Prior to their now postponed talk Claire Ryley and Ann Symons, together with Chris Stupples, discovered more about the family history of Albert Edward Tyler. He was born in Market Drayton, Shropshire, in 1873, one of eight children in the family of Edward and Annie Tyler. His father was a butcher and the family lived on the shop premises in Market Street. When Mr Tyler died in 1884 his eldest son took over the business while Albert became a photographer’s apprentice.

By 1901 Albert had moved to Shaftesbury and was established as a photographer at 53 Salisbury Street. In September 1902 he married Flora Ellen Biddlescombe at St Michael’s and All Angels in Stour Provost, and a daughter Muriel was born in March 1903. In 1911 the family was at an address between 4 Blandford Road and Boyne Farm, Cann, before moving to 5 Bell Street.

There is no record of Albert’s having done military service in the First World War. Not all records have survived and by the time conscription was introduced in 1916 he was already older than the upper age limit of 41. It is possible that his health was impaired as he died in January 1919 of cancer at the Middlesex Hospital in London. By today’s standards he was a youthful 45. The devastating ‘Spanish flu’ pandemic had just peaked in November 1918, at the time of the Armistice.

Flora and Muriel moved to 4 Belle Vue Terrace, later known as 19 Victoria Street, Shaftesbury where they were joined by Flora’s widowed brother Alfred Biddlescombe, a retired gardener’s labourer. They remained there until Flora’s death in February 1952. Muriel, described as a ledger clerk in 1939, died in December 1984 and was buried at St James’s Church.

Valuable historical information continues to be added to the Shaftesbury Remembers website. Local author Karen Dickson made use of it while writing her recently published first novel ‘The Shop Girl’s Soldier’. Karen described the story, when interviewed on ThisisAlfred.com , as a romantic saga spanning the First and Second World Wars, set in a small town and surrounding villages not dissimilar to Shaftesbury.

Gold Hill Museum will not open to the public for the new season at the beginning of April. On Monday 16 March the Secretary of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society emailed members to say that the Trustees had decided to cancel (or perhaps postpone) the ‘Edwardian Shaftesbury’ Tea and Talks event scheduled for 07 April. As the Society’s first priority must be to safeguard the health of its members, volunteers and visitors, the Trustees had also decided to delay the reopening of Gold Hill Museum until they were satisfied that there was minimal risk of the transmission of coronavirus. This anticipated any Government announcement later in the week.

In a spirit of optimism, the Secretary continued: ‘When the Society is able to resume its public activities, you can be assured that there will be plenty to see and do. There will be two new temporary exhibitions in the Museum, including one focusing on the making of the renowned Hovis advert by Ridley Scott in 1973. A full lecture programme for the 2020-21 winter season is already in place, starting with the Teulon Porter Lecture in Shaftesbury Town Hall on Tuesday 06 October. As there is a US Presidential Election in November 2020, involving one of the most controversial occupants of The White House, we are delighted to be welcoming perhaps the leading British scholar of modern American History, Professor Tony Badger, to offer his insights. 

At the moment preparations for the summer outing on Tuesday 02 June to Great Chalfield Manor are on hold. In the meantime work behind the scenes will continue at Gold Hill Museum, with investment in new technology in both displays and the shop. We will of course suffer a loss of income (principally from visitor donations) by not reopening on 01 April and we hope that you will continue to lend your support via membership of The S&DHS.

The Trustees wish all of you well in these unprecedented times.’

Gold Hill and Shaftesbury Abbey Museums offer a joint programme of All Age Events. These are intended to be both educational and fun, and scheduled during school holidays. At Gold Hill Museum on Wednesday 19 February, from 2 till 4 p.m., there will be a Toymakers’ Workshop. The plan is to make toys from recycled and natural materials, and then take them home. This event is free and open to all, but children must be accompanied please by a responsible adult.

For details of other All Age Events, such as the Pilgrims’ Trail and the Viking Day at Shaftesbury Abbey, please click on this link or email office@shaftesburyabbey.org.uk

The question of how society should address the problem of poverty is still with us. In 1834 the Victorians attempted to resolve it by creating a system of workhouses in which the living conditions for inmates were made deliberately unattractive. The New Poor Law principle of Less Eligibility was intended to deter the able-bodied poor from seeking assistance at the ratepayers’ expense.

At 2.30pm on Tuesday 04 February at Gold Hill Museum, genealogist and historical researcher Luke Mouland takes a lively look at how the Poor Laws, Old and New, operated in Dorset, supported by many local references and illustrations. “Kill me sooner than take me there”, implores Betty Higden in Dickens’s 1865 novel Our Mutual Friend . But what evidence do we have that conditions in “the Union” were really so dire? Luke’s talk draws on stories from a number of Dorset’s workhouses to explore this theme.

Plans for the Shaftesbury Union Workhouse at Umbers Hill were drawn up in 1836. The two-storey, cross-shaped building followed a standard pattern and was designed to accommodate 250 “paupers”. The budget of £4000 had been exceeded by a further £2000 when the workhouse opened in 1840. It was finally demolished in 1947.

This talk replaces the scheduled lecture on Thomas Hardy and North Dorset which has had to be postponed until 2021. It is free to members of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society while non-members may pay £3 at the door.

Long-serving Gold Hill Museum steward and gardener Jill Sumner received a well-deserved accolade at the AGM of the Dorset Museums Association, held at Poole Museum on Thursday 21 November. Along with several other volunteers who form the indispensable staffing backbone of most of Dorset’s museums, Jill received her Volunteer of the Year Award from Dr Jon Murden, Director of the Dorset County Museum and Chair of the DMA.

The citation in support of Jill’s Award from the Chair of the Trustees of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society was read to, and applauded by, the meeting.

Jill has been a steward for twenty years and apparently served for 30 years previously at Blandford Museum.  She does two shifts a week and regularly volunteers for extra shifts.  She is also a member of the gardening team and puts in hours every week, only missing one session during last winter, as well as doing every week during the previous hot summer, and she has to walk up Gold Hill to do all this. Recently, having undergone serious surgery, she took just one week off and organised her own cover for her shifts. Jill has also taken a leading and enthusiastic role in reviving the re-enactment of the historic Byzant ceremony in the town. She is unfailingly cheerful and a delight to share a shift with; she is truly worthy of recognition.