Thomas J. Stewart – the first smith in the GWR Works

I had read the story of Thomas J. Stewart in the writings of the late Trevor Cockbill, railway and local historian, but sometimes the story you start out researching turns into something a little different.

Thomas Stewart was one of the very first railwaymen to arrive at the frontier town of New Swindon, travelling in an open railway truck, it is said. He started in the Works on Monday, December 20, 1842, a fortnight before the official opening and lit the very first smith’s fire in the factory.

Thomas was born in 1811 in Lanarkshire and on arriving in Swindon he first lodged in Stratton St Margaret. He appears on the first census taken in the railway village in 1851.

Thomas Jack Stewart died on April 26, 1899 aged 87 years at the home of his son-in-law Robert Affleck and left effects valued at £11 4s to his daughter Agness Stewart Affleck. But Thomas had never married.

Agnes was born on February 9, 1851 the daughter of Maria Smith and baptised at Christ Church on March 23. The entry in the baptism registers includes the name of Thomas Stewart but this has been crossed through and the words ‘illegitimate daughter of Maria Smith’ remain.

Maria Lucy Smith was the eldest daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Smith and at the time of the 1851 census, taken shortly after the birth of her daughter Agnes, she is living with her parents in Cricklade Street. The census records that Edward and Elizabeth have three other daughters and a niece living with them and the last entry is that of their granddaughter Agnes aged 1 month.

Thomas obviously had some involvement with his daughter. When she married Robert Affleck at Christ Church in 1875 Thomas was a witness at the wedding ceremony, although his name does not appear as ‘father’ on the marriage certificate, which is left blank. In 1891 he was living with Agnes and her husband and family at 37 Prospect Place where he is described on the census as Thomas Stewart father-in-law 79 years old retired blacksmith born in Scotland. And at the time of his death in 1899 he was still living with the Affleck family.

The Late Mr t. Stewart,

Funeral on Saturday

The funeral of the late Mr Thomas Stewart, an old GWR foreman whose death we announced last week took place on Saturday afternoon. The funeral cortege left deceased’s late residence, Southfield House, The Sands, Old Swindon, at three o’clock. The coffin was borne on a handbier, and covered with a pall, there being no flowers by request. The bier was attended by eight bearers, from the F Shop, all workmen who were formerly employed under deceased.

The coffin was of polished panelled oak with massive brass fittings and engraved plate bearing the words:- “Thomas Jack Stewart. Born June 7^th, 1811. Died April 26^th, 1899.” The chief mourner was Mr R. Affleck (son-in-law), the other coaches containing deceased’s grandsons, and Messrs T.B. Watson, and W. Chivers.

There were three mourning coaches, and between 20 and 30 mourners on foot, including the following:- Messrs. R. Baker, T. Patterson, J. Sykes, W. Morgan, Enoch Smith, W.S. Dawson, John Fox, E. Tomkinson, Ellison, ? ? Broadbear, Alf Bowker, Pickard, Robert Fawcett, J. Clark, W. Sewell, R. Gadd, Burrows, D. White, E.L. Pugh, etc.

The first portion of the service was conducted at St. Mark’s Church, and the remainder in the Cemetery, the Hon. Canon Ponsonby officiating.

The funeral arrangements were most satisfactorily carried out by Mr. Fred. J. Williams, on behalf of Mr. Joseph Williams.

Writing from London to Mr T.B. Watson, of New Swindon, on Saturday, in reference to the death of Mr. T.J. Stewart, Mr John Fawcett, whom we mention in our last week’s issue, says:- “I was transferred from Bristol to Swindon on January 1^st, 1843, and found Stewart had been at work here about a fortnight. He lit up the first fire in the new smiths’ shop, and I the second. There were, of course, the ordinary staff of men in the Running or A Shed, under Mr Appleby, but Stewart was, I believe, the first man Mr Sturrock (the first manager at the Works), engaged for the opening of the new Works. Mr Stewart had built a couple of houses at Patercroft, where he must have been residing some four or five years before coming to Swindon. He used to go regularly to Patercroft to look after the repair of these houses long after he came to Swindon. I have made out a list of the names of all the foremen and contractors up to the time I left Swindon in 1866, and I am sorry to find that out of about 30 contractors there is scarcely one left beside myself. The same may be said of the foremen, managers and draftsmen. I was pleased to hear a few days ago that Mr Sturrock is still living and residing at Chelsea like myself, he is an octogenarian, and well into his 83^rd year. I feel I am the only shopmate left who could give reliable information as to Mr Stewart’s career at Swindon in the early days.”

