This week’s theme for #52Ancestors is Mistake and I thought I would write about my latest research into the family of David Smith. He married Emily Smith Harmer, my paternal grandmother’s aunt and they brought my grandmother up when her mother and stepfather emigrated to America in 1920. I have been looking at David’s ancestors and his mother’s family were the Sturt family from East Hoathly. Samuel Sturt was born around 1815 in East Hoathly, no baptism found as yet. His sister Sarah was baptised in 1811 and their parents were Samuel Sturt and Sophia Ford who married in Burwash in 1810. The 1841 census had Samuel living on Teelings Common, which now appears on the map as a housing estate Teelings Drive and Old Common Road at Ridgewood, at the northern end of Uckfield. Samuel was a 25 year old shoemaker, the same profession as his father and he was living with Ann, and Henry aged 3 and Mary aged 1. A marriage was not found before 1841, however in 1841 banns were called for a Samuel Sturt and an Ann Terry in Lewes and then in 1842 a Samuel Sturt and Ann Terry were married in St Nicholas Church, Brighton. It appears that Henry was in fact Jacob Henry Sturt, mother’s maiden name Terry on his certificate and he was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1838 in Hailsham Union. A registration has not been found for Mary ‘s birth as yet. The family was split up by the 1851 census, Ann, Turnpike Gate Keeper at Hailsham with the children and Samuel was a Turnpike Toll Gatekeeper but was lodging at the Kings Head Inn in East Hoathly. This may be due to the circumstances reported in the local newspaper The Sussex Advertiser, Surrey Gazette on the 29 April 1851. This leads to a number of unanswered questions such as why did Ann pay his fine after such an allegation. My feeling is that maybe she knew there was no truth in the allegation, but we shall never know or maybe he was threatening her to come up with the fine but the rest of the story of his life shows no repeat of such behaviour. There was one further newspaper report in 1854 of Samuel Sturt, Toll Gate Keeper bringing Thomas Sinnock, Farmer to court for evasion of the toll. The case was thrown out. By the 1861 census, Ann was alone with the children, described as a widow. However no death for Samuel Sturt could be found. In fact a number of family trees on Ancestry all put Samuel Sturt in New York, USA married again with another family by the 1860 census. He was described as a Shoemaker from England and aged 39 which was not quite correct but plausible. I searched for a marriage certificate for Samuel and his second wife Sabra Ploss but none has been found so far. The first child, was born about 1857 so Samuel must have moved to US between 1854 and 1857. Again no birth certificate for Ruth or the second child Mary were found. Neither were census records for Sabra before 1860 but I continue to look. A naturalisation record dated 1869 stated he was formerly of Sussex, England. There was one record that helped to prove that this was the same Samuel Sturt and that was the death certificate for Samuel’s son Samuel who died in 1945. He had been born in 1867 in New York. He stated that his father Samuel Sturt was born in East Hohley, Sussex, England. No doubt other death records or even birth records for his children would add further proof.
Samuel died in 1880 and I found a copy of his will, it did not mention any family in England, as you would expect. He left his land and appurtenances to his wife Sabra to be divided between his 7 heirs on her death. A curious story and usually, and I blame this on the years I spent working for a Child Protection Team in Social Services back in the 1990s, I have no sympathy for paedophiles but somehow this story does not resonate with me as being of a paedophile. Of course we shall never know what went on that night in the privy but to me Samuel made a mistake and then he ‘came good’. An interesting family that I continue to research. I wonder what I shall uncover next?
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Week 22 of #52Ancestors already, and this week’s theme is Conflict. Time to reflect on the research I have carried out so far on one of my two WW1 forebears and the records I have gathered that give a snap shot of his life. Henry James Baldwin, the eldest son of my great x2 grandparents William James Baldwin and Jane Elizabeth Turner. Henry was born on 30 September 1885 in 4a Bristowe Street, Hoxton New Town. This was the home of his maternal grandparents James Turner and Emma Traies. James Turner had recently died on 12 September 1885. James and Emma had lived at 4a Bristowe Street since at least 1871. Henry enlisted at Stratford in 1903 for the regular army. His attestation papers tells us that he was residing at 40 Dock Street, his father’s address and was single. He was 18 years and 9 months old and was Clerk for a Messrs Goldsmith Myers. He was to serve in the Royal Artillery Regiment as a gunner. He was 5ft 7 ¾ inches tall, had grey eyes and brown hair and a number of tattoos. His parents were both still alive and his brother Frederick Charles was at Devonport on HMS Lion. His two younger brothers, Bertie and Reuben were still at home with their parents. No mention of Sydney, Alfred or Victoria though. At the time of the 1911 census he was stationed at Honeybutton Island, Hong Kong with the 87th Company Royal Garrison Artillery. He was a 22 year old Gunner and still single. On 17 September 1914 at the age of 29 he joined the 4th Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery in France. The Siege Batteries were deployed behind the front line, tasked with destroying enemy artillery, supply routes, railways and stores. The Batteries were equipped with heavy Howitzer guns firing large calibre 6, 8 or 9.2 inch shells in a high trajectory. He was killed in action on 16 June 1915 nearly 30 years old, and is buried at Ypres Reservoir North British Cemetery, Ypres, France. From the CWCG website I have gathered a number of papers about Henry that tell me he was buried at Ypres Reservoir Graveyard, his body was exhumed and buried in a CWCG graveyard presumably meaning he was originally buried where he fell during battle.
