I think of my Aunt Edith (1907-1995) as one of a line of "Feisty Danson Females", amongst them my Great Grandmother Maria and her daughter, my Great Aunt Jennie. Aunt Edith played a key role in my life and was a teacher, traveller, and great talker. She was also a talented lady - and married for the first time at the age of 73.
Edith was born 2nd September 1907, followed just a year and a week later by my mother, Kathleen, born on 8th September 1908, daughters of William and Alice Danson of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. They remained very close sisters and most of the photographs I have of Aunt Edith show her almost always with my mother.
Kathleen & Edith |
Like her sister, Edith was talented in painting, embroidery and dressmaking, loved dancing, music, reading and baking - though there were some apocryphal cooking moments when my uncle (her brother) stirred a rice pudding, thinking it was very thin - she had forgotten to put in the rice! Another time she was proud of a tart with a golden pastry crust and blackcurrants from the garden - until we took a mouthful - she had forgotten to add sugar to the fruit. "Scatty" was often a term used to describe Aunt Edith, as her mind was on so many things at once.
Edith kept home for her father and brother for much of her life and travelled widely, even to Russia in Iron Curtain days, bringing back gifts to add to my collection of costume dolls.
She married for the first time in 1981 at the aged 73. a widower friend of my parent. and died in 1995 aged 88.
Aunt Edith (in blue) with her husband George, my mother Kathleen and brother Harry. |
You can tell from these photographs that Aunt Edith was someone who enjoyed herself. She took on the role of my godmother with great gusto and with my mother left me with a wonderful legacy on how to get the most out of life, plus many fond memories of a feisty woman
A Painting by my Aunt Edith |
See Also: http://www.dansonfamilyhistory.co.uk/
Written in response to the Genealogy Challenge from http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/ ito create a tribute page to one ancestor. It has been adapted from an earlier posting of 2nd September 2011 on "Two Close Sisters".
Copyright © 2012 · Susan Donaldson. All Rights Reserved