Wiltshire Tales

Book Review: Mother and Murderer

on Tuesday, 29 August 2023. Posted in Wiltshire People, Wiltshire Tales

Mother and Murderer: The Sad True Tale of Rebecca Smith
By Sally Hendry
Hobnob Press 2022
112 pages Softback AAA.921

Rebecca Smith was born in May 1840 and was the sixth child of William and Sarah Prior. William was a yeoman farmer and though not wealthy was able to comfortably raise his family. The title of yeoman farmer lets us know he was a land owner and when he died in 1830 he left land in Westbury and Bratton. All this indicates a good standard of living for young Rebecca and her siblings. The Prior family were members of Bratton Baptist Chapel and by all accounts Rebecca was a godly woman who attended chapel and said her prayers.

Life for Rebecca took a downward turn when she married Philip Smith, a known drunkard and ne’er do well. Rebecca’s family opposed the marriage but nevertheless it took place. Rebecca went on to have 11 babies but only her first-born survived infancy. This family lived in dire poverty though helped by Rebecca’s siblings.

The family moved to Westbury, but all was not well, and Rebecca was accused of murdering her 11th child, a son Richard, using rat poison. While in prison Rebecca confessed to killing another 7 of her babies. Why?

This book is well illustrated and researched and deals with every aspect of this crime. The author explores not only this sad case but the context of the times when it occurred. We are shown in detail and description of the lives women would have lived then and the difficulties with health, poverty and destitution. It also illustrates the effects that alcohol had on many a poor family.

Although a slim volume it is a full and rich story which leaves the reader to make up their own mind as to why Rebecca committed this terrible crime and became the last woman to be hanged in this country for the infanticide of her own child.

Sally Hendry’s Mother and Murderer is available to view at the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre or borrow via your local Wiltshire library, reference AAA.921.

Eileen Sutherland
Community History Advisor

Wiltshire Public Access Collection: Highlights

on Tuesday, 02 May 2023. Posted in History Centre, Wiltshire Tales

Here at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre we have two collections of books, and it is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job to help look after them. We have our heritage collection which consists of more general history on a wide variety of topics and then we have our Wiltshire collection which holds books on the history of the county of Wiltshire.

Although we are not a lending library, the books in our heritage collection and our public access Wiltshire collection can be borrowed through the Inter Lending Library system and collected from your local library. When you go into your local library you can talk to the librarian there about this service.

A part of my job is to send requested books out to the libraries, and I have noticed a trend for more borrowing from the Heritage collection, which is good, but it does leave some very good books from the Wiltshire collection left as it were on the shelf.
I am using this blog to try to highlight some of the books in this collection. I have chosen eight to write about and there are two in each of four chosen categories, which are place, people, local authors, and general history topics with a strong link to Wiltshire.

Wiltshire Hauntings

on Tuesday, 25 January 2022. Posted in Wiltshire People, Wiltshire Places, Wiltshire Tales

engraved view of Malmesbury Abbey with ruins of central tower
Malmesbury Abbey P3614

Wiltshire is home to many stories and tales of local hauntings, and many local history sections in libraries hold books on ghosts and folklore. Malmesbury is no exception. The abbey is possibly the first site that one would turn to for ghostly encounters, as it towers over the town as one of the few survivors of Henry VIII’s dissolution of monasteries due to its purchase by William Stumpe, who turned it into a parish church (Scanlan, 48). It is said that a former monk has been seen walking through the cemetery, and that monastic singing has been heard in the abbey itself.

Another famous haunted site in the town is the Kings Arms hotel and restaurant, where a deceased landlord seems to have never left his workplace.

Ruth Pierce and the Devizes Incident

on Friday, 12 April 2019. Posted in Archives, Wiltshire People, Wiltshire Tales

The unfortunate sudden death of widow , Ruth Pierce of Potterne, in Devizes Market Place on 26th January 1753.

529/208 Inquisition & Seal, Devizes

This is the original inquisition document as carried out by John Clare, coroner in Devizes on 26th January 1753. It details the circumstances leading to Ruth Pierces’ death and his conclusion to the cause.

‘..a Great Quarrel arose between four women in the Market place in the Bourrough of Devizes. Aforsaid whose names was Elizabeth Slade, Sarah Slade, Mary Parker and the aforesaid Ruth Pierce who joined together and bought one sack of wheat of one ffarmer Nathanial Alexander of the price of seventeen shillings......

After the collection of the money by one of the women gathered, it was noted that Ruth Pierce had not handed over her share of the payment which was four shillings. She was openly accused of withholding the money and the following account of what happened was documented in the inquisition, Ruth Pierce then;

‘called upon the Almighty for witness and wished she might drop down dead that minute if she had not paid it the Rash wish was repeated a second time and immediately from the Visitation of the Great and Almighty God was struck down upon the lane and as no marks of Violence appeared upon View of the Body the aforesaid jurors do propose that the aforesaid Ruth Peirce died asforsaid and not otherwise...’

