Going to Cheltenham

For years, my family has been in the possession of a portrait of my great great great grandfather Charles Dalenger Chenery. The first I remember of it was when it was hanging at my grandparent's farm in their living room. The next was when I was a little kid, when I remember a large crate arriving at house in Montreal. The portrait then hung in our dining room, and we got a new sand box in the garden! "The portrait" would watch over us eating dinner, especially when we would stir our ice cream. Nonetheless, he looked handsome on our wall between the sconces, so naturally he looked right at home in the Vicarage in our dining room there. The sconces came along as well, so they fit in too. When Mum and I moved out of the Vicarage to Bloxham we took the Portrait with us, and he got a new home at the top of the stairwell; where he greeted us every time we went upstairs. The reality was that when we move back over to Canada we couldn't take him with us and it would be better to bring him back to his 'stomping ground' in Cheltenham. Before Daddy died, he wanted to donate the portrait to Cheltenham College where Grandpa Chenery taught as a founding master in 1841. So this is what we did. Mum, Dorothy and I packed him up in the Volvo and with Dorothy's directions we drove out to Cheltenham on a beautiful, sunny day. The archivist at the college had arranged to meet us there and after presenting her with the portrait she gave me a tour of the campus and up to the archives themselves. She explained how they are always happy to receive any information on the early days of Cheltenham as they were missing quite a lot. We were all made to feel welcome and they were all so appreciative of the donation it really was quite touching to know the portrait would be well looked after in his new home.

Charles Dalenger Chenery, M.A.
A Family photo of sorts.
"Farewell!"
The College reception.
Inside the Chapel
The room Grandpa Chenery would have taught in over a hundred years ago.