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Born Mabel Mardle
on 1 July 1925 in Glasgow.
Her mum was called Margaret (died at the age of 71),
and her dad was called Abraham (died in his late 80's).
Her mum was a housewife, her dad a postman.
Mabel has 2 brother's and 2 sister's. Her brother George
is still alive. Agnes, Margaret (Maggie), and Robert (Bobby)
have all passed away. Bobby was a partially sighted referee,
so you can imagine the football chants! Mabel was the
youngest of the 5 children.
Mabel grew up in Possilpark, Glasgow, and went to St.
Agnes, and then St. Theresa's school, up until the leaving
age of 14.
Mabel began work as a message girl for a high class dress
shop where she delivered boxes of dresses to customers.
She went on to work in many shops (always behind the counter),
then when she was 19, she joined the A.T.S (Army Territorial
Service) which are now known as the W.R.A.C.S. She served
from 1944-1946 as a Bat Woman (looking after the Officers).
Mabel then began work in a Warehouse for Hairdressers
(where she met Grandad's sister Nessie who was a hairdresser).
It was at the works dance that she was introduced to Grandad.
They married in 1949, and she moved to Stirling to live
with him. Throughout the years, they have lived all over
the town centre in Stirling:
- a room in Drip Road (Raploch),
- then a room in Barnton Street,
- they moved to a house in Baker Street when Dad was
born,
- then a house in Douglas Street for 6 months, and
finally,
- moved to Irvine Place - which they originally shared
with a sitting tenant, and they have lived there for
over 30 years.
Dad was born in 1951 and Gran worked for a brief spell
as a home help once he was at school age. Another child
(Julia) was born in 1954, but sadly died 19 days later.
In November 1973, Grandad opened his first shop in Kincardine,
and as he was still working as an Electrician, Gran tended
the shop for the first 4 years, until the night before
I was born (22 December 1977) when she fell and broke
her heel.
GRAN spent the final years of her life in
Wellgreen Residential home, where she enjoyed sitting
outside her room with best friend Jessie and smoking!
She also read a lot, and watched the football on terrestrial
TV, and constantly won many toiletries at the Bingo nights
which she always gave to us!
The family were able to visit Gran
regularly, and in 2003/2004, when Gran suffered ill health
and ended up in hospital through catching pneumonia a
couple of times, the Doctors were able to finally diagnose
her with lung cancer. Gran passed away on 20 March 2004.
We all miss her loads, and I am missing a good friend
in my life that cannot be replaced. |
Born William (Bill) Thomson
on 9 June 1924 in Coalburn (near Motherwell).
He had a dad called John (who my dad is named after)
and a mum called Nancy. His dad died when Bill was only
14, and his mum died in 1973. He had one brother (Tom)
and one sister (Nessie). They have both passed away.
Bill grew up in Coalburn where he went to Coalburn Primary
and Secondary schools, then when he left school, he worked
down the pit in Coalburn where he learned his trade as
an electrician. Once he was qualified, he moved to Stirling
to begin work as an electrician with the Department of
the Environment as a maintenance engineer.
He married Mabel in 1949, and they have lived in the
town centre in Stirling ever since. Dad was born in 1951,
and Bill got a job working as a maintenance engineer at
the Police College in Kincardine.
My parents began their married life in Irvine Place sharing
a house with Gran and Grandad.
In November 1973, Grandad opened a convenience store
in Kincardine (Exise Street). Gran worked there while
he continued to work at the Police College, until she
broke her heel 4 years later and Bill had to leave his
job to work in the shop full time.
In 1978, they got a dog called Kim.
The shop was so successful, that in the late 1980's,
he moved to a bigger shop in the high street (Elphinstone
Street) in Kincardine. The shop was called B&J Stores
(named after its two owners Bill, and John Kinnell - his
partner).
Grandad retired in 1994, and spent all of his time tending
to his large Garden until ill health kept him housebound.
Since 2001, Grandad had various bouts
of illness and ended up in hospital on 11 June 2002, where
his condition worsened. He passed away on 1 July 2002
and is much missed... |
