Members of the Rodbourne Community History Group gathered together last weekend to celebrate the achievements of the group across more than 20 years.
What began as the Rodbourne Living History Project in 2003, an initiative of the Outreach Department of English Heritage here in Swindon, evolved into a vibrant group giving presentations, talks and tours about their neck of the woods.
But the time had come to say a fond farewell – although the popular ‘Factory Tours’ of the Outlet Village will continue later in 2025.
The archive will in due course transfer to the Local Studies, Swindon Central Library, flickr website but until then you can still view photographs on the Rodbourne Community History Group’s website.
Today there is a worldwide interest in cemeteries both as an historical resource and also as a place of beauty. From pristine perfection to benign neglect, cemeteries are of interest to many.
I follow a wide selection of ‘Friends’ groups including the Friends of Brompton, Kensal Green and Highgate cemeteries. And then, of course, there is Sheldon K. Goodman of Cemetery Club fame who receives rave review on Tripadvisor.
Between the Radnor Street Cemetery group of volunteers we have collected many hundreds of photographs but we seldom come across any taken at the beginning of the cemetery’s history. So it came as something of a surprise to find the following snippet of news published in the Swindon Advertiser in 1889.
Old Swindon Local Board
Cemetery Committee
A report was read from this committee, being of a formal nature. Amongst other business the committee recommended that a sum not exceeding £20 should be spent in purchasing and planting trees in the cemetery. A local photographer had applied to the committee, and was granted permission, to take photographs of and in the cemetery.- The report was adopted and this concluded the business.
The Swindon Advertiser, Saturday, November 23, 1889.
Who was that photographer and where are his photographs? Can anyone enlighten me?
These are the earliest known photographs of the cemetery – unless you know differently.
A photograph dated c1910 taken by William Hooper
A photograph taken following the funeral of Levi Lapper Morse in 1913.
I’ve seen some accidents in the saw mill in my time, but I’ve never seen so much blood before.
No one could fathom out how the saw had fallen from the frame. At the inquest we were asked the very same question, which no one could satisfactorily answer. Putting the saws in the frame had been Charlie’s job.
Charlie had already replaced the first saw, which had fallen from the frame when a second one fell, the blade skimming across his wrist. He was a big old boy, but we managed to lift him out of the way of the machinery until we could get him to the Medical Fund Hospital.
It wasn’t until Charlie had been transported to the hospital that I remembered Harry, the young apprentice who had started work with us that same week. I eventually found him hiding in the cloakroom curled up in a ball on the floor. I thought we were going to have to call the doctor back out again, I’ve never seen anyone look so queer. I suppose it must have been the shock of seeing all that blood.
I told him Charlie was going to be alright, but he didn’t seem to understand me and in the end we had to find his father to come and take him home. He came back to work the following day, but he soon transferred to the Stores. People said he was never the same again.
Like I said, I’ve never seen so much blood before. We spent the rest of the day scrubbing the place down.
Death at the GWR Medical Hospital
Inquest and Verdict
On Tuesday last at the Lecture Hall of the Mechanics’ Institute, Swindon, Mr A.L. Forrester, Coroner for North Wilts held the inquest on the body of W. Cook, who died at the Medical Fund Hospital, under circumstances detailed in the evidence given below.
Mr Greenaway was chosen foreman of the jury.
Mrs Annie Cook, of 15 Carr street, Swindon said that she identified the body as that of her husband, William Cook, aged 64, a sawyer, employed in the GWR Works. He died on Saturday at the Medical Fund Hospital, and witness was there at the time of his death.
George Ockwell, of Purton, sawyer, in the GWR Works, said that on last Thursday week between 11 and 12, witness was in the saw pit putting the blocks in to cut the timber to a certain size. The saws were hung in the frame but not set, and as Cook put a block in the saw fell down. As Cook went to put the saw back in its place the other saw next to it fell down and cut his wrist. Witness who was in the pit saw the blood coming down. It was Cook’s duty to fix the saw.
The machinery was not in motion of course.
Oh no sir. You had nothing to do with these blocks below? Cook had to hand me the blocks to put in, and the first saw fell down as he was handing me the first block.
You had not put this block in position? No sir.
