Swindon in the Past Lane

This year’s Friends summer outing was to the magnificent Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire, the Palladian mansion house built in the early 1720s for George Henry Lee, 2^nd Earl of Lichfield.

First port of call for the Friends was an elegant light lunch at nearby Heythrop Park, a property built for Charles Talbot, 1^st Duke of Shrewsbury at the beginning of the 18^th century.

Then it was on to the main attraction …

Ditchley Park is less than 10 miles as the crow flies from Blenheim Palace and came in handy as a stopover for the guests of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. Another link with this most famous of families came during the Second World War when Winston Churchill relocated from Chequers to hold wartime working weekends on more than a dozen occasions. He was at Ditchley Park when Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess arrived in Scotland, supposedly on a peace mission.

Ditchley Park is of special interest to the Friends of Lydiard Park as there is a connection with the St John family. The 2^nd Earl of Lichfield’s great grandmother was Anne St John, second child and eldest daughter of Sir John St John 1^st Baronet and his wife Anne Leighton. Although there are no portraits of Anne in Lydiard House, she can be seen in St Mary’s Church, depicted as one of the kneeling daughters on the St John memorial.

Anne married Francis Henry Lee in 1632. Their marriage was sadly a short one as Francis died of smallpox in 1639, leaving Anne widowed with two young children and pregnant with a third.

A resourceful, resilient woman Anne married Royalist Henry Wilmot in 1644. Widowed for a second time she managed to negotiate the treacherous Civil War period and retain both the Lee and Wilmot estates.

You will be able to read more about Anne and several of the other St John women in The Ladies of Lydiard by Frances Bevan, due for publication Spring 2020.

Ditchley Park contains some wonderful portraits (including one of Anne) among them several of Charles I and Charles II. The Earls of Lichfield trace their descent from Charlotte Fitzroy, the illegitimate daughter of Charles II and Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine who was for many years Charles II’s principle mistress and bore him several children. And here is another St John connection; Barbara was the granddaughter of Barbara St John; portraits of both women hang in the State Bedroom at Lydiard House.

Sadly, there is no evidence of the old Tudor mansion in which Anne lived and no definitive location for the property. One theory is that the present house stands on the site of the old one. Materials from the old property were incorporated into the new build.

Today Ditchley Park is owned by the Ditchley Foundation established in 1958 and hosts conferences covering political, economic, social, scientific and artistic topics. The house is not open to the public, except by special arrangement. The Friends tour was conducted by the Bursar Mike Montagu.

Barbara Palmer, Countess of Castlemaine

Charles II

Don't you just love a bit of posh plumbing

Previously published on the Friends of Lydiard Park blog

Yet again Swindon in the Past Lane has been a little neglected in recent weeks as I begin work on my next book.

The Ladies of Lydiard is due for publication by Hobnob Pressin Spring 2020 and I am busy re-visiting and exploring anew the intriguing St John women who once called Lydiard House their home. For some it was base-camp, for others a holiday retreat and for several a place of sanctuary from a troubled marriage. These are the stories of women of status and influence who protected their estates through the vicissitudes of Civil War until in the 20^th century when, with the family coffers empty, Lydiard House was reluctantly sold and (fortunately for us) came into public ownership.

At the moment all my reading is Lydiard centric and even during family outings my research radar is fully up and operational. However, with sizzling temperatures and two under five-years-old grandchildren in tow, any attempts at serious (or even sensible) research at Kew Gardens this August Bank Holiday weekend was challenging.

Yet again, my sideways, all-things-Lydiard-focused, research seems to return me to the turbulent 17^th century.

Kew Palace began life as a fashionable mansion house built in 1631 for London merchant Samuel Fortrey, the grandson of a Flemish refugee.

Commonly referred to as the Dutch House, Samuel noted in his will dated the last day of February 1641 - ‘I do acknowledge that one house at Kew doth belong and appertayne only to my sayd sonne Samuel ffortery with the ground and all the Outhouses belonging thereunto.’

Over the years the building has been adapted to royal residency, but an extensive ten-year restoration in the 1990s has seen older features revealed. Oak panelling and the fragment of a painted female figure in the King’s Breakfast Room date back to the first owner of the property.

Make sure you visit Kew Gardens in time to see the stunning Dale Chihuly glass sculptures on display until October 27, and look out for the pink bananas in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, but try to pick a cooler day than we did!

One of the first pieces of advice those new to family history research are given is to collect family stories from living relatives. I think the second should be, and then discard them (the stories – not the relatives).

I had always understood that my great grandparents, George and Kate Revel, were Irish. They were married at the Roman Catholic chapel of St Canice in Kilkenny on February 4, 1895. Their first daughter, Hanoria Emily, was born on January 3, 1896 at Kate’s parents’ home in Rathkeale where George was described as a discharged soldier.

By 1898 the family had moved to London where a second daughter, Catherine Christina was born on December 17 at 19 Townshend Road, Marylebone. George was at this time working as a railway servant.

But then everything was to change with the outbreak of war in South Africa. George was recalled to service with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, leaving Kate pregnant and with two small daughters. A son also named George (my grandfather) was born on May 16, 1900. Sadly, his father Lance Sergeant George Revel died 13 days later, he probably never knew he had a son.

George’s military records reveal that he served with the 2^ndBattalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was posthumously awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasps for service at Cape Colony, Tugela Heights and the Relief of Ladysmith. He died, like so many others, of enteric fever, and was buried in Woodstock Hospital, Capetown. His body was subsequently exhumed and re-interred in Maitland Cemetery where his name appears on the Woodstock Memorial.

I knew none of these people, not even my granddad who died more than ten years before I was born, but their stories lived on. My dad was raised as a Roman Catholic and although his own childhood was fractured by his mother’s desertion and a period spent in an orphanage, he drew comfort from the large, extended London Irish family to which he belonged.

When I began researching my family history more than twenty years ago Irish records were not so readily available and I must admit I eventually gave up, promising myself that one day I would take a trip to Dublin for a glorious researchfest.

Then this August Bank Holiday I responded to a tweet from an Irish researcher I follow on twitter. We got chatting, she accessed some records and would you believe it, my Irish great-granddad wasn’t Irish at all. I had made all sorts of assumptions on the evidence of oral history without questioning the records or thinking creatively.

My twitter friend revealed that great granddad was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire and that previous generations of the family had originated from East Anglia. Census records and parish registers were checked and before you could say ‘Bob’s your uncle and Fanny’s your aunt’ I was back in 18^thcentury Suffolk.

And what have I learned from all of this? That twitter can be an amazing research tool; that family history researchers are generous with their time and help and to take all those family legends with a hefty pinch of salt.

On the down side, my notions of a romantic Irish family history have come crashing down (although of course there is still great-granny). On the plus side, Suffolk family history is considerably easier to access, especially now I am no longer barking up the wrong family tree.

My grateful thanks to Tara @MsFrugalone. Meet her this evening (Tuesday) on twitter #AncestryHour 7-8pm.

As a child growing up in London I visited the Tower of London on numerous occasions. I have two crumpled photographs taken on a primary school visit when I was about nine years old. I can't remember anything about the visit and I'm amazed anyone had a camera back in the day!

My Auntie Ruth, a force for cultural improvement in my youth, took me on a visit. Sadly all I remember about this one was queuing for what seemed like hours to see the Crown Jewels. I don't even remember the jewels, just the queue.

More than thirty years later I made the same 'Auntie Ruth error' and took my own three children when they were probably too young to appreciate the history. They can remember little about the day, apart from a boat trip on the Thames and some costumed actors in the Medieval Palace (proving what an important role these re-enactors play in childrens' learning).

Recently I visited the tower again on my own to see the areas I have never managed to on previous trips and to pay homage to Lucy St John.

