Here is today’s locally made object for the ‘Turn out your Pockets/Kindle the Flame Community Exhibition.
If you have a story to share, email us at [email protected]
‘This is a tilt-top leather table depicting Rhiannon on top of Arberth (Narberth Mound) in the medieval Welsh tale of Pwyll. It’s based on the Victorian illustration that accompanied ‘Pwyll Prince of Dyved’ in Lady Charlotte Guest’s lavish and pioneering translation known as The Mabinogion. It was the work of the artist John Cleal and includes the relevant text in Welsh on the front and English translation on the reverse. I’d asked John (who had, with his wife Lel, founded Workshop Wales in Lower Town, Fishguard) to make this Mabinogi table for me in 1989. This was the year that my biography of Lady Charlotte Guest was first published (co-authored with Revel Guest, Lady Charlotte’s great-granddaughter). It reminds me of the dramatic scene in this tale set in Pembrokeshire – where I live – but it also reflects the sensitivity and skills that were so apparent in John Cleal’s work’.
*(An article by Shan Morgain on ‘Rhiannon – heroine of Pembrokeshire’ that includes a discussion of this table appeared in Pembrokeshire Life , May 2017, pp. 34-6).
Angela V. John.
Here is the next object for our online ‘Turn out your Pockets/Kindle the Flame’ exhibition. This little pot, discovered during lockdown, is a reminder of how we are always connected across time and place.
Get involved by sending a picture and description of your own object (nothing is too small or insignificant) to [email protected]
‘It seems more than a mere coincidence that while working to restore our terraced Victorian garden every day during Covid19 lockdown I should unearth, amongst the rubbish of old metal chains, long-lost rusted garden tools and a loads of bed springs, the remains of this little pot.
The clear description of its contents made it relatively simple to research its history. As a young man Giles Roberts (1766-1834) set himself up as a chemist in Bridport in Dorset, with a licence to draw blood, extract teeth and cauterise wounds. After gaining qualifications at Guy’s and St Thomas hospitals in London he set up a practice, and was elected Medical Attendant to the poor in Bridport in 1807, campaigning for better hygiene and, during a cholera epidemic distributing, at his own expense, a pamphlet on healthy living.
The recipe for ‘Poor Man’s Friend’ ointment was a trade secret, and was only rediscovered in the former shop quite recently. Bridport Museum bought it for £480.00 in 2003 along with other Dr Roberts ephemera. Apparently it consisted mainly of lard and beeswax, salts of mercury and zinc oxide –it would have been effective in the treatment of eczema and minor skin infections.
After his death in 1834, Dr Roberts’ pharmacy continued to manufacture the ointment contained in this pot, under the names of Thomas Beach and John Barnicott until 1903.This size pot (4cm tall) was priced at 1/1½ It seems to be an early edition, compared with photographs online, and since the house and garden in Fore Street Kingsbridge was developed on open land in 1861 it is probably from mid- to late-Victorian times.
Not a huge or valuable treasure, but its associations with our developing garden restoration and the excitement of ‘a found object’ in the difficult times of Spring 2020, will certainly make it a keepsake of personal significance. It provides a link between the present and the past – perhaps the ointment in the jar was used by Mr Henry Thomas Adams, the builder and first occupier of this house – or even his second wife Elizabeth,who surprisingly came from Adelaide, S.Australia’!
Chris Stephens 22/04/20
Here is the next fascinating peek into the family archive of one of Narberth’s residents as part of our online ‘Turn out your Pockets/Kindle the Flame’ exhibition.
Get involved by sending a picture and description of your object to [email protected]
‘The Schlesinger family were German Jews and were well educated and quite wealthy. My father Franz went to University and became an Engineer (in Germany a “Diplome Engineur” was the equivalent of a Chartered Engineer in the UK today). He spent much of his time inventing things and when I was going through his papers I discovered a patent. Although I am not sure what it was for, I know the family were very proud in his name.