What do you think caused the saw to fall? I don’t know.
Did the saw fall right down into the pit? Oh yes, sir, close to me.
How deep is the pit? About 14 inches.
Witness explained that he sat on a board to adjust the saw, his legs only being in the pit. The back of the saw was towards witness, and the saw fell down between his legs. The saws were not circular, but were straight “up and down” saws.
Ernest Samuel Richards, shop foreman in the saw mills, said that the mill at which Cook was working was a vertical long frame. The saws were 5ft 10in long, and the average width would be about 5½ inches. The saw had a buckle on, with a hook, and it was attached to the tiller with the hook the reverse way. They were fastened in the frame by a steel cotter. The blocks were simply packing, and did not affect the hook at all. He had never heard of saws falling down during adjustment. If these saws are hooked up and keyed how could it drop down? They cannot drop down when they are adjusted unless they come off the hooks, and that could only happen by a blow or by their being lifted in some way or other.
Dr G.R. Swinhoe said that on May 6th the deceased was received at the GWR Hospital suffering from a cut to the left side of the wrist, severing the radial artery. The bleeding was stopped and the wound was dressed, and he asked the man to stay in the Hospital, but the deceased took his discharge and went home. He come up every day to have the wound dressed until the day before he was re-admitted (May 12th). He was admitted on the 13th suffering from blood poisoning to the left arm. Hypostatic pneumonia had set in and Cook died from hypostatic pneumonia on May 15th. Witness then explained how the temperature from the blood poisoning would affect the heart, and render the heart unable to pump the blood through the lungs. The primary cause of all the trouble was the suppuration set up in the cut wrist, and the other things followed in an elderly and very stout man with a weak heart.
The jury returned a verdict that Cook died from hypostatic pneumonia following a cut on the wrist, accidentally caused by a saw in the GWR Works.
Mr H.B. Dawe was present as being in charge of the GWR Timber Department. Mr W. Ireland, Factory Inspector was also in attendance.
Funeral of Deceased
Yesterday afternoon the remains of the late Mr William Cook were laid to rest in the Swindon Cemetery. The funeral cortege left Carr Street shortly after three o’clock, and proceeded to the Cemetery where the funeral service, both in the Chapel and at the graveside, was conducted by the Rev. J.T. Evans, in the presence of a large number of relatives and sympathising friends. The remains were enclosed in a polished elm coffin with brass furnishings, and bearing a breastplate with the inscription “William Cook died May 13th, 1909, aged 64 years.”
Swindon Advertiser Friday May 21st, 1909
William Charles Cook was born in Bath in 1845, the son of John Cook. He married Eva Annie Perrin on October 22, 1874 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and by 1876 they were living in Swindon where their son Lewis Ernest Samuel Cook was born. At the time of the 1891 census William and Eva, were living at 15 Carr Street with 15-year-old Lewis and 2-year-old daughter Frances.
William was buried on May 20, 1909 in plot E7378 in Radnor Street Cemetery. He lies with his son Lewis who died in 1900 aged just 24 and his wife Eva Annie who died in 1913.
There may or may not be a headstone to William Charles Cook beneath all those brambles. We fully appreciate the financial constraints upon Swindon Borough Council – that the coffers are depleted and there is only enough money for essential services. But it is such a shame that an important heritage site such as Radnor Street Cemetery receives so little maintenance. Here lies, quite literally, the history of our town – remembering the ordinary people of Swindon.
I always knew those girls would do well, especially little Irene. She was always so attentive and eager to learn.
Irene Dening
The turn of the century was an exciting time to be a woman; plenty of new opportunities to be had and women everywhere were pushing the boundaries that had constrained them for too many years.
I began my pupil teacher training at Queens Town Infants School in 1891. Among the girls who joined with me was Edith New who would go on to play a significant role in the Votes for Women campaign with Mrs Pankhurst and her daughters.
Queens Town School opened in 1880, an impressive red brick building built alongside the old canal. Perhaps not the most salubrious of settings, but the school served the Queens Town community well. By the time I began my pupil teacher training there ten years later a girls’ school had been built on the site.
However, there were still anomalies in the teaching profession. Women teachers who taught infants and girls were paid less than men who taught boys, an inequality that Miss New would later campaign to change. But the Swindon School Board was a progressive organisation that set high standards of which young Freda and Irene took best advantage.