My writing work in progress is called The Ladies of Lydiard, due for publication in Spring 2020 by Hobnob Press. Readers of my other blog Good Gentlewoman will know that the St John women have some amazing connections. Take Lucy St John for example.

Lucy was born in c1589 most probably at Lydiard House, a fine, if a tad old fashioned, Tudor mansion house in Wiltshire.

Her parents were Sir John St John and his wife Lucy Hungerford and the whole family appear in a spectacular portrait contained within the St John polyptych, located in St Mary's Church, Lydiard Park.

So, what is Lucy's connection to the Tower, surely she didn't end up imprisoned there. Well, not in so many words.

Lucy married Sir Allen Apsley, a naval and military administrator, at St Ann's, Blackfriars on October 23, 1615. Lucy was about 26 years old and became Sir Allen's third wife.

In 1617 Sir Allen was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London and for more than ten years Lucy lived in the forbidding fortress. The Lieutenant's home then and now was the Queen's House, so named for Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

I arrived on a blistering August day along with thousands of 21st century visitors, but with the help of Elizabeth St John I was able to imagine how it much have been for Lucy.

Lucy's story is told in The Lady of the Tower by Elizabeth St John. The opening paragraph describes Lucy's arrival at the Tower in March 1617.

"Silver drizzle veiled the stone walls rising from the moat's stagnant water. To the north, the White Tower glistened but bade no welcome for all its shining. Gabled roofs with ornate chimneys pierced the mist and hid again, hinting a house within the fortress. I was not comforted, for it reminded me that the kept must have their keepers."

Unfortunately the Queen's House is not open to the public but I stood and stared and imagined. Here are some photos to help you do the same.

The Queen's House - Lucy's home

The Chapel Royal, St Peter ad Vincula - Lucy's place of worship within the Tower

St John's Chapel, second floor White Tower dates from 1080

The White Tower

St John polyptych St Mary's Church, Lydiard Park. Lucy is the youngest of the six sisters standing closest to her parents.

This week is your last chance to see the fantastic Great Western Embroiderers's exhibition at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. Don't miss it.

When my mother left school at the age of 14 her headmistress asked her what job she wanted to do and she said she didn't know but it wouldn't be anything to do with sewing.

Within weeks of leaving school she began an upholstery apprenticeship and sewed for the rest of her life, retiring when she was 70 years old.

She made everything from her clothes and mine to church vestments and the stage curtains at the London Palladium. She worked for Lord and Lady Suffolk at Charlton Park and for a few soulless years as a machinist for a crash helmet manufacturer.

I have not inherited her talent. She used to say watching me sew was painful and that I was like 'a cow with a rifle'. But I can appreciate the talent of others and I found much to enjoy and admire at the Great Western Embroiderers Infocus Stitching exhibition currently on display at the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.

The artists have used as their inspiration photographs from the museum's archives, creating hangings and three dimensional pieces using both traditional and modern techniques.

My personal favourites are The Family Album by Sally Taylor, Chimney Pots and Washing Lines by Margaret Robbie and Cups of Tree by Judy Joiner.

Sally uses old household table linen with layers of domestic stains and taters, tea, fabric paint and stitching to create this family album.

Margaret's inspiration for Chimney Pots and Washing Lines comes from a photograph of the Railway Village. The original image has been digitally manipulated and inkjet printed on cotton and handstitched.

Judy's Cups of Tree combines machine and hand embroidery and was inspired by a photograph of Swindon's Town Gardens.

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 11 am to 4.30 pm and The Great Western Embroiderers Infocus Stitching exhibition continues until September 7.

The Family Album by Sally Taylor

Emily

Sam and Alice

Vera

Betty

Elsie and Jack

Rose and Hattie

Cups of Tree by Judy Joiner

Chimney Pots & Washing Lines by Margaret Robbie

I was busy researching the life and times of Henrietta St John, a sad story of 18th century double standards set against a backdrop of letters and gardening. Henrietta’s so say ‘platonic’ relationship with poet John Dalton led to her banishment from her home and her separation from her two children, and then during my research and reading I came across the name Doctor John St John, albeit from a different century.

I was loath to halt my work in progress but I couldn’t resist trying to find out who this man was. Although there are still large gaps in my knowledge, I have discovered that Dr John led a pretty interesting life.

Dr John was in the thick of the action during the 17th century Civil War. As troops assembled for the second showdown in the Berkshire countryside, Essex wrote to the Derby-House Committee

My Lords and Gentlemen,

It is a comfort to mee in this sad tyme of mine affliction, in minde and body, to see that I am continued in your care, being at this present soe uselesse a servant to ye State. The particulars of my disease, I shall crave pardon that I deferre the accompt of it till Doctor St John’s, old Mr Bowden of Reading, and Langley my owne Chirurgion shall set downe the trew state as much as they can perceive of it as yet, only thus much, I think it has been much occasioned (the inconveniency I am like to suffer) by striving soe long with it; …

He signs himself – Your Lordships’ most humble servant, Essex – Reading, 27 Oct., 1644.

The first and second battles of Newbury and the siege of Donnington Castle during the Civil War, 1643-6 by Walter Money published in 1884

Did Dr John attend his cousin Captain Edward St John who was fatally wounded at that bloody battle? Edward made it home to Lydiard House but died five and a half months later. He is commemorated in St Mary’s Church by the unique memorial called the Golden Cavalier.

C.E. Challis in his book A New History of the Royal Mint published in 1990 also makes a reference to Dr John.

On Holland’s withdrawal from the Mint the office of warden was revived and filled by Dr John St John. Presumably his doctorate was an MD, though he is not listed in Munk’s Roll of the College of Physicians (1878). If so, he was probably related to Oliver, fourth Lord St John, who was one of twenty colonels raising troops for the Earl of Essex’s army in 1642. This could well explain why a John St John was ‘physician to the train and person’ in Essex’s army, attending Essex during his illness at the time of the second battle of Newbury in October 1644. At all events, once appointed in 1645, St John was to remain peaceably at the Mint throughout the rest of Charles I’s reign, the Commonwealth, and the Protectorate. He probably died in Restoration year itself because on 30 June 1660 Oliver St John was ordered to surrender the Mint seal and trial plates lately in his possession.

Note to self – more research needed here!

So now we have Dr John in residence as warder at the Royal Mint in the Tower of London. I wonder if he lived within the walls of that fortress. Another St John cousin, Lucy married to the Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir Allen Apsley had once lived in the Queen’s House, but by 1645 Sir Allen was dead and Lucy had moved on (see The Lady of the Tower by Elizabeth St John.) The Mint left the Tower in 1810 and moved into a purpose-built factory on nearby Tower Hill. In the 1970s the whole operation moved again to Llantrisant in South Wales.

But who was Dr John St John? Why hadn’t I heard of him before and was he even connected to ‘our’ St Johns.

Oh yes, he most definitely was!

John was born in Keysoe, Bedfordshire in 1615, the son of Oliver St John (1563/3-1626) and his second wife Alice Haselden. Oliver had first married Sarah Bulkeley by whom he had at least six children, two of them making quite an impression on 17th century society.

Daughter Elizabeth married outspoken Puritan Pastor Samuel Whiting and has her own place in American history. The Whiting couple were among around 20,000 colonists who left England for America between 1630-1640 seeking religious tolerance and with a vision of creating a new and better society. In 1636 the Whiting family settled in Lynn on the eastern seaboard, five miles from Salem in the northeast and nine miles from Boston in the southwest. Among her many duties as Pastor’s wife Elizabeth instructed the youth of the parish, helped her husband with his writings and ran his domestic affairs.

Her brother Oliver was even more well known. Oliver St John (c1598-1673) matriculated from Queen’s College, Cambridge in 1616 and entered upon a career in law which brought him notoriety and esteem in pretty much equal measure. In 1641 he was appointed solicitor-general by Charles I, despite his defence of John Hampden who challenged and refused to pay the king’s Ship Money Tax. By the outbreak of war Oliver had firmly aligned himself with Cromwell and was recognised as one of the parliamentary leaders. In 1648 he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.

