Up with the lark today. As a member of the Finch family I thought I should do a swift tweet about this on #OnePlaceWednesday – No need to get in a flap but the time for next month’s blogging prompt is nearly here…. research led me to find these eagle-eyed gun men of #Sticklepath at one of our local pubs. Not sure which Mr Partridge was involved, could it have been Robin? No pot shots here (ie shot at animal intended for the pot), no feathers ruffled, only clay pigeons. Some were out for a duck – or is that just cricket? (Did you know that expression is just based on the shape of a 0 duck egg!). So I invite all one-placers and friends to p-p-p-pick up a proverbial pen and have a flaming-go at more pecking puns, ornithological imagery and other avian wordplay. I can just hear my mother saying “Fool”, but that’s for tomorrow. Now for my swan song: Must fly … RSPB – whoop(er)s – RSVP!

Hear the red-legged partridge call here

For #OnePlaceWednesday, #OnePlaceStudies, #Sticklepath, #SticklepathOne

Emma Powell was a twin born 2 Sep 1902 alongside Thomas, in Cross Houses, Berrington Shropshire. They were baptised on 5 Oct 1902 Berrington, Salop (Salop is an old name for Shropshire)

Her parents were John Richard Powell (1871 – 1904), a railway plate layer, and Ethel Jones (1877-1948)

In addition to her twin Tom, she had a brother John Richard Powell  6 apr 1904 –  6 May 1962.  Her mother remarried and so she also had half-siblings Frederick Hill and  Edward Hill, who were both born in Cound Shropshire

Sadly her mother was not able to keep both twins, so Thomas stayed with Mum and Emma went to her Aunt.  She was brought up by the Lockley family, but kept in touch with others especially Tom. 

Genealogists always hope their ancestors will marry someone with an unusual name.  Morris son of John Jones, a village shop keeper in North Wales doesn’t quite fit the bill!  From a young age Morris had wanted to work for a gentleman’s outfitters (Bradleys) because he admired the navy suit worn by their assistants.  He eventually became the manager.  

Morris and Emma both worked in Shrewsbury, where they met.  Emma had trained to be a milliner, making hats and serving in the shop.   A gentleman’s outfitter and a ladies milliner seemed to be a perfect combination.  Banns were read in Wotton Under Edge, Gloucestershire, Morris’s Parish of residence but they became Mr & Mrs Jones in Wellington, Wrockwardine, Shropshire, Emma’s Parish on 18 Jan 1928.

His middle name was Lloyd and Emma always wanted to be Mrs Lloyd-Jones, so much so that she changed her name by deed poll 16 March 1955, stating that she had used the new name for at least 10 years.  

They moved to Wotton Under Edge, where daughter Ann Rosalie Lloyd Jones was born (later Bowden 1934 – 2015).  When Ann was 3 years old they moved to Bristol (78 Northville Road, Sodbury) and Morris worked in the aircraft factory at Filton.

The 1939 Register shows them at this address with twin Tom, who was also working at the factory, and a lodger.   Morris continued to work at Filton even when they moved to 210, Dovercourt Road to open a green grocer’s shop in Bristol later in 1939.  During the war Ann was sent to Wotton Under Edge to family friends, the Beakes’, rather than join the mass evacuation.  The war brought challenges for the grocery business but it survived. 

Ann went to Exeter to study maths at university and just as she was coming home at the end of the year, Morris suddenly and unexpectedly died.  In fact Ann thought for a few moments as she approached the house that day, 20 June 1954, that the crowd of people had gathered to welcome her home.  Sadly not.

Ann met Roger Bowden at University, married and moved to Sticklepath. After the birth of her grand daughter Emma also moved to Sticklepath to be near to Ann and family. She lived in Bracon Cottage, in the centre of the village, opposite the Finch Foundry, with a good view of passers by. She had a dog Marcus and a budgie. 

Her religion was Church of England, though when you know the details it makes you question what religious labels mean.  She attended St Mary’s church on Sundays but I happened to be visiting her one day when she spotted the Vicar doing his rounds – we had to hide in the back toilet for a while, as she didn’t want him to know she was at home!

When we look at the facts, so much loss and emotion is hidden within the story.  Although she was always supported by family, she never knew the love within her own nuclear family as a child.  There was clearly a strong tie with her twin but she spent most of her childhood away from him.  Marriage and a child meant loss of her role as a milliner and times were changing in terms of demand for hat-making.  Her daughter had to move away in her early teens due to the war.  Then soon after coming to terms with her daughter leaving for University, her husband died.  Loss of health had another major impact.

