A crib from Aunt Annie to Jack

This came from Ada's archive, so Jack must be her son and Aunt Annie her sister Annie Precious. Comparing the writing on the back with my earlier post of the 1925 picture of Annie and her daughters shows that Annie (identifying herself only as "mother") had written the names and ages on the back.

Ada out after dark

I don't know where this is. There is a block of flats just visible in the top left corner of the picture. That actually eliminates a few places; it is not in Crown Lane, or near where either of her sons lived.

Ada and Bill in their back garden

At 1 Crown Lane, Chislehurst.

Ada and Bill's Marriage Certificate

You will notice that St. Mary's Church is shown as being in the district of Sidcup and there is no mention of Chislehurst. At the time, Chislehurst was part of Chislehurst and Sidcup Urban District Council. In 1965, boundary changes saw Chislehurst become part of the London Borough of Bromley, while Sidcup went to the London Borough of Bexley. Ada's address is given as 3 Rectory Place, The Common, Chislehurst.

Ada and Bill's Wedding

On 13 April 1961, Ada Mackie married for a second time to become Mrs William Warden. Here are some pictures of their wedding at St. Mary's Church, Chislehurst. That's my father Don with the moustache and Aunt Celia in the role of bridesmaid. Uncle Jack was no doubt behind the camera so not actually seen here. I think the best man must be "F.J. Moran" - one of the witnesses named on the marriage certificate. The wedding was quite a low key affair. I don't now remember why, but only dad attended the wedding, not the rest of us.

Bert's Grave

St. Mary's Church, Chislehurst. I visited recently and found the stonework is now in a rather sorry state. Once the weather improves, I shall return with a bucket and scrubbing brush to clean it up.

Trench Art (3)

This time the design is "Not Absent in Thoughts" and the inscription on the back "Wishing you many happy returns of the day from Rose, Mark. Will write later."

Update. See posting of 24 May 2009 "An obituary - Rose Finestone". From this, I deduce that the card was sent to Bill Warden's sister Rose from her husband (or maybe then her intended) Mark Finestone.

Further update 14 May 2020. Reading the text again, it is clear that it is not to Rose from Mark, but from Mark and Rose to someone else. The most likely recipient in this case would be Rose's sister Bill, since it was found among his effects. I am now happy to report that I have made contact with one of Mark and Rose's great-grandsons and have passed the card on to him so it will stay in the family.

Trench Art (2)

The design reads "To My Dear Sister" and the inscription on the back is "To Connie with love from Gerald." This must be Constance Warden (nee Dickens). She was the first wife of Bill Warden, who in turn became the second husband of Ada Mackie.

Trench Art (1)

The design reads "Greetings from the Trenches". This embroidered postcard is an example of trench art, a term applied to a wide variety of objects made during or after WWI, either commercially or by soldiers themselves to pass the time. There are a number of websites that will tell you more about this subject, but http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trench_art has this to say about cards such as this one. "Civilians in France, in the zones occupied by troops, were quick to exploit this new market. Embroidered postcards were produced in what quickly became a cottage industry, with civilians buying the surrounds and embroidering the panel of gauze. These postcards often had regimental crests or patriotic flags and national symbols in abundance, and millions were produced over the course of the war."

This particular card carries no inscription on the back, but see the next two examples.

From Bushey Avenue to Basildon Road

After WWII, Don and Eileen Mackie stayed temporarily with Don's brother Jack at Bushey Avenue. But in February or March 1948, they moved into what had been Don's family home in Basildon Road. (Or more precisely, the new house that had been built on the site, as the original had been destroyed by a bomb in WWII.) Here we see the estimate and receipted invoice for removal from Furlongs of Woolwich. Some of these are slightly larger than A4, so I have had to scan them in as overlapping sections. You will notice that the invoice is made out to Mrs A.M. Mackie. No doubt the young couple setting up home appreciated some help from the "Bank of Mum and Dad".

