Yesterday was a truly delicious day!<\/p>\n
Of my dad’s large family on two of his brothers, Uncle Stan and Uncle Tony are left with us (and three of their sister-in-laws; Auntie Joan who was married to Uncle Alex, Auntie Audrey who was married to Uncle Johnny and Auntie Betty who is still married to Uncle Tony). \u00a0They are two of my favourite people in the whole world and every three weeks they meet up with each other for lunch in the Owl on Lippitt’s Hill, Loughton, where Uncle Stan lives. \u00a0Yesterday I went along to join\u00a0them.<\/p>\n
Seeing them was so lovely. \u00a0Uncle Tony has<\/em> always had a very strong physical resemblance to Dad and seeing the two of them, now both octogenarians, set me wondering what Dad would have been like had he lived as he’d have been 90 last October. \u00a0They are full of fun and continually joking; they make me laugh even when they’re not intending to be funny. \u00a0We were also joined by two of Uncle Stan’s daughters, my lovely cousins Jill and Sue, who are as keen to learn the history of our large family as I am.<\/p>\n Sharing a Hawaiian Stuffed-Crust with Uncle Stan, I was fascinated \u00a0listening to their tales and comments. \u00a0‘That was when your dad was a special constable,’ Uncle Tony said, ending a tale. \u00a0Doof! \u00a0Doof! <\/em>\u00a0I had NO IDEA my dad had been a special!!<\/p>\n Then they were talking about their dad (my Grandad) and his family – it’s always a bit of a grasshopper conversation, I must admit\u00a0\u00a0– and mentioned one of his uncles had been a plantation owner in Malaysia, married to a Malay woman. \u00a0Doof! \u00a0Doof!\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0A plantation in Malaysia!!!! \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Then the conversation turned to their mother, my Nan, who, they announced, was the daughter of a Colonel in the South Wales Borderers and an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Montgomery Rifles, who resided in Hanover Square, London W1 and one of his 17-year-old housemaids, who was dismissed once it came to light she was pregnant!!!! \u00a0Doof! Doof! With knobs on!!!<\/em><\/p>\n Miss Rose May Fitchit somehow managed to keep her baby, Miriam, and work to keep them both out of the workhouse, which overwhelms me with sadness at what it must have cost her in physical and mental energy and upset and heartache; admiration of her work-ethic and her insistence on keeping her little girl; and anger at her treatment by my great-grandfather. \u00a0Although, Uncle Tony said that he died two years after Miriam was born from a ‘haemorrhage of the brain caused by a head-injury’. \u00a0‘He got his come-uppance,’ Uncle said. \u00a0Interesting to know we have Welsh ancestry, though, and apparently Great-Grandfather Colonel’s grandfather was Irish.<\/p>\n I remember Granny (in our family, grandmothers are always called Nan and great-grandmothers Gran) very well, a dear, sweet smiling woman. \u00a0When my nan, Miriam, was eight, Granny married a Mr Sears who adopted her and so she became Miriam Sears. \u00a0He was very ill and died a short time later and the Uncles think he married Granny so that Nan would have the same surname as her mum. \u00a0But then, Rose met Mr Pitfield who she went on to marry and have four children with, so Miriam had a loving family of half-brothers and sisters, before marrying my grandad, Albert William Spires and having eleven children of her own.<\/p>\n So, what a lunch it was!! \u00a0And then afterwards, the sat-nav took me home through Epping Forest. \u00a0The sun was shining; it was a beautiful afternoon and I beamed throughout the journey, thinking to myself that there are so many tales and stories here just begging to be told. \u00a0We, my generation, must write it all down so that it’s not lost for ever because we owe it to Rose May Fitchit and Miriam Sears, two wonderful women!<\/p>\n And I can’t wait for the next meeting of the Every-Third-Wednesday Lunch Club!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday was a truly delicious day! Of my dad’s large family on two of his brothers, Uncle Stan and Uncle Tony are left with us (and three of their sister-in-laws; Auntie Joan who was married to Uncle Alex, Auntie Audrey … Continue reading