The Baker Family At Wroughton

A Memory of Chiseldon.

My mother's family were all from Wroughton. They lived at 51 High Street since the 19th Century. When I was a child in the 60s/70s we visited often. My great grandparents, Francis William and Fanny Baker, are buried in the churchyard along with most of their 6 children - Ellen (known as Nell), Bert, Muriel, Annie, Dorothy (my grandmother) and Fred. Their long garden was full of vegetables and we always came home with a basketful (especially my dreaded hate broad beans!). Auntie Nell and Uncle Fred were the only members of the family still living in the house then, the others having married and left or died (Muriel). Nell always bought a lardy cake from Preddy's Bakers when we visited - never tasted one like it! They had no central heating and an outside loo and the house was freezing in winter. They had a walk-in larder. To stop my brother and me from going in to help ourselves, Nell told us we had to keep the door shut as a mouse l ived in there! Happy memories!

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