Marion Norton’s maiden name was Cross. Her father was Bill Cross and her mother was Agnes Cross (nee Holloway). Click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
Bill Cross with his eldest son, 1918
Agnes Cross with Ben and Dolly, approx 1910
Click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
John, Edwin and George Norton, early 1940s
Marion, George and Edwin Norton, 1944
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Marion Norton and Michael (5 months)
Edwin Norton and Michael (5 months)
Marion Kelly and Michael (9 months)
Michael Kelly (1 year) 1943
These are some of my favourite photos of the Kelly family in the 1950s. Click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
Left to Right: Marion Kelly, Sue, Bill Kelly, Edwin Norton, Jean (my Mum), Marion Norton, Michael. Taken in Ramsgate, 1952-1953.
Jean, Sue and Michael Kelly, mid-1950s
Jean and Sue Kelly, early 1950s
Ron Hayler spent most of his early childhood in Stroud, a village just outside Petersfield in Hampshire, where he was evacuated during the Second World War. He lived with his aunt and uncle, May and Bert Heath, whom he loved dearly. Click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
Early 1940s
Ron with Rose Hayler & May Heath, early 1940s
Early to mid 1940s
Mid-1940s
Ron with Tom Draper (his maternal grandfather), taken late 1940s at the back of Rigault Road, Fulham
1917 or 1918
Herbert Hayler (known as Bert), aged about 15, at the end of the First World War.
I think he tried to sign up but was refused because he was too young. Given the horrors of life for the average soldier in the First World War, I’m rather glad he did not get to sign up.
These photos really illustrate the more relaxed and informal fashions of the inter-war period - the cloche hats and flat caps, the low waistlines and shorter hemlines, the fur coats, the pearl necklaces, and the shorter hairstyles. There is also a sense of optimism and hope that permeates a number of these pictures. Given that they had lived through the First World War and its aftermath, there must have been a feeling that there were only good times ahead.
Click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
Rose (on right) with Rosemary & Kitty.
Late 1920s
1928
1929
1929
Bert & Rose Hayler with Bert Heath
1931
Rose (on right) with her cousin Rosemary, early 1930s
1934
Ron Hayler used to cycle at weekends from Fulham to Petersfield (near Portsmouth) to visit his Aunt May and Uncle Bert. He had been evacuated there in the Second World War. Ron then progressed to motorbikes, his favourite being the Norton. Click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
Ron on his bicycle. Taken early 1950s.
Ron with his Norton at Rigault Road. Possibly taken mid-1950s.
Ron with his Norton at Rigault Road. Possibly mid-1950s.
In 1956, at the age of eighteen, Ron Hayler was called up for National Service.
National Service was a peacetime conscription that was brought in by the National Service Act 1948. This stated that “every healthy man between 17 and 21 was expected to serve in the armed forces for 18 months, and remain on the reserve list for four years, with a liability to be recalled to their units for up to twenty days service or training on not more than three occasions in the four years.” Men were exempt from National Service if they worked in three essential services: coal mining, farming and the merchant navy. National Service formally ended on 31 December 1960.
As Ron had butchery experience, he was sent to Aldershot to join the Army Catering Corps. His two years of army life were fairly uneventful…the Suez Crisis was over and Ron never left British shores.
Click on a photo to see a larger version
He did, however, embark on a mission to perfect the art of making meringues, whether he ever achieved this is unknown… what he did do was waste thousands of pounds of the taxpayers money on eggs in his quest to do it!
Not to mention his trip home at Christmas on the pillion of a friend’s motorbike, complete with two large suitcases…..containing two equally large turkeys purloined from the kitchens. The two were stopped and questioned but informed the police officer they were going home on leave…omitting to inform him of their two passengers!
Jean and Ron were married at All Saints’ Church, Durrington (near Salisbury) on 1st August 1964. Click on each of the photos to see a larger version
Ron and Jean Hayler
Ron and Jean Hayler
Front Row: Joyce, Edwin and Marion Norton, Great Nan Kelly, John, Ron and Jean Hayler, David, Marion and Bill Kelly, Sue, ?, Bert Heath. Back Row: Michael, ?, Rose and Bert Hayler, ?, ?, ?, ?, Bob Sims and Joe
Rosemary Sims (my Nan Hayler's cousin), Edwin Norton, Bob Sims (Rosemary's husband), David Kelly, Marion Kelly, Sue Kelly and John Kelly.
Marion Norton, Marion Kelly, David and John Kelly, at the wedding reception
Bill Kelly, at the wedding reception