When we gained our teaching certification Miss New moved to London, but I stayed closer to home. I followed the Dening sisters careers with great interest. So many of the girls I taught did well, but perhaps none more so than Freda and Irene Dening. I always knew those girls would do well, especially little Irene. Always so attentive and eager to learn.
Freda Dening
The facts …
Freda and Irene were born into a railway family. Their father Richard was a steam engine fitter and along with their brother Henry, the three children were all born in Swindon and grew up at 61 Hythe Road.
Freda entered the service of the GWR in 1912 when she was 15 and Irene joined the workforce in 1914 when she was about the same age.
Freda began work in the statistical section of the engineer’s office at Marlow House and was one of the first girls to be employed in the clerical department of the Swindon Works. She studied shorthand and typing at Swindon College, going on to become a shorthand typist in the Works. But her ambition didn’t stop there. She went on to study for three years covering accounting and business methods, the law of carriage by railway, the basis of railway rates and charges.
Her sister Irene was equally ambitious and worked as secretary to the Stores Superintendent. She also went on to study and both women won the prestigious Brunel Medal.
The Brunel Medal was awarded to Students in the railway department of the London School of Economics who, in not more than four years, obtained three first class passes in examinations held in connection with courses approved for the purpose.
The women’s elder brother Henry was also awarded the Brunel Medal, so they were a pretty extraordinary family.
In an interview with the Swindon Advertiser Freda said:
“I really loved my job and it opened many doors to opportunity that my sister and I would not of otherwise had. There were very few women in the railways in those days and it was a fascinating place to be.”
But there were sacrifices to be made. Neither women married nor had children. Of course, this may have been by choice. These days an ambitious woman would probably expect to be able to have it all – as an ambitious man can!
Freda retired early to care for her elderly parents while Irene had a career that spanned nearly 45 years.
Both sisters ended their days in the Cheriton Nursing Home. Irene died on February 25, 1982 aged 81 and Freda on March 18, 1994 aged 96. Their cremated remains are buried here with their parents.
My thanks go to Dr Rosa Matheson who first drew my attention to the Dening sisters in her magnificent book The Fair Sex: Women in the Great Western Railway.
How we like to moan about good old ‘health and safety’ regulations. What a nuisance it all is – well this is how life was before we had such protection.
When John Parkinson went to work that Tuesday in October 1901 it was just another day in the railway factory. By eight o’clock that evening he lay dead in the Medical Fund Hospital, his wife Kate a widow and his four young sons Ernest 8, George 6, Percy 4 and 2 year old Wilfred without their father.
The Fatal Accident in the GWR Works
A Rodbourne Man Killed
A terrible accident occurred in the GWR Works, Swindon, on Tuesday, which, unhappily, terminated fatally. A man named J.E. Parkinson, of 46, Linslade-street, Rodbourne, and engaged in the boiler shop of the GWR Works, was the victim, a large boiler falling on his back, and inflicting such injuries that his life was despaired of from the first. The accident happened about four o’clock on Tuesday last, and the unfortunate fellow, who was 31 years of age, was conveyed to the GWR Medical Fund Hospital, where Drs. Rodway and Astley Swinhoe attended to his injuries. The injuries to the back and sides were so terrible that it was utterly impossible to do anything more for the unfortunate man than give him stimulants and keep him warm. He only lingered four hours, passing away soon after eight o’clock in the evening. He leaves a widow, who is prostrated with grief, and four children.
GWR Boiler Shop c1886 – image published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.
The Inquest
Was held yesterday (Thursday) afternoon in the Council Chamber of the Mechanics’ Institution, by Mr Coroner W.E.N. Browne, and a jury, of which Mr. Thos. Tranter was chosen foreman. There were also present J.S. Maitland, Esq., H.M. Inspector of Factories, and Mr. A.E. Withy, representing the widow of deceased.
The Jury having viewed the body, the first witness called was William Simpkins, employed in the GWR Works, who was working on the boiler at the time of the accident. His evidence went to show that the boiler was mounted on trestles outside the shop. It had been there about three weeks. It was an ordinary engine boiler, and the trestles were standing on the bare ground. He did not notice anything wrong until a minute before the accident happened, and then he saw the trestles were sinking at one end. He gave the alarm, and one man was got out from the smoke box end, but the deceased was too late, and the boiler caught him as it tilted over.
