June 2021
Freedom days may come and freedom days may go… but the group continues to keep itself busy.
Pam Lomax has produced another book to add to her already impressive portfolio of publications on Newlyn, many of which feature its artist community. ‘When the Artists Came 1881-1913’ is now available, and tells the story of Newlyn from 1881-1914. It is a tale of fishermen and fish dealers, boat owners and harbour personnel, who made Newlyn a great fishing port. It is also a story of the philanthropic local gentry, like the Bolithos and the Le Grices, who contributed to the development of the town. But it is mainly the story of ordinary people and their churches, chapels and schools.
The story is told through the eyes of Caroline Gotch, an artist who witnessed the close links formed by the artists with the community they loved and served. During these years, artists came to Newlyn to form what became known as the Newlyn Colony of Artists. The Forbes and Gotch families were to stay in Newlyn, building their houses Higher Faugan and Wheal Betsy above the village. Stanhope Forbes and his artist wife Elizabeth also opened a School of Painting that was to attract a new generation of artists to Newlyn.
The book is already in local shops and should soon be available from the Newlyn Archive.
Another tireless group member is Susan Soyinka, who has given two online talks for Bodmin Keep – one about her books ‘From East End to Land’s End’ and ‘Albert Reuss in Mousehole, the Artist as Refugee.’
One of Susan’s recent books
Susan writes: ‘The Imperial War Museum will be reopening its WW2 and Holocaust Galleries in September 2021. As part of this programme, the IWM aims to “support eight cultural heritage partners across the UK to engage with new audiences and share hidden or less-known, local stories related to these histories.” (For further information, go to https://www.iwm.org.uk/partnerships/second-world-war-and-holocaust-partnership ).
Here in Cornwall, one of Bodmin Keep’s projects is to research "Jews in Cornwall during the Second World War." Hence my involvement, having written two books on this very topic: From East End to Land's End, The Evacuation of Jews' Free School (JFS), London, to Mousehole in Cornwall during World War Two and Albert Reuss in Mousehole, The Artist as Refugee. It was my privilege to be invited by Bodmin Keep to give two online talks about my books on 14th and 21st June.
Albert Reuss was a Viennese Jew, as was my mother. She lost eight members of her family, including her only sister Sonja. I have written a book about my Viennese Jewish family history called ‘A Silence That Speaks, A Family Story Through and Beyond the Holocaust’. For me, there is a powerful connection between the three books, since I have connections with both sides of the stories.
Firstly, whilst researching my family history, I started working as an educational psychologist for a Jewish charity in London. One of the many Jewish schools I worked with was JFS. On the other side of the story, my son’s grandfather was born in Mousehole. In 2008, I visited Marian Harris, a distant relative of my son, and learned from her the evacuation story. Intrigued, I tracked down and interviewed former evacuees, as well as villagers, unearthed archives and newspaper articles, and obtained access to some superb historical photographs.
What is particularly poignant about this story for me is that at the very time these children were travelling south-west to love and safety in Cornwall, my own aunt Sonja – born like several of the evacuees in 1927 – travelled on a train going in exactly the opposite direction from Paris to Auschwitz, where a very different fate awaited her.
In 2015, I visited an exhibition called The Bigger Picture at Penlee House in Penzance and saw, for the first time, two paintings by Albert Reuss, who had lived in Mousehole. Further research revealed that Reuss was born in Vienna in 1889, only two weeks after my Viennese grandfather, and came to England in 1938, as did my mother. I also uncovered a massive archive of Reuss papers in Vienna.
For any of you who missed my talks and would like to listen to them, they have been recorded and are available on Bodmin Keep’s You Tube page at the following links:
FromEastEndtoLandsEnd
Albert Reuss
I have also been asked to contribute to a Bodmin Keep Podcast called Sanctuary in Cornwall
Susan Soyinka, June 2021
(We hope to provide a link to the ‘Bodmin Keep’ podcast when it has been posted)
Finally, Camidge and Stringer – half of which is also a PLHG member – premiered a performance walk for the recent Golowan festival, taking the audience back to events such as George Eliot’s experience of Penzance lodgings in 1857 and the opening of the Morrab Gardens in 1889. As this was an open air event with only 12 places available, it was able to go ahead although most other Golowan events were cancelled. ‘Golowan is finished for ever!’ suggested one of the characters from the perspective of 1890. ‘Oh no it isn’t!’ came the reply…
Camidge and Stringer transport their audience to 1889.
Thanks to Sharon Austin for the picture
Camidge and Stringer are also set to perform their show about the 1930s, ‘The Laughter of Friends’ at the Newlyn Centre on July 10th.
PLHG publications can be purchased online here or perused in the Morrab Library.
Penwith Local History Group
Edited by
Sally Corbet
price £10
plus p&p
Photo Glyn Richards