Thomas was buried in grave plot D1a. Robert was buried with him in 1940 and Agnes in 1942. The elegant, pink granite headstone is decorated with entwined ivy, a symbol of friendship, fidelity and immortality.

Robert and Margaret Patterson

During a period when we might have thought people stayed in the area in which they were born, railwaymen and their families were frequently on the move.

Born in about 1805 in Lamesley, Durham, Robert had already moved about a fair bit by the time he arrived in Swindon. His route can be traced by the birth place of his children in Penshaw and Shields in Durham, Paddington and then Swindon.

Engine driver Robert Patterson appears on the 1851 census in Swindon when street numbering was still to be established. He lived in No. 2 or 5 Farringdon Street with neighbours Robert Laxon at No. 1 or 4 and William Laverick at No. 3 or 6, although that was not the end of his travels. Between 1871 and 1881 (when he was 78 years of age) he was still working as an engine driver and living in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, which is a bit of a coincidence as I lived there as well exactly a hundred years later.

The couple had seven children – two sons Thomas and Michael, who sadly died aged 20 in 1856, and five daughters, two of who died aged 22 and 24. Hannah and Barbara Patterson died in identical circumstances in 1862 within just five weeks of each other, their tragic deaths reported in the local press.

New Swindon

Singular Circumstance – Four weeks ago to-day we recorded the death of Miss Barbara Patterson, of New Swindon, in a peculiarly sudden and lamentable manner, and we have to-day to announce the death of her elder sister, Miss Hannah Patterson, under similar circumstances.

It was be remembered that Miss Barbara Patterson was taken ill on the Sunday evening after having been about as usual during the day, and after lingering until about the same hour on the following day she expired. A post mortem examination of the body subsequently disclosed the cause of death to have been the rupture of an internal abscess, the discharge from which had flooded the heart.

On Sunday week, Miss Hannah Patterson was apparently in her usual state of health, and was out walking both in the afternoon and evening. Some time after she had returned home in the evening she complained of sudden illness; medical aid was at once procured, and, notwithstanding that Mr. Swinhoe was in almost constant attendance upon her, she, after being ill to within half an hour of the period of her sister’s illness, expired; and from the symptoms under which she laboured, there appears to be no doubt whatever but that the cause of death in both instances was precisely the same.

The death of two young women – the one 22 and the other 24 years of age – in so sudden and peculiar a manner, has produced quite a sensation in New Swindon.

Wiltshire Independent, Thursday, November 6, 1862.

The late Trevor Cockbill, railway and local historian, writes in his book A Drift of Steam that the Choral Society arranged a Sacred Concert, conducted by Mr Albert Sykes, which included Mozart’s Twelfth Mass to be held in the Mechanics’ Institution. The proceeds were donated to provide a memorial for Miss Hannah Patterson’s grave in St. Mark’s churchyard. Trevor writes that the programme included a tribute to Miss Patterson “who for so many years past contributed, by the aid of her great vocal talent to the edification and pleasure of this and the surrounding neighbourhood. Her services were at all times cheerfully and gratuitously rendered.”

Robert Patterson died in December 1884 aged 82 at 2 Gloucester Terrace, Swindon. He was buried in grave plot A1093. Margaret died in August 1887 aged 77. Her last address was in Brigstock Road, Bristol. She was buried with her husband on September 1, 1887.

William Nicholson and a lot of words

There were a lot of words written about William Nicholson following his death in 1880.

We are sorry to notice the death, on the 13^th instant, at New Swindon, of Mr William Nicholson, who, for the long period of nearly 45 years, was a valued and trusted servant of the Great Western Railway Company, and who at the time of his death was, we believe, the oldest foreman in the employ of that company, having served in that capacity very close upon 40 years.

Leaving his native place, Bolton, in Lancashire, very shortly after serving his time as an apprentice to the engineering business, he went to Liverpool, where he married, and obtained employment in an establishment where Daniel (now Sir Daniel) Gooch and his brother were serving their articles as pupils. He, however, did not stay there long, but removed to Paddington, where the Great Western Railway Company had just opened their first engineering works, and when the Swindon works were opened Mr Nicholson came to Swindon, now 39 years since, and after a very short time was appointed foreman over the turning and fitting department, and in this important position he remained until about 15 years ago, when the whole of the Swindon works were considerably enlarged under the direction of the late Mr Armstrong, and the new gas works were then put under the sole charge of Mr Nicholson, and in this position he remained until his death, which took place on Tuesday week, after a somewhat protracted illness caused by heart disease and dropsy.

