BERWICK ADVERTISER, 4TH SEPTEMBER 1924

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THE GIRL GUIDE MOVEMENT IN BERWICK

LOCAL ASSOCIATION FORMED

For some reason or other the Girl Guide movement has never in the past been taken up as keenly in Berwick as the Boy Scout movement. There has been a company of Guides in the town for some years connected with St. Ronan’s School, but it was not until this spring that an effort was made to spread the movement and give the girls of the town the same advantage as have been extended to the boys for some years now. In February, mainly through the influence of the Rev. S. E. R. Fenning, County Scout Commissioner, eight girls in the town set to work to make themselves efficient “Guiders.” They have trained regularly every week, have gone whole-heartedly into the movement, and some time ago were enrolled by Mrs Milne Home, Paxton House, County Commissioner for Berwickshire. They also joined the Berwickshire Girl Guides” Camp at Cockburnspath during the summer, and being now trained, they are ready to take command of companies of Guides. A further step forwards the success of the movement in the town was made on Friday evening, when a meeting was held in the Council Chamber for the purpose of forming a Local Association. The Sheriff presided, and there was a good attendance present. Mrs Milne Home was present to explain the aims and objects of the Girl Guide movement, and the “Guiders” in their smart navy uniforms were also present. Miss Lulu Thompson acting as Secretary and Miss Lettice Darling as Treasurer. The Rev. S. E. R. Fenning was also present and others who showed their interest. The “Guiders” present were:- Misses J. peacock, Tweedmouth; L. Darling, Bondington; C. F. Grey, Moorside; A. Hogarth, Castlegate; H. Webster, Ravensdowne; L. Thompson, Bridge Street; and E. Edminson, Tweed Street. Miss L. Thompson, as Secretary, read a list of apologies from those who had promised to help with the movement. (full list within original newspaper article).

The Sheriff, introducing Mrs Milne Home, told the audience that the day before he had had the pleasure of entertaining the Boy Scout Commissioner from Berwick in Victoria, Australia, who had come across with 240 boys to the Jamboree at Wembley. Coming from Berwick, the naturally wanted to see the old Border town. In the course of conversation, they talked about the international Jamboree which had recently been held at Copenhagen, and Mr Redpath asked his visitor whether he considered it had been worth while. In reply the Commissioner from Berwick had remarked on the good fellowship which had, existed between the Scouts of the various nations, how Germans and French and boys from other nations had fraternised, and Mr Redpath was sure that with such good fellowship between the Scouts there was a better chance of a world peace.

Berwick Girl Guides, 1920’s. Ref No: BRO 1569/30

MRS MILNE HOME EXPLAINS THE AIMS

Mrs Milne Home, at the outset of her remarks, said it was very necessary to get the Girl Guide Movement in Berwick on to a good business footing. The Berwick Guides should properly be under the County of Northumberland, but as the county was so big and the organisation so large, it had been considered more advisable to do as the Boy Scouts had done, and work with Scotland. That was the reason why as County Commissioner for Berwickshire she was present to do what she could to help to form an Association. In outlining the aims of the movement, Mrs Milne Home remarked that one of the most unlooked for results of the war was the increased importance of women’s work. They all knew how much women did to help; how they helped the Army, the navy, and the Air Force; how they became gardeners, worked in banks, and helped in many other ways. It seemed to her that in the very difficult years through which the country was passing that there was a more urgent necessity than ever that girls should be trained to do their very best for the country and for themselves. It was with this idea that Baden Powell started the movement, even in the days before the war.

