"Voices" Project

1
Mary Meacher nee Unsworth
1932 - present
"Voices" Project
2
General Overview

• My Grandma was born on the 22nd February 1932
  to parents James Unsworth and Mary Unsworth. Her
  mother died when she was just two days old and
  her father was invalided because of an injury in
  the First World War. Consequently, my Grandma was
  brought up by her fathers brother and his wife
  in Westhoughton as their daughter.

3
Early Life

• Because her father was an invalid, the family
  decided that my Grandma should be brought up by
  her fathers brother and his wife Ellen and
  Arthur Unsworth. They believed that they could
  not have children and so brought my Grandma up as
  their own. She lived with them until they died
  and they became her new mother and father. She
  was never officially adopted as her birth father
  would not allow it.
• On the 11th May 1936, when my grandma was four
  years old, her mother and father, (Ellen and
  Arthur) had a son, Harold who was brought up as
  her brother.

Grandma with parents Ellen and Arthur
4
School Life - Primary

• Grandma started school at four years old. She was
  allowed to play in the sand pit if all her work
  was finished and she was put to bed in the
  afternoon for a nap.
• At seven, they moved to Horwich to keep a shop so
  she changed school. She lived in Horwich until
  she was eighteen years old.

5
School Life - Secondary

• My Grandma started secondary school at ten years
  old. She passed a scholarship for Rivington and
  Blackrod Grammar School and was allowed to go.
• Her uniform included a skull cap which they all
  hated having to wear.
• She didnt stay for school dinners because it
  wasnt the norm. She walked a mile to catch the
  tram, had her dinner at home, and then went back
  to school. They only had an hour for dinner so
  this took up the majority of their lunch hour.
• At school, they had to take six subjects but my
  grandma only passed five which meant that she
  didnt qualify for a school certificate. Because
  of this, it meant that she couldnt go on to do
  further education.
• She left school at fifteen.

6
After School

• Grandma wanted to be a teacher after school,
  but she couldnt become one because she didnt
  get her school certificate. Her mum and dad
  didnt encourage her so she feels that she didnt
  do as well as she should have done.
• Her brother, Harold didnt pass his scholarship
  so he didnt go to the Grammar school and went to
  the local comprehensive. After a year of school,
  he was advised to go to the technical college but
  he didnt want to go. Arthur and Ellen didnt
  encourage him so he didnt go.
• My Grandma then went onto work after school.

7
Work life

• When she was fifteen, my Grandma got a job at the
  Horwich Locomotive works (the railway) in the
  machine office at a comptometer (adding machine)
  . She did calculations including balancing wages
  etc.
• A few weeks later she moved into the accounts
  office because she was good at maths.
• She was brought into the railway because her
  mums friend already worked there so she got her
  a job.
• She worked at the railway for fourteen years
  until she married, became pregnant and therefore
  had to leave.

8
The War

• Grandma was seven when the war started. When the
  siren sounded, they had to go to the local air
  raid shelter. The air raid shelter was the local
  chip shop that had a cellar which was fitted out
  like a shelter with enough beds for the local
  people.
• There were never any bombs dropped on Horwich
  because it was rural. They used to stand and
  watch the fires in Manchester. They had blackout
  curtains and ration books.
• Grandma had some cousins who served in the war.
  One died as a result.

9
Family

• Grandma saw a lot of her birth father. He got
  married about twelve months after Grandmas birth
  mum died. The year after he had another daughter
  and ten years after that he had a son. Grandma
  was in close contact with them. She went on
  holiday with them to Blackpool when she was
  older. When her birth father got married, Grandma
  was taken back to live with them. After a few
  days and a big family row, it was decided that
  she would live with Ellen and Arthur for the rest
  of the time.
• If Grans birth mum hadnt died she feels that
  she would have been brought up differently. She
  wouldnt have been living in Westhoughton and she
  may not have been allowed to go to the Grammar
  school. Parents often couldnt afford for their
  child to go the Grammar School.

10
Family

• Her father, Arthur, died in 1950, when she was
  just eighteen. Grandma, Harold and Ellen then
  moved back to Westhoughton to live next door to
  her auntie.
• Ellen, her mother, died two years after Grandmas
  father, in 1952 when grandma was twenty and
  Harold was 14. Because Harold was only 14, he
  needed a guardian. Their auntie became Harolds
  guardian.
• When Grandmas mother, Ellen, died, her birth
  father asked if Grandma wanted to live with him
  but because she had a job and she wanted to stay
  with Harold, she refused.
• When her auntie took Grandma and Harold to the
  solicitors to hear the will, she was told to
  leave because she was not part of the family, as
  she had never been officially adopted. Her auntie
  insisted that Gran and Harold should stay
  together as they had been brought up as brother
  and sister.
• Grandma and Harold lived together in the family
  house, next door to their auntie, who was
  Harolds guardian. At this point, Grandma was
  twenty-one and looking after her own house.

11
Hobbies

• All of Grandmas hobbies were based around church
• She attended church twice on a Sunday and a youth
  group at night.
• She was in the choir and in concerts
• She was a Morris Dancer and an attendant to the
  rose queen
• She was a May-pole dancer
• She went shopping with her friends and they used
  to meet in the ice cream parlour.
• She used to go dancing in Bolton
• She could go out whenever she wanted with friends
• Spent days in Rivington
• Played out all the time

12
Wants

• Grandma wanted to play the piano. Her mum booked
  her lessons and after two lessons her music
  teacher was conscripted to join the RAF as the
  war had just begun.
• She also wanted to be able to swim. Rivington and
  Blackrod Grammar School had a swimming pool but
  because of the war it became neglected so it
  reverted into a pond so it was used for biology
  when they were collecting frogspawn.

13
Hopes and Fears

• When she was a child, my Grandma wanted to get
  married and have children. She wanted to be a
  teacher but you generally had a job for life.
• She didnt have any fears because she knew
  exactly who she was and what had happened to her.
  If she hadnt known who her real family was, she
  would have turned out completely differently.
• From the way she was brought up, Gran had two
  loving families and three sets of relations
• The Unsworths fathers family
• The Dickinsons birth mothers family
• The Partingtons mums (Ellens) family
• My Grandma was always in touch with all sides of
  her family

14
1950 - Present

• Grandma married Derek Meacher from Southampton in
  1959 and had two children and now has four
  grandchildren.
• She worked as a secretary in schools and colleges
  and in her retirement has cruised most of the
  world.
• She still lives approximately five miles from
  where she was born in Ladybridge, Bolton.