Francis Edward Allen – Mayor of Swindon 1940-41

Francis Edward Allen was 77 years of age when he served as Mayor of Swindon during one of the difficult years of the Second World War, 1940-1941. Among his numerous duties during that year he launched Swindon Food Week, an initiative to help housewives make better use of rations; he lent his support to a national flag day on behalf of the air raid distress fund and he welcomed evacuees to the town.

Francis Allen was born in 1863 and baptised in the parish of Widcombe, Somerset, the son of stonemason Joseph Allen and his wife Mary Ann. By the 1880s he was living in Swindon where he married Emily Brooks on December 25, 1883 at the church of St. Paul’s. The couple went on to have 9 children and lived for all of their married life in the Rushey Platt/Wootton Bassett Road area.

Ex Mayor of Swindon’s Sudden Death

Alderman Francis Edward Allen Mayor of Swindon in 1940-41, died suddenly at his home, 9, Wootton Bassett road early this morning. He was 80 years of age.

Mr. Allen was born at Bath and came to Swindon as a young man to taken up employment in the GWR Works. He rose to chargeman of the gas works and retired about 18 years ago, after 42 years service.

On his retirement Mr Allen took up public life and was returned to the Town Council as councillor for the East Ward. Later he was made an alderman and was elected Mayor in 1940-41.

Mr Allen was well-known for his work in connection with the North Wilts district of the Ancient Order of Foresters, of which he was senior trustee at the time of his death. As recently as Wednesday evening he attended a Foresters’ meeting in Swindon.

Mr Allen also made a name for himself by his interest in horticulture. In the days of the old Swindon Flower Show, then held in the Town Gardens, he was a most successful exhibitor and was also a very competent judge of flowers.

He had taken innumerable prizes in local club flower shows, and at one time was on the committee of the “Evening Advertiser” Flower Show.

He was a former treasurer of the Swindon Division Liberal Association.

Mr Allen leaves a widow, three sons (two living in Australia and one in Swindon) and six daughters. All the sons and daughters are living and married.

The Evening Advertiser, June 13, 1943.

Funeral of Ald. F.E. Allen, Former Mayor of Swindon

Ald. F.E. Allen

Alderman Francis Edward Allen, aged 80, Mayor of Swindon in 1940-41, of 9 Wootton Bassett road, who died last Saturday, was buried with civic and forestry honours yesterday.

The Mayor (Ald. A.J.B. Selwood), wearing his chain of office, attended the funeral service at Wesley Church, Faringdon road, and the Foresters’ burial service was read at the graveside in Radnor street cemetery by Bro. F.J. Franklin, District Trustee.

The service at Wesley Church was conducted by the Rev. A..E. Banks, who, in the course of a short address, referred to the integrity and steadfastness of purpose with which Ald. Allen had served the town, and said the qualities of character he had shown in his public work had won for him a warm place in the hearts of his fellow citizens.

Extracts from the Evening Advertiser, Thursday, June 17, 1943.

Francis Edward Allen died at his home 9, Wootton Bassett Road, aged 80. He was buried on June 16, 1943 in grave plot B3130, which he shares with his wife Emily who died in 1951. The couple are buried with Emily’s sister, Elizabeth Hannah Wilden who died in 1910.

Walter J. Spear and The Picture House

Walter J. Spear was a dairyman and then in 1913 he opened a picture house in Wootton Bassett – not an obvious career progression.

Walter Spear came from a railway family, as most people did in Swindon in the latter half of the 19th century. In 1901 the family lived at 81 Radnor Street where Walter’s father Charles and his three brothers Charles, Henry and William, all worked as Steam Engine Makers & Fitters. Even 14 year old younger brother Frederick claimed to be working as a fitter although at such a young age it was highly unlikely he had such a skilled occupation, but you can appreciate his aspirations.

However, Walter aged 17 had bucked the familial trend by becoming a milkman. In 1911 he married Edith Frances Mary Elms and the couple set up in a dairy business at 37 Commercial Road.

Walter’s involvement in The Picture House was over by 1920 and just five years later he died.

Opening of Picture House

On Monday evening the new Picture House of which Mr W. Spear is the proprietor, was successfully opened, and Mr Spear is to be congratulated on his new enterprise.

