Tag: Leonard

Sunday 31 December, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Well now the festivities are over once again, and everything back to normal or near enough. Thank you for your most recent letter which arrived punctually once again. Not to worry about the cold, there are enough around here for us all to have had them times over without your contribution. Just one of those things, you can’t stay locked up in a box to avoid meeting people with colds and in any case doubt if it would do much good anyway. I think with the children that each cold, however distressing to watch, is a step more towards immunity. It will never be total, but the more they get, the greater will be their resistance.

Sorry to hear you have not shaken off the effect yourself, and hope that it will not be long before you do. Apart from the usual catarrh, the children were free from colds over Christmas, and June managed to get over the worst of her cold by Christmas Eve.

Glad you were able to see the Astons on the two days, but it must have been awfully quiet for you. You should have moved a bit nearer to us, and joined in with our doings.* As you know we saw Geoff last Saturday on the day you went to Lyng. He said you were making the trip that day, and gave an account of his trip of the previous day. He complains that every time he travels something delays the trains. Question of physician heal thyself I think. 

Sorry to learn that Don was well off-colour again due to cold. Heard something on the wireless that it is desirable to have warm bedrooms, and in any case this is most essential for those who are subject to chestiness or bronchitis. We have kept the electric heater on all night in the children’s room for about one week now and the difference is amazing. Glad to hear Don is a little better now.

So you saw Richings and Saunders respectively at Weston and Bridgwater. Hope they had time enough to fetch the bottle while you waited. 

Yes we thought we had done very well to get 63 people to the party at Castlebar. A number of them said they came against their better judgement as they did not want to let us down in view of all the arrangements made. As a result of the band failing to turn up, and a small working surplus, we had £10 over so we were able to pay back money to all those who paid in advance and were unable to attend. The hit of the evening was C.F.E. Harvey. He joined in all the games with gusto, and in one form of musical chairs he missed his seat altogether and went rolling over the floor. 

Half the battle of driving in London is knowing where you are, and what roads to take. Once you have a route in mind driving is the same as in any other town. 

I gather that the weather round your way has been very bad. We have had it cold but only today did the snow arrive – much to the delight of you know who. It was raining on Friday morning so I took the car but before I got out of bottom gear had gone into a four wheel skid. Good job it happened straight away or I should not have suspected the possibilities. Trouble was rain on top of ice. 

I was sorry to hear about Mrs Drewett. Odd that it should have happened on Christmas Day the same as Mrs Beale. 

As I write you must be getting ready for the ringers’ supper. Hope it goes well for you. How do you pack in 15? Should think that you have to take most of the furniture out of the dining room to do so. 

Odd you should have mentioned the parsnip wine in your letter, as by now you will have received mine which said that we had some on Christmas Day. I found it very good, but Peter passed no comment – it just disappeared. I got the grape wine out also among the Christmas fare, but after trying it myself decided that it would be wasteful to push it around yet as a few months more should remove any trace of rawness. 

So Arthur is ill, is he? Nice of them to send a card – no dollars enclosed though I gather.

This morning I took the girls out into the garden to make a snowman, the snow being about five inches thick. It was still snowing hard, and although I used shovel and garden spade the stuff was too sticky to work with. Made a heap of snow about three feet high and let it go at that. Took the girls down to the corner and back. Coming back against the wind was like a blizzard, and they had enough by the time we got back to 84. 

Eric has to return to Bristol for work tomorrow, and a few minutes ago we saw them all troop out to remove snow from off the car and get it started. He had a job to get moving – had to go forward and reverse a few times but eventually left at about 5 mph. The snow eased off when he went and only a few thin flakes were falling but now it is as bad as ever. Hope he can get through. 

Well we all hope you have a good and enjoyable New Year, and thank you for your wishes on the same. Try and keep in the warm as much as possible and give the Christmas Cheer a bit of a bashing also to keep cold out. Love from us all for now.

P.S. We shall be thinking of you around midnight (if still awake).

*This was a constant theme at the time, and eventually did come to pass – although in an environment very different from Ruislip.

*****

Alec to his maternal uncle and aunt (Eva’s brother Joe and his wife Lydia):

Sunday 31st December, 1961

Dear Aunt Lydia and Uncle Joe

Thank you very much for Christmas wishes and the presents you sent to the children. I think there is an effort by Susan which will be enclosed. Hope you had an enjoyable Christmas as I am sure you must have done with all those children around (of all ages). Pity we were not a bit closer, so we could look in for an hour or so or vice versa. 

Snow lies thick here today and is falling fast. We had no snow before today so you may expect someone was excited. We went out in the garden this morning and tried to build a snowman, but the snow was too sticky and too cold so we only finished up the pile about three feet high. Had a walk down to the corner of the road but coming back was like going through a blizzard. That was enough for the girls. 

We had eight for tea on Christmas Day and the same number for dinner and tea on Boxing Day. Susan has been to a party and they both have another one to look forward to next week. Susan is able to read books to Carol now and you may expect she is in great demand.

Hope you liked the photo. Most of the pictures taken came out well, but are best seen on a projector. We were very surprised and delighted with them. Beginner’s luck I suppose. Have another film in the camera now and have taken a chance on some  indoor colour snaps without flash. Hope it works. 

