Friday 18 March 2011

Four Sisters

My mother had three sisters and two brothers.

This photo of the sisters must have been taken to celebrate a special occasion some time in the late 1920s or the early 1930s, the reason now forgotten. Look at the strings of pearls... so fashionable! And the dresses! They look gorgeous. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

From left to right:
Evelyn Barham - December 1911 - August 1988
Phyllis Norah - January 1908 - March 2002
Olive Kathleen - January 1906 - January 1980 (my mother)
Julia Marie Claribel - February 1902 - January 1980

Missing from this family picture are brothers Tom Alan - January 1904 - December 1985, and Eric Stephen - 1915 - December 1994.

Eve lost her RAF husband during WW2, and emigrated to Australia with her daughter after the war. Norah and her husband and children joined Eve in Australia a few years later. Both Kath and Marie married and stayed in England with their families, Kath in Devon and Marie in Sussex. Brothers Alan and Eric also lived in England, in Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. But even though the six brothers and sisters lived far apart geographically, they stayed close all their lives with regular letters, phone calls, and when possible, family visits.

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful Shammi!
    I love their bobs, and the dresses and pearls. How lovely they stayed close. My mother's family was fractured from the early years and she never grew up with her brothers and sisters. Something I know she wondered about all her life.
    How lovely that you have this photo of the sisters.
    hugs
    xx

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  2. What a lovely picture of your Aunts and Mother. I do love the dresses and hairdos. Its fun to see the styles from years ago.
    Great to have the momories.

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  3. Very interesting! So Oz is brimming with lots of Shammy offshoots.

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  4. That's a wonderful photo, Shammie. Your mother was beautiful.. as were your aunts. Thanks for sharing this.

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  5. I always admire the old pictures, people were so nicely groomed. Beautiful picture, thanks for sharing. Anna :)

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  6. What a beautiful picture...your Mom was so pretty.

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  7. What a sweet heritage, Sham. I have 3 sisters, too, but 4 brothers. 4 of each, which was quite nice. I love hearing that the family stayed close, even though separated geographically. It's definitely possible!

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  8. How wonderful that you have this great picture...(It looks like the 1920's to me)..And that you know the Birth dates and Death dates, too, as well as where they moved, etc. And how wonderful that they all stayed so close throughout their lives. That is not always the case, in family's....!

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  9. So comparatively few photos left from those days! So nice to have them! I just made a photo book with scanned photos from my parents' side and also from my wife's parents' side which I thought may interest my kids, grandkids... and I tried, as you, to put in dates, events... Not easy. You always think, why didn't I ask when there were still someone to remember.

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  10. What a beautiful photo and momento of your mom and her sisters!!

    My mother had 12 brothers and sisters but as far as I know, there were never any photos of the entire family taken.

    Certainly a photo to cherish forever.

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