Eileen Mary Usher Account of the Family

I was born on the 29^th of December 1938. My parents had been enjoying the Christmas jollities, with my brothers Don and David and my father was making them laugh, on the evening of the 27^th, when my mother complained that her sides hurt (from laughing she thought) but it turned out to be plurasy. A doctor , Dr Cone ,was called on the 28^th , and I was born the following day, a month before time.

My home for the next 9years was 3 Foresters Court. The Court was reached from a narrow entrance between two shops .The drapers Sawdons was the first property in the court (yard) ,2 was above part of the shop ,the Duke`s lived there. We were number three, the Wheatleys were at four then it was Kingdom Hall the Jehovah`s Witness meeting place and the Foresters Lodge ,above them were the homes of the Lockers and the Paynes. Beyond these was the toilet block ,one for each property. Next to them was a large building, behind a dark wall, which was used as a chemists store. From there steps cut into the cliff led past a platt (for hanging washing and playing) to small gardens and pigeon lofts and finally the Abbey field.

Number three was a tall house .The ground floor was a large living room and a scullery. It had a black lead range ( an open fire with kettle hook and pan stand) and side oven ,to cook meals slowly .In the centre ceiling there were gas mantles for light and candles were used to light all round the room.

It was furnished with a dining table ,usually covered with a heavy velvet cloth with tassels and six chairs, a sideboard ,a leather three piece suite, brown, and a Victorian card table with claw feet, which opened   to make an oval green baize playing top. The walls were decorated with a large oil painting of Tin Ghaut, an oil portrait of my uncle Robert who died in the first World War and a large mirror.

There was a large inset cupboard beside the fire where my brother David was frequently found curled up fast asleep. We owned a battery wireless (radio), a clock on the mantle piece, matching tall black vases decorated with flowers, a biscuit barrel with a silver rim ,lid and handle, and a wooden writing box.

Facing the lobby entrance was the scullery which held the washing equipment of boiler ,mangle and tub and any other object used for cleaning or food not at all like a modern kitchen.

Diagonally across from the entrance , was the stairway ,through a door in the panelled wall. On the first floor there were two rooms . To the right the main bedroom held a double bed , a single bed, for me while Dad was away during the war, a dressing table and wardrobe , an low easy chair, and a small dresser. A large fireplace gave warmth on cold winter nights and light was from gas lights ensconced on the fire breast. Mostly we used candles to see us to bed , but my brother David and I often played with cars on the mat in front of flickering fire to the phutt phutt ( the popping sound of the gas mantle) There were also amazing things stored under the bed . My favourite was a full size golden harp. I often wondered where it went.?

Don`s room was next ,a tiny room with a single bed ,a chest of drawers and a skylight window. David had a small bed there for a while .Don liked his sleep and was often in bed with his head buried beneath his pillow. He was heaven ,if I woke early on a cold morning ,I would climb in behind him and warm my cold feet ,He was always like an oven!.

From a small landing the stairs wound around to an attic room. This was a magic place! The most beautiful double bed I have ever seen stood in centre , it was black enamel festooned with delicate flowers, the posts were topped with enormous , intricately shaped brass knobs. Not only was it beautiful it was an adventure playground. With the help of a sheet and a broom shaft wedged to the ceiling it became a pirate ship ,a tent of some Arab Sheik ,or a gypsy caravan. Our adventures were

assisted by the contents of the apple barrel that stood in the window bay, kimonos, Spanish shawls , dresses and clothes of a past age. Another delight was the large rocking horse ,standing tall , on it`s wooden   frame. It galloped across magic countries and had many adventures.

In the summer months we would be bursting at the seams with aunts and cousins from Middlesbrough .Some would stay as long as they could ,so we slept top to tail , often six children to a bed ! That was why we also had full-sized metal bunk beds against the wall. When the cousins were staying every night was story telling. Doreen was usually the best especially with the frightening ones!

Early memories were a mixture of smells ,freshly baked bread ,pea and ham soup, and bread toasted with a long toasting fork at the open fire. I remember the feeling of warm feet on cold lino, and the flickering candle light making monsters in dark corners. Reassurance came from listening to stories in front of a glowing fire and being tucked into a bed ,warmed by a stone hot water bottle.

