My mother's grandfather, Samuel Barnard was born in 1832 in Antigua and died September 23, 1912 (my birth day) at the age of 80 in Castries, St. Lucia, then the British West Indies. He was a wealthy man of mixed race, including African. He married the strong willed and lighter complexioned Isabella de Beausire Parker on December 16 or 18, 1862. At that point he was 30 years old and Isabella was 20. The Governor of the island was among the illustrious guests at their wedding. Samuel began his career as a school teacher, his father (Samuel Sr.) having been sent to the island about 1840 by the Lady Mico Charity to start a school in Vieux Fort, when Samuel Jr. was a small child. Samuel later worked for a local company, Jones & Co??. , a shipping/import company, working his way up and eventually inheriting part of the company then taking over the rest and renaming it Barnard & Sons. He bought numerous properties, both commercial and residential and owned ships and yachts, and eventually, towards the end of his life, the first Jaguar auto dealership on the island. He was a justice of the peace and a member of the local legislature, and was well liked for both his honesty and outspokenness although he was inclined to be quite litigious. His nickname was Papie Sam, by which he was known throughout the island.
His wife, Isabella, was renowned for her difficult nature, but she and Samuel had a long marriage and produced seven children, 6 boys and one daughter, Lillian. Samuel liked to tease the boys by quoting the nursery rhyme "What are little boys made of ?" He was an affectionate and generous man, buying Lillian jewelry from France, one of which was later given to his first granddaughter, Pamela. Even in England his reputation was known to be honest and trustworthy. Comments were made by the family regarding the unfortunate way he was treated by Isabella.
Isabella's parents, Catherine Ann (Beausire) and Thomas Collingwood Parker, had owned a house in Morne Fortune known as 'Retreat' during her childhood, but it burned down in one of the frequent fires that struck the island. The house was rebuilt by Isabella with money provided by Samuel.
The house where the children were raised was named Sans Souci (French for 'without care'). It was built on Barnard Hill (originally Barnardsville c. 1901). Later some of the grown children had homes on the same hill, which overlooked the harbor. There was a view of the pier which held the shipping office and at the very end was a large warehouse. Steamships (some owned by the family) came into the deep water harbor to refuel with coal, and a huge pile of this was available. The coal was unloaded by porters with baskets on their heads. The warehouse contained numerous imports - food, including butter in cans, and many items needed on the island. Samuel likely had business dealings with the West India and Pacific Steam and Navigation Company which was managed by Catherine Ann's uncle, Joseph Beausire, who resided in Liverpool. Isabella spent quite a bit of time in England, even as a child, since her uncles lived there. She, together with her mother and 2 sisters, Lydia and Agnes are to be found at Robert Beausire's house in Wallasey in 1851 when the census was conducted. They must have been in England for several years since two of her siblings died there. Her only brother Thomas Parker in 1849 age 7, and an older sister, Helen in 1852. Both are buried in the Beausire family plot in Wallasey, Cheshire.
Samuel died of influenza, complicated by dementia. The day before he became ill he was at work as usual at his car dealership. He loved to socialize about town and was often to be found chatting with other locals. His sons were extremely proud of their father. He was seriously ill about 4 years before his death and after that had to curtail his activities, but spent time on a plantation of lime trees in the garden of Sans Souci. If he had lived for another 3 months, he and Isabella would have been married for 50 years. He was a member of the Legislature and mentioned in Debrett. He would have been angry and appalled to know that his granddaughter, Naomi Isabel Barnard, was later turned away from Government House when she arrived in the mid1920's dressed in finery for a ball and escorted by a beau. Nibs was fair skinned with blue eyes, being 3/4ths white but was not allowed in due to her negro origins. She was devastated by this and it affected her behavior for the rest of her life. The Governor General at that time was Sir Frederick Seton Jones who held the post from 1924 through 1930.. The island must have become more racist as white people (British ?) moved there, since Samuel and Isabella's wedding was attended by all sorts of dignitaries, including the Governor-General at that time.
Photos of Isabella de Beausire Parker (born 1842 in St Lucia, died there August 9, 1936 age 94) show a handsome woman, dressed in long black dresses with white hair piled on her head. She was of Arawak, French, English and Alsation background.
