Uncle Harry and World War II

Uncle Harry was one of the strongest influences in my childhood. He was actually my great uncle (Tom’s brother and Mum’s uncle). He was born on 24 October 1905 and died on  16 November 1991. Harry was quietly spoken and rather serious but had a sense of humor.

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Uncle Will

As I had hoped, posting old family photos on the blog has yielded some fruit. I was contacted by a distant relative who has a lot of information about the Lockyers. Ethel’s mother Emma was born a Lockyer (in 1861), the eldest of 13 children. William Lockyer (b. 1875) was one of her younger brothers [...]

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Flowers and Views of the Holy Land

Tom brought back several items he acquired on his travels during WWI. One was a small book containing illustrations and pressed flowers from places in Palestine. Presumably it was a gift for Ethel. The book, with back and front covers made of wood, is called “Flowers of the Holy Land.” More interesting than simply a [...]

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Petticoat Lane Market

When I was small, Tom used to take me on quite a few outings. One place that was always exciting to visit was Petticoat Lane market, across the river in the East End.

“More than a thousand stalls spread over two streets make up Petticoat Lane Market. This East End market which has been operating since [...]

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Ethel’s relatives

Ethel kept these portraits in a separate album. We have only identified a few of the people. Hopefully, in the future we will be able to discover which ones belonged to other branches of the family besides Morris and Lockyer. Surnames we have come across so far include Vernon, Coxhead, Wickingdon, Spooner and Nicholls, with [...]

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More photos of Tom and Ethel

Mum thinks this photo was taken after Ethel’s sister died and the baby is Ethel’s niece, Joan. It would be around 1920.

Ethel is definitely in mourning in this one but not sure for whom. She looks younger and the clothes more Edwardian.

This photo is of poor quality but of sentimental value. It is me as [...]

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Another day in London

I spent another day in London on Saturday with another old schoolfriend, Mike, who also fitted into the “barrow boy” category. We went to see the old school building and took some photos.
This is the corner of Tooley St and Tower Bridge Rd. At some point, what we referred to as the Art Building has [...]

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More photos of Ethel and her family

I have been scanning an album of very old photos. They are all members of Ethel’s family but we can’t put names to many of the faces. I intend to post them anyway; they are evocative historical documents if nothing else and others may eventually may find links to their relatives. Two other photo albums [...]

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Ethel, in kindergarden or Sunday school?

I thought I’d better do something with these photos before they deteriorate any further. I need to find out where they were taken. Ethel is so small that it must have been a Sunday school or a kindergarden. The latter would suggest her mother continued to work after she was born. Another point that stands [...]

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For king and country

I found the following post related to Tom’s battalion on The Great War Forum
“The 2/22nd Battalion the London Regiment did not publish an official battalion war history, however it was recorded that the battalion was an aggressive fighting battalion serving with distinction with the 181 brigade the 60th London Division. When the battalion’s Colonel was [...]

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