A Scrapbook of Croquet Memories

Today, we'll take a look at a scrapbook full of photographs and writing that have been shared with me. They match faces with many of the names we've mentioned here at Who Is George Mills? and should be of interest, particularly to croquet enthusiasts or denizens of Budleigh Salterton—or both! (You can click any image to enlarge it in a new window.)

Our first one, seen above, is scan I received from Michael Downes of Budleigh, and he provides the source volume below, as well as a list of local players at the Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club in 1958, along with a visiting team from London. Michael wrote:

Details are:

Back row (l-r); C.V. West (Groundsman), J.W. Solomon (London), Major G.F. Stone (Budleigh Salterton), R.F. Rothwell (L), A.J. Cooper (BS), J.G. Warwick (BS), W.P. Omerod [misspelt: should be Ormerod] (BS).

Middle row: J.A. Holliweg (L), Ian Baillieu (L), Miss E.J. Warwick (BS), Lt-Col G.E. Cave (BS), M.B. Reckitt (L).

Front row: Mrs W. Longman (L), W. Longman (L), Mrs E. Rotherham, capt. (BS), E.P.C. Cotter, capt. (L), Col D.W. Beamish (BS)

Source: Les Berry & Gerald Gosling, Budleigh Salterton and Raleigh Country, 1998. p.78



Next up is a scanned newspaper article along with a photograph sent by the omnipresent Barry McAleenan. It describes a tournament at the Saffrons in which Barry's grandfather, Dr. H. R. McAleenan, competed as an octogenarian and won the X Handicap. Pictured is Mrs. Barbara Chittenden, then captain of the Compton Club.


Taking a look at the article, it mentions some familiar names: Mrs. E. (Hope) Rotherham and Mr. E. A. (Tony) Roper, Dr. McAleenan's victim in the X Handicap finals.

Barry adds: "Dr HR 'Herbie' McAleenan was my grandfather. In 1957 he would have been 76 years old, but played on for another decade. Eventually, he gave up on the grounds that the youngsters 'ought to be allowed to win more often.' I attach a cutting from the local paper for 1964. He was born in 1881 and married in 1914. I presume he was a member of the Compton Club."


Next up, we'll see a series of images sent by the extremely generous Judy Perry, daughter of Bill Perry of the Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club.

In the first, below, we see what Judy describes as "Geraldine Cave (2nd left) and Bill Perry(Best Man) (right) at Gerald Cave's wedding to Marjorie in London."


Judy: "Sorry I can't remember date, nor do I know who the other two people are." If you happen to recognize either, please let me know!


Judy continues: "The 2nd photo is a line-up for, I think, the President's Cup, not sure which year (if you can't work it out I probably will be able to). Location looks to me to be the Hurlingham Club, London. They are Back row. Bill Perry, Douglas Strachan, Gerald Cave, Nigel Aspinall, and Roger Bray. Front Row is Bernard Neal, John Solomon, William Ormerod and John Simon"


Anyone having an idea about the year, again, please let me know! [Update: From Chris Williams of the Croquet Association: "The President's Cup photo would be 1968 at Hurlingham."]


As well as the above photographs, Judy shared something very special:

I have discovered a poem by Gerald Cave as follows:-



THE BIG FOUR – AN AFTERTHOUGHT
By G.E.Cave.

Nigel & Keith, Roger and John –
Their names are fresh to ponder upon.

Champion of Champions: the title is new;
John keeps his grip on it, what can we do?
Nigel, the toast of Australia, snoops
Round the court, leaving balls tucked in hoops.
Keith is the artist, displaying his zeal
With quadruple, Quintuple, Sextuple peel.
While Roger strides smilingly round on his way,
With a Triple – taken – ‘Three times a Day’.

Solomon, Aspinall, Wylie & Bray:
Which is the one for your money today?

While you’re deciding, remember the skill
Of William & Patrick & Bernard & Bill:
Also David O’Connor, John Simon and Strachan
Who well may come back in unbeatable form.
The future is bright with a host of young stars,
But we do need a Venus to stand up to Mars.

So again I’ll endeavour to sum the thing up –
WHO will part John from his Championship Cup?"


I think it is dated 1970.


Many of these are the players Judy identified in the image above. The great John Solomon owned the CA Championship from 1963 to 1968, and won it a total of 10 times between 1953 and 1968.


In addition, Judy sent the following colour images. I've included her descriptions with each.