During his lengthened connection with Swindon and the Railway Company Mr Nicholson enjoyed the respect and esteem of all who knew him. He was devoted to his duties and the interests of his employers, and was strictly conscientious in all his dealings, whilst to the thousands of men who had been placed under his superintendence he was always kind and courteous.

Having known Mr Nicholson from the time when he first came to Swindon, it affords us some satisfaction to be able to bear our testimony to the sterling character of a strictly honest and upright man, and one who, although never ostentatious in any of his dealings, by his general demeanour set a good example before those under him or who came in contact with him. We have been asked to publish the following, which has been forwarded to us by an old workman under Mr Nicholson:

“Another old servant of the Great Western Railway Company has gone to his long home. Mr William Nicholson, who was one of the earliest arrivals from Paddington to Swindon on the opening of the line, and who for many years occupied the position of foreman in the fitting and turning shops in the local department, but latterly that of superintendent of the gas works recently erected by the GWR Company, he having only survived to witness the completion of the extensive and elaborate works of which he was so proud. He was followed to his last resting place, in St. Mark’s Churchyard, by numerous foremen of the works, and a large number of old hands who served under him, who attended to bear testimony to the respect they bore him while living. His widow, with whom he has lived for upwards of half a century on the most affectionate terms, is left to mourn her loss.”

The Swindon Advertiser, Saturday, January 24, 1880.

And in 1992 railway and local historian Trevor Cockbill wrote a few more in his excellent book A Drift of Steam, describing William Nicholson as a devout Wesleyan Methodist who founded the New Swindon Wesleyan Methodist Society and became the first Superintendent of its Sunday School.

But when it comes to his wife Betsey no one appears to have written about her.

William married Betsey Langdale at St Anne’s Church Liverpool on May 17, 1830. We find them on the 1851 census living at Westcott Place, Swindon with four of their children, Betsey’s sister Jane Langdale, a lodger and a 12 year old servant girl. Apart from the official census records the only words I have discovered about Betsey appear on her headstone – and even this isn’t how things might first appear.

William died in 1880 and was buried in the churchyard at St. Mark’s. Betsey died in 1884 but by then the churchyard at St Mark’s had closed and the new cemetery at Radnor Street had opened, which is where Betsey was buried on August 30, 1884 in grave plot A55. She lies in an unmarked grave where she was later joined by the sister who had lived with her for so many years, Jane Langdale who was buried on February 17, 1890. However, the family had made sure that both Betsey and Jane were remembered by adding their names to William’s headstone – interred in Swindon Cemetery.

Ann and Thomas Barefoot

What better place to rest for all eternity than in the shade of a tree in Radnor Street Cemetery?

Thomas had spent a lifetime working as an engine fitter, a skilled job but hardly a glamorous one, except in nostalgic retrospect. Ann had given birth to at least 8 children – there may have been others who were born and died in between the ten yearly census count.

Thomas Barefoot was born in about 1835 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, the son of James and Elizabeth Barefoot. On census returns James is recorded as a ‘policeman’ with the GWR. During this period this means that he was a guard, according to railway historian Trevor Cockbill.

Like many railway employees the Barefoot family moved around a lot but by 1851 both James and his younger son Thomas were living in Swindon. His eldest son George was living in Boston, Lincolnshire where he worked as a coppersmith, although he too later returned to Swindon.

Thomas married Louisa Bizley at Christ Church in 1857. They were both very young, Thomas was 21 and Louisa only 18. Sadly, she died in 1859 and was buried in the churchyard at the church where she married.

During the 1860s Thomas married for a second time and appears to have lived in London for several years where five of his children were born. By 1871 the family were back in Swindon and living at 22 Tabernacle Terrace, Stratton St. Margaret.

Thomas’s brother George was a member of the Mechanics’ Institute Council but so far I have not discovered whether Thomas took such an active role in the civic life of the town. Perhaps it was enough for him that he paid his way and raised his family.

Both Ann and Thomas spent their last years living at 9 St Paul’s Street, Swindon with their daughter Florence Hatter and her family.

