Moulton and The Hall: The Great War 1914-1918
Moulton and The Hall: The Great War 1914-1918
Moulton and The Hall: The Great War 1914-1918
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<strong>Moulton</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> : <strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>War</strong> <strong>1914</strong>-<strong>1918</strong><br />
Alex <strong>Moulton</strong> Charitable Trust
1<br />
Stephen <strong>Moulton</strong> (above) was an<br />
Englishman who had set up as a Broker<br />
in New York in the 1830s. Here he<br />
met Charles Goodyear, the man who<br />
discovered how to make natural rubber<br />
durable - the Vulcanisation process. In<br />
1848 <strong>Moulton</strong> arrived in Bradford on<br />
Avon <strong>and</strong> founded his rubber company<br />
in the Kingston Mill, originally built for<br />
Thomas Divett at the beginning of the<br />
19th Century. <strong>Moulton</strong> also bought the<br />
gr<strong>and</strong> but decaying Jacobean mansion,<br />
then called ‘Kingston House’ (now<br />
known as ‘<strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong>’), <strong>and</strong> restored it to<br />
be his family home. Early customers of<br />
<strong>Moulton</strong>’s rubber company included the<br />
British Army buying waterproof capes<br />
for the Crimean <strong>War</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Isambard<br />
Kingdom Brunel who sought rubber parts<br />
for his <strong>Great</strong> Eastern steam ship. After<br />
many years of financial struggle <strong>and</strong> legal<br />
wrangles, <strong>Moulton</strong> became very successful<br />
in the manufacture <strong>and</strong> supply of rubber<br />
‘mechanicals’ - springs, hoses, seals etc. -<br />
to railway companies all around the world.<br />
After his death in 1880 the company was<br />
run by his sons Alex<strong>and</strong>er <strong>and</strong> Horatio, <strong>and</strong><br />
in 1891 a merger with Geo. Spencer & Co.,<br />
long-st<strong>and</strong>ing customers of <strong>Moulton</strong>, led to<br />
the creation of George Spencer <strong>Moulton</strong> &<br />
Co. <strong>The</strong> business continued to exp<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
by the end of the century Spencer-<strong>Moulton</strong><br />
were world leaders in the rubber industry.
Bradford on Avon, originally a weaving town<br />
noted for the quality of its cloth, came to be<br />
dominated by the rubber industry that <strong>Moulton</strong><br />
had founded. <strong>The</strong> Kingston Mill was slightly to<br />
the west of the town, but as <strong>Moulton</strong> exp<strong>and</strong>ed<br />
his works the New Mills were absorbed <strong>and</strong> in<br />
1916 the Lamb Building was erected right by<br />
the Town Bridge. <strong>The</strong> Abbey Mill also became<br />
part of the factory. Thus the centre of the town<br />
really was <strong>Moulton</strong>’s rubber company - not only<br />
physically, but also in the fact that most of the<br />
people in the town earned their livelihoods there<br />
or in the surrounding supporting businesses.<br />
In 1906, the Sirdar Rubber Company arrived<br />
from London <strong>and</strong> set up in the Greenl<strong>and</strong><br />
Mills. <strong>The</strong>ir main product was rubber tyres.<br />
Despite <strong>War</strong> Office contracts, Sirdar failed<br />
at the end of <strong>1914</strong>. A year later, under the<br />
direction of the Ministry of Munitions, the<br />
Greenl<strong>and</strong> Mills were taken over by the Avon<br />
India Rubber Company.<br />
Such were the dem<strong>and</strong>s placed on the rubber<br />
factories, <strong>Moulton</strong>’s Lamb Building was<br />
originally designed to be four storeys high.<br />
For speed, it was built using pre-fabricated<br />
reinforced concrete, an innovation at the time.<br />
2
By the turn of the century Stephen <strong>Moulton</strong>’s youngest<br />
son, John, was the Chairman of George Spencer <strong>Moulton</strong><br />
& Co. He lived at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> with his wife Alice <strong>and</strong> their<br />
sons John Coney (born 1886) <strong>and</strong> Charles Eric (born<br />
1889). John <strong>Moulton</strong> was a local Justice of the Peace <strong>and</strong><br />
a County Councillor. <strong>The</strong> photograph on the left, taken<br />