We had a nice tree this year and got it suitably decorated. About as big as the one I remember at Somerholme many years back. We took the girls to Church on Christmas Day (grown-ups service) and they behaved themselves very well. They go there for Sunday school and children’s services, so it was not altogether strange. No requests for ‘more [illegible].’

Well I expect you are keeping the fire warm these days like us and looking forward to the New Year so will wish you all good luck and prosperity in it and love from us all.

*****

Alec to his paternal uncle and aunt (Leonard’s brother Don and his wife Joan):

Dear Don and Joan

Thank you once again for the kind Christmas wishes and enclosure to us all. There is a letter from Susan already prepared which I will enclose herewith. We hear you were not too well over Christmas but that you are feeling a little better now. Hope the improvement continues, but cannot but feel that the weather is the cause of the trouble. 

Snow lies thick here today and is falling fast, but we are fortunate that we have not had it before today. It has been bitterly cold here and that is no incentive to leave the fireside. The girls and I did go in the garden this morning to build a snowman, but were only able to stay out for about half an hour. My next door neighbour has just left for Bristol in his car. The best of luck to him. 

We all dropped in on Geoff and the girls last Saturday morning and exchanged Christmas presents but apart from that we had not seen them for some long time. On Christmas Day June’s parents and brother and sister came over in the afternoon until about 9 p.m. and on Boxing Day they all came to dinner and stayed till about 8.0p.m.. While we all sat around Susan read through the whole of a book to us and Carol who would not be outdone sang ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. Susan now reads books to Carol, not bad considering she is only in her second term. She can also knit a little and has something lying around with about seven lines of knitting on**. They both had some lovely presents and there was some fun on Christmas morning and wrapping them. 

Peter produced a tree about ten feet tall which made our five shilling [£6 in 2021 money – good luck getting one at that price today!] one look a bit silly so we dumped it in favour of his. With lights, tinsel etc. it looks quite nice. 

Managed to break the nutcrackers on an almond (we have some tough nuts around here) but other than that the Christmas passed without incident. 

Well we all wish you both good health and prosperity in the New Year 

**’A little’ was precisely the way it stayed for the next seventeen years, too, until the arrival of Robin resulted in a sudden desire to learn to knit.

*****

And this, dear readers, concludes our letters from 1961.

Please join us again from Monday 3 January, 2022

for what is going to be a very full and fascinating year.

***

Looking ahead to next year:

On By Sue JenkinsIn First World WarLeave a comment
Sapper Leonard Atkins, January 1917

Coming soon, the First World War diary of Leonard John Atkins!

One of the most important reasons for starting this blog was to make available online the full text of Leonard’s diary which he wrote during 1917 and 1918. The first entry will be published on 24 January and entries will thereafter be published on their appropriate dates – and as we are still going to be continuing to publish the old family letters (as well as other material from time to time) that means that there will inevitably sometimes be two or more entries on any given day.

There are a lot of things to unpick and explain before we start, however, so this seems a good moment to address a few questions which may arise.

The reason for doing this now is this: 2022 will be the 125th anniversary of Leonard’s birth and, coincidentally, the 100th of Alec’s. It is also, tidily, the 105th anniversary of the diary entries.

However, do not be expecting Samuel Pepys! Leonard’s diaries are quite terse and guarded, and were probably written with his mother in mind – there is a lot of information about the church parades etc. that he attended, which would have been important to Emily. The average entry probably runs at no more than 20-30 words, which is also due to space constraints; he could not write descriptive epics in notebooks of that size.

In its physical form, the diary comprises two railwaymen’s notebooks, which are similar to the ones issued to police officers – that is, bound at the top so that they can be flipped open, and having a loop of elastic to hold them closed. The railway notebooks also had pencils inserted into the spine; one of the pencils from Leonard’s notebooks disappeared over the years, but the other was still in brand-new, sharp condition when the originals were deposited with the Royal Engineers Museum at Chatham in 2019.

Keeping a diary was strictly forbidden; if Leonard had been caught, his diary would have been confiscated, probably destroyed, and he would have been in serious trouble – especially as, in some cases, it included diagrams of railway layouts and other information of potential use to enemy personnel. Writing it in pencil was probably, apart from anything else, Leonard’s way of squaring this with his conscience; that would have made it easier to destroy quickly if necessary, by dropping it in water for example. Or peeing on it, of course.

Leonard had home leave some time in mid-1917, which is presumably when he took the first notebook home and left it there, taking a new one with him for the rest of his service.

Leonard was a relative late-comer to the colours, being a GWR employee and therefore in a ‘reserved occupation’, and the diaries cover the ‘closing overs’ of the war. He could no doubt have gone out earlier if he had chosen to, but at that stage he would almost certainly have been cannon-fodder and probably would not have returned. A sensible solution seems to have been arrived at whereby he was released from his job as soon as his younger brother, Donald, was old enough to he his temporary replacement; Donald was born in July 1901 and therefore sixteen years old when Leonard first went to France. It’s also the case that Leonard went straight into a Light Railway Operating Company, using expertise he had acquired during the years he’d already worked for the GWR; it’s not impossible that they were actively recruiting experienced railwaymen specifically for that role.

