My Uncle Harry Rawcliffe Danson - A Man of Many Parts

This week's prompt photograph from Sepia Saturday features a man posing in front of a car.  

Well,  I covered owners and their  cars a few week's ago.  So instead, the tall, slim figure of the man in the prompt reminded me of my favourite uncle, Harry Danson, who drove not only a car  and  motor bikes with sidecar, but also sailed a small yacht off the Lancashire coasts at Fleetwood.  

 

 

Lots of words can be used to describe my uncle.  He was a man of many parts  - a joiner, soldier, Dunkirk survivor, a skilled do-it-yourselfer, productive gardener, keen photographer, yachtsman  - and ballroom dancer. 

 

 

  A young Harry

 

 Harry Rawcliffe  Danson (1912-2001) was the middle child of five, born to my grandparents William Danson and Alice English in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. His middle name came from his grandmother Maria Danson, nee Rawcliffe. The photograph above is the only one  I have of him as a child, and is part of a group photograph of the family, taken in 1916, as my grandfather set out to war.

Harry followed his grandfather into becoming a joiner. and I remember him making a miniature table and chairs for my doll’s house.  Not surprisingly he was skilled in  do-it yourself.  

My next knowledge of Harry was from his army photographs.

Young man around town - look at that  hairstyle! 

The reverse of the photograph indicates it was taken in Salisbury -when Harry was undergoing Army training? 

 

  

I think there is an Errol Flynn look about him here! 

            

This signed menu of December 25th 1939,   written in French and typed on very flimsy paper,  was found 60 years later  amongst Uncle Harry's papers.    He was in France with the British Expeditionary Force, 9/17th Field Battery.  

 

In the Sergeant's Mess,  breakfast was cold ham with piccalilli, eggs, coffee and roll and butter;  for dinner  - turkey with chestnuts, pork with apple sauce, potatoes, and cauliflower followed by Christmas pudding, apples, oranges, and nuts, with cognac, rum and beer - a wonderful feast in difficult conditions and testimony to the skill of the catering corps!

Five months later Harry was one of the many men evacuated from Dunkirk, saved by the flotilla of small ships.  Sadly many of the men who were at this meal may not have survived.   My mother used  to tell how Harry arrived back home from Dunkirk  still in the uniform in which he entered the sea to be rescued.   He never talked about his wartime experiences, but seeing commemoration services or documentaries on TV could bring tears to his eyes, so the memories remained very strong.

 

 Harry  later served in North Africa.

Harry had a short lived marriage in the 1940's and never remarried.   He returned to the family home (below),   living with my widowed grandfather and his sister.  He resumed his joinery trade  renovating the house, and taking pride in his  garden, with floral displays in the front and productive fruit and vegetables at the back and in his greenhouse.  

 

 

 

 I recall him taking his sister (my Aunt Edith) out for a Sunday run in his motor cycle and side car.  He later progressed to a car, extending the driveway, by knocking down the gate and tresllis, and turnip the hen hosue int oa garage.  

 

Living close to Blackpool,  the UK home of ballroom dancing, Harry could often be found on the dance floor of the Wint r Gardens or Tower Ballroom - and he was never short of partners.   

 With a good friend, neighbour & dance partner, c.1970's. 

Harry was a keen photographer, at one time having his own dark room to develop pictures. He took this photograph of St. Chad's Church, Poulton-le-Fylde, noted for its carpet of crocuses in Spring.  Dansons back to 1736 were baptised, married and buried here.  

Harry lived  to the age of 89,  remaining active to the end of his life - and he retained his good looks! 

 

 

With fond memories of a dear uncle 

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 Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share 
their family history and memories through photographs.  

  

 

Click HERE to see more posts 

from Sepia Saturday bloggers.

 

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Friendship in the Forces - Sepia Saturday

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt photograph  shows two friends, workmates perhaps.  wearing similar jackets.  I take a look back at family  revealing camaraderie in wartime -  a fitting tribute to them as we near Remembrance Day.    

 The Danson Brothers

 Two of my great uncles  - Tom and George Danson  in World War One army uniform.

The brothers   were from a large family of eight sons and one daughter, with five sons serving in the army, two  of whom died in the conflict.  

Tom (left) worked as a clerk at Poulton Station, but I know little else about him.  But George's story is a tragic one that I have featured  before on my blog.

