MEMORIES OF A LANCASHIRE LASS - AN ORDINARY WOMAN LIVING IN EXTRAORDINARY TIMES
Elizabeth Alker, the only child of her humble, working class parents, was born in Pemberton, Wigan. She seems to have had it all, a fortunate start with loving parents, followed by a happy marriage, caring children, and a long and healthy life. Yet, everything has not been quite so straightforward for her. Fate has a way of disrupting even the smoothest of paths, and that's how life was for Elizabeth.
A series of illnesses and deaths, some the result of the 1930s economic depression, marred her teenage years leaving her an orphan, bereft of close family. She married young and, still reeling from the loss of her immediate family, her loving husband did his utmost to ease her loneliness and shock. That is, until fate threw her world into chaos again. As WW2 loomed, her young husband was conscripted and sent away, leaving her alone with her firstborn.
Follow her on her journey through an extraordinary life, sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious. An ordinary young woman, living her life in the same area and time frame as George Orwell's study of the working class 'The Road to Wigan Pier', she would probably have witnessed the same scenes he depicted. Although he concentrated on the negative side of the 1930s Great Depression, Elizabeth's recollections show the sheer grit and determination of the community at that time. It is eighty years since Orwell published his work in 1937, a fitting time to publish the memories of a woman of that time.
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FAMILY HISTORIANS MAY FIND THE EXTRA REFERENCED BACK PAGES USEFUL.
About the Author: Elizabeth Alker, the only child of her working class parents, was born in Pemberton, Wigan. She seems to have had it all, born to loving parents, and then later, a happy marriage, caring children, and a long and healthy life. Yet fate has a way of disrupting even the smoothest of paths, and that's how it was for Elizabeth. A series of family illnesses and deaths marred her teenage years leaving her an orphan, bereft of close family. She married young, only eighteen. Knowing she was still reeling from the loss of her immediate family, her loving husband did his utmost to ease her loneliness and shock until fate threw her world into chaos again. As WW2 loomed, her young husband was conscripted and sent away, leaving her alone with her firstborn. Follow her on her journey through an extraordinary life, sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious. An ordinary young woman living her life in the same area and time frame as George Orwell's study of the working class 'The Road to Wigan Pier', she would probably have witnessed the same scenes he depicted. Although he concentrated on the negative side of the 1930s Great Depression, Elizabeth's recollections show the sheer grit and determination of the community at that time. It is eighty years since Orwell published his work in 1937, a fitting time to publish the memories of Elizabeth Smith.