I have a copy of his will found in pay book after death which states he left all his personal belongings to his mother Jane Baldwin who was living in Peckham. I also have a copy of his personal effects which states that 21s and 9d were sent to his mother, Jane as the sole legate plus another 5s again to Jane Baldwin. Sadly it is not stated where he died and that is where my research will take me next, I want to find out a bit more about the role he would have played and the role the 4th Siege Battery would have played in the war and presumably one of the battles in Ypres. It would be great to find a regimental diary which might give an idea of where they were during June 1915 and what they were involved in as a regiment. This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Textile and gives me chance to write about my only bit of the family from up north. The story started down south of course. In 1818 or thereabouts Phillis Funnell, my great x4 grandmother met a young soldier who was stationed at the barracks in Ringmer, John Thelwell. On 6 November 1818, my great x3 grandfather, John Funnell was born. For a number of years the only clue to John’s father that I had was a warrant for the arrest of his putative father, John Thelwell, late of Ringmer now a gunner driver in the Corps of Royal Horse Artillery stationed at Ringmer for the child to be born of Phyllis Funnell of Chiddingly – ref. P292/15/12 – date: 6 November 1818. It wasn’t until I started searching the Royal Horse Artillery that I discovered who John Thelwell was. Probably born in 1793 in Gorton, Lancashire to John Thelwell and Martha Marsh, he had 11 siblings, 3 of whom died as small children. Despite a lot of searching this John seems the most likely but his second marriage certificate in 1855 names his father as Thomas strangely. John was married to two different Nancy’s, the first one died young in an asylum. He had 10 children, 5 of whom died under the age of 5. He died in 1870, a Chelsea Pensioner, having fought at Waterloo. Looking through the census returns held for him, marriage records, burial of first wife and his children’s baptisms and burials they all have his occupation as Weaver or Dresser. Both occupations involved in the Cotton Industry. Specifically his burial record in 1870 was Cotton Warp Dresser. He was living in Brimmington, Stockport and further research should be carried out possibly find out who were the main cotton factories in Stockport. According to a very useful website that has a list of old occupations Old Occupations - C2 (rmhh.co.uk) a Cotton Dresser was an Operator who assembled the yarns or threads prior to the weaving of cloth. In the early days of power weaving, looms had to be periodically stopped every few minutes to adjust the cloth and dress the warp with a flour paste to strengthen the threads as they unrolled from the beam. In 1803 William Radcliffe invented the dressing machine operated by a dresser who prepared the yarns for weaving. This was found in a book I purchased ‘My ancestors worked in Textile Mills’ by Adele Emm and published by The Society of Genealogists 2019. During the 1851 census two of John’s sons, aged 19 and 17 were also involved in the cotton industry as a Power Loom Weaver and a Silk Plush Weaver (part of the Top Hat industry). In 1861 the household has a Cotton Twister and a Cotton Winder. All the neighbours were involved in various parts of the industry in the three census returns I have for John, 1841 to 1861. In 1851, agricultural labourers formed the biggest occupation group in England and Wales, servants next and third was those working in textile industries. The industry was concentrated particularly around the north west and Manchester became known as Cottonopolis.