 George Danson (1894-1916)   was the favourite uncle of my mother and aunt, perhaps because he was nearest to them in age and took on the role of the big brother.  He worked on W.H. Smith bookstalls at different railway stations, joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and was killed 16th September 1916 at  the Battle of the Somme,    just a week after his 22nd birthday, buried at The Guards Cemetery at Les Boeufs.

 I was lucky enough to find  on Ancestry his service record, as many were destroyed in bombing in the Second World War. His  medical report stated he was 5'3" tall, weighed 109 lbs. (under 8 stone), with size 34 1/2 chest and he wore glasses - a slight figure to be a stretcher bearer in the Royal Army Medical Corps.   Two of his letters home are in the  family memorabilia

"I had to assist the wounded at a dressing station and stuck to it for about 40 hours.  It's blooming hard work being a stretcher bearer in the field.

On Friday I was in a big bombardment and will say it was like a continual thunder and lightening going off.  As I write there are blooming big guns going off abut 50 yards away every few minutes. Don't I wish that all of us could get home.  Wouldn't that be great, lad,  there's a good time coming and I hope we shall all be there to join in."

Sadly it was not to be. 

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Grandad, William Danson (on the right)  with two colleagues.  He served in the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, fought at the mudbath that was the Battle of  Passchendaele and won the Military Medal at Givenchy, with the postcards and photographs  below kept in the shoe-box of family memorabilia.

Some  humour even in war time is illustrated by the photograph of my grandfather William Danson, that shows the camaraderie existed  amongst soldiers.

  

 

 This photo  intrigued me when I first saw it as a child. There was no Scottish connections at all on my mother's side of the family, so why was Granddad wearing a kilt and a tammie?   

 

 The story was that he became friendly with some Scottish soldiers, and as a laugh he had dressed up in one of their uniforms and had his picture taken to send home.  It must have been taken in France as the reverse of the photograph  indicates it is a "Carte Postale" with space for "Correspondance" and "Addresse".

 

 

 

 I wrote to the regimental museum at Lancaster Castle for more information and  was sent a copy of an extract from the Regimental War Diary,  and the award citation which read: 

 

"For conspicuous gallantry in action at GIVENCHY on 9th April 1918,This N.C.O commanded a Lewis Gun section...He did good work with his gun during  the attack inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. When the other N.C.O. in command of the other Lewis Gun was wounded,he took over the gun and controlled the fire of both teams".

 

9th April was five  days after Granddad's 33rd birthday,  Grandad was a taciturn country man who before conscription had been a  livestock foreman at the local auction mart.  He,   like many of those who had experienced the horrors of the First World War, would never talk bout  their experiences. 

 

But Granddad left a moving legacy of his war   in the many embroidered postcards he sent and brought back home.   These remain my  family treasures. 

 

 

 

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My husband's uncle Matty (Matthew Iley White) of South Shields, is amongst this group of soldiers perched on a rock in India.  

Matty )1914-1978)  served in the  Durham Light Infantry in India 1933-1937
, as listed in his service book below.

  

 

Matty, seated on the left,

 tucking into his food at army camp  

  

In the Sudan, where Matty served March to October 1937  

 Images taken from Matty''s own album

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My great Uncle Frank Danson  (1892-1977)  was the seventh of eight sons born    to James Danson, a joiner journeyman and Maria Rawcliffe of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.  Five sons served in the First World War - I have been unable  to trace a service record for Frank.  with many destroyed in enemy bombing in World War Two.  At some point he  was injured and was in hospital in Malta when these photographs were taken - found in the collection of my great aunt Jennie Danson - the only girl in the family.

 On the reverse in Jenny's handwriting, she identified Frank as on the back row right.

 

 This  photograph seems to be some kind of celebration.  Frank is front row left,  dressed formally in his uniform and cap, but what about those two fellows on the  back row in what appears to be their pyjamas and beanie hats?

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share 
their family history and memories through photographs. 

 

 

 

Click HERE to see more posts from Sepia Saturday bloggers.

Up in the Air - Sepia Saturday

Aeroplanes feature in this week's prompt photograph from Sepia Saturday.  Take a look att how the early days of flight were regarded in a small  rural village in Earlston in the Scottish Borders. 

 

This 1930s poster   is in the collection of my local heritage group Auld Earlston.  Printed in the nearby town of Galashiels, it appears to be a "shell" poster, with space to fill in the details of date and venue.  

