"THE BEGINNING" by Ethel Fincken
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| Ethel Maude Archer: A Memoir (2003) |
It was about midnight on March 3rd 1925, when I made my entry, which was almost a surprise, as my Mother did not even know of my existence until two months before I arrived.
I was born in a small private Maternity home, where Mother worked as a cleaner. It was in the posher end of a street, in a very rough area. Our home was one room, a kitchen and a shared toilet. There were four in our family, Mother, Dad, my brother George and now of course, Me. There was very little money. Mother was a char lady, known nowadays as a cleaner. She earned about five shillings a week, that would be twenty five pence in present money. My Father was a night watchman (he looked after buildings or roads under repair). He had a little hut to sit in and shelter from the rain and wind and he kept warm during the night by having a fire burning outside his open hut, which looked a bit like a sentry box. The fire was in a bucket on four legs and holes in it helped the coke(which was fuel made from coal) burn well. He heated water on his fire and was able to make hot drinks during the night.
When he was a boy, he was a well-known character in the neighbourhood. He had had a bad accident when he was a boy and had to have a leg amputated. He had been riding on his father’s horse and cart. He fell off and the cart wheel went over his leg. And so he wore a peg leg (wooden leg).
He was an old man of 74 when I was born, and was known as “Peg Leg”. His age and his disability was why he could only manage the work that he did. My Mother told me when I questioned her years later about his age and why she had married him, she said he had nowhere to sleep or live and she was sorry for him so they married to give him a home. And I was the result, the only child in three marriages – his other wives had died.
My brother George was six years old when I came on the scene. He was our Mother’s son by a previous marriage. When I went to school, my teacher asked me about my brother and how much older than me was he and what was his name. On learning that he had a different surname, she said “Oh, I see, he is your half-brother!” He was my hero and he spoiled me rotten. I was heart-broken that he was not a whole brother, only half! However, I was soon assured that he was MY OWN brother, after all.
Chapter 2
When I was two years old, we moved out of our rooms, and moved to flat on the other side of Surbiton. It was a basement flat. We had much more room, a kitchen and a sitting room downstairs in the basement and one room on the ground floor and use of a bathroom and of the garden. (I had never known a garden before, it was great fun!).
As our downstairs rooms were very damp, George and I slept in the upstairs bedroom. Mother also shared the room with us. Dad was happier downstairs.
Mother and I used to meet George from school; Sometimes on the way, we would call in on an old lady. Her name was Miss Hall and she lived in one room in a house next to where I was born. She was a great friend of my Mother’s and I loved visiting her. Her room was upstairs. We went in the front door and started up the stairs. As we went, there was such an interesting smell as we climbed the stairs, a mix of all sorts of things and when she let us into her room and we were encased in that smell, I stood in wonder! I had never seen such a room. It was wonderful, so much furniture! She had an oil stove which made the room very hot. I think the smell was made up of something like Vick, which she used all the time, lavender, food and paraffin from the stove.. There was a pouffe for me to sit on while Mother and Miss Hall talked. She was a very fat lady and wore lots of clothes. Her hair was grey and very thick and she wore it in a bun at the back of her head. I had milk to drink while Mother and Miss Hall had tea. I wasn’t allowed to run about (I don’t think there would have been enough room to do so anyway). There were lots and lots of ornaments all around the room. It was a magic place and I loved going!
Chapter 1 (again)
I was about five years old when I had my first dog. She was a small brown terrier. I can’t remember a lot about her except the fun and excitement she caused one day. Mother was getting dinner ready, the sausages lay on a plate on the table. This was when sausages were sold joined together, and hung from hooks in the butchers. Well, there they were on the plate, all joined together. Suddenly, Brownie dashed in, jumped, grabbed the sausages and ran with one in her mouth and the rest of the sausages following behind. Behind her went Mum with my Brother and I cheering them on. We lived on a very busy road with trams and horse and carts. One day, Brownie got out on her own and was knocked down and unfortunately, she had to be put to sleep.
As at that time we were living in a very cramped basement flat, Mother didn’t think we should have another dog until we had better accommodation.. In 1934, when I was 9 years old, my father died and my Mother bought me a dear little ginger kitten called Sandy. I loved him dearly. He let me dress him up in a bonnet, put him in my dolls pram and walk around the garden with him. He was a marvellous hunter and kept us free of mice etc..
The following year, when I was ten, we had to leave our flat as the house was very old and in a very bad condition and not fit to be lived in. We went to stay with friends on their small-holding. They kept pigs and chickens, a horse and a goat and lots of cats. I loved it, but Sandy, who we had taken with us, was not a bit happy and was bullied by the cats. Of course, although I didn’t realise it, I expect he was jealous of the attention I gave to the other animals. One day, he didn’t appear at dinnertime or bedtime. We searched and searched, but didn’t find him.. We had been back to our old address to see if he was back there but with no luck. Several weeks later we went back again to see if he was there. No one had seen him. A main line railway went past the bottom of the garden and the railway station was nearby and the track to the bridge.. We went for a walk along the road to where we could see down the railway embankment to the train rails and we saw a little ginger body down near the track.. We went to the station and spoke to a porter and he went along and found her. He must have walked back to where he had been happy. It was a sad ending for a much loved pet .
After being on the small holding for about a year, Mother was offered a council house to rent. It was new, on a new estate. It had three bedrooms, so for the first time in my life, I had a bedroom of my own. There was a nice-sized garden……………….
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