Given the work he was doing – as a member of No1 Light Railway Operating Company of the Royal Engineers – he was rarely, if ever, in immediate danger from enemy action. His work certainly took him to ‘the Front’ occasionally, but as a rule he was mostly involved in logistics – ferrying supplies and ammunition up the line, and wounded personnel back down. There’s no doubt he experienced very unpleasant conditions, and saw a great many things that haunted him in later life, but he would always have had reasonable expectations of reaching home again in good condition – barring accidents, of course. It would be fair to say, then, that Leonard had a moderately ‘cushy war’ compared to some people. This, however, should be set against his usefulness to the overall cause; by doing his job effectively, he enabled other people to do theirs.

Also, by keeping an illicit diary, he unwittingly provided information for future generations that would otherwise have been lost. A few years ago I had the opportunity of appearing on Michael Portillo’s Railways of the Great War – resulting from a casual remark I had made to an archivist friend, who subsequently received a request for information about any contacts with suitable material to share. Resulting from this appearance I was contacted by Martin Farebrother who, with his wife Joan, had written Allied Railways of the Western Front: Narrow Gauge in the Arras Sector. They were preparing a companion volume dealing with the Somme Sector, and felt that Leonard’s diaries could be of use in their research. Over the subsequent years this turned out to be the case, and Leonard’s diaries are quoted extensively in their final text. They were also instrumental in making arrangements for the physical diaries to be donated to the Royal Engineers when it became apparent that they were in fact too valuable as resources not to receive proper conservation.

Another researcher, Peter Capon, got in touch later, and was also able to use material from the diaries and to contribute information of his own which cleared up some questions that had previously been unanswered such as identification of place names which were either garbled or difficult to read. Both Peter’s and Martin’s observations were added to a transcript of the diaries which was submitted to the Royal Engineers along with the originals. It is from that transcript and the notes made by these two researchers that the diary entries published here will be taken.

Sunday 29 October, 1961

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1961 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Letter in red this week, the black type now definitely wearing thin. Thanks for the usual weekly letter from you both also drawing duly seen and approved of by the girls. Both are better now thank you very much, but have the aftermath of cough etc particularly in the case of Carol. June had to take her to the doctor on Thursday morning after she had had difficulty in breathing on Wednesday evening. Usual jollop prescribed which fortunately she does not mind taking. They are both so full of life that not long after a bout of illness they are soon bouncing about again. 

Note your run home a little up so far as mileage is concerned. I was aware of the extra distance, approximately 6 miles I think. Having regard to the time spent in Andover, could you say the route is any quicker?

I do not understand Geoff’s fixation about retirement, some time ago I remember he was saying only ten years to do, and that means only ten more possible continental holidays. I could well say that if I last till sixty I have only another twenty years to do myself. This of course means well over the halfway mark for the recognised 45 years (wristlet or pocket – or can I have the money?)

I gathered that the lecturing job went to a chap from the Engineers Department.  They have now got three out of three lecturers from that department. Sounds a bit fishy to me. I knew I had an (illegible) recommendation for the last one. They would have had a difficult job not to give one as they had declined my services as Work Study Assistant when I applied last January. 

Have not heard the result of Geoff’s interview. I saw him twice last week when arriving at Paddington in the morning. Take it he has started getting up earlier as he used not to roll before about 9:15 a.m. We have got the evidence as he was checked in when we did a Passenger census. 

I do not know what the outcome of the Reading Yard meetings will be yet as today the L.D.C. (staff side) have called a mass meeting of the shunters and guards to inform them of what they have learnt from us at the appreciation course and the meetings, and to ask for their support in taking the matter a stage further. If they want a closer look, we can knock up a provisional scheme based on the old figures (1957) – let them see what they have to do to earn their bonus, and calculate the average weekly take-home before and after. If they like the look of that they can have it on trial for six weeks with the option of rejecting it after that time if they are not satisfied. I can’t think what more we could offer to demonstrate there is no catch in it. 

I did not see the article about young Prescott – pretty bad business. Was his father the North Country man (or Midlander) who used to frequent the Salthouse (? dart player ) towards the end of the war? 

Very good arrangement of yours when chimney sweep called.  Do not blame you unless it is necessary to stop him taking the soot away. Should think it some use for the garden although at the rate of one chimney per year would not be enough to do much good. 

Note your gardening efforts – have in mind taking out the dahlias in a minute or two. Not much more to be expected from them. Very cold last night with the hint of both fog and frost. This morning, looking out of the bedroom window, could only see clearly to the middle of Melthorne Avenue although the houses at the end were not completely obscured. Was out in the car last night, hurried home to beat any fog, and found the worst patch across the road at the junction of Queens Walk and Torcross Road. Had to slow the car almost to a stand for about 10 yards. 

Glad you like the chrysanths, perhaps you will know what to do to get large blooms with them. I just let them grow as they will, but I expected that by pinching out to the buds at the appropriate time you might get some beauties.

I have little doubt that your mice did inhabit the old wireless at some time. All the evidence was there, and I must say that with the small slits in the bottom of the casing, and the complete cover of the chassis above, it was a very good choice of nesting place. 

I am afraid the wine you say you like is definitely Rhubarb. I had only one bottle of Jungle Juice apart from that which is maturing in the large jar, and we drank that when you were here. Glad you like the rhubarb although I have not tasted other than about half a glass. Please comment about the Parsnip. What is the verdict? 

