THE COPP FAMILY, Part 4: Leonard and Cyril Copp
Title
THE COPP FAMILY, Part 4: Leonard and Cyril Copp
Subject
Description
The top photograph was taken in 1920 of two (very) young brothers. On the left is Leonard Copp, born the 7th of February 1917 (1) and Cyril Copp is seen to the right. World War I was raging and six months after the arrival of Leonard, his father, Walter John Copp, enlisted with the newly formed British Army Labour Corps. On pension records, Walter's "Next of Kin" was his wife, Elizabeth Ann Copp, with Leonard Copp listed as their child, both living at Great House Farm in Timberscombe (2). Obviously at least one leave was allowed as Cyril Copp was born the 30th of May 1918 (3). Germany surrendered to Britain on the 11th of November 1918 (4). Walter Copp was discharged on the 19th of August 1919 (5) and it must have been with great postwar relief for him and Elizabeth Ann to be photographing their boys.
Elizabeth Ann, better known as Bessie, was born to Samuel and Jane (nee Hale) Stenner on the 17th of March 1891 in Timberscombe, where she was baptised at St. Petrock's Church on the following 12th of April (6). She partially grew up in Lion Inn, the public house in the centre of the village, where her parents were the proprietors. Samuel Stenner also farmed Great House Farm on Church Street, just up the road from the pub (7).
Walter was born in 1889 in Wootton Courteney, the son of John and Jane (nee Baker) Copp (8) . At the age of 19, Walter's father had enlisted with the Plymouth Division of the Royal Marines, serving 21 years, retiring in 1885 (9). In 1888, John Copp married Jane, now listing his profession as "Farmer" (10) and by the 1901 Census, the family was living at Pools (later known as Rose Cottage), part of the Wootton Courtenay Estate (11).
By the age of 21, Walter John Copp was a practising tailor (12). He and Bessie married on the 30th of November 1915 at St. Petrock's Church (13). Both of their families had been established at Timberscombe and Wootton Courtenay for generations --the Copps since the mid to later 1500s and the Stenners at least since the mid 1600s (14). After marriage, Walter and Bessie were able to move into Great House Farm and on the 24th of April 1922, Walter enrolled 5-year-old Leonard at Timberscombe School (15).
By the following autumn, Timberscombe village and school were beset with rainy weather and influenza colds were prevalent. Attendance at the school was poor and even the Head Teacher, Miss Salome V. Wallace, was absent with a feverish cold in late October. On the 20th of November, Miss Wallace was back at work but wrote curtly in the school's Log Book, "An outbreak of scarlet fever". The first two children that were isolated were Agnes and Herbert Stenner. Their parents were Samuel James and Julia (nee Carter) Stenner. Mr. Stenner was the brother of Bessie Copp. Later in the day, Leonard Copp "was also taken away". Over the next couple of days, six more children were excluded from school, including Sammy Stenner, the brother of Agnes and Herbert and Edna Stenner, the daughter of Jack Stenner, Bessie's eldest brother.
One child died. On the 23rd of November, Miss Wallace wrote in the Log Book "Am grieved to report the death of Leonard Copp from scarlet fever". The next months at Timberscombe School were bleak. Children continued to be isolated and on the 1st of December the school was closed to be disinfected and thoroughly cleaned. It was shut down again in January and cases continued throughout the village, including Mr. Samuel James Stenner, the father of Agnes, Herbert and Sammy. Only worsening matters, multiple cases of whooping cough invaded the school, closing it in early March 1923 and not reopening until the 16th of April (16). On the following 11th of June, Walter and Bessie Copp enrolled Cyril at Timberscombe School, a decision that could not have been easy (17).
Also at some point in 1923 (or shortly afterwards), Walter, Bessie and Cyril moved into No. 5 Council House, the most western of three new houses, each containing two semi-detached residences, on the road at the western end of Timberscombe formerly called Addison's Folly (18). In 1926, Samuel James Stenner died at the age of 38 and it has been suggested he never truly recovered from his bout of Scarlet Fever (19). Shortly afterwards, his widow, Julia and her children moved into No. 6 Council House, the residence semi-detached to No. 5. Both families remained here for the rest of the adults' lives--indeed Sammy Stenner lived at No. 6 most of his life, raising his own family there (20). Eventually the road was named Bemberry Bank, with the Copp and Stenner homes becoming No. 5 and No. 6. Bemberry Bank.
