An Old Welsh Lady in 1915. And the Burgess Gunbus.

            The Postcard

An Everton Series postcard that was posted in Abergavenny on the 26th. August 1915 to:

Miss Madeleine Bielwier,
1, Park Avenue,
Bexhill-on-Sea. 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

"Aug. 1915.
Abergavenny.
I am so looking forward
to seeing Dicky - I hope
he has been good.
Love to all,
M. E. Gaby".

Welsh National Dress

The popular image of Welsh national dress, i.e. that of a woman wearing a tall black hat with a red cloak over a decorative checked apron, is one which largely developed in the 19th. century as part of a conscious revival of Welsh culture during a period when traditional Welsh values were under threat.

The Burgess Gunbus

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, on the 26th. August 1915, the Burgess Gunbus flew for the first time in the UK.

The Burgess Gunbus was an American pusher biplane fighter designed and built by the Burgess Company at Marblehead, Massachusetts.

A total of 36 Gunbuses, powered by a single 140 hp Sturtevant engine, was ordered by the British Admiralty in 1915 for use by the Royal Naval Air Service. 

Built in the United States, they were shipped to Hendon Aerodrome for assembly. The first aircraft flew from Hendon on the 26th. August 1915, and some of the first aircraft were used for training at Hendon and Eastchurch. 

However most went into storage, the last six were not even unpacked. All were removed from the inventory in 1916.

Pamela Onslow, Countess of Onslow

The day also marked the birth of Pamela Onslow.

Pamela Louisa Eleanor Onslow, Countess of Onslow (née Hon. Pamela Louisa Eleanor Dillon) was an English socialite. 

She was born in Dorchester, Dorset, the daughter of Eric Dillon, 19th. Viscount Dillon. She married the 6th. Earl of Onslow on the 4th. August 1936, several weeks before her 21st. birthday. The marriage ended in divorce in 1962.

The couple had two children: Michael William Coplestone Dillon Onslow, 7th Earl of Onslow (28 February 1938 – 14 May 2011), and Lady Teresa Lorraine Onslow (born 26 February 1940). 

Teresa married Catholic writer/editor Auberon Waugh, and her brother Dillon held the office of Justice of the Peace for Guildford in 1950.

The Littlejohn Affair

Lady Onslow was involved in the Littlejohn Affair, a spy scandal involving an alleged MI6 double agent, Kenneth Littlejohn, whom she had met when visiting prison in the 1960's. 

She reportedly introduced Littlejohn to the British security forces who later used Littlejohn in anti-IRA operations. 

In 1975, she received a letter bomb which fortunately for her failed to detonate properly, causing only minor injuries. She reportedly declined hospital treatment for the injuries.

The Death of Pamela Onslow

Lady Onslow died in Kensington, London at the age of 76 on the 14th. April 1992.

Taken on: November 17, 2021

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Sets appears in: • Biographies • Traditional Dress more » • Wales « less

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