A Wonderful Lady - Postscript

When it became impractical for Evelyn , or as she will always be remembered by me , Auntie Eva, to remain at Beauxfield in Whitfield she moved to the Allendale Residential Home. Evelyn's birthday parties there became a regular event and the photo below shows some of the friends and relations who gathered on her 100th birthday

The event was covered by the local newspaper as shown in the picture below, and beneath I have quoted the entire article.

"One Whitfield woman celebrated in style last week as she received her greeting from the Queen at her 100th birthday party. Evelyn Fuller was surrounded by her family and friends who travelled from all over the country for the special occasion on Tuesday October 5.
The special card came in the morning and Evelyn's daughter Mary Gardner knew it would be a big moment. Mrs Gardner said "My mother and I have been discussing it for years, I used to joke with her about how she was aiming for the Queen's greetings but she always used to say she wasn't, and now they are finally here." Mrs Fuller lives in Allendale Residential Home and on the big day 40 people arrived to enjoy the party and she received over 100 cards from well wishers.
Now it's back to life as normal for Mrs Fuller who is dedicated to knitting blankets for charity, her daughter said,"She likes to keep active so she knits patchwork squares, it takes 96 squares to make one blanket and she's already made 11 of them, there's no stopping her."


Evelyn was always happy at Allendale and was lovingly cared for by the marvellous staff there.
As I said the birthday get-togethers became a regular event. We gathered again a year later for Evelyn's 101st, and then the following year for her 102nd. That was the final "big do" and for her 103rd and 1o4th quieter celebrations took place. We gathered again on the 3rd August 2009 for a loving farewell, but I think the tradition of getting together to remember Evelyn will continue for many years to come. We will particularly remember Evelyn for her kindness and her sense of humour. Below is a video taken at Evelyn's 102nd birthday party which will also be a fitting reminder of Evelyn Fuller, A Wonderful Lady!

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 19 After the War

We lived in River until 1979. Those years were, for the most part, very happy years. Frances completed her education at Dover Grammar School for girls and joined the Civil Service. Mary attended River School, Folkestone Technical School for Girls and also joined the Civil Service.

Nephew Brian and Mary in the back garden at Lower Rd River

Two stories about Mary, whilst she was at River School, come to mind. Mary came in from school one day, when she was about 6 years old, and asked the meaning of the word "foul". I explained it had two meanings depending upon the spelling; foul being dirty and fowl being a chicken. " Well, what is a fiend then?", asked Mary. "That's a devil", I answered. "Hm" says Mary, "Dirty Devil!". Of course, the second verse of the hymn "Who would true valour see" begins "Hobgoblin nor foul fiend!"At one time the headmaster of River School, Mr Strand, had evidently been telling the children a little about what happened when people died, how the soul left the body and went to heaven, which he must have described in some detail. On this particular day my mother was still with us and was having one of her off days. Mary came in from school, saw Nan with her head in her hands and went over to her and said, "You don't feel very well do you Nan?". "No I don't dear", was the reply. Whereupon Mary said, " Never mind you'll soon be dead and then you'll go to a lovely place, where there are birds and flowers and lovely sunshine and you'll be very happy!" Poor Mum didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Music

Music continued to enrich our lives. Frank and I played in the Minerva Orchestra for some years and I accompanied the Methodist Ladies and River WI choirs, taking part in many concerts in the Dover area. We attended River Methodist Chapel where we made many good friends. Frances later became organist at Wesley Methodist Church and played there for over 20 years.

Retirement

My mother lived with us until she died in 1958 and Frank's mother also spent some weeks with us each year until she died. Frank retired from the Immigration Service in 1962 and we enjoyed 17 years of happy retirement together. During this time we continued to have frequent visits from our numerous relations, especially during the summer, and had lots of happy times. We also spent some time exploring England and Scotland as well as visiting family members. Frank took up a long dreamed of hobby and proved his skill with the artist's paintbrush, producing many beautiful pictures both in oils and water colours - clearly a gift passed on by his father.

Family Tragedies

By 1978 Frances and Mary both had their own homes and Frank and I were finding our large house and garden more than we could cope with. After celebrating our Golden Wedding in September 1978, we decided to move and in early 1979 settled on a bungalow in Whitfield with a moving date fixed for 13th April. Devastatingly Frank became very ill in March that year and passed away on14th April. This was an awful time. Frances had also been suffering from a mystery illness which we alter discovered was multiple sclerosis. I made the best of my years at Whitfield, but of course I was without Frank and that was hard to bear. Fortunately, I had a lot of family visitors and a great many faithful friends to help me through. Frances and Mary both lived within walking distance in Whitfield and were very supportive. After battling with the horrors of MS for over 20 years, Frances died in January 2000; those years of progressive suffering affected us all very deeply.

Now , her I am nearly 100 years old! What memories I have and what experience of the kindness of family and friends. Thank God for all of them.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 18 Bannockbrae and Back to River

Frances holding MaryBannockbrae



Eventually, Mrs Best decided she would sell the house and go and live with her sister in Newquay, but said that her sister-in-law, Miss Best would be willing t let us have several rooms in her house. This was a much larger place called Bannockbrae. Miss Best was of Irish extraction, I think, and was Geography Mistress at Port Talbot Secondary School. We had three bedrooms, a kitchen, breakfast room, sitting room and bathroom. Grandma Fuller was with us then too, and she and my mum shared a double room. Miss Best had a piano in her sitting room and I was given permission to use it whenever I liked, so that I was able to continue giving Frances her music lessons. There was a lovely entrance hall with a mosaic floor, a grandfather clock, and a beautiful mahogany table. The staircase was wide and carpeted in dark red, blue and green Axminster. There were some fine triangular stair-rods made of brass, which Mum and I took out and cleaned. When Miss Best came home from school she always came down to our room to say hello, but on one occasion she didn't come, so I opened our door and there she was, standing just inside the front door with her arms folded. As I approached her she said," I was just thinking how lovely that looks with the brass rods shining". We were very pleased.



The one drawback to the house was that it was over-run by mice, which came from the house next door where a very elderly couple lived. I don't think they were aware of them. I killed one on the cooker with a poker. In the evening they would run across the hearth rug. One evening I said," I cannot stand any more. I am going to bed", and as I went up the stairs two mice ran down. We used to leave our bedroom door ajar by putting a shoe down, just in case Frances or Mum called and these mice used to leap over the shoe squeaking. I think we got rid of them eventually by blocking up the holes where they came through under the stairs.



Frank learned Spanish whilst we were living in Port Talbot. Emilio Prada was a Spaniard with an evening class in the town, but used to come to us from time to time, have a meal and give Frank a lesson. When asked if he would like more food he would lift his hands and say," I am plenty, I am plenty..."



Richard Burton



Richard Burton attended Miss Best's school and she was very keen for us to go to one of the school productions. Frank wasn't very keen on school dramatics, but thought we had better go to please her. Well, we would not have missed it for the world. She asked what we thought of it and Frank said he would have taken them all for three year drama students; they were all outstanding. Richard was superb, of course, as Professor Higgins in Pygmalion. Richard's name was Jenkins then. P.H Burton, the drama teacher, gave him his professional name and more or less brought him up.



