The Postcard
A Chloë Preston Series postcard that was published by Valentine. The artwork was by Chloë Preston.
The card was posted in Botley, Hampshire using a 1d. stamp on Tuesday the 10th. July 1928 to:
Mrs. J. Richards,
Crocker Hill,
Wickham,
Near Fareham.
The Crocker Hill Murders
There used to be a pub called the Old Vine which was situated on the main Fareham to Wickham Road at Crocker Hill. Four years before the card was posted, the pub was the scene of three murders and a suicide.
The landlord, Arthur Gamblin, who possessed a violent temper, shot his wife Sarah Jane, his son William, his daughter Cissie, and then himself.
In 1903 Arthur Richard Gamblin became the licensee of the Old Vine, moving there with his wife and their five children. Their youngest child, daughter Sarah Jane (known as Cissie), was born at the pub in August 1904.
In 1924, Arthur was living at the Old Vine with his wife, two youngest sons Walter and Albert, and daughter Cissie. His eldest son, William, was married but lived nearby at Wickham Common.
On the fateful morning of the 31st. January 1924, residents of Crocker Hill were shocked to hear that the licensee of the Old Vine had shot himself, after murdering his wife, his son, and his daughter.
There had been an argument between Arthur and his sons Walter and Albert about the planting of some blackcurrant bushes. After an early breakfast together, the two brothers set off to dig up and replant according to their father’s wishes.
Sometime a later a shot rang out, and eldest son William, working nearby, went to investigate. William had just entered the premises when his father shot him in the face, killing him instantly. Having killed his son, Arthur then turned the weapon, a double-barrelled shotgun, on himself.
Cissie was found dead in her bed, and was probably shot first as she lay asleep, dying instantly from a single wound. Sarah Jane, still in her night clothes, was found in the passageway, perhaps fleeing from her deranged husband.
The Inquest
The two surviving sons of the family, Walter and Albert, sobbed as they recounted the events leading up to the event. Arthur had summoned his three sons to a meeting in late 1923 to say that he had financial difficulties, and that the boys would all have to make their own way. They were already working in the market gardening business, would have to "do more".
The verdict of the inquest was that Gamblin had murdered his wife, son and daughter by shooting them with a double-barrelled shotgun, and then committed suicide during temporary insanity caused by an ungovernable temper.
Despite Arthur’s worries about money, his estate was valued at £763 6s 8d, a considerable sum at the time.
The Funerals
The family funeral, on the 4th. February 1924, was attended by nearly 4000 mourners who paid their respects to Mrs Sarah Jane Gamblin, William, and 19-year-old Cissie. Sympathy was expressed for the bereaved relatives, especially the two surviving sons, Walter and Albert, and William’s widow.
Not only the local area, but the whole of England, was shocked by the crime.
Arthur Gamblin was laid to rest with his wife in Fareham Cemetery, Wickham Road. Their children William and Cissie, the other victims of the tragedy, were buried together in an adjacent grave.
The Old Vine
Several years after the murder, the Old Vine was demolished, and in 1932 a ‘new’ Old Vine was built to the north of the original site, set back from the road, with room for cars and charabancs to park.
This new public house had larger bars, and saloon and private rooms “well adapted for modern trade”. The building is today the Brazilian Steakhouse.
The Postcard Message
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Grace,
Just a P. C. I hope it
finds you both well as
it leaves us all.
Hedge End Carnival is
being held on Saturday
& we wondered if you
would care to come.
Let us know & we will
loon out for you.
Wall."
Hedge End is 7 miles from Crocker Hill.
Crocker Hill is a small hamlet very close to the location of the Old Vine, and so Grace would almost certainly have known the victims of the shooting.
Theodoros Pangalos
So what else happened on the day that Wall posted the card?
Well, on the 10th. July 1928, deposed Greek dictator Theodoros Pangalos was released from prison after having been incarcerated for two years in the Izzeddin Fortress.
Pangalos died at the age of 74 on the 26th. February 1952 in Athens.
Moshe Greenberg
The day also marked the birth in Philadelphia of the rabbi and Bible scholar Moshe Greenberg.
Greenberg was the first Jewish Bible scholar to be appointed to a position in a secular university after World War II.
He had an important influence on the development of Biblical scholarship. He focused on biblical religion and law, the theory and practice of interpreting biblical texts, and the role of the Bible in Jewish thought.
In the area of prayer, Greenberg studied the development of biblical petition and praise. He portrayed this as:
"A vehicle of humility, an expression of
un-self-sufficiency, which in biblical
thought is the proper stance of humans
before God."
Moishe died in 2010 in Jerusalem after a long illness.
Bernard Buffet
The 10th. July 1928 also marked the birth in Paris of Bernard Buffet.
Bernard Buffet was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor.
He produced a varied and extensive body of work. His style was exclusively figurative. Bernard enjoyed worldwide popularity early in his career, but was shunned by art pundits later on.
Today, there is a renewed interest in Bernard Buffet's oeuvre. His works can be seen in the collections of the world's leading museums, including the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Tate, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Bernard died in Tourtour, France at the age of 71 on the 4th. October 1999.
