William
Haggar, Fairground Film-Maker
About the Author
Peter Yorke's grandmother Violet was William Haggar's third daughter.
She led his paraders and acted in his films: she can be seen as Mrs
Dyson in "The Life of Charles Peace". In 1912 in Aberdare she married
Cyril Sydney Yorke, the Haggar's fairground barker, by then managing
William's temporary Shanty Cinema in the Market Yard in Aberdare. It
was there, in the living van behind the cimema, that their son Cyril
Haggar Yorke, Peter's father was born in 1914.
Peter's parents, Cyril and Dorothy, met when both worked in the Tax
Office in Weston-Super-Mare, where Peter was born in 1939. Sadly, their
marriage did not endure: after their divorce, Cyril went on with his
career as Inspector of Taxes, marrying again and having a second
family: he died in Cornwall in 1994. Peter grew up in Bristol with his
mother - but he maintained contact with his grandmother Violet,
spending frequent holidays with her in Coalway in the Forest of Dean.
He remembers her as a comfortable countrywoman, always known as "Mrs
Yorke". She had a part-time job in The Crown in Coalway, and, to keep
her range burning, never went out without a basket in which to bring
back wood chips from the forest opposite her cottage on the "Mean". She
rarely mentioned her past: only once did she tell Peter that her father
had been a travelling showman who had "brought the cinema to Wales".
After school at Quen Elizabeth's Hospital (a "Bluecoat school" where
Peter, a boarder, wore the uniform of a long blue gown, white bands,
knee-breeches and yellow stockings), Peter graduated in Classics at
Pembroke College, Cambridge. After three years with Hertfordshire
Country Council, he was appointed as Finance Assistant at the then new
University of East Anglia in Norwich, arriving with the first 87
undergraduates in October 1963. In 1966 he transferred to the Estates
Office, and unexpectedly stayed there for the rest of his working life,
helping to build the new buildings by acting as the client on behalf on
the University to such architects as Denys Lasdun, Bernard Feilden,
Norman (now Lord) Foster, Rick Mather and John Miller. After a time in
charge of the Estate, he took early retirement in August 1996. Moving
to Sherborne in 1998, he has travelled widely, from West Wales to
Australia, to meet his Haggar cousins, and obtain their stories and
memories. "Why don't you write a book?", he was asked when retelling
some of these tales of a hundred years ago - and in 2001 this idea
became a reality when reading the "Aberdare Leader" for 1913 and 1914
suggested two chapters of the book. By April 2002 the first draft was
ready: since then more research and kindly criticism has refined and
tightened it. More details could be discovered about William and his
films, but the main picture is clear, and he hopes that readers
will enjoy the fruits of his research.
Picture: Peter Yorke (2005)