Ann died on January 15, 1909 aged 69 and was buried in this shady spot on January 19. Thomas died 20 years later at the age of 92. He was buried with Ann on March 14, 1929 in grave plot B3032.

Lucy Clarice Dash – assistant to newsagent

Regular visitors to our cemetery walks will know my pet hate – the under recording of married women’s work on the Victorian census returns. Despite official instructions to the enumerator regarding the recording of women’s work e.g. ‘women who are regularly employed from home, or at home, in any but domestic duties to be distinctly recorded,’ much was lost in translation. Casual and seasonal work was frequently omitted, as was work in a family business, so often all we see here in on the census returns for railway dominated Swindon is, for example ‘boilermaker’s wife.’

The 1939 list compiled at the outbreak of WWII also reveals most married women described as being engaged only in ‘unpaid domestic duties’ – really! Well I have found an exception – Lucy Dash who was recorded as ‘assistant to newsagent’ at 3, Kent Road. Yes, it only tells half the story, but it’s an improvement.

The newsagents in Kent Road where Lucy ‘assisted’

Lucy was born in 1893 in Gateshead, the third child of John, an engine fitter, and his wife Lucy Peters. The family arrived in Swindon sometime during the 1890s and a home in Stafford Street.

At the time of the 1911 census 17 year old Lucy was working as a Draper’s Assistant in Maidenhead, Berks and lodging with Mrs Edward and three other young, single women all employed in the drapery business (the occupation of single women was usually recorded). In 1923 she married Herbert George Dash and the couple went on to have four children.

In 1928 A.R. Leach occupied the newsagents at 3 Kent Road but by 1939 Herbert and Lucy (assisting, of course) were in residence.

Following their retirement the couple lived at 10 Grovelands Avenue, Swindon. Lucy died on October 14, 1955 and was buried in grave plot E7773 with her parents and her sister Phyllis.

William Barnes Keylock – Railway Clerk and Licenced Victualler

After some 15 years of research the Radnor Street Cemetery archives are becoming quite extensive. Between us Andy, Noel and I have many hundreds of photos and items of ephemera and it was while looking through one of my boxes that I came across this cache of documents.

Rose contacted me some years ago as she feared her family headstones had been removed from the cemetery. The passage of time had seen the memorials sink and tilt and become very discoloured and almost unrecognisable, but I was able to confirm they were still there. At the time Rose provided me with family documents regarding graves and burials and several photographs including one of the grave of William Barnes Keylock and his wife Edie.

William was born on December 2, 1872 and baptised at Christ Church on December 10. He was the only surviving child of William John White Keylock and his wife Susanna. In 1881 William J.W., a pattern maker, Susanna and William B. were living at 9 Read Street. William B. started work as a Railway Clerk on April 2, 1888 and at the time of the 1891 census he was living with his parents at the Bakers Arms in the Railway Village where his father was the inn keeper.

William Barnes Keylock married Edith Prideaux Dymond on July 27, 1895 at the parish church in Porlock. The couple had two children, William Harold and Dorothea Edith May. Sometime after Dorothea’s birth in 1901 the family moved to London where William was licenced Victualler at the White Hart, Clerkenwell and later The Eagle in Woolwich.

By 1939 the family had returned to Swindon and William, Edie and Dorothea were living at 11 College Street.

Edie died aged 77 at the Victoria Hospital. She was buried in plot A855 on January 26, 1951. William died aged 82 on April 5, 1955 at St Margaret’s Hospital. He was buried here with Edie on April 9, 1955.

My thanks to Rose for providing so much information and my apologies for taking so long to publish her family story.

To be continued …

Photograph believed to be William Barnes Keylock as a boy – published courtesy of Ancestry

Zacharias Peskett – Medical Fund Society Treasurer

Saturday July 8 sees Swindon celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NHS with the Mechanics’ Institution Trust. Events in the Emlyn Square area include an exhibition in the Central Community Centre with a talk on the GWR Medical Fund by Adam Busby at 4 pm. Visit the Railway Village Museum open 11-3 and join a walking tour of the Railway Village focussing on ‘Health.’ The Bakers Café will be open for refreshments.

And read below about one of those pioneering members of the GWR Medical Fund Society.

Swindon

Obituary

The death occurred on Thursday morning at his residence, 6, Milton Road, Swindon, of Mr Zacharias Peskett, an old and highly respected resident of Swindon. For the long period of 44 years he had been in the service of the GWR Company, and for over 30 years he had uninterruptedly held office as treasurer of the GWR Medical Fund Society. He was generally esteemed as an upright and honourable man, and was a valued servant of the company. He was in his 70^th year.

