Bandmaster Richard Pattison, seated front row with cornet, next to the Vicar of Bourne, Canon John Grinter, and the Bourne Town Band during a concert on the vicarage lawn in 1924.

A TRAGIC NIGHT NEVER FORGOTTEN

Richard and Beatrice Pattison lived in part of the building which was their business and their home. They had five children at that time, Richard, Florence, Eva, Doris and Ralph, and a sixth, Violet, was born three years later. In 2006, Violet, then 81, remembered that the events of that tragic night remained a talking point in the family for many years to come.

Both Dad and Mum were marvellous tailors and made top coats, suits, dresses and skirts. Anything in fact. But it was hard work. Mum also made evening dresses. But she didn't like handling silk, not that it happened very often because only the posh folk wore that. But you name it and Mum could make it. Everyone was in bed when the fire broke out but my dear father showed extraordinary courage and strength because he managed to push the gentleman's Singer treadle sewing machine out of the shop to safety. After all, it was the most important item in the building and vital to his business, But it was heavy and cumbersome, with ornate wrought iron legs, an enormous top in polished oak and it usually took three men to shift it.
I don't know how he managed to rescue the children and the sewing machine but he did. It must have been sheer desperation that drove him on. I don't know where his strength came from but he must have been afraid that he would not be able to feed his wife and family if the business was totally lost.
As the flames spread through the building, the children, still in their nightclothes, were taken to safety at a big house across the road in North Street where the Congregational minister lived and he was there helping with the rescue. The Bourne fire brigade was noted for its speed in emergencies and although there were delays on this occasion, they did an excellent job. The senior officer managed to gather up most of the family silver and other valuables and put all of the items in the copper, the large metal receptacle which was used for the laundry, but someone must have seen him because when my father went back to collect the things next day, it had all gone and was never recovered.
The family lost not only their home but also their business and Canon John Grinter, the Vicar of Bourne, who was a friend of my father, helped them to find temporary accommodation until they got another house, and so they all moved into rooms at the Angel Hotel and Mum and Dad ran the business from there. We eventually got a house in Recreation Road. Some years later, my father went blind and I often wonder whether it was the shock of the fire that caused it but my mother continued sewing until it was physically impossible to do any more.

NOTE: These memories are edited extracts from an interview with Violet Pattison
that appeared in the Bourne Parish News in April 2006

PHOTO ALBUM

Mr and Mrs Pattison in retirement outside their home at 19, Recreation Road and their tombstone in the town cemetery together with the bugle he played every Remembrance Sunday, now preserved by his daughter.

RICHARD PATTISON senior
1845-1928

Richard Pattison's father, also Richard Newton Pattison, was a master tailor in Bourne carrying on his business from premises in Willoughby Road and later working from his home in Bedehouse Bank, Eastgate, from where he and his wife had got married and where her family had resided for over 60 years.
He was also an old soldier, having enlisted at the age of 17 and saw service in many parts of the world. In January 1862, he went to Canada with the 96th Regiment (later the 2nd Manchesters) when war seemed imminent with the United States. He also served in China, Japan and South Africa and when the Great War began in 1914, he would have joined up as a tailor but was prevented from enlisting by his age.
Mr Pattison also helped re-form the Bourne Town Band in the 19th century and for over 30 years acted as bandmaster and remained as a player until he was 70 years old. The band continued in existence until the outbreak of the Great War when many musicians enlisted and it was forced to break up but was revived by his son, Richard, in 1921.
He was also a keen sportsman with a particular interest in football and athletics. He and his wife had 14 children, two of whom died in infancy, one was killed in the Great War and they were survived by six sons and five daughters. He died aged 83, having been ill for the previous two years, a few weeks before he and his wife were due to celebrate their golden wedding.