a strut and canvass bi-plane is now part of the English Heritage archive. Later, in the Second World War, soldiers reforming after the Dunkirk evacuation pitched their tents at Brodsworth and 'batmen' of Royal Artillery officers bunked down in the scullery, while the family squeezed into a wing of the opulent house to make room for the officers. But others didn't take quite so warmly to the stately surroundings. Caroline Carr-Whitworth added:
"Evacuees were often billeted amongst families on the estate. We know that a group came from Quarry Hill Flats in Leeds, followed by their mums, whose top priority was to find out where the pub and chip shop were, according to a local account! Many opted to return to the city and risk the bombs, but the children settled well in local schools. We want delve into how both conflicts touched everyone's lives during these dramatic times at Brodsworth."
Researchers are also asking for the public's help to identify men shown in a picture of First World War soldiers – possibly Royal Marine Engineers - on the back of which is written the caption 'Our lot from Brodsworth'. If you can help with this or have any other information please contact Caroline Carr-Whitworth at Brodsworth Hall on 01302 722598, or email caroline.carr-Whitworth@english-heritage.org.uk
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