A
Brief History of Roger’s Family
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On my father’s side, my grandparents were William Hewitt, who worked at Tolson’s in Fazeley, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Harriet Naylor, from a family of Staffordshire miners, I believe. They had two children, pictured right with their mother: |
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Sydney
(also pictured below) was educated at Tamworth Grammar
School, and spent his career in the District Audit service, based at various
times in London, Leeds, Derby and Hereford.
Except for service with the Royal Artillery as a surveyor in the
Second World War. |
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Wilfred
worked for a company I last knew of as Foseco ( = foundry services
company). Wilf married ‘Cis’ Barker, and
their children, and my cousins, are Mary, who has settled in Canada with her
husband and family, and David, who lives in the Newcastle area. |
A
branch of the family (I’m not sure whether Hewitts or Naylors) had emigrated to
Australia during the first part of the century. I remember receiving food parcels from them during the war, and
the famous ‘Black Swan’ stamps on the packages formed part of my first stamp
collection.
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My
mother’s parents were George Welldon, a shopkeeper, of Leeds, and his first
wife, who died young and whom I never knew.
In his later years, George had moved to Kenilworth, near
Coventry. He had two children
(right), both by his first wife: |
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Emily
(also pictured below), always known as ‘Paddy’, was
educated at Roundhay High School and worked in the Leeds rag trade (at
Marlbeck House) before she married Sydney in 1937. |
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Norman
was a salesman and married Annie (whose maiden name was Roberts, I think). They had no children. They remained in Leeds throughout their
lives, other than when Norman served in the RAF during the war. |
I
was born in Leeds in 1940. After three
years of a quick succession of moves in the London area, we settled in Leeds (1943-1952),
then in Derby (1952-1958) before moving to Hereford in 1958. I came to Cheltenham in 1962, and my parents
followed in 1977, when we acquired Darkes Farm, sharing the property until
their deaths in 1994.
My parents at Darkes Farm
Return to Roger
Last amended 24 November 2000