The
Wield Family
Thomas
Wield was born during 1837 in Hampshire and moved to Lincolnshire
in 1875. He and his wife, Mary, started to work at the Spa Baths
in 1880. Between 1884 and 1886, Thomas was responsible for drawing
the water and Mary was in charge of the baths for women. In 1887,
they were given 'The Bungalow' as a home by Stafford Hotchkin
and Dr Boulton. From this site, Thomas started to make donkey
drawn bath chairs and to provide a transport service with them
around the town.
Their
son, John was born in 1877 and later trained as an engineer. He
worked in the family bath chair business, but also developed a
flair for making precision instruments, grinding lenses and making
cameras. He is still remembered in the present village as Johnny
Wield, the photographer, watch repairer and optician.
John married
his wife, Asenath, in 1898 and they lived in 'The Bungalow' with
his parents and later, with their own children, Effie and Cedric.
When he
died in 1965, John Wield left a large collection of photographs
recording the events and people in the history of the Spa.
The
Woodhall Spa Cottage Museum Trust
The Trust
was legally formed in April 1986. It arose out of a community need
and is administered by members of the community. It is not a commercially
based project and, is such, will always need to raise its own finances
by a process of community fund-raising and by seeking support from
accepted institutions. |
Arts
& Crafts
Heritage
Trail Location 1 - The Cottage Museum 