Had to move the still maturing fermenting grape juice into a half-gallon stone jar as I wanted the large jars for apple wine. The apples you brought up were going bad as they were not being used fast enough. I found a receipt [sic]* involving 8 pounds of apples and made up the brew in two buckets. Finished up with one-and-a-half gallons of strained must but so far have only put 2 lb of sugar in. I feel that at least 4 more pounds of sugar are needed to the total, so that would be equivalent to another two pints of liquid. In the mixture is 1 Shredded Wheat, one grapefruit, one eighth of a pound of sultanas, one cup of pineapple juice, 1 and a half lemons, and 4 sticks of celery. Your guess is as good as mine. 

Do not let the liquid yeast get cold will you? Keep it in a warm but not hot place. If you do not use any by the end of the week, pour half away and fill up with cold boiled water and half spoon of sugar. An occasional dessert spoonful of any must you have available helps to ginger it up a bit. 

No more driving lessons yet, but may have a go this afternoon. Did not hear the comment about Stonehenge that was promised – perhaps not very important. 

We both saw Charlie Drake knock himself out. I thought the tall thin chap** was too weak to throw Drake through the window and had to be helped by the other chap, but did not think it was due to Drake being unconscious. 

Not much other news this end just now. Will try and get out while not actually raining. Love from us all for now and hope you are both keeping well. 

By the way I had a flu injection on Monday. a number of us had them with varying reactions. All set now for the winter? 

*Online sources seem to suggest that this was already an archaic expression by the time Alec chose to employ it, but the chances are it’s a usage inherited from one or other of his grandmothers.

**Henry McGee

Why?

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1944 Diary, 1959 letters, 1960 letters, 1961 letters, First World WarLeave a comment

This blog, amazingly, has quite a few followers now, although hardly anybody ever interacts with me except to click ‘like’ – which, goodness knows, I appreciate – and I honestly have no idea who most of you are, or where you are, or what interests you about some sixty year old letters from a quite unremarkable family. (The few exceptions are a couple of distant relatives who have happened upon information having a bearing on their own family history, and have contacted me directly as a result.)

Most of you haven’t been here from the very beginning, and I didn’t really explain myself fully in the first place, so maybe it would be sensible to take advantage of this brief hiatus in the narrative – while Leonard and Eva are staying at Ruislip with five year old me, my three year old sister, and our parents – to give you a bit of context for this endeavour.

The problem

I started out with six – six – boxes of Fam. Hist. paperwork, plus a box of slides, two old Bibles, and a great deal more. That’s in excess of 300 litres of the stuff, which my online calculation thingy suggests is 0.3 of a cubic metre. My desk runs at about 0.9 of a cubic metre, so you can get the general idea; the volume of stuff I have (or, rather, had) would probably fill a four-drawer filing cabinet.

Even a quick perusal of the material indicated that not all of it was worth keeping. For example, there were paper copies of things that we also had in electronic form, and printouts from online genealogy sources that aren’t going to go away. They were easily dealt with.

One of the Bibles was in very poor condition. It was valuable only for the information it contained. We scanned and saved that and – yes, I admit it! – put the Bible itself in the paper recycling. The other one had been rebound at great expense and is therefore going to have to stay.

Then there was Leonard’s diary of the 1914-18 war – albeit his participation covered only a fraction of that time. It was written in pencil, and the covers were beginning to deteriorate, and it was time for the diaries to have some proper conservation as they were already 100 years old. After due consultation with the younger generations, who didn’t want to take on responsibility for it, we offered the original diary to the Royal Engineers Museum at Chatham and they accepted. There is a story to this, of course, which will be shared later when we start looking at the contents of the diary.

Alec’s QSL cards, however, were another matter. The younglings snapped those up with cries of glee, drooling over some of the Soviet-era artwork, and went off and plotted them all on a map.

But still, there were the letters – almost ten years’ worth of them. They imposed a storage requirement, and the younger generation weren’t remotely interested in them. I was, but I couldn’t see myself hanging onto bundles of paper for the rest of my life. The answer was to think of each letter as having two components – the paper itself, and the information on it. The information was worth keeping, but the paper wasn’t. Therefore the solution was to scan – or, more recently, to dictate – the text, and to shred the letters themselves.

This raises the question of observer bias. If it is not possible to compare the electronic version to the original, there are always going to be opportunities to challenge the electronic version. It may seem unlikely that this would happen in the case of some relatively benign and unimportant family correspondence, but unfortunately there are some living relatives who subscribe to a revisionist version of history – and, specifically, to The Narcissist’s Prayer:

That didn’t happen.
And if it did, it wasn’t that bad.
And if it was, that’s not a big deal.
And if it is, that’s not my fault.
And if it was, I didn’t mean it.
And if I did, you deserved it.

The obvious response to this would of course be to keep the originals and make them available if ever the remaining family demand to see them, but life is too short – and they will only believe what they already want to believe anyway, whatever the evidence presented.

Thus, this blog – and its many backups – and the determined effort to reduce the volume of storage required by gradually disposing of all unnecessary items. There will still be plenty left over at the end, but hopefully if everything is stored in electronic form it will be less important if the originals end up in a skip somewhere at some future date.