The Beausires were from Alsace Lorraine, where they were a wealthy family involved in raising thoroughbred horses. Isabella's father was an auditor on the island and believed to be great friends with Isabella's oldest brother, Robert Beausire
Family rumour has it that Isabella's great grandmother, who was from Martinique, was a Creole and very lovely. She had an affair with Admiral Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet. Research has proven all other family rumours but one to be true, so this is probably correct. He was widowed, in the West Indies hunting pirates and reputedly fell madly in love with her, which union produced a son, who may have been named either William Parker or Thomas Collingwood Parker (Sr.) after Hyde Parker's good friend, Admiral Collingwood. His ship the Cato disappeared at sea a few years later but he bequeathed our ancestor various items from his estate that were not entailed, and quite a bit of money. Some of his family were furious when they found out, but his sister was friendly and wrote her various letters. That son then had a daughter, Elizabeth Parker, who had several children, including Thomas Collingwood Parker (Jr.)
Isabella was partially educated in England, She was raised Catholic but later joined the Anglican Church, perhaps due to Samuel's aversion to Catholicism or because her brothers were Anglican. There was a Catholic school in St. Lucia at one point and she most likely attended there during her early years.
Isabella was not well liked by her grandchildren or daughters in law, being described by one of them as "a dreadful woman, ignorant and bad tempered.". If she saw the grandchildren eating her grapes she would come storming out to chase them away. She had a cherry tree cut down after she saw her granddaughter, Joan, eating the fruit ! Sans Souci was a lovely house, with a long balcony, kept shady and cool with twining vines and flowering bougainvillea. The house was painted white and there were tall statues of graceful females displayed here and there on the stairs. Isabella died of cardiac arrest at the age of 94, in 1926.
In his Will Samuel requested that their children not sell the real property he had accumulated, in particular Sans Souci, but that request was ignored, although the family company continued for many years after his death. Sans Souci burned down in another large fire after Isabella's death in 1936 and Barnard Hill is now home to a small museum ?
(c) Elizabeth Donnell November 15, 2015
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
My Maternal Grandmother
My maternal grandmother, Florence Winifred nee Hendy, ("Winifred") was born on October 20, 1882 in Brighton, England. She was very lovely with long hair. My older brother and I didn't meet her until we were about 9 and 7 years old respectively, when she and my grandfather, George Ernest Beausire Barnard, came to visit and a year or so later to live near us in Worthing, England. Prior to that they had been living in St. Lucia in the West Indies. Even in her later years Winifred had long hair below her waist. When she was younger it was long enough to sit on and she always kept it in braids, wound about her head. By the time I met her she had grey hair, but when she was a child it was blond, darkening to a light brown as she grew older. She had blue eyes and was about 5' 2 " tall.
She was a very happy woman, it seemed to me. Often laughing, somewhat plump, sedentary , gentle natured. Her father, William Hendy, born May 6, 1840 was a book publisher, who died a month after she was born on November 24, 1882, and her mother, Katherine Amelia (nee Holmes) born December 17, 1841, died on October 16, 1888, shortly after Winifred's 6th birthday. They both died of tuberculosis. At the time of her mother's death, Winifred's oldest sister, Helen, was 22 and Mildred, the next in age, was 18, and they cared for her after their mother's death and for the two boys, William, 17, and Charles, age 14, although the boys were away at boarding school. As sisters often can be they were quite strict with Winifred so that she never quite forgave them and they were never close, even as adults. Perhaps they resented having to act as parents to a small girl, particularly at an age when they would have been dating. Mildred never married but Helen did at the age of 28 when Winifred was 12 years old. Another possibility could have been jealousy since Winifred was the beauty of the family. At the age of 19 she was still living in Brighton, and working as a typist but shortly after that she got a job with the War Office in London, as a secretary. At some point she went to live with a grandmother and her slightly older cousin, Hilda.
She met her husband, George , born October 12, 1869, through Hilda. Hilda married George's brother, Arthur Alison Barnard on August 2, 1900 but the marriage lasted only long enough to produce one daughter, Pamela, born on May 20, 1907. Winifred's marriage to George on June 7, 1905 however, was long and happy, with seven children. Soon after their marriage they sailed to St. Lucia, where George owned coconut and banana plantations. Winifred never learned to keep house or cook, since George had multiple servants on his plantation and when they were in England others were either brought with them to houses they rented or hired locally. There were also nurses and governesses for the children, including a wonderful black nurse called "Da". Winifred did not breast feed any of her babies.
George was 13 years older than Winifred and as a young man was rather quick tempered and aggressive, but by the time he was in his late 70's he had mellowed. He had a lot of problems with cataract and was almost blind, wearing an eye patch over one eye. The cataract started to develop quite early (in his late 40's) and at one point he sailed to Canada for treatment. He liked to have his nails very long which I considered effeminate but of which he was quite proud, and I would nag at him to let me cut them. He would eventually relent, allowing me to cut all but the little fingernail on each hand !