Currently that is as far as I have got with my research into John Thelwell’s cotton past. It’s all completely new to me, with most of my family hailing from Sussex I am much more used to Agricultural Labourers and the odd brickmaker. But I look forward to finding out more about Lancashire and its cotton industry as well as more about John’s heritage. This week’s #52Ancestors theme is Social and for a minute there, I was going to go for 4 weddings and a funeral (a rather lovely film!) but decided to stick at the 4 weddings. I chose the weddings of 4 siblings, my grandfather Ronald Pilbeam and 3 of his siblings, Phyllis, Gwen and Sidney. The first to marry was Phyllis Naomi, the oldest child, born in 1907 to George and Nahomi Pilbeam of Rushford Farm, Three Cups, Punnetts Town. She married Percy Thomas Cottingham, second son of Mr C E Cottingham of Warren Farm, Halland on 22 July 1933 at The New Gospel Hall, Maynards Green. Mr W Payne from Lingfield officiated, who I need to research as I am thinking he could be related to my Grandmother, Edith Terry. Her mother was a Payne from Lingfield. The bride wore a dress of white satin and an embroidered net veil surmounted by a coronet of orange blossom. There were three bridesmaids, Joan Pilbeam, the bride’s sister and Ruth and Winnie Cottingham, sisters of the bridegroom. Edward Cottingham, brother of the groom was the best man. The report in the local newspaper has an extremely long list of people who gave presents. The second pair to marry was Sidney George, the first son of George and Nahomi Pilbeam born in 1909 and he married Eva Edith Delves, eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs William Delves of Lynton, Maynards Green on 21 August 1935, again at Maynards Green. The newspaper announced that Punnetts Town Teacher weds. Eva was a teacher and then headmistress at Punnetts Town for many years and is remembered by many past pupils. The bride wore a simple gown of white crepe de chine, embroidered net veil, wreath of orange blossom, white kid shoes and carried a shower bouquet of white carnations and ferns. She had two bridesmaids, her sister Vera Delves and Joan Pilbeam, groom’s sister. The best man was Ron Pilbeam, groom’s brother. The couple were to live at Beech Croft, Punnetts Town, newly built. Again there was a long list of presents including many family members. Only a few weeks later, on 14 September 1935 the second daughter, Gwendoline born 1908 married Edward Charles Cottingham, brother of Percy Cottingham at Maynards Green Gospel Hall. The bride wore a dress of white satin, with embroidered veil and coronet of orange blossom and white satin shoes. Her bouquet was of bronze chrysanthemums. Bridesmaids were Joan Pilbeam, the bride’s sister and Ruth and Winnie Cottingham, groom’s sisters. The best man was Leslie Cottingham, groom’s brother. The couple were reported to be going to live at Ash Grove, Shortgate, Laughton and they received many useful presents, not listed this time. The last wedding was that of my grandparents Ronald and Edith on 7 August 1937 at Lingfield Mission Room. The service was again conducted by William Payne. The bride wore a long white dress and veil trimmed with orange blossom. She carried a shower bouquet of pink and white carnations and her only jewellery was a string of pearls. She had two bridesmaids, her sister Winifred and Joan Pilbeam, groom’s sister. Sidney Pilbeam was the best man. They left the reception bound for their reception in Worthing.
The more I search the British newspapers that are currently available on Findmypast, the more I am learning about how my family lived their lives, the places they worshipped at, the people they knew and the families that intermingled through these connections. These articles are also a useful tool for giving you hints to family members not yet found and places they lived. But mostly I love the details from these reports of the wedding dresses and the flowers that were fashionable at the time. Richard Message married my great x4 Grandmother Hannah Oliver in Dallington, Sussex on 20 October 1803. They had one child from the marriage, Richard baptised on 9 February 1807 at Warbleton, Sussex where the family were living. Various contacts have mentioned a second child, Philadelphia who lived between 1804 and 1817 but have never shown me any proof and I have searched high and low with no sign. So I discount until someone shows me the evidence! Hannah had two children already by a previous relationship with a Benjamin Carley, Benjamin Oliver Carley baptised on 16 February 1800 at Warbleton, and Stephen Carley Oliver born in 1802 in Warbleton. Richard may have been born in Shoreditch around 1786, a baptism has been found on 31 January 1786 to a Richard and Mary Message of Holywell and there is nothing in Sussex at that time. But Richard’s story can be picked up in 1806 and fits this week’s theme of Negatives for #52Ancestors nicely. Richard appeared in the England and Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 on Ancestry.co.uk charged with Felony (which was a serious crime) at the January session, he was acquitted. Then he turned up again in 1807 on the England and Wales Criminal Register 1791-1892 on Ancestry.co.uk at the Lent session at Horsham Court charged with Larceny (theft of personal property), the sentence was 14 years Transportation. At the age of 21 in 1807 he appeared on the register of Perseus a Prison Hulk register, convicted on 16 March at Horsham of Felony which is a bit confusing unless it was a separate charge from the Criminal Register above. He was awaiting transport on the Admiral Gambier. The Perseus was moored in Portsmouth Harbour and it would appear from the next record that they were moored for over a year. It must have been grim! A newspaper report from the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Sunday 25 December 1808 reported that the Admiral Gambier arrived from England under Captain Harrison with 197 male prisoners. They sailed from England on the 2nd July and arrived in late December so a 5 month voyage, but all were reported in good health and good spirits. A small handful died on the passage.
