Cyril Hammond Montague Jones – Tell Them of Us

The graves around the chapel area include some well-known names in Swindon’s history, but I must admit I had never heard of Cyril Hammond Montague Jones.

Cyril was the son of William Jones and Jane Moss. William was born in Gloucester in around 1854. He married Jane Moss at St. Luke’s, Gloucester on July 10, 1882 when he described himself as ‘Lay Clerk St Andrew’s, Bristol.’ William and Jane’s two children were both born in Bristol, Edith Hammond Jones born in 1883 and Cyril Hammond Montague Jones in 1885.

By 1891 William and Jane were living in Churcham, Glos with their two young children and a 10 year old nephew. William now states that he is ‘Living on own means’ suggesting he has a private income or inheritance.

The family eventually made their appearance in Swindon at the time of the 1901 census when they were living at 27 Regent Street where William describes his occupation as ‘Draper.’

In 1917 Regent Street was the centre of a busy and vibrant shopping area. Morses department store occupied premises at numbers 10, 11 & 12. The 1,000 seater Arcadia Cinema had opened in 1912 on the site of a former shopping arcade. W.W. Hunter’s furniture shop stood on the corner of Edgware Road and Regent Street (look up and you can still see the name in the brickwork). The County Electric Pavilion picture house opened in 1910 and was in operation for more than 20 years. The site was later occupied by F.W. Woolworth and today is home to the One Below Discount Store and Peacocks. Then there was the Artillery Arms at No. 25; F.E. Cottell, jewellers and watchmakers at No 26 and in 1917 Mrs J. Jones, Milliner was at No. 27. Perhaps the nature of their business had changed. There was some fierce competition with Morses at one end of Regent Street and McIlroys at the other.

Cyril trained as an architect but on April 1, 1915 he enlisted with the Royal Navy serving on the President before transferring to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). Lieutenant A Captain Cyril Hammond Montague Jones died on November 14, 1918 at the 2^nd Eastern General Hospital, Brighton. He was 33 years old. He was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on November 20 in plot D15A.

This now a large double family plot where Cyril lies with his mother Jane who died in 1924, his father William who died in 1949 and his sister Edith who died in 1965.

Walter William Palmer – Tell Them of Us

Walter William Palmer was born in 1878, the son of Stephen Palmer, a general labourer, and his wife Selena, and he grew up at 70 Gooch Street.

He first enlisted with the Coldstream Guards, later transferring to the Grenadier Guards, on September 4, 1894 as an 18 year old when he gave his occupation as an engine cleaner. His height is recorded as 5ft 11¼ inches.

His military records remain largely intact and we can learn all about his service and his medical history.

He served for 12 years and along with periods at home he served in Gibraltar, Egypt and South Africa. He was awarded the Queen’s Soudan Medal for service in the Soudan Campaign 1896-1897 and the Khedives Sudan Medal with Khartoum clasp for action in the Mahdist War in Sudan in 1897. He also received the South Africa Medal with Cape Colony clasp for service in the Second Boer War 1902.

He married Jessie Duprey at St. Mark’s Church on December 21, 1901 and they had one son, Frederick Walter Palmer. On the 1911 census Walter, Jessie and their 7-year-old son were living at 24 Deburgh Street, Rodbourne. Walter was employed as a boilerman in the GWR Works.

As a former soldier Walter was called up as a reservist at the outbreak of the Great War. He enlisted with his old regiment on September 12, 1914 and left for France as part of the Expeditionary Force on November 11.

His medical record is long and detailed. He was treated for a wound to his leg, which is described as an accident but by February 1916 his medical records reveal that he was suffering from Tubercle of lung (tuberculosis). His appearance was described as very wasted and that he was a tired and depressed looking man who was always hungry and thirsty. He was so ill that not only was he declared unfit for military service it was thought he would be unable to get any kind of job. He was discharged with a pension of 25/- (£1.25) a week with an additional 2/6 (12½p) as he had a child to support.

He was home for less than three months when he died. He was 38 years old. His cause of death was attributable to his military service as recognised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and he was entitled to an official headstone.

