Inquiry from Australia: A Letter sent to Mr Elvidge, of Kings Road, Hunstanton from Diana H. Bailey, of Kalamunda, Western Australia, requesting his assistance in tracing the school who handed out a sports trophy in 1868:
“Recently there came into my possession a silver trophy mug that I would like to send back to the appropriate place. I have absolutely no idea of which school the winner attended, but do know that he must have been my great grandfather.
The inscri
ption reads: Won by C. G.(?) Priestley, Kings Lynn Athletic Sports, 1st Hurdle Race Prize, May 25th 1868. The engraving is quite elaborate and, unfortunately, I cannot make out the second initial.
I have noticed, and chuckled, at the missspelling of the word Ahtletic. it took me some time to make sure I wasn’t seeing things as I felt that it was somewhat unlikely to happen on such an item. My great grandfather was a doctor who practised in Norfolk during the closing years of the 19th century. He had a son, Cecil Clement Priestly, who was born in London about 1880-90 and came to Western Australia in the very early years of the 20th century.
Cecil Clement became a schoolteacher and was the founder of one of our great boys’ schools preparatory sections here. From Guildford Grammar School, he went on to found Woodbridge House Preparatory School which he ran from 1921-1942, when the government requisitioned the building for use as a replacement home for old people. They had had to be shifted from Fremantle as their original home was situated next to a coastal battery. From there he went on to finish his career at Scotch College in Swanbourne from which he retired about 1953/4. He died about November 17, 1955.
He married in 1915, Ruth Lukin, 13th child of Henry Harbottle Lukin and his wife Rachel Elinor Clifton. They had two daughters, the younger of whom never married. I am the eldest child of the older daughter and have been interested in the family history for many years, which is why I now have this mug. The current family has no information beyond what I have given about C. G. (?) Priestley, and no interest in retaining the mug, so I have made the decision that if an appropriate place can be found for it, then I will happily donate it to them.
DIANA H. BAILEY, 50 Lyndhurst Road, Kalamunda, Western Australia, 6076
