Malcolm Smith's Family History Archive


Biography of

Edith  Lilian  SWINNERTON

[Ref. R.14]


Ancestors Profile Dwellings Photos Index for SWINNERTON

 
Edith Lilian Swinnerton was born at 54 Whittier Street in Liverpool on 31 October 1906, though her
birth certificate gives the date as 1 November 1909. The story is that there was some confusion about the date as many of the family were present at the birth and there was much celebration, so much so that when the registration was made six weeks later, a concensus of opinion was taken and agreed that the birth had been on 1 November. By 1908, the Swinnerton family were living at 101 Ponsonby Street which was a small terraced house, so the increasing family had little space.

Edie was educated at Tiber Street school, starting in October 1910 aged just 4 and continuing until she left in December 1920 at the age of fourteen. She was naturally left-handed but that was not tolerated in those days and she was forced to write with her right hand. One day when she was about 5 years old, she was caught talking to the child next to her in class and made to stand on a chair all day with her pinafore pulled up over her head. Whilst at school, she took part in gymnastics, then continued at Princes Gate Girls Club, winning prizes and being the champion for five years. She then taught classes at the St.Lawrence School club. Brothers Sydney and Eric Moore were gymnasts at the Christchurch club and Edie became engaged to Sydney. However, when he decided to emigrate to Canada, Edie broke it off with him. His brother, Stanley, married Edie's sister Emmie.

Edie's youngest brother Eric died of Diphtheria in 1923 shortly before his 3rd birthday. She recalled that all the children had to kiss him when he was laid out and how distressing she found it.

Edie had an interest in flowers and she became quite proficient in flower arranging. On leaving school, she had wanted to be a florist but her mother insisted that she did something sensible. The headmistress helped her find a job in the offices of J.Collinson & Co, shoe makers in Bold Street, Liverpool where she became accomplished at bookkeeping. She remained there until she left Liverpool to be married. There was good comradeship between the staff and some of the girls formed a photographic society to have their portraits taken.

Soon after breaking her engagement to Sydney, Edie met Marcus Parsons at a dance which she had been encouraged to attend to cheer her up. She had been reluctant to go out that evening having a heavy cold at the time. She had rubbed goose grease onto her chest and covered it with a red flannel consequently got very hot from dancing. However, it went well and they courted but it was seven years before they could afford to get married. Edie would get annoyed with her brothers as they would pinch the cakes that she had baked for her fiancée when he visited. In anticipation of her marriage, Edie stocked her 'bottom drawer' with goods from Woolworths. Dancing formed a major part of social life then and Edie and Marc would often go to the Rialto at Toxteth Park along with some of their respective siblings.

Edie's fiancée had moved south to find work during the depression. He was living rented a flat at 19 Caprera Terrace, Plymouth when he married Edith on 19 October 1935. Edie had changed her religion from Baptist to become Roman Catholic in order to marry Marc. She came down to Plymouth and the wedding took place at the church of St.Mary and St.Boniface in Cecil Street. They started their honeymoon at 6 Empire Road, Torquay where they received a saucy telegram was sent by someone, probably her brother Frank, at a time designed to interrupt the honeymoon at an inconvenient time. Upon their marriage, Marcus and Edith moved to a more modern flat in Salcombe Road in the Lipson area of Plymouth. There is an invoice for furniture which was ordered the day before the wedding. Edie recalled that her weight was 9 stones at the time of her wedding.

By 1936, Marcus and Edie were living at 12 Barton Avenue in Paignton, which is where their son Michael Tomes Parsons was born on 6 July 1936. Edie described him as a 'honeymoon baby'. Their neighbour, Betty Appleby, assisted at the birth, also she and her husband Courtney accommodated some of Edie's sisters who had travelled down from Liverpool for the birth. Three months later, Edie herself lodged with Betty whilst Marcus travelled down to London to look for work.

Once Marc had settled in London, Edie went down to join him at 34 Harlesden Gardens. Marc's brother Frank lodged with them whilst he was out of work but having found a job moved into a ground floor flat. The landlord of the flat was not keen to have a baby in the building and only accepted if Mike was kept quiet. Edie used to walk out a lot to keep Mike out of the house and would meet Marc from work at 9pm. She also used to feed Mike whenever he cried in the flat to the point that when she took him to the doctor he told her that the baby had indigestion. The flat overlooked a convent next door and Edie said that she drew comfort from the serenity of the nuns in their garden.

They did not remain long in Harlesden as Marc was offered a job in Felixstowe in 1936. They had just found a house in Harrow that they liked but they forewent that and travelled to Felixstowe to look for a house there. They found a house at 27 Looe Road on Christmas Day and when Edie looked through the window and saw a lovely brick fireplace, that was enough for her to make up her mind.

