Jane Saffrey Whitaker
Jane Saffrey Whitaker


Miss Whitaker lived at 53 Lower Road (the house later named as Whitakers) with her cousin Muriel Brinkworth. I first met them in 1970 having just moved into Yew Trees House (which is where Miss Whitaker had been born). Both ladies were in their 90’s and lived in one room downstairs.

I used to visit with Mrs Smith (from Yew Tree Farm) regularly. Mrs Smith used to start each day by doing the two ladies’ hair, carefully combing it before putting it up in neat buns. The minute this was finished Miss Whitaker would jump up and take all the dead hair from the comb and throw it out of the window with a flourish saying ‘the birds can make a nest out of it’. Mrs Smith would then go and check their food in the kitchen. I remember it as a small room with basic wooden slats as shelves. On the shelves were many jars of jam and they were always covered in mould. But if Miss Whitaker found Mrs Smith scraping the mould off she was very
cross and said it was acceptable like that. I have always associated out of date food with living to a fine old age since then.

Miss Whitaker was a keen member of the Baptist Chapel. She once saw my father carrying a pick axe on a Sunday which she thought was very improper. My mother also upset her by wearing trousers on a Sunday. She told Mrs Smith that she liked it when she could hear Mr Smith singing hymns while he was milking the cows.

As a 7 year old I was terrified of Miss Whitaker. She was always interested in children and loved spending time with them. She always wanted to kiss you. I was aghast by all this but now I wish I had been braver and talked to her about her youth. She had lived not only in Bratton all her life but just in Lower Road and must have had many memories of previous ‘great characters’ of Bratton.




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The Bratton History Association aims to provide all those curious about local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, visits to places of interest to historians, and our own local history project.

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