Description
Welcome to the second edition of a Chronology of Trade and Industry in Cheltenham
The first edition pf this Chronology was produced to accompany a display by the Cheltenham Local History Society (CLHS) for the Annual County Local History Afternoon in 2002. This greatly expanded edition was compiled for the Summer Local History Afternoon held by the CHLS with the Gloucestershire Local History Association at St Andrew’s United Reformed Church, Montpellier on the 25th June 2022. Once again, the theme was Gloucestershire’s trade and industry.
Over the intervening twenty years a great deal more local history has been uncovered, extensively researched by CHLS members and others. This is largely due to the increased availability of online resources, and to local initiatives, such as the cataloguing and indexing of archive material by volunteers at the Heritage Hub, Gloucestershire Archives. Answering queries on behalf of the CLHS has led to research into additional aspects of the town’s history not previously considered.
In the course of the research, many of the accepted histories of Cheltenham’s trade and industry were found to be incorrect. Assumptions had been made, and the dates business were established were often revealed to be, for example, the date the founder was born or began his apprenticeship. This new edition has provided an opportunity to amend, as well as add to, our knowledge of local history.
You may feel that some areas deserved more attention, or you may have additional information to share. If so, please contact the authors through the CLHS. We also encourage you to consider writing a piece for the CLHS Newsletter, or a longer article for our annual Journal. Our editors would be pleased to help you.
Compiled by: Jill Waller, Sally Self and Sue Rowbotham
Cheltenham Local History Society. May 2022
