The life you are leading now is tomorrow’s family history
Are you recording it?

During my six years as librarian for the Deniliquin Genealogical Society, I experienced first hand the many different ways people choose to record their family’s history. Some time ago I was sent a 46 page book written by Frank Blincow of Hailsham, East Sussex. Rather than a history of the generations, Memories of a Grandfather and Other Matters is more a social history of Frank’s lifetime to pass onto his descendants. It does include a brief genealogy aspect and I believe he has provided the family tree details under separate cover to the various family members.

Frank, who descends from the Blincows of Long Buckley, Northamptonshire, was born in 1927 in Willesden in N.W. London. His description of growing up prior to WWII paints a vivid picture of what life was like in those days. His recollections of being a child evacuee during the war, being in London during the bombings and the effect of these times on the lives of his family members make excellent reading.

I have chosen absorbing snippets from Frank’s story for you to enjoy and perhaps encourage you to create a similar family record of the social life and customs of your particular era.

…..The house was quite small and Spartan. The ground floor consisted of two rooms plus a ‘scullery’ or ‘wash house’. The scullery had a flagstone floor with an iron copper built into the stonework which required a coal fire underneath to heat the water: this was used for clothes washing and also bathing (which did not happen too often!). A stone sink had one mains cold tap and this was to supply the whole house. A gas cooker was fitted but no “running” hot water supply at all. Lighting was by gas for the whole house. Although electricity was installed in the road during my childhood, sadly, Granny Mitchell would have none of the ‘new fangled’ idea and it was not installed until 1957. Outside behind the scullery were a coalhouse and an outside toilet to serve the whole house…………

…..In my earliest years, say up to about 1934, I can remember the milkman coming around and selling milk from a ‘churn’ on his horse drawn cart. Mother would take out a jug and the milk would be measured into it. All in the open air of the street! A far cry from the controls on food hygiene today!

A regular visitor to the road was the ‘Cat’s meat man’. This character, dressed in breeches and gaiters, rode a bicycle with a large basket on the front filled with skewers of horsemeat which he sold for the resident cats. We children had lurid stories of how he obtained this meat and we all kept a respectable distance from him!

…….One of the games us boys used to play did not endear us to the local residents! As there was almost no traffic in the road, it was possible to run a fine, strong thread across the road and tie together two door knockers. Then wewould knock at one of the houses and quickly hide from view! If the thread was strong enough, the opening of the door would then lift the knocker of the opposite house and, if we were lucky, with repetitive results!! This game was known as ‘Knock down Ginger’ and I have never known where the ‘Ginger’ came from. What I do know is that if we were caught, there was a severe penalty to pay and it was not unknown for both neighbours to mete out the punishment!. There was no appealing to parents. These were the days of swift and sometimes rough justice but to us it was all in a day’s play.

…..(When Frank was about 7) .. I was called to the front of the class for continually talking (something that seems to be an inherent problem in the Blincow family). The teacher then proceeded to tie a blackboard duster around my mouth which was certainly effective as if I tried to speak; a mouthful of chalk dust was the result! This punishment lasted until the end of the lesson and whilst it may not have cured me for all time, it certainly deterred the remainder of the class……..Needless to say, there was no question of complaint about this action as one never ran complaining to mother for fear of maybe further retribution!!

…. School gangs were commonplace and rivalry usually took the form of unsupervised football or cricket in the playground which could easily turn into ‘gang warfare’ over the smallest dispute! This would probably result in both gangs being hauled in front of the school at Assembly where as an ‘example’ one stroke each of the cane would be delivered. This had little effect and the next ‘battle’ would probably be fought over the issue of which gang’s fault it was in the first place! So much for the influence of corporal punishment!.....

1939… …..We were informed that we must prepare for evacuation as the risk of war with Germany was high……… Every day we took to school a pack of clothes and food to tide us over a possible journey of unknown length to an unknown destination …. …….At home we were issued with gas masks and an air raid shelter called an Anderson was installed in our small back garden……. We were to learn later of the undoubted value of this monstrosity.

After arriving at school on 1st Sept 1939 the pupils were hoarded onto trains…. reaching a blacked out destination some 12 hours later. This was Northampton and at about midnight ………..led us up and down various streets knocking at doors and depositing boys into various homes. Our reception at some homes was less than welcoming! My own Billet was a dear old lady, named Mrs Clarke……….

Frank had some enjoyable times during his evacuation with Mrs Clarke and later with the Howkins family until being sent to……..a most undesirable place in Vernon Terrace. This ‘lady’ was undoubtedly taking evacuees for what she could gain from the ‘Evacuee Allowance’ system and I was one of four boys who were sleeping in one room and continually hungry, as only 13 year olds can be. I can well remember walking home from school at 6:00 p.m. in the winter to a tea of only bread and jam and nothing more. Even at my ‘tender’ years therewas a limit to what I was prepared to tolerate and when I returned home to London for Easter 1941, I just refused to go back to Northampton….

Betty and Frank on their wedding day

I have thoroughly enjoyed Frank’s memoire. The book goes on to cover the war years, his working life, holidays, meeting his wonderful wife, Betty Crush who he married in 1954. Frank gives brief profiles of his immediate family in an account of his life that I am sure will be enjoyed by his descendants for generations to come.

If only our ancestors had left us something similar – are you writing your story?

We will have Frank’s and hopefully many more family histories from the various twigs on display in Port Macquarie for the enjoyment of all who attend the reunion in April

Anne