Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Stopher, Thomas

1837 – 2 May 1926

Thomas Stopher was an architect and surveyor (for Winchester College, St John’s Hospital and others), a prominent municipal leader (Mayor of Winchester 1876, 1883, and 1893, Freeman of Winchester, 1910) and antiquarian. He published little, but indirectly did much to foster heritage and local history. Also, as one who often saw old buildings being developed or demolished, he was an early champion of recording and preserving archaeological finds. In this way he made contributions to the history of City Mill (see The Observer and County News, 13 June 1885), the Star Inn, High Street, where burials were discovered, and many other sites.

He lacked the scholarly apparatus to make full use of the material he gathered: he wrote articles for local newspapers, often pasted into the many scrapbooks he left, but only published one paper. That was in the Proceedings in 1920, ‘Reminiscences of the City of Winchester seventy years ago’, with valuable recollections such as: ‘City Road had the city ditch, full of rank weeds, on the south side and a meadow on the north side, with a barn which was used as a kennel for the late Mr. James Dear's harriers.’

Commenting on his later years, Roder has written: ‘Any serious student of the history of Winchester in the early 1920s was referred to the old man.’  He left a manuscript ‘History of Winchester Streets’, in which he recorded details of buildings and contemporary events – and gossip! – on central Winchester, 1898-1925. In 1884, in preparation for a celebration of the 700th anniversary of the mayoralty of Winchester, together with fellow alderman W.H. Jacobs, and Winchester College don and Basingstoke historian, Francis Joseph Baigent, he saved about 140 documents on the history of the city from unsuitable conditions in the Westgate. With the help of a Special Charter Fund, they were catalogued and stored in the Guildhall.

Sources

• Roder, L. M. (1973) Thomas Stopher 1837-1926: A Citizen of Winchester, 1973 (dissertation, typescript, HRO, search room HB/STO)

• Obituary: Hampshire Chronicle, 10 May 1926

Portrait

By Annie Osborne Moore (1858-1949, Winchester City Museum, via Hampshire Cultural Trust

Contribution to county’s history

A champion of heritage and local history with the municipal status to encourage and protect it.

Relevant published works

• Stopher, T., Reminiscences of the City of Winchester seventy years ago, PHFC, 9(1): 81-91

Critical Comments

An example of ‘a squirrel’, who published little, but left much for others to work on.

Other Comments

See: ‘Stopher of Winchester Papers’, HRO, 21M85W.

Contributor

Barry Shurlock, 21 April 2022

Key Words

Winchester

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