Audrey the actress



Audrey could have done well at drama school, although I have heard Doreen say that Audrey was an excellent secretary and for one cousin to say that of another is praise indeed. Doreen was good herself I'm sure. Audrey loved staging plays. She and her mum and dad came to us for a short while when we were living in Miss Best's house in Port Talbot. Our bedroom had a bay window recess in it and , with blackout curtains drawn across the the recess, it made an ideal stage. The audience sat on the edge of the bed in great discomfort. As the curtains did not reach to the ground, Jim (Audrey's dad) , being Jim, had to have a little peep underneath occasionally, or poke his foot under, for which he was duly reprimanded. I cannot remember what the play was about except that there must have been royalty in it as one piece I remember was :



Court Official: Will your Majesty see the Chamberlain now?

Queen Audrey: No my Majesty will not!



I think the audience fell off the bed laughing; it was such a definite and dignified answer.



Back to River



Seven weeks before we came back to River in November 1944 Mary, our Welsh Rarebit, was born. I went into a really marvelous nursing home in Porthcawl called St Mary's. She was a very good baby and we hardly knew she was there. Dr Marshall came over to see me several times and when I said I felt well enough to go home he said, "Oh, don't go yet Mrs Fuller. Whilst you are here I can bring my family over, leave them on the beach, come and visit you, and claim the petrol allowance!" We started off on our journey home from Port Talbot at about 4.30am. Frank had already been posted, so I made the journey with Mary in the carry cot, Frances who was then 13 and the two grandmas. We reached Cardiff and were stuck there for an hour. Poor Frances was not at all well and kept asking how much longer we would be there The whole business of the preceding 4 or 5 years had been a great strain on her; we had gone on holiday to Shanklin and not returned home for 5 years! We travelled first class and Mary slept in the cot. A gentleman who was sharing our compartment said that he had never known such a good baby. I guess that when he saw the cot he thought he was in for a noisy trip. We reached Paddington at noon. The trains were erratic, of course, and we had to get from there to Waterloo for our connection at 1pm. My sister Floss, who was at Paddington, grabbed the cot and we took a taxi. We explained our haste to the driver and off we hurtled - he certainly went to the top of the class for flowery language! I didn't know there were so many swearwords useful on the road! We made our connection and arrive home on a cold November afternoon.



Our good friends Mr and Mrs lake, had been keeping an eye on the house and had washed all our curtains and generally cleaned up, aired the beds and made a lovely roaring fire in the dining room with a kettle singing on the hob. It really looked like home and very welcoming. We soon got something to eat and began to get settled. The amount of luggage we had collected over the 5 years was amazing. The lounge was choc a bloc; we had had to get it moved by van. The garden was a wilderness with buddleia bushes growing between the crazy paving eight feet high! Frank got to work on it bit by bit and eventually it was clear. We were thankful we had a home to come back to; some people were not so fortunate. Soon the war was over, thank God.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 17 War Time Memories of Wales

Eunice the Comical Kid

Eunice was really one of the funniest youngsters I ever knew - a real character. Floss brought her to Port Talbot and they stayed with us for a while at Mrs Chidzoy's house. In the evening Eunice would put her dollies to bed after a little while come downstairs with a heavy tread on each step saying, "You've had a drink, a sweet and an orange. If I hear any more from you my girl, I'll give you a smacked bottom!" Thus spake her Mum no doubt! If I was upstairs tidying in the bedrooms, I would have Eunice with me so that I could keep an eye on her. She would disappear into the bathroom, where I knew she would be safe, then re-appear saying, "Auntie I've done the wash basin, would you like me to do the bath?". Another time she was sitting on the toilet reading a book with the door wide ope. I said, " You don't use the toilet and leave the door wide open", but Eunice replied, "Well my Mummy does." I said, " Well, I don't think she ought to." "Why not?" said Eunice. I replied, "Because she's a lady". "Oh no she isn't", said Eunice convincingly. "Well what is she then?", I asked. Eunice looked down at the book she was reading, looked up and said, "She's a moo cow!". I retreated defeated; she was looking at an animal book.

The Cranny

We had been at Quantock sometime when Mrs Chidzoy, for various reasons, decided she would like to come back to live there with her little boy. We had to move on and took accommodation with Mrs Best. This family house was called The Cranny and was about a quarter of a mile nearer to the town. Mrs Best then decided to go and stay with her sister in Newport and so we moved in and were very happy at The Cranny for quite a time. Ada, Jim and Audrey visited us as did Ethel, Reg and Gillian, and the Miles and their daughter Neva next door were lovely people. We attended the Welsh Calvanist Church and the minister was Rev. Arnold Bellwood I believe; he conducted Dad's funeral.

Andrew Cunningham

Andrew was the son of our neighbour, Betty Cunningham, and he was very attracted to babies. If Betty couldn't find him whilst out, she would look for a pram and there would be Andrew gazing adoringly at the baby.He used to say, " can't we have one?". Betty would answer, "Yes, one day". Then on one occasion he said, " Good and we won't tell Dad, it will be a surprise!". Andrew was a bit of a case. On another occasion his mother took him to the barber's for a trim and by the way of conversation he told the barber that his mummy had a new pair of pink knickers! Hastening to change the subject the barber asked, " Have you any wee brothers or sisters?". "No", replied Andrew eagerly, "but we are going to have one and my daddy doesn't know anything about it!"

Death of Dad

Soon after we went to Wales my dad was quite ill with kidney trouble again. Mum and I nursed him back to health and he seemed to have a new lease of life. He would take a trip into town at times - I think he used to treat himself to an extra ounce of Digger Shag tobacco, as he loved his old pipe. Frank would drop him in the town and he would walk leisurely back. On this particular occasion, which was a fine December day,he was returning when a car came along, the steering wheel came off, the car went haywire, mounted the pavement and ran into Dad, carrying him along with it. One of our neighbours Betty Cunningham came along and told us there had been an accident and Dad was brought in and laid on the floor of the lounge. He was quite conscious and asked what happened. Frank said, " You had a little argument with a car Dad". Dad immediately said he was worried about a young woman and a toddler walking just in front of him, but they were alright. In no time a doctor , who lived opposite, came in and sent Dad to a special examination bed at the hospital. Everything that could possibly be done was done, but Dad was bleeding internally and three hours later he passed away. His prayers were answered as he always wished to pass away quickly and not linger or be a burden, which he never would have been, of course. Dad was a very even tempered man and I never knew him to lose control of his temper. Going back a long way, I remember Mum telling me how he was engaged to her sister, Tilly, who was a real local beauty, but she jilted him for another and Mum laughingly said, "Never mind George, I'll have you!" . He must have taken her at her word.

A Welsh Funeral

We had been warned that unless we put a notice in the local paper to the effect that the funeral was private, that the whole town would turn out in respect. I had seen a non-private local funeral and never realised that there were so many bowler hats around. Dad's funeral was comparatively quiet with only a few members of our family attending. When I opened the door just before we were about to leave the house, standing there were three tall men in frock coats and silk hats; Mr Howell, Mr Miles, and Mr Jones. I must say that these kindly Welsh folk accepted us as one of themselves.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 16 We go to Wales

Aberdovey

About one year before the Second World War started Frank's sister, Ethel, said that she was sure the war was inevitable and, having a former colleague who was Welsh, arranged to rent a cottage in Aberdovey, where she intended to migrate when things came to a head. Her husband, Reg, was in the Navy and daughter, Gillian was about two years old.

