This article by Jackie Rickenberg was published in the Parish Magazine, December 2023
You will forgive me if I make this month’s article all about me! Well, not really. In fact, it is all about us i.e., Thursley History Society.
We are at a very pivotal time as we work to complete a task that has been years in the making, and has involved many, many volunteers. It is currently being driven by our very own David Young, with his extensive and invaluable experience in the world of publishing. The task I speak of is (drum roll) the launch of our beautiful updated and incredibly fascinating website.
Firstly, a little about us. The Society was inaugurated at a public meeting in April 1991, so fairly recently by village standards. In those days it was known as History of Thursley Society but it was changed to Thursley History Society in order to extend its remit. In its constitution it states: “The object of the Society shall be to discover, record, discuss, collect, purchase and display artefacts, written materials and records and other matters relating to the history of the village of Thursley, for the interest of local people and to undertake anything which shall be deemed by the committee to be desirable in order to achieve the objectives of the Society”. With the change in name, it allows us to include the whole parish, including Pitch Place, Warren Park, High Button and Bowlhead Green, and to also include research into other matters relating to but perhaps not restricted within the boundaries of the parish. Our first chairman was the Rev Edmund Haviland and others have included Michael O’Brien and Anthony Langdale. Today it is Leon Flavell.
In 2007, when the archives were stored in a cupboard in the village hall, there was a flood from the upstairs flat. The result was, according to the chairman at the time “the grievous and total loss of much irreplaceable material put together by the original founders of the Society”. It was at this time that the decision was made to move the archive to a more secure location within the village. Until now! As so much of this archive is extremely precious and unique, the current committee have been keen to finish the complete digitisation process – begun many years ago – in order to be in a position to hand the entire archive over to the Surrey History Centre, where it will be indexed and most importantly, safe and secure.
At the same time, the records are being uploaded onto the new Thursley History Society website, as alluded to by James Mendelssohn in his PC column in last month’s magazine. There have been many villagers through the years who have contributed to this enormous effort, including but not exclusively: Alie Hanbury, Sukey Langdale, Sally Scheffers, Lisa Woods, Simon Treadwell, Peter Rickenberg, Leon Flavell and of course the project leader, David Young.
Our thanks go to everyone who has helped through the years and indeed all previous and current members for keeping our history so alive and available. However, a special mention must go to Tim Walsh, who has been our efficient and steadfast archivist over many years. Had it not been for the tireless and thankless task of studiously scanning, recording and filing these priceless archives, the current task of uploading them onto the website would be a far more laborious and time consuming one. The village owes him a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you, Tim, from all of us.
We are so excited by the new site, brilliantly built by Helena Traill’s company Nooh Studio, and managed by the committee. It will allow each and every villager, and indeed, any interested party, to have the archives at their fingertips. This will allow everyone access to research their family, their house or many other matters relating to the village, using the new linking systems which allows for much richer and extensive results. The absolute wealth of information will be incredible, but it will always be a work in progress, as material will be added both current and from the archives. As extensive as our records are, we are very happy to take copies of any documents that you may have access to, in order to save them for posterity and future generations to enjoy.
Finally, Happy Christmas from the Society and watch this space for details of an exciting launch event. If you can’t wait until next Spring, here is an example of a photograph from the archives, showing two Edwardian ladies standing in a spot that will be familiar to many of us. Can you identify where it is? Answer and article next month.
The first meeting of the History of Thursley Society, 14th May 1991
