My Ancestors

Marriage…

My CLARK grandparents were childhood sweethearts. Sadly though the story of where they now met is lost. Perhaps at school – their Girls and Boys Junior schools were next to each other; perhaps through the Church where grandma became a Sunday School teacher; or perhaps simply through growing up in neighbouring streets. Before they were in their twenties Will was sending cards to Connie signed ‘Your Ever Loving Will’ and adding a long list of x’s. The War put any plans they might have had on hold until they were both in their mid twenties, but Will and Connie married in early June 1920 at Ebenezer Chapel, New Clee, Grimsby before honeymooning in Matlock, Derbyshire.

For those wondering about the positioning of the apostrophe in the heading of this piece, my JARVIS grandparents married seventeen days earlier at the Register Office, Ecclesall Bierlow, Sheffield. Grandma’s first husband had been killed two years earlier in the trenches of northern France, leaving her a widow with a two year old only weeks after her twentieth birthday. Sidney and Ada met at Mappin & Webbs where they both worked, the family story is that their first date was at the annual Cutlers Feast. Coincidently, they too honeymooned in Matlock.

… and Memories

As well as my existence, I have these two events to thank for memories of staying as a young boy at the Belsfield Hotel overlooking Lake Windermere. Will and Connie paid for Sidney and Ada and about 20 or 30 guests to join them for a celebratory dinner. A menu from the event says we had Cream of Mushroom, Consomme Italien, Fillet of Halibut Duglere, Roast Duckling, Apple Sauce, Sage & Onion Stuffing, Steamed Cauliflower, French Beans, Roast Potatoes, New Potatoes, Fresh Strawberries & Farm Cream and Cheese and Biscuits.

I’m sure there was a lot of that meal I didn’t eat, but I do remember the excitement of staying up late and also of my nana and grandad CLARK being the centre of the party. Nana and grandad JARVIS were always much more reserved. There was also a waiter who looked just like the cartoon one on the opening credits of Top Cat, thin and angular, his nose held high in the air. I liked him though, because he got me an extra portion of strawberries. Sometime during that visit I also remember standing on tip-toe, looking down from a large, upstairs, bay window down onto the lawn below. Trestle tables were piled with plates and dishes at one end, until a table slowly tipped, so that plates, cutlery and food all gracefully slid onto the grass. I remember feeling like I knew it was going to happen before it did, and then also it all seemed to happen in slow motion.

Nana and grandad CLARK at the Belsfield, June 1970. Nana and grandad JARVIS were there, but I’ve never seen a photograph. Perhaps they declined or, if one was taken, didn’t feet any need to own a copy.