In Britain in the 1950s, 60s and 70s young, unmarried mothers were coerced into giving up their babies for adoption, an estimated 185,000 of them. That this practise continued into the late 20th century is now shocking and unforgiveable. Was this attitude a legacy of 19th century social mores – all those myths about Victorian prudery and piano legs? In fact the Victorians were far more broad minded and accepting than we give them credit for.
In my work transcribing the diaries of Elliot Woolford, farmer at Hook Farm between 1899 and 1940, I have come across two examples where an illegitimate birth was no big deal, the child welcomed into the extended family.
William Woolford married Frances Ann Fletcher in the parish church at Purton in May 1849. The bride and groom signed the marriage register by making their mark, suggesting they were not proficient in writing their name. Both stated they were over the age of 21.
At the time of the 1851 census the young couple and their two year old daughter lived at a property in Poor Street, Purton. William’s occupation was given as labourer at stone quarry. Their eldest child had been born several months before the couple married. Ellen Woolford Fletcher was baptised at the church of All Saints, Lydiard Millicent on December 24, 1848, the daughter of Ann Fletcher – no father’s name was given. There is little doubt that William was her father but Ellen continued to use her mother’s maiden name. She never married and died at Hook Farm in 1904 aged 56.
William and Frances went on to have six more children, diarist Elliot George Woolford was born in 1867. The 1871 census reveals their six children (their youngest, 7th child Rowland was born in 1874) and a granddaughter Fanny Ireland Fletcher, just 5 months old. It would appear that like her mother, Ellen had produced a child out of wedlock, but unlike her mother there was no husband waiting in the wings. Fanny Ireland Fletcher was baptised in the parish of Purton on December 4, 1870, daughter of Ellen Walford [Woolford] Fletcher, single woman.
Fanny grew up in the large Woolford family and by the time of the 1881 census she was described as William and Frances’s daughter, because by then that was how she was regarded. Was she ever made aware of the circumstances of her birth? Did she know that Ellen was her mother or did she believe her to be her elder sister?
And what about Elliot who in his diaries recorded the facts of his life, work and those of the community who lived in Hook. What did he know of Fanny, four years his junior, the little sister with whom he grew up? Perhaps everyone knew the facts of Fanny’s birth and it really didn’t matter, which is how things are today.
Fanny married Edward Harry Matthews, a drilling machinist in the GWR Works, in the summer of 1898 and by 1901 they were living at 54 Exeter Street. They had two sons, Leslie and Edward.
On Friday March 10, 1911 Elliot makes his usual weekly visit to Swindon, selling eggs and butter at the market and buying his weekly provisions. He writes in his diary:
‘I went to 65 Ponting St and saw Mrs H. Matthews gave her a rabbit and some rhubarb.’
Fanny Ireland Matthews died at her home in Farnsby Street in December 1925. She was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on December 22, in grave plot D621. Her husband Edward Harry Matthews died in December 1936 and was buried with Fanny on December 22, the anniversary of her funeral eleven years previously.
There are several volumes of Elliot Woolford’s diaries transcribed and available to read on the Friends of Lydiard Park website and I am working on a book about Elliot, Hook Farm and the parish of Lydiard Tregoze.
So, what is that stonking great big stone set beside the path leading from the Dixon Street gate to the cemetery chapel?
Some have suggested it could be a standing stone associated with ancient sites and early places of worship. This seems unlikely as the land was previously a coppice (an area of managed woodland). The remains of Swindon’s 13th century parish church still stand in the Lawn, the former home of the Goddard family.
Others have suggested the stone may stand on a ley line, connecting ancient sites of importance. Support for this theory lies in the fact that the cemetery stone is apparently in alignment with another in the former GWR Park in Faringdon Road, which is in an alignment with … ?
However, there maybe a much more prosaic geological explanation for the siting of this stone as the following articles suggest, published in the Swindon Advertiser during the construction of the cemetery in 1881.
