Maureen
Transcript
Maureen: I was christened Lilian, but my mother was a Lily, and I just eventually got called by my second name, making things easy.
Interviewer: And we’re here at Rosetta Arts Center in Newham, part of a project collecting oral histories of portrait participants and their stories in relation to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Just before we start, could you please tell me where and when you were born?
Maureen: I was born 30th of August, 1938, in Stratford, East London. I believe it was [00:55 inaudible] Road, but of course, the roads are no longer there. They’ve been moved, which is wrong.
Interviewer: And how long have you been a resident of Newham?
Maureen: I’ve moved around the country a few times. I lived in various parts of England. But I think I’ve been back in Newham… Over 60 years.
Interviewer: Could you tell me a bit about what it was like when you first moved here, and what your experience was?
Maureen: We were evacuated to North Wales during the war. My mother was from Stratford, my father was born in Bristol. But the family lived in Portsmouth for quite a number of years. My father met my mother in the East End, they finished up eloping with my mom back to Portsmouth, and they got married in Portsmouth Cathedral. And shortly after, my father had my eldest brother, Bill. My grandfathers chased after them. My dad came into Stratford because my grandfather had a building business in Stratford, and my dad was a professional boxer. He was listed as One-Round O’Donnell. He was quite famous in his day. The last fight he had, he had to lose weight, and I think he also broke his arm at the same time. And the last fight was at [03:35 inaudible], there was a boxing ring there. And it was with a Black man, and he lost it, and then he gave up fighting, as far as I know. He had quite a history, and he was very well-known. And that’s how I came to be born in Stratford, because mum met my dad, and she couldn’t resist him.
Interviewer: Could you tell me a little bit about what it was like in your childhood, growing up in Newham?
Maureen: It was fine. A lot of us came back from different parts of the country after the war, and we all finished up in West Ham buildings. We had a lovely time. Everybody at the time, we were all in the same boat, and we were all good neighbours. I can’t remember any nasty things, because we were all in the same situation. We all helped one another. If Mrs. Edie downstairs didn’t have something, we helped one another. My mum had seven children, and we’ve done well. My oldest brother was 8-9 years older than me, and he was spoiled, but in a nice way. And we lost him a few years ago, but there’s still six of us about.
Interviewer: How is it now, and how does it compare to before?
Maureen: It’s a different world. I think we’ve got a lot of [05:59 inaudible] to sort it, get it right, but I think… I always remember… What’s the girl? Her words, the young girl that died during the war… I forgot. This stroke doesn’t help. And her words were, she always believed there were more good people in the world than bad. And of course, there’s got to be, because if there were more bad, none of us would be here now. There’s more good than bad. I think the young people of today are wonderful. You know? I think what the government’s done wrong is doing away with all the clubs and everything. Young people need places to go. Feeding them properly, with good food. If we’re left alone, we can all get on well. People who are just trying to make trouble for their own ends, let’s get rid of them. There’s more love in the world than there is hate. Sorry, I’m an old girl, and I’m going on, but that’s the way I see it.
Interviewer: What would you like to see for the future of Newham?
Maureen: I’d like to see… I used to go to pottery over 25 years ago. We didn’t have it. I used to go to St. Angela’s Convent. And we didn’t have these outlets, or they were very hard to find. We had a lovely community school in Plaistow, and then the government, in their wisdom, sold it to someone abroad, and the community schools stopped. And that’s wrong. We need it for all types of things, and getting to people. And going to pottery… We were the original… The first [08:58 inaudible], and we still keep in touch now. Marvelous people. And we need it.
Interviewer: So, that;’s something you’d definitely like for the future, for the young people?
Maureen: Yeah. It’s important. As I see it, it would stop all these horrible… it would help. Because we’ve got to wake up and be sensible, and be human. And I don’t see much… I don’t know. People my age, I don’t like the world as it is now. I don’t like what it’s become. And also, I know some of the young people say we’re making the Earth a mess, but for goodness sake, we had one coat for Christmas, one best dress. We were lucky. Now, people – ‘oh, okay, a T-shirt, I’ll throw it, it only costs 15 pounds’. That’s why we’re getting so much junk. I wish people… well, they are waking up, but not fast enough. And I’ve got a 7-year-old granddaughter, and the young children now, the babies now, when they were born, they were wrapped up in coats and shawls and everything, and you didn’t really see much of them until they were about 6-7 months. Now, they come out talking.
