( 1893 London - 1978 Hebburn ) --- ( 1896 - 1959 )
(Married at Hebburn on?)
Bill (aged 72) had a 2nd marriage to Helen Gray (aged 50) in 1965.
Catherine (Kate) had died a few years previously.
DERRICK (192? - Dec 2001 )m. ? - Michael
My father was born in 1895 in the Tottenham area of London and died aged 85. He was known as William George but was actually named George William. As a young boy he caught typhoid fever from contaminated London water . Shortly after this the whole family moved to Hebburn on Tyne . My grandfather Nicod was foreman of a 12 employee small company in London. Alphonse Reyrolle asked him to join a new company in Hebburn.
When my father was 14 he joined A Reyrolle as a factory worker. Some years later when the first world war broke out he joined the army as a cavalry man.
After some time in the cavalry he was thrown from his horse and wounded to the extent that he was invalided from the army. The wound took a long time to heal. I remember him applying ointment to the wound on his thigh in the late 1920's.
My father worked in the A Reyrolle workshops for a number of years. Then he was offered a chance to become a 'jig and tool' draughtsman to produce drawings for the tool room. After some time he became chief jig and tool draughtsman.
I remember many happy family occasions. As a boy we went to Scarborough on holiday for a number of years. When we were there it never seemed to rain although the streets were sometimes wet from overnight rain.
Every Sunday morning my father, uncle Sam Corsie and I used to walk all round the district: White Mare Pool, St Bedes Well and Monkton were all on our itinerary. On return my father and I would leave uncle Sam at his home and go on to Ronald Gardens to visit my grandparents. My grandmother would welcome us and give us slices of meat from a huge joint. All the married sons were invited although not every brother came every week. Uncle Harold who was still unmarried then, would eat with his parents later, when we had left. I thought it a great family event.
During earlier years in South Drive where my grandparents then lived, there were marvellous Xmas parties which the whole family joined in. As I was young boy, I would be sent off to bed early to sleep over. My uncle Alf was a fine pianist, he would play serious music and later lighter music for all the family to join in. Though too young to understand, I would hear uncle Ernie who had worked in Switzerland, singing Italian songs with gusto. Uncle Fred also performed. He looked like and was a comedian. He told jokes but the highlight of the evening was when he imitated the walk action and speech of Harriman, the general manager of A Reyrolle. I was told that Harriman, who had a hunchback, was shown exactly to life although probably exaggerated
As for my father he was a loner. I cannot remember him ever having a man friend. And for whatever reason he had little to do with the Nicod family and only rarely entertained them.
However uncle Ted was always welcome and the family spent a number of holidays with Ted and his family in Yorkshire.
We also had visits from his cousin Jim Turner and family, both in London and Harrogate during the war. Sometimes Jim Turner stayed with us and on one occasion, his daughter stayed with us for a week. My boy friends were always around and later girl friends came to the home and were treated warmly.
I have many things to thank my father for but I have to admit that he was careful with money and as he grew older, like some old people, he was even more careful.
My father's last 5 years were not good. He was bedridden and became a burden for my stepmother Helen, his second wife.
My mother was born in 1896 and lived for 63 years before dying from a heart attack. She went to school at St Cuthberts. Her name was Catherine Fleming Jiffkins Corsie.
As a young girl of about thirteen, she used to run home from school and called at her mothers to get lunch from her for herself and her father. She then ran to the bottom of the hill to the banks of the Tyne where she met her father who was working as a carpenter at Swan Hunters on the building of the liner Mauritania. When they met they ate lunch together.
My mothers care for her father was repeated over and over again for the family, giving us care and love. She was kind to everyone and always had a smile for people.
After the building of the Mauritania my grandfather went to sea as a ships carpenter. Searching for work he would set off from home with his knapsack on his back hoping to sign on for a ship at Gateshead. My grandmother Corsie only knew if he had a job if he did not return home. Grandfather Corsie sailed to many places but mainly the Mediterranean. He brought many things back including a beautiful mosaic brooch from Venice which my granddaughter Charlotte Nicod now owns.