Parts of this family’s story are interesting and parts are not. In future decades probably nobody will care if Leonard grew 285 lbs (130 kg) of runner beans in a single summer, or what he paid for his car repairs; however Alec’s experience of British Rail during the Beeching Purge may be of interest, and Leonard’s war diary has already added to the sum of human knowledge. It all goes together, the good and the bad, the relevant and the irrelevant; that’s just the way life works, and that’s why I’m not editing anything or making any selections. You, as the reader, will decide what is important to you; my job is simply to transmit the information.

And that, in a nutshell, is the answer to the question ‘Why?’

We now return you to your advertised programming, and thank you for watching this infomercial!

Christmas Day: Expect the Unexpected!

On By Sue JenkinsIn Chinese relatives, The Mother ProblemLeave a comment

I’m not sure what most people expect when they start on family history research. In my case there was a lot I already knew, and plenty of well-trodden ground, so I was fairly confident that except for ferreting out a few quirky details I would probably not make much new progress.

I had never in my life imagined that I would end up acquiring, and investigating, a whole group of distant (both in family terms and geographically) Chinese and part-Chinese relations, who would open up the hitherto staid and predictable landscape of yeomen and minor clerks to present me with gold miners, coal trimmers and market gardeners on the other side of the world.

I’m acutely aware that I haven’t yet produced a family tree so you’re going to have to take my word for this for the time being. However, let’s do it this way: Alec Atkins (1922-2001) was my father (I’m one of the awful manipulative children he complains about in his letters). Leonard Atkins (1897-1986) was his father. (Leonard has a story all his own; his diary of the First World War was featured in Michael Portillo’s Railways of the Great War.) Leonard’s father was Tom (1869-1941), who hasn’t appeared very much in these posts so far, and Tom’s wife/widow was the Emily of The Mother Problem.

Tom’s mother was Mary Jane (1845-1910). We don’t know who Tom’s father was, because Mary Jane was never actually married – although she did have two children. This was a surprise to me; I only found out accidentally that Tom had an older sister, Mary Maud, and whether my father knew or not is unclear. However Tom does seem to have been in contact with her until the end of her life.*

Mary Maud (let’s call her Maud, from now on) appears on the 1881 census living in Frome and working in a factory there. However by 1885 she’s in Australia, married to a Chinese market gardener, and having her first child – Violet. Maud married twice, in fact, both times to men of Chinese origin, and had two sons and two daughters. One of the boys died as a baby, and the other son remained unmarried, but in due course both daughters married (one twice within the Chinese community, one outside it) as a result of which there are numerous Chinese and part-Chinese second cousins of my father and third cousins of mine to be tracked down. I’m not including any names here, because (a) some of these people are still alive and (b) I’ve discovered through being in contact with two of Maud’s great-grandsons that they are a little bit reclusive and publicity-shy. I don’t know their reasons for this, and I’m not going to speculate; I’ll simply take them at their word. The family history information quoted above is a matter of public record, however, and if anyone else cares to spend time and money investigating they could easily come to the same conclusions as I have.

I mean no disrespect to people of Chinese origin when I say that, fascinating though it is, this is proving a very difficult area of research. Names have often been transcribed incorrectly, for example, and usually by people with little or no understanding of Chinese languages or naming conventions. Also, they seem to have considered ‘China’ to be sufficient description of where the individuals were born, whereas even a province name would have been more helpful; China covers 3.7 million square miles but has always had a very efficient bureaucracy – tracing these men’s exact birthplaces might almost have been possible if we’d only had a little more information to go on.

What’s puzzling me at the moment is when and how Maud travelled to Australia. (Her name does not appear on any of the passenger lists I’ve been able to consult.) It’s likely to have been as part of a charitable endeavour, with people from underprivileged backgrounds being recruited to start a new life on the other side of the world, not unlike the later Child Migrant Programme. Whether Maud was satisfied with her decision or not is impossible to say unless any correspondence from her comes to light – which could well happen, as there are family archives held by another second cousin of mine that I hope one day to be able to access. How Maud met either of her husbands is also a fascinating question; knowing where she landed in Australia – probably Melbourne or nearby – and what work she did after arriving might be useful in that respect.

I had only really scratched the surface of this investigation ten years ago when I suddenly found myself running a small business which proceeded to eat up most of my time. Now that the business is being wound-up, I’ve returned to the research with better resources and a clearer idea of what I’m looking for – but with much less energy. However, although I plan to continue sharing the letters, photos, clippings and diaries that I have in my extensive collection, I’ve decided to confine any future new research to those relatives on all sides of the family who went to live in Australia – including the one who eventually came back with his tail between his legs. If I ever get to the end of this line of investigation, I’ll return to the Huguenots on another branch – just as well-documented as the Chinese, but suffering from the same difficulty of being strangers in a strange land and often having their names transcribed incorrectly.

Watch this space, as the saying goes, for future updates as and when they become available!

*That correspondence between Maud and her brother continued at least until the mid-1920s (and probably longer) is borne out by two pieces of evidence. The first is that Tom and Emily’s bungalow in Exeter was named ‘Whittlesea’, the name of the town in Australia where Maud and her family lived. The second is that one of Maud’s great-grandsons sent me pictures of Leonard and Eva’s wedding and of Alec as a baby – the latter one that I had never seen before but of course recognised him instantly. This means that in about 1924-25 there was still an exchange of correspondence, and as Maud did not die until 1940 I can see no reason why it wouldn’t have continued for at least another decade. If the packrat tendency extends to the entire family, there may still be letters in an attic somewhere that could shed considerable light on some of these unanswered questions; if only my second cousin Sara would get in touch again, we might be able to join forces to find out!

