Great War Britain Exeter: Remembering 1914-18
128
Great War Britain Exeter: Remembering 1914-18
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780750960366 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The History Press |
| Publication date: | 09/01/2014 |
| Series: | Unexpurgated Start Publishing LLC |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 128 |
| File size: | 9 MB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Great War Britain: Exeter Remembering 1914â"18
By David Parker
The History Press
Copyright © 2014 David ParkerAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-7509-6036-6
CHAPTER 1
Outbreak of War
For much of 1914, domestic issues dominated local newspapers in Exeter, much like elsewhere in the country. The violent tactics of militant suffragettes – setting fire to pillar boxes, damaging works of art, disturbing religious services, burning churches, and smashing shop windows – incited sonorous editorial condemnation in the Flying Post, especially when a Venetian watercolour by the Exeter artist John Shapland was ruined in London's Doré Gallery. A great deal of space was devoted to well-attended meetings of Exeter's branch of the League for Opposing Women's Suffrage. Women speakers delighted their audiences with assertions that only men could enforce laws and therefore only men should make them, that equal pay was nonsense as equal work was impossible, and that working-class women would not know what to do with the vote if they possessed it.
However, not everyone in the city was opposed to giving women the vote. In December 1913, Mrs Pankhurst was arrested on the White Start liner RMS Majestic at Plymouth and taken to Exeter Prison, where she went on hunger strike. Suffragettes flocked there from across the city, county and country but had to endure insults and 'rough horse-play' from groups of local men. One suffragette was only just saved from falling over the parapet of the nearby railway bridge. In May 1914, Canon Masterman of Exeter Cathedral and Sir Henry Hepburn, Vice-Chairman of Devon County Council, spoke publicly in favour of enfranchising women. It would, they claimed, enrich women's lives and help break down the barriers of party politics.
Another issue working local editors into frenzies was the alleged threats to national stability and prosperity posed by the wave of crippling strikes and what many thought were their driving force, the destructive creed of Socialism. In 1912, Exeter felt the force of a national coal strike and a sympathetic walkout by many railway workers. Local quarries, paper mills and Messrs Willey's extensive iron foundries on Exe Island were forced to close. City charities reopened their soup kitchens and clothing centres, and the police helped distribute the dwindling stock of coal to needy families. In the summer of 1914 a bitter, and sometimes violent, strike erupted in the Teign Valley granite quarries a few miles outside Exeter, and on 1 August 1914 building workers within the city downed tools. Labour relations were distinctly poor, and social unrest widespread and deeply worrying.
Alongside the threats posed by the suffragettes, Socialists and strikers, the city newspapers reported that the home rule controversy in Ireland was spiralling out of control. By 1914, both the Irish Nationalists and the Ulster Unionists possessed armed paramilitary forces, enabling the former to rise up in arms against any attempt by the British Government to renege on home rule and the latter to oppose the imposition of Irish Roman Catholic tyranny on Ulster Protestants. Henry Duke, Exeter's Conservative MP, was a fervent Unionist and frequently spoke to appreciative city audiences about the perils facing Irish Protestants, especially in the north. Civil war seemed inevitable as 1914 dawned and the September date set for home rule drew near. In December 1913, a train carrying Sir Edward Carson, the charismatic Ulster Unionist leader, to Plymouth stopped at Exeter St David's station. A crowd, including the workmen rebuilding the station, soon gathered around him and cheered his brief speech declaring that Ulstermen would never be placed 'under the heels of the declared enemies of England'.
During the summer of 1914, the kaiser believed that Great Britain was so absorbed with its domestic problems, notably Ireland, that it would do anything to avoid embroilment in a European war. Conversely Herbert Asquith, the British Prime Minister, later acknowledged that the outbreak of the war defused, at least temporarily, a particularly explosive situation within the British Isles. Indeed, on the last day of July 1914, the touchpaper of Irish Civil War could easily have been lit when a British Army unit was attacked by armed Nationalists who had been caught, it was alleged, smuggling weapons and then stoned by an angry crowd. The soldiers opened fire, killing three and wounding sixty protestors.
