Welcome to the website page exploring the history of Lurgashall Parish
The Archive room at the Village Hall is open to visitors in FEBRUARY on Wed 22nd, 2.30-5pm and in MARCH on Wed 15th and Wed 29th.
Contact: Sarah Matthews at archive@lurgashallvillagehall.org
Two mystery boys…
When a village friend read our December Archive piece on the laundry at Dial House on Dial Green, she contacted us to say, did we know that her husband Michael lived at Dial House as a boy, and were we interested in any old photos?
We invited her to the Archive room in January, and she shared with us the story of her husband, who died in 2012, his mother Florence, his grandmother Mary Ann Dummer (nee Humphrey) and Dial House where the family lived from 1933/4 to 1998.
We have been asked to help solve a little mystery…
Among the photos she brought with her was this one – actually, an old postcard – of two boys, but there are no names or date. The date could be early 1900s and certainly no later than the start of WW1 in 1914. It was found among the belongings of Michael’s mother Florence when they were clearing out Dial House after Florence’s death in 1998.
Florence was born in 1913, the only child of Mary Ann (nee Humphrey) and George Boxall. Mary Ann Humphrey (known as Annie) was the only girl of eight children, her brothers’ birth dates ranging from 1879 (Alfred) to 1896 (John). Two of her brothers, Ernest (born 1887) and Henry (born 1894) lost their lives in WW1 (in 1914 and 1916 respectively). Could these be Humphrey boys?
Florence’s father, George Boxall, also died in WW1 (Dec. 1917) when Florence was just four years old, so she never really knew her father. Could this be a photo of George (born 1890) with one of his younger brothers? Wyndham was born in 1892, John was born 1897 and also died in WW1, Percy was born in 1898, Joseph in 1901 and the youngest, Albert, in 1904.
……………………………………
Since this enquiry, the Archive has discovered that the photograph was taken in front of the School House, next door to the school itself, in Lurgashall. A search of the School Admissions Register quickly revealed that none of the Boxall children attended Lurgashall School (they probably attended Lodsworth School), so the photo is unlikely to be of any of them. However, several of the Humphrey sibilings did go to Lurgashall School, and we are guessing that the two boys might be Mary Ann’s two younger brothers – Henry Horace Humphrey, born 1894, died in 1916 on active service, and John Humphrey, born 1896, died 1951.
If you have any further information about the two mystery boys, do please get in touch – contact email above.