RECOLLECTIONS OF THE HARRISON SISTERS AND SALTHOUSE

INTRODUCTION

My name is Christine Sheehan (nee Mattinson) and the Harrison sisters were the Great Aunts of my brother David and myself. Our parents were Maisie and Arthur Mattinson, and our grandparents William Edward and Elizabeth Mattinson. Elizabeth’s name was Harrison prior to marrying our Grandfather and she was one of a family of seven sisters and two brothers born to John and Mary Harrison. The nine children were: Rose Alice, William, Mary, Ellen (Nell), Catherine (Kittie), John Henry, Margaret (Madge), Elizabeth (Liz) and Annie (Nance). Margaret was born in Wrangle, Lincolnshire and probably the other children likewise. At the time of Margaret’s birth John Harrison (her father) was a school master at Wrangle.

On the Salthouse History website (www.salthousehistory.co.uk) in the Salthouse Messages page, Michael Dix in a message dated 14.8.2015 provides some information about the Harrison sisters when they lived at Salthouse, also he records John and Mary Harrison as being teachers in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. This information will be added to and clarified by the information I have provided that follows.

THE HARRISON SISTERS AS ADULTS

The first record I have of the sisters is as adults living in Sheffield where four of them were Headmistresses in local schools. This came from a newspaper interview with Winifred Carter, the daughter of Catherine Harrison who had married Amos Naylor, about her latest play.

(Newspaper cutting extract – Daily Independent, 23rd February 1934) “I really got the idea in Sheffield years ago. I was living in Nether Edge, by the way, and I had four aunts, the Misses Harrison, who were all headmistresses of schools there. One was head of Lowfields School, another at Sharrow, the third at St Paul’s and the fourth at St. Johns. They influenced me greatly towards a literary career naturally and it was they who turned my thoughts in the direction of the drama and tragedy of the queens of Henry VIII.”

Winifred Carter has not identified each individual aunt, nor which Aunt was headmistress of which school, but Madge and Nance would be two of the headmistresses and Rose Alice with either Catherine, Nell or Elizabeth as the fourth.

Rose Alice married Thomas Lubbock Matthews, a native of Salthouse, stated to be a School Attendance Officer in Sheffield. It makes sense to surmise that they met within their profession ‘up North’, as she would have had no reason to come down to East Anglia at that point in her life.

POSTCARDS

My Grandmother, Liz Mattinson (nee Harrison), collected many postcards which the sisters had sent to each other over several years; I now have these postcards. These postcards give an affectionate picture of a family of well-educated ladies of independent means who had progressed beyond the woman’s normal household role of those times and who regularly travelled to many places in Britain and Europe. In England this included the Lake District, Chatsworth, Bakewell, Matlock and Castleton in Derbyshire. In Ireland they visited Dublin, Belfast, Co Down, Killarney, Kilkenny and The Devils Causeway. They went to Scotland, to Edinburgh and the Highlands and to the Continent, to Switzerland, France and Germany. The postmarks on the cards read mainly from the Edwardian days, the 1900’s, with some later ones from the 1920’s.

During these years they most probably lived at 97, Hanover Street, Sheffield, as there are quite a number of postcards written by family members, which are addressed to Mrs. Harrison and her daughters at this location. The eldest daughter Rose Alice lived with her husband Thomas Matthews at 323, Granville Rd., Sheffield.

Left: Postcard addressed to Mrs Harrison snr. from daughter Nance. Postmark: Ecclesall 18 Aug 1904.

Right: Postcard sent by Madge Harrison to her mother. Postmark: Dunkerque 28 July 1906.

Left: Postcard sent by Rose Alice Matthews from 323, Granville Rd. to sister Catherine Naylor. Postmark: Sheffield 12 May 1905 and stamp King Edward VII.

WEDDING

The next information I have is from the wedding of my mother and father (Maisie and Arthur Mattinson) at Harkstead Church in Suffolk, which took place on the 8 th October 1928. The picture of the wedding group shown below includes Madge and Nance Harrison along with cousins Winifred and John Carter who provided a Rolls Royce to take the happy couple from the church.

Wedding party Harkstead Church.

