Maurice Endbinder (1905 - 1976)

Maurice Endbinder is the second husband of Eunice Ruck, the daughter of Fanny Leah Levinson, who was the sister-in-law of Minnie Glynn, my 1st cousin 2x removed. Endbinder family HERE. Levinson family HERE. Glynn family HERE

Parents: Lewis Endbinder (1859 - 1943) and Bluma Jackson (1858 - 1943)

Tombstones for Lewis and Bluma Endbinder. They are both buried in the Rice Lane Jewish Cemetery in Liverpool, England

Born: 22 May 1905 in Liverpool, England, according to the 1939 register. The death index gives his date of birth as 2 June 1905 and the birth index states he was born in the July - September 1905 quarter!

Hebrew name: Moshe son of Mordechai Yehuda

Siblings

• Harris Endbinder (1886 - 1975) married Rachel Levinson (1896 - 1961) in Liverpool, England in (July - September) 1918
• Sarah Endbinder (1888 -1954) married Solomon Levitt (1876 - 1963) in Liverpool, England in (July - September) 1909
• Sophia Endbinder (1890 - 1968) married Louis Brizman (1883 - 1955) in Liverpool, England in (January - March) 1916
• Annie Endbinder (1895 - 1967)
• Benjamin Endbinder (1897 - 1955) married Isabel Shapiro (1899 - 1982) in Liverpool, England in (July - September) 1923
• Samuel Endbinder (1893 - 1961) married Fanny Zassman (1898 - 1978) in Liverpool, England in (October to December) 1923 
• Philip Endbinder (1899 - 1960) married Fanny Cohen (1902 - 1997) in Liverpool, England in (January - July) 1923
• Florence Endbinder (1901 - 1974)

Naturalization

The family were naturalised in May 1907 when Maurice was one year old

Lewis Endbinder an Alien, now residing at 41, Bengal Street, Liverpool has presented to me, the Right Honourable Herbert John Gladstone one of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, a Memorial, praying for a Certificate of Naturalization, and alleging that he is a Subject of Russia having been born at Skud, Kowno and is the son of Joseph and Esther both Subjects of Russia - of the age of forty-five years- a cabinet maker - is married and has nine children under age residing with him viz. Harris Endbinder aged 20 years, Sarah Endbinder aged 18 years, Sophie Endbinder aged 16 years, Simon [Samuel] Endbinder aged 13 years, Annie Endbinder aged 11 Years, Benjamin Endbinder aged 9 years, Philip Endbinder aged 7 years, Florence Endbinder aged 5 years, Maurice Endbinder aged 1 year.

Bengal Street in Liverpool, England, no longer exists. It was located in the Edge Hill area and was compulsorily purchased and demolished around 2005 as part of area and road improvements

Occupation: Had an outfitter’s shop called “Maurice” at 168 Friargate, Preston, as well as shops at Nicholas St, Lancaster, Lord St, Fleetwood, and Euston Rd, Morecambe by 1952. Later, in 1964, moved into the St George’s Centre, at 40 Fishergate Walk, while keeping the shop at 168/169 Friargate open.

Married

1) Annie Moore in (January - July 1931) at the Hope Synagogue in Liverpool, England. Annie was 23 years old and Maurice was 25

Children

Their daughter Sylvia was born in 1932 when Maurice was 26 and Annie 24. Ruth was born in 1937 when Maurice was 32 and Annie 29

• Sylvia Endbinder 1932 - 2020
• Ruth Endbinder 1937 - 2002

Married

At some stage after 1950 and before December 1973 Maurice and Annie were divorced, for he remarried.

2) Eunice Ruck on 2 December 1973 in Bournemouth, England. Eunice was age 63 and Maurice was age 68

"...solemnised on December 2, 1973 (Kislev 7, 5734), at Wootton Gardens Synagogue, Bournemouth, of Mr.

