Erik,
I was planning next to go forward to my childhood, but Momma sent me a page or two of
memories about her grandparents, William and Sophie Bradley. I couldn't leave these wonderful stories out.
--Mom
"My mom, Hannah Sophia Bradley, was born in the village of Woodborough, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England, on April 7, 1885. Her parents were William and Sophie Bradley. As a young man, Granddad Bradley 'took the King's shilling' to escape the law for scrumping (stealing) apples from a village orchard. 'Taking the King's shilling' meant enlisting in the army to avoid charges. He was sent to the Crimean War. While in Turkey he met and married the daughter of an army sergeant, but on the return journey to England by ship, she and the baby she was carrying, died in childbirth and both were buried at sea.
After reaching England, William Bradley returned to Woodborough and there met and married Sophia Reddish, my grandmother. He was quite a bit older than her; they had one son, Richard, stillborn twins, and finally, Hannah Sophia, my mam, and Jane, my Aunt Jinny.
The Reddish family had long ago been wealthy landowners around Nottingham. There is an old watermill at Halam, near Woodborough, that once belonged to the family. In the 12th century the name Reddish was deReddish, so it was probably of Anglo-Saxon or French origin.
My granddad became a stocking frame operator. The frame sat in the front room. He would 'knit' the stockings on the frame, and then walk to Arnold and deliver them to Allen and Solley's Factory to be seamed and shaped. His daughter, Hannah, my mam, often accompanied him. She told me that Granddad worked on silk stockings for Queen Victoria. He worked her design, a crown over a V and an R (for Victoria Regina) into the top of the stocking.
Granddad decided he would teach Mam to run the stocking frame; she hated it! It made a sound--'shinka-pom-push' as the pedals were worked. This went on for hours. One morning, after much protesting on her part, he nonetheless made her get on the frame to work. She got so fed up of hearing that 'shinka-pom-push' that she stamped her feet on the pedals and jammed the needles together. Scared that she'd broken the frame, she ran off into the orchard and never again was she made to work on that machine. --Joan Shelton
Bit of history: In July 1853, Russia occupied territories in the Crimea, a peninsula in the Ukraine, that had previously been controlled by Turkey. Britain and France were concerned about Russian expansion and attempted to achieve a negotiated withdrawal. Turkey, unwilling to grant concessions, declared war on Russia. In November 1853, Britain and France joined the war against Russia.
A stocking frame was a mechanical knitting machine used in the textiles industry. It was invented by William Lee of Calverton near Nottingham in 1589. Its use, known traditionally as framework knitting, was the first major stage in the mechanization of the textile industry, and played an important part in the early history of the Industrial Revolution.
Amy Symington from Lyon & Turnbull models a pair of hand stitched silk stockings on February 24, 2010 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Scottish auctioneers are due to place the hand-stitched, silk stockings in their sale on March 24, 2010. Complete with crests this style of stocking is thought to have been among Queen Victoria's favorites.
"Mam had an uncle living on a farm at the end of the village. He was a strong Methodist. Every Saturday they swept out his barn and arranged forms (wooden benches) for seating. The first Methodist Church in Woodborough began in that barn. Eventually the 'church' was granted a deed from the diocese and was able to build a chapel.
Granddad Bradley took ill, becoming paralyzed and remained bedridden until his death. We now know he died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lous Gehrig's disease), the same disease my brother Jack died of in 1972. After her dad died, at the age of 12, Mam was sent to work at Woodborough Parsonage." --Joan Shelton
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