Earlier this year we celebrated the 1,100th anniversary of the death of Aethelflaed and her burial at St Oswald’s Priory, and marked 375 years since the Siege of Gloucester in the Civil War. One of the lesser-known anniversaries this year is that it is 175 years since the publication of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. The connection with Gloucester is also not that well-known.

Legend has it that James ‘Jemmy’ Wood, owner of the Gloucester Old Bank, was the inspiration for the character Ebeneezer Scrooge. Wood, whose bank stood where McDonalds is now in Westgate Street, was England’s first millionaire and was notoriously tight-fisted. In the end, nobody greatly benefited from his wealth other than the lawyers, because a long-running dispute over his will saw most of it frittered away in legal fees.

Jemmy was too mean to become Mayor

That was a great shame because part of it was left to the ‘Corporation of Gloucester’ (the forerunner of the City Council) and we could do with that money now! Jemmy served the city as Sheriff but was too mean to become its Mayor because of the cost it involved at that time. He is buried in St Mary de Crypt in Southgate Street.

Another famous Christmas story from Gloucester is Beatrix Potter’s ‘Tailor of Gloucester’, where the Tailor had to make a waistcoat for the Mayor to get married in on Christmas Day. The Tailor’s shop was really in what is now part of The Sword Inn, but Beatrix Potter preferred the building in College Court, where the House of the Tailor of Gloucester shop and museum is today, so sketched that for her book instead.

If you’re stuck for a gift idea, you can usually find one in here!

In 2005, the popular tourist attraction was closed by the then owners Frederick Warne publishers and a group of local people, led by Ivan Taylor, clubbed together to buy the building and reopened the business to keep it for the city. 13 years on it is still going strong and is staffed by volunteers. If you’re stuck for a Christmas present idea, you can usually find one in here!

These two stories are a glorious contrast between the meanness of Jemmy Wood and the generosity of the people who gave their money to save an attraction for Gloucester and the volunteers who continue to give their time to keep it running.

As we enter the season of goodwill, I know which is more in keeping with the festive spirit. On behalf of the City Council, I wish you and your family a very happy Christmas.