Yes, I too was sceptical about Dr John’s accreditation regarding our illustrious St John family and then I discovered his will.

Written on ‘the tenth of Aprill in the year of our Lord God One thousand Six hundred and Sixtie being sicke and weake in body but of good and perfect memory thankes bee given to Allmighty God for the same Doe make this my last Will and Testament.’ Dr John bequeathed ‘unto the parish of Keysoe in the County of Bedford being the parish where I was borne fforty shillings to bee distributed amongst the poore.’ And then I knew I was on the right track.

In this will Dr John makes numerous bequests to friends and family among whom are a lot of very familiar names.

Item I give unto Mr John Barnard forty shillings to buy him a Ring And to his wife five pounds of lawful money of England And to each of his children twenty shillings a piece.

(John Barnard was the husband of Elizabeth, Oliver St John’s (c1598-1673) daughter by his second marriage to Elizabeth Cromwell and half-sister of Lady Johanna St John, chatelaine at Lydiard and Battersea, gardener and purveyor of pills and potion fame.)

There is a mention of a couple of Bulkeley cousins, John and Joseph, along with their wives who received forty shillings a piece to buy mourning rings.

He leaves to ‘Francis St Johns my nephew and sonne of the Lord Chiefe Justice St John, ffive pounds of lawfull money of England.’ Then we have Sir Walter St John and his wife (the aforementioned Johanna) along with Henry St John and his wife (Catherine, Johanna’s sister) and their respective children who all receive money with which to buy rings

And if any further proof were needed Dr John writes that he wishes to ‘ordaine and appoint the Lord Chiefe Justice St John Executor of this my last Will and Testament’.

Dr John St John died at his home in Boult Court and was buried at the Church of St Dunstan in the West on April 17, 1660.

The St John family continues to amaze and intrigue me, especially the women, but now it’s time to get back to Henrietta. Sadly, it would appear that Dr John never married. What a story that lady would be able to tell.

Also published on Friends of Lydiard Park blog.

Changing the guard at Lucy Apsley's former home

Sir Walter Raleigh's recently restored garden at the Tower

Tower Bridge

The Norman White Tower built by William the Conqueror in the 1070s

21st century guard on the Tower walls

Was this a good idea, I asked myself as I left Swindon in a deluge to visit the Art in the Garden exhibition at Avebury Manor?

In 2011 Avebury Manor was the subject of a unique BBC and National Trust experiment during which the empty manor house was decorated in a time travel kaleidoscope of historical periods.

Visitors are able to relax in Alexander Keiller's sitting room and climb into Queen Anne's magnificent four poster bed. You can open cupboard drawers and fiddle with the fixtures but lo and behold if you touch the hand painted Chinese wallpaper in the Georgian dining room, which is strictly off limits.

Now in its fourth year the Art in the Garden exhibition includes work by 24 artists inspired by nature, history and the human form. The exhibition runs for another two weeks until October 13 and is open 11-5 every day.

Today sees the final day in the Swindon Open Studios event, so hurry along to that as well.

And yes, the clouds parted and the sun shone for my visit yesterday. As I left Avebury I thought, we have a vibrant artist community here in Swindon, why don't we put on an Art in the Garden event in the Walled Garden at Lydiard House? Eh Swindon Borough Council - what do you think?

For me no trip to a country house or stately home is complete without a visit to the local church and a walk around the churchyard. So, following my tour of Avebury Manor and the Art in the Garden exhibition I popped next door to the Church of St James.

A list of incumbents revealed that the Mayo family put in a lot of service (and services too, no doubt) from 1712 to 1823 and then I discovered the following plaque:-

The clock in this tower was erected in loving memory of

Isabella Horsley Mayo

Who died 5 January 1883 and lies buried in the adjoining churchyard

1883

The parish register reveals that prior to her death Isabella was living at Stoke next Guildford. She was buried on January 10, 1883 and the service was conducted by Charles Herbert Mayo, Vicar of Long Burton with Holmert, Dorset, Rural Dean. She was 46 years old.

Where did Isabella fit in to this clerical family and what was the story of her life? Was she a latter-day Jane Austen type figure, only without the successful novels?

Her father was John Mayo, born February 15, 1786. There’s an awful lot to be found out about him in – A Genealogical Account of the Mayo and Elton Families by Theodore Mayo M.A. published in 1882, the year before Isabella’s death. According to Theodore, John was in the East India House, and resided in Connaught Terrace, London, and afterwards at Stoke next Guildford. He married, 24^th December 1831 at St Mary Magdalene, Paddington, Matilda daughter of Major Robert Horsley, 11^th Light Dragoons. He died in London, and was buried at Avebury, 9^th March, 1866, where his monument bears the inscription:-

Sacred to the memory of John Mayo

Of Stoke next Guildford, Surrey

Born 15 Feb 1786 Died 2 Mar 1866

Second son of the Rev James Mayo

Vicar of this parish 1789-1822

By grace ye are saved – Ephes ii, 5.

Theodore has rather less to say about Isabella. The third daughter of four children, Isabella was born on 2^nd June 1836 and baptised at St Mary Magdelene, Paddington.

A contributor to a Mayo family tree on Ancestry has helpfully added that the memorial clock was made by Gillett, Bland & Co of Croydon, and was placed in the tower by Isabella’s siblings and Uncle Thomas Mayo.

In her will Isabella left a personal estate of £5,602 16s 1d – a tidy sum in 1883. I wonder if the cost of the clock came from her own money.

So that is basically it for Isabella. How she spent her 46 years on this earth we will never know. I bet she was good at embroidery though please don’t get me started on the sewing thing!

Local history stalwart Roy Cartwright recently posted an article on Facebook in praise of the Local Studies Collection in Swindon Central Library, which gave me an idea.

Over the next few weeks I intend writing about the unsung heroes of the Swindon local history fraternity. Some have written books, but not all of them; some write blogs, but not all of them. Some are Chair of this or secretary of that but what they all have in common is a passion for local history.

I'm beginning with my cemetery partner in crime, Andy Binks and if you haven't met him on the local history trail - where have you been?

For several years Andy and I (and Noel who I'll come to next) have conducted guided walks at Radnor Street Cemetery. Andy has been known to rescue shattered gravestones, attend to a bit of cemetery DIY and regularly liaises with SBC to make sure the cemetery continues to be maintained and protected.

But that's not all he does!

Andy is Chair of the Swindon Society, an organisation that records the social history of the area as shown by the camera since the 1850s. The Swindon Society meets at Goddard Park School on the second Wednesday of the month from September to May. Visit the website where you can read the latest newsletter and details about how to join.

Along with all the 'stuff' a Chair has to do, Andy also writes and presents talks, which he delivers to not only the Swindon Society but other clubs, groups and societies in the Swindon and district area.

An Evening with Joyce was an event all who saw it will long remember. Former schoolteacher, artist, poet and pianist Joyce Murgatroyd had lived the entirety of her long life in Rodbourne Cheney. In a series of talks with Andy in 2012 Joyce talked about life in her village.

More recently Andy has been in conversation with local artist Ken White. His sold out talk at Christ Church was later repeated at the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. Part two in which Andy and Ken talk about railways and landscapes takes place on Thursday November 28.

So what else does Andy do? Well there are guided walks around Old Town and the Railway Village delivered to parties of adults as well as Swindon schoolchildren. Then there are the cemetery walks oh and yes he's written a book - Swindon Works Through Time co-authored with Peter Timms. He doesn't write a blog though, he's far too busy for that.

If only we could bottle and circulate Andy's knowledge and enthusiasm, Swindon's heritage would be in safe hands.