Maurice Endbinder, of Cardiff, to Mrs. Eunice

Sharpes, of Swansea. (Jewish Chronicle 7 December 1973)

Census details

1911

In 1911 the family are living at 118 St Pauls Road, Seacombe, Cheshire in a 7 room house. Maurice's father Lewis is age 51 and a furniture dealer. His mother is Betsey age 50 and the children are Harris age 25, Sophie age 21, Simon age 18, Annie age 16, Benjamin age 14, Philip age 11, Florence age 9 and Maurice age 4

1921

1921 census the family are living at 96 Brighton Street, Wallasey, Cheshire, England. Lewis is age 62 and a furniture trader, Betsy is age 59, Samuel (previously Simon) is age 29, Benjamin is age 25, Philip is age 22, Maurice is age 16 and a traveller on his own account, Annie is age 27 and Florence is age 20

1939 Register
In the 1939 register Maurice and Annie are living at 88 Liverpool Road, Preston, England. Maurice is a dealer / manager in clothing. Their daughter Sylvia is redacted but their infant daughter Ruth is listed

Biography

ENDBINDER, Maurice, probably born West Derby September quarter,1905, brother of Annie (died 1967), Florence, Harris, Sophie (Brizman), married (1) Annie Moore, elder daughter of Solomon and Sarah Moore, at Hope Place Synagogue, Liverpool 1931, two daughters. Lived in Preston at “Sylvanne”, 88 Liverpool Rd, Penwortham. Married (2) Eunice Sharpes, 1973 after which he lived in Cardiff. Had an outfitter’s shop called “Maurice” at 168 Friargate, Preston, as well as shops at Nicholas St, Lancaster, Lord St, Fleetwood, and Euston Rd, Morecambe by 1952. Later, in 1964, moved into the St George’s Centre, at 40 Fishergate Walk, while keeping the shop at 168/169 Friargate open. Hon Secretary of the Preston Congregation 1945. Died 1976. Described in obituary as a generous benefactor to Cardiff, Southport and Preston Congregations, and was co-chairman of Cardiff branch of Shaare Zedek Hospital Jerusalem, “for which he helped to raise large sums of money.”(Free BMD Sept 1905, Vol 8b, p 577; JC 22/9/1967 p.2; Merrie England, Souvenir Programme for production of the operetta at 1952 Preston guild Merchant; JC 28/5/1976, p.28, obituary, Lancashire BMD entry on marriage 1931; Lancashire Evening Post supplement, Wednesday 18/11/1964, on opening of St George’s Shopping Centre Preston, two quarter page adverts for “Maurice”; Jewish Yearbook 1945-46; JC 17/10/1975, Barrett’s Directory of Preston 1966)  (History of the Preston Jewish Community, p. 163)

Death

17 May 1976 (17 Iyar 5736) in Cardiff, Wales at age 70. He is buried in the Ely Jewish Cemetery in Cardiff, Wales section A, Row 5, Grave 15

Tombstone for Maurice. "In loving memory of Maurice Endbinder 17th Iyar 5736 - 17th May 1976 in his 70th year. Deeply mourned by his wife, daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. M.H.D.S.R.I.P."

Hebrew translation: "Here is buried
Moshe, son of Mr. Mordechai Yehuda
Passed away on the 17th day (of) Iyar 5736
To the heartfelt sorrow of his wife and all his family
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life"

Probate

ENDBINDER Maurice of 1 Cyncoed Rise Cardiff died 17 May 1976 Probate Llandaff. 16 November £198,316 761806288E

Residences

In 1911 Maurice and his family were living at 118 St Pauls Road, Seacombe, Cheshire, England. The property appears to have been demolished in 2024

In 1921 the family are at 96 Brighton street, Wallasey, Cheshire, England. The property no longer exists

In 1939 Maurice and Annie are living at 88 Liverpool Road, Preston, England

Maurice and Eunice lived at 1 Cyncoed Rise, Cardiff, Wales

Anne Abrahamson (1905 - 1988)

Anne Abrahamson, also known as Annie, is the sister of Dorothy Sophia Abrahamson, the 2nd wife of my maternal grandfather Marcus Levin. Abrahamson family HERE

Parents: Louis Abrahamson (1877 - 1957) and Rachel (Ettie) Joseph (1881 - 1951)

Tombstones for Anne's parents, Louis and Ettie. They are both buried in the Rainsough Jewish cemetery, Manchester, England

Born: 18 November 1905 in Rhyl, Flintshire, Wales

Hebrew Name: Chana daughter of Yehuda Leyb

Anne Abrahamson. She was born with a congenital hip deformity. She limped and wore a built-up boot. She did not much schooling because of her health. She became a governor of the Manchester Jewish Hospital and founded the out patients cafe, with profits going towards hospital equipment 

Naturalization

Anne and her family were naturalized in August 1913

Occupation: In the 1921 census, at age 15 years and 7 months Anne is working as a milliner. In the 1939 register her occupation is listed as unpaid domestic duties

Married: Maurice Burman in (July - September) 1955 in Manchester, England. Anne was 49 years of age

