True lives reimagined

Town House volunteer Anne Smedley had written these stories for use within the 2023 Town House Voices production 'What if Walls could Speak.' They are from the perspective of five people who lived and worked in our city in the past. They are all based on information and records garnered by the volunteers in our Research Team.

Read on to discover these true lives reimagined.

Harriet Waller, 1825 - 1899,
house servant, good friend and landlady 

Charles Paskins, 1829 - 1879,
footman butler and pub landlord 

Edward Oxtoby, 1871 - 1918,
coachman at 44 (now 39) Brunswick Street West

Ira Aldridge, 1807 - 1867,
world-famous black actor, playwright, theatre manager and anti-slavery campaigner 

Sarah Wathen,
lady’s maid to Mrs Hammond, 18 Brunswick Square