I have some treasured heirlooms

In the family (but not at my house!) we have a charcoal drawing of my gt. gt. grandmother. There are also photos of her so I know it is a very good likeness, but her lips in the drawing are clamped together in a very thin line. I found it quite frightening as a child when it was on the wall. More recently I have wondered if her lips were pressed together in an attempt to disguise her lack of teeth?

Apart from bits of silver and china we treasure DH’s grandmother’s Yorkshire stone bird bath, made for her in 1935 when she and grandfather moved into the first house they actually owned. It is simple, does the job well, and I have told DD that she will be expected to house it until DGD has a home of her own!

Precious to me is a tiny blue and white china teapot which survived the doodlebug which wiped out our home in 1944. None of us was there at the time or I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale. As well as the doodlebug, the teapot survived numerous dolls’ tea parties in my childhood. I have however kept it out of the hands of my own children and grandchildren.

I use recipes hand written by my mother and my Daughter, both sadly no longer here, but a lovely way to remember them.
I also have my mother’s cookery books, she wrote all sorts of remarks and “helpful” hints in them, again, a fun surprise when I come across them.

Whitewavemark2

Callistemon

My great grandma was Rosanna too!
But not Cornish.

It is a lovely name I think.

It has been spelt in various ways on the censuses, including Rosehannah.

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Maddy68

What is a "Hessian" apron? Is it made of leather? What a great picture! I wonder what material her dress is made of? It looks so shiny.

Hessian is what sacks are made of, so perhaps they made aprons from old potato sacks or similar.

Maddy68

What is a "Hessian" apron? Is it made of leather? What a great picture! I wonder what material her dress is made of? It looks so shiny.

Sacking maddy

Look at the hem! I reckon it was a hand-me-down as she would hardly be expected to grow?

It must be of some natural material though. Cotton satin? I’ve no idea really.

I sympathise Marmight. I too find it very emotional and feel a duty,albeit a pleasant one,to preserve it all. Thankfully my daughters are interested. I really should get on with it as I'm really the only one left with the knowledge to do it!?

I have so many wonderful memories but nothing of great value. Photo’s of my parents who were both brought up in children’s homes so no heirlooms to speak of. I kept my darling mum’s glasses, a beautiful shawl she wore in later life and her hairbrush. These are absolutely priceless to me. I adored her.

I have so much ‘stuff/ephemera’ from my parents, grandparents and theirs’. Also from my in-laws and my Aunt who lived in East Africa. I worry about sorting it all out and labelling everything for future generations. I suppose the most precious is a box of letters written by my Dad to my Mum at the end of the war when on his way back from the East in 1946. They were separated after less than a month of marriage, for over 5 years. They are full of love and an insight to my Dad as a very young man. They make me cry ?. Photos are next on the list. I’m such a sentimental old thing that I have to have a box of tissues as I work my way through them. I feel I am a temporary guardian of all this information and people’s belongings and I need to get on with it before it’s too late. Just wish it didn’t upset me so much!

I have the photograph of my Great Granny, and her children (including my Grandmother), that my Great Grandfather was carrying in his uniform pocket, when he was killed at Ypres during WW1.

What a beautiful screen, Coconut. It looks Art Deco/ Rennie Mackintosh. I would love that! I have little things like the bread board that was used every day all my life, and used by my parents to the end. Some letters and cards - nothing very significant but precious to me.

What is a "Hessian" apron? Is it made of leather? What a great picture! I wonder what material her dress is made of? It looks so shiny.

Some nice studio pictures of my grandparents and DH’s too. A lovely sepia toned large group photo of DH’s grandmother’s wedding, sadly there are some people on it we have never been able to identify because we left it too late. Postcards to my mother from her younger brother who died when a bridge collapsed on his way home at the end of WW2, among other things he was bringing home material to be made into dresses for me. Engraved pewter tankards given to my father by his six siblings to commemorate promotions during his 30 years in the police force. A folder of letters written to my mother when my Dad died at the age of 54 after 30 years’ service in the police and only 12 months of retirement. A wall clock belonging to DH’s grandmother, it was made by her husband who was a jeweller and died of pneumonia in his thirties, it was in a bad state when he acquired it but he had it restored. My Mum’s cut glass trifle bowl, I can remember it from childhood. Nothing that we could take to The Antiques Road Show but all priceless to us.