Census details

1911
Anne and her family are living at 17 Bloom street Liverpool in a 7 room house. Her father, Louis Abrahamson, is 33 years old and a shochet (Jewish butcher), and her mother, Etti Abrahamson, who is 30 years old. The children are Adaline, who is 6 years old, Annie, who is 5 years old, and Daniel, who is 2 years old



1921 Census
Anne and her family are living at 14 Jessel Street, Chorlton-upon-Medlock, Lancashire, England in a 6 roomed dwelling. In the household are her father, Louis Abrahamson, age 44 years old and a shochet (Jewish butcher) for the Manchester shechita Board, her mother, Etti Abrahamson, age 40 years old, Adaline, who is 17 years old, Annie, who is 15 years old, Dorothy who is 13, Daniel, who is 12 years old, Freda who is 10, Miriam who is 7 and Eva who is 5





1939 Register
In the 1939 register Anne is living with her family at 238 Great Cheetham Street, Manchester, England. Living with her is her father Louis, a shochet (butcher), her mother Ettie and her sisters Eva, Anne and Dorothy. Her occupation is given as unpaid domestic duties

Death
16 February 1988 in Manchester, England at 87 years of age. Anne is buried in the Rainsough Jewish Cemetery, Manchester, England

Tombstone inscription: In loving memory of Anne Burman, wife of the late Maurice Burman and daughter of the late Rev and Mrs Louis Abrahamson who left us Feb 16 1988. A cherished sister, aunt, cousin and sister-in-law. M.H.D.S.R.I.P.

Hebrew translation: Here is buried the woman Chana, daughter of Mr. Yehuda Leyb, peace be upon her, who went to her eternity (eternal rest) 28 Shevat 5748. May her soul be bound up in the bond of life

Probate

Anne Burman Probate 10 May 1988. She was living at Harper House, 155 Slade Lane, Manchester, England and the value of her probate did not exceed £70,000

 
Residences

In the 1939 register Anne is living with her family at 238 Great Cheetham Street, Manchester, England. The property appears to no longer exist, having been demolished and replaced by a block of units

At the time of her death in 1988 Anne is listed as living at Harper House, Slade Lane, Manchester, England

Simon Bernard Levin (1905 - 1982)

Simon Bernard Levin, known as Bertie, is my maternal great uncle. Levin family HERE. Baum family tree Here. While generally known as Bertie, to the family he was known as SB as his brother-in-law, Berthold Greenhill, was also called Bertie

Parents: Jacob Levin and Hannah Baum

Born: 4 September 1905 in Liverpool, England

Birth certificate for Simon Bernard Levin. He was born on 4 September 1905 at 165 Islington, Liverpool, England. His parents were Jacob Levin, a travelling draper, and Hannah Levin (Nee Baum)

From his father Jacob's prayer book, published in 1901: "A son was born, with good mazal, on Monday, eve of Tuesday (Monday after sunset), Torah portion ____ (blank) 5 Elul 5665. And his given name was Shimon Dov, after the father of his mother, of blessed memory." 

Jacob's mother's father was Beryl Brouda (1830 - 1874). His Hebrew name was Dov and so Simon Bernard was named after his paternal great grandfather. Dov in Hebrew corresponds to Beryl in Yiddish and Bernard in English

Hebrew name: Shimon Dov, son of Yaakov Tzvi

Simon Bernard Levin

Schooling

Admission register for the Liverpool Collegiate (Middle) School in 1918. His parents are listed as his mother Hannah (Mrs H) as his father had died the previous year

Occupation: Solicitor

Simon Bernard Levin listed in the UK and Commonwealth, Law Examination Records. He sat the exam on 17 June 1925, age 19

Simon Bernard Levin listed in the Solicitors Honours Examination. He sat the exam on 19 March 1928, age 22

Simon Bernard Levin receiving his Bachelor of Laws with Honours degree from the University of Liverpool on 7 July 1928

Simon Bernard Levin listed in a 1938 Liverpool directory. He set up in private practice on his own, first at 31 Castle Street and later on Renshawe Street, Liverpool. Miss Roberts and Mr Disley were with him all his working life

Married: Brenda Margaret (Peggy) Lyons on 18 August 1937 in Liverpool England. Bertie was 31 years old and Peggy was 27 years old

Marriage certificate for Simon Bernard Levin and Brenda Margaret Lyons, 18 August 1937. They were married in the Princes Road Synagogue. Their parents are Jacob Levin, a wholesale draper and Abraham Lyons, a gentleman, both deceased

