大象传媒

Introduction

In 1940, 5-year old Tom Coyne and his older brother Bob were evacuated from Tyneside in the North East of England to Whitehaven in West Cumberland (now Cumbria). They stayed with Jack and Elizabeth Finnegan at 52 Ennerdale Terrace in the Seacliffe district of the town. Bob stayed for about a year, while Tom stayed with Mr and Mrs Finnegan for over 4 years.

In 2005 Tom Coyne wrote an article for the 大象传媒 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website (Article Reference ID A40256836). I had also posted articles about wartime West Cumberland to the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� website. It was through this connection of the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� that Tom and myself eventually got in touch with each other. Tom revisited Whitehaven in August 2005, and we met for the first time.

After Tom returned home, I realised I knew some of Mr and Mrs Finnegan鈥檚 relatives, and also some of their friends who lived on Ennerdale Terrace at the time. I have written a separate article about Tom鈥檚 meeting with Mrs Maureen Cottier (n茅e Curnow) whose family took in another evacuee during the war (A5947789). This article concentrates on Tom meeting up again with Mr Joe Toner, a nephew of Mrs Finnegan, and Joe鈥檚 wife Joan in September 2005. Only a few details are given here, as Tom is writing his own account of this meeting and sharing of memories.

Some shared wartime memories

Mrs Elizabeth Finnegan, who was married to Mr Jack Finnegan, was the sister of Joe鈥檚 mother Mrs Kathleen Toner. Their maiden name was Daley. Kathleen鈥檚 husband was Mr Patrick F. Toner, and in addition to Joe, their children were Frank, Gerard, John, Nora, Kathleen and Joe鈥檚 identical twin brother Pat. Mr and Mrs Finnegan had no children of their own, but became very fond of Tom during the years he lived with them. In fact, Tom had heard Mr and Mrs Finnegan would have liked to have formally adopted him.

Another evacuee and a close friend of Tom鈥檚 was Billy Conlin, who was also billeted on Ennerdale Terrace. After the war, Mr and Mrs Curnow, the parents of Maureen, formally adopted Billy. Both of Billy鈥檚 parents had died during the war. Tom鈥檚 own father died at sea early in the war, but he eventually went back to live with his mother and the rest of the family in Tyneside.

After Tom returned home to his family, he had heard that Mrs Finnegan had written to his mother saying that her husband Jack was broken hearted at not having Tom with them any more. So Tom had returned for a couple of short visits to Whitehaven to see Mr and Mrs Finnegan. By this time, Mr Finnegan was failing in health and died within a couple of years of the end of the war.

Tom has fond memories of going with Mrs Finnegan to see Joe's family at their home on Rosemary lane, overlooking the harbour. Often, this was on a Saturday morning when Mrs Finnegan combined a shopping visit to the Market Place with a visit to see her sister Kathleen. Tom can remember Joe's parents fairly well, and had always remembered their eldest son Frank who had trained for the Catholic priesthood but hadn't completed the course. However, when Tom used to be visiting the house on Rosemary Lane, Joe and his brothers and sisters were not at home so he can only vaguely remember the rest of the family.

In fact, Joe and his twin brother Pat signed up to the RAF when they turned 18 in 1941 so they were effectively away from their hometown for the next six years. Just before they joined the RAF Joe and Pat went to see Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Jack Finnegan at Ennerdale Terrace. There is a photograph of the two them outside the front door of Aunt Lizzie's, which Joe thinks might have been taken by their brother Gerard. Neither Joe nor Tom could remember where Tom was on that day, when the photograph was taken. As he was only a very young lad in 1941, both Joe and Tom thought Tom might have been out playing with the other children nearby.

Although Tom lived with the Finnegans for most of the war, he has never had a photograph of them. They never had a camera during the war, and the only photograph of Mr Finnegan Tom can remember from his time in their home was one from World War One where he is in dressed in his Army uniform. Luckily, Joe and Joan have one photograph of Aunt Lizzie Finnegan at a family wedding in 1948. Unfortunately, as this was after Uncle Jack Finnegan died, he is not on the photograph. Joe and Joan kindly loaned Tom the photograph of Mrs Finnegan so he could take a copy.

Jack and Lizzie Finnegan

Some years before the war, Mr and Mrs Finnegan had been publicans for a while, running the pub on High Road, Kells that has always been known locally as 'The Stump'. It has been officially known as 'Castle View' for some of its history, but at the time of writing this article (September 2005) it is again called 'The Stump'. By the time the war had broken out, Jack Finnegan was working at Smith Brothers (Whitehaven), a printing firm making packaging for food. Nevertheless, Jack must have remained close friends with the other victuallers in town. Tom can remember Mr Finnegan taking him into different pubs to see the landlord, and Tom was usually lucky enough to get the treat of a glass of lemonade.

At other times, Mr Finnegan used to take Tom to the factory he worked at, near the harbour and railway station. Before he joined the RAF, Joe had also managed to get a job as a Bookbinder's Apprentice at the Smith Brothers factory. Uncle Jack had put in a word for him at work, and this helped him get a job.