Richard appeared on a list in 1811 as being in Hobart town in Tasmania and then in 1816 he appeared in the New South Wales Convict Register of Conditional and Absolute Pardons with an Absolute Pardon. Amazingly the next record found for Richard is the record of his marriage on 26 June 1816 to Mary Ann Mullins in Hobart, Tasmania. She was a free person. Unfortunately Richard doesn’t appear to have been free to marry again, as he was still married to Hannah although she was all those miles away in England. I guess the likelihood of him ever returning to England was so very slim, he took his chances as many others must have too. He was 31 years old and Mary Ann was 19 years old. Richard died on 5 October 1821 in Hobart, Tasmania aged 35 years, having never returned to England. Notes: Willetts, J (n.d.) "Convict Ship Admiral Gambier 1808" Free Settler or Felon https://freesettlerorfelon.com/convict_ship_admiral_gambier_1808.htm 18 April 2022 – more information about the Admiral Gambier How do you spell that? is the theme for this week’s #52 Ancestors. I’m sure we all have stories from our family trees of misspelt names. I have one family for instance that somewhere in the middle of the 19th century became Rusbridge from Risbridger. All the early records are Risbridger and then suddenly records start showing Rusbridge. When I work backwards suddenly I could no longer find any Rusbridges but when I found the first Risbridger I was then able to start finding other missing family members and fit them together. I presume somewhere along the line someone writing down what they heard misheard an accent and it simply changed. Two generations have a mixture of the two. But my best family for misspelt names is that of James Traies, my Great x 5 grandfather who was born in Exeter in Devon in 1785 to Samuel and Jane. At some point James travelled to London where he spent the rest of his life, living around the Kensington area. James was a Tin Plate worker. He married 5 times, although is first marriage to Hannah has not been found, just her death, and Ann who he married next was thought to be the same woman but can’t be, he married her after his first children were born. The search carries on for the first marriage in the early part of the 19th century. Searching for the records for this family was a slow and laborious task and some records remain hidden to this day. Not only can parts of the family be found under; Trayes, Treays, Treayes, Traces and Trease to name a few but there were other mistranscriptions such as the 1851 census for James which took ages to find. It was eventually found under Fraies. I notice on Ancestry.co.uk that a user submitted a correction to this record in 2020 which is curious because I submitted a correction in about 2007. Ancestry obviously didn’t believe me! The 1861 census was found under Truies and other records were found under names such as Praies.
Searching for James and his son Samuel and in turn his daughter Emma who married James Turner, all part of my direct line taught me quite early on that it helps to be a little creative when searching for missing records. Sometimes you need to think outside the box and be clever with your searching. One day I might succeed in finding out who Hannah (first wife) was. The theme for this week’s #52Ancestors is Sisters. I have struggled with this one but then I thought as we have just celebrated Mother’s Day in the UK, I would celebrate my mum and her twin sister and take the opportunity to share some of the many photos I have collected of the pair. A photo of the ‘Pilbeam Twins’ always had the same conversation, “Which one is which”? The twins were born on 9 September 1943 at Worthing Hospital. Davina Mary came first and Hilary Margaret second. The lived at Punnetts Town, where their dad, Ron Pilbeam worked on the family farm at Three Cups and mum, Edith looked after the four children, Neville and Enid born before the twins and helped at the Dairy. They attended the village school at Punnetts Town where their Auntie Eva Pilbeam was a teacher and where now, my mum’s grandsons attend. After that they moved to Heathfield Secondary School. Mum tells many stories about helping Grandad on his milk round in the late 50s early 60s especially the hard winter of 62/63. She also tells stories of the fun they used to get up to pretending to be each other for boyfriends, teachers etc. Mum married my dad in September 1964 at the Rest Gospel Hall at Cade Street and Davina or as she was known, Auntie Beana married Philip Greenacre in 1968 at Oulton Broad, Norfolk. They lived in Lowestoft. I have some faint memories of the wedding. My grandad took me out of the service, at the age of 2 1/2 I was probably restless and we went and woke the ducks up on the Broad. Mum and Dad had 3 children, me and a younger sister and brother and Davina and Philip had two children, a boy and a girl. At some point in the early 70s Davina and Philip divorced and she came back with my cousins to live in Sussex and they attended the same school as us in Hailsham. Sadly Auntie Beana died in May 1998 and she is missed for the fun we used to have with her as children. Mum had a stroke in 2016, survived and carries on to this day. Looking at my family tree I am surprised at the number of sets of twins that appear on both sides of the family. I found one family in the 1600s that gave birth to two sets of twins but sadly I don’t think any survived to adulthood. I wonder how many of the twins on my tree were known for being identical like mum and her sister.
