What were your grandparents like?

My father's father died in 1897 when my dad was two. The six children were brought up by their mother and her older sister who was a very strict old lady. I was taken there for Sunday dinners when I was maybe one year old. But my grandmother died before I was born. My Dad was mid forties when he married. My mother two decades younger.
My maternal grandfather was an interesting old chap who tinkered with wood and wire making odd inventions and patenting them. He taught my mother how to make a radio in the twenties. He died when I was three. We visited my mothers mother once when I was eight and she was thin, often had headaches. Not a happy person. Because we moved a long way off after the war they were fairly mythical beings to me.

I knew all four grandparents but my paternal grandfather died when I was nine and he was in his late sixties. My other grandparents lived until I was in my thirties - I was very lucky. They were all very loving and kind and l am lucky to have had them. They always seemed elderly and acted in this manner. They wore clothes suitable for “mature” people and all had dentures from a young age, as was all too common at that time. The two grandmothers had regular perms and weekly shampoos and sets. Both grandfathers were as round as they were tall. My paternal grandfather could have doubled as Captain Mainwaring in appearance - thankfully not in his manner - and my maternal grandfather once got stuck on a helterskelter. They were born between 1905 and 1916. Although we loved them and they loved us, the grandparent/grandchild relationship was different from a modern day version. When we visited them, we wore our best clothes and were on our best behaviour - manners were not an optional extra. Indeed, girls were expected to be ladylike. My maternal grandmother was a talented pianist and played the church organ. My maternal grandfather had a beautiful bass baritone singing voice and would sit next to me for hours listening to me playing the piano and was very encouraging. After the war, he worked hard and saved up to buy a newsagents’ shop, which was so successful that he was able to buy another, which my grandmother ran. They eventually sold both shops and bought a sub post office, which they ran until retirement a few years later. When we stayed with my paternal grandparents, we would be encouraged to join them in their bed in the morning, where we would have milk and malted milk biscuits from a special tin while the adults had their cup of tea. My grandfather would then tell us the most amazing stories. He was a scientist and a rep for a well known company that sold scientific instruments. He always had a walking stick and would ask us to hold his hand to help him walk when we were very small. He always seemed to have a pipe in his mouth. My grandmother had not had an easy life as she was orphaned by the time she was four and brought up by her very loving aunt. She was very much the matriarch figure and kept everyone in line. Again, very kind and generous but a disciplinarian when she felt it was needed. We always knew where we stood with her and she was always generous in her praise.

I think I was very lucky as I had all 4 grandparents up to my late 20’s, one died in my 30’s and one died last year aged 105. My childhood was spending lots of time with them with family and seperately. Maternal and Paternal GP’s were very very different from one another. But thanks to one side we have loads of documented family times as grandad was very into cameras and video. And I know loads of scottish and irish songs from the other side!

All 3 were wonderful I was first grandchild on my Dads sideand firat grandaughter on my Mums all of them spent a lot of time wirh me and taught me things I use day and daily even now I was very blessed

I had two paternal, had to share them with innumerable cousins as my father was the eldest of eleven! However they were kindly and always open doors for everyone. My mother sadly lost her mother in childbirth the saddest thing was th read her birth certificate “mother deceased” brought home to me what she never had.

Paternal grandmother I saw little of. I do remember her once heating curling tongs in the stove, curling her hair, putting on her hat, pushing a long hatpin through it and saying Now I'm ready to.go.out.
I lived with my maternal grandmother and mother during the war. Very working class though bright, had been a bookeeper still she had to stop.when she got married. Both born around 1885.
One grandfather in regular army including in 1stk world war, the other an English teacher.

I knew all my grandparents and loved them all especially one grandmother. They were all so kind. They had, of course, all been through 2 world wars. Both of my grandfathers had fought in WW1 - one in Greece and one in Belgium in particular. During WW2 one grandfather was in the Home Guard and the other was a fire watcher in our local city. I miss them all and would give anything to have them back again.

