Shining new light on great and good (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Shining new light on great and good

11:50am Tuesday 12th April 2011 in Memories By Richard Garfield

SOME of the great and the good of Basingstoke’s past are being showcased at a fascinating exhibition in The Willis Museum.

Stories of Basingstoke is on show in the Community Gallery at the free-to-enter museum and can be seen until Saturday, April 23.

The 15 people who feature in the exhibition have all made a contribution to Basingstoke’s history and culture, and in some cases have had a wider influence, such as Thomas Burberry, whose name lives on as a one of the world’s top fashion brands.

Another notable is pioneering 18th century naturalist and ornithologist Gilbert White, who is regarded by many as England’s first ecologist.

Delighted with the exhibition, Basingstoke Heritage Society’s chairman Ian Williams said: “We have a lot of history in the town and this is what the heritage society is trying to show, making people aware of what we’ve got.”

The earliest notable person featured in the exhibition is William de Brayboeuf, who died in 1284 and whose tomb can still be seen at the Holy Ghost ruins. He was Lord of the Manor of Eastrop and was a descendent of a Norman who crossed the English Channel with William the Conqueror.

Poor Mrs Blunden, who was accidentally buried alive in 1674 at the Holy Ghost cemetery, also features.

“It’s a gruesome story and there have been a lot of versions of it,” said Ian, adding: “But nobody knows where she is buried.”

World War One hero John Aidan Liddell VC is also buried at the cemetery, whose funeral in 1915 brought out hundreds of people to pay their respects.

As a Royal Flying Corps pilot, he hit the national headlines after being severely injured while flying reconnaissance over Belgium.

Despite briefly losing consciousness, he was able to bring his plane and passenger safely back behind Allied lines. Sadly, a month later, he died of his wounds aged 27.

Copies of his medals are on show in the exhibition.

Pointing to a panel featuring Charles Hasler, John James and William Wilson, Ian said: “These poor lads were taken from a copy of a World War One memorial book in St Michael’s Church. As we had a panel about John Liddell, we thought, ‘why don’t we bring in some ordinary folk,’ and chose these men at random.”

The man whose voice was known as the ‘sound of summer’ also features – Basingstoke-born Test Match Special cricket commentator John Arlott. His Hampshire burr graced the airwaves for 34 years, until he retired in 1980.

No exhibition like this could go on show without mentioning Lt Col John May, and among those impressed with what they have seen in The Willis is one of his descendents – his greatgreat nephew, retired teacher Peter Stevens, who lives in Teddington.

Six-times mayor, John May was the owner of May’s Brewery, which stood roughly where The Anvil is today, and made various donations to the town, most notably May’s Bounty cricket ground and the clock tower that used to sit atop the Town Hall, now The Willis Museum.

Peter said: “I knew he was my great-great uncle – my mother did occasionally talk about him and she did meet him when she was young.

“He was always referred to in the family as the ‘great man’ and he did wonderful things for Basingstoke, as mayor and managing the brewery.

“But there was another side to him and that was what the family referred to as ‘a lady friend.’ “It was because of this, so the family thought, he didn’t get the knighthood he felt he deserved.

“He was a great man but he died a wealthy bachelor without children.”