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ALAN CASH - web pages C. B. Purdom index - click here C. B. Purdom |
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C. B. Purdom by Alan Cash |
Charles Benjamin Purdom |
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(C. B. Purdom) | |
(1883-1965) | |
(The above sketch by M. Somer appears as the frontispiece in Purdom's 1951 autobiography "Life Over Again") |
Introduction |
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My interest in Purdom began when I started collecting books on Welwyn Garden City a few years ago. I lived in Welwyn Garden City from birth (1945) until 1968, and found it a wonderful place in which to grow up. As I collected the books, I formed the opinion that Purdom had the most interesting personality of the various people who were involved in the founding of the town. In 1951, he wrote an autobiography Life Over Again, but no-one has written his biography so far as I know. I hope in the future that someone will do this if they can get sufficient material. The notes I have prepared below set out some background
information and biographical details about C. B. Purdom. I have drawn
heavily from the autobiography which, according to a sentence in the preface,
was written by CBP from memory, since his diaries, and a large part of
his library, were destroyed in the blitz of 1940. |
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Sources |
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When quoting a single paragraph I have put the reference at the beginning of the quotation. When quoting more than one paragraph I have put the reference at the beginning of the first paragraph and at the end of the last paragraph quoted. |
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Copyright |
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Click on the links below to jump down this document to a particular section. Click on any of the links which say "(go to contents)" to return to this point. |
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Family Background |
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Charles's parents were Benjamin Purdom and Margaret Newington, who were married in the third quarter of 1880 in St Saviour, Southwark, Surrey registration district. [GRO] Benjamin Purdom's birth was registered in 1852, second quarter, St Saviour, Southwark, Surrey registration district. [GRO] In the 1871 census, he is recorded aged 18, a Private Soldier 2/2 Queens, at Raglan Army Barracks, Stoke Damerel, Devonport. [1871 census RG10-2129-87-20] In the 1881 census, which was carried out a few months after his marriage to Margaret Newington, Benjamin, aged 28, was with his wife at 141 Regent Street, Lambeth, his occupation being recorded as "Hackney Carriage Proprietor & Driver". [1881 census RG11-596-104-17] Unfortunately, I cannot locate Benjamin in the 1861 census when he would have been aged 8 and probably with his parents (CBP's paternal grandparents). Margaret Newington's birth was registered in second quarter 1852, Godstone, Surrey registration district. [GRO] In the 1861 census, she is recorded aged 9, at Godstone Station, Godstone, where she is granddaughter of the head of household who was John Goodwin, age 59, grocer, born Tandridge, Surrey. Also present were John's wife and unmarried daughter, both called Sarah, and a niece and a lodger. [1861 census RG9-446-29-51] There is a marriage registered between Thomas Newington and Ann Goodwin (first quarter 1852 Godstone registration district [GRO] ) and this couple are likely to be Margaret's parents, and therefore CBP's maternal grandparents, but I have not verified this. In the 1871 census, Margaret, aged 19, was recorded as a general servant in the Coopers Arms, Peckham. [1871 census RG10-735-151-6] CBP's mother, Margaret Newington (born 1852, married 1880) died in 1904, her death being registered in the third quarter of that year in Lambeth registration district, as Margaret Purdom age 52. [GRO] CBP was 20 years of age when his mother died. CBP's father, Benjamin Purdom (born 1852, married 1880) died in 1916, his death being registered in the second quarter of that year in Rochford registration district, as Benjamin Purdom age 63. [GRO] CBP was 32 years of age when his father died.
The 1891 census recorded CBP aged 7 living with his parents at 49 Neptune Street, Lambeth. [1891 census RG12-401-83-40] Click here to view the census image. Below is my transcript of it.
The 1901 census recorded CBP aged 17 at the same address now working as a commercial clerk [1901 census RG13-417-16-24] Click here and here to view the census image which runs across two pages. Below is my transcript of it.
The occupations of the Purdoms' neighbours in Neptune Street in 1901
included a cardboard box maker, a charwoman, a coke carman, a hatter,
a laundry labourer, and a plumber. The births of the four Purdom children were registered in Lambeth registration district as follows:
Click here to see the birth certificate of Charles Benjamin Purdom. Below is my transcript of it.