We lived with my maternal parents after my mother’s marriage to a Canadian collapsed and we came back to the uk. I was only two, my sister was four. My grandfather had been sacked from his job as a Midland bank manager for insider dealing and looking back was probably in prison for a time although it was never spoken about. My grandparents had lived a very comfortable life with a cook and house keeper, and were probably horrified at being rehoused by the council in a cottage with no electricity or hot water. She was mostly quite bad tempered, looking back understandably, especially being landed with two energetic toddlers. Of course she had no idea about cooking or anything domestic. My mother needed a well paid full time job to look after us all, and spent her weekends washing and cleaning. My grandmother died at 58 of lung cancer being a huge smoker and I didn’t shed a tear for her. My grandad was just in the background hiding mostly under a newspaper! It all sounds a bit bleak but my mother made what little time she was able to spend with us joyful and we lived for that.

I didn’t know my paternal grandparents, my maternal grandfather died when I was I think about 7. I remember sitting on his knee, the coarse feel of the fabric of his trousers, drinking tea(!) and asking him about all the blue marks on his hands and arms.
He was a miner, from Co. Durham, and he said the scars were ‘the coal, it becomes part of you’.
After he died my grandmother would come to London from Durham to stay with us for holidays- my mother was widowed as well- and we would meet her at I’m sure it was Kings Cross Station, but my brother swears it was Liverpool Street.
She would wear her good coat, a little hat and carry a tartan bag
with a flask of tea in it. My mum would collect her case.
I remember her as a little old lady with white permed hair, she would only have been in her early sixties then.

I only ever remember one Grandparent, my mum’s mum. I was the youngest of her 8 grandchildren, 3 lived in Australia, but the rest of us were always at Granny’s house as my dad died when I was 6 and I don’t remember my cousins dad at all. I was especially close to my gran as I was the only girl and continued to help look after her and my aunt until she died at the age 92. She was a very special lady, who was loved by everyone who met her.

I loved all four, deeply. I liked three quite well, one was a bit prickly. My family were not local to our London Grandparents. I helped through their illnesses whilst caring for our babies.

We went on lovely holidays with our London Grandparents. We cooked, played in the garden and fields, went swimming with our near Grandparents.

We're all of the same Church, when available our Grandparents helped in our religion lessons. I happily remember memory games and singing.

My maternal grandfather died when my mother was an infant, so obviously I never knew him.

I adored my maternal grandmother and was less fond of Grannie (Daddy's mother) because she unfortunately could not quite hide that she did not really approve of the way my mother ran her house. However, Grannie was always kind to me and both my grandmothers taught me useful things such as sewing.

I was very fond of Grandpa, as he was rather like his elder son, my father.

Unfortunately, Grandpa died when I was twelve, my maternal grandmother the following year, and Grannie the year after that.

I missed them all very badly, and would have liked to have had them until I was nearly grown up and could have asked them what being young just before the first world war had been like.

One grandmother died when I was four. I have a vague memory of her but no more than that.

My other grandparents were around into my teens and early twenties. As a self-centred and rather stroppy kid I didn't interact with them enough, but I know now that they all had very interesting pasts and wish I'd had the time and inclination to talk with them about their younger lives.

I was lucky I knew all 4 of my Grandparents. All lived beyond 80 yrs with my Dad's Dad passing at 99 yrs so I have pictures of my children with them.

All 4 interesting character's my mother's parents both amazing, my Grandad was a drummer boy on the Kyber Pass, later a builder and such a kind sweetheart of a man. My Nan came from Lancashire, she was very funny and nothing got past her. Her father disappeared when she was young so her mother struggled to bring up 5 children, this made her very able . As a young teenager she went into "Service" to lovely people who kept her on after she married and had 2 children. They went on to have 7 children and move to the South of England, as Granddad came from the Isle of Wight, the did struggle at times financially, as a builder rubbish weather no pay.

My Dad's parents, so different my Grandad originally born in Northern Ireland, family migrated to the South of England. He too was also a soldier in WW1 he had a incredible background, an Old Contemptable, then as a Ship Wright worked on War ships in the local Naval Dockyard, he was quite a personality right up until he died. Where as my Grandmother was adored by her 8 children but by the time she got to over 10 grandchildren she lost interest in us, I was the 13th one.
But, they all made a massive impact on mine, my sister and my cousins lives.

