Becky Cessford

Hetha Butler lived at Ewart Park, Northumberland from the age of one in c.1897 until 1937. She was the grand-daughter of the social reformer Josephine Butler.

In this podcast she describes her childhood at Ewart Park. She talks about the servants in the household and being brought up by a governess. Hetha was not very interested in academic learning and describes the other activities that she enjoyed as a child, including roller skating! She also recalls the parties and entertainments thrown by her family for the “estate folk”.

Online exhibition about Josephine Butler:

https://northumberlandarchives.com/exhibitions/butler/1.html

Blogs about the St Paul and Butler families of Ewart Paul:

https://northumberlandarchives.com/test/2016/10/18/of-international-importance-the-st-paul-butler-families-of-ewart-park/

https://northumberlandarchives.com/test/2016/10/25/of-international-importance-the-st-paul-butler-families-of-ewart-park-part-two/

Peter Connelly, Northumberland Archives intern and third year history student at the University of Strathclyde, introduces his podcast for Northumberland Voices. Peter revisits some old favourites from the series and presents some new voices to give listeners a flavour of life in the mining communities of Northumberland during the 1920s.

A blog about the 1921 Miners’ Strike by Peter can also be found here:

https://northumberlandarchives.com/test/2022/03/30/the-1921-coal-miners-strike-part-one/

Jean Mather talks about her life in Craster where she was evacuated during the Second World War. She talks about her grandparent’s house where she lived and of the food that her grandmother cooked. She describes clootie dumplings and proggy mats as well as Christmas time treats.