There is a death for Thomas H. Purdom age 49 recorded in 1935 first quarter, in Brentford registration district. [GRO] I cannot find a marriage for Thomas in the GRO. There is a short passage in CBP's autobiography which must, I think, relate to his brother Thomas:
According to contacts, Percy Edward Purdom emigrated to Australia. He married Sarah Mabel Hodges (born 1890, Fremantle, Western Australia) in 1914. Their daughter Mary Margaret Purdom (CBP's niece) was born in 1915. Sarah died in 1962 and Percy died in 1968, both in Perth, Australia. There is a marriage registered in 1917 fourth quarter, in Hitchin registration district, between Dawson R. Christie and Annie E. Purdom. [GRO] This is probably the marriage of CBP's sister. There is a birth registered in 1918 fourth quarter, Bridgwater registration district, for Stewart D. Christie, mother's maiden surname Purdon (sic). [GRO] This is probably CBP's nephew. |
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The Beginnings of Letchworth Garden City |
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In his book To-Morrow, a Peaceful Path to Real Reform, (1898), Ebenezer Howard proposed that £240,000 be raised in order to purchase 6,000 acres of agricultural land at £40 per acre on which was to be built the first garden city. CBP obtained a second-hand copy of this book (in about 1901), and this is how he described the revelation he found in the book:
A few months after the book was published, the Garden City Association (GCA) was formed (1899) with T. W. H. Idris (mineral water manufacturer) as first chairman. [CBP-1963 p.3] The object of the Association was to carry on the discussion of Howard's project by means of lectures and to formulate a practical scheme for a garden city. [CBP-1913 p.23] After two years of work, with the Chairman of the Association now Ralph Neville, K.C., and Secretary Thomas Adams, and with support from George Cadbury and W. H. Lever who had founded the industrial villages Bournville, and Port Sunlight respectively, the Garden City Pioneer Company Limited (GCPCL) was formed in July 1902, with a capital of £20,000. [CBP-1963 p.3] Neville and Adams both took on dual roles because while they were respectively chairman and secretary of the Association, Neville became the Company's chairman and Adams became Company Secretary. CBP was involved with the new company from the beginning as he relates in his autobiography:
The project was given free advertising space in the Daily Mail after Alfred Harmsworth heard about it and became an enthusiast. In a few weeks the money was fully subscribed. CBP describes chaos in the office under Howard as managing director. His work included visiting prospective sites for the first garden city.
Raising the money was found to be difficult. After a year the total had reached £100,000.
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Marriage |
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According to CBP's autobiography, Lilian was "Irish and a Catholic" [CBP-1951 p. 4], and her father was a "Waterford doctor" [CBP-1951 p. 2]. According to her GRO death registration (1971 first quarter, Hatfield registration district, Lilian Antonia Purdom) her birth date was 31st January, 1888. I have not been able to locate her in England in the 1891 or 1901 censuses - perhaps she had not yet come to England. I have nothing else on her family background. The picture of her below is from CBP's autobiography. The following passage from chapter 1 of CBP's autobiography describes how they came to be married, and their early married life.
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First World War |
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CBP gives an account of his war experiences in ten pages of his autobiography. He says that had war not intervened he would doubtless have gone on the stage. He was not a war enthusiast but neither a pacifist; he at first decided to devote his time to Letchworth during the War, but after a long argument with an American friend of his, Bradford Perin, he enlisted. His call up was deferred on the sudden illness and death of his father.
CBP was first posted to Ampthill in Bedfordshire, only about 10 miles from Letchworth. He was able to go home at week-ends. He was initially classified as a C3 labour man, but was given clerical work. He wanted to be reclassified so he could obtain a commission and go to the front, but after a further medical examination was turned down for service in France because of his spectacles. From Ampthill he went to the 29th Middlesex regiment at Crawley, thence to Purfleet, to Luton, and then to Preston barracks in Brighton. He again went before a medical board, and this time passed by memorizing the eye-test card beforehand. He then went to Chatham for intensive military training. [I think CBP was desperate not to emerge from the War as Private Purdom having done clerical duties.] The following account from CBP's autobiography begins with his training at Chatham and ends with his discharge from the army in January 1918.
After the war, CBP's old job as accountant with the Letchworth Garden City company had been filled. He was paid a year's salary. He remained living at Letchworth until 1922 when he moved to Welwyn Garden City. |
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International Garden Cities and Town Planning Association |
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The first meeting after the War was held in Belgium in 1919, followed by one at London's Olympia as part of the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition. In 1920 Culpin and Purdom shared the post of Secretary of the international Association.
CBP devotes a couple of pages of his autobiography to the international organization:
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Welwyn Garden City |
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During the War, Howard became impatient with both the government and the GCTPA for not moving beyond Letchworth. He had combined with Purdom, Osborn and Taylor to form the National Garden Cities Committee which had refocussed the direction of the CGTPA, but he despaired of a government funded programme and in any case favoured associated individualism or private enterprise. In 1918 Howard, Purdom and Osborn had walked around the agricultural land north of Hatfield which was eventually to become Welwyn Garden City. In April 1919, without telling the others, Howard wrote to Lord Salisbury (who was then President of the GCTPA), owner of the southern portion of this land (which was immediately to the north of the Hatfield House estate) asking if it could be bought for a second garden city. Salisbury declined giving the reason that such a venture could only succeed if backed by the necessary finance and business expertise. Then came the coincidence of the Panshanger Estate, which included the northern part and bulk of the land which Howard required, coming up for auction in May 1919. [Hardy points out that this was not such a big coincidence since at that time many large estates were on the market.] Howard paid the deposit for the 1700 acres. A creditable group was soon assembled to form the pioneer company, Second Garden City Ltd.
