Welcome to the Laws Family Register.
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Part 2.
A Child of the Twenties
A suburban childhood of the Twenties
seen from the Ninteen Nineties
by John Robert Laws 1921-2008
HOME
The land rose on the other side of the tracks, a steep tall grassy bank with a proper footpath along the top beyond the fence and even seats along the top. In the afternoon sunshine these would be occupied by mums and nannies with prams while the trains amused the vociferous offspring. It was not till later that I explored these distant parts, a sprawl of suburbia from the late nineteenth century broken here and there by parks and sports grounds.
We looked out that way one sunlit evening and saw the majestic airship the R101 floating gently south towards London, France and their appointment in Samarkand.
our garden was not very large, a rectangle with a concrete path round the patch of grassto leave a border for plants and little trees. A little extra bit was squeezed in at the side of the back of the house before the narrow sidewayout to the front. Inside the rectangle of the path the grass had half a dozen little apple trees round the edge. The plants elude my memory, only the laburnams stand out clearly always in flower with a prickly rose bush under one of them.
One went into the garden at the side of the back door from the scullery down a couplw of sandstone steps. Only in very warm weather was the double back door of the bay window in the kitchen opened for regular use. I opened onto a paved patch across the garden which caught the afternoon sun. For some time I had a white albino rabbit in a hutch in the garden. It had a wire netting run from which it would burrow out if not carefully supervised.
Our house was a semi, built of London stocks in the late 1800's, one of the better houses almost at the top of the hill. We lived there till I was ten, so being an inquisitive child, I learned to know the area better than the palm of my hand.
As an infant the day was spent in the kitchen, a pleasent enough room lit by a bay window with a half glazed double door to the garden. It was heated by a black-leaded built-in kitchen range with an oven to the side and a back boiler to heat the water. This had to be lit every morning if the weather was cold and if it were lit it would be used for some cooking. the kitchen was lit at night by a single central gas light, a soft sypathetic light without the brilliance of the electricity which came later. candlesticks were on the mantle piece for bedtime. Mine was enamel but my mother had a more elegant one, once silver plated but already polished down to the brass, I still have it.
The kitchen furnishings were plain and useful. A large deal table with an end drawer and covered with a tablecloth. one leg very tatty from being used as a acatching post by the cat. Bentwood chairs, comfortable enough but a little creaky, one an elbow chair the rest plain but with the usual pressed pattern on the seat. A built-in brown painted dresser with drawers and cupboards below and a slightly mixed collection of plates on edge on the shelves with the cups hanging from hooks on the front. Meals were usually taken in the kitchen except at weekends when lunch (called dinner) and tea were taken in the dining room. fortunately the kitchen was a good sized room and a child could run about and play on the floor with little impediment.
The cat which had used the table leg as a scratching post was known by the unlikely name of Ma. It appears that I christened it with the only word in my vocabulary at a very early age. It was an undistingushed tabby which would catch the occasional unwary mouse but would spend more time snoozing in front of the fire. It seemed that every house had mice at that time. Food was more acccessible before fridges and freezers.
To be continued tomorrow
One went into the garden at the side of the back door from the scullery down a couplw of sandstone steps. Only in very warm weather was the double back door of the bay window in the kitchen opened for regular use. I opened onto a paved patch across the garden which caught the afternoon sun. For some time I had a white albino rabbit in a hutch in the garden. It had a wire netting run from which it would burrow out if not carefully supervised.
Our house was a semi, built of London stocks in the late 1800's, one of the better houses almost at the top of the hill. We lived there till I was ten, so being an inquisitive child, I learned to know the area better than the palm of my hand.
As an infant the day was spent in the kitchen, a pleasent enough room lit by a bay window with a half glazed double door to the garden. It was heated by a black-leaded built-in kitchen range with an oven to the side and a back boiler to heat the water. This had to be lit every morning if the weather was cold and if it were lit it would be used for some cooking. the kitchen was lit at night by a single central gas light, a soft sypathetic light without the brilliance of the electricity which came later. candlesticks were on the mantle piece for bedtime. Mine was enamel but my mother had a more elegant one, once silver plated but already polished down to the brass, I still have it.
The kitchen furnishings were plain and useful. A large deal table with an end drawer and covered with a tablecloth. one leg very tatty from being used as a acatching post by the cat. Bentwood chairs, comfortable enough but a little creaky, one an elbow chair the rest plain but with the usual pressed pattern on the seat. A built-in brown painted dresser with drawers and cupboards below and a slightly mixed collection of plates on edge on the shelves with the cups hanging from hooks on the front. Meals were usually taken in the kitchen except at weekends when lunch (called dinner) and tea were taken in the dining room. fortunately the kitchen was a good sized room and a child could run about and play on the floor with little impediment.
