Post by billmcelligott on Aug 16, 2010 18:55:43 GMT
As things were quiet on here I thought Leo would appreciate a piece I wrote a while back on Progress.
------------------
My Father never met his Father my Granddad. William John McElligott was killed on active service in 1919, yes there was still fighting after 1918 and Granddad got caught up in it. I have one of those large Gunmetal medals they issued at the time.
My Father William James McElligott born on Christmas Day 1916. He left school at the age of 13 to start work, you see they needed the money, he lived with his Mother and her 6 Brothers she cooked and cleaned for them all while they got drunk and whacked my Dad at regular intervals. They all lived in 2 rooms in the 'East End' of London.
My family are of Irish decent and at the turn of the century it was not uncommon to find Irish families of 10 or 12 living in one room in the tenements of Ireland and England. This Family name of Listons were in these times quite well off.
My Dad never had a pair of shoes until he started work. All his school life he went in bare feet, yes and in the snow and the rain, he said they would run to school in bad weather and feet soon warm up when you get them moving. But Dad was a happy soul, because as he looked around him at that time in that area of the East End of London, all the other kids were just the same. Bare feet and getting bashed by the grown ups was normal.
Dad went through the Second World War nearly seven years he was in the Army he was in late 1938 till 1945 he came back to England and found these drunken layabouts had been hitting his Mum, he threw all 6 out on the street. They were not dealing with a skinny bare foot 13 year old now, they had to answer to a battle hardened veteran.
Then he met my Mother [Florence Tye] and Married. I William Henry McElligott born in 1950. I was on my Dads shoulders in 1953 at the Queens Coronation. I can just remember the flags and the cheering but not clearly.
When I started school I was clean, healthy and well fed, Mum and Dad made sure I was also well loved. I can not remember my Dad ever hitting me, ever. My Mum smacked me on the head once with a broom handle, I was about 12, but I was a sod and deserved it.
My memories of school are all good ones, I had a terrific childhood. If I could give all my friends a really good present, I would give them my childhood. But we were poor, my trousers and coats were all patched. My Mother was a seamstress and worked at home, so she had an electric sewing machine. I swear my clothes were made of more patch than original fabric. But I had shoes, however we could not afford to keep buying new shoes as I grew out of them, so they wore out and holes appeared in the soles. So Mum would cut pieces of cardboard to fit the shoes. It was not until later I understood why all the Mum's would shout at the kids 'DON'T JUMP IN THE PUDDLES'. I assumed at the time it was to stop from getting dirty. But it was to stop the water getting into the shoes, and soaking the cardboard.
But again you see none of this seemed strange to me, because as I looked around all the other kids were the same.
I Married and my Wife and I raised 4 children took them all through their school years with new showes when needed , new clothes when needed, no patches or cardboard inserts ever. They are all grown now and have children of their own.
My Grandchildren have enough toys to fill a department shore, their NEW shoes and NEW cloths are all designer label, they go to school with mobile phones and ipods, some have laptops. They all have a TV's in their own room plus entertainment centres. They are driven to school and picked up
So you measure change by looking at foot ware. Nearly 100 years and we have gone from 'bare feet' to 'designer label trainers'.
But I have to say that my Dad was always known as Smiler, he loved life and never asked anyone for anything. He was always known as 'Billy Liston' or Smiler Liston and played the piano in the 'Rising Sun' Bethnal Green, London during the post War years.
I was better off than Dad but never had a lot. Our [my Wife and I] children have all the modern tools and gadgets, that go with the modern life of today. But you know I am still the happiest one of the lot, I kinda feel I let the kids down. I should have hit them more and kept them barefoot.
Bill McElligott
PS. What has this to do with Freemasonry ? well without Freemasonry I would have gone mad years ago.
-------------------------
Other articles
------------------
My Father never met his Father my Granddad. William John McElligott was killed on active service in 1919, yes there was still fighting after 1918 and Granddad got caught up in it. I have one of those large Gunmetal medals they issued at the time.
My Father William James McElligott born on Christmas Day 1916. He left school at the age of 13 to start work, you see they needed the money, he lived with his Mother and her 6 Brothers she cooked and cleaned for them all while they got drunk and whacked my Dad at regular intervals. They all lived in 2 rooms in the 'East End' of London.
My family are of Irish decent and at the turn of the century it was not uncommon to find Irish families of 10 or 12 living in one room in the tenements of Ireland and England. This Family name of Listons were in these times quite well off.
My Dad never had a pair of shoes until he started work. All his school life he went in bare feet, yes and in the snow and the rain, he said they would run to school in bad weather and feet soon warm up when you get them moving. But Dad was a happy soul, because as he looked around him at that time in that area of the East End of London, all the other kids were just the same. Bare feet and getting bashed by the grown ups was normal.
Dad went through the Second World War nearly seven years he was in the Army he was in late 1938 till 1945 he came back to England and found these drunken layabouts had been hitting his Mum, he threw all 6 out on the street. They were not dealing with a skinny bare foot 13 year old now, they had to answer to a battle hardened veteran.
Then he met my Mother [Florence Tye] and Married. I William Henry McElligott born in 1950. I was on my Dads shoulders in 1953 at the Queens Coronation. I can just remember the flags and the cheering but not clearly.
When I started school I was clean, healthy and well fed, Mum and Dad made sure I was also well loved. I can not remember my Dad ever hitting me, ever. My Mum smacked me on the head once with a broom handle, I was about 12, but I was a sod and deserved it.
My memories of school are all good ones, I had a terrific childhood. If I could give all my friends a really good present, I would give them my childhood. But we were poor, my trousers and coats were all patched. My Mother was a seamstress and worked at home, so she had an electric sewing machine. I swear my clothes were made of more patch than original fabric. But I had shoes, however we could not afford to keep buying new shoes as I grew out of them, so they wore out and holes appeared in the soles. So Mum would cut pieces of cardboard to fit the shoes. It was not until later I understood why all the Mum's would shout at the kids 'DON'T JUMP IN THE PUDDLES'. I assumed at the time it was to stop from getting dirty. But it was to stop the water getting into the shoes, and soaking the cardboard.
But again you see none of this seemed strange to me, because as I looked around all the other kids were the same.
I Married and my Wife and I raised 4 children took them all through their school years with new showes when needed , new clothes when needed, no patches or cardboard inserts ever. They are all grown now and have children of their own.
My Grandchildren have enough toys to fill a department shore, their NEW shoes and NEW cloths are all designer label, they go to school with mobile phones and ipods, some have laptops. They all have a TV's in their own room plus entertainment centres. They are driven to school and picked up
So you measure change by looking at foot ware. Nearly 100 years and we have gone from 'bare feet' to 'designer label trainers'.
But I have to say that my Dad was always known as Smiler, he loved life and never asked anyone for anything. He was always known as 'Billy Liston' or Smiler Liston and played the piano in the 'Rising Sun' Bethnal Green, London during the post War years.
I was better off than Dad but never had a lot. Our [my Wife and I] children have all the modern tools and gadgets, that go with the modern life of today. But you know I am still the happiest one of the lot, I kinda feel I let the kids down. I should have hit them more and kept them barefoot.
Bill McElligott
PS. What has this to do with Freemasonry ? well without Freemasonry I would have gone mad years ago.
-------------------------
Other articles