From the year of 2005 when Bishop’s Stortford Museum reopened, we established our mission to promote the importance of preserved and recorded memories of the past. The Museum as a cultural focal point always strived to offer a unique experience of sharing oral history narratives. This is how and why this booklet came about.

We encourage members of the local community to follow the example of Miss Joan Emerson and engage in the museum’s project in order to shape the future of oral history that can inspire and educate a variety of audiences interested in the town’s diverse history. This is an exciting resource that can bring subjects to life through the first-hand accounts of real people.
To make our Oral history archive more current, we decided to publish more booklets like this and also turn them into e-books available to read online.

Miss Joan Emerson was born on 9th October 1918 and she lived at 9 the Causeway, Bishop’s Stortford, until she and her family moved to Kingsbridge Road when Joan was about 18 years old. She lived there until Christmas 2023 when she moved into Premier Court Care Home. Miss Joan Emerson passed away peacefully in May 2024, aged over 105 years.

This is the attempt to turn her memories into a little booklet available to everyone.

Please read the full version online here: Joan Emerson PDF