Auntie Janey

I only met Auntie Janey once or twice in my life, and I must have been very young, probably seven or eight years old, and to me she seemed extremely old, though when I was ten she would have been 78, which is pretty old, especially to a child.
Auntie Janey was my great grandmother's younger sister. She was born in 1881, and named Sarah Jane Thomson. My great grandmother Georgina was born in 1876, and there was a middle sister, Jemimah, who was born in 1879. Georgina married in 1899, Jemimah in 1901, and Sarah Jane in 1903. Jemimah died in 1916 at the birth of her second child, who also died. 

Sarah Jane Thomson in 1899

Janey married Francis Cash and had four children. the eldest, May, died when only three years old. Beatrice was born in 1907, and shared her forename with her cousin, my grandmother. her son Frank was born in 1910. Both Beatrice and Frank married and had children. I believe Beatrice married a William Robinson and had three children. Her son Frank Cash married Mary Jessie Bowen and possibly had children. I have a vague memory that he had an accident with a chain saw that he fortunately survived.

1904

1906

1910

"Beatrice and William Robinson lived around the Northenden area.  They married in 1934, and I think they had 3 children: Peter W. Robinson in 1938, Frank Robinson in 1944, and Wendy M. Robinson in 1940.  It was Wendy M. Robinson who married Douglas S. Maccallum in N.E.Cheshire in 1966."

My grandmother once told me about Auntie Janey's other son, who, she told me, had a learning disability, and whom Auntie Janey used to tie to the signpost outside their home so that he wouldn't run away. My grandmother also told me that the boy died after eating an indelible pencil that poisoned him. recently I tried to trace who this son might be, and discovered that he was probably the Ronald Cash who was born in 1914 and who died in 1926.

Indelible pencils were the cause of significant health risks due to the presence of aniline dyes. Exposure to aniline dyes could lead to eczema, acne and carcinoma. Penetration of the pencil lead into the body commonly leads to severe and debilitating effects such as fever, anaemia, elevated white cell count, gastro-intestinal upset, kidney and liver damage, anorexia and necrosis of the tissue surrounding the wound. Such risks are not associated with ordinary graphite pencils. While these symptoms may appear after a couple of days they often develop only after weeks have passed since the injury was sustained. Surgery is required to remove the lead and the infected tissue and "the necrotizing action may be so severe and extensive amputation is necessary" [Wikipedia]

My father recalls that Auntie Janey's home at Moss Nook was very close to Ringway, now Manchester Airport, and that she served tea and refreshments to RAF personnel there.

Auntie Janey appeared one more time in the family story in about 1956, when she made an impromptu unannounced message to the farm in Devon recently acquired by the family.

We soon had our first visitor, my great-aunt Janey. She arrived unannounced, hat rammed firmly down on her head, fur boa about her neck, and carrying a suitcase. She inspected the house, poking into every cupboard, spent most of her time at the Duke of York and departed after two days. She had satisfied her curiosity and was suffering from lack of sleep due to all the noise of owls and sheep, although her home in Wythenshawe was on a main road and opposite a public house. [Lyn's story]

Lyn's sketch of Auntie Janey's arrival at Mons Hall 

I have been unable to trace any record of Auntie Janey's death. I have another vague memory, that she may have remarried at some time after her first husband's early death, which may explain this, but careful searches have proved fruitless. I have not traced a second marriage or a record of her death.