In 2009 parishioners St Deiniols Church in Hawarden, Flintshire, North Wales, celebrated the bicentenary of one of the village's most illustrious residents. With good reason; since his marriage in 1839 to Catherine, daughter of local landowner Sir John Glynne, the village had been "home" to four-times Prime Minister, W E Gladstone. Over the weekend of 6/7 June 2009, St Deiniols church presented a volunteer-led public exhibition of it's association with a historic figure of international fame and standing. For two days the church interior was the setting for locally-researched collections -each featuring a unique aspect of the Gladstone legacy.

In this clip history enthusiast, Helen Harrison chats to community documentarian, John Butler about the hand-crafted wall-display of her own researches into the life and times of a former Hawarden resident. She explains that the subject of her study, the Prime Minister's daughter, Helen, had been a person driven by high academic aspiration. Her recent researches confirmed that, in her time, Helen Gladstone had been at the forefront of the growing movement for all women, regardless of fortune or social-standing, to take their place as educated and fully enfranchised equals in society.

Technical:
Camera: Panasonic GS400 "DV" videotape
Microphone: Rode Videomic
Editing software: Adobe Premiere Elements 14
Devised and produced by John Butler All rights reserved ©