Article written by Jackie Rickenberg for the Thursley Parish Magazine, September 2023, about Joan Pearl Wolfe, 19, known as the 'Wigwam Girl' which inspired the name of the case. Her murderer, August Sangret, was tried and hanged in 1943. Joan Pearl Wolfe at 19 This month there is a very long overdue memorial service taking place in the churchyard. At the same time a memorial stone will be erected, identifying the currently unmarked grave of Joan Pearl Wolfe, murdered on Hankley Common on 7th October 1942 at the age of 19 years old. Joan’s relatives will be attending as well as members of Thursley History Society and other interested villagers are invited to attend. Joan’s story is a complex and complicated one but it is summarised below: Joan was not local to Surrey. She grew up in Tunbridge Wells and attended Mark Cross Convent School, paid for by a wealthy aunt. She had a troubled upbringing, her father committed suicide when she was 7, her mother soon remarried and then Joan found her stepfather dead on the kitchen floor, again her mother remarried shortly afterwards. She ran away from home when she was 16 and lived a nomadic life, occasionally staying with a Thursley resident, Kate Hayter, whom she had befriended. At this point in the war, Canadian troops were based nearby and Joan met a French-Canadian soldier named August Sangret, a year older than Joan. He also, had had a troubled past. Throughout the 1930’s, August accrued an extensive criminal record, which included violent assault, threatening to shoot a woman and numerous convictions for vagrancy and theft. He was regularly unemployed before he enlisted to serve in the Battleford Light Infantry in 1935. Joan and August first met in a pub in Godalming on 17th July 1942. The pair had a dysfunctional relationship over the next two months. Joan had nowhere to live, so after their second meeting, they returned to Houndown Woods near Thursley and near August’s barracks, where he built her a wigwam shelter for Joan. This hideout led to the naming of the eventual crime. After the destruction of a second shelter by the army, August broke into the Thursley cricket pavilion, where Joan lived for a few nights before disappearing on 14th September. August had a partial alibi for that night and made half-hearted attempts to investigate her disappearance. He had, after all, promised to marry her and gone as far as applying for permission to wed from his commanding officer. Joan’s writing on the wall of the cricket pavilion – “Somewhere in Canada with you” On 7th October, two marines patrolling the wood noticed what appeared to be a hand protruding from a mound. They informed the authorities who excavated Joan’s body. Primarily based on evidence from the known relationship between Joan and August, he was eventually arrested and tried for her murder. Fifty-three witnesses were called for the prosecution (including many well-known Thursley characters including Kate Hayter aka “The Witch of Thursley”, who lived in The Bungalow at Pitch Place and William Featherby, who lived in The Bungalow, Thursley and was known as Mr Thursley), whereas August was the sole witness for his defence. Hardly surprisingly, the jury found him guilty under the circumstances, but they urged the judge to show leniency in sentencing. Mr Justice Macnaghten ignored this request, put on the black cap and condemned August to hang. Joan Wolfe was buried on 8th January 1943 in the churchyard in an unmarked grave by the Rev. H. Gordon French, vicar. August was hanged on 24th April 1943, despite an appeal and the jury’s refused request for leniency being reported to the Home Secretary, who choose to uphold the judge’s sentence. He was buried in a mass grave at Wandsworth prison. Brookwood Military Cemetery records his name on their wall of honour, as having died in service- the Canadian Army had not discharged him before his execution, so officially, he was one of their war dead. The memorial makes no mention of the circumstances in which he died. These passages were taken from “Tales from a Country Churchyard” by Guy J. Singer, available directly from him on www.GuyJ.Singer.com or from Amazon. Guy published his book in 2022 and it’s a fascinating record and insight into the graves and memorials in the churchyard and the sometimes-lost stories of the people at rest there. I would thoroughly recommend it and in it you can read the story of Joan and August in much more detail than I am able to reproduce here. So, there you have it. A sad tale of two vulnerable people and the strange twists of fate that led them both to spend the last few months of their lives together in Thursley. As mentioned above, until now, Joan’s remains have lain in an unmarked grave. Her family and the church wanted to put that right and as a result, generous donations have paid for a headstone for her, which will be erected and celebrated at a service in the churchyard on 28th September 2023. From Surrey Live, 27th December 2022: https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/surrey-wigwam-murder-unique-british-25778274 There is also an extensive entry on August Sangret in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Sangret And a book by M J Trow: Two pages of an extract from Professor Keith Simpson's "Forty Years of Murder". The complete extract is in the pdf below: A brief clip from the BBC: Did soldier August Sangret murder his girlfriend? Why did he give such a long statement? https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02t062s: The Trial of August Sangret: this relatively rare book was published in 1959 as part of the Notable British Trials series published by William Hodge & Company Ltd. A copy of this book is in our archives and can be borrowed on request. Second-hand copies can be purchased and, in April 2026, one was available from Amazon.co.uk and nine from Abebooks.com. Here are the illustrations from this book: Undated magazine article by Paul Stuart: Article from the internet dated 1st September 2001: The History of Thursley Society Newsletter Winter 2001/2 noting that the Discovery Channel is broadcasting a documentary about the case: Correspondence between The Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Norman Ratcliffe, then in charge of the Newsletter:

This article by Jackie Rickenberg was published in the Thursley Parish Magazine I have been gripped by the tragic and rather mysterious tale of an air disaster over Thursley, in days gone by. The observant amongst you may have picked up a mere whisper of it in the poignant epitaph to Edmund Haviland from The Old Parsonage in last month’s magazine. It would appear that Edmund knew the harrowing tale that explains the existence of one of the memorials in Thursley church’s graveyard. The story begins on Wednesday 27th July 1932. It was a blustery day with storms predicted later on in early evening. A bright young man of 21 years old, already qualified as a pilot, planned an outing for his mother and a friend, visiting from Hanover, Germany – a mere afternoon jaunt to Hamble on the south coast and back to Heston, on the west side of London. The young man in question was Bruce Bayne Bossom, his mother Mrs Emily Bayne Bossom and his friend a rather dashing sounding Count Otto Erbach-Fürstenau, or to give him his full title, Count Otto Adolf Joseph Emich Alexander Graf zu Erbach-Fürstenau (aged 23). Mrs Bossom was the wife of wealthy noted architect and Member of Parliament for Maidstone, Mr Alfred C Bossom (later ennobled as Lord Bossom). Mr A C Bossom had had a renowned career in the US, an early exponent and well-respected pioneer and designer of many of New York’s famous skyscrapers in 1910-20’s Manhattan. He married his American wife, before returning to the UK with their three young sons, in order for them to receive a traditional English education (Eton). It was at this stage that he followed his father into political life in Westminster, only to be succeeded many years later by one of his two remaining sons, Sir Clive Bossom MP for Leominster. Mrs Emily Bayne Bossom Bruce Bossom, who piloted the plane, was a promising and talented airman, who by the age of 21 had passed his parts A and B licences and his blind flying licence and according to his father “had flown for several hundred hours and was capable of flying any type of machine”. He was fully intent on making his name in the still emerging world of aviation and had hopes of being an early adventurer, often talking about breaking flying records across the Atlantic. He had just become engaged, to Miss Odette Herard, although not with the blessing of his parents, who felt he was too young and not yet established in a career, for such a step. The young German prince, who hailed from a distinguished aristocratic family, had been visiting the Bossom family on his first trip to the UK, staying with them as their guest in their rather smart house in Carlton Gardens, Belgravia. The story of the actual crash is perhaps better left to the reporters from The Portsmouth Evening News, dated 28th July 1932, the day after the crash: MYSTERY OF MACHINE SHATTERED IN MID-AIR Mrs Emily Bossom, wife of Mr. A. C. Bossom, M.P. for Maidstone, her son Bruce, aged 21, and Prince Otto Erbach Furstenau were killed last night when the aeroplane in which they were flying to Hamble crashed at Tilford, near Churt, Surrey. The cause of the disaster is a mystery. Is it possible the machine may have been struck by lightning, though there is no sign of it having been burned? Or perhaps another view is that the wind may have torn off one of the wings which was seen to come away from the plane in mid-air? These are among the questions which experts will have to solve when they investigate the cause of the crash. Our Special Correspondent gained a grimly vivid idea of the terrible nature of the tragedy when at dawn today he stood atop the brow of Kettlebury Hill, within a mile of Mr. Lloyd George’s country home at Churt, and looked over the wide valley below. Half a-mile away, in a spinney of young beech trees, was the battered fuselage. Six hundred yards to the east of it was a portion of one wing, and nearly a mile still farther away was the wing which was seen to tear off in the air. Five hundred yards to the west of the fuselage, a policeman on guard marked the area about 100 yards square—in which the bodies were found. A gust of storm force wind, might have turned the machine over and put strain on the landing wires which they could not bear; which in turn could have ripped out the side of the aeroplane hurtling the occupants to their death. It is however, practically impossible to say anything definite at the moment, except that one side of the fuselage seems to have disappeared. The men of the Border Regiment were duo to have left their bivouacs at 3.30 a.m. to-day, to march across the slopes where the wreckage lies, to engage in a mock battle with the Devon’s, but the manoeuvres were postponed on account of the tragedy. It was these men who formed the search party which spread over the heather-clad valley looking for the bodies. .This is the air accident investigation details of the crash. Date: 27-JUL-1932 Time: 17:45 Type: de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth Owner/operator: Brian Lewis & Co Ltd Registration: G-ABDH C/n / msn: 2081 Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: Devil's Jump, Hankley Common, Churt, near Hindhead, Surrey Phase: En route Nature: Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi Departure airport: Heston Aerodrome, Heston, Middlesex Destination