The shop in Clifton Street has had many different owners and many different shop fronts. In 1905 when Sarah Jane Wall was the Grocer and Subpostmistress it looked like this.
Swindon streets built in the 19th century grew piecemeal with each terrace built by a different builder. In 1883 E. Harvey was busy constructing eleven houses and a cottage in Clifton Street. James Hinton was also busy in this area of Swindon and in 1884 father and son firm, C. & G. Pettifer built a house and shop in Clifton Street. Could this be the premises the Wall family were living in at the time of the 1891 census?
Across the road once stood the Clifton Street Primitive Methodist Chapel. The original chapel was built in 1882 on land given by James Hinton. A much larger chapel was built in front of this in 1900, which can be seen in this photo. The chapel was still open in 1970 but was demolished soon after. Next to this are the Clifton Street gates to the cemetery.
Published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.
John Wall, Grocer and Dairyman moved to Swindon to run the General Shop in Clifton Street with his wife Sarah Jane and four of their six children. He died in 1899 and was buried in the cemetery just across the road from his shop. Sarah Jane carried on running the business with her two sons George and Charles and her daughter Beatrice.
Beatrice died in 1914 and was buried with her father in grave plot E8596. Sarah Jane died in 1935 and was buried with John and Beatrice.
The late Miss Wall – Residents in that district will miss the familiar figure of Miss Wall, of the Clifton Street Post Office, who has passed away after a long and painful illness.
The deceased lady was the daughter of the late Mr John Wall, who came to Swindon 30 years ago, and for a very considerable period she has been prominently identified with the business connected with the oldest sub-office in the town.
The funeral took place on Monday, the service at St. Saviour’s Church and the last rites at the Cemetery being conducted by the Rev. H.C. Brocklehurst.
A large number of friends assembled, and the principal mourners were: Mr and Mrs Loxwell Wall (Exmouth), Mr and Mrs Frank Wall (Swindon), Mr and Mrs Charles Wall (Swindon), Mr and Mrs Arthur Wall (London), Mr George Wall (Swindon), Mr W. Davis (Stonehouse), Mr V. Broadsmith (Cirencester), Miss E.J. Wall (Exmouth), Miss H.G. Wall (Swindon), Nurse Butcher and Mr. E. Higgins (Swindon).
Mrs Wall and family are very grateful for the loving sympathy extended during Miss Wall’s long and painful illness, and the kindness of neighbours is especially recognised.
Extracts from the North Wilts Herald, Friday, February 27, 1914.
It’s years since I’ve been to the Bowls Club. As a nipper I used to go regularly, most summer Sunday afternoons, with my dad. I used to enjoy the escape from my Granny’s house. Granny was a devout Primitive Methodist, which I didn’t object to – except on a Sunday. Then it was all prayers and meetings and no hot dinner. I don’t know how we managed to escape – my dad and me.
Dad was one of the first members when the bowls club was formed in 1912 – before the Great War. He was one of the many men who never came home and afterwards I had no desire to see the place where we had enjoyed so many summer Sunday afternoons. All those prayers Granny offered up came to nothing after all.
These days people tend to think of bowls as a game for old men, but my dad wasn’t an old man. He didn’t get to enjoy that luxury.
Perhaps I should get myself down there – to the bowls club – just for old times sake.
Death of Mr F. Morris
A Former Town Gardens Bowls Captain
Mr Frank Morris at one time a popular member of the Swindon Town Gardens Bowling Club, died on Saturday after a long illness at the home of his wife’s parents, 15 Prospect, Swindon.
He came to Swindon 16 years ago as manager of Pearks Stores and was associated with the Town Gardens club for many years, being captain in 1924.
Seven years ago he left Swindon for Redruth to take up a managerial position and after a year or so was transferred to Torquay.
Ill health overtook him and he returned to Swindon at the beginning of this year and was confined to his bed for most of that time. He leaves a widow.
A large congregation attended the funeral service at the Swindon Parish Church on Wednesday afternoon.
The first portion of the service was conducted by the Rev. H. Spence. The interment took place in Radnor street cemetery. The grave was lined with mauve and white chrysanthemums.
The chief mourners were Mrs F.J. Morris (widow), Mrs E. Ackerman, Mrs A. Tanner and Mrs A. Walker (sisters), Mr Alf Morris (brother), Mrs E. Morris and Mrs L. Morris (sisters-in-law), Mr and Mrs John Caudle (father-in-law and mother in-in-law) Mr and Mrs C Hope (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) Mr and Mrs Len Caudle (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) Mr and Mrs Fred Jones (brother-in-law and sister-in-law) Mrs W. Caudle (aunt), Mr and Mrs J.J. Carey (uncle and aunt), Mr Tom Neville and Mr Will Neville (uncles) Mr Geo. Neville and Miss D. Bennett (cousins), Mr A.H. Paget, chief inspector (representing Messrs Pearks Ltd.) Mr Swan (branch manager), Miss M. Hope, Mr G. Hope, Mr. Geo Heath and Mr T. Vallance.