A new approach to Lord Salisbury was successful and a further 700 acres purchased from the Salisbury estate. Meanwhile, further directors were sought and the following were added to the original seven: Lord Lytton (the second Earl, who became President of the GCTPA 1929 to 1947), Samuel Smethurst (a builder from the North), Sir John Mann (Scottish accountant) and, most importantly, Sir Theodore G. Chambers, K.B.E., a surveyor who had become director of many companies and who had been Controller of National Savings in the War. Chambers became chairman of the Company in 1919. Hardy says that the GCTPA was in an ambiguous position because although some of the leading figures in forming the Company were its members, it had not promoted the scheme directly. However, the Association recognised that the attention attracted by the new venture would become a vehicle for its campaign for government schemes. Eventually the Association itself claimed credit for the scheme. Hardy points out that Welwyn diverted the energies of key Association members (particularly Osborn and Purdom) and that the Association's impact was lessened. CBP, in his autobiography "Life Over Again", gives an account of his involvement in Welwyn Garden City from the beginning. Here is this material which is from chapter 2 of the book starting at section 10.
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CBP does not say much about his wife in his autobiography. There is one interesting short passage in which he tells of Antonia's employment at Welwyn Stores during WW-II:
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The 1928 Affair |
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These events are what sparked my interest in his life and led me to study his books and create this website. In this section, I am giving some background information, followed by summaries of three accounts of the 1928 affair, which are by Maurice de Soissons, by Arnold Whittick, and by C. B. Purdom himself.
A brilliant account of Ebenezer Howard's life and achievements is to be found in the book The Garden City Utopia - A Critical Account of Ebenezer Howard by Robert Beevers published in 1988 by The Macmillan Press Ltd. Towards the end of this book, Beevers writes about the relationship between Purdom and Osborn. Robert Beevers is an historian who specialises in nineteenth century cultural history. He was one of the founders of the Open University.
After meeting Howard at a Fabian meeting in 1912, Osborn was appointed Secretary of the Howard Cottage Society at Letchworth. Purdom was finance officer for the Letchworth Garden City company and had already been there since 1904.
Purdom enlisted in 1916 and served until January 1918 when he was discharged medically unfit. As already mentioned above in the section headed "The Garden City Association", in October 1917, whilst still in the army, Purdom had written a pamphlet on the future of Letchworth and the garden city movement after the war. Purdom was dismissive about its impact saying it had no influence, 'except on Howard, who hitherto discouraged and seeing no future for the idea, was excited into activity'. [CBP-1951 p. 60] However, regarding the pamphlet, Beevers says:
The events in 1918, regarding the National Garden Cities Committee, the book New Towns After The War, and the success of the New Townsmen in winning their arguments in the GCTPA, with Purdom becoming first Assistant Secretary, then Secretary of the Assocation, have already been described in "The Garden City Association" section above. Regarding the book, Beevers says:
Beevers continues with an account of the rebuff given to the GCA by Addison, and Howard's determination to start a second garden city with private money.
Beevers continues with an account of Howard's negotiation with Lord Salisbury for the purchase of the land for Welwyn, and how the Panhanger Estate land was purchased at auction, and how the deposit money was raised. The account continues with the formation of the Welwyn board under the chairmanship of Sir Theodore Chambers.
The final chapter from Beevers's book is entitled "A Heroic Simpleton ?" covers the latter part of Howard's life. The following two brilliant paragraphs concern the Welwyn board's rent and rate policy which was key to the ultimate survival and prosperity of Welwyn Garden City.
The last quotation from Mr Beevers's book includes a short account of the 1928 affair.
The first main account of the affair I am giving here is by Maurice de Soissons (b. 1927) in his book Welwyn Garden City: A Town Designed for Healthy Living, published in 1988 by Publications for Companies, Cambridge. That book can still be obtained, secondhand or even new if you search for it, but do shop around because the price seems to vary wildly. It is a most excellent account of the origins and development of Welwyn Garden City richly illustrated with photographs from the town, some in colour. I have written brief notes on it which can be accessed by clicking here. There is a picture of Maurice from the cover of the book in my notes. His other books include one about Telford New Town and a novel featuring poachers in the east of England. Maurice de Soissons is the son of the planner and architect of Welwyn Garden City - the Canadian Louis de Soissons (1890-1962). Louis prepared the plan for the town (based on an original by C. M. Crickmer), and was responsible for promoting the familiar red-brick, red-tiled houses, detached, semi-detached and terraced, with Georgian style window frames which are such an attractive feature of the older parts of the town particularly to the west of the railway line. I grew up in one of these houses in Digswell Road (No. 36). This is what Maurice has to say about Purdom prior to the 1928 affair:
And now for the crucial passage from a section headed "The 1928 Row":
Finally, the last pieces from Maurice de Soissons's book:
The second account of the 1928 affair I am giving here is the one in the book F. J. O. - Practical Idealist, a biography of Sir Frederic J. Osborn by Arnold Whittick, published in 1987, by The Town and Country Planning Association. I have written a commentary on that book which can be viewed by clicking here. Frederic James Osborn (1885-1978) was secretary and estate manager to Welwyn Garden City Ltd., and also clerk to Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council, at the time in question (1928). He had known Purdom since 1912 when Osborn went to work for the Howard Cottage Society at Letchworth where Purdom was the accountant for First Garden City Ltd. In 1921, Osborn moved from Letchworth to 8 Brockswood Lane, Welwyn Garden City. From there, in 1925, he moved to 16 Guessens Road where he remained until his death in 1978. Purdom moved his family from Letchworth to 7 Handside Lane, Welwyn Garden City, in 1922. In 1928 the Purdoms were at Digswell Lodge. Like Osborn, Purdom remained in Welwyn Garden City until his death, which was in 1965. John Arnold Whittick (1898-1986) had met Osborn in 1941 in the office of the Town and Country Planning Association. They together wrote the book The New Towns - the answer to megalopolis first published in 1963. Whittick wrote many other books on art, architecture and other subjects. He died before his biography of Osborn was quite ready and his widow Helen read the proofs and saw the publication through. Quoting from Whittick's biography of Osborn passages relevant to Purdom prior to the 1928 affair:
Now follows below the crucial passage covering the 1928 affair from chapter 6 of Whittick's book:
In this final short passage, Whittick quotes Osborn's view of Purdom's editorship of Town and Country Planning:
The third account of the 1928 affair which I am giving here is Purdom's own account from his autobiography, Life Over Again, published in 1951 by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. In my previous section "Welwyn Garden City" I quoted material from that book (sections 10-13 of the second chapter headed "Garden Cities") which gives his summary of his involvement in the Welwyn Garden City project from its beginning. In that long quote I went up to just before the break in 1928. The passage below follows on from that and is his account of the 1928 affair itself which he deals with quite briefly.