Baths were a mammoth task . Water was carried, by mother, from a tap in the court ,in buckets.   Then boiled in the wash boiler before pouring buckets of water into a zinc tub in front of the fire. This process was reversed after each bath ,when the water was disposed of outside, a regular washing down of the yard. The step was then whitened at the side . On washing day the process was the same , with the clothes then carried up to the hanging area in the platt. The war solved one problem for my mother! A parachute was suspended from the beams and I was duly dropped inside with books and toys to keep me out of harms way. On summer days I could play in the platt , where fish and chip shops were the favourite game, I used dock leaves as fish ,chopped up their stalks as chips ,and ground up sandstone as salt and pepper .

Having no water in the house there were no toilets in the houses. Every house had a toilet at the top of the yard .This was no trouble in the summer, but winter meant wrapping up warm and taking a torch or a candle even in the snow. During the war it was especially dark as the houses were blacked out and there were no street lights. If you were desperate during the night you had to use a potty , known as a chamber pot or a guzunder (goes under the bed). As children we were amused by a simple old lady who used to fill the two buckets she carried , with water from the tap ,then pouring it down the toilets ,before flushing it. We used to sing a little song about her.

Annie Arbott sells fish .tuppence ha `p`nny a dish .Don`t buy it, Don`t buy it ! It stinks when you fry it!

War time was all I knew in those early days. My father signed up for minesweepers and went off to war .My earliest memory of him was when I was about six years old and my mother met me from school with a man with a navy uniform with gold braid on it. I can remember we went for a walk along the cliffs and he was able to tell us dialect names for plants and he could catch frogs and newts and he came home with them in his cap .We kept them in a water butt in the yard after he went away again.

My first war experience was being taken to see the first German aeroplane that was brought down at the start of the war . The second was been held by my mother to see the planes that dropped their last of their bombs on the cemetery.   Of course I can not remember it as I was in a push chair! With the men at war , older men went back to work, women took over some jobs, and children had to help where they could. All metal was collected, paper , and glass. Jam jars were collected as they paid a half penny for them. We were allowed to keep rabbits , but our pets disappeared into the cooking pot as soon as they were big enough. I have never eaten rabbit pie since!

Food was very different to now. We were rationed to small amounts of meats, eggs, bread and sweets. For these we had coupons, but there was very little in the shops and people had to queue to get things. Sugar had to come by ship so there was very little, very little fruit like oranges and we did not see bananas until after the war. Mother queued the first time ,but let the lady behind have them because her little girl was lame. When I eventually got one , I did not like it!

There were Food kitchens set up to help families who could not get food , but we did not like the food and asked Mam to make a dinner out of nothing. She usually came up with something!

There were so little sweets that our treats were bitter liquorish and root liquorish ,which was like chewing a stick, and lemonade crystals by the Chemist. I was very lucky , my godmother . Nellie Earn ,worked at Rowntrees   sweet factory at York and got samples. She visited often as she was courting Jack Jamieson . Unfortunately she died before the end of the war .

We managed to have parties as people helped each other to make up the food. We usually had egg sandwiches ,jelly ,tinned fruit, cake , usually made without eggs. Dried or powdered eggs were what most people managed to get. They were not very nice ! Once we were very pleased when the Canadian`s sent school children cocoa powder and an apple each. We thought it was heaven .I suppose we were lucky , Mr Knaggs and uncle Charlie, having Wilcox stores, had the foresight to store quite a lot of food stuffs before the war ,so we managed a lot better than some. They looked after their customers.

Santa also had problems! The war took all the things he made toys from and even books were not printed any more, so to help the younger children to still get something in their stockings older children were asked to send some toys back .Grown ups had to look for things he could use .I can remember getting a dolls cot and a pram made from orange boxes from the greengrocer. Our stockings were filled with a sixpence, an orange, crayons, an annual, my favourite was a Rupert annual.

We children loved making the Christmas cake and pudding as we got to lick the spoon and scrape the dish! They were not as good as today as grated carrot was used to make the fruit go further. Gravy browning was used to darken the mixture and the icing was also made of something strange that I can not remember. I know that shop cakes often had cardboard false tops.

To decorate the house we made paper chains which we stuck together with flour paste .Our tree was decorated with toys and real candles ,very dangerous! We spent a lot of time going to events held by the church and services before and at Christmas. We made gifts for each other sticking and gluing or moulding thing in wax. It was great fun!

New Year brought another treat, for in our family Mc Ginty came and another stocking to open in the morning .I believe this tradition most have come from mothers family.

