This book is based on a series of talks given at a local
history day-school in Chippenham in 2014, and includes recollections by Jeremy Corbyn MP about his early life and upbringing inWiltshire.
Wiltshire
While Wiltshire gives an impression of sleepy rural calm, it has been the scene of impassioned events that have helped shape our nation’s history.
This volume chronicles the rural rebellions of the past, and the often savage response by the rich and powerful
who used the gibbet and the noose to suppress the poor.
It also recounts the story of two extraordinary local womem.
Dame Florence Hancock was a pioneer of early trade unions, leading a major strike in Chippenham, and
later becoming the first woman president of
the TUC.
Angela Gradwell was one of the country’s first women solicitors, a dedicated socialist and peace campaigner, sports woman and musician.
This is the second volume of local history produced by White Horse (Wiltshire) Trades Union Council, who have brought together the voices of academics and local trades unionists to tell the stories of ordinary working people engaged in extraordinary events.
ISBN 978-0-9957917-0-1
