Harold Dyer born 7 July 1890 (Ironstone worker) married Nellie West ,June 1922

Harold Dyer died 22 October 1977 aged 87 years

Nellie Dyer (nee West) born 31 May 1903 died 1984 aged 81 years

They lived at Church Cottage, next to the church. Both were closely associated with serving Stathern Church

They had two sons, the eldest John Harold Dyer was a sargeant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and was killed near Berlin in 1944 when his Lancaster bomber was shot down.

 

In her old age Nellie Dyer wrote some memories of Stathern which are reproduced verbatim below. Some of her writing is difficult to decipher.

 

 

MEMORIES OF THE PARSONS OF STATHERN SINCE 1913 AS I REMEMBER IT

– Nellie Dyer – believed to have been written before 1977.

 

I came to Stathern in 1913. The Rector, Revd. Peirson had retired on medical advice. My father was postman, my stepmother had been a parlour-maid mostly in vicarages and rectories, so I always seemed to hear about parsons “livings”, etc.

 

Revd. New, with wife and four daughters came in 19xx I believe the “living” was about £800 a year and of this Revd. Peirson took £3 per week. They brought with them two maids and had a gardener. Revd. New took outside duties, exam papers etc. His wife died in 19.. one daughter kept house, one took music pupils. Ruth a teacher at Knipton and Eastwell, Grace a missionary. He retired (had Mr F Green’s bungalow built) about 1930.

 

Revd. Harland came in January 1931 with his wife. Also Lord Chalmers and the nurse, housekeeper Mrs Thompson. On Lord Chalmer’s re-marriage, he left Stathern and Mr Harland made no secret of the fact he could not afford to live in the rectory. He said to us he was worse off than an ironstone man and God knows we were bad enough off in the hungry 1930s. He left in ... and went as Army Padre to Farnham plus wife and 3 children

 

Revd. Whitford came in 1936. Same story; he tried to start a boys school, no luck. His wife, a nurse, tried to help taking patients but the first baby she delivered died so that finished that. Once again the Rectory stood empty. He went to Lockington.

 

In 1939 Mr Camomile, tenant of Rectory Cottage died. Revd. and Mrs Hooper chose to live in it (no bath or hot water) and the Rectory was let to a large family of Greeks, then as a Land Army Hostel for girls to 1945 and after that the men from their hostel moved in.

The Hoopers retired to Clacton in 1945. Revd. Peirson died while he [Revd Hooper] was here, so the £3 per week was restored to the living.

 

In May 1946 Revd. and Mrs Pratt came at his own expense he had xxx to xxx made He came from St Michael and All Angels Leics (he had caught scarlet fever in the January). On the 4th Sunday after Trinity he preached his last sermon see Epistle and Gospel - Judge not etc.  He died on Aug 18  He wanted his ashes interred in Stathern Church. A grand man, lovely voice, to hear him and Harold as they stood to ...in the s... I shall always remember tenor and counter tenor, lovely, only 61

 

In January 1946 Revd. and Mrs Thomas came from Whitchurch, a real country parson, short, round and yet dignified. The big rectory was standing empty and in a poor neglected condition, so, after much discussion it was sold for £1800 the supposed sum, to Mr Gamble and his wife, a Leicester hosiery merchant. He died in June 1969; she sold it to Mr Allen. Although the Revd. Peirson died about 1943 which made the “living of Stathern Church” better by the return to the then Rector of £150 a year, Mr Thomas was not well off at all; he said his daughter was better paid at Petfoods. He was very popular with children, every Sunday they would run up Water Lane to escort him to church. David Octavius Thomas retired at 70.

 

A long sequestration followed, the little Rectory [on Water Lane] was altered and improved and Revd. Knight, wife and 3 children moved in in May 1954 straight from China where all the church workers were ordered out, poor, no cash, furniture or much of anything. He was moved to St Peters in 1958

 

Revd. Winckley followed, a huge, untidy man but such a lovely voice and manner. How he envied Harold and Mrs Swingler being so thin; alas he died July 1961 Three weeks later the Revd. E C Parker came to look around. He moved in, early in 1962; his wife died in 1971. He was the last of a long line or Rectors of Stathern; he retired in Jan 1975.