The event promised

"Famous pilots, aerobatics, stunts, looping, rolling, upside down flying,  crazy flying and  walking the wings at 100m.p.h. by Daredevil Draycott - the man who rides the winds" - plus passenger flights from  5 shillings a time.

"The Berwickshire News" of 28th July 1931  gave a fuller account, with the revelation that the local firm of Messrs Wm Rodger & Sons owned the plane. 

"Earlston is very fortunate in being the first town in Berwickshire to witness an aeronautic display.  On Monday evening a large number of Earlstonians were entertained to a succession of thrills by the advent of an aeroplane, the property of Messrs W. Rodger  & Sons which gave several aerial exhibitions at a newly constructed aerodrome at Purveshaugh, Earlston.  The enterprising firm is lucky to have secured the services of an skilled aviator and pilot   in the person of Mr J. Hinklin of Hornchurch and late of the Royal Air Force.  They have also secured the services of a competent ground engineer  viz Mr. J. Hellon  of the Scarborough Aero Club.  The pilot gave a thrilling exhibition of  flying in the presence of a crowd of nearly 400 spectators, many of whom were desirous of "getting up".  Messrs Rodgers gave a couple of free flights which were greatly enjoyed and appreciated.  It is understood that operations are to commence immediately".  

The next week's paper of  4th August 1931 noted that

"A considerable number of spectators...visited the Purveshaugh Aerodrome , near Earlston...when about 100 persons of both sexes, mainly young people, booked flights  and were taken up in   Messers Rodgers aeroplane.  The plane had also been in commission the previous evening when 50 passengers went up. All seemed to enjoy the novel and enthralling sensation".

What was the background to this event?
Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first powered flight on December 17th  1903. 

 

 

 

 

 The aeroplane came of age in World War One.   But, despite there being hundreds of sites used by fixed-wing aircraft across the UK, most British people had never been close to an aircraft and it appears that a quite large proportion of the population still hadn't actually seen one.

 

  

Photograph courtesy of Pixabay 

On 24th July 1924, local newspaper  "The Southern Reporter" thought it noteworthy to write that:  

"Three aeroplanes  passed over the west end of Earlston about 8.30 a.m  but were observed by comparatively few persons."

Following the First World War, experienced fighter pilots were eager to show off their new skills, flying into towns across the country, as well as taking paying passengers for rides. It was men like Alan Cobham who promoted air tours to raise awareness of the importance of aviation. To attract the crowds  he included displays of not just aerobatics, but stunt' flying too. 

 

 Not all sections of society were in agreement with this intensive event schedule.   in Berwick, the Lord's Day Observance Society  objected to Commercial Air Displays and Pageants being held on a Sunday - but the council decided to take no action. on the complaint. (Reported in "The Southern Reporter": 3rd December 1931.)

 
"The Berwickshire News" of August  1932 reflected the interest in this new form of transport with reports:  

"Considerable interest  was evinced....by several Earlstonians of the younger generation, especially when one of Messrs Rodger's aeroplanes landed in a field adjacent to the local football pitch owned by Mr Alexander Brownlie, The machine which had just arrived from Blairgowrie after a successful series of flights, under the pilotage of Mr Wells, made  a convenient landing preparatory to being overhauled  for further service. " 

An optimistic  writer in "The  Berwickshire News" of 9th September 1930 expressed the hope that: 

"We must concern ourselves  with the laying out of aerodromes. I thoroughly believe that it will not be long before every town planning scheme will include provision for aeroplane traffic."  

1939 of course changed the face of air travel, as war became the focus.  

Never again was Earlston  to be at the forefront of the aeroplane age in the Sottish Borders.

 

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Onto more modern times:

 

 My brother Chris in the 1980s had a half  share in a small plane and gained his pilot’s licence.  Chris flew the plane from his home on the English south coast to the small airport at the seaside resort of Blackpool in north west England for a family gathering,  

 

  

Daughter sitting at the controls! 

 

 

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 And if you feel like being more adventurous,  - but definitely not my idea of fun   - a para glider - a photograph taken from our hotel balcony near Innsbruck Austria.

 

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 Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share 
their family history and memories through photographs.  

  

 

 

Click HERE To see more posts from Sepia Saturday bloggers.

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Carriages and Carters - Sepia Saturday

A busy street scene is the focus of this week's prompt photograph from the Sepia Saturday website.  My eye centred on the horse  drawn carriage, so take a look at how our ancestors travelled around in times past. 

