I have some treasured heirlooms

Callistemon

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.

My Rosanna had an interesting life. Her first husband and my great grandfather was killed working in the slate quarry. There were 3 children from that marriage. She then went on to another relationship with a chap who lived the other side of the village. “She was married but never churched”? she had a further 3 children. The second relationship was touch and go as he seemed to have gone to the USA for a time before returning, but grandma never seem to have lived with him, but termed herself with his surname.

There are various items in the family but I've always refused to store any. I'm not sentimental or nostalgic (at all) so can't see the point of keeping them if they're not used.

It's very interesting reading about other peoples' treasures though.

I have a few items that are precious to me. From my mother's side l have two Victorian wall plaques with gothic scenery. I also have another wall plate from WW1 with a Bruce Bairnsfather cartoon. It depicts a British army captain sitting outside a bombed-out building and writing a postcard which says 'at present we are staying at a farm." I also have some of my grandmother's china. From my father's side l have a copy of a photograph taken in 1911 of a wedding. My grandmother, aged two, was a flower girl and it has her parents and grandparents (my great grandparents and great great grandparents) in it too. I have a beautiful book called A Staircase of Stories, which is probably about ninety years old and the piano, a Broadwood Cottage Upright, which was the Rolls Royce of upright pianos in its day, which was bought new for my grandfather to learn on just before the first world war.

What a lovely thread. I still have my childhood teddy bear a bit the worse for wear, also a school scrapbook and school photos. There are a number of photos including those of my great grandparents. I have some of my grandma's china, my Mum and Dad's wedding rings and their wedding pictures, cards and letters written by my grandfather, old books from childhood, Mum's pretty scarves and a beautiful brooch which was my Husband's first gift to me. Thank you Whitewavemark2 for sharing your treasures with us. It has certainly made me think about some of the lovely things I still have.

What a treasure trove of a thread, I love your tale Sputnik and I love the stories connected to photographs.

From my own album my two favourite photos are, that of my Dad aged 21, in his uniform in 1939. The other is that of my parents and their two year son, me. The latter is especially poignant in that my mother looks healthy. She died in 1956 from TB.

My maternal grandmother gave my wife and I her Ferguson 'wireless.' I think that it's dated from 1922. It didn't work, but a clean up and valve replacement got it going, it still works but there is a time lapse when it's switched on, the valves have to warm up.

My school holidays were spent with my paternal grandmother, she had a fish & chip shop. Next door was a cafe run by George. Uncle George to me. He gave me the old records out of his jukebox when it was replaced by a new chart entry. I didn't have a record player until years later, but I loved that record collection. When George died he bequeathed me his jukebox, I still have it.

I still have Jonathan, the bear my grandparents bought for my first birthday. I should really rename him Fred Bear...When we were engaged both my grandmothers embroidered table cloths for us. I have a table with ornaments and the cloth with hyacinths, embroidered by my paternal grandmother, is put on from winter to spring and the one with more summery flowers, embroidered by my maternal grandmother, is there the rest of the year.

Whitewavemark2, can I just say what a lovely thread this is turning out to be? I’m finding I keep checking in between tasks just to see what people have posted about their treasures. Thank you to everyone for sharing.

My father was an only child and an only grandchild so he inherited many items from his grandparents and other relatives. There are such items as clocks given on marriage, silver for anniversary and a sampler done in 1829 by a great great grandmother as a child. But what I treasure most is an identity bracelet from my grandfather who died in WW1 in 1917. He was already in the army on marriage and posted off abroad months later so their married life was brief but a child was born later, my father.

I have the letter sent to my great aunt at the end of the 1920s explaining what they were doing with the WW1 remains of her young soldier husband who died at Ypres in 1917.
Those of us of a certain age may be interested to know it was a letter reproduced on banda paper. (And no, banda paper doesn't still smell after 90 years)

One thing I do have is a skeleton leaf between sheets of paper with “A gift from South Africa” on it . It is extraordinarily fragile.