Exeter lay deep in the West Country, but its relatively small size and provincial position belied its significance in national affairs. It was a historic city, as symbolised by the remains of a Roman legionary fortress, the substantial ruins of Rougemont Castle, the much repaired city walls and the centuries-old Anglican cathedral. It was the centre of Diocese of Exeter affairs and county as well as city administration. All important committee meetings were held there. The barracks of the the Devonshire Regiment (the 'Devons') and a section of Royal Field Artillery were in Exeter, and the county assizes were held in an eighteenth-century courthouse deep within Rougemont Castle. During the war, the city continued to be the natural centre for numerous county and regional organisations concerned with the creation of emergency hospitals, a host of fundraising charities, the settlement of thousands of overseas refugees, and implementing the draconian regulations for the production, distribution and price of food.
In national and city elections Exeter's voters swung between favouring the Liberals and Conservatives, although overall the Conservatives had the edge. In national elections they had given a large majority to the Conservative Sir Edgar Vincent in 1900; just eighty-five to the Liberal Sir George Kekewich in 1906; a mere twenty-six to the Conservative Henry Duke in January 1910; and just one to Duke in December 1910 – but only after two recounts had favoured his Liberal opponent before a formal investigation declared several Liberal votes invalid. The clergy and businessmen within the city, and the country gentry residing just outside it, dominated Exeter's affairs, and it has to be said that the city's Liberals were far from radical while the Conservatives still possessed a touch of noblesse oblige.
The population, including Heavitree, was about 59,000 and growing, but only slowly. The greatest area of male employment was building and construction, followed by workers in shops and other small businesses, with railway-related jobs coming in third. Domestic service in private houses, great and small, and in commercial properties such as cafés and hotels was by far the greatest employer of women. Dressmaking, either in workshops or as home commissions, was second.
In 1914, roads of great antiquity connected Exeter to other towns, and as more and more motor cars, lorries and charabancs began to use them the Flying Post carried notices of small penny-pinching improvement schemes, usually the traditional repacking of stone surfaces but occasionally the tarmacking of a further section of main road. Far more frequent, though, were the newspaper's warnings to travellers in its 'Motoring Matters' column of local hazards such as sharp corners, steep hills, narrow bridges, hidden junctions and the sudden appearance of farmers' wagons, herds of cattle and flocks of sheep.
The streets within the city itself were gradually changing too. In traditional vein, flocks of sheep were still driven to market within Exeter, but the overcrowding of its narrow streets with an assortment of motorised vans and lorries, horse-drawn wagons and carts, and hand-pulled barrows and stalls was causing citizens and city councillors increasing irritation and concern. In 1914 the annual Cart Horse Parade remained a popular spectacle, but by then the newspapers routinely carried advertisements for motor vehicles, and not horse-drawn ones. The large motorcar saleroom and workshops of Reid and Lee were well established in New North Road, and so were those of Standford and White in Sidwell Street, along with Greenslade's charabanc business in Queen Street. 'Motoring Matters' gave readers regular information on the worth of mechanical innovations, the services of local garages, recommended West Country routes, and the heady but highly fashionable pastime of rallying.
In recent decades a few road-widening schemes had been carried out in the city, resulting in a number of historic but obviously unwanted houses and the ancient but redundant Allhallows church being demolished. In the 1880s, a grand new post office and the popular Eastgate Parade shopping centre had been built on the High Street site of the demolished frontage of the pre-Reformation St John's Hospital. Also in the High Street, the seventeenth-century, but much repaired, Half Moon Inn was demolished in 1912 and replaced by the city's richly adorned Dellar's Café in 1916. In 1895 the decision had been taken to widen North Street by slicing off 8ft of every ancient property on its west side and then rebuilding the foreshortened fronts in red brick. They are still there.
