Category: Family history

Joseph Bowers Abram

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Joseph Bowers Abram was the first child born to my great grandparents Joseph Charles and Millicent May Abram.

Growing up I remember often being told about Joseph, although at the time we did not know the child’s name, born to my great grandparents during time they had spent in South Africa. My great grandfather was stationed in Tempe, Pretoria on army service and Millicent was there with him.

There was no military conflict in South Africa that would have caused them to be there but there was a substantial military presence in South Africa following the
creation of the Union at the end of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899-1902 and some British Army units remained stationed in South Africa until the beginning of the First World War.

The British had occupied the town of Bloemfontein and Tempe became a military base – Bloemfontein, as the capital of the Boer Orange Free State Republic and a large town, was established as one of the new Union’s administrative centres and consequently had a local military garrison, Tempe. Today, the Tempe base is reported to be one of the largest Army bases in South Africa.

My grandmother recalled being shown a photograph of the child’s grave which Joseph Charles is said to have carried in his wallet but the photograph can no longer be found – the grave was surrounded by iron railings made by my great grandfather, who worked as a Farrier (a blacksmith – specialising in shoeing horses, a skill that requires not only the ability to shape and fit horseshoes, but also the ability to clean, trim, and shape a horse’s hooves).

However, for many years the search for information about the child proved to be fruitless. Requests for help locating documents or a photo of the grave ran cold. The child was nothing more than an often told family story – there was no evidence he had ever lived.

Eventually information about the child did emerge – a boy, named Joseph Bowers Abram (Joseph after his father and Bowers, his mothers maiden name) was found to have been born on 11 March 1913 – he was baptised less than a month later on 4 April 1913 in Bloemfontein Cathedral, Orange Free State, South Africa.

Detail of the baptism of Joseph Bowers Abram, 4 April 1913

Detail of the baptism of Joseph Bowers Abram, 4 April 1913

Sadly, Joseph lived for two short months – he died of enteritis and heart failure. Joseph and Milly May returned to England soon after. I can only imagine how it much have felt to leave their baby so far away.

2009

Around 2009 my dad made contact with a cemetery recording project, they advised they had the following information on a  DVD.

ABRAM, Joseph
Buried: Rooidam Military Cemetery, Tempe, District Bloemfontein, Free
State, RSA
Note: Joseph Abram
Son of S Sgt Abram. Died 1908-1913 during occupation of Tempe

The information he was told was taken from a headstone recording done in 1993 by Holden, P and Botha but sadly the information did not lead to a photo of the grave.

Both of us also made contact with The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. They advised their responsibility for graves in Rooidam Military Cemetery was limited to the war graves and those of soldiers from the Anglo-Boer War. The cemetery contained many private graves of the soldiers family members but many of the private memorials had deteriorated over time or disappeared and The Commonwealth War Graves Commission did not have records of the civilian burials in Rooidam Military cemetery.

A member of staff kindly visited and checked the private headstones that still existed but was unable to locate any that related to Joseph Bowers Abram which was terribly sad, as it appeared there had been a headstone in 1993.  He went on to advise that many infants appear to have been buried in a plot to the rear left of the central avenue but unfortunately few headstones remain. He sent the photograph of the cemetery below but could not confirm this was where Joseph was actually buried.

Rooidam Military Cemetary

Further images of the cemetery can be found below.

2018

Then in February 2018, when trying to pull together everything I knew into one place to write this story, I decided to do an internet search for ‘the occupation of Tempe’ – I wanted to know why my great grandfather was there and why Tempe was occupied.  I didn’t find the answers to my questions but the search did lead to me discovering four photos of the Tempe memorial which named both my great grandfather and his son.

Tempe memorial

Further images of the Tempe memorial can be found below.

This was  swiftly followed by a church burial record and death entry.

Death entry for Joseph Bowers Abram

form-of-information-of-death-joseph-bowers-abram

Joseph Bowers Abram burial certificate

Armed with the new information I had obtained, I made contact with the South Africa War Graves Project.  They wrote back and advised that a visit to the Rooidam Cemetery had not identified the location of the grave – there are quite a few crosses with no names etc and open patches where you can see there’s a grave but no stone etc.

Updating this story in March 2018, I now believe the chance of locating an individual grave is unlikely – it has been suggested to me that there might have been an individual grave at sometime with or without a headstone. It has also been suggested to me that the graves could have been flattened and the memorial erected and/or the people named on the memorial could be buried at the site of the memorial. Whether we ever find this out remains to be seen – we may never know.

However, finally, the burial certificate shows the place where baby Joseph is buried and whilst the Tempe memorial is not the individual grave dad and I had been searching for, the memorial, clearly names Joseph and his father Staff Sergeant Abram – evidence that the baby who lived for only two short months has not been forgotten.

