大象传媒

Since writing my account of my story, I have been raking over the parts, more of the early days that has come to light to me.

I remember, going as a child to a Nursery. I was given a bath there and then I was dressed in pink pants and a pink top. I used to sleep on the floor in the Nursery every afternoon. My family were then living at 23 West Road in Mortlake in Surrey. My parents had two rooms, which they let, off from Mr and Mrs Piper. They had eight children in their family, two of them lived away from home.

My grandfather lived at 20 West Road, and my parents came to live there as they had returned to look after my mother's brothers and sisters, because my grandmother had run away with another man. My mother's brothers and sisters were, George, Jim and baby Robert, her sister's were Doll and Kit. Their surname was Ellen. My grandfathers sister, took Robert to live with her family. Their names were Mr and MrsLangerly and they lived at Dancer Road in Richmond, Surrey. George suffered with asthma very badly and Jim joined the Army and he was in the Buffs Regiment and was drafted to India. Doll left home, so my parents moved over to my grandfathers home at Mortlake.
My grandfather had served in the War as a cook in the Middlesex Regiment. He had worked for Mortlake Council with my great grandfather as a Sewer man. My grandfather had regular bouts of drinking, this was because of the War. For about a week to ten days he would be drunk.

My father worked for the Surrey County Council, he was an engineer working the machinery, making tarmac, for the surfacing of the road and building of new roads.

Men that had returned from the World War One, were told that they would return to a Land fit for heroes and all that they found was unemployment and nothing for them to look further at.

As I got older, I started school when I was 5 years of age. The baby class was full so I was placed in a class for 6 years olds. I spent 2 years in that class, I never learnt my ABC as I was moved around different classes in the school. I was always getting lines that had to be written before I was allowed to go home. The lines was "I MUST NOT TALK IN CLASS". On Parents evening, my Headmistress always made sure that my mother saw my school books and all of the ink, which had been spilt over the pages in my book. Then my Parents would then take me along to see my sister's teacher,as she was in the same school as me. My sister's books were always clean and she never got told off, where I was continually getting told off by my mother about my untidiness. She was always threatening me that if my school work did not improve and more tidier, then I would know what would happen to me, but it never did. As I got older I was allowed to run the streets with my mates, they were George, Jimmy and Tommy Piper. George was the oldest and there was Bill Thompson, George Beaver and Harry Bishop, who were all about the same age as I was. We always got into a lot of mischief. When we got stopped by Black Jack, who was the local Copper, he would say to me "I will tell your father when I see him. So it was always better if you told your father before Black Jack did, otherwise you would get the belt. I had that on quite a few ocassions and also the cane, when I went up to the Mortlake Central School.

At the Easter and Whitsun holidays, we sold horse manure from the stables at
2 pence a bucket or you could have a barrow load for 1/6 which was 1 shilling and 6 pence. We had a Boys Club and it was on a Monday night and it would cost one penny for the entrance fee. We also went on a summer camp down to Lowerstoft.

Some holidays we spent with my Aunt and Uncle, who lived at Roberts yard in Croydon Surrey.

Where I was born was 8 cottages that backed on to the Town Hall. There was also a Nursery which belonged to the family by the name of Tannats. It was pulled down and the Davis was built on the site. Our Aunt and her family moved to an estate at Waddon in Surrey. Where we lived at West Road, was a private road, there was two main gates and two side gates and always open the side gate. But on a Good Friday, they were always shut. To open the main gates, one had to get the key from Mr Haddock, who lived at Number 2, otherwise you had to carry any goods all the way to the houses.

It was on a Saturday and we were playing football in the road, otherwise we would have been down by the River Thames, but this day, for some reason. we were in the street. Some child came running into the road, crying out for Mrs Fair. When she appeared, they told her that her son, Tommy had fallen into the river, between two barges and did not come up. Tommy had drowned and his body was found a week later at the Raiway Bridge at Barnes, where the trains went across the River Thames.