Early in 1914, widespread debate surrounded plans to remodel the city centre by extensive demolition and the creation of impressive new public buildings and municipal offices in Queen Street, adjoining the radically remodelled station. Far wider pathways would lead from the High Street to Cathedral Close, extensive city centre gardens would be planted and several narrow but important road junctions would be turned into open 'circuses'. The aim was to enhance the flow of traffic, create a number of attractive vistas and entice more visitors to a prosperous-looking city combining an ancient cathedral with a host of easily accessible modern facilities. Inevitably arguments grew heated and inevitably the war brought them to a halt.
One city innovation proving immensely popular, though, was the restructured tram system inaugurated in 1905. Electric tramcars replaced the horse-drawn ones and the routes were extended. Lines now ran from Exeter St David's station along Queen Street to the High Street and Eastgate, from where one line went to Livery Dole in Heavitree and another along Sidwell Street to the end of Blackboy Road. From the High Street, another route ran along Fore Street and across Exe Bridge and then diverged along Cowick Street or Alphington Street.
The trams had a fine safety record, despite their frequent overcrowding, but in March 1917 a tram running down Fore Street jumped its tracks as it neared Exe Bridge, crashed onto its side, slid until it hit the parapet, lurched into the middle of the road and ground to a halt. A woman who had belatedly jumped off the tram was crushed to death as it tipped over. There was talk that essential maintenance work had not been carried out due to wartime economies and labour shortages.
Road transport remained arduous, but by 1914 Devon's railway system was almost at its maximum extent and heavily used by goods and passenger trains. Exeter was an important junction and this was to be of immense significance throughout the war. From the major London & South West Railway (LSWR) station in Queen Street, a main line ran to London Waterloo via Yeovil and Salisbury, with local branch lines to Exmouth, Sidmouth, Seaton and Lyme Regis.
At the less convenient St David's station, the main Great Western Railway (GWR) lines ran eastwards to London Paddington via Taunton and Reading, with local lines branching off to Tiverton and north Devon. Westwards from St David's, GWR lines ran to Plymouth and Cornwall via a junction at Newton Abbot where another main line branched off to Torquay and Kingswear. In an unusual configuration, LSWR trains also ran from Queen Street to St David's station, from where one line ran through a dozen villages to north Devon and another curved north and west around Dartmoor to Tavistock and Plymouth.
Station placards and newspaper advertisements regularly announced railway excursions, not only to local seaside resorts but also to Bude, Padstow, Bideford, Barnstaple and Ilfracombe on the north coast, and further afield to Salisbury, Bournemouth, Southampton, London and even Paris. Exeter was well connected.
Within the city, short branch lines and numerous sidings served the wharves and important industrial areas each side of the River Exe and its canal. Small cargo ships frequented the city. In one week in April 1914, for example, the Flying Post reported that the Salvador brought timber from Sweden, the Gleaner potatoes from Dunbar, the Edgar and Anne limestone from Berryhead, the Sirdar limestone from Babbacombe, and the Genesta cement from London.
The extensive foundries of Henry Willey in Water Lane and Haven Lane manufactured purifiers, pipes, meters and vast holders for the gas industry, and also huge quantities of metal castings for the construction industry and manufacturers of heating and cooking appliances. Other major industries processed, packaged and distributed timber products, paper and stationery, skins and hides, and wine and beer. Kelly's Directory for 1914 shows the high number of small traders and businesses, some no doubt comprising a single person or family – notably hairdressers, dressmakers, collar makers, tailors, bakers, confectioners, fishmongers, butchers, boot and shoe makers, basket makers, cabinet makers, furniture and china repairers, coal dealers, chimney sweeps, nurserymen and gardeners. There were also several electricians and electrical businesses, and Exeter possessed a large power station not far from the riverside gasworks and coal yards; the newspapers carried regular advertisements from the gas and electricity companies tempting householders to 'get connected'. Gas and electric cookers were readily available, but still costly, and often were rented.