The 2019 Royal Wootton Bassett Field of Remembrance opens in the historic 18th century Walled Garden at Lydiard House on Friday November 1. A service of remembrance begins at 11 am with visitors requested to arrive before 10.45.

The Field of Remembrance pays tribute to all service personnel who lost their lives in war, particularly the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Field of Remembrance was first opened by Prince Harry on November 9, 2010. During the ceremony Prince Harry planted a cross dedicated to his close colleague Lance Corporal Jonathan Woodgate, killed in action earlier that year.

The Field of Remembrance will be open daily from 9 am to 4 pm and closes on Thursday November 21.

And now a shout out for Noel Beauchamp, the third member of our Radnor Street Cemetery team.

Noel has a knack of finding some fascinating cemetery stories. His latest one to air was that of Frederick Englebert Kny, a Bohemian glass engraver who came to England in 1867 and died in Swindon in 1905.

Noel was one of the first subscribers to the Swindon Heritage Magazine, signing up one snowy morning at a launch event in January 2013. He went on to become one of our regular contributors and a generous supporter.

Noel hasn't written a book (as far as I know), but he does run two history websites. His first is the meticulously researched Swindon Bottles website.

In 2014 Swindon Heritage editor Graham Carter and myself went to interview Noel about his bottle collection.

“Bottles were mass produced in large numbers,” said Noel, whose collection contains everything from a small eau de cologne bottle to several Codd bottles.

Noel’s growing bottle collection includes siphons and earthenware flagons but what he would most like to find is a bottle from the GWR Refreshment Rooms.

Noel aims to collect an example from all seventeen Swindon mineral water producers. So what is left on his wish list?

“Well, I’m still looking for ones from Horsell, E.M. Gwynn, T. Rhodes and E. Hoddinott,” said Noel. And he’d also like to find a bottle opener as well. Not any old bottle opener but one made especially to open those famous Codd bottles with the marble.

Today Noel masterminds the Swindon Heritage Blue Plaques project, the aim of which is to celebrate the famous people, places and events that have contributed to Swindon's rich history.

The first Swindon Heritage Blue Plaque was installed in 2016 at 24 North Street, the birth place of Swindon Suffragette Edith New. Visit the website to find out more.

Noel doesn't make a big song and dance about what he does, so I'd like to do it for him.

Goddard Arms Hotel - setting for the first meeting of the Freemasons

Milton Road Baths - a GWR Medical Fund building

The first time I went to one of Mark's Great War talks I came away feeling as if I personally knew the men he had mentioned.

He told the story of the battles they fought in and the ones that claimed them, but it was not all about their military service. Mark talked about the men and their life before the Great War - the street where they lived; the family fish shop on the corner; the railway factory where so many of them worked; their sweethearts, wives and children.

These men were not just a regimental number, a casualty, missing, killed in action, they were someone's son, someone's husband, a father, a brother. Some fought for freedom, some volunteered for an adventure, no one came home unchanged, so many never came home at all - and Mark introduces you to everyone of them.

Remembering Swindon's sons who served has been a lifetime commitment for Mark. In 2006 he published Tell Them of Us, but his work has continued since then. Just last month he has been out to France to visit the Swindon men buried there.

To commemorate the centenary of the end of the Great War in 2018 Mark displayed some of his collection of artefacts at an exhibition in the Radnor Street Cemetery chapel.

You'll be lucky to get your hands on one of Mark's books now; he's given away so many of them. But it has never been about selling books, it has always been about remembering the men.

Join us at Radnor Street Cemetery on Sunday November 10 at 2 pm for a Service of Remembrance.

So while we're on the subject of Swindon Heritage I'd like to mention former editor Graham Carter.

In case you missed it, Swindon Heritage was a quarterly magazine for lovers of local history and was co founded in 2013 by Graham, First World War historian Mark Sutton and myself. During our five year career we published 20 editions plus a Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary special.

There are still copies available at a knockdown price in the Library Shop, Central Library and bound copies of all 21 editions are on the shelf in Local Studies.

But this wasn't Graham's only heritage publication achievement.

Graham worked on the Swindon Advertiser from 1989-1998 before going freelance, returning to produce one off supplements. One of the supplements he researched, wrote and designed was the Chronicle of Swindon, a free insert which told the story of Swindon from pre-history to the new millennium. You probably can't get your hands on a copy of this fantastic publication now (unless like me you kept them all) but you can consult a copy in Local Studies.

Graham is co-founder of the Alfred Williams Heritage Society, which celebrates the life and achievements of the South Marston born polymath. In 1911/1912 Alfred visited the Swindon & Highworth Union Workhouse which used to stand on Highworth Road, Stratton St Margaret. Graham and Caroline Ockwell walked in Alfred's footsteps to write their own account of 21st century provision for those in need, and published In the Shadow of the Workhouse in 2015. (Copies available in the Library Shop, Swindon Central Library - just pop in, you'll find tons of interesting stuff there.)

Then in 2017 Graham in collaboration with Mike Attwell and Local Studies embarked upon distilling the incredible Dixon-Attwell collection into a book. It wasn't easy! But the resulting book - A Swindon Time Capsule: Working Class Life 1899-1984 - went on to win the 2018 Alan Ball Award - the national award for local history publications. Go on - guess where you can buy it?

So now Graham has put Swindon Heritage to bed, is he taking it easy? Well, not according to his Facebook page. Earlier last month he cycled 100+ miles to Wales - and he was back in time for tea.

Graham writes a regular Monday column in the Swindon Advertiser and continues to keep his heritage hand in. His latest project is a book he is co-writing with Noel Ponting about the extraordinary George Hobbs, a railway man with an interest in - well, everything really, a bit like Graham.

Famous faces - Richard and Judy meet Graham and Mark

More famous faces - the Duchess of Cornwall meets Graham

Sadly, we have had to cancel our guided cemetery walks for the foreseeable future, but please don’t let that stop you enjoying Radnor Street Cemetery.

Designed to serve not only as a cemetery but as a place of beauty to walk, relax and take the air, Radnor Street Cemetery still fulfils that ideal.

Remembering the social distancing guidelines why not enjoy a walk around the cemetery in the coming difficult days and weeks?

But if you decide to stay indoors, join me on a virtual guided walk every day this week.

John Davison and Alice Robson

This is the grave of John Davison Robson ,(see below) an engineer whose last home was at 24 Read Street, Swindon. John was another person who had moved around the country. We tend to think of this as a modern trend, but people have always moved to where the work is and 19th century Swindon had plenty to offer.

John was born in Wellington, County Durham in 1839. By 1858 he was living in Bristol where he married Alice Storey that same year.

Each set of census returns reveal John and Allice living at a different address, with their children born in Bristol, Frome and Trowbridge.

This memorial is full of symbolism. The inscription is on a scroll, a symbol of life and time. Both ends rolled up indicate a life that is unfolding, a scroll of uncertain length with the past and future hidden. The acanthus leaf has several meanings in funeral iconography. One of the oldest and most common motifs to appear on headstones, it is associated with the rock ground where most ancient Greek cemeteries were location. The thorny leaves also represent life's prickly and difficult path. The flowers are passion flowers, which represent Christ's passion during Easter week. Across the cemetery there is a memorial to Esther Swinford who was murdered by her former fiance. Her headstone has a spray of passion flowers tumbling across it, a reference to what some considered a crime of passion.

John died on December 4, 1904 and as you can see his wife Alice died just eight days later on December 12. They are buried with their daughter Margaret who predeceased them in 1902. Another daughter, Alice Cooper, is remembered on this memorial. She died in 1893 and is interred in Cardiff cemetery.

Thomas and Beatrice Rose

What drew my attention to this headstone is the couples' surname, Rose, and the rose motif on the top.

Thomas Rose was born in 1836 in Leamington Spa, the son of a cabinet maker. By 1869 he was living here in Swindon and the UK Railway records show he entered the GWR Service as a Railway Carriage Maker that year.

