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Note: From: Aldona Grodecka
email: agrodecka@hotmail.com
February 2011
Dear Heather:
I live in Kent,about one hour's journey South of London. I am 52 years old, have three fairly grown-up sons, and keep loads of animals.
I think I am one generation earlier than you. Edward Earnest and Sarah were the parents of my Great- Grandfather. It's a long time ago, but the progress at least to my Mother's generation was fairly straightforward. Edward Earnest was landlord of the very picturesque coaching inn, The White Horse in Finningham. Incidentally, I think I was told by a friend that this lay on the old Roman road to Norwich, called the Magpie Road. Can't find Edward's father Robert, except that he was a baliff. Sarah's family seems to have been "posh", occupying big houses in Finningham, as well as having positions in the Church, like Church Warden. When I visited Finningham, I was surprised to find graves of some of these people outside the front door of the Church, in what must be a prominent position. I was quite surprised to find these things, having assumed that my ancestors would be people of the humblest sort.
My Great-Grandfather was Frank. It does not seem so long ago, because I have a photo of him - I should say a fairly powerful- looking person, physically.He moved to the nearby market town of Stowmarket, where my Grandmother was born. Here they had an Inn called the White Horse, or Great White Horse. Once again, I have a feeling that it was in the historic centre of Stowmarket, near to the parish church. This move happened, as I recollect it, soon after the railway arrived. Everything I note is through the mists of years sinceI did this research. As I recall it, there were few owner-occupers in East Anglia, most properties being owned by about 4 great landowners. In these families, the younger brother would become the Vicar. Therefore, one could not get employment if one caused offence, for example, by missing on church attendance. In addition, there was terrible agricultural poverty, and I have read descriptions of agricultural workers going to work, wrapped in newspaper, because they had not enough clothes to keep warm. These two facts together meant that people were very keen to jump on the trains and head for the nearest towns for a litttle freedom. Certainly, I was surprised when I found in a register of occupants of Lime Tree Terrace, Stowmarket, where Grandma was born, in the Ipswich record Office, that many of the families were the same ones whom I recognised from my researches of Finningham!
Anyway, for some reason the Family moved to Ipswich, where my Mother was born in 1928. Frank had a pub situated very picturesquely on the Quay side at Ipswich Docks, looking out to sea. I think it was maybe called the Bull, but not sure.When I took my Mother to see it, she said that she recalled, as a small girl, standing in the malt House next to the pub, with her Grandfather, and his brother ie a mutual brother with your ancestor.
Grandma's great regret in life was that she had little or no education. True to family tradition, she ran a small hotel on London Road, Ipswich, but moved to Bournemouth, probably upon marrying her second husband in the mid 1930s, and ran a small hotel. Unfortunately she took out her resentments on her daughter when my Mother won a state scholarship to a nearby Girl's public school. But Grandma waould not let her take it up and got her a job in an arm aments factory instead.
My Mother put herswelf through secretarial college in the evenings. Feeling unwelcome in Grandma's second marriage, she left Bournemouth for a secretary's position at John Lewis store in Central London.
She met my Father at a dance at Chelsea town hall. Just as my Mother came from the East of England, he came from the East of Poland in what is now Bielorusse. His father was arrested for being a class enemy, and he was deported in a cattle truck to Kazakhstan, together with his Mother, brother and sister, in order to experience "social reeducation", following a dictate of Stalin's They then heard news that Gereral Anders was recruiting young Polish men to join the British army. My father tells me that he left together with his young brother and other boys on a sledge pulled by a camel!
They found the Queen Mary Liner waiting for them, and he travelled firstly to Scotland, then to London, habving travelled via many countries, including South Africa in the effort to avoid submarines
So anyway, that's roughly how I ame about. Sorry if this info is not interesting to you. It's hard to know where to stop once you start. I would be really happy if you could fill me in on how a descendant of the Baker clan is to be found over the ocean in Canada.
Once I have found my family research notebooks, I will send you the the details for my little bit of the Great Family Tree as I have found them.
With all best wishes,
Aldona x.
W.
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