Betty Ethel Manley nee Taylor (1921-94)

Betty Ethel Manley nee Taylor was a half-sister of my father, Eric William Taylor, who both had the same father, William Taylor. Eric’s mother (Gertrude) was William’s first wife who died in the influenza pandemic in 1919. She was a younger sister of Betty’s mother (Ethel).

Betty was born on 31 December 1921 in Woolwich, the only child from the marriage of William Taylor to his second wife Ethel Suter nee Wilkins. William and his family lived at 16 Brewer St, Woolwich. The site of the house is now occupied by John Wilson Street, a dual carriageway that forms part of the South Circular Road (A205). The electoral register shows William living at the address from 1921 until 1933.

Betty recounted that, as a small child, she slept in a room full of “knocked off” goods from the dockyard. One of her earliest memories was of her father taking the labels off stolen canned food (stored under her bed) to resell !  She also remembered seeing big, boxed dolls one Christmas, but she was not allowed to have one, just the usual piece of coal, a satsuma, some nuts and a coin.  The only real present she remembered receiving was a watch from her elder half-brother Eric for a birthday.

Ethel (Betty’s mother) died on New Years Day 1933 aged 51 when Betty was 11. She then brought up herself with help from her half -sister Doris Suter, who lived in Seddlescombe, a small rural village in Sussex. When Betty was about 15, her father (William) found her a flat in Woolwich above a greengrocer’s shop. William married Eleanor Mary Bateman (known as Nell or Nellie) in 1938 when Betty was 16. One morning he produced a little box with a ring inside it and told Betty "I am going to marry Nell today". Betty was surprised and also hurt that she wasn’t invited.

     

Before the war Betty was apprenticed to a tailor, a skill she kept all her life. With the onset of World War II she went to work in a factory making swivel eyes (aircraft parts), which is where she met her future husband Frederick Cecil Manley.  He was an engineer by trade and as such, kept at home during the war. Fred was Betty’s foreman and he used to come her bench and help her knock out a nights work and then they would spend the rest of the night in the broom cupboard ! 

 Betty, as a young woman

Betty was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her half-brother Eric to Grace Ivall (my parents) in Cambridge on 12 Feb 1944. Betty was also a witness on the wedding certificate. Her address at this time was 1A Conduit Way, Stonebridge Park, Willesden, London NW10.

When the war was over Fred was called up (to the RAF) and he decided that they should marry on his return.  However, Betty and Fred had a row about the wedding arrangements.  Betty did not hear from him for several days but he eventually returned, complete with a special license and they were married on 30 November 1946 at All Hallows Church, Greenford, West London. He was aged 25 and she was 24. The witnesses were Betty’s father William and her half- brother Eric.

Initially the couple lived with Betty’s half sister Vera and her husband Frank but their first home together was Orchard Cottage, a rented property in the grounds of a large house in the village of Seddlescombe, East Sussex. They moved here to be near Betty’s half-sister Doris and husband Arthur Moore. He and Fred started a bakery machinery servicing business. Betty and Fred’s first two daughters were born in Seddlescombe. Eventually the large house was acquired by the Pestalozzi Children’s Village and the cottage was required for staff quarters. By this time Doris and her family had moved to Emsworth in Hampshire, where their third daughter was born.  Betty and Fred brought a bungalow here in 1958 for £1800.  In 1971 Fred died of lung cancer leaving Betty to bring up her three daughters alone. She knocked five years off her age and obtained a job in a factory making seatbelts for Ford cars. 

In 1981, when Betty was 59, she had a stroke from which she never fully recovered.  However she did improve sufficiently to live on her own and continue with a full and active life.  She was a well known figure in Emsworth riding a large adult three wheel tricycle around the village causing traffic chaos!!

 

 Betty in 1988

Having had three daughters but always wanted a son, Betty was delighted to be presented with a first grandson in 1989 and despite her disabilities she was a very hands on Grandma. She suffered a major heart attack in June 1994 and died on 2 July aged 72.

Eric William Taylor (1913-2003), local government officer

Eric Taylor was my father. This profile contains information he told me, from my mother’s life story and from family history research.

Eric was born on 31 August 1913 in Woolwich, the eldest child of William and Gertrude Taylor. He was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, New Charlton on 19 October 1913. William and Gertrude later had two other children namely Vera Gertrude (1916-2002) and Ronald Albert (1918-88).

Gertrude, Eric’s mother, died of influenza in 1919 when he was aged 5. His father married Ethel, Gertrude’s elder sister, in 1920. They had a daughter, Betty Ethel in 1921. The family lived at 16 Brewer St, Woolwich until 1933.

When he was a child, Eric used to spend holidays in Sedlescombe (a village in Sussex) with Doris (b1903), Ethel’s daughter from her first marriage, who was married to a car mechanic. He used to cycle there on his own – quite a distance !

