The Banstead Image Library
Unknown ladies at Great Burgh
This group photograph was taken at Great Burgh, Reigate Road, Burgh Heath, in March 1949. From left to right: Isabel, “Me”, Frances, Sheila and Sister. This photograph probably came from a house clearance and we don’t know the story behind it, can you help?
The building is now used by Leatherhead Food Research, who share the site with Toyota, but when this photo was taken in 1949 it was occupied by the Distillers Co. Ltd. There were many temporary wooden laboratories and other buildings on site, some of which can be seen in this photo. The company had its own medical unit, where presumably 'Sister' must have worked, but who are the other ladies? Were they nurses there in wartime, were they Distillers Co. or Ministry of Supply employees or had they volunteered with the Auxiliary Fire Service who had a station there during the war?
History:
In November 1925 the Distillers Co Ltd Board sanctioned the formation of a central research organisation and in April 1926 DCL purchased Great Burgh for £11,500. This was a Country Mansion standing in 20 acres, adjacent to Epsom Downs. In March 1927 the Board approved the expenditure of £10,000 on buildings and £5000 on experimental plant.
By 1928 the staff strength was about sixty, of whom half were chemists. By March 1949 Herbert Muggleton Stanley was responsible for the joint research programme as a whole and chaired a Petrochemicals Research Committee controlling the experimental work.
Between 1945 and 1947 the Research Department at Epsom was greatly expanded and by the latter date had reached 500 staff.
Source:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbm.1988.0025
Picture added on 18 April 2019 at 20:01
This picture is in the following groups
No Group allocated
No Group allocated
External Links
Banstead History
Banstead History
I agree with Tom, whom I worked with around 1955-57, the Distillers was a happy and very busy place. I think Isabel was in charge of the typing pool and Sheila was secretary to a Director. I previously worked for Mr Johnson and Mr Baker in Purchasing.
Added by Marie Nicholson (nee Burgess) on 12 June 2020
My father was an auxiliary fireman at Great Burgh during the war, and it wasn't surrounded by houses as it is now. Some of the land was ploughed and I can remember the tractors and hay or corn stacks. There was often a Gypsy encampment on the ridge near to where Upland Way is now.
I found source reference fascinating as, having worked there in late 60s/early 70s, it explained the background and links of the various parts of Distillers which I hadn't previously appreciated.
I found source reference fascinating as, having worked there in late 60s/early 70s, it explained the background and links of the various parts of Distillers which I hadn't previously appreciated.
Added by Michael Funnell on 04 October 2020
I was interested in Tom Askey's comment about 'the temporary wooden buildings' being wrong. The photo is dated 1949 and my family moved into our newly built house, 59,Shawley Way in about 1952.
I have a photo taken from the bottom of our garden showing Great Burgh House with a enormous excavation in front of it so I think this must be where 'the Laboratories and Patents Department' were built. It is correct that they were set in woodland down the slope from the main house because once they were built they were so well camouflaged by the dip and the trees that we really didn't notice these new buildings.
My family lived at 59, Shawley Way until about 1976.
I have a photo taken from the bottom of our garden showing Great Burgh House with a enormous excavation in front of it so I think this must be where 'the Laboratories and Patents Department' were built. It is correct that they were set in woodland down the slope from the main house because once they were built they were so well camouflaged by the dip and the trees that we really didn't notice these new buildings.
My family lived at 59, Shawley Way until about 1976.
Added by Jacqueline Bridgeman on 14 November 2020
My father was Dr KHW Turck a senior biochemist/chemical engineer who was employed by the Distillers and subsequently BP. We lived in Buckles Way, Nork, Banstead.
Although I was very young in 1949, I recognise Isobel Alston who was known for her efficiency and careful management of the admin/ secretarial staff! Isobel married a great friend of our family and colleague of our Father, namely Erick Brittan (who managed the patent office, I believe), following the death of his first wife.
