Leonard Fordham Ivall and his book of poetry.

There is an item on this blog which describes the life of Leonard Fordham Ivall (1912-91).

The following item was published in the Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express dated 8 Sep 1984.

The Murder of Kayleigh Ivall

 The sad story of the 2020 murder of Kayleigh Ivall in Thunder Bay, Canada is recounted in the following item in TBnewswatch.com.

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/youth-convicted-in-murder-of-14-year-old-kayliegh-ivall-10851295

Albert Robert Ivall (1906-1990)

Albert Robert Ivall was a son of Percy and Alice Ivall. There is an article about Percy's life on this blog.

The following item appeared in the Sutton and Epsom Advertiser dated 17 January 1935, when Albert was aged 28.

10s in 1935 is equivalent to about £115 in 2023 (relative to the wage of the average worker).

Dorothy Louise Ivall (1917-44)

Dorothy Louise Ivall was the youngest of the five children of Henry Thomas and Edith Augusta Ivall. She was born on March 25, 1917 in Kingston, Surrey. Dorothy is descended from David Ivall (1795-1850), who was a brother of my ancestor Thomas Ivall (1781-1835).

The 1921 census shows Henry (aged 46, a newsagent and confectioner) and Edith (39) with their children Marjorie (14, assisting father), Patricia (13), Percy (8) and Dorothy Ivall (4) living in 7 rooms at 172 Falcon Road, which was a shop near Clapham Junction train station.

Henry and his family moved to 87 Gatton Rd, Wandsworth in 1926. Electoral registers show them there until 1938. Henry, his wife Edith and their children Marjorie, Henry, Percy and Dorothy were listed at the address that year.

Henry moved to 426 Southcroft Road, Streatham in 1938. The 1939 Register gives the occupants of this address as Henry (a night porter at offices), his wife Edith and their children Marjorie (under her married surname of Gardiner, a hire purchase clerk), Henry (a fitter's mate, electrical), Percy (a cashier clerk typist for a timber company) and Dorothy (a hire purchase clerk).

Dorothy died on February 9, 1944 at Queen Mary Hospital. Her death certificate says that she was a spinster, living at 426 Southcroft Road, a refrigerator maker’s secretary, daughter of Henry Thomas Ivall who was an office caretaker. The cause of death was “nephrectomy for hydronephrosis.” Nephrectomy is a surgical procedure to remove all or part of a kidney. Hydronephrosis is a condition where one or both kidneys become stretched and swollen as the result of a build-up of urine inside them. It can affect people of any age. Perhaps Dorothy would have survived with current medical treatment ?

The February 28, 1944 Streatham News contained the following item

FUNERAL OF MISS IVALL

Floral Tributes from Home Guard

THE passing of Miss Dorothy Louise Ivall (aged 26), youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ivall, Southcroft Road, Streatham, came as a severe blow, not only to her parents and family, but to members of the 31st Battalion Streatham Home Guard with which she had been associated since its inception. She will also be sadly missed at the Electrolux Service Department, Clapham, where she was secretary.

The Home Guard was strongly represented at the funeral at Streatham Cemetery, Garratt Lane, last week, and among the large number of floral tributes were wreaths from the 31st Battalion, the Women's Auxiliary (31st Battalion), the officers, N.C.O.s, men and women's auxiliary of A Company of the Streatham and Battersea Battalion. Wreaths were also sent by M. and Mrs. Ivall (parents) and Molly, Roger, Alice and Percy; Mr. and Mrs. Marks and Christopher; Mrs. W. Smith (aunt); Mrs. Apps (aunt) and family; Mr. and Mrs. P. Ivall (aunt and uncle) and family; Mr. and Mrs. F. Champ (aunt and uncle); Mr. K. Ivall (nephew); Messrs. Sanson and S. Sherlock (Electrolux Service Dept.); the Electrolux Directors of Luton; a Director of Cubitt Town Timber, Ltd.; Sgt. Harry Burge, R.S.N.S.; Mr, and Mrs, Stratt; Cecila and Jim; Cecilia (a colleague); Mr. and Mrs. Dempkin; Vera and Harrold; Mr. F. Simmons; and Mr and Mrs. Pinney and son. Owing to his illness in hospital, Mr. Ivall (father) was unable to attend, but the mother, although an invalid, was present.

(Mr. and Mrs. Marks and Christopher is Dorothy’s sister Patricia, her husband Harold Marks and their son Christopher. Mr. and Mrs. P. Ivall (aunt and uncle) is Dorothy’s father’s brother Percy and his wife Alice.  Mr. K. Ivall (nephew) is Kenneth Alexander Ivall, son of Dorothy’s sister Marjorie).

Dorothy was buried in Streatham Cemetery in grave number 1168, class G, block 12. Dorothy’s mother Edith, died in March 1944 aged 62 and was buried in the same grave. Administration of Dorothy’s estate (£533) was granted to her father Henry.

Henry died in 1956 aged 82. He was buried on 17 October 1956 in the same plot as his wife and his daughter Dorothy. The grave is grassed over and has no stonework on it.

Margaret Ivola Bymoen nee Ivall (1919-2020)

 In 1983, Margaret wrote an excellent book detailing the history of and people in the Ivall family in Canada. It records that they are descended from Alexander “Sandy” Ivall (1831-1911), who emigrated from Scotland to Canada in about 1836. He married Jane Kerr and they had ten children. His sixth child, William Ivall (1860-1940) married Margaret Hawley (1856-1913). Their third child was Edward Leslie Ivall (1890-1987) who married Rea Helen Ratcliff (1902-1985) in 1918. These were Margaret’s parents – she was born on 31 May 1919.

When written, Margaret’s book was a comprehensive listing of the descendants of Alexander Ivall, with family history information about them. It is a notable achievement.

Margaret married Clarence Gerhard Bymoen (born 20 September 1912) on 2 January 1941. This is what Margaret says about herself in her book:

“I am the first daughter of Edward Ivall and Rea Ratcliff. I was born on the farm home at Vesper, Sask. I finished my high school in Swift Current, Sask., in 1938-1939 I took my teacher training at the Moose Jaw Normal School. I love music, played the violin, accordion and organ a bit and have tried my hand at painting. We farmed at Simmie, Sask, 40 miles south of Swift Current, we then sold and eventually bought 11 miles north of Swift Current where my son Terry now farms.

While living in Swift Current I was active on United Church committees, Hospital Board, Pioneer Lodge Board also Hospital Auxiliary. I had a heart attack which caused me to curtail my activities. I enjoy duplicate bridge and Lois (Margaret’s sister) and I attend duplicate bridge tournaments, playing as partners. At present I am chairman of the local Genealogical Society. Clarence and I had six children.”

Clarence died 8 October 1971, aged 59.

“In 1977 I married Walter Penner a retired Superintendent for Patterson Grain Elevators. We go to Mesa, Arizona each winter for three months. Walter has become a bridge player as well and we play in competition.”