North Wilts Herald, Friday December 16, 1932.
Francis Josiah Morris, aged 42, was buried on December 14, 1932 in grave plot D1081 which he shares with his first wife, Alice Maud Morris, who died in 1918.
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 later. Her second husband was Albert Lea and they went on to have a further six children.
Bill was well known for playing his accordion, even taking it with him to the trenches of the First World War. 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.
Bill never married or had children, but was much loved by his large family, close to brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, which makes the circumstance of his burial so surprising and still the cause of a deep family sadness to this day.
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 public grave. This burial is when a person has insufficient funds to pay for the cost of the funeral and the expense is met by the local authority.
Bill’s surviving family members still find the circumstances of his burial upsetting and surprising and have numerous questions that sadly remain unanswered. They wonder why the large extended family didn’t club together to cover the cost.
Bill left a will in which his effects were valued at £32 14s 9d.
Many thanks to Mandy who told this story on one of our cemetery walks.
When the Rolling Mills opened in the 1860s the large contingent of incoming workers from Wales were housed in a building better known as the Barracks. The story goes that the Welsh women couldn’t get along together and that they used to fight and argue, but my Nana didn’t hold with that.
The former GWR lodging house, known as the Barracks, later became a Wesleyan Chapel image published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.
“We had to live in dreadful conditions; if it hadn’t been for the other women, I don’t know how I would have survived. Two years we were there. It felt more like ten.
“We couldn’t keep the place clean, the water closets were permanently blocked and we had nowhere to put our rubbish or the ashes from the fire. There was always someone sick. It was all down to the water see, ‘unfit for drinking purposes,’ the public health inspector said. Two days a week we had water, Wednesday and Saturdays, and then it came from the canal.
Five hundred people there were crammed into that building. I had small children, why we all did, I don’t know how they all survived, many didn’t, I know. My sister Gwen gave birth in that place. I don’t know how they expected people to live like that.
The company cottages were bad enough, but that building. In the early days the men used to call it the Barracks. I don’t know about barracks, more like a prison it was.
When they started building the cottages at Cambria Place I used to go along every day. I used to will that little house along. I loved every square inch of that place. Mind after two years in that hell hole it was like living in heaven.”
Cambria Place
The facts …
“I consider this building in its present state quite unfit for human habitation and dangerous to the health of the district,” Inspector Henry Haynes wrote to the monthly meeting of the New Swindon Local Board held on 2nd August 1866. What had once been intended as a model lodging house for the single men in the railway village was an unmitigated disaster.
Designed to accommodate young men in single rooms with a variety of communal facilities the lodging house, complete with Gothic turrets, was built to ease overcrowding in the GWR company houses. Unpopular from the outset, the building soon became known as the Barracks. Constrained by GWR rules and regulations the young men moved out, preferring to lodge in the cramped conditions of the railway village cottages instead.
The building stood empty until the construction of the new Rolling Mills in 1861 saw an influx of migrant Welsh workers and their wives and children. The GWR Company responded by converting the Barracks into supposedly family friendly accommodation.
This is the final resting place of John Jones, who as can be seen from the inscription on the headstone, was foreman of the Rolling Mills. John was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire on March 13, 1815.
In 1851 John was living at Thomas Road, Llanelly with his wife Sarah, and their children. Edwin 14, (already working as a forgeman), Elizabeth 13, Isabella 11, Ephraim 9, Emma 7, Enos 5 and Elijah S. who was 5 months old.
John was a highly experienced worker by the time he entered the GWR service here in Swindon on May 25, 1861. As a Foreman Roller he was paid 7 shillings a day (that’s 35p) although worth considerably more 155 years ago.
The Rolling Mills opened in the 1860s and saw the arrival of a large Welsh community in Swindon. In 1869 the manager Mr Ellis told the Advertiser there were about 310 men employed in the Rolling Mills, divided into a day and a night shift working alternate weeks.
The arrival of so many families placed huge pressure on the available accommodation in New Swindon. The first Welsh families in the Barracks lived in appalling, insanitary conditions, and work soon began on Cambria Place and it was here at No 22 that we find John and his family living in 1871.
