Audio recording of Mrs Louisa Ross' reminiscences of her childhood in Bath.

Reference Number

0289/2

Level of Description

Item

Title

Audio recording of Mrs Louisa Ross' reminiscences of her childhood in Bath.

Date

1988

Extent

Extent: 1 item

Description

A tape-recorded radio interview with Louisa Ross (Nee Stride) who is being interviewed by Polly Lloyd of BBC Radio Bristol. The interview was originally broadcast in 1988 and Louisa goes by the name of Louie in the recording. The purpose of the interview is to discuss Louie's recent recording of her recollections of her childhood and times living in Bath, which were published by Bath University Press entitled 'Memoirs of a Street Urchin' by Louie Stride. The recordings were played on BBC Radio Bristol in the subsequent days after this interview.

The recording is 00:30:55 long and is dispersed with music. This has resulted in the interview with Louie cutting in and out and coming in mid sentence on some of the discussions. The section relating to Louie begins at 00:00:22 and the recording cuts off abruptly at 00:30.03, with the remainder of the recording being blank. The recording mentions that Louie was born 80 years ago in Bath, so her memories are from 1908 onwards.

The themes of the interview include:

Louie’s upbringing in an impoverished slum area of Bath, with mention of living in Broad Street and Corn Street.

Her mothers mental health struggles and the impact on Louie.

The stigmatism of illegitimacy and the loneliness of being an only child of a single mother.

Education and schooling, including attending Walcot School, truancy and the 'School Board Man'.

Extreme hunger, malnutrition and poverty, and the effects on Louie's health.

Louie’s motivation for recording her reminiscences.

A transcript of this interview can be made available on request.

Place Name

Bath (Somerset)

Existence and Location of Copies

A digitised MP3 version is available on Preservica via internal access at Bath Record Office.