William and Mary Hooper rock up at Stonehenge

The re-imagined story …

I have Swindon photographer William Hooper to thank for my appearance on Time Team.

As a nerdy little kid, I was already interested in archaeology (in particular the Neolithic period) and the inspiration for my obsession was all down to a photograph that hung in my grandpa’s study.

William Hooper has become famous for his Edwardian Swindon street scenes, but William and his wife Mary were not averse to getting on their bikes and venturing beyond Swindon. In the early days they travelled quite literally by push bike, graduating to a motor bike and sidecar as they travelled the Wiltshire countryside and beyond. Between 1905 and 1910 they took a series of stunning photographs of Avebury and Stonehenge.

The photograph in my grandpa’s study was of an ethereal woman dressed in white, sitting on a fallen boulder within the stone circle. These days you have to have permission and a very special reason for being allowed access to the stone circle but in 1910 the historic monument was still in private ownership, the property of Sir Edmund Antrobus 4th Baronet. Perhaps anyone could rock up and take a few photographs.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is stonehenge-4.jpg — *Image published courtesy of P.A. Williams and Local Studies, Swindon Central Library*

Skip on twenty years or so and with my degree in archaeology under my belt, I volunteered for a brand-new television programme that was thought by many to be doomed before it even made it to the screen. Television producer Tim Taylor had the crazy idea of making a programme featuring scruffy, hippy looking student types digging trenches in muddy fields. The premise of the programme was that the team would turn up at a site of archaeological interest, dig for three days and then reveal the history of that site. For twenty years Time Team brought archaeology to the masses and achieved viewing figures in excess of 2 million per episode.

I was a regular participant on the show, taking part on a number of digs, working alongside my university professor Mick Aston and national treasure Phil Harding. There are photographs of us in trenches and in various pubs mulling over the findings of the day’s dig.

I’ve recently moved to a cottage in Avebury (the magnetism of those stones still draws me) and it has long been my intention to pay my respects at the grave of William Hooper, the man who sparked my interest and gave me a lifelong love of history.

I’ve been told his grave in Radnor Street Cemetery is difficult to find. Now, where is John Gater and his geophysical wizardry when you need him?

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is william-and-mary-hooper-2.jpg — *Image published courtesy of P.A. Williams and Local Studies, Central Library*

The facts …

William Hooper was born in Windrush near Burford in 1865 and moved to Swindon and a job in the Works in 1882. In 1886 he was involved in a serious accident during which his leg was so badly crushed that he would eventually have it amputated at the knee.

William returned to his job in the railway factory where in 1891 he worked as a labourer and ten years later as a stationary engine driver. However, the work became too difficult for him and it was then that he decided to turn what had previously been a hobby into a business.

He opened his first photographic studio at 2 Market Street in around 1902, later moving to 6 Cromwell Street where he and his wife Mary remained until they retired in 1921.

Mary Stroud was born in Hereford where he father James worked as a Railway Guard. The family later moved to 22 Merton Street in Swindon. Mary and William married in 1890.

At the time of the 1911 census William, then aged 47, describes himself as a Photographer – Portrait and Landscape, his wife Mary as assisting in the business, but Mary did more than just ‘assist.’

In the extensive Hooper archive available online courtesy of P.A. Williams on the Swindon Local Studies flickr account, we glimpse Mary ‘assisting’ not only in the studio, but out on the road, travelling with her husband across Wiltshire on a variety of vehicles from a tandem to a motorbike and sidecar.

The couple never had any children of their own but were very close to Mary’s two nephews who also worked in the business with them from time to time.

William died in 1955 followed by Mary a short while later. They are buried here with Mary’s parents James and Ellen Stroud.

The modest memorial is a small cross on a plinth, sadly broken and difficult to find when the grass grows long. But the Hooper name lives on in the many photographs of Swindon William left us – with Mary’s assistance.

The Radnor Street Cemetery volunteers have revealed the battered William Hooper memorial and cleared the area around it. Unfortunately the cross is now badly broken.

Howse’s Coppice

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For nearly a hundred years the cemetery was well maintained, the graves cared for by families, the gardens by groundsmen. And then the cemetery closed to new burials and families did not visit so often and nature began to reclaim the ancient Howse’s Coppice.

In 2005 the cemetery was designated a Local Nature Reserve. Areas of grass were left to grow long, providing habitat for insects. Hedgerows, corridors for wild life to move across the site, were maintained and bird and bat boxes were installed in the mature trees.