airport: Hamble, Hampshire We continue with the strange tale of the three passengers in a light aircraft, meeting their fate over Hankley Common. As you saw from last month’s photograph, the two members of the Bossom family killed – mother Emily and son Bruce - are buried in our churchyard. And although Alfred, Emily’s husband, went on to marry another American lady, he, along with a further son, are also buried alongside his first wife and son. An inquest into the plane crash was opened in Farnham Police Station on 29th July 1932, two days after the fatal accident. The Coroner, Mr G. Wills Taylor, stated that he proposed to take evidence just sufficient to permit the funerals to take place and would then adjourn, until the 14th September, to allow the air accident report to be made available. Sir Percy Simmons, solicitor, appeared for Mr A. Bossom, who sat next to him. The post mortems revealed some very odd results. It was confirmed that all three victims had died of multiple injuries, wholly consistent with falling heavily through the air. However, injuries which were indicative of burn marks or electrocution, caused before death, were present on all three bodies. Does this imply the lightening theory, rather than mechanical failure was more likely? Possibly, but never confirmed. Remember, they were flying through a thunderstorm at the time of the crash. The Western Daily Press of 30th July 1932 reported that “the funeral of Mrs Bossom and her son will take place at Thursley Churchyard, at the foot of the famous Hindhead Ridge, today at 2 o’clock”. The bodies were released from Farnham and went on immediately to Thursley. The body of Count Erbach Furstenau was conveyed to London to prepare for it to be taken across the Channel for interment at the family’s castle in Hanover. His brother was present at the Inquest and made the necessary arrangements. However, before rushing back to Germany, he paused briefly in Thursley to attend the funeral of Mrs Bossom and Bruce. The Scotsman newspaper reported on Saturday 1st August “In the secluded churchyard of Thursley, Surrey, about three miles from where they met their deaths on Wednesday evening, Mrs E Bossom and her son, Bruce were buried today. There were only two family mourners, Mr A C Bossom, MP for Maidstone and his elder surviving son Mr Clive Bossom. Other mourners were Count Alfred Graf zu Erbach Furstenau, brother of Count Otto, who was also killed in the crash and Sir Percy Simmons (solicitor). The officiating clergy were the vicar of the parish, the Rev. H G French and the vicar of Maidstone, Canon T K Sopwith. Mendelssohn’s “O for the Wings of a Dove” was played on the organ as the bodies were carried into the church. The only other music was the tune of the hymn “Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past” played as the coffins were borne to the grave. The bodies were laid side by side in a double grave. There was a wreath of Lilies of the Valley from Miss Odette Herard, to whom Mr Bruce Bossom was engaged. It was inscribed “Je t’adore, Odette” “. It was, it would seem, a very desolate and intimate affair. More about Odette. At the time of the accident, she was on a Mediterranean cruise with her mother, reported as being a Knightsbridge dressmaker, although reading between the lines, she was more likely a French dress designer, as she had a personal secretary and they lived in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, one of the best-preserved set pieces of Georgian architecture in London. The Daily Herald rather dramatically reported as follows: AIRMAN'S LOVER WHISPERS, "I KNOW" - MONTE CARLO The news of the death of her young fiancé, Mr. Bruce Bossom, in an air crash at Farnham (Surrey) a fortnight ago, was made known to Miss Odette Herard by her mother, to-day, in the hospital at Monaco, where she is ill with scarlet fever. Miss Herard seemed to divine the nature of her mother's mission. " I know, mother. It is Bruce," she whispered, almost before her mother had spoken. Then, in spite of all her courage, Miss Herard. already weak and exhausted from the effects of her severe illness, broke down completely. Her mother said afterwards that her daughter had had a presentiment of impending disaster ever since she left England for her Mediterranean cruise. In parting from her fiancé on the quayside as she left England, she had had to turn away from him with tears in her eyes as she felt certain she would never see him again She had given him a little gold cross for luck in exchange for a ring. Ill in hospital, Miss Herard often said she heard the noise of aeroplane wings, and had feverishly asked when Bruce was coming to see her. A box of chocolates given by Mr Bossom has been kept by Miss Herard's mother as a pathetic souvenir. Only a week before Mr Bossom was killed, his parents had objected to his engagement on the grounds that it would interfere with his career as a pilot. During the research for this article, it was often implied that the flight itself may have had a more sinister raison d’etre, instead of the joyride that it first appeared. Some reports talked about a reward being offered for the return of money or jewels that the plane may have been carrying. That spurned all the local children onto Hankley and surrounding areas, in a vain search for the “illicit” stash. The truth was much more sentimental and believable. Mr and Mrs Bossom had travelled extensively throughout their time together, and rather charmingly, he bought her a pearl from everywhere they visited. This became a four-string set of pearls held together with a precious diamond clasp. When her body was recovered, forty of the sixty rare and highly valuable pearls were missing and her poor distraught husband offered a reward for any pearls