The St John Ambulance Brigade website tells us that the Brigade ‘was formed in 1887, as a voluntary organisation offering free medical care‘. A branch of the Brigade was formed in Great Ellingham around 1940. St John Ambulance Association Badges from c.1960s The Eastern Daily Press of the 8th March, 1940, reported on the social…
Category: Schools, Societies, Charities
Great Ellingham Temperance Society
Many local Temperance Societies were formed during the 19th century to emphasise ‘the perils of drink‘, and to lobby new members. Local Brass Bands also had close associations with temperance societies, as did religious organisations. Local genealogist and author, Elizabeth Walne, has written a very interesting blog about Temperance in Norfolk and Norwich (dated January…
Ploughing Match at the Queens Head
Illustration by Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied. The Eastern Daily Press of 12th June, 1906 reported on the third annual ploughing match held at the Queens Head Inn, on the previous Wednesday. Under the stewardship of G Banham and D Woodrow, the…
Toast of the Great Ellingham Bowls Club
Illustration by Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied. Great Ellingham had a thriving Bowls Club during the 1930s. Certainly from 1933 to 1935, the club held its annual dinner and prize distribution in the Parish Room. The Eastern Daily Press of 29th October,…
Anyone for Tennis?
Illustration by Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied. The Eastern Daily Press of Wednesday the 26th November, 1930, reported on a social evening held at ‘the Council School, Great Ellingham’ on the previous Friday. The event, organised to boost the funds of the…
A Quintessential Village Fete
Illustration by Christine Fuller The illustration is creative interpretation and intended for humour only. No offence is intended or implied. No doubt weeks (if not months) of planning would have preceded the well-supported Great Ellingham Fete, held in the grounds of a farm in Hingham Road, on Saturday the 25th July, 1925. The Eastern Daily…
National School built upon Pound Close
Formerly the National School built in 1865. Later used as a Reading Room and Village Hall. During the nineteenth century, National Schools were set up by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education, for the furtherance of Christian Education and church schools. The Society was a body of the Church of England. Poster announcing the…
Quoits belonging to Jacob Beales
Quoits that once belonged to Jacob Beales (1874-1952), the landlord of the Chequers Public House. Photograph courtesy of Graham Beales, great grandson of Jacob Beales In setting out the game of Quoits, Pear’s Cyclopaedia of May 1928 describes the Quoits themselves as ‘flattened rings, convex on the upper side, 8¼ inches to 9½ inches in…
Scholarships for Great Ellingham Pupils
School Examinations Norfolk Junior Scholarship Examinations took place on Saturday the 2nd November, 1907. 240 candidates were examined, of which 117 were boys and 123 girls. Pupils from Great Ellingham School were amongst the 16 candidates from the rural districts. Six weeks later, confirmation of those pupils gaining scholarships was published in the Norfolk Chronicle…
Alms House Built on Lower Part of Town Green Common
Payment towards the Building of an Alms House The ‘Town Books’ for Great Ellingham between 1740 and 1760 reveal that the Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of Great Ellingham were making annual payments for ‘Town Rents for the Poor’. These annual payments ranged from £10 7s. 6d in the year 1742, to £3…