John died in December 1887 and is buried in Plot E8296 in Radnor Street Cemetery with his granddaughter Evelyn Alder who died in 1917 aged 32 and his daughter in law Harriett Ann Jones (Evelyn’s mother) who was the wife of Elijah Stockham Jones, John’s youngest son.
Unfortunately Frederick William Darling’s military records have not survived. We do know, however, that he served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps in France during the First World War. The RAOC was responsible for supplying weapons, ammunition and equipment to the British Army. It has to be asked if his wartime experiences contributed to the state of his mental health and the onset of neurasthenia.
Neurasthenia is described as an ill-defined medical condition characterized by lassitude, fatigue, headache, and irritability, associated chiefly with emotional disturbance.
Frederick was born on March 22, 1888 the son of Richard and Louisa Darling and baptised at St. Marks Church on April 16. Frederick William was one of eight children and grew up in Horsell Street. His father worked as a blacksmith in the GWR Works as did Frederick and his elder brother Charles.
Frederick married Ella F. Wills at the church of the Holy Apostles, Charlton Kings, Gloucester on August 1, 1921. The couple later moved to Cardiff where Frederick died on September 2, 1927.
Cardiff Man’s End
Neurasthenic Poisoned By Gas
Dr R.J. Smith, the Cardiff Coroner, on Monday enquired into the death of Frederick William Darling (39), a blacksmith, who was found dead near a gas oven. Darling had suffered for two years with neurasthenia, and his widow, Mrs Ella Fanny Darling, informed the Coroner that he was in Whitchurch Mental Hospital last May, but was discharged on probation in July, when he seemed much better. During the war he served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.
Cecil Elder deposed to finding Darling in a house at Bloom Street, Canton, Cardiff and Dr. Pittard said death was due to coal gas poisoning.
A note left by Darling, addressed to his mother, read: “Don’t worry; I cannot live this life any longer.”
The Coroner returned a verdict of “Suicide while of unsound mind,” and expressed sympathy with the relatives.
Frederick was buried on September 7, 1927 in grave plot C1889. He is buried with his parents Richard, who died in 1926 and Louisa who died in 1945.
Arthur Lancelot Darling was Frederick’s younger brother. He was born on June 14, 1894. Aged 16 he was working as a machineman in the Works.
Arthur served in the 7th Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment and was killed in action in Salonika on April 24, 1917. He was 22 years old. There was no body to bury – he was presumed dead. Arthur is commemorated on the Dorian Memorial in Greece and on his parent’s grave in Radnor Street Cemetery.
Word quickly travelled around the Works. Lord Bolingbroke was trying to silence the hooter. The Swindon Advertiser had published in full his application for the abolition of the Works hooter. This wasn’t his first attempt. In 1868 he successfully forced the GWR to dampen the noise by erecting a screen around the hooter. However, the workmen complained that this rendered the hooter ineffective and the screen was removed.
Now his Lordship was at it again, complaining that the early morning call disturbed his sleep and was injurious to his health.
Lord Bolingbroke lived in a mansion at Lydiard Park, about 2½ miles west of the railway works, as the crow flies, but you could hardly describe him as a resident. For many years he had lived on the continent returning to Lydiard Park for barely two months of the year during the shooting season.
Unlike us working men Lord Bolingbroke could lie abed as long as he liked. To be late to work for us was to lose pay and unlike his lordship we do not have fancy timepieces to waken us. I am sure without the blast of the hooter I should lose many morning quarters.
The hooter punctuated the daily routine of the railway factory and we depended upon it. And not only us railway workers. Other employers such as Arkell’s brewery in Kingsdown supported keeping the hooter. It was even suggested that Lord Bolingbroke’s tenants probably found it useful.
We resolved to challenge his lordship and who better to lead us into battle than Mr Frederick O’Conor, a newly elected member of the Mechanics’ Institute Council.
A campaign headquarters was established at the Mechanics’ Institute and a petition was drawn up. More than 4,335 signatures were obtained and when the pieces of paper were pasted together they measured 43 yards in length.
The matter went to Whitehall and despite the fact that Bolingbroke was the only complainant, he won the day and the licence to operate the hooter was revoked. But with Mr O’Conor at the helm we were not to be defeated.
Despite the decision by Whitehall, the Mechanics’ Institute Council and the working men of Swindon united and carried on the battle for the hooter.
We held another protest meeting at the Mechanics’ Institute where the case was reassessed, and reason won over entitlement. The hooter was reinstated.
The facts …
Frederick George O’Conor was born in Swindon in 1843 the son of John and Mary O’Conor. In 1865 he entered work in the service of the Great Western Railway as a clerk in the loco office at Swindon Works.