recovered. Unfortunately, it was reported on 13th September, some two months later, that none of the missing jewels were ever traced. Finally, interestingly, to this day there are two little known memorials to the Bossoms on Hankley Common. These mark the spots where their bodies fell. Of course, the bracken and heather will have grown up around them in the intervening years, but if anyone is interested in following up this mysterious tale, the co-ordinates of Emily’s memorial, as seen below, are N 51° 09.023 W 000° 44.760. Bossom aircrash 90th anniversary memorial (From an article written by Jackie Rickenberg in the Parish Magazine in September 2022) Some of you may remember the tragic tale of the Bossom air crash that I retold in the May and June 2021 articles. The crash, on Hankley in 1932, of a light aircraft, killed Lady Emily Bossom, her pilot son, Bruce Bossom and his friend, an aristocratic German Count. By another strange quirk of fate, it transpired that a villager who read it, knew a direct relative of the Bossom’s – both of whom are buried in our churchyard. This in turn led to a delightful meeting with Lady Barbara Bossom, whose late husband Sir Clive, younger brother of Bruce and son of Lady Emily, is also buried in the family plot in Thursley. As this July 27th was the 90th anniversary of the crash, a small memorial service was recall family held in the churchyard and attended by interested parties, Lady Barbara and her eldest son Sir Bruce (I know, a confusion of names!). Rev Hannah delivered a short reflective service and Sir Bruce read an apt poem (see below). Afterwards lunch at Hedge Farm provided an apt opportunity for the Bossom’s to recall family memories from that time. It was a sunny but overcast day and the graveyard was peaceful and tranquil, all very fitting for the occasion. The churchyard working committee had done a tremendous job of clearing around the impressive Bossom headstone and it seemed appropriate for Thursley to remember this part of its past in such a contemplative way. Impressions of a pilot by Gary Claude Stoker:read by Sir Bruce Bossom Flight is freedom in its purest form, To dance with the clouds which follow a storm; To roll and glide, to wheel and spin, To feel the joy that swells within; To leave the earth with its troubles and fly, And know the warmth of a clear spring sky; Then back to earth at the end of a day, Released from the tensions which melted away. Should my end come while I am in flight, Whether brightest day or darkest night; Spare me your pity and shrug off the pain, Secure in the knowledge that I’d do it again; For each of us is created to die, And within me I know, I was born to fly. The report below is from Surrey History: Above scans courtesy Dr John N Bennett Report of Accidents Investigation Branch dated 27 July 1932 Report by Aviation Safety Network, updated 4 July 2021 de Havilland DH80 Puss Moth, photographs courtesy Dr John N Bennet

Taken from an article in the Parish Magazine, November 2022, written by Jackie Rickenberg Fosberry is a name that has come up in many articles written for the Parish Magazine. It seems whenever Lutyens and his life and influence on Thursley is discussed, Fosberry’s name crops up. Hugh Semper, who lives in “The Outlook” has asked if the Society has any more information on the man who built, not only his house, but many others locally. “William Karn Fosberry was born in 1853 and was the village builder in Thursley from the latter part of the last century until the 1930’s. In the 1870’s he married Elizabeth Smithers whose parents lived at “The Corner”. At that time, it was a general store and baker’s shop supplying bread to the inhabitants of the village. (The rest of this article can be downloaded below). Here is some fascinating information about the sculptor, Julias A Gems, and his subject, written by his grandson, Chris Gems: "In 1939, Julius Albert [Gems] decided he would enter a model for the summer exhibition of the Royal Academy. There was a very aged builder named William Fosberry in Thursley Village, who had a long beard and very large hands. The old chap agreed to sit for Julius but, when he did so, as he was deaf he insisted on putting one of his hands up to his ear to hear what was being said to him, so Julius modelled him in this position and, not only was the model accepted by the Royal Academy, but it was placed on a pedestal in a very prominent position in the exhibition. With thanks to the Librarian of the Royal Academy for providing this photograph, September 2026 Julius and Evelyn Gems Mercy Fosberry and her daughter Mary - Copy of a painting by Eveline Lance c1930 (Mary Kalinowski, nee Fosberry, has the original) Mr & Mrs William Fosberry taken outside what is now know as Vean Cottage, date about 1920 Mr Harry Fosberry, Mrs Mercy Fosberry and their daughter, Mary, early 1940s

As part of the History of Thursley Society's Wedding Belles exhibition held in 2007, this list of marriages that took place in St Michael's and All Angels was compiled. For ease of research a complete file of the marriages from 1613 to date can be found at the end of this post. Overall, the most popular month to be married is October and March the least: 2000 August 19th James Ainsworth & Amik Nadia Steven Stephen Langley & Julie Holloway September 9th Stephen Langley & Julie Holloway 2002 June 14th Giles Parker & Lauraine Anderson September 7th David Slater & Emma Joan Scales 2003 July 5th Adrian Hugh George Linegar & Eulando Florendo Rimando July 26th Andrew Simon Ruffell & Joanne Jobson 2004 October 16th Christopher Melchior Richmond Hall & Louise Jane Burgess 2005 April 1st Simon Nicholas Richmond Hall & Amanda Jane Wood June 11th Theo Ivanovic & Martha Georgina Harvey August 27th Kerry Porter & Katherine Erika Sealy September 3rd