Today we celebrate International Women’s Day with the story of Joanna C. Lay.

It’s difficult to imagine a farm located in what is now Corporation Street, Swindon but this is where Joanna Cuss Smith and her seven siblings grew up.

When Joanna was born in 1851 her father worked as a master butcher with a shop in Wood Street but by 1861 he also farmed 110 acres at Lower Eastcott Farm, employing three men and two boys.

Joanna married jeweller Edwin John Lay in the summer of 1884. The couple had three sons and lived at 17 Bath Road, an elegant establishment opposite Apsley House.

Sometimes there is not much I can add to a sympathetic obituary published in the local media – so let me hand you over to the Swindon Advertiser.

Death of Mrs E.J. Lay

Well Known Swindon Lady

We regret to have to announce the death of Mrs Joanna Lay, wife of Mr Edwin J. Lay, watchmaker and jeweller of 17, Bath Road, Swindon. The deceased lady was a member of a very old Swindon family, being the eldest daughter of the late Mr Edward Smith, butcher and farmer, who carried on business in the town for many years at High Street and Eastcott Farm.

Mrs Lay possessed a great personal charm, a kindly nature, and thoughtful disposition, which she had always exhibited from her girlhood upwards. She was 62 years of age, and had been ailing a few weeks, but not seriously ill. Then she had an attack of bronchitis.

On Friday her condition was better, but on Saturday she had a relapse, and passed peacefully away.

The deceased lady leaves a sorrowing husband and a family of three sons – two of whom are in South Africa – to mourn the loss of a loving and devoted wife and mother.

Funeral at Swindon

Attended by a large number of sympathising friends, the funeral of the late Mrs Edwin Lay, of Bath Road, took place at Swindon on Wednesday afternoon.

Enveloped in a profusion of beautiful floral tributes, the coffin was conveyed from the deceased’s residence to the Baptist Church on a hand-bier. The deceased lady was a prominent member of the Tabernacle, being for 27 years the Secretary of the Sewing Circle (with Mrs W. Clappen as President), and the respect and esteem in which she was held by the members of the congregation was strikingly testified to by the large number of people who attended the funeral service. Conducted by the Pastor (Rev. J. Ivor Cripps) and the Rev. F.C. Shellard, the service was of an impressive character. The hymns, “Come let us join our friends above,” and “Calm on the bosom of thy God,” were sung, and in the course of the service the Pastor paid a touching tribute to the memory of the deceased. They looked upon something that day, he said, as something incredible, something which they found difficult to believe was true, for less than a fortnight ago Mrs Lay gave, at the annual Church social, a report on behalf of the Sewing Circle, and only last Sunday week was present at the Sacrament. He left to others who knew her more intimately the honour of praising her, but he knew her enough to say that she was one of the silent, quiet and faithful workers on whom the substance of Church life relies and depends. What she did she did faithfully and well, and those who were acquainted with her work could say that hers was indeed a place of honour in the Church.

The interment subsequently took place at the Cemetery, where the last sacred rites were performed by the Rev. J. Ivor Cripps.

Extracts from the Swindon Advertiser, Friday, March 14, 1913.

Joanna Cuss Lay 62 years of 17 Bath Road buried 12 March 1913 in grave plot E7310. Joanna is buried with her husband E.J. Lay.

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