Names

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

The New Baronet - 1934

Sir Richard T D Acland, Bart., J.P., M.P. for North-West Devon, who succeeds to the title on the death last week of his father, Sir Francis Acland, P.C., M.P

Of the three sons, the eldest, who succeeds to the baronetcy, is Mr Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, who was born on November 26, 1906, educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, and is a barrister-at-law. He contested the Torquay Division in 1920 and first fought N.W. Devon in 1931, winning the seat in 1935.
The other sons are Mr Arthur Geoffrey Dyke Acland, of Staveley, Westmorland, and Mr Cuthbery Henry Dyke Acland.

Sir Richard Acland's Decision, 1942

Sir Richard Acland's Decision - 1942

In political circles, the talk of the week has been the resignation of Sir Richard Acland from the Liberal Party. His decision created no surprise among the stalwards of Liberalism in North Devon. Sir Richard's speeches in this Division and in other parts of the Country and votes in the House of Commons, have made it quite obvious that he could not be firmly depended upon as a staunch Liberal. He was 28 years of age when he entered the political arena in the North-West Devon Division and his acceptance as the Liberal candidate rested to no small extent on his membership of a respected Devonshire family, with considerable territorial holdings in the County, who had fought, more or less successfully, Liberal elections in the West. Sir Richard's break with the Liberal Party will, no doubt, come as a relief to the minds of traditional Liberals as well as to himself for his loyalty to Party discipline must have been a mental strain to him as a young man seeking an independent sphere of action in a group in which he would be able to give freer expression to his individualistic interpretation of demoncractic freedom. In this sense, Sir Richard must have been somewhat of a conundrum to Liberal Party leaders and this recalled to my mind an intimate remark once made by that doyen of Party organisers, the late Mr E C Perry, who was the agent for the late Mr C Lane in the famous Home Rule election of half a century ago, when his candidate was returned as the star of Devon, being the only Liberal candidate then elected in the County. Speaking of the Acland family, he said: 'We can hold them in high regard, but they make very difficult Party candidates.'
Loyalty to the adopted leaders of any Party is the very essence of the discipline required for successful Party politics.

The Final Reason

The final reason, we are told, for Sir Richard's resignation from the Liberal Party was the decision at the National Conference of the Liberal Party to maintain the Parliamentary truce to subordinate all Party aims and personal ambitions to the defeat of our country's enemies and the winning of the war. It has been a source of regret among selected Liberals of this Division who have the duty of maintaining the Party's organisation that Sir Richard has chosen at this juncture to break away. But it is now too late for repinings. A meeting of the Executive Committee of the North-West Devon Division Liberal Association is to be held shortly to discuss the present position and to decide upon what future action shall be taken. A strong Liberal Party, pledged to support the Government by every means in its power to win the war is to be desired, and it is to the good of a Healthy House of Commons to ... the Party as strongly represented ... made to be.

Gazette's Retiring Manager - R Balsdon, 1971

Former Journalist

Mr R G Balsdon, the retiring manager, joined the Bideford and North Devon Gazette straight from Bideford Grammar School in 1935 and was apprenticed to journalism. After his military service during the second world war, from which he was demobilised as a captain, he returned to the Gazette office and shortly afterwards was transferred from the editorial department to the commercial staff as advertisement manager, and he was subsequently appointed commercial manager.
In 1965 Mr Balsdon was appointed a director of the company which at that time was owned by members of the Lee family. In 1968 the Bideford Gazette Limited was acquired by the Berrow's Organisation Limited and he continued to serve on the board of directors. For some years he was honorary secretary of the Bideford Rotary Club. He also assisted Bideford Chamber of Commerce as joint organiser of one of its trade exhibitions, and co-operated with local holiday gude and advertising committees, He is married, and has a schoolgirl daughter.