Moonies, Movers and Shakers

The thrust of this book is ostensibly a history of the Association of Wiltshiremen in London, but there are other themes too, including cool things you may not have known about the county, and its fertile sub-genre, people you didn't realise were born in Wiltshire. The 'Moonies in London', as they were known (referring to Wiltshire people being known as Moonrakers) met for an annual dinner and speeches in the capital. The reports of these gatherings tell us much about Wiltshire people and their achievements, what bound (and perhaps still binds) them together, and about life in the county in the past that isn't obvious in other sources: the deep roots of organisations such as the Moonies in London (they were one of several); the role of the military in society; the shifting of influence between the upper and middle classes; social etiquette; attitudes to women; attitudes to charity and the 'deserving' poor; the role of apprenticeships in Swindon's railway history; and much more besides.