Acknowledgements

Many people helped in piecing together the history that appears on this page. Thank you in no particular order and hoping I haven’t missed anyone to Sandy Botha at Bloemfontein Cathedral, Terry Cawood and Glen at the South Africa War Graves Project, the eGGSA library, Cheryl Jacobs on the South African Genealogy Facebook page for providing the links to to the church burial record and the death entry, Riana le Roux, Rod Carkett at the Commonweath War Graves Commission, Rob Palmer at British Military History and the  Ministry of Defence Army Secretariat in Andover.

There’s no place like home

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Going through old family photos, I have come across photos of places my family have lived. Below is a brief history of some of the places my family have called home.

39 Woodbridge Close, Luton

My first home was 39 Leagrave Close, Luton and it was here that I was born. My mum had wanted to give birth to me in hospital as I was her first baby but the doctor felt she was young and healthy, so a home birth it was.

Woodbridge Close was my parents first home after they were married in March 1967 and I came along in May 1971. The house was a mid terrace in a block of three properties and a new build which cost £4,250. Dad told me the heating/hot water came from a coal fired back burner in living room. The house had three radiators, the coal fire had to be refilled two to three times a day and an ash box emptied each morning.

 


Langport Drive, Vicars Cross

When I was seven months old we moved to Chester. My parents bought a new three bedroom house on Langport Drive in Vicars Cross for just under £5,000, after the first buyers pulled out and we moved in on 9 December 1971.  At the time of purchase the house had just a gas fire in living room and my parents had to find a plumber to fit the central heating.

The houses were built by Thomas Warrington Homes Limited and are a mix of bungalows, detached and semi detached properties, most of which have very recogisable windows on the front of the property – one large window divided up into many smaller windows. The bedroom windows overlooking the road had two similar smaller windows, with wooden shutters and mock black iron hinges. Today the windows still remain but the shutters and black hinges have now mostly be taken down.

My friend Ian and his sister Helen lived a few doors up the road in a detached property – their house was the last house on the right of the street. I remember it had a larger back garden than the rest of the houses and to the side of their house, out the front, there was a piece of land on which the children from the street would often play. The land signalled the top of the cul-de-sac, behind which a hedge was planted to separate the road from the busy A41 which ran directly behind it.

The black and white photos below show Ian and me as bables outside of my parents house.  The colour photos show Ian and me with our sisters Helen and Rachel.


Poplars Close, Luton

Poplars Close was my grandparents house until I was about 11 when they moved to Chester. I remember visiting my grandparents and also, because it was so close, getting to visit London and go the theatre at the same time which was always a treat.

The property was a large two bedroom bungalow called ‘Robin Hill’. The property was a large two bedroom bungalow, with a large garden out the back. I remember a greenhouse where my grandfather grew tomatoes and looking at the the photos today, I am struck by the size of the garden and how pretty it was. My grandfather must have spent a lot of time out there and I wish I could have talked to him about it, as I have grown to love gardens too and I think he could have taught me a thing or two.
My great grandfathers Albert Edward William Clarke and my great grandfather Joseph Charles Abram lived about 100 yards away from one another on Earls Barton. More information about both men can be found on this website.

32 Mears Ashby Road, Earls Barton

Mears Ashby Road was the home of my great grandfather, Joseph Charles Abram. Named ‘Rockaway’, it was a three bedroom semi detached house and was one of two houses which we believe he built after he retired from the army.

My dad and granddad lived in this house for around  4 – 5 months in 1952 too because my grandmother was in hospital. Dad remembers the property had a large flower garden but also a large area for growing vegetables. He explained to me that gardens were much bigger than they are today and growing vegetables had been encouraged during the war years as part of the Grow for Victory campaign.

The Limes, Earls Barton

My great grandfather Albert Edward William Clarke lived at The Limes.  The house still stands today.  Photos of the property can be seen below.

 

The Rag Trade

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My mum has always been good with a needle and thread and when she left school, her first jobs were in the textile industries.

Mum first worked for a company called Kayser Bonder in Biggleswade.  The underwear made by the company, was known throughout the world during the 1950’s and 1960’s and Biggleswade was home to one of its factories for 53 years. The letter shown below was sent to my mum prior to her starting work at Kayser Bondor. She was fifteen years old at the time.

kayser-bonder
Mum also worked as a sewing machinist for Skirtex undertaking piece work (a type of work which pays a fixed rate for each unit produced or action performed regardless of time) and at Electrolux as an armature winder, both in Luton.

The photo below was taken at Skirtex. Mum is stood directly behind Father Christmas, to the right of a woman wearing glasses, who I know was called Connie, because I met her once.  Mum tells me the women had a radio and would sing while they worked and I can imagine them singing along loudly and giving hell to any man who walked across their factory floor.

mum-skirtex

Later, mum made clothes for my sister and I and also for my dolls – I still have a bag full of them, seemingly unable to throw them away, even though I am now much too old for such things.

