Mystery spoon and goodbye!

Mystery spoon and goodbye!

 Well folks, we are sad to say this is the last archive post that you will ever see from the U5 archive trio!

Goodbye from us!

We encountered an old silver spoon in the archives just before we went on study leave. Donated by former pupil, Maria Thompson, we could make out the engraving ‘Baupaume’ and a crest, which looked more than familiar. 

The spoon in its case

We did not know the significance or meaning behind this spoon; it was a mystery and yet to be solved. Where was Baupaume? Why did it have the Maynard Crest but in reverse (i.e. three right hands as opposed to three right hands of our crest)? And how did it end up in the archives?

A familiar crest in reverse...

The inscription 'Baupaume'

Google revealed that Baupaume is a small town in Northern France, located between Amiens and Arras, names familiar to us from textbooks on the Western Front.

Map of Baupaume

Baupaume today

 Like these two places, Baupaume also saw action during the First World War. Its strategic position meant that it was captured by the Germans in 1914; regained by the British in 1917; before falling one again to the Germans in March 1918. At the Second Battle of Baupaume, British and New Zealander troops successfully broke through German trenches and recaptured the town in August 1918.

Allied Troops in Baupaume, 1917

Ruins of Baupaume, March 1918

After further investigation, we discovered that the spoon is part of a commemoration towards this battle. Hundreds of spoons were made as souvenirs to commemorate such battles, with town and regimental crests at the top. Some of these spoons were made from melted down artillery canons and other wartime memorabilia.  

Similar commemoration spoons

 As mentioned above, the engraving on the spoon had three hands on it, uncannily similar to the crest of the Maynard. We wanted to know the connection with this small French town of Bapaume and The Maynard. With the help of the marketing team, we got in touch with Maria Thompson. Now Maria Whitton and running an auction house near Honiton, she was most helpful, saying that she donated the spoon with her own handwriting when she left the Sixth Form in 1989. She said that she bought and donated it solely for its resemblance to the Maynard crest. Therefore, we were forced to come to the conclusion that the similarities in the crest were pure coincidence.

Ellie, Erin and Georgina

And goodbye from me

Where have the last two years gone? It does not seem like two seconds since I met Mary Ellis for the first time to discuss the possibility of setting up this project over a cup of tea.

 I am off to pastures new in September but would like to thank Mary for all her help and support with setting up Archive Club. She has been unfailingly helpful, sharing both the run of the archive and her expertise over the last six terms. We have had a dozen pupils at different points enjoying all the archive has to offer; long may this continue.

Whether you be pupil, parent, teacher or alumnae, have a wonderful summer!

Mrs Flavelle