My uncle sent it to my aunt when he was on shore from his boat en route to the Middle East. His boat was sunk or captured and he was taken to Nagasaki Japan, on board what he described as a hell ship. It seemed rather like the slave ships we read about.

Chardy

I have the letter sent to my great aunt at the end of the 1920s explaining what they were doing with the WW1 remains of her young soldier husband who died at Ypres in 1917.
Those of us of a certain age may be interested to know it was a letter reproduced on banda paper. (And no, banda paper doesn't still smell after 90 years)

I’ve never heard of Banda paper, what is it?

I think the oldest things I have are a pair of silver candlesticks from 1756, but they belonged to my husband’s family, so perhaps they don’t count. From my own family I have some pretty silver sugar tongs, also 18th century, and quite a few things that belonged to a great aunt who liked pretty things. They are all from the early 20th century, 1900-ish. A pink crystal perfume bottle with a silver band, a mother of pearl card case (for visiting cards) with a silver inlay with her initials - so elaborately entwined they are very difficult to read. Also a wooden hairpin box with a very art nouveau silver lid. She had many beautifully bound books as well, mostly poetry.

I have an Edwardian book that belonged to my mother when she was a child, called The Little Girl’s Sewing Book. I always loved looking at this book, though I was not the sort of little girl who was likely to do the sewing. It showed you how to make something called a red satin housewife! I think it was a sort of case to hold useful things like needles and thread and scissors, but the name amused me.

My most precious heirloom is the large round brass plaque given to every family who lost a family member in WW1. He was killed in France in 1917 and now we have printed his entire army record. He was as sergeant in the Durham Light Infantry although born in Liverpool and lived in Burnley. I have it because on my 80th birthday I visited my sister in South Australia. She polished anything brass every week and I just picked it up. She told me it was in mums big bag ( my mum had a capacious huge handbag where she kept any important documents. My sister could not understand my excitement as I do family history so she said take it if you want. We now know his history and are planning to visit his grave next year and it feels very emotional, to be the first family members to visit his grave.

I have quite a few 'things' that have passed down to me, but thr ones I treasure most are a glass powder bowl, with a lid, which has a silver design overlaid on the glass. It belonged to my grandmother. I've never seen anything like it in the UK but a google search showed that they are quite common in the US. Granny was born and brought up in Jamaica and had several friends and relations who emigrated to the US. I wonder if it was a present from one of them. I also have her wooden sewing box, with her initials in the lid. I believe that my grandfather had it made for her. That came from Jamaica with her, too.

I also have one cup from the Japanese tea service, which I think was a wedding present to her in 1916. Japanese ware was very fashionable in the early 20th C. We had lots more of it when I was a child, but it's got broken over the years. The china is so fine you can practically read through it.

I've nothing special except a few old postcards which were sent during the war, a couple of pottery green bunnies (not a rare edition) and an old sweet tin which has a regency type painting on the top which is more battered than I remembered it. No value except sentimental.

I've got a silver cigarette lighter that my Dad (passed away two years ago at 92) pointed to and said it belonged to his grandfather. I've also just found a studio photograph of my Mum at about 9 months old, posed with her Mother. Mum's just passed away at 93. Quite a few other items too.

On my wedding day I asked dad for one of his hankies as "something" borrowed. He got out a maroon silk one that he had always had in his drawer, the sort that would be worn decoratively in a suit pocket but Id never seen him use it.
He told me that day that it was the only thing he still had that his mother had given him. So I pinned it in my knickers. He died about 10 years ago and that silk square now lives in my drawer.

The picture is of a silver spoon sent as a ' birth gift ' to my mother by her eldest sister - twenty years older. She went to Montreal just before my mother's birth, and worked in Eaton's dept store. That was quite adventurous in 1924. My six year old granddaughter was stirring her cocoa with it last night! Same granddaughter was trying on my late MiL's Wedding dress this morning - approx 82 years old. I also have my maternal grandmother's wedding ring which is 117 years old. I have china ornaments left to me by two aunts, as they knew that I would appreciate the sentiment as well as the items.

