Childhood at Bourne (8)
Emmie Taylor's memories of childhood at Bourne (continued)
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Soon after this my Grandma Curry died and Daddy went to Hartlepool to the funeral and he insisted that I had a black dress. My Grandfather Curry had died when I was quite small. I can just remember that he always wore a black skull cap. Daddy said he was the best read man he knew.
The first year after the wedding Daddy said I had to go with him and Ma on their holidays to Lowestoft. It was not a great success. I do not remember much about it. I had a tooth out and one day we went for a trip up the Norfolk Broads. The highlight of the holiday was that we went to see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" given by amateurs in the Sparrow's Nest Park. I was enchanted and just longed for the time when I should be old enough to be an actress. I cannot remember, but I think I must have gone afterwards to see Auntie because I cannot think I did not see her until the next summer.
On Sundays I had special Sunday gloves, which I was supposed to put in the drawer of the hallstand. I suppose I was careless and sometimes forgot so Ma used to be very cross with me. One Sunday night Auntie West said "Now look Emmie, I am putting your gloves in the drawer, so you need not worry, you know they will be there next Sunday morning". When I went to look for them next Sunday morning they were not there. Ma started on her usual scolding next Sunday morning and made me hunt all over for them for about ¼ hour. I said "I know they were put in the drawer". She said I was telling a lie and brought them out of her bedroom. Auntie West tackled her about it at night and said she had put the gloves away herself so that she (Ma) must have taken them out. She didn't deny it. One day she told me I had never to ask for a second helping of anything because I didn't need it and I must never have a second piece of cake. We only had bread and butter, jam and cake for tea and she used to cut nice thin bread for herself with plenty of butter on and she cut thick bread with a scraping of butter on for me. We had a maid called Kate Needham who was only about 14 and she got 2/6 a week wages. She was a nice girl. If for any reason Daddy was out for tea I had my tea in the kitchen with Kate and if I asked could we have a piece of cake Ma said "No".
However Auntie West used to put me a piece of cake or something in a piece of paper on the shop counter and I used to pop in for it on my way to school. As often as I could I went to Auntie West's for tea and sometimes if I called on my way from school at dinner time she would have some fried potatoes waiting for me.
After a few months we moved into the new house and now we lived next door to Mrs Castledine and we had a way from our garden to theirs. Mr Castledine had a lovely orchard and he let me play in it and take a friend. He was a kind man. On the other side of our house there was another orchard and in the summer there were nightingales in the trees & they were lovely. I used to listen to them as I lay in bed. They would sing in the middle of the night.
Another trouble arose between Ma and me. She would only allow me to have one clean blouse and two clean handkerchiefs a week and this went on until I went to college. When I got older I wanted to wash and iron extra ones myself, but she would not let me because I would use gas to iron – we only had a gas iron. Another thing I wore black woollen stockings and I was only allowed to have one clean pair a month and my feet got sore. Of course, I told Auntie West and she told Daddy. Ma said she changed them once a fortnight, but she did not, because if I forgot when the month ended she got very cross. Daddy said I was very naughty telling a lie because I had made Ma very unhappy. I said it was not a lie. I thing he believed me but he said he did not want to hear any more about it. I daresay you think all this is very paltry but when you are between 10 and 12 all these things seem very large, and I think what made me unhappy was the feeling of antagonism towards me. Of course I am sure she was unhappy herself poor thing.
In the November my Auntie Lizzie Henderson, one of my Mother's sisters became very ill and Auntie Maggie went to look after her. She was the wife of Rev Donald Henderson who was the Congregational Minister at Pudsey in Yorkshire. They had 3 children, Jessie who was about 19 and was at college, Douglas who was about 15 and Christine (Kitty) who was 12. After about a month Auntie Lizzie died and Auntie Maggie stayed to keep house and look after them.
The following summer that is, when I was 11 I went for my summer holidays to Pudsey because Maggie was there. I got on very well with Kitty and we had a good time together. There was a young lady who went to Uncle's Church who rand a Christian Endeavour for young people. Kitty and I were very fond of her but I cannot remember her name. While I was at Pudsey there was a Fair and the Christian Endeavour ran a Refreshment tent. Kitty and I went to help, although I do not know if we were much help and we also went round the fair. Auntie helped in the tent. Of course the idea was for people to get refreshments without having to go in a public house. Uncle Donald was a sincerely religious man; he used to take Kitty and me into his study and pray over us. I must say this and the Christian Endeavour lady made a great impression on me, but more about this later.