Bill Perry + Guy and Joan (Warwick)


This is a photo taken on the bottom lawn at Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club. Date unknown, (late 60s early 70s?) but several people who weren't locals are in it so it must have been a tournament of some sort.


Line up is:

Front Row: Unknown could be Robin Godby who lived in London, Joan Warwick, John Solomon (who was the subject of the poem I sent you by Gerald Cave), Bill Perry + Sally his dog, unknown, Sir Leonard Daldry.

Back Row: John Cooper (I think), unknown, unknown, unknown, Guy Warwick, unknown, Gerald Cave.


What wonderful image of several of the characters we've been following here. Should you be able to identify any of the "unknowns," please let me know and I'll update this at once!


In closing, Judy also included this:

There is another croquet poem which you may have come across already, written in much the same era by Giles Borrett who you may have come across in your research.


A CROQUET PLAYER'S PRAYER

I thank thee Lord that in my life
Croquet has played a lovely part;
Has found me friends and kept me fit
And warmed the cockles of my heart.

So when I play my final match
May I not have the smallest doubt
That when I've run the Rover hoop
Thou wilt be there to peg me out.

Giles Borrett


I know that all the croquet players of that generation loved it.


What a wonderful way to close things here this afternoon.

It is difficult for me to express adequately my gratitude for the generosity and kindness of Michael, Barry, and Judy. In fact, my thanks go out to everyone who has helped me along the way!

Next time, we'll return to Warren Hill in Meads and get help from a different source in finding something that's been elusive. Stay tuned…

Looking at the Life of J. Goodland, Part 2

Last time we took a look at the early life of Joshua Goodland, but since we left him at 9 King's Bench Walk in the Temple district [left], I've discovered a few more documents that provide additional insight into those years.

On a 1907 ship's manifest, there is a record, very difficult to discover, that clearly shows school mates Goodland, Vyvyan Holland, and Peter Wallace all entering Canada bound for Quebec. Undoubtedly, this is the trip that Holland referred to in his autobiography in our last posting. The trio of friends departed Liverpool on 22 November 1907 sailing on The Victorian and arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 29 November 1907 for immigration purposes before traveling on to St. John's, New Brunswick.

Each listed his final destination as Montreal. Little else is recorded on this document save the fact that two "saloon" passengers who traveled with the three were deported. The documentation of the occupants of steerage, however, is rife with information about each individual. It's apparent a sort of class system was functioning that day as The Victorian put into port at 4:45 p.m.

In addition, a record in the book of Cambridge University Alumni, 1261 – 1900, provides the following information: "Adm. at TRINITY HALL, 1900. S. of Gillmore, deceased, of Exmouth, Devon. [B. July 17, 1873.] School, Combe Down, Bath. Matric. Michs. 1900; B.A. and LL.B. 1904; M.A. 1907. Called to the Bar, Inner Temple, June 12, 1907. On the North Eastern Circuit. A law ‘coach’ in London. F.R.G.S. During the Great War, 1914-19, legal adviser to the Priority Dept., Ministry of Munitions; M.B.E."

That was found under the entry "Joshua Goodland," and further categorized by "College: Trinity Hall," and "Entered: Michs 1900." It further provides his date of death at this point, but that would be getting ahead of our story!

Examining the rest of the entry above, it provides some information we already know: Joshua was the son of Gillmore Goodland of Exmouth, Devon. We do learn, however, the exact date of his birth: The 17th of July 1873.

Goodland seems to have attended school in Combe Down, Bath, Somersetshire. Presumably this school is still there, now known as the Combe Down Junior School [right], which was constructed the Gothic style in 1840 and enlarged in both 1887 and around 1900. With Goodland having been born in 1873, the first enlargement would have been started when he was 15—a time when he, indeed, could have been attending.

We know Goodland, 7 years old, was at home in 1881 and is listed on that year's 3 April census as a "scholar." It isn't unreasonable to think that young Joshua was first a student in his father's own school; the senior Gillmore, as we know from the same document, was a "Certificated Teacher [at an] Elementary School."

Goodland's next level of education likely came relatively soon after. The 1891 census, taken on 5 April, describes Goodland as a "school teacher's assistant," although he was at home with his mother when the census taker arrived.

After having thought that Joshua's father might have been at school that day, it turns out that Gillmore, Sr., was in the Rose Hill section of Worcestershire at 3 St. Mary's Terrace visiting 77-year-old widow Esther Willets and her companion, Jane C. Scarfe, 42. Next to "companion," however, someone else has clarified the entry by writing, "Dom." Presumably that means "domestic," as it is also written next to the occupation of "nurse," which described 50-year-old "servant" Lucian Dowell. There were two other servants in the home at the time, a cook and a housemaid.

