Schoolgirl Death - Inquest at Cardington

Z1306/24/6, Kings Arms, Cardington. View from Cople Road, 1922 (Bedfordshire Archives & Records Service)

Friday 20 April 1917: Today an inquest resumed into the death of schoolgirl Jennie Evans. It took place at the Kings Arms, Cardington, and was presided over by the Deputy Coroner for the County. Jennie attended Bedford Modern School and was reported missing from her home on George Street, Bedford, on 14^th February. Her body was found last Sunday in the river. Dr A.F. Goldsmith testified that no signs of violence were found on the body, though the body was decomposed from having been in the river for so long. Both hands were clenched and it was his opinion that the girl had died by drowning. It was likely that the girl did not suffer from melancholia, the clenched hands indicating that she had attempted to save herself.  

On the morning of the 14^th February, there were missed signs of Jennie’s fate. One witness stated that he had noticed a schoolgirl’s hat floating along the river at the foot of the weir. He reached it easily and plucked it from the water to see if there was a name in the hat. Having found none, he hung it on the fence, assuming it would be reclaimed. Another witness stated that he had seen what he thought was a horse rug floating in the river and had no inkling that it could have been a body.

The body was recently discovered at Fenlake Barns, wedged against a tree. Jennie was fully dressed, wearing gloves and had a ribbon in her hair. She was wearing a blanket overcoat, a gym suit and lace-up boots. Since 22^nd February, the river had been searched by police, but a school bag had not been found. 

The girls’ mother testified that Jennie was 17 years old, but looked younger. She was never melancholy or depressed and was fond of studying, particularly art. She used to admire the little island by the river and intended to paint it. She was happy at home, punctual at school and well-liked. On the 14^th February, Jennie left home at her usual time of 8.30am, as she liked to get to school ten minutes early, and she often took the route by the river. Jennie’s art mistress, Miss Jones, testified that Jennie was of above-average ability and that she had given her class homework that involved studying the river.

In summing-up, the Coroner said there was no doubt in his mind as to the verdict, that of ‘accidental death’, which the jury returned.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard 20/4/1917

Funeral Held for Samuel Whitbread

Samuel Whitbread (Wikimedia, from Vanity Fair 1895)

Thursday 30th December 1915: The funeral took place at 1pm today of Mr. Samuel Whitbread, D.L., J.P., who died at his residence at Southill Park early on Christmas morning at the age of 85. The church at Southill was filled to capacity for his funeral. Mr. Whitbread was associated with the brewery which bears the family name from 1867 and in 1889 became chairman of the company. He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Bedford for forty-three years from 1852 until his retirement in 1895. Locally he served as Chairman of the Governors of the Harpur Trust and of the Bedford County Hospital, to which he was a great benefactor. He took a great part in administrative affairs in the county and was at one time an Alderman of Bedfordshire County Council. Of great importance to the county was his role as Chairman of the Biggleswade Water Board in providing an excellent water supply for Biggleswade and the surrounding parishes by sinking a well in the greensand from which supplies are piped as far afield as Kempston.  He continued to be active in local affairs until a few years ago when advanced age and deafness forced him to retire.

Samuel Whitbread maintained his estates in excellent order, building a number of model cottages, restoring the churches of Elstow and Cardington, and carefully preserving the two villages. Large numbers of his tenants have attended a memorial service for Mr. Whitbread at Elstow where the flag flew at half mast. During his career he spent over £50,000 building and improving cottages on his estate. He helped to draft the Local Government Board Act which established Parish Councils and until his death was the first and only Chairman of Southill Parish Council. Thanks to his generosity Southill possesses a splendid cricket ground. It is said that, “He was one of the kindest and most sympathetic of men, always ready to help any good cause, and to relieve any necessitous case, his right hand not knowing what his left hand did; he never, I believe, said a harsh word to any person of humble estate, and was most careful not to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 31st December 1915

In the Event of Invasion

Church Road, Wilstead 1914 [Z1306/134/6/1]

Saturday 8th May 1915:  A meeting has been held at which plans were made for an emergency scheme covering the villages of Cople, Willington, Cardington, Eastcotts, Wilstead and Elstow, to be put into effect in the event of German invasion. In each village a deputy has been appointed to the head of the Emergency Committee, Mr John Arnold Whitworth. Each deputy is to be sworn in as a Special Constable and to take complete charge of his village, appointing four men under him to take charge of live stock, tools, transport and food stuffs. Each will be required to carry out the following duties:

Live Stock – cattle, sheep and horses not required for transport are to be driven to Wilstead, enroute for Haynes, Millbrook and Woburn Sands. The man in charge should select a staff capable of driving and also destroying and rendering unfit for human food any animals the military requires to be destroyed. Horses fit for transport should be collected at the village centre.