At the time of the 1881 census Thomas and Beatrice were living at 11 Faringdon Street. By this time Thomas was a Foreman Finisher earning £2 18s a week - enough to support his six children with a few pennies to spare to employ a young servant girl, 13 year old Emily Drew. It's always tricky comparing historic wages with money value today, but a wage of £2 18s in 1881 would have the purchasing power of about £1,200 a week today.

Thomas' sons all followed him into the Works. Eldest son Thomas became a fitter as did George; William became a carriage trimmer and Fran completed a seven year apprenticeship to become a pattern maker. Frank began his apprenticeship in 1869 aged 14 on a daily rate of 10d which increased to three shillings a day in year seven.

As you can see, Thomas died in 1904 aged 67 and Beatrice two years later aged 66. Both of them left a will. Thomas left effects to the value of £200 to his wife. When Beatrice died she left £150 1s 5d.

Alfred and Leah Bartlett

Bartlett is a name you will see all around you up here in Radnor Street Cemetery. In fact, if you cast your eyes to the neighbouring headstone you will see it there.

Alfred was born in Cricklade in 1865, the son of William Bartlett, a master stone mason, and his wife Mary Anne. Alfred trained as a pupil teacher, presumably with the intention of making this his career. In 1890 he married Leah Annie Brown, and either this change in his circumstances, or perhaps just a change of mind, saw him working as a stonemason at the time of the 1891 census.

By the mid 1890s Alfred had established his business as a monumental mason in Bath Road, where it remained for many years. Today the firm has premises on Victoria Road, although I don't know if any family members are still involved.

Alfred's end was a sad one as his death in 1916 occurred at the Wiltshire County Asylum in Devizes. Further research is required to discover when and why he was admitted and to find the cause of his death. It is recorded that between 1915-1920 there were high levels of tuberculosis and dysentery at the asylum.

Leah Annie never remarried and lived out her days at 22 Bath Road. She died in 1934 and left effects valued at £265 10s 4d to her executors, her sons William Alfred and Charles Bartlett, both monumental masons.

Alfred and Leah Bartlett

Thomas and Beatrice Rose

John Davison and Alice Robson

The snowdrops have flowered and finished for another year, and now there are splashes of vibrant yellow as the daffodils and primroses take over.

Perhaps I'll see you here tomorrow ...

On this, our virtual Mother's Day cemetery walk, I commemorate and celebrate the mothers of Swindon for their resilience and their determination. I begin with the story of Mary Ann Gee.

Mary Ann and Frederick Gee

Late afternoon on Tuesday April 14, 1896, a gang of five Swindon platelayers were engaged on some repairs to the line in the Sapperton tunnel, some four miles east of Stroud, between Swindon and Gloucester. Among them was Frederick Gee, a 47 year old father of seven.

A warning sounded the approach of a down train but as the men jumped out of the way they were struck by another train that had entered the tunnel at the same moment. Two were instantly killed.

Frederick suffered terrible injuries, his left arm amputated and his skull severely fractured. Help was slow in coming. Frederick and two other injured men were eventually picked up by a passenger train passing through the tunnel half an hour after the accident. Frederick died en route to the hospital in Stroud.

Back home Mary Ann had a family of seven to support - five children under the age of ten, including a baby son just a few months old.

Mary Ann was born in Northleigh, Oxfordshire in 1850 the daughter of Richard Willis, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Sarah. She married Frederick Gee at St Mark's Church, Swindon on April 29, 1876. The family appear to have moved between addresses in Uffington and Shrivenham but in 1878 they were living in Gooch Street, Swindon when they had their elder two children, Bessie and Frederick Richard James, baptised at St Mark's Church on March 17.

Frederick was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery where in 1900 the couples' sixteen year old Rosa Ethel was buried alongside him. Four years later their son Harry Howard died aged 21. In just a few short years Mary Ann had lost her husband and two of her children. But she was made of stern stuff.

On March 14, 1907, with her four youngest sons Sidney 17, Ernest 15, Frank 13 and eleven year old Wilfred, Mary Ann set sail on board the SS Cymric for a new life in the United State of America.

The family arrived in Boston, Massachusetts on March 25 and in the 1910 US Census they can be found living in Forest Dale, Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1917 Mary Ann, then aged 62, married William A. Tolman. William Augustus Tolman was 69, a widower and a member of a prominent pioneering family. William's father, Cyrus Tolman, had arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1848 with Brigham Young, the founder of the Church of the Latter Day Saints of Jesus (the Mormons).

Theirs was a brief marriage. William died from smallpox in 1920. He was buried in the family plot at Oakley Cemetery, Utah with his first wife Marintha.

At the time of the 1920 United States Federal census Mary Ann was living at 2163 Lake Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her daughter Emily with her family had joined her in 1918 and were living in neighbouring South Street.

Mary Ann died in 1929 aged 71. She is buried in her adopted home of Utah.

Alice and Frederick Legg

Alice Legg was not a local girl. She was born in Wimbledon in 1886, the daughter of Frederick (aka Willis) and Catherine Lovegrove. Her first job was as a kitchen maid at a private girls' school in Wimbledon. The duties of a kitchen maid were many and varied and involved a lot of washing up and some cooking under the supervision of the cook. In this her first job Alice was roughly the same age as the pupils at the school.

At the time of her marriage in 1911 Alice was working as a domestic servant for a Wine & Spirit retailer. Her husband Frederick was born in 1887. They married at All Saints Church, Wimbledon on June 5, 1911 when they both gave their address as 65 Norman Road.

The UK Railway Employment Records state that Frederick began work for the GWR here in Swindon on May 29, 1911, just weeks before his wedding, as a boilermaker's helper. He later worked as watchman in the Loco Manager's office before his retirement in 1943.

In 1939 Frederick and Alice lived at 3 Okus Cottages with two of their daughters, Grace and Rose. Both young women state their occupation as clerk in Morse's Shop, the large departmental store in Regent Street. Alice's 66 year old widowed father, Frederick lived next door at No. 4. The couples' last home together was at 75 Okus Road.

Alice died at the Isolation Hospital in June 1961. Further research is required to establish what was her cause of death. Frederick died the same year at 432 Ferndale Road, which I'm guessing was possibly the home of one of their children.

I have been fortunate enough to find photographs of Alice and Frederick copied from the public family tree section of the Ancestry website.

Celia and George Morkot

We're finishing our walk today at this grave, and I couldn't be more excited!

As you can see, this is the grave of George and Celia Morkot. George was born in Birmingham, the son of Charles, a train driver, and his wife Jane.

Celia was the daughter of Richard and Margaret Fullond. She was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire and the family moved to Swindon in the 1860s with the opening of the Rolling Mills at the Swindon Works.

In the 1871 census the family are recorded as living at 1 Reading Street, a cottage in the Railway Village. Ten years later and Celia is still living there, but this time with her sister and brother in law. There are also four boarders, including Charles Morkot, a railway engine fitter, and his brother George whom Celia married in 1883.

But why am I so excited about finding the grave of this woman?

By the 1870s the railway factory had been in operation for some thirty years, but the Great Western Railway Company was finding it difficult to recruit skilled men to the Swindon Works. The problem was the shortage of work for women in the town. The men wouldn't move their families to Swindon if there was no work for their daughters.

Joseph Armstrong, the Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, the top man in the Swindon Works, addressed the problem by extending the Carriage Works on London Street and creating a separate upholstery department for the employment of girls only. By the end of 1874 five women were employed in the new trimming department and Cecilia Fullond was the first woman to check in on July 18, 1874, working as a French polisher.

By 1891 George and Celia Morkot were living at 31 Chester Street with their three children, Charles 6, Nellie 4 and George 2. Celia would go on to have another four children. She died in February 1922 at 31 Chester Street where the family had lived for more than 30 years.