Following the financial crash of 2008 and subsequent local government spending cutbacks the cemetery was left to rest in peace. Today the plane trees are broad and lush, the grasses grow tall and some think it is a disgrace that the cemetery is so neglected, but there is a small group of volunteers who keep the history of the cemetery alive. Regular guided cemetery walks are attended by a growing number of people who come to listen to the story of Swindon’s history.

Documents held in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, Chippenham trace the history of Howse’s Coppice back forty years before the cemetery was laid out. The land then belonged to James Bradford and appears on the Tithe Map details of 1840 where it is described as a coppice ground (an area of managed woodland) formerly called Wibley’s but later known as Howse’s Coppice.

James Bradford was a solicitor who lived and worked at a property in the High Street, Old Swindon, close to what was then the King of Prussia public house. His wife, Annica Werden Bradford, was a member of the Goddard family. James died in August 1861 and the following year Annica sold the coppice ground to John Harding Sheppard for £559 14s.

John Harding Sheppard was a farmer and brewer and owned large tracts of land across both New and Old Swindon, including the Kingshill area where Howse’s Coppice stood.

In 1871 the executors of Sheppard’s will, his sons John and William, sold Howse’s Coppice, by then described as a close of land, to James Edward Goddard Bradford, bringing it back into the possession of the Bradford family.

In 1878 James Hinton bought Howse’s Coppice, which formed part of the plot he would eventually sell to the Cemetery Committee two years later.

Howses-Coppice-Ground

Howse’s Coppice was all that remained of ancient woodland that had once stood on Swindon’s doorstep before the arrival of industrialisation and the railways.

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Sale of Property – Pursuant to advertisement in our paper, Mr. Dore submitted for sale the landed estate of the late John Harding Sheppard, Esq., This estate being situated on the Sands, and to the West between Old and New Swindon, has been considerably enhanced in value of late years, and a brisk competition for the various lots was anticipated. Some of the lots were not sold, consequent upon the reserved price not being reached. Though every lot obtained bidders. A piece of pasture land near Kingshill, and known as “Howse’s Coppice Ground,” 4a 3r 38s was knocked down to Mr J.E.G. Bradford for £490. Two pieces of land situate on the Sands, at Swindon – one having a frontage of 83 feet, and an average depth of 360 feet, and containing 2r 27p the other with a frontage of 80 feet, and containing 2r 18p, were sold to Mr Kinneir and Mr Lansdown, respectively for £220 and £235. The spacious premises occupied by Mr Matthews, draper, High-street, realised £1160, Mr Bradford being the purchaser. The house in the Square occupied by the late Mr J.H. Sheppard, was sold to Mr Kinneir for £1220, and, after a spirited competition, Mr Kinneir was declared the purchaser of the premises lately held By Mr Kimberley, for £400. The White Hart Inn, Newport-street, and six cottages adjoining, fell to Mr R. Bowly, at £1070; a dwelling house near to this lot, producing £13 a year, was purchased by Mr Jason Hutt, at £185. The Running Horse Inn, mill, land, and cottages, were purchased by Mr John Jacobs, for £680; two cottages near fetched £180 from the same purchaser. The house occupied by Mr. Oakford, in Wood street was bought by Mr Westmacott, for £420.

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, Saturday, October 8, 1870

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Aunt Charlotte would have loved all this

The re-imagined story …

It was a bitterly cold morning but we were the best dressed passengers on the platform at Swindon Junction that Boxing Day in 1906.

Uncle Alfred had polished his top hat to a shine and Bill looked prosperous, if a bit portly, with his fob watch chain stretched across his ample stomach.

I wasn’t sure how we would keep the children neat and tidy for the duration of the journey, but so far, they have been very well behaved.

We managed to find seats all together in one carriage, although it was a bit of a squeeze and Fred almost sat on Annie’s hat.

Aunt Charlotte would have loved all this.

My mother came prepared with a picnic hamper and enough food to sustain us on an expedition across the dark continent, never mind a trip to Cardiff.

No sooner had we passed through the station at Wootton Bassett Junction than my mother was handing round the scotch eggs.

We were met at Cardiff station by Florence’s uncle who took us to the church at Canton where the wedding ceremony took place and then it was back to the Davies’s home in Conbridge Road for the wedding breakfast.

The other day I was looking through some of my old bits and pieces with Maisie, my granddaughter. I’m moving in with her and her husband, I just can’t manage living alone anymore. I have to get rid of so much. It’s difficult.