Brownie Pack, 1960’s. Ref No: BRO 1852/1/186

One of the great aims of the Girl Guide movement was to encourage girls to develop in themselves, as girls were rather too inclined to run about in flocks and do what others did. The movement did not in any way aim at taking the place of school training, and they had such good schools in the North that they could not achieve the aims of the Guide movement in a better way than by working in co-operation with the schools. The very fact that the movement had so many members showed how well the system was working. The Girl Guides were a large and happy family of girls of all classes, creeds and politics. They were a very large family, as at the end of last year they numbered 585,000 Guides, in all parts of the world. There were a great many in this country all over the world, and they were of all ages from 7 up to 81. (Laughter). From 7 to 11 the girls were called “Brownies,” and at this age they were so keen that they must take a good deal of looking after. From 11 to 16 they are Girl Guides proper and were always very neat and tidy. After 16 the girls became Rangers, and Mrs Milne Home felt that it would be very useful if the Ranger movement could be started in Berwick, where there must be a good many girls of that age who were at a loose end to know what to do with themselves, girls in service who might be got to take an interest in the Rangers’ meetings, and be kept from the many dangers which beset young girls of that age.

People asked what girls did on becoming Guides. Each Guide, first of all, makes three promises:-

  1. She promise to do her best to do  her duty to God and King, which means that she will do her best to make her own little bit of the world a better and happier place; to work against everything bad and ugly and hateful, and to work for everything which is good, and happy and bright; to try to do her very best to live the life for which God put her into the world. She has to live up to her religion to bring her religion into everything, not only to go to church on Sunday, but to bring her religion into her daily life.
  2. A Guide promises to help others at all times, and in order to do so has to live up to the Guide motto, “Be Prepared.” Especially must she help her home people first, and there are lots of ways in which she can do this. There is cooking, first aid, child nursing, sick nursing, and a great many other things like that. When a Guide can pass her tests in these things she gets proficiency badges. In addition to all these things and others that a girl in the town is likely to be interested in, there are also things which a girl in the country may be interested in, such as keeping chickens, bee keeping, writing, or even an authoress’s badge. There was not really anything which was likely to be of interest to girls in their lives for which tests could not be passed and badges obtained.
  3. A Girl Guide had to promise to keep the Guide Laws, which Mrs Milne Home read to the gathering, explaining that they were practically the same as the Boy Scout Laws.

Mrs Milne Home further explained that girls who joined companies of Girl Guides were expected to attend the weekly meetings of the company. These meetings lasted about an hour or an hour and a half, and the Guides played and worked together very happily, never wasting any time, but even in games learning something and always trying to do the very best they could. Mrs Milne Home also explained that Guides were divided into Patrols, a Patrol consisting of from 3 to 16, but usually 3 to 8 girls. The girls in a Patrol usually choose their own leader, and leaders have a lot to do in the management of a company.

In conclusion, Mrs Milne Home, read extracts from a letter written by the Rev. R. W. de la Hey, in which he suggested that some of the existing Church organisations, which had for their object the bringing of young people together in fellowship, and training them to be good citizens, might be affiliated to the Girl Guides. Mrs Milne Home offered to answer questions if anyone wanted further information on the Guide movement.

Berwick Girl Guides outside Berwick Grammar School, 1963. Ref No: BRO 1944/1/3636/45

The Rev. T. P. Allan said that those who hoped to form companies would like to know details as to expenses, class or children, etc. In reply Mrs Milne Home pointed out that there was no class in the Guide movement, this being one of the things which helped to make it such a tremendous success. So far as expenses were concerned these would be very little. The uniforms were paid for by the girls themselves, and in cases where a girl cannot afford to pay for her uniform all at once, she can pay it off by paying a small subscription each week. The belts and ties usually belong to the company, and when a girl leaves the Guides, these go back to the company. To purchase these the Guides need to have a small fund, and as they are not allowed to beg, they may get up some sort of entertainment to raise the funds.