 

September 3rd 1976 Revd. Savage, Rector of Stathern with Harby was appointed to live in the new Rectory at Harby, so after much talk, meetings and delay the little Rectory [on Water Lane] was sold for £17,000. A generous grant was given from this sale towards the cost of [renewing] the chancel and vestry roof using the same lead in 1977.

 

Harold [Nellie Dyer’s husband] wound up the church clock for the last time on Friday Sept xx and was later that day taken to Notts General Hospital for a hernia operation and died Oct 22 1977.

 

STATHERN 50 YEARS AGO AS I FIRST REMEMBER IT

 

First thing I noticed when I came to Stathern 50-odd years ago was the brick wall round Mrs Robinsons (Baileys) garden and I do not think I have ever seen another wall of bricks like it anywhere.

 

Stathern has not altered in shape; most of the building has been done within the village. Roads in winter deep in mud in summer very dusty. There were no motor cars , even the doctor travelled either on horse back or by horse and trap then again no proper drainage so with rain water washing silt and stones mixed with horse and cow manure the roadsman had to scrape the roads and every men, women and children wore boots; also there were often floods. No electricity meant everyone used lamps and candles the village was very dark (* lantern) at night. Few houses had water, WCs were almost unknown. I only remember one telephone at the Post Office. There was no [War Memorial] Institute, certainly there were no dustmen and although there was not the amount of tinned food used, getting rid of rubbish was a problem. Also there was a tremendous lot of flies in the summer due to so many cows walking around the village as a great many farmers drove them to drink water at the Gote and also of course to the dreadful pit closets, some had pans but whichever it was had to be emptied by the house holder.

 

Ironstone was the chief source of work for men. Quite a few worked on the railway. No buses meant everyone went by train

 

I cannot remember much about it but some may remember the lace ……drew the……r scalloped it, often sitting in their doorways to see better, with huge piles of lace and cotton ; this came from Nottingham

 

Neither church or school has changed. There were about 96 pupils at that time. The Rector was Mr New and the Rectory was really the centre of church life, choir practice, little whist drives and dances, garden parties , music lessons, private schools.

 

Now for some of Revd. Peirson’s remarks. Evidently the National Insurance Act was just getting into shape; there was no unemployment benefit, no work, no money and most men lost.   Wet days made work impossible.

 

Weddings. The first I can remember was “Polly” Armstrong and Charles Wright. She was organist and I distinctly remember how she blushed when she heard her banns read out. I believe her dress was white with small light blue stripes. Also another very pretty bride was Rachael Hubbard, white dress, big hat, all walking to church, bride on father’s arm and all the guests and family walking behind them to and from church. Same for a funeral. In very exceptional cases a horse and dray might be used for the coffin but generally it was carried shoulder high and if it was a long way from the church or a heavy person, someone halfway to church would stand 4 wooden chairs at the side of the street and the bearers would put the coffin on these while they had a rest. When the ‘new’ cemetery was made in 1936 a house to house collection was made by the British Legion to buy a hand bier; only one man refused to give, Joe Gibson, he died soon after and was the first to have need of it; that was in Revd. Harland’s time; Joe was buried in the old cemetery.   Revd A Whitford consecrated the new cemetery in 19..

 

One sad event one seldom sees now, the funeral of a baby. One sight shocked me soon after I was married; the old midwife, black shawl and hat carried the tiny coffin through a crown of women outside the church; an unmarried mother’s baby to stare at and sad too. One night after dark, my mother-in-law came into our room and asked if I would like to see the coffin containing a still-born baby. “Boxes” Everitt had made it beautifully. He and Mr Dyer took it across to the cemetery for burial.   The parents were not young and it was their first child. The mother saw grandad working in there one day and she begged of him to tell her where her baby was buried but he couldn’t.