My mother has dreadful stories of him horsewhipping the four oldest children, including her, but by the time the 3 youngest boys were born he had changed. She has scars on her back from the whips and even when she was grown she avoided much in the way of conversation with him. She and her next born sibling, Hugh, were the ones who received the most punishment. My mother was very strong willed, disobedient and difficult but Hugh was a sensitive child and suffered most from the harsh treatment. Winifred was not without blame in the matter though, since she would report the children's misdemeanors to their father and request that he punish them. During one of their visits to England, while the family was living in a rented house someone reported suspected child abuse to the local authorities and there was an investigation, but nothing was proved.
After their retirement to Worthing in 1950, George and Winifred resided in a guest house run by an older couple and their daughter, Gwen. There were other guests in the house and meals were provided. Both George and Winfred developed diabetes and heart problems during this time, probably from the rather poor diet, since they were fed a lot of starch and sweet desserts. One dessert that Gwen loved to make was called "lardy cake", which she would share with us too. You can just imagine the ingredients !!! They both gained too much weight. Occasionally my grandmother would take my mother, brother and I out to afternoon tea at the local tea shops where we would order hot tea and hot buttered toast (usually slightly burned since there were no toasters). A little pot of jam would accompany the toast and then the waitress would bring round a plate with a variety of small pastries and cakes and we were allowed to choose one each. Never more ! This used to bother me, since eating out was a particular treat and I didn't think it was very fair. I never said anything though since English children are (or were in those days) raised to be very polite !! I believe now that my grandfather although quite wealthy, was very careful with money and kept my grandmother on a tight rein.
My grandfather died at the age of 82 on May 12, 1952 of heart problems. He was in a private nursing home after he became ill and the nurses commented on the marvelous physique he had for his age. Large death duties (taxes) had to be paid from his estate, and my grandmother died at the age of 72 on May 5, 1954 - almost two years after his death, and just long enough after that more death duties were payable. The taxes almost wiped out my grandparents carefully conserved money, leaving almost nothing but the plantations in the Caribbean which had previously been turned into a limited company, divided between the seven children.
After my grandfather died I recall my grandmother trying not to laugh at things she found funny, since she felt it was not suitable for a new widow. I remember her in gales of laughter, saying to my mother, "Oh, Lesley, don't." It probably did her a great deal of good to laugh. She had a very good sense of smell and one day when she was at our house for a visit she kept complaining that she smelled apple (which she hated). My mother assured her that there was no apple in the room, but later realized there was a small piece in the canary's birdcage.
Winifred often commented that she was forever 'waiting' for others or some event to occur, and felt that this was a punishment for past life sins ! She loved to do crosswords from the Sunday Times newspaper, and was very good at them. She was terribly affected by the heat in the Caribbean and was miserable living there. Educated women in those days were expected to wear long dresses and sleeves regardless of the weather, so I am not surprised. My mother recalls her forever complaining about the heat, sitting fanning herself and sending the children away to be cared for by servants. The plantations were also quite isolated and my grandmother loved to shop. Fortunately there were occasional visits to England, by sea, which helped in that regard.
She was very much loved by her children, and especially by my mother.
(c) Elizabeth Donnell March 10, 2010
She was a very happy woman, it seemed to me. Often laughing, somewhat plump, sedentary , gentle natured. Her father, William Hendy, born May 6, 1840 was a book publisher, who died a month after she was born on November 24, 1882, and her mother, Katherine Amelia (nee Holmes) born December 17, 1841, died on October 16, 1888, shortly after Winifred's 6th birthday. They both died of tuberculosis. At the time of her mother's death, Winifred's oldest sister, Helen, was 22 and Mildred, the next in age, was 18, and they cared for her after their mother's death and for the two boys, William, 17, and Charles, age 14, although the boys were away at boarding school. As sisters often can be they were quite strict with Winifred so that she never quite forgave them and they were never close, even as adults. Perhaps they resented having to act as parents to a small girl, particularly at an age when they would have been dating. Mildred never married but Helen did at the age of 28 when Winifred was 12 years old. Another possibility could have been jealousy since Winifred was the beauty of the family. At the age of 19 she was still living in Brighton, and working as a typist but shortly after that she got a job with the War Office in London, as a secretary. At some point she went to live with a grandmother and her slightly older cousin, Hilda.