The Parsons became friends with the Smethurst family who were their neighbours and Mike would play with their children. Edie recalled that she and Doris Smethurst took the children to the beach the day that war broke out as there seemed to be nothing else special to be done. Marc was employed on secret work in connection with radar and, at the outbreak of war, the department was dispersed around the country.

Marcus was despatched at short notice to Leighton Buzzard so their furniture was placed in storage and Marc taken with his colleagues by army lorry. Edie was left to her own devices so, without invitation, she jumped on board the lorry with son Michael. Edie found work at Beechcroft School in Leighton Buzzard through contacts of the Smethurst family. It was a private school and Edie taught gymnastics by way of something to do. The school proprietor was "a bit posh" although he had no formal training. The school fees were quite high and he added £5 per term for gymnastics when Edie started formally as a teacher. She received a letter of appreciation when she left the school.

It was not long before Marc was transferred to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. He and Edie first found lodgings at 3 Coleford Bridge Road. They later found a top floor flat in a house in Hawley Lane which Marc thought Edie would like because of the view. She did like the view but not the location as it was a long way from the shops and she had no means of transport.

After a while they found a bungalow to rent at 13 Manor Road, and they remained there for 30 years. Their friends, the Smethurst's, moved to Yeovil and their friendship continued. They would come and stay at Manor Road when Edie and family went away for their annual holiday at Hayling Island which was a regular event for many years.

On 13 April 1943, Edie gave birth to twin girls, Brenda Audrey and Wendy Dorothea. Wendy was very much underweight and spent the first three months of her life in hospital.

Behind the bungalow were fields in which a horse called Turpin lived. When the war was over, the local families held a victory parade in the field.

In about 1955, Edie took part-time work in the Elizabeth Shaw chocolate factory in Frimley. She started on the conveyor belt packing chocolates into boxes as they passed but she was unable to keep up and was constantly being told off. She then got moved into the mint house where she mixed the ingredients but did not like that. The good part of being employed there was that staff could buy the rejects on a Friday so her children were always eager for that day.

In 1956 she left the chocolate factory and took a job for three days per week in a shop in Lynchford Road. The shop was called Smokes and sold the whole range of tobacco products. They also sold ice cream and had a large selection of sweets. The shop was owned by Mrs Bartlett, a rather snooty widow of an army officer, but she did say that Edie's daughters could help themselves to the sweets. Edie worked from Thursday to Saturday and her friend Vera Selway worked from Monday to Wednesday. The shop went out of business due to competition from supermarkets but Edie found another job in a jewellery shop nearby owned by Geoff Barlow. In his main shop, he sold toys, and in particular, model trains.

Son Michael left home in the mid 1950's, then Wendy in 1960 and Brenda in 1967.

Edie and Marc then started to travel abroad and in 1958 took a holiday in Italy with her brother Frank Swinnerton and his wife Audrey. They visited Italy again and also went to Spain and Jersey. They made a visit to Canada in 1963 to visit relatives and also in 1969 went to Ireland to trace Marc's ancestors.

One day whilst her sister Sally was visiting, the two of them decided to go to the Rex cinema in Farnborough. The film that was showing was Lolita but they were totally unaware of the story. Sally was unconcerned but Edie was flabbergasted and found it hard to get over that such a story could be shown as a film.

Marc retired in 1971 after which he and Edie moved to Verwood in Dorset to be near their daughters. Many of their relatives made the journey to see them in their new house at 50 Woodlinken Close, Marcus only enjoyed two years retirement in Verwood before he passed away on 21 November 1973. Soon after, Edie took in a lodger, a young college student and son of one of daughter Brenda's customers. The boy was not used to doing anything for himself so, besides cooking for him, Edie soon found herself also doing his washing, all of which proved too much for her and she asked him to leave.

Daughter Brenda was a part-time hairdresser working from home so, Edie used to help her by taking the appointments and doing the shampooing. In return, Brenda would ensure her mother could get around and would drive her to the shops or station, and Edie would contribute to the cost. Brenda did give her a wage for the work she did but when she was offered a rise she declined. She did take driving lessons in an attempt to be independent, but found that she had no aptitude. She also kept busy by babysitting for family or friends and joined a ramblers club for company for a while but found the walking too difficult. She also went on a short break holiday with a neighbour of her daughter but the lady only seemed to want to go to Bingo halls which did not suit Edie.

Around 1978, Edie moved to another bungalow at 31 Pine View Road in Verwood, which was nearer to her daughter, so she could walk to the house rather than be collected or rely on buses. Around 1980, her granddaughter Nicola came to live with her and stayed for the next five years. Edie remained at that bungalow until she passed away at home on 22 July 1992, having succumbed to cancer of the lungs, probably due to the fact that her husband Marc had been a heavy smoker. She was buried with her husband at Verwood Cemetery.

 


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