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History
Tavistock Subscription Library
In the later 18th century, the mining industries in Cornwall and Devon, the French war and Plymouth naval dock gave impetus to technological development and corresponding intellectual activity, and learned societies and libraries were founded. In Tavistock, the Unitarian minister William Evans, as well as John Commins and Edward Atkins Bray, the son of the Bedford agent Edward Bray, were stimulated by the arrival of a brilliant young engineer, John Taylor, to organise a public library organisation to provide or lend books, periodicals and newspapers to subscribers for an annual fee. Tavistock’s library was established in 1799, earlier than libraries in Plymouth and Exeter.
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For the first twenty years the library occupied part of the premises of a local bookseller, William Tapson, who acted as librarian. Ladies were eligible, although not for office, and from 1810 the Duke and Duchess of Bedford became members. The first printed catalogue was issued in 1810, and by 1897 the number of books had increased from a few hundred to nearly five thousand. William Tapson retired in 1819, by which time the library collection had outgrown his accommodation. The room over Court Gate arch was suggested as a library but the Tavistock steward William Bray was so slow to respond that instead a new library was built behind the old Guildhall in Bedford Square. The library minutes show that the plans were submitted by a builder called James Colling, in a classical style resembling Foulston’s Athenaeum in Plymouth. The building opened on 1 July 1822 and was nicknamed the Propylaeum. However the Propylaeum building was soon in the way of the 6th Duke of Bedford’s plans for Tavistock, and in 1829 he offered the library the Court Gate rooms, plus a cottage for the librarian, rent free for 15 years. So in 1831 the library was moved; some of the railings from the old building were used to fence the garden of the replacement library and a few of the stones they were set in survive, otherwise the only remains are fragments of stucco, dug up in 1997 and kept in the museum. The books were mostly housed in the room above Court Gate arch and lectures for the Tavistock Institution formed in 1927, took place in the upstairs reading room. A succession of librarians lived in the cottage, including William Merrifield, who ran the library for thirty years, taking daily meteorological observations, and recording the life of the town by photography - Tavistock Museum has copies of some of his photographs. In 1929 the offices of librarian and secretary were merged into an honorary role, and the cottage was given over to a caretaker.
Membership fluctuated and in both world wars the library struggled financially. In 1949 though, the library’s 150th anniversary was celebrated, attended by the Duke of Bedford. In the 1960s the remaining Bedford Estate properties were sold, and fearing Court Gate would be lost to developers, the town council bought the buildings with aid from an appeal. The library could only afford to rent the ground floor room, which it still occupies as a reading room. In 1989 it became a member of the Association of Independent Libraries and obtained charitable status in 2007. It celebrated its 200th anniversary in 1999 and a new catalogue was printed, with a history of the library by Jean Wans. Although many books were lost in times of crisis, Tavistock Subscription Library still has over 800 books and the annual subscription is £12, or £18 for family membership. For more information, go to tavistocksubscriptionlibrary.co.uk.
The library stars in legal film
Tavistock Subscription Library has a starring role in a new film created by Time-Lock Productions for the University of Plymouth. The 200-year-old library was transformed into a solicitor’s office as part of the shooting of the film ‘The Strange Case of the Snail in a Bottle’ - which follows a landmark legal case Donoghue v Stevenson. Filming also took place in Plymouth’s Prysten House, and Tavistock Guildhall courthouse which housed the town’s magistrates’ court for many years and is said to be modelled on Court Number One at the Old Bailey. Plymouth University spokesman Andrew Merrington said that law experts at the university are creating the first-ever dramatisation of some of the most foundational cases in the country’s legal system. He said: “The Strange Case of the Snail in a Bottle is the second in the series of films entitled The Justice Files, each focusing on cases that have become enshrined in the law of more than 60 countries. More than 300,000 law students study these cases every year and the first film will be made freely available to schools, colleges and universities to assist with learning.”
The scene filmed in Tavistock Subscription Library is part of a case involving the discovery of a partly decomposed snail in a ginger beer bottle, which May Donoghue was consuming in a cafe in Paisley, Scotland, around 100 years ago. The case went all the way to the House of Lords before Mrs Donoghue finally won her legal battle for damages in 1932. She was awarded £200 in compensation, the equivalent of £7,400 today, and her win was established as a legal case study, and used in every court action where a person suffers injury or loss. Millions of damages actions around the world now regularly begin with the ruling in the Paisley snail case.
The film is scheduled to premiere in early November at the university’s Jill Craigie Cinema.
A scene in the library
Courthouse in Tavistock Guildhall Heritage Centre He said: “We would like to express our thanks for accommodating us on the day and generously allowing us to adjust the furniture and utilise some of the books to help create such a wonderful set. We will add a special thanks to Tavistock Subscription Library in the credits at the end of the film.”
Rob Giles, founder of Time-Lock Productions, said that the library provided the perfect location for the office of William Leechman, the solictor who took up the case for Mrs Donoghue.
John Powell
(Images by kind permission of Time-Lock Productions, 2022)
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