Tools – the man in charge will require a staff with axes, ropes, saws, picks and spades for felling trees, making roads, filling ditches, collecting and fixing barbed wire or such other duties as the military may require. He will need to work closely with the man responsible for transport; together they should load up tools and wire and take them to the nearest centre.

Transport – all transport material should be collected at the nearest centre. Where required this should be loaded with items collected by the man in charge of tools.

Food Stuffs – a staff must be found to burn and destroy any supplies which are ordered to be destroyed, or to load such supplies as may be required to be moved.

Owners of motor cars and motor cycles should be asked to bring them to the nearest County Police Station, with as much petrol as they can carry. Mr Whitchurch wishes to be advised of the number of Boy Scouts or Special Constables required in addition to the local staff, who should be used as much as possible. The village deputies have been asked to impress upon the farmers the need to brand their stock for identification purposes.

Source: Notes made by John Arnold Whitchurch [WW1/EC1/3]

Hospital Arrangements

Men with recruiting poster outside Sandy Town Hall, c.1916 [Z50/142/478]

Tuesday 30th March 1915: The County Director for the Bedfordshire Voluntary Aid Detachments has written to Eastern Command explaining that a number of hospitals which were said in September 1914 to be available for casualties from overseas can no longer be used for that purpose. The list and the reasons for the withdrawal of these buildings from the list are as follows:

Cardington Parish Room: A present occupied as billets for the Irish Horse.

Eaton Socon Hospital: At present filled up with convalescents from Cambridge.

Grafton Rooms, Bedford: At present used as an Officers’ Mess for one of the Battalions stationed in this town.

Kent House, Bedford: Not available now.

Biggleswade Hospital: This hospital has done excellent work for six months; but work had to cease as the masons required the buildings for their dinners. The A.D.M.S. (Colonel Murray) states that another V.A.D. Hospital is not necessary.

Ampthill Hospital: This V.A.D. has formed a hospital for the troops stationed in Ampthill Park.

Dunstable Hospital: This hospital is full of sick from the neighbouring troops.

Wardown House, Luton: This hospital has troops from the neighbourhood.

Town Hall, Sandy: This building is occupied as billets by the National Reserve.

Corn Exchange, Leighton Buzzard: This building has been used as a hospital, but is now being used as a Government factory.

Source: WW1 Nursing Records [WW1/NU4]

Arrangements for Possible Hospital Evacuation

Aspley Guise School c.1916 [Z1306/3a/20/1]

Monday 22nd March 1915: This month there has been considerable correspondence between Major Stevens, the County Director of Bedfordshire Voluntary Aid Detachments, and the Commander-in-Chief of Eastern Command at Whitehall concerning arrangements to be made in the event of it becoming necessary to evacuate Suffolk hospitals to Bedfordshire due to invasion or bombardment. One proposal is to use school buildings as hospitals should the need arise. A report on the impact this would have on specific schools has been issued today:

Cardington: It would, I think, be possible to transfer the elder scholars to Willington School and the younger ones to Cople School. But this could possibly be avoided by the use of the Howard Reading Room for hospital purposes. I understand that it has been used by the local branch of the British Red Cross Society for their drills, etc.

Aspley Guise: Arrangements might be made to transfer the scholars temporarily to Aspley Heath School, but this would be a very long journey for some of the scholars, particularly the younger ones, and it is probably that some of them would be found to reside outside the bye-law distance of 2½ miles from Aspley Heath School. There is however at Aspley Guise a Parish Hall capable of seating 250 persons and there are good Institute premises at Aspley Heath; possibly these might be of use as Hospitals.

Biggleswade: In view of the present demand on the school accommodation it is doubtful whether any school premises could be granted for use as a hospital without entirely disorganising attendance at school. It is suggested that the Masonic Rooms should be utilised as before for hospital purposes.

Sharnbrook: It is very difficult to make arrangements for the transfer of scholars to other suitable premises. No other schools are available. There is, however, a large room which it is believed will be quite suitable for hospital purposes.

Goldington: Cannot transfer scholars to other schools. There is a good Reading Room which might be large enough for a hospital though it is not large enough to accommodate the scholars in attendance at the school.

Melchbourne: No other school premises available for transfer of scholars. The school is very small and would accommodate but few patients.

Kempston: Arrangements might be made to place the Rural School for use as a Hospital.

It seems clear from this report that any major scheme to locate hospitals in school buildings would create serious difficulties for educational arrangements in the county.

Source: WW1 Nursing Records [WW1/NU4]