Early Salcombe Regatta Photograph from 1905 (Alfred Fairweather)

Society’s 2026 Annual General Meeting

The History Society’s 2026 AGM took place on 31st March 2026 at Salcombe Rugby Club. As well as regular AGM business, members approved the merger of the History Society with Salcombe Maritime Museum. Roger Tucker gave a most interesting illustrated talk about his family farming in the South Hams since the nineteenth century.

South Hams Vintage Rally – 8th and 9th August 2026

Saturday, 8th and Sunday 9th August 2026. The History Society and Salcombe Maritime Museum will have a joint stand in the Craft Tent. South Hams Vintage Rally, Sorley Cross, Kingsbridge, TQ7 4AF.
https://www.shvmc.co.uk/rally.

Kingsbridge Show – 5th September 2026

Saturday, 5th September. Always the first Saturday in September! We will again join with Salcombe Maritime Museum for our stand in the Craft Tent. Kingsbridge Show @TQ9 7QP. What3Words: pacemaker.perused.eats.
https://www.kingsbridgeshow.co.uk.

Down Memory Lane – 6th October 2026

A Slide Show with audience participation presented by Roger Barrett and Geoff Foale on Tuesday, 6th October 2026, 7 for 7.30 pm at Salcombe Rugby Club, Camperdown Road Salcombe, TQ8 8AX. Everyone welcome. Members free, £5 non-members. Bar open.

Salcombe Regatta through the years

Salcombe Regatta 1910

Salcombe Regatta 1925 – Victoria Quay

Salcombe Regatta 1930

Salcombe Regatta 1947 – Winning Four Oared Crew

Mens Races along Fore Street

Ladies Races

Gwen

Andrew McIlwraith – Salcombe’s Greatest Benefactor
By Roger Barrett

Andrew McIlwraith (1844-1932)

Salcombe has been home to a number of illustrious men and women over the years but it was a Scottish shipowner, Andrew McIlwraith (1844-1932), who left the greatest legacy.

Born in 1844 in Ayr, Scotland, he was the fourth son of John McIlwraith, a successful plumber and ship owner. Qualifying as a naval engineer at Glasgow University, Andrew joined his father’s business in 1868.

In 1875, with (Sir) Malcolm McEacharn, he established the London-based shipping and mercantile firm McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co., known as the ‘Scottish Line’. ‘Within 3 years they had built a fleet of 5 ships, initially thanks to an agreement with the State of Queensland to carry migrants from British shores. Soon they were also exporting wool and other primary produce not just to Australia but also to the US and South America. Their handsome clippers were fast ships – the Scottish Wizard was renowned for completing the Bristol to Melbourne route in 92 days.’ (Cliff House website).

Two of Andrew’s brothers settled in Australia – John established a thriving metal works business in Melbourne and Thomas, a railway engineer, rose to become Premier of Queensland. Andrew made a number of trips to Australia but never took up residence.

In 1879, the Scottish Line, in collaboration with Andrew’s brothers, was the first to ship frozen meat from Australia to Britain. It was the start of a flourishing business and, to mark the success of the venture, the company presented a frozen leg of lamb to Queen Victoria.

A keen yachtsman, McIlwraith fell in love with Salcombe when he first sailed into the harbour. In 1906, he purchased Woodcot on Cliff Road and, on his retirement in 1913, he moved there from his home in St. Albans.

Described as ‘a large, handsome, red-bearded man with an outgoing and convivial personality’, McIlwraith soon became a leading light in the local community. A year after settling in the town he became Vice Commodore of Salcombe Yacht Club and, in 1919, when the Club was losing the premises it occupied in Salcombe Hotel, he bought Cliff House to provide the Club with a new clubhouse and function rooms for the community. Income to maintain the building came from properties he bought in the town. His benevolence didn’t end there – other gifts included Cliff House Gardens, the War Memorial, woodlands and – for the National Trust – much of the coastline from Rickham, on the east side of Salcombe Harbour, to Bolberry, on the west.

Though successful in business, McIlwraith’s family life was dogged by misfortune. His two marriages ended in separation and the three sons by his first wife predeceased him (two were lost in the Boer War).

McIlwraith died on 19th October 1932 and is buried at Shadycombe Cemetery. He was survived by two daughters by his first marriage (Margaret and Mabel) and one (Violet Mary) by the second. On his death, the ownership of Woodcot passed to Mabel (1881-1966), whose husband, Thomas Jennings was also a shipowner. It was their daughter Elizabeth who ultimately inherited Woodcot.