Willets was described as "living on her own means." Goodland, 49 at the time, is described as a "1st class certificated teacher," next to which a different hand had boldly written, "School."

The senior Goodland would pass away in 1893.

What occupied Joshua between 1891 (and especially following the time of his father's death in 1893) and entering Trinity Hall [left], Cambridge, at Michaelmas in September 1900, was at first unknown. We did have a clue, though. In the 1901 census, taken that year on 31 March, just 5 months after beginning at Cambridge, you will recall Goodland, then aged 24 years, was visiting a building contractor in Bristol, and Joshua's occupation is listed as "architect."

In fact, Goodland is mentioned in a 2001 text, Directory of British Architects 1834 – 1914, Volume 1: A – K, by Antonia Brodie (Royal Institute of British Architects, 2001) . Architect Edgar John Pullar (1876 – 1929) is listed as having been Goodland's assistant in 1899. There is no listing for a Joshua Goodland in the book's first volume, though, perhaps simply meaning that Goodland never had become a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

It is unclear exactly what sort of qualifications might have been required. Pullar, according his listing, had "attended King's College, London 1892." Seemingly more important is the next line: "Articled to Charles James Chirney Pawley (b. 1854) 1893 for 5 years." Pullar then served as "Assistant to Arthur Green (d. 1904) 1898-99, and to J. Goodland 1899." Finally, "Passed qualifying exam 1901."

Would I be wrong in assuming that Goodland had been "articled" to someone himself, perhaps for 5 years during the time between the 1891 census and entering Trinity Hall in 1900?

In an 1897 item entitled "The Intermediate: Newly registered students," the Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, volume 4, listed the results of the Intermediate Examination held in London, Manchester, and Bristol on 15th, 16th, and 17th for probationers "ult." March in 1897. Below, the article states: "The following candidates passed and are registered as students:… GOODLAND: Joshua [Probationer 1893]; 1, The Parade, Roath, Cardiff [Master: Mr. G. E. Halliday*]." (The asterisk indicates that Halliday was a member of the Institute.)

Goodland apparently served with George Eley Halliday (1858 – 1922), an architect whose office was at 19 Duke Street in Cardiff until 1897, and 14 High Street in Cardiff, Wales, in 1897. Halliday is also listed as having "The Hermitage, Llandaff, South Glamorgan, Wales," as his address in 1897. Halliday, just months after Goodland's examinations, became a member of the FRIBA on 14 June 1897 and later was listed in Who's Who in Architecture in 1914.

Goodland had taken "The Intermediate" in March of 1897, implying that there must have been a final examination to come. In its "Register of Students," the 1903 Kalendar of the R.I.B.A. simply lists "GOODLAND: JOSHUA, 1 The Parade, Roath, Cardiff" as having been a student between the years 1893 and 1897.

No mention is made of a final examination—taken by anyone. Pullar's entry above does mention a "qualifying examination," and could that have been "The Intermediate" that Goodland had already taken? I can find no documentation that Goodland passed a final examination after Marh 1897, although one must assume that Pullar, above, could not have been Goodland's assistant if they were both students—or could he have?

My assumption would be that, for Pullar to have assisted Goodman, the later must have been actively involved in the designing and/or production of architecture. If not, with what, exactly, would Pullar have assisted Goodman?

Nevertheless, their union in 1899 took each man in a different direction: Pullar to a career in architecture, primarily in Asia, and Goodland, within a year, to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, as a 27-year-old student.

Goodland's life's work, even at the relatively tender age of 27 had already gone in two different directions. First, we know he assisted his father at an elementary school in Devon. Upon his father's passing in 1893, Goodland became an assistant to George E. Halliday, a Welsh architect in Cardiff, and seemingly had begun that career. Suddenly, at the turn of the century, Joshua was then off to university.

What did Goodland study there? We don't exactly know—he was calling himself an architect, not a student, during the 1901 census, as well as visiting a contractor at the time—but perhaps he simply was picking up some extra cash doing plans for a builder in Bristol while he studied law. Perhaps, however, he originally intended to and at first was studying architecture at Trinity Hall.

