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 Only a Servant Chapter 1 Fourth of Ten Children (Part 3)

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Tim of Aclea
Triumviratus Rei Publicae Constituendae
Tim of Aclea


Posts : 586
Join date : 2011-12-31

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PostOnly a Servant Chapter 1 Fourth of Ten Children (Part 3)

On 11th April 1920, mother gave birth to Veronica Emma, their first daughter. Veronica used to sit in the small highchair and if she ever choked, father or mother used to tip her upside down and take the chair out and pacify her. Father seemed to be proud of her. In January 1921 I went to the local school at Wotton St Lawrence, which consisted only of two rooms and two lady teachers and found it like a prison with lessons from nine till twelve and then from one till quarter to four. I complained that lessons were boring and Roland, the second child, threatened to give me to the gypsies. The first four of the Whittles were all now at school.

When I was about five, Auntie Ann Rogers, my mother’s sister, took Wilfred, the eldest, back to Elm Farm, Teddington, Gloucestershire and he spent about a year and a half with her and Uncle Will Rogers. Auntie Ann never went to school but she could write a ‘good letter’. Uncle Will owned the farm and was, as a result, relatively well off, he later took his own life. My son, Timothy, once asked me why he did this and all I could respond was that Auntie Ann could be a very hard woman.

On 21st October 1921 mother gave birth to Lawrence – the eighth child. When mother was expecting, everyone except me went to live in somebody else’s home. I believe that Auntie Beat took Roland and Leslie, Mrs Blackburn, the wife of the chauffeur had Gilmore. She was mother’s friend until mother died on 28th December 1948, a very nice woman. I don’t know who looked after Veronica and Clifford. I was left on my own with a Mrs Lockock. No-one told me why everyone except me had gone away although I did hear father say to mother, when discussing me, “I don’t think that anyone would want that little sod!” Veronica used to torment Lawrence and our mother warned her to be nice to him or that she may regret it. When he got older Laurence fought her and he won.

One day when I was about 5 and sitting outside the church, a car stopped and the chauffeur got out and opened the bonnet. Near me were two old men who looked on, they said that they could not understand how a vehicle could function without a horse and they agreed that sooner or later ‘they’ would have to go back to the horses. They said that they did not think much of these ‘new fangled’ ideas. The chauffer had big goggles, a large mackintosh, a cap and large gloves. The car was similar to a fine carriage without a horse and the driver sat outside. On the right hand side of the car I noticed the large gears with which he controlled the vehicle. He looked as if he was cold and wet but after a few tries the engine shuddered into life and the driver got back into the car and drove away.

Early in 1922, Colonel Blane died and after due course Mrs Blane told father that she would be moving into a smaller place and gave him notice. Father then got a job as the head gardener to Mr and Mrs Ferdinando, at Firgrove Manor, Eversley, Hants at £2 10s plus a tied cottage and vegetables . I believe that Mr Ferdinando came from Argentina and had made his wealth from the silk trade. Mr and Mrs Ferdinando had four sons; the Manor had 9 inside and 13 outside servants. The Manor had been used to house convalescent officers during the war and the house and gardens had become somewhat run down. When father first saw the gardens he said “I will lick it into shape”; he was never frightened of a challenge.

After a week or two in March, the furniture van arrived and our poor old ‘bits and pieces’ were put into it. Father and mother, together with Veronica and Lawrence on their laps, went with the driver; and Clifford, the twins and me went in the back. Wilfred was with Auntie Ann and I think that Roland was with Auntie Beat. So on a spring day in 1922 we left Tangier Park Lodge and ended up at Firgrove Cottage, Up Green, Eversley, Hampshire. We stopped there until June 1929 – seven years of my life.
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