Beyond local efforts, little has been done in Wootton Bassett in the past to cater for the amusement of the public. This new venture will not only add to the amusement of the public, but may also be made an educative help to the public. The Hall, which has been fitted with all the latest improvements, will seat over 200 people, and the whole arrangements are excellent.

The cinematograph is housed in an iron room, and the light provided by a petrol dynamo. The operator is Mr W. Hicks, and the pianist Mr Lewis.

The opening ceremony was performed by Mr H. Horsell supported by most of the Parish Council. Mr Horsell said that no doubt they would appreciate the enterprise and public spirit of Mr. W. Spear in embarking on that enterprise. He sincerely hoped it would turn out a success for him. He thought this and similar agencies tended to make the people more sober, and, personally, he believed more in counter-attraction than in legislation as a means to promote sobriety. He hoped that it would be such a success that it would have to be enlarged so as to permit of other meetings being held there, which would be a boon to the town. He heartily wished Mr Spear every success.

The exhibition was then proceeded with, and was heartily appreciated by the crowded audience. The programme was as follows:- “The Cattle Ranchers,” “The Redskin Raiders,” “The Adventures of a Timid Young Man,” “The Clifton Zoo,” etc. There will be exhibitions every evening.

Extracts from The Swindon Advertiser, Friday, March 7, 1913.

Walter Spear aged 43 years died at his home 37 Commercial Road. He was buried on December 18, 1925 in grave plot E7843 where he lies alone.

James and Annie Gardner – 5 Montagu Street, Rodbourne

They say every picture tells a story and I love these photos of the Gardner family shared on the Swindon Local Studies Flickr page. Meet James Gardner and his wife Annie pictured in their garden at 5 Montagu Street, Rodbourne taken in about 1935. I’d love to know what was said just before the camera shutter clicked.

Annie was James’s second wife. They married in St. Swithins Church, Walcot, Bath on December 27, 1905. James was 52 and Annie 39. James had several children by his first wife Sarah and presumably Florence Gardner was the daughter of one of these. She appears on the 1911 census aged 3 years old living with James and Annie and Annie’s mother Margaret at 5 Montagu Street.

These two charming photos of Florence appear with those of James and Annie.

James died at his home in Montagu Street in 1939 aged 86 years old. Annie died in 1947 aged 82. Her last address was Ford Street, just a stone’s throw away from Rodbourne. Perhaps she ended her days living with Florence?

James and Annie are buried in grave plot C639, Radnor Street Cemetery.

Angelo Vitti – a colourful and romantic personality

Albert Street, built in around 1848 and named after Queen Victoria’s virtuous husband, was the red light district of mid Victorian Old Swindon.  At the centre of this maelstrom of depravity was the Rhinoceros public house, once described in court as ‘the most notorious house in town.’  The first landlady at the Rhinoceros when it opened in July 1845 was Lucy Rogers, a former dressmaker.  Frequently the scene of bad behaviour where landlords flaunted licensing laws and one was even accused of the manslaughter of his mother in law.

One person who tried to make a difference in this den of iniquity was Angelo Vitti.  Born in Settefrate, a small village in the Province of Frosinone, just south of Rome, Vitti stopped off in France before moving to England in the early 1890s.  He purchased the former Rhinoceros, by then a lodging house, and eventually bought up the adjoining cottages as well. 

Angelo Vitti married Mary/Maria Carter in 1895. In 1901 they were living with their three young children at the Lord Raglan public house, Cricklade Street where Angelo was the licensed victualler.

The 1911 census lists them as living at 22 Albert Street where Angelo worked as a lodging house keeper and grocer. He and Maria had been married for 21 years and sadly, five of their 11 children had previously died.

‘Swindon has lost a colourful and romantic personality by the death of Mr Angelo Vitti,’ the North Wilts Herald reported following Angelo’s death on Sunday April 21, 1940.  As a lodging house proprietor he became the friend, and earned the respect, of thousands of men and women, a genuine family man and a friend of poor people.

Death of Mr A. Vitti

Long Residence In Swindon

Swindon has lost a colourful and romantic personality by the death of Mr. Angelo Vitti, lodging house proprietor and provision merchant, of Albert-street, Swindon which took place on Sunday night.

