Angelfire - What would I do without them ? (not a hitch or complaint with them at any time!)
Parsons Technology - I was up and running with my family trees in one week! (support line is quick)
My family tree - Full pedigree in list form; all data - GEDCOM downloadable
Titles - with brief abstracts following...
It all seems so long ago now, but so many times the memories of my childhood come flooding back to me. I first saw the light of day at 22 Charlton, Singleton, in West Sussex amid those lovely Southdown hills.
That was almost 73 years ago now.
My father George, and my mother Lucy, were both honest and hard working Sussex folk. Dad spent most of his time working in the woods cutting down trees, and all the other jobs that go with forestry. Sometimes to get a little extra money he would do a few jobs on the local farm, such as helping with the harvest, and hoeing in the turnip fields. All these jobs had to be done by hand, or with horses, as the tractor and the farm machine age was yet to begin. Mother spent most of her day working in the house. She was a good cook. She used to make beautiful stews with just a little meat and lots of vegetables which came from my father's garden. We had lots of steamed puddings and plenty of fresh fruit.
I was only three months old when the 1914 - 1918 war began. My father was an early volunteer to join the army. I don't know if he was extra patriotic or perhaps it was me keeping him awake at night and all those dirty nappies helped him to make his mind up to go to war. I will never know. But, we saw very little of him until he was discharged form the army in 1919. He was wounded in the leg and racked with malaria.
...Times were pretty hard in those days, we were rationed with food. Money was short. I suppose we were more lucky than some. Living in the country side and having a lovely garden where we could grow most of the things that we needed for food, so we were able to survive OK. In 1922 my mother had another son, John Henry. I remember father was very thrilled with him. I expect because he was away at the war when Percy and I were in our babyhood stages, so it was all new for him. Then in 1927, our sister Sybil Grace came into the world.
I can remember it so well.:
I was nearly 13 years old when Sybil arrived. Sybil was just about two months old when mother took ill with measles. She was very ill, and it looked as if she would not pull through. After several weeks between life and death, she recovered and things slowly returned to normal.
When I say normal, let me tell you what that meant..
The only drinking water that we had was drawn up from a well that was just outside of the back door of the house. The well was shared by three families who lived in our row of houses. To get some water you had to hook a bucket to a rope and chain, then lower it down into the well, into the water, then you wound it up, - taking care to drop any frogs that had managed to get into the bucket. They went back into the well to eat the slugs etc. We had no taps or drainage inside or outside of the house. All the waste and dirty water had to be tipped down on to the garden. Our weekly bath was usually taken in a big tin bath in front of the kitchen fire in the winter. In the summer we used to bathe in the wash house, which was shared by all three houses. Here we had a big copper which held several gallons of water. So you could boil the dirty washing on wash day. The toilet is well worth a mention. It was away from the house, around behind a row of buildings which were used as sheds to store the wood and coal for the winter. The toilet was a draughty brick building it had a wooden seat, which had a big bucket underneath,. When full, it was emptied into pit at the bottom of the garden.
I remember a true story about one old chap who lived in the next village :
To continue with the rest of this diary click here Remembering growing up in Surrey
Alone with my thoughts
As I sit alone with my thoughts, I've often wondered, How I would answer the question what do you consider God's greatest gift to man is? Without giving the question much thought my answer would be woman. With out them it would be the end of love, and sex, and soon it would be the end of the human race, that might not be such a bad thing, looking some of the so called humans around in the world today.But, assuming the question meant not man alone but all humans male and female alike, I guess one would find some difficulty in deciding on one gift more than others, so I will attempt to put down how in my small way I feel I would respond to this question.
Memory, Individuality, Hearing, Sight, Smell, Touch, Good health, Life, Love, and Friendship... Click on Alone with my thoughts to read the rest of this diary entry.