The cat which had used the table leg as a scratching post was known by the unlikely name of Ma. It appears that I christened it with the only word in my vocabulary at a very early age. It was an undistingushed tabby which would catch the occasional unwary mouse but would spend more time snoozing in front of the fire. It seemed that every house had mice at that time. Food was more acccessible before fridges and freezers.
To be continued tomorrow
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Family Events from our database for today March 24
1742 - Marriage: Holliday LAWES-1620 & Elizabeth Mrs MATTHEWS-2254, Mayfair MDX UK
1759 - Birth: Edward Augustus HANOVER-45425, Norfolk House, St. James' Square, London
1782 - Marriage: James LAWES-29374 and Eliz SAUNDERS-29375, Norwich NFK UK
1785 - Birth: George FORD-30029, East Meon HAM UK
1792 - Baptism: Betty LAWS-3880, Witchampton DOR UK
1823 - Death: William LAWS-48545, East Carleton NFK UK
1838 - Marriage: Robert FULLER (Master Baker / French Confectioner) -7702 and Maria GREEDUS (Dressmaker) -29085, Deptford KEN UK
1845 - Birth: Mary Jane GRAY-29650, Orange Co NC USA
1846 - Birth: David DRAY-118826,
1849 - Birth: John Jacob LAWES-43260, Donhead St Mary WIL UK
1856 - Birth: Daniel Wintringham STABLE-38604,
1864 - Death: Phillip LAWS (Bathchair Lender) -7457, Brixton SRY UK
1872 - Marriage: Albert LAWS-4487 and Rosie Ann RIVETT-4488, Norwich NFK UK
1872 - Death: George LAWS-48827, Cowra QLD Australia
1877 - Birth: Alice Reeve NORMAN (Boot Fitter) -116763, Norwich NFK UK
1885 - Death: John LAWS (Yeoman) -6626, Hevingham NFK
1886 - Birth: Benjamin Elwood LAWS-34231, Johnson, Kane Co. UT USA
1894 - Burial: Juan Francisco LAWS-123770, Rosario ARGENTINA
1894 - Marriage: John W LAWS (Farmer -48717 and Paulina Ann MCANALLY-48718,
1894 - Birth: Elsie Agnes LAWS-36850, Sproughton SFK UK
1894 - Death: Robert LAWS (Furniture Broker and Publican) -9175, Pockthorpe, Norwich NFK
1901 - Birth: Alice Eva MOONEY (under 1 month old) -7695, Edmonton MDX UK
1903 - Birth: Cecil (RN SS11765) LAWES-47672, Thetford NFK UK
1907 - Birth: Charles John LAWES (Assistant Postal inspector) -42201, Collingbourne WIL UK
1909 - Marriage: Walter George Arnold LAWES-2738 and Beatrice CULLINGFORD-2893, Felthorpe NFK UK
1911 - Marriage: Hugh LAWES (Dock Labourer) -519 and Edith Emily HALLETT-58323, Grays Thurrock ESS UK
1911 - Birth: Lily BROWN (Parlourmaid) -43776, Lincoln LIN UK
1914 - Birth: Walter Ernest BLANCHARD (Steel Stocktaker) -41341, Crosby LIN UK
1915 - Birth: Kenneth LAWS-46277, New York NY USA
1918 - Miscellaneous: Dorethy E LAWS-45831,
1920 - Marriage: John Frederick Albert LAWS (General Salesman) -54478 and Charlotte Ellen WHITELING (Stenographer) -117340, East Brixton SRY UK
1930 - Birth: James C LAWS-42283,
1936 - Will Proved: Alice Harriet BOLD-66019,
1936 - Miscellaneous: Percy Malcolm LAWS (Timber Merchants Clerk)-39378,
1936 - Miscellaneous: Albert Heath LAWS (Commercial Clerk & Photographer) -4744,
1940 - Birth: Richard Lee LAWS (United States Navy Lt) -27820, Sacremento CA USA
1941 - Death: Mollie JONES-56549, Holly Springs, Wake NC USA
1949 - Burial: Roswell LAWS (PVT US Army) -38074, Beverley NJ USA
1956 - Death: Margaret LAWS-125491, Durham NC USA
1960 - Burial: Ada Louisa BENNETT-96276, Weston Super Mare SOM UK
1965 - Miscellaneous: Florence Constance LAWES (Student) -116467,
1965 - Estate to: Phillip Henry LAWES-2600,
1970 - Birth: John Alexander LAWS-40531, TX USA
1971 - Death: Kate Louisa STEAD-41855, Hendon MDX UK
1992 - Death: William HUGHES-46077, Whitby, NRY UK
2005 - Death: Robert Terry LAWS-42557, NorthEast Medical Center, Concord NC USA
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With grateful thanks to Simon Knott for permission to reproduce his photographs on this site see :-http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/
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