Jack Garnham: A Monologue Of An Immigrant
Welcome
Ladies and gentlemen, Jack or Jack Garnham to give him his Sunday name, or, if he was in trouble, which did seem to happen from time to time, but most knew him just as Jack. Jack was a son and a brother, a bit of a Jack the lad, and a lovable rogue too. He wasn’t backward at coming forward, he was a man who knew his mind, and don’t ask his opinion, unless you’re prepared for the truth.
Jack was a boyfriend then a husband, and a well travelled soldier, he was a family man a father, grandfather and even great grandfather too. He was a strict man with clear ideas about life, and you’d be best not to cross him, but he was also a loving man, surrounded by a loving family. Jack was many different things to many different people over his …show more content…
Jacks story starts way back in 1928, on the 9th of July to be precise, which would have made him 89 in just over 7 weeks time, and not around here, but all the way down in Ipswich, 46 Couriers Lane, to be even more precise, because that’s where his mum, Queenie, and dad ,William, were living at the time.
His dad was a stage shifter at the Ipswich Hippodrome, I think they’d call him a stage hand now, moving all the scenery between the acts.
And Jack wasn’t the only child to come along because there were also his three sisters, Iris, Rose and Violet, and his brother, George, too, although we’re not sure who came first, but what we do know, unfortunately, was that after his mum and dad divorced, he and his brother were sent to live with Bernardo’s, well, boys are a lot more work than girls, or so they thought at the time.
So not, perhaps, the easiest of starts for the young Jack, but it certainly made him tough. He went to school down in Ipswich, and stayed in regular contact with his mum, too, and his brother George. I asked if Jack had enjoyed school, “wouldn’t have thought so”, Jacqueline said, “he lived up to his name, a right Jack the lad he was, even back …show more content…
Life sounded idyllic over there, stationed in Tampin, they had an Armour, which, if you don’t know, is someone who comes round every day to do your washing, cleaning, even cooking and babysitting too. Edith was never in, mainly played badminton all day apparently, not bad! Jack played too, I’m told. I asked if Jack had been some kind of an officer, no, he was a Senior NCO, and a Sergeant by the time he left, just the perks of being stationed abroad I
Ladies and gentlemen, Jack or Jack Garnham to give him his Sunday name, or, if he was in trouble, which did seem to happen from time to time, but most knew him just as Jack. Jack was a son and a brother, a bit of a Jack the lad, and a lovable rogue too. He wasn’t backward at coming forward, he was a man who knew his mind, and don’t ask his opinion, unless you’re prepared for the truth.
Jack was a boyfriend then a husband, and a well travelled soldier, he was a family man a father, grandfather and even great grandfather too. He was a strict man with clear ideas about life, and you’d be best not to cross him, but he was also a loving man, surrounded by a loving family. Jack was many different things to many different people over his …show more content…
Jacks story starts way back in 1928, on the 9th of July to be precise, which would have made him 89 in just over 7 weeks time, and not around here, but all the way down in Ipswich, 46 Couriers Lane, to be even more precise, because that’s where his mum, Queenie, and dad ,William, were living at the time.
His dad was a stage shifter at the Ipswich Hippodrome, I think they’d call him a stage hand now, moving all the scenery between the acts.
And Jack wasn’t the only child to come along because there were also his three sisters, Iris, Rose and Violet, and his brother, George, too, although we’re not sure who came first, but what we do know, unfortunately, was that after his mum and dad divorced, he and his brother were sent to live with Bernardo’s, well, boys are a lot more work than girls, or so they thought at the time.
So not, perhaps, the easiest of starts for the young Jack, but it certainly made him tough. He went to school down in Ipswich, and stayed in regular contact with his mum, too, and his brother George. I asked if Jack had enjoyed school, “wouldn’t have thought so”, Jacqueline said, “he lived up to his name, a right Jack the lad he was, even back …show more content…
Life sounded idyllic over there, stationed in Tampin, they had an Armour, which, if you don’t know, is someone who comes round every day to do your washing, cleaning, even cooking and babysitting too. Edith was never in, mainly played badminton all day apparently, not bad! Jack played too, I’m told. I asked if Jack had been some kind of an officer, no, he was a Senior NCO, and a Sergeant by the time he left, just the perks of being stationed abroad I