Swindon in the Past Lane

The first time I went to one of Mark's Great War talks I came away feeling as if I personally knew the men he had mentioned.  He told the story of the battles they fought in and the ones that claimed them, but it was not all about their military service. Mark talked about the men and their life before the Great War - the street where they lived; the family fish shop on the corner; the railway factory where so many of them worked; their sweethearts, wives and children. These men were not just a regimental number, a casualty, missing, killed in action, they were someone's son, someone's husband, a father, a brother. Some fought for freedom, some volunteered for an adventure, no one came home unchanged, so many never came home at all - and Mark introduces you to everyone of them. Remembering Swindon's sons who served has been a lifetime commitment for Mark. In 2006 he published Tell Them of Us, but his work has continued since then. Just last month he has been...

And now a shout out for Noel Beauchamp, the third member of our Radnor Street Cemetery team. Noel has a knack of finding some fascinating cemetery stories. His latest one to air was that of Frederick Englebert Kny, a Bohemian glass engraver who came to England in 1867 and died in Swindon in 1905. Noel was one of the first subscribers to the Swindon Heritage Magazine, signing up one snowy morning at a launch event in January 2013. He went on to become one of our regular contributors and a generous supporter. Noel hasn't written a book (as far as I know), but he does run two history websites. His first is the meticulously researched Swindon Bottles website. In 2014 Swindon Heritage editor Graham Carter and myself went to interview Noel about his bottle collection. “Bottles were mass produced in large numbers,” said Noel, whose collection contains everything from a small eau de cologne bottle to several Codd bottles. Noel’s growing bottle collection includes siphons a...

Fantastic turnout for our guided walk at Radnor Street Cemetery on Sunday - 50 people! With the grass almost as high as an elephant's eye we kept mainly to the paths. Andy had three new stories to tell, including that of Town Crier John Hiscock, a direct ancestor of one of his best mates. We look forward to seeing you all next month, September 10, when we are joining forces with the folks from Eastcott Community Organisation during the Open Heritage Days with an Eastcott centric walk followed by tea and cakes at the Savernake Street Social Hall. Thank you to everyone who joined us today. Someone enjoying a bird's eye view

The last serious act of vandalism to take place in Radnor Street Cemetery happened across one weekend several years ago. A break in at the chapel saw windows smashed, including the beautiful rose window above the door. The intruders lit a fire in the sacristy, the small room off the chapel, using a box of documents stored there. The documents were a 'Form of application for permission to erect or restore a memorial' and included a description with the measurements of that memorial; the inscription; the name and address of the owner of the grave and how much the memorial cost. Invaluable information lost in the fire, but in recent weeks I have glimpsed a rare surviving document. These are the details of the Boucher family grave. As you can see this document tells us who the stonemason was, the dimensions of the memorial and the inscription. In loving memory of George Boucher died 8th July 1915 aged 61 years also Mary Boucher died 25th February 1943 aged 88 also ...

If you are researching your family history in Swindon, have you ever thought about contacting the local funeral directors? There is an amazing amount of information available in the funeral accounts and local funeral director A.E. Smith are more than happy to help, as you can see from the above notice. A.E. Smith was founded around 1880 by Henry Smith a carpenter and joiner. The original premises were situated in Gordon Road, Swindon near the 1960s magistrates courts. At the time of the 1911 census Henry lived at 1 Clifton Street, close to the cemetery where he had spent so many hours.  He died there on November 14, 1917.  He left £3,072 17s 6d to be administered by his three sons.  Albert Edward had taken over the funeral business while James Henry Smith was a railway official and Joseph William a railway storekeeper. Henry was buried in Radnor Street Cemetery on November 17.  The service was conducted by Mr Spargo and naturally the funeral was pe...

Our regular guided walk takes place this Sunday, August 14 at Radnor Street Cemetery. Meet at the Chapel for 2pm. The cemetery opened in 1881. Here is a description taken from a trade directory two years later. SWINDON CEMETERY.- Situate on the hill at the west of Swindon, this enclosure of about eleven acres commands beautiful views over the vale of Swindon, and for many miles to the west and north. The chapel, in the centre of the ground, is in the Early English style, with apsidal east-end, vestry and bell-turret, and accommodates 100 persons. There is also a mortuary chapel. The main entrances are at Clifton-street, which is convenient for funerals from Old Swindon, and at Redcross-street, easily accessible from the new town over Cambria-bridge. At the latter entrance is the lodge, a substantial and convenient residence for the care-taker. The number of burials in the cemetery from the day of the opening, August 6th, 1881, to the end of December, 1882, were 309. Burial Board (f...

Headstones are not the indestructible objects previous generations might have thought they would be. Lettering comes off and even inscriptions set in stone weather and degrade, in some cases the whole front of a headstone shears off in one sheet. We've all seen small church cemeteries where the gravestones have been moved and set around the churchyard wall or used as paving around the church. In 'The Story of Purton: a collection of notes and hearsay' published in 1919, Ethel Richardson recalls an old song still remembered in the neighbourhood around the turn of the century, but probably much older in origin, and an explanation for the disappearance of at least one village gravestone. The Village Baker Job Jenkins was a baker and A very honest elf, By selling crust and crumbs he made A tidy crust himself, But Job he lived in better days When bills were freely paid, And bakers were thought honest then So bread was never weighed. While walking through the old...

On a beautiful summer's day in 1884 George Brooks stood at the graveside as his fourteen year old daughter Adelaide was laid to rest. He was one of few mourners at his daughter's funeral. It was a different story when, more than 20 years later, he stood at the same grave in Radnor Street Cemetery at the interment of his 96 year old mother. George was born in Bristol in 1846 the son of stonemason Joseph Brooks and his wife Anne. At the time of the 1861 census 15 year old George was working as a Pupil Teacher and living in a house in Berkley Square, Bedminster with his parents and his two younger sisters Elizabeth and Charlotte. George married Elizabeth Smith on March 29, 1869 and two years later they were living at 20 Fleet Street, Swindon with their baby daughter Adelaide. George was employed in the railway factory as a railway clerk. During the following ten years the couple would have three more children but Elizabeth died shortly after the birth of a son Frederick. A...