Whenever the family visited Croydon, in the summer, we were in the bus. From East Sheen, Mortlake to Wandsworth by bus, then from Wandsworth to Croydon in Surrey. Or sometimes we would go on to Purley, to see my father's brother. I was always sick from taking the tram ride, the tram conductor, always had a small bag of sand, for these accidents, he would then cover it. On one holiday with my Aunt, we were playing with other children from the estate, when we noticed a man, with a beard and dressed in a brown paper suit, trousers and jacket. The estate children told us that his name was "Brown Paper Jack". he lived rough on the streets and also in the Park.

Once we were back home in Mortlake and it was the summer, we would get fruit from Pudney Clifford orchard. We also had lettuce, cabbage and rhubarb from Stevans field. My father used the rhubarb to make wine.

There was the General Strike of 1926, one out all out. But what it was all about, we did not know.

Every year at the Mortlake Central School on 11 November, a service was held in the main hall of the school for Rememberance of those that had died in World War One. Everyone stopped in respect of the fallen men, and we learnt a lot about the First World war. Our teachers spoke about it and we also had lectures on the War. In those days they made sure that you understood the true meaning of War.

My mates and I were still up to our tricks such as stealing coal from the barges and then selling it in the winter, when there was the Nightwatchmen, that was on a road, which was under repair. We would sit around their fire.

In those days, we never had radios or television, all that we had was the Crystal sets. These had just come to the market. One of my mates was Ted Badham, he was good at football. His father had been in the War. On a Sunday, his father cut all of the boys hair. It was none of these fancy haircuts, just a straight up and over and very short. Still it was easier to keep clean. Also Ted's father would get all of boys and girls together and take them the lot of them for walks. They would go along the River Thames. We had some good times, but Ted had to go into hospital at West London Hospital at Hammersmith in London. We all went to visit him at different visiting times, but he died. We were told that he had a blood disease and that is what he died off. We were all very sad at this, he was a good mate.

Part 2

After the General Strike of 1926, things began to look better for the people. Men found work for either 2 or 3 days a week and it helped to put a smile on peoples faces. But as work became plentyiful, more found work but the attitude of some men never changed. War was still at the back of their minds.

My father and mother started to tell me about the second World War.
She had lived in Croydon and had been travelling to Hayes in Middlesex to work on the shells and bullets for the War. Also how having gunpowder in the home was dangerous, it could kill any one that was inside the home. Also how my father had reported to rejoin the Navy, but the Navy had told him that if he rejoined then he would only hold the rank of a second class stoker. His reply to that was "Not on your life, I was discharged as Chief Petty officer". So he was then put into the Derby group and sent to work at Croydon Gas Works.

My father and I were alone one Saturday as my mother and my sister had gone out to the pictures at "The Blue Halls" in Hammersmith. This Saturday, it was very cold, so we decided to stay indoors. My father and I were talking and he told me that he had 5 sisters. Two of his sisters had gone into the Services and two went to Australia and the other one married a local builder. My father also had 4 brothers, two of them were the gentlemen type, one lived in Old Windsor in Berkshire. His name was Dick. The other one was called Ernie and he lived in Purley in Surrey. The other two brothers were proper scallywags, their names were George and Charlie. My father's father was a gardner and a slaughter man and his mother had run a laundry for the rich people, washing their laundry. When they were at school they were told that when school had finished, as long as they came home,then they could have a bowl of soup and bread, then they would be free to do what ever they liked. He would tell me about getting fruit from the Royal garden, they also had other stuff that they would take home. His father loved a pint of beer on a Sunday. So the weekly saga would be that his mother, after cooking the Sunday dinner and he was not at home at lunchtime, then his mother would walk his dinner down to the pub, where he would be still drinking.
One day, the Police Constable asked my father' father, if he had any knowledge of the apples that were missing from the tree in the Royal Garden. So he was in the pub then, so he left the pub and went home and removed all of the stolen apples. George, Charlie and Robert never found the apples again. My father then told me that his mother had died when he was young, George lived in Windsor in Berkshire, Charlie lived in Egham in Surrey, but nobody wanted my father, so he put up his age and joined the Royal Navy as a stoker and was stationed at Chatham Naval Barracks. My father;s family never knew where he was. He had been to China on his travels and he had 24 hour leave given to him so he visited his brother, Charlie and his father, who was living at Charlie's. On his return to Chatham, he was then on his way back to China. He was also on the Gun Carriage team that pulled the carriage of Queen Victoria's funeral. He had also served with the then Prince of Wales, King George V and also Prince Batenburg, that changed their name to Mountbatten. My father spoke about a ship. He was in a Destroyer, they were out in the China Sea when a typhoon appeared. So they dropped anchors and the ship headed into the typhoon. In 24 hours, with full steam, the ship had only moved 2 miles and that was backwards. He also told me about H.M.S.Terrible, which was the prison ship, where sailors or marines were sent to do time after being put on a charge. There was a Stoker by the name of Clark, who had been sent to serve 8 months on H.M.S Terrible and he told my father that he would never do it again. He said that he could do jankers on his head but that spell aboard th H.M.S.Terrible had stopped all of that for him. The screws,as they were called never looked a sailor in the face and they always walked with heir eyes down. He spoke about the Chinese, when they had been found guily of a charge, they were then taken from the court and executed, by having their heads chopped off. There was no such thing as appeal! He had also said that when you were buying a new naval suit from the Chinese tailor, when you had made a deal with him,you could go up or down in price and then you marked the deal and it stood. They also played the Stock Market, putting money in when it was low and then waiting for it to rise. When this happened then you drew the money out.