In April 1876 he married Mary Adelaide Kerr. The couple had two daughters, Mary born in 1878 and Adelaide born in 1879. His wife died shortly after the birth of their second daughter.
Frederick died on February 19, 1892 following a long illness, most likely tuberculosis. He was just 48 years old.
In a lengthy obituary the Advertiser referred to his many other involvements. He was chairman of the local education committee, a member of the Wilts Archaeological Society and a prominent member of St. Mark’s Church.
The funeral at St Mark’s was attended by a large congregation and members of the Mechanics’ Institute Council followed behind the hearse as the cortege made its way to Radnor Street Cemetery where the service at the graveside was concluded by Rev. Ponsonby.
The magnificent pink granite obelisk was erected by the members of the GWR Mechanics’ Institution.
Today it comes as something of a shock when we read about boys as young as 13 and 14 employed in the railway works. The work was heavy, the working day long, and it was a dangerous environment. Accidents were frequent and sometimes fatal.
Rumour circulated throughout the Works that young Enoch Wall had lost his life due to the negligence of a fellow workman. Do you think the jury came to the correct verdict?
Enoch Wall was born on February 19, 1871 the second youngest of James and Elizabeth’s fourteen children. The UK Railway Employment Records state that he began a fitters apprenticeship on his fourteenth birthday earning a daily rate of 10d (about 4 pence) and that he was ‘Killed 15/10/85.’
The Fatal Accident in the GWR Works
On Saturday morning Mr Coroner Baker opened an enquiry at the Cricketer’s Arms inn, New Swindon, on the body of the lad Enoch Wall, aged 14 years and 8 months, son of Mr Wall, permanent way inspector, GWR, who was killed in the Works on the previous Thursday under circumstances briefly reported in these columns. The body was lying at the mortuary attached to the Accident Hospital. A good deal of interest appeared to attach to the proceedings, in consequence of a rumour being circulated that the deceased lost his life through the carelessness of a fellow workman. Mr W.E. Morris was elected foreman of the jury. Mr E.C. Riley attended and watched the proceedings on behalf of the GWR officials, and the deceased’s brother was also present. The first witness examined was,
Arthur Thos. Gillmore, of 24, Eastcott Hill, a fitter in the GWR Works, who said he knew the deceased, who was an apprentice with the engine fitters. On Thursday morning the deceased was assisting him, at about 10.45, to put in a left hand distance buffer to an engine tender. Deceased was at the end of the buffer holding it up with his two hands, the end of it being against his chest. Witness was in the pit under the tender working at the spring of the buffer. The first warning he had of anything moving was the engine striking his head, and then he heard some one call out. He dropped into the pit immediately, at the same time putting out his arm and pushing the deceased out. Witness noticed then that the tender was moving, and saw that the deceased had been jammed by the engine. The tender moved on from the engine and deceased staggered out, crying out “Oh, oh,” once or twice before he fell.
In answer to the foreman, witness said he heard no warning at all of the engine coming up. Men were always working about there, and there should be a warning given. The first he heard was someone crying out “hey,” after he had been struck by the moving engine; it was a lad who called out to him. The deceased had been jammed before witness knew the engine was moving.
By the jury: His work was generally in a most dangerous place. He had heard that there was a man to give them warning, but he did not know if this was so in this shop – there was in the shop he generally worked in, but this was in the paint shop, where he had been sent to look to a weak spring. Was sure no signal was given him or deceased to look out on this occasion.
Peter Neal, Eastcott Hill, labourer in the Works, said he was employed to get engines in and out of the paint shop. On Thursday morning he was in charge of the traversing table, and had orders to get three engines out. After they had moved one engine on to the table he went into the shop to see if there was anyone in the way. Not seeing anyone he gave the signal to the engine driver to move, at the same time calling “Look out,” in case there was anyone working where he could not see. The engine moved against the one deceased was working at, and he got caught.
By the Foreman: Generally he went up the shop to see if anyone was working before shunting. It was his duty to do so. He did not go all the way up this morning. He scarcely ever did go all the way unless he knew there was someone in the way.
By the jury: If he had gone up to where the deceased was the accident would not have happened, but he did not know there was anyone there.
At this point the coroner said the evidence was taking such a turn that he thought it most desirable that the jury should view the spot where the accident happened. This the jury did, and saw the working of the table. On returning to the jury room, the Coroner said he was glad this course had been taken. He had no idea when he commenced taking Neal’s evidence what the nature of the case was. Under the circumstances he thought it best to adjourn the enquiry until Tuesday, when all the evidence possible to get would be taken. The witnesses and jury were then bound over in the sum of £10 to appear on Tuesday.