Ethel had already gone to live there when war was declared. However, early in 1939 we had booked a holiday in Shanklin for the first two weeks in September. I had started to pack our cases, sorting out garments in a suitable manner and using a large expanding case as we were going by car. Then Frank's leave was suddenly stopped and we had to use smaller cases as we would be going by train. It seemed certain that Frank wouldn't be able to travel with us, and we wondered if it was wise for me and Frances to go either. However, Mr Fisher our next door neighbour said, "You go Mrs Fuller. This will all fizzle out!", which was the understatement of the year! Frances and I went off with our cases and got to Shanklin alright. Frances kept asking, "When's Daddy coming?". I think we were sitting on the seafront at Shanklin on the Sunday morning when war was declared. Back home in Dover, Frank, my dad and Mr Fisher spent several days digging out a shelter at the end of the garden. Mum told me there was an alert in the middle of dinnertime one day. She went to the shelter, but Dad said that whatever happened he was going to finish his dinner first!.

As soon as war was declared, Ethel got in touch from Aberdovey and said to Frank, "Don't let Eva and Frances go back to Dover. Send them to me here." This was an unforgettable kindness and Frances and I were in Aberdovey for six weeks. We had, of course, left Mum and Dad in our house at Dover at that time. By this time news began to come through as to Frank's destination for the duration of the war. He was nearly sent to Scotland, but somebody realised that he had just sent us off to Wales, and so he was posted to Swansea. He was allowed to look for accommodation, which had to include space for Mum and Dad, who were to join us. We were able to rent a beautifully furnished house belonging to Mr & Mrs Chidzoy, which looked out over Swansea Bay with Mumbles Head and Swansea Town on the right. When the war really started we watched the blitz on Swansea. It was terrible with five great fires and the whole place plastered with incendiaries. What devastation!

Frances and I left Shanklin on a Thursday morning at 8am and arrived in Aberdovey on Friday morning at 7.30am! It took us about 12 hours to get to Shrewsbury, by which time it was dark and all the lights were blacked out. There we had to alight and move from one end of the train to the other. This was very disconcerting; we were tired and hungry. I was asked where we were bound for, and when I said "Aberdovey" the guard said, " Next train calling there will be the mail train at 4.30am". So we settled down in the station waiting room for the night. Frances was eight years old and it was quite a trauma for her. Ethel had sent full instructions as to how to get to her address at 1 Brynhyfrid and we had to get out at Penhelig Halt. I had memorised the instructions in case it was dark when we arrived. The train came and we boarded it and were told to change at Machyonleth. I said that I could never remember that name so the guard agreed to come and tell me when we were there. We arrived on time at Machyonleth. The Aberdovey train did not stop at Penhelig halt but the guard said he would stop it for us, which he obligingly did. Ethel had waited all day on Thursday expecting us and by night-time knew we could not arrive until the mail train came on Friday morning. She met this train at Aberdovey, but of course we had alighted at Penhelig Halt hadn't we! I read the instructions and we started on our way - me, Frances, two cases and a holdall. We hadn't gone far when a lad came along on a bicycle and with a lovely Welsh accent said,"Would you be looking for Mrs Pryer (Ethel) is it?". I said, "Yes I would", and he took us there. This was typical of the kindness we received from the Welsh people.

We stayed for six weeks and by that time Frank had made arrangements for us to go to the furnished house in Port Talbot, it was called Quantock. We were very comfortable there and had very pleasant neighbours with twin daughters. The neighbour, Mrs Howell, was a member of the local operatic society and allowed me to go and use her piano

When Frances collapsed we thought it was about time that Mum and dad came down to join us, which they did, after taking great care to make sure that everything was secure at River. Mum saw to it that plenty of Keatings Powder was sprinkled in the piano. Mr & Mrs Lake kept an eye on the place and Frank Goodall, a railway policeman, was a wonderful watchdog! After a short while and towards what was called the phony war, we offered to have my sister's daughter, Doreen, to stay from the East End of London as we thought it would be safer for her. Arthur, Doreen's father, brought her down to Port Talbot and the first thing he saw when they alighted at Port Talbot station was a bomb crater. He commented, " I thought you didn't have any raids here!". That was about the only one we did have. I understand that Port Talbot was like a pencil on the map and not an easy target. We had many alerts and heard lots of planes, but they were enemy planes laying mines in the bay. As we sat on the beach one day we watched a ship coming across the bay, riding high, when suddenly there was a loud explosion and the ship split in the middle and went down. We were told that it was on its way to Fishguard to be degaussed (pronounced de-gowsed).( To learn more about this click the link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degaussing ) as there was no equipment at Port Talbot. We were all very scared. Doreen didn't stay with us long. Her parents missed her so much they came and took her back to Barking, where they bravely stuck out the war.

If you found this interesting you might like to look at my new blog
"Every Picture Tells a Story"
http://brianfuller75.blogspot.co.uk/
 

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 15 Off to Dover

Front Garden of 142 Lower Rd. River Easter 1950

Back Row Eva, Frances, Eileen Fuller

Front Row Brian Fuller, Mother Fuller, Linda Fuller, Mrs Leverett (Eva's Mum), Mary

Frank Joins Immigration

In 1935 I had a feeling that Frank's work was getting a little tedious and he was not enjoying it. A note was sent round the Board of Education, where he was working, saying that the Immigration Service was being extended and applications for transfer were being considered. Frank talked to me about it, warning me that if he was accepted it would mean moving, leaving relatives and friends etc. I said, Where you go, I go with you." So he applied and was accepted. It was a move we never regretted. We put St Teara up for sale, but didn't get any takers. Frank's sister-in-law, Madge, decided she would like it. Frank and his brother Walter had a gentleman's agreement: Frank went on paying the monthly repayments so as not to interfere with the mortgage and Walter refunded the money to Frank.

Temporary Midwife

Before we moved, Frank had to do six months training in Folkestone before he was given a commitment to Dover Immigration. I remained in Laindon, with Mum and Dad, and Frances. One night after we had all gone to bed at about 11pm, there was a knock on the front door and I thought, "Good, Frank has arrived home", but it was Frank's niece Vera's husband also called Frank. He looked white and really worried, "Could you come" he said, "Vera's very bad". So I hurriedly dressed and went just a few minutes walk to their house. Vera was expecting a baby, but not for some weeks. Frank went for the doctor and when he arrived I had to assist at the birth! The preparations for the birth had gone a bit wrong, so there were no clothes for the baby. I went and got some of Frances's and we dressed the the baby boy up in those. That was my one and only maternity case!

