Sepia Saturday - A Tale of Two Ediths.

Sepia Saturday give bloggers an opportunity to share their family history and memories  through photographs.


A picture of two little girls could only prompt  me to feature the photographs of my mother, Kathleen  and aunt Edith Danson - born one year and one week apart in 1907 and 1908, daughters of William Danson and Alice English of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire;  plus on my cousin's side,  the tale of Edith Nancy Oldham  in New Zealand.

Playing in the garden - The Danson Sisters 
Edith (seated on the wicker chair) and  Kathleen, c.1914

Edith and Kathleen, 1916.

 How on earth did they keep those big bows in their short, straight hair.  I strongly suspect that this photograph (part of a larger family group)  was taken for my grandfather going to war in 1916.   
  
Aunt Edith was the eldest,  born on 2nd September 1907. I think of her as one of line of "Feisty Danson Females" and she was fond of regaling me with stories of the family and her life in teaching. She was the only one in the family to win a scholarship to Fleetwood Grammar School, riding the four miles on her bike in all weathers. She became a teacher at Burn Naze School in Thornton (a poor area of town the time), kept home for her father and brother, travelled widely, even to Russia in Iron Curtain days, and married for the first time at the aged 73. You can tell from her photographs that she was someone who enjoyed life.   Aunt Edith, was, of course, my godmother and took on the role with great gusto at all stages of my life. 

Her sister Kathleen (my mother) was born 8th September 1908 and was the more reserved sister. She was apprenticed as a tailoress at the age of 14, and  I have been proud to give tributes to her in other postings such as  Happiness is Stitching.

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Below a happy picture from my cousin's collection.  The two girls in their knitted dresses  are Dorothy Lilla Oldham (1915-1989) and Edith Nancy Oldham  (1920-2012),  daughters of James William Oldham. and Edith Keymer. 

James' parents Alfred Oldham and Sarah Cross emigrated to  New Zealand in 1906, where they ran a wholesale tobacconists and stationery business on Karangahape Road,  Auckland. 

After the death of James William, the whole family moved to Sydney Australia and  most of their descendants still live in the area. Dorothy Lilla married Desmond Stacey and had seven children, the eldest son, Peter, born in Fiji.  Edith Nancy married William Sawyer and had five children

The Oldham Sisters - Dorothy Lilia and Edith Nancy, c.1922

Click HERE to see more family photos

 from fellow Sepia Saturday bloggers.