Things at home were not good for myself or my three elder brothers. Our father was killed whilst working down a coal mine and our mother was in a deep depression. The boys all worked at the coal mine it was the town's biggest employer. To help with the family finances
I left school at fifteen and went job hunting. Our house was almost derelict, small, and at times very cold indeed. It was usual for me to sleep with one or more of my brothers just to try and stay warm.
There were vacancies at the local fish canning factory and also at the poultry processing factory. Needless to say neither really appealed. I was considered to be by my school teachers a bright girl with good prospects for a career in something a lot better than factory work.
I spent hours walking around the town looking for work everywhere I tried I got the same answer. It was the year 1906 and good King Edward was our monarch. He seemed to be quite popular and very different from his mother Queen Victoria
Since I was quite small I used to visit a little bookshop in one of the many back streets I had always had an interest in books. The place was quite close by and the rain was threatening yet again so I headed towards the shop with some haste.
There were always the same three gentlemen there. The founder Mr. Thomas, his son Mr. Peter, and his son Mr. Jeremy. As I browsed through the bookshelves Mr. Thomas put a card in my hand and gave me a silver sixpence with the instructions to take the card to the newsagents and ask for it to be put on their notice board in the shop window.
Before I left the shop I took a little look at the card. It read trainee required for a well-established book shop? That job was mine without any doubt whatsoever. I never took the card to the Newsagents shop? Bad bad me. On my way home I bought myself some sweets and kept the change for another day.
That evening I wrote a letter in my very best handwriting to Mr. Thomas requesting a job interview. Several days later I received his very polite and rather encouraging reply. It was late winter when I attended the interview and a bitterly cold day. We had seen each other many times over the years but had never actually spoken.
I wore my very best dress and the all-important black laced-up leather boots with small heels because I did not want my ankles to be seen. I liked Mr. Thomas he had a pleasant disposition and I was sure that he rather liked me?
To my surprise and gratitude, he offered me the job there and then mumbling something about no one else had even bothered to enquire about the vacancy? I was so so happy I almost skipped home.
After what seemed like an eternity Monday morning finally arrived and I was fast approaching the book shop. Mr. Thomas did the formalities introducing me, then I was put under the supervision of his son Mr. Peter who showed me not only the shop but also behind the scenes. The places that the public never see.