Mr Vitti, who would have been 79 on 10 May next, was born at Settefrate, Italy, and as a young man left his home and his country to carve out his own career. He arrived in France, but after a short time in that country, came to England nearly 50 years ago.

He claimed many adventures before coming to settle down in Swindon in 1893.

Friend of the Poor

As lodging house proprietor he became the friend, and earned the respect, of thousands of men and women, for he had the happy knack of combining a sense of strict efficiency with a genial personality. He helped many men on their way and, had he wished, could have told many stories of the thousands of wayfarers who sought refuge under his roof. One man who claimed his hospitality was stated to have been a remarkably fine linguist, being a fluent speaker of five languages; another told how he had placed the whole of his £5,000 fortune on a horse which had finished down the course!

Angelo Vitti was a genuine family man, and it was his one desire that all his children should ever remain close by his side. All six children – two sons and four daughters – are now married, but they have respected those wishes by making their homes within a stone’s throw of their father’s premises.

Mr Vitti’s parents were both centenarians. His mother died at the age of 108 and his father in his 101st year. He leaves a widow and six children, and there are eight grandchildren.

The Funeral

Following a requiem mass, the funeral service took place on Wednesday at Holy Rood Church.

The interment was at Radnor-street cemetery, Swindon.

The funeral arrangements were carried out by Messrs. A.E. Smith and Son, 24, Gordon-road, Swindon.

Extracts from North Wilts Herald, Friday, 26 April, 1940.

Angelo Vitti was buried on April 24, 1940 in grave plot C4709 where he lies with his wife Mary/Maria who died in 1944.

Olif Young and the Unitarian Minister

Olif Young died at her home in Hythe Road in 1907 aged 80 years of age. I wonder how she approached her own death. She had had plenty of preparation. Olif’s husband was the Rev Frederick Rowland Young, a Unitarian Baptist Minister and spiritualist about whom much has been written. But was the Rev Young a charlatan as some suggest and that his Doctor of Divinity degree may have been fraudulent.

Olif Wilson was born in Dover, Kent in 1827. By 1851 she was married to the Rev Young and living in Diss, Norfolk with her five year old daughter Juliet and her 10 year old brother Thomas Wilson. However, the Rev Young does not appear to be at home on that census night.

The Unitarian Church – image published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon, Central Library.

During the 1860s Frederick arrived in Swindon when he quickly ingratiated himself into Swindon’s society. In 1861 he built the Unitarian (Iron Church) in Regent Street, which later proved too large for his small congregation and was removed. In 1875 he built the Free Christian Church in Regent Circus. In 1871 he lived with his family in Rose Cottage, Drove Road where he held spiritualist meetings and ‘terrifying’ seances, before moving to a house he built next to the church in Rolleston Street.

The Rev Young was a prolific writer, producing lectures and a pamphlet entitled ‘Hints How To Make Home Happy’ which included chapters on ‘Courtship Days’ and ‘Thoughts for the Honeymoon.’ He also founded and edited The Christian Spiritualist.

The Rev Young was also a faith healer – his modus operandi was to run the flat of his hands along the arms and legs of his patients. Apparently he had more success with his female patients than his male ones.

Frederick and Olif remained in Swindon for some 20 years before Frederick left the church and they moved to Finsbury Park Road, where he died in 1893.

Olif returned to Swindon and lived out her days here. Was she prepared for her own death, I wonder? Did she greet it with joyful anticipation or dread that the dodgy Rev Young might be waiting for her?

Olif was buried on September 26, 1907 in grave plot E8678 where she lies alone.

Rev Young’s Free Christian Church in Regent Circus was later taken over by the Roman Catholic congregation, pictured here by George Puckey. Upon the completion of the Holy Rood Roman Catholic Church in Groundwell Road, the Nonconformist Chapel became known as the Victoria Hall and was home to the Swindon Museum.

Majorie Olive – the beloved child of Jack and Frances Warren

Marjorie Olive was a precious baby, as every baby should be. The fact that she only lived 5 months did not diminish the joy and bewilderment her parents experienced at her birth and her death.

