TOPIC:

....At about 10 o'clock on Saturday night the British Broadcasting Company sent out a wireless S.O.S. from the London Studio asking Miss Dorothy Barnard, of Swiss Avenue, Chelmsford, to go at once to her brother, Mr. Walter Barnard, who was lying dangerously ill in the Upper Norwood Cottage Hospital. Miss Barnard, who lives with her cousins, Mr. and Mrs. S. Barnard, and their family, at Tugela, Swiss Avenue, had been listening-in for most of the evening, but she took off the earphones a few minutes before the S.O.S. was broadcast, so she did not hear it herself. It was not many seconds, however, before she was acquainted with the call, for nearly a dozen neighbours who had heard it came hurrying with the news, some of them in their shirt sleeves. At 10.40 Miss Barnard, accompanied by her cousin, Mr. S. Barnard, was being driven to London in a motor car. They reached the hospital at 12.30, to find that Mr. Walter Barnard, who on Friday underwent an operation for appendicitis, was still living, and conscious, but sinking. Mr. Barnard, his wife, was at the bedside, where she was joined by Miss Barnard, and both these ladies were present when Mr. Barnard passed away at 6.45 on Sunday morning. Mr. S. Barnard, having seen his cousin safely at the hospital, and being unable to render any further assistance, returned in the car, reaching Chelmsford at about 3 a.m.
....Mr. Walter Barnard, who was 51 years of age, was a native of Chelmsford, being a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Barnard, of Railway Street. After working as a youth for Mr. W. F. Catt at the grocer's shop that used to stand in Tindal Square, he joined the Army, and served throughout the Boer War with the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders. On his return to civil life he took up an appointment in the telephone department of the Civil Service, and for some years had held an important position in the City, where he resided with his wife and three daughters. Mr. Barnard possessed a happy and entertaining disposition. As a boy at school he practised the art of mesmerism, in which later in life he became such an adept that he gave more than one public performance at Chelmsford of his remarkable powers. On one occasion, in order to convince a few sceptical friends, he was invited to display his powers at the head offices of The Essex Chronicle. A youth was called in as a medium, and the demonstration was so fully successful that Mr. Barnard was inundated with requests for performances. His custom was to select a deserving object to benefit by his demonstrations, which were always given gratuitously. In addition, Mr. Barnard was an accomplished ventriloquist and conjuror, which gifts mystified and pleased crowded houses at the Chelmsford Corn Exchange in years gone by, in support of the old Chelmsford Swifts' Football Club and other objects. While in the Army he gained renown by his entertainments. In latter years he became a popular player in the Norwood Jazz Band. A brother, Capt. Frank Barnard, who served in France and Salonica with the R.F.A. in the Great War, lives at Ford End.
....The funeral is at Upper Norwood.
The Essex Chronicle, Friday 10th April 1925


Upper Norwood is in the south-east of London, north of Croydon, and the burial ground there is All Saints' churchyard.

www.chelmsfordwarmemorial.co.uk/first-wo...rd-samuel-allen.html

Here is 'Tugela,' 29, Swiss Avenue, Chelmsford, taken from the above webpage.

Walter sounds like a man of many talents.

The sense of community was strong. That it was noteworthy that some should be dressed in just their short sleeves is an interesting comment on the expected attire of the day, almost a century ago.

Even in the 1960s my father usually wore jacket, shirt and tie at home.