Having had evacuees staying with her in the war years, Mrs Finnegan took boarders in for a while after her husband died. Tom's elder brother Bob had visited her in the early 1960s and had welcomed him back with open arms. Mrs Finnegan had boarders staying with her at that time. Tom had been due to pay a visit shortly afterwards, but he had been obliged to go fly out abroad to meet his ship, as he was a Merchant Seaman at that time. A couple of years later, Mrs Finnegan had passed away, so Tom never got to see her again.

As they were Catholics, Jack and Lizzie Finnegan were regular churchgoers. Their parish church was Kells St Mary's, which is situated on High Road at the junction with Ennerdale Terrace, where the Finnegan's had their home. It was after a request from the pulpit made by the parish priest at St Mary's that many parishioners, including Mr and Mrs Finnegan, took in evacuees from North East. For a short time, Tom and the other evacuees attended the primary school at Kells St Mary's, and they kept their own teacher. However, partly because of a lack of space at St Mary's, after a very short time Tom and the other evacuees all went down the hill to the larger Catholic School of St Begh's on Coach Road, which is close to the town centre.

In September 2005, Tom contacted the current parish priest at Kells St Mary's Church, Reverend Father D. Aeldred Grugan. Reverend Grugan kindly referred to the parish register so that Tom could find out when Mr and Mrs Finnegan had passed away. The St Mary's parish register listed Mr John Finnegan as having passed away on 9 March 1947 and Mrs Elizabeth Finnegan had passed away on 4 June 1966. They are interred in Whitehaven Cemetery, and like many people who died in those times, their grave was marked by an ornamental vase. Over the years many of these ornamental vases have not survived, and unfortunately this is what has happened to the one marking the final resting place of Mr and Mrs Finnegan.

Joe finished his wartime service in 1946, and so he was back home when his Uncle Jack died in 1947 and so he went to the funeral. In those days, people had to get their own bearers, so four of Jack Finnegan's own nephews who came to Whitehaven for the funeral bore the coffin at the funeral, with the funeral service being held at Kells St Mary's Church. Joe's brothers and sister arranged the funeral for their Aunt Lizzie when she died in 1966. As Joe and Joan lived at Kells at that time, the funeral cortege left from their house. Again, the funeral service was conducted at Kells St Mary's.

Some other relatives and friends connected to the Finnegans

Tom can remember Mrs Finnegan saying they had taken in some evacuees before he arrived with Bob in 1940. Although nobody was exactly sure about this, this was probably in September 1939, when the first influx of evacuees came to West Cumberland. These evacuees stayed only a short time.

During Tom's time with the Finnegans he remembered there were other relatives of Mrs Finnegan who came to stay with them for at least two long spells. In fact, Tom remembered the family name of these relatives, Pooley, correctly. Mrs Mary Pooley (n茅e Fitzsimmons) was the niece of Mrs Finnegan, and was the daughter of another of the Daley sisters. Mary married Mr Chris Pooley and they lived in the London area. So, a couple of times during the war, because of the bombing in London, Mary and her eldest two children came to stay with her Aunt Lizzie. It was this family that Tom can remember.

By coincidence, Mary Pooley had been Joan's Godmother when Joan was baptized as a baby. This was another strange coincidence because Joan of course had eventually married Joe, who was a cousin of Mary!

Mary Pooley had many other relatives in West Cumberland during the war. Joe and his brothers and sisters were Mary's cousins on her mother's side of the family. Among Mary's cousins on her father's side of the family were Miss Patty Fitzsimmons, who was a schoolteacher at Kells St Mary's primary school during and after the war, and was also well-known locally as a fine musician, especially of the piano and church organ.

Another of Mary Pooley's cousins was Henry Fitzsimmons, the brother of Patty Fitzsimmons. Before the war, Henry had went away from Whitehaven to train for the Catholic priesthood. He was ordained as a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster on 19 May 1940. As it turned out, Reverend Father Henry Fitzsimmons was ordained a priest in the middle of the major German offensive in France that led to the Dunkirk evacuation. Ultimately, after Dunkirk, it was the increased threat of bombing and the invasion of Britain that led to more children being evacuated to designated safer areas, with two of these children turning out to be Tom Coyne and his older brother Bob.

Father Henry Fitzsimmons served as a priest for over well 40 years, before retiring to near Egremont in West Cumbria. Both he and his sister Patty both died some years ago.

Conclusion

It was a pleasure to listen to Tom, Joe and Joan share so many of their wartime memories, a few of which are mentioned in this article. After more than 60 years, they had been able to meet up again, especially to honour the memory of two fine people: Uncle Jack and Aunt Lizzie Finnegan. While I did not personally know Mr and Mrs Finnegan, I would like to dedicate this article to their memory, particularly their efforts in helping evacuees during World War Two.

Additionally, I would also like to thank Reverend Aeldred Grugan for his assistance in providing some details about Mr and Mrs Finnegan. The Church was evidently important to Mr and Mrs Finnegan. It was through an appeal made at their local church that Mr and Mrs Finnegan first came to welcome Bob and Tom Coyne into their home. Their kindness has never been forgotten.

While Tom has not been able to fill out all the memories he has from the war years, he has been able to find out a few more things. Hopefully, he has met not just a few old friends from the war years, but made new ones as well!

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