I’ve got a great-grandson, his name is Leo and he lives in Tenerife. My son’s got a fishing business over there. And when I saw him for the first time, he was just a couple of hours old, and his face was, ‘I’m here now, I’ll sort you out’. And I’ve had two more great-great-nieces born, and honestly, straight away, they’re talking. They’re making contact. My Great-niece, she’s now a grandmother, and my great-great niece’s child, a photograph of her – her name is Penelope – and she came out wise, looking like her great-grandfather. The children are different, they’re definitely different. I don’t know if it’s what we’re feeding them or what, but they’re not like babies when I was young. That’s how I see it, in any case. And thank goodness they are like that, because it’s heartbreaking to see children who are born with problems. That’s how I see it. I think most women and men of my age – you can’t help it, this is the gut feeling. I hope they get something right for the rest of the world. Because we’re all in it, and we can make it perfect.
Interviewer: Have you got any special memories or significant stories of Newham that stand out to you?
Maureen: Not really. It wasn’t parliament that ruled our life, it was the local councils. And they need shaking up. God, do they need shaking up. I can always remember, when I was young, people were like, ‘oh, he’s got a job in the council. You’re okay then, aren’t you?’ And I’ve had [14:01 inaudible] myself. People say, ‘anytime you can have [14:09 inaudible], you will, won’t you?’ But I’m sorry, too much of it is still going on. But then again, what can you do?
Interviewer: What does Newham mean to you?
Maureen: It’s home. My first job was in John Lewis in Oxford Street. Wonderful place, especially for children from disadvantaged areas. It was wonderful, going from school to start working, because they did look after us. But at the time, I was one of these people, I learned the computers, national cash registers and everything, and always had good jobs. But we were always changing our jobs. We had been there for four years. We were never taught to make… You’ll have to excuse me, I do have trouble with my words. I had a stroke back in September. And touch wood, not too bad, but the most trouble I have is when I’m trying to talk. I can’t get the words out.
Interviewer: That’s okay.
Maureen: As I said, I started back in this school, until the Catholic school got rebuilt, and I finished at St. Angela’s in Forest Gate. and I lived just down the road. Of course, there’s lots of… When I was there, it was single-line, no running, no shouting, and you must wear your hat when you’re at school, otherwise you’d get detention or third degrees. They were strict. And everytime I went for a job, and when I said what school I went to, I always seemed to get the job. So it did have a good name.
Interviewer: Could you describe what a working day was like at John Lewis on Oxford Street?
Maureen: Yeah. Well, to start off, I lived in West Ham. I used to get the train from West Ham station to Oxford Street. I think the full adult pay was five shillings or something like that. But we got two thirds of the rate or whatever. And when we got to 18, it went up a little bit more. I can’t remember the exact date when we got a proper adult wage. It was 7 shillings and sixpence a week. Five days, and we were sometimes working… I think every third week we worked Saturday morning. And as I just said, it was a fantastic place.
We didn’t have much. I can remember my mom giving me a pound. She used to cook for the city gents. Had she been a cook today, she’d be a famous person on television, but there you go. You couldn’t be a London cook. And I asked my mum why that is, and she said… I was on holiday once when I was pregnant with my daughter Alexandra – she’s coming up to 47 – and I didn’t go out because I was shortly to have Alex, and I made friends with the lady next door. Her husband worked in Cornwall, [19:28 inaudible].
And she had this bucket of pig’s heads, and she was gonna make some brawn. She was going to throw away the trotters. And I was like, ‘no, don’t throw them away. Wait till my mom comes, she’ll sort it out.’ End of story, mum had to make the brawn. My mum said, the thing is, they’ve always had the best of everything. When it comes to London, we get the worst, and we have to make like they do in France. That’s why they’re wonderful cooks, because of the wonderful sauces they make.
These are stories that stay with you forever. And I often see different medications, and goodness knows what. They used to- when you had green [20:45 inaudible] on your gardening, we used to have something called green soft soap, and if you made that and sprayed it, it would kill them. But now they don’t do green soft soap anymore. They probably put it in other things, but it’s already there. These are the things that stick in your mind. And also, when you’ve got a sore throat, you had hot lemonade. Some people swore it helped them. You know, simple things. I’ve forgotten quite a lot of things. You pressed clothes with brown paper. It was things like this.
I should start writing things down. I’ve always knitted. I’ve earned quite a lot of money with knitting. I did a lot of dress making for different companies. My husband is from Birmingham, and he had a bad accident when the people… he was manager, and as the rain was falling here, it was turning into ice, and he just got a message that his father had died in Birmingham, and he’d worked all day, and he left late at night. And I said, ‘please don’t go, Mark. Go in the morning.’ He said no, he wanted to be with his dad. But he had worked all day, and I think he left about 10 o’clock at night. I had made soup for him.
