Family Treasures

During my daughter's visit last week, we (well, mostly she) did a lot of gardening. The silver birch is now a slightly odd shape but less out of control than it was and we've reclaimed some more plants from the weeds. In between gardening and a lot of snacks, we started cataloguing some family treasures. This is what happens when an Archivist comes to stay.

We're not talking valuable heirlooms here, mostly domestic things that come with a story attached. Like this biscuit barrel for instance ...

This was a wedding present when my Grandparents were married on the 21st December 1935. Christmas weddings were much more common in the past than they are now; I wonder if it's because they coincided with time off work? Here's a picture of them on their wedding day.

Frank and Ida Pothecary

Or there's this small souvenir sewing kit, again belonging to my Granny ...

It doesn't look as if it has been used, although the scissors that would have been in it are missing (I must look through Granny's old sewing box to see if they're there). As you can see, this little kit came from Corfe Castle. My Great Uncle Jack was the last stationmaster at Corfe Castle station before it closed in the early 1970s. I remember going to see him there and thinking it strange that he lived in a station. They had already taken up the rails then.

Here's Uncle Jack with other staff at the station in a photo taken in 1965. I found this in a secondhand book last year. He's the one in the middle with the glasses.

Uncle Jack worked out the rest of his time before retirement at Swanage station. In the 1990s the line from Swanage to Corfe Castle was re-opened as a heritage steam railway and the old Stationmaster's house is now a visitor attraction.

What I really want to show you today though is some of the old family bibles that we have. The big one (with all the names and dates at the front) is still at my stepfather's house but I've got quite a pile of smaller ones.

They don't look that exciting but there's a wealth of information to be gleaned from old bibles as they were often written in. One of the oldest  belonged to my Great Grandfather George Cannons who was born in 1872. As you can see, it came to him from his Sunday School. Here's George who also worked on the railway (there's a strong tradition of railway workers in my family, right down to my brother).

But the bible tells us that George then gave his bible to my mother Ann in 1944.

Mum would have been seven when she got the bible. She was born in her grandparents house and lived with her parents and grandparents for her first few years. Here she is with her Grandad George.

As well as the inscription, this bible was also full of these beautiful cards which I think Mum probably got from her Sunday school during the 1940s.

Or how about this bible, given by Annie (my Great-Grandmother and George's wife) to her mother Eliza Spooner in 1893.

Annie would have been 17 then and had been in service for several years. Look closer at that cross stitched bookmark and what do you see?

That's a lock of plaited hair above the writing. I think it might have been Annie's as the colour looks right. Here's a photograph of her as a young woman, taken a few years after she gave the bible to her mother.

Also in the photo is her handwritten recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies which, as you can see, I still make. I wrote about them several years ago if you'd like to try the recipe for yourself - Peanut Butter Cookies.

We have other books that belonged to Annie, like this Communion Book from 1891 when she would have been 15.

I don't know who Mrs Chilton was. I remember visiting a Mrs Chilton with my Granny but that would have been in the  1960s and 70s.

Then there's this rather touching inscription in one of two small books in a case (a hymn book and a prayer book).

A present from her future husband George in 1893. They were married in November 1895 and, you'll be glad to hear, did enjoy many happy years together. George died in 1945 and Annie in 1956. I'm rather fond of this picture of them on holiday; I think that's crochet she's doing.

One more Hymn and Prayer book belonging to Annie, again a present from her husband. this time it was to mark her 50th birthday in November 1925.

Annie and George had eight children, three boys and five girls. Two of the children, Walter and Olive died in infancy but the rest lived long lives. The eldest, another George, deserves a whole post to himself as he was the black sheep of the family. Jack (named John Noel Cannons because he was born on Christmas Day) I've already mentioned, so that leaves the four girls. They all had three letter names: Ivy, Eva, Ada and Ida. Ida was my grandmother. This picture of the three older girls was taken in about 1912 when Ivy was 13, Eva 8 and Ada 4.

My Granny was the baby of the family, born in 1915. I have several books that were hers. Her 'Helps to Worship' was given to her to mark her confirmation in March 1929 when she would have been eight.

Here's a picture of her taken on the same day ...

I also have her prayer book, given to her by her father George on her tenth birthday.

Ida married Frank Pothecary in 1935 and they went on to have four children: Ann (my mother), Frances, Hazel and Allan. Ann and Frances were less than two years apart in age; here they are in their garden, complete with a dolly in her pram.

I have several books belonging to Frances; this Prayer Book was given to her by her Aunty Ada to mark her christening in September 1938.

Sadly, Frances died at the age of 17 in a motorcycle crash. I was born four years later and was named after her.

Frances Pothecary

I've got one more family bible to show you and this one I can actually remember seeing as a child.

It's looking a bit the worse for wear and there's no inscription, but I know that this was the bible my Mum carried when she was Matron of Honour at her sister Hazel's wedding in 1962 (I think it was 1962, correct me if I'm wrong Hazel).

To finish with, here's a group photo from that wedding, including, at the end of the row, my Granny Ida holding a slightly puzzled looking toddler who is me.