Peter Crosland as a young man

Susan my cousin very kindly sent me a whole load of documents and photos yesterday
These documnets fill in a great deal about the Crosland family
In time I will many of them on the blog here.
I will start though with 2 photos of Peter Crosland
One when he was possibly in the army or more probably in the school CCF -(Its hard to be usre but if it is the army then it was while he was in training beofre going to South Africa,India and then Burma
The other photo is a fabulous one of the young man about town taken I gues in the late 1930's but could have been take in the 1960's !!

Dads funeral

It is nearly 5 years since dad died within minutes of arriving at the hospice in Shrewsbury.

 On 26th July he was cremated and his ashes scattered on the River Wye .The order of service featured a self portrait of dad in his studio

wedding photos

Photos of the wedding of mum and dad

Graduation Day

Dad first went upto Oxford at in 1939 but left at the end of the summer term 1940 in order ro join the army.having served in various places including Burma he rejoined Balliol College Oxford in I think 1946 and graduated in 1949
Mum remembers it being a very hot day and she sat in the balcony to watch dad graduate BA in Modern Greats -Politics Philosophy and Economics- with a 2-1.She wasnt keen but mum felt she had to wear a hat anyway. Note dads mortar board.

It must have felt a great achievment to finish something he had started 9 years earlier and which had been interupted by war.

Below are some recent memories from Eric Lubbock one of dads great friends at Balliol who became a Liberal MP and then a member of the House of Lords, as Lord Avebury

Many thanks for sending me the extracts from your father's book, which brought back memories. His nickname was Master, mine was Dean, Pat Scally's was Warden, and Dave Robinsin had a similar title which I can't remember. Your mother was called 'Aunt' for reasons I also can't recall. I wonder if she could remind us?

The bright yellow flying jacket I bought in a second hand shop came in very useful in the bitterly cold winter of 1947.It was fill length, ankles to shoulders, with zips to get inside it.

I remember Tommy Balogh, mentioned by your father as being very scathing to students who didn't come up to his standards. There was a story that when a bad student came to him for a tutorial, finding nobody in the room, he started reading his essay, only to be stopped after a few sentences by a voice from the cupboard: "Go away you horrible little man, I never want to see you again". So your father was let off quite lightly. I also remember well and with respect Cyril, the head porter, and Curly Dryden, the bald landlord of The George in the village of Dorchester, visited in your father's MG on weekends.

It was shaming to read how anti-gay we were in those days, but as your father does say, we weren't racists. Seretse Khama, subsequently the first President of Botswana after independence, was a good friend of mine, and he invited me to their independence celebrations in the late 60's.

I also think now that it was a pity we spent so much time drinking. I've been teetotal since 1973, and also gave up cigarettes in 1976, and coffee, cake, biscuits and sugar in 1977, partly because I became a Buddhist. Maybe I learned a few things from life, some of them long after leaving Balliol.

The studio

Took a few photos of dads studio,when I saw Ann yesterday.Also one of the living room which is unchanged note the picture of Aram in the background

There is a humidifier in the studio which should keeep the pictures in good condition

Also got this unusual photo of Dad which I think dates from his Oxford days first time round say 1940

letters home

Dads letters
Above is a picture of many of the letters dad sent home to his family from this country while in the army.

They reveal a little bit more about him but are otherwise fairly mundane.

He was always after cigarettes,he sometimes asked for money to pay mess bills, he didnt enjoy the training. He was passed for a commission and was an officer for a while ,He appears to have spent sometime in the Marines in Lympston then Plymouth! He wanted at some point to transfer to the Lancashire Fusiliers (or was he joking?)
The letters show a lot of affection for his family including Helen which surprised me.