She met her husband, George , born October 12, 1869, through Hilda. Hilda married George's brother, Arthur Alison Barnard on August 2, 1900 but the marriage lasted only long enough to produce one daughter, Pamela, born on May 20, 1907. Winifred's marriage to George on June 7, 1905 however, was long and happy, with seven children. Soon after their marriage they sailed to St. Lucia, where George owned coconut and banana plantations. Winifred never learned to keep house or cook, since George had multiple servants on his plantation and when they were in England others were either brought with them to houses they rented or hired locally. There were also nurses and governesses for the children, including a wonderful black nurse called "Da". Winifred did not breast feed any of her babies.
George was 13 years older than Winifred and as a young man was rather quick tempered and aggressive, but by the time he was in his late 70's he had mellowed. He had a lot of problems with cataract and was almost blind, wearing an eye patch over one eye. The cataract started to develop quite early (in his late 40's) and at one point he sailed to Canada for treatment. He liked to have his nails very long which I considered effeminate but of which he was quite proud, and I would nag at him to let me cut them. He would eventually relent, allowing me to cut all but the little fingernail on each hand !
My mother has dreadful stories of him horsewhipping the four oldest children, including her, but by the time the 3 youngest boys were born he had changed. She has scars on her back from the whips and even when she was grown she avoided much in the way of conversation with him. She and her next born sibling, Hugh, were the ones who received the most punishment. My mother was very strong willed, disobedient and difficult but Hugh was a sensitive child and suffered most from the harsh treatment. Winifred was not without blame in the matter though, since she would report the children's misdemeanors to their father and request that he punish them. During one of their visits to England, while the family was living in a rented house someone reported suspected child abuse to the local authorities and there was an investigation, but nothing was proved.
After their retirement to Worthing in 1950, George and Winifred resided in a guest house run by an older couple and their daughter, Gwen. There were other guests in the house and meals were provided. Both George and Winfred developed diabetes and heart problems during this time, probably from the rather poor diet, since they were fed a lot of starch and sweet desserts. One dessert that Gwen loved to make was called "lardy cake", which she would share with us too. You can just imagine the ingredients !!! They both gained too much weight. Occasionally my grandmother would take my mother, brother and I out to afternoon tea at the local tea shops where we would order hot tea and hot buttered toast (usually slightly burned since there were no toasters). A little pot of jam would accompany the toast and then the waitress would bring round a plate with a variety of small pastries and cakes and we were allowed to choose one each. Never more ! This used to bother me, since eating out was a particular treat and I didn't think it was very fair. I never said anything though since English children are (or were in those days) raised to be very polite !! I believe now that my grandfather although quite wealthy, was very careful with money and kept my grandmother on a tight rein.
My grandfather died at the age of 82 on May 12, 1952 of heart problems. He was in a private nursing home after he became ill and the nurses commented on the marvelous physique he had for his age. Large death duties (taxes) had to be paid from his estate, and my grandmother died at the age of 72 on May 5, 1954 - almost two years after his death, and just long enough after that more death duties were payable. The taxes almost wiped out my grandparents carefully conserved money, leaving almost nothing but the plantations in the Caribbean which had previously been turned into a limited company, divided between the seven children.
After my grandfather died I recall my grandmother trying not to laugh at things she found funny, since she felt it was not suitable for a new widow. I remember her in gales of laughter, saying to my mother, "Oh, Lesley, don't." It probably did her a great deal of good to laugh. She had a very good sense of smell and one day when she was at our house for a visit she kept complaining that she smelled apple (which she hated). My mother assured her that there was no apple in the room, but later realized there was a small piece in the canary's birdcage.
Winifred often commented that she was forever 'waiting' for others or some event to occur, and felt that this was a punishment for past life sins ! She loved to do crosswords from the Sunday Times newspaper, and was very good at them. She was terribly affected by the heat in the Caribbean and was miserable living there. Educated women in those days were expected to wear long dresses and sleeves regardless of the weather, so I am not surprised. My mother recalls her forever complaining about the heat, sitting fanning herself and sending the children away to be cared for by servants. The plantations were also quite isolated and my grandmother loved to shop. Fortunately there were occasional visits to England, by sea, which helped in that regard.
She was very much loved by her children, and especially by my mother.
(c) Elizabeth Donnell March 10, 2010
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Economy,
I just came back from a trip to the local Sears store. I hope they are not going to close. Since this is a small community they are never particularly busy and it seemed that everything in the store was on sale. The aisles appeared to be wider and lots of closeouts down the middle of the main aisles. I even got some toys for a dollar each, which will help at Christmas time with my 13 grandchildren to buy for. Of course some of them are older and no longer interested in toys but there are still seven little ones.
