Bottesford school boys, 1928

Who's who?

By Neil Fortey

Bottesford school boys, 1928
Left hand side of picture
Left hand side of picture
Central part of picture
Central part of picture
Right hand side of picture
Right hand side of picture
Freddy Bend in The Mikado, 1929.
Freddy Bend in The Mikado, 1929.

Sheila Marriott has contributed this picture from a newspaper cutting showing Bottesford school boys in 1928. The picture was among papers left by the late Fred Musson, of Barkestone-le-Vale. The side-caption indicates that the picture was submitted to the paper (possibly the Grantham Journal) by Mr Musson and also by Mr and Mrs Waudby of Bottesford.

Along with the picture is the caption which names all the boys in the picture – except that there are two missing! There are 38 boys in the picture, but only 36 named in the caption. In attempting to resolve the question of who’s who, we have been greatly assisted by Mrs Ada Bond, Mr George Waudby and Mrs Elizabeth Goodliffe (nee Robinson – see comments at the foot of this page). The result is that the caption can be improved, though some points of difficulty remain. The boys named in the caption are now considered to be:

Back row: Arthur Jallands, Arthur Cant, Wilfred ‘Pip’ Lane, Bob Bryan, Cliff Brown (from Orston), Ralph Saunders, unknown, Fred Bend, Ken Cox, Dan Daybell, A Slater, Ernest Jallands, B Cooper

Middle row: Jim Miller, Percy Allcorn, Henry Jackson, D Bellamy, Gilbert Waudby, unknown, Eric Turner, Bill Brewster, Ron Doubleday, Ted Parnham, Norman Hickman, Hugh Miller, Ted Bradshaw, J Quartermayne

Front row: Dennis Skinner, Ron Donger, Ken Gale, Aubrey Norris, Harold Speed, Stan Robinson (or Walter Stanley), Alan Abbott, David Bolland, Bert Tinkler, Jim Kirton, Bob Donger

In this picture the boys cross-legged are (L-R) Dennis Skinner, Ron Donger and Ken Gale. Behind Dennis Skinner are Jim Miller and Percy Allcorn, then Herbert Jackson and D Bellamy, wearing bow-ties, and a boy identified as Gilbert Waudby by Mr George Waudby (not a close relation, we are told). In the back row are Jallands, Cant, Lane and Bryan.

In this picture, the first two boys in the front row are (L-R) Aubrey Norris (wearing cap, grinning) and Harold Speed. The next is identified as Walter Stanley in the picture, but Elizabeth Goodliffe identifies him as her father, Stanley Robinson. The next two are agreed to be Alan Abbott and David Bolland. In the middle row, at the left hand end are two boys, the left-hand one identified as Gilbert Waudby and the other unknown by Mr George Waudby, but Mrs Ada Bond identified the second boy as Gilbert Waudby and the first as unknown. The next four are (L-R) Turner, Brewster, Doubleday and Parnham. In the back row, the boy on the left wearing a cloth cap is Cliff Brown, and the two boys at the right hand end are Fred Bend (wearing a cap) and Ken Cox. However, there is some uncertainty about the two tall lads between Brown and Bend. One is named Saunders, but there is some uncertainty about which of the two this is. The other is unknown at present.

In this picture, the front row are (L-R) Bolland, Tinkler, Kirton and Bob Donger. The middle row are Parnham, Hickman, Miller, Bradshaw and Quartermayne. The back row are Cox, Daybell, Slater, Ernest Jallands and Cooper.

It’s worth reminding oneself that this picture was taken 81 years ago. The ability Mrs Bond, Mr Waudby and Mrs Goodliffe have in remembering so far back is most impressive. The boys are well turned out, many wearing caps, white shirts, ties and blazers. Two even sport bow ties, while others wear the horizontally striped neck-tie seen in a number of other school pictures.

All in all, an impressive picture taken by the Grantham Journal’s photographer.

This page was added on 25/07/2009.

Comments about this page

  • I believe the boy in the white shirt centre front row is my father Stan Robinson. I too have this Grantham Journal cutting from my mother’s collection.

    By Elizabeth Goodliffe nee Robinson (27/07/2009)
  • Thank you for identifying your father in the photograph. He must be the Stanley Robinson whose picture appears on the page ‘The Robinson Family’ sent in by Andrew Robinson.

    By Editorial Team (27/07/2009)
  • Yes, this is the same Stan Robinson as seen in other school photographs, also in the photos sent in by my brother. Stan was the eldest brother to Sid, Dick, Ivan and Pat. He lived his childhood in Easthorpe and Normanton although he lived in Grantham all his married life. My husband and I however came to live in Uncle Ernie Robinson’s cottage next to Granny and Grandad at Normanton when we were first married. Our eldest son was born while we were living there.

    By Elizabeth Goodliffe (30/07/2009)
  • If you have looked at the Normanton section on this site, you will have noticed that we have very little information about Normanton and the people who lived there, though there is the lovely account ‘Life in an English Hamlet’, by another of your relatives, Mr. W. Robinson, in ‘The Book of Bottesford’. We would be delighted if you have any memories or photographs of Normanton and its inhabitants which you would be willing to contribute to the site.

    By Editorial Team (01/08/2009)

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