It is not clear at which point Emma’s mental health first deteriorated.  She suffered manic depression (now called bipolar disorder) and had several courses of ECT treatment and a number of admissions both in Bristol and Exminster. Ann’s letters to her future husband show the turmoil this caused her as a young adult, and we get some idea of the severity of Emma’s illness.  

On a lighter note, on one of her manic spending sprees she booked to go on a long voyage, to visit New Zealand with stay with family.  Unfortunately she suffered greatly from sea sickness and consequently lost her false teeth on the journey out, not replacing them until her return! She brought me two lovely Maori dolls on her return.

Old age brings more loss of health and friends, and I remember her telling me how unhappy she was at having to go to ‘the Workhouse’ for day care.  The Okehampton Castle Hospital was previously the workhouse, though not during the time Emma had lived locally. Its reputation though continued for many years!  Nevertheless she seemed to enjoy herself there. Emma died in Okehampton  District Hospital in 1979.

Following the great example of @JanetFew #Census2021, I have put together a potted history…

23 April 1961

I had been called ‘Pickle’ for almost 6 weeks, then Mum lost the birth certificate on the way home from the Registrar, but by 23rd of April I had had almost a week to get used to being called Helen.  I was born in Okehampton Hospital and lived at Cleave House, Sticklepath, Devon. (No TV and no thoughts of #OnePlaceStudies or #OnePlaceWomen then!)

25 April 1971

At about this time I went to the ex-headteacher of Sticklepath County Primary School to learn to write essays about Henry VIII and Florence Nightingale, in order to pass the entrance exam for Edgehill College, a girls only Methodist boarding school in Bideford.  I was in Belvoir House, the youngest and probably smallest girl in my year. I think we had a tiny black and white TV. No credit or debit cards, microwaves, mobile phones or computers.

5 April 1981

A pompous pathologist in Exeter had said I couldn’t do his job because I would have to be a doctor first – hence I found myself at Bristol University medical school. I was almost ready to be let loose on the unsuspecting public as a clinical medical student by April 1981. Though I wasn’t a very good student, far too many other things to be doing, so I had to spend that summer doing re-sits.  My address would have been Manor Hall, one of the University Halls of residence. I would have been looking forward to going back to Devon for Easter (April 19th)

21 April 1991

Having married in 1986, by 1991 we had our two daughters.  In April we were in the midst of moving from Powderham Road, Exeter to Demesne Road, Wallington, Surrey.  Mike had moved up to London (St George’s and The Marsden haematology rotation) in February but we needed a house before the rest of us could join him. I was doing locums and about to start GP training in Croydon. We had a brick of a mobile phone but poor reception so it had to be kept on the front window sill when we were on call. We had not long had our first home computer.

29 April 2001

Mike was a consultant and I was a GP in Hull, living in Priory Cottage 14 Northgate Cottingham, beside a level-crossing.  The girls were at Beverley High School for girls.  Lots of ‘taxi-ing’ girls to netball and orchestras. The following decade saw us taking a small number of holidays abroad – a fairly new venture for us.

27 March 2011

After a short stay in Shrewsbury we left the UK for 2 years, from October 2010- October 2012, as VSO volunteer doctors in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world.  So we missed this census completely.  I was working in palliative care, helping to teach people how to use morphine medicine safely and treating Kaposi’s sarcoma (HIV related cancer). We had a brief holiday in Egypt around census time.  I still have no idea about emoji’s but we could sometimes Skype. The majority of Malawians have no electricity, and we all have ‘power sharing’ ie regular power cuts as there is not enough to go around. We do have a small fridge but no washing machine. The chicken was a gift from a patient!

21 March 2021

After some years in Gloucester (again Mike as haematologist and myself as a GP), living in the midst of the beautiful ancient beech woods of Cranham, we retired at the end of 2019. We moved up to York to live with our older daughter and grandson just before lockdown began in 2020. Now we have all moved to a small village North of York. I started my Sticklepath One-Place study, set up my first website and wrote my first blog posts 6 months ago. Due to Covid restrictions my 60th birthday was celebrated with a Zoom murder mystery (with a Bake Off theme!) after chicken and chips (reminding me of Malawi but cooked in an air fryer so very healthy!) Not quite what we had planned but memorable! Sunny weather today hopefully means spring is here to stay 🙂 and there is a plan to come out of lockdown…

#CensusDayPhoto