on the last day of the 19 th century, shows the <strong>Moulton</strong><br />
family (the children as Eton schoolboys) at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong>.<br />
Thanks to the tremendous success of the Spencer-<br />
<strong>Moulton</strong> company, John <strong>Moulton</strong> was a very wealthy<br />
man. He made substantial improvements to the grounds<br />
of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong>, including the new stable block designed by<br />
Sir Harold Brakspear. He was a notable benefactor to the<br />
town, giving both l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> money for the building of the<br />
Queen Victoria Jubilee swimming baths; <strong>and</strong> restoring<br />
<strong>and</strong> converting what is now St. Margarets <strong>Hall</strong> into a Drill<br />
<strong>Hall</strong> <strong>and</strong> later the Alex<strong>and</strong>er Picture <strong>The</strong>atre.<br />
3<br />
<strong>The</strong> 1911 census record for <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> reads as follows:<br />
John <strong>Moulton</strong>, 71 yrs<br />
Alice Blanche <strong>Moulton</strong>, 46 yrs<br />
Charles Eric <strong>Moulton</strong>, 21 yrs<br />
Servants: Joseph Hoggett, Footman, 23 yrs<br />
Margaret Jones, Cook, 42 yrs<br />
Blanche Blewitt, Housemaid, 35 yrs<br />
Hilda Olney, Maid, 26 yrs<br />
Henrietta Wills, Housemaid, 19 yrs<br />
Ellen Hann, Kitchenmaid, 16 yrs<br />
In addition, there was an outdoor staff of ten, including<br />
five gardeners (the Head Gardener being Albert Keen), a<br />
carpenter, a gamekeeper <strong>and</strong> a chauffeur.
Top left, interior of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> c. 1900. Above, John <strong>Moulton</strong> in his ‘new’<br />
Garden Temple c. 1902. Lower left, John Coney <strong>and</strong> Charles Eric , c. 1895<br />
4
5<br />
Eric <strong>Moulton</strong> was an enthusiastic pioneer motorist. He is shown here with his 40 horsepower Mors car.
Following the declaration of war in <strong>1914</strong>,<br />
John <strong>Moulton</strong> chaired a recruitment<br />
meeting in the Town <strong>Hall</strong>. More than<br />
200 young men volunteered, including<br />
120 of Spencer <strong>Moulton</strong>’s workers. Each<br />
was offered £5 from the company <strong>and</strong> £5<br />
from John <strong>Moulton</strong> himself. Amongst<br />
them was Eric <strong>Moulton</strong>, who was<br />
commissioned as a Second Lieutenant<br />
in the 6th Wiltshire Regiment. Eric,<br />
having served a three-year apprenticeship<br />
at Stothert <strong>and</strong> Pitt in Bath <strong>and</strong> studied<br />
Chemistry at London University, was<br />
by then Assistant Works Manager at<br />
Spencer <strong>Moulton</strong> where he was liked <strong>and</strong><br />
respected in generous measures. Eric’s<br />
army career commenced with training at<br />
Tidworth, followed by a spell in Westonsuper-Mare<br />
<strong>and</strong> later at Perham Down.<br />
He was promoted to Lieutenant in July<br />
1915 <strong>and</strong> travelled with the 6th Wilts. to<br />
northern France. As with many others,<br />
before leaving English soil he wrote <strong>and</strong><br />
sealed his Will; he posted this to his<br />
father with the note above. <strong>The</strong> envelope<br />
was marked “not to be opened until official<br />
notification of my death is received.”<br />
6
Eric <strong>Moulton</strong> wrote home regularly to his mother<br />
at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong>, sometimes several times a month. His<br />
early letters reveal how privileged his life had been<br />
thus far, although he seemed to adjust to military<br />
life very quickly. <strong>The</strong> first letter, from Tidworth,<br />
reassures: “It is not as bad as I had anticipated ... I<br />
have got a tent to myself ... With good luck I got a<br />
man who is a waiter in the ‘Rag’ as servant. He is<br />
quite a treasure <strong>and</strong> valets very well ... I am going to<br />
try to come home on Sunday so as to fetch the motorbike,<br />
as there seems to be plenty of places to hide it.”<br />
This letter, <strong>and</strong> all those following it, were signed<br />
“Your loving Eric.”<br />
In early 1915 he wrote from a ‘decent billet’<br />
in Basingstoke: “Will you please send me some<br />
h<strong>and</strong>kerchiefs, socks <strong>and</strong> my best silk pyjamas ... I<br />
