Swindon in the Past Lane

Among the 103 Commonwealth War Graves in Radnor Street Cemetery is that of Kenneth W. Scott Browne who died on April 4, 1944 aged 23. 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. As we prepare to commemorate the end of the Second World War in these strange, restrictive Covid-19 conditions, it is perhaps time to remember those who didn't come home 75 years ago. VE Day was a time for rejoicing but not for everyone. While the war in Europe had ended the one in Japan would continue...

Are you enjoying ‘Gentleman Jack’ the story of Anne Lister a nineteenth century woman who dared to be different? The BBC1 Sunday evening drama written by Sally Wainwright and starring Suranne Jones is based on the diaries of Anne Lister, an extraordinary Yorkshire woman born in 1791. Anne Lister left an account of her life in a journal numbering more than twenty volumes and some four million words, most of it written in code. For more than thirty years Helena Whitbread has been decoding, researching and writing about the woman who took control of her life and broke social conventions, sometimes at threat to her personal safety. Finding the diary of one of the Swindon women I have researched is the stuff of my dreams, but unfortunately ordinary, nineteenth century, working class women didn't tend to leave an account of their life. The closest I have come to such a find is a collection of letters held at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre in Chippenham, wr...

A book launch in a cemetery chapel may sound a bit bizarre to you, but to me it makes perfect sense. For ten years I have been a member of a small, but perfectly formed, group of cemetery enthusiasts. We research and write about the people buried in the cemetery and throughout the summer months conduct guided cemetery walks. In 2015 we re-enacted a Votes for Women campaign March and Rally complete with a choir singing The March of the Women and an Edwardian policeman trying to keep order. So, as you can see it is perfectly fitting to hold an event celebrating the lives of Swindon's women in Radnor Street Cemetery chapel. Join me for a short, informal book launch on Sunday June 23 at 1.45 pm followed by a guided cemetery walk with Andy and Noel.  Edith New Old Town Belles

It wasn’t that unusual in Victorian Britain for a woman to head a family firm, which is exactly what Susannah Phillips did after the death of her husband John. Susannah was born in Chatham, Kent on January 21, 1816, the daughter of George Reynolds and his wife Zipporah. Susannah married John Phillips, a carpenter, on December 25, 1845 at St Nicholas’ Church, Rochester. By the time of the 1851 census the couple were living in a house next door to the Victoria Inn on Victoria Street, Swindon with their two young daughters. John’s building projects in Swindon date from about 1852 and the census of 1861 records him as employing 27 men, so a not inconsiderable size business. As well as houses in the Quarries and King Street, John's firm built some significant and sadly now lost buildings. In 1866 he built not only the Congregational Church on the corner of Bath Road and Victoria Street, demolished in the 1940s for road widening purposes, but also the now derelict Corn Exchange ...

As the industrial  revolution and the coming of the railways transformed the Wiltshire countryside Swindon women were on the front line of change, shaping the new industrial town and transforming the old market one. Incomers arrived from the great railway centres across the country to create a welcoming, tolerant and creative community with women's contribution at its heart. Following the incorporation of Old and New Swindon in 1900 innovative women stepped up to the plate; women like Swindon born suffragette  Edith New who challenged political conventions and Emma Noble, Swindon's first female councillor, who campaigned to improve living conditions in the town. The story of Swindon women includes artists and actresses, political activists and social reformers and the ordinary women who worked in the factories, raised their children and made a difference. Discover how development at the Great Western Railway factory almost stalled due to a lack of female empl...

Andy and I will be conducting a guided walk at Radnor Street Cemetery this Sunday, August 13, meet at the Chapel for 2 pm. We both have some cracking new stories to bring to the party, plus a couple of favourites I have told before, but I can confidently predict, neither of us will be singing. Singing? Can I recommend that you check in with the Cemetery Club co founded in 2013 by Sheldon Goodman and Christina Owen? Today the blogposts and guided cemetery walks are more often led by Sheldon and Sam Perrin (read more about them and other contributors here). Sheldon and Sam’s stomping ground includes the Magnificent Seven London cemeteries, although you’re likely to find them practically anywhere. So, what’s all this about singing?  On a guided walk in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park made in December 2016 Sheldon introduced Cemetery Club followers to Alec Hurley, the second husband of Marie Lloyd and, well sang. (Visit the Cemetery Club facebook page and scroll down...

As we prepare for the Women's Exhibition and Craft Sale on November 12 at the Christ Church Community Centre, let's revisit the events we took part in last year as we celebrated Edith New, Swindon Suffragette . Yesterday saw the culmination of our Swindon Suffragette celebrations with a march through Old Town and a rally in the Radnor Street Cemetery chapel. Members of the Swindon Community Choir greeted the arrival of the procession at the cemetery with a rousing rendition of the suffragette anthem March of the Women and members of the Sixth Sense Youth Theatre Group gave a thought provoking performance in the chapel. There was pageantry, colourful costumes and beautiful hats, banter with local bobbies and comedy with Perry Barrett dressed in an authentic Edwardian police uniform, but there was much more to our programme of events than dressing up and having a laugh. The aim was to remember Swindon's own suffragette Edith New and the sacrifices made by her and ot...

Blue Plaques to honour Swindon’s brave WWII Fighter Pilots to be unveiled - 3pm on Thursday 8th September 2016. Two of Swindon’s bravest sons will be honoured on Thursday 8th Sept 2016 when the Swindon Heritage Team www.swindonheritage.com unveils not one but two commemorative Blue Plaques in the heart of the town. Brothers Harold Starr and Norman ‘John’ Starr were born in the Central Hotel, Regent Street, Swindon. The hotel was replaced with a cinema in the 1930’s and today the Art Deco building houses the popular Weatherspoon’s pub, The Savoy. As soon as www.jdwetherspoon.com were approached about the idea of having Blue Plaques on The Savoy they immediately said yes and have been assisting with logistics ever since. Squadron Leader Harold Starr (1914 – 1940) was born and raised in Swindon. He bailed out of his burning Hurricane during the Battle of Britain in 1940 but was gunned to death by a Messerschmitt as he floated down to earth in his parachute. His wife was carrying the...