Maisie found Florence and Bill’s wedding photograph taken in the back garden in Canton on Boxing Day 1906.

“I love the ladies dresses,” said Maisie as she studied the sepia image. “Who are they all?”

I pointed out Uncle Alfred and Bill and Florence.

“I can’t remember who the others are, they are all members of the bride’s family.”

“They look a serious bunch,” she pulled a straight face. “Where are the Drinkwaters?”

“We were laughing and talking behind the photographer. I remember he asked us to be quiet as we were too much of a distraction.”

Aunt Charlotte would have loved that.

charlotte-and-alfred-drinkwater

The facts …

Alfred Drinkwater was born in Barton St Michael, Gloucestershire in 1848. He married Charlotte Dent at St Mark’s Church, Gloucester on April 12, 1869. The couple had a large family of eight sons and four daughters.

Alfred worked as an engine cleaner, a fireman and a 1^st Class Engineman (Engine Driver) The family moved from Gloucester to Reading, eventually arriving in Swindon in the mid-1890s. There is a family story that he once drove Queen Victoria’s train.

Charlotte died at the family home in Theobald Street and was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery in plot D1453 on June 29, 1904.

Alfred outlived her by almost 30 years. He died at 112, Millbrook Street, Gloucester on July 26, 1932, his body returned to Swindon and the plot he shares with his wife.

Alfred and Charlotte’s nine-year-old daughter Nellie died in 1895. She is buried in Radnor Street Cemetery in plot B2398.

The couple’s eldest son Alfred James Henry served a six-year apprenticeship in the railway factory where he worked as a fitter. He married Annie Cummins in 1892 at St Mark’s, Swindon. The couple never left Swindon and their last family home together was at 27 Whitehead Street. Alfred James Henry died in 1949 and his wife Annie died the following year, 1950. They are buried together with Alfred’s parents. The cremated remains of L.C. Drinkwater, probably Alfred and Annie’s daughter Lilian Charlotte, were interred in the family plot in 1989.

William Charles John Drinkwater and his wife Florence, the couple who married in Cardiff on Boxing Day 1906, were living at 40 Montagu Street, Rodbourne at the time of the 1911 census. They later moved to Wales. William died in the Pontypool and District Hospital on July 9, 1942 and Florence died at her home, 21 Saint Matthews Road, Pontypool on June 5, 1958.

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Additional family history information obtained from Public Member’s Trees on http://www.ancestry.co.uk.

Rev Thomas Trafford Shipman

The re-imagined story …

We gathered outside the farmhouse where father fired the traditional shots above the rooftop to ward off evil spirits. Then the little party of ladies and gentlemen consisting of father and I, Uncle Richard, Charles and Letty, Thomas Plummer and his sister Ellen then set off down the carriageway from Hook to Lydiard House and the parish church of St Mary’s.

Although barely eight o’clock in the morning our friends and neighbours came out of their cottages, throwing showers of rice and as we made the short walk children linked hands and barred our way until Uncle Richard threw them some coins.

Those family and friends who had not joined our merry parade were already seated in the box pews. The beautiful little parish church with its monuments to the St John family. The ancient font where Letty and I had been baptised and where I in turn would bring the child I carried to be christened and blessed by Rev. Shipman.

Rev. Shipman knew I was expecting a baby and he knew Will was not the father, but he made no judgement.

“You’re not the first bride and you won’t be the last who walks down this aisle carrying a child who is not the grooms,” he said. “Do you love Will?”

It seemed a strange, romantic kind of thing for a clergyman to ask. I’d expected him to tell me to repent of my sins, to look to Christ for forgiveness and guidance.

Will was a good man. I’d known him all my life, we had grown up together. He was reliable and dependable and hard working and his prospects were good. But he didn’t make the breath catch in my throat or the heat surge throughout my body.

Will promised he would look after me all the days of our life. He did not promise to transport me to unprecedented levels of physical delight, as Ambrose had. He probably wouldn’t even know what that meant. He does not use flowery language, or pay me extravagant compliments.

Ambrose St John, a cousin of Lord Bolingbroke, had whispered fancy words into my receptive ear, and played my body with his expert lovemaking. And then he had left. I was not the woman I had been before he kissed me, before he touched me, but he had not reached my heart.

St Mary's pews 2

Will was aiting for me at the church door where Letty fussed with my sash and straightened my bonnet.

“I know,” he whispered. “And I love you.”

Rev. Shipman baptised our daughter on Michaelmas Eve. We brought two more babies to St Mary’s to be blessed by the kindly clergyman, but he would not be officiating at the baptism of our next child.

