An Edwardian Album

I am grateful to Ray White for giving me permission to use the introduction below and the excerpts which follow.

In Edwardian times it was common practice for families and friends to create albums of material that they may have created themselves or developed from other sources. This particular album, from Walsden in West Yorkshire, was started in 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, probably as a result of needing a distraction from the horrors of war, and was completed by 1923. It illustrates the high moral standards expected in these times, as well as the creative skills, albeit sometimes naive, of the individuals involved. 

There are a number of contributions from Hiley family members or from members of families connected with Hiley or Highley families.

Mr & Mrs J Hiley and family

Joseph and Bertha (nee Harrison) Hiley were mentioned in the last post. They had three children - Amy (b 1901), Percy (b 1903) and Clarice (b 1905). In the census of 1911 the family was living at 142 Hollins Road, Walsden. Joseph worked as a Cotton Weaver.

Try to B sharp,

never B flat,
  & Always B natural                                  

J Hiley

You never can tell when you do an act,

  just what the result will be,
But with its every deed,

  you are sowing a seed,
  Though its harvest you may not see.        

Mrs J Hiley

Dear Jesus ever at my side

  How loving Thou must be
To leave Thy home in Heaven to guard
  A little child like me                                 

Clarice Hiley

We may write our names in albums

  We may trace them in the sand
We may chisel them in marble
  With a firm and steady hand:

But Dear friend there is an album
  Full of leaves of snowy white
Where no name is ever tarnished
  But for ever pure and bright:

And in that book of Life, God’s album,
  May our names be penned with care,
And may all who here have written
  Write their names for ever there.                

Amy Hiley

Mrs H Highley and Ruth

Harrison Highley was the son of James and Ellen (nee Harrison) Highley, mentioned in the last post. In the census of 1911, Harrison, his wife Mary Alice (nee Watson), and their two children Ruth (b 1902) and Jack (b 1903), were living at 7 Hollins Street, Walsden. Harrison worked as a Picker Maker.

If you’ve a mother with silvery hair,
  Love one another, trust her with care.
As you grow older the least you can do
  Is to do unto mother as she’s done for you

Mrs H Highley

When through the woods your roaming,
  And there you chance to see,
A little flower forget-me-not,
  Pluck it and think of me.
Ruth Highley - Nov 13/1915

…courtesy of The White Files at whitefiles.org/aed

Next post: more extracts from An Edwardian Album