Eileen goes to the seaside

In the first picture, Eileen is holding a brochure with the word "Skegness" on the front. This was the nearest seaside resort to Nether Broughton. There is a stamp on the back "Walking Pictures". This must have been a photography business that took pictures of people passing by then sold prints to them; a Google search for "Walking Pictures" and "Skegness" finds a number of similar pictures. Eileen is not even looking at the camera. I do not know who the other woman is. The second picture shows Eileen and her companion with Eileen's mother Lizzie. Both young women are wearing the same dresses as in the previous picture, so I guess this was taken on the same day.

The third picture was clearly taken on a different occasion and probably when Eileen was much younger, judging by the age of her companions. This might have been Skegness, but I know her family sometimes also visited Mablethorpe so this is another possibility.

Young Eileen in the garden at Chapel Lane

A selection of pictures of Eileen Bailey taken in the back garden at Chapel Lane, Nether Broughton. This was where Eileen grew up. We used to visit there to see "granny Bailey" in the early 1950s before she moved in with us at Basildon Road. I seem to remember there were no fences between all the back gardens.

You will notice that many of the pictures from Eileen's album have been trimmed down - often none to neatly - so it has been a bit of a challenge to line them up properly for scanning. Also, a number of pictures have white streaks. These appear in the same place where I have more than one print of the same picture. I presume the camera was not completely light-tight.

Eileen Bailey when she was very young

I have been going through mum's old photo album, so there will be a few posts from her side of the family. We start with three of the earliest ones I can find. Eileen was born in 1924 so these would have been within a year or so of then. The lady in the first picture is identified as "Aunt Doll". I remember often hearing her name mentioned, but I am not sure exactly how she was related.

UPDATE 26/08/2020. Aunt Doll would have been William Bailey's sister Dorothy. She married Henry Stokes in 1921. Henry died in 1921. Doll subsequently married James Ainley.

Albert & Donald on the beach

Note that even on holiday, Bert is wearing a collar and tie. Donald cannot be more than five in this picture, dating it no later than 1925. I do not know the location, but it is most likely somewhere on the Kent coast.

A Christmas card - 1911 style

From Bert to Ada. Note the red ribbon holding the card together.

Bill & Connie Warden?

This photograph appears to be a copy print. What looks like a burn mark on the top is actually an image in the print.

The photo is from the Crown Lane archive and I think it could be Bill and Connie Warden. I only knew Bill from when he married Ada in 1961 and I don't have any known earlier pictures of him. But comparing this with later pictures of Bill, I think there is a resemblance. Also, the woman appears to be older than the man. Their marriage certificate of 24 August 1914 shows that William Drewitt Warden, 26, a bachelor married Constance Anetta Dickens, 36, a widow. Her father is shown as George Dickens, so I presume she had reverted to her maiden name. (Bill's age on the marriage certificate is not quite right though. His death certificate shows he was born on 4th July 1890. This is consistent with the age of 70 shown on the certificate of his second marriage to Ada Mackie on 13th April 1961. So when he married Connie, he could only have been 24.)

A few more "unknowns"

These are all from the Crown Lane archive so they could be related to either Ada McCann/Mackie/Warden or Bill Warden. The top picture has "Flo's" written on the back, but that is not a name that rings bells with me.

The middle picture could be relatives of Bill Warden. If that is the Anchor Hotel, Shepperton in the background, then the church is St. Nicholas C of E Church.