have sent you today some dirty linen which please keep<br />
until I write for it ... Looking forward to a good scrub<br />
tonight, not had a proper wash for a fortnight!!”<br />
Eric wrote back for his linen in February: “please<br />
forward my clean clothes, socks, h<strong>and</strong>kerchiefs,<br />
shirts, pyjamas <strong>and</strong> some vests.” He had also<br />
received some distressing news from a relative:<br />
“Charles says that you are going to hire a Ford now<br />
that Stamper (the chauffeur) has gone. What a comedown<br />
if it is true.” Later in the same month he had<br />
other things on his mind: “Could you send me the<br />
name of that dentist we both went to some time ago,<br />
who lives on Harley Street. I am thinking of going up<br />
to Town for a day this week <strong>and</strong> I might as well get my<br />
teeth overhauled.” 8
Easter 1915 provided a break from the<br />
routines of military training. Eric wrote<br />
from the Norfolk Hotel in Bournemouth:<br />
“I spent quite a nice Easter in the car with a few<br />
select friends: Salisbury - dinner <strong>and</strong> theatre,<br />
Bournemouth - lunch <strong>and</strong> tea ... quite a nice<br />
hotel this, I have a small suite - big bedroom,<br />
dressing room (for my man) <strong>and</strong> bathroom ...<br />
the cooking is quite good,” By this point the<br />
6th Wilts. had moved ten times <strong>and</strong> Eric<br />
was based at Perham Down near Andover.<br />
Possibly knowing that he would be there<br />
for some weeks, he decorated his hut with<br />
chintzy curtains.<br />
In early July he wrote of training itself:<br />
“Very early hours these last three days, called<br />
at 5.30am! This is all for range shooting. We<br />
are using American cartridges <strong>and</strong> they are<br />
simply appalling; they jam, mis-fire <strong>and</strong> one<br />
poor bullet only got 20 feet from the rifle before<br />
it lay on its back; I expect they forgot to put any<br />
powder in that one.”<br />
Later that month he was posted to France.<br />
“We slept 2 nights where we l<strong>and</strong>ed then moved<br />
on to a small place which I shall call (1) for<br />
a weeks time ... I shall remember the places<br />
we go to, so you can see our progress on the<br />
map. Gun-firing can be heard at intervals,<br />
so you see we are not so far off. It is not the<br />
9<br />
height of comfort here; eat when you can get<br />
it ... Got a bed tonight in a farmhouse which<br />
I am shortly going to revel in <strong>and</strong> a good wash<br />
tomorrow in a river ... we are not likely to go<br />
into the trenches for a few days ... feeling still<br />
more blood-thirsty.”<br />
On the 26th he wrote again: “Still on the<br />
tramp about 14 miles a day. Sore feet <strong>and</strong> an<br />
aching back. I believe they tire us out in order<br />
to inflame our anger for German blood. I had<br />
a poor sleep last night on a stone floor with a<br />
very thin mattress ... It will be a relief to get to<br />
the trenches as we shall have two or three days<br />
rest.” Thinking of home he wrote “How<br />
is the Studebaker getting on? You will find a<br />
guarantee form in my desk if you want it.”<br />
Eric’s next letter was much longer, seemingly<br />
at the request of his mother. “It is very<br />
difficult to tell you more than I do as we lead<br />
such a monotonous life. I am glad to say that<br />
I have managed to get a bedroom with a bed,<br />
I think another night in the open would have<br />
killed me ... Last evening I saw the Germans<br />
shelling aeroplanes; they must have had over a<br />
hundred shots, result nil. Last night from 3am<br />
there was continuous firing which lasted until<br />
7am; this I believe was in the region of Ypres<br />
... Do send any old papers <strong>and</strong> magazines <strong>and</strong><br />
gold-leaf cigarettes, all are thankfully received<br />
by the men <strong>and</strong> it keeps them from being<br />
wretched <strong>and</strong> brooding, their life is anything but<br />
pleasant. Sore feet, a weight of 50 lbs to carry,<br />
poor <strong>and</strong> badly cooked food, hot <strong>and</strong> dusty<br />
roads do not tend to promote cheerfulness ... a<br />
few good thick socks I could dispose of easily.”<br />
Eric signs off “well I don’t think you could call<br />
this a scratchy letter.” Given the contents, his<br />
mother may have regretted asking him for<br />
more details of life in France.