There is also a letter from Oxford assuring Percy that dad's place at Balliol would be kept open for him and he would be welcome back after the war

Early family photos

Here are a couple of photos both taken at Beech House Wem.
One was probably Victorias christening which would have been at Wem Parish Church( by Rev Turner I presume)in 1958
The other was some other occasion when Victoria is slightly older and is a much more informal photo .
The photos are unusual because dad is wearing jackets in both photos
I very rarely remember him doing that apart from formal business meetings

Peter Crosland and children

This is a photo taken outside in the back garden of Beech House. The fact that Victoria is in dads arms places it in very late 1957 or more probably earlyish in 1958.
The stain is on the original photo
There are very few photos from childhood that I have seen of dad and his 3 children!

Bury Rugby Club

It's amazing what you can find on the web!
Dad played for Bury Rugby FC for 3 seasons 1954-55 and 55-56 and 56-57
These pictures are from the Bury Rugby Club website and you can spot dad in all of them. (3rd From left top row in top and bottom picture,3rd from left front row in middle)
The picture below does NOT have dad in it but I included it so you could see the club colours
I remember as a very young child being taken by mum, to watch dad play, and he came over to chat at half time. I think that would have been his last season when I was 3 or 4. He stopped on the families move to Shropshire in 1958

Mystery photo of Peter Crosland

I am not sure when this was taken,I have blown up the tray on the right and all that I can make out is a hairbrush and comb. Dad is in civvy clothes,with a civvy coat on the hook I think ,but has a short army style hair cut. Also whatever is on the tray it is very tidy!

Could this be a picture of him being demobbed after the war? That would probablly be worth a photo after many years fighting abroad in India and Burma! I think Dad's age in the photo would be about right .

Any other thoughts?

Peter L Crosland A self portrait

Dad's other passion was art. His best friend was an Armenian called Aram or Mouradian who was an art dealer (and who had originally been a friend of Percy Crosland my grandfather)
Aram's nickname was "man"!
Aram not only sold dad pictures but shaped a lot of his views; to the end of his days dad would distinguish between painters (people with real talent) and mere decorators
Dad had been friends at Gresham's school with a distinguished cartoonist called Cummings (who went onto work in Fleet St for many years) and always felt a little jealous of his talent, but I think dad was talented and Dad always thought Edwina had great talent too.
Dad accompanied Aram on a visit to Picasso's studios (I imagine at 7 rue des Grands-Augustins on the Left Bank of Paris and met him though dad told me the great artist (who my most accounts was not a kind man ) ignored him
Aram possibly meant more to dad than any other human being and when he died dad rushed to Paris and was at his orthodox funeral.
In his fantasy "An invitation to Dinner" he finishes the book with these words"We (Mouradian and dad)aspired to the shining temple of the spirit, but the vision is too faint and the pull of the earth too strong"

Post script
In her book "Merchants in exile: the Armenians in Manchester, England, 1835-1935 "
Joan George briefly mentions Aram
"Aram Mouradian, a good friend of my parents, became a fine art dealer in Paris"

Neil McGowan Ltd

One day I will write the story of Crosland and Pickstone Ltd .
For now here ia a copy photo of dad's business card when he lived in London midweek and ran the London office from Holland St W8
Neil Mcgowan was a wholly owned subsiduary of Crosland and Pickstone Ltd and made up children's garments for Littlewoods among others.It was based in High Blantyre Lanarkshire on an industrial estate and at its height employed about 35 people, mainly women, as machinists.
it was run for most of its life by 2 Scottish women who were nice enough but lacked drive and determination. It went bust with the rest of the company in the 1980's

Peter L Crosland ,Percy Field Crosland

The top picture is of Percy Field Crosland and our dad Peter L Crosland. I have no idea when or where it was taken but think dad looks about 25 ish
The other picture is the only known picture of dad playing Rugby Union He played for Bury and for Oxford University second fifteen I see the picture was devloped in Glasgow so the best guess is that this was the second 15 on tour? Be that as it may dad played at fly half and is seen here about to recieve a pass from the scrum half
Rugby was to remain a passion for the rest of his life The other picture isa Bury team photo taken possibly in the late 40's or early 50's
I have a vague memory as a child of watching dad play for Bury once.