This postcard featuring a view of Bricett Hall was shared with me late last year.
The postmark on the reverse is very faint but appears to have been posted July 1938, and addressed to:
Mrs. Gomm
10, Garrick Road
Greenford.
Middx.
The note reads:
Griffen: House
Monday evening
Dear Elsie,
Arrived here 6.15 had an easy ride with the wind all the way, called at Mrs Proctor’s for a cup of tea she was very pleased. Taint arf quiet here. Had a sleep all afternoon in a cornfield, wasn’t arf good, am sleeping here tonight may go to sea-side tomorrow Love to all
Gilbert
Gilbert and Elsie Gomm were both recorded at the address on the postcard in the 1939 register. The couple had married in 1931, and since both had also been born in the London area, there appeared to be no link to Great Bricett.
However, after receiving the postcard I blogged about recently, I noticed both involved the surname Gomm. It turns out that Gilbert was the son of the sender of the previous postcard, Ernest Gomm, and the Bricett miller’s daughter, Cinderella Clark! An amazing coincidence considering the postcards had been shared by different owners.
Gilbert writes from ‘Griffen House’. This would not be the property currently named Griffin House, but more likely to be the buildings that used to be the Griffin Inn.
The Mrs Proctor who Gilbert visited for a cup of tea, could be Gladys Proctor (nee Lazenby), who was recorded living on Griffin Hill in 1939. She was the widow of George Andrew Proctor, a farm labourer, who had died two years previously.
Or it could have been Elizabeth Proctor (nee Richardson). Elizabeth and her husband Andrew George Proctor, an agricultural labourer, were living on The Green of Great Bricett in 1939. These were the parents of the above Gladys Proctor’s deceased husband.
OR it could have been a completely different Mrs Proctor that he visited on the way.
Either way, Gilbert seemed to have a lovely time in the area – sleeping all day in a cornfield seems a very relaxing way to spend the day.
More details of Gilbert Gomm, Gladys Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and their families can be found on WikiTree
Another amazing coincidence while researching this postcard:
A few years ago, a friend recalled that a great aunt of his had lived in Bricett – the Gladys Proctor likely referred to in the postcard was this same woman!