My Little Known Nana - "Through Her Eyes" Thursday

The prompt from Diane of  “Through Her Eyes"  Thursday has encouraged me to look at my less familiar female ancestors - here I profile my paternal grandmother Mary Barbara Weston, nee Matthews (1876 - 1959).

 

 Nana with my mother and myself c.1946 on Blockpool promenade -

                            the only photograph I have of myself with Nana.

 We lived in Blackpool, Lancashire, some distance away from my father's family in the English Midlands  and only saw my grandmother, aunt and uncles once or at the most twice  a year. In the  1950s few in the family had a telephone,  which was regarded as "for emergencies only". My father, though  was a regular correspondent with his family, and often spoke about his childhood. 

Sadly there there was little to no Weston memorabilia which was thrown out following a family death. 

Against this background, my father's family always remained shadowy and one dimensional with little beyond facts gleaned from basic  research, until more came to light quite recently through my cousin and  an internet contact.  The only fact I knew from my father was that Nana came from a prominent Methodist family in Wolverhampton.

Mary Barbara Matthews - Her Early Life

My paternal grandmother (known as Nana) was born in 1876, the third of ten children  born to John Matthews and Matilda Simpson of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. 

    


Two years ago, I was amazed to receive, via my blog,  an e-mail from a Matthews connection through marriage;  moreover with  the wish to give family treasures to a direct Matthews descendant.  We corresponded, met  and spent a happy afternoon chatting about our family history research - and I was the lucky recipient of a presentation trowel and conductor's baton given to my great grandfather (above)  and a massive family bible,  reflecting John's close insolvent with Lanesfield Methodist Church, Wolverhampton.


Illustrated pages in the Bible gave space to record family events,  headed by my great grandfather  - John, born 21st July 1843 at Cookley, Worcestershire, died 17th September 1918, aged 75 at Lanesfield  Parish in Sedgley, buried in the family grave at Sedgley.  He married Matilda Simpson at St. Andrew's Church, Wolverhampton in 1871.

 

 
 The bible also recorded  the long  list  of Mary Barbara's brothers and sisters, born over a period of twenty years:

• Alice Maud, born 1872
• John Percy, born 1874 - my father's Christian names.
• Mary Barbara, born 1876 - my grandmother 
• Fanny Elizabeth, born 1878
• Arthur William , born 1880
• Annie, born 1882 
• Samuel Albert, 1884
• Harry, born 1886
• Charles, born 1888
• James Alfred, born 1892   

But the  family suffered  the early loss of four of the children:

• Charles did not survive infancy, dying in 1889.
• Fanny Elizabeth died aged 33 in 1909
• John Percy died aged 36 in 1910 - his namesake, my father,  was born in 1912. 
• Arthur William, aged 35, killed in action in 1915 at Gallipoli - remembered on the Helles Memorial  in Turkey, leaving a widow and two young children. 

 

In the 1881 census, Mary was  5 years old living with her parents (above)  and sisters Alice and Fanny and brothers  John and Arthur.  Ten years later   at 37 Wood Street, Sedgley were three more children - Annie, Samuel and Harry, with 15 year old Mary described as "helping in shop".  Her father was an insurance agent and mother a shopkeeper - general. 

By 1901  another son James completed the family and 25 year old Mary was now working as "barmaid in a café".    Two years later in 1903 she married Albert Weston.  

Mary's Married Life 
The  1911 census listed the young Weston family living at 33 Lunt Lane, Lunt Gardens, Bilston, Staffordshire.  In the household was  34 year old Albert  Ernest , a stationary engine driver,  born in West Bromwich,  his wife Mary aged 34, born Bilston,  son Frederick Harry aged 5 , daughter Madeleine (always known to me  as Madge)  1 year old, both born Bilston  and Albert's brother Charles Henry, at 26 a boiler rivetter, born Wolverhampton.

My father was born in Bilston  in 1912 and a younger son Eric Charles three years later in Rugby.  Daughter Ethel did  not survived infancy. 

The family seemed to move around a lot and I have a childhood memory of Nana saying she had lived in 17 houses!  Around 1919 it was onto Broseley, near Ironbridge Shropshire, where Albert worked at the Coalbrookdale Power Station.  My  father wrote for me  lots of memories of their life there,and for him, it was clearly a happy time.  One recollection was:

"We had a palace organ  double keyboard.  Mum was very musical   and would play the organ on a Sunday night with Dad on the  violin,  - we sang either Methodist hymns or hymns from the Ancient & Modern Hymn Book."

Around 1929 the family moved again to Leicester, where eldest son Fred married Frances Green. Mary,  in the deep cloche hat, is standing by Fred's  side. That could be Albert at the back left, partly hidden; in front other sons Charles and John (my father).

Sister Madge married Wilf Adams in 1937 in Leicester and a year later my father married  Kathleen Danson in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. I have only one  photograph of my paternal grandparents together - here taken at my parent's wedding. 

Nana with Fred and Fran, and my mother perched on the fence, Leicester, 1938.

  

I have one funny recollection that has stayed in my mind  - of hearing my mother telling a friend that Nana,  on a visit to us in the the 1950s,  criticised   the fact Mum did not polish  her husband's shoes and left him to do it himself! 

The 1939 Register (compiled in  preparation for wartime  ID cards) listed the Weston family in Leicester -  Albert was described as a Typewriter Works Storekeeper, with the note “Heavy Work”; his wife was noted as doing “unpaid domestic duties” and only Charles was living at home – a hosiery warehouse man

The war saw heavy bombing raids over over the industrial Midlands, and Mary and Albert were particularly devastated when the news came that Charles  was a prisoner of the Japanese.  His father never recovered from this blow and died in 1945. 

Mary's Later Life
As a widow,  Nana made her home with her daughter, my Auntie Madge, now living in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. On our annual family holidays to the south coast,  we always stopped overnight to visit Nana there. 

 Nana's 70th birthday - here with Fred and Fran

          Mary Barbara (Matthews) Weston  - Nana -  died in 1958 at the age of 82. 
   
I must admit my memory of my grandmother is very sketchy - sad that in many ways I know so little about her, as a person.  For  she was part of me, and I surely must have inherited some of her  characteristics. 

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