Abstract of the Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) for Simon Bernard Levin and Brenda Margaret Lyons

Children

Their first child, Tessa, was stillborn in 1939 when Bertie was 33 and Peggy 30. Peggy was then told by her doctor to wait several years before trying to have another child. Gillian was born in 1944 when Bertie was 38 and Peggy 35

• Gillian Tessa Levin 1944 - 

Census details

1911
Bertie and his family are at 142 Islington Street, Liverpool, England. His father Jacob is 38, a dealer in drapery and has a shop operating from the premises, which has eight rooms. His mother Hannah is 33 and the children are Marcus age 12 and Simon Bernard age 5

1921
The family is still at 142 Islington Street, Liverpool, England. Jacob died in 1917 and Marcus has taken over the running of the drapery business operating from the premises. Hannah is 43 and the children are Marcus age 22, Simon Bernard age 15 and Gertrude Esther age 4

1939 Register

In the 1939 register Bertie is living at 195 Woolton Road, Liverpool, England with his wife Peggy, sister Gertie and their maid Morfudd Davies. Bertie is a solicitor and Peggy is a dispensing chemist

Military Service

Bertie served in World War 2. His military regiment number was 249657 and he graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant on 29 October 1943 in the administrative branch of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. According to my mother he was promoted to Captain and served in Germany in 1945, while his daughter remarked that "my father was head of army supplies at an unknown secret destination behind German enemy lines"

Simon Bernard Levin in his military uniform on leave in Liverpool

Electoral registers extracts

In the electoral registers, Bertie is listed as living at 142 Islington, Liverpool, England until 1932

From 1933 to 1937 Bertie lived at 62 Hartington Road, Liverpool, with his mother Hannah and sister Gertie

From 1937 onwards Bertie and Peggy are listed as living at 195 Woolton Road, Liverpool, England

Sport

Liverpool Jewish Tennis Club Member's ticket for 1934. Cost 2 pounds. Marcus Levin was the vice-chairman and his brother Simon Bernard Levin was a joint honorary secretary

Simon Bernard Levin captain-elect of the Woolton Golf Club in Liverpool, England

Death
10 February 1982 in Liverpool, England at 76 years of age following on from a stroke. Buried in the Broadgreen Cemetery, Liverpool, England, plot no R 037.02

Liverpool Jewish Burial Record for Simon Bernard Levin

Death notice for Simon Bernard Levin, Liverpool Daily Post 11 February 1982 p. 10

Tombstone inscription: Simon Bernard Levin died 10 February 1982 aged 76. Always remembered

Hebrew translation: Reb(=Mr.) Shim’on Dov son of Reb(=Mr.) Ts’vi. Died 17 Sh’vat (5)742. May his soul be bound up in the bond of (eternal) life

Probate

Simon Bernard Levin Probate 15 March 1982. He lived at 195 Woolton Road, Liverpool, England. The value of his estate was £244,563

Telegrams

Telegram from Bertie and Peggy to my parents in August 1955 congratulating them on becoming engaged

A telegram from Bertie and Peggy and his sister Gertie from Liverpool to Johannesburg dated 11 March 1972 congratulating me on my Barmitzvah

Letter

A letter from Bertie to his brother Marcus dated 21 February 1964

Photographs

Bertie and Peggy probably sometime in the early 1950s

My parents wedding in Liverpool in April 1956. Bertie and Peggy are on the far left

Peggy, Bertie and Gillian at my parents wedding in Liverpool in April 1956

Peggy, Bertie (both at far right) and their daughter Gillian at my parents wedding in Liverpool in April 1956. My grandmother, Zella Levin (Nee Greenberg) is 2nd from left

Gertie Freedman, Peggy and Gillian at my parents wedding in Liverpool in April 1956

A family photo taken in Southport around 1957. Left to right: Berthold Greenhill, Harry Freedman, Marcus and Zella Levin, Bertie Levin (with tie), Gertie Freedman, Hilda Greenhill, Gillian Levin, Peggy Levin

Bertie with his brother Marcus Levin (at left) in the late 1950s

Taken 3 August 1958. My mom's family. My grandmother Zella Levin (Nee Greenberg) 4th from right and her husband Mark Levin next to her. On the far right is my grandfather's sister Gertie Freedman (Nee Levin) and her husband Harry who fought in Burma in WW2. On the left of my grandmother is Peggy (Brenda Margaret Nee Lyons) Levin and her husband Bertie (Simon Bernard) who was my grandfather's brother. Between them is Gillian Levin, their daughter. On the far left is my grandmother's brother, Bertold Greenhill (Bertie) and his wife Hilda (Nee Lerner)