Before I started school I can remember visiting people with my mother. In those days the rules were quite clear children had to keep quiet and still when visiting especially older people , so I remember smells , and rooms and clothes. I remember three old ladies in Victorian dress , one I know was cousin Martha`s granny. She lived on Cliff St and the house was very Victorian. Her daughter ,Martha`s aunt Nin , a tailoress lived with her .Nin made my wedding dress. Don tell`s me one of the ladies would be Lizzie Puckerin. What I remember is in every one of their homes everything was covered with plush cloths with tassels, rooms were dark , and smelled of soup, toast, lamp oil and candle wax.

Aunt Martha lived behind the shop on Church St .The shop sold fancy goods and the house was entered from Elerby Lane a very dark, narrow alleyway . This was the oldest type of house with a box bed , a bed built into wall like a wardrobe, in the living room. We saw a lot of Martha and Aunt Martha then. I think Martha spent more time in our house than her own and would eat with us as often as she could.

My cousin Hilda lived in one of the next yards with her son Michael and I sometimes played with him. Her brother Jack and family lived in the next yard. Don thinks his mother in law lived there and could have been one of the old ladies I remember. He says she sat in the window at a small table and had a teapot and cup always on the table. The contents of the pot was claimed by her to be cold tea, but the real liquid was beer.

Their sister Nellie and Jack and Jimmy Noble lived on Grape Lane.

Uncle Charlie had Wilcox Stores on corner so we were surrounded by family.

Uncle Charlie was my God father so I had quite a lot to do with him. I saw him nearly every day. He bought me Sunny stories and another comic every Saturday and gave me sweet money.

Miss Green and Miss Craggs made me dresses .          

My mother had a friend called Hilda Walker who was my God mother and we spent a lot of time with her . She lived in a modern house on Abbots Rd. I liked going there as she had a nice garden and I was allowed to collect caterpillars in a jam jar. She also was one of the first to have television and that was a treat. She had three boys Arthur ,Bertie, and Lawrence. I can also remember going to Ugthorpe Mill with her ,to visit the family who lived there for tea. It was a wonderful place not at all like a normal house with it`s curved walls ,some of the parts from the mill were still there. They had country furniture that stood out from the wall, and we had ham and eggs for tea! Being Catholic she worked at St Patrick`s Church and my mother as a protestant helped at St Michael`s Church so it was quite often that we went from one church to the other.

Church played a big part in our lives . We all had to go to Sunday school ,any service that Mother went to and later I joined the choir and taught Sunday School. On Christmas morning were went to early communion with mother ,which meant I had sung Eucharist and Even song as well. Also with the church the boy`s had Boy`s Brigade and went camping.

During those years Don`s friend was Peter Lawson , who is still his best friend today ,they still play like the school boys they once were ,on Saturdays.

David had a friend called Edward Harrison . We saw a lot of him during the winter he played at our house most nights . The boys played with David`s electric train, the Donkey Boiler ,which filled with water and heated chugged across the table. We all liked Jigsaw puzzles ,listening to the radio and mother read to us each night ,we took it in turn to choose which story.

I can remember clearly one night Edward refusing to go home when reminded of the time and setting off under the table so Dad could catch him. Now Edward was a rather a large boy and soon became stuck between the legs of a chair ,where Dad began rapping his backside while the rest of us just fell about laughing!

On Sunday night after church we would go to Edward`s grannies for supper ,of fry up .Her other grandchildren , the Whites ,would be there and we would play cards and other games. Edwards mother and Gran took in washing and had a huge wash house with large tubs and enormous rollers. We played with Raymond ,Margaret ,and Maureen White most and got into all kinds of mischief ,but Maureen was often told the grown ups and was left behind when possible. Once they took me newting, this meant we found a stagnant pond at the top of Green Lane where I was given a jam jar and told to stand at the edge of the pool from where I was nudged into it. I was then informed as I was wet I could catch the newts and tadpoles. I was not allowed out until there were plenty in the jar. The clothes I was wearing smelled for ages after many washes. David`s excuse was that Mum would not shout if I fell in. Another smelly memory was when David and I went paddling in the harbour in our Wartime woolly swim wear and covered each other with the smelly silt and mud left after the dredger had been clearing the harbour. We had to walk home caked in mud that smelled like cow dung and stand in the yard while Mam threw buckets of water over us. Another time the boys took me collect sea food off the scar , they found a rusty can ,filled it with sea water , collected mussels, winkles,and sand lice ,built a fire and boiled them. I was then made to try them - the idea being that if I was ill they would not eat them. Later I was able to show them up as cowards ,one of the games we played in autumn was Dare. We would climb the 199 steps and sit on the oval gravestone of Cannon Austen and tell ghost stories. The one who stayed longest at the top was the bravest. Edward was frequently the first to leave followed the other girls Raymond and David whether it was because I was younger and slower ,less imaginative or braver I do not know ,but I was often the last to leave.