Andrew Martin & Susannah Lindsay Prain September 9th Philip Patrick Collier & Abigail Christie Anderson 2006 May 6th Nigel John Hall & Fenella Duyland Wakeley August 26th Peter Rouse & Amanda Baker September 23rd Joseph Douglas Mercer Nairne & Melissa Emily Wakeley Scene from a Wakeley wedding 2007 September 15th Mark Ralph Godman & Katie Helen Cripp 2009 May 2nd Mark Lawrence Gordon Adams & Sarah Anna Maria Keating June 27th Ricardo Nuno Bugia Pires & Hayley Joanna Jutsum July 11th Gilbert Thinghi Yule & Michelle Anna Axford July 17th Christopher James Mendelssohn & Caroline Louise Morris July 25th Michele Ernesto De Gregorio & Catherine Selvarani le Doux Edwards September 12th Paul Tyers & Lynette Mary Jean Lawson November 7th Kevin Dass & Liza Ann Devi Gray December 28th Richard Charles Miller & Anna Hutton-Potts 2010 April 24th Nikolaos Minas & Lydia Laura Stephen May 28th Mehrdad Rahbar Sehat & Charlotte Mary Ford June 12th Edward James Alsford & Lara Camilla Patrick July 24th Deane Richard Eales & Annabel Charlotte Sophia Timberlake November 6th Andrew Neil Peters & Hannah Ellen Ford 2011 June 18th Benjamin James Russell Stoneham & Chloe Ria Rankin November 12th Mark John Fisher Foster & Emily Jane Ockenden 2012 June 30th Alan George Andrew Weir & Hailey Louise Wilkinson July 12th Maximillian Michael Collins & Shannan Louise Keen September 1st Benjamin John Whitehead & Katherine Jeanne Morris 2014 July 12th Benjamin David Clutterbuck & Francesca Louise Goodwin 2015 May 23rd Charles Simon Treadwell & Anne Herforth Finnerup June 6th James Peter Goble & Lucy Kate Wall-Palmer August 1st Peter Edwin David Swabey & Magali Clotilde Marie Webster-Nicol 2016 May 28th Alistair Matthew Smith & Louisa May Hunter 2018 June 30th Peter Justin Rickenberg & Jacqueline Jean Brown 2019 March 15th Ryan John Birse & Amy Louise Rapley June 29th Thomas Clermont Lake Davies & Pollyanna Louise Russell Stoneham 2021 July 30th Toby Oliver Simon Downes & Leonora Susan Chisholm Schofield Historical note: Covid masks worn by most 2022 April 2nd Calum Alastair Gee & Jemma Elizabeth Corridan 2023 May 27th Neil Geoffrey Lankester Woods & Lisa Catherine Rickenberg Neil Woods & Lisa Rickenberg September 9th Rupert Terence Bulkeley Perrier & Elodie Camilla Pendred 2024 April 27th Bradley Patrick May & Charlotte Mary Cruickshank Bradley Patrick May & Charlotte Mary Cruickshank July 20th Cameron Burns Dow & Lila Kate Flint Roberts Cameron Burns Dow & Lila Kate Flint Roberts 2024 Photo: James White Photography September 14th Patrick Hugh Hudson & Matilda India Tess Warner (Wedding Blessing) 2025 June 7th Edward James Spencer & Sophie Baker Edward James Spencer & Sophie Baker August 9th James Fitzroy Cordy-Redden & Olivia Frances Palmer-Jeffery August 16th Michael Joseph Barrett & Katherine Julia Woods Michael Joseph Barrett & Katherine Julia Woods August 30th Angus Frederick Secrett & Olivia Fae Welch 2026 April 11th Liam Thomas Herlihy & Virginia Finovola Cordy-Redden September 5th Alexander Cragg and Emily Forey

Burial Registers for St Michael & All Angels have been kept from the 17th century onwards and the oldest historical records are stored at the Surrey History Centre in Woking: https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/culture-and-leisure/history-centre Current records There is a Register of Burials kept in the church. The first burial, that of Arnold Henry Foster, took place on 15 December 1963. In total there are 318 burials recorded, the latest being that of Richard Charles Bates on 7 February 2026. The margin notes can denote if an individual is buried in the grave of another, almost invariably of the same family. DD denotes double depth. Title page of the Register in current use Page 1 of the Register in current use, note the comments in the margin The list of burials in the Register are in chronological order and are in the pdf below: As this list of burials consists of photographs of each page of the Register of Burials it is not a searchable document. The majority of the information from the Register has now been transcribed into a Word document, and page 1 is shown below. The headings correspond to the Register of Burials with the page number column denoting the relevant page in the Register and the complete file (23 pages as at April 2025) is in the pdf below. Although the records should be chronological, this is not always the case, eg see page 13 of the Register, but the dates shown in the Register have been followed. NB: details of plot numbers etc. ie the margin notes, can be found only in the pdf of the Register of Burials. In typing these records, sometimes a best-guess had to be made where the handwriting was difficult to decipher. If you are aware of an error please use the contact tab on the website: https://www.thursleyhistorysociety.org/ The work of the West Surrey Family History Society The comprehensive file below was acquired from The Revd Peter Muir in the early 2010s, without any provenance or authorship indicated on the file. The presumed origin is from the West Surrey Family History Society survey, 1990 (the latest grave date in this file is 1982). The list refers to the churchyard Sections (or Divisions) A-F on the file ‘thursley stitched plan.jpeg’ dated 1993, by Tim Wilcock, where the boundaries are not at all clear. An interpretation of these boundaries has been made by Sean Edwards on a file: ‘Thursley_Churchyard_20141121_divisions.tif’, extended to the west with Divisions ‘Gn’ and ‘Gs’, as a basis for Churchyard management. This File The ‘ThursleyStMichael.pdf’ file was converted to a word-processed file (WordPerfect) by Sean Edwards to allow formatting inconsistencies and typos to be corrected, and to enable updating. Otherwise no other errors have been corrected. It has now been converted