Margaret died on 26 April 2020, aged 100. She is buried in the same grave as her husband Clarence in Mount Pleasant Burial Park, Swift Current. The website Find a Grave has memorial to her https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/209523788/margaret_bymoen. It has pictures of Margaret and her grave.

Death of Robert Thomas Ivall

The General Register Office (GRO) recently launched their new Online View service, which offers instant access to images of entries from the birth and death registers for England & Wales. The service currently covers births from 1837-1922 and deaths from 1837-1887. The cost is £2-50 (compared to £7 charged for a PDF image).

I have used this service to order an image of the entry for the death of Robert Thomas Ivall (1812-65). There is an item about his life on this blog.

The entry shows that he died on 13 August 1865 in Chalvey (now a suburb of Slough) aged 53. His “Rank or Profession” is given as “District Secretary to Benefit Club”. The cause of death was “Pneumonia 6 weeks, Gangrene of Leg, Certified.” The informant was Owen Ivall (then aged 19, a son of Robert), who was present at the death.

Robert was born on 4 December 1812, so he was actually aged 52 (not 53) when he died.

Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. Gangrene is a serious condition where a loss of blood supply causes body tissue to die. It can occur as a result of an injury, infection or a long-term condition that affects blood circulation. The treatment of both of these conditions would now involve antibiotics, which were not available when Robert died. Surgery is also used to treat gangrene.

Anthony Ivall Aust CMG (1942-2017): Legal Advisor to the Foreign Office

Anthony Ivall Aust was descended from James Ivall (1745-1809) via Charles Ivall (1779-1832), John Ivall (1802-35), Anna Aust nee Ivall (1827-99), Henry Ivall Aust (1869-1922) and Ivall George Aust (1907-73).

Charles Ivall was a brother of my ancestor Thomas Ivall (1781-1835). There is an item about the life of Anna Aust nee Ivall on this blog. In 2009, I exchanged emails with Anthony about his Ivall family history.

Anthony was made a CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 1995. This is awarded to men and women who hold high office or who render important non-military service to the United Kingdom in a foreign country.

On May 20 2018, The Times published the following:

Anthony Aust obituary

Unconventional adviser to the Foreign Office whose book on international law was next to Osama bin Laden’s bed when he was shot

When Osama bin Laden was tracked to a compound in Pakistan in 2011 and shot dead by US navy Seals, not the least of the surprises revealed to a watching world was the nature of his bedside reading. At the top of a hefty stack of hardbacks that included histories of warfare was a handbook of international law written by Anthony Aust.

Commentators had fun with its content, which included sections on terrorism, and joked that after a few pages of the tome the leader of al-Qaeda perhaps felt the need to relax with some of the pornography rumoured to have been found in his desk.

Yet Aust may have had his own views on the legality of Bin Laden’s death, for, despite working for the Foreign Office as a legal adviser for almost 35 years, to more staid colleagues he could appear unconventional in dress and opinion.

Rather than being the customary Oxbridge-bred barrister, Aust was by training a solicitor and had been educated at the London School of Economics (LSE). As a young lawyer he had supported causes and organisations considered at the time somewhat radical, such as the National Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty). In summer he might appear in the office not in a three-piece suit, but in sandals, and in winter wear at his desk a rollneck sweater. When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands one April afternoon in 1982, he answered an urgent summons to Whitehall wearing his gardening clothes.

Such independence of mind perhaps hinted at his strengths as a lawyer. A skilled negotiator with a good poker face, from 1988 to 1991 Aust was legal adviser to the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations in New York during the dramatic period of the end of the Cold War. In the autumn of 1988 he had an early indication of the changes to come when, unexpectedly, a senior Soviet diplomat began to relate inside stories from the Kremlin at a dinner party in Aust’s apartment in Manhattan. A steady thawing of relations at a personal level soon followed.

The destruction soon afterwards of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie triggered a series of legal issues that would dominate the last decade of Aust’s career in government service. They culminated in the unique solution of the setting-up of a special Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands to try those accused of the bombing.

He was also to play a key role in the international response to the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990. As legal adviser, he sat next to the British ambassador to the UN, Sir Crispin Tickell, during the many difficult and sometimes all-night discussions in the security council. He was centrally involved in the drafting of the early council responses and typed up the first version of Resolution 678, which empowered states to use all necessary means to eject the Iraqis. Despite the apparent success of the measures in procuring the restoration of Kuwaiti sovereignty, he remained profoundly sceptical as to the effectiveness of the UN as an institution.

Anthony Ivall Aust was born in Reading, Berkshire, in 1942, to Jessie (née Salmon) and Ivall, a clerk at the Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory. Young Tony was educated at Stoneham Grammar School and initially hoped to become an architect before deciding to read law at the LSE. Later in life he became an accomplished photographer, often taking buildings as his subjects.

While an articled clerk in 1967, he applied for a post as a legal adviser at the Foreign Office and was surprised when he got the job. An early matter with which he was involved was seeking to justify in law the government’s decision to expel forcibly from their home the islanders of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. This was done to provide a base for the US military, later shared with Britain. Although successive governments have denied acting illegally, Aust found the task distasteful, and the issue remains a source of bitter dispute to this day.

From 1976 to 1979 Aust was legal adviser to the British military government in Berlin, a legacy of the Second World War. His office looked out on a golden German eagle, and behind his desk was a complete set of records of the Nuremberg trials. His remit included the supervision of the British contingent in Spandau Prison, which held Rudolf Hess, formerly Hitler’s deputy.

Spandau had been built in the late 19th century to house 600 prisoners. Hess, by then in his eighties, had become its sole inmate, but conditions were made relatively comfortable for him. He was provided with a hospital-style bed and allowed to decorate the walls with pictures of planets.

Aust had to sit in on some of Hess’s monthly family visits, when his wife usually came. Most of the time, he recalled, she talked about herself and life outside. Hess had very little chance to say anything. Unkind people said that if he were to be released he would die quickly from having to listen to her chatter.

One difficulty that Aust had to negotiate was whether Hess should be allowed to have a television, placed in a corridor, so he could watch an important football match between England and West Germany. The British wardens were keenly in favour, and for once the Soviet governor agreed, even though it meant erecting an aerial on the roof (England lost).

During his final days in Berlin, Aust also had to cope with the publication of a book by Hugh Thomas, a former British doctor at Spandau, which alleged that the man held in the prison was not Hess but a double — and that the Allies knew this. It said that the real Hess had been shot down while trying to fly to Scotland in 1941 and had been replaced by an impostor working for Heinrich Himmler. The proof was said to be that Thomas had seen no sign on Hess of a scar from when shot during the First World War. It was decided to x-ray the prisoner, which revealed the damage to his lung. Hess eventually committed suicide in the prison in 1987, aged 93.