Move to Dover

Soon after that episode we moved to Dover. When Frank was training he lodged in Frith Rd., and I went down for a day or two to look for a house. We found one, which a builder had built for his own family. It wasn't quite finished, but livable. It was in River and part way up a hill, so the garden was very steep. We were there for six months and then Percy Hertley, an Immigration Officer, who lived at 142 Lower Rd. who was to be transferred to Croydon, asked us if we would like to rent his house, that he was buying ready for retirement. We were very pleased to do that; it was much more suitable and had a garage. We lived there from 1936 to 1979 and were very happy. When the war came, rather than leave the house empty, Frank and Percy came to an agreement whereby Frank continued the tenancy paying half rent - there were no rates to pay - but, keeping our furniture there, we were able to keep the Army out. The Army did take the house next door and a lot of damage was done. Unfortunately Percy died and Frank offered his widow an increased rent, but she wouldn't hear of it. Then she also died, and the guardian of their son, who was mentally disabled, wished to realise his assets and invest the money, so we were able to but the house as sitting tenants. Everything worked out for the best. It seemed that God's hand was guiding us.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 14 Mum and Dad arrive, and Our first car

Bullnose Morris (not the actual one!)

Mum and Dad come to live with us

For the first two years following Frances's birth I was no at all well and I used to put our things in the pram and go to my mother's at Central Park Road. My nerves were bad and I didn't like being on my own while Frank was at work. After a while Frank suggested we ask my Mum and Dad if they would like to come and live with us. My youngest sister had married and left home so they were on their own, but at that time they didn't want to leave their friends. However after a while my eldest sister , Ada, and her husband, Jim, decided they would leave East Ham and start buying a house in Barking or Ilford, asking Mum and Dad to go with them to help pay the mortgage; that is what they did, but they often used to come and stay with us. Then, when Frances was about 4 years old and I was very much better, having found a lovely friend, Mrs Gibbons, Mum and Dad said that, if the offer was still open for them to come and live with us, they would like to take it up, which they did and of course we were very pleased to see them. Obviously we needed more accommodation and so we got an estimate for an extension. It was around £180, but the insurance company would not lend us the money. We didn't have £180 of course, in fact we didn't even have a bank account, so we just managed.

Car Owners

It was about this time that Frank's sister Lena and her family came home on leave from Malta. Ben, Lena's husband, bought a Bull-nosed Morris as this was cheaper than shipping his own car over for the duration of his leave.(At the top is an example of a Bullnose Morris)
When they were due to return to Malta, Ben offered the car to Frank for £15. We hadn't got £15 and Frank couldn't drive anyway. However Father and Mother Fuller were keen for Frank to have it and lent us the £15. Ben took Frank out a few time at daybreak and all was well. We became the proud owners of what would now be regarded as a vintage car. I can't remember how long we had it. I know we went to Little Holland in it, visiting relatives. Those were happy days before the Second World War.
Soon after we moved to Laindon a school was built nearby and when we had Frances we thought that would be very convenient. However, new rules were made and, when she reached school age, the school that were told she had to attend was a good mile away; she went once and didn't want to go again. She didn't like the dinner and said the rice pudding had to be cut in slices! We arranged to send her to a private school, but she never started there as we were just about to move to Dover. When we arrived in River she was able to attend the village school there

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 13 Bananas, Pretty Hats,and Music Making

I remember Uncle Jack coming and cousin Flo brought Muriel when she was a baby. Muriel was very good baby and Frances was about 4 years old at the time. One morning, when Muriel was asleep in the pram, Frances went to the pram and said, "If you aren't a good girl we will send you to the bananas home." She meant Barnado's of course!
I think Frances was about 4 years old when she had a lemon coloured. organdie dress and I was able to buy a hat to match it. She looked very sweet, but the trouble was that everybody we met said "What a pretty hat!" We finally ended up at Grandma Fuller's bungalow (Romansleigh) and, of course, the first thing that Mother said was "Oh Frances , what a pretty hat!". Frances snatched it off, screwed it up and threw it on the ground. Mother said, "Oh Frances!" the collapsed in laughter.
I remember Frank walking round the garden in Laindon one Sunday afternoon, when he came in and said,"What's happened to the onions?". "Well what has happened to the onions?", I replied. Then a small proud voice piped up, "I been weeding Daddy".Frances used to ask difficult questions, one being "Who puts the light in the moon?". Frances gained her scholarship in Wales and was top of her Junior school before going to Port Talbot Grammar School in 1942.

Music making

Soon after taking up residence I was asked to take over the organ at Manor Mission, which I did until Frances was on the way. Frank joined the choir that practiced on Friday nights. The hall was heated by slow combustion stoves which were lit on Saturday mornings ready for the Sunday services. By Friday evenings the hall was pretty cold. One winter was very severe and a glass of water in the bedroom at night would have have ice on it by the morning. On one particular Friday evening the choir leader decided we should practice an anthem called "Calm me my God and keep me calm whilst these hot breezes blow." Somebody giggled as the icicles were almost forming on our noses. When I gave up the organ I was given a portfolio containing twelve solos by Chaminade and I still have the music. I did a bit of piano teaching and had about four pupils. When we married Frank said that when he got his first increment I should have a new piano. True to his word as always, his birthday was on the 14th September and at the beginning of October 1929, when he became due for an increase in salary, we went to Boyds in Holborn and I chose a piano which I have owned ever since. The inside has been refurbished twice and due to regular tuning and daily use it has given me excellent service and untold pleasure.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 12 Married

Eve and Frank's Wedding on 15th September 1928. Starting in the back row, left to right:

George Fuller, Mr Rainbird, Uncle Ted, Uncle Lando, Mr Boore, Arthur, Uncle Frank Lane

Next row, Uncle Joe Deeks, Jim, George Twyman, Alf Webb, Uncle Frank Deeks,

Next Row Olive, Flo Weller, Dolly's hat, Auntie Edie Pilling, Tilly, Alan, Fred, Ada's hat, Mr & Mrs Humphreys

Next Row, Doris Webb, Auntie Rhoda, Mrs Collins Snr, Uncle Charlie, Mrs Atkins, Auntie Allie, Uncle Arthur, Father Fuller, Walter, Mrs Shepherd, Auntie Em, Maud, Cis, Florrie, Doris, Dad, Queenie Heffer, Doris Deeks, Auntie Flo Leverett, Mother Fuller, Madge, Ethel, Frank, Eva,Floss Mum

Front Row, Ida Wootten, Happy, Rosie , Peggy,Vera, Audrey,Auntie Kate, Auntie Edie Deeks

We became engaged in the December of 1927 and fixed our wedding day for the first Saturday in the following September. Frank's brother, George and Rosie, his bride to be, had decided they would marry on the last Saturday in August. We thought the family could not stand two weddings on consecutive Saturdays and so we moved our date on two weeks to the 15th September.

We had a wonderful day in every way including the weather. The Laindon folk hired a bus to get them to and fro and kindly offered us a lift back, but as we did not have a honeymoon we chose to travel 1st Class by train to our new home.When we reached St Teara, Ethel had been in and laid the table ready for a meal and there were lots of flowers. I shed a few tears of happiness as it really felt like home. We acquired a tabby kitten and a fox terrier puppy called Ginger as he was a real live wire, The kitten was called Tiger as she did a lot of stalking and jumped about all over the place. The two animals had a great time together, but were a bit rough in their games sometimes. I bough Frank a Minty chair as a wedding present; Tiger was allowed to sleep in it, but not Ginger who would be on the rug in front of the chair, whilst Tiger would be curled up asleep in the back of it. When Tiger had had a sleep she would come to the front of the chair, lean over and tickle Ginger's ear. He would put up with it for a while then he would get up and try to reach onto the chair towards Tiger who, of course, moved right to the back! As she receded to the back of the chair, up would go one of the paws on to the chair, then a second paw, but when the back legs moved up a stern voice would roar "GINGER!" and he would sit down with a flop and sigh. The floors of the bungalow were of some composition material and had to be polished with red Mansion Polish, which it soaked up like a sponge. I think it had not been polished for some time and during the first year of our marriage I suffered from severe rheumatic pain probably due to the damp. When I think back, I wonder how I coped, but in those days my outlook was different and I was much younger!