Rev. Shipman died recently following a short illness. Sadly, he will not rest at St Mary’s among the parishioners he served so well. The churchyard is closed and discussions are in progress as to where the people of Lydiard Tregoze shall bury their dead.

The funeral of Rev Thomas Trafford Shipman takes place tomorrow in St Mary’s Church with the interment at Radnor Street Cemetery in Swindon. I will be there, with my husband.

The facts …

Thomas Trafford Shipman was born in Sedgebrook, Lincolnshire in 1831, the younger son of William Shipman, a farmer, and his wife Harriet.

After studying at St Catherine’s, Cambridge he was made deacon at Carlisle in 1856 and ordained the following year. He served as a curate at Barbon, Westmorland 1856-58 and at Christ Church, Carlisle in 1858-59. He was Rector at Scaleby, Cumberland from 1859-1866 and at Nether Denton from 1866-1872 when he became Vicar at Aspatria, a position he exchanged for one at Lydiard Tregoze where he was instituted on April 1, 1879.

He married Margaret Sidney Roper-Curzon at St Mary’s, Cheltenham on October 13, 1859. Thomas was 28 and Margaret 24. The couple had four children, daughters Alice, Ethel and Mary and a son Francis Trafford Shipman. The 1881 census records Thomas and Margaret with their three daughters living at the Rectory, Lydiard Tregoze.

new rectory

The Rectory, Lydiard Tregoze – published courtesy of Roger Ogle

Thomas died suddenly in 1884 and is buried in Radnor Street Cemetery.

Thomas Trafford Shipman (2)

Canon Brian Carne writes in Notes on Rectors, Curates, and Patrons published in Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Report No. 38 published in 2005.

“Shipman’s death must have been sudden, because it became a legend. Right up to the 1960s it was said – at least by Mrs Large – that he appeared at the top of the rectory stairs to presage the death of the current incumbent.”

Frank Wallington and the family back home

Have you picked up your copy of Moonies, Movers and Shakers yet (available from the Library Shop, Central Library, Hobnob Press and Amazon)? If so, you will have read about Frank Wallington.

Frank Samuel Wallington was born in Gloucester in 1865, the son of Francis and Mary Ann Wallington. By 1871 the family had moved to Swindon where Francis worked as a fireman on the locos, eventually progressing to engine driver.

By 1891 Frank had completed his engine fitter’s apprenticeship in the Swindon Works and had moved to London where he boarded with his brother William in Plumstead.

He joined The Association of Wiltshiremen in London (The Moonies in London) and from 1893-1901 acted as Honorary Secretary. Frank eventually emigrated to the United States where he died in Eton, Georgia in 1936.

But other members of the family stayed in Swindon and found their final resting place in Radnor Street Cemetery.

Cemetery volunteer Bex discovered the family graves and what a fantastic job she made of clearing them.

Francis Wallington died aged 49 years at his home 4 Edgeware Road in May 1884 and was buried in grave plot A287. His wife Mary Ann survived him by more than 30 years and died aged 85. She was buried with him on May 31, 1916. These are Frank Samuel Wallington’s parents.

George Harry Wallington and his wife Maud Annie Kate are buried in neighbouring plot A288. George was another of Francis and Mary Ann’s sons and brother of Frank Samuel Wallington.

Buried next to George and Maud are their two sons, Reginald Francis Wallington who died in 1963 and Cyril George Wallington who died in 1981.

Before and after photographs of the Wallington family graves.

No place like home

At last there is some good news about the future of the derelict property on Victoria Road as published in yesterday’s Swindon Advertiser.

Unfortunately, a misinterpretation of my article No place like home has led to an erroneous link between the property and the suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst. This is not the case. There is no connection between the militant suffragette leader of the Women’s Social & Political Union and Oxford House, 57 Victoria Road.

But, you may like to read the story of this house and the remarkable Clarke sisters who lived there at the beginning of the 20^th century.

Half way up Victoria Road, behind the bus stop called The Brow, stands an empty and derelict property and so it has been for many years. Last year, or maybe it was longer ago, the builders arrived and I was hopeful the property, called Oxford House, might be about to begin a new life. The roof was stripped and new dormer windows inserted. Then the builders left, the new windows were boarded up and the pigeons moved back in. And so it stands, dilapidated, unloved.

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At the time of the 1881 census the Clarke family lived at 17 Wellington Street. William worked as an Iron Turner in the GWR Works, but he was an ambitious, intelligent and determined young man.