By the Coroner: Is it usual to do this kind of work with the boiler mounted on trestles? Sometimes they are mounted on bogies, but they are done as much one way as another. – Has there ever been any accident before? Not to my knowledge.
By the Inspector: since the accident iron plates have been put under the trestles. Is that any improvement? Yes, undoubtedly.
By Mr Withy: Was it impossible for the man to get away after the warning was given? Quite impossible.
At this point a desire was expressed on the part of the jury to see the spot where the accident happened, to which the Coroner agreed.
Upon returning, Charles Bray, who was also working on the same job, gave evidence. He said that when the boiler began to slip, he shouted, and the man in the smoke-box end was got out. He then shouted to the man in the fire-box end, who said “What’s up?” He (witness) said that the boiler would fall presently, as the trestles were giving way. Parkinson then tried to get out, when the boiler went, crushing him between it and the packing.
By the Coroner: How long had the packing been there? I couldn’t quite say. – Were the trestles good? They were when they were put up. – Was there anything under the trestles- plate or anything? No. – Is this usual? Yes. – Was the boiler empty at the time? No, full of water, and deceased was marking what tubes had to come out.
Mr Llewellyn Dyer, foreman of the B Shop, was the next witness. In answer to the Coroner, he said that the trestles were quite strong enough. – Is it usual to put boilers on trestles? Yes, it is done every day. When they had sufficient bogies they were used, and when not they were put on the ground. – Had deceased stopped in the boiler, would he had been safer? Yes, I think so.
By the Inspector: Whose duty was it to see the boiler put on the trestles? My own nominally, but necessarily I have to leave details to others. – Will precautions be taken to prevent similar accidents in the future? You my take it from me, sir, such an accident will never occur again. – Witness went on to state that the ground on which the boiler stood was new ground, and had not, previous to a month ago, been used for the purpose for the past 30 years.
Dr. G. Rodway Swinhoe gave evidence that he attended the deceased soon after the accident, and found him suffering from very severe shock. After examination he was put to bed, and stimulants were administered, but he was too bad to be moved about. Deceased never recovered from the shock, and this was undoubtedly the actual cause of death.
The Jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death,” caused by severe shock to the system, through the accident.
At the conclusion of the enquiry, Mr. Dyer stated that a communication would be sent to Mr. Maitland by the Manager of the Works stating what steps had been taken to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate affair, at which the Inspector and Coroner expressed their satisfaction.
Swindon Advertiser, Friday, October, 18, 1901
The Fatal Accident in the GWR Works
Funeral of the Deceased
The body of John Ernest Parkinson, of Linslade Street, Rodbourne, who succumbed to injuries received in the GWR Works, Swindon, on Tuesday week, as already reported in our columns, was interred in the Swindon cemetery last Saturday morning. Nearly a hundred persons followed the coffin to the grave, the chief mourners being the deceased’s widow, his mother, and children. Mr. C. Hall and Mr F. Green, assistant foremen in the same shop that deceased worked in, followed many shop mates and others being present. The Rev. F.J. Murrell (Wesleyan) conducted the service, and the coffin, which was of elm with black fittings, was covered with floral tributes….
Mr Charles Dunn carried out the funeral arrangements.
Extracts from the Swindon Advertiser Friday October 25, 1901.
Linslade Street, Rodbourne c1920s image published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.
When John Ernest Parkinson married Maud Mary Kate Clack at St. Mark’s Church, Swindon in 1892 he gave his occupation as Cheese Monger and an address in London. By the time of the census in 1901 he describes his occupation as a Locomotive Boiler Tuber in the GWR Works here in Swindon.
His funeral took place on October 19, 1901 and he was buried in grave plot C1979 where he lay alone for 74 years. In 1975 his son George Clement Parkinson was buried in the same plot and two years after that Kate Parkinson (most probably George’s wife) joined them.
Sadly, this is all that remains of a once magnificent memorial to the Ellis family in Radnor Street Cemetery. Thieves armed with cutting equipment removed the ornate metalwork and with it all reference to the family buried there.