Western Daily Press, Bristol, Friday, May 29, 1914.

The Late Mr Z. Peskett,

Funeral

The esteem in which the late Mr Zacharias Peskett, of 6, Milton Road, Swindon, was held by his former colleagues in the GWR Works and by the officials of the GWR Medical Fund Society – an organisation with which his name had been prominently associated for more than 30 years – was exemplified on Tuesday afternoon, when the funeral took place at Swindon Cemetery amid every manifestation of sorrow and respect.

The cortege left Milton Road at 3.15 and proceeded to St. Mark’s Church, where a short but impressive service was conducted by the Rev. Lionel Calway.

The coffin, on which was a large cross of white flowers from the family and other beautiful floral tributes, was conveyed on a four-wheel bier, Messrs J. Lawrence, E. Griffiths, W. Sansum, T. Jackson. R.A. Zebedee and Humphries (representatives of the Medical Fund Society) acting as bearers.

Then followed a hand-bier on which were placed the wreaths, and in charge of Mr Peskett’s personal staff – Messrs. T.H. Westbury, C.E. Knapp, J. Clark and Angle. Behind the mourning coaches walked the Rev. H.J. Parker (pastor of South Street Baptist Chapel, where deceased formerly worshipped), representatives of the Medical Fund Society and the Sick Fund Society and many old friends and former colleagues of the late Mr. Peskett.

Long list of mourners …

From St. Mark’s Church the coffin was borne to the Cemetery, the route chosen being Cambria Bridge Road, Radnor Street and Clifton Street. The Blinds at many of the houses on the way to the Cemetery were drawn as a mark of respect to the deceased.

At the graveside the cortege was joined by a large number of sympathisers, and the service was impressively conducted by the Rev. L. Calway. The coffin was of polished elm, with heavy brass furnishings, and the breast plate was inscribed as follows:-

Zacharias Peskett,

Died May 28^th, 1914.

Aged 69 years.

Many beautiful floral tributes were sent by relatives and friends…

The funeral arrangements were satisfactorily carried out by Messrs. H. Smith & Sons.

Extracts from the North Wilts Herald, Friday, June 5, 1914.

Zacharias Peskett was buried on June 2, 1914 in plot D1297, a grave he shares with his wife Annie who died in December 1924.

Sergeant Thomas Fletcher of the New Brunswick Regiment

Thomas Fletcher was born in Stratton St Margaret on February 2, 1885, the son of George and Martha Fletcher. On August 2, 1899 he began a 6 and a half year Blacksmithing apprenticeship in the Works.

By 1901 George and Martha had moved to 85 Redcliffe Street in Rodbourne. Here George worked as a carpenter in the Works and Thomas was employed as blacksmith, although not yet out of his apprenticeship.

The last time we see Thomas in Swindon is on the 1911 census when he is 26 years old and living with his parents in Redcliffe Street. When his father completed the census returns that year he stated that he and Martha had been married for 35 years and that they had 6 children, all of whom were still living. Sadly, that would all change.

Mark Sutton continues to be the most knowledgeable historian of Swindon’s sons who served in the First World War and wrote a book entitled Tell Them of Us. If you went to one of Mark’s talks or followed one of his walks here at Radnor Street Cemetery you left feeling you had met the men he talked about, that he had known them himself – and of course Mark has been able to fill in the details of what happened to Thomas Fletcher. He writes:

“He had served an apprenticeship in the Loco and Carriage Dept GWR before leaving for Canada in 1912. He worked then for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company Workshops at Montreal. He joined the army in November 1914.”

Tell Them of Us.

Sergeant Thomas Fletcher was killed in action on August 28, 1918 during fighting to retake the village of Cherisy. He was 33 years old. He is buried in the Sun Quarry Cemetery, Cherisy, France.

Mark made frequent visits to the Western Front battlefield cemeteries, visiting the graves of the Swindon men buried there. I wonder if he ever visited Thomas Fletcher? I bet he did.

Thomas’s father George died in 1923 and is buried in Radnor Street Cemetery in grave plot C1880 with his wife Martha who died in 1937 and their youngest daughter Catherine Shakespeare who died in 1954.

