Devon in the 1920s – no longer a ‘forgotten’ decade?
By Dr Julia Neville
Thursday 21 May 11:00 at Matthews Hall
Entrance £6 payable at the door. Doors open at 10:30
What was life like in Devon 100 years ago? As we entered the 2020s Devon History Society initiated a research programme to explore that question. With the help of groups across the county, including Topsham Museum, we were able to look at many different aspects of life: education, farming, housing, and, affecting almost everything, the development of motor transport.
These researchers were brought to life last year in a Festival of Devon in the 1920s across the county with the theme of Sunshine and Shadows. In this talk Julia Neville looks back on the project and reflects on the picture it produced of Devon in the 1920s.
When Dr Julia Neville retired from her career as a manager in the NHS, she decided to become a “community historian”. After taking her PhD at Exeter University in 2010 she became an honorary research fellow there. She has written on twentieth century local government and women’s history, but spends much of her time working with research groups to explore topics or place-based histories. Her current projects include editing the new editions of the ‘Discovering Exeter’ booklets produced by Exeter Civic Society, co-ordinating research into the community history of Poltimore church, and reviewing the different approaches to council housing taken by different authorities in Devon in the 1920s.