2005/046

This is the collection of John and Daphne Birch. Daphne Colgrave was born on 18 March 1913 and in 1938 she married Captain Alexander St George Carey. The earliest films in the collection were taken by him when he was stationed at Tientsin (Tianjin) in China in the late 1920s. Alexander died in 1939 whilst training in Northumbria, after the birth of their son Alan. The remaining films were taken by Daphne and her second husband, John Priestley Birch, whom she married in 1949. Her son Alan appears as a boy in some of these films. Most of the footage relates to their time in Sierra Leone from the late 1940s and 1950s, where John was General manager of United Africa Company Ltd (later Unilever). He retired in 1958 and they returned to the UK. The Birches also took photographs and many slides both in Sierra Leone and on their trips to other countries such as Nepal, Seychelles, Hong Kong, and Thailand, after John's retirement. There are also some printed items in the collection including John Birch's book about his time in Sierra Leone, journals published by the Sierra Leone Society, and papers concerning the marriage of John and Daphne. Items from earlier donations (references 1993/001 and 1994/050) have been catalogued here under the reference 2005/046.

5 boxes

Open

None

Collection

Daphne Colgrave was born on 18 March 1913 to Godden Hildebrand Colgrave and Irene Colegrave. She had one brother John (1911-1992). In 1938 she married Captain Alexander St George Carey (known as Sandy by his family). They had one son, and after the birth, Alexander died in 1939 whilst training in Northumbria. Their son Alan St George Carey died in 1958. Daphne married John Priestley Birch in 1949 and they spent the next 8-9 years in Sierra Leone, then returned to the UK. She died in August 2004. John Priestley Birch was born on 22 March 1908 and joined United Africa Company (later Unilever) in Sierra Leone from 1932. He worked his way up to General Manager and retired in 1958. He passed away on 13 July 1993.