On the enquiry being resumed on Tuesday, the witness Gillmore was re-called, and his evidence was read over to him.
Walter Hunt deposed: I live at 11, Cromwell Street, and am foreman of the west yard, GWR Works. I have been so employed over five years. Peter Neal has been employed there all the time. When I receive orders from any of the foremen to move engines from the paint shop I invariably give Neal orders to do it, and it is then his duty to get the engine out on to the travelling table and run it up on to the bank. He has entire charge of the table for the time being, and his instructions from me are to stand between the engine to be moved and the table, and give the signal. He has not to go into the shop. There is another man to go round and see that no one is in the way.
The witness Peter Neal was re-called, and repeated his evidence on oath, after having been cautioned by the Coroner. He said it was his duty to see the road clear before he gave the signal to the engine-man to move. He did so on this occasion to the best of his ability. He went into the shop and looked down the engines, but could see no one, so he gave the signal to move. The engine ran freer than usual. There was generally another man to look to the inside of the shop, but this man was not present when this engine was moved. There generally were four or five men to move an engine, but on this occasion there were only three. He had done the job hundreds of times, but never had anything happen before. He never remembered men working at buffers in this shop. He should like to add that before he commenced to remove these engines he went to the chargeman and asked him to send another man to help him, but he refused to let him come.
William Thrush, labourer, of Shaw, said he generally assisted in moving engines from the paint shop, but on Thursday, when the accident happened, he was sent to another shop. When he was present it was his duty to look round and see that no one was in the way. He took his instructions generally from Jesse Townsend, the chargeman, but was often called by Neal. He always went down the shop to see if anyone was working between the engines, as men were often up underneath the working parts. On Thursday he was not sent for at all.
The Jury said they would like to see the chargeman, Townsend, and he was sent for. In the interval the evidence of
Dr. Bromley was taken. He said he was called to see the deceased at 10.55 a.m. on Thursday in the paint shop. He found him on a stretcher, dead, and had the body removed to the mortuary, where he found his ribs fractured and lungs punctured, injuries which would cause instantaneous death.
Jesse Townsend, residing at Even Swindon, foreman of labourers in the west yard, said when the accident happened he was engaged in the Paint Shop moving a lathe. Neal come to him and asked for Thrush to help move some engines. He told him he did not think Thrush was in, but on Neal saying he knew he was he said “All right, he would send him directly.” He did not send him, as it slipped his memory. Had never neglected to send before.
By the foreman: It was necessary to have four men to move an engine out – not less.
This was the whole of the evidence. The Coroner briefly summed up, asking the jury to pin their attention to what they heard there, and disabuse their minds of anything they had heard outside. Neal was in charge of the shunting engine in question, and was evidently trying to do four men’s work with three men. He had looked down the shop and given warning, and it was for the jury to say whether in their opinion Neal was guilty of negligence; if he was not, he was not responsible, and it was a clear case of accident. If, on the other had, they considered he was guilty of gross negligence, then it was a clear case of manslaughter. Those were the two points for the jury to consider. – The jury deliberated for about a quarter of an hour, and brought in the following verdict: – “That the deceased was accidentally killed by being crushed between an engine and tender. The jury are of opinion that the witness Townsend was guilty of some negligence in not sending help when asked by Neal, and that Neal exceeded his duty in attempting to do two men’s work.” The jury also added a rider to their verdict recommending the officials in the Works to arrange for a better system of scotching wheels, to prevent engines bumping as in this case.
The Swindon Advertiser, Saturday, October 24, 1885.
Enoch was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on October 19, 1885 in grave plot E8580 where he would lie alone for almost 40 years years. His brother Lewis was buried with him on February 2, 1924 aged 56. Lewis’s wife Anne joined them in July 1935 when she died aged 71 years. Enoch and Lewis’s parents are buried in the neighbouring plot. In all those years the family had lived at 5 Wellington Street.
I didn’t manage to get up to the cemetery during the snow this week, but fortunately cemetery follower Paul Langcaster did. Thank you Paul for allowing me to publish your photographs here.
What you will read published below is a shocking story told in brutal and stark language. This is a newspaper report unlike anything we would read today. Yet it might sound a very modern story, violent and tragic, and at the heart of it a little girl, much loved by both parents.
The Swindon Tragedy
The Inquest
Eyewitnesses Stories
Verdict of Felo de Se
On Saturday, the Deputy Coroner (Mr J. W. Pridham) held an inquest in the Boardroom at the Stratton Workhouse on the body of John Page Smith, who died at the Workhouse Infirmary on Friday morning, as the result of a shot wound self-inflicted, after shooting his wife, in Bridge Street on Thursday afternoon, as already reported in our columns.
