Z1205/183

Female. Typist in Stewartby office of London Brick Company. b. 20.07.1921

13 December 2002

From: 1920 To: 2002

SIDE A (00 mins)Born and raised in Ampthill, until she was 5 and they moved to Flitwick to live with an Aunt. Her father, a market gardener, died in 1924 when he was 30 and she was 3, after having served in the First World War. Mother (b. 1900) had to bring up a family of 3 children (2 older brothers) on 10s week. (05 mins)Aunt was very domineering and eventually her mother couldn't stand it any more and found a house elsewhere in Ampthill. Interviewee attended Sands School and then passed the scholarship exam to attend Luton Girls High School. She caught the train at Ampthill railway station. Mother took in washing for other people. Because dad had fought in the Beds. & Herts. Regiment, the British Legion paid for her uniform and dinner money.Her brothers left school and started work at 14. (10 mins)She left school at 16. Got a job in the mail room at Vauxhalls, sorting the post. First wage was £1.30 a week for 40 hours and she had to ay rail fares out of that. She left after two years when she got married, aged 18 (women had to leave on marrying). (15 mins)Gave her earnings to her mum and kept half a crown (12 1/2p) and bought a pair of stockings form Marks and Spencers. Skirts and such were made at home, using their old sewing machine. She met her husband at the Ampthill Methodist Chapel. (20 mins)During the war she worked at the Consumers Tea Company - large grocery store -in Ampthill. Husband went to war a month after they married. Mother looked after their first child. First daughter, born in 1941, second in 1947, third in 1951. Later she went to work for London Brick Co. (25 mins)During air raids, they hid in the cupboard under the stairs. Washing clothes was done in an outside barn, with water heated with a fire under a copper. Cold water tap outside house. No flush toilet. Outside lavatory down the yard. Harsh winter of 1947. First daughter had whooping cough. (30 mins)Coal fire fireplaces in the house. Tin bath in front of fire. A blanket up to stop the draughts as you were sitting in the bath. (32 mins) End of Side A SIDE B (00 mins)Her mother looked after 3 girls to allow her to work for 18 months in the Photographic Dept. of Hunting Engineering firm outside Ampthill. Then husband, who worked at London Brick, let her know about an office job at Stewartby, typing for the man in charge of electrical work, which she got. (05 mins)Went to work with her husband, 9 - 5. Remembers the fear when Hanson took over London Brick, because of Hanson's reputation for asset-stripping. (10 mins)Reflects on changes in her lifetime; declining moral standards; lack of self-discipline; better material standards of living. Supportive family is most important. Have grandchildren and great-grandchildren. (16 mins)End of Side B. Original Interview 50 mins.

item

London Brick Company,
Vauxhall,
Consumers Tea Company Limited,
Hanson Brick Limited,
Hunting Engineering Ltd

brickworker, market gardener, World War One, TRANSPORT, wash houses, Luton private schools, Luton Girls High School, Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Regiment, wages/conditions, married woman, women's history, employment of women, Methodist chapels, World War Two, air raid shelters, water supply, whooping cough, Hunting Engineering Ltd, typist, electrical engineer, STEWARTBY, AMPTHILL, FLITWICK