97 Hills Road, (2 Eastbourne Terrace)

History of 97 Hills Road

1871

Robert Charles Catling, 29, brewer & commercial traveller, born Ely

Emily Jane, 21, born Essex

Maria Evans, 22, servant, born Girton

1878

This was the birthplace of the artist Norman Wilkinson (1878-1971). [Information provided in 2024 by MHW]. Norman Wilkinson made an important contribution to the history of Marine camouflage. He was one of four children of Thomas Collins Wilkinson, b 1853, music teacher. In 1881 the family is at London Hill, Harrow where Thomas Wilkinson, 52, is ‘Head Master Board School.’

During the First World War, while serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, he was assigned to submarine patrols in the Dardanelles, Gallipoli and Gibraltar, and, beginning in 1917, to a minesweeping operation at HMNB Devonport. In April 1917, German submarines achieved unprecedented success in torpedo attacks on British ships, sinking nearly eight per day. In his autobiography, Wilkinson remembers the moment when, in a flash of insight, he arrived at what he thought would be a way to respond to the submarine threat. He decided that, since it was all but impossible to hide a ship on the ocean (if nothing else, the smoke from its smokestacks would give it away), a far more productive question would be: how can a ship be made to be more difficult to aim at from a distance through a periscope? In his own words, he decided that a ship should be painted “not for low visibility, but in such a way as to break up her form and thus confuse a submarine officer as to the course on which she was heading”. From Wikipedia article on Norman Wilkinson]

1881

Richard W Maris, 39, corn merchant, born Hinxton

Martha M, 37, born Somerset

Annie M, 13, born Essex

Edith, 12, born Hinxton

Lillian M, 9, born Hinxton

Robert J, 7, born Hinxton

Herbert H, 4, born Fulbourn

William B, 1, born Fulbourn

Harriet A Middleton, 23, servant, born Swavesey

Jane Osborne, servant, 15, born Wilbraham

1891

Louisa Ellis, widow, 59, living on own means, born Sussex

Fanny Ellam, servant, 21, born Great Shelford

1901

Louisa Ellis, widow

Rachel Pooley, servant, 21, born Norfolk

1911

Alice Bragg, 52, widow, apartments, born Balsham

Stanley G Bragg, 27, farm pupil, born Balsham

Henry Frank Preston38, boarder, district supt., born Hammersmith

Stanley Jones, 28, flour mill engineer, born Liverpool

George Barker, 20, wood carver, born Kent

1913

Mrs Bragg

1962

Douglas White

1971

Peter Jackson

This was also  at some time, the home of the artist Norman Wilkinson (1878-1971). [Information provided in 2024 by MHW]. Norman Wilkinson made an important contribution to the history of Marine camouflage.

During the First World War, while serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, he was assigned to submarine patrols in the Dardanelles, Gallipoli and Gibraltar, and, beginning in 1917, to a minesweeping operation at HMNB Devonport. In April 1917, German submarines achieved unprecedented success in torpedo attacks on British ships, sinking nearly eight per day. In his autobiography, Wilkinson remembers the moment when, in a flash of insight, he arrived at what he thought would be a way to respond to the submarine threat. He decided that, since it was all but impossible to hide a ship on the ocean (if nothing else, the smoke from its smokestacks would give it away), a far more productive question would be: how can a ship be made to be more difficult to aim at from a distance through a periscope? In his own words, he decided that a ship should be painted “not for low visibility, but in such a way as to break up her form and thus confuse a submarine officer as to the course on which she was heading”. From Wikipedia article on Norman Wilkinson]