Edna was born in July 1933. She has lived in Bishopsteignton for over 50 years and has three daughters. Before retiring, Edna was a teacher. Throughout most of her life Edna has been an active member of her local community, as a church goer, and a founding member of...
A Celebration of Bishopsteignton Women
An ongoing project to celebrate women’s stories in Bishopsteignton through posters, exhibitions, research and oral histories.
Betty Aplin’s Memories of the Bishopsteignton Modern Wives
Betty was born in Bishopsteignton in 1935 and has lived in the village all her life. She grew up in Hollowmead cottages 1-2 (joined). These two cottages used to be the gardener’s cottages for the Bishopsteignton House Estate. In fact, Betty remembers her brothers...
Bishopsteignton Modern Wives 1968-1982
The first meeting of the Bishopsteignton Modern Wives was held on the 23rd of January 1968, in the village’s St John the Baptist Church. There were 21 women in attendance, and the first Chair was Mrs B. Grant.The group as explained by Mrs Grant at this first meeting…...
Molly Coombe (1929 – 2007)
Molly Coombe was born on 18th October 1929, the only child of Philip and Grace Coombe née Loud. The family lived at ‘Locarno’, which is probably one of the houses on Berry Hill in Bishopsteignton. Molly lived in the village all her life. The Coombe family have left an...
Sybil Atkinson (1909 – c.2004)
Sybil Atkinson lived in Bishopstegnton for a number of years, living on The Orchard in the 1970s. During her life Sybil made a big contribution to the village’s theatrical productions, both appearing on stage, such as in the Bishopsteignton Players’ 1980 production of...
Dot Perkins (1924 – 1996)
In 1958 Dot and her husband Mic took over the tenancy of the Commercial Inn on Clanage Street, and ran it for over 30 years. When Mic died in 1988, Dot continued to run the pub, with the help of managers, until 1994. Dot’s nephew Graham, recalls what good hosts Dot...
Lillian Green, née Payne (1921 – 2021)
Lillian was born in 1921 in Veracruz Mexico, to Henry and Annie Payne. The family returned to England in 1932, eventually settling in Exmouth. Without her parents’ permission, before she turned 21, Lillian joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). She started at...
Dr. Rosaleen Cooper née Graves (1894 – 1989)
Rosaleen Graves was born in Wimbledon on 7 March 1894, the sister of the poet and writer Robert Graves. When she was young Rosaleen wanted to be a concert pianist and was awarded a Diploma from the Royal College of Music. However, when the First World War broke out...
Sheila Robbins née Skinner (1932 – 2021)
Sheila was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1932 to Sydney Parnell Skinner and Margery Mary Davey. When Sheila was very young the family moved back to her father’s birthplace of Bishopsteignton. The house on Fore Street that the family moved to became Sheila’s home...
Lilian Benson (1871 – 1958)
Lilian lived in Bishopsteignton in the 1930s and 40s, and for some of this time at least, she lived at Murley Grange. Lilian was elected the first president of the Bishopsteignton Women’s Institute (WI), from its inception on the 9th December 1938, until 1945....