I think it was about two years after we married that Mother and Father Fuller decided to leave West Ham and come to live in Laindon. Father was to build a bungalow on a piece of land adjoining that belonging to Auntie Edie and Uncle Joe Pilling (Frank's Auntie and Uncle). They came to stay with us, using our spare bedroom from October 1930 until April 1931. As the lorry with the timber for their bungalow could not be driven along the unmade Tavistock Rd., it was dumped in our garden and had to be carried up plank by plank. Father carried most of it and the family men folk helped when they could. The foundations were laid by some local builders named Williams. It was a colossal task but Father Fuller was not easily daunted. The bungalow had to be ready by April 1931 as they were expecting Frank's sister Lena and her husband Ben, and their children, home from Malta, where they had been living since 1928. Frank's brother Fred, fixed us up with electricity eventually, but not until 1931 after Frances was born. My brother-in-law Arthur, was an expert carpenter and he and Frank built a splendid sun lounge on the back of the bungalow. This was a great help as I was then able to have the cooker out there. Some years after we were married gas mains were laid in Tavistock Rd. and we were connected so that I could have my first New World cooker. The Valor had served a very good turn but the burners were situated low down on it and when Frances was toddling about she would turn them up! We were glad to get the stove out of the bedroom as we had a double bed in there and were then able to have folks to stay.

We had a Cox's Orange Pippin tree in the garden and I believe another cooking apple tree. We planted a pear tree and were so pleased when it produced eight pears but one day the baker said to me "What's happened to your pears?" All eight were on the ground; we'd had a gale and that was that.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 11 Bikes, Motorbikes and St Teara

St Teara in about 1933 with cousin Audrey and a young Frances

In 1922 I started going out with Frank Fuller who I had met through the church and through playing in his father's orchestra. Frank bought me a bike. It was a beauty that he had built to specification; it must have cost a fair bit. We cycled miles from East Ham, and from Laindon, and quite often to Epping Forest. Then we thought we might save time and money in train fares to work in London - Frank worked in the Board of Education in Whitehall and I was in Charing Cross Road - if we had a motor bike and side car and so we bought a Matchless costing £60 in 1925. Frank hired a garage about two minutes walk from where I lived. As he lived in West Ham he used to cycle there and pick me up after collecting the motor bike. The venture was a complete dead loss. We only kept it for a year. The first time we took my mother out in it she put her foot through the floor of the side car! We used it for some time and the one weekend we went to visit Frank's Uncle Frank and Auntie Em in Laindon - our first long journey - and starting back home the back axle broke so we had to leave it and come back by train. It was a dead loss, especially as it always seemed to start raining about 9am when Frank picked me up and stop about 10am when he dropped me off, started again about 5pm and so on. I bough Frank a mackintosh outfit; it was well used. Several times the bike went wrong in the City between Aldgate and St Paul's and trying to find a garage around there was like looking for a needle in a haystack! We did manage to get to Yarmouth and back with it once. After about 9 months it wasn't a money saver after all and Frank sold it for about £30. Although we were not engaged, we reckoned if we saved up for about 2 years we would be able to get married. I think it was then that Frank bought the tandem, which we made good use of and cost nothing to run. From time to time we used to cycle down to Laindon, visiting Frank's relations - Auntie Edie and Uncle Joe (Pilling) , Uncle Frank and Auntie Em (Lane). I don't remember going to work on it, but I do remember we visited Shanklin and rode home from Southampton - I was saddle sore!

Frank's Parents and St Teara

Frank's parents live in West Ham. Mother Fuller (Elizabeth) was a teacher and Father Fuller (Henry) was a signwriter. He was a very clever man, but very modest. In his spare time he produced beautiful oil and water colour paintings, made lovely pieces of furniture and was also an acclaimed violin maker - he was in the violin maker's directory that included Stradivarius! He could repair bows, which was something Frank also did in later life.
When visiting Laindon we always like the look of a bungalow called "St Teara! which I believe is the name of a Devon village. It was in Tavistock Road and had been bought by Uncle Frank (Lane) to accommodate his parents, John and Ann. After they died he let it to weekly tenants. It consisted of four rooms and a scullery, and an outside earth closet. Water was laid on, but no heating system. There was no gas or electricity. In the scullery there was a brick copper. We thought we would like to have the bungalow as our first home and asked Uncle Frank if he would sell it to us. The price was £500. It needed a lot of alteration and decoration to suit us and every available weekend we went to Laindon and did as much work as we could, and leaving our homes on Saturday afternoon - no free Saturday mornings in those days - and returning in time to play in the orchestra on the Sunday afternoon. That is when the tandem really came in handy with no fares to pay. I used to wear a sweater and divided skirt made for comfortable cycling. One Sunday we were delayed in starting back and I had to take my place at the piano in my cycling gear. Doing up the house was really hard labour, but well worth it in order to get the home we wanted. It took along time with so few hours available. Their was a kitchener stove in the living room and that had to come out and a new stove put in place. We wanted picture rails too, which are now old fashioned. Cooking was done on an oil burning Valour Perfection stove, which used to be in the second bedroom as there was no room for it in the scullery. Frank's Uncle Lando used to bring the oil round in large drums every so often. Lighting was by oil burning Aladdin's lamps, which were very good as long as there was enough oxygen in the room.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 10 More Music and Meeting Frank

Frank and Evelyn 1923 I continued my musical studies and gained four certificates at the London College of Music; Primary First Class, Elementary Honours, Intermediate Honours and Senior First Class. For the intermediate exam I gained the highest number of marks and was awarded the local prize "Two Hundred Opera Plots" by Gladys Davidson. Miss Brown was very pleased and also bought me a book called "Little Boy Georgie!. After the Intermediate I gave up lessons as I was about to start work. I was talking to Miss Brown one day and she begged me to go back and take the Senior. I felt I could not afford to do so, but my dear dad came in and said, " You pay for the music and I'll pay for the lessons and exam fees". So I took the Senior and gained a First Class Certificate; that was in 1922 when I was 17 years old.