Eric was a bright boy and won a scholarship to Shooter’s Hill Grammar School. The admissions register of the school shows that he started there on 29 Sep 1924 (when he was 11) and left on 13 March 1931 (when he was 17½). I have a leather bound dictionary given to Eric in July 1928 as a school prize for Geography. He passed the London County Council (LCC) entrance exam and started work at County Hall in Central London, becoming a wages clerk.

Ethel, Eric’s stepmother, died in 1933. William Taylor and his family then moved 105 Brookhill Road, Woolwich. He got married again in 1938 to Eleanor Mary Bateman, a widow with four children from her first marriage. They all moved to 116 Sandy Hill Road, Woolwich in 1938.

The 1939 register shows Eric (a LCC general grade assistant) living at 116 Sandy Hill with his father William (a labourer, munitions work), stepmother Eleanor, brother Ronald (a grocery porter) and stepsister Constance L Bateman (a glass operative). There is also a closed record, which is presumably Eric's half sister Betty (born in 1921).

Eric met his future wife, Grace Evelyn Ivall (who also worked at County Hall) at an office dance in April 1940.

I obtained Eric’s war record from the Army after my father’s death. Eric joined the Home Guard in June 1940. He was enlisted into the Army on 22 October 1940 aged 27. He joined the Royal Artillery and was posted to the 907 Defence Battery at Southend on 20 November 1940. He spent the next 18 months in East Anglia and when granted leave he would hitch hike to visit Grace, who by then was living in Cambridge. Eric was appointed Unit Clerk Class IIIb on 12 April 1942. He was subsequently sent to North Africa, travelling on a troop ship that left England on 14 July 1942, sailing via Cape Town and arriving at Egypt on 3 September 1942. This was at a time that German U-boats were sinking a lot of shipping, so it must have been an interesting journey ! Eric was in a gun crew in the Eighth Army that fought under General Montgomery and won the battle of El Alamein, 23 October to 2 November 1942, one of the first allied victories and a turning point in the war. The German and Italian Armies were subsequently driven out of North Africa. The allies invaded Sicily on 10 July 1943 and the fighting to capture the island was over by 17 August. Eric was in Sicily between 17 July and 28 August 1943. He then returned to North Africa and was later sent back to the UK, embarking on 27 November 1943 and arriving on 9 December 1943.

Eric married Grace Evelyn Ivall on 12 February 1944 at the Church of St Andrew the Great in Cambridge. He was aged 30 and she was 22. The witnesses on the marriage certificate were Eric’s half sister Betty (who was also a bridesmaid) and Albert Ivall (Grace’s uncle). Grace was working as a St John’s Ambulance nurse at the Gresham Road Convalescent Home in Cambridge. I have a wedding photo showing the other nurses holding up splints to form an arch for them to walk through. They had a short honeymoon in Lyme Regis.

Eric and Grace in about 1944

Soon after his marriage, Eric fell ill with malaria that he had caught in North Africa or Sicily. He was admitted to Colchester Military Hospital (in Black Notley) on 7 March 1944.and discharged to the Gresham Road Convalescent Home on 20 March 1944, where he stayed until 20 April 1944 when he was sent back to his unit, the 64^th Medium Regiment R.A. On his return, he was promoted from Gunner to Lance Bombardier. He had another attack of malaria and was admitted to Colchester Military Hospital on 13 May 1944, returning to his unit on 5 June 1944, the day before D-Day. Eric was sent to Normandy on 8 July 1944 and later took part in the fighting in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He received a head wound on 12 December 1944 and was wounded again on 13 March 1945 but both times remained on duty. After Germany surrendered on 7 May 1945, Eric was part of the occupation force in Germany. He was promoted to Sergeant on 4 January 1946 and was sent to back the UK on 21 February 1946. Eric’s discharge paper stamped 26 February 1946 describes his military conduct as exemplary and his commanding officer has written “An exceptionally hardworking and sober NCO. He has a first class brain, plenty of initiative and is an extremely efficient organiser. I consider that he should have held commissioned rank.”

After he was discharged from the army, Eric had three months leave, which he spent in Cambridge with his wife at her mother’s house, 33 Paradise Street. Eric then returned to work with the LCC (who had made up his army pay to his full salary during the war). He and Grace stayed with Alec Henderson (who also worked at the LCC) and his wife Betty in Potter’s Bar, North London for a few months and then bought 309 Parkside Avenue, Barnehurst in September 1946 for £1,195. The house was a mid terrace house built in the 1930’s. Parkside Avenue was a long straight road and 309 was about a mile from Barnehurst Station. Eric walked there to catch a train to work (County Hall is close to Waterloo Station).

In 1949 their daughter Evelyn was born and in 1953 a son, Philip (me). In 1957, Eric and his family moved to 92 Barnehurst Avenue, which was a detached house with a large garden. They lived there for forty years. In 1958, Grace’s widowed mother came to live with them (she had the downstairs front room as her own). She was disabled as a result of a fall and broken hip joint and stayed at Barnehurst Avenue until her death in 1970.

