Avebury People

Can you help us to identify the people who made the modern Avebury?

The Alexander Keiller Museum archive holds hundreds of photographs of people. The photographs span several archaeological campaigns across the decades, including excavations run by Harold St George Gray in Avebury Henge in the 1900-10s, and the Alexander Keiller-led work at Avebury and West Kennet Avenue in the 1930s.

As we progress through the project, we hope to identify as many people as we can in these photographs. Our volunteers are busy transcribing captions (when they exist), and collecting names from letters and diaries.

Do you recognise any of these excavators? Perhaps older relatives have photographs that show familiar faces?

I mentioned above that the fabulous digitisation volunteer team flag whenever a person is mentioned in letters and diaries. I then compile the names into a list, including details about the person’s role, if known. Later down the line, we hope to be able to match up names with photographs, as we work out who excavated which stone, or who was on site on a given week.

Our working list of ‘Avebury People’ is updated almost daily, but this blog post was last updated 6 June 2023. Check back again as we add new names each month!

If you recognise any names, we’d love to hear from you – leave your comments below to be in touch, or email Fran dot Allfrey at York dot ac dot uk.

Surname	Forename	Honorific/ Title	Initials/ Alias	Hand / Staff / Visitor / Pre or Post Keiller	Known details from archival materials
Anderson	n/a	Clerk of Works		Visitor/ Correspondent	Listed on ‘Experts visiting site’, 1936
Ash	H			Hand	Hand – 1934. Hand 1937
Ball	B			Hand	Hand 1937
Bates	George			Hand	Foreman 1937
Benson	Violet	Lady		Visitor/ Correspondent	Several visits to site with family, 1934.
Betjeman	Penelope		LF / Lady Filth/ “Little Filth”	Visitor/ Correspondent	Travel writer. Wife of poet John Betjeman. Lived at Uffington from 1934. Visitor on site September 1934, stayed at Lawes’s hotel.
Blake	Harold J			Hand	Hand 1937
Bowsher	G			Hand	Hand – 1934.
Bradley	Edward	senior/ junior?		Hand	Hand 1937
Bradley		senior/ junior?		Hand	Hand 1937
Brailsford	JW (Mr)			Visitor/ Correspondent	List of experts, 1935
Brander “of Kent”				Visitor/ Correspondent	Visitor, April 1934
Brentnall	HC	FSA		Visitor/ Correspondent	Archaeologist. Visits 1934 and with his wife in 1935
Brindle /Brindel	H			Hand	Hand – 1935, 1937. Entered as Brindel in the diary.
Brown	Bella			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor May 14th – May 15th
Buckingham	George			Hand	Hand 1937
Bull	Arthur William			Hand	Hand – 1934. Hand 1937
Bull	Bertie			Hand	Hand – 1935
Bull	Alfred T			Hand
Burke-Fox	JP		BF	Visitor/ Correspondent	Visitor May 3rd – May 6th. Chief inspector of Ancient Monuments according to 78510467 1934 Diary.
Butcher				Hand	Hand 1937
Butler	Peter			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor, 1935
Cable	L			Hand	Hand – 1934. Hand 1937
Carter	EH			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor, April 1934
Caton Thompson	Gertrude			Visitor/Correspondent	Archaeologist, suffragette, Egyptologist, pioneering scientific approach
Challeston		Mr			Diary notes he is ‘Press’, visits May 1934
Chapman / Emerson Chapman	Doris		DC	Staff	Visitor April 12th – April 19th. Subsequently transferred to staff. Illustrator (1934-5) and part of excavation team (1937-9)
Chivers	H			Hand	Hand 1937
Cook	David			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor June 1th – June 17th. ‘To see BL’, staying at Perry’s hotel.
Cook	Norman		NC	Staff	Archaeologist, supervisor(?) 1938. Address given 1935 diary as “Maidstone Museum, Kent”
Costin	Fred		FC	Staff	Member of Keiller’s permanent staff
Crawford	OGS		OGSC	Visitor/Correspondent
Cunnington	Ben		Captain	Visitor/Correspondent
Cunnington	Maud		Mrs C	Visitor/Correspondent
Darling	H			Visitor/Correspondent	Engineer (constructional). Office of works, visits 1934. Wonder if same visitor as Darling (constructional). Also visits 1935 with wife.
Dayrell Reed	Trelawney			Visitor/Correspondent	Intermittent correspondent. Artist, author, friend of Augustus John and George Pitt-Rivers, curator of Pitt-Rivers Museum in Farnham Dorest
de la F[?]	Miss			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor in 1935
Ditters				Visitor/Correspondent	Visits in 1935, ‘Ordnance Survey’.
