Great Aunt Harriet And The Whiteleys Of Cossington

A Memory of Cossington.

My great Aunt Harriet 1892-1981 was employed as a nanny to the Whiteleys in Cossington in 1913. I inherited some of the post cards she sent home to the family.
The Whitelys lived in a substantial house and had 3 children. The younger daughter was very ill and died during her employment. The family were very fond of Harriet and gave her one of the little girl's dolls as a memento, which she kept til she died.
Whist she was there, aged 20, she met a local lad who proposed marriage: Harry G Gilbert. He visited her in S London the following year but her family were rather scornful about a country lad and persuaded her not to marry him but to strongly consider the boy next door who was to inherit his employer's newsagents business in Sydenham.
Harry Gilbert never married and she referred to him as her first sweetheart all her life and she spasmodically kept in touch. When he died in 1974 he left her £50.00 in his will.
I have pc/photos of young Harriet, Harry Gilbert (very good looking) and the Whitleys , the children and the house. And should the local history society of Cossington like copies I could send by email.

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