Episode 25. Jack and Barbara Putterill: Family Recollections

SYNOPSIS

The author of Thaxted: The Quest for Social Justice, Jack Putterill married Barbara, the daughter of Conrad and Miriam Noel, and in 1942 succeeded Conrad Noel as the Vicar of Thaxted Parish Church, thereby creating a dynasty of Christian Socialism, which ran on until his retirement in 1973. Visiting Thaxted on a walking holiday from London in 1914, Jack quickly came under Conrad Noel’s spell, abandoning a potentially lucrative career in banking, which he likened to usury, and training for the Anglican priesthood after failing a wartime medical. A man of unusual gifts across the sciences and humanities, Father Jack took up astronomy, featuring in a British Pathe newsreel from 1961 called Village Observatory. A multi-instrumentalist, he gave lessons to ordinary parishioners, developing the fine musical tradition in Thaxted Parish Church, which had been established by the composer, Gustav Holst.. A keen Morris dancer, he encouraged this aspect of communal life, allowing different Morris sides to camp in the extensive vicarage garden during the annual Morris weekend. In creative partnership with Barbara, the church and vicarage became a centre for music, pageantry, drama and the folk traditions, which are all remembered with affection in this interview by three of the Putterill grandchildren, Sally, Jenny and Martin Heath.

GUESTS

An interest in music, literature and art has continued across many generations in the Noel and Putterill family. Sally, Jenny and Martin Heath’s parents were the late Desmond and Sylvia Heath (nee Putterill), who met and married while violinists in the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Drawing upon Desmond Heath’s book Roden Noel: A Wide Angle, the interview covers regular and idyllic trips to Thaxted from the Heath family home in Chiswick during their childhood. It also features a letter written by Gustav Holst to the young Sylvia Putterill inviting her to afternoon tea at his home with her mother, Barbara.

Sally, Jenny and Martin Heath’s interview with Simon Machin was recorded online on 12 February 2023.