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Past and Present by Janet McNeilly © 2002 |
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22 March 2009 Emily Ormerod Emily was born on the 25th of March 1901 at 33 Larchfield Street, Darlington, the second of nine children born to Robert Scott Ormerod and Sarah Elizabeth Hopper.
As a young child she was given the nickname "Sparrow shanks" because of her thin legs and ankles. 1901 census shows - 33 Larchfield
Street, Darlington By 1913 her family had
moved to 19 Valley Street, Darlington. She married James McNeilly, ( more commonly known as Jimmy) third son of James McNeilly and Eleanor Glendenning, on the 29th of August 1925 at Greenbank Methodist Church, Darlington, despite the fact that James was Catholic.
Two different stories have been told by family members, regarding a visit to Emily by the local Catholic Priest. One version is that he was given `short shrift' and chased away when he tried converting Emily to Catholicism. The other version tells of her husband, Jimmy, physically assaulting the Priest, who was not aware of Jimmy's presence in the house, when he suggested to Emily that her children were illegitimate as they had not been baptised in a Catholic Church. Whichever version is true, the visit did not endear Emily to the Catholic Church and she continued to be a staunch believer in the Methodist movement. Emily and Jimmy moved into 20 Eskdale Street, Darlington, a house which had belonged to Emily's Grandfather, Moss, from around 1876 until his death in 1924. Their first child, a daughter, Elizabeth, was born in 1929 but was either stillborn or died shortly after birth. Their son, Peter, was born on the 19th of March 1933, followed by my father, Robert James on the 6th of November 1937. Robert James
McNeilly
Emily and Jimmy in 1963
with Granddaughter, Janet.
Emily was widowed in 1965, at the age of 64. Many men were said to have shown an interest in her over the following years but Emily always maintained that no one could take the place of `her Jimmy'. She continued to live at 20 Eskdale Street until sometime in the early 1980's, when the house became too much for her and she moved into sheltered accommodation in Swan Street, Darlington. She was very upset at the move, having to leave the house which held so many memories of not only her life with Jimmy but also the memories of her Grandfather whom she had clearly been very fond of. She eventually settled
in her new home but began to be less active, often dozing where she sat, losing
track of time.
In early 1987 with Great Grand daughter Emma Emily died on the 10th of November 1989, aged 88 years as the result of `carmonia lung and left ventricular failure' at the Memorial Hospital, Darlington. Her son, Robert was with her when she died. Emily was buried at the West Cemetery, Darlington in the same grave as ` her Jimmy' (grave number W - 8F - 367) on November 15th 1989.
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