The Cemetery .- On Tuesday evening last a meeting of the Joint Burial Board was held at the Board-room,Cricklade-street, when there were present, Messrs James Holden, in the chair, and W. Reynolds, W. Dawson, W.E. Morris, R.S. Edmonds, and C. Barker. – Mr W.H. Read, the architect, attended and explained that some considerable difficulty had been met with in draining and laying out the ground in consequence of the contractors meeting with a number of large boulder stones. Where these came in the way of the drains of course the contractors removed them, but there was the fact that others would be found all over the ground where graves would be dug, and he thought it his duty to bring the matter before the committee so that some arrangement could be made to get them removed before the turf was laid down. – The Chairman thought this would form a portion of the contract to lay out the ground, and also that it would pay the contractors to remove the stones for the value of the stone for road making purposes. – Mr Read said it would only pay them to remove the very large ones. The whereabouts of small ones could only be ascertained by pricking the ground over.- The committee decided to meet on the ground on Monday to consider this matter, and also the question of levelling, and the alteration of one of the approaches to the cemetery and the style of fence to be used at the back of Clifton-street.
The Swindon Advertiser, Saturday, May 21, 1881.
Swindon Cemetery
To the Editor of the Swindon Advertiser,
Sir, – The other day I was at Swindon, and went to see what the new cemetery was like. The first thing to attract my attention was a huge stone stuck up on end by the side of one of the principal paths, and on which there had already been scratched a number of letters, inscriptions, and hieroglyphics, evidently the work of those vulgar little boys who are to be found in every community. I was anxious to obtain some reason for the erection this absurd monstrosity, which appeared to be of no other possible use than that to which it had been already applied by the aforementioned vulgar little boys, and this having given me, I beg to submit the following as a suitable inscription to be engraven on a brass plate and affixed to the stone:-
Here stands exhibited
The Taste
(which was Nasty, Rude, and without Form),
of the
Swindon Cemetery Committee,
who,
for a whim,
Consented to write themselves
Je-rusalem Ponies,
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A Swindonian
Jerusalem pony is a slang term for a donkey
A correspondent asks for information respecting the extraordinary geological discoveries said to have been made in preparing the ground in the new cemetery, and is particularly anxious to know about the shells which are said to be found in pairs as they had never been met with before. In answer to the enquiry we would say the whole thing is nothing better than what is known as a “Mares’ nest.” The shell about which so much fuss has been made is one of the commonest found in the Swindon quarries – the trigonia, and that which has been described as shells lying side by side in pairs is simply the two halves of a ‘dead’ shell lying perfectly open and flat instead of closed as a ‘live’ shell would be at the time when it was submerged – a shell out of which some antediluvian caw had exhausted the fish in the days before Adam delved and Eve spun [span].
The Swindon Advertiser, Saturday, July 16, 1881.
A “Mares’ nest” a discovery imagined to be important but proving worthless – Collin’s Dictionary.
Trigonia, genus of mollusks that first appeared during the Jurassic period, which began about 208 million years ago. – Encyclopaedia Britannica
At the centenary of the First World War a number of commemorative events were held at Radnor Street Cemetery. On July 1, 2016 Dr Mike Pringle kept a vigil in the cemetery chapel with an art installation he had created called The Sword of Damocles. The can ring pulls scattered on the chapel floor represent the lives lost that day in 1916.
Many words have been written about July 1, 1916, the first day of what would later be called the Battle of the Somme. As we continue to remember the fallen of that battle, I am going to let the photographs of one man’s memorial speak for itself.
Welcome to Radnor Street Cemetery – a celebration of the working-class history of our town.
The Radnor Street Cemetery burial registers along with those relating to other Swindon cemeteries, are held at the Kingsdown Crematorium and are available for consultation by appointment. The Radnor Street Cemetery burial registers are in remarkably good condition, especially considering the different places they have been stored over the years. Rumour has it that they were once left in the cemetery chapel. Thankfully they didn’t suffer the same fate as the stonemason’s records, which were used to ignite a fire some years ago.
One set of registers are compiled chronologically, the other alphabetically and you need to have the full and correct name of the person for whom you are searching and the date of their death. There is also a set of grave plot registers with details of those buried in each grave.
The style of handwriting changes over the years and can take some getting used to, although it has to be said that the earlier volumes written in copperplate are often the easiest to read.
