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www.OliverFamilyHistory.co.uk -> General Oliver Discussion -> Olivers Garage (Long Hanborough) and the recent death of John Oliver
Post Info TOPIC: Olivers Garage (Long Hanborough) and the recent death of John Oliver
jane


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RE: Olivers Garage (Long Hanborough) and the recent death of John Oliver
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Shane Bywaters wrote:

I love the 'Tel. Freeland 8' .. 8! .. Harry Oliver must have been a pretty earlier adopter of the telephone system in the district

Hi Shane. It's turned out that the single-digit phone number is a helpful clue to dating the timetable! I've been browsing through some of the telephone directories on Ancestry (from the BT Archive). Oliver's Garage doesn't seem to be in the 1928 directory but is listed in 1929, with phone number Freeland 8. The number's the same in the 1938 phone directory.


But by the time of the 1939 Kelly's directory for Oxfordshire (I'm lucky enough to have the real thing in front of me, so much more user-friendly than the digitised version!) the phone number of Ernest Hy. Albt. Oliver, motor omnibus proprietor of Long Handborough, is given as Freeland 208, so three-digit numbers must have been introduced by then.

I'm sure that the date could be narrowed down further by studying the other advertisements but I'll label it as 'probably 1930s' for now.



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Shane Bywaters


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Great to see that Jane, thanks for posting it, I love the 'Tel. Freeland 8' .. 8! .. Harry Oliver must have been a pretty earlier adopter of the telephone system in the district .. will have a little ponder of the ads and details to guess what the year might be! Shane



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jane


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I came across this timetable for Oliver's Motor Coaches at Witney & District Museum today - rather tatty but it has some interesting advertisements which may help date it:

Oliver's coach timetable.jpg



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Shane Bywaters


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Here's a nice picture of Harry Oliver and his son John back in the heyday of the Oliver's coaches business based in Long Hanborough:

coaches.jpg

Shane



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Shane Bywaters


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Adding to the thread here about the Oliver branch of Long Hanborough, I recently discovered this little newspaper snippet from the Witney Gazette, Friday March 31st 1961, describing what sounds like a smashing wedding day! 

Witney%20Gazette%20-%20Friday%20March%2031st%201961.jpg

 

 



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Shane Bywaters


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The gravestones of Ernest Albert Oliver and Ernest Henry Albert Oliver (Harry), Long Hanborough Churchyard.

hanborough_grave2.jpg

hanborough_grave1.jpg



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Linda


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My Uncle was a weekend driver for Oliver's.  I don't think he knew that they were related as his Mother (my Grandmother) always said there was no connection between her family and the Hanborough Olivers!!

Linda



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rene oliver


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Hi there,

 

I wonder how many times I travelled on that same  bus in my youth!!

Irene



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Shane Bywaters


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This is a brand new find just in the lst few minutes, look at this lovely picture of an old Olivers Bedford OB Coach from 1948, in Woodstock.

hanborough_4.jpg

The picture is by a local artist, Ray Jackson www.rayjacksonart.co.uk.

The actual vehicle in the picture, registration DBW 613 still survives today at the Oxford Bus Museum in Long Hanborough, and its actually the only surviving vehicle from the entire Oliver fleet - it is however currently far from the condition in the
picture:

hanborough_3.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quicksilver_coaches/5702372379/

The museum do have plans to restore it though.

Thanks,
Shane



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Shane Bywaters


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Thanks for sharing that Jane.

The 'Changing faces on Hanborough' book (by Julie Kennedy I think) includes one or two pictures and items of information:

hanborough_1.jpg

hanborough_2.jpg

Thanks
Shane



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jane


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This advertisement is from an official guide to the Witney Rural District, published around 1948/9:

 

IMG_1204.jpg

 

From the collection of Witney & District Museum.



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Shane Bywaters


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I was sorry to read about the death of John Oliver in the Witney Gazzete this month.

johnoliver.jpg

John ran Olivers Garage in Long Hanborough for many years. It was originally setup in 1918 by his father Ernest Henry Albert Oliver, better known as Harry. Its now run by John' son Peter I believe.

I never met John but had tried many times to make contact with him through different channels, I had also dropped off flyers about the Family Days in hope that I might have met him that way, sadly I never did.

In particular I really wanted to show the 'Fantastic Family Photograph' to him, which obviously includes his grandparants and great grandparents, and many others.

There is very little on this website about the Hanborough Olivers, though I do have one or two bits, but perhaps we could add any known information in this thread.

Thanks,
Shane



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