BS88

Collection

Victoria Ruth Pickett was born in 1887, the youngest daughter of Richard and Emily Pickett of Swindon, Wilts. The family in total was: Richard Pickett m. Emily Edith Stevenson (1850-1887) 1876 (1853-1940) Ada Mary (1876-1956) Lucy Henrietta (1878-1951) Bertram Brenton (1879-1903) Lancelot Nelson (1881-1955) Florence Josephine (1883-1884) Richard Stevenson (1885-1974) Victoria Ruth (1887-1971) The youngest child, always known as Ruth, was born after her father’s death. He worked for the Great Western Railway and was killed in a railway accident. Bertram was a sickly child and spent most of his life in a wheelchair. Florence died as an infant. All the others lived to a respectable age. Of these, all but Ruth married and had children. Ruth devoted herself to a teaching career. Because of the early death of their father, it was necessary for the children to start earning at the earliest age possible. The family was supported in the main by their mother, who was a seamstress. It is believed that this is the reason for Ruth only doing a two year course at Hereford Training College, when the standard was three years. From Hereford she went to Dowlais Top School and then various schools in Wiltshire, finally becoming the first Headmistress of the newly built Nelson Haddon Secondary School in Trowbridge, Wilts. She retired from that school and remained in Trowbridge for the remainder of her life. She was very active in the Guide movement, being a leader for most of her adult years. She was also a stalwart of the Baptist Church. These papers are donated by a descendant of her brother Richard Pickett.