Before she married my mother went into service with vicar Marr of St. Cuthberts. He was a living saint to the people of Hebburn and was buried humbly as he lived, carried to the cemetery on a wooden cart pulled by a cart horse. (Derrick)
Uncle Bill was a good looking man - tall, slim, with brown eyes, a fine head of hair and superb white teeth which he still had in his late years. He spoke in a rather deep gravel sounding voice. This was also noticeable in brothers Alf and Harold. I remember being fascinated as a youngster by the unusual shape of his thumbs which were very bulbous at the end.
He was very 'Dickensian' in appearance which was mostly to do with a particular style of coat that he wore. (Terry in his younger days used to long for Bill's coat).
Reputed to be very delicate all of his life; his mother in her cockney accent used to say "Our poor Bill will never make old bones". This was quoted to me by my mother (his sister Violet). He proved them wrong as he lived well into his eighties.
He always kept hens and on a Friday evening it was my job to carry to his house, a bucket of vegetable scraps for their feed for which I received a shilling from him. I was often accompanied by a friend (Ann Phillips) and we giggled and carried on so much that on arrival half the hen food had been spilled out.
On another occasion he answered the door to me holding what seemed to me the biggest box of chocolates in the world. I remember how he laughed when I was asked to select one as I was completely overwhelmed. Sweets were still rationed at this time so I was completely mesmerised by the sight, size and quantity of such a luxury.
On a Sunday morning I often visited him and once was taken to see Aunt Kitty who was ill in bed with a weak heart. For some reason this frightened me and my imagination went wild and I ran all the way home weeping because I thought I was also having a heart attack. By the time I reached home I could hardly breathe, so great was my terror and was promptly both rebuked and reassured by my mother. On another occasion Anne Phillips accompanied me on a visit and she promptly fainted whilst sitting at Aunt Kitty's bedside and Uncle Bill gave her a glass of water.
I was always fascinated by a drawing of a young child which hung on the wall in the room overlooking the back garden. It may have been done by Charles Nicod from the distant past but I am not sure about this. I do not recall ever seeing their son Derrick during any of these visits.
After his wife died, Uncle Bill used to come on a Sunday to have his dinner with us. He always ate heartily in spite of his 'delicate' appetite, much to the amusement of my mother. After the meal, both he and my father would have a sleep on either side of the fireside which gave me the opportunity to sketch them both. It is strange how something so trivial should stick in my mind, but the fact that I could never make his cup of coffee the correct strength to suit him always made me feel hurt. However , he was very kind to me and gave me a watch that had belonged to Aunt Kitty which I still have to this day.
He later married Helen and seemed very happy in his new life. I visited him shortly before he died, still in the same house at Craddock Avenue, being cared for by his wife. (Rosemary)
I went to Jarrow Central School and left to start work which was not easy to find in the 1930's unless you 'knew someone' After a brief spell as an assistant in a greengrocers, I went to London and worked in a nursing home followed by a help-companion to an elderly lady. A chance came-up for an office job in the firm of Reyrolle in Hebburn in the North and I was happily employed for some time as a buyer of insulation. Emergency Teacher Training came in during World War Two and on advice, I went for it and this led to my becoming a teacher for the rest of my working life.
The first teaching post was at the Grange School, Jarrow and when this was closed down, I went to Hebburn Colliery School.
I was about to be engaged at age 21 but things went wrong and we broke up. Years later, he admitted to bitterly regretting the break. It put me off men for a long time. Then I met Will and we were very happy together.
An unusual thing I did was to 'loop the loop'. I was always interested in flying and one day in Hexam some pilots were offering 'flips' at 5 shillings a go. Daringly, I went for a stunt flight at 1 and survived to tell the tale!
Over the years, I have visited Australia four times to visit my relatives. (Helen)
Use PAGE ARROW to return to previous page OR
Ancestors Top of Page Main Menu
If you have any information you could add then please let me know.
Refer to email address in main menu
To Print-out this page with no background colour or links, use Page Setup for putting A4 in portrait mode with margins set: left 20 mm, right:10mm, top and bottom 15mm. Check using Print Preview.