Short was the little strangers stay

She came but as our guest

She tasted life then fled away

To her eternal rest

John Oliver Warren and Frances Alice Iles were married at St. Paul’s Church, Swindon on April 10, 1915. John was working as a clerk in the GWR Loco Department Offices – but not for much longer. The First World War was raging; conscription was introduced in January 1916. Perhaps John was already serving by the time of Marjorie Olive’s birth and death.

Unfortunately, John’s Attestation Papers (the documents drawn up at the time of enlistment) have not survived. However, his discharge papers are accessible and we know he was serving as an Acting Sergeant in the Royal Army Medical Corps when he was discharged on June 11, 1919 at the end of the war.

John returned to his former life; to Frances and his home in Swindon; to his job as a clerk in the railway works. But life would never be the same again – how could it?

Frances died in 1926 and John in 1930. They are buried together with their little daughter Marjorie Olive. Their grave has recently been re-discovered and cleared by the Radnor Street Cemetery volunteers.

Sophie Wasser and the mysterious death of a lady at Swindon station

On Thursday November 1, 1888 a young woman was taken ill on a train travelling from Plymouth to London. She was removed from the train at Swindon and taken to the Queen’s Hotel at the station where she died the following Sunday at midnight.

A lengthy report was published in the Edinburgh Evening News and although very detailed there is no information concerning Miss Wasser other than some spurious conclusions. Some questions that in my opinion were not asked and should have been are: – What was the Hon Athol Liddell’s involvement in this case? How well did he know Miss Wasser? Having made her acquaintance in France some months previously, why couldn’t he provide more information about her circumstances? And why had he met her in Plymouth prior to her departure on the London train?

The story of Miss Wasser has recently been brought to my attention by local historian James Turner. James came across the grave of Miss Wasser and was greatly moved by the sad circumstances of her death. We both felt this was a story that needed to be told.

The Mysterious Death of a Lady at Swindon station

The Plymouth correspondent to the Bristol Times and Mirror telegraphing to that paper says, – A brief and mysteriously incomplete paragraph in a London evening paper on Friday was the first and hitherto the only information that has reached the public concerning the death of a young lady under circumstances of great mystery. The death occurred a week ago. There has been a coroner’s inquest, which did little to elucidate the real cause of death. The facts are as follows:-

Miss Dufin Wasser travelled from Plymouth on Thursday, November 1, by train due at Swindon at five minutes after four. At Swindon junction she was found to be so seriously ill that her removal from the train was imperative. By advice, Miss Wasser was taken into the hotel at the station and put to bed. All that the most watchful care and the best professional skill could suggest was done for her, but she died at Sunday mid-night. At the inquest, subsequently held, a verdict in accordance with the medical testimony was returned, the “medical testimony” being to the effect that death was due to apoplexy, arising from excessive vomiting. It was stated in evidence that amongst the effects of Miss Wasser was a bottle containing medicine, one of the ingredients of which was tincture of iron. This was contained in a bottle, on the label of which was written in French, “two or three teaspoonfuls in the day time.” The mixture could not therefore have been of a very powerful character, and it is unlikely that violent vomiting was due to it.  Dr Spackman says it is possible that some other drug might have been taken, but this theory was not verified or dissipated by a post mortem examination. Not a word was said as to what did or might have caused that vomiting. In the body of the dress of the deceased was found an unsigned letter, from which it was gathered that she was enceinte. This letter was in a gentleman’s handwriting, evidently a person of good education and epistolary facility. The writing is singularly large and of the “up and down” type. The place from which the letter was written was torn off, according to the expressed desire of the writer, who advised Miss Wasser, if she was in the condition she feared, to go to some secluded place. She was promised plenty of money, and was urgently entreated not to allow the name of the writer to transpire. In addition to the letter and medicine found was a good deal of money, about £50. Most of this was in French currency, the number of English coins being comparatively few. The deceased’s luggage comprised several articles, apparently presents, their quality and character marking them as not such as a person in the apparent position of the deceased would buy.

In the same third-class compartment in which Miss Wasser travelled from Bristol there were also another lady and gentleman, and Police Inspector Cruse, of Swindon. The lady appeared only faint at Bristol, but afterwards suffered great agony. She received with gratitude the attentions of the lady and gentleman, but hardly spoke one word. When she arrived at Swindon she appeared to be suffering from paralysis.

