The Case of Grossmith and Plumb
On 9 December 1729 two minor canons of Windsor, George Grossmith and Thomas Plumb, were expelled from the College of St George. They had recently raised a complaint against a fellow minor canon, Thomas Bell.
Tag: Choir
200th Anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth
This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Queen Victoria, born Alexandrina Victoria at Kensington Palace in London on 24 May 1819. Her husband Prince Albert was born later that same year in Coburg, Germany on 26 August. ...
Russell Thorndike: Happy Days at Windsor
The actor and writer Russell Thorndike proudly believed he could rewrite most of Shakespeare’s texts from memory. This, he felt, might be useful should all copies of the Bard’s works be consumed in a fire. Bardic memory feats apart, he ...
H. S. Spurling, Fallen Chorister (1896-1916)
Though he had been shy during his years at St George’s School, Henry ‘Harry’ Stephen Spurling was later described as “a man of the best sort, with firm principles and unalterable desire to do his utmost, no matter what it ...
H. E. L. Cox, Fallen Chorister (1887-1916)
Harold Edward Leys Cox was a silk merchant before the War. St George’s School Magazines report that in Midsummer 1909, Cox was “in business just off Oxford Street, and is a very keen territorial Officer.” Harold and his brother, former ...
C. E. Fishbourne, Fallen Chorister (1885-1915)
Captain Charles Eustace Fishbourne served in the Royal Engineers during the First World War. His contemporaries would have recognised him by his genial nickname, “Fishey”, and they would have gladly told you about his love of reading and all about ...
Tales of Christmas Past
Christmas celebrations often feature prominently in people’s recollections of their childhood. This is certainly shown in the memoirs of former choristers, held in St George’s Chapel Archives. Dating from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, these include diaries and letters written during ...
We shall be in darkness
Bundles of letters to Thomas Batcheldor, Chapter Clerk of the College of St George from 1846 to 1866, are kept in the Chapel Archives. The collection of letters [SGC I.E.1-5] could be considered the equivalent of Batcheldor’s email inbox and ...
Life of a chorister
In January 1901 James Douglas, former chorister in the St George’s Chapel choir, wrote an account for his daughter of the years he had spent at Windsor, from 1847. Over a century later, their descendants gifted a copy of this ...
A (Windsor) Christmas Carol
In April 1901 Major Charles Grantley Campbell Norton was admitted as a Military Knight. With him to Windsor came his wife, the popular guitarist, singer and songwriter, Mina Norton. Mrs Norton could sing in eight languages and had performed before ...