Tag: Clark

A Cup of Tea

Postcard sent in 1938 featuring Bricett Hall

This postcard featuring a view of Bricett Hall was shared with me late last year.

The postmark on the reverse is very faint but appears to have been posted July 1938, and addressed to:

Mrs. Gomm
10, Garrick Road
Greenford.
Middx.

The note reads:

Griffen: House
Monday evening

Dear Elsie,
Arrived here 6.15 had an easy ride with the wind all the way, called at Mrs Proctor’s for a cup of tea she was very pleased. Taint arf quiet here. Had a sleep all afternoon in a cornfield, wasn’t arf good, am sleeping here tonight may go to sea-side tomorrow Love to all
Gilbert

Reverse of the postcard sent July 1938

Gilbert and Elsie Gomm were both recorded at the address on the postcard in the 1939 register. The couple had married in 1931, and since both had also been born in the London area, there appeared to be no link to Great Bricett.

However, after receiving the postcard I blogged about recently, I noticed both involved the surname Gomm. It turns out that Gilbert was the son of the sender of the previous postcard, Ernest Gomm, and the Bricett miller’s daughter, Cinderella Clark! An amazing coincidence considering the postcards had been shared by different owners.

Part of the 1939 register
Gilbert and Elsie Gomm in the 1939 register at 10 Garrick Road

Gilbert writes from ‘Griffen House’. This would not be the property currently named Griffin House, but more likely to be the buildings that used to be the Griffin Inn. His uncle, Herbert Clark, was recorded living at Griffin Cottage the following year, so Gilbert was probably staying there.

The Mrs Proctor who Gilbert visited for a cup of tea, could be Gladys Proctor (nee Lazenby), who was recorded living on Griffin Hill in 1939. She was the widow of George Andrew Proctor, a farm labourer, who had died two years previously.

Or it could have been Elizabeth Proctor (nee Richardson). Elizabeth and her husband Andrew George Proctor, an agricultural labourer, were living on The Green of Great Bricett in 1939. These were the parents of the above Gladys Proctor’s deceased husband.

OR it could have been a completely different Mrs Proctor that he visited on the way.

Either way, Gilbert seemed to have a lovely time in the area – sleeping in a cornfield seems a very relaxing way to spend the day.

Part of the 1939 register
Residents of Griffin Hill and Griffin Cottage in 1939 (inc. Gladys Proctor and Herbert Clark)

More details of Gilbert Gomm, Gladys Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and their families can be found on WikiTree

*Another amazing coincidence while researching this postcard:
A few years ago, a friend recalled that a great aunt of his had lived in Bricett – the Gladys Proctor likely referred to in the postcard was this same woman!

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In His 99th Year

A Patriarchal Family

A Bundle of Worry

A Bundle of Worry

A sepia postcard picturing 2 boys stand leaning on a fence in front of a church, marked 'BRICETT CHURCH' and 'P W FINTER Photo NEEDHAM MKT'
Postcard sent in 1906 featuring the church of Great Bricett
The above postcard was shared with me recently, featuring a photograph of two children standing in front of Great Bricett church.
The stamp on the reverse side shows that the postcard was received/processed by Chiswick post office on 16 June 1906, and was addressed to:
Mrs Gomm
4 Hogarth Lane
Chiswick
The note reads:
Dear Mum
Just a card to wish you many Happy Returns of Your Birthday & also ask you if you remember this spot where the Millers daughter was turned into your bundle of worry and mine
Ernest
Reverse of used post card with Chiswick. W postmark (9.45AM JU 16 06)
Reverse of the postcard sent 16 June 1906
The sender was Ernest Albert Gomm, a postman from London, who married miller’s daughter, Cinderella Clark. Cinderella was the daughter of Aber John Clark, who was the miller at Bricett Mill, as was his father before him.
The ‘bundle of worry’, Cinderella, was born ‘up the road’ in Barking (Suffolk) while her father was running the mill there, but Abner was born in Great Bricett (likely in Mill House). Her family appears to have been in Barking between (roughly) 1868 to 1880 before returning to run the mill at Bricett.
Part of an 1891 census page showing the Clark family at Bricett Mill.
Cinderella Clark recorded with her family at Bricett Mill in the 1891 census

Ernest was born in Buckinghamshire but appeared to live most of his early life in Chiswick, London – at the address on the postcard even – 4 Hogarth Lane.

A marriage entry from a parish register
Marriage record of Ernest & Cinderella in the Great Bricett parish registers
They married in Great Bricett church (as referenced in the postcard) on 3 October 1900, and the couple set up home together in Chiswick. They were recorded just around the corner from ‘mum’ in the 1901 census the following year, on Mawson Lane.
c1912 map showing Hogarth and Mawson Lanes

At the time Ernest sent this postcard, the couple had just one child, Gilbert Walter, but the next year, their daughter Grace Minna would arrive. I’d love to know why Cinderella was referred to as a ‘bundle of worry’ – I like to think it was a term used affectionately.

What a wonderful personal insight into their lives!
More details of Cinderella Clark and her family can be found on WikiTree
A note on the photograph:
The photographer was Percival Walter Finter – a ‘native of Needham Market’ who opened a business as a photographer and hairdresser in Bildeston in 1906. As the mark says Needham Market, I would presume the photo was taken before then. He was working as a grocer’s assistant in Ipswich in 1901 so we can probably narrow the date of the photograph down to between 1901 and 1906.

How I’d love to know who the boys were posing out the front!

 

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