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#MarkSutton

Sapper William Arman – Tell Them of Us

When Alice Fairclough married Thomas Arman in 1896 the couple joined together two families. Alice had two children by her first husband William Fairclough – William and Mary while Thomas had five children by his first wife Elizabeth Jane Webb – Elizabeth, William Thomas, Alfred Richard, Mabel Alice and Rose Mary.

In his definitive book ‘Tell Them of Us’ about the Swindon men who served in the Great War, Mark Sutton records that Sapper W. Arman served with ‘B’ Coy 6^th Batn Royal Berkshire Regiment, attached to the Royal Engineers.

Mark reproduces a letter written by William Arman in France dated September 1915, to his father and stepmother at 15 Lowestoft Street, Swindon.

‘Dear Father and Mother,

I am writing you a few lines hoping you are in the best of health. It is grand weather out here at present, though rather cold nights and mornings. We have been in action. Last Wednesday night, our battalion, the Royal Berks had it pretty warm for a lot of the Germans started shelling us in all directions for about an hour. The Germans, thinking we were all done in, started to advance towards our trenches in massed formation. They came within 20 yards of our trenches and they had it hot from our rifles, machine guns and artillery. You ought to have seen them falling down like chaff before the wind. There were not many that escaped. It was like hell for a short time. We had a few casualties, but the Germans lost nearly a battalion of men. We called them the Saxons. They were half German and half English. They have been very quiet since that night. They thought they had a soft job on, but they were mistaken for once.

I am getting used to bully beef and biscuits now. I am getting short of a razor. I can’t get one for love or money. You ought to see my face! I have not had a shave for three weeks. We get a pay this week – 15 francs, that is about 4s 2d to a franc. If God spares me, I will send it home because I can’t spend it out here. Could you send me a razor out? It looks so bad asking everyone for the loan of a razor. It would not cost much for postage.

We are sleeping in old dug-outs what the French used to sleep in. We never have our clothes off, but always sleep in them. I have not much more to say at present. I wish you all good luck and good-bye for the present.

Remember me to *Will and tell him I wish him a safe and speedy passage across the water.’

*Will is William Fairclough, his stepbrother.

William Thomas Arman survived the war. He died in 1943 in the Bridgend district of Wales in 1943. You can read more about Alice Arman here.

Archibald Edward Knee – Tell Them of Us

Archibald Edward Knee was born in Stroud in 1892, the son of Francis and Rose Knee. The family later moved to 123 Albion Street where Francis worked as a railway carriage painter in the GWR Works and Rose cared for their seven young children. Archibald joined his father in the GWR Works on leaving school, working as a railway carriage painter and sign writer; a job he could safely expect to hold for life.

Archibald enlisted in the Wiltshire Regiment in July 1915, when a war initially anticipated to be over by Christmas 1914 approached its first anniversary. He embarked for France on New Year’s Eve 1915, part of desperately needed reinforcements at the front.

The British army began preparing for the ‘big push,’ in the Spring of 1916. It was believed this allied offensive would finish the war. The Battle of the Somme, in which more than 57,000 British soldiers were killed, wounded or reported missing during the first 24 hours of action, was yet to come.

The 1^st Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment was at Pylones, three kilometres north of the German held Vimy Ridge. The German army bombarded this section of the Western Front on May 21, firing everything at their disposal, including gas and lachrymatory (tear gas) shells.

The men of D Company were in battle by day and making running repairs to fencing and trenches throughout the night.

Lt Col W.S. Brown recorded the events of May 24 in the regimental war diary:

“In the trenches. The enemy were able to reach the Birkin Crater post with Cylinder stick bombs and some casualties were caused.

Many rifle grenades were fired at the outpost line of P73: those fired in retaliation appeared to do considerable damage. After 5 p.m. the enemy fired several heavy trench mortars at P74 and P75 and also at the head of Grange C.T. Snipers claimed three Germans. Repairs to the P line were carried out and a large amount of wire was put out along the whole front during the night of 24^th/25^th.”

Private F. Daniels of A Company was killed outright. Lance Corporal Knee was among 10 other casualties that night.