Either way, Goodland wouldn't stay with architecture. He earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws Degrees from Cambridge in 1904, and added a Master's Degree in 1907. During that time, we know Goodland also had traveled to "Russia and Sweden" with Wallace and Holland. He was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, on 12 June 1907. Having spent 7 years at Cambridge among dear friends, the almost 34-year-old Goodland moved into yet another vocation: Barrister at Law.

The Cambridge University Alumni text mentions that after taking his M.A., Goodland served "On the North Eastern Circuit." Assuming the text is in chronological order, this must have been when Joshua was a young barrister. Does it also imply that he moved around during that assignment? Joshua having become a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (F.R.G.S.) in 1906 [Its interior is shown, left, in 1912] would seem to confirm the implication that traveling didn't bother him much.

And, as we know, moving around was something Joshua would continue to do. After sailing out of Liverpool on 22 November, he did not return until arriving at Liverpool on 11 August 1908. In between, Goodland had circled the globe while using both his mother's home at Gresham House in London and Inshaw House, London, as his addresses.

The "North Eastern Circuit" must have followed, and then a stint as a "a 'law' coach in London." One thing notable about Goodland is that, in both architecture and law, he quickly went from student himself to guiding others new to the field.

An easy inference is that Goodland was a natural teacher, an area in which he would have been immersed as the son of and assistant to a schoolmaster.

We know that Goodland married on 19 June 1909 in Middlesex. The fact that Goodland had become a husband in London may imply that he was then—in mid-1909—already serving there as a "law" coach, his time on the circuit having been brief.

A 1946 issue of The Law Journal (Volume 96) explains: "It will be observed that there is nothing to prevent a student who wishes to do so from attending a law coach either before or after taking an Intermediate or Final course if he feels that additional preparation for his [examinations]," and in the early 1920's, there was an actual journal entitled Law Coach, although I can find no record of its existence before 1920 or after the publication of its third volume in 1922 [right, the best I could get].

Goodman appears to have once again begun a trip to the far reaches of the empire, if not around the world, in 1909. He steamed into Brisbane, Australia, from Colombo, Brazil, on the Oroya on 27 October 1909, presumably on his honeymoon. The actual ship's manifest, however, is not visible at ancestry.com, and there is an almost exact record, save for the date, for the same ship, the Oroya, supposedly bearing Goodland, and sailing into Brisbane from Colombo on 3 February 1909.

Was Goodland aboard both voyages? Perhaps he was so enamored of his February 1909 trip to Brisbane that he chose exactly the same shipping line and travel itinerary for a honeymoon later in the year. Perhaps an error in the transcription of the date caused the same arrival to be recorded on two separate dates—and we are not privy to which would be correct since images of the actual manifest have not been provided.

Finally, perhaps it isn't "our" Joshua Goodland at all. Without seeing the manifest, we don't know what other identifying information may have been recorded. However, there simply aren't any records of other contemporary British "Joshua Goodlands" having been born around 1873. Let's leave it at this: He probably sailed to Australia sometime in 1909.

We've seen some of the litigation in which Goodland was involved in 1912 or so, and we know his London address at the time via telephone records.

The last line of the Cambridge directory we will look at today is this one: "During the Great War, 1914-19, legal adviser to the Priority Dept., Ministry of Munitions; M.B.E."

The appeals case in the House of Lords between the Water Board, appellants, and Dick, Kerr, & Co., respondents, mentioned in our last post, did, indeed, involve the Ministry of Munitions. Goodland must have been representing them in the capacity of "legal adviser," as well as junior counsel.

On 7 January 1918, the London Gazette ran a lengthy list of those "to be members" of the "Most Excellent Order." Among the honorees: "Joshua Goodland, Esq., Classification Section, Priority Department, Ministry of Munitions." [A composite image of the entry is seen, left] In 1917, the M.B.E. had been instituted to be awarded for meritorious service by either military or civilian personnel.

With an upscale address, an MBE to is credit, and an association with high profile London lawyer Mr. Wm. Danckwerts, KC, on his resume, it's easy to see that Goodland would soon be going places in the legal profession.

We still haven't brought Joshua Goodland to Warren Hill School in Meads, however, nor have we associated him with the subject of our interest, George Mills. Such is the complexity of Mr. Joshua Goodland, Esq., MBE, who was 46 years old in 1919. That year, at the conclusion of the Great War, Goodland left the Ministry of Munitions—and we still are only three vocations deep into his life at this point, with two more professions yet to go!

We'll learn more about the labyrinthine career path of late bloomer Joshua Goodland very soon. Stay tuned…