Peggy and Bertie Levin on holiday in 1961

Left to right: Vivien Morris, Peggy Levin, Bertie Levin, daughter Gillian Levin, taken in 1966

Bertie and Peggy Levin at Hereford with their dog Pluto

Bertie and Peggy Levin at Monte Gordo, Portugal in July 1967

Peggy and Bertie Levin in October 1968

Peggie and Bertie Levin and a friend (at right) in Rhodes, Greece in May 1966

Peggie Levin in Liverpool, England

Peggie and Bertie Levin in Liverpool, England

Peggie and Bertie Levin in Israel

Bertie Levin at home in Liverpool, England sometime after 1973

Peggy and Bertie Levin on holiday

Residences

In both the 1911 and 1921 census Bertie and his family were living at 142 Islington Street, Liverpool

From 1933 to 1937 Bertie lived at 62 Hartington Road, Liverpool, England with his mother Hannah and sister Gertie

From 1937 onwards Bertie and Peggy lived at Braemer,195 Woolton Road, Liverpool, England

Reminiscences

Lightly edited reflections on growing up at 195 Woolton Street by their daughter Gillian

195 Woolton Road, Childwall,  Liverpool 15  

The house where I grew up was in the leafy suburb of Childwall. Woolton Road extended from affluent Childwall, crossing Queens Drive, through Gatacre and ending in historic Woolton Village.

Our white pebbledash conventional house was a semi, built in the mid 30s and when my parents married in 1937, they moved in forever and a day.

The top of the welcoming front door, with a mezuzah to the right hand side at the top, had embedded bowed stained glass so typical of 30s architecture.

There was a path leading up to the entrance with a scrolled low black metal gate. A narrow flower bed to the right and a small front garden to the left with a magnificent prunus tree that annually flowered, producing fragrant pink blossoms. My green fingered mother loved gardening and indulged in the front and the back garden so we did not need a gardener.

The front room to the left of the entrance had a bay window and was chilly, only used for traditional Friday night dinners and special gatherings when the usual suspects would gather for Christmas lunch or a birthday celebration. My mother would thus creep in on a mid Friday afternoon to switch on the dark chrome 1930s electric fire to warm up the room for dinner at 7.00 after the Matthew Bolton silver Georgian candlesticks were lit and the brochas (blessings) chanted.

Friday night dinners rarely varied. Half a Jaffa grapefruit, browned under the grill with demerara sugar and segmented with a special serrated spoon, then delicious golden roast chicken, crunchy roasties that only my mother could make in lard, homemade traditional bread sauce and fresh garden peas that I would shell with Alma on the terrace. Alma Peters, our maid and lifelong servant of the Lyons family from Swansea, had faithfully followed her adored Peggy, my mother, to Liverpool after years of service in the large family Victorian house in Uplands, Swansea.

In fact my parents were quite anti-social only inviting the immediate small family and a couple of close friends. Everyone was Jewish from the tight knit community where my father was the Secretary of the Gothic Grade 1 Princes Road synagogue in what was nicknamed 'The Jungle' after the West Indian community had moved into Liverpool 8 in the 50s and 60s in search of a better quality of life.  

I realised later, when I became the 'outsider', that no one who wasn't Jewish, with the exception of Alma and her second husband Willy who came to wash the dishes and empty the rubbish, ever came to the house. Well there was always Doris, the cleaner who managed to break antique ceramics that my mother had to glue back after they had lost their value. An example was the once valuable large Victorian green china Lalique smiling cat that stood in the fireplace in the front room, which I eventually inherited, pieced back together with love!

The small coterie of visitors included Ruth and Sonny David from South Africa in political exile, miserable, doleful Uncle Abe, a retired doctor from Leeds, Miriam and Harold Dover, a furniture wholesaler who supplied all the Ercol G Plan furniture in the house at a special price, bien sur, Uncle Mark and Auntie Zella, my father's Masonic older brother from Southport and to complete the family picture, Rubinesque Auntie Gertie and her adored silent husband thin Uncle Harry minus a third finger he lost in Burma, my mother's elder sister Auntie Gladys, my maiden aunt whose fiancé was killed in WW1 and materialistic stout controlling Auntie Tillie, the widow of my Uncle Lewis, the elder brother of the Lyons family.  My third cousin Vivian Morris, back from South Africa minus a prospective husband, often came round in my teens. Despite our 5 year difference in age, we socialised on the 'Liverpool Scene'

Outside one could hear the birds twittering, mainly sparrows and blackbirds and I would listen to their birdsong in the morning as my mauve bedroom was in the front of the house, above the hall with its red and beige swirling thick pile upon which languished a solitary Victorian mahogany hall chair that no one sat on. The scrolled black metal mirror reflected the front door adding light in the dark hall while a ship's bell hung next to the mirror silently rarely tolling. On the hall table below the mirror, lay my mother's heavy Victorian brass pestle and mortar. So heavy, you could club an intruder to death with it. My mother Peggy was a chemist with her own shop in Lark Lane, unusual for a woman in the 1940s.