In the next section (section 15) Purdom describes the aftermath of what he regards as the demise of the garden city idea. The first four paragraphs of that section are quoted below.
I have found it fascinating to compare these three accounts ( by M. de Soissons, Whittick, and Purdom himself) of the 1928 affair. The first was by a man (Maurice de Soissons) who was born the year before it happened and can only know of it through what he was told (if anything) by his father and others, and what he has learned from the main sources which are the Frederic J. Osborn Papers held at the central library in Welwyn Garden City, and the Ebenezer Howard Papers in the Hertfordshire County Archives in Hertford, plus other books which he read such as the Letters of Lewis Mumford and Frederic J. Osborn published 1971. The second account is by Osborn's friend Whittick in the biography of Osborn. Osborn was a man involved intimately in the affair itself, he being a company official at the time and one of the signatories of the memorandum. The third account is by Purdom himself. I find it very difficult to form a judgment in my own mind. I have not seen the two sets of papers heretofore mentioned nor am likely to since I live in Wales and cannot travel. Also I am hopelessly biased being such an admirer of Purdom. I know that if what happened to him had happened to me would have been totally devastating and undermining of confidence. Earlier in Purdom's book, in the first chapter entitled "Marriage", Purdom gives an indication of what effect the 1928 affair had on him:
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The Theatre |
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Chapter 5 (more than 40 pages) of CBP's autobiography is devoted to the theatre. He begins with the formation of the Letchworth Dramatic Society at Letchworth.
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The early productions were done at the Howard Hall. A larger building was required and there was a move to the Pixmore Institute where nearly forty plays were performed. CBP mentions a series of three musical plays known as the Garden City Pantomimes which were appeared in January 1909, January 1910 and March 1911. These were local satires with words by Purdom and music by Charles Lee. In August 1912, the first performance of Shaw's The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet was given at a time when the play was still censored.
For Purdom's contribution to the theatre in Welwyn Garden City from 1921, I am giving here a short excerpt from Harold J. Stull's The Welwyn Drama Festival 1929-1987.
CBP says the following in his autobiography about the building of the Welwyn Theatre in Parkway in 1928:
CBP became well-known as drama critic, particularly whilst editor and drama critic of Everyman (1929-32) and New Britain (1933-34).
Purdom was appointed general secretary of the actors' union Equity for two years beginning March 1938.
The job of general secretary involved mostly discussions with theatre managers regarding pay and conditions of Equity members. CBP devotes nearly 20 pages of his autobiography to an account of the internal politics of the association during the period he served as its general secretary. He paints a bleak picture of the times. There was very high unemployment amongst actors; theatre managers were frequently ruthless in their handling of actors; and some of the leaders of Equity were contemptuous of or indifferent towards the plight of the rank and file within their organisation.
CBP continues with an account of a stormy meeting held on 8th September at the offices of the Society of West End Theatre managers. The theatre managers were hostile towards ENSA and determined not to be told what to do. It seemed that ENSA had been shot out of the water. However, Basil Dean remained optimistic; the War Office had taken the Drury Lane Theatre for the new organisation.
Purdom was the first secretary of the GODA which was founded in 1947. The following paragraphs are from Harold J. Stull's The Welwyn Drama Festival 1929-1987.
Towards the end of his chapter on the theatre, CBP describes his theory about Shakespeare's plays which he develops in his book What Happens in Shakespeare. The idea that, in King Lear, the storm episode could be thought of as being in Lear's mind, was not new. But CBP came up with the original theory that the whole of the play was in Lear's mind. |
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Employment in Business and Commerce |
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In the first three pages of the chapter, CBP gives some comments about commerce and industry in the early days at Letchworth where he worked for the company which owned the land and developed the town, from the beginnings of the town until he enlisted in the Great War. He then moves on to talk about his work at Welwyn Garden City. He was Finance Director of Welwyn Garden City Ltd from the beginning in 1921 until his break with the company in 1928. He was also Director of most of the subsidiary companies including Welwyn Stores Ltd. He begins by describing his attempts to keep costs under control in building and engineering works in the town.