Cyril Copp seems to have been an active and well-liked child at Timberscombe School, despite being the only boy in the 1923 class photograph wearing a lace collar (21)--after all his father was a tailer. On the next year's photograph. Cyril (wearing a jumper), was the student chosen to sit in the centre of the front row holding a piece of slate labeled "1924 Timberscombe School", as well as a football (22). On the 14th of September 1928, 10-year-old Cyril transferred to Dunster School (23). He remained a constant member of the Timberscombe Scouts, beginning as a young Wolf Cub, then a teenage Rover Scout, where in 1935 he participated in creating the mostly scout-built bonfire on Dunkery Beacon, celebrating the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary (24).
Around 1935, at the age of seventeen, Cyril began working for J. Hines & Sons, Builders of Dunster, training to become a house painter (25). The second photograph is dated 1938, depicting Cyril Copp playing the accordion, which had become very popular after the publication of a magazine, "Accordion Times", with regional and national competitions popping up across the United Kingdom (26). While Walter, Cyril's father, was a cricket player and fan, Cecil's game seems to have been tennis. The Timberscombe Tennis Club had opened up near Knowle House, as had a court at the nearby Duddings, both on the northeastern edge of Timberscombe. Cyril Copp was photographed (as seen at SP-171) with his lifelong friend, Billy Baker, on one of these courts, likely around the same time he was perfecting his accordion playing. On the 1939 England and Wales Register, Cyril still lived with his parents at No. 5 Council House, listing his occupation as "painter". That year, of course, is when life altered for most men of Cyril's age.
The third photograph, taken in 1945, depicts Cyril Copp while serving with the Black Watch during World War II (27). The Black Watch were originally formed as the Royal Highland Regiment of Scotland and later included the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada. In 1939 the Canadian Black Watch travelled to the United Kingdom, which served as their base throughout the war, seemingly uniting with local Home Guards to create "Home Defence" (28). At the outbreak of the war, Cyril Copp had enlisted with the No. 3 (Dunster) Company of the Minehead Home Guard Battalion, as seen photographed by R. Kingsley Tayler in Dunster, early in the war (29). The Tayler photograph is visible at SP-336, which also features five enlarged sections of the battalion. Cyril Copp is clearly visible on the 5th section, the first soldier standing on the left end of the first row.
As stated, in 1939 Cyril listed his occupation as a painter, presumably a house painter, when working for J. Hines & Sons. It is not clear if he had training from his father before the war but after the war, Cyril became a tailor and draper, following in the footsteps of Walter Copp. The younger Mr. Copp can still be remembered in the front window of Hobb's, a tailor's shop on the High Street of Dunster, where he was visible at work. In 2020, Joyce Smith of Ford Cottage, Timberscombe recalled seeing Cyril Copp sewing a beautiful red coat and always working by hand, never using a sewing machine.
Both Cyril and his father were also skilled woodworkers. In 1921 Walter Copp had been one of a group of men who created a detailed Chancel Screen for All Saints Church in Wootton Courtenay, as remembered on a framed tribute in the church. The elder Mr. Copp died in 1970 and two years later his son created a valued addition at St. Petrock's Church. Within Timberscombe's church is a wooden Rood Screen, carved in the 1500s and still standing between the chancel and nave. The screen originally extended across the entire width of the church, with a former section in front of a chapel on the eastern end of St. Petrock's South Aisle (where the organ is located in modern times). It is not known when this section was removed--perhaps during the Reformation or the later 16th or 17th century when carved wooden fixtures became less fashionable (30). Nevertheless, the top right corner of the cornice on the surviving Rood Screen had a missing area, visible from the South Aisle, perhaps caused by the removal or deterioration or was never completed. Cyril Copp created and inserted two rows of carved foliage that fitted elegantly alongside the existing post-medieval designs, yet also with a modern touch, such as where he carved "C COPP 1972" subtly inserted within the newly extended cornice. Mr. Copp's work is visible at SP-219.
In 1954, Cyril Copp married Brenda Mary Quartley, the daughter of John and Essie Hunt Quartley (31) . Mr. Quartley, a farm labourer, was originally from Broadclyst, Devon (32) and by the 1911 Census was working with his parents at Bye Farm in Washford, Somerset. In 1927 he married Essie Hunt Dascombe of Withypoole (33) and Brenda was born on the 14th of August 1928, followed by Irene (also seen as "Reine") Ellen on 23 August 1930. In 1935, when both girls were enrolled at school for the first time at Timberscombe, the family was living and working at East Harwood Farm (34). They were still at East Harwood on the 1939 England & Wales Register, but in that same year they relocated to Totterdown Farm, northeast of Timberscombe (35). The Quartley family's stay at Totterdown was certainly longer as in 1955, the year after Brenda married Cyril Copp, Irene Quartley married Alan F. Gregory, the farm's current owner (36). John Quartley died at Totterdown in 1975 and while Essie Quartley passed away in 1981 at Boyd House Nursing Home on Periton Road in Minehead, Totterdown was still her home address (37).