It is quite amusing to have grandchildren of various ages, as mine range from a few weeks old to age 21. Each of them is different (of course) and it is so interesting to see their personalities develop. At Christmas time I often wish there weren't quite so many of them though !! Especially with the economy the way it is.
I have been quite busy lately and haven't been able to go on my usual neighborhood walks, but I have noticed that there are 3 buildings foreclosed on within a hundred yards of my house on just two streets. One of my friends is a real estate broker working for one of the big mortgage lenders and she is handling about 25 foreclosures a week. She says that it is pretty amazing to see some of the young people with small children in these million dollar homes, with all kinds of expensive furniture and appliances.
It is quite amusing to have grandchildren of various ages, as mine range from a few weeks old to age 21. Each of them is different (of course) and it is so interesting to see their personalities develop. At Christmas time I often wish there weren't quite so many of them though !! Especially with the economy the way it is.
I have been quite busy lately and haven't been able to go on my usual neighborhood walks, but I have noticed that there are 3 buildings foreclosed on within a hundred yards of my house on just two streets. One of my friends is a real estate broker working for one of the big mortgage lenders and she is handling about 25 foreclosures a week. She says that it is pretty amazing to see some of the young people with small children in these million dollar homes, with all kinds of expensive furniture and appliances.
Friday, October 3, 2008
My First Job
I left school quite young, and my first 'real' job was in a lawyer's office in the town of Brighton, England. I was hired as an assistant to the receptionist and my duties included answering the phone on a huge old switchboard with all kinds of plugs. You may have seen something like it on the movies. There were about 10 'solicitors' in the building, which was a huge old 4 storey mansion. The basement contained various offices for most of the secretarial staff and in my early days of working, there was a small dark-room for making photocopies. There was also a kitchen where the building superintendent and his wife would make afternoon tea. They lived in part of the top floor, which was reached by a different stairway, and also contained a second rented flat.
The owner of the firm was a man in his 60's and he liked to do things the old fashioned way since he took great pride in the firm's reputation. This included delivering mail on foot to all local firms within a radius of about two miles. This was one of my duties and my first day on the job and new to the area, I was sent off with a large bag of mail. No one gave me any instructions as to the order of delivery so I was completely at a loss except for the main street. I returned exhausted and quite upset, hours later ! I think they believed I had done a flit !!
Upon arrival at the office each morning I would sit at a huge old wooden table with the other receptionist to open the mail. As I did this I would open The Times newspaper and read it and after a few weeks she became quite annoyed by this. I don't know why she objected, since it didn't slow me down. The mail was put into piles for the different solicitors and then I went round to their offices to deliver it. I got to know them all quite well and with several of them I would have great conversations. I seem to remember spending quite a bit of time talking even though I was so much younger than the solicitors. One man in particular, who was probably in his 50's used to talk to me for ages. He was a crusty old guy, quite a character. I remember one day I answered the phone in his room, while he was out. The phones in those days had a curved mouthpiece and when I picked it up I noticed that it was covered with dry spittle !!
My employer was married and his wife had a voice like a man, which was rather stressful when you answered the phone. She would say "This is Mr... B..." and it was hard to tell for a moment whether it was the wife or the husband, so I always dreaded those calls. Periodically the owner would call me into his office (he had the largest one on the ground floor, where his eldest son was also located). He would say, "When you speak to me, I want you to call me "Sir". I had been raised to think that you did not say "Sir" to a man, so I would respond, "Yes, Mr. B..." but I never called him Sir. He seemed to take it in good part !
Besides answering the switchboard, which was quite traumatic since I was inclined to be absent minded and often forgot people on hold with so many calls coming in, I was also sent to the dark room to make copies. It was a small room with a large sink and vats for developing chemicals. There I would stand, sometimes for hours in virtual darkness except for a small yellow light hanging from the ceiling. I occupied my time, at first, singing quite loudly to myself, without realizing that everyone in the basement could hear me. One day a secretary in the next room made a comment about my singing, and as I am not renowned for my voice, being tone deaf, after that I no longer sang. The chemicals had to be mixed up for developing and did not last long, so often if there was a lot of copying to be done I had to mix new. It was not a job I enjoyed.
