By:
Janet England
The
photographs are reproduced by courtesy of Mrs Marjorie Osborn,
nee Crook.
In March 2002, Mrs Janet England of East Yorkshire e-mailed
two old photographs, and the following story:
"Hi
there I am trying to trace my family tree and have got a
lot of info from my mother who is 90 and was born in Wavertree.
Her grandfather was William Henry Crook and he had a bakery
in Wellington Road, in sight of the railway.
I
have now found a photo of my great grandfather standing
outside his shop and note that it is on the corner of a
street called Wimbledon Street.
|
The
Bakery on Wellington Road. |
Regarding
the photo of Crook's Bakery, my Mum tells me that as far
as she remembers her grandfather employed 2 bakers, and
possibly a servant, and owned 2 horses. The bakery was next
to and behind the shop and local people used to bring unbaked
bread, hotpots, or other meals, put a tally on to denote
to whom the food belonged, pay a small fee (1d or whatever)
and the food was then baked in the ovens of the Bakery.
Mum says the horses were stabled across the road from the
Bakery (in Wimbledon St) down an alley.
There
is also a photo of my grandfather, Harold Crook (William
Henry, the Baker's son). He is standing with three other
boys and the photo is headed 'September 1897, Liverpool
Elementary Schools Gala' and underneath it says 'St Bridget's
School, Wavertree Swimming Squadron'. It names the four
boys as H. Crook (my grandfather), J.W. Bird, W.J. Farquhar
and E.J. Fox.
|
Do
you recognise the names of anyone is this picture? Let us know if
you do. |
I
thought maybe there might be someone who would recognise
one of the other names as a relative or someone known.
Apparently
my grandfather was a very good swimmer and during the First
World War was a Submarine Miner working at the mouth of
the Mersey.
She
used to visit her grandparents with her elder brother and
they were given a gold sovereign when they left. Her father
had two other brothers Willie and Herbert and two sisters
Florrie and Amy. Herbert and his family lived (I think)
at the Bakery, Florrie and Amy lived next door to each other
across the Mystery which Mum remembers as being opposite
the shop. Florrie married Bertie Harwood, a ships provisioner/chandler,
who came from a big, well to do family, something to do
with the Bibby Line whose ships were named after counties
and sailed into Liverpool Docks. Amy married Albert Kelly.
Willie married Edith Bradbury whose father was Medical Officer
for Lancashire at some time."
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