CBP continues with a short account of the founding of the laundry company which he had started up by employing a group of old ladies from Hatfield to wash and iron. Next he relates how the original Cherry Tree restaurant was built in 1921 and fell under his management.
Click here for a picture of the original Cherry Tree restaurant; the picture is from a 1923 book to be found on my WGC index page. CBP continues with an account of the difficulties in obtaining licensing for the Cherry Tree. He also describes the purchase at auction of the Wagonners pub. He says the original intention of Chambers and himself was that the restaurant and pub businesses should be run as a social activity with the profits being devoted to the town, but after CBP left the company (1928), these aims were dropped and the business sold to a brewer. A similar fate was in store for the cinema known as the Welwyn Theatre which was housed in a new building in 1928, but later sold to a circuit. The chapter continues with a more detailed account of Welwyn Garden City Stores which CBP created and managed until 1928. This was originally in a building on the opposite side of Parkway from the existing department store (now John Lewis) which was not built until just before the War. Click here for a picture of the old Welwyn Stores from Purdom's Building of Satellite Towns (1949 edition) which is on my WGC index page. Interior shots may also be found in my notes on that book.
CBP continues with a short account of the setting up of the bakery, and the installation of a dairy on the stores premises. He continues with the bookshop, the lending library, and early plans for a larger building on a new site.
An early picture of the bookshop (from the 1923 book on my WGC book list menu) can be seen here.
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After a period in journalism (following his break with the Welwyn comapny in 1928), CBP returned to business in 1932. He continues in his book with an account of his unsuccessful attempt to revive an ailing sports and games manufacturing business (unnamed), which ended in his being "financially ruined". After this CBP became involved with a food manufacturing business (again not named in the book) in Blackfriars. He was given a five year contract as managing director and had the factory transferred to Welwyn Garden City. With the help of a chemist friend (not named) he expanded the range of products.
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Most of the remaining twenty pages of the chapter CBP devotes to his experiences at and view on the John Lewis organisation. He begins:
CBP continues with a short history of the John Lewis company, beginning with its founder, the old John Lewis of Victorian times and his two sons John Spedan Lewis and Oswald Lewis. He continues with Spedan, after a quarrel with his father, transferring in 1907 to the Peter Jones store in Chelsea which had been bought the previous year. In 1920 Spedan converted Peter Jones into a partnership, abolishing the terms employer and employee. Father and son were reconciled in 1923 and Spedan returned to Oxford Street. The old man died in 1928, and the entire undertaking converted into a partnership in 1929. CBP refers the reader to Spedan's book Partnership for All (1948, Kerr-Cross Publishing Company) for a full history. CBP continues in another dozen pages with more about about the company, not all of it complimentary. CBP, however, was obviously impressed by and very fond of Spedan. [I am lucky enough to own a copy purchased from a Sussex bookstore of CBP's book Economic Wellbeing (1948, Nicholson & Watson) which has the following inscription at the beginning in CBP's own hand in blue ink: "To J. Spedan Lewis who has made an outstanding contribution to economic well being. C. B. Purdom. January 27 1948". John Spedan Lewis died in 1963.] |
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Journalism and the Literary World |
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CBP then moves on to the period after the Great War.
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After his break with the Welwyn company in 1928, CBP entered a period of editorship of journals. He edited Everyman from 1929 to 1932. He edited New Britain from 1933 to 1934. He edited Theatregoer in 1935.
Everyman was created by publisher J. M. Dent in October 1912 under the editorship of Charles Sarolea. Publication was stopped sometime during the War. The magazine was relaunched in 1929 by Hugh Dent, the first issue coming out on 31st January under C. B. Purdom, who was appointed manager and editor by Dent. The relaunched magazine did not make money. After 3½ years, in July 1932, ownership was transferred from Hugh Dent to Sir Robert Donald. Purdom continued as editor but resigned later that year after a disagreement with Sir Robert over political content. Donald died in January 1933 and the paper was acquired by Angus Watson, who installed Francis Yeats-Brown as editor. In August 1933 Dent reacquired the rights, but the publication was discontinued, and it was incorporated into Dent's existing quarterly magazine Bookmark which ran until 1938. I have managed to acquire the very first issue of the relaunched Everyman dated 31st January 1929. Click here to view the complete issue, and also to read an extract from CBP's autobiography about his experiences with Everyman. This extract includes CBP's detailed style setting which he laid down for the magazine.
