Family Photos ~ Mum and Dad
Dad's Family
Dad was born into a farming family who lived and worked in The Lee near Wendover in Buckinghamshire. My grandfather was David Dorrell. His wife was born Lucy Healy. Read some of my Dad's early memories here: Tom Dorrell's Jottings
The Dorrells were never a close family, so I only rarely met Dad's brothers, Fred and Dave, and never got to know their children, who were my cousins Jane, David and Ann. Dad's father had died before I was born. His mother lived until 1962, and I remember family visits to her tiny old farm cottage in Buckinghamshire, when on each visit, Granny would open a drawer in the wooden chest in the living room and give me a present of a new matchbox toy.
Click on any picture to view full-size
Mum's family
Mum was born Doris Frances Martin, third-oldest of four children. The family lived in Essex Road, Islington, London, where her father owned a grocery shop. The family later moved to Milner Square, Islington, when Mum's father became a shops inspector. I never met Mum's father, who had died before I was born. Her mother survived into the 1950s, but I only have a recollection of her as an invalid. Mum's younger brother 'Bubby', died as a child, and her older brother Sid, died unmarried, aged about 40, in about 1957. The oldest child - Ivy - always considered to be the weakest child in the family because of frequent minor ailments - lived to the age of 99. Ivy had one daughter, my cousin Frances.
After leaving school at 14, Mum trained in dressmaking and became a seamstress. During the war, Mum worked in a munitions factory, but after the war, her life was spent as a loyal wife, housewife and a wonderful mother.
Mum and Dad
Mum and Dad met in London in 1935, and married on 11th December 1938, a few days before my Dad's 23rd birthday. Mum was 22.
I love the wedding photo (below). Mum looks so happy, and Dad looks coyly pleased with himself. His ill-fitting suit is a wonderful reflection of his Buckinghamshire country background.
Dad signed up to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, but continued to work for the Met Office, providing vital weather information for the numerous air and sea operations that took place at the time. Although for a while Dad was stationed in France, he was never directly involved in military action. After the end of the war, Dad was posted to RAF bases in North Africa, and fulfilled several tours of duty which kept him away from home for many months at a time when both my sister and I were very young.