Henry James Fortune – Assistant Secretary to the Medical Fund Society

Henry James Fortune was 82 years old when he died in 1943. He had lived an eventful life but was there anyone still around who remembered him as a young man? His wife Nellie had died 20 years previously.

So, let’s go back to the beginning.

Henry James Fortune was born on July 5, 1861, in Mells, Somerset, the son of John Fortune, a policeman, and his wife Mary.

As a young man, a little older than 15 when boys these days are still in school, Henry joined the navy. His service records describe him as 5ft 1½ ins, light brown hair, blue eyes, fair complexion. The first ship he served on was HMS Impregnable. On census night 1881 Henry, aged 19, was serving on the HMS Temeraire in the Grand Harbour, Malta. His last service date was April 22, 1886 and the last ship he served on was the HMS Hercules.

By 1886 Henry was settled in Swindon, employed as a Stores Clerk in the GWR Works. The following year he married Ellen Louisa House at Holy Trinity Church, Frome. At the time of the 1891 census he was living at 26 Taunton Street aged 29 years when he describes himself as a Fitters Labourer (another change of occupation?) – Ellen and their two children are visiting her parents in Frome.

Henry was nominated for election to the Management Committee of the GWR Medical Fund Society in 1904 and in 1907 is pictured on a formal photograph seated next to Zacharias Peskett, the long serving treasurer.

On the 1911 census returns the Fortune family are living at 20 Oxford Street where 49 year old Henry works as a railway clerk. The couple have been married 23 years during which time they had 12 children of whom sadly 4 have already died.

In 1939 he was at 246 Ferndale Road, a widowed retired Railway Clerk living with Leonard and Edith Brain (daughter and son-in-law) and their family.

The GWR Medical Fund Society, like many other similar organisations across the country, provided a blueprint for the National Health Service established in 1948. Henry had been gone nearly five years by then. For those who remained on the Medical Fund Committee it must have been a time of mixed feelings. Free health care for all but with that came the eventual dismantling of the Medical Fund and 100 years of endeavour in Swindon.

Henry James Fortune died in St. Margaret’s Hospital aged 82 years. His funeral took place on December 30, 1943 when he was buried in grave plot C3868 with his wife Ellen who had died in 1923.

Phyllis Mary Peters – Railway Clerk

The first woman to be employed in the Great Western Railway Swindon Works’ offices is believed to have been Elsie May Calladine. Elsie started work in the Mileage Office on January 1, 1912 aged 14. She is pictured far right at the end of the second row in this fantastic photograph taken in 1916 and reproduced in The Great Western at Swindon Works by Alan S. Peck. New mechanised account systems introduced in January 1913 and an expansion of office space saw increasing numbers of women clerks employed in the GWR Swindon Works’ offices, numbers which escalated during the years of the First World War.

I have been able to trace all of the young women pictured here in 1916 wearing their ‘uniform’ of smart long dark skirt and white high necked blouse with tie strings and bows.

In the second row, third from the right, is Freda Dening, one of two talented sisters about whom I have previously written. In the front row, seated third from the left, is Miss Gladys Florence Alice Noble, supervisor in the Freight Statistics, Addressograph offices and pictured in the centre of the back row is Mabel E. Carpenter, who married her second husband in 1973 when she was 74 years old and he was 89. Her husband was Frederick William Hawksworth, the last Chief Mechanical Engineer at the Swindon Works, who was previously thought to have never married. The couple lived at 30 Tithe Barn Crescent where Frederick died in 1976 and Mabel in 1982.

Pictured at the left end of the third row is Phyllis Mary Peters. Phyllis was born on November 14, 1899, the youngest of four children. Her father John was an engine fitter and the birth place of his children indicate his movement across the railway factories of the north east. Edgar was born in Newcastle and Lucy in Gateshead while Winifred and Phyllis were born after the family arrived in Swindon. Phyllis began work in the GWR Swindon Works’ offices on December 13, 1915, just after her 16^th birthday.

At the time of the pre-war census in 1939 Phyllis was living with her widowed mother Lucy at 45 Goddard Avenue where she stated her occupation as that of Railway Clerk. As an unmarried woman Phyllis had been able to continue her career.

Phyllis died at St Margaret’s Hospital on April 14, 1957. She left effects valued at more than £10,000 (a legacy of her many years employed in the Works) to her two nephews, her sister Lucy’s sons.

Phyllis was buried in grave plot E7773, which she shares with her parents and her sister Lucy.