Meet another member of the Flitney family: Albert Flitney, Sexton at Butlers Cross in 1939.

I’ve read dozens of old newspaper clippings about the Flitney family. Most are reports of births, marriages and deaths, but just occasionally something a little more unusual turns up. The following is an account of a stroll through the ‘fragrant English countryside’ written by a diarist by the name of ‘Longman’. It was published in the Daily Mirror on Saturday April 8th, 1939.  

The Daily Mirror April 8th, 1939 Via Find My Past

It begins: 

By fields, across deserted meadows, down leafy lanes, over quaint old stiles, along the willow lined banks of winding meadow streams and into the fair county of Berkshire. Arriving at the village of Aston Tirrold, I visit The Chequers Inn, where the landlord Mr. Morris tells me “the Danes and Saxons agreed to share the place, so one part is called Aston Tirrold, and the other Aston Upthorpe.”

Via

Later, ‘Longman’ meets Mr. Stevens a trainer at Springfield House Stables.  Mr. Stevens tells him they have “the finest gallops in England." After enjoying lunch with The Rev Gillespie rector of St. Michael’s, he continues on his way towards Aston Upthorpe, where he meets Mr. Clacy a seventy-four-year-old gamekeeper.

It was late on another day when 'Longman' arrived at Butlers Cross.  Here he spent the night under the thatched roof of a tiny cottage. Where (he tells us) local legend has it; a witch once lived. His diary continues:  In this quiet village, that lies under the shadow of Coombe Hill, close to Chequers, the Prime Minister’s country home, are contrasts and gossip to be had for the asking.  The village folk are talking of the fields and gardening, and of the sad case of a young farmer who died, leaving a wife and two little children.

Longman enjoys a chat with Mr. Mooney, proprietor of the Russell Arms, recently returned from a holiday in Wales and with Mr. Cox landlord of the Rose and Crown who hasn’t had a holiday for more than fifteen years. Mr. Webb the Baker talks of supplying bread to the locals and the incumbents at Chequers for over sixty-five years.  Mr. Lloyd George, Ramsey MacDonald and Mr. Chamberlain have all eaten his bread.

The article continues: I took a stroll to the parish church where I found the Sexton old Mr. Flitney. The children call him “Navvy” because he always wears hob nailed boots. Mr. Flitney is seventy seven and still as active as a kitten.  He is happy to share a few stories one of which concerns a lady by the name of Granny Wheeler, a church cleaner. The story goes that Granny Wheeler likes to eat her lunch while sitting on her husband’s tombstone. Miss Simmonds the district nurse is another subject of great interest. Apparently Miss Simmonds can converse in Italian and drive a car! 

After talking to Mr. Flitney 'Longman' set off again and later records in his diary: An air of gentle peace rests over Hagbourne. It is like a perpetual Sunday afternoon, except on certain occasions. It reminds one of a dear old lady who dreams of the past, and smiles.  

Footnotes & Source Documents 

According to the 1871 census, Albert Flitney (born 1861) was the son of Moses and Eliza. The family lived at Church Hill, Ellesborough, Buckinghamshire.  At the time of the 1881 census, Albert was employed as a domestic servant.  He married at the age of 40 by which time he was a cattleman on a farm. The 1920 Kelly's Directory lists Albert Flitney Sexton at Butlers Cross.

Sexton: a person who looks after a church and churchyard, typically acting as bell-ringer and gravedigger.

The above article appeared in The Daily Mirror on Saturday April 8th, 1939.  

The first photograph shows the newspaper headline and Mr. Clancy, the gamekeeper. Via FindMyPast/The Daily Mirror.

The second photograph is The Chequers Inn, Aston Tirrold. Via The Astons.Net

The third and final photograph is of 'old' Mr Flitney and an unknown companion outside the church at Butler's Cross.  Via FindMyPast/The Daily Mirror.  

When this article was written Aston Tirrold, Aston Upthorpe and Hagbourne were in Berkshire but after the boundary changes of 1974, they became part of Oxfordshire.

