Tag Archives: Ernie

Ernie was Arthur Linfoot’s elder brother. See also the Family page.

5 February 1914; Thursday

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Got up about 7.15. At work as usual. Joe went to Leeds in the afternoon. Received letter from Manchester asking him to set a salary. I telephoned to him and then wired it to Manchester. Father very bad at night. Aunt Esther1, Bella Spain, and Uncle George in. I got the fiddle music and tried it through. Fred Wells called for Joe, and I talked to him a long time down stairs. Joe didn’t get back until 11 o’clock. Dorothy2 unwell and sick. Aunt Esther caused the water to run over and through the ceiling down stairs. I wrote to Ernie. The “Sack” murderer3 condemned. Appeal from Sumner. Eltoft 4 years. At Liverpool.

  1. Aunt Esther: Father’s sister, b. 1862; married to John Lindsay Wilkinson – possibly Mother’s brother, and possibly the source of ALL’s middle name, which is otherwise unexplained. ↩

  2. Dorothy: only child of Marmie and Joe Wiseman (b. 07.09.1912.)  ↩

  3. The “Sack” murder was a case in Liverpool, December 1913. The principal culprit, apparently George Sumner was hanged; Samuel Angeles Eltoft, mentioned by ALL, was aged 18. ↩

20 January 1914; Tuesday

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Got up about 8 o’clock. Got work well up to date. Mr Jesse Collings expressed his intention to retire from Parliament at next general election1.

Finished in good time. Mother, Father and Gertie at a * lecture on Canada. I finished off some Pelman 2 papers and took them to the post. Mr Chadwick called to see about Ernie’s reply to his letter. Willie Whittaker called in and we went up the town way. Played the piano a bit. Went to bed late. Had a bath last thing. Took 2 letters for Mr Lawson and didn’t get away to dinner until late.

  1. Jesse Collings was MP for Ipswich, later for Birmingham Bordesley; best known as mover of the “three acres and a cow” amendment to the Queen’s Speech, January 1886, following which Lord Salisbury’s government fell and Gladstone became Prime Minister. ↩

  2. Pelman: See footnote on 6 January and all diary entries tagged Pelman. ↩

15 January 1914; Thursday

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Got up about 7.45. Drilled a bit. Left work shortly after 11 o’clock and went to the County Court in the car1. Managed the business all right. Had to make a 4th copy of the agreement for the Rechabites2. Old Mr Robson buried. Finished very late at night, nearly 7 o’clock. Did a bit Pelman3. Finished reading “Hypatia”4 and took it in. Went to Jack’s last thing and told him I had done the necessary. Called at the post with Ernie’s paper. Went to bed about 11.30. Charlie got heavy cold. Read newspaper about Strike in Johannesburg5, and also Volcanic disaster in Japan6. Mr Jos. Chamberlain7 expressed his intention of retiring from Parliament.

  1. In England at least, “car” in the diary usually means “tram-­car”, though later, especially in France, ALL evidently used it for other, usually unspecified sorts of conveyance. ALL also occasionally used the noun “car” as a verb – “carred” meaning “I (or we, depending on the context) rode on the car.” ↩

  2. The Independent Order of Rechabites (rather oddly referred to in Roy Hattersley’s biography of Lloyd George as the “Antediluvian Order of Rakebites”; the name “Rechabites” was presumably adopted from Jeremiah ch.35 v.2 ff.) was a temperance Friendly Society, set up in 1835 and still in existence, providing insurance, death benefits etc, to which ALL continued contributing a few (old) pence a week, until some date after WWII. ↩

  3. See note on 6 January. ↩

  4. “Hypatia”: Charles Kingsley’s novel; “took it in”: presumably to the public library. See also: Arthur Linfoot’s Library ↩

  5. A strike of white railway workers in Pretoria led to a general strike throughout South Africa, with martial law. ↩

  6. Sakurajima: former island in a caldera off the southern tip of Kyushu; worst Japanese volcanic eruption in 20th century. ↩

  7. Joseph Chamberlain (1836 – 02.07.1914): father of the half-brother MPs, Austen and Neville Chamberlain, Birmingham industrialist, Mayor of B’ham, MP for B’ham 1876 as radical Liberal; resigned as Pres. of Board of Trade 1886 because he opposed Irish Home Rule, became ‘Liberal Unionist’; Sec. of State for Colonies 1895 – 1903 (covering the Boer War); driving force of B’ham University after its creation (1900) from Mason College, led its removal from Edmund Street to Edgbaston campus; campanile there named after him. ↩

14 January 1914; Wednesday

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Frank still off. Busy at work. Jack in at night. He and Hilda1 stayed to supper. We played ping-­pong between 10 -­ 11 o’clock.

Got Swan Fountain Pen for birthday present. Ernie sent 4 on to choose from. I wrote to him at night and returned 3. Father, mother and Charlie buying it. Jack and I tried them at night. Charlie working late. Played the piano a bit. Went to boss. Jack gave me the forms duly drawn out, and full instructions what to do.