Bought of Frank Tyler & Co Ltd

This is an invoice for a substantial quantity of furniture and fittings. It is dated 21 August 1946, a month before Ada and Bert moved into 10 Red Hill, Chislehurst. Their house at Basildon Road was bombed during WWII so they would have lost most of their furniture then. During and shortly after the war, they were living in a variety of furnished accommodation. But now they are setting up home at Red Hill, they need their own furniture.

Memo from Frank Tyler & Co Ltd

The memo is dated August 20, 1945. If I am right, it reads:

"Dear Mrs Mackie, Very many thanks for all the trouble you have taken in getting and sending me the names and addresses of the legatees. I shall forward this to the solicitors who will be writing to them in due course. Mrs Cast will be pleased to see you if at any time you are in our neighbourhood again. With kind regards & many thanks, I remain, yours sincerely, J. Cast"

This might seem an odd sort of letter to be getting from a furniture dealer, but at the bottom of their letterhead it states "valuations for probate and insurance" so it looks as if they are dealing with someone's estate. But at the moment I have no record of any deaths in the family at about this time. I presume the Mrs Mackie addressed is Ada.

Ada's National Registration Identity Card

Maybe the current debate about identity cards is not so new after all. Here is Ada's card. The first entry is dated 29 May 1943, so maybe these were introduced as a wartime security measure. But it looks as if the powers that be were not keen to relax the rules once hostilities were over, as the latest entry was made on 16 November 1951. But from a genealogical point of view, this card provides a useful record of where Ada was living.

As I have suggested in previous posts, the move to Walsingham Lodge was probably connected with husband Albert's work for the Ministry of Supply. After the war, they would have needed to vacate this address, but their old house in Basildon Road, Abbey Wood was bombed during the war and had not then been rebuilt. So the move to Royal Parade must have been a temporary expedient as they were only there three months. Next stop was 623 Westhorne Avenue SE9, but again only for a few months. Possibly she was staying with her sister Lyn Saward, who I know lived in Eltham. September 1946 sees her at 10 Red Hill, Chislehurst, where I believe she and Albert settled - and where Albert died in August 1950. The final entry finds her at Scrips, Coggeshall, Essex. I am looking for information about Scrips, but I think her visit here must only have been temporary as she subsequently lived at various addresses in Chislehurst.

Neither Ada nor Bert ever moved back to Basildon Road, but the house stayed in the family as their son Donald and his wife moved there in 1948.

Bert and Ada and another torn photo from Seaforth

I have previously posted a picture of Jack, Celia and Peter at Seaforth. It had been torn along one side. Now here we have Bert and Ada at the same address, but this time the photo has been torn horizontally and the bottom half is missing. I imagine Seaforth is a holiday cottage somewhere as I have no other record of this address, but I do not know where.

A postcard of a church in Hollywood from Ethel

From Ethel to Ada. This card is a bit frustrating in some ways. The stamp has been removed, taking with it any postmark that might have helped to date it. And most of the address has been obliterated. Ethel does not actually tell us the name of the church; I have done a Google search for RC churches in Holywood, but cannot find one that looks like this. The text reads

"Dearest. This is our little church. Isn't it lovely. Other sides have orange, fig and palm trees. Bell marks historic spot where Padre Junipero Serra celebrated Mass of the Holy Wood of the Cross in old spanish days. Please write me 6806 Hollywood Blvd L.A. Calif. I haven't had a letter for ages. Love to all from Ethel"
I'll see what I can find about the address she mentions - see http://mackiegenealogy.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/news-from-ej-fleming.html for further details.
Update. Leo Weiss's United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, dated September 12th 1918 as far as I can make out, gives his spouses name as Ethel Veronica White and her address as 6806 Hollywood Blvd. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZVN-KKP He gives his occupations as 'actor' his employer as 'Universal Picture Co' and his place of employment as 'Universal City, Los Angeles, California'. His date of birth is given as November 10th 1881 (the commonly accepted DOB for him is November 10th 1882, but I don't think anyone has any primary source evidence for this.) and he has signed as 'Leo Weiss' with 'Leo White' in brackets underneath. Give or take a middle name, this is further good evidence that Ethel McCann from Plumstead was married to US actor Leo White and therefore she was the actress known as Blanche White.