For God, King and Country.

During a holiday to Buckinghamshire in July 2013, Terry and I visited the war memorial at Butlers Cross. We went to pay our respects to my paternal grandfather Private Arthur Denis (Jack) Flitney. It turns out Arthur is not the only member of the family named on the memorial. Abel, Leonard and Sidney Flitney are also commemorated there.  This came as a complete surprise and since the holiday I've been finding out as much as I can about each of them.  My research is ongoing and will be shared in future posts but for now I want to concentrate on the memorial itself. The original wooden shrine erected in 1917 was replaced by a modern war memorial in 2006, but it’s the earlier shrine that interests me.

The Bucks Herald from 3rd November 1917, described it as a neat wayside shrine erected to the memory of those who died for God, King and Country. Located at the crossroads in Butlers Cross it is a unique structure, manufactured from timber removed from HMS Britannia a cadet training ship at Dartmouth. The shrine was paid for by a Mr. J. K Bateman of Ellesborough and manufactured by Messrs. Hughes, Bolckow.  

According to Wikipedia; HMS Prince of Wales was one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. She was launched on the 25th January 1860. In 1869 she was renamed HMS Britannia and under that name served at Dartmouth as a cadet training ship until 1905.

Her use as a training ship declined, and she was sold in 1914 and then resold to Hughes Bolckow, ship breakers of Blyth, Northumberland arriving at their Battleship wharf in July, 1916.  Hughes Bolckow employed skilled craftsmen to manufacture a wide range of furniture and other items from salvaged timber.  They had a showroom in Dover Street, a prestigious location in the West End of London and issued catalogues in which were designs for several memorial shrines.

c1901 HMS Britannia at Dartmouth.

The dedication of the wayside shrine took place on the afternoon of 27th October 1917, the reporter for the Bucks Herald described it thus:  the clergy, churchwardens, and choir met at Ellesborough House, and together they wended their way in the bright autumn sunshine. The choir comprised both men and women with the females wearing confirmation handkerchiefs as headdresses. Following these came the churchwardens with their official staves and the clergy, the Bishop of Buckingham, Rev. G. Kennedy Cooke (rural dean), Rev. F. J. Winterton and Capt. The Rev. Sellwood, Senior Chaplain at Halton Camp. The hymns sung were O God of love and On the Resurrection morning. 

Following dedicatory prayers, the Bishop of Buckingham, in a short address, said the memory of those men who had fallen in battle would never fade from the hearts of those who loved them, and it was only right that their memory should be perpetuated in a permanent form such as they saw before them. He added though there had been many shrines erected in churches he hoped a movement such as they were adopting that afternoon would become general.

At the time of the dedication just ten names were inscribed on the memorial;

Sergt. Charles Ayres, 1st Grenadier Guards

Pte Francis Bamforth, 8th Royal Fusiliers     

Pte Charles Burch, 1st Oxford and Bucks L.I     

Sapper David Charles Cox, R. E     

Corpl. Charles Eldridge, K.R.R       

Pte Herbert Eldridge, 5th Oxford and Bucks L.I      

Driver Abel Flitney, Royal Sussex     

Pte Arthur Flitney, 6th Oxford and Bucks L.I      

Pte Sidney Flitney, 2nd Oxford and Bucks L. I      

Lieutenant Ronald Gibson 110th Mahrattas      

Pte Henry Wells, 1st Oxford and Bucks L.I 

An eleventh name that of Gunner Archie Bowden would be added a short while later and by the end of the first World War the number of names would grow to nineteen and Leonard Flitney would be added.

By the autumn of 1917 shrines such as the one at Butlers Cross were appearing in many towns and villages, and the writer of the following letter published in the Bucks Herald on the 10th November 1917 hoped that in time, all villages would have a memorial of their own.

