May Jones: Biographical Entry

1.401 JONES, May, Untitled, MS (c.17,000 words). Brunel University Library.

Born 1893 in cottage in small country village. Father a carpenter and wood carver. 4 children. Educated at village elementary school (1898-?), but schooling interrupted by household duties when mother became ill. No mention of marriage, family or abodes.

Worked in mill as ‘office runabout’ (1906); shop assistant (1906); apprenticed to milliner (?1907-12).

Interested in music and violin-playing.

Although obviously written at various intervals, and so suffering from broken paragraphs and repetition, this autobiography describes in finely remembered detail a frugal but enjoyable childhood, with clear recollections of the home, school, play and street-life. The narrative does not extend beyond the author’s childhood, excepting brief comment on the 1914-18 war. Written in the 1970s.