William Ellis was one of the first members of the New Swindon Local Board, a director of the Swindon Building Society, Chairman of the New Swindon Gas Company and a director of the Swindon Water Company. A devout Methodist, he was described as being ‘a most acceptable lay preacher widely known in Wiltshire and South Wales.’
Expansion at the GWR Works in 1861 saw the building of new Rolling Mills. Once established the rail mill produced an estimated 19,300 tons of rails a year with the workforce consisting mainly of Welsh iron workers.
Thomas Ellis was the first manager at the Rolling Mills and was responsible for building the cottages along Cambria Place to house the Welsh workers.
William came to Swindon with his two young children and took over as manager in 1863. The family’s first home was at 4 Church Place, before moving to the Woodlands, a GWR manager’s house.
When William died on May 25 1896 the Advertiser published a lengthy obituary in which he was described as having the ‘esteem of the large number of men who were under his control.’
“The first portion of the funeral service was conducted at 8 am on the lawn in front of the Woodlands by Revs A.A. Southerns and G. Osborne. Portions of Scripture were read, and hymns No. 680 and 940 from the Wesley hymn book were sung at the close of the beautiful and impressive early morning service,” the Advertiser reported. “The cortege then proceeded to a saloon, which was placed near the house, and the family left by the 9-5 train for Abergavenny where a hearse and carriages were in waiting to convey the remains and family to Lanelly church, where a large number of friends from neighbouring places had assembled.”
William’s son Ernest followed his father into the Rolling Mills where he worked as Assistant Manager. He and his wife Catherine lived at the old Ellis family home at 4 Church Place. Two of their children who died in infancy were buried in the Radnor Street plot, Olga Louise in 1897 aged 2 years and 2 months and Louis Robert in 1890 aged just six months.
Ernest died in 1915. The Advertiser published an account of the Memorial Service held in the Wesley Chapel, Faringdon Street during which Ernest was described as a man who ‘hoped for the best, and believed of the best in people,’ ironic considering the vandalism of his family’s memorial.
Ernest’s wife Catherine who died in 1931 aged 78 and his sister Louisa who died in 1944 aged 89 were both buried in the family plot. The names of William and his wife Emily were included on the family memorial.
Fortunately there are photographs of the distinctive monument preserved on Duncan and Mandy Ball’s website. Without this record the memory of one family who made such a large contribution to 19th century Swindon would be lost.
Although the Liberal dominance nationally was on the wane in the last decades of the 19th century, Swindon remained a Liberal stronghold and a hive of political activity with women playing an active role. One such woman was Harriett Annie Veness.
We might consider the term feminist to be a modern one but the word first came into usage in 1852 and Annie Veness was an exemplary role model, demanding women’s rights throughout her lifetime.
Annie was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire in 1869, daughter of Thomas Veness, a bricklayer and mason, and his wife Harriett. The family moved to Swindon in the early 1870s and appear on the 1881 census living at 30 Sheppard Street. Annie cut her proselytizing teeth supporting her parents with their work in the Church of England Temperance Society, later becoming honorary secretary of the British Women’s Temperance Society.
Annie joined the Swindon and North Wilts Women’s Liberal Association upon its foundation in 1893, becoming the first Honorary Secretary, a role she fulfilled for more than ten years. Neither did she restrict her campaign work to the Swindon district but travelled across the country canvassing in elections in her role as organizing secretary for the Women’s National Liberal Federation. She was an enthusiastic public speaker, described as giving a “spirited address” in Ebbw Vale whilst speaking for “nearly an hour” in Chelmsford
Following her mother’s death in December 1897 Annie and Thomas continued to live at 30 Sheppard Street where they employed a 15 year old domestic servant, Janet Hinder. Her three brothers Thomas, Alfred and Reginald would all emigrate to the USA.
Annie’s political campaigning appears to have come to an end in around 1908 when she resigned from the Women’s National Liberal Federation. Annie and her widowed father moved to Worcester where Annie got a job as a clerk in the Women’s Department at the Employment Exchange. At the time of the 1911 census Thomas Veness was a patient in Birmingham’s General Hospital while Annie stayed at the Cobden Hotel to be close to her father. Following a lifetime of independence, eventually and inevitably Annie was forced to accept the traditional female role as carer for her elderly father.
