The Power of the Internet – A wartime mystery revealed

My mother was born Sanchia (Sandy) Maud Neal and was born on 21 December 1928 to parents Joseph & Maud in West Ham, East London. The eldest of five children, Sandy did not always fit comfortably alongside her siblings and spent a large majority of her life aspiring for greater things. She loved the theatre, art, her friends, and family – as a Grandmother she was doting and as a mother your biggest supporter! A woman who left her mark on life, but that is another chapter!

She told a story from her childhood that always fascinated me. A story of wartime evacuation to the countryside, where she lived with two artists in a grand house, TC Dugdale (Tommy) and his wife Amy K Browning. She was given tap dancing lessons and learned to enjoy the finer things in life – a world apart from East London. After the war she went to the Royal Portrait Gallery (we think that is where she went) and saw a painting of herself by Amy called, The Evacuee, the reason for her visit I am unsure of, but I presume she followed the work of both artists with interest. It was a great classic story of the city child transported to another world, and one which left a lifelong mark on her. A view of what life could be with hard work and opportunity.

For many years, I had mistakenly presumed that she was evacuated to Cumbria and my searching failed to find any notable hints. Last year, as the first Covid-19 lockdown began, the pace of life slowed down and offered the opportunity to start my search again. I began by focusing on the artists themselves and found no link to Cumbria but of course to Suffolk. At the same time a photograph appeared on Ancestry.com, of Sandy outside a house in Iken, Suffolk with her mother (my Grandma) and baby brother, suggesting that this was where she was evacuated. My appetite to recommence the search was ignited and over the last year, when time allowed, I would scroll through the internet looking for the painting. I have in the past contacted the National Portrait Gallery and various TV shows who may wish to engage in the search but to no avail.

As a Primary School Headteacher, February half term 2021 could not come soon enough. It had been a hard year for everyone, in education we had been taking care of pupils in school and those also working remotely at home. The cold weather encouraged my husband Steve to light the fire and I settled down to scroll, once again through the internet, but where to start?

The Alde Valley Suffolk Family History Group appeared on my search list and I followed the link with interest. With a speedy acceptance into the group, I wasted no time in posting the mystery photograph with a brief profile of the story. Within a short while, one eagle eyed member, Patricia Bridges, noted my post and knew that she had an illustrated book of paintings by Amy Browning and would send information later. What followed that first post was a series of responses by other members who began to deploy their detective skills to amazing success. A photograph of another family outside the farmhouse after the war was discovered by Chris Broom, a search of Suffolk dairy farms provided this enlightenment. Later that day, Patricia Bridges located the book about Amy Browning and sent a series of posts that unlocked the mystery once and for all. The book, written by the niece of Dugdale & Browning, detailed life at Poplar Farm during the war and there hidden in the pages was a small black and white photograph of ‘the evacuee’ – no doubt that it was indeed my mother. Another photograph of the exterior of the house was particularly poignant - both artists in smocks, child and likely housekeeper in the background transporting me back to the 1940’s.

The Browning & Dugdale artists left Poplar Farm in 1942 following the increased bombing in that area and moved inland to Benhall Vicarage. Margaret Moss set to work to locate the farm, previously known as Brick Kiln Farm, it was renamed in 1902 as Poplar Farm but know today as Stanny House Farm.  Located at the end of the road, near a very rural High Street area and adjacent to the Alde Marshes (Map ref: TM 43541 55395). Johnny Pert, who lives within one of the farm buildings also made contact via messenger to let me know he lived closed to the property. Jonny called on the current owners of the farm who knew some of the history of Amy & Tommy, they have kindly extended an invitation to visit the house when travels can resume safely.

My copy of the book, written by Amy Browning’s niece, Joanna Dunham, now sadly passed, arrived and I wasted no time in reading the life history of Amy – a passionate suffragist, friend of Sylvia Pankhurst and student of the Royal College of Art in 1899, what a woman! On page 35 there indeed was the painting of my mother title ‘The Evacuee’ wearing a scarf on her head, just as she had described to me. The contents of those few pages were fascinating, the war years and how Amy & Tommy cared for two evacuees, one boy and one girl, of whom they became very fond. I am sure you can appreciate that this was incredibly moving, to read the acknowledgement of my mother’s place in the lives of these two artists, has enthralled my own family and children.

A few weeks later, in March, I received another FB message from Carolyn Glennon, who made contact with me via the Alde Valley group to let me know that she knew the husband of the author who was still living in her village. She also informed me that she had mutual friends in the village and that some of Amy’s paintings had been exhibited in the local church. A couple of days later I received a message that I just couldn’t believe. The painting still exists and is hanging in the sitting room of Reggie, Joanna’s husband.

Carolyn’s friend in the village Pauline Graham has kindly made contact with Reggie, who has extended an invitation to come and see the painting in person.

The final twist in this tale came when I realised I had made contact with the Alde Valley group on the anniversary of my mother’s death in 2004, making the revelations of those days, even more poignant.

A massive thank you to the kind members of the Alde Valley Suffolk Family History Group, who have brought an immense amount of joy in these dark times.

Sanchia Maud Neal (21/12/1928 to 15/2/2004)

 

By Jo Cottrell (Her daughter)