Events

Lady Dorothie Feilding-Moore MM was a Warwickshire heiress who ignored her aristocratic background to become a highly decorated volunteer nurse and ambulance driver on the Western Front during the First World War. She was the first woman to be awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. She also received the Croix de Guerre from the French and the Order of Leopold II from the Belgians.

Christine Cluley has liaised with members of the surviving family and was able to access material beyond that available at the Warwick County Record Office, including vivid letters written by Dorothie, revealing her thoughts and actions. We see how being part of a loving family in a secure, upper-class household prepared her for the challenges, dangers and deprivations of the First World War and, early in her marriage, the potentially dangerous years in Ireland during the 1920s.

Award-winning author, Christine Cluley, has written a book about Lady Dorothie Feilding and will be presenting her findings to us as a Powerpoint presentation. She will have copies of the book available for sale during the evening.

Christine is a well-known local historian and long-time member of the Lighthorne History Society, with 5 local history books to her credit. Since 2008 she has been a volunteer and researcher at Compton Verney Art Gallery and has recently written an article on the Compton Verney medieval glass, LH355(E), as well as being responsible for the reuniting of an altarpiece, now on exhibition.

Emma shares her research on this Elizabethan manuscript for the Corporation of Warwick Town Council. Originally intended as a minute book, it evolved into a personal diary of the Town Clerk, John Fisher, who recorded notable events in the Council’s activities. The book provides a fascinating account of life during the Tudor period.

Local historian, Emma Bromley, produced a thesis on this Black Book as part of her degree in Medieval English and History at the University of Birmingham. She is producing a current edition of the Black Book for the Dugdale Society.

A  talk on the development of British Agriculture with a particular focus on a few of the key innovators especially in the period of the 17^th to 18^th centuries and especially on developments in productivity since the 1950s.

John graduated First Class from Cambridge in 1971, being top student in his year and awarded a college scholarship. Following on from that, he obtained a Research Fellowship and Lectureship at Nottingham University. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies and holds Fellowships at both the University of Central Lancashire and Myerscough College and his chair is at De Montfort University. In 2004, he was awarded the OBE for services to agriculture and education

“Received, A Blank Child” was the title of an article in Household Words written by Charles Dickens in March 1853. It refers to the printed form of petition obtained from the porters’ lodge by mothers who wished their children to be admitted to the Foundling Hospital in London.

We will discover how Thomas Coram, a sea captain, established the Foundling Hospital supported by William Hogarth and George Handel. Together they transformed the Hospital into the country’s first public art gallery and one of London’s most fashionable venues. Hogarth encouraged leading artists to donate their work and Handel held benefit concerts of the Messiah in the hospital’s chapel. It was the place to be seen and to be seen helping.

Josette is the Chair of the Lighthorne History Society.