In 1969 Aust married Jacqueline Paris. They had two daughters, Sophie and Katherine, but the marriage ended in divorce. In 1988 he married Kirsten Kaarre Jensen, a Danish diplomat; they met at a conference in Montreal about the shooting down by the Soviet military in 1983 of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.

Aust was appointed CMG in 1995 and retired as deputy legal adviser at the Foreign Office in 2002. Thereafter he devoted himself to teaching and to scholarly writing, fiercely rejecting any notion that he had become an academic. His books included Modern Treaty Law and Practice (2000), derived from his extensive experience of treaty negotiation and the operation of treaty regimes such as that of Antarctica, with which he remained involved. The book became a standard work of reference.

Aust’s other interests included travel, especially to Tasmania, which he visited many times. His subtle wit was often in evidence at academic seminars. In the style of his favourite author, Oscar Wilde, he remarked that he saw his task as hoping to reveal a “glimpse of ankle beneath the capacious skirts of government”.

Anthony Aust, CMG, legal adviser to the Foreign Office, was born on March 9, 1942. He died after a long illness on December 3, 2017, aged 75.

Ivalls in the 1921 Census

The 1921 census for England and Wales has recently been released on the website Findmypast. The index can be viewed free. It shows 71 people with the surname Ivall. Of these, 68 are people in my family tree. The remaining 3 are people whose details I don’t recognise and I suspect that their actual surnames have been mistranscribed.

There are some Ivalls that I was expecting to find, who are not listed. I have found them wrongly listed under other surnames. They are

-          William Charles Jooel (Ivall) and Florence Bessie Jooel with their 4 children

-         Robert Thomas Owen Soall (Ivall) and Florence Sarah Soall with their 3 children

-          George Iver (Ivall) and Alice Eliza Iver

-          Catherine Mildred (Ivall)

-          Percy Isall (Ivall) and Alice Isall with 4 of their children 

This brings the total number of positively identified Ivalls in the census to 88. 

It costs £3.50 to download the image of a census return, which contains information not in the index. I have purchased the one showing my great grandparents George (aged 67, a retired cabinet maker) and Alice Eliza (65) Ivall. They were visiting their daughter Rose Lily, who had married Walter Edwin Kebbell and lived at 9 Medina Avenue, Newport, Isle of Wight. The house had 6 rooms. Google Street View shows this to be one of a terrace of houses, which look to be quite large. Walter (aged 37) and Rose (35) are listed at the address with their children Joyce (7) and Winifred (6). Walter's occupation is recorded as "Brewer's manager, bottling dept" working for Whitbread Co Ltd at the Wighthall Brewery, Quay St, Newport. This is about half a mile from 9 Medina Avenue. The census was taken in June 1921, so presumably George and Alice (who lived in Hackney, London) were visiting their daughter for a summer holiday. 

If you download any other 1921 census Ivall images, please let me know.

Leslie Robert Ivall (1922-2021)

Leslie was descended from Alexander "Sandy" Ivall (1831-1911), who emigrated to Canada from Scotland in about 1837. Alexander married Jane Kerr and they had 10 children. Their third child, also called Alexander (1855-1922), married Sarah Baldwin and had 6 children including Joseph William Ivall (1880-1957) who married Ann Kolesar in 1907. They had 9 children, Leslie being the third youngest.

An obituary for Leslie is at https://memorials.northridgefuneralhome.com/leslie-ivall/4636368/

Ivalls on Find A Grave

The free website Find A Grave https://www.findagrave.com/ contains the names and burial locations of over 220 million people. 160.8 million of these are in the USA, 7.8 million in Canada, 7.3 million in Australia and 6.7 million in England. The memorials on Find A Grave contain some information about the person’s life and often a photo of the grave.

The website contains entries for 82 Ivalls buried in England (73 with Ivall as their surname when they died plus 9 with Ivall as their maiden name). 43 of the memorials also have a picture.

A few of the English Ivalls listed, such as my ancestor David Ivall (1816-67), were buried in common graves.  A common grave was a plot which belonged to the owners of the cemetery rather than to a private individual. These plots were used to bury the bodies of unrelated individuals who died over the course of a few days and did not have the means to pay for a plot with private burial rights. These graves were not marked with any kind of stonework.

In addition, there are 86 (69 + 17) Ivall graves in Canada and 13 (10 + 3) in the USA on the website. There is 1 Ivall grave in Scotland and 1 in New Zealand. There are also 2 Ivall war graves in Belgium and 1 in France.

It is not easy to establish where people in England were buried. There are some burial records online but they only cover a minority of cemeteries and burial grounds. Consequently, I do not know where many English Ivalls are interred. If you know of any Ivall graves not on the Find A Grave website, please contact me.

Emily Ralph / Dennis nee Ivall (1845-1911)

Emily Ivall was a sister of my great grandfather George Ivall (1853-1932). Their parents were David Ivall (1816-67) and his wife Elizabeth Ann (1817-92) nee Gibson, who had nine children. David Ivall was a journeyman coachmaker - meaning that he worked for other people. The available evidence indicates that he was not well off, so Emily would have grown up in a moderately poor, working- class household.

Emily was born in 1845 in the St Pancras registration district of North London. At this time, her family lived in Somers Town, which included the site (next to St Pancras Station) where the British Library is now located.

The 1851 census lists David (aged 34, a coach maker) and Elizabeth (33) living at 29 Bull Place, St Pancras with their children Henry (9), Georgiana (7), David (2) and Elizabeth Ann (8 months). Emily Ivall (age given as 3 but should be 5) is listed with her grandparents Thomas (aged 54, a coach-lace weaver) and Ann (54) Gibson at 49 Wilsted Street, St Pancras. 

David and his family moved from St Pancras to Southwark sometime between 1851 and 1853. By 1861, the family were living at 19 Nursery Row, Walworth, Southwark and consisted of David (aged 44, a coach maker), Elizabeth (43), Georgiana (17), Elizabeth (10), George (7), Louisa (5) and William (2). Emily is not listed with them. By then she would have been 15 and might have left home for work reasons eg she could have been living elsewhere as a servant. I have not found Emily in the 1861 census.

On 15 August 1864, Emily married William Ralph, at St Peter’s Church Walworth. Their marriage certificate shows that William, aged 25 was a mariner. His father was Thomas Ralph, a labourer. Emily was aged 19. Her residence at the time of marriage is shown as 19 Nursery Row (where her family lived). Her brother Henry and sister Georgina Jane were witnesses to the marriage (Emily witnessed Georgina’s marriage in 1866).

William Ralph in 1860

Emily and William had a child, Emily Elizabeth, in 1867. Another child, William, was born in 1869 but died in 1870. Emily’s husband William Ralph died on 17 March 1871 aged 32. His death certificate says that he was a stoker (someone who shovelled coal into the furnace of a ship’s steam engines) in the Royal Navy. He died from an aortic aneurism at the Royal Naval Hospital at East Stonehouse in Devon. The census in April 1871 showed Emily (aged 25, a widowed dressmaker) and her daughter Emily (aged 3) living at 125 Salisbury Place, Newington, Southwark. Another daughter, Rose Jane, was born later in 1871.

