| This raw, unedited audio recording is of an interview with Margaret Hedges, speaking about how her early life was spent in considerable poverty, how her family found assistance and what she went on to achieve. We learn of how the family fell into financial hardship when her father lost his job as a miner at Nailstone Colliery. The family had to survive on the wages of her mother who worked in domestic service. Her mother’s duties at this time, and her treatment at the hands of her employers are described, along with details of how lack of food affected her physically. The difficulties faced by the family are detailed, and Margaret explains how the kindness of others in the community helped them to manage, until Margaret’s father eventually found work at Ibstock Colliery. Margaret explains how, despite passing scholarships exams, her brothers and herself were denied entrance to Grammar school due to the fees. The local newspaper took up the plight of the family and interest was so great the story made the national press. Due to the publicity the children made long term family friends and received many offers of financial help, enabling one brother to attend Cambridge University, the other to become a surveyor and engineer and Margaret herself to attend secretarial college, eventually becoming secretary to the Director and General manager at Desford Colliery in the 1940s. This audio recording lasts 27 minutes and 43 seconds. Another interview with Margaret, focussing on her schooldays, is also available on The Showcase. The original recording is held by the East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA ref.: 44, MA200/045/045). Click here for further information. |