Postcard from Velda and Leslie

It is apparent from the archive that Velda kept in touch with her great Aunt Ada. After Ada died, my parents and also my uncle and aunt in Canada heard from Velda. We exchanged letters and postcards, but the fact was that different sides of the family had drifted apart and none of us really knew Velda or her family. But this postcard has survived. It is signed Velda and Leslie, which taken together with the picture of Velda's sister June's wedding, helped me work out a few more relationships. This was to my mother Eileen Mackie. She mentions the death of Jack and a letter from Celia. These are my aunt and uncle. She also mentions the death of her mother's sister's husband. But Velda's mother Florence was one of six daughters, so it is not clear who she means.
*Update 25 June 2012*.  "Mother's sister's husband" must be Jack Kettle, husband of Constance, who died on 9 January 1987.

A postcard from Florence

A card from Florence (daughter of Annie Precious) to Ada and Bill Warden. There is a mention of June (Florence's middle daughter) and children. Not much, but all I have from Florence.

Keith & Gillian Ellis - Christmas 1966

Caption on the back reads "Xmas 1966 from Keith and Gillian". Obviously a professional studio photo (it comes in a card mount) but no indication who the photographer is.

Ellis family

The caption on the back reads "Gillian Mary 1 year, Keith William 4 1/2 years", so probably taken some time in 1962.  (Updated 22 June 2012.  Thanks to Keith Ellis for correcting some incorrect assumptions on my part about who's who.)

Keith & Gillian Ellis

Caption reads "Keith William Ellis, 3 years 7 months, Gillian Mary Ellis, 2 months", so must have been taken during the latter half of 1961.  Add in what looks like Ada Mackie's handwriting (or Ada Warden as she was by then) "Garden House, Alpington, Norwich". The photographer's name "Montague Maddermarket, Norwich".is also stamped on the back. (Entry updated 22 June 2012.  Thanks to Keith Ellis for information.)

Keith Ellis

Caption on the back reads "Keith William Ellis" (6 months)

My mum

Looking through the blog, I realise I have include photos of most of my immediate family except mum. So to redress the balance, here is one of her that I believe was taken in the 1940s. I also have a picture of dad in the army in Germany, which must have been some time after D-Day, and this picture is visible by his bedside.

A cottage somewhere

I do not recognise this place and there are no notes on the back. There are two figures at the downstairs window. They look like an adult and a young child, but they are small and indistinct in this picture.

Father Firderer

Father Firderer plays a small role in my family history. Bulley & Sons invoice tells us that he officiated at Albert's funeral, so he must have been parish priest of St. Mary's, Chislehurst at the time. In his note to Ada we see he is an old man, tired of life, when he writes "I am still awaiting with much patience the final call which is long overdue." I do not recognise the setting.

Albert Mackie - Memorial: Thomas Martin

138 Main Road, Sidcup is now occupied by Playle & Partners, Surveyors.

Albert Mackie - Funeral Account: C.A. Bulley & Sons

26 High Street, Chislehurst is now occupied by Bela Fashion

Albert Mackie - Obituary

Albert Mackie - Death Certificate

Albert Mackie - Birth Certificate

Broadlands

These three pictures all have the same number stamped on the back and the same scalloped borders so I presume they belong together. On the back of the first is written '"Gardeners Cottage" at Broadlands - Mountbatten's House'. Broadlands is near the River Test and that could be what we see in the second photo. The trees in the third photo look similar to the second, so this might be another picture from the other side of the river. If you want to check Google maps for an aerial view of Broadlands, the postcode is SO51 9ZD.

I don't know if there is any specific family history connected with Broadlands, but the pictures are in the archive so here they are.