Food for thought - how a simple postcard can make us think...

All kinds of unexpected discoveries can start you on a family history ‘adventure’ and once you’ve begun, you don’t really know where it will lead.

One of our members donated a small collection of postcards to the GFHS Library many years ago.  Postcards are fascinating, not only because of the picture - most of the ones we’re looking at were produced in the 1920s and 30s and so show places that have changed out of all recognition - but also because of the names, addresses and messages they include on the back.

This one caught my attention: 

Although the picture is a pretty standard view of the Winter Gardens in Cheltenham, it is the back which I thought is a bit unusual.  The postcard is addressed to ‘Mr Perry, Grocer, Chedworth’ but it doesn’t include a traditional style of message.  Instead it is a shopping list written by G Hicks of Yanworth, of items he would like to have delivered.  Lots of leads to follow up here.

Mr Perry was easy to find in the census returns.  In 1901 Mortimer Perry was living with his wife, Rosa and young son Albert in Cheap Street, Chedworth.  He was described as a ‘grocer & shopkeeper’.  By 1939, he’d retired, left the village and moved to Charlton Kings; he died in 1949.  He was born around 1866 in the village of Notgrove and was the son of Reuben Perry, a substantial farmer in the village.  He was apprenticed to James Beale Ransford who owned a large drapery and grocery store in Bourton-on-the Water as well as acting as the village’s sub-postmaster.

The sender ‘G Hicks’ was also reasonably straightforward to identify.  George Hicks was an agricultural labourer, and in 1921 was working on Yanworth Farm for the Earl of Eldon.  He was also born around 1866 in the village of Clapton, near Bourton-on-the Water and seems to have worked as a labourer, either on farms or for the railway all his life.  His wife died in 1931 which perhaps explains why George himself was writing the shopping list.  In 1939 he was living in Yanworth with his eldest son and he died in 1945 in the hospital in Northleach.

The shopping list itself is interesting since it demonstrates what a wide range of items Mr Perry sold: from paraffin and ‘mixed corn’ to cheese and brown sugar.  It also hints at Mr Hicks’ lifestyle - perhaps his house didn’t have electricity so he used paraffin lamps.  The list includes some prices, presumably added by Mr Perry.  However, what surprised me most was that Mr Hicks, not a well-to-do customer, was expecting his shopping to be delivered. 

You can start your own ‘adventure into the past’ in our Research Centre at the Heritage Hub.  Everyone is welcome and our experienced volunteers will share your enthusiasm and are always happy to help.  Our online resources (including Ancestry, FindMyPast and FamilySearch) cover the whole world as well as Gloucestershire.  We also offer regular online and live talks and social events which are open to all. Please visit our website for more information gfhs.org.uk