For an artisan in the city earning about 35/- a week, beer, vegetables and eggs were cheap and he probably possessed a garden and a few chickens and rabbits. However, other items commonly advertised in early 1914, such as new cotton sheets at 5/11d, blankets at 7/11d, cheaper suits at 30/-, a bottle of 'Old Cellar' Scotch Whisky at 4/-, tooth extractions at 1/- and a set of false teeth at 42/- would severely stretch the family budget, and many High Street goods would have been beyond his reach. In 1913–15, advertisements offered indoor parlourmaids as little as £15–22 a year, and cook-housekeepers about £30, but generally they were given rooms, uniforms and meals.
However, the incidence of abject poverty and pauperism within the city was low, and did not rise during the war. There were a number of charitably funded almshouses and, on the whole, families supported in this way just about avoided the stigma of pauperism if they had not appealed for help from the Board of Guardians. The Local Government Board inspector's returns for 1914 and 1915 showed Exeter's Board supported an average of fourteen registered paupers per 1,000 of the population – about 680 men, women and children – during each of those years. The figures for July 1915, for example, reveal 342 workhouse paupers, 255 paupers receiving outdoor relief, and twenty-five vagrants. To modern eyes these are large numbers, but the figures for Bideford, Holsworthy, Honiton, Okehampton, Plymouth, Plympton St Mary, South Molton, Torrington and Totnes Poor Law unions were twenty or more per 1,000, and out of the twenty Devon unions only Devonport, at thirteen, was lower than Exeter.
The High Street contained a number of high-class shops, notably in Eastgate Parade. In 1914, Barns & Van Houtens was especially proud of its new millinery department to which 'a visit of inspection is invited'. And at Messrs Walton & Company's innovative High Street arcade citizens could admire nineteen windows displaying 'costumes, blouses, millinery, ladies and children's outfitting, and footwear' without worrying about the weather, and then enjoy refreshments in the 'cosy tearoom'.
The city streets remained busy and at times uncomfortable. In 1915 traders complained, although they should not have been surprised, that visitor numbers, especially from America, had declined, but no doubt the significant influx of troops more than compensated in numbers if not in wealth. As we have seen, there had been considerable dissatisfaction with aspects of the city centre before the war. In 1912, by-laws had finally banned the numerous handcarts covered with advertisements for shops and services that littered, and often blocked, the narrow streets, and it became an offence to throw bottles and broken glass, 'orange peels, banana skins or any other dangerous substances' onto the roads. Nevertheless, although hotly debated, the incessant but traditional ringing of bells, clanging of gongs, and shouting to attract custom was allowed to continue.
In 1915, Exeter's chief constable remarked on the increasing congestion in Queen Street, with so many motor vehicles and carriages passing along it per hour. In the last twelve months, 118 people had been injured on the city's streets, and he fumed that motorists stopped where they liked and then left their cars unattended. Nothing was done, and although in June 1916 the city council debated stopping traders selling goods from 'trucks or barrows' between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays from Exe Bridge to Paris Street, and also along the High Street end of most adjoining roads, the motion failed as public safety was considered less important than local commerce. The same meeting considered banning perambulators between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Fridays between the Mint and London Inn Square, but again the needs of commerce triumphed. However, the indignation of some members at a recent survey showing 312 prams cluttering the High Street 'with its atmosphere laden with dust and germs' meant the proposal only failed by twenty-two votes to twenty.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Great War Britain: Exeter Remembering 1914â"18 by David Parker. Copyright © 2014 David Parker. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Title,Dedication,
Acknowledgements,
Timeline,
Introduction,
1 Outbreak of War 1914 England and Exeter in 1914,
2 Preparations at Home The Wartime Expansion of the Devons,
3 Work of War Women and the War,
4 News from the Front A Soldier's Life in the Trenches,
5 While You Were Away Conscientious Objectors,
6 Coming Home The Peace Treaties,
Postscript: Legacy,
Bibliography,
About the Author,
Copyright,