People in E J Rudsdale's Journals

Eric’s family:

Agnes Rudsdale
(nee Webb) was Eric’s mother. She was born in Colchester in 1870 and had been an assistant schoolmistress before her marriage to John Rudsdale.

John Rudsdale was Eric’s father. Born in Whitby, North Yorkshire in 1875, he trained as a schoolmaster and left his home town to take up a post as a mathematics teacher in Colchester in 1896. Here he met and married Agnes Webb and their only son, Eric, was born in 1910. John Rudsdale had retired from teaching in 1936 owing to ill health.

Frederick Maitland Underhill was Eric’s cousin. He was born in 1907 and lived in Maidenhead, Berkshire. By 1939 he was working as a bank manager. Like Eric, he shared a love of history and antiquities and in addition to his full-time job, he was also the Honorary Curator of Hambleden Museum in Buckinghamshire and a lifelong member of the Berkshire Archaeological Society.

Margery Warren was Eric's cousin. She lived at Shurlock Row in Berkshire.

Frank Webb was Eric's uncle and was younger brother to Eric's mother, Agnes. He lived at Purley.


Other people mentioned in Eric's journals:

Penelope Belfield lived near Dedham. Eric first met her when visiting the Parrington family in nearby Lawford.

Hervey Benham was the son of Sir William Gurney Benham and worked for the Essex County Standard newspaper. He was a friend of Eric's and later published some extracts from Eric's journals in a volume entitled Essex at War (1945).

Maura Benham was the daughter of Sir William Gurney Benham. She worked at Paddington Hospital in London.

Sir William Gurney Benham, was the proprietor of Benham & Co, printers of Colchester, and editor of Colchester’s local newspaper, the Essex County Standard. Benham was also Chairman of Colchester Corporation's Museum Committee.

Alderman Sam Blomfield was a member of Colchester Corporation's Museum Committee.

Molly Blomfield was the daughter of Alderman Sam Blomfield.

Rose Browne was Eric’s girlfriend from 1939-1941. She ran a café in Church Walk, Colchester.

George Farmer was Eric’s schoolfriend and had worked with Eric on archaeological excavations. The Farmer family ran an ironmongery shop in Colchester. George Farmer was called up to the RAF in 1940.

Capt F T Folkard was the District Officer to the Lexden and Winstree District Committee of the Essex War Agricultural Committee at Colchester.

Eilean Grubb ran a riding school at Fingringhoe, near Colchester. This was where Eric had learnt to ride a horse.

Hampshire Bacon shared the stables at Port Lane, Colchester with Eric.

Stanley Hills was a schoolfriend of Eric's.

Rex Hull was the curator of Colchester Castle Museum from 1926-1963 and a renowned archaeologist. Eric became his assistant in 1928.

Dr Philip Guyon Laver was the Honorary Curator at Colchester Castle Museum and had also been a General Practitioner in the town. Eric often refers to him simply as ‘The Doctor’. He died in 1941.

J C Leslie was the Principal of the Essex Agricultural Institute at Writtle, Chelmsford and became the Executive Officer of the Essex War Agricultural Committee (EWAC) during the Second World War. The EWAC took over the Essex Agricultural Institute for its headquarters for the duration of the war.

Matthew ('Parry') and Joy Parrington were farmers at Sherbourne Mill, Lawford, near Manningtree in Essex.

Professor Lionel Penrose was Chairman of Colchester Civic Society and Eric served as the Society's Secretary. Both had campaigned throughout the 1930s to conserve historic buildings in Colchester. Penrose was a renowned psychiatrist, medical geneticist and mathematician and was the older brother of the artist, Roland Penrose.

Harold Poulter was the Assistant Curator and technician with responsibility for Hollytrees Museum and workshop in the Castle Park. Eric often refers to him as HWP.

Stanley Nott was the Cultivation Officer for the Essex War Agricultural Committee, Lexden & Winstree District

Annie and Mary Ralling were neighbours of the Rudsdale family in the New Town district of Colchester.

Stuart Rose was an artist who worked on the land during the war. He and his wife, Dodo, lived at Boxted for most of the war.  Stuart Rose later became the Design Director to the General Post Office from 1968 to 1976.

Capt. (later Colonel) Round, was Chairman of the Lexden & Winstree District Committee of the Essex War Agricultural Committee. He lived at Birch Hall.

Joanna Round, was the daughter of Capt. Round. She began undertaking wartime work for the Essex War Agricultural Committee at Colchester in the spring of 1941.

R N Sadler, Deputy to J C Leslie, Executive Officer of the Essex War Agricultural Committee at Writtle, Chelmsford.

Jeffrey Saunders was a schoolfriend of Eric's.

Seymour was a teacher at Colchester Royal Grammar School. His son, Alan, was a schoolfriend of Eric's.

Marshall Sisson, RA was an architect, then living at 'Sherman's' an 18th century house in Dedham, Essex with his wife, Marjorie. Sisson specialised in the restoration of old buildings and was appointed as an advisor on bomb damage to historic buildings in 1941.

Daven Soar was one of Rudsdale’s schoolfriends and worked as a telephone engineer.

Mary Tovell was the bookshop assistant at Colchester Castle Museum when war broke out but left soon after to train as a nurse at Erith in Kent.

Chapman } Both were museum attendants
Harding } at the Castle Museum.


Animals mentioned in Eric's journals:

Bob
was Eric’s horse, a Welsh cob, who was stabled at Bourne Mill in Colchester.

Robin was Eric's second horse, who he acquired in 1942.

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