So, whose task was it to enter the details in these large tomes? The first caretaker appointed when the cemetery opened in 1881 was Charles Brown so perhaps it was his job to fill in the paperwork. Or could it have been the job of the Clerk to the Burial Board, Mr J.C. Townsend? Unlikely, as James Copleston Townsend was a solicitor and headed a busy legal practice based at 42 Cricklade Street.
The details in the registers reveal the various funeral directors at work in Swindon and the numerous ministers who attended at the committal. And fascinating facts about long forgotten terraces of houses, the name subsequently abandoned when construction on the street was completed. So many of these town centre streets now lie beneath modern developments – for example Canal Side, Brunel Street and Cromwell Street.
As Swindon’s long awaited bus boulevard nears completion, what lies in wait for the area that backs on to it?
In the 19th century this was recognised as a prime town centre location when the Oxford Building and Investment Co Ltd built 108 houses on the site. The Oxford Building Society was a relatively short-lived organisation registered in February 1866 and going into liquidation 17 years later.
When the company folded in 1883 it had an interest in 225 properties in Oxford and more than 100 Swindon.
The New Swindon properties were built on a parcel of land called Brierly Close, between the canal and Lower Eastcott Farm orchard, part of the extensive Rolleston Estate.
Named after Oxford City Centre locations, construction began on Merton Street in 1873 followed by Turl Street in 1874, Carfax Street in 1875 and Oriel Street in 1876 – an area that is unrecognisable now.
In 1881 the census enumerator who travelled from door to door collecting information seems to have struggled with the 34 households in Carfax Street. The census returns are covered in scrawled amendments and crossings out and could the details about No 21 actually be accurate? It would appear that 15 adults and four children occupied this small, terrace property, which can’t possibly be correct!
Head of the household was George Kinch aged 61. His occupation is given as Miller and he was born in Shrivenham in about 1820. At home with him in 21 Carfax Street on census night 1881 were his wife Sarah, his sister Charlotte, his stepdaughter Elizabeth, his 3 year old grandson William and his brother John. A pretty busy household – but then if the census is to be reckoned with there was also Albert Cove and his wife Lydia, John Williams and his wife Elizabeth, William Hibberd and William Watkins, his wife Ellen and their children William 4, Mary A. 3 and one year old Charles.
The terrace houses in Carfax Street were demolished in the 1970s and few photographs survive. It is, therefore, impossible to assess whether No 21 was actually a very large property or if 15 adults and four children actually squeezed into a more modest terrace house. Or perhaps the census enumerator recorded facts we cannot now unravel.
George’s wife Sarah died at No 21 shortly after the census was taken. She was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on May 11, 1881 in a public grave plot A228. George died ten years later while still living at No. 21. He was buried with his wife on June 11, 1891. As in life so in death the couple shared their final resting place with a number of others. Hannah Scarrot who died in 1901, Frederick Boulton who died in 1918 and his wife Eliza Ann who died in 1944.
Sometimes the story behind a comprehensive headstone inscription can still take a bit of unravelling. Take the one on Arabella Dunbar’s grave.
In loving memory of
Arabella
Widow of the late
David Dunbar
Sculptor
(of London)
Who died December 27th 1885
At New Swindon
Aged 77 years
Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty;
They shall behold the land that is very far off.
Isaiah 33
So, how did it happen that the widow of a celebrated Scottish born sculptor end up buried in Radnor Street Cemetery?
Arabella Riddiford was born in Uley, Gloucestershire, the daughter of Daniel and Susanna Riddiford and was baptised at the parish church on January 8, 1809. Little is know about her life before she married David Dunbar and even this evidence is confusing.
David Dunbar was born in 1793 in Scotland but when he married Arabella (his second wife) the details on their marriage entry are at variance with the other known facts. The couple were married at All Souls Church, St. Marylebone (where they are both described as living in the district) on July 15, 1844. David Dunbar describes himself as a widower and sculptor aged 28, the son of Stewart Dunbar a [stone] mason. Arabella Riddiford was also aged 28 a spinster the daughter of Daniel Riddiford Tea Grocer (deceased). Now by my reckoning David was at least 51 years old and Arabella 35.
At the time of the 1851 census the couple were living at David’s home, 9 Ranelagh Place and again the ages recorded are incompatible with other records.
