Nigel’s funeral

…Beckenham Crematorium and Cemetery

Jack and Jim (John and Dorothy) had two children: Joan, who died two years ago but is survived by her husband Gordon, and Dorrie, my mother Dorothy, who has been a widow for 24 years. The two girls stayed in London throughout the Blitz, neither wanting to be evacuated and separated from their parents.

Jack was one of two children. When his father died aged 37 of TB, Jack and his elder sister were sent to a miserable life in a vile south London poor law school - the same one Charlie Chaplin had been sent to in earlier years. His sister worked in the kitchens and was sometimes able to smuggle out an extra crust of bread under her skirt for him to eat.

Jim was one of 13. She left school at 14 to work in a biscuit factory.

I doubt Jack and Jim could have imagined when they were still that young what happy lives lay ahead for them. Between them, their two daughters had 11 children, 27 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren (so far): a grand total of 54 direct descendants.

Churchill was prime minister for a second spell after the war when Joan became pregnant for the second time and Dorothy for the third time, each to have a second son. I beat Nigel into this world by two days.

Nigel has left it first, at a relatively young age by modern standards. That makes me sad. But I sense he had a happy life and that makes me less sad.

There's more of my family history here and here and here.