Emily married James Christmas Dennis (a railway guard) on 8^th April 1872 at St John’s Walworth. She was aged 26, he was 33. The 1881 census lists James (aged 42, a general dealer) and Emily living at 24 Green Hundred Road (a shop), Camberwell, which is close to the Old Kent Road. Living with them were Emily’s children from her first marriage, Emily (13) and Rosy (9) Ralph as well as Ann (7), Ellen (3) and James (1) Dennis, from her second marriage.

The family were living at the same address in 1891 and consisted of James (52, still a general dealer), Emily (45), Charles (9), Louisa (7) and Ada (5) Dennis. By 1901, the family at 24 Green Hundred Road were James (62, a general carman), Emily (55), Charles (19, a general dealer), Louisa (17) and Ada (15). Also in the household was Rose Barrett (widow, 29, a laundress) together with Rose’s children Charles (7) and Rose (1) Barrett (Emily’s daughter Rose had married Frederick George Barrett in 1891, but he died in 1899).

Charles Booth arranged a survey of London’s working class and their housing between 1886 and 1903. His team produced a map in which the roads were classified into 7 categories ranging from the poorest (1) to the most affluent (7). Green Hundred Road at the northern end was classified as category 2 (very poor, chronic want), the rest being category 3 (poor, 18s to 21s a week for a moderate family). The property at 24 Green Hundred Road no longer exists.

Emily Dennis nee Ivall

In 1911 Emily (65) and James (72, a retired carman) were living in one room at 492 Old Kent Rd, Walworth. The census return says that 10 children had been born to their marriage, of whom 7 were alive. GRO records show the following 7 Dennis births with Ivall as the maiden name

Ann Ralph Dennis (1873-1931)

Ellen Alice Dennis (1877-?)

James Dennis (1879-82)

Charles Ernest Dennis (1882-1942)

Louisa Susan Dennis (1883-1956)

Ada Dennis (1886-1973)

Florence Maud Dennis (1890-1890)

If Emily’s 3 children by her first marriage are included, it brings the total to 10.

Emily died in 1911 aged 65 in Camberwell. She was buried in a common grave in Camberwell Old Cemetery on 9 September 1911. There is no grave marker. Her husband James died in 1915 aged 76 and is also buried in Camberwell Old Cemetery in a common grave.

Emily’s eldest four children, namely Emily Elizabeth (1867-1970, she lived to the age of 102), Rose Jane (1871-1964), Ann Ralph and Ellen Alice emigrated to Canada. Bev, one of their descendants, has kindly provided me with information and pictures for this article.

Leonard Fordham Ivall Obituary

Leonard Fordham Ivall (1912-91) was my mother’s second cousin. There is an item about his life on this blog. I recently found a short obituary about him, published by the Aberdeen Press and Journal on August 22^nd 1991, in the British Newspaper Archive. It reads :

Former architecture consultant dies

Retired Elgin architectural consultant and a well-known personality in the Moray town, Mr Len Ivall, 113 Morriston Road, died yesterday. He was 79. Originally from Cornwall, Mr Ivall moved to Elgin while serving with the Royal Engineers in the early 1940s.

 In his professional work, he was involved with the design of many of the Royal Mission to Deep Sea Fisherman centres in the northern half of Scotland. He also specialised in hotel design. But his main interest, particularly in latter years, was the Elgin Club in Commerce Street, of which he was a long-standing committee member, trustee and served as president from 1973-1984. He was one of the small group of local businessmen who helped the club survive when it was facing financial difficulties in the 1960s.

Mr Ivall is survived by his wife.

Google Maps shows 113 Morriston Road to be a fairly modern bungalow in Elgin.

The Elgin Club was founded by a group of eminent local gentlemen in 1863. It was housed in imposing, purpose-built premises completed in 1869. It operated as a gentleman’s club until the late twentieth century, when ladies were permitted membership. The club closed in 2002 due to falling membership and increased running costs. The building is now being converted into an entertainment venue and boutique hotel.

Looking for the Grave of George and Alice Ivall

George Ivall (1853-1932) was my great grandfather. An item https://ivall.blogspot.com/search/label/George%20Ivall%20%281853-1932%29 about his life is on this blog. My second cousin Paul, recently sent me a document showing where George and his wife Alice (1856-1935) are buried.

On the back of the document it says

First Interment            George Ivall                78 years           30^th June 1932

Second Interment        Alice Ivall                   79 years           16^th May 1935

Bay Street, Dalston (where George was living when he died) no longer exists. Its site is now occupied by modern housing in Freshfield Avenue. Tottenham Park Cemetery is in Edmonton, North London and was opened in 1912. It is 7 miles north of Bay Street.

Most of the burials at Tottenham Park Cemetery since the 1950s are of people from the Turkish Cypriot community. The Guardian.com published an article about the cemetery on 2 Oct 2018. It contained the following text

 Police have opened an investigation after a broken skull, a shoulder blade and leg-bones were among suspected human remains discovered lying uncovered in a cemetery. The bones include a partial skeleton and were found at the privately owned Tottenham Park cemetery in north London by a group of campaigners who fear that graves are being dug up and reused without consent amid a nationwide shortage of burial space.

More bones have been found by members of the Tottenham Park Cemetery Action Group who have relatives buried there. Police and a leading forensic pathologist have confirmed to the Guardian that some of the bones discovered in recent months are human remains. Tests are pending on others, according to Scotland Yard.

The cemetery is owned by an Essex-based company that runs two private cemeteries in London and charges up to £4,100 per plot. Tottenham Park is one of the largest Turkish-Cypriot burial grounds in the UK and part of it is leased as an Islamic cemetery. While four out of five people are now cremated in Britain, demand for burials remain high among Turkish and Muslim communities that require it for religious and traditional reasons.

Concern about the management of the cemetery has been simmering for years. David Johnson, a medical engineer who has five members of his family buried in three neighbouring plots, claims he discovered in 2005 that two elaborate marble structures had been erected over two of the plots to memorialise two completely unconnected people who appeared to have been buried there. He said he has not been able to get answers about what has happened to the remains of his loved ones. “What have they done with them? We think they have been dumped in a skip. I feel very angry to have this done to my family.”

The Burial Act 1857 makes it an offence to remove buried human remains without a licence from the government, or permission from the Church of England if it is consecrated ground.

Scotland Yard said a man has been interviewed under caution as part of its investigation, which began in May when the first bones were found. It said it was alerted to the discovery of more bones on 29 August and “a dismantled human-looking partial skeleton” on 14 September. “Police will continue to liaise with local volunteer groups and the Tottenham Park cemetery to repatriate the [latest discovered] bones, once confirmed as human, at the location as soon as is practicable,” said a spokesman. Scotland Yard said that bones discovered at Tottenham Park cemetery in May and June were forensically examined and confirmed as human.