The couple are difficult to locate on the 1861 census. They may have been living in Scotland at the time, where David died in Dumfries in 1866.
A lengthy obituary was published in national newspapers in both England and Scotland. (See examples below). His life’s work was obviously more important than his private life as there is no mention of a widow or any surviving children, however there appears to have been at least one son, David Dunbar Jnr who turns up in Swindon.
On June 25, 1849 David Dunbar a bachelor of full age (that is over 21) occupation Draper, address Ranelagh Place, father David Dunbar Sculptor, married Eleanor Cogdon at St. Peter’s Church, Eaton Square, Pimlico. The two witnesses to the marriage were John Cogdon (presumably Eleanor’s father) and Arabella Dunbar (presumably David’s mother).
Later that year there is a Notice of Indenture of Assignment published in The Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, Tuesday, January 3, 1850 (see below) which names David Dunbar, Linen and Woollen Draper of Swindon and David Dunbar, Sculptor. All this adds weight to why Arabella ended up in Swindon where she died. Or does it?
The clue to this mystery is Charles Thomas, a 5 year old boy who is visiting Arabella at the time of the 1871 census when she lived in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire.
Charles Riddiford Thomas was the son of William Thomas, a beerhouse keeper, and his wife Arabella, who lived in Swindon. The couple had married at Christ Church on September 30, 1854 where we discover that Arabella’s maiden name was Riddiford and that she was the daughter of Charles Riddiford. Charles Riddiford was born in Uley, Gloucestershire the son of Daniel & Susanna Riddiford and was therefore Arabella Dunbar’s brother.
At last the connection is made between Arabella Dunbar, widow of a famous sculptor, and why she ended up buried in Radnor Street Cemetery. She was living in Swindon with her niece Arabella at the time of her death.
The entry in the burial registers record that Arabella was living at 6 High Street, New Swindon in 1885, (before it was renamed Emlyn Square). Her funeral took place on December 30, 1885 and she lies in plot A1039. The inscription on her headstone says it all, well nearly!
The facts …
The Late Mr David Dunbar, Sculptor
It is with deep regret we record the death of this genial and talented gentleman, which sad event took place here on Sabbath morning last, after a very short illness. We cannot allow so eminent a fellow-townsman to pass away without some tribute to his memory, and record of his active life.
While serving his apprenticeship as a stone-mason with his father, he shewed symptoms of that taste for sculpture which ultimately led to the adoption of that art as his profession. So great was his reputation as an ornamental carver among the building trade that he obtained an engagement in his seventeenth year to execute the capitals and other decorative parts of Lowther Castle, then in course of erection, at a wage of 7s per day. After following for a few years this, the lightest and most elegant part of the masons’ trade, he had his early aspirations of seeing Rome and studying in Italy realised through the kindness of some friends who had long watched with sympathetic interest the budding genius of the embryo sculptor.
During his sojourn in the “land of poetry and song,” he diligently pursued his studies in the fine arts, and on the eve of his return to England the Royal Academy of Cararra elected him a member of their body in recognition of his artistic genius – his “diploma study” being the “Sleeping Child,” a charming work, which long adorned the vestibule of St Michael’s, calling forth the admiration of countless visitors.
On his return to this country, he entered the studio of Sir Francis Chantry, where, during a number of years, his services were of great importance to that distinguished sculptor. Upon leaving London, he began business on his own account in Newcastle on Tyne, and during a lengthened residence there executed many works of great excellence. It was at this period he carried out a series of “Fine Art Exhibitions,” two of which were held at Dumfries, and contributed to the development of a taste for the plastic arts that was then arising among the people. Carlisle, too, was much indebted to Mr Dunbar for a healthy stimulus it received in favour of popular education; and so marked were his services in connection with the foundation of a Mechanics’ Institute in that city, that the principal inhabitants presented him with a substantial token of their gratitude and esteem.
During the last few years of his career he found employment for his chisel in various parts of the country, and it was while engaged upon some classic work in Edinburgh, that he took a journey to his native town for change of air and relaxation, of which he stood in much need: it was his last visit – he returned only to die – and his latest breath was drawn among the kindred he loved so well.