In 1918 when I was 14 I used to play for the dancing class in East Ham. It was a voluntary arrangement, but all good practice for me. After I began playing for the Men's Meeting, a Mr Fuller asked me to join his orchestra. I was only 14, but one of his daughters Ethel took me under her wing and looked after me. Ethel played the viola and sat next to her brother, Frank, who played the cello. I didn't know it at the time, but Frank was later to become my husband for for over 50 years. Henry Fuller was the conductor of the orchestra and his sons George and Fred, played the double bass and cornet respectively. The first violin was played by his eldest son Walter, and Walter's wife Madge, also played the violin. There were a number of other orchestra members not related to the family, about 25/30 of us eventually. We always played before the Sunday evening service at West Ham Central Mission and gave concerts at various other places, usually churches,starting with an overture accompanied by the congregation singing. I had to accompany the soloists; I was really loved doing that. The soloists were very good, including some professionals and well known names, such as Madame Jessie Strathern, Ben Davis (the Welsh tenor), Ruby Helder (lady tenor(, Katie Daniells, Ruby Cox, Annie Douglas, Hugh Phelps and many others. I was a sight reader and accompanying had always been a pleasure to me. I found it just as important to have a preview of the words as well as the music. You have to know what the soloist is singing about and remember the soloist comes first, however fancy the accompaniment. I enjoyed playing with the orchestra and , when I was seventeen, Frank Fuller asked if he could walk me home and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship, marriage, and partnership.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 9 Music, Music, Music

Orchestra of The West Ham Central Mission
When I was a child there was always music going on in our house. My mother had a sweet soprano voice and occasionally I was allowed to take an afternoon off school to play for her at Millwall Methodist Women's Meeting. She sang Alexander's hymns. Dad was a good tenor and often used to sing while washing himself; regular items were "Bonnie Mary of Argyle", "True till death", "Into Thy Hands" and "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep", which was sometimes rendered as "Locked in the stable with the sheep"! The congregation always knew when Mr Leverett was there. Ada was soprano, Doris Mezzo, Floss contralto and all were trained by a very good teacher. Everybody apart from Dad, sang in the church choir. The choir mistress, Madame Lawrence, was very popular and had a lovely rich contralto voice. She was a coloured lady and we all thought the world of her. Ada was the first of us to have piano lessons, I think she had about two years' tuition. When she learned to play "The Maiden's Prayer", I longed to be able to play it myself one day. In the meantime, I had to be content with playing "Shall we gather at the river". I used C and G in the left hand throughout and one finger melody with the right. It must have been popular, as I was often asked to perform! Privately, of course, the listeners had a job to keep their faces straight! I was very serious at the time and never conscious of causing any amusement. After two years tuition it was Doris's turn. She went for a few lessons, but didn't take to it and so Ada finished her quarter and then it was my turn. Cash was rather short then, so I went to a weekly lesson with a Miss Elson, who always seemed very old to me; dressed in black with gold rimmed glasses, she always looked very severe and thought nothing of giving you a rap on the knuckles with a pencil if you made a mistake.

One of my mother's brothers, Uncle Joe, was policeman who often visited us on his leave days after his fiancee died. He had an excellent baritone voice and, from time to time, sang at our Sunday afternoon Men's Meeting at church. We all really loved him. he didn't have much hair, but put up with my sisters and me tying bits of ribbon to what he had! He arrived arrived unexpectedly one day when I was playing one of his songs "Asleep in the Deep". When he found it was me playing he said, "She shall go to a good teacher", and that is how I became a pupil of Miss Brown our church organist and choir mistress. Uncle Joe paid for all my lessons.

This decision by Uncle Joe affected my whole life and meant more to me than I could possibly describe or put a value on. Miss Brown was an excellent teacher, but a perfectionist and very strict. If you didn't practice, she didn't want to know you. I was expected to practise for at least one hour each day, except Sundays, and it had to be recorded in a book and signed by my mother. If you were going for an exam, she expected four hours a day! In the winter months I practised by candle light and with fingerless gloves; however, I enjoyed practising and used to start at 6am some days. I was about twelve when I first accompanied Uncle Joe singing at the Men's Meeting. I used to play the hymns at Sunday School evening service, which was at 6pm. When I was taking my Intermediate exam Miss Brown spoke to me after the service one Sunday morning and asked how much practice I had done the day before, I said one and a half hours. "What!" and I was in tears. My dad came up and asked "What's going on?".

"She has an exam on Tuesday and has only done 1 1/2 hours practice", said Miss Brown.
"Don't worry she'll pass", replied my dad, but Miss Brown followed with "I know she'll pass, but I want her to get honours!". I did pass with honours and Miss Brown bought me a book for getting the highest number of marks, 93%.

A wonderful Lady - Chapter 8 East Ham and Mr Humphreys

Hippodrome Charing Cross Road 1907

East Ham

At the end of 1916 we moved to 66 Central Park Road a few minutes walk from West Ham Football Ground, Saturday afternoon during the football season was bedlam. Mum used to try and get all the shopping she needed before the crowds came out. Next door one way we had some lovely people called Williams and their daughter Mary was a wonderful pianist and embroideress. She had lessons at the Royal School of Art. Mrs Williams was a shop-walker in a big store in Stratford. A shop-walker wore a frock coat and as you entered the store, met you, asked you which department you required, escorted you there and place a chair for you! How different things are today!

Doris and Floss belonged to Upney Baptist Church and were members of the Women's Meeting. Doreen, being under school age, was taken with them. On their way home they often used to call in at a baby linen and wool shop shop owned by a Jewish lady who was nearly always ready with a story of some kind. On this particular occasion she said that she had heard a good story and one of my sisters said "We've just come from our Women's Meeting and we don't want to listen to anything rude!" By this time Doreen had gone behind the counter, pulled at the lady's skirt and said "I'd like to hear the story please." Doreen was a cute and pretty little kid. I think Doris felt she was always one step ahead, light as a fairy on her feet and her ears were very sharp.



Working for Mr Humphreys



I left school when I was 14 and went o college to learn shorthand and typing. The course I did lasted 6 months and then I got a job in Charing Cross Road, opposite the Hippodrome. After I had been there 3 weeks the boss died but I was offered another job and worked for Mr Humphreys who had taken over the business. I went to work each day on the Underground from Upton Park to Charing Cross and walked up Villiers Street, past Nelson's Column, the a short way along Charing Cross Road where there were second hand book stalls; I often looked there and bought a book or two. Sometimes our clients were theatrical agents who would give the boss tickets to various performances. If he didn't want the tickets, he often offered them to me. Once we had a box at the Hippodrome, which was very grand; I wore a posh pink frock, which had been made from a bridesmaid's dress. I don't remember the name of the show but Jack Buchanen was in the lead role. When I was in my teens "Fox Furs" were very fashionable and my sisters and I all had one. Just inside our front door was a row of coat hooks on the wall and it was my habit on my way in to fix my fur to the collar of the first coat I came to. As it was quite dark in our passage way, it wasn't always the right one! One day my father was sitting on the upper deck of a tram and when the conductor came for the fare he said,"You've got a fox fur hanging down your back!" He wasn't very pleased!
Mr Humphreys was a very caring man. When I first worked there he liked me to go for a break at lunchtime, but didn't like me walking around the Charing Cross are so sometimes he would give me 3d and tell me to take a 3d return on the bus, get off and cross the road to get the bus back. My hours of work were 9.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings. Sometimes our clients needed signed quickly and I had to stay late. When this happened Mr Humphreys used to say to the, "Miss Leverett has stayed on specially to do this for you, you must make it right with her", and they would give me ten bob or a pound. About a year after I started a Mr Duke came and practised from one of the rooms by my office. His daughter was Ivy Duke, the actress, and her husband was Guy Newall, an actor. One time they asked me if I would go to their flat in Kensington and do some typing. I dud; it was a nice place, quite grand.
I could see the front entrance of the Hippodrome from my office window and if there were afternoon performances I would be able to see the people going in. The day the armistice was signed in 1918 suddenly everything stopped and there was complete silence for about ten minutes and then the traffic started moving again. I continued to work for Mr Humphreys until I got married in 1928. When I said I was getting married he said that he and Mrs Humphreys would be coming to the wedding - whether invited or not apparently! Of course we did invite them. Frank didn't want me to work after we were married, so I didn't. My sister Floss took over my job.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 7 : Trinity Street and The Silvertown Explosion