The first woman to be employed in the railway works! Now isn't that something? If only I could find a photograph of her as well.

This is the lovely Alice Legg ...

Alice Legg

Frederick Legg

During this Covid-19 crisis politicians and newscasters are telling us we are living in unprecedented times the like of which have not been experienced since the Second World War.

There are more than 100 Commonwealth War Graves in Radnor Street Cemetery. These are the graves of servicemen who survived the conflicts of 1914-18 and 1939-45 and returned home but sadly died as a result of their military service. Many died from respiratory illnesses, such as tuberculosis and some from the after effects of being gassed. It is therefore fitting that on our virtual walk today we visit just two of these graves.

William and Arthur Wall

I’ve looked at this headstone many times and pondered on the coincidence of a father and son who died on the same day. At first I had wondered if it had been some awful accident in which they had both been killed. Or perhaps they had both contracted an illness, but 1922 was too late for the Spanish influenza pandemic. I did consider the war but thought that William was probably too old and Arthur too young to have served. Well I was wrong on both counts.

United in Death
Father and Son Buried at the Same Time

The burial of a father and a son who died on the same day took place at Radnor Street Cemetery, Swindon. The deceased were Mr William Wall, 35 Linslade Street, Swindon, and his son, Mr Arthur Henry Wall, 36 Jennings Street. Both had served in the war, and their death was directly attributable to the hardships endured on active service. The father, who was 53 years of age, served in the Army for 12 years, and during the war he was in Egypt, Greece, Serbia and Italy – first with the Wilts Regiment, then the Rifle Brigade and was later Attached to the Royal Engineers. In August, 1918, he was discharged as unfit for further service. His death occurred on May 22^nd, just a few hours before his son passed away.

The latter was 23 years of age. When only 16 he joined the Wilts Regiment, and was later transferred to the Bedfords, and then to the 1^st Herts. He saw service in France and Belgium, and was badly gassed in May, 1918. In November of the same year he was discharged.

It is a pathetic fact that although he did not know his father was so ill he had a sort of premonition that they would die at the same time, and expressed a wish that they might be buried together.

Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser June 17, 1922.

The newspaper article provides a pretty comprehensive account of William's service. His military records reveal that he enlisted in the 4th Wilts on September 14, 1914 aged 46 and served at home until January 2, 1916. On January 3, 1916, having transferred to the 22nd Wessex & Welsh Btn the Rifle Brigade, he was sent to the Western Front where he served for 325 days. On November 24, 1916, he was posted to Salonika where he served for 1 year and 215 days before being posted home on June 27, 1918, having previously transferred to the Royal Engineers.

William was discharged on August 10, 1918 as being no longer physically fit for War Service. He was 49 years and 11 months old and suffering from valvular disease of the heart.

He was awarded a weekly pension of 27 shillings for four weeks after which it dropped to just over 13 shillings, to be renewed after 48 weeks.

William had previously worked for more than twenty years as a Rivetter's Holder Up in the GWR Works, a physically demanding job that he was no longer strong enough to do.

His son Arthur was born in 1899, one of six children of whom only three sons survived childhood. He grew up in Rodbourne living at addresses in Redcliffe Street, Drew Street, Linslade Street, Montague Street and Jennings Street. William worked as a boiler maker in the railway factory and when young Arthur left school he followed him into the GWR Works and the same trade.

Following the outbreak of war in 1914 Arthur was keen to join up and enlisted in the 2nd Wiltshire Battalion on January 12, 1915. He said his age was 19 but in fact he was not yet 16. Recruiting officers were apt to turn a blind eye to fresh faced, eager young volunteers.

He was posted to France on June 1 where his age was quickly detected and on July 7, 1915 he was sent back to England as being 'under age and physically unfit for service at the front.'

He spent the following year in service on the home front before returning to France in June 1916, this time in the 1st Hertfordshires.

His service records reveal that on May 12, 1918 he was gassed. His medical records state that his capacity was lessened by 40% and that he was left with defective vision and suffering from headaches. He was discharged on November 23, 1918 as being no longer physically fit for war service. He received a pension of 11s and returned to Swindon where he married Mabel Pinnegar in 1919.

In 1920 he wrote to the Infantry Record Office asking if he was entitled to anything under Army Order 325/19 concerning the Territorial extra allowances. He received this reply:

'I regret to inform you that you are not entitled to any extra pay or allowances under Army Order 325 of 1919 as you were discharged on 23rd November, 1918.

The increase of pay authorised under the Army Order in question was only granted from 1st July, 1919 to soldiers who were actually serving on the date of the order, viz 13th September 1919.'

Arthur died on May 22, 1922 aged just 23 years. William had died a few hours earlier.

Such tragedy for one Swindon family.

Stanley William Ashton

Stanley William Ashton is buried here in plot C3524 with Frederick Loveday, his father in law. Frederick died during the First World War, Stanley during the Second World War.

Stanley Ashton was born August 22, 1911 in Burderop, the son of William, a labourer, and his wife Ada.

He served an apprenticeship as an electrician before joining the RAF and gained his pilot wings in November 1938. In 1939 he was serving with 59 Squadron in France where they were using Blenheim MIV aircraft. As the Germans pushed through France in 1940 the squadron was withdrawn to England and based at RAF Odiham, Hampshire. They continued to fly missions over France, mainly reconnaissance operations.

On Tuesday June 4, 1940 Pilot Officer Ashton and his crew were flying R3697. They took off from RAF Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. There are two theories as to what they were doing. One is that they were on a transit flight to head back to their base in Hampshire. The other is that they were on an operational mission.

Neither were confirmed, but during take-off as the aircraft banked, one of the wings clipped the ground and the plane crashed, killing all on board. Among those killed were Observer Sgt William John Wilson and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Sgt Roland Wilson (no relation). Stanley Ashton had been married just six months. He was 28 years old.

His wife, Josephine Loveday was born in 1914, the daughter of Adeline Loveday and her husband Frederick, a casualty of the First World War.

Frederick was born in 1889 and grew up in Rodbourne where his father John ran a grocery shop. Frederick served as an Air Mechanic First Class during the First World War. He died in the King George Military Hospital in Stamford Street, South London on November 6, 1918 and was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on November 11. He was 29 years old and left a widow and two small daughters.

Adeline never remarried. She died in 1968 and was buried with her husband and son in law on February 2. Josephine eventually remarried in 1955 and was buried elsewhere when she died in 1982. Although Radnor Street Cemetery was closed by then the burial registers indicate that there was room for one more burial in the plot where her parents and Stanley were buried.

The Commonwealth War Grave Commission cares for the maintenance of the headstones and a group of dedicated Radnor Street Cemetery volunteers keep the grass around the graves mown.

Stanley Ashton and Josephine Loveday

Perfect weather conditions for a guided cemetery walk, but today we have to make do with an armchair visit. But that's not so bad, is it?

Sadly, some of the gravestones in Radnor Street Cemetery are in a perilous condition, but with the wealth of online genealogy resources now available it is possible to piece together disappearing family histories.

The Dadge Family

As you will see the front of the headstone with all the family details on it is gradually coming away. This is caused by frost getting into the stone and you will see many headstones like this in the cemetery. Sometimes the whole front comes away in one sheet.

Elizabeth Mary Dadge was born in 1871 the daughter of William Dadge, a Smith’s striker, and his wife Martha.

From 1881 to at least 1901 the family lived at No 3 Brunel Street, a town centre street that has long since vanished. For most of that time William had his brother Albert and George lodging with the family. As young men they worked as Iron Dressers in the Works, then labourers until in 1901 Albert, then aged 41, was working as a Storekeepers Assistant. William meanwhile worked as a striker into his 60s.

Sadly little is known about Elizabeth who died very young. As an unmarried young woman we can safely assume she didn’t die in childbirth, but without ordering her death certificate her cause of death is unknown. My guess would probably be TB.