His best works are busts from the life; and some copies in marble, from the antique, one of which we lately saw in Carlisle (which was executed nearly half a century ago), and was to our enamoured sense truly a thing of beauty. He was honoured with sittings from Earl Grey, Lord Brougham, Lord Durham, and other eminent statesmen; and he executed a much admired bust of Grace Darling, which was several times reproduced in marble for the Bishop of Durham and other admirers of the heroine. The statue of Sir Pulteney Malcolm at Langholm, also by the deceased artist, is a fine memento of his genius and skill.
Mr Dunbar was full of emotional warmth, generous, and benevolent. He had a rich fund of anecdote and humour, and great stores of general information, from which he could draw at pleasure to delight the social circle. On all these accounts the announcement of his demise will be received with deep regret by numerous friends in Dumfries and other parts of the kingdom.
Dumfries and Galloway Standard and Advertiser, August 15, 1866.
Dunbar’s bust of Elizabeth Stephens, better known as Mrs Gaskell, author of Cranford, Mary Barton & North and South.
Notice is hereby given, that by Indenture of Assignment bearing date the 24th day of December, 1849 David Dunbar, of Swindon, in the Country of Wilts, ‘Linen and Woollen Draper, (trading under the firm of Dunbar and Company) assigned all his Estate and Effects unto William Ford, of No. 282, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Line Draper, and David Dunbar of No 9, Ranelagh Place, Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, Sculptor, upon trust for the benefit of all the creditors of the said David Dunbar, of Swindon aforesaid, who should Execute the said Deed, as therein mentioned. And that the said Deed of Assignment was duly executed by the said David Dunbar, of Swindon aforesaid, on the said 24th day of December, 1849 by the said William Ford, on the 27th day of December, 1849, and by the said David Dunbar, of No. 9, Ranelagh Place aforesaid, on the 1st day of January, 1850, in the presence of and attested by Richard Marriott Freeman, of No. 4, Great James Street, Bedford Row, in the County of Middlesex, Attorney at Law, at whose office the said Deed of Assignment now lies for execution by the Creditors. – Dated this 2nd day of January, 1850
R.M. Freeman, Solicitor to the Trustees,
4 Great James Street, Bedford Row.
The Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, Tuesday, January 3, 1850.
The Katherine Losh mausoleum in the church at Wreay, Cumbria. Katherine was the sister of Sarah Losh, architect and designer.
David Dunbar, sculptor 1797-1866
When the opportunity arose in February, 1845, for carving the most prestigious statue in Victorian Cumberland, David Dunbar was staying at Woodside. He wrote to the committee offering to execute the statue of the Earl of Lonsdale in either bronze or marble. On discovering that his one-time pupil, Musgrave Lewthwaite Watson, was competing for the memorial, he wrote again offering ‘to resign any pretensions of mine in favour of that gentleman’. At Woodside he was probably engaged in sculpting the statue of Katharine Losh which was to be placed inside the mausoleum at Wreay. His hand would be guiding the chisel, but it would have been Sarah Losh’s imagination which was creating the image. He had once been an artist of rare ambition and considerable energy. David Dunbar had been born in Dumfries in 1793, the son of a stonemason. His father had taught him his craft, but he displayed an exceptional aptitude. At the age of seventeen he went to work on the building of Lowther Castle, one of the greatest building projects of the age. Paul Nixson, from Carlisle, employed him in carving the capitals which graced the inner court of this extravagant Gothic fantasy. Dunbar’s ambition took him to London where he married and became one of several assistants in the Pimlico workshop of Francis Chantrey, the most successful and accomplished sculptor of his day. There he acquired exceptional skills and began to exhibit at the Royal Academy. He left this promising situation to return to work for Paul Nixson in Carlisle in 1820. Nixson had a monumental workshop in Finkle Street, but offered little demanding work for the young sculptor beyond the carving of funeral monuments and marble fireplaces. However, Dunbar, Nixson and a young painter, Matthew Nutter, began The Carlisle Academy of the Arts. Their aspirations were embodied in the sculpture of the Genius of Carlisle which stood above the workshop entrance. Dunbar busied himself with carving the busts of local professionals and industrialists and occupied himself in educating the working men in the city and promoting a remarkable series of eight annual art exhibitions. In the