Albert, born May 31^st 1854, was the youngest of 12 children born to James Copas (1811 – 1887) and Mary, nee Witts (1810 – 1881). James was a haulier and coal merchant and Albert became a carman and carried on the coal business[1].

Albert married Caroline Hibbert in 1878. Her family came from Chieveley and lived near Snelsmore Common. Between1881 – 1901, the census shows them living in Wharf Road Newbury. They had nine children and suffered the loss of three of them under the age of 3, and later their daughter Amelia Kate died just a day after her father in 1922, Caroline died a year later. Their second daughter, Alberta May (1883 – 1946) went into service and in 1911 was with the Hobson family in Melton Mowbray.

Their second son Francis Victor “Frank” (1887 – 1951) became a butcher working for Liddiards and later for the Cuffs in Inches Yard, Newbury. Frank was a driver in the RASC during the First World War. He married Daisy Annie Hartridge (1887 – 1955), who was born in Bromley, Kent. Her father Raymond was a Master Butcher with his own shop in Palace Road Her mother Eliza nee Fairman, came from Barming in Kent. Sadly shed died when Daisy was only 2¹_/2 years old. Daisy was a ladies maid, caring for her mistress’s clothes and travelling with the family to London for the season. (It’s said that she and Frank met when he was delivering meat to the household). They were married at Aston Tirrold in the church next to the Manor house where she was employed. Lady Eleanor Cross was one of the witnesses to their marriage.

Frank and Daisy made their home at 78 Gloucester Road Newbury, and their three children were born there. Robert James “Bob” (1918 – 1984), Cynthia Mary (1921 – 2010) and Katherine May (1923 - ). Later they moved to 21 Rectory Close.

Bob went to the council primary school and St Bartholomew’s Grammar School as it then was. In 1935 he was apprenticed to learn the trade of gas fitter. He left the Corporation of Newbury Gas Department in 1939 to join the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm as an Aircraft Mechanic. He had some great memories of times abroad in Ceylon, Malta and the West Indies. On home leave he met his future wife, Kathleen Blake, daughter of Steven Blake and Gertrude Pretoria May, nee Brace. Her family lived in Holborn London, but her class had been evacuated to Newbury and she was placed with a couple in Salcombe Road. She went to school in the Temperance Hall in Northcroft Lane and later worked in the “Empire” and “Tudor” Cafes. They began married life in a caravan on a farm near Haverford West.

Bob was released from Naval Service in April 1953, and they moved back to Rectory Close, where their two children were born in 1953 and 1957. Bob worked at Opperman Gears and then took on running a newsagent in Morden Surrey during the early 1960s. They returned to live in East Ilsley and Kingsclere with Bob travelling to work as an electrical contractor.

He had a passion for cars, probably fired by his uncle and cousins, Fred Bert, and Geoff Morris, who were in the motor trade, with Bert being a motor mechanic for the racing driver Raymond Mays. At one time he restored a rare Autovia, which had the numberplate ASA 1. He died at home suffering from lung cancer.

Kath was a wonderful mother and excellent cook. She enjoyed many years with her friends on the kitchen staff at Cheam School, Headley. She died from a heart attack in 2003.

Cynthia went to Newbury Girls High School, and, after leaving school, she worked as a librarian at Boots the Chemists in Newbury. She always had a great love of books and poetry. She was called up in 1941, joining the RAF and spent time in Ireland, Italy and Egypt. She met her husband Oscar “Brum” Thurling in the Sergeants Mess 51 MT Company. Brum was a rear gunner on Lancasters, 218 squadron, but stayed on in the Middle East helping to get people and equipment home after the war ended. They were married at St Nicolas Church Newbury in 1949.

They lived in Rugby where Brum served as a policeman and planned to sail to Australia, instead they bought a huge old house in Swan Street Kingsclere which they restored. Brum worked as an electrician but also had a marvellous talent for carpentry and woodwork. Cynthia worked for “Mr Harry” in the accounts department of Dolton’s corn merchants in Newbury, and later as planning clerk and registrar of births deaths and marriages for Kingsclere and Whitchurch Rural District Council.

They moved down to Cornwall in the early 1970s, fulfilling a dream of living by the sea running a B & B, the Post Office stores and working at Bedruthan Steps Hotel. Brum died from cancer in 1996.

Katherine won a scholarship to Christ’s Hospital Hertford under the “West’s Gift”. This took her away from her family during 1933 – 1939 but she has an enduring appreciation of all that school gave her not least developing her musical talents and she was head music girl. She has enjoyed being a choir member and church organist throughout her life. Her first job was as a clerk for the Prudential Insurance Company at their offices in Cheap Street Newbury.

