Pictures of the Past : "Old Alice" (1), Little Eaton

The story behind this postcard is the following tragic tale:

“The village's well known character Alice GRACE was born in Derby in 1867 and moved to Little Eaton with her parents when she was a young woman. After her parents died, Grace was evicted from her home for non-payment of rent. She then spent her life moving from shed to shed and derelict building to derelict building and finally into a series of bacon boxes. In 1908 she moved to the Shardlow Workhouse and lived until 1927. She is buried in Little Eaton.”
[From film 942.51/L2 Item 6 - ‘The Memorial Inscriptions of St Paul's, Little Eaton’]

The card is postmarked 1906 - the day and month are unreadable.

See also Old Alice in the Bacon Box - the Little Eaton Hermit on the BBC site. A followup comment to the article from a relative says Alice chose her lifestyle, and was proud of it.

(Commentary provided by Carol Hare/Rosemary Lockie)