Archibald was taken to the 22^nd General Hospital at Etaples where he received emergency treatment. He had suffered a gunshot wound to his left thigh, which in itself would probably not have proved life threatening. It was the effect of the German gas attack that proved fatal. Archibald developed gas gangrene and died at 11.20 on the morning of May 29. He is buried in the Etaples Military Cemetery.

Archibald’s name appears on the memorial dedicated to the memory of those from the Carriage & Wagon Paint Shops who gave their lives in the Great War. This plaque can now be seen in the STEAM Museum.

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Sapper Archibald Walter Sheppard – Tell Them of Us

The Commonwealth War Graves headstones stand out proud across Radnor Street Cemetery, the area around them kept clear and accessible by our dedicated team of volunteers. But these are not the only war dead commemorated by Swindon families. Many family memorials carry the name of a lost loved one buried on the First World War battlefields. Were those grieving families able to visit their graves; probably not. So they came to their local cemetery and remembered them here.

Archibald Walter Sheppard was born on May 4, 1888, the youngest of William and Eliza’s seven children, and grew up in the busy family home in Clifton Street. He began work aged 14 years old as an office boy in the GWR Works and then completed a 6½ year apprenticeship in the Pattern Making Shop, receiving his certificate on May 20, 1909.

Sadly, his military records have not all survived, so we do not know when he enlisted. We do know that Sapper Archibald Sheppard was serving with the Royal Engineers 455^th Field Company at the Battle of Arras in April 1917. It is believed he was wounded during fierce fighting at Monchy le Preux. He died of his wounds on April 18 at the 19^th Casualty Clearing Station at the village of Agnez le Duisans and is buried in the Duisans British Cemetery Extension.

His parents William and Eliza both died in 1931. They are buried in this large double plot C1999 and C2000 with their sons William Henry who died in 1908, and Albert Leonard Sheppard who died in 1963 and his wife Ellen Gertrude who died in 1935.

And remembered on this fine memorial is the name of their youngest son Archibald who is buried in a grave far from home.

Why I didn’t get to meet a Princess

Princess Helena Victoria

Princess Helena Victoria visited Swindon on April 21, 1923 published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.

The re-imagined story …

When I told mum the Mayor had selected me to meet Princess Helena Victoria when she came to Swindon, she said nothing at first.

I joined the Girl Guides when I was 12 and went on to become a Ranger. It was in this role that the Mayor, Cllr Harding, had invited me to meet the Princess when she came to town to open the Boys’ Red Triangle Club.

I loved everything about being a Guide. I loved the fellowship and the feeling that I was making a contribution to society. I had made some good friends. Where we met was the only place I could relax and have fun and laugh and be myself. There wasn’t much laughter in our house. Mum’s grief was all consuming, to laugh seemed to be making a mockery of her sadness.

She hadn’t always been a serious kind of person, it was dad who was the sombre character. She would tease him and tickle him when he refused to smile and I can hear her tinkling laughter somewhere in my memory.

“I’d rather you didn’t meet her, Sylvia.”

I was stunned. The Mayor had paid me a huge honour, selecting me to meet the Princess.

“It’s a real privilege mum. The Mayor has only asked George Akins from the Scouts and me to meet her.”

“She’s German,” said mum, blunt just like that. ‘She’s German.’

“She’s Queen Victoria’s granddaughter.” I was incredulous.

“And she was German, too. I’ll not have a daughter of mine shake hands with a German.”

I couldn’t argue with her, that would have been too cruel. She had lost dad and my uncle in the war. Sometimes it felt as if the war had been in another age, at other times it felt as if we were still living through it. Some people would bear the scars for a lifetime, limbs lost, faces disfigured, minds broken. My mum had a broken heart and I doubted whether she would ever recover.

Everyone was excited about seeing the Princess. There was to be a luncheon at the Queen’s Royal Hotel first before she opened the Boys’ Red Triangle Club and a Civic Gathering in the Town Hall afterwards.

I explained to the Mayor why I couldn’t greet the Princess. I thought he would be angry, but actually he seemed to understand.

Sometimes it felt as if the war had been in another age; at other times it felt as if we were still living through it.