Next on the headstone is her sister Jane who died four years later at the age of 26, again unmarried. The same sort of guesswork applies to Jane’s cause of death.

The last name on the headstone is William George Dadge the girls’ brother. At 15 years old he followed his father into the railway works to begin a 6½ year boilermaker’s apprenticeship. However the UK Railway Employment Records show that he absconded in January 1888.

I can’t find him on the 1891 census records. This may be due to a transcribing error. Perhaps he called himself George. That and a spelling mistake would make it very difficult to find him.

Anyway, by 1901 he is back home with his parents living at No 3 Brunel Street where he is working as a joiner. In 1905 he married Agnes Brown and by the time of the 1911 census they were living with their baby daughter Winifred on the Hursley Park estate, Winchester where William was employed as estate carpenter.

In the last years of his life William was back in Swindon living at 74 William Street. He died on January 21, 1936.

Sadly I don’t think this headstone will weather many more winters and then the names and of this Swindon family will be lost, making research more difficult.

Sometimes a relative will tell us family stories, such as this one of Fred and Mary Winchcombe. Their granddaughter Mary joined us on one of our walks and kindly sent me the following information about her grandparents.

Fred and Mary Winchombe

This is the last resting place of Fred and Mary Winchcombe who married in 1911 and had a family of six sons and two daughters. Mary died in 1951 and Fred in 1962.

Fred was born July 25, 1884 at Draycott Cottage4s, Chiseldon, the son of farm labourer Jesse Winchcombe and his wife Harriet.

Fred Winchcombe worked in the GWR and walked in from his home in Chiseldon each day. He and the men he walked in with had the habit of taking a quick pint in the Patriots Arms on the way in, and one day met up with recruitment men from Kings Troop.

Fred enlisted with the Royal Regiment of Artillery Horse and Field Artillery in 1906 aged 19. He was posted to Ireland and was stationed just outside Kilkenny. The only public house deemed safe for the English troops to drink in was Mastersons Hotel in Kilkenny High Street. This was owned by Mary Morrisey's uncle, and she worked there. Mary was Roman Catholic.

Mary Morrissey was born on July 8, 1884 at Dungarvan, a coastal town in County Waterford.

They met, fell in love and Fred asked her to marry him. Her family were not opposed as long as Fred changed religion. He did, they were married in Holy Rood Church Swindon.

They started married life in Chiseldon, but as Mary insisted on walking into Swindon every day to attend mass, Fred moved them to 10 Union Street, Old Town where they lived until their deaths. They raised their large family in a two up two down terrace house with outside toilet and no bathroom.

Mary very much wanted to go back to Ireland to see her own parents and siblings, but sadly, both parents died before they ever managed to save enough money for her fare.

And sometimes relatives tell us about their family member where there is no gravestone. Mandy was even able to provide some fantastic photographs of her 2x great uncle, Bill Gladwin.

William Henry Gladwin

William Henry Gladwin (known as Bill) was born in Malmesbury in 1883, the eldest of three children.

His father died when Bill was a child and his mother married two years after she was widowed. Her second husband was Albert Lea and they went on to have six children.

Bill served in France during the Great War and took his accordion with him which he played in the trenches. One of the family stories is that along with entertaining his fellow soldiers, the German soldiers could also be heard singing along to his accordion. Apparently Bill’s trench was shelled and fortunately he survived, but his accordion didn't.

After the war he worked as both a builder and a driver. Bill never married or had any children, but was much loved by his large family, close to brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces.

Bill was struck by a bus and killed after coming out of Bright Street Club in Gorse Hill on February 19, 1954. His burial took place a few days later, attended by members of his family.

Bill was buried in a pauper or public grave. This happens when a person has insufficient funds to pay for the cost of their funeral and the expense is met by the local authority. The funeral is very basic and interment takes place in a public grave.

Members of his family still find the circumstances of Bill’s burial upsetting and surprising, and have numerous questions that remain unanswered. They wonder why the large extended family didn’t club together to cover the cost of a funeral.

Bill left a will in which his effects were valued at £32 14s 9d. The family would like to place a memorial to Bill, but unfortunately this is not possible when several, unrelated persons are interred in a public grave.

Bill Gladwin and his accordion

Bill during the First World War - his accordion went too!

Bill with his nephew George Lea, what an incredible family likeness.

Fred Winchcombe

Mary Winchcombe

Dadge family grave

I hope you have enjoyed your armchair guided walk. See you tomorrow ...

As we all practise our social distancing skills, let's make an online exception and draw a little closer. Join me on another virtual cemetery walk. This morning we are staying close to the cemetery chapel to learn about two entrepreneurial Victorian Swindonians.

First let us pay our respects to Swindon's own 'Mr Selfridge.'

Levi Lapper Morse

This impressive monument is that of Levi Lapper Morse. The grave plots around the Chapel area were once thought to be the most expensive, so this is where you will find a lot of Swindon’s dignitaries and most wealthy residents. However, a list of charges published when the cemetery opened in 1881 reveal this might not necessarily have been the case.

Morse’s father had been a shopkeeper in Stratton but Levi went on to far greater things. He established one of Swindon’s first departmental stores, which stood on the present site of W H Smith’s in Regent Street, Swindon up until the 1960s.

Morse served as a Justice of the Peace and an Alderman; he was Swindon’s second mayor and MP for South Wiltshire for six years. Morse was an active and energetic member of the Primitive Methodists, serving as Circuit Steward of the Swindon II circuit from its formation until his death. In 1896 he was elected chair of the Brinkworth District Meeting and Vice President of Conference and also served as District Missionary Treasurer for about nine years. He was a lay preacher, Sunday school teacher and accomplished organist.

He lived with his wife Winifred and their family at a magnificent property called The Croft, sadly no longer standing. This photograph was taken at a meeting of the Brinkworth and Swindon Primitive Methodists in 1912.

When he died in 1913, he left £124,095 19s 4d worth more than £9 million today.

Now let's meet the inventor of the amazing Multiple Cake Cutting Machine.

William Harvie

This monument marks the last resting place of William Harvie, pretty impressive for a railway foreman. You won’t be surprised to learn that at the time of his death in 1930 (when he left £44,000) he was known by his railway colleagues as the wealthiest workman in England.

So, how did he come about this great fortune?

William Harvie was born in Islington, London in about 1849. He began his career as a coach trimmer in Birmingham where he met and married his first wife, Susan Newman, at St Peter and St Paul's Church, Aston. Susan was a widow with a young son. By 1871 the couple were living at Rushey Platt with Susan's son Edward and two children of their own, Henry and Louisa. They would have a third child George William. The family lived at 15 Faringdon Street for a number of years, and by 1891 William had been promoted to foreman.

He served as foreman over the women in the polishing shop, and during the 1890s he was responsible for organising the entertainment for the ‘annual tea of the female staff employed in the Carriage Department.’ He even performed a couple of humorous songs, said to have contributed to the event.

By the time of Susan’s death in 1906 they were living at 6 Park Lane. Two years later William married again. His second wife was Alice Elizabeth Turner. She died in 1921 at their home 92 Bath Road but does not appear to be buried in Radnor Street Cemetery.

A notice in the Western Morning News reported that he was instrumental in building the first saloon railway coach for Queen Victoria.

He was known to dabble in stocks and shares but there is no mention of his famous invention, the Multiple Cake Cutting Machine.

Swindonians will know that until the outbreak of the Second World War the Children's Fete took place in the GWR Park, organised by the Mechanics’ Institute Council. As part of their entrance fee the children all received a piece of cake. The quantity of cake required was enormous, baked in 5lb slabs and numbering more than 1,200. As you can imagine the cutting up was a mammoth task – until Mr Harvie here invented his famous Multiple Cake Cutting Machine.