Katherine was called up in 1943 and trained as a wireless mechanic. She was posted to RAF Benson in 1944, and having volunteered to serve overseas, she went on the last convoy to Egypt, working on aircraft there which were sold to the French Air Force.

She met her husband, Norman Stanley Colhoun, working in the same unit and they married in Heliopolis in 1946. After the war, they spent some time with Stanley’s family in Ireland, and then returned to England. Stanley went to Norfolk to train as a teacher, for which he gained an excellent reputation over the years. Katherine worked in local government, taking up posts of committee clerk at Kingsclere and Whitchurch RDC and registrar of births deaths and marriages for Newbury. They retired to Cornwall in the late 1970s, enjoying walking their dogs, golf and being involved with their church at St Mawgan. Stanley died of a heart attack in 1987.

Albert and Caroline’s daughter Caroline Maud (1889 – 1950) married Rupert Eustace Scott in 1912. Rupert was then “in insurance”. His father Walter was at that time agrocer but in 1891 his occupation was noted as brewer’s shoveller. The Scott family were living in Gordon Villas, Greenham, then just a few doors away from Albert’s brother, Henry Copas, a chairmaker. In 1901Rupert’s family were living in Jubilee Road. Walter was at 8 Green Lane Newbury, when he died in 1923.His Widow Ellen Mary was at 51 St Georges Avenue Newbury on her death in 1932.

Caroline  and Rupert had 5 children, Raymond (1915 – 2002), Phyllis (1918 – 1979), Eileen Mary (1920 – 1922), Derek (1922 – 2001), and Beryl (1924 – 1978). Rupert became shop manager and buyer at the ironmongers Edwards and Godding in Newbury. They moved to Horsham, Sussex, continuing his interests in that line of business. Caroline was killed in a car accident near Winchester (reported in the “Newbury Weekly News”) and was buried alongside their infant daughter in the family grave at Newtown Road Cemetery.

Albert’s sister Elizabeth (1851 – 1900) married Henry James Alma Dolton (1854 -1904) in 1880.Henry came from Portsea Island and was a musician and in the Rifle Brigade. Their twin daughters died within hours of birth in 1887, and they had a son, Henry James, who was born at home in Corn Exchange Yard, Newbury in 1889. They were living near her parents at 2 Exchange Buildings in 1891 where Elizabeth’s occupation is given as dressmaker. Some tragedy, possibly a railway accident, left Henry disabled. He is given as “former Railway Guard”, on their daughter’s birth certificate, but in 1901 he was a street musician, and died at the Union Workhouse, Newbury. They were both buried in Newtown Road Cemetery.

Albert’s brother Henry (1844 – 1923) married Eleanor Payne (1847 – 1900) in 1870. Henry was in the chairmaking business, and some of their produce was sent up to London by barge each week.  (It is said that some of the rush seated chairs went to Westminster Abbey). Eleanor’s father was also a chairmaker, and they carried on their trade at Greenham Wharf and West Mills Newbury. They had four children; Kate (b 1871), Henry “Harry” Willie (b 1873), Rose (b 1875), and Lilian “Lily” (b 1880).

Kate married Arthur Hall of York Road in 1904, and Lily married Reginald Legg of London in 1905.

In 1901 the family was living at Harris Cottages near the “Red House” pub, Bone Lane. Henry was still working as a carpenter, his son Harry was a cabinet turner, and Rose a dressmaker.

(It is said that Harry emigrated to Canada, but returned to live at Paradise Lane Bucklebury, marrying Bessie and having 5 children)

Author: Sandra Copas
© Sandra Copas

Katherine May Colhoun Nee Copas

Born April 29th., 1923 Newbury, Berkshire.

Youngest of family of 3 children -

siblings
Robert James (Bob) born 8th. November, 1918 and
Cynthia Mary, born 23rd. July, 1921.

Father, Francis Victor (Frank) Copas born 1887, Newbury, the second son of Albert Copas and Caroline, nee Hibbert.

Mother, Daisy Annie Hartridge born 1886, Bromley, Kent, the only daughter of Raymond Hartridge and Eliza, nee Fairman. Tragically, her mother died when she was only 2-and-a-half years old.

My parents married at Aston Tirrold, Oxfordshire, 5th. April 1915.

We lived at 78 Gloucester Road, Newbury and at 21 Rectory Close, Newbury.

