Catalogue description Records of Codsall No 1 & 2 Branches of Toc H.

This record is held by Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service: Staffordshire County Record Office

Details of D5446
Reference: D5446
Title: Records of Codsall No 1 & 2 Branches of Toc H.
Date: 1929 - 1995
Held by: Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service: Staffordshire County Record Office, not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Creator:

Toc H, Codsall Number One Branch, Staffordshire

Toc H, Codsall Number Two Branch, Staffordshire

Physical description: 45 files
Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited by Mr. P. Snell, Codall.

Administrative / biographical background:

Toc H was originally founded by Rev. P.B. Clayton, an army chaplain in 1915. It began very simply as a soldiers' club in a house in Belgium, where men of all ranks could relax and find fellowship. The house also had a chapel. Following the end of the war, a similar house was established in London, followed by other branches, founded upon the original ideals of fellowship and local service. The term 'Toc H' is signallers' jargon for Talbot House, the name of the first house in Belgium.

 

The Codsall Branch (No. 1) was one of the earliest to be formed and held its first meeting in December 1929. Weekly meetings were held at which there was usually a speaker or a debate and these meetings are recorded very fully in the complete series of log books. In addition the organisation undertook local community service in Codsall and in the neighbourhood, for example helping to run summer camps for under-privileged children from Wolverhampton. In 1945 a second branch was established in Codsall, but falling membership in the 1960's led to the amalgamation of both branches. Sadly in 1991 the branch was closed down because there was insufficient membership.

 

The log books which detail the activities of Toc H in Codsall, form an underbroken record of this organisation in the locality.

Link to NRA Record:

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