During his time studying and working Franz became friendly with Heinz Kroch who was a Doctor of Chemistry. They decided that a move to the UK was necessary if they were to survive beyond Hitler’s regime and with the help of funding from Anna Kroch’s family Heinz set up a business manufacturing leather pigments and finishes in Eccles, Lancashire. The business quickly flourished and Franz then also moved to the UK to assist Heinz with maintenance and engineering.
My Dad, Franz had a sister, my dear Auntie Kitty, who was a librarian. She moved to the UK, to London, independently but for the same reasons.
My Mum, Gerda meanwhile had been born into a family of milliners in Upper Silesia (now Poland) and after her education worked in the family business to gain experience. Later she had a series of jobs in large shops (including a shop similar to Woolworths). Gerda also had a sister Hilda who, with her fiancé Henry Wahrburg escaped to Eccles as a staging post for their new life in New York.
The Schlesinger family archive yielded some interesting sketch books from the early 1900’s. There is an example below. The text reads:
Sketch for the Family Album. Grand Father Simon Schlesinger, born 1793 in Great Wartenberg, died 1869 in Breslau, was the son of Isaac Schlesinger from Buekeburg. His wife’s maiden name was Dura from Reichen Bach or from Staedtel. He was a cousin of Saloman Heine and of Lind Sau (??). His father was the founder of the well known bank Jaro & Landau, Berlin.
The next bit is less clear. I think it refers to Grandfather Schlesinger being badly wounded by a French Carabiner’.
–John Sleigh
Here is the first incredible object for our ‘Turn out your Pockets/Kindle the Flame’ online community exhibition.
If you have a family story to share, please email [email protected]
‘Bransby Griffiths (1889-1972), my husband’s grandfather, was a Conscientious Objector in World War I. He lived in Briton Ferry, where the number of conscientious objectors amongst those eligible for conscription was one of the highest in the country.
His opposition to the War was based on his socialist beliefs. He was a member of the Independent Labour Party and the No Conscription Fellowship and when he refused to join up, policemen arrived at his home to arrest him. He was court-martialled and subsequently imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs and Wandsworth.
While in prison, he collected the names and writings of his fellow ‘conchies’ in this autograph book which we still have along with the white feather he was given by someone who considered his actions those of a coward. He ended the war by walking home to Briton Ferry from Penderyn Labour Camp’.
–Pauline Griffiths
7.30pm Wednesday 25th March
We’re delighted that Judith Barrow has chosen to launch her latest book, The Memory, at Chapter One. Judith will be on hand to sign copies of the new book which can be pre-ordered by clicking here.
On Thursday 16th April at 7.30pm we will be joined by three West Wales authors who will be reading from some of their recent novels, discussing the Family Saga genre (for both readers and writers) and answering any questions.
Judith Barrow has lived in Pembrokeshire for forty years and publishes short stories, plays, reviews and articles. She has won several poetry competitions and completed three children’s books.
She is a Creative Writing tutor for Pembrokeshire County Council and holds one-to-one creative writing workshops.
Thorne Moore says ‘I am usually considered a psychological crime writer – domestic Noir, if you will – although, as a subject, crime appeals to me only as a traumatic turn of events that shakes people’s lives, the consequence of earlier situations or a trigger of later ones’. Thorne lives in Pembrokeshire which formas the backdrop for much of her writing.
Alex Martin can mostly be found, scribbling or tapping away in her garden shed, indulging her passion for writing, as the wind and rain lash at her little refuge. Her latest book is a ghost story, The Rose Trail, a time slip novel which weaves between the present day and the English Civil War with a supernatural thread.
Tickets for this social evening are £5 (redeemable against the purchase of a book, by any of the three authors, from our shop). Refreshments will be available and booking is essential as spaces are limited.
On Saturday 1st February 2020 we will be showing an audio-visual exhibition of musings and memoir relating to local women over the past 200 years.
Throughout the day, the slideshow of photographs accompanied by the words of these remarkable women will be shown at the museum, with refreshments available in our coffee shop.
Drop in anytime between 10.30 and 4.30 to view the slideshow free of charge.
This event forms part of the Women of West Wales project and is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