In November 2018, Tottenham Park Cemetery Ltd was placed into voluntary liquidation. In 2019 it was under new management, who say “Our aim is to clean the cemetery and reinstate the respect and reverence the cemetery deserves.”

 I visited the cemetery recently to look for George and Alice Ivall’s grave (2132, square C). Most of the memorials there are ornate and for people with Turkish sounding names. There isn’t much space between the gravestones. In most UK cemeteries, enough memorials have the grave number inscribed onto them to work out where another grave is located, if you know its number. In Tottenham Park Cemetery, very few of the memorials have the grave number displayed, so it is not possible to locate other graves this way. I managed to find the approximate location of square C but could not find a gravestone with George and Alice’s name on it.

I phoned the cemetery office who told me that it was very likely that a grave from the 1930s would have been reused since then. I sent an email asking whether they could definitely confirm this and tell me the name on the memorial currently on grave 2132 (if there is one), but have had no reply.

Daniel Durnford Ivall (1905-2000)

The following item appeared in the Harrow Observer dated Thursday 08 January 1959. My item https://ivall.blogspot.com/2012/05/daniel-durnford-ivall-obe-1905-2000.html (written in 2012) about Daniel on this blog contains more information about his life.

NATIONAL APPOINTMENT FOR MR. D. D. IVALL

In a week's time Mr. D. D. Ivall, Assistant Chief Officer of Middlesex Fire Service, will be leaving the county headquarters, Harrow Road, Wembley, to take up a Home Office appointment as an Assistant Inspector of Fire Services. Mr. Ivall has held his present rank since 1948, when the National Fire Service was divided. Mr. Ivall's son John. who was injured in Cyprus when a Services jeep struck a terrorist mine was allowed home for a few days at Christmas from the R.A.F. hospital at Halton, Bucks.

BORN AT FIRE STATION

Mr. Ivall could be said to have been born into the fire service, as he was born at Dulwich fire station, where his father was serving. He joined the London Fire Brigade in 1925, when he was 20, serving first at Cannon Street and later at the headquarters at Southwark. In 1934 he was moved to Camden Town, with the rank of sub-officer. After this he had 18 months at the Soho station. reputed to be the busiest in London, two years as sub-officer inspector in the brigade's training school, and spells of duty at Clerkenwell and Lambeth headquarters. Just before the war he was promoted station officer, in charge of training for the London brigade. When war came he was placed in charge of the Lambeth headquarters and was later promoted district officer.

TOURED AMERICA

For 12 months in 1940-41, Mr. Ivall and a group of colleagues toured 46,000 miles in the United States and Canada. In 145 cities and towns they gave addresses and showed films, paintings and drawings of the bombing of London. Ivall was accompanied at many meetings and official visits by Mr. La Guardia, the famous Mayor of New York. who was Director of Civil Defence. "Those were the days before Pearl Harbour," said Mr. lvall on Monday. "But when Americans were shown the fires and the ruins of London, and the way the fire service and Civil Defence went into action, with bombs whistling and crashing all around, I think we did our share in making them realize the meaning of war." On his return to Britain Mr. Ivall was appointed divisional officer and director of studies of the London officers' training school, No. 5 Region. Within six months came promotion to assistant fire force commander for an area of Middlesex including Edmonton, Hendon and Mill Hill, with headquarters at Highgate. Subsequently he was transferred with the same rank to the South- East London area. In 1945 he became a deputy fire force commander and in 1948, when the N.F.S. was disbanded, he received his present appointment as assistant chief officer of the county service, with 38 fire stations and ten ambulance depots in his area. In the Coronation Honours he was made O.B.E. He also holds the King's, the Defence, the Coronation and the Long Service medals.

This is the 100^th item on this blog. According to statistics provided by Google Blogger, my blog has been viewed 69,700 times since I started it in 2007.

Grace Evelyn Taylor nee Ivall (1922-2006) : Her Life Story Part 4

This is the final part of my mother’s life story. She was a true and constant friend to many people she met. In 2002, she had some thickened skin with a split in it on the sole of her foot. This turned out to be melanoma (skin cancer). She had several operations to try and cure it, but it returned and eventually was the cause of her death in March 2006. During her illness she showed great fortitude, was grateful to others and managed to get some pleasure from life.

Friends

During all my life friends have played a very big part. I’d like to mention a few more of them.

Firstly, Ida and for many years, her husband Eric (he died in 1995). Ida was my rival at school but since 1949 and a chance meeting in Erith she has been a staunch friend. We’ve brought up our families side by side and shared the ups and downs of life. Ida lives nearby (in Northumberland Heath). She is well and happy with a new partner, Ted (he was nearly 90 when she met him!) and I see her quite often.

Pearl and I made friends at Barnehurst Methodist Church Young Wives group. We are both now well into our eighties! Needless to say, we’ve shared many experiences over the years.

Ron and June are friends from many years ago. Ron was Eric’s office friend and he taught Eric to drive (in 1947-48). June and I became chums and spent many days out together. June is a widow now but still a valued friend.

Sheila and Jim recently came back into my life after thirty years. What a happy day that was!

 

These and all the other friends I mention in my story, have a special place in my heart.

Grace and Eric at their golden wedding anniversary in 1994

Recent Times

Time moved on. Evelyn married and left home to build up a life and family of her own. Philip was working and soon he too was leading an independent life. My mother died in 1970. Eric and I became “Derby and Joan”. The big house wasn’t really necessary any more. The work in the garden seemed to be arduous, tiring and rather wearing. By 1996 it was time to scale down and take life easier.

After unsuccessfully looking for our dream bungalow in the Marlow area we settled for a retirement flat in Bexleyheath (with an appropriately botanical name - Fern Court). We “thinned out” our possessions, had the flat decorated and carpeted and moved in. I’ve always thought that the move was right for us and I’ve never regretted the choice that we made. What matters most to me is that Fern Court has given me new friends, particularly Olive. I thank God for their friendship and for that of the many kind folk from the United Reform Church where Olive and I go regularly together. Our move was on 13th June 1996. We had one more year of good health and then in the summer of 1997 unfortunately health problems began to arise.

Grace with her old school friend Cathie

The first sign that anno domini was affecting me was severe atrial fibrillations which resulted in my having to have a pacemaker implanted in October 1997. This took place at St Thomas’ Hospital and was the start of a long association with St Thomas’ and its partner Guy’s Hospital. At this time, Ruth, who was once a neighbour, became my faithful companion accompanying me on regular appointments there. We went by train in those days. Ruth visited me every day during the three week stay that I had in St Thomas’ Hospital after my second foot operation. Thank you Ruth.

