The Greenwood Tree – June 2026

Posted on 31st May 2026

The theme of the June issue of The Greenwood Tree is Uncles and Aunts. Editor Paul Radford previews the magazine which will be mailed to members at the end of May and which SDFHS members can already view or download from the Members’ Area of the Society’s website. The theme produced a strong crop of stories from members about those more peripheral figures in the family tree who are not in the direct ancestry line.

Tim Jones discovered 3xgreat-uncle William Flann had two distinct sides to him. He was an often convicted Portland smuggler who was also a skilled sailor and who was involved in a number of heroic rescues, saving many lives. Chris Hawkins found a great-great-grandmother’s brother was an Arctic Explorer, also involved in an heroic rescue, and with the unlikely name of Adam Ayles – a teetotaller, naturally.

Jeff Osment looked into the remarkable war story of his great-uncle Billy Townsend, a Dorset fisherman who was first wounded at Gallipoli, then hospitalised on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and who finally met an untimely end at Passchendaele.

The heroic theme was continued by Jeremy Wilkes who related the story of Metford Caddy, a minor felon who emerged as a great saviour in the Taunton Circus Fire of 1920 when he plunged into the flames several times to rescue several children.

Jill Trethewey came across a genealogical goldmine when she found the will of her Aunt Victoria of Lyme Regis who left a grandfather clock to a nephew in Australia. It was duly shipped and is still with the family.

Other contributors to the theme are Barbara Hurt, John Damon and Ryan Weller.

In other stories, Michael Pitfield tells the fascinating story of the feud between two distinguished West Country families, the Courtenays and the Bonvilles, in the 15 th century. It erupted into terrible violence and led to the execution of both rival leaders. Richard Smith finds a Dorset survivor of the Titanic who signed up as a steward for the maiden voyage as he thought it would be good for his health.

Richard, the GT’s most prolific contributor in recent years, also provides a story on the early history of the sport of sailing in Weymouth, a house history of Dorchester’s Culliford House and is the subject of this edition’s GT interview.

Ann Korta researched the people who had lived in her Holt home and came across the tragic story of an opera singer and ballet dancer whose husband was killed in World War One when she was pregnant with their first child. The son grew up to be an RAF pilot, tragically killed in turn on the first day of action in World War Two.

Regular features include Mike Whitaker’s Somerset Spotlight, this time on Milborne Port, Letters to the Editor, What the Papers said, Dorset History Centre Roundup, Book Reviews and an extended section of the SDFHS Photographic Project with contributions from John Tanner and John Damon.

Paul Radford