Recollections

Grandparents  - the 20th Century begins

My great-aunt Violet (1901-1984) Minnie's sister, married a Danish manufacturing plumber (Paul Koford1899-1972). They had two children (Jill and Paul); cousins to whom my mother was very much attached; and whom I have visited in Denmark.  Denmark is across the the channel from Newcastle as the Vikings frequently demonstrated.  There was once an overnight ferry but now you need to fly, go via Holland or catch the ferry from Harwich. Many settled in the area and the Geordie language of the Tyne valley retains many Danish words and intonations.  My great-uncle Paul liked to catch a bus into the working class areas just to listen to the people speak.  

My grandmother, Minnie, was a good student, a Girl Guide and an excellent swimmer (if not such a good strangler).  She rescued a man, John Richardson, from drowning in the River Wear at Finchale Abbey, at the age of 14, when she was out cycling.  I have a Testimonial presented to her by the Royal Humane Society to this effect and handwritten letter from if Agnes Baden-Powell, founder of the Girl Guides, congratulating her on her ‘plucky conduct’ that ‘will be a grand example to all the girls of England’. Finchale (finkle) Abbey is more than 16 miles from her home and I have been unable to find out if she had cycled there alone that day or if perhaps she was there with the Guides. [Since I wrote this it has been confirmed that she was there with the Guides - see the comment below]

Royal Humane Society Instituted 1774 Supported by a Voluntary Contributions PATRON His Majesty the King VICE PATRON H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught. K.G.,   At a meeting of the committee of the royal humane society held at their Office, 4, Trafalgar Square on the 17th day of October 1910 Present Admiral Sir George Digby Morant K.C.B. in the chair It was Resolved Unanimously That the Honorary Testimonial of this Society Inscribed on Parchment be hereby given to Amelia L. Gifford for having on the 26th of May 1910 gone to the rescue of John Richardson who was in imminent danger of drowning in the Wear at Finchale Abbey and whose life she courageously assisted in saving.       FAL Claughten Secretary       GeoDigby Morant Chairman

The B-P Girl Guides       June 15th, [1910] My dear Miss Gifford I have been wishing to write and congratulate you on your plucky conduct in saving life in the flooded river , which must have been all the more difficult when fully dressed.  We all thought it splendidly brave of you to attempt such a deed, and it will be a grand example to all girls of England. The medal to which you are entitled has been forwarded to the committee to present to you, with best wishes Sincerely yours  Agnes Baden-Powell

While there were constraints on the degree of interaction with the opposite sex, there are photographs of Minnie as a late teen in the country in the company of young men, including my grandfather; well before she was married. And obviously her sister was free enough to be able to meet and marry a Dane.

Her marriage to my grandfather was delayed by the First World War. 

Lance Corporal Storey (on exercises in the Territorials prior to WWI)

Initially a corporal in the reserve (the Territorials) Alan rose to the rank of Battery Sergeant Major in the Royal Field Artillery. He was gassed and wounded and retuned to England in 1918, having been awarded the military medal for bravery. 

This was not without confusion over the spelling of his name:

They finally married in June 1922 (when Minnie was 26).  My mother was born ten months later.  They had only one child. 

Minnie was no stranger to work. At the age of 14 she was a dressmaking apprentice possibly to her aunt Amelia who was a dressmaker.  Then, until she was married, she worked in a chemist shop.  Both her mother and aunt had an ongoing interest in politics and women's suffrage that she inherited. During the Second World War she quickly rose within the Women's Voluntary Services to become Area Commander.   The WVS ran canteens and provided emergency aid to those hit by air raids and so on.

Alan was commissioned (with the rank of Major) and commanded the local Home Guard Unit. 

Major Storey MM and Mrs Storey (Area Commander WVS) during WWII

When the company armoury was hit by a bomb the weapons were temporally moved to their house including mills bombs in the cellar; and a Browning machine gun in the dining room. Their house was subsequently damaged by masonry, and a flying window stone, when a house in Cardigan Terrace, behind theirs, was hit by a bomb.

After the war Minnie became more active in local politics and went on to become an Alderman; Sheriff of Newcastle on Tyne (1969); as well as Lady Mayoress (1971). 

Grandma on the left - outside the Civic Centre Newcastle-Tyne (circa 1971)
Madge Graham on the right (actually they're both on the right)

Alan continued to build a thriving business while supporting Minnie in her political life.  He in turn was active in the Masons and Rotary. When Clifford died in 1957 his widow wanted the business wound up so that she could realise her share. This property on Heaton Road was sold and new business premises rented. My grandparents bought a new home at 27 Dovedale Gardens, Heaton where I visited and stayed with her on several occasions. 

Grandma never learnt to drive but had an official car on Council business.  As I quickly learnt when driving her, she expected her driver to behave like a chauffeur. In a famous incident recalled by my mother she opened the family car door while the car was moving to have it swiped off by a wall.  This she steadfastly blamed this on my grandfather. 

For my grandmother, a high point in her life, was attending Buckingham Palace in 1955 to be received by the Queen and to be presented with her MBE.  

While my mother was happy for her mother, she considered this enthusiasm for royalty misplaced as it perpetuated class difference and represented all that needed fixing in Britain.  She disliked her mother's black and white approach, her passionate likes and dislikes and her preparedness to put principle, particularly Party, Queen and Country, ahead of everything.  Possibly in rebellion, my mother more than once remarked that she ‘wouldn’t cross the road to see the Queen’ and habitually referred to her consort as ‘Phil the Greek’. 

Notwithstanding my grandmother’s achievements and somewhat formidable bearing, I was taken aback when she deferred socially to my father’s relatively impoverished sister.  My father’s family was professional - not quite upper middle class, a very subtle difference. 

On another occasion I was amazed to see her address one of the richest property developers in the North of England as she would a shop assistant when we visited him in his enormous Edwardian country mansion on ‘Party matters’.  He had risen from the working class.  Such is, or was, the British class system.