Elizabeth Jennings (1903-2006) also inherited McIlwraith’s passion for sailing and his philanthropic zeal. In 1969 she donated Woodcot to the Plymouth Guild of Social Services, who in turn conveyed the property in 1976 to the Voluntary and Christian Service, of which Help the Aged (now Age UK) was a subsidiary.

We owe them both a huge debt of gratitude and, who knows, perhaps their story might inspire a new generation of public-spirited individuals to make their mark on the town. There are plenty of worthy causes!

Regatta images courtesy of Salcombe Maritime Museum and Salcombe History Society.

Harvesting at Portlemouth 1939

History Society’s 2026 Annual General Meeting
The History Society’s 2026 AGM will take place on Tuesday, 31st March 2026 at 7 pm at Salcombe Rugby Club, Twomeads, Camperdown Road, Salcombe, TQ8 8AX. The bar will be open.

AGM Agenda

1. Welcome
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Minutes of 2025 AGM and Matters Arising
4. Annual Accounts and Adoption
5. Annual Report
6. Ships of Salcombe
7. Proposal to Merge with Salcombe Museum Society
8. Any Other Business

Horses Ploughing

120 Years of Farming in the South Hams, an illustrated talk by Roger Tucker
Following AGM business, we are very pleased to welcome Roger Tucker to give an illustrated talk about farming in the South Hams over many generations. It will be great to hear from him.

Free to members. Non-members £5.00.

Steam Engine Threshing

Ransomes Thresher

Ilbertstowe – Dipping Unwilling Sheep

Salcombe Urban District Council
Salcombe Urban District Council – from its establishment pursuant to the Local Government Act 1894 until it was abolished on 1st April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 – was responsible for local governance and municipal services within Salcombe, including:

• public health and sanitation – street cleaning, waste removal, maintenance of hygiene standards and management of sanitation infrastructure such as drains and public toilets
• highways and public works – repair and upkeep of roads, pavements, and street lighting; provision and maintenance of public spaces (parks, gardens, and recreation grounds)
• Buildings and community services
• Planning (from 1st July 1948), recreation and open spaces
• Civic representation

Here are some images of S.U.D.C. workmen, who carried out the hard work around the town from snow and flood clearance to road-sweeping and road repairs including drainage. Sub-contractors supplied heavy machinery with operators while the S.U.D.C. workmen did the manual work.

Salcombe Urban District Council Workmen Clearing Snow 1947

S.U.D.C. Workmen

Road Repairs

Road Works

S.U.D.C. April 1955

Road Works – Possibly Fore Street

S.U.D.C. Workers Possibly in The Galley 1969

Gazette Article – S.U.D.C. Workmen

Sunday, 3rd May 2026 – Salcombe Crabfest

Salcombe Crabfest

Visit our stand at Salcombe’s 10th Annual Crabfest organised by the Rotary Club of Salcombe on Sunday, 3rd May 2024. We will be located midway along Island Street. Our stand will display a wide range of historic photos of Salcombe – people and places – along with items from our archive and the Maritime Museum’s collection, and many history books about Salcombe to browse and maybe purchase.

Len Fairweather (1913-1990)

Len Fairweather – David Murch setting up the exhibition in Cooks boatstore 1975

Len Fairweather was born in Salcombe in 1913, son of Alfred Fairweather (1876-1959), who ran a pioneering photography business in Salcombe (see Issue 35) and grandson of James Fairweather (1846-1912), Salcombe’s civic leader, campaigning journalist, educator, writer and publisher (see Issue 34).

During the Second World War, Len saw service in the Western Desert as a member of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He was the proprietor of the local dairy in Loring Road until his retirement in 1971.

A well-known resident, long-time trustee of Cliff House and founder member of Salcombe Maritime Museum and historian of Salcombe and its people, he frequently lectured on the subject, using photographs salvaged from his father’s photographic shop after the wartime blitz in Fore Street. The damage destroyed much of the stock and many plates and negatives were lost, but friends helped to search through the rubble and hundreds were saved. Len later recalled “my father had never destroyed a negative from the time he first started publishing postcard views, so we are fortunate and still have a good pictorial record of the area during these years.”

Because at that time the Museum did not have a permanent home, on his death Len gifted the Fairweather Collection – a priceless photographic record of the Salcombe and Kingsbridge area in the early years of the twentieth century – to the Cookworthy Museum in Kingsbridge.

