But I don't know what the occasion was - and I never asked the right questions, when I first came across the pictures in a family album. Why was I so reluctant to find out more?
This
appears to be taken outside a typical Blackpool bed & breakfast. My
grandmother (Alice Danson, nee English) is in the centre of the group
and to the right her daughters Kathleen (my mother), and Edith, and
crouching at the side could be my Uncle Harry, smoking and wearing a
carnation - though I did not instantly recognise him here.
The
second photograph shows the Danson family - Edith, youngest daughter
Peggy, my grandparents William and Alice, son Harry and Kathleen, with
youngest son Billy missing. The three sisters enjoyed fashion and made
their own clothes, with my mother apprenticed to a tailor at the age of
14.
My
guess as to the occasion rests on Uncle Harry wearing the carnation Was
this his short- lived wartime wedding? But where was his bride? Or
was he best man? Is that the happy couple on the left of the first
photograph where the girl has her arm around the man by her side, who I
think is also sporting a buttonhole. But why was my grandmother taking the centre stage position?
Throughout
my own life, Uncle Harry lived in the family home with my grandfather
and sister Edith (my grandmother died in 1945). But through snatches of
conversation I picked up as a child, I became aware that he had at some
time married and was divorced - all very hush, hush in those days,
swept under the carpet and certainly never openly mentioned.
It was only after his death, I found the papers confirming a marriage on 11th June 1940 and divorce in 1947.
The
marriage date is significant as Uncle Harry was one of the thousands of
troops evacuated from Dunkirk on the flotilla of small ships between
27th May and 4th June 1940. Yet here he was some ten days later.
My mother recalled how Harry
arrived back home from Dunkirk still in the uniform in which he entered
the sea to be rescued. He never talked about his wartime experiences,
but seeing commemoration services or documentaries on TV could bring
tears to his eyes, so the memories remained very strong.
Below are some photogrpahs of Harry - is he the man on the right wearing the button hole in the family photographs? What do you think? There is no-one left in the family now who could throw any light on his marriage.
 |
| A young Harry sporting quite a hairstyle! This studio pose was taken at a photographers in Salisbury. Could this have been when Harry was on army training?  |
The Errol Flynn look?
Harry never remarried but lived
a full life with interests in sailing, photography, stamp collecting
and ballroom dancing, where he was never short of partners. He
died at the age of 89, still retaining his good looks.
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Oh Sue, what a lot of questions are left by those photos. I'm sorry nobody thought to write who they were, or at least the occasion. Uncle Harry reminds me of my paternal uncle, who also lived with his parents most of his life, but then married and they built a house right in the side yard of his parents.
ReplyDeleteYour Uncle Harry was indeed quite handsome through all the photos and I'm sure quite a charmer. As for the where's the bride...in the 2nd picture the lady on the left certainly looked like a happy bride in a white dress. Odd though that she wasn't included in the grooms family picture. Loved the fact that your mother and her sisters were seamstresses.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - possibly one of those little things where information gets lost and the past becomes a mystery.
ReplyDeleteHandsome guy right enough.
There's nothing like a good mystery, is there? I feel like these two photos are a part of a greater set that was taken on the day. It definitely feels like a wedding - the group photos and the carnations. It's possible the lady on the far left, 2nd photo, is the bride. It also might be, for a wedding that ended in a hush-hush divorce, that Harry might not have wanted any reminders of his wife afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI find the most interesting thing about old photographs is the fashion trends. As for asking questions, sadly, we were just too young to think about them when we could have. Maybe we'll do better with the photos we pass on, Sue.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Studying photographs can lead to more questions than answers.
ReplyDeleteWith the grandmother taking center stage, could this be a milestone birthday?
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your thoughtfu comments. In reply to Yvette’s point about a possible milestone birthday, that is unlikely as my grandmother’s birthday was in September, along with my mother, aunt and Harry all born in September.
ReplyDelete