Ten years later William had moved his family up the social ladder and up the hill to a house in Victoria Road where he worked as a solicitor’s clerk.

When William died on December 16, 1898, the obituary in the Advertiser recalled how for many years he had been employed as a mechanic in the GWR Works. ‘But eventually [he] resigned his post to act as an accountant and debt collector. In the latter capacity he has worked up undoubtedly the largest business of the kind in the county, and has been of great assistance to the business men of the town,” the report continued.

Oxford House dates from around the end of the 19th century when development at the northern end of Victoria Street began. Known first as New Road and then later as Victoria Street North the road was eventually renamed Victoria Road in 1903.

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In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst established the Women’s Social and Political Union at her home in Nelson Street, Manchester and at Oxford House, 57 Victoria Road, Swindon the three Clarke sisters, Rosa, Mabel and Florence, established their own financial business, as accountants and debt collectors.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales set up in 1880, discussed admitting females in 1895. Sadly, Rosa died in 1904 and it would be another fifteen years before the first woman became a member in 1919.

The two remaining sisters kept Rosa’s initial letter R in the company name. While the campaigning suffragettes boycotted the 1911 census, refusing to be counted without representation, Florence and Mabel Clarke filled in their census form and are recorded still in business at 57 Victoria Road.

In 1918 Mabel died, leaving an estate of £2,609 4s to her surviving business partner and sister Florence. Interestingly, when Rosa and Mabel died neither sister received the press recognition that their father had.

Florence carried on the business following Mabel’s death in 1918 but by 1920 the North Wilts Trade Directory records that H.T. Kirby, registrar of births and deaths, lived at 57 Victoria Road.

Mabel is buried in plot E8015 with her father William and mother Mary Anne Tilley Clarke.

clarke-family-from-oxford-house

During the 1980s architect Geoffrey Drew worked out of offices in Oxford House. Brian Carter sent me a photograph taken then and a few words about his father-in -law.

‘My reason for photographing it in 1983 was that the first floor was then the offices of Architect Drew. This was the business of my late father-in-law, Geoffrey Drew (and his secretary – my mother-in-law – Elisabeth Drew).

Geoff was born in Southampton in 1928, was evacuated to Corfe Castle during World War II, and started his working life in Ipswich. Later, he went into partnership in a business in Bristol. This brought him to Swindon for the first time in the 1960s (his first job in the town was working on the original BHS shop in Swindon town centre).

He set up a satellite office in Swindon and liked the place so much that he spent the rest of his life in Bishopstone, and married my future mother-in-law in 1972.

He set up in business on his own in 1981 – briefly in Newport Street, before moving to 57 Victoria Road. In about 1999, they vacated those premises and worked from home in Bishopstone.

Sadly, Geoff died in 2006, aged 77.’

57-victoria-road

Set in stone

This headstone is a victim of weathering. Other deteriorating examples can be found across the cemetery, but this is the end result, when the surface cracks and eventually falls away.

It might seem that the history of those buried here is lost, but it is possible to piece together the family history.

A cemetery marker is propped up against the headstone. These should be treated with caution as many are in the wrong place, but I struck lucky with this one. Using the cemetery maps and grave plot registers I was able to trace the story of not only the people buried in this grave but those in the one next to it as well.

This is the last resting place of James and Dorah Neate. James was born in Box, Wiltshire and Dorah in Bruton, Somerset. They married at St James Church, Bath on October 30, 1877.

James worked as a railway engine driver and the couple moved about a fair bit. At the time of the 1891 census they were living in St Brides, Bridgend with their two sons. William 10 who had been born in Box, Wilts and Frederick 9 born in Weymouth, Somerset. By 1901 they were living at 7 Park Terrace (Faringdon Road) in Swindon. William and Frederick were both working for the GWR, William as a stoker and Frederick as a fitter. The couples’ last home was at 13 Jennings Street where James died in 1925 and Dorah in 1930.

James was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on April 27, 1925 in plot D519. Dorah’s funeral took place on July 7, 1930 and she is buried in the same plot.

The collapsed pink granite monument next to James and Dorah’s plot is the grave of their son William.

Like his father William also became a railway engine driver. He married Elsie Maria Tyler at St Paul’s Church, Swindon on June 24, 1907. At the time of the 1911 census William and Elsie were living in Goodwick on the Pembrokeshire coast with their two-year-old daughter Kathleen Dora. They also had a son, Arthur William T. Neate, who was born in Wales in 1915.