The Rev. S. E. R. Fenning, Commissioner for the Boy Scouts, said he felt it was a very excellent thing to have a sister organisation in the same Borough. One of the great difficulties that the Scouts had had to contend with was the supply of officers. (Hear, hear.) This was a difficulty which had to be met in all voluntary work. He had found this a great difficulty since he took over from Major Tower Robertson, who had done such good work in the past. In regard to the Girl Guide movement, they would be very well situated in the initial stages, as they had so many excellent officers who were ready to go forward and take their part in the movement. There was Miss Thompson and the other ladies who had been working so hard since February and had made themselves efficient to take charge of the companies which were about to be formed. They had been through the mill and understood all that they would have to impart to the young people they would be in charge of in the future. They had attended the Berwickshire Camp at Cockburnspath, and Mr Fenning understood that they were so efficient as to be almost the “star turn.” They were so good at pitching and striking tents that they had been asked to remain after to see to the clearing up of the tents. That spoke well for their efficiency. Mr Fenning stated he was very keen to have a company of Girl Guides in connection with St. Mary’s Church, and he suggested that one of the points the Association might consider, was whether it would be better to have Church companies or open companies, not definitely connected with Churches; whether they should have open troops or closed troops. He thought that this was one of the points that it would be as well to get decided at the outset, so that they could go forward knowing exactly where they stood. Mr Fenning expressed their indebtedness to Mrs Milne Home for her kind presence and the tremendous amount of thought, energy and care that she had expended on launching the Girl Guide movement in Berwick. (Applause).

Mr Allan referring to the question of open or closed companies, said that for Spittal, where they hoped to be able to organise a company it would have to be for the whole of Spittal. Mr Allan said he was struck by the rule of the Girl Guides which enjoined that they must “smile under all circumstances.” This was a very hard rule – (laughter) – and he thought that he himself would have great difficulty to smile under certain circumstances. He also remarked on the rule that a Girl guide was expected to do her duty to God and man. he did not think that there was anything that required to be impressed upon the youth of our time more than duty. Duty and discipline were the great things lacking in the children of our time. If the Girl Guide movement could do anything to bring our young people to a sense of their duty, rather than a rush after pleasure it should do a great deal to help not only churches, but also the hoe life of our girls. It was most important to put duty to God first, as though the Girl Guide movement could not be regarded directly as a religious organisation, yet to have religion as the very centre of things must be a very great help to the movement. He hoped that they would be able to organise a company in Spittal, and that they would have one of the ladies who had trained as Captain. This work would, like every other kind of work of a similar character, depend for its success on the officers. If they got good officers, and a really efficient person at the head of a movement of this kind, it would succeed, but if they got inefficient people it would go down.

Girl Guides, Ref No: BRO 1852/1/178

Mrs Milne Home intimated that Miss McCreath had agreed to become District Commissioner for Berwick. (Applause.) as such Miss McCreath would act as Chairman of the Local Association. Miss McCreath was shortly going to America on a visit, and had suggested that she ought to withdraw, but Mrs Milne Home did not see any necessity for this, as during her absence, the Vice-Chairman could act. She explained that the objects of a Local Association were to encourage the movement and to help the companies if any funds were wanted.  An executive committee would be appointed, but this had no control over Patrol funds.  The executive committee would have to appoint a Badge Committee to examine Guides for their proficiency badges. Mrs Milne Home further explained that feeling the Berwick patrols would rather be called 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Berwicks, like the Scouts, and not have anything to do with Berwickshire, she had applied to headquarters in Scotland asking if this would be allowed. She had hoped to have had a reply before the meeting but unfortunately this had not come, but she felt that there would be no difficulty in regard to this. According to rules, however, it would be necessary for the Secretary of the Berwick Association to apply for literature, etc, through the Berwickshire County Secretary.

Girl Guides, Ref No: BRO 1852/1/179

ASSOCIATION FORMED

On a motion being put to the meeting that a Local Association be formed in Berwick this was unanimously carried. Miss Margery Holmes, bridge Street, agreed to act as Secretary to the Association, temporarily, and Miss M. Gray, Bankhill, was appointed Treasurer, and Miss Ruth Darling, Spittal, as Vice-Chairman. All those present at the meeting, those who had sent apologies, and those who had promised to help, were all elected members of the Association. The following were elected to form an Executive Committee: – Berwick: Miss Caverhill, Ravensdowne; Mrs S. E. R. Fenning, St. Mary’s Vicarage; and Mrs P. M. Henderson, Bankhill, Tweedmouth; Mrs J. Grey, Moorside House, and Miss M. Riddle, Turret Villa. Spittal: Mrs T. P. Allan, The Vicarage, and Miss Chisholm. The election of Vice-Presidents was left to the Executive Committee.