As Eric approached the trenches, his letters<br />
became more frequent <strong>and</strong> more detailed.<br />
He wrote to Dr. John on August 14th: “I<br />
hear next week that we are going into the firing<br />
line so that is something to look forward to, but<br />
I don’t much fancy the probable result. It is<br />
quite amusing in these small villages to talk <strong>and</strong><br />
get things from the villagers. I get on quite well<br />
despite a total lack of the French language.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> day after he wrote to his mother “We<br />
are now in a small village very near indeed.<br />
No beds again .. four shells came over our<br />
house in the evening, rather alarming at first<br />
as you don’t know if this whistling thing is<br />
coming down or going on! ... Today I had a<br />
walk with Eldrid into the town; quite half of it<br />
is wrecked beyond hope of repair. <strong>The</strong> church<br />
is absolutely ruined just part of the walls <strong>and</strong><br />
half the tower st<strong>and</strong>ing.”<br />
In his next letter home, Eric gave his mother<br />
details of trench warfare: “Just got through 48<br />
hours of first line trenches, an experience I am<br />
not looking forward to repeat ... the routine of<br />
the trenches is very simple. Each Officer is on<br />
duty for four hours at a time day <strong>and</strong> night ...<br />
no-one is allowed to undress so I had my clothes<br />
on for just about 60 hours. One can wash <strong>and</strong><br />
shave just the same but no bathing. <strong>The</strong> dugouts<br />
in which you sleep are made of s<strong>and</strong>bags<br />
with a roof about 4’ thick, they are generally 6’<br />
long, 5’ broad <strong>and</strong> 4’ high, just room to keep in<br />
<strong>and</strong> lie down. I had one of my men shot in the<br />
head looking over the top of the wall, not fatal<br />
as yet. He shot a German who was gathering<br />
wood <strong>and</strong> like a silly ass bobbed up to have a<br />
look when a sniper had him. Our casualties up<br />
to the present are about 6 ... Reggie Jess sent<br />
me 4,000 cigarettes in 2 lots which is splendid<br />
as I can issue a quantity like this to the whole<br />
company ... don’t send any more socks or<br />
cigarettes for a little while, only papers.”<br />
Eric evidently settled into life at the front, as<br />
his letter of September 1st reads: “Here I am<br />
once more in the front line of the trenches ... we<br />
are all on our own now <strong>and</strong> I think for a short<br />
time I should rather like it. <strong>The</strong>re is such a lot to<br />
do, building dug-outs, repairing the trenches etc.<br />
An average day is spent as follows:<br />
12am On duty<br />
3.45am St<strong>and</strong> to arms<br />
4.45am Early Breakfast<br />
5.15am Sleep<br />
9am Breakfast<br />
9.30am Rebuilding work etc.<br />
1pm Lunch<br />
2pm Rebuilding work<br />
4pm On duty<br />
8pm Dinner, st<strong>and</strong> to <strong>and</strong> office work<br />
9pm Rebuilding work<br />
10.30pm A few moments sleep<br />
12
13<br />
“This will give you a fair idea of how a day<br />
is spent 200 yards from the Germans ... the<br />
snipers are a perfect pest <strong>and</strong> come out in front<br />
of their trenches at night <strong>and</strong> take pot-shots at<br />
you in the moonlight. One ass nearly hit me<br />
the other night when I was crawling about in<br />
front of our trenches ... the trenches we now<br />
occupy are old German ones which have been<br />
taken some months <strong>and</strong> twice yesterday we<br />
had the misfortune to unearth a German - it<br />
sounds very nasty doing these sorts of things<br />
