Struggle and Suffrage in Swindon

For ten years I have been a member of a small but perfectly formed team of cemetery enthusiasts. We research and write about the people in the cemetery and throughout the summer months conduct guided cemetery walks.

Our next walk on Sunday June 23 will include the launch of my recently published book – Struggle and Suffrage in Swindon – Women’s Lives and the Fight for Equality.

The cemetery opened in 1881 and closed in the 1970s. There are more than 33,000 people buried there and I think its probably a fair estimate to say that half of those are women.

The vast majority of the women buried in the cemetery were only remembered by their families, until they too passed out of living memory. Thousands of them have no headstones and no memorials.

The timeline for my book is 1850-1950, a period of incredible social and political change for women – yet it is still often difficult to find out about the lives of ordinary women.

When you are tracing your Swindon family history in the 1851 census you will most likely find your female ancestors recorded as ‘boilermaker’s wife’ or ‘carpenter’s wife’ or more often than not there will be just a blank space under occupation.

In 1851 the census enumerators were instructed not to record women’s work if it was part time, seasonal or if they worked in a family business, which pretty much rules out most of the jobs in which women were employed.

Working class women didn’t leave memoirs or books or letters. They didn’t have the time or the opportunity. These ordinary women, the ones who didn’t do anything life shattering (except raise the next generation) leave little evidence of their existence.

It is the story of these women that I like to tell, and I’ve made some extraordinary discoveries during the course of my research.

Join me at Radnor Street Cemetery on Sunday June 23 for a book launch followed by a guided cemetery walk with Andy and Noel. Meet at the Cemetery Chapel for 1.45 pm.