William and Elsie eventually returned to Swindon where Kathleen died in 1931 aged 22. William died at 30 South View Avenue, Walcot, Swindon on September 11, 1948 and Elsie died at 20 Castle View Road, Stratton St Margaret on December 13, 1968.

William, Elsie and Kathleen are buried in plot D520 next to William’s parents.

Elsie Maria Neate 4

The Tyler family photo was shared on Ancestry by Debra Tyler on February 8, 2010. Elsie is standing on the left with her arm resting on her mother’s shoulder.

Elsie Maria Neate nee Tyler

Poor little Freddy Whitby

The re-imagined story …

My grandfather always lingered awhile at the corner of Clarence Street opposite the site of the old Empire Theatre. He would grip my hand tightly and recall the tale of little Freddy Whitby.

I know the story well as he never failed to mention it. It was only much later that I fully understood; well you don’t as a child, do you? It was one of Pop’s stories, like the ones about the war, stories you heard all the time as a child and yet could only recall in fragments as an adult. How many times have you wished you’d asked about this or that, wished you had listened more carefully?

The Empire Theatre has long gone and there are traffic lights at the busy junction now, so as I wait for the traffic to come to a halt, I too think of little Freddy Whitby.

Freddy Whitby was 10 years and 10 months old on that fateful Friday in June 1911. He was on his way to school from his home in Swindon Road. At the corner of Clarence Street Freddy stepped off the pavement as if to cross, but then he hesitated before breaking into a run.

A witness said when he saw the car so near him Freddy appeared scared and dazed, and knowing not what to do stood absolutely still.

The driver of the car was racehorse trainer Mr W.T. Robinson from Broome Manor who was on his way to the GWR Station to catch the nine o’clock express train to London.

Mr Robinson told the inquest how he had been blowing the whistle all down the street from the tramlines and how, realising the danger the boy was in, he slammed on his brakes. The left headlamp clipped young Freddy, knocking him off balance and under the front wheel of the car.

Mr Finn, a butcher, was on his way to work when he too saw the accident. He ran across the street and picked up the boy, carrying him to Dr Lavery’s surgery just around the corner in Regent Circus.

The children on their way to Clarence Street School gathered round.

“Who is it?” they asked one another, but nobody seemed to know the boy.

Complaining of pain in his stomach Freddy was transferred to the Victoria Hospital where he was subsequently operated on for an internal haemorrhage.

The operation had proved successful and Freddy was showing signs of recovery when he died suddenly on Saturday morning. A post mortem revealed that the injuries had been slight and it was believed that Freddy had died from shock.

“I never even knew him,” Pop used to say, which always struck me as odd. Why, half a century later, did he still grieve for the boy knocked down on the corner of Clarence Street that he never knew?

But perhaps that was why? Nobody had known Freddy Whitby. Had he been walking to school with a group of boys, or even just one friend, that accident might never have happened? I think my Pop believed that had he been that one friend, Freddy Whitby would have lived. Throughout his long life my Pop somehow felt responsible for the death of Freddy Whitby…’

Freddy Whitby

The facts …

At the inquest Freddy’s father described his son as being a very nervous boy who had poor eyesight and wore glasses. The family had previously been living in Liverpool, Freddy had only been in Swindon since Tuesday of the previous week and the streets were new to him, he told the court.

The Swindon Advertiser reported that ‘the accident again calls attention to the danger of children crossing the streets on going to school when motor cars are frequently passing.’

The Deputy Chief Constable suggested that in future motorists travelling from Old Town to the GWR station should proceed by way of Drove Road to avoid the Clarence Street schools’ area.

Freddy’s funeral took place on June 14, 1911. He is buried in plot B2238 in a grave he shares with three other children; Herbert Mark Keen who died in July 1894 aged 12 months; Oswald Hall who also died in July 1894 aged two years and an eight-week-old baby George Henry Clifford who died a month after Freddy in 1911.

The grave is marked by a memorial to Freddy, a cross toppled off long ago and lies in the grass. The inscription reads: In Loving Memory of Little Freddy the beloved and only son of F. and E. Whitby aged 10 years and 10 mths Accidentally killed by motor car June 10^th 1911.

Love’s story to you

Kingshill (43) — Kingshill Road, Swindon

The re-imagined story …

Love is the sweetest thing
What else on earth could ever bring
Such happiness to ev’rything
As Love’s old story.