As the years went by Eric fell victim to myasthenia and he also had a series of mini strokes (Transient Ischaemic Attacks). It was one of those attacks that finally led to his death in May 2003. Eric died just 3 months before his ninetieth birthday and had he lived nine months longer we would have achieved our diamond wedding anniversary (60 years of marriage).

I think I have coped with widowhood reasonably well, although I miss Eric’s companionship beyond words. I do realise that I have only “kept going” because of the help that Philip gives me, in many ways taking Eric’s place. Philip works with quiet efficiency keeping all my paperwork and problems under control. He is my constant companion, taking me to numerous tedious hospital appointments and also taking me out on pleasure bent. I’m told many times “You’ve got a good son”. “Couldn’t be better” is my reply to that. I value and appreciate all that he does for me.

Before concluding my story there is one more person who is very dear to me that I haven’t yet mentioned - my niece Valerie. Dear, loving, caring Valerie with her optimistic nature and her ability to cheer up bouts of despondency. Valerie has only recently come into my life regularly and frequently, as she has spent all her life looking after her mother (Eric’s sister Vera) who died aged 87 in December 2002. Vera had no hearing at all so needed to be communicated with by lip reading and sign language. In her later years she became nearly blind as well. But Vera had one great blessing in her life, her daughter Valerie who looked after her with total devotion, kindness and love. Now that Vera is no longer with us, “Auntie Grace” benefits from that love and care!

           

Since Eric died my own health problems have escalated (melanoma is the operative word!) but my problems have been greatly eased by my wonderful “back up” team. Evelyn, Philip and Valerie have helped me in every possible way (including boosting my morale) and I am eternally grateful. I love them all dearly.

It is now February 2005 and my story is nearly over. I hope it hasn’t been too tedious reading it. I suppose it’s a fairly ordinary pattern of achievement but to me it has been quite special and I’ve benefited from all my caring family and friends that have shared it with me. So thank you all.

Grace Evelyn Taylor nee Ivall (1922-2006) : Her Life Story Part 3

After the War, Living in Barnehurst

Eric was demobbed in February 1946 and given three months leave. We stayed in Cambridge living with my mother and Old Pop in Paradise Street (it was Paradise to us then). It was a lovely spring and we cycled miles across the traffic free, flat Fenland country to places like St Ives and Ely. We also punted on the River Cam and walked across the meadows to Grantchester. All was well in our (and many other people’s) lives.

So, at ages 32 and 24, we started our “real” married lives and turned our thoughts towards acquiring a home of our own and a family. This meant returning to the London area as Eric was still employed by the LCC (they had made up his army pay to his full salary all through the war years). We wanted a house somewhere in the London suburbs, we didn’t mind where. We had some ex-office friends living at Potters Bar (a northern suburb of London). They suggested that we went to live with them whilst we were searching for our “dream home” and we gladly accepted. However, this arrangement didn’t work for long for a strange reason. All food was tightly rationed and our friends had a fourteen year old son, David. David used to eat our rations in secret! We were always hungry as a result!

One day in early September 1946, Eric and I visited his Dad who lived with his third wife in Woolwich. A chance look at the local paper showed an advert for a terraced house in Barnehurst. We decided to look at it and set off by train to Barnehurst station. I had never heard of the place before but found it pleasant enough, reasonably leafy - typical suburbia. The house was at 309 Parkside Avenue, about a mile from the station. Parkside Avenue was a long straight road, on the local bus route and 309 was at the far end. We looked it over - it was a middle terrace, 3 small bedrooms upstairs, two rooms down with a bathroom and toilet downstairs built on the back. It also had a small glass roofed (freezing in winter) kitchen extension on the back. As you can imagine, houses weren’t easy to come by at that time as there were thousands of demobbed soldiers looking for a home. The house agent who showed us round said “You’ll have to make up your minds straightaway as I’ve got a lot of other people waiting to see it”. We said “Yes” - the house cost £1,195 freehold (£5 deposit!). The advert had been put in the paper for the first time that day. Fate had taken a hand.

Grace (fourth from left) with her old school friends Edna (second) and Ida (third), c1952. Eric (first from left) was Ida’s husband, Basil (fifth) was Edna’s husband.

We lived in 309 for eleven years from September 1946 to September 1957 and during that time both our children were born. Evelyn June, our first child, made her debut at the Russell Stoneham Maternity Home (just around the corner) in 1949. She was a big baby and a horror, crying incessantly in the early weeks of her life. It was a hot summer and wool vests for babies were a “must”! However, she grew up to be a daughter to be proud of. She went to Normandy school for the preliminary years (under the tuition of the eccentric Mr Newman) and then to Erith Grammar School. She obtained 11 O levels and achieved A levels in Physics, Chemistry and Biology and decided she wanted to be a doctor. Her training was at the Royal Free Hospital and after getting her medical degree there she went on to get many other qualifications, finishing by becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in the faculty of Anaesthetics. Evelyn’s medical training lasted 10 years. Soon after she got her final qualification she married Brian (in January 1979) and then gave us three grandsons Michael, Christopher and Peter (all now over six feet tall). Evelyn’s life is full and busy as she is a Consultant Anaesthetist at High Wycombe Hospital and most important she gives her time to caring for her family and has a happy loving home life. I benefit too in that I have a kind and attentive son-in-law and three grandsons to be proud of. Despite her “action packed” days Evelyn manages to find time to devote and care for me when needed, even though she lives at Marlow, 80 miles away.

Our second child, a son, was born at the Russell Stoneham Maternity Home in 1953. He was a bonny baby and much less demanding in the early days of his life than his sister had been. We named him Philip William - Philip after the Duke of Edinburgh (it was coronation year and the royals were very much in the limelight), William after his male grandparents on both sides of the family. At five Philip started at Barnehurst Primary School under the headmistress Mrs Munford - a strict and formidable lady who commanded discipline and respect. At aged eleven Philip followed in his sister’s footsteps and went to Erith Grammar School, where he later became Head Boy. Philip decided to choose science A levels (after achieving 10 O Levels) and he passed three with good grades which qualified him for a place at Bristol University. He studied chemistry getting a BSc degree, following it with a MSc and then a PhD. He was now a Doctor, so he’d kept up with Evelyn. After 6 years at Bristol University it was time to start work. Philip’s first job was at RHM (Rank Hovis McDougall) Research in High Wycombe, where he stayed for three years. He next obtained a job with the Wellcome Foundation in Dartford where he worked as an analytical chemist. After 12 years he transferred into project management which he did for a further 11 years before retiring (aged 50) as the result of the Dartford site closure (by then Wellcome had been taken over by Glaxo who then merged with Smith Kline Beecham).

During this period when our children were growing up - our family (Eric, me, Evelyn, Philip and Meo, our black cat) moved from Parkside Avenue, where we had a small terraced house, to Barnehurst Avenue (no 92) where we bought a large, detached house with a garden on many levels. This was in September 1957 and we were destined to stay there for thirty nine years (until June 1996). Soon after moving to Barnehurst Avenue it became necessary for us to have my mother (now a widow) to come and live with us. This was because she had become disabled (after a fall and a broken hip joint) and needed looking after. She moved from Cambridge to our house in 1958, had the downstairs front room as her own and stayed with us until her death in October 1970.

