EmmaLL
knowlegable brummie
In the mid 90's. My grandad started jotting down his (what we all jokingly called) Memoirs. Sadly he passed away suddenly so only scratched the surface. They were packed away as my Nan found them upsetting and after she passed we found them. I deciphered his squiggly handwriting and typed them up. A mere 8 pages but I found the a lovely read and very entertaining. He talks of his school days and growing up in Kingstanding. A few local streets, pubs and businesses are mentioned. The attachment is too large So i'm going to copy and paste, and add a few pics at the end.
Written in his own words bv Norman Wilkinson.
My parents came from large families. From the information gained from my mother, she was the youngest of 12 children and my eldest brother tells me my father was the eldest of 13 children. Which probably explains why my brothers and I did not get too much love from them in our childhood: they had possibly had enough of kids by the time they were married, but they were devoted to each other in their own way and loved us three boys in the same way. They were private persons, almost never visiting their own parents, brothers or sisters. Visits to my mother's. Mom were almost non existent and to my Aunt Ada,the eldest of the sisters in my Mothers brood and the only Aunt I got to know, one could have counted on the one hand. ln later life my Aunt Ada said to me "How your mother ever managed to rear you three boys I'll never know" a statment which at the time I refuted but on reflection is possibly true. Visits to my Fathers family were even less. I learned in later life that my Grandad lived in Halfords Lane West Bromwich alongside the Albion Ground. ln our search for or fore bearers it seems like both sets of my familes worked and resided in the Smethwick area. During our search we visited the 'Old Church' in Smethwick, a most pleasant old building hence the name, where my Parents signed their vows in September 1918. The Vicar;was so helpful showing us around the church and letting us look in the parish records. On this genealogical search we have obtained my Parents birth certificates and their marriage lines but I don't know the birth, marriage or death dates of their parents my grandparents, this is proving a bit hit and miss at the moment. So following the advice of a book'5 ways into Birmingham past', my wife and I took ourselves off to the central library on 2 or 3 occasions. Firstly we studies the names of Wilkinson on microfiche, having no joy we managed to book a microfilm reading at St Catherines registry to see if we could find any record of a marriage between my grandparents for the years prior to my fathers birth. (he being the eldest) Once again no joy! We looked at microfilm for 3 years prior to my Fathers Birth (1892) still no joy Kinestanding It holds so many happy memories for me. lt seems to have been born out of the depression of the 1920's-1930's. the population of this suburb was largely made up of people re-housed from the Aston slums. My Family consisted of my Father Alfred (Bill) William. Mother Martha (Pat) My Brothers Ronnie, Stanley and Myself Norma?r being the youngest. Poverty was the order of the day-everyday! We as a family arrived at Crayford Road via Halesbury Grove and Abingdon Rd Perry Common. So it seems I have always lived in the area. I can still recall my first experience of infants school, being at Hastings Rd School. My mother sternly informing me my childhood days were over and shoving me through the steel barred entrance. However I had other ideas and I soon found my way to another entrance from which I quickly made my exit. I was home before my mother! After this we moved a few times over the next few months and I also attended Hawthorn rd, and Cranbourne rd (now Knigsthorrn) Schools. Finally attending the newly opened Peckham Rd school (now Kingsrise) until I ended my school days. I recall while I was in infants school being in the draw for the Daily Mail's free boots, jumpers and trousers which were charitably provided for the needy. A casual observer may have been forgiven for thinking this was our school uniform as there were so many children sporting this attire. We, the lucky recipients of this uniform were glad to be wearing it, we weren't too proud. ln my case the studs on the boots were grand to slide around on. Another recollection of these times was my drooling over a fellow pupils banana sandwich and being rewarded with a bite! All the time inwardly thinking of how rich this boys parents must be to afford bananas. On my progression through the system to senior school, I was at that time of the opinion that the teachers were more interested in the children whose parents could afford to spend money on their children's clothes. I always had excellent attainments at school, in the top 4.
Written in his own words bv Norman Wilkinson.
My parents came from large families. From the information gained from my mother, she was the youngest of 12 children and my eldest brother tells me my father was the eldest of 13 children. Which probably explains why my brothers and I did not get too much love from them in our childhood: they had possibly had enough of kids by the time they were married, but they were devoted to each other in their own way and loved us three boys in the same way. They were private persons, almost never visiting their own parents, brothers or sisters. Visits to my mother's. Mom were almost non existent and to my Aunt Ada,the eldest of the sisters in my Mothers brood and the only Aunt I got to know, one could have counted on the one hand. ln later life my Aunt Ada said to me "How your mother ever managed to rear you three boys I'll never know" a statment which at the time I refuted but on reflection is possibly true. Visits to my Fathers family were even less. I learned in later life that my Grandad lived in Halfords Lane West Bromwich alongside the Albion Ground. ln our search for or fore bearers it seems like both sets of my familes worked and resided in the Smethwick area. During our search we visited the 'Old Church' in Smethwick, a most pleasant old building hence the name, where my Parents signed their vows in September 1918. The Vicar;was so helpful showing us around the church and letting us look in the parish records. On this genealogical search we have obtained my Parents birth certificates and their marriage lines but I don't know the birth, marriage or death dates of their parents my grandparents, this is proving a bit hit and miss at the moment. So following the advice of a book'5 ways into Birmingham past', my wife and I took ourselves off to the central library on 2 or 3 occasions. Firstly we studies the names of Wilkinson on microfiche, having no joy we managed to book a microfilm reading at St Catherines registry to see if we could find any record of a marriage between my grandparents for the years prior to my fathers birth. (he being the eldest) Once again no joy! We looked at microfilm for 3 years prior to my Fathers Birth (1892) still no joy Kinestanding It holds so many happy memories for me. lt seems to have been born out of the depression of the 1920's-1930's. the population of this suburb was largely made up of people re-housed from the Aston slums. My Family consisted of my Father Alfred (Bill) William. Mother Martha (Pat) My Brothers Ronnie, Stanley and Myself Norma?r being the youngest. Poverty was the order of the day-everyday! We as a family arrived at Crayford Road via Halesbury Grove and Abingdon Rd Perry Common. So it seems I have always lived in the area. I can still recall my first experience of infants school, being at Hastings Rd School. My mother sternly informing me my childhood days were over and shoving me through the steel barred entrance. However I had other ideas and I soon found my way to another entrance from which I quickly made my exit. I was home before my mother! After this we moved a few times over the next few months and I also attended Hawthorn rd, and Cranbourne rd (now Knigsthorrn) Schools. Finally attending the newly opened Peckham Rd school (now Kingsrise) until I ended my school days. I recall while I was in infants school being in the draw for the Daily Mail's free boots, jumpers and trousers which were charitably provided for the needy. A casual observer may have been forgiven for thinking this was our school uniform as there were so many children sporting this attire. We, the lucky recipients of this uniform were glad to be wearing it, we weren't too proud. ln my case the studs on the boots were grand to slide around on. Another recollection of these times was my drooling over a fellow pupils banana sandwich and being rewarded with a bite! All the time inwardly thinking of how rich this boys parents must be to afford bananas. On my progression through the system to senior school, I was at that time of the opinion that the teachers were more interested in the children whose parents could afford to spend money on their children's clothes. I always had excellent attainments at school, in the top 4.
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