The Gowing Family

Win and Don Gowing

"The Early Days"

   Married life for Donald Jack Gowing and Winifred May Deacon started at 15 Ruthven Avenue, Waltham Cross, (Hertfordshire) in 1940. Although Winifred May is no longer with us, their early days together were recalled by Donald Jack, one spring day in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

I first met Win in 1936 when I was living at 103 Sewardstone Road, Chingford, she was about 19 years old and I was 16 or 17.Our paths first crossed at the Sewardstone Village Mission Hall. It was either a Wednesday evening meeting or a Sunday meeting, we both used to go to the same ones.  (Whether that was by accident or design was not made clear). Win used to go with her sister Lillian  and some other girlfriends and I went with friends of my own, in those days it was not acceptable to be alone with a member of the opposite sex. I was already working for Sopers farm (Low Hall Farm) seven days a week, and that didn’t leave much time for a social life. At the time Win was living at Queens Grove Road, Chingford and later moved to Pretoria Crescent, Chingford. We used to go cycling a lot, we went everywhere on bikes, it was easy, there was no traffic about in those days and cycling was not only a cheap method of transport but also every youngsters favourite pastime.

At the time Win was working at Woodford as a nanny, she used to cycle to work everyday seven days a week. At, or just after the time we met, her employers who were very wealthy people, moved to Thorpe Bay near Southend. Win went with them for a time as a "live in" Nanny but the child's mother died and the father took over raising the child with the assistance of a relative. Win soon found a new employer, again in Woodford and things settled down. She was taken on holiday with the children on several occasions, again as a ‘live in" nanny and she stayed with this employer until they moved out of the area. Win finally gave up working as a nanny about 1938/9, it would have been about twelve months prior to our marriage.  She then worked as a Housekeeper for an old Lady in Beresford road Chingford (near the station) until we were married. To my almost certain knowledge these were the only occupations she ever had. I often remember Win going down to the station in the late afternoon/early evening to meet her Father John Benjamin. He used to work in Stoke Newington in a paper processing plant, he had something to do with the watermarking of Banknotes and it eventually costs him his life. He died of lead poisoning and it was classed as a "work based" injury.

Win and I were married in 1940, by that time I had already joined the Co-op (Enfield Highway Cooperative Society) and was reasonably confident of a secure future. The Co-op promised me, that in the event of my being called up, I would have a job to go back to when the war was over and although it was an easy promise to make under the circumstances it was kept.

Win’s father, John Benjamin was not over keen on us getting married but did not put up stern resistance. Once we were married Win moved in with us (Sarah Ethel, Raymond Leslie and myself) at 15 Ruthven Avenue Waltham Cross, (Hertfordshire),  Audrey Ann was Born January 6th 1941 and in February I was called up to the R.A.F.. The rest, as they say, is history.