but when you have been in this place for a day<br />
or two civilisation seems to drop back to the<br />
Stone Age.”<br />
Clearly Eric was now very much a soldier<br />
<strong>and</strong> did not spare his mother the details:<br />
“I had some sport the other night with a sniper<br />
who was quite close to us. I watched for flashes<br />
of his rifle <strong>and</strong> then crawled out <strong>and</strong> threw three<br />
bombs in his direction. I hope I blew him to bits<br />
Officers Mess, Festubert<br />
as he didn’t shoot again ... I doubt if you would<br />
recognise me now with a haggard face, hair<br />
cropped short <strong>and</strong> mud-stained clothes ... P.S.<br />
Tell Father I got his cake with many thanks, I<br />
am ready for another one.”<br />
Just three days later on September 4th Eric<br />
sent another missive to his mother at <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Hall</strong>: “Will you please send me as soon as you<br />
get this letter my rubber boots. If possible I<br />
should like them by post even if you have to<br />
put one in each parcel, <strong>and</strong> inside them please<br />
put a pair of bed socks <strong>and</strong> some c<strong>and</strong>les. It<br />
rained all day yesterday <strong>and</strong> the trenches are<br />
six inches deep in slush. My feet are cold <strong>and</strong><br />
wet <strong>and</strong> I expect will remain so until the rubber<br />
boots come.” <strong>The</strong>re were some snippets of<br />
news from the front: “Last night at 9.30 we<br />
had 4 minutes of rapid fire on the German<br />
trenches in the hope of catching some of them<br />
working ... with the help of 3 machine guns<br />
we must have used about 2,000 cartridges on<br />
a frontage of 200 yards, I hope we killed a<br />
few. A little artillery shooting over our heads,<br />
luckily over <strong>and</strong> not on.”<br />
On the 8th, Eric wrote again: “Just a short<br />
letter as there is every indication of something<br />
doing at last in a very few days. A piece of<br />
the line is to be altered <strong>and</strong> we are supposed to<br />
be doing it. I only hope my revolver does not<br />
mis-fire at the critical moment.” On a more<br />
domestic note he added: “You will find a<br />
parcel arrive for you in a few days. This is a<br />
German entrenching tool <strong>and</strong> it struck me as<br />
being the very thing for you to use in your rock<br />
garden. I hope that you will like it. You had<br />
better get Cooper to put some binding on the<br />
h<strong>and</strong>le as it is split a bit.”<br />
On the 12th there is another letter: “I<br />
received the boots yesterday evening filled with<br />
socks <strong>and</strong> c<strong>and</strong>les <strong>and</strong> at once put them on as<br />
a change from my boots which I am getting<br />
rather tired of wearing day <strong>and</strong> night ...Reggie<br />
Fox sent me 2 boxes of nice sugar cakes so<br />
with yours we are having quite a civilised tea<br />
- flowers on the table, some dahlias I found<br />
near a ruined house. <strong>The</strong> flower vase is an old<br />
German shell that mis-fired.”<br />
Two days later Eric reports that “the Huns<br />
gave us 15 minutes of real ‘Hate’ this morning<br />
at 2am. Shells, machine guns, rifles, bombs<br />
<strong>and</strong> anything else they could get, quite a lively<br />
time, scrap iron flying through the air in what<br />
seemed every direction <strong>and</strong> missing me by<br />
inches. Luckily not a person was touched.<br />
How we escaped I cannot imagine.” He<br />
signed off cheerfully: “Tea time <strong>and</strong> a slice of<br />
Forts cake. Your loving Eric. PS. Will you let<br />
me have another writing pad please.”