Inspector Cruse, before he knew the details of the case as disclosed at the inquest, formed an opinion as to the cause of the agony his fellow-passenger was suffering, and on reaching home informed his wife that something remarkable would happen before the train reached London. There was amongst her papers one which showed she had been staying at the Duke of Cornwall hotel, Plymouth under the name of Mrs Adler. A telegram elicited a reply from Mr Hellard, solicitor to the Hon. A Liddell, urging that everything possible should be done for her, and nothing that thoughtful consideration could do, or money could procure was wanting to bring about the ladies recovery.

Mr Liddell and Mr Hellard came to Swindon for the inquest. Mr Liddell stated that he made the acquaintance of Miss Wasser in France, in August last, and that he saw her at Plymouth on the day before she left for London to take up her residence for a time at the Swiss Home for Ladies, Mecklenburg Square, where she had previously stayed, and from which place she had obtained situations as governess. He also stated that she was of “Independent means.” It has since been ascertained that Miss Temple, sister of the Bishop of London, knew her in the capacity of governess with families she visited. The deceased was buried in Swindon cemetery on Wednesday. A headstone is to be erected, bearing the simple inscription. “Sophie Dufin Wasser, died November 4th, 1888.” While at the Queen’s hotel she never once spoke except in monosyllables in reply to questions. One of these replies was a sad “No” to the question, “Have you any friends?”

Edinburgh Evening News Monday 12th November, 1888.

Image published courtesy of James Turner

The entry in the burial register reads:

Wasser Sophie A.M. 25 years 7th November 1888 grave plot E8300.

William Thomas Long – boilersmith

Death Notice – Swindon Advertiser Friday, December 31, 1909.

Long, Dec 24, at the residence of his daughter, 16 Curtis St. Swindon, William Thomas Long, aged 73 years.

When William Thomas Long died in 1909 his personal effects were valued at more than £900 – worth around £100k today. He had spent a lifetime working as a boilersmith, most of that in the Great Western Railway Swindon Works.

William Thomas Long was baptised at Holy Rood, the old parish church in Swindon, on July 31, 1836, the son of baker John Long and his wife Louisa. He grew up in Newport Street where his mother took over the business as Pastry Cook following the death of his father.

By 1861 William was a married man with two young daughters living in Newton Abbot where he worked as a boilersmith. William and Ann would complete their family with another five daughters plus Margaret born in 1879 who is first described as ‘granddaughter’ and later as ‘daughter.’

Yet, there is still so much we don’t know about Ann and William.

Looking down Eastcott Hill

For more than 20 years they lived at No. 8 Eastcott Hill – they may even have owned the property; Swindonians were renowned for investing in bricks and mortar.

Ann died in September 1884 aged 48. When his wife died William had been able to purchase a grave plot in Radnor Street Cemetery where an impressive headstone was later installed; not everyone could afford to do this. He didn’t remarry after Ann’s death, which was is also quite unusual. He still had young daughters at home but presumably the elder ones took over the household duties and childcare; perhaps he could afford to employ a maid-of-all-work.

Ann was buried in grave plot E8306 on September 12, 1884 where William joined her in 1909. The cremated remains of their grandson William Clarence Heath and his wife Alice Ruth were interred in the same plot some 60 years later.

Remembering the ordinary people of Swindon.

Nellie and William James Bacon – a Gorse Hill story

In the 1970s and 80s West Swindon was built as a cluster of village centres – it seemed to be a plan particularly favoured by Swindonians. In the 1840s there was the Railway Village followed by development in Even Swindon and then a satellite suburb Gorse Hill built in the late 1890s and 1900s. And it seemed that once people put down roots they seldom moved away. Take, for example, Nellie Bull, daughter of George and Maria Bull.

This image of Beatrice Street taken in around 1910 is available to view with a selection of Gorse Hill photos at Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.

Nellie and her brother George grew up in spanking, brand new Gorse Hill in the 1890s. In 1891 they lived at 70 Hinton Street, built in 1890 by entrepreneur James Hinton, Swindon Mayor in 1903/4 who also once owned the land on which the cemetery was built. By 1901 the family had moved to 119 Beatrice Street, another new build, and it was here that William George Bacon came to lodge with them. On Christmas Day that same year he and Nellie were married at St. Mark’s Church.

