1964 Lace Makers Interviewed

By 1964 several elderly lace makers had been interviewed as follows:-

MINNIE BROWN told by Rosemary Mortham

Minnie Brown was born in 1889.   The daughter of Ellen Brown.   They lived at no.1, Belle Vue, Lacey Green.   Ellen was widowed in 1897 when Minnie was 8 years old.   Ellen kept a little shop in the back room of their house, selling a few groceries and sweets.

CHRISTMAS “RICE PUDDING”

Money was very tight.   The first Christmas they only had a bowl of rice pudding.   Minnie had been taught to make lace by her mother.   She would run home at school dinner break to add to the “Little knot” design lace that she had learnt to do.   It would fetch tuppence - halfpenny (approx. 1p) for a yard.  They both spent every evening lace making by candlelight to make enough money to live.    Minnie said that every now and then her mother’s bobbins would stop and she would nod off for a few moments.  

SPECIAL LACE

When she was 13, Mrs Forrest, the squire’s wife bought some of her lace.  Minnie said that she had made lace incorporating gold thread, but no examples remain.    Ellen and Minnie also did bead work.   In later life Minnie, now married to Fred Adams, specialised in making handkerchief borders for brides.    Her daughter Phyllis still had a number of examples in traditional Bucks patterns like Duke’s Garter and Water Lily.   She made proper shaped corners and often did her own thread work on the handkerchief.   In 1948 Minnie made 16 yards of lace for her daughter Phyllis’s wedding veil.   This has since been cut up for her grandchildren’s christening gowns.   What a labour of love!

WW2 MAPS

During WW2, Phyllis worked at Bomber Command, making maps on thin cotton fabric.   Later her mother used this to make the hankies for her lace edgings, once the map pattern had been washed off.   

In 1955 Clara Rixon, wife of Fred Rixon gave an interview to “Buckinghamshire Interest”.

EVERY LITTLE HELPS

She states that she has been making lace for over 60 years.    Her efforts, when young, helped to eke out the family budget, but she never made lace for a living.

MOTHER & GRANDMOTHER

Her mother learned lace at the age of 5 and her grandmother made “real old Bucks lace” at half a crown a yard (12.5p) for the Countess of Buckinghamshire.

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