After resigning as editor of Everyman, Purdom became editor of a new paper called New Britain - a Weekly Organ of National Renaissance which was intended to put forward the ideas of the New Britain group. The first issue was dated 24th May 1933. Purdom edited 48 issues ending with the one dated 18th April 1934. The New Britain movement was a non-party association to discuss political, economic and social subjects in the spirit of national renaissance. Groups sprang up throughout the country. A conference was held in Leamington Spa in the spring of 1934, but was chaotic, and according CBP was "the beginning of the end" of the short-lived organisation. The paper was launched with high hopes. In the first issue, an article "The World We Live In" began as follows:
CBP talks about Dimitri Mitrinovic [the "c" in this surname has an acute accent over it in CBP's text but I cannot reproduce that on this webpage], a "strange but attractive Serbian", who was part of the New Britain group. Mitrinovic, under the pseudonym M. M. Cosmoi, wrote a series of two-page articles called "World Affairs" which ran for ten weeks. These articles examined the condition of mankind and became surrounded by controversy. Click here to view a page (as reproduced in CBP's book) from the first issue of New Britain.
CBP says that after his article came out he was called to a meeting by the publishers who attacked him for printing it.
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The Civil Service |
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In 1941, CBP was appointed finance officer in the salvage division of the Ministry of Food. The Ministry was based in North Wales in Colwyn Bay, but CBP's office was in Bristol. The work was concerned with the salvaging of food stocks affected by air raids. Whilst there, CBP attempted to inquire (without much success) into apparent irregularities in the accounts of contractors dealing with the Ministry. He was promoted to administrative officer in charge of salvage operations throughout Southern Command. He had his own car and had offices in Reading, Southampton and Plymouth, as well as Bristol. Damaged food stocks from large warehouses down to little shops had to be rescued. He had a disagreement over allowances for his staff and resigned in 1943.
Shortly after leaving the Ministry of Food, CBP was appointed salvage recovery officer for the Ministry of Supply in Leeds. He was responsible for seeing that waste did not occur in industry. He was only there for six months because the whole salvage recovery operation was then scrapped. In 1944, CBP worked for the Ministry of Information for six months. The Ministry had taken over London University's senate house, and CBP was responsible for censorship of departmental press handouts.
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Politics |
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In the fairly short chapter (thirteen pages) entitled 'Politics' in his autobiography, Purdom mentions that he had been a member of the Labour Party from the time of its formation until he became finance director of Welwyn Garden City Ltd, when he let his membership lapse. Much of the chapter, however, is concerned not with national politics, but with Purdom's own experience in local politics with the Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council of which he was an elected independent member for four years. He first stood unsuccessfully for the council in 1934. He explains that the council at that time was dominated by a majority group of councillors who were nominally "independent" but who (according to CBP) were in effect "the garden city company's party". The remainder of the council were composed of a minority Labour Party group, and one councillor who he describes as an "independent-independent". The two party groups worked together and the town was "regarded as under the company's domination".
CBP stood again in the following year (1935) and on this occasion was elected to the council for a three year term. He explains what happened at the first council meeting which he attended.
In the Local Government Act of 1933, which came into force in June 1934, councillors were disqualified from considering, discussing or voting on matters in which they had a financial interest. CBP relates how, at the next meeting of the council, he put forward a resolution requesting a report from the clerk to examine the minutes to see if there were occasions when the Act might have been infringed. He says the resolution was adopted "with much bitterness". He also mentions that he entered into an agreement with another council member who he describes as "a highly respected, explosive, communist-minded working-class woman" [CBP-1951 p.226] by which each would second motions put forward by the other (regardless of whether or not they agreed with the motion) in order that they could at least be discussed. The clerk's report was presented at the next meeting disclosing fifty offences against the Act.
Purdom says that he did not suppose that any one had been acting for his own profit, and that his intention was not drive people, some of them its best members, off the council, but that they should observe the law.
CBP stood again for election "when my three years were up", but failing to get sufficient help in canvassing, "I found myself only just in". He then had a motorcar accident which he describes as follows:
CBP mentions this accident in two other places in his book. In the chapter on industry, he says the accident happened when he was promoting a new business supplying specialized herbal products to chemists, and was followed by the outbreak of war [CBP-1951 p.113]. Secondly, in the chapter on the theatre, he says:
I cannot quite reconcile the date for the accident. This last quotation would indicate that it happened in 1937. However, he says quite clearly in the Politics chapter "A year later, in 1935, I became an urban district councillor" [CBP-1951 p. 225], and then "When my three years were up I stood again ..." [CBP-1951 p.229]. This would put the date for his second successful election in 1938. It's not important but just a bit of a puzzle. The accident must have been in 1937 or 1938. He was 54 in October 1937. |
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Children |
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*There are two mistakes in these GRO entries. The first child's first name was Ronan not Ronald, and the mother's surname is misspelt in the second child's entry. I have not seen the certificates, but presumably these details were correct in the original registers and on the certificates presented to the parents otherwise they would have pointed them out at the time. The errors are likely to have been made by a misreading of the hand-written entry when the GRO quarterly birth index was compiled.
Woodside Cottage, referred to in this passage, was on Wilbury Road, Letchworth Garden City. |
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Ronan Hugh Purdom was born at Woodside Cottage, Wilbury Road, Letchworth Garden City, in 1913. He was the first child of Charles and Lilian Purdom. The picture and the passage about his short life reproduced below are from CBP's 1951 autobiography.
Click here to see the death certificate of Ronan Hugh Purdom. Below is my transcript of it.
