| We had filled two books with all our discoveries....it was now time to put it all together. We had certainly shaken a mighty tree, to it's very roots! We had to drag ourselves back...or rather, forward in time.. we had done it! Life could never be the same again! What a journey! All that from the old inner tube!...Three hundred years of history and what revelations! Apart from Alfred and Gertrude, the other names were long forgotten and would have remained so for ever. I'll say them one last time, they mean so much to us...."James and Phoebe"..."John and Charlotte"......"Aaron and Sarah"....." James and Ann"....Goodbye...and thank you, all of you, for a fabulous journey! R.I.P. Before I go I need to make mention of one more marriage...my father, Stanley Hawkins married my mother Clara Jane Goodwin on 23rd. December 1939 at the Holy Trinity in Northwood. They could both write. This book belongs to Alfred and Gertrude.....James and Phoebe.....John and Charlotte....Aaron and Sarah....James and Ann.................and, of course, this book belongs to Marjorie Hawkins!!!!!!!(my sister wrote that in every book in the house when we were children!!) PS. We never made it back. What happened was this. We were struggling through the graveyard at St. Mary's, loaded down with all our books and precious records, when something caught my eye. I stopped dead in my tracks and shouted to Barbara, "Look at this!" She came over to me and we both looked at the inscription on an old gravestone...."In Loving Memory of Sarah Cordell, of 29, Birch Terrace, Hanley, who died January 25th., 1885, aged 61years." Underneath this we found a chilling message:- " The Master is come and calleth for thee " The inscription continued..."Also James Cordell, father of the above, late of Ubberley, who died November 16th., 1869, aged 73 years. Also Ann, wife of the above, who died May 9th., 1825, aged 27years.".....It went on..."Also Martha Barratt, daughter of the above, who died June 25th., 1891, aged 71years..."...and just for good measure...."In Loving Memory of Mary, the beloved wife of William James, of Cope Barn Farm, Rownall, who died July 21st., 1896, aged 39years." That's why we never got back. James Cordell, was really James Cordall, Barbara's great great grandfather!! At this point you had better have a quick drink, probably a strong one. If you thought the Hawkins saga went on a bit then you're in for a big shock! We probably should have come back you know, if only for a rest! However, the Master had called! Once again we had taken the bait, that blasted inner tube! We had no idea, couldn't have imagined, what we were to find! I'll start at the beginning.....we'll never get back at this rate!!!! |
| From an Inner Tube to Shoemakers....part 15. |
| I would just like to thank an unknown German soldier, who shot and wounded my grandfather Alfred during the Great War. Alfred was sent home to recover in 1916, and my dad, Stan, was conceived. Without that bullet I may never have existed. |