to Word and here is page 1: NB: A great deal of work has been done, mainly by Amanda Flint and Alie Hanbury, to improve the accuracy of these records where they have been able to either correct or add to the entries on the gravestones. Their work has not yet been incorporated here, but over time it is hoped that their work will be reflected by updating the above file which should not, in the meantime, be regarded as approaching anything like 100% accuracy. This file is unchanged as far as the text matter is concerned, but it does contain a number of photographs of the gravestones beneath the relevant entry of burial, as the example below illustrates: The additions of photographs to this file is an on-going project: This map, inspired by the overhead photograph of the church from Google Earth, was devised by Sean Edwards for the churchyard walk planned by Amanda Flint: Other efforts to map the churchyard: Guy Singer's "Tales from a Country Churchyard: St Michael and All Angels, Thursley", recounts fascinating tales of those interred in the churchyard. His stories include: the Unknown Sailor; the man who taught King George VI to ride horses; a Titanic Survivor; many family histories. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tales-Country-Churchyard-Michael-Thursley/dp/B0B4DXPGRB https://guyjsinger.sumupstore.com/product/pictures-from-a-country-churchyard

The Ruins, now known as The Well House, dates back to 1715. Frank and Elizabeth Keen lived at The Ruins from about 1920 to 1936. Their eldest son, Frank, when married lived in an annexe at The Ruins and their five children were born there. They included Alfred (Cocker) and Don who remained in the village. Frank and Elizabeth's eldest daughter, Nellie, married Bert Williams and continued to live with her father, their two children, David and Mary (Rapley) were also born at The Ruins. In about 1936 the house which had belonged to the Rushbrooke Estate was sold to a Mr Frost. Mrs Fosberry, standing outside about 1914-1918. From Thursley Today, 1966: WELL IN THE HALL. The Well House has been home to Canadian-born Mrs Elizabeth Jupe for twenty years. There is a 170ft deep well in the entrance hall. People do drop in, but not in the well, since it is covered. There is a fake well outside the main door. Small lattice windows appear in odd places. There are two winding staircases and low beams. The house, with its “tenpenny nail” wall and red tiled roof, is fascinating and Mrs Jupe wouldn’t live anywhere else. Some people outside Thursley, if they know nothing else about the village, know that the Jupe family take more than an ordinary interest in its affairs. Mrs Jupe’s husband, Mr Michael Jupe, after a day’s work at the London Stock Exchange, often comes home to tackle parish business in his capacity as chairman of the parish council. Previous owners of the Well House include: Keen; Frost; Bishop; Jupe

These were huge events that took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s before being wound up. Clearly they were taken very seriously, note that the President was Richard Dimbleby and the array of Vice-Presidents included Lt Col W Whitbread who, at that time, owned Thursley Common. The beneficiary of any profits raised was Thursley Village Hall. The artefacts, programmes and letters below give an idea of the scale of the Society but we have just one anecdotal record and no photographs of any of the events that occurred between 1958 and 1963. We would love to receive some! Please send to: https://www.thursleyhistorysociety.org/contact We are grateful to Anne Scales for providing her recollection of this event: The committee consisted of: Lt-Col Whitbread of the brewery family lived at Warren Mere up what is now the A3, a Lutyens house with Jekyll garden. He owned a large part of Thursley and Rodborough Commons Mr Charrington wasn’t of the brewing arm of the family but was a coal man. He lived in Street House. Mr Jupe lived in the Well House. Anthony Kentish was married to Ros and they lived at Sunset Cottage. When they moved to Lower House, a Mrs Boswell, who rescued cats, lived at Sunset Cottage Mr Jobson (Anne’s father) was an ENT surgeon and they lived at Foldsdown. Dr Craddock-Henry was a dental surgeon who lived at Fieldfare, Pitch Place. Mr Ellison lived in Sawyers. He and his wife were killed on the A286 leaving two daughters. Mr Crawfurd lived in Bracken Hill on Pitch Place. Mr Cridland was a garden designer. He was married to Julia and they lived at Foldsdown Cottage. It was the old gardener’s cottage for the big house but was sold when Anne’s family moved in. The shows were all held on Easter Saturday. The first one (Mill Farm) was in a field on the Bowlhead Green side of the now A3, close to where the Ransons farm shop used to be. Rodborough was as you’d imagine between what is now Warren Park and Rodborough Hill. Anne also recounted this charming memory: There was always a Dance at the old Village Hall after the show. In the tradition of the time, there were supper parties at various houses (probably for the wealthier villagers) before the dance. She remembers wearing a white dress with black polka dots, aged about 13 to one of the dances and being completely overawed on meeting one of the Craddock-Henry sons who was very dishy. Sadly her father was on call that evening and he was called to the hospital so she was taken home early. The following is from an archive (Box 8): Trophies & Artefacts 1) The Ridgeway Challenge Cup, Presented by Mr. W. E. Jupe with base: · 1958 Sheila Barnes "Spud Thompson" · 1959 John James "Rita" / Paul Oliver "Grey Mist" · 1960 Suzanne Cox "Coco" · 1961 Belinda Napier "Sharon" · John Kilby "Gay Crusader III" · Michael Cawley "Smokey XII" · Caroline Webb "Pratney" · 1962 Belinda Napier "Sharon" 2) Thursley Village Hall Societies Challenge Cup For Working Hunter with base: · 1958 Rosemary Greville-Williams "Top Twig" · 1959 Mrs. Vivian Boon "Rathkeale" · 1960 B. Gibson "The Chief" · 1961 "Knight of The Wold" Valerie Clark · 1962 "Suala" Mrs. C. Davico 1958 Schedule of Entries 1959 1960 1961 Small brown envelope addressed to Mrs. M. Bennett containing receipt dated 25/3/61 & Thursley Horse Show 1961, Car Park Ringside £1 rubber gummed label. 1962 1963 1969 vbvbv Announcement of the winding up of the Society in Horse and Hound, issue dated April 4, 1969 And this was the rather sad conclusion of the Thursley Horse Show Society:

This entry consists of photographs of all of the pages of the current Register of Baptisms held at St Michael & All Angels Church in Thursley. The plan is to transcribe them into a searchable document but this will take time. There follows groups of 12 pages from the Register from Nicola Jane Watt who was baptised on 31st March1963 to the latest entry for Jack Henry Dermody-Winter who was baptised on 16th August 2026. Pages 1 - 12 Pages 13 - 24 Pages 25 - 36 Pages 37 - 48 Pages 49 - 52

Thursley History Society organised a visit to the museum in November 2024 Sukey Langdale writes, "12 Thursley residents (including some from Pitch Place and Bowlhead Green) met in Southsea over coffee and then moved to the Landing Craft Tank 7074, the last survivor of this type. It took 10 tanks to Gold Beach on June 7th 1944. It had two tanks on board for us to look at. Then we were let loose in the museum to view whatever we liked at our own pace and it was truly fascinating. The shop had bits and pieces to buy including very interesting books about D-Day. Then we finished by looking at the Overloard Embroidery, finished in 1974. It is 83 meters long, with incredible detail and colour . To cap it all we then had a very good fish and chips lunch, sitting outside on the “front” at Southsea in glorious sunshine. What a day!" From L to R: Tom Grillo, Sue Ranson; Peter Hunter, Jackie Rickenberg, David Young, Tricia Horwood, Pat Clake, Lizzie Young, Sukey Langdale, Jerry Horwood, Sally Scheffers, Peter Clacke These are just a few examples of exhibits both outside and inside the museum A scale model of the Atlantic Wall The 83 metre, 33 panel Overlord Emroidery is worth the visit for that alone. How good to end the tour with some fine Fish & Chips!

The articles that follow were first published in our Parish Magazine and were compiled by Jackie Rickenberg. Villagers mentioned in the articles include: Mr A E Karn of Karn's Stores; Margaret 'Mag' Cooper; Mrs Swallow (Headmaster's wife); Messrs Rapley, Wisdom and Goble (Senior); Mr Tozer; Mr Davidson; Thomas Karn (Blacksmith); Lucy Good This month I am featuring articles from a collection of Thursley memories, recently transcribed from the archives onto our website thursleyhistorysociety.org. The first one is titled “Thursley Between the Wars” and written by Margaret Cooper in 1989. The vehicles were known as charabancs (from the French, meaning 'wagon with benches') and were hired for day trips usually to the sea-side. “The present-day inhabitants of Thursley will find it hard to believe that once there was a school population of about one hundred and sixty children attending their present Village Hall when it was the Village School. Yet, this was the case in my young days soon after World War 1 in the 1920’s, when we walked in all weathers from Pitch Place and later Bowlhead Green; our dinner consisted of sandwiches or a lardy roll from Mr Karn’s shop, and sometimes a halfpenny cup of cocoa provided by Mrs Swallow, the Headmaster’s wife! How we saved each week to pay the five shillings needed for the annual char-a-banc outing to Worthing or Littlehampton, where we would dabble our feet in rarely seen sea water – one of the year’s highlights. Thursley School, about 1920. Third row, first on the right is Margaret (Mag) Cooper née Gale. Those were the days when the cat’s whisker and crystal set (an early unpowered radio receiver) were in their infancy, and TV was yet to be invented; possibly this was why we made our own amusements and wholeheartedly supported community efforts, such as the sixpenny hop in the old Village Hall (an ex-World War 1 army building) which used to stand next to The Three Horseshoes; the music was provided by people whose names are still known in the village – Rapley, Wisdom and Goble amongst others. The last named, Mr Goble Senior, was also the village carpenter, coffin maker and undertaker who lived at The Institute, now Prospect Cottage. The Institute, designed by Lutyens, served as a men’s club and was also the H.Q. of Thursley’s ARP (Air Raid Precautions) in the 1940’s. The Institute, Thursley (from Kay Cottle's Postcard Collection) Another of our amusements in the 20’s was to walk to the present (old) A3 “to watch the traffic on the hard road”. There was far less of it then, and the motor car was something owned only by the “gentry”- a ride on one being a very rare treat. At Bowlhead Green, it was quite an event when Mr A.E. Karn’s pony cart arrived to deliver bread, groceries and paraffin once a week. There were still only two shops in the village – Mr Karn’s and that of Mr Tozer, situated at what is now The Clump, the present Post Office and shop not being built until the 1930’s for Mr Davidson. On those rare occasions when we visited the local towns for shopping expeditions, we walked to the end of French Lane to catch the hourly bus to Godalming. The fare I recall was sevenpence each way, and if we should wish to go to Hindhead, for what reason I cannot imagine, then that would cost eightpence return. The Old Post Office at The Clump, postcard date stamped 1912. Mr Tozer was the first postmaster, he had the first telephone in the