Thomas died on May 21, 1920. His body was returned to Swindon where he was buried with his wife in Radnor Street cemetery. After her retirement, Annie also returned to Swindon and a home at 59 Drove Road where it was recorded that she did “quiet, good work in the town in the Liberal interest and the temperance cause.” It is sad to think of the passionate, bold speaker reduced to quiet, good work.
Annie died at the Victoria Hospital on October 31, 1936, her life and death recorded in an obituary published in the Swindon Advertiser where it was commented on that “link with the days when Swindon was a strong Liberal constituency is snapped.”
The funeral service took place on November 4 at the Baptist Tabernacle followed by interment in the cemetery. Annie was buried in plot E8097 with her parents where today a fine headstone lies flat on the family grave.
At the inquest it was stated there were no adults in the vicinity of the pond where the three boys drowned, but I knew differently.
I heard them laughing and shouting as they edged across the frozen surface and then the screams as they foundered in the icy water.
I watched as the young Mapstone boy, still fully clothed and wearing his skates, jumped into the freezing water and momentarily disappeared. I watched him struggle up the bank, casting off his clothes and running this way and that, searching for something with which to pull the boys out.
The father of one of the lost boys asked the coroner about the adults who were observed at the scene of the tragedy, but young Mapstone said they arrived too late, the boys had already disappeared, but I knew differently. The police sergeant said no one was to blame. I knew I was to blame.
All the time I looked on, hiding in the hedgerow, praying that no one would see me, praying that no one would expect me to jump into that pond. Now, twenty years later I still pray that no one will discover my secret.
The young Mapstone boy was praised for his actions. I wonder if that was of any consolation to the eleven-year-old. I wonder if he still has nightmares. I know I do.
Today I enlisted with the Wiltshire Regiment. I’m hoping I’ll be sent out to France pretty soon. The casualty numbers are mounting and I hope I will soon be one of them. I don’t want to come home a hero. I don’t want to come home at all. I’m praying I’ll be killed pretty quickly. Then I’ll no longer see those boys drowning in that pond or young Edwin Mapstone frantically running along the bank, half dressed.
Drove Road c1910 published courtesy of P.A. Williams and Local Studies, Swindon Central Library.
The facts …
Drowning Fatality at New Swindon
Three Lives Lost
Inquest on the Bodies
On Saturday, about noon, a sad accident happened at New Swindon by which three lads lost their lives. It appears that the boys, being too venturesome, went sliding on a pond in a meadow known as Wharf Field, near the Drove road, New Swindon. Suddenly the ice gave way, and the three boys fell in. The water was about ten feet deep, and there being no one at hand to rescue them, all three were drowned. Some other boys who witnessed the sad occurrence ran off and gave information to the police, with the result that P.C. Keating and another constable hastened to the spot, but by the time they arrived the bodies were out of sight. They recovered the bodies, but life was extinct. Dr Lavery was also sent for, but he found all attempts at resuscitation useless, and the bodies were removed to the Queen’s Arms Hotel, and the Coroner communicated with. Two of the lads resided in Mill-street, their names being Charles Greaves, aged 8 years, and Thomas Tombs, aged 10 years. The third lad, who was about the same age, and whose name was Wm. Stagg, hails from Southampton, and was on a visit to some friends at 32 Princes Street. He was to have returned home the same Saturday evening.