Dobson	William T			Hand	Hand 1937
Duncan	Kay			Staff	Windmill Hill supervisor
Fishlock	F			Hand	Hand – 1934. Hand 1937
Foster Forbes	John			Visitor/Correspondent
Franks (?)	V		VF	Visitor/Correspondent
G?Y?	Not given			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor July 19th – July 20th and August 25th – August 29th.
Gale	?			Hand	Hand – 1934.
George	Reuben			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor, 1935
Goddard	EH			Visitor/Correspondent
Goddard	I / J?			Hand	Hand – 1934. Separate to S. Goddard.
Goddard	S			Hand	Hand – 1934. Former Windmill Hill hand.
Grant King	Denis		DGK	Staff
Grau (spelling?)	Not given	Frauline		Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor May 14th – May 15th. Entered as Fraûline G.
Gray	Harold St George			Pre or Post-Keiller
Grayson	Mrs
Griffiths	G – given as GD in diary, see bio sketch			Hand	Griffiths – ‘drills’ – so D is not part of name.
Griffiths	A			Hand
Griffiths	W			Hand
Gwynne	Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 1934, stayed at Red Lion, stayed Trusloe Manor
Hambridge	Ernest Henry			Hand	Hand – 1934. Former Windmill Hill hand.
Harper	James Henry?			Hand	Hand – 1934.
Heasman (?)	A		AH	Visitor/ Correspondent	Listed on ‘Experts visiting site’, 1934
Henderson		Mrs		Visitor/ Correspondent	Listed as visitor, 1935
Hobden / Hebden	Not given			Visitor/ Correspondent	Visitor July 16th – July 17th. Entered as Miss Hobden.
Holmes	Miss
Horsell	B			Hand	Hand – 1934.
James	Marjorie		MJ	Staff	Excavation team 1934-5
Jenner	Leo	Colonel
Johnson				Visitor/ Correspondent	Visits with a friend, April 1934
Johnston	Isobel			Staff	Staff in 1935 – wonder if this is the same person who visits in 1934 (although note differently spelled name). Address in 1935 diary given Balgillo Crescent, Broughty Ferry, Dundee
Jones	J		JC	Hand	Carpenter
Keiller	Alexander		AK	Staff
King	Tommy			Hand	Hand(?)- patroling site 1 August 1937
Laidler	Barbara		BL	Staff	Excavation team 1934-5
Lanfear	W			Hand	Hand – 1934.
Liddell	DM	RSA	DML	Visitor/ Correspondent	Visitor April 30th – May 2nd. Windmill Hill supervisor who carried out pioneering work on the decoration of prehistoric pottery. IS THIS SAME AS DML?
Liddell	Veronica			Staff	Windmill Hill supervisor. Married Keiller
Lord	Wilfred			Visitor/ Correspondent
Lovesey				Hand	Hand – 1934. Hand 1937
Lush	John			Pre or Post-Keiller	Foreman for Gray – 1909. ‘From Dorchester’
Mathews / Matthews	W
Moore	JSH
Morris	May			Visitor/ Correspondent
Nash	S			Hand	Hand 1937
Newbigin	“Nancy”			Visitor/Correspondent	Archaeologist, particularly noted for worked on rock art and Celtic sites in Ireland. Full name Agnes Jane Waugh Newbigin
Norman	Grace			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor in 1935 – 2 July
Norman	Miss E			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor in 1935 – 4 July
O’Neil	B.H.StJ.			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor September 5th – September 6th, stayed at Perry’s
Ormsby Gore				Visitor/Correspondent	The ‘First Commissioner of Works’, Office of Works, visits in 1934
Parrish	Colonel and Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit in 1935
Parsons	Louis			Visitor/Correspondent	Listed on ‘Experts visiting site’, Visitor June 28th – June 29th, 1934, stayed at Perry’s hotel
Peake	Harold	FSA		Visitor/Correspondent	Visits with two friends, April 1934
Peake-Garland	P (Peter?)		PG	Visitor/Correspondent
Peake-Garland	Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent
Pearce	W			Hand	Hand – 1934. Former Windmill Hill hand.
Pearce	O			Hand	Hand – 1934. Former Windmill Hill hand. Site foreman at least 1937-9. Older than W? [‘snr’ in diary is scratched out]
Philips	CW			Visitor/Correspondent	1935 visitor
Piggott	Stuart		SP	Staff	Archaeologist
Pratt	S			Hand	Hand – 1934. Former Windmill Hill hand.
Price		FSA		Visitor/Correspondent	Visits May 1934
Radbourne	E			Hand	Hand – 1934.
Radbourne	F			Hand	Hand – 1934.
Rathband				Hand	Hand – 1934.
Rawlins				Villager	Villager- Garage owner
Rogers	D			Hand	Hand 1937
Salisbury	J		JS	Hand
Sanderson	H			Hand
Smith	KC			Visitor/Correspondent	List of visitors to Avebury, April 1934, staying at Perry’s Hotel
Smith	Not given – separate to Janet	F.S.A (Scot)		Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor May 14th – May 15th. Entered as ‘Miss Smith’, separate to Janet Smith.