  

The date  is 1907 and  Earlston Parish Church Choir is setting   off from the Red Lion Hotel in the village  to drive to Yarrow Manse in Selkirkshire -  according to the Distances website a distance of some 29 miles over what would be a hilly, twisting  route.   

Hopefully it would be a dry day as there was no protection from the elements.     It was surprising they did not take the railway  for part  of the route and and then by waggonette to Yarrow.

 

 They must have got there  safely,  for here they are relaxing, with some hats off, relaxing outside Yarrow Manse.  

 

In more modern times, a horse drawn charabanc in Krakow, Poland.  

My cousin's ancestors, the Oldham family of Blackpool, Lancashire  were carters and coalmen down three generations - Joseph Prince Oldham (1855-1921), his son John William Oldham (1880-1939) and his granddaughter Elsie Smith, nee Oldham (1906-1989).
 
The business was founded around 1890, steadily became prosperous and in 1905 moved to near North Station, Blackpool, Lancashire in a house with a large yard at the back with hay loft, tack room. and stabling for around 7 horses.

 

John William Oldham on one of the carriages in the family business of coal men and carters.

 

Here is My third cousin, Gloria a top of this carthorse.   In the 1901 census Joseph Oldham   was described as a self-employed carter and coal merchant with his son John a coal wagon driver. An accident at the coal sidings in the railway station resulted in Joseph being blinded and he died in 1921, with his will, signed with his "mark.  

Below - two advertisements in the stable yard at Beamish Open Air Museum in north east England.  It recreates life in the 19th and 20th century - a favourite place for a day outing.   

 

Anyone tracing their family history may well have  a "carter or carrier " in their ancestry - an essential occupation in transporting goods around.  Such a man was my great great grandfather Robert Rawcliffe of Hambleton,  Lancashire. More carter images are shown here  with  vintage photographs from  the collection of my local heritage group Auld Earlston. 

 

 

 The 1851 census for Earlston (population 1,819)  listed 9 men working as  blacksmiths, 7 carters/carriers, 3 saddlers, 2  stable boys, an ostler, a farrier, a groom and a coachman - plus of course all those who would be working  with horses on the many farms in the rural parish. 

 

 Thinking of a convivial drink? Large Clydesdale Horses here are pulling the dray, advertising Vaux Brewery  Fine Ales -  at the Border Union Agricultural Show in Kelso, Scottish Borders.   

But being a carter was not without its risks.   Local newspapers  reported cases appearing in police courts - the   offence ‘being drunk while in charge of horse" or "careless and reckless driving".  

 Likewise many graphic reports of road accidents appeared  in  local papers.  

One such casuality was my great great grandfather Henry Danson (1806-1881)  of Poulton le Fylde, Lancashire. 

 I had done a lot of research on his life many years previously, using standard resources, to find his family (6 daughters and 3 sons) and his occupations as a farmer and later as a  toll collector at nearby Shard Bridge over the Riuver Wyre.  

But it  is never too late to discover new information on an ancestor,  as more and more records come online.  Such was the case for me.    In  2021 I was doing a casual browsing on the British Newspaper Archive website.  The result was a fascinating  discovery  in newspapers that had only recently been indexed -  an obituary and a coroner’s report  on Henry Danson's  death - and information on Henry that was completely new to me.

 

I found out that he was well known locally as "a famous judge in  horse flesh"  and had died in a tragic accident on  his horse and cart. 

 

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser: Wednesday 02 Nov. 1881

“FATAL FALL FROM A CART. On Monday evening Mr. Gilbertson held an inquest at Poulton-le-Fylde, on the body of Henry Danson, collector of the Shard Bridge tolls. The deceased, who was 75 years old, was riding in a cart with Mr. John  ? farmer, on the way to Poulton, when the horse took fright and jumped forward. Danson was standing in the cart leaning on his stick at the moment he  was jerked out upon the road. He was attended Mr. Winn, surgeon, but could never walk afterwards, his left thigh being injured, and he had an attack of pleurisy fortnight before his death, which occurred on Thursday night last. The jury returned verdict of Death  from the effects of injuries received, and resulting illness, through fall from a cart."

It is both sad and ironic that Henry,  noted for his skill with horses,  should have died,  whilst driving his horse and cart.  

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Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share 
their family history and memories through photographs.

 

 

 

  

 

Click HERE to see more posts from Sepia Saturday bloggers.

 

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