Together with Muriel and David Murch, Len compiled several historical books about Salcombe and its harbour.

At a public meeting called by Len and David Murch on 27th February 1974 at Salcombe Yacht Club, the Salcombe Museum Society was founded and Len became Vice-Chairman and David became Chairman. In February 1975, the Society achieved charitable status. It took up an offer to rent Cook’s boatstore on Custom House Quay, and the Museum’s first exhibition opened on 21st June 1975. It was a huge success with almost 6,000 visitors during that summer.

Temporary summer exhibitions at Cook’s boatstore followed until the Society, having learnt that the boatstore was for sale and would be unavailable after that year’s exhibition, approached Salcombe Town Council with a request to lease the basement of Salcombe’s Old Council Hall in Market Street to display their exhibits, as well as the old Clerk’s office above for use as a research and library room. In 1990, the Museum committee voted to go ahead with the Town Council’s basement proposal.

Sadly, Len died in December 1990, aged 77, at his home in Herbert Road, and did not live to see the new Museum premises opened on 14th April 1992 at the Old Council Hall.

Mr Len Fairweather

Images of farming and S.U.D.C. courtesy of Geoff Foale and the Society’s collection. Images of Len Fairweather courtesy of Roger Barrett and Salcombe Maritime Museum. Information about Len Fairweather courtesy of the late Tim Bass, Malcolm Darch, Roger Barrett and the Kingsbridge & Salcombe Gazette.

The Old Council Hall

Christmas Lights in Kingsale Road

At Coleman’s Corner

Along Fore Street

HMS Magpie visiting Salcombe on
Remembrance Sunday, 9th November 2025

Remembrance Sunday Parade

Ken Prowse at Salcombe War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday

Salcombe History Society & Maritime Museum’s joint stand at Hope Cove

Rosemary Griggs presenting the story of Katherine Champernowne

The Young Salcombe Centre Tree at the Seaside Parish Christmas Tree Festival

2026 History Society Calendar
A few remaining copies are on sale for £9.99 at Ashby’s of Salcombe, Bonningtons and Spar on Loring Road. Every month features beautiful images of Salcombe through the ages.

History Society’s 2026 Annual General Meeting
The History Society’s 2026 AGM will take place at 7 for 7.30 pm on Tuesday, 31st March 2026 at Salcombe Rugby Club, Twomeads, Camperdown Road, Salcombe, TQ8 8AX. Speakers details to follow.

Remembrance Sunday photos courtesy of Steve Wiltshire; Hope Cove, Malborough & South Huish History Fair photo courtesy of Roger Barrett; Rosemary Griggs photo courtesy of Geoff Foale.

Rosemary Griggs

‘A WOMAN OF NOBLE WIT’
The story of Katherine Champernowne, presented by Rosemary Griggs

TUESDAY, 30th SEPTEMBER 2025 | 7 for 7.30 PM | SALCOMBE RUGBY CLUB, Camperdown Road, Salcombe, TQ8 8AX

Everyone Welcome | Admission: members free, £5 non-members | info@salcombehistorysociety.co.uk

The story of Katherine Champernowne, mother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh. Devon was rocked by the religious and social changes that shaped Tudor England; privateers and pirates; rebellions and plots. How Katherine became the woman who inspired her famous sons to follow their dreams. Tudor history seen though a woman’s eyes.

Rosemary Griggs is an author, researcher, seamstress and popular West Country speaker: https://rosemarygriggs.co.uk/.

Queen Elizabeth I

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, son of Katherine Champernowne by her first marriage to Otho Gilbert of Compton, Greenway and Galmpton

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, son of Katherine Champernowne by her first marriage to Otho Gilbert of Compton, Greenway and Galmpton

Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c.1539 – 9th September 1583) was an English adventurer, explorer, member of parliament and soldier who was a pioneer of the English colonies in North America and the Plantations of Ireland.

A.L. Rowse wrote of Gilbert: “He was passionate and impulsive, a nature liable to violence and cruelty – as came out in his savage repression of rebels in Ireland – but also intellectual and visionary, a questing and original mind, with the personal magnetism that went with it. People were apt to be both attracted and repelled by him, to follow his leadership and yet be mistrustful of him.”

Sir Walter Raleigh, son of Katherine Champernowne by her second marriage to Walter Raleigh of Fardel Manor

Sir Walter Raleigh (c.1553 – 29th October 1618) was a great English hero, statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan age, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion in Ireland, helped defend England against the Spanish Armada and held senior political posts under Queen Elizabeth I.