Councillor A.E. Harding

Mayor A.E. Harding

The facts …

Princess Helena Victoria visited Swindon on Saturday, April 21, 1923. The Princess was the elder daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and Princess Helena, the daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was born at Frogmore House in 1870 and lived her entire life in Britain. During the First World War she visited British troops in France and afterwards worked to promote and support the YMCA and the YWCA. During the war King George V relinquished the use of German royal titles for himself and his numerous cousins.

Albert Edward Harding was born in London in 1865. At the time of the 1881 census he was working in the railway factory as a clerk and lodging with the Hunt family at 38 Prospect. He married Agnes Westmacott in 1889 and the couple had three children, Stewart Jasper, Myrtle Marion Westmacott and Albert Edward Benjamin Harding.

The family first lived at 115 Princes Street where in 1898 Harding was the divisional secretary to the National Deposit Friendly Society, in addition to his job as a Clerk in the railway works. The family later moved to their long-time home at 56 Victoria Road.

Albert Edward Harding was a Councillor representing the East Ward from about 1911 and served as Mayor of Swindon in 1922/23, the year that Princess Helena Victoria visited Swindon.

Albert Edward Harding died at his home on December 30, 1943. He is buried in plot E8568 with his wife Agnes, their son Albert Edward Benjamin Harding and daughter in law Kathleen.

Their eldest son Stewart Jasper Harding is buried in the neighbouring grave plot E8569 with his wife Gladys.

Agnes and Albert Edward Harding Mayor of Swindon

Henry Hustings – Swindon’s Jack of All Trades

The re-imagined story …

Mr Hustings gave me a job when no one else would.

I’d returned from the war pretty much fit for nothing. But my wounds were not obvious. I had not lost a limb, I was not scarred or hideous to look upon.

I suffered from being subjected to heavy shelling, day after day, week after week, from living on the edge of terror.

Others seem to return home unaffected from the hell they had endured, although I would question that. I don’t think any returning soldier was the man he had been when he left for the war. Even now, twenty years later, you can see the men ravaged by their experiences. The men who drink too much, the men whose temper is easily ignited, the men who retreat into silence. We all carry our wounds, the obvious ones and the hidden ones.

Mr Hustings must have wondered if he had been ill advised employing me. I’m sure plenty of his other workmen must have thought so to. At first I couldn’t go up a ladder, but there were plenty of jobs I could do at the yard. Gradually my life became more of the now and less of the then. My confidence grew, my health improved and I began to pull my weight in the firm.

I shall add Mr Hustings to the memory of those others I mourn. He gave me a job when no one else would, he gave me back my life.

The facts …

With just a week left to complete his term of office as Mayor, Councillor H.R. Hustings died suddenly at the Victoria Hospital on Sunday, October 27, 1940.

A tough speaking, no nonsense Labour politician, Henry Russell Hustings, Swindon’s 40th successive Mayor, took office on Thursday, November 9th 1939 as the town got to grips with the black out, air raid warnings and wartime restrictions.

A former trade union organiser for the National Union of Vehicle Workers and the Transport and General Workers’ Union, Henry had enjoyed a varied working life and the Swindon Advertiser styled him as the ‘Jack of All Trades Mayor.’

His first job was with a firm of agricultural engineers in Dorset followed by stints as a traction engine driver, shop assistant, porter, engine driver in a laundry, miner, stoker, baker and in 1939 he was a window cleaning contractor.

Henry was born in 1883 in the Dorset village of Hilton to John W. Hustings and his wife Susan. In 1903 he married Alice Maud Ball and the couple had four children.

A member of the Labour party since 1919 Henry began his political career in Devizes in 1921 where he was the first Labour member of the Town Council. By 1927 he was living at 38 Regent Circus, Swindon and represented the West Ward on the Swindon Town Council.

Councillor Hustings was a founder member of the Unemployed Association, launched at a time when Swindon had more than 5,000 unemployed. In 1939 he was President of both the Swindon branch of the Labour Party and the Swindon Trades Council. He also served on the Management Committee of the Swindon Co-operative Society, the Council of Social Service, the local Food Control Committee and the Western Area Federation of Trades Councils.

