A crooked policy of concealment

Records recently added to the rich archive of the Ewen family of Holme Park, Sonning, 1878-1977, include some fascinating papers relating to the business venture of two of the Ewens (bachelor brothers Thomas L’estrange Ewen junior and Captain Arthur Ewen. This was the Raleigh Club, a private gentleman's club in London, open only at night. It provided members with food (toasted bacon sandwiches) and drink, and a place to play cards and billiards. It fell into difficulties in 1879, and caused massive issues within the wider family. Their intestate father’s administrator described it as being 'a crooked policy of concealment or ''compulsory reticence'', of a highly unsatisfactory and may we not justly add of a somewhat fraudulent character' in relation to their use of other family members’ monies to secretly prop up their insolvent business. The brothers were declared bankrupt, and some of the family estates had to be sold. The collection also includes a lovely drawing of a room in Holme Park (D/EE). 

More landowning families: the Walkers and the Crawshays

As part of our Reading Borough Deposited Collections project, we have catalogued the records (mainly deeds, settlements and probate material) of the Walker family of Tilehurst, 1628-1837 (R/D96). Several generations of the Walker family, all confusingly called Thomas, owned a substantial estate in the parish, including the advowson. This gave them the right to appoint the rector, which was quite handy for a family most of whose members entered the Church. As a result the Thomas Walkers were successive rectors of Tilehurst between 1711 and 1798. We have also received a small collection of papers of the Crawshay family of Caversham Park, 1844-1989 (D/EX2961). This includes the sale catalogue and contracts when the estate was broken up in 1920.

Bigamy in Berkshire!

Some legal papers relating to a widow living in Cookham Dean reveal an unexpected story worthy of fiction (D/EX2972). She had been born Annie Bell in London in 1890 and at just 18 married John Richard Thomas. In 1914 she married, apparently bigamously, Edward Herbert Crailsham (1887-1956), under the assumed name Stella Theresa O'Hare. Stella died in 1948, and the records relate to the settling of her estate and the property of her second husband’s family, complicated by the change of name and questionable legality of her marriage, 1947-1950.

We have also listed papers of Marjory McMaster Hasluck of Caversham, 1907-1959 (D/EX2434); and early 20th century papers and photographs of William Price of Reading, a Special Constable (D/EX2856).  The charming autograph album of Agnes Cecilia ‘Dolly’ Dear or Hine of Reading was given to her as a 13th birthday present in 1912, and includes various sketches, verses, jokes and other written contributions by friends, 1912-1934 (D/EX2962). 

Scouts in Berkshire

We are pleased to announce that we have catalogued the records of Pinkneys Green Scout Group, Maidenhead, 1909-2012 (D/EX2330). Founded in 1909 by Miss Agnes del Riego, it was one of the earliest Scout troops in the world. You can read more about Agnes in a blog from March 2025. The scout collection includes records from offshoots the Maidenhead and District Rover Crew (for older Scouts, aged 17 and upwards), and the Gryphon Venture Unit. Some of these records are digital only, and you will need to book a PC to view these. We have also catalogued additional records for Records of the 1st Earley Rover Crew, 1936-1946 (D/EX1787).

Berkshire in pictures

A charming photograph of a group of Rangers (the oldest age group of Girl Guides) doing a country dance at a garden party, Park Farm, Tilehurst, in the 1920s has been added to the Ayres collection (D/EX1638). We have also received an attractive print of Ray Mills, Maidenhead, c.1899-1907 (D/EX1690). We have received some nice photographs mainly of Wokingham, including pupils at the Convent of the Presentation, Wokingham, 1929-1931, plus the childhood memoirs of Sylvia Evelyn Worker, née Hutton, one of the pupils (D/EX2851).

You may be aware that we hold a series of small aerial photographs of the county commissioned for Berkshire County Council (C/PL/G1), and we were pleased to received some slightly enlarged (roughly 7 inches : 1 mile) versions of some of those for the Reading area for 1981 (D/EX3011). As with the other aerial photographs we recommend booking the map table for these as although individual pictures are small, you generally need to spread a few out to get a clear view. We got help from our social media fans to identify some of the more obscure views in a photograph album from the 1870s-80s (D/EZ211). Many turned out to be in Brussels!

You can find out more about these records by searching our online catalogue. Simply enter the collection references given above in the Catalogue Reference field.