His good fortune did not long survive the Queen’s death on 24th March 1603. Raleigh was arrested on 19th July 1603 at the Old Exeter Inn in Ashburton, charged with treason for his part in the Main Plot against King James I, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was convicted, but King James spared his life, and Raleigh remained imprisoned in the Tower until 1616.

In 1617, Raleigh was pardoned by the King and granted permission to conduct a second expedition in search of El Dorado. However, a detachment of Raleigh’s men attacked the Spanish, in violation of peace treaties with Spain and against Raleigh’s orders. A condition of Raleigh’s pardon was avoidance of hostility against Spain. The Spanish demanded that Raleigh’s death sentence be reinstated by King James, who had little choice but to do so.

Raleigh was beheaded in the Old Palace Yard at the Palace of Westminster on 29th October 1618. After he was shown the axe, he said: “This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all diseases and miseries.” Raleigh’s last words, spoken to the hesitating executioner, were: “What dost thou fear? Strike, man, strike!”

Steam Rally – 9th and 10th August 2025
Photos and video from the 2025 Steam Rally by Geoff Foale.

Roger Barrett, Chair of the Museum, and Ken Prowse, President of the History Society, on the joint History Society-Museum stand at the Steam Rally

Steam Rally

Steam Rally

Steam Rally

Steam Rally

Steam Rally

Geoff Foale made this video at the Steam Rally: https://vimeo.com/1114493727.

Kingsbridge Show – 6th September 2025

Ken Prowse on the joint History Society-Museum stand at Kingsbridge Show

The Fairweathers of Salcombe – Alfred Fairweather (1876-1959)
Alfred Fairweather, one of the four sons of James Fairweather (see Issue 34), was originally apprenticed to a pharmacist in Kingsbridge and trained at Stewarts, Dispensing Chemists, at 56 Fore Street.

Alfred Fairweather

Alfred did not complete his training, instead teaching himself photography, and set up his own photography business in Robinson’s Row in 1900, to the rear of his father’s business at 67 Fore Street.

He would walk long distances with his heavy camera and equipment in search of a good picture, then develop and print his own photographs. Alfred chronicled life in Salcombe, the people, their houses and streets and the many events and celebrations on land and sea which characterise how the people of the town lived at that time.

He produced postcards and developed a business in studio portraits from a shop he set up at 8 Fore Street by 1926, which he ran until it was damaged by enemy action on 12th March 1943.

“The roar of a plane was followed by a deafening explosion, and his shop and two others next to it were destroyed. If a customer had delayed him for a few moments longer, he would almost certainly have been killed. As it was, he was quickly on the scene with other rescuers, and sifted through the rubble of his shop to salvage as many as he could have his hundreds of negatives. Inevitably, some were smashed beyond repair.” (Kingsbridge & Salcombe Gazette)

The Fairweather Collection can be explored at the Cookworthy Museum, Kingsbridge, a unique record, rich in detail, of Salcombe life over the first half of the twentieth century: https://kingsbridgemuseum.org.uk/

Alfred Fairweather

2026 History Society Calendar

2026 History Society Calendar

The Society’s 2026 Calendar is now on sale! Printed on high quality glossy paper, every month features beautiful large images of Salcombe through the ages. This is a must-have for anyone who loves Salcombe and an ideal present. You can buy it for £9.99 at Ashby’s of Salcombe, Bonningtons, Salcombe Maritime Museum, Salcombe Information Centre, Spar on Loring Road.

Possible History Society merger with Salcombe Maritime Museum
The History Society Committee is considering a proposal to merge the Society with Salcombe Maritime Museum for the mutual benefit of members, to create a stronger, single charity for Salcombe’s history. If this proposal goes ahead, it will need to be approved by members of the Society and the Museum at their AGMs. Charity Commission consent will also be required.

Images of Rosemary Griggs courtesy of Rosemary Griggs. Images of Queen Elizabeth I by unknown continental artist c.1575, Sir Humphrey Gilbert by Magdalena de Passe or Willem de Passe 1620 and Sir Walter Raleigh by Nicholas Hilliard c. 1585 courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, licensed under Creative Commons. Images and video from the Steam Rally courtesy of Geoff Foale. Image from Kingsbridge Show courtesy of Roger Barrett. Information and images of Alfred Fairweather courtesy of Cookworthy Museum and Kingsbridge & Salcombe Gazette.

Click here to find out more about the show.