Life History

Notes

• Name:    PICKERNELL, Herbert John
  Record Type:    Births
  Quarter:    June
  Year:    1883
  District:    Highworth
  County:    Wiltshire
  Volume:    5a
  Page:    31 (click to see others on page)
  
  1891 Census:
  
  Pickernell, Emily 33 Bridgwater, Somerset Wife  Swindon  Wiltshire
  Pickernell, Frederick 50 Newbury, Berkshire Head  Swindon  Wiltshire
  Pickernell, Henry 19 Newbury, Berkshire Son  Swindon  Wiltshire
  Pickernell, Nellie 14 Bridgwater, Somerset Daughter  SwindonWiltshire
  Pickernell, Bertie 8 New Swindon, Wiltshire Son  Swindon  Wiltshire
  Pickernell, Fred 11 New Swindon, Wiltshire Son  Swindon  Wiltshire
  Pickernell, Robert 4 New Swindon, Wiltshire Son  Swindon  Wiltshire
  
  1901 Census:
  
  Edward Bull 19  Swindon, Wiltshire, England Boarder  SwindonWiltshire
  Bertie Pickernell 17  Swindon, Wiltshire, England Son  SwindonWiltshire
  Emily Pickernell 42  Bridgewater, Somerset, England Wife  SwindonWiltshire
  Fred Pickernell 20  Swindon, Wiltshire, England Son  SwindonWiltshire
  Frederick Pickernell 57  Newbury, Berkshire, England Head  SwindonWiltshire
  Robert Pickernell 14  Swindon, Wiltshire, England Son  SwindonWiltshire
  
  28 Gloucester Street
  Swindon
  
  THE GARRISON THEATRE - TIDWORTH:
  
  There has been a Pickernell managing the Garrison Theatre in Tidworth ever since it opened in 1909. For further information, click here
  
  Bert Pickernell (Manager 1909 - 45) came from the Empire Theatre inSwindon to the Garrison Theatre which opened to a packed house with a boxing tournament in which the winner of the final bout received the princely sum of £10 and the loser £5 !
  
  Early days
  
  In the early days, the Theatre showed Silent Movies.  Ken Pickernell, Bert?s son, (Manager 1945 - 83) remembers as a boy being responsible for some of the sound effects for the Silent Movies, for example rattling the chains behind the scenes during the original Ben Hurchariot race !
  
  In June 1926 Dame Nellie Melba, the world famous Australian operasinger, (of Peach Melba and Melba Toast fame), gave her final performance in this country before retiring, 3 days after her last London appearance at Covent Garden in the presence of the King and Queen.
  
  In those days the Theatre staged a variety of entertainments : live plays from the Strand Repertory Co; ballet from the Sadlers Wells Ballet Company and Big Band Concerts from the Southern Command Symphony Orchestra conducted by conductors such as Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Adrian Boult.   BBC programmes such as "Any Questions", "TheFrankie Howerd Show" and "Music while you work" were also recorded here.
  
  1939 - 1945
  
  Wartime Commanders such as Montgomery, Alexander and Eisenhower used the theatre to address the vast numbers of troops passing through theSalisbury Plain Garrisons during the War.
  
  The Theatre was used by ENSA to entertain the troops and stars such asJames Cagney (singing ?Yankee Doodle Dandy?), Bob Hope, Carole Landis,Alistair Sim, Will Hay and Robinson Hare all appeared here.
  
  One of the Theatre?s more unusual uses was as a Briefing Centre for GIbrides : British girls came here for lectures about American lifebefore emigrating to the USA with their new American GI husbands !
  
  Post War
  
  Army Boxing Competitions continued to be held here and Henry Cooper,Joe Erskine & Dick Richardson all fought here during their NationalService days.
  
  Dancing to the ?Big Time Bands? and ballroom dancing competitions forteams from all over the South West of England were held at the Theatreduring the '50s and ?Big Names? such as Frankie Vaughan, FrankieHowerd, Norman Wisdom, Eric Sykes, Roy Castle and Max Bygraves allappeared at the Garrison Theatre.
  
  Ken Pickernell remembers the time when the Chessington Circus came tothe Theatre. It was quite a job getting the ELEPHANT inside theTheatre and on to the stage !
  
  Another unusual use for the Theatre happened in the 1950s whenHungarian refugees were lodged there for a while after fleeing theuprising in their own country.
  
  Ken and his wife Gwen remember with nostalgic pleasure the MilitaryBand Concerts and the Regimental dinners which took place at theTheatre.  Ken is a member of the Variety Club of Great Britain and wasawarded the BEM in 1955 for his services to Tidworth Garrison.
  
  Today, the Garrison Theatre is managed by Tony Pickernell, Bert?sgrandson.  For the last 17 years, Tony has been responsible fororganising events at the Theatre and in December 2000 he was awardedthe Commander-in-Chief?s Award for Meritorious Service.
  Everyone who has attended a Band Concert at the Theatre knows that theGarrison Theatre is in the Pickernell blood
  
  The Theatre still hosts the ever popular Regimental Band Concerts andis the venue for Army boxing competitions and deployment briefings,being one of the only places in the South West of England that canhold such a large number of people.
  
  Newly refurbished in 2000, the Theatre now has state-of-the-artlighting, sound and electronic equipment and a large screen video. Itis available for hire by any Garrison Unit or civilian organisationfor briefings, presentations, lectures - or off-duty entertainmentssuch as dinners or dances.
  
  For more information, get in touch with
  Tony Pickernell at the Garrison Theatre
  Telephone 01980 - 602390
  

Sources

• 1. England and Wales, Civil Registration Index: 1837-1983
• 2. 1891 England Census
  • Name: Name: Name: Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc.,2005;;;
• 3. 1891 England Census
  • Name: Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT,USA; Date: 2005;;;
  • Database online.
• 4. 1891 England Census
  • Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;Date: 2005;;
  • Database online.
• 5. England & Wales, FreeBMD Index: 1837-1983
• 6. 1901 England Census
  • Name: Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT,USA; Date: 2005;;;
  • Database online.
• 7. 1901 England Census
  • Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;Date: 2005;;
  • Database online.
• 8. 1901 England Census
  • Name: Name: Name: Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc.,2005;;;
• 9. England and Wales Civil Registration Death Index: 1993-2002