I read a lot of newspaper reports as part of my cemetery research and I’ve noticed that both the style of writing and the content has changed considerably over the years.

Back in the 19^th century local newspapers published at great length meetings of governing bodies in the town – the Local Board Meetings (precursor of Swindon Borough Council) for both Old and New Swindon, the Swindon School Board and the Mechanics’ Institute Council to mention just three. Columns and columns of tightly packed print recording who said what to and about whom! The Great Western Railway featured prominently as might be expected with reports of social events, the retirement of old railwaymen, accidents and inquests where all the gory details were reported.

And then there are the odd gossipy bits that creep in. In Arthur Jefferies Lewis White’s obituary there is a reference to his widow with the comment –

Mr White’s widow is a Swindon lady, formerly a Miss Sendell. She will be the fourth widow in the family of the Sendells – three other sisters having lost their husbands.

So, of course, that set me off on the search of these sisters.

The first of the three sisters to marry was the eldest Ellen who married Herbert Henry Llewellyn a railway clerk. The couple lived at 23 Dixon Street where Herbert died in 1898 aged just 27. Ellen returned to the family home where she can be found on the 1911 census. She died at St. Margaret’s Hospital on May 23, 1943 and was buried with her husband.

The next sister to marry was Kate and her story requires more research. Kate married George Astill a draper in 1904 at St. Saviour’s Church, Brixton Hill, South London. Their son Reginald was born in Otago, New Zealand but baptised in the UK in June of that year before George and Kate returned to New Zealand. On April 6, 1912 Kate and her 3 year old son arrived in London without her husband George. Was this just a holiday; a family visit? Did she plan to return? George died the following year in New Zealand. Kate’s last home was 344 Western Avenue, Acton. She died in the Central Middlesex Hospital in 1956.

Youngest daughter Margaret married Charles Robert Tippetts in the Wesley Chapel, Faringdon Street on April 19, 1915. He died in 1928 and Margaret died two years later. They are buried together in grave plot E8204, next to Margaret’s parents.

Emily Sendell was born in 1876, the third of four surviving daughters. Her parents Henry and Lucy married in Chipping Norton in 1870. They can be found living in Bristol at the time of the 1881 census with 5 of their 8 children. By 1891 they had moved to 15 Theobald Street where the family would remain for more than 55 years until Lucy’s death in 1933. Emily was the last sister to marry. She was 42 years old when she married Arthur Jefferies Lewis White in 1917 at Christ Church. Arthur died in 1919. Emily outlived him by some 40 years. She died in the Cheriton Nursing Home in 1968 aged 92 years. She was buried in plot E8134A next to Arthur.

Perhaps it’s a shame that journalism has changed so much over the years! I might never have discovered these family stories without the gossipy bit in the newspaper.

This is the grave of Lucy and Henry Sendell who died in 1933 and 1935 respectively. Their daughter Margaret Tippetts and her husband are buried in the neighbouring grave.

The grave of Herbert Henry Llewellyn and Nellie (Ellen nee Sendell).