On the evening of the 16 th of September 1915, Charles Eric <strong>Moulton</strong> was shot <strong>and</strong> fatally wounded whilst making<br />
improvements to a communication trench near Estaminet Corner in Festubert. <strong>The</strong> bullet severed a main artery<br />
in his thigh <strong>and</strong>, despite immediate aid from his comrades, death was almost instantaneous. He is buried at<br />
Brown’s Road Military Cemetery in Festubert. His headstone is inscribed ‘Rest In Peace’. He was 26 years old.<br />
14
<strong>The</strong> <strong>War</strong> Office telegram that everyone<br />
dreaded arrived at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> on the evening<br />
of Saturday 18th September. A telegram<br />
from Buckingham Palace followed on the<br />
21st: “<strong>The</strong> King <strong>and</strong> Queen deeply regret the<br />
loss you <strong>and</strong> the army have sustained in the<br />
death of your son in the service of his country.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Wiltshire Times reported that “A<br />
Bradford soldier serving with the 6th Wilts.,<br />
writing home, says that the death of Lt.<br />
<strong>Moulton</strong>, the first officer of the 6th Wilts. to<br />
fall, was received with the deepest regret by<br />
the whole regiment. He was “one of the best<br />
officers in France” <strong>and</strong> whilst a capable officer<br />
on parade he was a friend <strong>and</strong> chum to every<br />
man, who would have followed him anywhere.”<br />
Many letters of condolence were sent to<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong>. Reggie Fox wrote “I can only<br />
offer you my heartfelt sympathy. As for me,<br />
I have lost my dearest <strong>and</strong> best friend in Eric,<br />
<strong>and</strong> one whose place can never again be filled.”<br />
Another wrote “I must tell you, although<br />
you must already know if anyone in the 6th<br />
has written to you, that he was quite the most<br />
popular officer in the Regiment.”.<br />
His comrade Eldrid wrote with feeling<br />
about how Eric did not suffer, that he was<br />
a true friend, <strong>and</strong> how he knew how much<br />
the troops liked <strong>and</strong> admired him, both in<br />
their actions <strong>and</strong> from their letters home;<br />
with his sincere sympathies he asked that<br />
“if I am to be spared, I hope that you will<br />
permit me to visit you in the future.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> last Will of Charles Eric <strong>Moulton</strong>,<br />
signed <strong>and</strong> sealed scarcely two months<br />
before, named his brother John as executor.<br />
Eric left £1,000 to his servant, Albert Glisson,<br />
if he were to survive the war. He left the<br />
contents of his garage in the Drill <strong>Hall</strong> Yard<br />
to a Mr. Hickley, <strong>and</strong> instructed that the<br />
garage itself be removed <strong>and</strong> all traces of it<br />
to be obliterated. To his mother he left his<br />
jewellery, trinkets <strong>and</strong> his motor car body.<br />
<strong>The</strong> will continues: ‘<strong>The</strong> residue <strong>and</strong> remainder<br />
of my property, whether real or personal <strong>and</strong><br />
wherever situate, I give <strong>and</strong> bequeath to my<br />
brother the said John Coney <strong>Moulton</strong>.’ This<br />
included a portfolio of railway, oil <strong>and</strong> rubber<br />
company shares, including a £2,800 stake in<br />
George Spencer <strong>Moulton</strong> & Co..<br />
15
John Coney <strong>Moulton</strong>, the eldest son of John <strong>and</strong> Alice <strong>Moulton</strong>, was<br />
born in 1886. Like his younger brother Eric, he was educated at Eton.<br />
He later read Natural Sciences at Magdalen College, Oxford. In 1909,<br />
fresh out of college, he was recruited by Rajah Charles Brooke to establish<br />
a new museum in Kuching, Borneo.<br />
In <strong>1914</strong> John Coney married Beryl Latimer Greene in Sarawak. Beryl<br />
was the daughter of Dr. Greene of Stratford-upon-Avon; <strong>and</strong> sister to Dr.<br />
Downes Greene, Principal Medical Officer in Sarawak. <strong>The</strong> outbreak of<br />
war curtailed their happy existence in the raffish but restricted society of<br />
Sarawak. John <strong>Moulton</strong> saw service as a Captain in the 4th Wiltshire<br />
Territorial Regiment in India from 1915 onwards. Beryl returned to<br />
Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> their first child, John, was born in 1916.<br />
In 1917 John Coney was appointed to the Staff of the Military<br />
Headquarters in Singapore as co-ordinator of the Intelligence Services<br />
