| Description | DOB: 1897 (placed in the orphanage in 1906 at around 9 years old)
DOD: Unknown
2 sisters, 2 brothers.
Spent from 1906 to 1917 at Muiller’s Orphanage (Ashley Down, Bristol)
Separated from siblings; met them only upon leaving.
Institutional discipline was extremely rigid: silence at meals, harsh punishment for bed-wetting, limited physical affection, no games or contact with the outside world.
Received formal instruction at the orphanage, focused on scripture and grammar.
Schooling included reading, parsing, arithmetic, and recitation.
Later self-educated to some degree; used sophisticated vocabulary in letter.
Ended apprenticeship due to being labelled “unsociable”.
Employed intermittently throughout life; engineering inspector at Nuffield Mechanisations and Aero Company, inspector at Royal Ordnance Factory (during WWI), Electrician at Ronkswood War Hospital, Machine tool fitter at Archdale’s until retirement in 1968.
Married a woman met through a personal advert.
Believed her pregnancy predated their relationship but married to give her shelter and stability.
Institutionalisation in a asylum in early 1930s.
Attempted enlistment during WWII; discharged after one month due to mental health.
Experiences of poverty, doss houses, and being a tramp across England and Scotland.
Attempted to trace family origins later in life.
Letter-writing with scholars like Professor John Burnett and Dr. Mayall.
Type-written letter, often with spelling errors due to single-finger typing.
Mullers orphanage, Ashley down, Edwardian England, institutionalisation, social alienation, tramp life, Scripture Union, mental health, destitution, childhood trauma, poverty, typewritten letters, post-war employment, Royal Ordnance Factory, social history, workhouse, resilience, identity. |