Friday 4th December, 1959

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1959 letters, The Mother ProblemLeave a comment

Leonard to the family, once again on the reverse of Timetable 179, Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bormingham, Stourbridge Junction, Kidderminster, Bewdley, Dudley, Wolverhampton and Wellington:

Dear Alec June Susan & Carol

Many thanks for your letter received on Tuesday and you should have had Mum’s the same morning. I see by date above it is five years ago today you were married. Congratulations to you both and very best wishes for the future. It’s also five years off the payments for house and although very little difference as yet in your pay packet it is that much further towards the place being your own. That was a splendid effort of Susan’s and the drawing shews she can put her ideas on paper. Noted they both keep you on your toes. They used to say “Boys will be boys” but we must alter it to “Girls will be girls”. Good job the hand bell was used in Sunday School as presumably she was not allowed to bring it home. Yes we heard from Geoff that you had called on them having lost your way when out in car shopping. They were pleased to see you and said “How the girls have grown.” Stella was apparently away working in Watford (query in Marks and Spencers). Geoff made his usual annual visit to Ireland last week* but crossed over one night and recrossed the next – cut the trip by two days this time. I also see British Railways dispensing with their Christmas [illegible] cards this year – about time too.

Thanks for information re your Parcels effort at Paddington – the electronic computer will save hours of calculating work by the sound of it. So manning has gone to Euston – query whether he would be an applicant to get back on WR when suitable sideways vacancy occurs. Don’t think I’m a Job’s comforter but things like this happen all too frequently. Note your remarks re garage and I agree the arrangement of the door on garage at Whittlesea is an ideal one but must obviously cost more*. I believe Don & Geoff fixed it between them but it’s a job I should not like to tackle.

Yes we heard Bill Harper had finished and am wondering how he will pass the time as he has no known hobby and no garden on house – he lives in Brislington not so very far away from the Newmans who we visit two or three times a year.

I nopte re: apples and will pick out some nice ones from the Bramley Seedlings [sic] and Jersey Beauty – the former are the best cookers and can be used from November onwards whilst the Jersey beauty is eater and cooker but must be kept for a while as at the moment they are very hard. Should keep until February or March in good keeping season but you must keep your eye on them as season not so good. Weather here has been pretty bad but not so foggy as in your area.

We went to Weston on Tuesday and although we came away again about 7.0 p.m. had to run through blankets of fog for most of journey.

Apart from sawing wood up for logs and chopping for firewood have not done very much out of door work since I last wrote because of wet state of ground. The pond filled with water overnight but soon returned to normal level (top of deep part) when it stopped raining – have not yet been able to mend leak although have had a couple of goes at it. House next door still empty and garden now looking like a piece of waste ground. I notice the broad beans Cornish put in for me on Nov 5th are breaking through the soil and about 25% of my spring cabbage plants look as if they may recover in due course. There is still a lot of white fly about in spite of frost and torrential rain and greenstuff generally is going to be scarce later on. We are using cabbage which normally would not be cut until towards end of January.

Am glad to say Mum is much better although still troubled with a cough – these appear to be very common at present – she will write to June in reply to her letter later. I’m still getting on alright but as mentioned above have not done any serious gardening yet – fortunately the weather would have stopped me in any case.

Shall be looking forward to seeing you next week and you must let us know time due Yatton or Clevedon.

No more now – all the best once more and lots of kisses for Susan & Carol.

Dad & Mum

*’Whittlesea’ was the name of the house in which Emily lived before she began her peripatetic lifestyle (see ‘The Mother Problem’). It was in the immediate vicinity of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital premises at Wonford in Exeter but I have been unable to establish whether or not it’s still in existence. The derivation of the name is an interesting one; it was named for the town in Victoria, Australia, where Emily’s sister-in-law Mary ended up living. Mary is an interesting character whom we’ll be meeting in more detail at a later stage. At any rate, it sounds as if a segmented sliding garage door may be what Don and Geoff installed on the premises, and what Alec was craving. When he did get one, many years later, he decided it was more trouble than it was worth.

Wednesday 25th November, 1959

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1959 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard to the family, once again on the reverse of Timetable 179, Leamington Spa, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bormingham, Stourbridge Junction, Kidderminster, Bewdley, Dudley, Wolverhampton and Wellington:

Dear Alec June Susan & Carol

Many thanks for letter received on Tuesday but sorry to hear about the colds and hope you are much better now. As you say quite a lot of people are suffering from the same complaint and mum is one of them. She has had and still has a rather nasty one making her cough a lot but it is certainly better than it was a few days ago. Pity you had to do a spell of night duty at that particular time but unfortunately it frequently happens that way. Note the special census you were doing at Paddington – what is next more in connection with the information obtained? Glad to hear you have mended a few things on car but that steering should be looked at by a proper mechanic. Noted you are getting expert at demolition work at least as far as the shed is concerned. You will have to tackle the problem of building a combined shed & garage further down the garden. So Mr Grey has bought a new one then – pity it was such a shocking day for its erection. The latest idea of course is to have one with a door that swings up and over – so much better than the old method of double closing doors like mine. You must be getting used to driving again by this time.