On August 22, 1940 Henry launched Swindon’s own Spitfire Fund. The aim was to raise £5,000 and in less than a week the fund stood at £245. By October Swindonians had raised £3,300 and were well on the way to achieving their target. Donations came from across the Swindon and district area. Two little girls sold some of their toys and gave the 8 shillings they had raised to the fund while Kingsdown brewer J. Arkell & Sons presented the Mayor with a cheque for £100.

At the time of the Mayor’s death the fund stood at £3,956, just over £1,000 short of its £5,000 target.

“The fund had a very good start, but it seems to have slowed down during the last two or three weeks,” said Mr Raymond Thompson, director and general manager of the Swindon Press who was behind the last desperate drive to complete the fund. “We owe this and a lot more to our late Mayor.”

In just seven days generous Swindonians had donated £1,352 to complete the project inaugurated by Henry Hustings. A cheque for £5,308 was presented to Col J.J. Llewellin, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aircraft Production by Swindon’s MP Mr W.W. Wakefield in January 1940.

Henry’s death at the age of 57 followed recent surgery from which it was thought he was making a good recovery, and came as a great shock to fellow members of the Council.

The funeral service conducted by Major W.J. Hills of the Salvation Army took place at the Mission Hall followed by interment at Radnor Street Cemetery.

“Representatives of practically every industrial and social organisation in the town and district took their place in the cortege, and also paid their last tribute at the graveside at Radnor Street Cemetery,” reported the Advertiser.

“The public life of Swindon will be much poorer by the passing of Councillor Hustings,” Mr G.A. Marshman, presiding magistrate said paying tribute to a man who had devoted his life to the underdog – Swindon’s Jack of All Trades Mayor Henry Russell Hustings.

Surprisingly there is no headstone to mark Henry’s grave.

Harry C. Preater and the Red Cross Penny A Week Fund

*Area around the chapel where Harry C. and Lilian Preater are buried*

The re-imagined story …

Every week I watched my mum put a penny on the mantlepiece and then I watched her struggle to pay her bills through the rest of the week. A penny went a long way in those days, but that penny would stay on the mantlepiece until Mrs Morse called to collect it. Mum never missed a week.

I knew mum’s brother Ernie had died in the Great War – what we were now calling the First World War. Most Swindon families had lost a loved one. Just twenty years had passed and the grief was still raw.

There were a couple of photographs of Ernie that hung on the parlour wall during my childhood. One of him at a family wedding and another of him in uniform just before he left for France. Looking back, I wonder why I didn’t know his story, I just knew he had died in the war. I suppose mum wanted to remember him as he lived not as he died.

It was years afterwards, when Mr Preater died, that I understood why mum saved her precious pennies and I discovered how my uncle Ernie had died.

Ernie had enlisted with the 1^st Wilts at the outbreak of war. He had survived numerous, hard fought battles but was eventually caught and taken prisoner. The conditions in the German Prisoner of War camps were appalling, the men were half starved, kept alive only by the food parcels sent by the Swindon Committee for the Provision of Comforts for the Wiltshire Regiment and later the Red Cross.

Ironically, Ernie was put to work on railway buildings behind the German lines until, suffering from malnutrition and exhaustion, he became too weak to work. At the end of the war the prisoners were released, left to find their own way home, their health destroyed. Men like Charles Haggard who died within weeks of his return. Ernie didn’t even make it home.

The Duke of Gloucester’s Red Cross Penny a Week Fund was established in 1939 to support the various services provided by the Red Cross. My mum gave up her pennies to help another woman’s loved one survive a prisoner of war camp and come home.

The facts …

Harry Charles Preater is buried with his wife Lilian in plot D65A close to the cemetery chapel. Harry was the eldest of Charles and Mary Jane’s nine children and when he left school he began work as a clerk. He later went on to run the family garage at Whale Bridge.

Harry was also a prominent Mason, a member of the Calley Lodge No 7525 that used to meet at the Corn Exchange. Harry C. Preater was Provincial Secretary from 1942 to 1951 and Deputy Provincial Grand Master from 1952 to 1966.

During the Second World War Harry and his wife Lilian played an active role in the Red Cross. Lilian was the Honorary Commandant of the 68th Wilts Detachment of the British Red Cross and Harry was Secretary of the Swindon Penny a Week Fund which raised £16,500 towards supporting prisoners of war.

