I can see the headline in the Witney Gazette "Oliver Family History Discussion Takes Precedence Over Bread Sales in the Co-op".
Seriously though, it's a pity that Geraldine and her husband are not online. It would have been so nice to hear some of her memories. Hopefully some family member will keep her informed about the great stories which keep getting discovered, and encourage her to attend the next Oliver Family History Day.
I hope you told her about the Oliver Family History Website and encouraged her to log in and share some of her memories of the Oliver Family.
Barb
Hi Barb
Yes, I think I tried my best with the sales pitch! The bread aisle was blocked up for some time while I told Geraldine (and her husband) some Oliver tales (including my favourite one, Joshua & Solomon) and she told me about the blankets-in-a-day. She had been unable to get to the Oliver Day in the spring because she was working, but heard all about it from a cousin. From what I gathered Geraldine & her husband aren't online, so I fear we shall only get second-hand news unless we can persuade them to enter the internet age. Perhaps when they see what a great family reunion is happening here, they'll come and join us.
jane wrote:. . . that Facebook photo of Geraldine looks very much like a lady who used to work in the paper shop in Corn Street . . . If I see her again I'll ask her if she's Geraldine! . . .
A quick update: while looking for some lunch in the Co-op just now, I bumped into the lady from the paper shop, and yes, she is Geraldine!
You could be correct about M. Oliver. We always knew her as `Aunt Marie`. Her death does seem about right. I left Oxfordshire in 1963 and return visits were not very frequent (time flies when you are having fun!) so 1968 would be about right. It must have been quite a number of years before he married again (to Olive). I never met her at all.
I wonder where Marie originated from. I believe we have some Thornets in our line, but they came from Stonesfield and I cannot see any connection there. They most likely met at the Mill - love across the loom!
Further up the thread the following was included, with a question mark on the name:
'Uncle Albert married a lady named Marie?'
So, following that possible clue I just had a look and found the following records:
Marriage Name: Marion Thornett Spouse: Albert Oliver Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1929 Registration district: Witney Inferred County: Oxfordshire
Death Name: Marion Oliver Birth Date: abt 1903 Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1968 Age at Death: 65 Registration district: Witney Inferred County: Oxfordshire Volume: 6b Page: 1110
So, was Albert's wife possible 'Marion' rather than 'Marie'? - if so, I guess its likley the M.Oliver could well be Marion, Albert's wife - perhaps they met at Early's even?
£1.9s.6d. What a good wage in those days. When I started my first job as a trainee typist for a Solicitors in 1957 I only earned £1.10.0d, That was £1 to Mum for keep and ten bob (50p) to me for clothing and essentials. Legal workers were very poorly paid in those days. No wonder I did not stay there very long.
No idea who M. Oliver could be - sorry.
Just going to unplug - thunder storm in progress!!
Today I found a list of those working for Early's in March 1937, arranged by department and showing wages. The only Oliver I've spotted is M. Oliver, who is in a list of "Shed Women", i.e. those working in the weaving shed at Witney Mills. Does anyone have any idea who she might be? (I suppose she could be Kathleen Mary, if she was known by her middle name.) Also on the list of Shed Women is O. Willmott (your Mum, I think, Rene!). Her wages (and M. Oliver's) were £1-9s.-6d.
I'm not sure why Albert Oliver isn't on the list. Perhaps he just wasn't working for Early's in 1937, or perhaps the list isn't complete.
P.S. thank you Rene for explaining who Francis Charles Oliver is.
Just perused my notes. I have Francis Charles (bn.1874) marrying Lizzie Bartlett (daughter of William Bartlett). Marriage on 16.4.1904
I have six children of that marriage, Kathleen Mary being the last - Bap.4.11.1917
I believe Kathleen Mary married William Bert Howse on 23.7.1938
I also have a note (from where this information came from I haven`t a clue). `There are records in Leafield Church of marriages for years - 1932, 1934, 1936 and 1938 - all children of Francis Charles.`
It would seem that I have more `notes` than true facts. I will get there eventually.
Thanks for telling me where Barbara, Pam and Eric belong in the tree. As for Kathleen Mary, FreeBMD tells me that the birth of a Kathleen M. Oliver was registered in the Chipping Norton district in the last quarter of 1917, mother's maiden name Bartlett. Perhaps she was the daughter of Francis Charles Oliver, who married in the same district in 1904: spouse either Lizzie Bartlett or Mary Maria Margetts. I don't have access to the census returns at the moment so can't check who Francis is.
Must rush now (mini-lunch break is over) and get back to work.
Cannot pin down Kathleen Mary from Leafield as yet. Barbara, Pam and Eric are siblings, my cousins, Geraldine was their sister. Sadly Barbara, Pam and Eric are no longer with us.
Rene, now I know your Mum's name and what she looked like, I'll look out for her in records and photographs.