small provincial city of Carlisle, Dunbar was showing works by the great masters from Titian to Rubens and Rembrandt and displaying plaster casts of sculptures from the antique and after Renaissance masters. He was also attracting exhibits from leading contemporaries throughout the country, including Edwin Landseer, John Varley, Frederick Watts, James Ward and members of the Norwich School, and from a school of proficient local artists. In 1826, he went on an extended tour of Italy, visiting the workshops of Thorwaldsen and Joseph Gott, among others, in Rome and being deeply impressed by the work of the late Canova in Possagno. On his return, he sought to extend his reputation. When he was refused entry to the Newcastle Exhibition because his statue of Musidora was considered indecent, he took the unprecedented step of staging a one-man exhibition in the city and then a second one in Durham. He found work among the liberal and radical community in the North-east. He sculpted the young Elizabeth Stephens, who in later years became the novelist Mrs Gaskell. He was also commissioned to make busts of Earl Grey and of James Losh, but the leading commissions did not come his way. His work lacked the individuality and imagination of Lewthwaite Watson. It was probably at this time, in 1832, that he carved busts of Sarah and Katharine Losh. Dunbar’s bust of James Losh was placed in the library of the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle, but it was also used as a model for John Graham Lough, then working in Rome, to create a full-length statue of Losh in a Roman toga. It was Lough’s work which took pride of place on the staircase of the society. In 1839, he sought money and reputation by making the first bust of Grace Darling and selling plaster casts of the popular heroine of the Islands. His work and his income declined. In his last years he was a peripatetic stonemason and carver, repairing the stonework on colleges and churches. He died visiting his home town in 1866. His most popular and admired work was an image of his infant daughter, Elizabeth, which he made shortly after her death in 1822. There is a copy in Carlisle Cathedral, but he was prepared to sell the original even after he had donated it to his home church in Dumfries. His statue of Katharine Losh was recreated from the image of the bust he had already created from the life, from Sarah’s drawing and from Sarah’s memories and imagining. He rendered in marble that sense of gentleness, of sweet compliance, that sense of love between two sisters so embracing and so essential to each that they never thought of being apart. In carving the statue of Katharine, David Dunbar was touched by an art more profound than he had known before.
David Dunbar was born in 1793. He was the son of Thomas Dunbar, Stonemason and his wife Janet Johnstone. David Dunbar married first Ann Stokes and second Arabella Riddiford. He died at Academy Street Dumfries on the 12 of August 1866. His nephew George Dunbar registered his death
Grace Darling, the daughter of a lighthouse keeper who rescued the survivors of the shipwrecked Forfarshire in 1838 and gained national fame.
The rain clouds parted and the sun made a plucky appearance during our guided walk yesterday when we were delighted to welcome Air Commodore Tony Keeling OBE, Commandant Royal Air Force Air Cadets, to Radnor Street Cemetery.
Following the closure of the RAFA Club in Belle Vue Road the propeller mounted on the front of the building faced an uncertain future. Then a group of concerned Swindonians, among them Carole and David Bent, Neil Robinson, Toby Robson and Graham Carter, stepped in to rescue it.
At Sunday’s event Air Commodore Keeling cut the ribbon and led the assembled visitors into the chapel to view the propeller, now mounted above the door. Cemetery volunteer Kevin, a member of the Eyes On Hands On team, gave an informative talk about the history of the Airspeed Oxford to a packed chapel, as you can see from Andy’s photographs. Then, accompanied by fellow officers and air cadets, Air Commodore Keeling joined us on our walk.
Guest speaker, Paul Gentleman, gave an account of the career of Wing Commander John Starr who is remembered on his brother’s (Squadron Leader Harold Starr) grave. Paul and his wife Caroline along with Noel Beauchamp have been researching the life and times of the two Starr brothers for several years. Paul, Caroline and Noel, in association with Green Rook and Swindon Heritage, organised the Swindon Remembers event to commemorate the Battle of Britain 75th anniversary held in the cemetery in 2015.
Our visitors at Sunday’s event donated generously to the memorial plaque for Mark Sutton. This will be unveiled at the Remembrance Day Service, an event Mark established many years ago.
