Artists in Wonderland: Oxford, “Alice” and the Pre-Raphaelites

Illustrating his talk with artists’ works, Mark Davies described the interaction between Thomas Combe and his wife, Martha, and the Pre-Raphaelites in Oxford. Having joined the Oxford University Press, Combe became its Superintendent. William Holman Hunt related that when Combe and his wife met artists John Millais and his friend Charles Allston Collins and heard of the poor food in their lodgings, Martha sent them a pie the next day.

The Pre-Raphaelite artists’ attention to detail was emphasised using the View of Port Meadow from Godstow Lock, which included the industrial buildings of Wolvercote Paper Mill and the Oxford University Press. For the painting, The Woodman’s Daughter, Millais requested Combe to ask the mother of the girl, Esther, for an old pair of her boots to be able to paint them with total accuracy. A Scene of the Oxford Canal included the Observatory and the OUP building, while Convent Thoughts may have been painted in the private garden of the Press where the Combes’ had their house. They had no children and bought many paintings.

William Holman Hunt chronicled the Pre-Raphaelite history and told how William Morris and his friend at Exeter College, Edward Burne Jones, recruited Dante Gabriel Rosetti to paint the Oxford Union with large murals. A rare sketch by Morris of his plan for a mural was shown. It was said, however, that “Topsy” (Morris ) “can’t draw the head or where the hips come of ‘stunner’ Lipscombe”, the daughter of the keeper of the Trout. John Ruskin was the most influential art critic and he helped the Pre-Raphaelites to become important.

In1854, the year Charles Dodgson finished his studies, he was ordained and he gave his first sermon at St. Barnabas Church which Combe had had built for the people of Jericho, and where he was Church Warden. Holman Hunt described Martha as “foster mother of the whole house”. Dodgson rowed Alice and her sisters to Godstow in 1862, and was asked by Alice to write the stories he told them. An attractive edition of “Alice’s Adventures Underground” was produced in 1864 with “A Christmas Gift” on the back cover. However Dodgson’s sketch of Alice was not deemed good enough by sculptor Thomas Woolner, and Tenniel, who rowed at Oxford came to be the illustrator. This year is the 150th anniversary of first publication of Alice in Wonderland.

(Summary prepared by Elizabeth Simons)

Local Oxfordshire talks – March 2015

Information provided by the OLHA (www.olha.org.uk)

12^th – Banbury – Stephen Wass “A Way with Water: Water Resources and the Life of an Eighteenth Century Park, Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire”. Banbury Museum, Spiceball Park Road, 7:30pm.

12^th – Didcot – Eugene Coyle “The Civil War in Oxfordshire”. Northbourne Centre, Church Street, 7:30pm.

12^th – Wootton & Dry Sandford – Mark Davies “Alice in Wonderland: Oxford ‘Alice’ and the pre-Raphaelites”. Community Centre, Lamborough Hill, Wootton, 7.30pm.

13^th – Charlbury – Conrad Keating “Great Medical Discoveries: 800 Years of Oxford Innovation”. Memorial Hall, Browns Lane, 8:00pm.

16^th – Bicester – Chris Day “A History of the English Parish”. Clifton Centre, Ashdene Road, 7:30pm.

16^th – Kennington – Liz Woolley “Children’s Experiences of the Second World War in Oxfordshire”. Methodist Church, Upper Road, 7:45pm.

17^th – Adderbury – Deborah Hayter “Ridge and Furrow’ – What’s it All About?” Methodist Chapel, Chapel Lane, 7:30pm.

17^th – Cowley – Edward Dixon “Women on the Home Front”. Temple Cowley United Reformed Church, Temple Road, 8:00pm.

17^th – Iffley – Christine Gadsby “Blenheim – Battle for Europe”. Church Hall, Church Way, 7:30pm.

18^th – Bloxham – Katherine Bradley “Votes for Women: the History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Oxfordshire, 1870-1918”. Jubilee Hall, off Brickle Lane, 7:30pm.

18^th – Clanfield & Bampton – Alastair Lack “Oxfordshire Country Houses”. Bampton Village Hall., 7:30pm.

18^th – Littlemore – John Stewart “Shell Shock in WWI Oxford”. Littlemore Community Centre, Giles Road, 7:00 for 7:30pm.