*Harry C. Preater and his wife Lilian and sister Ada*

Harry died in 1968 but his name lived on in the Harry C. Preater Masonic Lodge. The Consecration Ceremony took place that same year at the Civil Defence Centre, Savernake Street, Swindon and the banquet was held in the Civil Defence garage. The Lodge then held its meetings at the Masonic Hall, The Square, finally moving to the Planks when that building was completed.

Lilian died in 1970 aged 90. She was buried with her husband and Harry’s sister Ada.

Swindon’s working class history

Unlike Highgate Cemetery in London, Radnor Street Cemetery is not a tourist destination. Plenty of Swindonians don’t even know of its existence. There are no elaborate mausolea, no Egyptian Avenue or Terrace Catacombs and although at first sight there appear to be large numbers of headstones, the vast majority of graves are unmarked.

The GWR Works opened in 1842 and employed more than 1,700 men twenty years later. At the same time a shortage of burial spaces in the town became of critical concern, but the Radnor Street cemetery was not opened until 1881.

Highgate Cemetery has been the setting for numerous books, several films and in the 1970s was subject to a bizarre vampire obsession. Radnor Street cemetery online archives include just a few early 20^th century photographs and a 1980s music video filmed by Swindon music legend XTC.

Highgate Cemetery is famous for being famous; for the number of people of note and celebrities interred there. Radnor Street cemetery is all about working class history. The men who rose through the ranks of the railway engineering hierarchy and others who spent a lifetime on the factory floor in the GWR Works. Those men who served in two world wars and died as the result of their service. The women who trained as nurses, who taught in Swindon’s schools, worked in factories, shops and offices and raised large families who began the cycle all over again.

This is Swindon’s working class history – stories of the triumphs and the tragedies and the sheer hard work.

The Egyptian Avenue at Highgate Cemetery

Elsie Wootten White – wartime volunteer

Elsie Wootten White was born on August 26, 1885 the daughter of Frank James White, a machineman in the GWR Works, and his wife Susan. She was baptised at St. Mark’s Church on October 19 when the family were living at 5 Bangor Terrace, Rodbourne Road.

Elsie began her long teaching career as a 15 year old pupil teacher and at the outbreak of the First World War she was working as an Assistant Mistress at one of the town’s board schools. By 1916 she was a member of Miss Slade and Miss Handley’s growing band of volunteers.

The Swindon Committee for the Provision of Comforts for the Wiltshire Regiment was formed in 1914. Miss Mary E. Slade, Infant Head Teacher at King William Street School, led a team of volunteers, most of whom were women. These volunteers were based at the Victoria Hall where they collected and packed boxes to send to soldiers serving in the Wiltshire Regiment. However, this work soon became a matter of life and death as the plight of the prisoners of war was revealed.

“When letters began to arrive from the men themselves begging for bread, it was soon realised that they were in dire need, and in imminent risk of dying from starvation, exposure and disease,” W. D. Bavin wrote in his seminal book Swindon’s War Record published in 1922.

All the prisoners received daily was a slice of dry bread for breakfast and tea and a bowl of cabbage soup for dinner.

“Had it not been for the parcels received out there from Great Britain we should have starved,” said returning serviceman T. Saddler.

In the beginning the committee spent £2 a week on groceries to be sent to Gottingen and other camps where a large number of Wiltshire men had been interned following their capture in 1914. By October 1915 the committee was sending parcels to 660 men, including 332 at Gottingen and 152 at Munster. And at the end of July 1916 they had despatched 1,365 parcels of groceries, 1,419 of bread comprising 4,741 loaves, 38 parcels of clothing and 15 of books.

As the men were moved from prison camps on labour details, the committee adopted a system of sending parcels individually addressed. Each prisoner received a parcel once every seven weeks containing seven shillings worth of food. More than 3,750 individual parcels were despatched in the five months to the end of November 1916.

Elsie and her mother Susan lived for many years at 25 Euclid Street where Susan died in 1941. Elsie died at the Victoria Hospital in July 1954 and was buried with her mother in grave plot D44A.