Local history treats for Summer 2024

The Gloucestershire Local History Association is organising two events for its members during the Summer of  2024.

The first is the Association's annual Summer Afternoon Meeting, which will be held at Coleford on Sunday, 30 June. The meeting, which is being organised and hosted by the Forest of Dean Local History Society, will comprise talks, tours, displays - and an afternoon tea.

The second is a Local History Day, to be held at Hartpury College/University on Saturday, 27 July. The theme of the Day will be 'Life Stories' and GLHA member groups will be preparing displays focusing on the lives of one or more individuals who have made a significant historical contribution to the life of their Community.

The Day will also include two talks. One is to be given by Maureen Anderson on Sir Fabian Ware (1869-1949), the founder of the Imperial War Graves Commission, who moved to Amberley in 1930 and served at one time or another as President of the Gloucestershire Community Council and as Chairman of the Gloucestershire branch of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England.

Fabian Ware's memorial in Gloucester Cathedral (copyright Andrew R Abbott)

The other talk is to be given by Steven Blake on the artist and lithographer George Rowe (1796-1864), who lived at Cheltenham in 1832-52 and who published a large number of topographical prints of Gloucestershire before travelling to Australia, where - after a failed attempt to dig for gold - he became a successful 'goldfields artist' whose works are held by many Australian art galleries and museums.

'Ancient House, High Street, Tewkesbury', a pencil drawing by George Rowe, later used by Rowe as one of a set of seven lithographs entitled 'Antiquities of Tewkesbury', published in 1839.

Details of both events, including booking details, will be posted on the GLHA website (https://gloshistory.org.uk) in due course.