Mr W.H. Kinneir was present to watch the proceedings on behalf of Mrs Smith and her relations.
Mr G.M. Butterworth was present representing the police and members of the deceased’s family.
Mr H. Scotton, of Highworth, brother of Mrs Smith, Dr. Du Cane, and Dr. Muir, were present, and Supt. Robinson and Inspector Miller also attended the enquiry.
Mr Charles W. Barnes was the foreman of the jury, who viewed the body, which was lying in the mortuary.
The Coroner’s Statement
The Coroner, in opening the inquiry, briefly and lucidly explained the facts of the case. He said the deceased man was a solicitor’s clerk, and was formerly employed in Swindon. He was married to the young woman who was now lying in the Victoria Hospital, Swindon, seven years ago, and there was one child of the marriage. For some time past the couple had lived apart, he at Bristol and his wife in the neighbourhood of Swindon. Deceased had recently had the custody of the child. He (the Coroner) understood that Smith returned to Swindon from Bristol for the Easter Holidays. On Thursday afternoon last, Smith and his wife and child were seen outside the GWR Station, Swindon, about four o’clock. They walked along Station Road to the corner of Bridge Street, and were heard to be quarrelling. At the corner of Bridge Street, the man left his wife, but quickly returned, fired at her with a revolver, and then fired upon himself. These were briefly the facts.
old image of Bridge Street
Evidence of Identification
The first witness called was Wm. Hodges Smith, of 56 North Street Swindon, builder’s assistant. He was very much affected.
The Coroner: You had the bringing up of the deceased? – Yes.
What was his age? – Thirty-two.
He has been living at Bristol? – Yes.
At what address? – Small Street Court.
When did he come to see you last? – On Friday.
Were you aware that he had any firearms or weapons in his possession? – I had not the least idea.
How long had he been living apart from his wife? – I could not say. It might be three years, it might be four years.
A Juror: Did he often come and see you at Swindon? – Not very often.
The Coroner: Did he have the custody of the child? – During the past fortnight. The child was much attached to him.
Medical Evidence
Dr. Du Cane was next called. He said on Thursday afternoon at four o’clock I went to the Great Western Station at Swindon. I passed the deceased, his wife, and the little child, on Bullen’s Bridge, Station Road. The man was speaking in an excited manner to his wife. The child was crying. I returned within five minutes, and saw that deceased had his wife by the arm. On seeing me he let go. I went to my house, which was within a few hundred yards, and told my wife I was going again up the street as I was certain something serious was going to happen. I saw from my window the wife leave her husband and go round the corner into Bridge Street. The child then left her father, and went round the corner after her mother. The deceased immediately after also followed. I at once followed and the next moment four or five shots rang out. I ran quickly up the street and found deceased lying on his back bleeding from a wound in the right temple. I judged from his condition that he was beyond medical skill. I then gave my attention to the wife, and conveyed her to the Victoria Hospital. The woman was shot in the neck, and the left temple. After attending to Mrs Smith, I attended the deceased at Stratton Infirmary. There was a wound above the right temple penetrating at least four inches into the brain. Blood and brain matter were coming out of the wound. I attended to the wound and requested Inspector Miller to have pen and paper in readiness in case the man should recover consciousness and make a statement. I attended the man up to his death on Friday morning.
A juror: Did you see the shot fired? – No.
old image of Bullen’s Bridge
Evidence of Eyewitnesses of the Tragedy
Florence Tegg, 78 Bridge Street, Swindon, domestic servant in the employ of Mr Vincent, Bridge Street, was the next witness called. She said I was dusting the shelf in the kitchen on Thursday afternoon. My companion Louisa Hawkins was with me. I saw a man and a woman and a child outside, and I thought they were quarrelling.
What made you think they were quarrelling? – She wanted to go one way and he wanted her to go another. He put his arm round her and pushed her up against the window at No. 2 Bridge Street.
What next did you see? – I saw him hit her about three times with his fist. He struck her in the chest.
What else? I was getting from one chair to another to get a better view when I saw the man pull the woman’s head towards him and then I heard a shot, though I did not see the pistol. I heard four reports, and I saw the man fall down. I did not see any more as I was told to get down.
Louisa Hawkins, another servant in Mr. Vincent’s employ, gave corroborative evidence. She was with Tegg in the kitchen and saw the man and woman quarrelling.
She added: I saw the man fire at the woman with a revolver, and then turn the revolver upon himself. I didn’t stop to see any more from the kitchen but ran into the street. The man was then lying down.
The Deputy Coroner: How many reports did you hear altogether? Four.
A juror: Did you hear deceased threaten his wife in any way? – No.
