© Wonersh History Society - www.wonershhistory.co.uk
WONERSH
HISTORY SOCIETY
The people of Wonersh have been employed in a variety
of trades and professions. There have been weavers,
writers, printers, stonemasons, tanners, shoemakers,
judges, politicians, shopkeepers, gamekeepers,
brickmakers and farmers.
The writer and traveller Claudia Parsons became the
first person to circumnavigate the world by car in 1938.
In 1739 Judge Sir William Chappel passed sentence on
the highwayman Dick Turpin.
In Victorian Britain, Caroline Norton, a passionate
campaigner for women’s rights, was instrumental in the
passing of the Custody of Infants Act and Matrimonial
Causes Act.
During WW2 Constance Babbington Smith was awarded
an MBE and the US Legion of Merit for her work in air
photo intelligence.
It all began
when
in
1966,
a
year
before
he
moved
to
Wonersh,
the
late
Anthony
Fanshawe
started
his
research
into
the
village.
He
interviewed
residents
and
people
who
had
moved
away
and
he
visited
Public
Record
Offices.
In
all
he
spent
twenty-four
years
collecting
a
vast
amount
of
material.
On
Anthony’s
death,
John-Paul
Marix-Evans
of
Great
Tangley
and
Fraser
Scott
of
Woodyers
(respectively
our
first
Chairman
and
Secretary)
cleared
his
study
and
both
left
with
their
cars
loaded
with
books,
pictures,
maps
and
documents.
It’s
this
collection
that
formed
the
basis
of
the
Wonersh
History
Society
which
was
founded
in
1992 and since then the archive has continued to grow.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Dennis Cruickshank
Chairman & Archivist
Graham Healy
Treasurer & Membership
Douglas Sudbury
Barry Clifford
Archivist
Richard Bawden
Publicity
Dennis Cruickshank
Bulletin Editor
FROM THE ARCHIVES
For just £10 a year (£15 for a family) you can join the History Society and have access to more photographs like this along with videos, Zoom presentations, bulletins and the first of a new series of books - ‘Women of Wonersh’. Claudia Parsons came to live in The Old House in Wonersh in the 1920s. She was one of the first three women to study engineering in the UK; in 1938 she was the first person to circumnavigate the world by car; she wrote a travel book, a novel, short stories, an autobiography and was co-author of a book on china restoration. In 1956 she also found time to carve the nativity scene which has shone a light in Wonersh every Christmas since then. Claudia is just one of a number of remarkable women whose stories are told in ‘Women of Wonersh’, the first in a series of publications being produced by the History Society. To read this book, and for free access to photographs, videos and Zoom presentations, you can join us by using the link above.
Claudia Parsons
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