We shall be very pleased to see you if you can get down for a short weekend Alec and only wish it were possible for you all to come but we quite understand the position and it is no pleasure for the children travelling at this time of year when they are so young. Susan up to her nonsense again and now teaching Carol – a lively couple I’m sure – you must have eyes and ears all round you. Anyhow they are both growing up.

A letter from Geoff this week says Rebecca is being confirmed on Monday next the 30th. It is her birthday on Dec. 4th and we think she will be 13.

Note your pantry now in bedroom (sounds a bit Irish) and serving a useful purpose. Shall be looking forward to a taste of the Carrot Whisky in due course – have not tackled that one myself yet. The slow wine (now in greenhouse) is still working fast and about once a week I have run a drop off into a bottle or the wine would be up into fermentation lock. This is the stuff I told you consists of only sloes and sugar and I think it is going to be good.

Very nice of June’s Mum and Dad enquiring of us – please remember us to them next time you see them and we hope they are keeping as well as possible during this spell of rainy weather.

Yes Clevedon AFC have done very well again this season and I notice they are home to Ilford next round.*

Mum and I motored to Clifton Bristol on Monday where I saw the surgeon in the afternoon. He gave me a good examination and said everything going on alright. Said he would like to see me once more in four months‘ time. So far as I’m concerned I feel fine and have been busy again on garden and in garage. Yesterday morning I put in 18 currant bushes (6 each red, white and black) that arrived about 9.30 a.m. – the holes had been prepared before I went into Hospital. This morning have given the garage a good clean up. What about apples? Should like to get some up to you somehow. Is it possible to repeat arrangement we made for plums and is your office number still Paddington 29? We only have cookers left (except Jersey Beauty and these are very hard until about February or March – can then be used for cooking or eating), but they would come in useful. The eaters were a small crop this time and turned bad very quickly. Could send on some Jersey Beauty – Lanes Prince Albert and/or Bramley Seedlings. [sic]

Have a nice show of Chrysanths in greenhouse and sold one or two bunches – also sold nice lot of cooking apples.

No don;t bring any old trousers down with you Alec – no heavy jobs outstanding at present but there will be plenty later on as you will be able to see – perhaps next time we come to Ruislip I had better bring my old clothes & help put up garage – or remove wreck of shed.

No more now – Mum will write later on and give you more news.

Cheerio for now – lots of kisses for our two little darlings.

Dad & Mum

*It looks as if they may have beaten Ilford, as their website records. They played at the time on a site at Teignmouth Road, which was their home from 1949 to 1992, and now – renamed Clevedon Town – have their own purpose-built stadium with a capacity of 3500, 300 seated.

Wednesday 21 October 1959

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1959 lettersLeave a comment

Alec to his parents:

Dear Mum and Dad

Thank you both for your letters duly received. Glad to hear Dad getting on well, and that stitches came out without any trouble. Nice to be able to watch proceedings. Good job the food is first class, nothing like spending time in hospital with a poor appetite or poor fare. Dont worry about spelling I hit so many wrong keys and doubles that it just does not matter. Communication is not just a matter of correct spelling.* I hope Mother is making a note of your new eating habits and is laying in a stock of tongue, Spaggheti, Prunes etc. You must be very high up where you are. I imagine you to be very close to the turning off to go over suspension bridge. The names of the roads mean nothing to me ( except that of Park St which I know to originate at the Tramway Centre ) I agree that the course you followed in getting your op done in Private Hospital is the best. There is no question that it is best to have these things done at times and conditions of your own choosing rather than have to wait about maybe for months. Crabb who is the Assistant Regional Treasurer Euston, and who lives in the Fairway, told me that back last Spring he had got his name on the list to go into Mount Vernon Hospital for the same op. He cancelled his holidays in case he was called and had to forfeit any money he had deposited. I saw him a day or two ago and he is still waiting. I know that Fifty Quid is a substantial sum to you in your retired state, but it occurs to me that the amount is extremely reasonable. Before the War I am sure that the charge would have proportionately higher. I am afraid I have to report that both Susan and Carol have caught colds again. Susans I am sure is due to running round in the-mornings and getting out of bed etc.** She has been repeatedly warned about this and scolded but to little effect. June took her down to Sunday School again this last Sunday, and Carol and I went to meet her. When I noticed all the others coming out I went in to collect her. They had given her a nice little bunch of flowers wrapped up in newspaper. She came out dangling these. Since her return June had to play the piano for her so that she could sing ‘Amen’ when it stopped. She said we all walked round the room and put our pennies in the box. She was singing snatches of ‘All things bright and beautiful’ so some of it is going in and sticking. Forgot to tell you that as result of my razor going out of action had to go back to the old steam razor. Of course I left it on Bathroom Window. During the day Susan was sent up to wash her hands and as she had been gone some time and things rather too quiet, June crept up to see what she was up to. She was only shaving with the razor and had nicked herself in a couple of places on the chin. Blood was streaming down her chin on to cardigan. No damage done of course but just shews what she gets up to. Note your wishes re location.Had a chat with Peter Morris to-day, met him quite by accident. He is looking a bit drawn and haggard, and I formed the impression that it has shaken him up very much. He tells me that he is enjoying the “Gentlemen’s Hours”. Mothers drawing of Grandad in Hospital – very good. Note bowl of grapes at left elbow. It sounds nice to have sink unit and fridge, especially if you say it quick but believe meit will have to be a gradual process. First job is to transfer the gas cooker then we will consider what next to do. Mum will be pleased when all the work is finished, and I am sure the result will justify any temporary inconvenience. As kitchen now has fine view, why not swap kitchen and dining room over – make a change. Junes Mums birthday to-day. They are both keeping pretty well. June still knitting. Norman Thorne had his interview with Briant to-day (after Annual Leave) and is reported to have said “He does not want an Assistant he wants a new Head of Passenger Train Section”. Well there it is for now. Hope you are both as well as the circumstances allow. Love from June, Susan, Carol and Alec