Another of my duties was to take afternoon tea around to all the offices on a large tray. Tea time was on the dot of 4 p.m. and it was considered quite bad manners for anyone to phone in at that time, or until about 4.15. About 3.30 the superintendent or his wife, sometimes both, would go to the kitchen and put an enormous kettle of water on the cooker. There was a huge teapot and that was filled with at least a teaspoon of loose tea per person.
After I had been working there for some months the dark room was replaced with a copy machine. That also had to be filled with chemicals and those also did not last very long. I remember one afternoon, I had been requested late in the afternoon to make some copies and mail them out that day. I tried to do so but the machine was not working very well. Everyone else had left for the day and I decided it would be better to just type the document instead of redoing the chemicals. By that time I had been promoted to the position of secretary, having taken time off every morning for a few months to learn typing and shorthand. I was tapping away on the typewriter when I heard footsteps and turned around to find my boss. I was in tears since I was supposed to meet one of my new co workers for an outing and was short of time. When he saw how upset I was he suggested that I change the chemicals and copy the document instead of trying to type it. The next day, he also told the other solicitors that they were not to leave me to cope with something like that alone in future, which was very nice of him.
The thing I most enjoyed doing, was drawing maps and compass points on the deeds when there was real estate involved. All deeds were typed on parchment paper with a pink edge. This came as a single 2 page document (both sides would be typed on if necessary, so it was actually 4 pages) and if it was a long document similar pink lined paper had to be inserted in the middle. There were holes in the margin and it was tied together with pink ribbon. You had to figure out how long the document was before you started the third page (whether to use an insert or use the 3rd and 4th pages of the folder) or you would have to redo the first few pages. The map was drawn with waterproof ink and as I was quite good at this, being of a meticulous nature, everyone in the building was soon bringing their documents to me. Each document was proof read with another secretary and with the double sided parchment, if anything was omitted the entire thing had to be retyped. I soon learned to be quite careful and would check each paragraph myself before proceeding on with the next. It was easy to miss a line since everything was single spaced.
Copies were also made with carbon paper, and since I was not the best typist at that time, this was also a problem. Whenever an error was made you had to erase each copy. There was no white out and my fingers soon became very calloused from using an eraser. The callous was still there about 15 years later, though it is now gone.
At first we were paid each Friday with cash in a small brown envelope. Later we were given checks, which seemed very exciting to me. We worked 9 to 5, but there was a fairly long lunch hour. The pay was miniscule, but since I was living at home with my mother it seemed plenty at the time.
My mother and I decided to emigrate to Canada, so after 2 1/4 years I left, never to hear from any of my coworkers again. I was sad to leave and have several pictures of myself with various friends made there. They took up a collection and gave me a few going away gifts. I have long since forgotten what those were, except for a pair of earrings which I still have, not having thought of them until writing this article.
The owner of the firm was a man in his 60's and he liked to do things the old fashioned way since he took great pride in the firm's reputation. This included delivering mail on foot to all local firms within a radius of about two miles. This was one of my duties and my first day on the job and new to the area, I was sent off with a large bag of mail. No one gave me any instructions as to the order of delivery so I was completely at a loss except for the main street. I returned exhausted and quite upset, hours later ! I think they believed I had done a flit !!
Upon arrival at the office each morning I would sit at a huge old wooden table with the other receptionist to open the mail. As I did this I would open The Times newspaper and read it and after a few weeks she became quite annoyed by this. I don't know why she objected, since it didn't slow me down. The mail was put into piles for the different solicitors and then I went round to their offices to deliver it. I got to know them all quite well and with several of them I would have great conversations. I seem to remember spending quite a bit of time talking even though I was so much younger than the solicitors. One man in particular, who was probably in his 50's used to talk to me for ages. He was a crusty old guy, quite a character. I remember one day I answered the phone in his room, while he was out. The phones in those days had a curved mouthpiece and when I picked it up I noticed that it was covered with dry spittle !!
My employer was married and his wife had a voice like a man, which was rather stressful when you answered the phone. She would say "This is Mr... B..." and it was hard to tell for a moment whether it was the wife or the husband, so I always dreaded those calls. Periodically the owner would call me into his office (he had the largest one on the ground floor, where his eldest son was also located). He would say, "When you speak to me, I want you to call me "Sir". I had been raised to think that you did not say "Sir" to a man, so I would respond, "Yes, Mr. B..." but I never called him Sir. He seemed to take it in good part !