As I was in the church choir I was popular at Christmas with both boys as part of the carol singing trio . I often think I was short changed as I did most of the singing and got the smallest share of the collection . We also had a First footing trail where ,Edward being very dark was much required. We did a regular visit to the large houses on Bagdale such as Vivian Grey`s etc . We were given cake ,wine and money. After breakfast on New years day we had to visit aunties for more of the same, but only if you arrived before midday. As you can see we never had many toys but we were free to explore and have fun.   The boys spent hours playing with armies of shoe studs painted in uniform colours .Jumpers and books under the tablecloth provided the contours of Europe and Hitler was vanquished frequently throughout the War. Jigsaw puzzles and board games amused us through the bad weather . 1947 winter brought the worst snows I can remember. We had to dig ourselves out of the house to go to the toilet. Mr and Mrs Yeates lived way out near the foghorn at Hawscar so David and I set out to see if they were save . The snow was so deep we could not find any walls or fences. Eventually we reached them and were pleased to find them save and had to face the long hard trudge back home.

In the summer we played in the yard where I played with my dolls and the boys played darts -again a sharp experience as I would suddenly find them in my legs!

My account of the family was as follows;

Usher; William Usher (Francis’ father) was a captain of a brigg, Francis was a an Engineer and built bridges and viaducts.

Hawksfield; The story I was told was the Hawksfield family lived on the Cragg, with Martha’s mother supposedly married to 6 whaling skippers and had had six daughters. The many marriages were as a direct result to take ownership of the whaling ship. The sisters married ‘Smales’, ‘Pieman’, ‘Dick’ and the extended family with cousins named Storr, Wood, Theaker and Verrill.

{The above is known not to be true based on a few facts, one whaling had ceased by 1833, where Martha was born in 1855. Secondly a record of Thomas Hawksfield’s marriage to Elizabeth Hodgson, their children and subsequent death of Elizabeth 1883 and Thomas 1891 are recorded throughout. If, like most stories, some truth exists it is probably back two generations on the Hodgson family. The Hodgson family is a name of a famous whaling family and would have owned and captained whaling ships.}

I also have vague recollections of Hawksfield relations at Stainsacre.

Francis Usher; Uncle Frank moved to Selby but used to regularly come and visit the family in Whitby.

Thomas Hawksfield Usher; Known as Tea Party Tommy from his liking to go to funerals, it was said he would go anywhere for a tea party. The family lived around Eston as I remember visiting them with mother. I think one of the children was called John, he was a bookmaker in Redcar, I believe he died some time ago.

William Usher; Billa was always to compete in the greasy pole on Regatta day. His wife Mary nursed and lay out dead people.

James Kinnersley Usher; My mother told me that Ellen took ill whilst washing and died, James Kinnersley died shortly afterward with a broken heart. His daughter Kate lived with Martha Cox for a while but didn’t like it. My father paid for his daughter Mary to go to the grammar school.

Charles Usher; Uncle Charlie was a good uncle to me – he never forgot Christmas or birthdays and bought me ‘Sunny Stories’ magazine regularly. He died of cancer in 1956. They lived in the mock Tudor house going up to the grammar school. He and Mr. Knaggs owned ‘Wilcocks Store’ which were grocery shops on Church Street, Silver Street, Sleights and Sandsend. He collected paintings, books and good carved furniture. He was a local historian and gave lantern lectures which his assistant kept going after his death. He researched the family, he wanted the family to put together and buy a castle near Dundee (I think which was something to do with the family). His wife Nellie was also nice to me and gave me some of her jewellery.

They had one son Francis, who went to University and became a Catholic Priest. He late met and married a nun Catherine. After she died he lived at the Prestbetry in Whitby until he died.

Martha Usher; When I was small they had a shop on Church Street and lived in the cottage behind.