I had not been at Pudsey very long when Auntie noticed that I was scratching my head. She looked in my hair, and I am sorry to say it was alive with nits and lice. She was so upset that she cried, but she was also furious that I had been neglected so she immediately wrote to Dad and Ma. She small tooth combed my head until it was sore and rubbed some ointment in that was supposed to kill the nits. She tried to rub it in so it would not show and washed my hair every 2 or 3 days, but she could not get it quite clear before I went home. When I got back Ma rubbed this ointment on, but she did it so that it showed and my hair looked a sight and I felt awful.
Kitty came back with me from Pudsey and we used to play in the orchard. The two of us and Winnie Hassock got up a concert for the Missionary Society. Mrs Castledine, Mrs Webb, Ma and the mothers of the other girls came, so we collected a few shillings in the Missionary Box.
Inspired by Uncle Donald and the C.E. England lady when Kitty had gone back I asked Daddy if he thought we could start a Junior Christian Endeavour. He took me to see Mrs Cappitt who was a widow and a great worker about Church. She already ran the Band of Hope, which was a temperance society for young people. We had meetings one night a week and we all signed the "Pledge" never to drink any alcoholic drinks. I kept it until after I was married, but then I am afraid I broke it, but even now although I occasionally have some Sherry or something like that I cannot say I like it.
Well Mrs Cappitt said she would organise and run the Junior C.E which had quite a lot of members and she encouraged us to give little talks ourselves. I can remember giving one on Prayer. Then we had a text searching competition which a boy called Willie Hemsell and I won, we tied. About 10 months ago one of Ma's nieces sent me a "Lincolnshire Life" and there was a letter in by his sister Hilda, so I wrote to her and I had a long letter back from her telling me that when Willie grew up he became Secretary of the Sunday School, but he is dead now.
About this time somebody told me where babies came from and how they were made. I was terribly shocked and I said I did not think it was true, because I was sure Mr Hassock would not know anything about it. I have been amused to myself many times since that it did not enter my head that my Father did not know anything about it.
We had a cantata in the Corn Exchange from school. I cannot remember much about it, but I was an Indian girl and Ma made me a long yellow dress out of thin muslin. She was very good at making things. I had only one pair of house shoes and the heel had come off one. I begged for a new pair, but she said I could not have any (I suppose she had not much money) so I felt dreadful on the stage because when we were dancing the nails under my heel kept sticking in the floor, and I thought every one would notice it.
I had a very special friend at this school called Madge Crane and on my 11th birthday she was coming for tea. It was the custom when it was your birthday to be let out of school at 3 o'clock, so I thought I would go home and put my Sunday frock on. I asked Ma if I could and she said "certainly not". I was disappointed. Sometimes Auntie West would have Madge Crane, Annie Cook and me for tea and she would make lovely teas, perhaps with home made potted meat and jelly and two or three kinds of cake.
The marriage of Dad and Ma did not seem to improve and I think they were both unhappy. My Daddy had been very much loved and respected in the Church at Bourne and throughout Lincolnshire. He had been chairman of the Lincolnshire Congregational Union and he was often asked to preach at Anniversaries both in Lincs and adjacent counties. However it is a great mistake for a Minister to marry a girl from his own Church unless he intends to leave, so things were not as harmonious as they had been, there was a lot of jealousy.
The Branstons had a person called Mrs Allum to work for them for over 40 years and she died. The three sisters went to her funeral and as I was on holiday Ma took me with her. I had never been to a funeral before. I am sure Ma and her sisters were genuinely grieved at "Allum's" death. They called her "Allum" not Mrs Allum. One Saturday morning Dad had gone away for the weekend to preach. I was practising my piano when I saw Griffin, a young man who worked at Branston's shop, going past the window. I at once though it was bad news and rushed to the back door and said "Grandma Branston" and he said "Yes, she's dead". Ma was upstairs and I ran upstairs and without any preliminaries said "Grandma Branston's dead". Poor Ma she idolised her Mother and it was a terrible shock to her and she sat on the stairs sobbing and saying "Oh Mam, Mam". As I have said earlier Mrs Branston suffered from Angina and when the help had gone up to fetch her breakfast tray down she was dead. Mrs Castledine as I have said lived next door to us, and Griffin had just told her that her Mother was ill. She set off on her bike and she had to pass Mrs Webb's house. It was the custom in those days to draw all the window blinds when anyone in the family died. Mrs Webb lived near her Mother's and when she had gone home for something she had drawn the blinds. When Mrs Castledine saw this, she realised her Mother was dead and nearly fell off her bike. A day or two after Ma took me to see her Mother's body, she was a fine looking old lady so she looked very beautiful as she lay there. Ma said I could kiss her if I liked and I was quite shocked when I did because of course she was as cold as marble. I do not think I went to the funeral. I cannot remember going. I expect I was at school.
