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Dolly and Doug Taylor: Douglas William Frank Taylor & Dorothy Frances Eliza Daniell Verity Jeffery March 2020 This is the story of two people not born in Box but who made their home in the village for over fifty years. Douglas (Doug) was born into a railway family in 1902 at Swindon. His father was a railway guard and Doug followed him by joining the railway as a clerk at Yeovil in 1918. He stayed with the railways all his working life, making his way up to relief area manager by the time of his retirement. Dorothy (Doll) Daniell was born into a farming family in 1897 at Yate, Gloucestershire. She was the seventh of eight children. The family later moved to Manor Farm, Box in the early 1900s. Left: Doll and Doug on their Golden Wedding Anniversary Photo courtesy Bath & West Evening Chronicle, 5 September 1980 |
Life Before the Great War
We sometimes forget how different everyday village life was before 1914. Nowadays a car accident not involving major injury or even deaths would not make a large mention in the local newspapers. But in 1911 it was shocking, headlined as Car Dashes into Children.[1] Thirteen-year-old Doll was involved in a car accident in July that year, along with her sister Olive and a friend,
Ruby Richmond. A car driving towards Bath swerved to miss a wagon and horse near the Fountain, burst a tyre and spun round. It mounted the pavement, striking the wall near Mr Caple’s shop with a tremendous crash which could be heard half a mile away. Mr Caple's shop was the grocers’ shop seen left in the photo below, owned by the Caple family but managed by John William Richman in the 1911 census. The newspaper report suggests that the noise (like an explosion and the screams of the children) could be heard a considerable distance away. The silence of the countryside at this time is often contrasted with the modern hum of cars, planes, farm machinery and electricity transmission.
We sometimes forget how different everyday village life was before 1914. Nowadays a car accident not involving major injury or even deaths would not make a large mention in the local newspapers. But in 1911 it was shocking, headlined as Car Dashes into Children.[1] Thirteen-year-old Doll was involved in a car accident in July that year, along with her sister Olive and a friend,
Ruby Richmond. A car driving towards Bath swerved to miss a wagon and horse near the Fountain, burst a tyre and spun round. It mounted the pavement, striking the wall near Mr Caple’s shop with a tremendous crash which could be heard half a mile away. Mr Caple's shop was the grocers’ shop seen left in the photo below, owned by the Caple family but managed by John William Richman in the 1911 census. The newspaper report suggests that the noise (like an explosion and the screams of the children) could be heard a considerable distance away. The silence of the countryside at this time is often contrasted with the modern hum of cars, planes, farm machinery and electricity transmission.
Caple grocers’ shop on the left (courtesy Box Parish Council)
The newspaper goes on to tell how the car careered along the pavement and knocked over Doll and Olive. The car then rebounded across the road into the railings outside the shop of Mr Iles at the bootmaker’s shop. Dorothy and Olive were taken home to Manor Farm where Dorothy was found to have suffered concussion, shock, nasty cuts and bruises. Olive lost two teeth and had a badly cut lip, which required stitching. She was also badly bruised and grazed all over. Ruby was unharmed as she got out of the way but did not have time to warn the others. The car was a total wreck but the three occupants unharmed.
Setting up Home at Woodland View
Doll left Box briefly when the family moved to Bathford on the death of her father in 1923. When she was working at Melksham Railway Station as a clerk, a relief stationmaster came to the site, Douglas William Frank Taylor. Doug always said about meeting Doll: It was love at first sight. They married at Bathford Church on 6 September 1930. She was given away by her brother William Daniell, who farmed at the Old Jockey, and the couple honeymooned in Scotland.
Setting up Home at Woodland View
Doll left Box briefly when the family moved to Bathford on the death of her father in 1923. When she was working at Melksham Railway Station as a clerk, a relief stationmaster came to the site, Douglas William Frank Taylor. Doug always said about meeting Doll: It was love at first sight. They married at Bathford Church on 6 September 1930. She was given away by her brother William Daniell, who farmed at the Old Jockey, and the couple honeymooned in Scotland.
Woodland View, Devizes Road (courtesy Carol Payne)
They moved back to Box into Woodland View, Devizes Road, a home they never left until their deaths. The house had been built in 1893 on land owned by the Northey family. Probably the builder was William George Burton (14 August 1867-30 March 1947), a stone mason, who moved into it with his wife, Lucy Rose. The Burtons appear to have lived there until Lucy’s death when William married again in 1934 and moved to Byway, Chapel Lane. Incidentally, it was William George’s father, another William Burton (1833-1920), who lived at Queen Square as a stone carter in 1881. Could it be that Bourton House and Burton Lane were named after the family?
We know that Doll and Doug were renting Woodland View soon after their wedding in 1930. It was an expensive, detached property which they could afford because Doug’s salary with the Great Western Railway was dependable. They were significant figures in the village, respected and deeply involved in clubs and activities. I remember the house well from the 1960s and 70s. When they decorated the interior, they always papered the ceiling, I can remember going there one time to find their sitting room ceiling papered mostly red with white stars. When I visited them as a child, I loved to sit in the window and wave to the bus passengers. When we left, our car was the only one parked in Devizes Road. What a difference today!
