A Child of the 1950's

Chapter Twelve - My Mum

A Child of the 1950's

Chapter Twelve

My MUM

My mum was born on 8th November 1920, the same day as Rupert Bear was first published in the Daily Express newspaper. Her name was Margery Irene.  She had black hair and eyes and olive skin. She was very attractive when she was young. She was about 5' 2" tall, slim build. My sister and I towered above her as we grew, to be taller like our dad. Her mother was Daisy and her father was George. She had three sisters. Kathleen was the eldest, then my mum the second daughter then Phyllis and the youngest Betty.

As a child she had illnesses and she was not strong when she grew up. She had diptheria when quite small and had to go to hospital. She told me later in life, that she had an out of body experience, whilst in the hospital. She remembered looking down at herself on a bed. Diptheria is a disease of the throat and can be a killer. Since the 1940's children in the UK have been vaccinated against it so there are rarely cases of the disease nowadays.

In mum's house growing up her Gran, Ellen, had some rooms of her own in the back and my mum and her older sister, Kathleen were with her a lot of the time. I suppose this took the pressure off of Gran's daughter Daisy as there were four girls to look after. Gran was very fussy and would not let mum put her feet on the chair rungs, but she was very kind and my mother loved her very much. She took great care of mum when she was ill. Mum often had migraine as a child and Gran used to put vinegar pads on her head to ease the pain. Mum suffered from migraine now and again throughout her lifetime. It runs in the family.

Mum started work when she was 14 years old. Her first and only job, was with a company called Robinsons which was in Fishponds, in the city. It was a packaging company and she worked in the factory. This was the only job she had until the war and then she worked on Munitions.

She needed a bicycle to ride to work and the shop where she bought it wanted her father to sign a piece of paper for him to be her 'Guarantor.' An older person than a 14 year old, who would take responsibility to pay for the bike should she default in payments. As he was such a mean, selfish man her father would not do this. So my mother, who was always very honest and never told lies, signed the paper herself. She paid for the bike out of her hard earned wages and did not need any Guarantor! This was the first and probably only dishonest thing my mother ever did. And who could blame her?

Trams used to go about our city in mum's teenage years and she said you had to be careful not to let your bicycle wheel go into one of the tram lines or you would have to get it out pretty sharp before a tram came along.  How scary!

This is a little reference I found when mum died and we were clearing out her apartment. I shows the type of person she was. I am so proud of her. It was written by the pastor at Kensington Baptist Tabernacle, which was the first chapel she attended.

'It is a real pleasure to testify to the trustworthiness and general good character of Margery (surname) of (address) Easton, whom I have known all her life and she is in close touch with our Sunday School and Young people's Organisation at Kensington Tabernacle. She is amenable, diligent and anxious to please and will be found thoroughly reliable by whomsoever may employ her.

Heartily recommending her and wishing her every success.'

Thomas Davies

Pastor

It was hard work during the war in the Robinsons factory, as it was open seven days a week for longer hours and the workers were often kept awake at night because of the air raids. It was too hard for people of a weaker constitution and unfortunately, after the war mum had a nervous breakdown and took a while to recover. I am not sure what 'munitions' meant or quite what she did in the factory, but it was for the war effort. I expect it was packaging items in boxes.