Here are some photos of the day captured by Andy and myself.
In July 1939, as war became imminent, the Lord Privy Seal’s Office issued a number of Public Information Leaflets. Leaflet No. 2 contained information on ‘Your Gas Mask – How to keep it and How to Use It’ as well as instructions concerning ‘Masking Your Windows’ with the following advice:
In war, one of our great protections against the dangers of air attack after nightfall would be the “black out.” On the outbreak of hostilities all external lights and street lighting would be totally extinguished so as to give hostile aircraft no indication as to their whereabouts. But this will not be fully effective unless you do your part, and see to it that no lighting in the house where you live is visible from the outside. The motto for safety will be “Keep it dark!”
The ‘black out’ was yet another feature of wartime that impacted on everyday life. In the winter of 1940 these difficult conditions and icy winter roads resulted in a road traffic accident and the death of Charles Smart.
Image published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.
Killed in Black-Out
Inquest on Swindon Man
Against the wishes of his niece who thought the roads too treacherous for him, Mr Charles Smart, aged 68, a retired GWR employee, of 44, Curtis Street, Swindon, went out on Tuesday of last week to the Central Club. On his way home he was in the act of crossing the road when he was knocked down by a Corporation ‘bus receiving injuries from which he died in the GWR Medical Fund Hospital on Saturday night.
A verdict of “Accidental death” was returned by the jury at Tuesday’s inquest, conducted by the Wilts Coroner (Mr Harold Dale), and the driver of the ‘bus William John Snell was exonerated.
Mr Smart’s niece, Mrs Dorothy Kate Critchley, with whom he lived, said her uncle enjoyed good health, hearing and eyesight.
Dr Alister McLean said the cause of death was shock following injury to the brain due to a blow on the head.
Reasonable Speed
Walter Fred J. Ockwell, 10, Milton Road, Swindon said that last Tuesday night about 10 o’clock, he was in Curtis Street and just before reaching Whitehead Street he saw a form in the middle of the road. The form was not moving. When about 30 feet away he shouted to the object. A ‘bus came along but the object did not appear to move until the ‘bus was almost on top of it. As the ‘bus swerved to the right the object moved to the left. The ‘bus was almost in the middle of the road, and was being driven at quite a reasonable speed.
When he reached the spot, the driver and passengers were getting out of the ‘bus. The object proved to be a man lying a little to the centre of the road. It appeared as if the ‘bus had pushed the man forward. Witness said that as the man stood in the road he faced the direction from which the bus came.
Private James Lewis Warburton said he saw Smart leave the pavement and walk towards the centre of the road, where he stood still. He thought Smart was going to stop the bus, and he did not see him slip.
Driver’s Swerve
The bus driver, William John Snell, described it as a very dark night, with bad road conditions. When he first saw the figure in the road it was very close to the bus and well into the road. He immediately applied his brakes and swerved to the offside, but, owing to the condition of the road, the bus slipped along a little further, and the nearside headlamp struck the man, who was wearing dark clothing.
Questioned by his solicitor (Mr S.G.G. Humphreys), Snell said that had Smart remained where he was when he first saw him, the swerve would have avoided him.
The Coroner suggested that it might be that Smart found the road so slippery that he was afraid to move.
Sympathy was extended to the relatives by the Coroner, and by Mr Humphreys on behalf of the Corporation and the driver of the bus.
North Wilts Herald, Friday, 9 February, 1940.
Image published courtesy of the Dixon Attwell Collection, Local Studies, Swindon Central Library
Charles Smart 69 years of 44 Curtis Street died at the GW Hospital and was buried in a public grave, plot C149 on February 8, 1940.
Kenneth Scott-Browne was a member of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers 7th Battalion. In November 1943 the 7th Battalion was converted into an Airborne Battalion and began training for the planned Normandy landings. During an exercise code named DREME a Stirling towing a Horsa glider carrying No 3 Platoon hit a tree and crashed. Scott-Browne was one of 34 military personnel killed that day in April 1944. His death was registered in Droxford, Hampshire and his body returned to his home at 85 Medgbury Road, Swindon for burial in Radnor Street Cemetery.