How wonderful it must be to find love twice in a lifetime. In my mind’s eye I can see mother’s sardonic expression. She didn’t believe in love, or luck – she’d never had much of either in her life, but I was the eternal romantic.

Mother and I would go into town every Friday. We’d do some shopping and then we’d have afternoon tea in McIlroys. We used to meet Mrs Sessford, as she was then, at the bus stop on Kingshill Road.

Mother and Mrs Sessford were about the same age, but you would never have guessed it. Mother was, how can I put this kindly? Well let’s say she wasn’t a bundle of laughs. Mrs Sessford, on the other hand, was joyful, yes, that is the correct word to describe her. She was joyful.

Love is the strangest thing
No song of birds upon the wing
Shall in our hearts more sweetly sing
Than Love’s old story.

Mother always complained about the weather; it was either too cold or too hot. But for Mrs Sessford, the sun always shone.

Mrs Sessford lived with her father at 155 Kingshill Road where he died on August 30, 1943. Within weeks Mrs Sessford married Henry Harold Musto.

Whatever heart may desire
Whatever life may send
This is the tale that never will tire.
This is the song without end.

“They must be almost 60,” Mother tutted. “There’s something fishy about it all, you mark my words. I bet he’s after her money.”

Mother thought it ridiculous. I thought it was rather lovely, and how lucky Mrs Sessford had been, to find love twice in her lifetime. Sadly, it passed me by completely.

Love is the strongest thing
The oldest yet, the latest thing
I only hope that fate may bring
Love’s story to you.

Love is the sweetest thing written by Ray Noble and performed by Al Bowlly 1932

The facts …

Edith Maud Steel was born on February 9, 1886, the eldest of Thomas and Letitia Steel’s three children. She grew up in Devonport where in 1908 she marred James Henry Sessford. Lieut Sessford died on September 15, 1927 at the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham from Broncho Pneumonia and Cardiac Failure.

By 1939 Edith was living with her father Thomas, Chief E.R.A. Royal Navy (Retired) at 155 Kingshill Road. Thomas was 77 years old and Edith was 53.

Thomas died at his home on August 30, 1943. His funeral took place in Radnor Street Cemetery on September 2 where he was buried in plot C4911.

Edith married Henry Harold Musto in the December quarter of 1943. She died in St Margaret’s Hospital, Stratton St Margaret on June 3, 1951. Her funeral took place on June 7 when she was buried with her father. They are the only two interments in plot C4911.

Henry Harold Musto died in the December Quarter of 1971. His death was registered in the Plymouth district.

Henry Harold Musto was the only child of Joseph Henry Musto and his wife Margaret. He was a railway clerk in the Works and had grown up at 146 Clifton Street.

At the time of her marriage to Thomas Steel, Edith’s mother was living at 21 Regent Street; Letitia Fanny was one of William and Jane Musto’s five children, along with brother Joseph Henry.

Edith and Henry were, therefore, first cousins.

Edwin Thomas Brittain – oldest foreman in the Works

The re-imagined story …

Gran loved a good funeral. She especially liked the ones held at St Mark’s where Canon Ponsonby officiated as he had such a lovely voice, she said. But she wasn’t adverse to attending services at one of the many non conformist churches or chapels across town, or even the little cemetery chapel itself.

And afterwards she would come round to our house and over a cup of tea she would recount the events.

Mr Brittain’s funeral ranked as one of the best she had attended, she told us. The list of mourners read like a Who’s Who of Swindon railway royalty, she said.

As a child I accepted Gran’s funeral fascination as just one of the funny things old people did. Most things about the elderly were pretty incomprehensible to the young. It wasn’t until Gran died that I began to understand.

Gran had been born at a time when death was very much a part of life. Before she was ten years old she had lost her own mother and several siblings. Today we tend to think people must have become used to all that death and dying. One child died and the next one born received their name. Perhaps people didn’t invest so much love in their children then as we do now. Of course once I had my own family I realised what a ridiculous notion that was and I came to understand the loss Gran continued to mourn throughout her life.

Mr Brittain’s funeral was one of the best she’d ever seen, Gran told us.

The facts …

The Late Mr E.T. Brittain – We gave a brief account in our last Saturday’s issue of the sudden death of Mr E.T. Brittain of Wellington-street, New Swindon, the esteemed foreman of the R. Shop (Loco. Dept.) of the GWR Works.

