Rediscovering the Caravan Pioneers

At the Club’s historic Collection, hosted here at the National Motor Museum, we have launched a fascinating research project which aims to uncover and share the stories of the organisation’s founding and pioneer members.

Held in the Club’s Collection are two small printed booklets, which despite looking very insignificant hold the key to unlocking the personal stories of the trailblazers of the caravan holiday. Printed inside is the name and address of every Caravan Club member from the years 1910 and 1913.  Much is known of some of our more prominent members such as founder J Harris Stone, whose stories have been told widely. Yet for most of the names held in the archives, we know little or nothing of the people behind them.

We have delved a little into these booklets in the past, most recently for a project commemorating 100 years of Votes for Women, where we undertook a little research on the ladies listed. Incredible stories were quickly uncovered, including a brave Club member who was a Suffragette arrested and imprisoned in Holloway for her militant protests. But how many other stories are hidden behind the members' names?

Nick Hargreaves, a Club member who is a volunteer at the Collection, is undertaking the fascinating task of researching these pioneering caravan personalities. Drawing on the vast experience gained from researching his own family history, Nick has begun weaving census records and newspaper reports together with the historic documents and photographs held in the Club’s Collection.

Often referred to as ‘Gentleman Gypsies’, the term has long painted a picture of caravan pioneers being a group of men from the leisured and professional classes. A quick glance at Club membership records already dispel the ‘gentleman’ aspect, with one third of Club members being women in the years before the First World War.