Weymouth's past pageantry – by Jim (From Dorset Echo)

Weymouth's past pageantry – by Jim

9:00am Tuesday 17th February 2009 in

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JIM Goodenough had the ideal viewpoint to take snaps of the great and the good in Weymouth during the 60s and 70s.

For nearly 20 years he worked at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council as court usher and Guildhall caretaker.

He later took on the full-time role of macebearer and chauffeur to a succession of borough mayors during which time he drove them to civic functions, garden parties, and the endless rounds of dinners and parties.

A scrapbook of Jim’s photographs of these events has recently been unearthed by his daughter Councillor Kate Wheller. Highlights of the album include Miss World’s visit in 1965 and the opening of the Municipal Offices at North Quay by Princess Anne in 1971.

Kate explained: “When he first started the job was very different in those days – he doubled up and shadowed the macebearer and the chauffeur and was also the caretaker for the Guildhall and the court usher.

“When the macebearer and chauffeur retired, he took over that role as well. He did all four jobs and when the new council offices opened, he became caretaker at North Quay as well as Guildhall.”

Mr Goodenough joined the old Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Council in 1961.

He was appointed macebearer in the late 1960s and since that time served with 11 mayors, many of whom are pictured in his album.

In 1974, local government was reorganised so that the council became that of Weymouth and Portland.

Jim retired at 65 on October 5, 1979, and was succeeded by Les Tucker.

Was Jim happy in his job?

“He loved it,” said Kate. “The elected members to my recollection were very fond of him.

“They relied on him a good deal for advice on dress codes because he was the one who went to the garden parties every year.”

Part of Jim’s job was to ensure that the mayor and mayoress were properly dressed, were wearing the chains of office and had not forgotten their speeches. Kate said: “The mayor’s wife would say to him, tell my husband I need a new dress. Similarly, there were some lady mayors who would say, tell my husband I’m going to the palace, so I need a new hat.”

After one such event, Mayoress Dorothy Burge told an Echo reporter of an incident when Jim drove her and her husband Mayor Tom Burge to Buckingham Palace where they met Prince Charles at a garden party.

He wrote: “When the car arrived to take the civic couple to the palace, Mrs Burge handed Jim a large casserole dish with the injunction: ‘Be very careful with this’.

“Later, out came the hamper of goodies. And the casserole dish. But when the lid came off, Jim found the contents were not a piping hot Irish stew but chunks of ice encasing a large can of his favourite beer.”

Conversely, on leaving the job, Jim had a host of anecdotes to tell after looking after so many of the town’s leading citizens such as the time he took Tony Biles to the town’s Gloucester Hotel for an official function and they were being entertained to drinks in the bar.

“Everything was going fine until I had a tap on the shoulder and someone told me we should be in the Royal next door,” said Jim.

Interestingly, Tom Burge, the last mayor Jim looked after was one of his referees when he first applied for the job with the former Weymouth Town Council in 1961, since he was in the Admiralty Police at the time and Mr Burge was a scientific officer at the base.

When Jim retired, Mr Burge presented him a watch as a mark of the council’s appreciation of his years of service. Since local government reorganisation much of the pageantry went out of the mayoral office, which was a matter of regret to Jim.

“It was a fine sight to see all the alderman and the mayor in their robes. This pageantry is part of the tradition in this country. We don’t want to lose it altogether,” he said at the time.

Kate said: “My dad is now 93 years old, very fit and lives as a Chelsea pensioner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.”