Police Inspector’s Evidence
Inspector Geo. Miller next gave evidence. He said: On Thursday afternoon last just before 4 p.m., I received information and went into Bridge Street. I found the deceased lying on his back on the pavement opposite No. 2 Bridge Street. He was bleeding very much from a wound in the right temple. Between his legs and near his right hand was a revolver, which I took possession of, and produce. I found five empty cartridges. I got a horse and trap, under Dr. Du Cane’s instructions, and took the deceased to the Victoria Hospital, and then to Stratton. On searching deceased’s clothing I found a packed of oxalic acid and a number of cartridges in his right hand pocket. The cartridges were similar to the empty ones found. I also found a letter written on foolscap and addressed to Mr. Scotton. It had been returned unopened and unread.
The Coroner: Does the jury want the letter read?
The Foreman: No, I think not.
A juror: Does it supply a motive for the crime?
The Coroner: In my opinion it does, but we are here only to ascertain the cause of death.
It was decided that it was not necessary for the letter to be read.
Inspector Miller continuing said: There was also on him a gun license dated 15th April, 1905, taken out at Bristol.
The Coroner: It would be necessary for him to take out a gun licence in order to enable him to carry a revolver.
Mr. Butterworth: It would be, under the new Act.
Inspector Miller added that he found 13 5d in money on deceased. He added that deceased never recovered consciousness, but his wife did.
A juror: Did you hear either of them speak? – I only heard the woman speak.
Dr. David Muir, of Stratton, Medical Officer at the Workhouse, was the next witness. He said: I called at the Infirmary on Thursday night and saw deceased. He was suffering from a gun-shot wound in the right temple. He was in a moribund condition. He died on Friday morning at two o’clock. He never regained consciousness.
The Summing Up
This was all the evidence, and the Coroner briefly summed up. He said it was shown in the evidence that deceased and his wife had been living apart for some little time. On Thursday afternoon about four o’clock they met outside the GWR Station, and, according to Dr. Du Cane’s evidence, they were quarrelling. This was continued in Bridge Street according to the evidence of the witnesses Tegg and Hawkins. It was also clear that Smith shot at his wife two or three times, and then turned the revolver upon himself.
Without further remarks, the Deputy Coroner asked the jury to consider their verdict.
The Verdict
After a minute’s consultation the jury returned a verdict: That the deceased met his death as the result of a self inflicted wound and also found the deceased wilfully and maliciously shot himself. This, of course, is a verdict of felo de se.
The Deputy Coroner in reading the formal verdict, described the deceased as a solicitor’s clerk.
Mr G.M. Butterworth intimated that the deceased had been erroneously described as a solicitor’s clerk. He had for years been acting as a general agent.
The Deputy Coroner accordingly altered the description.
Before the Court closed Supt. Robinson addressing the Coroner said: Perhaps you will allow me to make a statement. When the Inspector took the deceased to the Victoria Hospital, he was told the man could not be admitted. It appeared in one of the local papers that there had been some unpleasantness between the police and the Hospital officials and that that was the reason the man was not admitted. I wish to say that that has no reference to myself whatever. The most amicable relations exist between myself and the Hospital officials.
Mr W.H. Kinneir: I may say on Supt. Robinson’s behalf, that the matter in question a matter that occurred some time ago – happened before Supt. Robinson came to Swindon.
We may point out that the statement complained of as appearing in a local paper was not made in the “Swindon Advertiser.”
With regard to the verdict returned by the jury we might point out that in criminal law, to constitute a felo de se – that is, a felon as regards one’s self, the suicide must be of years of discretion and in his right senses.
Funeral of Smith
The funeral of deceased took place on Tuesday in Swindon Cemetery. The utmost secrecy had been kept regarding the hour of interment, but, of course, it became known to a few, particularly those resident near the Cemetery, and a crowd of some 100 or 150 persons, chiefly women, assembled. Superintendent Robinson was present, together with Detective Sergt. Moore, P.S. Buchanan, and a few Constables, and perfect order was maintained.
The coffin was conveyed from the Stratton Infirmary between nine and ten o’clock, reaching the Cemetery at half-past ten. The mourners were a few of deceased’s relatives. The special service was conducted at the graveside by the Rev. Arthur T. Tasker, curate at St. Paul’s Church, Swindon.
The coffin, on which was placed a few wreaths, was of polished elm, with massive registered fittings. The inscription on the breastplate was as follows:- “John Page Smith, died April 28th, 1905, aged 32 years.” Immediately after the service, the grave was covered in, and the crowd quietly dispersed.