Aunt Kitty Naylor is on the left, Grandfather Mattinson 4th from the left with Grandmother Elizabeth next to him on his left with Aunt Nance behind her. Winifred Carter is next to Nance and behind the bride. John Carter is second from the right.

The bride’s mother, Rosa Jordan, is at the back, pictured between the bride and groom.

The Bride and Groom, Maisie and Arthur Mattinson, leaving Harkstead Church for the reception in the Rolls Royce.

At some time before the wedding Madge and Nance had moved to Harkstead to become school-mistresses at the local school, they probably moved to be near their sister Elizabeth and brother in law William Edward Mattinson, who had previously been appointed Rector at Harkstead. By the time of the wedding he had moved on to be Rector of Rishangles, Eye, Suffolk.

Above: School House Harkstead Suffolk

Left: Madge and Nance in the garden of School House, Harkstead.

THE MOVE TO SALTHOUSE

Somewhere around 1930 the sisters left the teaching profession and retired to Salthouse to live, the reason for this was probably because their eldest sister Rose Alice and her husband Thomas had moved to Church House, Grouts Lane, Salthouse during World War l, with Thomas dying in 1918, leaving his widow and two children. The Aunts probably stayed with Rose when they first moved to Salthouse.

My Grandparents probably retired around this time too as they also moved to Salthouse, to live in ‘The Nest’, next door to Rose in Church House.

It seems that three of the Harrison sisters decided to establish their own residence and live together at Salthouse, Madge (Margaret), Nance (Annie) and Nell (Ellen) and they must have negotiated to make use of the pightle land behind the cottages and church to build a bungalow on it. They did not, unfortunately, purchase the land from the owner, Primrose Cobbold, who had a cottage further down the lane. They went to the Ideal Home Exhibition of 1933 and saw the type of bungalow that they wanted. The order was placed with the manufacturers of portable bungalows, the Hurlingham Bungalow Co. Ltd., Peterborough Rd., Fulham, SW6.

The following pictures show some of the stages in this construction.

The lorry arrived on the field next to the site and the partitions were then offloaded onto the site

The bungalows base and foundations are laid and the brickwork chimney erected

It was followed by the framework of the bungalow then being raised and placed in position

Next the roof was completed and then the framework exterior clad with the sheeting

SALTHOUSE (Pre WWll)

Our parents visited Salthouse often and other family members also came to visit and enjoy themselves with the Harrisons and Mattinsons, there was always a warm welcome for everyone.

Right: My mother Maisie Mattinson enjoying the Summer of 1932 on Salthouse beach.

(The photographs were ordinary black and white and they were colour tinted by mother with a small paint brush from special ‘dye cards’ and water.)

Among the visitors during the 1930’s were our fathers’ cousins Winifred and Justin Carter (daughter of Catherine Naylor nee Harrison) and her brother Tom Naylor and his wife.

On Salthouse Beach 1930’s Style

Left to Right: Connie Naylor, Maisie Mattinson (Mum), Justin Carter, Tom Naylor (Son of sister Catherine) and Winifred Carter (daughter of Catherine)

The Fastest way to reach the Beach!

Arthur Mattinson on the beach at Salthouse

Taking tea at Windyridge behind the Summerhouse.

Madge Harrison with Arthur Mattinson (father) and John Carter

1935 Gathering of the Families at Windyridge

Left to Right:Standing: Aggie Matthews (thru window), Arthur Mattinson, Rose Alice Matthews, Madge Harrison, Tom Naylor. Seated: Kitty Naylor, Nance Harrison, Winifred Carter, Aunt Rose Matthews, Nell Harrison, Connie Taylor. On ground: Maisie Mattinson.

WINIFRED AND JOHN CARTER

Winifred, the daughter of Catherine Naylor (nee Harrison), and John Carter, were both well-known authors of the time and Winifred also wrote plays of which one, about Catherine Parr, was made into a film.

John and Winifred Carter

Books Written by John and Winifred Press Reviews.

Godmother

Winifred Carter was my Godmother and sent my mother the money to buy the books for my birthday.

Her signature, shown to the right, was to go on the frontispiece of the books.

SALTHOUSE (Post WW2)

My Grandmother Elizabeth (b.1867) was the first of the sisters in Salthouse to die in 1939 and she was buried in Salthouse churchyard. Of course neither my brother David nor I can remember her other than from old photographs as he was born in 1940 and myself in 1942.