Father was a Butcher; nevertheless educated well by the standards of the day: good handwriting (my mother also), good arithmetic etc. and produced 3 children all of whom won scholarships: brother and sister to local Grammar schools and myself to Christ’s Hospital, Hertford, a public school founded by the boy King Edward VI in 1553 for the children of needy parents. I boarded at CH (as it is known) between 1933-1939. There, I was taught to play the organ, sang in the choir (we had our own chapel) and gained London matriculation. This would have assured me entrance to university had I been so inclined but, by this time, World War II was imminent and my chosen path of going to France and Germany to gain fluency in the languages was no longer available to me. Instead I went on to Commercial College and then at the age of 17 started work with the Prudential Assurance Company. At that time, it was a highly efficient company with administrative costs of 1% of income and everything had to balance to 1% of 1 penny so, I was taught to be accurate and meticulous right at the beginning of my working life. In the evenings I went back to Commercial College (3 nights), but this time as a teacher of typewriting; joined Newbury Choral Society and helped (2 nights) at the local Y.M.C.A. set up to provide refreshment for British and American servicemen stationed locally.

During this period of my life I managed to escape unharmed when a German bomber off-loaded his cargo of bombs on Newbury and then toured the town at almost roof-top height machine-gunning. I was on my way to post the office letters but dived into the Town Hall for shelter and when I got back to the Pru, found bullets had smashed our plate glass windows! By 1943 it was my turn to enter the Services and this I did at the age of 19. Because of my education, I was not allowed to choose what I wanted to do but was sent back to school for almost a year to become a Wireless Mechanic (normally a 3-year course) in the WAAF. At the completion of this schooling I was posted to RAF Benson in Oxfordshire where I was the first female wireless mechanic and was on my own for 4 months until a second one arrived. Later, the opportunity arose to volunteer to go overseas so, I withdrew the application I had made by this time for a commission and in 1945 sailed to Egypt - firstly for another 4 months training as we were the first WAAF wireless mechanics to go overseas, then posted to Heliopolis where I met Stanley Colhoun who was already in the Wireless Section.

During this time my brother became a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm, making overseas tours to the West Indies, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Malta.

My sister also volunteered for overseas duty and was sent first to Italy (Caserta Palace) and then to Egypt about 5 miles from me. She was a WAAF Sergeant in charge of the Orderly Room and was awarded the Oak Leaves decoration for devotion to duty during her 3-year stint at Ballykelly (Northern Ireland).

Stanley and I were married in August 1946 in St Michael’s and All Angels English Church at Heliopolis, with my sister, Cynthia, there as my bridesmaid.

The end of the war had come in August 1945 and demobbing was proceeding. I was not due out for at least another year but because of our marriage I was released with Stanley in November, 1946.

During the time abroad I was able to see some of the sights such as the Sphinx and the Pyramids and I also had a long leave which took in Jerusalem (and many of the places mentioned in the Bible), the island of Cyprus and Beirut in the Lebanon. I also took over the duties of organist in the English Church at Helwan. (This was the general area where diplomatic staff lived in peace time - hence the English Church). I had an amusing experience there one Sunday - during the feast of Ramadan, which lasts a month, the Moslems are not permitted to eat or drink between sunrise and sunset: we were half-way through an evening service when the cannon was fired to proclaim that sunset had arrived, without much more ado, my native “blower” deserted his post and there we were half-way through a hymn and no more music!

After being demobbed Stanley and I lived in Newbury whilst waiting for his place at Teacher Training College. Eventually, this came about and we went to Norfolk - Stanley to Wymondham (pronounced Windum) College and I to Norwich where I first entered Local Government with Norfolk Education Committee. When he qualified as a Teacher, his first appointment was at Ramsgate (Kent) Grammar School and I went to work as a medical stenographer at Ramsgate Hospital. We lived in a small flat in the Regency Hotel - in a crescent of 21 houses - and one day had the privilege of being present when Princess Margaret made a visit. [The rent for this flat took 50% of our income]. In 1950 we returned to Newbury and I re-entered Local Government as a secretary in the Clerk’s Department and a year later I was made a Committee Clerk and from then on I attended all meetings and recorded all minutes. As time went on, I was given responsibility for carrying out much of the administrative work arising from the meetings of the Water & Sewerage Committee; Public Health; Finance and General Purposes Committees; and 100% of the Housing administrative work - from buying land, instructing the architect, getting Planning permission, letting Contracts and finally, installing the tenants. At the same time, “we” also looked after Births, Marriages and Deaths and later I became a Superintendant Registrar (and so did Cynthia), so that both of us actually “married“ many couples, or, to be more accurate where civil marriages are concerned, witnessed the exchange of marriage vows of many couples. In the 1950s and 60s, I was a member of Kingsclere Choral Society and an accompanist for Lansing and Bagnell’s Glee Club.