I think it must have been 12 or 1 in the morning, a knock on the door, and it was the police. I said, ‘how bad is he?’ That year, the road cleaners had gone on strike, and my husband was saying, with his cousin Lydia, and he was a mile… a hill, and when he’s gone back, he’s hit the back ice and come on the bottom. And he was in and out of hospital for 6-7 years. His legs just wouldn’t mend. I’m going off the track a bit, but yeah. So, it didn’t make life easier for us, but we just got on. And of course, he couldn’t claim anything because it happened on the border of two counties, and… you need to cut that all out. I don’t know why I got onto that.
Interviewer: How are you celebrating the Platinum Jubilee?
Maureen: Well, I’m glad she’s here, and I’m fed up with people who’ve given the royal family bad.. I’m sorry, what do they want? Like in America, every four years… they’ve got all their long hangers-on. At least we know what we’ve got. So, we’ve got some naughties in the family, because it’s a family. You know? And the public doesn’t help. The newspapers are making more trouble. It seems to me they’re longing for these horrible things to happen. But that’s people, isn’t it? But thank God we’re not all the same. I have gone on a bit, haven’t I? But the royal family, the queen, I’ve got a lot of faith in William. It’s not saying anything of Charlie. Respect… but it shouldn’t have happened. There’s good and bad on both sides and everything, but it was very sad. And it’s very sad with Harry.
Interviewer: Tell me a bit about, if you’ve celebrated any previous jubilees or royal events?
Maureen: Yes, we paid respects and everything, but you don’t go crazy. We get more excited when we win something in the European Song Contest… I’m sorry, everything’s gone out of my head. It’s not a very good day for remembering things. But you know, watching when people win money on television, things like that, you’re always like, ‘please, let them win’, and it’s great when they win. And especially the ones… the only trouble with The Chase, when they lose they don’t get anything. What’s the program that comes on just before that? They can always win something, unless they go for the £10,000. But I love seeing them win.
Interviewer: Did you have that kind of excitement when you were celebrating the queen’s coronation, or the Silver Jubilee?
Maureen: I took my children the night before Diane and Charlie got married, and it was a lovely feeling, with the crowd. It was a wonderful feeling. It was lovely. We all thought it was a fairytale. We are fond of our royal family. We are really fond of them. We’d hate to see anything horrible happen to them. But life is what happens, it gets in the way sometimes. The queen has much respect, and the Duke of Edinburgh, I think that was a love story, and our queen was beautiful as a child, and she’s beautiful now that she’s pushing 100. And Margaret, she was beautiful. The queen mother, a lot of respect for her.
In my husband’s family, the majority of them work for royalty. My children have got an uncle and an aunt, one was a footman in the queen mother’s palace, where she lived, and one was a lady-in-waiting in Scotland to somebody. And they all came from Birmingham. We’ve got to keep the royal family. We might get rid of them, but in 100 years you’ll be crying for them to come back again. There’s got to be some point that we can all look to, there’s always got to be.
Interviewer: Do you think the royal family play an important role in the…
Maureen: Well, look at the money that they bring into the country. The Americans, that’s why they all come here, to see the royal family. Is it Holland or Belgium – they’ve still got a royal family. Not so pompous like England, but I think because England is just a little island… we might be a little place and that, but we’re somebody to deal with. And when our back’s against the wall, that’s when we fight the hardest. But then, I’m a mixture of Irish and English. I have an ancestor that was in the film Zulu, Hook. My grandfather is Freddy Hook, and he was a policeman at the beginning of the 19th… Then he got kicked out because of fighting and drinking. That’s the same Hook person in the film Zulu. He had the Victoria Cross, but he lost it because he was fighting and drinking. So, there’s a load of boozers in the family. Too much wine. I once said to my mum, ‘why don’t you drink, mum?’ She said, ‘I’ve seen too much heartache through drink.’
Interviewer: And lastly, what does it mean to you to be celebrating the first Platinum Jubilee?
Maureen: Good for you, Liz, good for you. I think when Queen Victoria was celebrating one of her anniversaries, somebody in the crowd shouted, ‘well done, girl!’ And in one of her biographies, she said, ‘did you hear that?’ And I’ve said that dozens of times for our queen of today.
Interviewer: And you share that for the queen?
Maureen: Well done, Liz. Good on you, girl.