Mr Allan proposed a vote of thanks to Mrs Milne Home and the Sheriff for presiding. The Sheriff had acted up to the Guide law, as he had smiled all through the meeting (Laughter.)

The Sheriff thought that Mrs Milne Home deserved a special vote of thanks. Without her presence at the meeting, they would not have been able to get the information they required.

Mrs Milne Home, in reply, admitted that though she had felt very nervous she had tried to keep the Girl Guide rule and “smile every time.” (Laughter.)

Lady Ursula Lutyens Ridley (1904-1967)

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This blog has been researched and written by Shelley Lanser, one of the volunteers on our maternity care project. Project volunteers are researching maternity care in Northumberland with particular focus on Castle Hills Maternity Home, Berwick, and Mona Taylor Maternity Home, Stannington. In 1943, Lady Ridley gave an address at the opening of Mona Taylor Maternity Home. She was also heavily involved in the Newcastle Babies Hospital for many years and organised the evacuation of the Hospital to her home, Blagdon Hall, during World War Two.

NRO 08415/31 – Guests at a Northumberland wedding. Ursula Ridley is the lady standing next to the young boy, nd. [c.1955]

Ursula Viscountess Ridley was a woman who cared about the poor, about women and – above all – about children.1 This is the first of several blog posts about Lady Ridley, wife of the third Viscount Ridley.

Ursula’s father was Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944)2, the famous architect. Edwin Lutyens is described as a shy and inarticulate man who hid his shyness with non-stop quips and jokes.3 Ned, as he was familiarly called, was born in 1869, the tenth child and the ninth boy in a family of ten boys and three girls.4  His father, Charles Lutyens (1829-1915)5, was a gentleman, a member of a military family,6 also an eccentric bohemian7. As well as having served in the army, Charles was a painter whose works were exhibited in the Royal Academy. In his later years, Charles began to go blind and his income from the paintings dropped off, leading him to make unusual economies in the household. Ned was affected by the change in his family’s lifestyle and worried all his life about money.8 Ned’s mother, Margaret “Mary” Gallwey Lutyens (1832/3-1906)9 came from Ireland; her father was a General in the Royal Irish Constabulary.10

Ned took his first commission when he was barely 20, for a nine-bedroom house.11 In that same year he met Gertrude Jekyll, the noted garden designer, with whom he would work closely in future years.12 She was to heavily influence his career. She not only created gardens for the houses he designed, but provided many social contacts with people who had the wealth to employ him. One of these contacts was Edward Hudson, founder of Country Life magazine. Hudson did many double-page spreads of photographs in his magazine showing the Lutyens-Jekyll houses and gardens, which in turn found them both more commissions.13 Hudson became Ursula’s godfather.14

Lutyens went on to become an extremely prolific designer, accepting in the neighbourhood of 800 commissions during his career including an astonishing range.15 Some of his most famous designs include Queen Mary’s Doll House;16 war memorials such as the Cenotaph17 in Whitehall and the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing at the Somme, in France;18 the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.;19 Arts and Crafts houses, including Munstead Woods,20 built for Gertrude Jekyll; several castles, including Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island (commissioned by Edward Hudson);21 and the Viceroy’s House in New Delhi, now called Rashtrapai Bhavan, residence of the President of India.22 Lutyens was knighted in 1918.23

Ursula Lutyen’s mother was Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874-1964), daughter of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, (1831-1891)24, 2nd Baron of Lytton (later the 1st Earl of Lytton), who was Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880. Unfortunately, he was never very good at managing his finances and when he died in 1891, while serving as Ambassador to France, it was found that a dishonest “man of affairs” had left the Earl’s widow badly off.25 Emily’s mother was Edith Villiers (1841-1936)26, of the aristocratic Villiers family.27 After her husband died, Countess Lytton became a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, in order to fund the education of her sons at Eton and Cambridge.28 Emily is described as having a strong personality and a bit of a temper;29 she would fight to get what she wanted.30 Though initially Emily’s mother was against their engagement,31 she was won over eventually. The couple were married in August, 1897.32