*Nice to know! After years of proof-reading and editing other people’s work I don’t take the same relaxed attitude, however, and it’s a real struggle sometimes not to correct Alec’s dodgy spelling and punctuation. Considering how strict he was over such matters when we were children, there is more than a touch of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ here … i.e. one rule for him, and one for everyone else.

**Yes, I’m sure it’s medically attested that waking up early and getting out of bed is the cause of disease. In fact if everybody stayed in bed all day we’d all be healthier. This goes along with the rubbish about never sitting on the seat in a public toilet (“you can catch nasty diseases that way”) and never allowing a dog to lick your face. If Alec and June had spent more time worrying about things that mattered and less time worrying about things that didn’t – including what the neighbours would say and whether reading ‘boys’ books’ would make one grow up ‘peculiar’ – their lives, and the lives of their children, might have been a lot happier.

Tuesday 20th October, 1959

On By Sue JenkinsIn 1959 lettersLeave a comment

Leonard (writing from hospital) to the family:

Dear Alec, June, Susan & Carol

Thank you both for your newsy letters received this morning. Am glad to say I’m going on satisfactorily and the steel clips (stitches) twelve of them were taken out yesterday evening. I did not feel one of them although was able to see every withdrawal. Sorry if it was a bit of a shock to you but as I mentioned before did not want to add to your worries unnecessarily. The timing of the operation was planned to suit all circumstances including state of garden but naturally I am glad it is over although now-a-days no-one should have the least fear of such occasions. They have been operating daily since I’ve been here from morning until night seven days a week and apparently this is normal working. Have seen no evidence of Work Study except in the fact that someone is always waiting to be taken into operating theatre as previous victim comes out. The food continues to be magnificent and I’ve a job to put it all away. For the 6.0 p.m. meal Monday I had a whole fried fish and spaggheti* (?spelling [sic]) with bread and butter, a pot of coffee followed by a full dish of cornflower and another of prunes. Then they came round and asked if we wanted anymore. What a life! This hospital is right on top of Park Street – actually beyond Park St running into beginning of Jacobs Wells Road on the left hand side – a really fine place. It is a private hospital of course but surgeons fee will be 30 guineas and cost of food and attention in hospital something like 10 guineas per week.** For me this is a much more satisfactory arrangement than waiting anything from three to four months to get into Clevedon Cottage Hospital and then probably being called in at a time when it would interfere with other arrangements.

Delighted to hear of Susan & Carol’s doings it is obvious Carol has made great strides since you were at Clevedon in the summer and fancy Susan off to Sunday School. So glad you are continuing to get better nights even if Carol is in your room. Sleep is so beneficial to everybody – can do a day’s work much better than after a sleepless night. The children’s outdoor activities will be gradually curtailed now with the approach of Winter but they have had a very long Summer and must be the better for it. You did not say how Jun’es Mum & dad were getting on. I do hope they are both improving.

Yes we had a very rough night here on Friday and one of the occupants of the ward had to get out and put a plug in the window sash and close one of the others. I wondered at the time if the tops of my garden frames might be damaged but Mum – when she came on Sunday – said they were alright. Mr Cornish had been over and closed them.

Note you had a little difficulty with your cementing – query was mixture in right proportions – you must put some sand with the cement to bind it about 1 part cement to 3 parts of sand is a good mix.

The point about keeping my presence here quiet is that once it is known at Temple Meads I shall have plenty of visitors. This is very nice I know but it can be overdone. Mum will be in again at 11.0 a.m. this morning and will post this for me.

Well I think this is the lot for now.

All the best and once again many thanks for all your kind wishes – shall be here for remainder of the week at least.

Lots of kisses for dear little Susan & Carol.

Dad

*Fish and spaghetti sounds like an awful combination. Towards the end of her life June, when her dementia was already advanced, cooked herself a meal of fish, cauliflower and spaghetti which still makes me want to retch to think about it now – but we thought it was a product of her confusion rather than something which actually had a precedent. As the male half of Jenkins and Jenkins said at the time, “Does your mother realise that spaghetti is not a vegetable?” We speculated that she might originally have been taken in by the famous BBC ‘Spaghetti Tree’ hoax, which of course played on the general lack of sophistication of the British at the time concerning ‘foreign food’.

**Let’s say Leonard stayed in hospital for two weeks, which seems about right. This would bring the entire cost of his treatment and care to 50 guineas, which would be the equivalent of about £1200 in 2019. However the clearest cost figures I can obtain for a similar procedure in the present day (given that I do not know the precise details of his condition) would be about double that – and would actually include only one night in the hospital.