in the Far East, serving under General Sir Dudley Ridout. With a new<br />
home awaiting on Grove Road in Singapore, Beryl made the somewhat<br />
perilous sea passage to re-join her husb<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> in <strong>1918</strong> their daughter<br />
Dione was born. After the war Major John Coney <strong>Moulton</strong> resigned his<br />
commission <strong>and</strong> in 1919 accepted the post of Director of the Raffles<br />
Museum <strong>and</strong> Library in Singapore.<br />
John Coney <strong>and</strong> Beryl’s third child, Alex<strong>and</strong>er, was born in 1920 in<br />
Stratford-upon-Avon - clearly Beryl spent a good deal of her time<br />
travelling between Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> the East. In 1923 John Coney <strong>Moulton</strong><br />
was invited by Rajah Vyner Brooke to return to Sarawak as Chief<br />
Secretary, Member of Court <strong>and</strong> Judge of the Supreme Court. He<br />
accepted <strong>and</strong> was duly inaugurated in the August of that year.<br />
<strong>The</strong> final tragic twist in this story is that John Coney <strong>Moulton</strong> died in<br />
1926 having contracted peritonitis following appendicitis. He was only<br />
39 years of age <strong>and</strong> left three children under the age of ten.<br />
16
Rubber in the <strong>Great</strong> <strong>War</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> George Spencer <strong>Moulton</strong> Company<br />
in Bradford were, of course, rubber<br />
manufacturers. As the war progressed<br />
<strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> for rubber items of all types<br />
increased, Spencer-<strong>Moulton</strong> exp<strong>and</strong>ed<br />
rapidly <strong>and</strong> consequently imports of raw<br />
rubber rose sharply. Whilst this dem<strong>and</strong><br />
tested the supply of raw material, Britain<br />
did not experience any significant shortage<br />
17<br />
of rubber. In Germany, the situation was<br />
rather different as they had great trouble in<br />
obtaining the raw material.<br />
This shortage of material was so severe<br />
that sprung wheels of the type illustrated<br />
above were introduced on German cars <strong>and</strong><br />
military bicycles in order to reduce rubber<br />
consumption. By 1916 even private bicycle<br />
use was curtailed <strong>and</strong> all tyres <strong>and</strong> inner<br />
tubes not required for commercial use were<br />
to be h<strong>and</strong>ed over to the authorities where<br />
they would be re-distributed for industry<br />
<strong>and</strong> military purposes.<br />
Given the strategic importance of rubber<br />
in the war effort, precautions were taken<br />
to ensure that tyres <strong>and</strong> other rubber items<br />
supplied to neutral countries could not end<br />
up in the h<strong>and</strong>s of the German Government<br />
who so desperately needed them.
Nevertheless, in 1916 the Daily Mail alleged that Spencer-<br />
<strong>Moulton</strong> had been treacherous in supplying tyres into<br />
neutral countries without adequate safeguards against<br />
onward shipping <strong>and</strong> that these tyres were being used as part<br />
of the German war machine.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Spencer-<strong>Moulton</strong> Board were furious at this suggestion<br />
(one can imagine that John <strong>Moulton</strong>, having already lost his<br />
son, was particularly incensed) <strong>and</strong> took legal action against<br />
Associated Newspapers Ltd. with the result being the court<br />
finding the allegations entirely without foundation.<br />
Spencer <strong>Moulton</strong> were further moved to place ‘Honour<br />
Vindicated’ advertisements in the press detailing the story<br />
<strong>and</strong> adding that, far from supplying tyres without ensuring<br />
that they did not fall into enemy h<strong>and</strong>s, at the outbreak<br />
of war they had actually recalled their stocks of tyres from<br />
neutral countries.<br />
Other Spencer-<strong>Moulton</strong> advertisements of the time made<br />
a strong plea to buy British: “Help win the war by giving your<br />
whole-hearted support to British tyres. Every penny spent on<br />
imported tyres hampers home industries <strong>and</strong> undermines the<br />
financial stability of the country. <strong>The</strong> Spencer-<strong>Moulton</strong> threeribbed<br />
tyre is British made throughout. It gives as good service as<br />
any imported tyre - <strong>and</strong> in many cases scores a distinct advantage<br />
on the question of price.”<br />
