More Period Photos: DL-8675

[Phillip]

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Serendipity is one of my favourite words and has often played a part in my Singer hobby over the years. In this case it recently yielded some wonderful information about DL-8675, my 1934 Singer Nine Sports, along with this amazing period photo of the car parked outside Essex Cottage, now Woods Restaurant, in Godshill, on the Isle of Wight.

My original post about finding this car and uncovering its history can be found here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=669&p=7368&hilit=an ... aved#p7368

But this now needs to be updated and corrected!

The social and historical context of my Singers are always of great interest to me...I love uncovering their stories. Much of the tale of DL-8675 had come to light, but nothing about 'D Howlett' the first owner, or where 'Valencia', their rather exotically named home was in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

While browsing Google for some sort of lead on 'Valencia' I came across The Shanklin & District History Society and, within that site, Helen Thomas, the contact regarding the history of the town and its residents. I sent Helen a message enquiring about 'D Howlett of Valencia' and in very quick time received an enthusiastic response. It turns out a relative is actually involved in the society!

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The presumed "Mr Howlett" was, in fact, Doris Howlett, and it was she who purchased the car in late 1933 from Wight Motors. Wight Motors has been trading for @90 years and is now part of the Leslie Motors Group, having been bought out from the original Butler family in 2015. Wight Motors went on to sell Toyota and Hyundai on the island.

Doris and her husband Bill ran "Valencia," their home on Atherley Road, as a guest house and once WWII started and that business dried up, Doris became Manageress at the Madeira Hotel in North Road. The hotel was badly bombed and subsequently rebuilt, but was finally torn down in the early '80's to make way for a block of flats.

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'Valencia' still exists as a private residence, but at one point was joined together with 'Triton', the house next door, and made into a hotel and B&B.

Sadly, Doris died suddenly of a brain hemmorage in August of 1944, aged 48. Her family was devasted. Bill kept her Singer until 1947 when it was sold to Philip Ryall Wedgewood in Eastbourne. He in turn sold it in 1949 and this was the last known registration in the UK before the car was shipped to Canada.

Doris' brother-in-law also owned an open Singer, but this was destroyed in an underground parking lot during a bombing raid. It's not known if her brother-in-law's Singer ownership had any influence in Doris' decision to buy one also, but it is an interesting thought. Relatives are continuing to look through their archives, so who knows what might yet come to light!