Papers collected by Syd Vinson comprising complete set of YMCA Brightlingsea 'Mag-O'-Fun' Second World War magazines, 1939-1948; letters, photographs and correspondence sent to Vinson from YMCA Brightlingsea servicemen and women throughout the Second World War.
The papers also include material relating to the sinking of the ship the 'Royal Edward' during the First World War, on 13 August 1915; and a small number of published and unpublished writings by Vinson.
Sydney 'Syd' Lufkin Vinson was born in Brightlingsea in 1895. His parents, William John Vinson (1859-1907) and Ada Barrell (1862-1945), had married in 1883. The 1911 census records that the family were then living at 47 Tower Street, Brightlingsea. Syd's occupation at the time was that of a shoemaker.
During the First World War he saw active service and was onboard the ship 'HMT Royal Edward' which was sunk, near to Greece, by a German submarine on 13 August 1915. Syd wrote about this experience in his short book 'The Loss of the Royal Edward', published in 1919. During the war it appears that Syd was a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps, but was discharged on 4 August 1916. It is unclear whether this was through injury or illness.
Syd married Violet Godwin in 1932 and the couple had one child, John, who was born in 1933. Syd became heavily involved with the work of Brightlingsea YMCA. He was Chairman of Brightlingsea YMCA through the Second World War. During the Second World War he created, published and distributed a magazine - 'Mag-O'-Fun' - to be sent to the local servicemen and women who were connected to the YMCA. Copies were sent to them locally or wherever they were in service, all over the world. Syd also wrote letters to all the servicemen and women associated with Brightlingsea YMCA. He received, and retained, many letters of thanks in return.
Sydney Vinson died in 1962, aged 67. His death registered in the Colchester district.
Sources: papers of Sydney L. Vinson; Free Births, Marriages and Deaths website accessed 18 October 2018 via freebmd.org.uk; online publication titled 'Clacton-on-Sea and the Surrounding Coastline in the Great War' accessed 18 October 2018 via https://www.scribd.com/book/370502689/Clacton-on-Sea-and-the-Surrounding-Coastline-in-the-Great-War
Open, access to all registered researchers.
Presented October 2018
Please see full catalogue for more information.
Papers arranged and described by Mark Eccleston and Margaret Roper, November 2018, in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; and in-house cataloguing guidelines.
Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material
Material inherited by Sydney Vinson's son, John. The papers were subsequently transferred to Phil Martin, Vice-Chairman of Brightlingsea YMCA.