Aftermath of the Silvertown Explosion

Another Move

When we left Beckton Road we went to a house at 55 Trinity Street. The house was quite large which we needed with four girls all growing up fast. There was a fair sized tree and Dad fixed a rope swing on it for us. I believe we had a few chickens at the end of the garden. Our kitchen window faced next door's kitchen window and each kitchen had a mirror on the wall over the fireplace, so we could look and pull faces at the children next door! The neighbours' name was Pocock. One day a white cockatoo came down in our garden and no one claimed it, so we gave it to the boys next door. I don't think their mother was very pleased as it kicked up an awful din. They called it "Deboshah".

I remember my sister Floss pushing a button up her nose, the remedy for which was to sprinkle her with pepper so that she sneezed and down came the button!. I also remember there was a girl called Susie Walker who was always well dressed and wore gold rimmed spectacles. Sadly, she got Scarlet Fever and died; she was only aged seven or eight.

Adams the bakers

My sister Doris worked in a baker's shop on the corner of Beckton Rd and Trinity Street for two and six a week plus her food. It was Adams the baker's, the daughter Edna , was my school friend and we were called Adam and Eve! We used to go home from school for midday dinner from 12 until 2pm. Each had a task to perform; mine was to go and get two loaves, one yesterday's and today's, which cost 5 1/2 pence in old money for the two. I was always fascinated by a gorgeous three tier wedding cake under a glass dome, which stood on the counter. I was very disappointed when one day I was told it was made of cardboard! It was a very nice baker's and confectioner's. There was row of shiny glass jars containing extra special sweetmeat, petit fours etc. Edna's favourites were Ceylon Drops, like little Ratafia biscuits; she would take a handful and we would sit on the stairs and eat them . The lady wo served in the shop was a Miss Edna White who always looked immaculate in her black dress and her white embroidered bib apron. She was Edna's cousin and many years afterwards became the second wife of my husband's uncle Ernie. Mr Adams said that when I married he would make my wedding cake, but I was only 11 at the time and I'm afraid he passed on before my wedding day; in fact when I was married in 1928 my wedding cake came from Pritchard's in Oxford Street. He said he would have to be careful over making promises as one young lady had written from Australia asking for the promise to be fulfilled! When Grandma Leverett died I stayed with Adams family for afew days and had a lovely time. Mrs Adams made the most delicious steak and kidney puddings, boiled in a cloth not in a basin and the gravy was "Yum yum!"

Silvertown Explosion *

We were still living in Trinity Street when the Silvertown Explosion occurred. I think it must have been early in 1916 and at about 6pm one evening. It was dark and we had just finished our tea; Mum was out sick visiting. The explosion was at the Brunner Mond high explosive factory in Silvertown. The company was owned by Sir John Brunner and Sir Alfred Mond. One later became Lord Melchett. My eldest sister, Ada, worked there in the office, but she had arrived home some time before, thankfully. As we sat in our living room there was a terrific explosion; we thought the Zepps had come. The linen blind bellied out and we all ran up the passage towards the bottom of the staircase by the front door as this was considered to be the safest place during an air raid. We waited for the next big bang but it didn't come. Quite a number of the scientists had accommodation at the premises and many of them were killed. Ada knew them all as she worked for them. The devastation was terrible and many families were rendered homeless. My sister was eventually given a piece of her blown up typewriter! The explosion was hushed up and not publicized. The hall under our church, Barking Road baptist Tabernacle as it was the called, was used for temporary sleeping quarters. I went there with my mother and the floor of the hall was covered with mattresses and soup was being heated in large boilers. We left Trinity Street soon after that and, when I asked at school for my transfer, the teacher filling out the form said, "Oh you are going up in the world!" We were moving to East Ham.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvertown_explosion

*The link above gives more information on the disaster, which was on the 19th January 1917

A Wonderful Lady - Chaper 6 On the Move and School Days

Due to the failure of the shop we moved into rented accommodation. First we went to live in Liverpool Rd, as we needed more room. I think Auntie Flo Aust, who was a teacher and married to Uncle Albert Deeks , was living with us. I think we were only there about three weeks. The place was infested with bugs; my poor mother was quite distracted and quite ill. We gave notice given despite the agent pleading with us to stay; he said he would have the place fumigated etc because he knew our rent was always reliably paid. There was a lot of poverty around and landlords were keen to get good tenants. The place should have been overhauled before we went in. My parents were adamant and so we moved to Beckton Road where we had an upstairs flat and a family called Ribbans had the downstairs. Charlie was the eldest of the Ribbans family and then Mrs Ribbans had twins Elsie and Harry. The District Nurse used to come each day to help and used to bath one of the twins. One day she said "Now which twin did I do yesterday?" My mother who used to go in and help as well, said "It doesn't matter which you do today as when you've gone I do the other one anyway!" I remember on one corner of Beckton Road there was a sweet shop and on another a small draper's shop owned by the two little Miss Worms who were like two little mice. On another corner there was a greengrocer named Revell. Doris Revell was in my class at Beckton Road school where the headmistress was Mrs Franks. On the fourth corner was Bedwell's the grocer.

At school my first teachers were Miss Hooper and Mrs Tindale. There was a picture on the classroom wall of a cat about to jump on a mouse. We also had Miss Elson and a Miss Callow who was very nice and played the piano. She fascinated me as she always played a different march when we went to our classes and never used any music, but she left to get married, a clergyman I think. In the classroom the desks and chairs were in rows, which were higher at the back than at the front ( as in the picture of a similar Edwardian classroom above) and the pupils were placed in order of ability with the brightest at the back and the dimmest at the front. I was in the back row with my friend Edna, but it was very soon obvious my sight was not good enough to see the blackboard and so I had to sit at the front for a time until I got glasses. I didn't like sitting at the front as I was entitled to a back row seat because I was at the top of the class each month when we had our monthly test. One time I remember we had a question I knew the answer to and I thought my friend Edna might not know; while the teacher wasn't looking, I crawled up the steps on my hands and knees to tell her the answer. I came down step by step on my bottom and when I turned to get back in my seat the teacher was behind me watching! However she was smiling so that was alright!
I had to have glasses when I was about six years old. My mother took me to an eye clinic where I was fixed up with steel rimmed glasses. In hot weather rusty perspiration ran down my nose! Later I had gold rimmed ones. After a while, Mum took Floss to have her eyes tested. She was kitted up with the heavy eye testing frame and, as the optician slipped in the different lenses, she asked Floss, "Do you like that?" Over and over again Floss replied "No". The poor woman was flummoxed and eventually said, "Well, I can't make head or tail of her. You'd better bring her back when she is a bit older." Mum was puzzled and asked Floss, "Could you really not see through any of the lenses the lady put on you?" to which Floss replied "Yes, I could but I didn't want a pair like that; I wanted a pair like Eve's!"
Parents dreaded the "school board man", Mr Davis, coming round if their children were absent from school. I was away from school at one time as Mum suspected I had mumps. Mr Davis called and said that I must go to school. So I went and Mrs Franks, the headmistress, sent me home again and said she would deal with the school board man. I think he was a bit of a bully and the mums were scared of him. Opposite us in Trinity Street lived a music teacher, a Miss Letterill. When I was about 11 the Letterills moved away and, not long afterwards, I answered our front door and there stood four youngsters surnamed Oliver. Knowing I could play the piano, they said without any hesitation and in unison, "Our Mum says will you learn us music?" They must have heard me practising several hours a day. I took them on and soon I had six pupils; four Olivers, Alex Goult and a Miss Freeman. I got three shillings a week for three hours teaching, which was lot of many to an 11 year old.