The age is wrong - it should be 22 according to CBP's autobiography. As can be seen from the image of the certificate, the age was originally entered as 20 which was crossed out and 25 entered in its place. So Charles's eldest son, at the age of 22, was knocked down and killed by a lorry when riding his bicycle. Charles was age 51 when it happened; his wife Antonia was 47; his children were 18 (Philip), 14 (Barbara) and 8 (Edmund). It must have been shattering and deeply disturbing to the lives of all of them. One thing I have discovered which is very puzzling - Ronan had apparently married in 1933 when he was age 19. I say puzzling because this was not mentioned in CBP's autobiography. Either CBP chose not to mention it for some reason, or he was not aware it had taken place. The marriage record is in the GRO. There are two entries for the bride.
The presence of two entries for the bride under different surnames could indicate that the bride's surname is not the same as that of her father. This could be because the bride had a prior marriage or was illegitimate. I cannot locate an earlier marriage for Euphemia Crowe or Euphemia Kaye in the GRO. I have checked the birth indexes between 1933 and 1936 and cannot find any children of the marriage. |
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Philip Camden Purdom was born at Woodside Cottage, Wilbury Road, Letchworth Garden City, in 1916. He was the second child of Charles and Lilian Purdom. The picture and the passage about his life reproduced below are from CBP's 1951 autobiography.
Click here to see the death certificate of Philip Campden* Purdom. Below is my transcript of it.
Charles was age 53 when Philip died; his wife Antonia was 49; his children 16 (Barbara) and 10 (Edmund). |
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Barbara M. Purdom was born at Woodside Cottage, Wilbury Road, Letchworth Garden City, in 1921. The picture, and the passage about her life reproduced below, are from CBP's 1951 autobiography.
From the GRO:
The GRO gives the birth registrations of the three girls mentioned by CBP in 1941 (4th quarter, Witney registration district), 1944 (1st qtr, Warwick r-d), and 1946 (1st qtr, Hatfield r-d). A fourth daughter's birth was registered in 1955 (1st qtr, Hatfield r-d). A Swiss genealogy website states that Roger de Pourtalès was born in 1915 and died in 1991. |
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Edmund Purdom was born at Digswell Lodge, Welwyn Garden City, in 1926. The name in the GRO for his birth registration is Edmund C. Purdom, but everywhere on the Internet his full name is given as Edmund Anthony Cutlar Purdom. I don't know at what stage the Anthony was added. The picture, and the passage about his life reproduced below, are from CBP's 1951 autobiography.
In CBP's autobiography, after the passage about Edmund, the author continues with more about the education of his children, particularly in relation to religion.
What happened to Edmund after 1951 (the year of CBP's autobiography) is a matter of public knowledge. The obituary of Edmund below by Tom Vallance is from the Independent of 16th February 2009.
As a boy in the fifties, in my very small collection of 78 r.p.m. gramophone records (made of shellac and very breakable) I had a 10-inch record of Mario Lanza singing Drinking Song from The Student Prince. I remember Edmund in the television series Sword of Freedom. I was unaware that this man was born in the same road (Digswell Road) that I lived in, only 200 yards from our family house, and that a quarter of mile from me in the opposite direction, was living (in Woodland Rise) Edmund's father, CBP, an old man then, and now the object of my great admiration. In the fifties, Edmund, when at the height of his fame,
appeared in numerous magazines, mostly devoted to the cinema. I have found
an article written by his mother Lilian Purdom about Edmund in the general
interest magazine Illustrated (dated 11th December 1954, published
in London). The first image below is the cover of the magazine which has
on it Edmund's picture, followed by the two pages of the article. Click
on any of the magazine pictures of Edmund to display an enlarged image
in a separate window.
Here are the captions from the four black-and-white pictures accompanying the article:
The text of Lilian Purdom's article is below.
I bought the Illustrated magazine on eBay. It
was accompanied by some cuttings from other magazines of the time, containing
pictures and articles about Edmund. I have included these below. Click
on any of the magazine pictures of Edmund to display an enlarged image
in a separate window. The enlarged images can be
made even bigger by using the zoom-level feature at the bottom right of
the pop-up window.
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Friends |
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The names mentioned from Letchworth include Hugh Dent (publisher), W. H. B. Binns (Quaker poet), J. H. Wicksteed (expert on Blake; he taught CBP voice production), Frank Merry (who taught CBP to sing), Charles Lee (author of novels set in Cornwall), W. G. Taylor (then head of Dent's) and Bill Furmston (teetotal landlord of the Skittles Inn). From these he singles out Charles Lee who was born in 1870 in Stockwell Green close to CBP's own birth place in south Lambeth. As well as novels, Lee wrote plays and musical scores. I have already mentioned the collaboration of Lee and Purdom in the Garden City Pantomimes (see section above 'The Theatre').
There is a 6-page passage in the chapter on friendship in the autobiography in which Purdom discusses his life at Welwyn Garden City. This is a dark passage in which no-one is mentioned by name. It begins:
Later in the passage CBP says:
CBP says that he made many friends as editor of the literary magazine Everyman (1929-1932), but he makes only brief mention of them. He names Frederick Soddy, Major-General Fuller, Ernest Rhys, Hugh Walpole and Hugh Quigley, without saying much about any of them. To view the first edition of the relaunched Everyman dated 31st January 1929, and an account by CBP of his time as editor of the magazine, click here.
