Anyone glancing at Bremhill's 19th century census returns would notice an overwhelming number of people earning a living on the land. Men and boys worked as agricultural labourers, employed on the many farms in the area. Some women worked on the same farms as dairymaids. Dairying was an important local industry - Stanley Bridge Halt would be built in 1905 to handle the rail transport of milk churns from surrounding farms. But not all inhabitants earned a living labouring in the cowsheds and fields. Craftsmen, millers and schoolteachers were all part of the local economy. This talk explores the many ways of making a living in Bremhill, from the middle ages until the outbreak of World War One. Rosalind Johnson

Dr Rosalind Johnson is a researcher for the Wiltshire Victoria County History (VCH) project. She has been part of the team researching the history of Chippenham and the surrounding area since 2015, and is currently working on a new VCH history of south-east Wiltshire. Rosalind has a PhD from the University of Winchester on 17th and 18th century Protestant nonconformists in Hampshire. She has worked for the VCH in Somerset, and has taught at the universities of Winchester and Chichester. She lives near Salisbury.

Recorded on 15th July 2020