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 5 Shops

Opposite our shop was a kind of "house shop" owned by some people called Ellicot. They curled and dyed ostrich feathers. There was always a small display in the window and they looked beautiful. The front door was solid wood and there was a half circular glass window at the top; I think it was called a fanlight. My dad must have had a mischievous streak at one time for fun he tied some string to the Ellicot's door knocker and then passed it through our upstairs window opening. He watched Mr Ellicot go upstairs with his candle, then pulled the string, down came the old chap, opened the door, found no-one there and went back upstairs again. I think Dad did it once more. The next day Mr Ellicot came over and complained about the "Lee" boys in the greengrocers shop next door. I guess Dad felt a bit ashamed of himself, but I reckon he made it up to the old chap.
There was a confectioners named Jackson's nearby. Mrs Jackson was a big built woman and a cockney. Mr Jackson was a short thick set man. There were quite a few hooligans around and they thought nothing of grabbing a handful of sweets and making off with them. One time Mrs Jackson caught one of them and Mr Jackson stood in the back of the shop shouting "Punch him in the belly Emma, punch him in the belly!" There was pork butcher's close by too, a grocer's we called Teapot Jones and a shop named Curtis. One time when I was about 3, a girl we knew called Della Curtis came to see if I would like to go to the seaside. Well, we went off together and what she thought was the seaside was in fact a ditch where people threw all sorts of rubbish! I came home on a policeman's shoulders! I was put in the bath, clothes and all, and wasn't allowed out with her again.
Near us lived a teenage boy who was a real menace in the neighbourhood. He was unfortunately deaf and dumb and had a habit of grabbing a handful of garbage and throwing it in through a shop door. If the shopkeeper complained somebody soon said "Oh leave him alone, poor little devil, he can't help it". A few doors from us there was a hand laundry run by a Mrs Dixon who worked very hard laundering shirts, stiff collars, church surplices and christening robes which were four or five feet long. She used to the ironing on the shop counter. One day my father was standing at our shop door when a heavy flat iron came hurling out through Mrs Dixon's shop door. My father went along and said "Whatever happened Dixon, you might have killed someone!" She replied " Look what the dummy's done. I have to deliver this surplice in an hour!" There it was on the counter plastered with rotten orange and rubbish. After some time the boy went to a shooting range, interfered with the guns, and shot himself.
There was a barber's shop on the other side of the street named Smith. The Smiths were friends of my parents and belonged to the same church; Mr Smith was a deacon. There was one other shop, I remember called Caldori's, where they used to sell lemony ices in the summer and soup in your own jugs in the winter. Quite a lot of the trading was done on a Saturday after the men had received their pay packets and the shops were open very late. I am not sure when the Shop Hours act was introduced but I know our shop took most money on a Saturday night. Then a Sunday market was opened and that put paid to our Saturday night trade. On no account would our shop be opened on a Sunday; my parents and grandparents were strict Baptists. So the shop had to be closed down when I was three years old.

*This link to shops and pubs in Canning Town may be of interest
http://historyofstratford.co.uk/CanningTown/CanningTown1896/CanningTown-Quadrant-Rathbone.shtml

A Wonderful Lady - Chapter 4 Father, Doctor Nelson, and Our Shop

Father's family

My father's parents were George and Maria Leverett. Grandfather was a barge builder and owned 5 houses in Mellish Street. Two of the houses were inherited by my father, but during the war they were demolished and the War Damage paid out was not much. There were four children. I remember in particular one of my Dad's sisters called Ann. She was a big lady and always wore a course apron and cap and did the work of a man. We all respected Aunt Ann. My grandmother (Maria) was brought up by some folk we called Uncle and Aunt Brown as her mother had died when Grandma was quite young. Grandma had beautiful hands and was trained as a mantle maker. Every Easter all the girls in the Leverett family were given a length of material for a new dress by Grandma Leverett, who was in the material trade. This was lovely for us and was anticipated with much pleasure. When the new dresses were made up we were allowed to wear them to church on Sunday mornings only and the previous year's dresses were relegated to more frequent use.

Doctor Nelson

Our doctor was a very nice man called Nelson. His surgery was like a shop with a small porch leading into a waiting room with the surgery beyond. On the wall of the porch leading into the waiting room was a notice that read "H de B Nelson General Practitioner". Two young lads were in the porch one day trying to sort out what H de B meant. They decided it was "Arry de Bob"!

Actually it was Horatio de Beauvoir! Dr Nelson attended my mother at each of her confinements and when my youngest sister was born our shop had failed, so when my Dad offered to pay, as was usual then, the doctor said, "No old boy, have this one on me", which was very kind of him.

Apparently, prior to my birth, my Dad had been ill with kidney trouble and many years afterwards my mother told me that just before I was born Dr Nelson said, " You'll have to hurry up and get better old chap, your wife wants this bed!" She also told me that during her pregnancy she almost lived on oranges; no wonder I like them. There was a greengrocer's nearby and the owners always let Mum know when a crate of really nice oranges had been delivered.

Our shop

I have a vague recollection of the shop, which seemed a dark place to me with just a small jet burning at night. I expect that was because we were not allowed in there during opening hours, which were very long in those days. I think the shop sold practically everything in the drapery line including millinery and I have a picture of it with my dad standing in the shop doorway.(shown at the top)

The shop belonged to Grandma Leverett, my Dad's mother, who also owned two other shops, one in Salmons lane, East London. One of my Dad's sisters, Aunt Lil worked in the millinery department with one of Dad's aunts. Aunt Lil was a very good milliner. Hats were very much in demand form Derby Day at that time and Aunt Lil used to create a model with ostrich feathers etc., wear it, and when asked for one like it, the customer would most likely buy that one, perhaps with a little adjustment.

A customer came in one day who was attending a funeral and was going to wear a black hat, but, as the person was no relation, she wanted a white flower put on it to relieve it. My aunt showed her white violets, roses, marguerites, but she said "No , there are others on show in the window!" Auntie couldn't understand what she wanted as the ones in the window were orange blossom, which are of course for weddings! The customer pointed at the orange blossom and my aunt explained, but the woman persisted, "I don't care if it's apple blossom or what, that's what I want on my hat", so that's what she had - a funeral hat trimmed with orange blossom!