The next grocer’s store was run by and under the title of Birch & Sons, the younger of which, Ernest, was my friend; we used to sing in the same choir at Ealing Dean Baptist Church, and teach in the same Sunday School, and work in the same village missions – and we were like brothers. On one occasion when he was not well, he got his sister Lillian to take his Sunday School class for him, and although his father and the rest of the family were Wesleyans (footnote 1), she came; and continued to come, and also did mission work with us. Also, she played the organ in Sunday School and at the mission [95] services, and at the Baptist bible class. The pastor at Ealing Dean had a large class on Sunday afternoons, and Miss B. was called out of Sunday School to play the organ at opening and closing of class. There must have been over 100 young women attending, and was carried on for years. Now these young women were mostly domestic servants (footnote 2), and if it was known that they attended this Bible class, they had no difficulty in getting a position; besides, it was a fruitful ground for candidates for Church membership.
Ernest A Birch and I were friends, worked in the same Sunday School, sang in the same choir, and went out to much the same mission stations, and when he fell ill and had a bad leg I went to visit him, also on Sundays I would sometimes stay to tea, and so got to know somewhat of the family. There was Edward A., Ernest A., Lillian G., [96] Ellen Rosa, and Frederick, and of course Father and Mother, who came to live for a time at Ealing. It is strange how things come about, and the way I met the girl who was to become my wife is a case in point, though not extraordinary when she came to Ealing. She was a Methodist, and went to church at the opposite end of town to what I did, but without pushing my way, but simply through being friendly, here I was right in the home of the family.
Well, Lillian came down to Chapel Road and took Ernest’s class, while he was away a few times; then she joined the Baptist Church and became a regular teacher, also mission work etc., and I thought “if she is anything like her brother, she is the one for me”; and so after asking her permission to visit, and her Father’s to correspond with her, the stage was set – and we had some very happy times together. [97] Sometimes Lillian worked in her brother’s business, and sometimes for Mr Sanders the draper; and sometimes she would be away from Ealing for a time, but we corresponded. Then Mr W H Grace of Surbiton wanted me to help him, as book-keeper in a good business he had purchased; I told him if he would make it right with his uncle, my present employer, I would come with him, as I had been at my present job 6 years, and on and off at Ealing for 12 years; and was wanting a change, and that perhaps would lead to something better.
While at Surbiton, Lillian came down to see me once, and stayed with Mrs Ranns (footnote 3), who was sister to Miss Lupton where I lodged, and whose father and mother I knew years before at Fleet. I had transferred my membership to Surbiton Hill Baptist Church from [98] Camberwell New Road Church. And took up work with the Thames Valley S S U as Sunday School visitor, for my Sunday work.
In the business I did a short round for orders in the morning; the rest of the day was spent either behind the counter or upstairs in the drawing room, where I did the writing. Surbiton was a very nice place of residence; some of the “merchant princes” as they are sometimes called, lived there: the River Thames here offered a great attraction for boating, and the London Road here divided, and one branch went to Portsmouth and one to Brighton. I believe it was a prosperous place at that time. Here I used to ride one of those penny-farthing bicycles, so called because it had a large wheel in front and a small one at back. I had been there about a year when Mr Birch wrote to me, to [99] ask if I would like to try a business he had bought at Southsea, where he had gone to live, and was again in the grocery trade. So I went, and after about 6 months of running this place at Castle Road[1], Southsea, Lillian and I got married and took the business on. The stock etc came to about £300, and in 12 months I had paid Mr Birch, and also 5% interest on the money.
Transcriber’s footnotes:
2. This would have been true of the general population at that time, and probably through to the 1930’s
3. Spelling possibly “Rasms”
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