During the Japanese - Russian War, the British WarShip hoisted the Japanese flag, then waited outside Vladivostok for a Russian War Ship to come out after them. One day, a Russian War Ship fired on a ship, that he was in, with the Japanese flag hoisted. The gun was fired and put a hole in the ships funnel and then chased them. The Captain shot himself. The British War Ship, they then run behind a British Cruiser. The Russian ship then turned round and returned to Russia. He had thought himself very lucky that day. When the American Fleet visited China, there was always some fighting going on between the Americans and the British sailors. The American Admiral signalled the British Admiral to allow the Americans one night ashore so as to stop the fighting. The British Admiral signalled back "If your men cannot take care of themselves then they should not be allowed to go ashore"
One time, on their way home from China, a man by the name of Nobby Clark said to my father, that the washer woman, who was a Chinese lady had his washing to do.
They had a 24 hour leave, my father stayed at the Union Jack Club in London, he loved to go and see a good show. On reporting back to Chatham after the leave, they then returned to China.When they arrived, some weeks later and on their first morning back, Nobby woke to find the Chinese washer woman was sitting under his hammock, with his washing all done. When you were working . Up until the job had been finished,you would not pay the Chinese because as soon as they had got paid, then they would be gambling it away. All of these stories that my father was telling me was very interesting.He then went on to tell me about the 1914/1918 War. He and others had volunteered to return to the Navy but he would have had to start as a Stoker Second Class, so he turned it down because When he first left the Navy, he applied to join the Weymouth Police Force and he had to take tests. But the Inspector had told him that he was about a 1/4 inch too short to be accepted. My father replied to that " That is not so, the reason being is that I am not a big enough rogue for the Police"

When the War was on, he helped a greengrocer in his spare time. Also in 1918, when I was born, my mother had entered me into a Baby Show, I came second in this Baby show, the reason why I did not get first place is that the midwife, when I was born, had not bound my stomach tight enough, after I was born.

My father worked for the Gas Company through out the war. He spoke about the German Fleet, when they entered Shanghai harbour. The British ship cleared for action on the German ship. That was in 1911/1912. Also there was the Boxer rebellion he talked about.

All in all it was a very interesting afternoon, with just myself and my father.I learnt a lot of what had happened in my father's early years. He had lived a very colourful life with lots of adventures that he could recall and tell me about.

When my mother and sister came home from the pictures then we would all go shopping. Every Saturday, we always went shopping about 5.00 p.m. because then things would be cheaper to buy. The butcher could not sell breasts of lamb so he would give them away to the shoppers. Also you would have about 1lb to 2lb of sausages, which we would have for our Sunday breakfast.

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