village. The Acacia trees were planted in memory of William Cobbett, For village girls leaving school in those days, the choice of a future career was limited in the extreme. We could either go into “service” or stay at home, if our parents could afford to keep us. The other choice was to seek employment in London, and I did this when I was fifteen, living with my married sister in Westbourne Park. Thus, it was that I met my future husband when we were sixteen, and when I brought him back to Thursley for introductions, he fell in love for the second time – only now it was with the village, vowing that this was where he wanted to live. It took the Second World War to see this wish fulfilled, but that as they say is another story. An amusing insight into the “closed shop” nature of the village in the early 1930’s can be obtained from a question put to me once, when my future husband was visiting during one weekend. He had chosen to wear what was then the fashion of many smart young men about town, and an elderly lady whispered in my ear “Who’s the toff in plus fours?” I think the “toff” at the time was earning about £2 a week! Thursley in the 1920’s and 30’s had not yet been “discovered” as a desirable area for commuters to live in, and the population was very much “native” in the true sense that generations of folk had lived in the same area for centuries, often in the same cottages. The Welfare State and affluent society had not yet arrived, and the inevitable consequence was that many of the houses and cottages were in a poor state of repair. So, although some of the original inhabitants may regret the passing of many of the old names, at the same time there is no doubt that the influx of “foreigners” with money to buy up and restore the old buildings has, on balance, been the salvation of much that is picturesque and irreplaceable in one of the country’s most beautiful villages”. And a small very relevant excerpt from “In Days Gone By” by Lucy Good 1988. “After being without electricity, and trouble with the water recently, reminds me of days gone by in the village when we had a very hot summer and a drought. I lived in Yew Cottage. My father, Thomas Karn, worked with Grandad and Uncle Jack in the forge (the Karns at the shop were another family). There was no electricity in the village in those days, or water on the mains. The rain water butts and tanks were empty and then the wells dried up. I can see my father now, with a wooden yoke with two pails on, struggling up Dye House Hill, after getting some water from the stream at the bottom which, in those days, fell into a small waterfall before going under the road. The water had to be for drinking, washing, cooking etc., and also some had to be brought up to use in the forge. Mr Rapley at Hill Farm had a horse-drawn water cart, which he used to get water for the animals and also to water the cricket pitch which was done with the horse’s hooves bound with sacks to save them churning the green up (Thursley cricket team was well known in those days). Everyone had oil lamps and candles for lighting – and of course, coal fires and stoves for cooking on”. Good to know, just in case………… NB: This entry will be continued as Jackie further delves into our archive.

From Kay Cottle's postcard collection From Kay Cottle's postcard collection 'Farewell to the Pylons across Thursley?', from a calendar dated January 2014. Truxford Cottage and barns Painting by the Moat The Moat, c1990 But whisper it to avoid even more overcrowding!

More information required on 1 & 2 Church Cottages: 1 & 2 Church Cottages and St Michael & All Angels Church taken from the National Trust owned field in July 2025 2 Church Cottages before the extension, date unknown Newspaper cutting (undated) of 1 Church Cottage before the extension was added Sam and Marjorie Warner (they worked at the Dye House) Dorothy Warner outside Church Cottages on her wedding day, 21st August 1936 Cecily Ida (Sammy) (nee Warner) was born in Thursley, Surrey, England on August 9, 1922 to George and Edith Warner. Sammy and Bill (William Avery Tiner) met in Britain during WWII - Bill a member of the Royal Canadian Navy and Sammy a member of the Royal Air Force. Their original wedding day of June 3, 1944 found Sammy waiting at the church when Bill was denied leave in preparation for the Normandy invasion on June 6, 1944. Bill and Sammy were married a month later on July 2, 1944 at St. Michael's and All Angels parish church in Thursley. No 1 Church Cottages, from the 1936 Register of Electors 1 Church Cottages showing the porch on the left side before the extension was added. The roof of a garage can be seen in the lane below. The photographs were given to Amanda Flint in August 2024, by a woman who had lived at 1 Church Cottages many years ago. Elizabeth Norman at the Silver Jubilee in 1977 Newspaper report dated 11th December 1981 View of The Street, the Church and Church Cottages Property details for 1, Church Cottages c2010: Surnames of previous owners of 1&2 Church Cottages include: Collins, Warner, Pye, Norman, Leet-Cook, Orrick In 1996, Drusilla Pye wrote, "I came to live here (2 Church Cottages) in December 1956 when it was the tied cottage for the District Nurse. I was able to buy it from the Diocese in 1984. I retired in 1986. My work covered the Hindhead (Grayshott) Practice and I have covered most of the surrounding villages as a relief nurse/midwife on occasions." From a 2008 article in The Guildford Diocesan Herald No 2 Church Cottages, from the 1936 Register of electors 2 Church Cottages, the first taken (obviously!) from the churchyard and the second from the front gate. The cottage had always been smaller than No1 but the new extension (2020) has given it a similar sized footprint. Photographs taken in July 2025.