Obituaries

Julia Edge (d 2002)

John Spice writes:

Julia Edge died on 19 December 2002, after suffering from cancer for more than a year.

Julia - then Julia Preston - joined the OUS in October 1944.  She came along together with Frances Martin ('Fritz') and Rosemary Hood. All three were second-year undergraduates at St Anne's, and lived at Springfield St Mary, an undergraduate hostel in the Woodstock Road run by the Anglican Wantage Sisters. It was thus natural to refer to them as 'the Springfield Trio',. They all made rapid progress, and rang their  first handbell peals (Bob Major) the following February. They rang various other handbell peals that academic year;  in particular, all three were in the same peal of Bob Royal. In November 1945 they were all three in a peal of Grandsire Triples at St Ebbe's, this being the first all-ladies peal for the OUS. And in March 1946, Julia was in the first  all-ladies handbell peal - Bob Royal. As far as I know, Rosemary Hood did no ringing after leaving Oxford, but Julia once told me that Frances Martin married a farmer in Cornwall, and regularly rang call-changes with the local band.

Julia went down from oxford in 1946, and for the next six or seven years worked in Liverpool, her home being in nearby Prescot, and then - briefly - in a finishing school in Gstaad. During this period she was in a number of  peals with local bands. In total she rang 55 peals on tower bells and 23 in hand. These were mostly for the OUS, the Universities Association, the Lancashire Association and the Chester Diocesan Guild.

 

Her last peal as Julia Preston was at Macclesfield in September 1954, and was the first of Cambridge Royal  for the OUS. Also in the band was Ewart Edge. This was not the first time he and Julia had met, but neither seems to have taken much notice of the other on this occasion. They next met in 1956, on the Universities Association ringing week at Leiston, Suffolk. Events then moved very rapidly, and in 1957 they were married. In June of that year they both rang in a peal at Eccleshall, Staffs, but that was the one and only peal to be rung by Julia Edge!

 

For the next few years they were busy raising a family, but when their three children were old enough Julia was again able to ring regularly.  As well as being regular service ringers at Wolstanton, she and Ewart set out to ring in as many towers as possible. To this end they usually attended the annual Universities Association ringing week, and also arranged one or  two further ringing weeks or weekends each year. In this way Julia reached a grand total of 4850 towers of five bells and upwards!

 

As well as ringing, Julia took a full part in the life of her local community: in particular she participated in a local experiment aimed at introducing French to primary schools, and for some years taught French part-time. She was a lady with a warm and friendly disposition, and wil be greatly missed by all who knew her.