Bessie Copp, Cyril's mother, died at the age of 91 in 1982 (38). At the time of passing, her address was 23 Harepark Terrace on Hopcott Road in Minehead (39). This was also the later address of Cyril and Brenda Copp (40). It is not clear if they lived here before 1982, which seems likely, perhaps bringing the aged Bessie into their home. Regardless, Bessie was buried at St. Petrock's Churchyard. Cyril and Brenda were also buried here together, at their respective deaths on the 27th of January 2009 and the 28th of July 2012 (41).
Elizabeth Ann, better known as Bessie, was born to Samuel and Jane (nee Hale) Stenner on the 17th of March 1891 in Timberscombe, where she was baptised at St. Petrock's Church on the following 12th of April (6). She partially grew up in Lion Inn, the public house in the centre of the village, where her parents were the proprietors. Samuel Stenner also farmed Great House Farm on Church Street, just up the road from the pub (7).
Walter was born in 1889 in Wootton Courteney, the son of John and Jane (nee Baker) Copp (8) . At the age of 19, Walter's father had enlisted with the Plymouth Division of the Royal Marines, serving 21 years, retiring in 1885 (9). In 1888, John Copp married Jane, now listing his profession as "Farmer" (10) and by the 1901 Census, the family was living at Pools (later known as Rose Cottage), part of the Wootton Courtenay Estate (11).
By the age of 21, Walter John Copp was a practising tailor (12). He and Bessie married on the 30th of November 1915 at St. Petrock's Church (13). Both of their families had been established at Timberscombe and Wootton Courtenay for generations --the Copps since the mid to later 1500s and the Stenners at least since the mid 1600s (14). After marriage, Walter and Bessie were able to move into Great House Farm and on the 24th of April 1922, Walter enrolled 5-year-old Leonard at Timberscombe School (15).
By the following autumn, Timberscombe village and school were beset with rainy weather and influenza colds were prevalent. Attendance at the school was poor and even the Head Teacher, Miss Salome V. Wallace, was absent with a feverish cold in late October. On the 20th of November, Miss Wallace was back at work but wrote curtly in the school's Log Book, "An outbreak of scarlet fever". The first two children that were isolated were Agnes and Herbert Stenner. Their parents were Samuel James and Julia (nee Carter) Stenner. Mr. Stenner was the brother of Bessie Copp. Later in the day, Leonard Copp "was also taken away". Over the next couple of days, six more children were excluded from school, including Sammy Stenner, the brother of Agnes and Herbert and Edna Stenner, the daughter of Jack Stenner, Bessie's eldest brother.
One child died. On the 23rd of November, Miss Wallace wrote in the Log Book "Am grieved to report the death of Leonard Copp from scarlet fever". The next months at Timberscombe School were bleak. Children continued to be isolated and on the 1st of December the school was closed to be disinfected and thoroughly cleaned. It was shut down again in January and cases continued throughout the village, including Mr. Samuel James Stenner, the father of Agnes, Herbert and Sammy. Only worsening matters, multiple cases of whooping cough invaded the school, closing it in early March 1923 and not reopening until the 16th of April (16). On the following 11th of June, Walter and Bessie Copp enrolled Cyril at Timberscombe School, a decision that could not have been easy (17).
Also at some point in 1923 (or shortly afterwards), Walter, Bessie and Cyril moved into No. 5 Council House, the most western of three new houses, each containing two semi-detached residences, on the road at the western end of Timberscombe formerly called Addison's Folly (18). In 1926, Samuel James Stenner died at the age of 38 and it has been suggested he never truly recovered from his bout of Scarlet Fever (19). Shortly afterwards, his widow, Julia and her children moved into No. 6 Council House, the residence semi-detached to No. 5. Both families remained here for the rest of the adults' lives--indeed Sammy Stenner lived at No. 6 most of his life, raising his own family there (20). Eventually the road was named Bemberry Bank, with the Copp and Stenner homes becoming No. 5 and No. 6. Bemberry Bank.