A1/710/Bundle 1 1753

‘Taken at the Burrough of Devizes on Fryday the 26th day of January Upon View of the Body of Ruth Peirce late of potterne Verdict from the Visitation of the Great and Almighty God in a Great Quarrell was struck dead with a lye in her mouth’

The Fabric of Life

on Tuesday, 03 April 2018. Posted in History Centre, Wiltshire People, Wiltshire Tales

V & A Museum T.23-2007

Sometimes here at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, a researcher turns up with an enquiry that really captures your imagination. This happened to me last year when Cathy Fitzgerald arrived to research material for Moving Pictures, a BBC Radio 4 production inviting you to discover new details in old masterpieces:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswf9g
This link will allow you to listen to the programme produced and review the image of this wonderful coverlet that the V & A hold in their textile collections.

The coverlet was acquired from Kerry Taylor Auctions with the support of the Contributing and Life Members of the Friends of the V & A and was made in Wiltshire in 1820 by a lady called Ann West.
Kerry Taylor of Kerry Taylor Auctions, specialists in textiles,  describes the moment of arrival when a gentleman delivered it covered and wrapped in a large flannelette sheet, which when unpacked revealed this large 2.5m square bed cover; a real ‘tour de force’, colourful, vibrant and packed with pictorial images that draw you in and begin to tell a story.

It is wool appliqué and patchwork, with embroidery worked into the surface and is a valuable primary source in a pictorial sense giving a snapshot of life in Wiltshire around 1820, focusing on the everyday and depicting various trades, professions and social events that were part of day to day life.

The images and especially the centre panel depict biblical references, such as the Garden of Eden, David and Goliath and Moses being hidden in the bulrushes. The outer images give a taste of rural Wiltshire life, so have a closer look to see what you can find.

The reason for Cathy’s visit to the history centre was to research Ann West herself. There is a possibility that she may have come from Chippenham as a Milliner’s and Drapers is listed in Pigot’s Directory of 1830 and 1842 in the name of Ann West, but this connection cannot be confirmed. There is also a possibility that she came from the Warminster area, but again, nothing has yet been confirmed. However, the cloth she chose to use is absolutely typical of West of England textiles and lends itself perfectly to this type of appliqué work.
We hold some good examples of cloth pattern books from the Collier family and Crosby and White of Bitham Mill, Westbury, and these show exactly the types of fabric used in the coverlet; strong woollen cloths, typical of the West of England and produced in a wide selection of colours. These would have been dyed with natural materials as chemical dyestuffs were not in use until synthetic dyes were developed in the mid-19th century, specifically William Perkin’s mauveine in 1856. The coverlet is also hand sewn; sewing machines c1820 were still in the early stages of development and not generally in domestic use until mid-19th century. You can begin to imagine the time it would have taken to produce such a piece.

WSHC 719/1 Collier cloth book 1774-1787

What can the quilt tell us about life at this time in Wiltshire?

Hob-Nob and the Salisbury Giant

on Friday, 10 November 2017. Posted in Wiltshire People, Wiltshire Places, Wiltshire Tales

Now in The Salisbury Museum, the Salisbury Giant and Hob-Nob were first mentioned in 1570 and 1572 respectively, in records from the Salisbury Guild of Tailors but it is probable he existed by the 1400s. Originally used by the Salisbury Guild of Tailors on the eve of the feast of St John (Midsummer’s Day), they have been a part of processions and festivals in Salisbury, originally to mark the eve of St John the Baptist’s Day (June 23rd) and the eve of the feast of St Osmund’s translation (July 15th), but later to be paraded for special occasions, such as royal weddings and jubilees.

WSHC P56697 – early 20th century postcard marking the arrival of the Giant and HobNob at Salisbury Museum

The Salisbury Giant is a tall (now 12ft) figure made from a wooden frame; the oldest part of which is the head. Hob-Nob’s purpose in celebrations and parades was to clear the way for the Giant – he is smaller, and horse-like, with jaws fitted with hob-nails to snap at members of the crowd if they were in the way. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there were reports of the hobby horse chasing people and ripping their clothes with his teeth as a result of people throwing things at him. The Giant and Hob-Nob could each be supported by one man holding the frame. This resulted in the Salisbury Giant having a very life-like sway and movement.

The physical appearance of the Giant has changed frequently since the sixteenth century. Most depictions of him in the nineteenth century show a tricorn hat and tobacco pope, but in the twentieth century he was garbed in fifteenth century style robes. One of the biggest changes to his appearance was also in the twentieth century, when his face was painted over with shellac to preserve it, but had the side effect of making him look as if he was from African descent. A restoration later on discovered around 6 layers of pink-ish paint underneath.

Some say that the Salisbury Giant represents St Christopher, the biblical giant, and that he was detached of his religious significance during the Reformation and the Puritan era. However, it has also been pointed out that other than his bearing, the Salisbury giant has no other similarities to the saint.

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