CBP devotes nine pages of his autobiography to his friend Adrian Fortescue, whom he knew from 1907, when Fortescue came to Letchworth, until Fortescue's death from cancer in 1923, aged 49. Purdom knew Fortescue as the Catholic parish priest at Letchworth, and close personal friend of the Purdom family. Purdom's wife Antonia was a Catholic, and their children were brought up in the faith. Purdom himself took instruction in the faith from Fortescue but did not convert. Fortescue was a distinguished scholar writing on Catholic theology with special interest in the eastern churches. His notable works were The Orthodox Eastern Church (1908), The Lesser Eastern Churches (1913), and The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described (1917). Fortescue was also a musician, writing his own arrangements for the choir at his parish church of St Hugh in Letchworth. He published a volume of Latin hymns in 1913. He was also a talented watercolourist and had many other interests. CBP gives an interesting insight into Fortescue's personality from the point of view of someone who knew him well over a number of year up till his death. CBP includes in his book a sample of Fortescue's music for the choir, a sample of his handwriting, and the text of a letter written by Fortescue to a friend in August 1922 a few months before he died. Anyone interested in Fortescue would find CBP's book invaluable just for the nine pages.
Meher Baba was an Indian mystic recognised as a Sadguru (Master) and by many as Avatar (incarnation of God). Purdom met him by chance at a retreat in Devon in 1931. Purdom was impressed by this man who must have had a remarkably magnetic personality. The respect must have been mutual for, in the following year, Purdom was asked to write a biography (the first) of Baba's life. The book The Perfect Master - Shri Meher Baba by C. B. Purdom was published in 1937. For my detailed notes on this book click here. At the bottom of those notes I have included a section from CBP's autobiography in which he describes his relationship with Baba. This will be of great interest to Baba fans. CBP wrote two more books on Baba: he edited and published some of Baba's discourses in God to Man and Man to God (1955); he wrote a second biography of Baba entitled The God-Man (1964)
[The letter "c" at the end of Mitrinovic's surname should have an acute accent over it - I cannot reproduce that special character here.] Dimitri Mitrinovic has already been mentioned in the section above headed "Journalism and the Literary World". Whilst CBP was editor of New Britain (1934-34), Mitrinovic contributed a series of two-page articles called "World Affairs" to the magazine under the pseudonym M. M. Cosmoi. These articles examined the condition of mankind and became surrounded by controversy. Click here to view a page (reproduced in CBP's book) from the first issue of New Britain. CBP devotes 14 pages of his autobiography to Mitrinovic. Here are some paragraphs.
CBP includes a number of passages of Mitrinovic's strange prognostications. One of these is:
Continuing with more of CBP's own words about Mitrinovic:
The final paragraph on Mitrinovic relates to the death of CBP's second son Philip in 1937:
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Places of Residence |
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23 Rutland Street, South Lambeth [Birth certificate, 1883.] 49 Neptune Street, Lambeth 1891 census [RG12-401-83-40] and 1901 census [RG13-417-16-24]. A cottage on Letchworth Corner, Letchworth Garden City Lodging with a ploughman named Crouch and his wife. [CBP-1951 p. 42] Wayside, Wilbury Road, Letchworth Garden City [Marriage certificate, 1912.] Woodside Cottage, Wilbury Road, Letchworth Garden City 1913, 1916, 1921 birth of first three children [CBP-1951 p.8]. 7 Handside Lane, Welwyn Garden City Many early residents of Welwyn Garden City initially rented houses in Handside Lane whilst having a property built in the town or looking for a permanent residence there. [TDL-1922, TDL-1923]. Digswell Lodge, Welwyn Garden City [TDL-1927, TDL-1928, CBP-1951 pp. 30-1] A glance at the street plan from the 1948 Welwyn Garden Citizens' Handbook book (for which click here) shows that this house was at the extreme north of the town as it had thus far been developed, and opposite a farm, and very close to where my own family lived from 1945 onwards. In his autobiography, CBP refers to the house thus:
36 Parkway, Welwyn Garden City [TDL-1929, TDL-1930, TDL-1931, Philip Purdom death certificate 1937] This house (36 Parkway) was hardly the "small house" which CBP describes at the end of the last quotation above. It is one of the substantial detached houses on the west side of Parkway between its junctions with Russellcroft Road and Church Road. 34 Barleycroft Road, Welwyn Garden City [1948 WGC Handbook - list of residents, TDL-1951, 1953/54 WGC Handbook - list of residents, TDL-1954, TDL-1957, TDL-1958] 39 Woodland Rise, Welwyn Garden City [1959 WGC Handbook - list of residents, TDL-1960, TDL-1962, TDL-1963, TDL-1964, death certificate, 1965] |
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Death |
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In the year after her husband's death, Antonia was listed as telephone subscriber at the family home, 39 Woodlands Rise. One year later (1967) she is listed at 19 Woodside House, Bridge Road, Welwyn Garden City. She died in 1971. I end with the penultimate paragraph from CBP's autobiography:
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List of Major Publications |
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Newspaper articles
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