The Charltons Historical Society - Somerset

Coronation celebrations in Charlton Mackrell and Charlton Adam ...
These two postcard pictures are believed to date to the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary on 22nd June 1911.

The earlier 1902 Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra was the first since Queen Victoria’s, 64 years before, and local events were reported in the 'Langport and Somerton Herald' on 9th August 1902: "The postponed* Coronation festivities were celebrated on Friday of last week. The day commenced with a peal from the bells of Saint Mary's at 6:30 am followed later by a peal from SS Peter and Paul’s. The two villages were gaily decorated, numerous arches having been erected, the first prize (7s 6d) being awarded to Mr. J Trippick. The 2nd prize (5s) was won by Mr Weech and the 3rd (3s 6d) by Mrs Eades.
At noon the parishioners assembled at the Abbey Barn, and, after singing the National Anthem, formed into procession, and, headed by the Keinton Brass Band, perambulated both villages, returning for tea in the Abbey Barn for the adults, the children being catered for in a large waggon-house (both kindly lent by Mr Hawkins).
During the procession a bull, ridden by Mr Albert Sealey, suddenly bolted, throwing its rider to the ground. Mr Sealey was severely shaken, and sustained a cut in the forehead.
At 5 o'clock a capital programme of sports commenced, including donkey races (in costume and riders backward), bicycle races, sack races, flat races, pole jump, and a tug of war [between] West Charlton and East Charlton, the latter being victorious.
Mr H Colley, with the assistance of Misses E Jones and E Copping, took charge of the little girls and provided them with races, for which prizes were given. During the evening dancing was freely indulged in.
Great credit is due to the committee especially to Messrs. Butler and Meaker, the hon. secs., for the satisfactory way in which everything passed off, as, after paying all expenses there is a balance in hand of £6 4s 11d. Out of this the ringers are to be paid 3s each for ringing on Coronation Day, and the balance to be given to Butleigh Hospital.”
*Originally scheduled for 26th June 1902, King Edward's coronation had been postponed at very short notice, because of his illness.

One of the WW1 memorials in The Charltons is the Reading Room's photograph collection.
The three WW2 casualties named on the War Memorial are Aubrey Eades, William Dancey, and Frederick Tozer. Their photographs were collected by the late Mrs Evelyn Buckland, and are now also displayed in the Reading Room as a framed collection with additional information.
Alongside (above the digital collages of village history photos) are the design sketch for the War Memorial and a report of the service in 1901 for Henry Hallett who died on the voyage home from the Boer War.

Happy 40th Anniversary to 'The Charltons Community News' !
The first edition of what is now titled 'The Charltons Village News' (but still published by the Memorial Playing Field and Community Centre Committee) was delivered to all residents of Charlton Mackrell and Charlton Adam in July 1982.
Forty years ago, the Committee was fundraising and drawing up plans for a building to replace the old wooden pavilion on the Memorial Playing Field. They were also working on the creation of the current charity trust - now the committee is planning the next stage of the building's development and considering changing the charitable trust to a charitable incorporated organisation. https://www.charltonscommunity.org/

There was a special village newsletter to promote the Queen's Silver Jubilee Celebrations in The Charltons. We only have a copy of Issue No. 2 in our archives - are there any others out there please?
The Youth Club were involved in May 1977 too - raising funds in rain, hail and gale force winds! A public meeting afterwards decided that the funds raised on the Silver Jubilee Day should be used for seats and trees on the field and to start planning for a building with showers to replace the wooden pavilion.

This year the four days of Platinum Jubilee events include a Barn Dance in support of the Youth Club and a music festival too. Full details of the weekend are on the new website for The Charltons Memorial Playing Field & Community Centre Trust https://www.charltonscommunity.org/platinum-jubilee-weekender.html

The new Local Heritage List ... Which places have special significance and meaning to our community? Please tell us - and you can also nominate somewhere in The Charltons or elsewhere directly to the LHL https://swheritage.org.uk/historic-environment-service/local-heritage-list/

If you have been to recent parish meetings and events in The Charltons, you may have seen our display boards with information about the new Local Heritage List and the South West Heritage Trust is now reaching out to all members of the public for nominations -
"The Local Heritage List (LHL) is different to the national list. It focuses on the exceptional places which enrich Somerset and Exmoor National Park, even if they don’t meet the strict requirements of the national grading system. Local listing doesn’t put extra restrictions on owners, but stops these places being overlooked, and offers some increased protection – as well as giving everyone a say in what’s valuable to the community."
Somerset’s Heritage Buildings

The 1921 Census household schedules were released today after the end of the 100 year closure rule and digitisation. Last year we displayed posters around the villages with extracts from the 1911 census and statistics which showed that the population of The Charltons civil parish (then called Charlton Mackrell but including Charlton Adam) declined from 629 in 1911 to 559 on 19th June 1921. A search of the online index today has found 560 individuals living here in 1921 (295 female and 265 male) including one female without an indexed name. 386 of those people gave their birthplace as somewhere in Somerset. There were 19 children whose father or mother (or both) had died, including some as a result of WW1, and 26 widows but only 10 widowers (and no divorcees).

The household schedules were completed in handwriting, not neatly printed, and often elaborate or scrawled so mis-transcriptions in the index are not unusual. We have already spotted a significant surname error - some of the large "Dyer" family (including those who lived at Cedar Lodge) have been indexed as “Wyer”. Also be aware of potential errors in the age and calculated year of birth if you are searching with those … although the printed schedules completed by each household state that the census was for the night of Sunday 24th April 1921, in fact it was delayed until 19th June due to industrial unrest. In an attempt to obtain more accurate ages, 1921 was the first time people had been asked to state their age in years and months, but the delay meant that ages "should" have been given as of 19th June and not the date shown on the form. So it is likely there may have been some original errors, causing misleading birth years in the transcription and index.

The 1921 Census of England and Wales is now available to search and (at a cost) view on the Findmypast website after three years of conservation and digitisation work on behalf of The National Archives and the Office for National Statistics. Unfortunately the cost of downloading all the household schedules for The Charltons is prohibitive at present, but we are working to create a full listing of the indexed names and other available information. Do let us know if you have made any interesting local discoveries!