Eric had a successful career with the LCC (which became the Greater London Council). He rose to a senior managerial role in the Highways and Transportation Department, working in the section that organised road improvements. In 1977 he was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal for Outstanding Service. He retired in 1978, aged 65, having worked for the LCC / GLC for 47 years.

When living at Barnehurst Avenue, Grace and Eric kept their garden in first class condition – it won prizes in the “Bexley in Bloom” competition. Eric produced large amounts of fruit and vegetables in the garden and he grew pot plants in a conservatory. Other interests included botany, classical music and history. Grace and Eric attended evening classes on these subjects over many years. They also enjoyed walking in the countryside.

Grace and Eric in their garden at 92 Barnehurst Avenue, c 1990.

Eric had an active retirement until his health deteriorated in the last five years of his life. In 1997, Grace and Eric moved to 24 Fern Court, Bexleyheath, a flat in a block designed for retired people. A combination of medical problems  resulted in Eric becoming less physically and mentally able and he died of bronchopneumonia at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup on 28^th May 2003 aged 89.

Vera Gertrude Pullum nee Taylor (1916-2002)

Vera was a sister of my father, Eric William Taylor (1913-2003). This profile contains information from Vera’s daughter Valerie.

Vera was born on 22 February 1916 in Abbey Wood, Erith. She was the second child of William Taylor and his wife Gertrude (nee Wilkins). They also had two boys, Eric (b1913) and Ronald (b1918).

In 1919 William, Gertrude and their children were living at 51 Charles St, Woolwich, which was the address of Gertrude’s older sister Ethel Suter nee Wilkins (b1881), whose husband had died in 1914. Ethel had a daughter, Doris (b1903), and a son, Herbert (b1906).

Herbert Suter died of influenza on 12 February 1919 aged 12. A week later, Vera’s mother Gertrude also died of influenza, aged 29. They were victims of a pandemic that killed many millions of people across the world.

In 1920 William married Ethel Suter in Woolwich. He was 30 and she 39. William and Ethel had a daughter, Betty Ethel Taylor, who was born in 1921. William and his family continued to live at 51 Charles Street until 1933 although in 1921 it was renamed 16 Brewer St. The house was at the northern end of Brewer Street, not far from St Mary’s Church. The site of the house is now occupied by John Wilson Street, a dual carriageway that forms part of the South Circular Road (A205).

In 1922, when aged 6, Vera contracted diptheria and was in hospital for over 1 year. She was back in hospital aged 8 years for an operation to treat mastoiditis (a serious complication arising from ear inflammation), which left her totally deaf.

Vera told Valerie some childhood memories. She recalled sitting at the dining table with Eric and Ron eating a meal and was not aware that a row was taking place until a shoe thrown by her stepmother Ethel at her father William, passed her face! Also, Vera and her brothers were made to play in the street every day and so used to pray for rain so they could go indoors! Ethel died in 1933 aged 51, when Vera was 16.

Vera attended Oak Lodge School for the Deaf in Clapham, London, first as a day pupil, then as a full time boarder. Vera recalled that on her first day at Oak Lodge, her father took her on the bus, leaving her to return on her own. She got lost and finally arrived home to find her father standing in the middle of the road outside their house in the dark looking for her. She was very clever, despite her disability, attaining a scholarship. Vera was taught dressmaking, like all the girls at the school. She then worked as a dressmaker near Piccadilly Circus for a few years.

Vera and her family moved to 105 Brookhill Road, Woolwich in 1933, where her father ran a confectioner’s shop. The house was close to the junction with Angelsea Road. It no longer exists, its site is now occupied by the garden of a block of flats.

On 11 September 1937, Vera married Frank Adolphus Pullum at All Saints Church, Newington in South London. He was a French polisher aged 24, she a dressmaker aged 21. Frank was also deaf. They lived at 43 Bannockburn Road, Plumstead and then purchased 111 Willersley Avenue. Sidcup on 26^th February 1941 for £462-7-6d.

Their daughter Valerie was born in 1944. They had another baby girl who lived only a few days (Vera also had several miscarriages). Vera and Valerie were evacuated to Leeds for a number of months in 1944 to get away from bombing in London.

Frank, Vera and Valerie c1946

Vera’s husband Frank died of bronchopneumonia in 1964 aged 51. She continued to live at 111 Willersley Avenue, with her daughter Valerie. Vera worked at the dressmakers “Rhodes”, The Oval, Sidcup until 1981, when she retired aged 65.

In May 1979 Vera moved to 126 Greenvale Road, Eltham with Valerie and her second husband. They lived there until June 2000 when they moved to Tankerton, near Whitstable in Kent. Vera died on 10 December 2002 aged 86.

Valerie and Vera in 1988

I remember Vera as a small, pleasant lady. Because of her deafness, she wasn’t able to hear her own voice, which made it difficult for her to speak clearly. However, she could lip read well and seemed to enjoy life (with the help of Valerie) in spite of her disability.