In 1974, I retired and we moved to Cornwall and in 1977 I became Organist and Choirmistress at St Mawgan-in-Pydar Church. I also sang with Newquay Choral Society; Cornwall Orpheus Choir and Cantate Domino Choir. In 1979, I started doing voluntary work in the office at the vets in Newquay and this sometimes stretched to assisting at emergency operations or, sitting with our patients overnight!!

I do not feel my life has been particularly notable - mostly just a lot of hard work, but this is no doubt influenced by the fact that Christ’s Hospital has produced some famous people in whose footsteps I could never hope to follow - some who come to mind are Charles Lamb 1775-1834: writer; Sir Barnes Wallis 1887-1979: inventor of the Bouncing Bomb (World War II); Olive Stephen (nee Voysey-Martin), one of the 4 members of the “Ask Me Another” quiz team in the 1950s and she was my “school mother” i.e. she was responsible for looking after me as a new girl at C.H.

Appendix:
Some places of residence
1951-62 1B Swan Street, Kingsclere (Council staff house)
1962-63 Foxes Lane, Kingsclere (where Stanley “created” Kingsclere Poultry Company and I helped to design the house built there)
1963-65 Hartley Witney and Mattingley (Stanley creating another chicken farm)
1965-73 “High Noon”, Newtown Road, Newbury (Stanley back in teaching and later Deputy Head)
1973-78 “Rosanneth”, Mawgan Porth, Cornwall
1979-88 16 Church Street, St Columb Minor, Cornwall
1988-2010 6 Carloggas Farm Cottages, St Mawgan, Cornwall
2010-2011 1 The Maltings, Kennet Road, Newbury

Some of our pets
1951-63 Bruno, a labrador-cross, from the age of 3-weeks
1963-64 no animal “owned” but, adopted by neighbour’s cat and wild birds
1964-77 Jasper, Jasmin and Julie - my 3 black labradors
1974 Chloe “adopted” us and became a 24-hour resident in 1985
1977-87 Tess, “rescued” at 2-years-old: half labrador, half German Shepherd
1979 Lucy, black labrador, started “boarding” with us and became permanent in January, 1987
1987 Pippa, tri-colour beagle, at age of 5 and-a-half months, because her first owners could not cope!

Other countries visited on holiday
France, Germany, Lichtenstein, Belgium, Holland, Tunisia, Morocco, Gibraltar and Spain

Author: Sandra Copas
© Sandra Copas

Kathleen Copas nee Blake                                                                            (grave: W23)

Kathleen was born on 18^th. December, 1928 in Holborn, London. Her father, Steven, was born in 1901 and in 1920 was an Aircraft hand in the RAF when he married Gertrude Pretoria Brace, born May 1900 in Hertford. They had eight children. In 1922 he was a Flower packer and later worked as a packer in the newspaper industry.

Kathleen spoke of their childhood: playing on the streets with a matriarch aunt overseeing them; going to talk with the children through the windows who were patients in Great Ormond Street hospital; buying broken biscuits and stale cakes for a penny on Sunday mornings... The family knew what it was like to be poor; living in a tenement, with toilets and a tap for water in the yard; sleeping top-to-toe under coats to keep warm but, always there was the strength of family to keep them going.  

When war came, her father and eldest brother, Bob, stayed on in London. Kathleen was evacuated to Newbury along with her class from school, while the rest of her family were sent to Somerset, where they were billeted near Highbridge .  Sadly, her mother died there in 1941 and is buried at Huntspill.  Kathleen was placed with a couple in Salcombe Road, Newbury and she went to school at the Temperance Hall in Northcroft Lane. Later, she worked at the “Empire” and “Tudor” cafes, recalling being thrown down the garden behind the “Empire” café when St John’s was bombed.

She met her future husband, Robert James Copas, when he was home on leave and they married at Culham in 1952. They began married life in a caravan (with orange boxes for cupboards and bedside tables) near Haverfordwest, as Bob was stationed with RNAS Goldcrest nearby. They returned to Rectory Close, Newbury to live with his widowed mother, after he was released from the Naval Service in April, 1953. Their daughter was born at Sandleford Hospital in December, 1953 and their son was born at home in January, 1957. In the early 1960s, they took on running a newsagents in Morden, Surrey and later, they came to live in East Ilsley and Kingsclere with Bob travelling to work as an electrical contractor.

Kath was a wonderful mother and an excellent cook. She enjoyed many years with her friends on the kitchen staff at Cheam School, Headley. She always found great happiness being with her family and in gardening and reading.

She died from a heart attack in May, 2003 while living at Enborne Road, Newbury.

Robert James Copas's casket of ashes and those of his wife Kathleen, nee Blake, 1928- 2003 were placed in the grave of Francis Victor Copas through the lid towards the back, left hand side

Author: Sandra Copas
© Sandra Copas