VE Day was a time for rejoicing but not for everyone. While the war in Europe had ended the one in Japan would continue for another three months. And what about the families who would never meet again their loved ones.
The Kenneth Scott-Browne’s wartime marriage to Elsie Herbert was a short one. The wedding took place in Swindon in the spring of 1941 and just four years later Elsie was a widow with a toddler, a son named Kenneth Frederick after his two grandfathers. By May 8, 1945 Elsie had remarried. She was still only 25 and had a three year old son to support when she married Leslie Jack Burnett. In 1954 she married for a third time.
Kenneth was buried on April 11, 1944 in Elsie’s Herbert family plot. Elsie outlived both her sons and died at the Kingsmead Nursing Home in Prospect Place, Swindon in May 2005, aged 84. She was buried in plot C4251 with her young, first husband Kenneth.
The cities of London and Bristol were heavily bombed during the Second World War yet Swindon, somewhere in between, went relatively unscathed. Despite its dominance within the railway industry it appears that Swindon was not on the Luftwaffe radar. There is a theory that Hitler was preserving the railway network for when he invaded Britain.
On the night of October 20, 1940 a lone bomber dropped three bombs (two high-explosive and an incendiary bomb) on the town, causing significant damage on Rosebery and Graham Streets in Broad Town. There were 10 confirmed fatalities, including Nellie May Page who lived at 35 Graham Street but was visiting friends in Rosebery Street that fateful night.
Workers’ Houses Wrecked
People Killed by Bombs in South of England Town
Having regard to the damage to working class houses caused by two heavy high explosive bombs that dropped on a town in the South on Sunday night, the casualties were comparatively few.
In one street six adjoining houses collapsed when a heavy bomb crashed through the roof of one. The second bomb dropped in the middle of a road in an adjoining street, leaving another huge crater and almost completely demolishing three houses.
The explosion threw the uppermost part of about a dozen houses out of the perpendicular. Pieces of masonry, rafter timber and other debris were rained down over a wide radius, holing roofs in many places and doing extensive damage.
Despite this damage fatal casualties were few. One of the persons killed was Mrs. Nellie May Page aged 47, who was visiting friends at the time. Her daughter, Miss Sylvia Joan Page, who was with her, was taken to hospital suffering from severe head injuries and shock.
Fractured Gas Main
An oil bomb which struck the rear of one house, partially wrecked the scullery and living room. A fire was started here, but it was dealt with very effectively by the fire-fighting services, and extinguished before it could get a hold. Gas from a fractured gas main also caught alight, but here again the brigade quickly had the situation in hand.
The situation provided a severe test for the various ARP services and police, but they all acquitted themselves remarkably well. Demolition and rescue squads, as well as first-aid parties and medical men, were at hand extricating residents trapped deep down in the wreckage and attending to the injured.
In Good Spirit
Gallant work was done by wardens and ambulance men, and they recount how two young girls were liberated, almost unscathed, from beneath a completely wrecked house. Falling beams had apparently prevented them from being crushed to death, and the rescuers were surprised to find that they were not only unhurt but in good spirit. One asked for a drink and when offered a flask of water observed, with a smile, “Is that the best you can do?”
Generally, the inhabitants displayed great fortitude and calmness, and seemed to be more concerned about the welfare of their neighbours than of their own interests.
Rapid headway was made in clearing away the debris. There were plenty of volunteers for the work of salving furniture and other belongs, and, in the same way, those whose homes were not so severely damaged found plenty of helpers to assist in covering up broken windows and doorways.
Extracts for the North Wilts Herald Friday 25 October 1940.
Wartime publishing restrictions prevented newspapers from identifying the town and street names.
Nellie was born on June 4, 1893, the youngest of five children. Her father William James Hopkins worked in the Carriage and Wagon Works. When Nellie was baptised at St. Saviours on July 16, 1893 William and his wife Emma and their children were living at 78 William Street.
Nellie married at St. Marks on September 25, 1915 during the First World War when her husband Francis Vernon Page was serving in the RAMC.
Nellie was buried in grave plot E7491 with her husband Francis who died in December 1935.
Radnor Street Cemetery 