  1. Presumbly wife of Jack (probably son of Uncle Jack and Aunt Esther -­ but see fn. on 12 January); had child, 4 April 1914. See Hilda disambiguation page. ↩

6 January 1914; Tuesday

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Got up about 8 o’clock. Got work well up to date. Cold and frosty. Finished early. Read a bit. Did some Pelman1. Went down to meeting. Called at Furley’s and got to know that Mr Furley was at work again. Played2 for the class meeting. Had break for a few minutes. Mother, Father and Gertie3 at the pantomime. Said it was pretty decent but not of much account†. Went to bed about midnight.

  1. Pelmanism was a popular system of memory training, using association of things and ideas. ↩

  2. “Played” without a direct object generally means “played the piano” or according to context “-­ the organ”. Like many Victorian and Edwardian families of all classes, ALL’s family were ‘musical’. His father played the ‘cello, ALL and his two sisters were competent pianists, Ernie learned to play the violin, and Charlie was a popular bass-­baritone soloist and chorister. ALL also played church or chapel organs throughout his life. ↩

  3. Gertie was ALL’s younger sister. See also Family page. ↩

4 January 1914; Sunday

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At chapel1 as usual. Mr Chadwick preached. Charlie and Joe commenced in the School. The classes were merged. I managed pretty well. Had shorter walks than usual and were at Grandmother’s to tea and supper. Had a bit music and a pleasant time. Charlie and I saw a woman fall down in Christopher Street, and she broke a jug she was carrying. Got to bed about midnight after talking about Father and a shop2. Ernie and Hilda went to Boldon3 for the night. I said goodbye to Ernie and talked a bit about the prospects before them.

  1. “Chapel” would have been the South Durham Street Methodist church, which closed at some date between the Wars; Mr Chadwick was of course the Minister. “School” was Sunday School. ↩

  2. ALL’s father had lost two fingers in a work-place accident; many diary entries refer to his compensation claim and his re-employment, and to renting a shop to supplement income. ↩

  3. Boldon, which may have meant East B. (A), West B. (B) or B. Colliery (C), would have been where Hilda’s parents lived. ↩

3 January 1914; Saturday

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Got up late and was late for work1. Finished about 1.30. Met Ernie and we went to the match2. Went into the bob stand. Sunderland 1 v. Liverpool 2. A fair game. Liverpool goalie was very clever. He was laid out, and off for about 10 minutes. Ernie didn’t care much about it. Ernie and Hilda went to the pantomime at night. Willie, Charlie and I went round the town and afterwards Charlie and Joe and I played ping pong at home. Went to bed rather late.

  1. Saturday morning working was of course normal – as it remained until the 1960s. ↩

  2. The football match was at the old Roker Park; admission to the stand: one shilling (= 5p; a “bob”). ↩

1 January 1914; Thursday

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Shook hands with Joe1 first. George Bagley2 second. Polly Abigales † 3rd. Had an invitation to Jenny Arkleby’s †3 but didn’t go. We all went to bed about 2 o’clock. Charlie4 slept the year out. He started at 5 in the morning. Ernie5 and Hilda arrived about 12 o’clock. We had turkey for dinner. Had short walk in the afternoon. Arranged a ping pong table down stairs and played a bit. Company arrived about 7 o’clock. The Whittaker family6. Willie Marshall. The Christopher Street people7, Ernie and Hilda. Had jolly time and supped about midnight.
Our Party.

  1. Joe Wiseman was the husband of ALL’s elder sister Marmie; he had moved to Lincoln in 1905, date of return to Sunderland not recorded. ↩

  2. There was an extensive Bagley family in the 1930-­‐40’s, but their relationship with George B. is not recorded. ↩

  3. P. Abigales and J. Arkleby (if correct) are unidentified; hereinafter, identified names are annotated (if at all) on first appearance, and names not identified receive no annotation. ↩

  4. Charlie was ALL’s younger brother, working in the Post Office. ↩

  5. Ernie was ALL’s elder brother, married to Hilda (née Tulip), at this time living in St Andrew’s. ↩

  6. The Whittaker family were members of the South Durham Street Methodist Church, and included a son Willie, whom ALL quite often mentions; he mentions Willie Marshall probably more often, but as he commonly omits their surname, it is sometimes hard to be sure which of the two he means. Willie Whittaker shared his middle name Gaylard with All’s uncle William Gaylard Linfoot (who had emigrated to New Zealand in 1912), which suggests a possible family connection; all the people mentioned in the diary would have known (which is doubtless why ALL never refers to it) that Willie Marshall, mentioned in this 1 January entry, had visited New Zealand at some time in 1913, for reasons which will become apparent to readers by mid-1914. ↩

  7. See the Family page for an explanation of “Christopher Street people”. Christopher Street is just W. of the S. end of Hendon Road. ↩