Lewis Sommerfield
1924 - 2012
The most impressive private
collection of old photographs from the Bourne area and the village of
Thurlby in particular, was that of Lewis Sommerfield, a retired planning
engineer with the East Midlands Electricity Board. Over a period of 40 years,
he amassed over 900 pictures of life in years past, showing not only
how the street scene has changed, but also the trades and industries and
the clothes and customs of yesteryear.
Lewis was the son of Thomas Sommerfield, and his wife Isabella, who was
miller at Dyke village during the early years of the 20th century. He was
born at the mill on 14th June 1924 and his father's passion for old
photographs, mostly collected from newspapers, soon rubbed off and he
became equally interested. Collecting began in earnest in 1950 when he
began with old traction engines and he soon had 4,000 photographs of them,
all neatly filed and catalogued in 12 albums. Railway stations and steam
engines were also an interest, together with industrial and naval engines,
and ships, which totalled another 3,000 pictures and of course windmills,
another early passion which numbered 1,000.
His topographical photographs included many scenes of Bourne but also
extensive views of both Thurlby and Rippingale and it is doubtful if there
has ever been a more comprehensive collection in existence. Lewis and his wife
Peggy lived at Thurlby from 1955, their home being a stone cottage
in Northorpe Lane where one of the upstairs bedrooms which he called his
den was devoted to his hobby, the walls lined with albums and reference
books while photographic equipment could be seen everywhere.
In 2002, the Thurlby village collection alone numbered 450 photographs and began when he
started arranging a display for the village festival in 1974 and felt it
would be a good idea to portray the community in pictures over the years.
Villagers started searching through their homes, in drawers and albums,
and produced a large number of old photographs and postcards which he
carefully copied and returned. He then added his own photographs of
existing properties to enable his display show the old and the new.
His saddest find while searching for old photographs in Thurlby was to
discover a quantity of glass half-plate negatives in the yard of the old
shop once occupied by J Lyon, the village photographer, but weather had
taken its toll and the gelatine-based light sensitive emulsion with which
they had been coated had softened and the rescued plates were all stuck
together. They dated from between 1934 and 1939 but only two were fit to
print, one of Thurlby railway station and the other of a girl in costume,
ready for the village celebrations to mark the coronation of George VI in
1937.
He frequently held public exhibitions of his collection, notably during the festival weekend at St Firmin's Church, Thurlby, on Saturday and Sunday 24th-25th June 1989, and his
pictures were often published in the local newspapers and two appeared
in a book entitled Lincolnshire Steam to Camera.
But advancing years halted his collecting and after a period of failing
health,
Lewis died on Monday 12th November 2012, aged 88. His funeral took place
at St Firmin's Church, Thurlby, followed by cremation at Peterborough. The
Thurlby section of his collection had already been handed over to the
parish collection and the rest passed to relatives.
See also Dyke Mill
REVISED DECEMBER 2012
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