Now I am the first to concede that other people’s lives should remain private, but I am drawn to the story of Miss Ethel Simpson.
She is not a relative and died before I was born, and what I know about her is still very scant.
Moreover, until yesterday I knew nothing about her and even now apart from a few records that I have turned up, her life is still in the shadows.
But I have seen one of her possessions and as ever there is something powerful in holding an object which once remained special to an individual.
In this case it is a bracelet, made up of silver threepences dating from the reign of King George V.
I remember the coin well because my uncle gave me a collection of similar ones which to my eternal shame, I squandered on Aifix kits.
The coin has a long history but had become unpopular because of their small size, and so in the 1940s the design was changed to a bras coin which was more substantial.
All of which me brings me back to Miss Simpson’s bracelet.
I have no idea whether it was a present or whether she had decided to make them into the bracelet.
But I can be pretty sure that it dates from the mid-1930s, given that the newest coin was minted in 1934, by which time she was living in Southport at 39 Pilkington Road, where she still was until her death
In 1939, she shared the house with two other residents, one of which was “the housekeeper and owner”.
So far that is almost it.
I know she was born in 1889, worked as a teacher from 1912 at the Girls’ Grammar School, Lancaster and from 1914 at the High School for Girls’ in Southport, teaching modern foreign languages.
Added to which, she had qualified with a 1st Class Honours in German and French and was awarded a Diploma of the Alliance francais (Paris) with Distinction, along with a Cambridge Teacher’s Diploma and 1st class Certificates in Spanish and Italian.
Other than that, there is very little at present.
She died in February 1945 in Longdendale, and the proceeds of her estate which amounted to £3945 4s 3d were left to a Miss Elsie Thorpe, who had been a teacher of Art and who shared the house on Pilkington Road.
It is not much to mark a life, but it is a start, and for any one who questions the point of digging into the records which may appear to be intrusive, I would just say that everyone’s life is special and deserves a level of recognition.
And providing the research is factually accurate, and respects the person in question, it is a valid exercise.
In time I might be able to find out more, including which of the census returns for 1901 and 1911 belong to our Edith Simpson, and whether any employment records have survived.
She may turn up on electoral rolls, for Southport, although these will be limited to the pre-war years, and there may be press cuttings. Likewise, there is always Miss Thorpe, but all of that is for another time.
Location; Lancaster, Southport.
Pictures; bracelet, 2018, courtesy of David Harrop
Moreover, until yesterday I knew nothing about her and even now apart from a few records that I have turned up, her life is still in the shadows.
But I have seen one of her possessions and as ever there is something powerful in holding an object which once remained special to an individual.
In this case it is a bracelet, made up of silver threepences dating from the reign of King George V.
I remember the coin well because my uncle gave me a collection of similar ones which to my eternal shame, I squandered on Aifix kits.
All of which me brings me back to Miss Simpson’s bracelet.
I have no idea whether it was a present or whether she had decided to make them into the bracelet.
But I can be pretty sure that it dates from the mid-1930s, given that the newest coin was minted in 1934, by which time she was living in Southport at 39 Pilkington Road, where she still was until her death
In 1939, she shared the house with two other residents, one of which was “the housekeeper and owner”.
So far that is almost it.
I know she was born in 1889, worked as a teacher from 1912 at the Girls’ Grammar School, Lancaster and from 1914 at the High School for Girls’ in Southport, teaching modern foreign languages.
Other than that, there is very little at present.
She died in February 1945 in Longdendale, and the proceeds of her estate which amounted to £3945 4s 3d were left to a Miss Elsie Thorpe, who had been a teacher of Art and who shared the house on Pilkington Road.
It is not much to mark a life, but it is a start, and for any one who questions the point of digging into the records which may appear to be intrusive, I would just say that everyone’s life is special and deserves a level of recognition.
In time I might be able to find out more, including which of the census returns for 1901 and 1911 belong to our Edith Simpson, and whether any employment records have survived.
She may turn up on electoral rolls, for Southport, although these will be limited to the pre-war years, and there may be press cuttings. Likewise, there is always Miss Thorpe, but all of that is for another time.
Location; Lancaster, Southport.
Pictures; bracelet, 2018, courtesy of David Harrop
I am originally from Southport and I have shared this to a history group from there that I’m a member of. Hope you don’t mind? If I get any more information about Ethel I will pass it on to you
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