Cyril Copp seems to have been an active and well-liked child at Timberscombe School, despite being the only boy in the 1923 class photograph wearing a lace collar (21)--after all his father was a tailer. On the next year's photograph. Cyril (wearing a jumper), was the student chosen to sit in the centre of the front row holding a piece of slate labeled "1924 Timberscombe School", as well as a football (22). On the 14th of September 1928, 10-year-old Cyril transferred to Dunster School (23). He remained a constant member of the Timberscombe Scouts, beginning as a young Wolf Cub, then a teenage Rover Scout, where in 1935 he participated in creating the mostly scout-built bonfire on Dunkery Beacon, celebrating the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary (24).
Around 1935, at the age of seventeen, Cyril began working for J. Hines & Sons, Builders of Dunster, training to become a house painter (25). The second photograph is dated 1938, depicting Cyril Copp playing the accordion, which had become very popular after the publication of a magazine, "Accordion Times", with regional and national competitions popping up across the United Kingdom (26). While Walter, Cyril's father, was a cricket player and fan, Cecil's game seems to have been tennis. The Timberscombe Tennis Club had opened up near Knowle House, as had a court at the nearby Duddings, both on the northeastern edge of Timberscombe. Cyril Copp was photographed (as seen at SP-171) with his lifelong friend, Billy Baker, on one of these courts, likely around the same time he was perfecting his accordion playing. On the 1939 England and Wales Register, Cyril still lived with his parents at No. 5 Council House, listing his occupation as "painter". That year, of course, is when life altered for most men of Cyril's age.
The third photograph, taken in 1945, depicts Cyril Copp while serving with the Black Watch during World War II (27). The Black Watch were originally formed as the Royal Highland Regiment of Scotland and later included the Royal Highland Regiment of Canada. In 1939 the Canadian Black Watch travelled to the United Kingdom, which served as their base throughout the war, seemingly uniting with local Home Guards to create "Home Defence" (28). At the outbreak of the war, Cyril Copp had enlisted with the No. 3 (Dunster) Company of the Minehead Home Guard Battalion, as seen photographed by R. Kingsley Tayler in Dunster, early in the war (29). The Tayler photograph is visible at SP-336, which also features five enlarged sections of the battalion. Cyril Copp is clearly visible on the 5th section, the first soldier standing on the left end of the first row.
As stated, in 1939 Cyril listed his occupation as a painter, presumably a house painter, when working for J. Hines & Sons. It is not clear if he had training from his father before the war but after the war, Cyril became a tailor and draper, following in the footsteps of Walter Copp. The younger Mr. Copp can still be remembered in the front window of Hobb's, a tailor's shop on the High Street of Dunster, where he was visible at work. In 2020, Joyce Smith of Ford Cottage, Timberscombe recalled seeing Cyril Copp sewing a beautiful red coat and always working by hand, never using a sewing machine.
Both Cyril and his father were also skilled woodworkers. In 1921 Walter Copp had been one of a group of men who created a detailed Chancel Screen for All Saints Church in Wootton Courtenay, as remembered on a framed tribute in the church. The elder Mr. Copp died in 1970 and two years later his son created a valued addition at St. Petrock's Church. Within Timberscombe's church is a wooden Rood Screen, carved in the 1500s and still standing between the chancel and nave. The screen originally extended across the entire width of the church, with a former section in front of a chapel on the eastern end of St. Petrock's South Aisle (where the organ is located in modern times). It is not known when this section was removed--perhaps during the Reformation or the later 16th or 17th century when carved wooden fixtures became less fashionable (30). Nevertheless, the top right corner of the cornice on the surviving Rood Screen had a missing area, visible from the South Aisle, perhaps caused by the removal or deterioration or was never completed. Cyril Copp created and inserted two rows of carved foliage that fitted elegantly alongside the existing post-medieval designs, yet also with a modern touch, such as where he carved "C COPP 1972" subtly inserted within the newly extended cornice. Mr. Copp's work is visible at SP-219.
In 1954, Cyril Copp married Brenda Mary Quartley, the daughter of John and Essie Hunt Quartley (31) . Mr. Quartley, a farm labourer, was originally from Broadclyst, Devon (32) and by the 1911 Census was working with his parents at Bye Farm in Washford, Somerset. In 1927 he married Essie Hunt Dascombe of Withypoole (33) and Brenda was born on the 14th of August 1928, followed by Irene (also seen as "Reine") Ellen on 23 August 1930. In 1935, when both girls were enrolled at school for the first time at Timberscombe, the family was living and working at East Harwood Farm (34). They were still at East Harwood on the 1939 England & Wales Register, but in that same year they relocated to Totterdown Farm, northeast of Timberscombe (35). The Quartley family's stay at Totterdown was certainly longer as in 1955, the year after Brenda married Cyril Copp, Irene Quartley married Alan F. Gregory, the farm's current owner (36). John Quartley died at Totterdown in 1975 and while Essie Quartley passed away in 1981 at Boyd House Nursing Home on Periton Road in Minehead, Totterdown was still her home address (37).
