George & Edith Walton

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click in service for life as a domestic servant

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Research by Joan West

Edith Kate Janes born 1897, was the daughter of Horace & Agnes Mary Janes

1st marriage 1924 to Benjamin Robbins. .Research note Benjamin was too ill to sign the marriage register. They lived at Clarinsted, Loosley Hill, Loosley Row.

Benjamin born 1895 was the son of Robert and Margaret Robbins of Loosley Row. .Benjamin joined the Royal Navy in April 1912. In January 1926 he was transferred from his ship, the 'Pembroke', to the hospital at Chatham, reason given 'appendix'. He died 6th January 1926, in Chatham, Kent. They had no children. Benjamin's parents were Robert & Margaret Robbins from Loosley Row.

2nd marriage 1936 to George Abraham Walton at Samford, Suffolk.

Edith and George lived at Clarinsted, Loosley Hill, Loosley Row They had no children.

George Walton died in 1973. Edith Walton died in 1982

Research was done on the life of Mrs George Walton of Clarinsted, Loosley Hill, Loosley Row by Madeline Cleaver. see Bill & Madeline Cleaver for the life of Madeline. see also in service for other such stories.

Mrs Walton, nee Janes was born in 1897 in the first cottage of a row of three which were converted to what was Well Cottages, Church Lane, but moved to Coombs Grubbings at an early age.

Loosley Row School. As her mother worked and it was necessary for her sister to go to school, so Edith went along too, at a very early age, probably two years old, and the teacher was quite prepared to look after her. The school was in Loosley Row where the garage of Loosley Dene is now and the teachers were Miss Tomkins and Miss Simpson.

When Edith was four, the family moved to Corner Cottage , Loosley Row, opposite the Forge.

The Loosley Row School was a Church school and the Rev. Robson or his Curate Mr Corder, taught. Until it was explained to them how unkind it was, the children used to giggle when Rev. Robson talked to them, as he suffered from a speech impediment, and they suspected that this was the reason Mr Corder taught instead. However Edith won the Bishop's prize in 1908.

C of E Sunday School. Edith used to attend the Church of England Sunday School, where sometimes they were taught by the Vicarage maid. Once she was delayed and the children had to amuse themselves . Edith's parents were told by someone that she had been seen jumping over the tombstones, which occasioned probably the first thrashing of her life. It seems that even in those times the Church was not always well attended and Edith remembers a time when there were perhaps two or three when she went in with Nelly Adams, so they ran out again and the Rev. Robson came after them to fetch them back, where they dutifully sang up and made the best of it.

Edith sometimes took notes from the teacher to the Vicar and on one occasion saw the Vicar cutting grass with scissors, so she told him her father had some shears and she was sure he would lend them. Mr Janes bound the shears with rag to make them safe to carry and sent Edith with them, and a message to say Rev. Robson could keep them as long as he had need of them, but to return them afterwards. After this Edith was given a penny by the Vicar and felt very rich. This sum could seem a lot to a small girl when most families were large and far from well off as far as money was concerned.

Food. She cannot recall being without sufficient food. They gleaned corn and took it to the Mill, where mother always warned Edith to watch out for the sails. They always had a pig in the stye for the rent and one for winter food. There was alwas a rasher of bacon in the house, which is more than some of us can say today. Fresh vegetables were grown and coal was £1 a ton, bought through the farmer who employed Mr Janes and paid for at the rate of 1/-shilling a week, deducted from his wages, but it had to be fetched from from the station.

Jobs. Edith can remember going "leaving", gathering eaves for bedding for the pigs. She used to collect four cans of milk a day from Cheshire's at Windmill Farm, two cans in each hand, for neighbours, and for this she received 1/2d a week and a piece of dry cake, much enjoyed. One job that helped the family finances was stone picking in the fields and these stones were used for the roads. One Saturday the family did so well that Edith's mother walked into High Wycombe and bought shoes for Edith and her sister - two pairs each, one for everyday and one for Sundays; something very unusual and long remembered.

At this time if a child passed the "Labour Examination" and had a job already or had a certificate to say she had never been late or absent for three years, then it was possible to leave school at 12. Edith had both and went to work at "The Whip" at 1/ a week, looking after the children of the family mostly, after her mother had stipulated that she should not go near the taproom, as she would hear swearing and the like.

The first week's money she insisted on having in pennies and carried them home tied in her handkerchief to boast of all the money she had been paid. Her mother explained that a shilling would have been just as welcome and valuable and gave her 2d for herself. She saved one penny, gave 1/2d to her sister and spent 1/2d on sweets at Mr George Floyds's (eventually Harvey's).

shop.

At age 12 Edith started work as a domestic servant. click in service for this part of her life

She worked at one time for a German family, learned German cuisine and some of the language, and eventually worked for a French family. The German proved useful during the war when Mrs Walton was able to converse with German prisoners-of-war.