The young couple continued to live with Nellie’s parents in Beatrice Street where their baby daughter Nellie Gladys was baptised at St. Barnabas’ Church in 1902. They were still living at 119 Beatrice Street when Berty was born two years later, although he was baptised at St. Luke’s Church, Barton Hill, Bristol. By 1909 the family were at 7 Suffolk Street, just around the corner, when George Stanley was baptised at St. John’s the Evangelist. In 1939 William and Nellie were living at 33 Beatrice Street with their daughter Nellie and her husband Percival and Anna (Maria) Bull.

This stylish headstone with discreet art deco features marks Nellie and William’s last resting place, the only time they left Gorse Hill. William James Bacon died on June 18, 1948 at his home, 33 Beatrice Street. Nellie died March 2, 1956 at 33 Beatrice Street.

If you’d like to know more about Swindon’s 1980s West Swindon development – West Swindon – What the eye doesn’t see by Angela Atkinson, Roger Ogle and me is available from Hobnob Press, Bert’s Books, Amazon and other Swindon bookstores.

Benjamin Messiter – Swindon’s story

If ever a family provides a snapshot of life in Swindon at the turn of the 20th century, it is the Messiter family. A story of Swindon’s growth and the development of the railway works encouraging migration from across the country; a story of non-conformity and close family ties. Even Benjamin’s death took place during that iconic event in the Swindon calendar – the GWR Trip.

Image published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.

Benjamin was born in Trowbridge in 1845 and began his working career as a wool worker, arriving in Swindon in the 1860s for a more lucrative job in the railway works. He married Ann Ferguson in 1869 at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel ‘near the market place, Swindon’ (the Planks).

The young couple began married life at the newly built Cambria Place living with Ann’s parents and six siblings at No. 34. Her father Charles was a fitter who had moved down from Scotland in the 1860s to a job in the railway factory. Ann and her brothers and two of her sisters were all born in Scotland.

Benjamin and Ann’s only daughter Louisa Ann, was born in 1872 and at the time of the 1881 census they were all still living with Ann’s parents in Cambria Place.

By 1901 Benjamin and Ann had moved to 11 Deacon Street where they lived with their married daughter Louisa, her husband Frank and their 5 year old son, Stanley.

An old and highly respected resident of Swindon, in the person of Mr Benjamin Messiter passed away with painful suddenness at Bristol early in the evening of last Saturday. Mr. Messiter had been spending his “Trip” holidays with his sister at 31, Hayward Road, Barton Hill, Bristol, and, not desirous of coming back to Swindon with the “Trip” train on Friday, he had arranged to return on Saturday evening.

After having completed all the preparations for his return, Mr Messiter was partaking of tea at half past five o’clock, when he collapsed and passed away immediately.

With all speed, medical aid was summoned, and in less than five minutes from the sad occurrence a doctor was in attendance, but could only pronounce life extinct.

News of the occurrence was immediately despatched to Mr. Messiter’s relatives at Swindon, his son-in-law, Mr. Matthews, at once leaving for Bristol

A Coroner’s inquiry touching the death was held on Monday, when a verdict of “Death from syncope” was returned.

Mr Messiter, who had been ailing for the past two years, was a native of Trowbridge and was 64 years of age. Coming to Swindon from his native town some 32 years ago, the deceased gentleman had since that time followed his occupation in the GWR Saw Mills.

During his many years’ residence in Swindon, he had gained the warmest esteem and respect of a very large circle of friends amongst the older generation of Swindonians, among whom the news of his death will occasion the keenest regret. He had a large number of relatives in Swindon, who have been the recipients of many tokens of sympathy in their sad bereavement.

Extracts from The Swindon Advertiser, Friday, July 16, 1909.

Swindon’s story – photograph taken from Radnor Street Cemetery

Benjamin Messiter was buried on July 15, 1909 in grave plot E7956 which he shares with his wife Ann who died in 1902 and his son-in-law Frank Matthews who died in 1935 and daughter Louisa Matthews who died in 1958.