The funeral arrangements were satisfactorily carried out by Mr Fred J. Williams, acting for his father, Mr Joseph Williams, of Bath Road.
Mrs Smith Progressing Favourably
On enquiry at the Victoria Hospital at three o’clock this afternoon, our representative was informed that Mrs Smith has made excellent progress, and there is little doubt that she will completely recover. She is able to take plenty of nourishment.
It is stated that Mrs Smith has repeatedly enquired as to her little daughter, and has been informed that she is well and cared for. Mrs Smith has also been deemed sufficiently recovered to be informed of her husband’s death.
Swindon Advertiser, Friday, May 5, 1905
John Page Smith died on April 28 and was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on May 2 in grave plot B1689. He is buried with four others in a public plot.
This impressive monument suggests to me it was originally meant to mark the final resting place of an entire family, but there is only one person buried here, Thomas William Harry.
Among some fine examples of Victorian funeral iconography there is the urn symbolising immortality, heavily draped signifying mourning. Books are a reference to scholarly habits and religious faith. There is a book beneath the urn and one opened on the first verse of a hymn – Hiding in Thee.
It reads:
O safe to the Rock that is higher than I
My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly
So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine would I be,
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.
Written by William Orcutt Cushing with music by Ira David Sankey.
This is the last resting place of Thomas William Harry, born in Swindon in 1863 the eldest child of William and Mary Harry. This young couple were among the advance guard that moved from South Wales when the new Rolling Mill opened at the Works.
It is likely their first home was in the Barracks, the unpopular lodging house in the railway village that became a Wesley chapel, then the Railway Museum and then a youth project called The Platform.
By 1871 the Harry family were living at 7 Cambria Place, a two up two down terraced house in to which they managed to squeeze William, Mary and their five sons, Mary’s mother, two nephews (both employed at the Works) and two nieces.
William and Mary eventually returned to Wales to run a pub in Jenkins Town near Swansea. They took their four younger children with them but the four elder boys stayed in Swindon and lived at 12 Clifton Street. Head of the household was young Thomas, aged 18 and an apprentice fitter at the Works.
Thomas eventually left the works to set up in business as a grocer in a shop on Park Lane. He married in 1890 and in 1895 his son Cyril Arthur was born. Sadly, Thomas died before the little boy was two years old.
Thomas’ brother Henry known as Harry (making him Harry Harry) took over not only Thomas’s business interests but in 1909 married his widow as well.
Funeral of Mr T.W. Harry. – The funeral of Mr T.W. Harry, whose death was recorded in our last weekly issue, took place on Saturday afternoon at the Swindon Cemetery. The mournful cortege left deceased’s late residence, Bath Road, Old Swindon, at 2.15, the mourners being Mr H. Harry, Mr W. Harry, Mr C. Harry, and Mr A. Harry (brothers), Mr D. Harry and Mr Evan Harry (uncles), Mr F. Williams, Mr J. Williams, and Capt J.G. Morris (brothers-in-law), Mr A.W. Burson (partner), Mr G. Howells, etc. Upwards of 60 members of the Swindon Trader’s Association were present, including the president (Mr W.G. Little) and the secretary (Mr J.S. Protheroe), and representatives also attended of the deacons, the Sunday School, and the Christian Endeavor Society in connection with the Baptist Tabernacle, where deceased was a prominent member.
The bearers and representatives of the firm (Messrs Freeth & Son) included Mr Frank Burson, Mr Woolfrey, Mr Sutton, Mr Banwell, Mr Carver, Mr Hancock, Mr Strong, Mr Galpin, and others. A short service was held at the Tabernacle previous to the internment, the Rev F. Pugh (pastor) officiating. In addressing the large congregation Mr Pugh referred to his having baptised deceased as a member of the Church, and touched upon Mr Harry’s earnest and self-sacrificing labors on behalf of movements associated with the Tabernacle. He also paid a feeling tribute to deceased’s personal character and worth. Mr. Pugh conducted the service at the grave-side, which was witnessed by a large number. The coffin was of polished and panelled Canadian elm, with plain brass furniture, the brass plate being inscribed: “Thomas William Harry, died Feb. 2. 1897, aged 34 years.” Numerous floral offerings were received …
The funeral arrangements were efficiently carried out by Mr A.J. Gilbert, of Swindon. At the morning service at the Tabernacle on Sunday the pastor preached an impressive sermon on “The Passing of Jordan” from Joshua iii, 17, and made special reference to the circumstances of Mr Harry’s life and death. During the service deceased’s favourite hymns, “Hiding in Thee,” and “He fell asleep” were sung.
Extracts from the North Wilts Herald, Friday, February 12, 1897.
Radnor Street Cemetery 