Avon Dassett

In the twentieth century, the village experienced both financial and political scandals. In 1922 a Captain Owen Peel and his wife Violet were summonsed to appear at Bow Street Court for obtaining money via forged telegrams. Peel and his wife had arrived in Avon Dassett in the autumn of 1921 and rented one of the large houses in the village. On 8th October they called at Avon Dassett Post Office where Mrs Peel was expecting a call from London. During this call Captain Peel submitted 45 telegrams to be dispatched to bookmakers placing a bet on Paragon who was running in the 2.45 at Kempton Park. He asked the post office clerk to record a time of 2.45 on the telegrams even though they were dispatched at around 3pm. It was alleged that his wife learnt of the winner of the race from her caller in London and passed on this information to her husband. Peel was found guilty under the Forgery Act of 1913 and the Post Office Protection Act of 1884 and sentenced to 12 months. His wife was acquitted on the grounds that she was subject to coercion by her husband. The trial made much of the fact that this was a crime that could only have taken place in a village such as Avon Dassett. The prosecuting counsel noted 'If the country were searched it would be difficult to find a place more ideal for carrying out a fraud of this kind.' It was argued that the post office clerks were simple people who agreed to put an earlier time on the telegrams because of their deference to the Peels who were living in one of the largest houses in the village.

The Times report of the Avon Dassett fraud, 16 Feb 1922

In 1963 Avon Dassett was again embroiled in scandal when the press besieged the village searching for John Profumo whose family home was Avon Carrow. The Profumo affair a heady mix of sex, intelligence secrets, and the aristocracy, centred on the MP for Stratford-on-Avon who was forced to resign in disgrace. When the affair became public journalists offered local people £100 to reveal the whereabouts of Profumo. In fact, he had escaped from Avon Carrow via The Limes and spent thirteen days hiding at his friend, Air Commodore Victor Willis's home in Radway.

Mr and Mrs John Profumo

THE AVON DASSETT VILLAGE  FETE

7th AUGUST 2010

Our fete has been running in it's present form for twenty years.

Each year we aim to make the coming fete bigger and better than last, please take a look at

 www.adfc.co.uk