Besides answering the switchboard, which was quite traumatic since I was inclined to be absent minded and often forgot people on hold with so many calls coming in, I was also sent to the dark room to make copies. It was a small room with a large sink and vats for developing chemicals. There I would stand, sometimes for hours in virtual darkness except for a small yellow light hanging from the ceiling. I occupied my time, at first, singing quite loudly to myself, without realizing that everyone in the basement could hear me. One day a secretary in the next room made a comment about my singing, and as I am not renowned for my voice, being tone deaf, after that I no longer sang. The chemicals had to be mixed up for developing and did not last long, so often if there was a lot of copying to be done I had to mix new. It was not a job I enjoyed.
Another of my duties was to take afternoon tea around to all the offices on a large tray. Tea time was on the dot of 4 p.m. and it was considered quite bad manners for anyone to phone in at that time, or until about 4.15. About 3.30 the superintendent or his wife, sometimes both, would go to the kitchen and put an enormous kettle of water on the cooker. There was a huge teapot and that was filled with at least a teaspoon of loose tea per person.
After I had been working there for some months the dark room was replaced with a copy machine. That also had to be filled with chemicals and those also did not last very long. I remember one afternoon, I had been requested late in the afternoon to make some copies and mail them out that day. I tried to do so but the machine was not working very well. Everyone else had left for the day and I decided it would be better to just type the document instead of redoing the chemicals. By that time I had been promoted to the position of secretary, having taken time off every morning for a few months to learn typing and shorthand. I was tapping away on the typewriter when I heard footsteps and turned around to find my boss. I was in tears since I was supposed to meet one of my new co workers for an outing and was short of time. When he saw how upset I was he suggested that I change the chemicals and copy the document instead of trying to type it. The next day, he also told the other solicitors that they were not to leave me to cope with something like that alone in future, which was very nice of him.
The thing I most enjoyed doing, was drawing maps and compass points on the deeds when there was real estate involved. All deeds were typed on parchment paper with a pink edge. This came as a single 2 page document (both sides would be typed on if necessary, so it was actually 4 pages) and if it was a long document similar pink lined paper had to be inserted in the middle. There were holes in the margin and it was tied together with pink ribbon. You had to figure out how long the document was before you started the third page (whether to use an insert or use the 3rd and 4th pages of the folder) or you would have to redo the first few pages. The map was drawn with waterproof ink and as I was quite good at this, being of a meticulous nature, everyone in the building was soon bringing their documents to me. Each document was proof read with another secretary and with the double sided parchment, if anything was omitted the entire thing had to be retyped. I soon learned to be quite careful and would check each paragraph myself before proceeding on with the next. It was easy to miss a line since everything was single spaced.
Copies were also made with carbon paper, and since I was not the best typist at that time, this was also a problem. Whenever an error was made you had to erase each copy. There was no white out and my fingers soon became very calloused from using an eraser. The callous was still there about 15 years later, though it is now gone.
At first we were paid each Friday with cash in a small brown envelope. Later we were given checks, which seemed very exciting to me. We worked 9 to 5, but there was a fairly long lunch hour. The pay was miniscule, but since I was living at home with my mother it seemed plenty at the time.
My mother and I decided to emigrate to Canada, so after 2 1/4 years I left, never to hear from any of my coworkers again. I was sad to leave and have several pictures of myself with various friends made there. They took up a collection and gave me a few going away gifts. I have long since forgotten what those were, except for a pair of earrings which I still have, not having thought of them until writing this article.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Cake Decorating
I went to a local church last night to watch one of the members decorate a cake. She had baked a large cake and surrounded it with numerous cupcakes. She explained that she had cut the top slightly to make the correct shape so that it would look like a tiger and had brought strips of licorice and numerous colored jelly beans, and some chocolate icing. The cake had already been decorated with yellow icing and she took a small brush and painted on some chocolate lines for whiskers and then pulled apart the licorice for decoration. After placing the first couple of licorice strings she licked her fingers. I thought it was done in a moment of absent mindedness, but amazingly each time she placed the licorice and jelly beans she would lick the stickiness off ! I looked at my neighbor and raised my eyebrows and she started to giggle slightly.
After the decorating was finished we all admired the cake and it did look very nice. I was new to the group so there was no way I was going to speak up, and in any case, the point was moot after the first few licks. I made up my mind there was nothing that would induce me to eat any of it. Apparently everyone else felt the same way. The woman who had done the decorating left after she had finished, while the rest of us stayed for another talk, and the cake remained untouched on the table. I joked to my neighbor, "Want some licky tiger cake ?" and we both had a good laugh. I imagine the cake ended up in the trash bin. What a waste !