Sheila O'Clary was also our Father's secretary and a very popular one too. We used to invite her to our home at Christmas time. Many years later I caught up with Sheila who had settled in Oxford where she had become Professor Tinbergen's PA, and had become a neighbour of a former colleague of mine. Sheila died about eight years ago and I was sent the eulogy used at her funeral.........it was like a potted history of the Distillers Co. Epsom.
Of course those years were momentous on account of the Distillers Co involvement in the development of penicillin for medicinal use and the camaraderie there was like that of a large family.
For our parents, as a refugees from Germany, that was a Godsend!
Our family were found accommodation by our Father's employers, and the house they eventually bought remained their home until our Mother's death in 1997! We always looked on that lovely flint former Coleman house, fondly and our Father was always very proud of their labs and the work he and his colleagues undertook. All seems very topical now in 2020/21!
Although I was very young in 1949, I recognise Isobel Alston who was known for her efficiency and careful management of the admin/ secretarial staff! Isobel married a great friend of our family and colleague of our Father, namely Erick Brittan (who managed the patent office, I believe), following the death of his first wife.
Sheila O'Clary was also our Father's secretary and a very popular one too. We used to invite her to our home at Christmas time. Many years later I caught up with Sheila who had settled in Oxford where she had become Professor Tinbergen's PA, and had become a neighbour of a former colleague of mine. Sheila died about eight years ago and I was sent the eulogy used at her funeral.........it was like a potted history of the Distillers Co. Epsom.
Of course those years were momentous on account of the Distillers Co involvement in the development of penicillin for medicinal use and the camaraderie there was like that of a large family.
For our parents, as a refugees from Germany, that was a Godsend!
Our family were found accommodation by our Father's employers, and the house they eventually bought remained their home until our Mother's death in 1997! We always looked on that lovely flint former Coleman house, fondly and our Father was always very proud of their labs and the work he and his colleagues undertook. All seems very topical now in 2020/21!
Added by Ruth Martha Turck on 31 January 2021
Interestingly within the Winter Tale (Chapter 6) of 'Banstead Urchins' there was a visit made to the workshops where father worked and the medical center mentioned above, all written in a humorous tone..
Added by Peter Wells on 28 February 2022
I knew Sheila O'Clarey. She was a very close friend of my mum and dad, Merryl and Laurence, for decades. She met my mum when they both worked as secretaries at Distillers.
She lived in Oxford and was PA to a professor in the University as already mentioned above. She would have died around 2010.
Came across this pic while search for pictures my dad's own history. Made me smile!
Reply from LNW: Always nice to have a happy customer! If you have a photo of your parents taken in Banstead or locally, then do add it to our archive and someone might respond.
She lived in Oxford and was PA to a professor in the University as already mentioned above. She would have died around 2010.
Came across this pic while search for pictures my dad's own history. Made me smile!
Reply from LNW: Always nice to have a happy customer! If you have a photo of your parents taken in Banstead or locally, then do add it to our archive and someone might respond.
Added by Alison M L Cook on 15 February 2023
Dear All,
My Dad, Bernard Thompson, was a research chemist at Distillers in Burgh Heath in the 1950s. Did any of you know him?
Yours sincerely
Mark Thompson
My Dad, Bernard Thompson, was a research chemist at Distillers in Burgh Heath in the 1950s. Did any of you know him?
Yours sincerely
Mark Thompson
Added by Mark Thompson on 21 February 2024
Burgh Heath
Frances was Mrs Frances Mac(Kinley?) Secretary of E R Dawson the Manager of the Yeast and Alcohol Research Division.
I worked at Great Burgh 1951-1961, first as biochemist in the Yeast and Alcohol Division and later in the Patents Department after they moved from Tadworth.
I knew these two ladies well, and seeing the photograph brought back many very happy memories. Great Burgh was a very happy place in lovely open countryside.
By the way, the "temporary wooden buildings" is wrong. The laboratories and Patents Department were in permanent well-constructed new buildings, set near woodland and terraced in gardens down the slope from the main house.