The historian in me never throws anything away, be it a receipt for groceries, this week’s coal bill or the leaflet from our local supermarket.
But of course, there is a limit to what you can keep, and much priceless bits of everyday history end up in the bin.
Dad was also a hoarder, and looking back through some family files which must be sixty years old, I came across a flier for the “P.H.C. KINDERGARTEN”, which operated from Norfolk House on Queens Road.
I have no idea of the date, or if it was for me, or my sisters, but it is a fascinating little document, which details the fees charged, the requirements expected of parents, as well as the children, who “must be between the ages of 2½ and 5 years….. the Kindergarten runs from Monday to Friday each week starting at 9.30 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. [and] the cost is 5/6 per week or 6/6 for two children, [which] must be paid each Monday morning, or by the term if preferred.
Where a child is absent for a complete week fees will be reduced to 3/- per week (4/-).
An additional charge of 3d per week for Biscuits. Plimsoles or soft shoes must be won, parents are welcome to participate in the kindergarten, and infectious illness must be notified”.
All of which got me interested, and I went looking for Norfolk House, which stands just two doors down from the corner of Lausanne Road where we lived.
It was there by 1872, and maybe before that, and in its 147 years it has been many things, from a residential property to a social club.
I know that just before the Great War, it was empty, and on the outbreak of the next world war, it was occupied by the Brown family.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown recorded their occupations as "Stewards at the Conservative Club and their son was a compositor".
They already had some experience of running a club, having managed the Earl Cowper public house on Ipswich Road in Colchester, where they were pulling pints in 1911.
Just as now working in the licensing trade could be precarious and Mr. Brown described himself as “Publican and Hay Trusser”.
There may well be people out there who also used the Kindergarten or will know just what happened to Norfolk House since the last war and when it became a social club.
I searched for the club out, found a telephone number and endeavored to find out its history.
But despite explaining who I was, and what I was trying to do, the chap on the other end of the line put the phone down on me.
So, I am forced back on trawling old directories and waiting for someone to get in touch.
Location; London
Pictures; our Stella, Elizabeth, and Jillian, 1962, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Queens Road in 1872, from the OS map of London, 1862-72, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
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| In Lausanne Road, 1962 |
Dad was also a hoarder, and looking back through some family files which must be sixty years old, I came across a flier for the “P.H.C. KINDERGARTEN”, which operated from Norfolk House on Queens Road.
I have no idea of the date, or if it was for me, or my sisters, but it is a fascinating little document, which details the fees charged, the requirements expected of parents, as well as the children, who “must be between the ages of 2½ and 5 years….. the Kindergarten runs from Monday to Friday each week starting at 9.30 a.m. until 12.30 p.m. [and] the cost is 5/6 per week or 6/6 for two children, [which] must be paid each Monday morning, or by the term if preferred.
Where a child is absent for a complete week fees will be reduced to 3/- per week (4/-).
An additional charge of 3d per week for Biscuits. Plimsoles or soft shoes must be won, parents are welcome to participate in the kindergarten, and infectious illness must be notified”.
 |
| Norfolk House on Queens Road, 1872 |
It was there by 1872, and maybe before that, and in its 147 years it has been many things, from a residential property to a social club.
I know that just before the Great War, it was empty, and on the outbreak of the next world war, it was occupied by the Brown family.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown recorded their occupations as "Stewards at the Conservative Club and their son was a compositor".
They already had some experience of running a club, having managed the Earl Cowper public house on Ipswich Road in Colchester, where they were pulling pints in 1911.
Just as now working in the licensing trade could be precarious and Mr. Brown described himself as “Publican and Hay Trusser”.
There may well be people out there who also used the Kindergarten or will know just what happened to Norfolk House since the last war and when it became a social club.
I searched for the club out, found a telephone number and endeavored to find out its history.
But despite explaining who I was, and what I was trying to do, the chap on the other end of the line put the phone down on me.
So, I am forced back on trawling old directories and waiting for someone to get in touch.
Location; London
Pictures; our Stella, Elizabeth, and Jillian, 1962, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and Queens Road in 1872, from the OS map of London, 1862-72, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/
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