Mr Brittain, who was 65 years of age, was well-known in New Swindon. For many years he occupied a seat on the Council of the Mechanics’ Institute, and for 17 years he was a director of the New Swindon Industrial Society, and during the last 12 years he ably filled the office of chairman. Deceased also took a great interest in political matters; he was a staunch Conservative, and at the time of his death was treasurer of the North Wilts Conservative Association.

His position in the GWR Works was unique, as he was the oldest foreman in the Works. He commenced as assistant foreman in the R. Shop, the principal fitting and machine shop, under the late Mr James Haydon. Upon that gentleman being appointed as Assistant Works Manager, Mr Brittain continued in the same capacity under Mr E.J. Davies. When some 20 years ago, Mr Davies obtained the appointment of the managership of the Engine Department of Messrs Ransomes, Sims and Jefferies, Limited, Ipswich, Mr Brittain was appointed to the chief foremanship, a position which he held and worthily filled to the day of his death.

We understand that for many years nearly all the fitter, turner and erector apprentices received their early training under Mr Brittains’s management and we are sure that his lamented death will come as a great shock to engineers who have been trained under him, and who are to be found at most centres in the world where engineers are employed.

The funeral of deceased took place on Monday last, and was the occasion of a striking demonstration of respect on the part of the officials and workmen of the GWR and the various bodies with which deceased was connected, as well as the general public.

The funeral cortege left deceased’s late residence in Wellington-street at half-past four, and proceeded to St Mark’s Church, where the first portion of the service was conducted by the Vicar, the Hon. and Rev. Canon Ponsonby, who also read the concluding service at the graveside in the Cemetery.

There were five mourning carriages, and the chief mourners included deceased’s three sons and brother-in-law. Deceased being an old Volunteer, eight members of the New Swindon Companies attended as bearers. Nearly 400 persons followed the remains from the church to the graveside, and the route was lined with spectators, besides which a vast crowd assembled in the Cemetery. Some idea of the extent of the procession may be gathered when we state that it extended from the Cemetery entrance throughout the whole length of Radnor-street.

The coffin was covered with an immense number of beautiful wreaths and crosses and other floral offerings. Amongst the mourners, besides deceased’s relatives, we noticed Mr. D.E. Marsh (Loco. Dept.), Mr J. Fordyce Stevenson (district engineer), Mr F.C. Kent (district estate agent), Mr Webb (representing Mr Carlton), Messrs. T.B. Watson, A. Adams, W.H. Ludgate, E.L. Pugh, Theo Wright, R.B. Pattison, W. Mole, W. Hunt, T. Veness, W.H. Lawson, J. Ireland, T. Stone, T. Money, H. Green, G.M. Butterworth, R. Baker, A. Nash, W. Booth, W. Harvie, R. Affleck, H.J. Southwell, F. Tegg, W. Sewell, D. White, J.D.R. Phillips, T. Spencer, H. Morris, R. Chirgwin, H. Wright, L. Dyer, H. Andrews, J. Christelow, E.Y. Westlake, E. Harvie, R. Hogarth, W. Morrison, R.N. Sutcliffe, E. Burns, W. Clark, J.S. Protheroe, W.J. Greenwood, C. Fox, T.C. Morgan etc. etc. The funeral arrangements were satisfactorily carried out by Mr H. Smith. Mrs Brittain and family desire to thank the many kind friends for the expressions of condolence and sympathy in their recent bereavement.

The Swindon Advertiser, Saturday, July 6, 1895.

Edwin Thomas Brittain pictured centre – published courtesy of Rosa Matheson – Railway Voices ‘Inside’ Swindon Works

Edwin Thomas Brittain was born in the parish of St Pancras on November 21, 1829, the eldest son of Henry James Brittain, an undertaker, and his wife Charlotte.

He married Louisa Elizabeth Hooker at Trinity Church, St Marylebone on January 11, 1852 and the couple soon moved to Wolverton in Buckinghamshire where Edwin was employed at the London & North Western engine works. Their son Thomas is born in Wolverton but by 1853 the family have moved to Swindon.

Edwin Thomas Brittain entered the GWR Service on July 26, 1853 working as a Fitter in the Loco factory. He was made Assistant Foreman on October 7,1865 and Foreman on January 12, 1867.

At the time of the 1861 census he was living at No 6 King Street with Louisa and their five children. The couple had nine children in total, moving to Wellington Street where they lived at No 18 and No. 39 at various times over the next twenty year period.

Edwin died at his home at 39 Wellington Street on June 27, 1895. He left effects to the value of £181 5s 2d. Louisa survived him by eighteen years and is buried here with him.