Smith	Janet	F.S.A (Scot)		Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor May 14th – May 15th
Smith	Isobel			Pre or Post-Keiller	Pioneering prehistorian. Excavated at Avebury and published a synthesis of the Keiller excavations in 1965
Strange	A M			Hand	Hand 1937
Sturdey	Bernard		BS	Staff	Staff 1934, visits 1935
Taylor	Sorel			Staff
Tuck				Hand	Hand – 1934. Hand 1937(?)
Vatcher	Faith			Staff	Curator of the Alexander Keiller Museum. Excavated Avebury in 1969 and 1976
Vatcher	Lance			Staff
Vawlett		Lady		Visitor/Correspondent
Vigor				Visitor/Correspondent	Mr (Captain) and Mrs Vigor visit twice April 1934, Mrs Vigor and Miss Vigor also visit. Visit again in 1935.
Viveish	Rose			Visitor/Correspondent	Miss Vyvash in diary. Visitor, 1934
Wagstaffe (perhaps a misspelling?)				Visitor/Correspondent	Appears as visitor in 1935 – visits on same date as Miss Piggott. Note that Wagstaff later takes photographs at Sutton Hoo (1939), at which the Piggots excavate. Very significant if she also is at Avebury.
Wilder	Phyllis		MW	Staff
Williams		Mr		Pre or Post-Keiller	Appears in undated photographs from Denis Grant King
Wilson		Dr		Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor and ‘Medicine Office of Health’, 1934
Withil	Phil		PW	Staff	Member of Keiller’s permanent staff
Young	William		WEVY / WY	Staff
Thorneycroft	Mr and Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Boyd Dawkins		Lady		Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Bell	Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Bells	Mr			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935, with members of the Southampton Archaeological Society
Date	Mr and Dinah			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Reginald Williamson	Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Dentman	HT			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Maningham	Mr and Mrs (and hound)			Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Mair				Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Beveridge	William	Sir		Visitor/Correspondent	Visit July 1935
Newall	RS			Visitor/Correspondent	Visits with Uncle, July 1935
HTD [?]				Visitor/Correspondent	Visits with friends, 1935
Goddard		Canon		Visitor/Correspondent	Unclear if different to other Goddards? Visitor in 1935, August 10.
Goddard		Mrs		Visitor/Correspondent	Mrs Goddard visits with friends, 1935, August 10. Link to other Goddards?
Martin	Eric		FSA	Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 1934 and 1935
Eyres-Monsell	Joan			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 12 1935
Ottley [?]	FHB	Canon		Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 12 1935
Fenson	W			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 12 1935
Brooke-Pophams		“Air-Popham, Madam,” Lady Brooke-Pophams		Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor, August 13 1935
Hemp	WJ and Mrs		FSA	Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor, August 13 1935
Volet Pakenham			The Hon’	Visitor/Correspondent	Spelling uncertain. Visitor, August 13 1935
Rumbold	Anthony			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor, August 13 1935
Ethelbert Horne	Dom (?)			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 15 1935
Thurloe Leeds	E		FSA	Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 15 1935
Mr and Mrs Bennet	Mr and Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 15 1935
Butler	G			Visitor/Correspondent
Thurston Shaw				Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor August 19 1935
Davidson	Mr and Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 20 August 1935
Soul	Mr Soul (of Amesbury)			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 20 August 1935
Hogg	AHA			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 20 August 1935
Raby	FJE			Visitor/Correspondent	Office of works. Visitor in 1935, frequent correspondent of AK.
Walters	Walters*			Visitor/Correspondent	A descendent of Dr William Stukeley, visits 28 August 1935
Ashby Rowe	Mr and Mrs			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 27 August 1935
Ernest Gordon (Mr and Mrs)				Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 28 August 1935
Colonel Awdrey / Awdry				Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 28 August 1935, frequent correspondent
Young	GN			Visitor/Correspondent	Visitor 28 August 1935