Sunday's Obituary - William Taylor 1833-1928

Colne Times 3 June 1928

General  regret will be express  in Colne at the death of Mr William Taylor of 62 Alkincoats Road, and formerly of Duke Street, which occurred on Wednesday morning.  Mr Taylor would have been 95 years of age if he had lived until Sunday.  So far as we have been able to ascertain he was the oldest inhabitant of the town. For some time he had resided with his son-in-law and daughter, Mr and Mrs Joseph Hartley, at the above address.  He was predeceased by his wife, who passed away in January of last year at the age of 86.

The late Mr Taylor was born at Burnley, and was a son of the late Mr Richard Taylor, of Lower Hood Hollow, Burnley.  Mr Taylor was formerly in the employ of Colne Corporation, and prior to the incorporation of the borough, of the old Local Board, as Building and Streets Inspector. He held that position for a period of about 20 years, retiring 20 years ago.

Diamond Wedding Ten Years Ago

It is almost impossible to write of Mr Taylor without making reference to his wife.  It will be remembered that Mr and Mrs Taylor celebrated their diamond wedding in July 1918.  They were married at Gill Church, Barnoldswick on July 15th 1858, the ceremony being performed by Rev. J.C. Miller.  They had 16 children, of whom only four are living - two sons and two daughters, one son being in Australia.  They had also had nine or ten grandchildren and some great-grandchildren in Australia.

For many years Mr. and Mrs Taylor were the oldest married couple present at the annual old folk's tea given by the Mayor and Mayoress of the town, but Mrs Taylor was unable to go in 1927, and she died soon afterwards.

It will be remembered that Mrs Taylor was one of the lady veterans of Colne Ambulance Association, and held the position of Lady Superintendent of the Nursing Division for 28 years.  For her ambulance work in the town she was elected an honorary serving sister of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England.  Both Mr and Mrs Taylor had been connected with the Church Colne Parish Church, and the  mission Churches - St James and St George's, Alkincoats.  It is interesting link with the past to recall that Mrs Taylor's parents were married in the Colne Parish Church 110 years ago.

 

Wedding Wednesday - Jessie Taylor and Alfred Smith

Jessie Taylor and Alfred Smith - 8 January 1921

My husband's grandparents, Jessie Taylor and Alfred Smith were married at the Presbterian Church, Marrickville, NSW, on the 18 January 1921. Alfred was a World War I veteran, who had experienced the ANZAC landing first hand. At the time of their wedding his occupation is described as a printer.  Jessie was employed as a clerk and prior to their marriage she lived with her family at Dolls Point, Sydney.

Jessie and Alfred spent their entire married life living in Tempe, NSW and raising their two sons and two daughters.

Funeral Card Friday - Marion Miller Taylor (nee McNair) 15 September 1952

Funeral card for Marion Miller Taylor

Marion Miller Taylor (nee McNair)

Marion Miller Taylor, (nee McNair) was born in Torphichen, West Lothian Scotland on the 10th August, 1864, and came to Australia in the late 1880s.  She married Richard Taylor on the  1st August 1891, at St Peter's Church, Cook River Rd, Marrickville, Sydney, NSW Australia. She passed away 15 September 1952, 17 years after her husband Richard Taylor, who passed away on the 22st October 1935 (as noted in pencil note on her memorial card).

Sharing Memories - Aunty Tilly (Matilda Holman, nee Taylor 1900-2001)

Aunty Tilly

Please join me for another post in my Sharing Memories series.  Thank you to  Olive Tree Genealogy’s Blog’s for providing me with the idea and motivation to write a little about my family history as I remember it. 

 Aunty Tilly as we all fondly remember her was the subject of my last blog on The Other Half of My family,  Born on the 14 November 1900, Matilda Holman(nee Taylor) lived for over a century and being an ardent royalist one of the proudest moments was when she received a telegram from Queen Elizabeth on her 100^th Birthday.