The machine, a dangerous looking contraption, was composed of crossed knives, balanced on spiral springs, which hovered above each cake. The cakes were fed into the machine on 12 wooden trays by an endless band on rollers worked by the handle at the end of the machine. The average speed of this new machine was 6 cakes per minute.

William is buried in plot D14a with his first wife Susan where they were later joined by their elder son Henry.

William Harvie's Multiple Cake Cutting Machine

The Children's Fete held in the GWR (1907)

Photograph of Morse's grave - a rare Radnor Street Cemetery photo

Levi Lapper Morse

The Croft

Photographs of the Children's Fete, William Harvie's Multiple Cake Cutting Machine and The Croft are published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.

Thank you to Ivy Sheppard for the photograph of Morse's grave.

During these difficult times the early residents of the Railway Village could teach us a thing or two about community spirit.

Today we are visiting the graves of two early railway workers who arrived in Swindon in the 1840s.

The railway settlement at the bottom of the hill was then described as a 'pioneering town' - no shops, no schools, no health care. But the new arrivals soon started to make a difference and nearly 180 years later these people remain an inspiration.

So on our virtual cemetery walk today I would like to introduce you to Robert Laxon.

Robert Laxon

I was surprised to find these two decorative headstones when I started researching Robert Laxon and Jason Johnson, two of the early settlers in the railway village. I made the assumption that they would not have left enough money to pay for something like this. But the more I looked into their lives the more interesting I found these two men.

This is the last resting place of Robert Laxon who died at his home No 2 Faringdon Street on January 16, 1890 aged 86.

Robert was born in Lowestoft on May 10, 1804 and grew up in Gt Yarmouth, Norfolk.

By 1835 he had married his wife Maria (who is buried here with him) and the couple were living in the parish of St Pancras in London.

The couple had a large family – two sons and six daughters, the youngest three children were born in Swindon. Robert’s sons, Robert and Frederick both became coppersmiths while the girls worked as dressmakers and tailoresses. Matilda had worked as a Pupil Teacher and in the 1871 census Maria describes herself as a bookseller, but eventually they all earned their living by sewing.

The UK Railway Employment Records state that Robert’s service with the GWR began in December 1838 at Paddington where he worked as a coppersmith and that he was Foreman in K Shop of the Loco factory by June 24, 1843, the first to hold that position.

Robert held another first – in 1853 he was the first secretary of the Medical Fund.

He belonged to both the Oddfellows and the Ancient Order of Foresters, two Friendly Societies, which provided insurance, pensions and a banking service for members, so he was a careful and a canny man. When he died he left £878.

The employment records I refer to state that Robert left the GWR employment on January 16, 1890 – the date that he died. Did he continue working until his death? It is quite possible.

And meet his friend and workmate, Jason Johnson.

Jason Johnson

Here we have Robert’s colleague Jason Johnson who served alongside him on the Medical Fund Committee from 1853-1859.

Jason was a homegrown railway man, and in the early days there weren’t too many of them around.

Jason was born in nearby Baydon in 1819. Jason married Emma Adams in 1846 and by 1851 they were among the early residents to move into Taunton Street. According to the 1851 census returns Emma was 21, which would have made her just 17 when they married. You have to be a bit flexible when reading census returns – until civil registration was instated in 1837 people were not always certain of their birthdate, and of course people told fibs for all manner of reasons. A wife older than her husband might shave off a few years. A child born out of wedlock might have a year added to their age and a boy out at work might also add a year to qualify for a higher rate of pay.

Jason’s job ‘Inside’ which was the local term for the railway works, was that of blacksmith.

In 1861 the couple lived at 30 Taunton Street with their six children. Ten years later and they had moved to 27 Gloucester Street. During the intervening 10 years Emma had five more babies with one last one born in 1874.

The boys all went into the Works. Arthur and Alfred worked as blacksmiths; John and Daniel as coach body makers while Thomas worked as a railway clerk.

Jason died at his home 19 Gloucester Street on December 2, 1891 and left effects to the value of £404.

Robert Laxon

Jason Johnson

The following three photos are views of Taunton Street.

The railway village 'backsies'.

I could add the stories of many more of these early residents, and perhaps I will on another virtual cemetery walk. Join me again tomorrow.

If you would like to read more about the work of these pioneering railwaymen you might like to visit Milton Road Baths and GWR Medical Fund Hospital

And just to show you what a 'live' cemetery walk looks like, here's one we enjoyed on March 24, 2019.

At 8 pm yesterday evening the nation stood on its collective doorstep and clapped for the carers in the current corona virus crisis - particularly the doctors and nurses, but also all those who are still working to keep us fed and the country operating at some level.

So today I am giving a shout out to George House and his daughter Elizabeth who did their bit for the people of Swindon.

Their kerbstone grave is difficult to photograph as it has sunk a bit and the grass grows up around it.

George and Elizabeth House

George House was born at Wargrave, near Reading, Berks on June 24, 1817. He joined the GWR at Maidenhead when that section of the westward railway line from Paddington was under construction. He appears to have stayed with the GWR company and to have been engaged on the construction of the line as far as Swindon. By 1841 he was involved with building the first workshops for the new Swindon factory.

In total he served more than 50 years with the GWR. In 1890 he was presented with a ‘Tit-Bits Medal of Merit’ by Sir George Newnes MP to commemorate that at that time he was the second longest serving railway employee in the country. He was beaten by a Mr Richard Rocket of Leeds who was in first place but when Mr Rocket died before the end of the 19^thcentury, George became the longest serving railwayman in the UK.

George and his wife Elizabeth moved into 4 Taunton Street before the street was numbered and George remained there until his death in 1902 some 56 years. They had seven children, all born in Swindon – George born in 1850; David 1851; James 1852; Charles 1854; Elizabeth 1857; Rebecca 1858 and Emma Jane in 1860.

George played a prominent part in the formation of the early Sick Fund and later in the Medical Fund formed in 1859.

He was elected as a member of the Council of the Mechanics Institution and involved himself with fund raising for the more vulnerable people in Swindon.

He organised the Juvenile or Children’s Fete held in the GWR Park and raised funds with collection boxes in the Works so that the children from the Workhouse were able to attend each year.

He also raised money for the adults at both the Stratton and Purton Workhouses to have a winter treat each year.

And as if all that wasn’t enough, George’s daughter Elizabeth went on to be a trailblazer as well.

The 1894 Local Government Act removed restrictive property, gender and status qualifications, enabling single and married women to vote and stand for election on the newly constituted urban and rural district councils. These reforms also extended to the Poor Law Board of Guardians.

Elections took place in December and when the board met for the first time on January 2, 1895 there were four newly elected women present – Elizabeth Williams, Maria Matthews, Elinor Buller and Elizabeth House.

Collectively the women made an incredible contribution to changes within Workhouse practice, turning their attentions in particular to the women and children inmates. Sometimes the changes these women made might seem insignificant but they are credited with reforming the harsh workhouse regime. It was discovered the younger women had no nightdresses – something that was immediately seen to; a mangle was bought for the laundry; the workhouse diet was improved; children were fostered out to families instead of living the institutional life of the workhouse.

Altogether three of these incredible women are buried in this cemetery.

George and Elizabeth House

Ditchley Park

Kew Palace

Barking up the wrong family tree

Tower of London

Great Western Embroiderers

Who was Dr John St John?

Art in the Garden

Isabella Horsley Mayo

Local History Hero - Andy Binks

Field of Remembrance

Local History Hero - Noel Beauchamp

Local History Hero - Mark Sutton

Local History Hero - Graham Carter

Radnor Street Cemetery - a virtual spring walk

A Virtual Mother's Day cemetery walk

A virtual cemetery walk to remember Swindon's fallen

An armchair guided cemetery walk

Let's doff our hats on today's virtual cemetery walk

Meet two inspirational railwaymen on our virtual cemetery walk

Doing their bit - George and Elizabeth House.