Then, almost forty years after mum began work with Kayser Bondor, she took early retirement and began making quilts. Turns out she is pretty amazing at it too and has won awards for her work. Mum’s quilts are displayed on her website below.

natures_treasures

Up in the air

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When he was young dad was a member of the  London Gliding Club on Dunstable Downs. Bedfordshire. He trained as a glider pilot and was ready to go solo but never saw the training through as he needed the money to buy a home. The photo below was taken at the Scottish Gliding Centre in 1962. The plane is a Slingby T31 trainer.

scottish-gliding-centre-1

However, he retained an interest in flying over the years and for four years in the mid 1960s he worked at Luton airport as a duty crewman in the airport fire service which he described as fire, security and any jobs the airport commandant requested  to maintain smooth running of the airport.

The airport was opened in 1938 by Sir Kingsley Wood, MP, the Secretary For Air, at which time it was known as the the Luton Aerodome and featured a flying demonstration by Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930 and who set a string of other records throughout her career.

Newspaper articles from the opening of Luton Aerodrome.

Margaret and my Australian family

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Putting together these pages, I have felt incredibly fortunate to know so much and have so many photos of my family and I am indebted to Margaret Creighton (nee Abram) for sharing so much of the Abram family history with me.

Margaret is my dads second cousin once removed and the daughter of Reginald Abram, one of the many children of my great great grandparents Charles and Emily. After the first world war ended, Charles and Emily stayed in England and Charlie and Millicent (my great grandparents) settled in England too but many of the family emigrated to Australia, with Reg going in approximately 1922 – 1923.

Below are some photos of my Australian family.

Photo one: Margaret with husband Graham, mother Connie (wife of Reginald Abram, one of the children of my great grandparents Charles and Emily) and sister Joan, 20 March 1093
Photo two: Margaret and Graham with Connie aged 90 1/2 years holding her great grandson Robert, also Robert’s mother Teenga
Photo three: Margaret’s eldest child Rodney with wife Jenny
Photo four: Margaret’s middle child, Greg
Photo five: Margaret’s youngest child Andrea

Frederick and Ellen

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Frederick Charles William Payne and Ellen (known as Nelly) Brooker were my grandparents.

Both were born in Bedfordshire, Frederick in September 1915 and Ellen in February 1916. Interestingly, I have noticed that all four of my grandparents were born within a year of one another – my grandfather Louis Bowers Abram was born in September 1916 and my grandmother Delia Eileen Clarke was born in March 1916.

Frederick was the only son of Ellen Rose Payne and Ellen was the daughter of David Brooker and Ellen Kefford, who had two other children, a son called Arthur and a daughter called Phil.

The couple were married by special licence two days before Frederick had to report for military service, during which time Frederick was reported missing in action.  They had three children. Pamela Ann and Freda were twins born in 1940 but Freda only lived to be three days old – her death certificate states she was a premature twin born at  seven months. Frederick’s occupation at the time is given as Private Number 198808 Royal Army Service Corps (Butchers Assistant).  My mum Diane was born seven years later in 1948.

Stephen and Mary

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I know very little about this photo but on the top, in writing that looks like my grandmothers, it appears to say grandmother and grandad Clarke.

My grandmothers grandparents were Stephen Clarke born in Welton in 1840 and Mary Ann Wright from Watford. The couple married in Watford on 15 January 1864 and had a number of children, including by great grandfather Albert Edward William Clarke.

stephen-and-mary-clarke

The pommie mafia

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The photo below was given to me by my relative Margaret Creighton who lives in Australia. It shows my great great grandparents Charles and Emily Abram (nee  Hutchings) pictured front and centre, with their youngest daughter Violet, seated in between and surrounded by many of their children. Margaret’s father was Reginald (Reg) Abram and is pictured on the back row of the photo. When Margaret gave me the photo, she told me her husband used to refer to it as ‘the pommie mafia’.

the-abram-family

Back row, from left to right: Will, Frank, Walter, Mabel, Albert, George, Louis, Reg, Will (Millie’s husband), Bet-Martha (Louis’s wife), George (Frank’s son),
Front row, left to right: Gladys (daughter), Alice (Will’s wife), Vera (Will’s daughter), Emily, Violet, Charles, Kit (Albert’s wife) Gwen (Albert’s daughter), Millie, Annie (Frank’s wife)

Further information about Charles and Emily’s children can be found below.

It is believed there were at least two  other siblings that died. One was a female named Mary, the other was a male but his name is not known. A newspaper article from 1930 at the time of  Charles and Emily’s Golden wedding anniversary records there were fourteen children, with six of these serving in the Great War and all of them returning home.