The Inquest
On the bodies of the three unfortunate lads was held at the Queen’s Arms, on Monday afternoon by Mr Coroner Browne and a jury of whom Mr J. Jefford was foreman. – Chas. Fredk. Townsend aged 10 years, said he was sliding on the ice with the three deceased lads on Saturday about 12 o’clock. He slid across the pond first and the other three lads followed altogether. Greaves was first, and when they reached the middle of the pond the ice broke and all three fell in. He and the other lads watched them struggling in the water and whistled for assistance. – Edwin Mapstone, aged 11 years, said he was skating on a ditch about 100 yards from the pond and saw the lads sliding on the pond. On hearing the shouts of the other boys he went across to the pond and saw the three lads struggling in the water. He jumped in to try to rescue them, but could not swim under the weight of his clothes and skates on, and he went down once himself in trying to help the other boys. Two boys went for a prop, which witness put into the water, but the drowning lads had not strength enough to hold it. He saw the lads as he was passing the pond before they went on the ice and told them the ice was not safe. – In answer to Mr. Tombs, father of one of the deceased lads, witness said there were several grown up persons round the pond, but they did not arrive until the bodies had disappeared. – P.C. Scammel said he was informed of the accident whilst on duty in Regent-street, and he at once proceeded to the pond, but by the time he arrived the bodies had disappeared underneath the water. With the assistance of P.C. Keating he recovered the bodies but then all attempts at resuscitation were useless. – Edwin George Castle, of 40 Mill street, said he lived near the pond, the construction of which he knew perfectly well. It was nine feet deep in the centre and was cleaned out about two years ago. It was 25 ft. in width and was built in basin shape, with a division for the purpose of allowing cattle to drink. The ice covering the pond on the day in question was not safe. He was near the pond about 12.45 on Saturday last and saw the witness Mapstone running across the field, partially naked, crying for assistance. He obtained a pole and went to the pond, but when he arrived the lads had sunk. – E. Mapstone was re-called to answer a question as to whether there were any grown up persons near the pond at the time of the occurrence. He said the bodies had just disappeared when they arrived. – Sergt. Garrett said he had made full enquiries on this point, and did not think the grown-up persons needed any censure.- Mr Toombs: I do not wish to censure anyone. – Dr Lavery said he saw the bodies about ten minutes past two death was due to asphyxia from drowning. In answer to a question the doctor said if he had been present about five minutes after total submersion he might have succeeded in saving life. – This concluded the evidence, and the Coroner said there was only one verdict which the jury could return. No blame could be attached to anybody. The little boy Mapstone seemed to have done the best he could to try and save the lads and was deserving of the highest praise. – The jury then returned a verdict of “accidentally drowned,” and Mr Bradbury moved a vote of condolence with the bereaved families. The jury handed their fees to Mrs. Greaves, the widowed mother of the deceased lad Greaves.
Swindon Advertiser, Saturday February 2, 1895
The boys were buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on the same day, in graves just a few spaces apart. Eight-year-old Thomas Greaves was buried in plot B2275, a privately purchased plot, which he shares with his father Francis who had died in 1894.
Ten-year-old Charles Tombs was buried in plot B2213 a public or pauper’s grave, which he shares with five others, including May Tombs, a 22 month old baby who died in 1893 and is most probably a relative.
There is no further information about William Stagg, the third boy who drowned.
Edwin Mapstone was born on May 29, 1883, the son of Welsh born Evan Mapstone, a striker in the Works, and his wife Margaret. The family lived at 41 Mill Street when Edwin was baptised at St John the Evangelist on December 29 of that year.
In 1897 the fourteen-year-old began a 6½ year apprenticeship in the Works as a blacksmith. In 1909 he married Emily Baker and by the time of the 1911 census he was living with his wife and baby son in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, where he worked as a labourer below ground in a colliery. The couple lived with Edwin’s elder brother John and his wife. He eventually returned to Swindon and a job as a painter in the Works.
Edwin died in January 1969 aged 85 years old and is buried in Radnor Street Cemetery in a privately purchased plot C1519, which he shares with three others, including his brother John who died in December 1964.
In 1891 Charles Tombs lived at 32 Mill Street, Thomas Greaves lived at number 25 and Edwin Mapstone at number 26.
Drove Road c1920 published courtesy of Local Studies, Swindon Central Library
On Friday December 14, 1894 Thomas Messenger was involved in a fatal accident in the Timber Yard at the GWR Works. Back home in Linslade Street his wife Emma went into labour. Thomas died two days later. He was 31 years old and according to the report made to the Great Western Railway Board he had been employed in the Company for 5 years and 5 months, his daily rate of pay was 3s 2d.
Fatal Accident in the GWR Works – On Tuesday morning, Mr. Coroner Browne and a jury, of whom Mr W.J. Deavin was foreman, held an inquest at the Cricketers’ Arms, New Swindon, on the body of Thomas Messenger, aged 31 years, a labourer, employed in the Great Western Railway Works timber yard department. Mr T.O. Hogarth and Mr H. Hayward were present to watch the case on behalf of the GWR Company.
