The house shown is The Gables on Whitecroft Road, Bream around 1930 ( it belonged to the Burdess family) I think the 3 photos showing the house were all possibly taken in the 1930’s – one of the photos is dated 1934.
Lesley Moffat / Julie
The man in the photo is Mr Burdess ( under manager of princess Royal colliery) with his retirement clock standing outside his house.
I appreciate Mr Burdess was not always well liked because of the miners strike.
The lady is Emily Burdess his wife.
In the 1939 register on FindMyPast 3 people were in the house:
Emily Burdess is listed as born 20 Nov. 1884 occupation unpaid domestic duty.
William J Burdess is listed as born 12 May 1879 and as being at that time a Brickworks Manager and a Special Constable.
Margaret E Burdess is listed as born 3rd October 1912 and as being a School Teacher.
Mr Burdess was the subject of the notorious Bream explosives plot in 1928. An extract of a report in the Gloucester Citizen follows:
… Mr. Somerset, outlining the case, said the prisoners, along with a number of others, received notice to leave the Park Gutter Colliery, where they were employed, the notice expiring on June 15th.
The prosecution alleged that the prisoners, thinking they had a grievance against the under manager of the Princess Royal Colliery Co., Ltd., from whom they had the notices to cease their employment, committed the offences which were charged against them.
It appeared that about 3.30 p.m. on June 15th,(1928) a quantity of explosives, including fuses, detonators, and a powerful explosive known as samsonite, was safely locked up in a magazine at the Park Gutter Colliery.
On the following morning it was found that the place had been broken into and ransacked, and a quantity of the explosives stolen. Some fuse, samsonite, and detonators similar to those which had been stolen were found early on the same morning at Whitecroft road, about seven yards from Mr. Burdess’s house. One set of fuse, explosive. and detonators were found in the middle of the road, and another was found in the grass at the side of the road.
A BURNT FUSE.
Whether it had been intended to make two attempts to blow up the house, continued counsel, he did not know, but in one case the fuse had burnt right down to the detonator, which was fixed in the high explosive.
That someone intended that there should be an explosion on that occasion there could be no doubt. Near the explosives were found two spent matches and a live one, in addition to a cold chisel and the blade of a pocket-knife. Had the samsonite exploded it would have shattered the windows of the house and would possibly have seriously injured anyone in the rooms where the windows were situated, and according to the evidence he would call it would have killed anyone who happened to be passing in the road at the time.
The explosives were put in such a position that but for what was almost a direct intervention of Providence they would have gone off.
Who was it who had a motive for injuring the under-manager of the colliery and for causing damage to his house? The jury would hear that the prisoners were seen in the neighbourhood of the colliery on June 15th, and the jury would probably be aided in coming to their decision by statements which the prisoners had made. …
Extract from the Gloucester Citizen report in the 5th July 1928. edition.
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