A Box of Delights

A couple of weekends ago, my Mum and Dad brought a big underbed storage box filled with photos up to me, and I have been steadily working my way through its contents, scanning them into the computer (which is almost groaning under the strain!), then sorting them into categories, ready to put on CDs for distributing around the family.

The photos in the box range from the late 1970s or early 1980s way back to the early 1900s, or even slightly earlier - snapshots from the lives of my parents', grand-parents', great-grandparents' and great-great-grandparents' generations.

Probably the earliest one is this...

Seated at the front, holding his knees is my great-grandfather, Frederick.  He was born in 1886 and raised in Oxford, one of eleven children born to Harry and Sarah.  Harry was a tailor - maybe the love of sewing comes in the genes!

Frederick married my great-grandmother Nellie in 1908. She had moved from her north Wales home to become companion to a Miss Groves, owner of an antique shop in Oxford, so maybe that's another love passed down to me! But when my grandmother and her older sister were very small, Frederick became seriously ill with neuritis and was advised to move to a warmer climate. 

Because of his health problems, Australia wouldn't have him, so Argentina beckoned instead.  I think my grandmother was about four when she set sail with her mother and older sister, almost exactly a year after her father had left to find health and employment on (nearly) the other side of the world.  My great-grandfather's health was indeed restored by the better climate - he lived to be ninety-seven!

Frederick worked on the railways, which meant the family living way out in the 'camp'.  They had one of their houses destroyed by a tornado - Granny could remember the little wooden house half upended so that she and her sister could hunt beneath it for snakes!

The original Railway Children? My Granny and her siblings

The family grew in South America, so that by 1920, Granny was one of five.  At that point the family came back to the United Kingdom.  I think this was because Arthur (one of Granny's brothers)  had been left disabled by meningitis.  Great-grandad stayed for a short while in north Wales whilst the family settled into life with his wife's family, and then went back to Argentina.  Granny did not see him again for two years.  But she wrote him letters, two of which survived, to give just a hint of what life was like.

After two years, my great-grandmother and the five children rejoined Frederick in Argentina.  The family was completed a year later with another son!

Frederick and Nellie, with their six children and first grandchild c 1935

I love this tinted photo I found of my granny and her older sister playing the mandolin and guitar.  There's no date on the photo, but I would think this may be from around the time when my great-aunt married, about 1930.

My great-aunt married a famous Argentine artist, so amongst the photos was this portrait of my Granny...

With the wonders of photo-editing, I have managed to get rid of the smudge marks that were spoiling it, and I'm going to print it on some good quality paper and frame it.

Precious Scraps

For once, not of the fabric variety!  Though just to keep the fabric-o-philes happy, I will include a couple of gratuitous shots of some I have in my stash...

All from 'Sal's Snippets

Mr U-t-B and I, freed of our Saturday duties as taxi-driver for dancing lessons, shopping and sleepovers, (actually,  our daughter is not really that demanding!) headed south yesterday, to my parents' house.  There was a tree stump that needed hacking out of the ground, and Mr U-t-B had offered his services as tree surgeon.

We were treated to an excellent lunch, then, whilst the men toiled in the garden, my Mum and I looked through all kinds of bits and pieces that she had been sorting through recently.  

There were some photos from the late 1800 and early 1900s, from my Dad's family but mostly it was paperwork that my dear Granny (on my Mum's side) had brought with her from Argentina when she came to live with my parents in her eighties.  Some of it related to my Grandfather's war service in India, some to my great-grandfather's emigration to Argentina and some of it to the design and building of petrol stations in Argentina 

(somewhat surprised Granny kept those...)

So this morning I have been scanning the more relevant and interesting bits into the computer for safe-keeping.

First, a photo of my great-grandmother...

...my great-grandfather...

...and my Grandad and his brothers.

 A family group which includes my Grandad.  I'm looking forward to going through the family tree in an attempt at identifying everyone.

Then the identity card for my other Grandad, from when he emigrated from Ireland to Argentina.

From further back, there's the reference another great-grandfather took with him from Oxford when he emigrated.

Not all Victorians had beautiful copperplate writing!

There's a newspaper photo of my Mum.  She tells me the dress was Liberty lawn.

And the letter my granny wrote on hearing that the war was over...

I love these little glimpses into the lives of my forebears!

Meanwhile, more generosity!  Can you spot what has been added to the desk?

Spot the difference

Well apart from the books I mentioned yesterday and a couple of items of felty frivolity, I'm sure you noticed the lovely 'Veritas' oli lamp - my Mum's thank you to Mr U-t-B for his chain-saw wielding!  Lovely!


Miss U-t-B is now safely arrived in Austria and has had a good day on the not-too-snowy-but-rather-icy-in-fact slopes.  Thank heavens for mobile phones!

I'm 'sloping off' myself, for a few days skiing with my very own husband.  May or may not be able to look at and post blogs from there, so this may be my last post till next weekend!