Swindon in the Past Lane

Today is Jon Ratcliffe's last day behind the enquiry desk in Local Studies at Swindon Central Library as the busy department is reduced to one full time post and one part time. Jon has worked with the Local Studies team for two years, one year volunteering and one year as a member of staff. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues and the many visitors to this fantastic archive who have benefited from his knowledge of local and family history research. His area of expertise has been the architecture of our town, both old and not so old and he has contributed some stunning photographs to the library online archive. When the latest round of restructuring hit the library we were assured there would be no further cuts to front line staff. However, Local Studies has been hit under the guise of back room efficiencies. I for one am not convinced by this argument as the immediate impact is a reduction in the number of hours the enquiry desk will be able to open. Visitors needing h...

Ironically the dedication on the official Swindon Roll of Honour reads 'Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out, Their Name Liveth For Evermore.' Whilst it might not be exactly blotted out, the magnificent memorial lies hidden behind curtains in the dance studio at Swindon's Town Hall and today is seldom seen. The memorial was erected by public subscription and in the same spirit the Swindon in the Great War committee launched its own fund raising memorial project 'Adopt a Tommy.' You are invited to adopt one of the servicemen whose name appears on the memorial. For £10 you will receive a certificate based on the one the returning soldiers, sailors and airmen received and details of that man's service. I've 'adopted' Edward William Reginald Bevan. Why? He is no relation, but I share his surname and because he served at sea. My husband comes from Milford Haven, a small former fishing town on the Pembrokeshire coast. Generations of his ...

Debt collecting might not be an obvious career choice for genteel ladies but by 1915 the old social order was on the way out as women took to the streets demanding equality and the vote. In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst established the Women’s Social and Political Union at her home in Nelson Street, Manchester and at Oxford House, 57 Victoria Road, Swindon three sisters established their own financial business. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales set up in 1880, discussed admitting females in 1895.  However it would be 1919 before the first woman became a member. Rosa, Mabel and Florence Clarke were three of William Clarke’s four daughters. At the time of the 1881 census the family lived at 17 Wellington Street.  William worked as an Iron Turner in the GWR Works, but he was an ambitious, intelligent and determined young man. Ten years later William had moved his family up the social ladder and up the hill to a house in Victoria Road where he ...