I do vaguely remember Aunt Rose Matthews amongst a group of family members standing smiling at me, behind the gate set in the cobbled wall which was the then entrance to the cottages and the bungalow behind them.

Rose Alice Matthews (b. 1851) died in 1944.

Salthouse Church, Church House and The Nest.

The wall and gate shown in this picture are now demolished to allow vehicular access to the bungalow.

Rev William Edward Mattinson, my grandfather, continued to live at The Nest for a number of years until he died in 1946.

Right: Grandfather’s World War II Clothing Ration Book

Ellen Harrison. (b. 1857) died in 1947. I do not remember her but know that we did speak of Aunt Nell when talking of the Aunts.

Windyridge – The Bungalow and Garden

I can remember only Aunt Madge and Aunt Nance living at the bungalow and the layout of the rooms, Aunt Nance had the bedroom with the window looking out over the garden to the sea and Aunt Madge the corner bedroom next to the kitchen. My brother remembers Aunt Nance retiring to her bed for much of the time, to be looked after by her elder sister Madge, so that often when we visited the Aunts we would sit with her in her bedroom to talk and update her with the family news.

For the rest of the rooms, the kitchen was small and narrow with an outside door allowing entry via the footpath coming from Grouts Lane. Passing through the kitchen you went into the triangular hallway connecting the two wings, which was a wonderful and peaceful suntrap. The outside door from here was onto a garden path that led you out onto the old footpath running alongside the property to the churchyard. Back inside the hallway, to the left was the entrance to the dining room and on the right, from out of the kitchen, there were the bedrooms and the sitting room.

The garden was an enchantment with a central path running from the bungalow to the bottom, this was edged by Lavender bushes which gave off a wonderful scent as you brushed past them and which were alive with the hum of bees in the summer sun.

Left: Enjoying Windyridge Garden

In the picture are Grandfather William Mattinson, Aunts Nance and Madge with David and in the foreground Christine and Mother (Maisie Mattinson).

There were fruit trees on the left and the vegetable garden on the right. A summer house was beside the path towards the bottom of the garden where you could sit and admire the view, a hedge had been grown on the seaward side to cut down the winds coming off the North Sea.

Christenings at Salthouse

My brother and I were christened at Salthouse Church by our Grandfather the Rev. W.E .Mattinson; David on the 30th June 1940 and myself on the 25th June 1942.

David’s christening in Salthouse Church conducted by Grandfather Rev. W.E. Mattinson

Bottom Right Picture, from L to R: Grandfather, Aunt Nance, Mrs Girling and Mum (Maisie Mattinson).

My Turn – Christine being Christened

Grandfather, although he was retired he had continued to conduct various offices for Salthouse Church. Great Aunt Nance played the organ at the church.

While at Salthouse he also took on the honorary role of Vice President of the Holt Football Club.

Travelling to Salthouse from Saxmundham

It was always a great adventure to go to visit the Great Aunts, which we did maybe 5- 6 times a year. In the early days I remember we travelled by motor cycle with my brother and me in the sidecar, then later we had more pleasant journeys by car.

The original combination motor cycle and sidecar, with friends

We travelled from Saxmundham, leaving early morning and returning later in the evening, quite a journey in those days, sometimes to go via Norwich and Holt to end up on the

heath at the top of the hill to see the panorama of the village, the marshlands, the church and the sea beyond just before swooping down into the village.

The Motor Cycle upgraded to a Riley 9 Car

At other times we travelled by the coast road from Gt. Yarmouth, winding our way through the narrow lanes and bends as we neared our destination and stopping at Weybourne to climb the hill and look over the military camp

below us, then on the last couple of miles to Salthouse.

In Salthouse there were two lanes which wound up to the churchyard and to the bungalow from the main road, both were narrow with the cobbled walls enclosing the cottages on either side. Grouts Lane was the better one up which to drive and park in front of Church House and then take ourselves and belongings through the little gate in the wall, past The Nest and Church House and to the kitchen door of Windyridge. There was no vehicular access to the bungalow in those days. The great advantage of this route was that the car with a bit of back and forward manoeuvring could turn around to drive back down the lane. With the other lane however, there was no such choice, if you drove up then you had to reverse all the way back down or reverse all the way up to drive forward on the way down. Once this was achieved the car was parked and we climbed out to walk through the churchyard and enter the bungalow by the hallway door, this was always my preferred route as it was warm and sunny in the lee side of the bungalow with the scent and colours of the flowerbeds on either side of the path to the door.

