By Alice Millard, Archivist
In May 2023, we were delighted to take in the archive of two Worthing women, Myra ‘Tommie’ Thomas and Betty Hakesley. Known affectionately as ‘Tommie and Betty’, the couple lived together in Worthing from the 1980s until their deaths in 1996 and 2018 respectively. The archive tells us a lot about them, not least that they led rich and energetic lives, but also suggests that they were together for over four decades. The archive consists primarily of photographs of them and their family and friends. There are also documents from their time spent in the military, postcards from Europe, ephemeral material, military badges, and certificates.
The archive had been saved from a house clearance after Betty’s death in 2018 and temporarily transferred to Brighton & Hove Museums, where a selection of items appeared in the ‘Queer The Pier’ exhibition which put a spotlight on LGBTQI+ history. After its arrival at WSRO, we set about reviewing the collection and discussing plans for cataloguing it. Now, the ‘Tommie and Betty Archive’ is catalogued and accessible to researchers; the catalogue can be viewed on our website here.
The collection captures a multifaceted picture of this couple, offering us a privileged insight into their lives together as well as the many activities and experiences they were involved with, and the places they visited. The impact of their legacy, following the salvage of their archive, has touched many residents of Worthing and beyond. A particularly special aspect of this collection is that it documents the ordinary lives of two queer women in a way that so many of us can relate to, whilst offering a counter narrative to other aspects of British queer history.
So, what does the collection reveal about their lives? Part one looks at their younger years.
Tommie’s early years
The collection includes many photographs dating from Tommie’s childhood, revealing the trips she took with her parents, childhood homes, through to her time in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War. Though we can’t be certain, many of these were probably taken by Tommie who was a keen amateur photographer.
Tommie was born on 7 May 1917 in Epping, Essex, to Violet and Robert Gordon Thomas. Robert, an engineer and South African national, married Violet in St Anne’s Church, Kew, on 3 March 1915. The Thomases lived at their river-side home ‘Barranca’ in Wraysbury through much of Tommie’s childhood. The family also had a home in High Salvington called ‘Corner Ways’. Her childhood years seem to have been filled with visits from and outings with family and friends of her parents
In 1937, the Thomases left High Salvington for South Africa, where they lived for about a year. During their time there, they embarked on a three month long caravan trip around southern African countries, seeing Kruger National Park, Victoria Falls, Monkey Bay and what was then Southern Rhodesia. The collection includes more than 70 images of this trip.
After their return, and a short period of adjustment to their lives in England on the eve of the Second World War, Tommie joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She trained in reconnaissance photography. Her discharge papers (AM 1768/1/3/1) show that she was granted compassionate leave and then formally discharged in 1943. Frustratingly, the collection doesn’t offer any clues as to how she spent the remaining years of the 1940s.
Betty before Tommie
Although Betty’s childhood isn’t represented in the collection as it is for Tommie, I’ve been able to establish a good picture of her early life through details gleaned from the collection, and research carried out on Ancestry.
Betty Sybil Hakesley was born in Brighton in 1929 to Ellen Agnes Sybil Hakesley (nee Tutt) and Thomas Hakesley of Staffordshire, a Sergeant in the Royal Artillery. Ellen and Thomas were married in Brighton in 1927, but Thomas died in Germany of cancer shortly afterwards, never having met Betty. In 1929, Ellen and Betty went to live in Brighton with Ellen’s mother Kate Tutt.
In 1947, aged 18, Betty joined the Postal Service as a telephonist in their Brighton branch. Through the Post Office, Betty became a keen rower and joined the company’s rowing club, even competing in Ryde Regatta in 1954. Snaps and postcards also show Betty travelled to Austria, Italy, Jersey and Guernsey as a young woman.
She also appeared in a newspaper article from 1956 celebrating her fencing prowess; just another of her sporting talents. Both women appear to have been very active and enjoyed learning new hobbies, maybe it is even something they bonded over when they first met.
There’s certainly more to learn from this collection, so join us for part two where I’ll be exploring Tommie and Betty’s life through the 1950s into the 1980s.
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West Sussex Record Office 
What a beautiful celebration of their lives.
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