Theberton

History

During the First World War, a German Zeppelin airship, L48, was shot down near Theberton at 02:00 on the morning of 17 June 1917, by Robert Saundby and others, while it was on a bombing raid. Sixteen members of the crew died in the crash; three survived but one later died from his injuries. The bodies of the crew were buried in a dedicated plot adjacent to the churchyard, with women munition workers voluntarily digging the graves. Local people tended the graves until 1966, when they were reinterred at Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery in Staffordshire. A memorial plaque remains across the road from St Peter's Church, where part of the Zeppelin framework is mounted in the porch.

The village primary school was closed around 1970 and is now used as the village hall. It was renamed Jubilee Hall in 2000 and extensively refurbished in 2012.

Notable people

At Theberton Hall

William Light, founding father of Adelaide, South Australia, was sent from Penang in about 1792, aged six, to be educated by friends of his father, George and Anne Doughty, who lived at Theberton Hall. George Doughty (d. 21 August 1798) was Sheriff of Suffolk, and it was he who had had Theberton Hall built. His wife, Anne Goodwin, was heiress of Martlesham Hall (died 12 May 1829). Their son was Rev. George Clarke Doughty, also of Theberton Hall.

Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926) the traveller and writer, best known for his 1888 travel book Travels in Arabia Deserta, was born at Theberton Hall and is commemorated in the church by a plaque. Theberton Hall was also the birthplace of his nephew, Lt-Col. Charles Doughty-Wylie, who was born in 1868 and killed in battle at Gallipoli in 1915. His bravery earned him the Victoria Cross, awarded posthumously.

Robert Howlett

The Victorian photographer Robert Howlett was born in Theberton in 1831, the second of four sons of the Rev. Robert Howlett and Harriet Harsant. He is renowned for his iconic photograph of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Heritage buildings

Theberton Hall

Theberton Hall was built for George Doughty (died 21 August 1798) in 1780 or 1792 (architect unknown). In 1852 there were extensive alterations and extensions in Italian Renaissance style, but nearly all of the additions were demolished in the 1920s. It is a two-storey building of yellow brick, stone and with stucco decoration. The central doorway has a porch with square pillars and Ionic columns. The parapet bears the motto "PALMA NON SINE PVLVERE", with the coat of arms above. It remained the home of Charles Montagu Doughty and on 25 October 1951 it was listed as a Grade II heritage-listed building.

The motto comes from the Roman poet Horace, with the literal meaning "no palms without dust" (the palms referring to the prize awarded to the winners of chariot races). It is usually translated as "no reward without effort" and sometimes more recently as "dare to try".

In 1928, Mrs Doughty-Wylie (presumably Lilian, the widow of Charles Doughty-Wylie, and the only woman on the Allied side to visit Gallipoli during the campaign, when she went to lay a wreath on his grave on 17 November 1915

Twinning

Theberton is twinned with Thebarton, a suburb of Adelaide in South Australia. Thebarton is named after the home of William Light, which he named Theberton House.

Citations

References

• Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. , .
• Mower, Mark Zeppelin over Suffolk. The Final Raid of the L48 Barnsley Pen & Sword 2008

References

1. "Parish population 2011".
2. "Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920".
3. redkitebooks.co.uk, [http://www.redkitebooks.co.uk/AA/ex06_L48_Theberton.html Aviation Archaeology], Zeppelin L48 excavation carried out for BBC television
4. redkitebooks.co.uk, [http://www.redkitebooks.co.uk/AA/ex06_L48_Post%20ExcavationReport.html The excavation of L48 the “Theberton Zeppelin”], post-excavation report
5. M. Mower, ''Zeppelin over Suffolk'' Barnsley 2008, p. 87 with photo {{ISBN. 1844157377
6. [http://www.theberton.info/timewatch.htm], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070704150613/www.theberton.info/timewatch.htm Zeppelin, German zeppelin pictures, L48, LZ95, zeppelin crash.]
7. Elder, David F.. "Light, William (1786–1839)".
8. "Place names of South Australia: T".
9. (27 November 1906). "The Colonel Light Statue". The Advertiser (Adelaide).
10. {{NHLE
11. Steuart, Archibald Francis. (1901). "A short sketch of the lives of Francis and William Light: the founders of Penang and Adelaide, with extracts from their journals". Sampson Low, Marston & Co..
12. "Charles Doughty-Wylie's Grave, Seddülbahir".
13. (12 May 1928). "Colonel Light's Boyhood Home". [[The Adelaide Chronicle]].
14. "Theberton Genealogical Records".
15. "School Crest".
16. (18 December 1928). "Theberton Hall". [[The Register (Adelaide)]].