Windyridge Garden & Sea View

Mum, Aunt Nance, Grandfather and Aunt Madge with David and Christine.

Aunt Madge would greet us with her musical voice, traces of her northern roots mixed with a Norfolk burr, still with a touch of authority. Aunt Nance would join us either from her bedroom or the sitting room and we always received a warm welcome. The table in the dining room would be laid ready for us to eat. A salad or vegetables ready in the kitchen and cans of meat or fish ready for us to choose what we wanted, it always seemed to be salmon that was chosen, pink sockeye salmon. Dessert was a choice of canned fruit; sliced peaches were my particular love and the fruit was served with canned sterilised cream. Whatever we had it was always a real treat for me and cans of food were a special treat anyway in those days.

After we had finished the meal, David and I were free to do what we liked leaving the adults to talk and catch up with what had been happening in life. In summer it was out in the garden to make the most of our time there among the plants and the orchard and in the Summerhouse. If it was unpleasant outside or the colder time of year then Aunt Madge would give us permission to go to the ‘special drawer’. This was in a cabinet in the dining room and was a cornucopia of many fascinating things the Aunts had collected in their lives, probably including forbidden items collected from pupils in the classroom when they were meant to be listening to teacher; compasses, dividers, erasers, playing cards, penknives, notepads, drawing implements, little puzzle items, magnifying glasses, lenses and many other things. This would keep us happily occupied until all too soon it was time to start the long journey back home.

Growing up. Mothers turn to take the picture

David, Arthur and Christine at Windyridge.

Great Aunt Nell (b.1857) died in 1947 and her death registered in the North Walsham Registration District office which covers Salthouse in their area of responsibility.

Grandfather William Mattinson died on the 2nd December 1946 aged 75 years and was cremated with his ashes being placed in his wife’s’ grave in Salthouse Churchyard. At the time of his death he was in Suffolk to be near Maisie and Arthur.

David remembers the journey to Salthouse for the funeral because Grandfather’s ashes were in a cask which was in the rear footwell of the car and his feet were on the cask for the journey, but he didn’t know what was in the cask until we reached Windyridge!

Great Aunt Nance (Annie) died in 1949.

Great Aunt Madge (b. 5th November 1863) is the one I remember best of all. She continued to live on her own at Windyridge after Nance’s death for a number of years, until her own death in March 1963.

Great Aunt Madge in later life.

In the later years of her life she had become quite deaf and blind and one day she knocked over a paraffin heater which then went up in flames. She managed to put out the flames herself but in doing so received burns. She managed to get some help and was taken as an emergency to hospital.

I went with my parents to the hospital, I think it was Cromer Hospital, to see her and we walked in to see her lying there. One side of her face was seared and her hair was singed yellow from the flames. I said hello to her and bent over to kiss her and smelt the singeing, then I started to feel faint and my father took me outside where we sat on a low wall

till I felt better. Apart from that what I remember most was she could hear clearly what we said to her and it was then I knew she was going to die. She died on 20th March 1963 only months away from her 100th birthday and was buried in Salthouse churchyard.

There was a short report in the local paper about the incident.

Aunt Madges’ coffin beside her grave in Salthouse Churchyard.

(Note the base of the memorial at top of the picture. Outside the church porch)

With the death of Aunt Madge ownership of the bungalow passed to Primrose Cobbold.

The final chapter for our father regarding the bungalow was as a result of the 1953 flooding of Salthouse village when the local records concerning the ownership of Windyridge were lost in the flood. Following the death of Margaret Harrison, and as her legal heir, he had to swear an affidavit as to the ownership of the bungalow and site as belonging to Primrose Cobbold.

There is a plaque on the memorial wall of St Margaret Church, Cley next the sea to Primrose Cobbold (1901 -1985). (Photo: flickr.com/photos/lwr/4479057516} and more information about her on cobbebb33.pdf.

Christine Sheehan 31st October 2018