 Dear Sir, the Bishop of Buckingham at the close of his address at Ellesborough, on Oct, 27, said he hoped a movement such as they were adopting that afternoon would become general. Recently I visited the shrine and was greatly impressed. Maybe there are other such wayside shrines in Buckinghamshire, and I hope the whole country will comply with the Bishop's wishes. I should like to point out that there are villages connected with town parishes which may not be able from their own resources to erect such shrines, and I would like to suggest whether a shrine could not be placed in each of those villages with the help of their stronger neighbours, so that the wives and parents might have a fitting memento of their glorious dead near their birthplaces and homes. I shall be glad to assist in a movement for this object, and commend it to Mr. R. W. Locke, Mayor of Aylesbury, for his kind consideration. Yours Alfred Morley, Dunsmore, Wendover, November 5, 1917.  

I don't think Mr. Morley needed to worry as it wasn't long before shrines were appearing all over the country culminating in the Great War Shrine unveiled in Hyde Park on the 4th August, 1918. Unlike shrines elsewhere this one didn't carry the names of the fallen, instead it was a memorial to all who were serving, had served or been killed during the war. Twenty thousand people were reported to be at the unveiling, and organisers claimed more than two hundred thousand people laid flowers in the first week.

Hyde Park, 4th August, 1918.  (Photograph courtesy

 Daily Mirror 05/08/1918).

An article in The Daily Telegraph on the 19 June 2009 suggests the shrines didn't come without controversy. Prayers for the dead went against the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. Furthermore, J. H. Kensit of the Protestant Truth Society said that the shrines inspired idolatry. Such shrines attracted, too, the interest of Catholics and Jews in the East End at a time when joint prayers by people of different faiths were not countenanced.

No doubt there will always be controversy but whatever the rights and wrongs, I'm pleased my grandfather's name is remembered. He died for his country and his sacrifice and the sacrifice of all those who fought and died should not be forgotten.

Source documents;

The Bucks Herald 

The Daily Mirror 

The Telegraph 19th June, 2009

Searching for my Grandfather from Belgium to Butlers Cross

Some years ago Terry and I visited Belgium in search of my paternal grandfather. We had scant information – Private Arthur Denis (Jack) Flitney, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, died in battle 1917. We assumed we would find his name carved on the Menin Gate Memorial to the missing in Ypres, but found no trace.

Failing to find his name was a disappointment, but we still wanted to pay our respects at the sounding of the last post. Each evening at exactly 8pm (20:00 hours) buglers sound the Last Post. This is followed by a two-minute silence. The traffic stops, and stillness descends on the town. Or at least it usually does, only on the night we were there our little dog Rosie decided she wasn't at all impressed with the silence and decided to do something about it.  She was a tiny dog with a very loud bark which she used to the best of her ability!  We were mortified and began pulling her away, but people around us were smiling and gesturing for us to stay. 

Had Rosie not barked we would probably have left without speaking to anyone, but as it was several people came over to make a fuss of her. Two of those people turned out to be members of a WW1 historical association. They took what little information we had and promised to find out what they could.  A few weeks later this arrived;

In memory of Private Arthur Denis Flitney 26273, 6th Bn., Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry who died on 16 August 1917. Remembered with honour Tyne Cot Memorial.
Cemetery Tyne Cot Memorial. Panel 96 to 98. 

Via Wikipedia; the stone wall surrounding the cemetery makes-up the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing.  Upon completion of the Menin Gate in Ypres, builders discovered it was not large enough to contain all the names as originally planned. They selected an arbitrary cut-off date of 15 August 1917 (the day before my grandfather died) and the names of the UK missing after this date were inscribed on the Tyne Cot memorial instead.  Additionally, the New Zealand contingent of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission declined to have its missing soldiers names listed on the main memorials, choosing instead to have names listed near the appropriate battles. Tyne Cot was chosen as one of these locations. Unlike the other New Zealand memorials to its missing, the Tyne Cot New Zealand memorial to the missing is integrated within the larger Tyne Cot memorial, forming a central apse in the main memorial wall. The memorial contains the names of 33,783 soldiers of the UK forces, plus a further 1,176 New Zealanders. It was designed by Sir Herbert Baker, with sculptures by Joseph Armitage and Ferdinand Victor Blundstone.