I did not meet my husband’s great Aunty Tilly until the late 1970’s. However, she soon became one of my muses and inspirations for delving into our family history.  Her fascination with family history, and tendency to collect “all things past” inspired me to explore my husband’s family history as well as my own.  Aunty Tilly was only too happy to share her stories and because of my obvious interest entrusted me with many family photos, letters and stories.  Her stories about her family and relatives in England sparked my interest into her Great Grandmother Elizabeth Taylor (nee Rushworth) on whom I have written a number of blogs.  Today I would like to write down a few of my memories of Aunty Tilly, as part of my “Sharing Memories” series.

Aunty Tilly was very determined and many would say somewhat stubborn, but she always seemed to be able to organise (or sometimes demand) people to get things how she wanted.  Perhaps this was part of her survival strategy, as she outlived all her siblings, husband and children.  Whenever a male relative of the family visited Aunty Tilly, at her home in Cowra,  they were welcomed with open arms and lots of charm, and then a list of chores and small maintenance jobs that she had been saving up for them.  It was common knowledge if Aunty Tilly was cooking a Sunday Roast (which she liked to do), all the chores would need to be completed before lunch.  

One of the first memories of Aunty Tilly that springs to mind was in 1980.  I liked to dabble, in different craft

Aunty Tilly and Joan at our wedding 10.5.1980

work, one of which was making cards and pictures from pressed flowers which I sold to friends and at local markets.  Aunty Tilly admiring my handiwork invited me over for the Cowra for the local “Quota” Craft Show.  I was at this time about 6 months pregnant with my first son, so I packed up all wares into our family car and set off for a weekend with Aunty Tilly and her daughter Joan.  (Joan was her single daughter who lived with Aunty Tilly until she passed away about 10 years later).

As soon as I arrived Joan and Aunty Tilly took great delight in my arrival, fussing and organising me. Joan and I headed down to the craft show to set up my stall, with hot thermos’s of sweet black tea and another thermos full of Cauliflower in a rich cheese sauce for our lunch.  That makes me smile!  Who would think of making up a lunch of Cauliflower and cheese sauce!! (only Aunty Tilly). Mind you it was pretty yummy.  I really don’t remember if I sold anything off my stall, but I had a wonderful afternoon with all their friends fussing over me and rubbing their hands over my rather prominent baby bump. 

A great story, but the classic moment was after breakfast the next day!! We had just finished our breakfast at the small table on the back porch of Aunty Tilly’s house.  Joan had packed up the dishes and said, “It is a great day, let me show you the garden”, Aunty Tilly rose to her full 5 foot nothing, grabbed my arm, and gave Joan a meaningful stare!!  “You had her yesterday, It is my turn today!”

Who were we to argue! Joan sat down meekly and picked up the paper, and Aunty Tilly guided my bulky form out the back door to introduce me to all her canaries, who were singing away in the cages just near the door.  By the time we had checked out the orchids, and reached the famous, sprawling mulberry tree at the back of her yard, Joan had meekly snuck up and joined into the conversation and the rest of the tour.   They had a wonderful and supportive relationship for many years, but I think Aunty Tilly was always the boss and had the final say.

I have many more Aunty Tilly stories, which I think I will keep for another post. 

Sympathy Saturday - Ronald Alfred Smith

Ronald Alfred Smith

Today I would like to share a sad story from our family tree.  Ronald Alfred Smith was my husbands uncle and he was born 25 November 1921, the first son of Alfred Smith and Jessie Taylor.  His father was a returned soldier who had fought at Gallipoli and the family lived in a modest home in the Marrickville and Tempe areas of Sydney. 

Sadly at the young age of 13 Ronnie as he was called met with a devastating accident.  He was in his first year of high school attending Tempe Junior Technical School and was playing football in his lunch break when he was hit in the head by a stone thrown from somewhere in the playground.  He finished the afternoon at school and when he returned home that afternoon fell ill, and was rushed to Marrickville Hospital.

 The doctors realising that he was suffering from a depressed fracture of the scull raced him to the Children's Hospital for surgery, but unfortunately he did not survive.

His family were devastated and his mother Jessie did not get over his sudden death.  He was always in her thoughts and she spoke of him all the time.  I remember chatting to her in her later years and she always went back to the story of the son she had lost.

His story has lived on through three generations of the family and has been used to reinforce the dangers of throwing stones to each generation of children.