My last visit to my old Sussex Village
So many times I had wanted to go back and visit my birthplace, and at last, after nearly 50 years, I found myself there. It was a beautiful summer’s day; the sun was warm and high in the heavens; little clouds, like cotton wool, drifted across the lovely blue sky; peace and silence everywhere - apart from the song of a skylark as it soared higher and higher towards the heavens. A black bird warbled out a welcome, which I felt was just for me. It gave me a great feeling of nostalgia, as I stood here, the place where I first saw the light of day many years ago...
I must say, I had a bit of a shock! I had pictured the old village to be just the same as it was some 50 years ago. I had forgotten how things change over the span of time. In my memory I heard the happy sounds of children’s laughter and their cries of joy as they played around the little narrow roads through the village. But today those sounds were all gone and yet with the songs of the birds, and the rich smell of new mown hay, the village was just the same. As I looked out across the green meadows, alive with golden buttercups, red poppies, and a host of wild country flowers... which swayed in the gentle breeze just like the ripples on the sea - my mind went back...
to the time when I was a young boy and how I used to run across those meadows... on my way to school about a mile away... along the valley... or as we used to walk to church on Sunday mornings, where I sang in the choir for five years... until my voice broke and my singing sounded like the frogs croaking at night.
My thoughts then turned to my old playmates, and the people who used to live here when I was a boy.
Life in our village was so friendly in those days... everyone knew each other... each house had an open door... happiness and sorrow was shared by everyone...just like the cup of sugar or tea that one borrowed... until the grocer man called. Our little village was our island... everyone ready to defend it against any intruder who wanted to interfere or change our happy way of life. I guess we were all proud to be Sussex folk.
As I stand and look at the tiny village houses, with their red tiled roofs, and flint stone walls - I notice that the once lovely vegetable gardens are almost gone... and now there are concrete driveways...with garages...and each roof has its TV aerial.
How things have changed! ...
Click on my last visit to my old Sussex village
It was a perfect summer’s day. The sun was high and warm. A gentle breeze from the south made the long lush green grass in the meadows look like the waves of an emerald sea.
A skylark sang as it soared upwards to the heavens and a song thrush joined in... at that moment old Harry met his friend George on the little stone bridge over the stream that flowed slowly on its long journey to the sea, some 14 miles away.
"Mornin’ mate" greeted Harry
"Kacker Mush" replied George
If we still haven't got you interested, look over these words and see how many you recognize and give meaning to
• My father used to say about the weather: "it looks pretty shucky over will’s mothers"
• A sinkhole
• Hellsinifitant
• Fritt
• Scram
• Mile stone inspectors
• Estden
• Toffs
• Tallyman
• Tattes
• Scroop
• Kaker Mush on mate ...and there are more - To see just click here
A visit to the Past
I walked on and noticed that Percy’s beautiful Yew Hedge had gone...it was his pride and joy... and part of his garden was turned into a driveway. I wonder what his thoughts on this would be. I came to two more old stone cottages... the first people whom I remember here were Bill Phillips and his wife, they had a daughter Doris... next door lived Tichy West and his wife... he was a little man bent almost double, through working in the woods... getting wet through... and working in a bent position cutting the Hazelwood from dawn until dark. They had a son who emigrated to Australia, and a daughter Meg who married Bill Musgrave from West Hartespool...they had 3 children... two girls and one son Ted who lost his life in the RAF in 1942 in the last war... he was a very good friend of mine... he wrote in my autograph book some words which have come back to me so many times in my life. They were:
Friendship
hath a power
to sooth affliction
in the darkest hour
such true wonderful words!
A lady on her white horse - supernatural?
The captain then said,
This is just a snippet from the story - it is what legends are made of. Just click here
Poems of Ernest Waymark in Sussex
Visit Eastbourne the home of many of the Waymark ancestors in the 1600s; we will later be looking at locales for Wey, Why,Wymark etc.
My families home page This takes you back to our first web page and tells you of each of our family members with links to our occupations and interests
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