Herald - Issue 401

v INDEPENDENT, LOCAL AND PROUD v 28th January 2021 • The HERALD • Page 25 We offer a Full Range of Carpentry and Building Services: • Full Design Service • Garage and Loft Conversions • Extensions • Fitted Kitchens and Bathrooms • Brickwork • Flat Roofs • Conservatories • PVCu Windows • Decking • Fencing, Pergolas and Gates D&G CARPENTRY & BUILDING Over 25 years experience, so for a fast and friendly service with free estimates call on 07767 833227 or 023 8089 9371 M.D.S. DIGITAL INSTALLS/SERVICE • DIGITAL AERIALS/FREEVIEW • SKY DIGITAL/FREESAT DIGITAL • EXTRA TELEVISION POINTS • TELEPHONE LINES/POINTS • TELEVISION SYSTEMS SETUP/TUNED • WALL MOUNTED TV’S QUALIFIED, FAST FRIENDLY SERVICE FREE SURVEYS/QUOTES BEAULIEU: 01590 611011 MOBILE: 07717 194441 ELECTRICIAN/HANDYMAN FULLY QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN (30YRS EXPERIENCE) • Mains Upgrades • Testing • Extra/Replacement Points/Lights • Outside Lighting • Sockets • Ponds • BT/TV Points • Ethernet Points • CCTV • Fire/Intruder Alarms • Basic Plumbing Repairs • Outside Taps • Showers • Heating Problems • Blinds/Poles Fixed • Flatpacks • Loft Work Boarding, Tidying etc ALL OTHER DOMESTIC WORK CONSIDERED Call Mick on 07738 166453 or email: michaelshelley80@googlemail.com Tales FromThe Graveyard Of All Saints’ Church, Fawley Written by Patricia Hedley-Goddard, Churchyard Archivist for the ancient parish church of All Saints’, Fawley There has been a church at Fawley since 971 A.D. and the graveyard contains over 3,500 known souls within it. Over the next few months, I will be writing up the stories of some of the people buried within the churchyard, many with living relatives who have so kindly contributed to these short histories. ALFRED WALTER WHEELER 1887- 1914 - Alfred Walter Wheeler was born at Ashlett to David and Mary Ann Wheeler, in Sea View Cottage, Ashlett, in 1887. He was one of 11 children. His father David was born and grew up on Stanswood Common near the Mill, and his mother was a ‘Kitcher’ from Furzey Lodge, Beaulieu, near Hatchett Pond. Alfred probably attended Fawley school, but no records have been found. He seems to have been a prominent local sportsman playing cricket for Fawley, along with football and billiards, and was a member of the local Social Club. He was gardener at Copthorne House and won many prizes for his garden produce. He was mentioned in several newspaper reports from that time. Alfred met Annie Baxter, a girl from Farringdon in Oxfordshire, who had come to Fawley to nd work as a domestic servant, and he married her in 1909 when he was 22 years of age. Alfred and his cousin Charles Edward Orchard were born 3 months apart but lived next door to each other and grew up together. eywere remarkably close. e two cousins loved to go out together with Frederick George Wheeler, the then postmaster at Langley, prawning, collecting mussels and winkles, shing, and sometimes wild fowling in Ashlett Creek, with Edward Mudge, a famous local photographer. Sometimes they would row down the Creek and anchor from Calshot Castle. ey were prepared for the ‘wash’ from the liners coming down the Southampton Water, and could see the passengers on board the Southampton to Cowes paddle steamers, while they were shing. On 28th June 1914 talk in the Jolly Sailor pub at Ashlett Creek was water. Fighting for his life, Charles remembered a erwards, the sudden quiet as the Duchess steamed on. Charles was hauled out of the water onto the deck of the paddle steamer, but Alfred was nowhere to be seen. e family walked the marshes down to the Castle for days a erwards, hoping to nd him. Over 5 weeks later, a body was seen oating near Calshot Castle and was towed ashore and handed over to the police. It was his brother who identi ed the body of Alfred, by his clothes and a letter in his pocket. Alfred Walter Wheeler was buried in All Saints Church, Fawley on 22nd December 1914. Many Fawley folk attended the funeral of this popular young man. His wife Annie, who had already ‘lost’ one baby, and now her twenty-seven-year-old husband, was stricken with grief. She was now a widow with 2 young infants plus she was 3 months pregnant. Baby Elsie Wheeler was born on 3rd May 1915 and soon a erwards the widowed Annie returned to her home village to raise her fatherless infants. As for the Duchess of York paddle steamer, the inquest into the accident found that the two required lookout men were ‘down below’, so the ships Master did not see the small rowing boat as he took the paddle steamer in closer to the shore to give room to another steamer coming towards e Duchess of York. e inquest recorded that ‘Alfred Walter Wheeler died having been accidentally killed a er being struck by the paddle wheel of a steamer— e Duchess of York. e Captain, the Lookout and the Mate were all severely censured for neglecting to observe the regulations of the company by not keeping a ‘proper look out’. e company was also censured for continuing to use a vessel with the lookout bridge ‘a ’ (behind) the funnel where the view for the helmsman was obstructed by the funnel. e steamer was later modi ed to having the bridge in front of the funnel to give the helmsman a clear forward view. Grateful thanks to Cli , grandson of Alfred W. Wheeler, for this interesting and tragic story of one of the souls buried and commemorated within All Saints Churchyard, Fawley. probably full of chat regarding the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and the possibility of Britain declaring war on Germany. It would all have seemed extremely far away to the two cousins. On Sunday 15th November 1914, Alfred and his cousin Charles were out shing again, about a quarter of a mile from the entrance to Ashlett Creek. ey were anchored in their rowing boat, as they had done many times before, just beyond the edge of the mud ats. It was a bright clear morning and as they sat quietly shing, waiting for ‘a bite’, they saw the familiar sight of the Duchess of York paddle steamer coming round the Calshot Castle about a mile and a half away. At rst there was no reason for concern as they watched the ferry grow closer and closer. Slowly they realised that the Duchess of York ferry was on a collision course with them. Surely the lookout and the Captain would spot them? Charles shouted to Alfred ‘they’re going to run us down’! Both men were lled with horror and stood up in their small boat, shouting, frantically trying to attract attention. By now, the Duchess of York was just 50 yards away. ey both crouched down in their tiny cra as the steamer’s bow passed just a few feet away. ere was no escape as the thrashing paddle box smashed into them and the impact threw them into the cold Southampton Alfred Walter and his wife Annie taken in Fawley in 1911