Susan Silvester in Minworth, near Birmingham - between 1902 and in the beginning of the 1920's
[Susan married Will Silvester on 18 November 1902. She ran the village shop and bakery where her husband worked as the local blacksmith]
Until the 1920’s … more >>
[Susan married Will Silvester on 18 November 1902. She ran the village shop and bakery where her husband worked as the local blacksmith]
Until the 1920’s there was always enough work to keep two or more men busy and we had a succession of helpers. One of those I remember best was Old Freddy, who had been a regular soldier in the Sudan and in South Africa […] He had a family but they didn’t come to live permanently in the village until later on, and for some time he lived happily in the stable without a stick of furniture or anything else. Occasionally his wife appeared and shared his rough lodging for a few days. She was an Irishwoman with the attractive and gifted speech of her countrymen. She must have seen better days, as indeed she said she had. She was a talented pianist, but perhaps by force of circumstances she could exercise her talent only in the public houses […] When they got a cottage in the village a daughter, also with some of her mother’s theatrical charms, and a tall handsome son, who played the violin with assurance, appeared as well. They were an interesting and unusual family; there was something Dickensian about them.
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cite as
Susan Silvester, In a World That Has Gone. In Brunel University Library Special Collections, number 1:628, p. 27-28. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1541768178346 accessed: 11 December, 2024 (By permission of Brunel University Library, Special Collections)
Listeners
Susan Silvester
baker, Grocer's assistant, in service, shop keeper
1878-1968
Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Fri, 09 Nov 2018 12:56:19 +0000
Approved on Wed, 02 Jan 2019 22:25:22 +0000