Golden wedding announcement: Northampton Chronicle and Echo, 24 March 1930
Golden wedding announcement: Northampton Chronicle and Echo, 24 March 1930

When asked about the photo above in her 100th year, Violet re-called a number of things.   The photo was taken not long after Walter and Mabel’s wedding and one of the brothers, George had come over from America to visit. The dress that Violet wore was blue velvet.

Charlie Abram, my great grandfather, was not in the photo because he was in Africa serving in the war. Violet remembered that Charlie had been married prior to marrying my great grandmother Millicent May Bowers and that his first wife had been a ‘dark skinned lady’. (Records show that Joseph’s first wife was Lucy Thompson, her father was William was a gardener and her mother was called Harriet. Joseph and Lucy married on 16 April 1906).

Violet said she was about the same age as Gladys (Frank’s daughter) but Gladys had died aged 29. She noticed that Theresa, who they called Sis, wasn’t in the picture but she couldn’t remember why and that Kit and Albert’s son Sonny had also died young but was unsure at what age.

After the war, Charles and Emily and my great grandparents Charlie and Millicent settled in England but many of the family emigrated to Australia.  Violet re-called that Rose (Kathleen) was not in the photo as she was already in Australia – she had left with her husband, an Australian soldier, around 1919. Reg followed in approximately 1922 – 1923 and Louis, Bet-Martha and Violet left around Christmas 1924, arriving in Australia on 9 February 1925.  George didn’t want them to go and had tried to convince them along with Charles, Emily and other family members to go to America.

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Mum and dad

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My mum and was born in Biggleswade (sometimes referred to as Giggleswade in our family) in 1948.  Biggleswade is the home of Jordans cereals and at one time it was recorded that it had 52 pubs. (Mum has told me on several occasions that her Uncle Arthur once saw a ghost skating on Biggleswade pond … there may be a connection between the ghost and the number of pubs).

Mums parents were Ellen Brooker and Frederick Charles William Payne. Mum had two sisters who were twins – Pamela Ann and Freda, seven years older than herself but Freda died when she was only three days.

Mum spells her name Diane but on her birth and baptism certificates, her name is spelt Dianne.  The house she grew up in was known as a pre-fab and was one of more than 150,000 prefabricated buildings built all over the UK between 1946 and 1948 to rehouse ex-servicemen and their families or bombed-out people.  They were only supposed to last 10 to 15 years but many are still standing.

Mums first job was working for a company called Kayser Bonder in Biggleswade as a sewing machinist, she also worked for Skirtex as a sewing machinist and Electrolux as an amateur winder, both in Luton. As a sewing machinist she did piece work, a type of work which pays a fixed rate for each unit produced or action performed regardless of time. After having my sister and me, she worked as a childminder and later worked for Tesco and Mothercare. On retiring, she took up quilt making, something she had always wanted to do and it turns out she is amazing at it.

Dad was born in August 1944, the only child of my grandparents Louis Bowers Abram and Delia Eileen Clarke. When he was young dad spent a lot of time at airfields watching aircraft and was a member of The London Gliding Club in Dunstable. In his late teens he became an airport fire security officer, which was the starting point for 35 years as a fire/security officer protecting people, fine arts (including works by Leonardo da Vinci), power stations and research facilities. The roles were very active and often involved climbing vertical ladders of 90 – 100 feet.

Dad told me his earliest memory is aged three – four years old sitting on the tailboard of a removal lorry with a wire haired fox terrier, moving from a city side street house in Northampton to a bungalow in the Northamptonshire countryside, two miles from the nearest small town with open country side front and back. When he was younger he also enjoyed CB radio and later progressed to ham radio, studying with City and Guilds to obtain the required licence and becoming involved with local scout group who had a radio jamboree once a year.

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Big sis, little sis

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My sister Rachel and I were born a little over two years apart. I was born at mum and dads then home in Luton and Rachel was born in hospital in Chester.  Despite being two years older, it did often feel like Rachel came into the world running (there was just so much to learn about), whereas, I took things much slower – mum thought she was going to have me a week or so before she did but it seems I had a think about things and decided to wait a while longer … to this day i am a dotting your i’s crossing your t’s kinda of a gal.

I remember Rachel getting into a fair few scrapes – using her teeth to get out of her cot; a visit to accident an emergency when she ran head first into Stuart McClleland in the school playground (coming off worst with a black eye); coming home from infant school with her cream waistcoat covered in paint; then there was the time she took a liking to my Pluto toy and tried to eat him, managing to bite through the plastic.  Needless to say Pluto didn’t recover.  She was really much too young to know what she had done but somehow has never been allowed to forget what she did.

My childhood seems to have been less eventful, I was much happier in a corner with my head in a book, although I had my moments too. I remember pulling the legs off a plastic spider when Rachel annoyed me one time and throwing her Darth Vader toy out of the window to see if he could fly.

Despite our differences though, she is always the person I have the most fun with and I have very happy memories of the many things we have done together.

Love ya loads little sis.

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