When we were young, Christmas was a very special time for my siblings and me. We lived in Edinburgh, but our Grandparents, and most of our relations, lived in the south of England, or even further afield. Although I have written about going to Pickwick for Christmas, my father’s parents must have moved when I… Continue reading Christmas at Rest Harrow and Little Cucknells
Category: Lines – George Edward
Pictures of Pickwick
When my Grandparents left Grove Farm at Box, where they had been farming, they moved in to 141, Lordship Road, Stoke Newington with my Great Grandfather, Joseph Lines. This was around 1925, and may have been prompted by the death of my Great Grandmother, Jane Lines (nee Fitzhenry) on 7th June 1925. They lived with… Continue reading Pictures of Pickwick
The Will of Joseph Lines
My Great Grandfather, Joseph Lines (1848-1931) clearly possessed a strength of character. His father, Abel Lines (1807-1877) had been variously a Fur Skin Dresser, Smith, Steel Worker, Porter and Furrier. Joseph’s elder brother George (1841-1921) trained as a carpenter, and started making wooden horses. His sisters were in domestic service until they married or died.George… Continue reading The Will of Joseph Lines
One Hundred Years Ago
One hundred years ago, on the night of 19th/20th October 1918, during the Battle of the Selle, part of the One Hundred Days Offensive, towards the end of World War One, the British Royal Engineers built bridges, under enemy fire, over the river Lys. (OSM) My Grandfather, George Edward Lines, at the time an Acting… Continue reading One Hundred Years Ago
The Apprentice
This article is not about the British television show, nor the American one, but about my Grandfather, George Lines, who was an apprentice at Clayton and Shuttleworth – a four year apprenticeship, ending in December 1911. Clayton and Shuttleworth were a Lincoln based engineering company, mainly focussed, before WW1, on agricultural machinery. On the 4th… Continue reading The Apprentice
George Lines – new digs in Switzerland
I have an incomplete letter written by my Grandfather, George Lines, probably in late 1913 or early 1914, as he is just about to start work, presumably at the Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik. The house is probably near Winterthur. Chronologically it must come before the letter from Bellagio, and after the letter from Cologne. The… Continue reading George Lines – new digs in Switzerland
Letter from George Lines – Spring Cleaning and Mountain Climbing
This was written by my Grandfather, George Lines, probably shortly after 21st May 1914, probably from Winterthur to his future Mother-in-Law. I have left out some padding. … must write small as I have a suspicion that 3 sheets of this stuff takes more than 2 ½ d stamp. Tell me if this is so.… Continue reading Letter from George Lines – Spring Cleaning and Mountain Climbing
George Lines Letter – Rats and Shells
Here is another letter, written by my Grandfather, George Lines, from the trenches during World War One. Dear Mummie/ How like you to write me that jolly letter from Bath station after seeing Mouse off. Not a moment wasted ! Wish I could say the same of my miserable existence. It arrived too on my… Continue reading George Lines Letter – Rats and Shells
George Lines letter from Bellagio
This letter was written by my Grandfather. George Edward Lines, almost certainly in 1914, when he is working at Schweizerische Lokomotiv- und Maschinenfabrik , and before July, as Arnold Freeman is as yet unmarried.I have left out some of what Grandpa called “padding”. I was sorry those few flowers I sent in the envelope turned… Continue reading George Lines letter from Bellagio
Farming at Grove Farm, Box, Wiltshire
My Grandparents moved into Grove Farm, at Box in Wiltshire some time after the First World War. As they married on 19th August 1922, and Grandpa was discharged from the army on 8th April 1919, it is quite likely that he moved to the farm before 1922. Grove Farm Grove Farm is a Grade II… Continue reading Farming at Grove Farm, Box, Wiltshire