village voice 70.pub - Dersingham Parish Council

1911 Reflections of 2011
by Elizabeth Fiddick
There is a very common
saying that History repeats
itself and that would seem to
be very true of the years
1911 and 2011. As I researched into the year
1911 more and more parallels with our time
came to light. 1911 was of course also a year
for a census and everyone was looking
forward to the Olympic Games to be held in
Stockholm in 1912. At the time of writing
the plans for the Queen’s visit to Ireland had
been finalised. It is the first such visit to
Ireland of a British monarch since, yes that’s
right, King George V in 1911. In January of that year we would have been reading of the siege of
Sidney Street when police were looking for anarchists who had killed three policemen. There is a
famous photo showing a young Winston Churchill observing these events. We would also have
read of riots with troops opening fire on protesters and killing three men. However these events
took place in Wales when railway workers came out to support striking Dockers who were
campaigning for a minimum wage of 30/- a week and better working conditions. Later Liverpool
was wracked by riots during a national strike of stevedores, railwaymen and transport workers with
another two men being shot dead by troops. Manchester feared widespread famine and in London
all police leave was cancelled and buses were off the road due to a lack of petrol. At the end of the
year it was the turn of the suffragettes to cause a riot outside the Houses of Parliament. 1911 also
saw the world’s first aerial bombing campaign when the Italians invaded Libya and Guilio Gavotti
dropped four hand grenades from his monoplane onto Tripoli. There was an earthquake in Mexico
City and riots in Bombay. On a less violent note we would have learned that the Norwegian
Amundsen was racing our own Captain Scott to be the first to reach the South Pole. Our
confidence in the success of the English party would be shattered in December when the news that
Amundsen had succeeded reached our shores with no information on the whereabouts of Captain
Scott. The first wireless message was sent from the Airship Beta. Bradford City beat Newcastle
United 1-0 to win the FA cup and in Paris a thief had slipped in over night and stolen The Mona
Lisa. (It would not be recovered until 1913). Alexander’s Rag Time Band was the music hit of the
year.
We have just celebrated the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton and many
groups are making plans on ways to mark the Diamond Jubilee in 2012. In 1911 people up and
down the country, in all the towns and villages, were deciding how to celebrate the coronation of
King George V on June 22 nd . So what was happening here in Dersingham at this time? The village
was a smaller place in 1911 with a population of just 1,499. To imagine the village then you must
in your mind’s eye remove all the new building that has happened. For example take away all
those bungalows in Centre Vale and put back the Great Pasture. Replace Clayton Close with
pasture land and natural ponds where Mr. Jarvis the baker tethered his horses. On the opposite side
of the road next to the Pottery instead of the housing development see again the large house known
as The Oaks with its well tended gardens where William Langley lived. When you walk up to the
top of the common imagine it with no trees as Cranberry Fen, Badger Fen and the Great Marsh
stretch down to the Wash with no housing developments at all. You would be able to watch the
steam train make its way into a bustling station yard tended by the station master Mr. Arthur
Chilvers and watch the passengers cross the road to the Alexandra Hotel where Isaac Bird would
serve them. The area about the church has changed very little since the Rev. Lewis took the
services. Theodore Jannoch, a German national, was running his Lily nursery at Dersingham Hall
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