Grandpa and Grandma Hamley

Angriest has a thread running at the moment about grandparents. I thought I'd post here rather than commenting, so that I can find it easily later. Actually, it'll probably take a couple of posts:-)

It's interesting that he made the post. My mother was just saying a couple of days ago, that she really should record what she remembers. She's doing a course on aging, and that's been one of the suggestions, to record memories. And Fred_mouse is reminiscing as well. Things just well up everywhere all at once.

I grew up knowing about my paternal grandparents, but then, they were in the same state and we saw a lot of them. Dad had siblings, and we caught up with uncles and aunts and cousins quite regularly. The siblings talked about their parents. Dad and Uncle Kev used to recount the stories of their family all the time. Actually, one branch mostly, but there were mentions of the others.

Mum was in a different state. She had two brothers and we used to visit them every couple of years. I don't remember hearing many stories about her side of the family. I'm not sure if they just didn't talk about it, or if I just wasn't around when the conversations were taking place.

I didn't ever know Grandpa Hamley and Grandma Hamley (my maternal grandparents, very formal I know). Her dad died when mum was in her twenties, and her mother when mum was in her thirties, and she didn't get married until well after that. I can't recall hearing my cousins talk about them either, but I know they knew them. Their father was ten years older than my mother, and he started having kids much younger! When we'd visit Melbourne, we'd play with their kids, who were about the same age as us.

I do know that Grandpa was a woodturner, like my father. Mum has several of his pieces. His shed was important to him. I think he was all but blind by the end of his life. He died in his sixties. He didn't go to the second world war, because his job was something in a factory that was reworked to munitions, and he was deemed to essential to that effort. It wouldn't surprise me if health was a factor in that. He was in sales at different times. He sang. He met my Grandma in an operetta. They changed from the Methodist church to the Anglican church because of the music. He was part of the Southern Cross Quartet, and we have some recordings of him singing. It's beautiful harmony:-) A couple of years ago in Gang Show, I had a group of guys singing 'Riding to the Never-Never' as a nod to him:-) He taught my mother poems (when she was little) so that she could recite them for her grandparents. My uncle is very like him in appearance.

I really don't know much about Grandma. She sang. We have a photo of the two of them on stage together, from the show where they met each other. She baked. She was a dab hand at a sponge, my mum reckons hers are never overly successful. I have her pie and tart tins.

Quite recently, I was surprised to find out that they had a chook farm. I remember mum driving us past their house in the late 70s. There wasn't much to see... it was a large block and the driveway curved around so you couldn't see the house.

So few details. I will have to encourage mum to talk.