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From Go to Whoa

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From Go to Whoa From go to whoa A personal history by Arthur Parker 2 Contents Starting Out .......................................................................................................................... 5 Early Memories................................................................................................................... 12 I Enter the Halls of Learning ............................................................................................... 14 Hazelwood Road ................................................................................................................ 17 My Home ............................................................................................................................ 20 Recreation .......................................................................................................................... 26 The High Street Market ...................................................................................................... 29 Christmas ........................................................................................................................... 34 Holidays .............................................................................................................................. 36 Transition to Work .............................................................................................................. 43 The Empire Exhibition ........................................................................................................ 47 Outbreak of War ................................................................................................................. 49 Return to Civilian Life ......................................................................................................... 58 Love and Marriage ............................................................................................................. 61 New Home, New Baby ....................................................................................................... 65 The Festival of Britain 1951 ................................................................................................ 68 Another Move, Another Baby ............................................................................................. 70 Working in the City ............................................................................................................. 72 A Step Forward .................................................................................................................. 74 Settling In ........................................................................................................................... 82 A Permanent Home ............................................................................................................ 88 Australian Holidays ............................................................................................................. 92 Cubs and Scouts ................................................................................................................ 94 Our Growing Family............................................................................................................ 97 An Exciting New Chapter ................................................................................................. 100 Long Service Leave .......................................................................................................... 102 Our Campervan Tour ....................................................................................................... 104 The Rest of our Holiday .................................................................................................... 108 An Exciting Adventure ...................................................................................................... 112 More Change .................................................................................................................... 120 Moving On ........................................................................................................................ 123 Sunshine and Shadow. .................................................................................................... 126 Relatives from England .................................................................................................... 129 Westward Ho! ................................................................................................................... 132 A Double Move ................................................................................................................. 134 Our First Great Grandchild ............................................................................................... 137 An Expedition to South Australia ...................................................................................... 139 More Welcome Visitors..................................................................................................... 143 1997 – 2002 ..................................................................................................................... 144 Adapting to Change .......................................................................................................... 148 Independence ................................................................................................................... 151 Holiday with Edna ............................................................................................................. 154 Second Trip to UK 2006 ................................................................................................... 159 The Fringe Benefits of Old Age ........................................................................................ 163 3 Foreword I must begin by expressing my deep gratitude to my late wife, Hilda, for her love and support all through our life together. And for helping to establish a new life for me and our children in Australia. I am writing this account of my life to give my children some idea of what it was like to grow up in the 1920s and 30s. Already there has been considerable change in the lifestyle of children due to the advances in technology since WWII. Not many people had phones then, radios were quite common, usually battery operated. Interests and games varied according to where you lived. My children will understand this because changes were less rapid during their childhood. My grandchildren probably will. To my great grandchildren and beyond it will be ancient history. I wish them all a happy and enjoyable childhood, and the ability to do their best and succeed in whatever they choose. Acknowledgements Many thanks to Robert, Carolynne and Paul for helping me with my personal history, for answering all my questions and fixing my mistakes. I could not have done it without you. Also thank you to Rhonda Byrne for her guidance and looking after the commas. 4 Chapter 1 Starting Out I was born under the star sign of Gemini, on the evening of Wednesday the 26th of May 1920. It seemed that I wasn’t terribly impressed with the world as I saw it then, as the doctor had a job to start me breathing. Anyway, curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to give it a go and find out what this life thing was all about. Me and Edna I was christened Arthur, after my father, and William, after my uncle. As far as I know, I was born at home, a situation which I believe was common at that time. This was in the back bedroom of a four-roomed upstairs flat, in a row of two story terrace houses, in Hazelwood Road Walthamstow, a suburb in NE London. I slept in a cot in the corner of the room for the next two and a half years until my sister arrived on the 20th of October 1922. She was christened Edna Elizabeth. I was then promoted to a bed in the front bedroom, generally known as the Front Room or Parlour. It was furnished for relaxing in on the weekend or entertaining family and guests. My parents were Elizabeth Sarah and Arthur Parker. They were married on the 19th of April 1919, after my father was demobilized from the army. They were married in St Michael’s Church in Palmerston Road Walthamstow. Mother’s maiden name was Blackaby, born to Joseph and Sarah Ann on the 11th of December 1881. She had an elder sister and a brother. My father came from a large family. His parents were William, a cabinet maker, and Maria, nee Street or Streat as shown on their marriage certificate. There were eight children in all, four boys and four girls. I knew all but two of them, Alfred and Harry, who were killed in WW I. The others in age order from the eldest down were William, Emma, Louisa, Arthur, Maud and Ada. 5 The people in the photo are, dad and mum, Aunt Emma, dad’s third eldest sister and George Hopwood, Aunt Lou’s husband. The children are Lilly Parker, daughter of William Parker, dad’s eldest brother and Winnie Hopwood, daughter of George and Louisa Hopwood. Although I remember being taken around as a small child to visit various relatives, I don’t have much recollection of some of them, or their relationship to me. I do remember the pennies that I collected on such visits! My favourites were Aunt Jennie, Mums elder sister, and her husband, Uncle Jim. Their name was Blackeby, spelt with an ‘e’, whereas my mother’s surname had an ‘a’. Aunt Jennie had two children, Jennie and Ellen. Sadly, Jennie died in the flu epidemic during WWI. My Father My father was born on Wednesday the 24th of September 1884, in the district of Bow, in East London.
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