|
 | |  | |
I was born in 1936 in my granddad's house at No. 10 Prospect Cottages, off Barlborough Road, Clowne, wrote Barry Lindley. My Grandfather and two of his brothers built the four cottages whilst still fairly young men.
I don't remember my other grandfather, though he didn't give up the 'motal toil' until I had reached two years old. The reason that I don't remember an early memory of my dad's father was apparently due to his reluctance to be seen.
This 'out of character' phobia probably had to do with the fact that he had a severe facial disfiguration, due to a cancerous growth in his jaw. This resulted in his demise!
Alfred Lindley, my grandfather, had met and eventually married Sarah Ann Smith. This family name, eventually leading to some problems with searches, in my endeavours to trace my ancestors.
Not just because the 'Smith' surname is an extremely common name, but it was my mother's family name also. This obviously has led to some confusion. But I digress!
Granddad Lindley's early involvement with Sarah Ann had dire consequences, in that Sarah became pregnant. This event leading to a refusal by her family to grant permission to marry when she was underage.
She did conform to her family's wishes, though she did refuse to give up the relationship with Alfred. The situation became even more strained when she became pregnant with her second child.
Because the children were both born 'out of wedlock', though to the same father, both carried the surname Smith!
Upon becoming Mrs Lindley, an early tragedy was the death of the second child in infancy, but was quickly followed by another birth, that of her second son.
My delving into the family history has turned up some surprising facts, which until now have had the doubtful title of 'skeletons'. Sarah Ann gave birth to a total of twenty children, amongst whom were two sets of twins, but only one individual survived childbirth.
A burden, which diminished life expectancy for women considerably during the turn of the century, was childbirth and the appearance of being constantly pregnant.
I assume the logic behind this sad practice was that it became necessary because of infant mortality, both at childbirth and during the early period of a child's life. Presumably this in some ways explains the misguided reasoning, that 'the more children' the better chance of a reasonable survival rate.
Barry Lindley, Leicestershire, 2002
| |  | |  |
To add a comment you must first login or join for free, up in the top left corner.
|
|