The Lutyens’ marriage was strained by the fact that Ned and Emily had little in common other than being intensely romantic. She loved the countryand the seaside; Ned cared for neither unless he had work there.33 She was interested in women’s rights;34 he thought women belonged at home.35 The sharing and discussing of books was important to Emily36 but books meant little to Ned.37 Emily grieved that they didn’t share any interests.38 A couple of years after the birth of her youngest child, she became deeply involved with Theosophy,39 a new religion at the time, teaching about reincarnation and mixing western and eastern beliefs. Theosophy was popular among a number of Edwin Lutyen’s wealthy clients and all of his children, with the exception of Ursula, were followers at some point.40 Emily become vegetarian shortly after they married.41 They had few common friends.42 Ned dreamed of domestic bliss in a white house they never built;43 Emily had no interest in domesticity or in running a house with servants.44 They spent large amounts of time apart: once Ned won the commission for the Viceroy’s Palace, he spent winters in New Delhi and summers at home.45 However, Emily routinely took the children to the seaside for several months in summer. (During one holiday at the seaside, she and a friend would read fairy stories aloud to prostitutes in hospital with venereal disease). 46 Even their weekends were largely separate. Emily had insufficient confidence or motivation to entertain Ned’s potential clients and disliked attending the Saturday to Monday invitations important to his business. Over time it was understood that he was available on his own,47 and his wit and humour made him a popular house guest.48 When apart they wrote letters to each other almost daily, sometimes twice a day, leaving over 5,000 letters written during their forty-seven-plus years of marriage.49

It is thought Ned may have had an affair with Lady Victoria Sackville (mother of Vita Sackville-West), a married woman.50 They were certainly good friends, calling one another MacSack and McNed.51 This relationship began a couple of years after Emily wrote Ned that she would no longer have sexual relations with him.52 After Ned’s death, while working to organise her father’s letters, Ursula expressed the hope that her father had found some physical fulfilment with Lady Sackville.53 In one of Emily’s letters to Ned she encourages him to find another woman; his reply was that he couldn’t possibly afford to keep a second woman in the manner which she would deserve.54 Emily may have had an affair with Krishnamurti, a much younger Indian man who at one point was considered a messiah among the Theosophists.55 However, he was said to have a horror of sex and, while he returned her affection,56 they both worked to have a “higher love.”57 Whether or not there were affairs, Ned and Emily grew much closer in their later years, particularly in the last decade or so of Ned’s life when his commissions were not as numerous and Emily had lost interest in Theosophy.58

Ursula Lutyens was born into this family on the 31st of October 190459 in London, the middle child of five. She had an older sister, Barbara “Barbie” (1898-1981), an older brother, Robert (1901-1972), and two younger sisters: (Agnes) Elizabeth (1906-1983) and (Edith Penelope) Mary Lutyens (1908-1999).60 Barbie and Ursula were close. Not much is said about her relationship with her brother, but that with her younger siblings was marked by squabbling and jealousy of one another. Ursula was widely acknowledged as her father’s favourite, possibly because he found her the least taxing to be with.61 She was described as “charming” and “talented” as a child.62 Also (aged 4) the prettiest of her siblings, and an unredeemable flirt. Her siblings thought her a show-off. 63

The whole family had a deep appreciation for the Nannie. The anniversary of Sleath’s arrival was celebrated each year; they called it her “Nanniversary.”Alice Louisa Sleath was 24 years old when she joined them in 1898; she remained with the family until her death in 1938, aged 64.64 Ned, like most men of the day, left child rearing to his wife. Emily, in the usual aristocratic way, left the care of the children to the Nannie.65  Nannie Sleath was the most important person to the children.66

Sources:

1, Sterk, Sidney, “The Woman Who Cared”, Newcastle Journal, December 29, 1967, p6 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002240/19671229/064/0006.

2. Stamp, Gavin, “Lutyens, Sir Edwin Landseer (1869-1944), in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 34, Ed. HCG Matthew and Brian Harrison, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004, 817-825.

