Sir Julius Sladden’s 80th birthday with villagers

Three days after his 80th birthday, Sir Julius Sladden invited all parishioners over 70 to take tea with him on Tuesday 30th June 1927.  This amounted to 46 people, of whom 30 attended.  This photograph was published in The Evesham Standard together with a report about the happy event.  It is thought that two photos were taken, to accommodate all the guests.  Unfortunately the names of the people in the photo have not been included, but we know for certain that the man seated centre is Sir Julius and the man standing behind him is the Reverend William Carmont Allsebrook.  The man seated next to Sir Julius is probably 83-year-old Edwin Knight, who shared a birthday with Sir Julius.

Other elderly parishioners who definitely attended were mentioned in the newspaper article about the happy event:  James Herbert (who was 80 the day after Sir Julius), John Keen (75), William Knight (81), Joseph Marshall (85), William Mustoe (85), Sarah Elizabeth Griffin (86).

From a perusal of the burial records, the other possible contenders for being in the photo were:

• Married couples – Walter Brady & Marina Bowman Brady, William & Sarah Ann Keen, John & Eliza Keen.
• Women – Julia Cave, Eliza Dore, Harriet Emms, Matilda Geden, Sarah Ann Geden, Sarah Elizabeth Geden, Eliza Hall, Maria Hartwell, Clara Adelaide Virginia Jelfs, Elizabeth Perkins, Mary Ann Isabel Thorn, Emma Wilson, Annie Matilda Yeates.
• Men – John Herbert Alcock, Edward Cleveley, Jabez Enstone, James Herbert, Charles Keyte, John Knight, Joseph Fletcher Marshall, Charles Moulbery, Herbert Henry Parker, Henry Preston, Benjamin Sears, Edward Snell, Thomas Taylor, David Wasley, John Wilkins.