Grace and her mother in the back garden of 92 Barnehurst Avenue c1967

For Eric and I the years of our residence at Barnehurst were busy, working years. Eric worked at the County Hall, Westminster for the GLC until his retirement at 65 in 1978. I looked after the house and family, including bringing the shopping home from a local small store on my bicycle. The washing was done by hand, whites boiled in a copper, all of it rinsed in the sink and put through a mangle before hanging out on a line across the lawn to dry! Between us, Eric and I grew fruit, vegetables and flowers in our terraced garden, Eric tended a “con” (conservatory) full of pot plants and I slaved away preserving, freezing and otherwise using vast quantities of fruit of all types. At one time Eric had an allotment as well! They were happy years, probably the happiest in our lives. We were young(ish) and had a good social life with family and friends, lots of energy and (something we probably didn’t fully value at the time) good health.

During this period of our lives I got a part time job - the only time I took paid employment during nearly sixty years I had of married life. I became a part time play school teacher at St Martin’s Play School. During all this time (ten years from 1976 to 1986), I worked closely with Rita Gillis, who has been a much valued friend ever since those days. The experience of working with young children was a very happy one especially at Christmas when the Nativity Play and Christmas party were sheer magic. For a short while Eric also was “on the staff” (unpaid) as he came and played the piano. Here too I made several friends who have loyally shared my life since - Gill Sathy and Pam Sloan being particularly kind and caring to me in my later years.

The National Trust played a big part in Eric and my lives during the years at Barnehurst Avenue. We belonged to their local group (the Darent Cray NT Association) and participated in many outings and holidays with them staying in lovely places all over England - a very enriching experience and a very happy one. Here we made more good friends particularly Jack and Betty Clark, Pamela Monk and Pam and Jim McQuillan. Our other major interest was Natural History. We attended classes and courses, going on many outings based on Botany. We learnt (and often soon forgot) the English and Latin names of wild flowers, grasses, trees and shrubs. We made friends too with folk who had similar interests. It was all a happy and fulfilling experience.

Grace Evelyn Taylor nee Ivall (1922-2006) : Her Life Story Part 2

Grace was my mother. This part of her life story covers 1939 to 1945.

The War Years

In September 1939 Neville Chamberlain announced that we were at war with Germany and Brixton Road no longer seemed a very safe place to live. My mother solved that problem by deciding to re-marry, a decision she lived to regret. Her second husband was a Mr Tom Laughton (known as “Old Pop”). He lived in Cambridge and was a widower friendly with some Cambridge people that my mother had got to know in the first world war. Pop was eccentric, selfish and a “varmint”. My mother’s life was very stormy until Pop had a stroke and died in our house at Barnehurst in 1947.

So my mother went to live in Cambridge (in Paradise Street of all the mis-named addresses !). But what of me? I was aged 17 and wanted to continue with my job at the County Hall (there were some nice boys there!). I had an Aunt (my mother’s sister) who lived with her husband (my father’s brother!) at Southgate, one of the northern outer suburbs of London and they offered to let me live with them. I then had a long journey by underground every day to reach the County Hall where I worked.

26th April 1940 was perhaps the most momentous day of my life. That evening I went to the office dance and got to know a brown eyed handsome chap named Eric Taylor. Eric was a wages clerk and every week paid me the 28 shillings that was my weekly salary. I’d had my eye on him for a long while and this was it. He offered to take me back to Southgate when the dance ended despite the blackout and possibility of bombs, so it seemed that he was rather taken with me too. We had stars in our eyes that summer but in October 1940 Eric was called up into the Army - the Royal Artillery, which was appropriate for a man born in Woolwich. For the rest of the war we had many poignant farewells and long periods of separation.

Eric and Grace

I was still living in Southgate with Auntie Florrie, Uncle Bert and my cousins Kath and Marjorie. Marjorie and I were close companions and playmates all through our childhood. We always dressed alike and pretended to be twins. Kath, four years older was called by us “the enemy” or “her”. But I wasn’t destined to live with them for much longer. One night a large bomb fell in Osidge Lane where I was living. The house opposite was totally consumed by fire and many lives were lost. It was terrifying. Fortunately, we were all protected by a Morrison’s table shelter under which we had dived at the outset of the air raid.

Shortly afterwards, with Eric away in the Army, I decided to go to Cambridge to live with my mother and Pop. The County Hall, Westminster didn’t seem to matter anymore. I managed to get a transfer to the Cambridgeshire County Council and in time became the County Accountant’s Cashier (how, I’ll never know!).

The war progressed and many more people got involved in it. If you were not registered in a reserved occupation you were liable to be called up either into the forces, the land army or into a munitions factory. I found a way of using the war to achieve and satisfy a lifelong ambition. I became a nurse. I joined the St John Ambulance Brigade firstly in a part time capacity, then in 1941, as a full- time nursing member working at the Gresham Road Cambridge Convalescent Home for Soldiers. In my “spare” time I took over the training of a St John’s cadet group, becoming cadet officer and later cadet superintendent. Life at Gresham is a story in itself. We nurses were all in our twenties and ready for any fun that was going. The patients were “getting better” and glad of all the companionship the nursing staff could give them. However, there was no “hanky-panky” - Matron saw to that. Matron was Welsh, had bright red hair, a fiery temper and kept chickens. This hobby was very unpopular with everyone as she used to brew up revolting pots of peelings and other kitchen rejects which gave Gresham a very unglamorous and unhospital-like smell!

My “buddy” during the Gresham years was a Red Cross nurse with the name June Mary Silver Frost or Frosty as she was usually called. Frosty always saw the funny side of any situation and she made us all laugh at a time when the horror of war news made life a serious business. A few years later, in 1949, when Eric and I had a daughter we gave her June as her second name and Frosty became her god-mother. Unfortunately, Frosty died some years ago (in 1995) whilst in the throes of an attack of asthma.

I worked at Gresham from March 1943 to July 1945 when the home closed soon after the end of the war. During this time Eric and I got married, but as the date depended on the course the war took, I must record Eric’s fortunes (and misfortunes!) during the war years.

Soon after Eric was called up in October 1940 he was posted to East Anglia (Southwold and Leiston) for training with the 902 Artillery Regiment. During this period (which lasted for about eighteen months) he used to hitch hike to Cambridge regularly to see me. In July 1942 he was sent to the Western Desert in North Africa where he, General Montgomery (Monty) and a few others fought and won the battle of El Alamein. From there our troops pushed Rommel and the German army back across Africa for about 2,000 miles until they reached Tunis in December 1943. Eric’s regiment then moved on to Sicily for a few months and took it from the Germans before coming home in early 1944.

