THE GRANGE, on the main road through Old Woking, was once home to the Wilson family, who were known for their kindness to Gypsies and travellers.
However, the family’s good deeds went much further, as recent research has revealed.
The Rev Francis Wilson and his wife, Edith, had a son, Graham, and two daughters, Edith and Margaret.
The family was wealthy, and Mr Wilson ran The Grange as a school.
His wife owned some properties in the area. It appears that those were let to Gypsy families.
Many of the local Gypsies worked on farms and usually squatted in tents, in appalling conditions.
The Wilsons purchased land in Kingfield and established a permanent site for the Gypsies and travellers.
It was called Sundridge Camp. The accommodation was in the form of tents and wooden huts, with perhaps a few caravans.
Peeps researcher Mark Coxhead has an envelope addressed to Mrs Wilson at The Grange, with a postmark on the front from Gibraltar and one on the back stating “Woking MR 14 08” – 14 March 1908.
On the back is a crest and the words “HMS Cornwallis”. She was a battleship that was sunk during the First World War.
If the letter was still with the envelope, it would surely reveal who sent it. Perhaps it was Graham.
Wikipedia states that Captain Graham Francis Winstanley Wilson DSO, RN (1886-1972), was born in Woking, the son of the Rev F Wilson.
Graham joined the Royal Navy in about 1903 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1908. In 1912, he was appointed commander of torpedo boat TB 107. Unfortunately, the details of his career do not mention HMS Cornwallis.
For most of the First World War, he commanded minesweeper HMS Zinnia.
Graham also saw service in the Second World War, but was taken prisoner in 1940 when armed boarding vessel HMS Vandyck, which he was commanding, was sunk off Norway.
More research by Mark revealed that Mrs Wilson was district head of the Chertsey division of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Help Society.
She had a letter published in the local press in July 1901, during the Boer War, in which she was appealing for people to attend a fundraising fete.
Mrs Wilson wrote: “When our soldiers and sailors return from active service, are invalided or are discharged, the women’s allowance from the Wives’ and Families’ Association ceases, and there is often of necessity a long delay before pensions are obtained. In such difficulties as these, there is no society but the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Help Society to give the men a helping hand.
“This war has made all of us realise the sufferings of our men.
“I can assure you from my own personal experience that during last winter, several of these sufferers would have been reduced to starvation had their need not been discovered by our workers.”
She wrote that men who had been fighting in South Africa could obtain funds from Lloyds’ Patriotic Fund.
But others serving in India, East Africa and Egypt would receive “no help except from the county funds”.
Mrs Wilson added: “It is for these cases that I plead.”
The fete was to take place for “Woking and neighbourhood”.
The Duke and Duchess of Connaught had given their patronage and the Lord Lieutenant of Surrey was hoping to attend.
The date and location were not given in the letter.
Mrs Wilson urged other “influential residents in this neighbourhood” to attend.
IF you have memories or old pictures relating to the Woking area and its people which you would like to contribute to this page, call David Rose on 01483 838960, or write to the News & Mail.