19^th – Abingdon – Maureen Mellor “Pots and Food: Do Medieval Pottery Studies Add to the Enjoyment of Eating and Drinking?” Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45 pm.

19^th – Eynsham – Steve Parrinder “The Stones of Eynsham Abbey”. Church Hall, Thames Street, 7:30pm.

19^th – Sibfords – AGM followed by Chris Mason “Swift Stories”. Village Hall, Sibford Gower, 8:00pm.

19^th– Wychwoods – Bob Harris “The Early Life of Lord Nuffield”. Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall, 7:30pm.

20^th – Finstock – Stephen Barker “Oxfordshire – the Home Front 1914 – 1918”. Village Hall, 8:00 pm.

23^rd – Oxfordshire Family History Society – Anthony Adolph “Joining the Dots and Bringing it all Together – Connecting up Normal Genealogical Research, Origins of Surnames, and DNA”. Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington, 8:00pm.

24^th – Enstone – Victoria Huxley “Jane Austen’s Local Connections and the Lives of Regency Women”. Venue tbc (contact 01608 677246, carolawt@gmail.com), 7:30pm.

24^th – Hanney – Malcolm Graham “Victorian North Oxford – Suburban Paradise or Leafy Sobriety?”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.

24^th – Sutton Courtenay – Simon Wenham “The History of Salters Steamers.” The Village Hall, 7:30pm.

25^th – Dorchester – Greg Stores “Sleeping through the Ages: an Historical Account of Human Sleep”. Village Hall, 7:30pm.

26^th – Aston – Moira Byast “Taste the Past”. Fellowship Centre, Cote Road, 7:30pm.

31^st – Kidlington – Brian Lowe “Odder Oxford”. St John Ambulance Hall, High Street, 7:50pm.

Motoring and Transport in the Forties

On Thursday 12^th February the History Society listened to Michael Bartlett who enthusiastically told us about what it was like to travel on the roads in the forties.

Buses where his initial interest. As a boy, living in Morden in the forties, he could observe all the different types and makes of bus then being used by London Transport. The Bus Stop was right outside his house.

His passion about forties motoring was enhanced by the acquisition of every copy of the weekly magazine Autocar produced during the decade. A collection he still retains to this day.

Studying these Autocar Magazines led him to prepare his fascinating story. Some highlights of which are reflected below.

All vehicles to be used after dark had to have white flashes painted on the mudguards and along their sides. The blackout made it difficult to see clearly at night and so any aid to vision was some small help. Headlights had to be shrouded, which meant that drivers fumbled their way forward often ending in the ditch or buried into roadworks. It was said that there were more casualties on the road than Hitler inflicted on us with his bombs.

As petrol rationing took effect public transport was stretched to the limit with overloaded buses providing an essential service in getting people to and from work. Long distance journeys were curtailed and coaches such as those used on the Greenline service were converted into emergency ambulances.

Private motoring was still possible but shortages of rubber for tyres and lead for batteries together with petrol rationing severely restricted movement. Vehicles travelling around coastal areas required a permit and identity. The Homeguard checked these at roadblocks.

Increasingly vehicles were taken off the road and immobilised. The Police received the immobilising part for safe keeping during the conflict. If your vehicle was for essential use you had to immobilise it when parked. Otherwise the Police or Homeguard would do it for you, by letting all the tyres down.

Every attempt was done to confuse the invader by removing signposts and displaying coded destination blinds on buses. Unless you were familiar with your route and destination this practice inevitably caused confusion amongst the indigenous population.

As petrol became even scarcer other methods of fuel were introduced. It was not uncommon to see gasbags on top of cars filled with town gas as a fuel. Many vehicles towed a special trailer, which generated producer gas from coke.

After the war things didn’t get any better in spite of the desire to get motoring again. New cars were in very short supply due to lack of materials. Many cars immobilised during the war were never sore the light of day. Ex-service vehicles were now redundant; but to acquire one wrapped you in endless red tape to the point that people just didn’t bother. Eventually these vehicles were sold at auction.

By the end of the forties Public Transport was in its heyday, but it wouldn’t be long before the private car held sway.

Malcolm Kindell