3. Lutyens, Mary, Edwin Lutyens by his daughter (London: John Murray, 1985), p ix.

4. Lutyens, p 1.

5. Stamp, p 817.

6. Ridley, Jane. The Architect and His Wife – A Life of Edwin Lutyens (London, Chatto & Windus, 2002) 7-8.

7. Lutyens, p 22.

8. Stamp, p 817.

9. Ridley, p 9.

10. Lutyens, p 22.

11. Lutyens, p 24.

12. Lutyens, pp 27-28.

13. Lutyens, p 65.

14. Lutyens Trust America, “The Life and Legacy of Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944)”, Martin Lutyens, Robin Prater and Jane Ridley, May 10, 2020, Webinar,  3.47 to 3.58, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARILhNz-OJg&t=2489s.

15. Lutyens Trust America, 38:46 to 40:30.

16. Lutyens Trust America, 15:05 to 17:38.

17. Lutyens Trust America, 17:33 to 19:24.

18. Lutyens Trust America, 41:15 to 41:27.

19. Lutyens Trust America, 6:50 to 8:20.

20. Lutyens Trust America, 32:15 to 34:20.

21. Lutyens Trust America, 13:01 to 14:50.

22. Lutyens, p 159.

23. Stamp, p 818.

24. Lutyens, p 28.

25. Stamp, p 818.

26. “Link of 95 Years Broken by Twin’s Death,” Nottingham Journal, September 19, 1936, p 4. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001898/19360919/090/0004

27. Lutyens, p28.

28. Lutyens, p 49.

29. Lutyens, p 39.

30. Lutyens, p 41.

31. Lutyens, p 56.

32. Lutyens, p 60.

33. Percy, Clayre and Jane Ridley, The Letters of Edwin Lutyens To his wife, Lady Emily, (London:Collins, 1985), p 149.

34. Ridley, pp 148, 307.

35. Lutyens, p 77.

36. Lutyens, p 11.

37. Lutyens, p 77.

38. Lutyens, p 89.

39. Ridley, p 321.

40. Ridley, p 122.

41. Lutyens, p 131.

42. Ridley, pp 110-111.

43. Lutyens, p 59.

44. Percy, p 296.

45. Ridley, 168.

46. Lutyens, p 60.

47. Lutyens, p 191.

48. Ridley, p xi.

49. Lutyens, pp 196.

50. Lutyens, p 155.

51. Ridley, p 247.

52. Lutyens, p 199.

53. Lutyens, p 213.

54. Ridley, p 191.

55. Lutyens, p 122.

56. Lutyens, p 200.

57. Lutyens, p 249.

58. Lutyens, p 61.

59. Stamp, 823.

60. Ridley, p 170.

62. Lutyens, p 148.

63. Ridley, p 170.

64. England, General Register Office, PDF copy of an entry of death, for Alice Louisa Sleath, died 4 Feb. and registered 5 Feb. 1938; a copy of an entry in the certified copy of a register of births in the registration district of St. Marylebone, County of London.

65. Ridley, p 243.

66. Ridley, p 170.

Paul Hindmarsh’s Images of Washington

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Although slightly outside our usual geographic boundary, Northumberland Archives have recently enjoyed sharing some fantastic images from one of our photographic collections with the residents of Washington, Tyne and Wear. As part of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Washington New Town, we worked alongside Washington Heritage Partnership, Wessington U3A and Washington History Society on a project celebrating Paul Hindmarsh’s images of Washington. 

Paul Hindmarsh worked as a commercial photographer throughout the northeast and his photography collection of 10,000 negatives is held at Northumberland Archives. He captured images of Washington at various stages of the New Town’s development and provided a photography service for the Corporation’s architects.  

As part of the project, we held a series of workshops in the town and invited local history societies and members of the public to view a selection of the Washington images. Attendees were encouraged to share their memories and stories of the New Town’s development and to vote on their favourite images. The most popular images were then turned into a digital exhibition alongside some of the stories that were captured. 

The finished exhibition was on display at Washington Arts Centre and Washington Old Hall. It is also available to watch on Northumberland Archive’s Youtube channel 

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