My Grandad on my mother’s side was very wealthy and a real old fashioned Yorkshireman - father of 10 and the definite head of the household. I liked him but he died when I was 9 so I didn’t know him well. Grandma was very motherly, just as well with all those children.
My Dad’s Dad loved classical music and played it all the time. Grandma was quiet and placid , she had hair the same as mine, curly. She didn’t get on with my Mum very well .

I never knew my biological paternal grandfather as he died when my dad was 7 My grandmother was a fighter and a strong woman but loving. She eventually remarried a lovely man who was a great grandad.

My maternal grandmother was very strict and, I would say, not approachable. My grandad was the opposite and would recite poems and stories to his grandchildren.

My maternal grandmother was a gypsy ( the term she used) and had healing powers; before the NHS she delivered all the local babies (rural area) and locals came to her to be dosed up with herbs. The only thing she ever dosed me with was what she described as "elderberry pop" which caused me and some rowdy cousins to fall asleep for several hours in the middle of the day.. I think we'd exhausted her patience.

She was a very beautiful woman and my mother looked just like her. GF married GM just before he set off to fight in WW1. A year or so later he returned from France, injured, and found Granny heavily pregnant. She called it a mystery pregnancy, known to midwives. He agreed to keep the mystery and raise it, on condition she pretended it was his child,. Which they did by waiting nine months to register the (home) birth of a "newborn" with him as father. Only by then she was pregnant again so they had to fake the second child's birth registration too. That's how two of my aunts spent their entire lives a year older than their birth certificates. They had seven children.

Many years later, my widowed mother moved us back to the area she'd been born in and became a social worker. Back then there were a lot of itinerant gypsies in that rural area. SS had received a report of a sick baby at a gypsy site and she was sent to investigate. As she drove into their camp everyone disappeared into the vans and the doors slammed shut. Nobody would open up or speak. Just as she was about to give up, a door opened and an old crone called " I can see who you are. Look, she's the spit of Florence G.". Mum, amazed, said " That is my mother's name".
" Why didn't you say, you're one of us. They let her in.

The baby was indeed in need of care ( born with missing eye, floppy and somewhat neglected ) but they refused to let Mum take them to a doctor. At the time, I had a summer job working at a cottage hospital , old fever hospital in the middle of no-where. Mum persuaded the gypsies to come there with the baby and said " This here is my own daughter butterand jam , you can trust her. She will look after baby". I was 16 but the size of a puny 12 yr old and Matron had already decided I was useless at manhandling grown adults; so this would give me something to do. She agreed to admit the baby, and they handed her over. Baby and I were in isolation; the other inmates were mostly frail elderly and baby had worms, diarrhoea and headlice. Once cleaned up and bottle feeding , she perked up. When she was better Mum took her back to the parents. They still declined to give the baby's name. Now they said she hadn't got one.

Mum asked to see their other children. Five were produced (all had two eyes) and she said "So, for my records, you have six children altogether ". The Dad replied " No, just five. We don't count baby any more. She might not be the same one we left at that place. We lost her; when lost children return it can be a changeling.". My mother said " But (ONE EYED) baby still looks exactly the same" and he replied "That's what changelings can do.".

When mum repeated this to me in fits of unprofessional laughter , she added "You might be a changeling, I've often wondered that. " I said sarkily " Is that why you changed my name right after registering my birth with a different one? and she replied . "Oddly enough, that was Granny's idea . The moment she met you she said "This is not her
right name, you must call her something else.". and they did.

My registered name is a perfectly ordinary classic girls name; so is the one I've always been known by. It's just that the name I'm known by is not on my birth certificate, passport, medical record etc. A lifetime bureaucratic/ gypsy curse.

My maternal grandmother was one of the most important people in my life. I adored her and I know she loved me too. She had 12 grandchildren and we all felt special to her and loved. She died 25 years ago and I miss her everyday.