 

The first cremation service was that of Mrs Tom Clamp. A very erect lady, lovely white hair, just so. The service was early in the morning and later in the day her ashes were brought back for interment in the cemetery. Grandad Dyer was sexton and he had such a good laugh when he got home.  As usual a crowd of women gathered round the grave and Mrs Tibby Booth made her famous remark “Just you fancy, all as is left of that stuck up old bitch”

 

Then the speech of “Boxes Everitt”. He wanted to be buried “first one in the gate so as he could be first out when Gabrielle sounds the trumpet”. He got his wish – he was electrocuted at Corby, his grave is the last one on the first row near the gate. Just chance …rother, Mr Swingler laughed about.   Often Albert Murphy would call and get Swingler to help him take the coffin along or lift the body in etc, well it happened at Mrs Tibby Booths after they had got him laid in, old Tibby came in “Ah me old flower, the Parson says we shall meet again – but we never shall” I wonder.

 

STATHERN CHURCH.

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For many years £17 2s was paid as a matter of course, congregations were bigger and happier, the silver 3d was much favoured as collection (2 for children) whole families went to church morning and evening.

 

Revd Harland 1931- 1935 forsaw the church itself was needing money, raised £100. Farthing Fund, and had one pinnacle and top windows and west side restored.   Hampered by the big rectory he and Revd Whitfield only stayed a short time. 1939 Revd Hooper came 6ft 3.5 inches tall, not fond of children, poor eyesight, fell and broke his hip, retired in 1945, nothing done, he lived in rectory cottage. No bath or HWS [hot water system].    1946 Revd Pratt also approached by Bishop for £25,000 post war appeal. Stathern paid £274 . August 1946, Rector died but as we had promised, and led by Mr Swingler, Stathern sent 17 times its quota, target set £274 (….) Mr Pratt paid for a bath and hot water system for the rectory only reimbursement his widow got was for a new toilet pedestal (the old one was already cracked).

 

Revd. Thomas Jan 1947, a small, jolly, dignified Welshman, loved by children, liked and respected by his tenants, each year some social event organised.  He it was who foresaw the smaller congregation as old members died and young people left the village for work and better houses in town. He advised taking up £200 worth of War Bonds also a Fabric Fund and Expenses accounts; he also insisted that 5/- each be paid to Clerk and Minister at a funeral as to save losing time and money from work; these if possible were always on a Saturday. Church fees at this time for weddings 19/- [shillings]

 

A long sequestration followed and Revd. Knight came in October 1954 straight from China in poor health also about this time another appeal from Leicester £15 extra per parish for 3 years. We paid in spite of rumours we should soon be in for a big expense with the pinnacles, we were.    Revd Knight was a good man and fond of Stathern Church and we raised about £5 per week to the fabric Fund during his stay. Then at a cost of about £1000 we had to have the south roof stripped, Leicester lent £200 free of interest to be paid back in 7 years. By then Revd. Winckley was here.  Architect reported that the tower was a danger once again up goes scaffolding, Rector wrote letter took photographs got a small grant or two and with about £800 work started in March but by July worked stoppe, all the money had been spent.   Revd Winckley died on July 25th and we were desolate – see minutes of meeting in PCC Minute Book 1961

 

Now to the best of my knowledge we have always paid our running costs with money given in church collections A great deal of cheap and voluntary labour has made this possible, in spite of many minor bills including one for £117 three years ago. We now have about £676 in fabric fund and of this £... has been raised by the village for an oil-fired heating system. £45 in church expenses (which are rising) now how can we give over £1 per week to Leicester?  Congregations per Sunday 6.30pm is seldom over 20; one-third of those persons are well over 70, if we get two or three under 40 it is unusual, cannot blame people; long drawn out service in cold church. Is it worth spending £10,000, which we haven't got on the building?

 

The value of land here has increased. Farmers who now pay £4 per acre don’t feel like giving. One third of people living in the village are retired on pensions. Funeral fees are over £3  Weddings spoil £5 – it’s getting harder to go begging for money. Out of 180 houses nearly 40 have only one person, elderl,y living in them.