Today I found some registers of 16-18 year olds who started work at Witney Mills in the 1930s and 1940s. There's quite a collection of Olivers in them:
Kathleen Mary Oliver of Leafield (b. 3 Oct 1917), started work 6 Feb 1933
Pamela Oliver of Finstock (b. 9 Nov 1930), started work 3 April 1945
Barbara Oliver of Waterloo Cot., Finstock (b. 7 June 1929), started work 29 Oct 1945
Eric Oliver of Finstock (b.11 Apr 1933), started work 19 March 1948
Mum was born in 1914 and moved from Oxford to Long Hanborough when she was about 8 years old. So does that put her in the same age group as your Mum? She was step sister to all the Berry Clan in Hanborough and grew up with them. It was her half-sister Rose Berry (later Hadland) who was friends of your family. Lizzie Slatter was brought up in Combe and her brother Cyril married Kathleen Maud Willmott who was a domestic at the big house at the top of your Lane. K.M. Willmott was my Mums auntie.
Been mowing and gardening today and just admiring the white bits. It was so hot.
Did you get to Combe Feast? Brother Derek only got there on Sunday to the service.
Sorry, I'm going off the topic of blanket making. It's your photo of Church Hanborough School that has made me sit up and pay attention. Your Mum must have gone to school with my Mum. She is not in your photograph but I have a similar photograph of Hanborough Senior 1st XI which includes my Mum (Marjorie Rogers) where they are wearing the same uniform and some of the girls are the same as in your photo - Lizzie Slatter, Muriel Arkell, Audrey Case, Mary Smith, May Margetts.
My link with the Oliver family is through my Mum - her mother was Elizabeth Oliver daughter of William Augustus of Combe.
Incidentaly, I also attended Church Hanborough School.
Bye for now from a lovely sunny and warm Oxfordshire - Linda
It is so hot here I had to lie down on the bed on the cool side of the bungalow early on, so I am late `clicking on`.
Yes, both my parents worked at Early`s. Mum was Olive Willmott (or Wilmott). In the book I do not think she was named. But an Aunt said `you could certainly see it was your Mum`. Mum had jet black hair and had very striking looks. I have just tried to insert a picture of her taken at Church Hanborough school, just so that you could see how she looked, but that is technical and so I got a blank. She would have left the Mill for a life in Combe around 1937. I think Dad (William Oliver) was still working in the Mill around 1957.
Hi Shane and Rene, it is good to hear from you both
Well, that Facebook photo of Geraldine looks very much like a lady who used to work in the paper shop in Corn Street and must have sold me a few lorry-loads of chocolate over the years as well as putting up posters when my (late lamented) cats went missing. If I see her again I'll ask her if she's Geraldine!
Rene, did your parents work for Early's? If so I will keep an eye out for them in the records. (What was your mother's maiden name?) I may be able to track down the photo for you too. If it was in one of Tom Worley's books, it may now be at the museum in Witney.
If Albert Oliver was born 1908 then he may have started at the mill in around 1922 so would have been able to join the Half Century Club in around 1972 (amazing these days to think of someone doing the same job for half a century!). So I'll look for him in earlier photos of the Club too.
Bye for now . . . enjoy what's left of the weekend
This is my second attempt at getting to you. My first attempt just disappeared off the screen.
Lovely to see that the Finstock Olivers are in the news. Uncle Albert married a lady named Marie? they lived at one time in Ramsden and then later in a bungalow on the Hailey Road, Witney. Marie died and he later married a lady named Olive ? so she was another Olive Oliver, the same as my Mum. They lived in Colwell Drive, on the Burwell Estate in Witney. Albert did not have any children. When he died he bequeathed his estate to his MALE relatives only. Obviously females do not need pocket money!!
Geraldine, of course, is the daughter of Charles and Kathleen, my cousin.
Dad, William, also worked for many years in the blanket mills. He always said he was ` a spinner of yarns` but that could have been joke. Mum also worked in the mills, in one of the local books, I believe a book on Witney, there was a picture of her at the looms. She used to cycle from Hanborough to Witney every day and never took a day off sick. If the weather made the roads impassable she made the time up - without pay. Imagine the youth of today doing that!!
I can't seem to help bumping into Olivers whatever I'm doing.
At the moment I am sorting out mountains of papers and photographs connected with the history of Early's, blanket makers of Witney. They had what's called a Half Century Club which people were eligible to join when they'd worked for the company for 50 years. I have in front of me some photographs of the Club's Christmas party in 1985. One of the participants is . . . . Albert Oliver. I'll scan the photo later, and upload it if I can remember how, so that you can see this veteran blanket-making Oliver. (I am jumping the gun a bit in saying he was a blanket maker, as I haven't found any archives yet to say which department he worked in . . . but I'm sure there'll be a record somewhere, or else someone will remember.)
This reminds me that a while ago I unearthed another Oliver-related photo from Early's, this time to do with a publicity stunt in 1969 when as a publicity stunt they made some blankets from start (shearing the sheep) to finish (helicoptering them to a London department store) in one day. Two ladies are shown at the blanket loom in a photo; one of them is labelled "Miss Geraldine Oliver, now Mrs Brian Hitchman. Her uncle was Albert Oliver, her father's younger brother. She worked at Early's for 16 and a half years. Left in 1971." Again I'll try to upload a photo later.
Does anyone know where Albert and his niece fit into the Oliver family tree?
