Letter from Ian to Nancy: 27 October 1919 – Condolences

149 Murdock Road, Handsworth, Birmingham

Nancy Moghray,

This tiny note to sympathise with you in the loss of your uncle, which must mean much to you. I had meant to write sooner but could not quite get hold of the number of the house in Carlisle. I suppose your aunt’s movements will be rather unsettled yet but you will be staying with her fort a wee while at least. Mind now that you won’t be forgetting to come to Glenafton when it will be possible though that my not be for some time yet.

Lennie has been rather bad with asthma lately & is thinking of having am operation on her nose or in her own words to ‘have her nose cut off’! There is just some chance of its giving some relief. I hope your little lad keeps fit: I wonder how he would have hit it off with Barrie! The latter is delightful just now with his tricks.

My love to you dear child as aye

Ian

Death of John Black: 22 October 1919

Nancy’s uncle John Black, who with her aunt Margaret (nee Barrie) had brought her up from the age of three, died at their home in Carlisle 100 years ago, aged just 50. He’d been suffering from tuberculosis of the bladder.

He had been a successful civil engineer, working in such places as Derby, Philadelphia and Aberdare.

His widow Margaret subsequently returned to live in Glasgow.

Funeral of Granny Lee

A memorial service for Isabella was held at Wilmslow Methodist Church followed by her interment at Cheetham Hill Wesleyan Cemetery.

This is the Order of Service.

This Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery opened in October 1815 at Cheetham Hill, Manchester. This large cemetery, which had held some 20,000 interments, was closed in July 1968. In 2003, the bodies and stones were removed to a mass grave site in Bury, Lancashire to make way for commercial development. Today, the cemetery site is now a car park for a Tesco store!

Letter from Jane Lennox Higgins (‘Auntie Lennie’) to my mother: 11 October 1960

My mother kept this letter as the last letter she received from Lennie (below) before her death. Lennie was Ralph Erskine’s widow who subsequently married Douglas Lyall Grant. 

16 Lancaster Road, Wimbledon SW 19

My dear Zoe,

Your letter came about 8 am this morning & was of great help to me & I felt stronger after reading it as today we were setting out on a sad journey. Dear Katie (Kate Olver, renowned artist and wife of Lennie’s brother Charles Higgins) died on Saturday – she had been unconscious for 48 hours with a high temperature & for some weeks had been almost unaware of where she was and who came or went – there were complications & more than she could fight against & she went out quietly & gently as she had lived.

She was one of the finest characters I have known & her life was one of selfless devotion. The funeral (cremation) was at the west London Cemetery near the hospital where she died. Charles has borne himself very bravely but looked very old and worn out today. I wanted him to come back with us but he said he would not come tonight but later on. Jill, Kate’s brother’s daughter & who so often sat for Katie, was going back with him this evening. The announcement was in the Times and D Telegraph on Monday but expect your paper is the Guardian. I was deeply interested in the splendid achievements of Robert & also to hear of Rosalind’s musical talent. I seldom hear nowadays of anyone learning to play the piano & I hope she will keep it up with (or without) a scholarship.

I realise how much of your time is taken up with your house and garden & other interests but if you could sneak  for even 2 nights you could stay here and we could go to ‘The Caretaker’ – Daphne & 2 children are to be here from night of Monday 24th to Friday 28th inclusive, apart from that you can come any time you like.

I can’t wrote more now, I am very tired but I wanted you to know about Katie as soon as possible.

My love to you both

Auntie Lennie

Kate Olver (above) was 79 when she died. Her husband Charles Higgins lived for another 20 years. Two months later, Lennie died on 28 December aged 69. 

 

Death of James Erskine (‘Granddaddy’): 8 October 1951

My great grandfather died in Davyhulme Hospital 68 years ago, two days after his 86th birthday.

He had contracted pneumonia, and according to my uncle Ralph, ‘he turned his face to the wall’.

Ralph subsequently took his ashes up to Scotland on the back of his motor bike, and scattered them on the hillside near Rutherglen overlooking Glasgow where he had lived between the wars.

Lovely bloke with a remarkable story.  RIP.

The Tattersall Family and the Lincoln Connection

The origin of Ralph Tattersall having Lincoln as his middle name can be traced back to the American Civil War.

Ralph’s great grandfather Cornelius Tattersall was a cotton merchant and a hugely influential figure on the Manchester  Cotton Exchange. The thriving Manchester cotton industry was hugely dependent for its supply on the cotton fields of the Southern United States, and many mills continued to trade with the south after the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. However Cornelius – a very religious man – was opposed to the slave trade and an admirer of Abraham Lincoln. Accordingly he put much effort into sourcing alternative cotton from Egypt to weaken the South’s dependence on the UK market.

His second child was born the day after Lincoln was assassinated and in his honour Cornelius named his son John Lincoln Tattersall.

Ralph told me that as a gesture of thanks, Lincoln’s successor as US President, Ulysses S Grant, subsequently sent Cornelius a box of cigars every Christmas as a token of gratitude for his support.

Like his father, John was a cotton trader. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Master Cotton Spinners Federation and chairman, later President of the Cotton Yarn Association. 

Grandfather Tattersall, as he was known, first stood for parliament at the 1922 general election as Liberal candidate at Stalybridge and Hyde in Cheshire. In a three-cornered contest he was runner-up to the Conservative candidate.  Another general election followed in 1923. This time he had the advantage of a straight fight and he captured the seat with a majority of 2,374 votes. However the Labour government was short-lived and in a third election the following year he lost the seat to the Conservative candidate. 

His second son Fred, a genial character who I knew as ‘Uncle Fred’ was Nancy Erskine’s second husband, and they gave their first son Ralph the middle name Lincoln. Ralph in turn christened his fourth child Gareth Lincoln Tattersall.