Tag: Vauxhall Motors

Louis Bowers Abram was my grandfather on my fathers side of the family.

During the 1930’s Louis passed exams set by the East Midland Educational Union in Motor in Practical Mathematics, Workshop Science and Principles of Engineering and Engineering (Mechanical). He later worked at S and W Motors Limited where he was indentured as an apprentice from May 1931 to May 1933, as a Motor Engineer at York Ward and Rowlatt  from May 1933 to May 1934 and at Gilmour and Vale a company that manufactured engineering components.  

He was a Corporal in the Royal Air Force and learnt to fly in a Tiger Moth at Sywell but war broke out on the day he was due to take his test, so he never saw active combat. (Louis is stood at the back on the far left), 

He also worked at Vauxhall Motors in Luton, retiring in 1970 after 25 years service having established ‘an excellent reputation in respect of loyalty, conscientiousness and timekeeping’.

 

I remember visiting my grandparents at their homes in Luton and Chester. My grandad grew tomatoes in a greenhouse and to this day, I can’t smell tomatoes without thinking about him.

More photos

My grandmother Deilia Eileen Clarke was the daughter of Albert Edward William Clarke, a Northamptonshire Police Sergeant and Louisa Jane Shortland.

Delia (known as Dids), born in 1916, was one of  five children, having four sisters – Dorothy, born 1904, Cecily Mary Clarke (known as Molly) born 1914,  Kitty (known as Kitten), born 1920 and one brother Edward Alexander (Teddy), who was born in 1906 and died, aged four, in 1910.  However my dad believes that Louisa Jane had a number of miscarriages and if these had not occurred, there may have been 11 or 12 children.

My grandmother married Louis Bowers Abram in 1940 and my father Michael was born in 1944. Oldest sister Dorothy married Henry Grey Faber in 1960. Born in 1914, Cecily Mary Clarke, known as Molly, was the second oldest sister. She suffered with epilepsy and did not marry. Kitty Alexandra was born  in 1920 and married Reginald William Jeffery, known as Bill. Together they ran a hairdressers shop in Brackley, Northamptonshire.

I remember visiting my grandparents at their homes in Luton and Chester. My nan I remember would wear more than one pair of glasses at a time and also, back when we had paper money, would use the money as writing paper to work out how much she owed someone or who much they owed her. In writing this, I am surprised at how many photos of my nan I have found where she is standing, as I only really ever remember her with mobility issues  – firstly using sticks to get around and later being confined to a wheelchair. Nan’s condition went un-diagnosed during her lifetime but today it seems likely that she may have had centronuclear myopathy like dad and I.

Louis Bowers Abram and Delia Eileen Clarke were my grandparents on my fathers side of the family.

Delia was the daughter of Northamptonshire Police Sergeant Albert Edward William Clarke and was one of five children. Louis was the second son of Joseph Charles Abram, an Army Sergeant and Millicent May Bowers.

During the 1930’s Louis passed exams set by the East Midland Educational Union in Motor in Practical Mathematics, Workshop Science and Principles of Engineering and Engineering (Mechanical). He later worked at S and W Motors Limited where he was indentured as an apprentice from May 1931 to May 1933, as a Motor Engineer at York Ward and Rowlatt  from May 1933 to May 1934 and at Gilmour and Vale a company that manufactured engineering components.  He also worked at Vauxhall Motors in Luton, retiring in 1970 after 25 years service having established ‘an excellent reputation in respect of loyalty, conscientiousness and timekeeping’. He was a Corporal in the Royal Air Force and learnt to fly in a Tiger Moth at Sywell but war broke out on the day he was due to take his test, so he never saw active combat.

I remember visiting my grandparents at their homes in Luton and Chester. My grandad grew tomatoes in a greenhouse and to this day, I can’t smell tomatoes without thinking about him. My nan I remember would wear more than one pair of glasses at a time and also, back when we had paper money, would use the money as writing paper to work out how much she owed someone or who much they owed her. In writing this, I am surprised at how many photos of my nan I have found where she is standing, as I only really ever remember her with mobility issues  – firstly using sticks to get around and later being confined to a wheelchair.  Nan’s condition went un-diagnosed during her lifetime but today it seems likely that she could have had centronuclear myopathy like dad and I.