Alton Papers, no. 25

Publication Date: 2021

Cost: £3.00 (+p&p if ordering by post)
Where to buy: Curtis Museum or by post - see How to Order page.

Articles:

• Thedden Grange
  Author: Sheila Carey-Thomas
  At the start of WWII, Thedden Grange was owned by the Mackay family who employed a large number of people. One of these, Frank Legg, wrote his memories in 1989 and these are printed here together with information about the military wartime presence at Thedden which included a Prisoner of War Camp.
• Letter in German from Ernst Kaiser
  Translation by Sheila John
  Bought from a well-known auction site, this letter was written from the Camp in October 1946. Ernst gives an idea of how he is managing, having spent some of the War as a prisoner in America.
• Adlam’s/Buck’s Bakery, 2 Market Square, Alton
  Author: Jane Hurst
  The history of the site can be traced back to the 1600s. It was occupied by different tradespeople until it was acquired by William Doggrell, a baker. The property was rebuilt and, later, sold to another baker, Henry Adlam. Now the business prospered and additions were made along Lenten Street for two shops - a butcher’s and a fishmonger’s – and their walls were covered with beautiful tiles. After Henry’s death, the Buck family took over and many people remember their shop and café.
• The Early Banks of Alton – part 2
  Author: Trevor R Howard
  In the late Georgian period two new banks appeared in Alton – the Winchester, Alresford & Alton Bank and the Hampshire Banking Company. These were later followed by the National Provincial Bank, Westminster Bank, Barclays Bank, TSB and HSBC. This article follows these and, sadly, since the book was published, several local banks have now closed.
• Frank Elgee, Naturalist, Archaeologist and ‘Man of the Moors’, at Rest in Alton
  Author: Dr M Birtle
  Frank Elgee was born in North Yorkshire and spent much of his life there being appointed Assistant Curator of the Dorman Museum in Middlesborough. Never a well man, Frank and his wife, Harriet, moved to Alton in 1938 looking for a better climate. While here, Harriet became a member of the Friends of the Curtis Museum. Frank died in 1944 and is buried in our local Cemetery.