We've not been back to Belgium yet, but it is on our 'to do' list.  We have, however, found and visited the memorial where grandad is remembered in Butlers Cross, Buckinghamshire. We discovered the whereabouts of the memorial through the excellent work of the members of the Buckinghamshire Remembers website.  Through them, we also learnt of the existence of a further memorial in Ellesborough church (yet to be visited).  

As far as I can make out Arthur Denis (Jack) Flitney was born in Ellesborough in 1884/85 (the source documents I have give differing dates).  He and my grandma Daisy (Daisy Clara Stopps) married on the 22nd November 1910 in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Daisy had five children -  Mary Daisy, born on the 12th January, 1911, Dennis William (my dad) born on the 1st September, 1912 (Princess Risborough, Buckinghamshire), Owen Arthur, born on the 30th July, 1914, Margaret Primrose Ellen, Born on the 10th March, 1916 and Jean Clarabelle Henrietta, born on the 10th November, 1924.

Arthur Denis was working as a postman in 1911 so it's likely that was still his occupation when he left for the Great War in 1916. 

Arthur (Jack) Denis Flitney wearing his postman's uniform (with thanks to John Flitney)

Photograph of members of the Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry taken somewhere on the Western front. It's hard to tell if Arthur Denis is among them.  Pte George Webb is holding the newspaper he was killed in the Febraury of 1917, while the regiment was at a village called Gillemont on the Somme.  Photograph David Webb (grandson of George).

6th Battalion, Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 1916.
Via roll-of-honour.com/Buckinghamshire/

The War memorial in Butlers Cross (Photographed in July, 2014)

The old memorial (removed around 2006)

Photograph Buckinghamshire Remembers 

Close up of the new memorial

How sad to discover four members of the Flitney family on the same memorial. 

The following information is from the Buckinghamshire Remembers website; 

Abel FLITNEY Private G/12022 Royal Sussex Regiment   13th Battalion Date of death 02 Aug 1917 Cemetery La Brique Military Cemetery No 2, Leper, Belgium.

Parents Eli & Ellen Flitney, parents occupation farm labourer. Parents last known address Butlers Cross, Ellesborough

Arthur Denis FLITNEY  Private 26273 Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry 6th Battalion Date of death 16th August 1917. Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Parents Eli & Ellen Flitney, parents occupation farm labourer. Parents last known address Ellesborough

Leonard FLITNEY Aircraftman 247280 Royal Air Force Date of death 8th May 1919  Cemetery Longuenesse (St. Omer) LONGUENESSE Pas de Calais France.

Parents Albert & Emily Flitney, parents occupation carter on farm. Parents last known address High St, Great Missenden. 

Sidney FLITNEY Private 266342 Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry 1st Bucks Battalion Date of death 12th Feb 1917. Cemetery La Neuville Communal Cemetery, Corbie, Somme, France.

Parents Eli & Ethel (Ellen) Flitney, father’s occupation farm labourer. Parents last known address Southfields Cottages, Butlers Cross.

 Undated letter sent by Arthur Denis (Jack) to Daisy

The letter ends with this poem;

May life for you be beautiful I dare not say all fair

For clouds will come oer every sky and sometimes linger there.

But sweetest flowers are those that bloom when wintry days are past

And oer a sad and dreary world their dainty perfume cast

And if the rain comes in your days may still the sun shine through

Your sorrows pall like April showers each year a smile renew.

Commemorative memorial plaque (Dead Man’s Penny) handed down to me after the death of my dad. These were issued to the relatives of all the men and women whose deaths were attributable to the Great War of 1914 – 1918.

This is very much a work in progress. Having set out to look for one member of the family I'm now on the trail of four. Odd to think I had no knowledge of the others prior to the visit to the war memorial. My dad didn't mention any other relatives who died in the Great War, or perhaps he did, and I've forgotten. 

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, Tower of London 2014 

Arthur Denis (Jack) Flitney (1884 – 1916)