Week 12 of #52Ancestors and the theme is Joined Together. I thought I would take a look at the three marriages I have on my tree that all took place at Fleet Prison in London. Edward Clarke married Margaret Roocks on 25 May 1725 Walter Comber married Jane Fillery on 17 September 1732 Edward Turner married Charity Clark on 2 October 1753 (Incidentally Charity was the daughter of Edward and Margaret) A marriage at Fleet Prison or its environs was a common example of an irregular or a clandestine marriage taking place before the Marriage Act 1753 came into force on 25 March 1754. The reasons for these marriages taking place at Fleet are many and various; cost, speed, pregnant brides, parents not giving permission, underage to name a few. The clergymen in the Prison were less than scrupulous about who they married, they were just trying to make money and that was the reason why Parliament acted in 1754 and introduced the Marriage Act. This tightened up the rules on how marriages could be celebrated. I can only guess at the reasons why my three couples married at the Fleet. This was Walter Comber’s second marriage, his first wife having died two years earlier. None of the brides appeared pregnant unless I have failed to find an earlier child in each case. I think it is interesting how Edward and Margaret’s daughter, Charity copied her parents. Perhaps I should check their other children’s marriages too! Edward was described on the marriage entry as from Waldron and was a weaver. I’ve not managed to pin down a birth for him either in Waldron or East Grinstead or anywhere else in Sussex but then Clark is a fairly common surname. Margaret was of East Grinstead and that is where the family lived after the marriage. Despite her unusual name, I’ve not managed to find her birth either yet, Roocks could be Rocks or Rooks. Hmmm… They had 9 children, 3 were called Mary, the first two dying young. Charity was their 2nd child and married Edward Turner in 1753. Their marriage entry stated they were both of East Grinstead and Edward was a husbandman (farmer). They had 4 daughters and a son and their 3rd daughter, Sarah married William Faulkner my great x 5 grandfather. Walter Comber was described as a Cordwainer from Slaugham, Sussex and Jane Fillery was also from Slaugham. Walter had been married to Sarah Wright, who died in 1730 leaving Walter to bring up their two young sons. Walter and Jane had 4 daughters. Unfortunately, Jane’s birth has not been found although it is thought she was younger than Walter. Walter married Sarah in 1707 so he would have been born about 1680-90 ish but again no birth found yet. It is known that he was the son of Lambert Comber, I have copies of deeds that mention Walter and his sister, Elizabeth who was my great x7 grandmother. Jane is thought to have been born about 1710 but there seems to be little evidence for that and once again I have not yet found a baptism for her.
