Hello! Many thanks for your reply to my post.
I don't know anything about Minnie other than my grandmother Florence Meadows - Minnies niece - lived with Minnie after my gran's mother died in Liverpool in 1912 ( Jessie Meadows nee Hutchinson - Minnies older sister ) The HUtchinson's and Meadow's families originally from Plumstead area of London.
Jessie's widower married again, had another 6 children and his first family with Jessie all went their separate ways - two to Canada and i have made contact with relatives there.
My grandmother's young life has been a mystery until recently when I have been able to trace some family and events.
She went from Minnie's home to Aldershot where she served in the army for the last year of the first war, was discharged in London, worked there in a restaurant, had my aunt Nina, who was illegitimate, found a place in service in Newport Pagnell in about 1926 where she met and married my grandfather and had my mother. Sorry - this is turning into War and Peace!
The purpose of my post was to try and put the missing piece of her life into place.
She never mentioned any of her family, other than to say two sisters had gone to Canada and one boy had died. I found out recently that she had three younger siblings, all of whom stayed in England. She gave a false name for her father on her marriage certificate, and said he was dead ( he died in 1933 )
As far as i know, she never had any contact again with any member of her family after leaving Liverpool in 1917 -18.
I find it so hard to understand how she could do this - she was a very caring lady and must have been close to her Aunt Minnie. I know she hated her father for the way he had treated her mother and going to stay with Minnie must have been a real haven for her.
It's such a long shot after 100 years, but it would be wonderful to know if there are any tales in the Talbot family of Minnie's poor sister Jessie and her tragic family, and it would be good to know about Minnie. I have a very soft spot for this lady who took my gran in so many years ago.
I have photo of Jessie and 7 of her children, also her husband, James Emmanuel Meadows. He worked as a labourer in the docks at Garston and they lived at Byron Street, then Woodger Street.
Jessie died in the Samaritan Hospital for women and is buried in a communal grave in Allerton cemetery.
I have only managed one trip to Liverpool so far and that was a fleeting one as we were on our way to the Isle of Man, but we drove through the Garston area. Most of where they lived seems to have been bulldozed now, but it was good to go there albeit briefly.
Incidentally, my Meadows family emigrated wholesale - just James stayed behind after an abortive attempt to go to Canada in 1910 - and another brother who stayed in London.
The Meadows's in Liverpool caused me many a false trail when i started researching. We had always thought my gran was Liverpool born, so little did she speak of her childhood and adolescence.
It appears that when she left Liverpool, she turned her back on everything and everyone and started life afresh. All she ever mentioned from her past was her days at Aldershot and some of the ladies she worked for.
thank you again for replying - and for taking the time to read all this!!!
A hundred years on, I'm probably hoping for miracles, but any snippet of information about Minnie would be wonderful.
Debby