Next to the front room was the small diner, the hub of the house that we called the kitchen, where all the meals were served with the exception of Friday nights, Xmas and Boxing Day. We ate off a bright yellow Formica table so typical of the 1950s era.  There was a G plan Ercol desk which housed the Philips record turntable and the beige dial phone by the fireplace.  

Every Sunday my mother would listen to either Emil Giles or Vladimir Ashkenazi  playing the Rachmaninov piano concertos while waiting for my father to arrive home from the Woolton Golf club where he was the captain. You could set your watch by the time. At 1.00 pm on the dot my father would arrive salivating in his large blue Ford Zephyr 6 for the mouthwatering Sunday roast. Next to the desk was a 1930s tiled fireplace with a mantelpiece housing a large 1930s wooden clock. In the old days the hearth was alight with coal but later on with coke after the fuel act changed. A sign of the times. In the earlier days I recall a pulley laden with the laundry as of course there was no washing machine or dryer. The tiny kitchen was congested with no room to swing our dog as we had no cat.

The black, tan and white beagle I grew up with had long floppy ears and was called Samson. I adored him. Years later he was replaced by Ross who finally had to be put down when he became aggressive and then finally an Ormskirk heeler called Pluto. I loved dogs and learned to imitate their bleating sound.  

The back kitchen led onto the terrace overlooking the rockery and garden. It was a tiny room with a window looking out to the garage. It housed the stove, overhead cupboards with hoards of tinned cans left over from days of World War 2 rationing, a sky blue Formica work surface, sink and later on a washing machine although I remember a wash board as a child. I also recall fresh milk delivered by horse and cart too and used to give the horse, wearing blinkers, cubes of sugar!

The back lounge was the main room we lived in. The heavy damask swirly red and beige curtains matched the thick pile carpet out in the hall and front room.  My father had a lime green upholstered Parker Knoll rocking chair and would fall asleep while watching the telly after a hard day's work at his legal office in Renshawe Street. A large mahogany Victorian inherited breakfront overlooking a lime green, typical 50s sofa, with orange cushions. Oy vey, the bright fashionable colours of that era!

Upstairs, next to my film star mauve bedroom where I played Elvis 78s, was the chilly front bedroom with a late 1930s walnut double bed, matching wardrobe and dressing table with low side cupboards left and right of the bed. This was the master bedroom but I never recall my parents sleeping in it, only comfortably off South African relatives. Peggy and Bertie had moved to the smaller twin bedded back bedroom with another similar walnut wardrobe, housing my father's Commonwealth stamp collection and a hidden copy, printed in Cairo, of the banned book 'Lady Chatterley's lover!'  I recall seeing my father asleep snoring on his back with a red Roberts radio on his chest, wearing headphones. Beside him on the bedside walnut table, green and black crime paperbacks by Erle Stanley Gardner. My father's hero was the detective Perry Mason at a time when Raymond Burr played the character on TV.

Then there was the 'sewing room', a tiny spare bedroom where my mother had the inevitable Singer sewing machine. She made all my clothes and smocking in that room overlooking the terrace. Spoilt little demanding Gillian would get irritable endlessly standing while her perfectionist mother measured her up or altered the hang of a new pastel coloured dress.

The black and white tiled bathroom was small and chilly with an enormous bath that took up half the space.

We had a dark green metal bench at the bottom of the garden near the sandpit where I played with the local boys David and Peter. There was a triangular rose patch and borders of bedding plants on either side of the well tendered lawn. My mother prided herself as an amateur gardener. She only asked my father once to do some weeding. He pulled up her new plants instead!

I left the house at the age of 19, when my friend Estelle Irving said it was about time I left home because she needed a fourth girl to share the decrepit student house with her and 2 psychology students from Leeds in Withington, Manchester.

Written in Catherine Smith's NewWriting South Creative a writing workshop September 2018.