On his frequent visits to his grandmother Rachel in Swindon, Edward Thomas, literary critic, journalist, poet and biographer of Richard Jefferies, met David Uzzell – a man he referred to as ‘Dad Uzzell’
Uzzell was born in Ewen, Kemble, Gloucestershire in 1841 the son of John and Sarah Uzzell. He married Fanny Holliday on December 25, 1863 at Stratton, Gloucestershire. By 1871 they were living in Cirencester where David worked as a labourer. The couple had a six year old son William. By 1881 they were living at 95 Gloster Street, Cirencester where they would remain for many years before moving to Swindon by 1901. The couple lived at 6 John St Terrace where David worked as a Caretaker for the Salvation Army Barracks.
Uzzell has been described as a countryman, but also as a bit of a rogue. He taught Edward Thomas about country folklore and came to epitomise the agricultural labourer/poacher and fisherman that Edward later wrote about.
David Uzzell died at his home, 6 John St Terrace in December 1919 and was buried in grave plot B2190, a public grave, with four others. Fanny died three years later aged 85. She was buried on December 8, 1922 in grave plot C503, another public grave. She is buried with four others including her son William who died in 1925.
David Uzzell may have been a bit of a ‘country rogue’ but he has earned a place in literary history.
David Uzzell and his wife Fanny pictured holding their pension books.
Edward Thomas was born in 1878 in Stockwell, South London. He began his writing career in 1906, working as a journalist, literary critic and book reviewer. Thomas began to write poetry in 1914 and today his name is associated with war poets Wilfred Owen and Rupert Brookes.
Edward Thomas enlisted with the Artists Rifles in July 1915 and was later commissioned into the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was killed in action at Arras on Easter Monday April 9, 1917 and is buried in the CWGC Agny Military Cemetery in the Pas de Calais region.
Thomas is mostly associated with South Wales where he maintained ties with his large extended family, and Steep in Hampshire where he lived with his wife and children (there is a study centre dedicated to him in the Petersfield Museum). His association with Swindon is perhaps less well known.
Edward Thomas’s father, Philip Henry Thomas was born in Tredegar in 1855, the son of Henry Eastaway Thomas an Engine Fitter. The Thomas family moved to Swindon in 1867 and appear on the 1871 census living at 5 High Street, later renamed Emlyn Square.
Henry Eastaway Thomas died shortly after the census was taken and was buried in the churchyard at St Mark’s on April 8, 1871. Sadly, the death of two of their sons occurred shortly afterwards, Daniel Eastaway Thomas in 1873 aged 12 years old and Edward Treharne Thomas in 1877 aged 11 years. Both boys are buried in St Mark’s churchyard though it is not know if they are together. According to this memorial (see below) youngest son Harry Eastaway Thomas died in South Africa in 1900.
By 1881 Rachel was living at 19 Cambria Place, which remained her home for the rest of her life.
Edward Thomas retained his close ties with Swindon, regularly visiting his grandmother Rachel at her home.
Death of Mrs R. Thomas. – A Swindon Octogenarian. – The death took place on Tuesday last, at her residence, 19 Cambria Place, Swindon, of Mrs Rachel Thomas, an old inhabitant of Swindon, who had attained to the great age of 86 years. She has been a widow since 1873. With her late husband, Mrs Thomas came to Swindon in 1867, from Tredegar, Mon., and Mr Thomas was employed in the GWR Works, which, like the town, was very small compared with its great extent today, and she lived to see many changes take place here. Mrs Thomas leaves a family of two children – a son and a daughter. The son is Mr P.H. Thomas, I.S.O., of the Board of Trade. It will be of added interest to our readers to know that a grandson of the deceased is Mr. Edward Thomas, author of the Life of Richard Jefferies, a work which has received most favourable notice in the London and Provincial Press. Mr Edward Thomas spent a whole summer in Swindon and district a year or two ago in collecting material for his work. Like Jefferies, he is a lover of nature, and when a boy used to live in Swindon with his grandmother.
Swindon Advertiser, Friday, December 31, 1909.
Rachel Thomas was buried on December 31, 1909 in grave plot C1609 where she lies alone.
On the reverse side of the memorial is the second verse of a hymn by Horatius Bonar.
Think truly and thy thought shall the world’s famine feed.
Speak truly and each word of thine shall be a fruitful seed
Live truly, and thy life shall be a great and noble creed
The plot has recently been cleared by Radnor Street Cemetery volunteer Jon.
Radnor Street Cemetery 