From the evidence adduced, it appeared that deceased was on Friday morning employed with other men in stacking timber. A “skid” – a piece of timber weighing some 7 cwt. – was used for sliding the timber on to a stock in order to save labour. Deceased placed the skid too far over the corner and it rebounded and stuck him in the head, causing a fracture of the skull.
A verdict of accidental death was returned. The jury gave their fees to, and also made a subscription on behalf of deceased’s widow, who is left with three children, and was confined on the morning of the accident. The sum handed to the widow was £1.
Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, Saturday, December 22, 1894.
Thomas was buried on December 19 in a public grave plot B2264. His father, also named Thomas, was buried with him in 1902. They share the grave with a baby and an elderly widow, both unrelated.
Thomas and Emma had been married less than two years. Emma had already been widowed once before, left with two little daughters Martha and Amelia. Now she was on her own again with another child. The baby was baptised at the parish church in Latton on January 27, 1895. She was named Thomasina Polly Strong Messenger. Emma went on to marry for a third time in 1901. She died in 1943, aged 82.
Thomasina married, raised two children and died in High Wycombe in 1973, aged 79.
No 1 Shop, Timber Yard pictured in 1928. Image published courtesy of STEAM Museum.
He knew exactly what type of memorial he wanted for Edith, and he would make it himself.
He sketched it out on the table in the front room at 59 Station Road. A large cross, something that would stand proud and obvious.
In Memory of Edith Gay, the beloved wife of Edward Little. He practised the style of lettering he would use. He wanted something elegant. No, that was too ornate. He rejected his first attempt. The next was too difficult to read. Eventually he settled on a simple script, something Edith would have liked.
Would he leave a space for his own name to be added in the future? He decided not to. He couldn’t trust anyone else to choose the right script or to execute the work to a sufficiently high standard. This memorial was a symbol of his love. He didn’t want it spoilt by some ham fisted amateur.
He sat in the silent house; the late summer afternoon sunshine streamed through the window. He’d make a start now, he decided. He had a nice piece of seasoned timber in the shed.
The facts …
I first discovered this memorial more than ten years ago and each spring when the guided walks resume, I always have difficulty finding this grave again. And every year I wonder if it has managed to survive another winter, because this extremely unusual memorial is a wooden one.
It marks the grave of Edith Gay Little, a former nurse, who died on August 23, 1928 at the Great Western Railway Medical Fund Hospital.
Edith’s husband was Edward Little and I believe it was he who made this wooden memorial. Edward was employed as a bodymaker in the carriage and wagon works at the Midland & South Western Junction Railway at Cirencester. He was promoted to chargehand and eventually foreman and by 1923 was based in Swindon.
Edward was no stranger to Swindon as it was here that he married his first wife, Elizabeth Ann Bindon, at St Paul’s Church on August 21, 1897. Elizabeth died in 1909 aged 38 and was buried ‘under Coroner’s warrant’ in South Cerney where they were living at the time.
On September 22, 1911 Edward married for the second time. By now he was 41 and his bride Edith Gay Smith was 43. The couple married at Holy Trinity Church, Trowbridge.
Unfortunately, there are no known photographs of this memorial when it was new. How distinctive it must have looked, standing out against the surrounding white gravestones. I imagine Edward would have visited the grave regularly, polishing and treating the wood to preserve it.
It would appear that Edward had no children by either of his wives. He retired from the railway works in 1935 and continued to live at 59 Station Road, the home he had shared with Edith.
Sadly, he ended his days in Roundway, the psychiatric hospital in Devizes, where he died on March 17, 1953. Probate was proved at Oxford and his effects, valued at £2,369 16s 5d, were placed in the hands of Lloyds Bank.
He was buried with Edith. With no one left to come and polish the wooden memorial it now lies at the mercy of the elements.
This week Radnor Street Cemetery volunteers Kevin and Brian managed to locate and reveal the wooden grave. They even found a memorial plaque to Edward, the man who I believe was the maker of this unique and poignant memorial.
Radnor Street Cemetery 