I don't have anything particularly old except a couple of photos of my mother's maternal grandparents which I presume were taken at the end of the 19th century by the dress and given that my mum and her sisters were all born in the 1920s.
I do have a Lord Wharton bible with an inscription that it was presented to my mother on 15/12/1935 by their local vicar. Mum would have been 9 years old.
Other than that I have a handbag which my mother gave me. Said it belonged to her mother and in it I keep mother's school report, a reference letter from her last school dated 1941, the year she left, and my baby card from the GP charting my weight for the first few weeks of life.
Got various bits of china from mum and her mum but nothing worth anything or particularly interesting and all early 20th century. Just sentimental value to me, really but I love having it around.

I am very lucky. My father was a keen amateur photographer who developed his own photos. I have thousands from world war 2 onwards plus cards for his 21st birthday and all sorts of items such as demob papers, ration book,letters between him and my mother. I'm in the process of sorting it all and scrapbooking. He also kept a daily diary for decades, I must have over 60 of them.i intend to photograph extracts and include with key events. I wasnt quite sure what I was going to do with them after that but apparently there is somewhere in London that uses them for social history. It is indeed a remarkable record of our family history so id better get on with it!
I do have many mementos of both my parents. Probably my favourite and one I use most often is my mother's large yellow pyrex mixing bowl from the 1960s.?

hazel93

Has to be a book of hand written recipes from my great grandparents added to by each generation since.
Apart from being a window into social history it always makes me smile.
Should you need to jug a hare or make Branston pickle I'm your girl !

I’d love that!

I have a watercolour of Conway Bridge which I used to admire at my Grandmothers. It has no value (apart from to me). Also I have a few ornaments from both grandparents. My DH has beautiful Georgian teapot from his mothers side.
I, on the other hand, have been collecting silver sugar tongs as souvenirs of were we've stayed in the UK. They could be easily stored heirlooms fr my DDs

I have 12 place setting oak canteen of Silver cutlery. I use it occasionally. None of the family want it which seems such a shame.

Mother, when her departure was imminent, to my sister,"You are not leaving here without some item or other"
Sister asks why:"It's your family inheritance" Ma replies.
Sis asks have I had my family inheritance?
I reply brightly."Oh yes...Mum's deafness, dad's glaucoma. Mum's short sight, Dad's hiatus hernia..."
Enough family inheritance, thanks!!

My dear dad died recently and in helping mom sort through we found a bracelet of my late NaN which has teeth marks on from when my dad was a baby and teething. Mom gave it to Me and it’s really touched me To see the little tooth marks from dad when he was little. I’ll always treasure it and it sounds strange but it’s helped with my grief. Take care all.

Has to be a book of hand written recipes from my great grandparents added to by each generation since.
Apart from being a window into social history it always makes me smile.
Should you need to jug a hare or make Branston pickle I'm your girl !

So many. From both my Grans and my Mum and my own 70+ years and now from my late MIL - books from her childhood in the 1920s.

Maybe the most magical discovery after my Mum’s death was her Mum’s school report from about 1912. The school she attended in Bermondsy is still going strong and I sent them a photocopy.

I also treasure the diaries my Dad kept in WWII. He was captured at St Valery en Caux in June 1940 and didn’t get home until 1945.

Definitely my mother's and grandmother's sewing table including her inch tape-measure and the needle-case I remember watching her make when I was about five.
But my daughter has no interest in needlework and when my sewing-machine blew its motor, I took back from her the one we gave her as a teenager!

I have 2 sets of side plate, cup and saucer. One was my mother's "best" and one her mum's "best"
I never met my maternal grandmother as she died when my mum was in her late teens - but I do have a ring that was her engagement ring and her glasses(not sure why mum kept them)
A bracelet made out of silver threepenny bits from my nan and a brooch that was my mum's stepmother's, that she gave me when I was about 10 because she knew that I liked it- probably not worth anything! I was also promised 1 of her elephant ornaments that she had lined up on her mantlepiece . Unfortunately, they were stolen by a kleptomaniac patient in the first elderly persons home that she was in !