From Mrs Lurcock
Collected by Miss Alice Travers, Bredgar
Alice Travers
Alice Borgström Travers, 1893-1970
There are 3 copies of the carol ‘Lazerus’ (‘Come All You Worthy Christian Men’) in Francis Collinson’s collection. Two of these are clearly in Collinson’s own hand, and are labelled “Collected from Mrs. Lurcock of Bredgar, Kent, and noted down by Miss Alice Travers of Bredgar”. The third (COL/5/36D) is in a different hand – probably that of Miss Travers. There are no other records in the Roud Index which mention Miss Travers, so it may be that this was the only song she ever collected.
Alice Travers was born 17th September 1893, and baptised at Chelsham, Surrey on 29th October. At the time of the 1901 census the family was living at ‘Woottonga’, Warlingham, Surrey. Besides Alice there were 2 other daughters and 2 sons. The household also included a nurse, cook, parlour maid and house maid. Her father, James L. Travers, was shown as “Wholesale Grocer” in 1901, and as “Merchant retired” in 1911. By 1921 they had set up residence at Bredgar House, Bredgar, with a slightly slimmed down household – now just a coachman and a cook. Mr Travers was listed as “Director & Manager Of Ltd Co / Merchant retired”. His obituary in 1924 related that the family had moved to Bredgar from Warlingham in 1919, noting that “Members of the family had identified themselves with the parochial life of the village”1. Alice Travers seems to have been particularly involved with the Women’s Institute – in 1960 the East Kent Gazette reported that she had been producing plays for the Bredgar WI for about 40 years2.
It may well be that she knew Mrs Lurcock through the WI. We don’t know when she noted down the carol – was it shortly before sending a copy to Francis Collinson, or some years earlier? We don’t actually know when she sent her transcription to Collinson, but it’s a safe bet that this was at some point after the BBC’s Country Magazine came on the air in May 1942.
The 1939 Register listed Alice Travers as a smallholder, living at Cedar Cottage, Bexon Lane, Bredgar. She died on 27th January 1970.
An exchange in the local newspaper, the East Kent Gazette, in 1947 provides a nice snapshot of the differing views of post-war Britain held by members of the monied classes, and those with, perhaps, a better understanding of the needs of the population at large. On 8th November 1947, under the headline “ROYAL WEDDING PRESENT”, the newspaper passed on a message from Councillor F.J. Millen, chairman of the Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District Council, that the fund to purchase a wedding gift for the future Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip would be closing in a few days. The editor also reproduced a sentence from a letter sent in by Miss Travers “alluding to the attitude of some members of the local Council”, saying “I hope that when the present is sent to Princess Elizabeth it will be made clear that it comes from the loyal section of the community only”.
The following week, 14th November, there was a robust response from Councillor W. Wyllie, asking “Do you honestly think that there is only one way to demonstrate loyalty, and this is to subscribe money to a presentation?”. The councillor makes it clear that he – or quite possibly she – has not subscribed to the fund; but says they “have other views on this matter which I am sure must tend to show that there is a certain amount of loyalty in my make-up”. These are 1) having volunteered to serve in the Royal Navy in war and peace, 2) “I have given some years to the training of boys to become good citizens, and seamen in the Royal Navy”, 3) “I have given my son to the service of his country for the next fourteen years” (in the RAF), and 4) “I have also been employed in the making of guns (when most required) so that we should destroy the enemies of this island”. The writer suggests there will be many others in the area who have not subscribed, but “can lay a higher claim to being more loyal than I”, and reiterates what, presuambly, they had said in Council, that “the mothers of Sittingbourne and Milton require a maternity home far more than H.R.H. requires this presentation. I have only mentioned a maternity home, but there are lots of other necessities required in this locality”.
Mrs Lurcock
In Francis Collinson’s collection the carol ‘Lazerus’ is recorded as “Collected from Mrs. Lurcock of Bredgar, Kent, and noted down by Miss Alice Travers of Bredgar”. Lurcock is a common surname in that part of Kent, and there is no indication of when the song was noted down by Miss Travers – although the chances are that she wrote it down and sent it to Collinson at some point after May 1942, when the BBC’s Country Magazine programme was first aired. It’s not possible to be 100% sure of the identity of the singer, but the most likely candidate is
Ann Flosy Lurcock, née Drury, 1884-1988
Born on 8th August 1884, her birth record has her as Ann Flosy Drury, although when baptised at St James’, Sheldwich, on 24th August her name was recorded as “Anne Florence”. All subsequent official records have her as Ann without an ‘e’, and where her middle name is given in full it’s never “Florence”, but always “Flosy” or “Flosey”.
Her parents were Charles Drury, a farm labourer, and Keziah née Bramble, and in 1891 they were living in North Street, Sheldwich. By 1901 they had moved to Bunce Court Cottage, Otterden. Ann was at that point the eldest of four children, although ultimately there would be seven children; her father was working as a carter on a farm.
The 1911 census shows Ann working as a “Kitchen maid domestic”, for a Scottish couple, Mr and Mrs Simson, at Ickleford Manor, Ickleford, in Hertfordshire.
She married James Lurcock, a labourer, and native of Bredgar, on 13th May 1916. He appears to have enlisted in the RAF in July 1918, but by the time of the 1921 census they were living together in Bexon Lane, Bredgar. From local newspaper reports they appear to have participated in events run by the Bredgar Cottage Gardeners’ Association, and to have attended whist drives and dances held at the Red Triangle Hut (Mrs Lurcock came third and won a tea strainer in December 1923!).
A newspaper article celebrating her 103rd birthday (East Kent Gazette 13th August 1987) gave details of her life:
She does not claim to hold the key to eternal youth, but believes hard work and a drop of brandy might have helped her to keep going!
Her memory is still sharp and she can recall her full life in minute detail.
She was born the eldest of seven children at the family home in Badlesmere. As a fashionable youngster she remembers having a string of admirers and modern ideas about women at work. She herself worked below stairs as a cook in Hertfordshire and spent a year cooking at a stud farm In Ireland.
Mrs. Lurcock said: “A lot of the people I worked for asked if my family minded me working so far away from home, but I really enjoyed it. I suppose it now sounds a bit like ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ with butlers, footmen and all.”
Although life was hard, Mrs. Lurcock admits there was time to relax at local dances.
She remembers slipping into tight-fitting ‘”hobble skirts” to tempt the lads at the local hop.
And it was at a dance in Bredgar that she met her husband James, who lived in Bexon Lane. They married on 13 May 1916 at Sittingbourne Register Office.
The couple lived in Bredgar and had no children. After her husband died in 1932, Mrs. Lurcock went back to work as a lady’s companion.
Later she shared a home in Rainham with her sister until the latter’s death two years ago. She then moved to Court Regis old people’s home in Milton where she shared her birthday celebrations with relatives. staff and friends.
She died the following year, on 2nd June 1988.
Songs
- Lazerus (Roud 815)