I don’t remember very much about Barbara Thomson but
a photograph of
Rosemary and me standing with her on the porch at
67 Twelve Acre Crescent and endorsed by
my mother, ‘Grandad Hotten’s aunt’, ensured she wasn’t totally forgotten.
Some investigations revealed that she was Grandad’s mother’s youngest sister.
I have only one other memory of Barbara Thomson and that is of being taken by my
mother (as far as I can remember it was just the two of us) to her home in
Paddington. It was a small flat over a shop in Praed Street and very sparsely
furnished with dark wood furniture. There was an aspidistra plant in a pot by
the window and I sat alongside it, bored as can be watching the traffic go by in
the street below, wondering if I would be allowed a visit to nearby Paddington
railway terminus and thinking how stupid it was of Gracie Fields to sing a song
about such a dull and lifeless looking pot plant.
Oh; and I did get taken into Paddington station to look at the railway engines.
Information provided by
Malcolm Knight.