It is a lesson learnt well though that if you are looking for a marriage during the early part of the 1700s that you cannot easily find, it is worth checking the Fleet marriages. Some are available on Findmypast or The National Archives is worth checking. I would love to find the reasons why they married in this way though! Week 11 of #52Ancestors and the theme is Flowers. I thought I would introduce you to my paternal grandmother. Ivy Lorraine Harmer, one of my many female ancestors with a flower name. Ivy was born on 2 January 1913 in Dallington, Sussex to Dorothy Harmer. We do not know who her father was, although I hope that maybe one day with the help of DNA we might at least be able to find the family. The earliest possible picture of her is this one of Dallington School in 1917, she would have been 5 years old and in attendance at Dallington. The photo has her labelled as the girl in the centre with the light coloured dress and the large collar. Ivy’s mother met a Canadian Soldier, John Marini at the end of WW1, and they married in Dallington in 1918. In 1920 they emigrated to the USA leaving Ivy behind with Dorothy’s older sister, Emily and her husband David Smith. It is not clear at what stage Emily took over the care for Ivy and my dad always knew her as Granny Smith. Maybe Emily always cared for Ivy anyway. However Dorothy and John made a few trips back to England and dad knew Dorothy as Ivy’s mum and when they visited in 1975 and I was 9 years old, I was aware that she was my great grandmother. David, Emily and Ivy appeared on the 1921 census at 19 Garfield Road, Hailsham in an area Ivy lived for the rest of her life and the road that my first property I owned was in. Ivy was now Ivy Smith, but I don’t believe there was a formal adoption. There appeared to be two small boys also living with the family, Leonard Fears and Jack Marchant, both noted as mother alive and father unknown and entered as Boarder, which might suggest David and Emily were fostering. They never had any children of their own. Leonard Fears appeared with Ivy and Alfred on the 1939 register. David Smith died in 1930 after a short illness and Emily and Ivy remained at 19 Garfield Road. On 4 August 1934 Ivy married my grandad Alfred Sydney Baldwin of 6 Sackville Road, Hailsham, also I road my family lived in during my teenage years. He worked at Green Bros in Hailsham, a garden furniture manufacturers. They started out as one of the number of rope making factories in Hailsham. Grandad and David Smith who had worked there after WW1, had both made Trug baskets. The occupation now of my other half who is based at The Truggery, Herstmonceux. The 1939 Register has them living at 24a Bellbanks Road, Hailsham. This is where I remember them living through my childhood with its outside toilet with paraffin lamp and tin bath hanging up behind the scullery door.
By this time their first born Richard, better known as Dick had arrived and later during the war, my dad Leslie known as Les arrived in early 1942. Ivy died in 2002, she was 89 years old. Not a remarkable life particularly but interesting to me because she gives me the opportunity to research another family apart from her birth mother’s. David Smith’s family is the first family on my tree to actually have come from Hailsham, the town where I was born and have lived all my life. More research is always a good thing! Week 8 of #52ancestors is an easy one for me – Courting. Now I get chance to share with you some of the letters my granny wrote to my grandad during 1935/36/37 whilst courting. My granny was born Edith Evelyn Mary Terry on 19 October 1911 in Lingfield, Surrey to Albert Terry and his wife, Emily. Albert Terry was a Post Office Clerk at Lingfield Post Office where he later became the Post Master. By 1911 when Edith arrived,Albert and Emily had been married for 3 years and already had a son, Harold aged 1. Edith and Harold were later joined by Winifred and Maurice (known as John). All the children did stints for the Post Office, Edith and Winifred both worked as Telephonists at East Grinstead and Edith at Gibraltar Tower, Heathfield. Harold later ran Lingfield Post Office and the last time I visited the Family History Centre in Lingfield, a group of elderly genealogists shared their memories of him. When Edith was at Heathfield, she presumably visited the Brethren chapel at Three Cups which is where she would have met my grandad, Ronald Charles Pilbeam who lived with his family at Rushford Farm. The letters that she wrote are very chatty, in the days before email, text and mobile phones. They talk about her work in the Post Office, list the wedding presents as they arrived, visits to relatives, and later just before the wedding, cooking for the wedding reception. “We have a new girl in the Post Office started Monday. she is the daughter of the East Grinstead Official who did all the business of getting me to Heathfield so I ought to like her didn’t I? She is learning the work to get in the East Grinstead office. Donald, our clerk, went to London yesterday for the Civil Service exam He thinks he did well.” She talks of putting calls through by telephone, date stamping tickets and other Post Office chores.
The letter dated 2 days before they married on 7 August 1937 at the Lingfield Mission Room lists some of the 89 wedding presents received: “A tablecloth from Mr and Mrs Mummery A Duchess set from a cousin at Ealing A set of Dessert spoons and serve from an aunt in Hove A combined work and afternoon tea table from the Gates A marmalade jar from Miss Peters A pickle spoon and fork from Miss Lambert An afternoon tablecloth from Mrs Oliver A tea pot and stand from Mrs Dean A paste stand from Mrs Thorpe A butter dish from Mrs Rose Two towels and three tea cloths from Madge Deaton” Some of those items I need to go and google, I have no idea what a paste stand is. She signed that letter “from your own little Duckie bird”. An interesting insight into a person, who was elderly when I knew her and serves as a reminder that our elderly relatives were once young and had different lives to those that we know they live. I often wish that I had taken more note of some of the stories told to me by my grandparents of their families, the people now lost in the mists of time. |
AuthorKerry Baldwin Archives
June 2023
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