I knew all four of my grandparents. My paternal grandparents had a smallholding where my Dad and his brothers grew up. My Granny was born in a tiny village where her father was the blacksmith. When Grandad retired from the farm they moved into the nearest town and Grandad got a job as gardener at the local High school. Grandad had a bypass operation of some kind which they said would give him another 10 years of life. He managed 13 more years and died in his late 70s. My Granny lived to be 83.
My maternal grandparents lived in the same town where my Grandad was a tailor/postman. He spent his summers playing bowls and was in the local team.
My Nana was in service before they married. They had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls my mother was the 4th child.
Sadly my Nana succumbed to dementia and died when I was 16. My Grandad came to live with us for the last couple of years of his life, he died when he was 90.
I have really happy memories of them all.

Oh gosh, Terribull, your hoity toity Grandmother sounds like mine! A female wearing trousers, let alone Jeans - Shocking! I bet she used one of those tiny dustpan and brush sets to remove crumbs from the tablecloth as well. I found your post fascinating.

Redcar

All my grandparents had died by the time I was 10. I can just remember my maternal grandmother but she was very ill and died when I was 5. Her husband was a lovely grandpa and my brother and I used to go and listen to “journey into space” on the radio in his room. He and granny lived with us.
My paternal granny died when my dad was a teenager. My paternal grandfather was in hospital a lot and I can remember going with my mum to visit him. I wasn’t allowed into the ward so had to sit in the corridor! I can still remember the hospital smell!

I used to listen to Journey into Space while sitting on Grandad's knee in front of the fireplace - unless Grandma came in and told him off. She didn't believe in showing affection for children. He was lovely (died when I was 12), she was not. Made good seedy cake though and junket. She was like Hyacinth Bucket, but without her good nature or social graces...
She died when I was 20 but none in the family mourned her. She left a lot of bitterness behind.

My other Grandad died when I was about 4. I remember being allowed to sit on the empty foot rest of his wheelchair. Grannie, who lived to be 90, played the piano with gusto even with gnarled, arthritic fingers and was a tiny, wizened figure all the 23 years I knew her. Bent over with age, she was no more than 4' 6" tall, having shrunk from 4' 10". My mother thought her terribly common as she occasionally drank her tea out of the saucer, to cool it. I liked the cakes and trifle she made for us and the Yorkshire puds she saved from Sunday dinner to give us, with a teaspoon of apricot jam in the hollow.

I only remember my grandfather ..on my dad's side...he died when I was 4 years old..my grandfater,,on my mums side died in the 1920's,,,just after coming home from ww1., my granny...his wife died when I was 10 months, so I don't remember her and my dad's mum died 8 years before I was born. I do remember my step grandad...he was a lovely man who had all the time in the world for us,

I only knew my maternal grandmother as the others had l all died before I was born. She was very tiny and seemed very old to me. She came to live with us when I was 11. She was very religious and would spend a portion of the morning and afternoon reading her bible in her room. She only left the house to go to Church. She loved the visits from the Jehovah’s witnesses so that she could put them right!

My maternal grandparents met when they were in service. My Grampi had been in WW1 and talked about it a lot. After retirement from being an insurance man, he worked briefly at Wadworths Brewery in Devizes, checking the loads going out. He was a keen gardener besides being a churchwarden and a governor at the local primary school. He did the pools and had premium bonds and would give us a share of any winnings. Gran was always at home although she did belong to Mothers' Union and attended church regularly. In later life, she always seemed to have headaches and needed to rest in the afternoon. She wasn't keen on my father at first because he was a "foreigner" - he was from Ulster!

I have only the vaguest memory of his father and no memory of my paternal grandmother, sadly, as both died when I was young. I imagine they would have been more fun because my father was.

My paternal grandparents were a big part of my life, I spent every day of all my school holidays with them, from age 5 to 15. They lived in a small Somerset village, my Dad and his brothers were raised there. Gramph worked at local Airbase, kept a very large garden and orchard. Nan never had to buy veggies or fruit. She also kept hens and sold eggs to the old marketing board. I learnt most of my cooking from her, she also taught me to knit.
My maternal Nan lived in the same town as us, lived there all her life. She raised 5 children alone, my mum the eldest. She was the one who looked after us in term time if needed and my brother in holidays if mum had to work during the day. Worked part time and did some sewing work at home, sheepskin gloves for local business.