Everything Else
Well how do I describe everything else? It’s impossible really but it’s just anything that takes my fancy, plucks at those heart strings. So what I’ll do is show a few items that I love and would rather lose limbs than live without.
I love a tray of bits and bobs at auction and one a few years ago grabbed by attention as there were some items relating to the Corbet family and as we have Corbet(t)s in the family it did spark my interest. I was happy to purchase the tray full for a modest sum and took them home. Some time later I had a sort through to see if there was anything of value and decide how to dispose of the items, hopefully at a working profit.
There were some army dog tags, issued to serving soldiers to identify them if they are badly injured or sadly killed, inscribed with the name J. V. Corbet and his army number. With the power of the internet I decided to search for J. V. Corbet as he might have had a distinguished army career but I was very surprised with what I found.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Vincent Corbet MBE, 7th and last Baronet of Moreton Corbet, Shropshire was born in 1911 and died without heirs in 1996. He was a career soldier, joining the Royal Engineers in 1931 and served on the North-West Frontier in 1935.
During WWII, he served in Burma, India and Malaya and was mentioned in dispatches. In 1945 he led a unit of the Indian Army that rebuilt the Myitnge Bridge near Mandalay in Burma, a task that was described as the most intricate and ambitious bridging project carried out during the Burma campaign and circumstances meant that the unit had to complete the work with little or no help. Ironically it was the RAF that destroyed the bridge in the first place back in 1942. He was awarded the MBE in 1946 for his efforts and subsequently retired from the Army in 1955. He became a County Councillor and was High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1966.
The Corbet family was one of the most powerful and richest families in Shropshire dating back to William the Conqueror and the Domesday book. Moreton Corbet Castle is one of the most popular attractions in Shropshire and whilst it is still owned by the family it it managed by English Heritage.
All Saints Church, Berrington, Shropshire by Judith Moy
In some ways the village of Berrington epitomises the rural landscape of Shropshire because whilst being only 5 miles away from Shrewsbury, the village only recorded a population of 30 residents in the last census, a village hall, a phone box and this beautiful Grade I listed Church built from local red sandstone.
Judith Moy (1927-2016) was born in Belfast and brought up in Cheshire by her parents who were both keen amateur artists. She went on to study art at Bedford Froebel College and taught in Colchester and London before marriage. Judith was always involved in the art scene and managed a well known gallery in the 1980’s.
Judith moved to Shrewsbury in 1990 to paint fulltime and set up a studio there. She was a very talented and versatile artist and as a teacher she experimented with many styles and techniques.
I bought the picture to sell on but couldn’t part with it.
“If you think you have something that we would like to add to the collection please contact us!”
Next is a pottery mask head jug, probably made in Staffordshire in 1816 or so. It is well printed with a portrait of Richard Reynolds and the jug was made to commemorate him.
Richard Reynolds (1735-1816) came from Bristol and was a Quaker. He was destined to become a grocer but was sent on business to Coalbrookdale in Shropshire in 1756 and became friends with Abraham Darby II. He went on to marry Darby’s daughter Hannah the following year and became a partner in the family firm; the Coalbrookdale Company. Abraham Darby II died at the age of 52 and Reynolds ran the Coalbrookdale Company until Abraham Darby III came of age in 1768 but Reynolds remained a partner in the business.
Reynolds was responsible for many of the Company’s innovations and growth during this time as well as improving the working conditions for the increasing workforce. He retired from business at the age of 54 in 1789 after amassing a considerable fortune.
He devoted his life to charitable causes, spending his fortune as he went. He regularly gave away around £10000 per year, which is around £900000 per year in today’s money.
He remained in Coalbrookdale for some years but in 1804 returned to Bristol and on his death in 1816 the Reynolds Commemoration Society was formed to commemorate and develop on the benefits he had bestowed. He was clearly greatly missed and the poet James Montgomery wrote a poem called “A Good Man’s Monument” in his memory, part of which is printed on the jug and repeated below :
“Not in the fiery hurricane of strife,
Midst slaughter’d legions, he resign’d his life;
Reynolds expires, a nobler chief than these;
No blood of widows stains his absequies;
But widow’s tears, in sad bereavement, fall,
And foundling voices on their father call;
But sweet repose his slumbering ashes find,
As if in Salem’s sepulchre enshrined;
And watching angels waiting for the day,
When Christ should bid them roll the stone away.”
I like a collection or album of postcards and like it even better when there’s a nice unidentified one that just needs a little research!
Here’s a good example. I had a sneaking suspicion that it might be in Oswestry and eventually I found reference to a New Swan Public House in Beatrice Street in an old gazetteer. It was a short lived affair next to Swan Lane. If you look carefully you can see showcards for Dorsett & Owen & Co., Ales & Stouts, Oswestry in the left hand and right hand windows. If you happen to have either or both, the showcards not the windows, I would love to acquire them!
I used Google Earth to see if there is any evidence of the building today, its difficult but it’s a Cafe now, opposite the Aldi Supermarket.
When they come as part of a job lot then they don’t cost anything!