Mary Norreen Hart (b.1928): Biographical Entry

HART, Norreen. A Welsh Childhood: Memories of Aberfan 1928-1945 through the eyes of Mary Norreen Hart (nee Jones) pp.63. Brunel University Library. Mary Hart born 1928 in Bryntaff, Aberfan (Merthyr Tydfil). Her memoir spans 1928-1945. Published in 2011. Mentions poverty and despair. Adds that she received a good education and the family did not look poor. Memoir centres on her family and community. Mother dealt with many illnesses in the family?. Mentions that her mother did not work. Her father suffered with PTSD and alcoholism after serving in World War II. Mary was the youngest of three children. Eldest sister Winfred was sent off to work as a servant and brother, Ron, as a civil servant. Description of extended family, food and forms of income (including parish money). Education: Aberfan Infants School (around 1931), Pantglas Girls’ Primary School and Quakers Yard Grammar School. Description of Aberfan- large community with most adults unemployed. Large mining town, hit with the Aberfan Disaster in 1966. Works as an administrative assistant and for two greengrocers in her teenage years. Memoir ends with the family moving to Birmingham in 1945. Includes images, map and copy of a welsh hymn.

Bibliography
HART, Mary Norreen, ‘A Welsh Childhood: Memories of Aberfan 1928-1945 through the eyes of Mary Norreen Hart (nee Jones).’ (privately printed, 2011), pp.63. Burnett Archive of Working Class Autobiographies, University of Brunel University Library. Special Collection, Vol.4.