Spencer-<strong>Moulton</strong> lost 47 of their workforce during the<br />
war, including George Spencer who was effectively Eric<br />
<strong>Moulton</strong>’s counterpart in the Spencer family <strong>and</strong>, at 31,<br />
already a member of the Board of Directors. George died<br />
from wounds sustained in battle in December 1917.<br />
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Red Cross Hospital, Avoncliff<br />
Bradford on Avon Church Lads, New Road Hut<br />
19<br />
Red Cross Volunteers <strong>and</strong> Nurses, Fitzmaurice School<br />
Victory Parade at Victory Field, <strong>1918</strong>
Victory Parade, Bradford on Avon<br />
20
<strong>War</strong>-time Cake<br />
from Alice <strong>Moulton</strong>’s Recipe Book<br />
Alice <strong>Moulton</strong> kept a neat book of household<br />
recipes - from conventional cooking to how to<br />
deal with stains <strong>and</strong> even how to prepare glass<br />
photographic plates.<br />
Of particular relevance here is this war-time<br />
cake recipe, made without butter, eggs or milk.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Victorian kitchen in the basement of <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Hall</strong> may have seen the baking of the war-time<br />
cake many times, <strong>and</strong> indeed some may have<br />
been posted out to Eric at the front. One does<br />
wonder however, if there was such a lack of<br />
ingredients at <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong>, whether others in the<br />
town had anything to eat at all.<br />
After the death of her husb<strong>and</strong> John, Alice<br />
<strong>Moulton</strong> became head of the household at <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Hall</strong>. Her eldest gr<strong>and</strong>child, also John, later<br />
recalled: “We know that Granny never really got<br />
over the loss of her three men <strong>and</strong> for a long time<br />
the subject was hurtful to her. However, she must<br />
have quickly seen where her duty lay <strong>and</strong>, by sheer<br />
strength of character <strong>and</strong> supported by a strong<br />
religious faith, was able to steer the estate safely<br />
through the financial shocks of the Depression, then<br />
the second war <strong>and</strong> finally her own last illness, to<br />
h<strong>and</strong> on to us the priceless asset we see <strong>and</strong> love<br />
today. We owe her so much.”
Eric <strong>Moulton</strong>’s memory is perpetuated in many places. He was laid to<br />
rest in Brown’s Road Military Cemetery at Festubert, France, <strong>and</strong> his<br />
name is listed on the memorial in the cemetery grounds. In Bradford<br />
on Avon his name is to be found on the <strong>War</strong> Memorial in Westbury<br />
Gardens <strong>and</strong> on the Spencer-<strong>Moulton</strong> memorial (right) which is<br />
now affixed to Kingston House. Holy Trinity Church has a fine <strong>War</strong><br />
Memorial on the south wall <strong>and</strong> wooden boards inside the porch. <strong>The</strong><br />
organ in the church is dedicated to the memory of Eric <strong>and</strong> his father<br />
John (who provided the funds for its purchase). Christ Church has the<br />
1919 Lady Chapel <strong>and</strong> Rose window <strong>and</strong>, finally, Eric is listed on the<br />
<strong>War</strong> Cenotaph at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London.<br />
Cover image: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong> in the 1890s (AMCT)<br />
Back cover image: Stone of Remembrance, Brown’s Road Cemetery, Festubert (DF)<br />
P1: AMCT & R.Wilkinson. P2: WSHC. P3,4,5,6,7 AMCT. P8 BoAMus. P9,10 WSHC.<br />
P11 AMCT. P12 ©IWM Q98202, Q51640. P13 ©IWM Q52982AD. P14,15,16 AMCT.<br />
P17 ©IWM 205219528. P18 <strong>The</strong> Motor Trader/Grace’s Guide. P19 WSHC, BoAMus.<br />
P20 WSHC. P21 AMCT. P22 BoAMus.<br />
Research by Guy Vincent<br />
Text, Design & Layout by Dan Farrell<br />
© Alex <strong>Moulton</strong> Charitable Trust 2018<br />
<strong>The</strong> vision of the Alex <strong>Moulton</strong> Charitable Trust is to nurture <strong>and</strong> inspire future<br />
generations of innovating engineers <strong>and</strong> designers <strong>and</strong> to inform, excite <strong>and</strong> engage<br />
the community in the unique industrial legacy of the <strong>Moulton</strong> family of Bradford on Avon.<br />
Visit our website: www.moultontrust.org<br />
Alex <strong>Moulton</strong><br />
Charitable Trust<br />
info@moultontrustees.org.uk<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Hall</strong>, Bradford on Avon BA15 1AJ<br />
Registered charity number: 273158<br />
22