"In each family a story is playing itself out, . . .

                                    and each family's story embodies its hope and despair."  --Auguste Napier

Erik,   
      John and Ellen Strutt were Momma's grandparents (on her father's side), and she remembers quite a lot about them.                                                   --Mom
     
                         

     "The name of Strutt is one of the oldest names in the village of Oxton.  The Strutt name was first recorded in Oxton's church in the 1600's.  Another old name in the village is Sherbrook.  They were the village squires and landowners and lived in Oxton Hall, the manor house. (A manor house is a country house that belongs to the gentry.)  John Strutt, my granddad and Albert Edward Strutt, my dad, worked as gardeners at Oxton Hall.
     John and Ellen Strutt, my grandparents, lived in a three-story, red-brick house at the corner of Flats Lane, and owned by Squire Sherbrook.  There was no running water in the home, only a cold-water tap outside the kitchen door.  Their ten children were born in that home, seven sons and three daughters, one of whom died at age 9.
     A piece of land, called 'The Croft,' adjoined the house.  It was there that my granddad raised bantam hens.  There were also fruit trees on the property.
     The Methodist Chapel stood opposite their home; during the late 1800's, the chapel was the center of a religious revival in the area.
     As children Molly and I were taken often to visit our grandparents.  We looked forward to these visits for we would ride on a Barton's bus to Oxton which was a distance of seven miles from Arnold. A Barton's bus was a single level bus, red in color, and ran often through the villages.  On the way to Oxton there was a water splash that ran across the road and the driver would speed up to go over the splash becasue he knew we kids would scream out.
     Once there, Uncle Pat (Ernest) would slip us a few pennies each, and off we went to the village sweet shop.  We'd stand there amongst the jars of sweeties and boxes of toffees and try to decide what to buy with our pennies.  Then he would take us to a lady named Nell Gibson who made the best ice cream.  We would also enjoy looking for eggs in Granddad Jack's henhouse.  Granddad, along with Uncle Pat and Uncle Fred, cultivated three allotments with all manner of fruit, berries, and vegetables.  We delighted in picking and eating our fill.
      I always felt intimidated around Granny Strutt.  Even in the 1930's she still wore the dress of the early 1900's--an ankle length brown skirt and a white cotton long-sleeved blouse with a drawstring neckline.  Over the skirt she wore a full length apron.  Her gray hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her face was deeply wrinkled.  I don't ever remember her showing affection to us grandchildren.  I don't remember ever having a kiss from her.

     Granny Strutt passed away in 1938 at age 79. I remember her funeral.  There were no cars allowed, and her oak coffin was placed on a bier (cart).  Two men in black top hats and cut away coats walked in front holding the handles and two more walked behind the bier.   The family followed the bier, walking two by two, starting with the eldest son and his wife.   The grandchildren followed in order at the rear. As we walked through the village to the church, friends and neighbors were waiting to join the end of the procession, behind the family.  There was quite a gathering as we entered the church.
      Granddad Strutt was the most wonderful gentleman.  He was small in stature, had white hair, and a white walrus mustache.  He was always dapper, dressed in a navy blue suit with waistcoat (vest), even in the house, and he was spotlessly clean.  I don't every remember him being angry; he was very soft-spoken.  Mam thought the world of him, and when he lay dying, she was the one he asked for, and she sat beside him for almost a week.  I think she truly felt she had lost a wonderful friend when her father-in-law died.  He died in 1943 at age 83."       --Joan Shelton