It was the middle of the winter and during the war but we wanted to get married and on February 12th 1944 we did. We had a traditional white wedding. Because clothes were on coupons, I borrowed my wedding dress (three brides had worn it before me and three were to wear it after me!). For bridesmaids I had Eric’s half-sister Betty and two of my office friends from my Cambridgeshire County Council days. They all wore borrowed dresses (all different). We had my St John’s cadets (who I had trained in First Aid) to give us a guard of honour of splints. We were married at St Andrew-the-Great church which is right opposite Christ’s College in the centre of Cambridge and it was all wonderful. After the reception in the Dorothy café, Eric and I went off for our honeymoon in Lyme Regis. The beach there was blocked off with huge rolls of barbed wire (anti invasion). The hotel though was full of spring flowers.

Eric and Grace’s wedding in 1944

When we returned Eric looked terrible. He was ashen grey, haggard and ill. Everybody blamed me! But it wasn’t married life that was the cause of his condition, it was the anopheles mosquito. He was developing malaria which had been incubating inside him since his return from the mosquito ridden hot countries. There followed a period for him in Black Notley Military Hospital near Braintree, Essex (where I couldn’t get to see him because of its isolated position). However, a nice surprise was ahead. Later that spring a ripple of interest went around the staff of Gresham Convalescent Home. A new patient was about to be admitted - he was 1089894 L/Br Eric William Taylor. Someone had pulled a few strings!

6th June 1944 was a day that affected everyone’s life. It was D-Day - the day of the allied invasion of German held Western Europe. Eric’s regiment (now the 64th Medium Regt R.A.) went across to the Normandy beaches on D-Day itself but Eric wasn’t discharged for duty until D+6, when he crossed and landed at Arromanches. Another long period of separation for Eric and I followed whilst the allies pushed forward through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany itself. At last on May 8th 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally and VE day had arrived. It was with relief that we realised that there would be no more heart-rending partings on Cambridge station. Vera Lynn could stop singing “We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when”. Peace had returned to our lives.

Grace Evelyn Taylor nee Ivall (1922-2006): Her Life Story Part 1

Grace Evelyn Taylor nee Ivall was my mother. She wrote her life story in 2005, the year before she died. It is quite long, so I propose to add it to this blog in sections. The first one covers the period from her birth until the start of the war in 1939.

My Childhood

I was born at 9 Linkfield Road, Isleworth, (close to Isleworth Station) on 20th January 1922. My parents were George William Ivall (born 1880) and Emma Ivall (nee Armitage, born 1883). My parents had one other child, another daughter, Florence Rose (Flossie) born 1908. Flossie died, aged 14, in August 1922 just 7 months after I was born. I have three keepsakes of Flossie, the sister I never knew. They are a large framed photograph, a gold bracelet and some beautiful auburn coloured ringlets cut from her hair the day she died. All of these souvenirs are amongst my most precious possessions, all are irreplaceable.

During the First World War my father saw active service in the Royal Artillery. Unfortunately, a shrapnel splinter severely damaged his hearing and made him almost totally deaf in one ear. This meant that after the war he could no longer work on the buses as he had always done and he had a long period of looking for alternative work. However, sometime before I was five my parents were offered the job as caretakers of the offices of the The Licensed Vehicle Workers Sick Benefit Club. This was at 30 Brixton Road - there was a flat on the top floor (two floors up) where we could live. I have vivid memories of my life here where we stayed for all my childhood. One of those memories is of an unexpected benefit that living there brought into my life and that was an introduction to the pleasure of dancing. The basement of the building was occupied by The Vincini School of Dancing. This was run by Mr Vincent and Miss Vicini (she was very Spanish). Mr Vincent made a bargain with my mother - she would do the refreshments in the interval at the dancing school and her “little girl” could have dancing lessons free. So I grew up to learn ballet (oh those hard block toed shoes!), tap dancing and modern ballroom dancing (eventually doing demonstrations of the latter with Mr Vincent). Although I certainly never became a “star” (or anything like it) at ballet or tap, I developed a lifelong appreciation of these terpsichorean arts.

Grace with her parents in 1929

30 Brixton Road was in Kennington, South London. Just along the road a short way was Kennington church where I went to Sunday School (in the crypt) and where, when I was fourteen, I was confirmed into the Church of England. My religious faith is deep within me and has certainly shaped my life, giving me an anchor to hold on to when I’ve needed one. It was from 30 Brixton Road that, aged 5, I started school. My first school was Hackford Road Infants School. It was a tall, ornate, Victorian building. Within a few days of starting school an important event in my life took place, I made my first friend. Her name was Cathie Bilsland (now Bunting) and she has been my “best” friend all my life. Without Cathie with her lovely nature and impish humour my life would have been duller and greyer. I still value her friendship beyond words. Cathie and I were always together, at school and at play, until we were eleven when Cathie’s parents moved to Aldershot. However, we took note of our first school’s motto “Keep faith” and remained friends. I spent many happy holidays at Aldershot and later, Farnham.

Grace and her friend Cathie in 1930.

At aged eleven Cathie, I and five other girls all won the Junior County scholarship, which meant we went on to what is now a Grammar school (called then a Secondary school). One of these girls became another lifelong friend - Edna Watkins (now Farmer). Edna now lives at High Wycombe and I visit her whenever I can. The secondary school chosen for me was Charles Edward Brooke school for girls. It was a church school which had strict standards of dress and behaviour. We were in dire trouble if we were ever seen by a prefect or teacher out of doors without wearing our hats or our white gloves!!! I did very well at school and was always at or near the top of the class (mainly I think because I was blessed with a good memory). The head mistress had my career mapped out for me. Firstly, I would pass my exams and gain matriculation (the highest academic grade), then go to college and finish up with a brilliant career teaching. She was wrong. When she read out the examination results she got to my name, paused and said “Now comes the biggest surprise of all - Grace - you’ve only passed at General School level, not matriculation.” What terrible humiliation for me! Especially as my arch rival Ida Garrett (now Browne) had passed. I locked myself in the lavatory and cried for hours. I was beginning to learn life’s hard lessons.

My career in ruins, my mother decided I should take the entrance exam for a vacancy with the LCC (London County Council) to do clerical work at the County Hall, Westminster. This was in 1938. Fate was taking a hand. I passed the exam and it was here that I met my husband to be in 1940.

But I have left a few important events out so let me go back a bit. In 1934, when I was only twelve years old, suddenly and unexpectedly, my Dad died. He had acute appendicitis, not diagnosed as such by his doctor. He was taken too late to St Giles Hospital, Camberwell where he died while undergoing an operation for peritonitis. This was a dreadful blow to my mother and I. Everyone loved my Dad. He was kind-hearted, loving jovial and helpful to everyone he came into contact with. My mother struggled on with the caretaker’s job getting help with the heavy cleaning, but home life was never the same for either me or her.