MaizieD

I have quite a few 'things' that have passed down to me, but thr ones I treasure most are a glass powder bowl, with a lid, which has a silver design overlaid on the glass. It belonged to my grandmother. I've never seen anything like it in the UK but a google search showed that they are quite common in the US. Granny was born and brought up in Jamaica and had several friends and relations who emigrated to the US. I wonder if it was a present from one of them. I also have her wooden sewing box, with her initials in the lid. I believe that my grandfather had it made for her. That came from Jamaica with her, too.

I also have one cup from the Japanese tea service, which I think was a wedding present to her in 1916. Japanese ware was very fashionable in the early 20th C. We had lots more of it when I was a child, but it's got broken over the years. The china is so fine you can practically read through it.

Do you know what the wood is maizie?

I have the photographs of my grandfather and my great uncle from when they fought in the 1at world war . I also have the 'penny' that was sent to all families to commemorate a dead soldier - this was for my great uncle who died in the last month of the war; I have his cap badge as well. I also have a certificate showing all the battles which are commemorated by the Thiepval British Memorial. Someone inserted into the middle of the certificate the notice in the Harrogate paper of his death. I've visited his grave 3 times now, the last time on the 100th anniversary of his death and my sister and I put a white rose by his headstone.

Froglady

I have the photographs of my grandfather and my great uncle from when they fought in the 1at world war . I also have the 'penny' that was sent to all families to commemorate a dead soldier - this was for my great uncle who died in the last month of the war; I have his cap badge as well. I also have a certificate showing all the battles which are commemorated by the Thiepval British Memorial. Someone inserted into the middle of the certificate the notice in the Harrogate paper of his death. I've visited his grave 3 times now, the last time on the 100th anniversary of his death and my sister and I put a white rose by his headstone.

I bet you found it extremely moving as well..

My maternal ancestors come from Howarth, and we visited their graves in front of the Bronte vicarage. I found I was in tears even though they had died in the 18 and 19;century. Their lives were short and brutal.

My mum's wedding dress. My elder daughter wore it for her wedding, because it's beautiful and also in memory of her Nana.

Another treasure is a Bible presented to my great-grandfather for his charity work at the Ragged School Mission. It is very interesting, as it has all sorts of "extras", such as maps, lists of biblical names, birds, animals, and so on.

I have very few things from my mum, some linen tablecloths, with big crocheted corners, that I don't use, but could never part with.
A couple of rose vases, with copper pierced tops, that I was told were Nailsworth glass, but I don't know.
A Newnes Everything Within book, which is a household book, and used to have pressed iris flowers inside, sadly gone.
But what I most wish that I had, is a photograph of her mother. She died when mum was 8 and so I never knew what she looked like.

I have the cream silk shoes my Grandma wore on her wedding day in 1922. They are TINY - a child would have trouble squeezing into them now. I also inherited a miniature dolly tub and mangle, complete with a line and teeny wooden pegs, which my Mum was given when she was recuperating from pneumonia around 1932

kittylester

It's the small things I cherish. A silver match book cover with my initials of my father's aunt. A very pretty seconds coffee pot that was my nan's pride and joy.

Not so small is the 'grandfather clock' which was in my granny's house, then my parent's and now mine. It's actually a grandmother clock and very plain but the tick and the chimes are really homely. We just had it cleaned and refurbished which cost in the hundred's of pounds and when we asked the clock man how much it was worth, he said about what you just paid.

We also have letters from fil to mil and from my Poppa to my nan during WW1.

My OH used to be a furniture restorer but working on museum quality pieces. The hourly rate charged would be similar if repairing a simple clock or a valuable one. We often watch that programme "The Repair Workshop"? and often wonder what the people whose pieces are repaired if they knew the actual cost in time. I suspect that most of them wouldn't have the work done.