During World War 2, Doll ran the Women’s Institute campaign to encourage people to put money into the government’s National Savings Scheme, where she collected about £30,000. Meanwhile, in a reserved occupation, Doug was in the Home Guard.[2]
The couple were very keen caravaners, which they spoke about a lot, remembering how they stayed in farmers’ fields including one night in the same field as the farmer’s bull. Caravanning was not so regulated back in the 1950s and 60s as it is today. They kept the caravan at the top of their garden. As a child, on my many visits, we would sit up there and look over Box village, with Doll and Doug telling me who lived in what houses. They were both keen gardeners, their garden was very steep but there were always vegetables and flowers growing in it.
They were both among the founder members of The Gay Nineties Dance Club and also helped out at the Box Horse and Flower Show. Doll was a member of Box Women’s Institute for about fifty years, including one time when she represented them at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party.
Life in the Sixties
Doll's sister, Ellen known as Nell, emigrated to Canada in 1920 and on Doug's retirement in 1965, they sailed to Canada to spend 6 weeks there with her. Doll would never fly as she didn't trust the plane to stay in the sky. The day before they were due to sail home Doug suffered a stroke. They stayed on for a few weeks longer until Doug had recovered enough to come home. Doctors advised them to fly back as sailing back would take too long, and on her arrival back in England, Doll said she enjoyed being up in the clouds. The stroke left Doug with a weak leg and arm. He did regain some use in his leg and he was still able to drive but they had to give up caravanning. Instead, they took up bowling and belonged to Box Bowling Club.
While Doug was working for the railway, he would often get hold of old railway sleepers, which my father would cut up as logs for their fires in the house. After Doug had his stroke, they had a gas fire put in, as it was easier for Doll. When we visited in the winter the fire would be full on, but as soon as she opened the door to go in the kitchen there would be an icy blast.
There was no central heating in the house. My two children often talk about the cold kitchen.
Sadly, Doug passed away in 1982. Doll remained at Woodland View until a few weeks before her death, in a nursing home, in 1991. They had no children of their own but welcomed Daphne, an evacuee, into their home during the war, and stayed in touch with her after she returned home.
We know that Doll and Doug were renting Woodland View soon after their wedding in 1930. It was an expensive, detached property which they could afford because Doug’s salary with the Great Western Railway was dependable. They were significant figures in the village, respected and deeply involved in clubs and activities. I remember the house well from the 1960s and 70s. When they decorated the interior, they always papered the ceiling, I can remember going there one time to find their sitting room ceiling papered mostly red with white stars. When I visited them as a child, I loved to sit in the window and wave to the bus passengers. When we left, our car was the only one parked in Devizes Road. What a difference today!
During World War 2, Doll ran the Women’s Institute campaign to encourage people to put money into the government’s National Savings Scheme, where she collected about £30,000. Meanwhile, in a reserved occupation, Doug was in the Home Guard.[2]
The couple were very keen caravaners, which they spoke about a lot, remembering how they stayed in farmers’ fields including one night in the same field as the farmer’s bull. Caravanning was not so regulated back in the 1950s and 60s as it is today. They kept the caravan at the top of their garden. As a child, on my many visits, we would sit up there and look over Box village, with Doll and Doug telling me who lived in what houses. They were both keen gardeners, their garden was very steep but there were always vegetables and flowers growing in it.
They were both among the founder members of The Gay Nineties Dance Club and also helped out at the Box Horse and Flower Show. Doll was a member of Box Women’s Institute for about fifty years, including one time when she represented them at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party.
Life in the Sixties
Doll's sister, Ellen known as Nell, emigrated to Canada in 1920 and on Doug's retirement in 1965, they sailed to Canada to spend 6 weeks there with her. Doll would never fly as she didn't trust the plane to stay in the sky. The day before they were due to sail home Doug suffered a stroke. They stayed on for a few weeks longer until Doug had recovered enough to come home. Doctors advised them to fly back as sailing back would take too long, and on her arrival back in England, Doll said she enjoyed being up in the clouds. The stroke left Doug with a weak leg and arm. He did regain some use in his leg and he was still able to drive but they had to give up caravanning. Instead, they took up bowling and belonged to Box Bowling Club.
While Doug was working for the railway, he would often get hold of old railway sleepers, which my father would cut up as logs for their fires in the house. After Doug had his stroke, they had a gas fire put in, as it was easier for Doll. When we visited in the winter the fire would be full on, but as soon as she opened the door to go in the kitchen there would be an icy blast.
There was no central heating in the house. My two children often talk about the cold kitchen.
Sadly, Doug passed away in 1982. Doll remained at Woodland View until a few weeks before her death, in a nursing home, in 1991. They had no children of their own but welcomed Daphne, an evacuee, into their home during the war, and stayed in touch with her after she returned home.
References
[1] Wiltshire Times, 8 July 1911
[2] Bath & West Evening Chronicle, 5 September 1980
[1] Wiltshire Times, 8 July 1911
[2] Bath & West Evening Chronicle, 5 September 1980