Bessie Copp, Cyril's mother, died at the age of 91 in 1982 (38). At the time of passing, her address was 23 Harepark Terrace on Hopcott Road in Minehead (39). This was also the later address of Cyril and Brenda Copp (40). It is not clear if they lived here before 1982, which seems likely, perhaps bringing the aged Bessie into their home. Regardless, Bessie was buried at St. Petrock's Churchyard. Cyril and Brenda were also buried here together, at their respective deaths on the 27th of January 2009 and the 28th of July 2012 (41).
Creator
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Anonymous
Anonymous /
Anonymous
Date
1920
1938
1945
1938
1945
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
professional photograph of Leonard and Cyril Copp as infants, 1920 / seventeen year old Cyril Copp playing the accordion, 1938 / Cyril Copp in uniform when serving during World War II with the Black Watch, 1945
Acquisition Date
c. 2019
c. 2019
c. 2019
c. 2019
c. 2019
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PEOPLE: Known / Timberscombe
Condition
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2023
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
9 X 13.5
18.5 X 11
13 X 9.5
18.5 X 11
13 X 9.5
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, 1897-1944, No. 411 (2) National Army Museum, nam.ac.uk and UK, British Army World War II, Medal Rolls Index and Pension Records, 1914-1921 (3) 1939 England and Wales Register (4) Imperial War Museum, iwm.org.uk (5) UK, British Army World War II Pension Records, 1914-1921 (6) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 and Somerset, England, Church of England, Baptisms, 1813-1914 (7) 1911 England Census (8) 1939 England and Wales Register (9) 1871 and 1881 England Censuses and as labelled in a photograph of John Copp and his father at the time the former enrolled with the Plymouth Division of the Royal Marines Light Infantry in Volume 50 at the West Somerset Rural Life Museum (10) Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (11) Historic Environment Record, Exmoor National Park, MEM29748 (12) 1911 England Census (13) Somerset, England, Marriage Registers, Bonds and Allegations, 1754-1914 (14) The Timberscombe Parish Register, transcribed by T.L. Stoate, Harry Galloway Publisher, 1995 (15) Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, No. 411 (16) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 4 April 1910-25 March 1974, pages 221-228 (17) Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, No. 420 (18) as seen at SP-040 and 1939 England and Wales Register (19) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1995 (20) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1995, 1939 England and Wales Register and as recalled in 2019 by Andy and Sarah Heard, current owners of No. 6 Bemberry Bank, who purchased the property from Sammy Stenner when he moved to No. 5 Willow Bank (21) as seen at SP-076 (22) as seen at SP-078 (23) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, page 308 (24) as seen at SP-122 and SP-187 and as detailed and pictured at SP-188 (25) as labelled in a copy of a photograph seen in Volume 50 at the West Somerset Rural Life Museum, which depicts Cyril Copp at work with J. Hines & Sons, building an addition for a house in Cutcombe (26) History of the Accordion, accordion.com (27) as labelled on a copy of this photograph in Volume 50 at the West Somerset Rural Life Museum, possibly donated by Mr. Copp in the 1990s (28) The Black Watch, The Watch History, theblackwatch.co.uk and military-history, fandom.com>wiki>The-Black-Watch (29) "The Somerset Home Guard, A Pictorial Roll-call", by Jeffrey Wilson, Millstream Books, 18 The Tyning, Bath, 2004 (30) as suggested by the authors on page 35 in "THE VILLAGE OF TIMBERSCOMBE AND ITS CHURCH" by B.L.K. Henderson and G.O.E. Henderson, printed by E. Goodman & Son, Ltd., The Phoenix Press, Taunton, 1955 (31) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (32) Devon, England, Church of England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920 (33) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (34) Timberscombe School ADMISSION REGISTER, Nos. 342 and 343 (35) "AWAY FROM HOME-WORLD WAR II, Somerset and Essex, 1939-1945", by Pat Herniman, published by Papermill Books, Little Baddow, in association with The Little Baddow History Centre, 2016, pages 17 and 18 (36) England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (37) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1995 (38) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 (39) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1858-1995 (40) UK, Phone Book Indexes, 2001 and 2003 and UK Electoral Registers, 2003-2010 (41) England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 and UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2023
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-293
Technique
Copies
Citation
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Anonymous
, “THE COPP FAMILY, Part 4: Leonard and Cyril Copp,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 7, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3561.
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