After the decorating was finished we all admired the cake and it did look very nice. I was new to the group so there was no way I was going to speak up, and in any case, the point was moot after the first few licks. I made up my mind there was nothing that would induce me to eat any of it. Apparently everyone else felt the same way. The woman who had done the decorating left after she had finished, while the rest of us stayed for another talk, and the cake remained untouched on the table. I joked to my neighbor, "Want some licky tiger cake ?" and we both had a good laugh. I imagine the cake ended up in the trash bin. What a waste !
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Politics, the government debt bailout
I just arrived home to find that my next door neighbors had a McCain, Palin sign posted on their front hillside. I was rather shocked !! It's the first one I've seen although there is an Obama sign just down the street. Actually I had not completely decided who I was going to vote for until McCain chose Palin. I am getting bad vibes from her, rather like I have been getting from President Bush so now have come down decisively on the side of Obama. It is unfortunate that the process of choosing a presidential candidate is decided the way it is. I don't think I would have chosen either candidate.
Of the two, Obama is a much more interesting speaker in my opinion. I've found McCain's speeches somewhat lacking on the whole and he is inclined to be repetitive. Obama has a great voice and knows how to project his personality to inspire people. Of course we all know they can rarely follow through on their campaign promises, maybe that's why they both seem to be avoiding policy speeches and concentrating on 'picking' on each other. With all the major problems facing this country their behavior is unbelievable.
Unfortunately President Bush has really divided this country. Even though I am a person who tries to be open minded I find it hard to feel any connection with anyone who admires him. I have a friend who is barely on speaking terms with her sister, since the sister still likes Bush and approves of his policies, whereas my friend is appalled and upset. She has said several times that she can't believe someone raised in her family can't see him for what he is !! When he was reelected 4 years ago it was unbelievable to me. How could someone I could see so clearly was a ghastly mistake get reelected ?! Even the word 'bush' gives me a bit of a start nowadays. That's another unfortunate thing, the way words get corrupted. The word 'gay' is a case in point. (I have a cousin in England called Gaye).
It appears that the government is doing a great job of destroying this country, particularly in the last 8 years. However, I don't mean just the present administration, since each seems to manage to make missteps, including Clinton with the Glass Seagal act. Of course it is easy to look back and see things in hindsight. Now we appear to be nationalizing debt while the fraudsters get away with millions.
I was reading that the wealthy are the ones who cause most of the earth's pollution, and I am not surprised. My handyman said he has seen numerous examples of the wealthy, who when they put their houses up for sale redo everything to appeal to a buyer. After the house sells, he is often referred by the previous owner and everything is torn out and redone.
Seems to me we would be better off without political parties - and instead each appointed lawmaker should be elected for their ability to represent the average Joe and Jane instead of the present situation where they seem mainly to represent wealthy businessmen.
Of the two, Obama is a much more interesting speaker in my opinion. I've found McCain's speeches somewhat lacking on the whole and he is inclined to be repetitive. Obama has a great voice and knows how to project his personality to inspire people. Of course we all know they can rarely follow through on their campaign promises, maybe that's why they both seem to be avoiding policy speeches and concentrating on 'picking' on each other. With all the major problems facing this country their behavior is unbelievable.
Unfortunately President Bush has really divided this country. Even though I am a person who tries to be open minded I find it hard to feel any connection with anyone who admires him. I have a friend who is barely on speaking terms with her sister, since the sister still likes Bush and approves of his policies, whereas my friend is appalled and upset. She has said several times that she can't believe someone raised in her family can't see him for what he is !! When he was reelected 4 years ago it was unbelievable to me. How could someone I could see so clearly was a ghastly mistake get reelected ?! Even the word 'bush' gives me a bit of a start nowadays. That's another unfortunate thing, the way words get corrupted. The word 'gay' is a case in point. (I have a cousin in England called Gaye).
It appears that the government is doing a great job of destroying this country, particularly in the last 8 years. However, I don't mean just the present administration, since each seems to manage to make missteps, including Clinton with the Glass Seagal act. Of course it is easy to look back and see things in hindsight. Now we appear to be nationalizing debt while the fraudsters get away with millions.
I was reading that the wealthy are the ones who cause most of the earth's pollution, and I am not surprised. My handyman said he has seen numerous examples of the wealthy, who when they put their houses up for sale redo everything to appeal to a buyer. After the house sells, he is often referred by the previous owner and everything is torn out and redone.
Seems to me we would be better off without political parties - and instead each appointed lawmaker should be elected for their ability to represent the average Joe and Jane instead of the present situation where they seem mainly to represent wealthy businessmen.
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