Rushden Research Group: Audrey Clark

Article by Kay Collins from conversations with David Clark, 2008

Charles Clark at Wellingtonia

John Clark, a currier’s labourer, and his wife Phoebe (nee Warren) married in 1860. They were living in Duck Street in 1861, and had moved to Higham Ferrers when their son Charles was born in 1869. He was their fourth child and third son. By 1880 they had added three more sons and three more daughters to their family and then returned to live in Rushden.

Charles Clark married Ellen Perkins (born 1869, daughter of Benjamin and Ann) on 29th May 1887 at Wellingborough Register Office, and they lived in Harborough Road. In 1901 they were living in Moor Road with their children Grace aged 11, Charles H aged 9, Tom L aged 5 and Sylvia N aged 1. A daughter Dorothy was born in 1903 and on January 1^st 1906 their son Bernard was born, followed in 1907 by John (known as Jack). By then Charles was a foreman shoe finisher. In 1926 he and Ellen went on trip to Paris.


Charles Clark	Trip to London 1926 - lady at front in large dark hat is Ellen

Their daughter Grace married Mr Webb in 1911 but, after just two years, he died. She was an accomplished needlewoman and did excellent smocking work. She met a Canadian, Ernie Knott, and when they married she moved to Toronto, Canada where she was invited to teach the local ladies her smocking craft. [Ellen Clark's sister Louisa (nee Perkins) married Ernest Brandon, in 1897, and they also emigrated to Toronto]

Charles Clark's Family c1921

In 1911 a house in Irchester Road on the corner with Glassbrook Road, called ‘Wellingtonia’, was built and occupied by Rev E E Bromage of the Mission Church, and by 1929 Charles had bought the house. When his son Charles H Clark married (to Kathleen whose father Charles Ette was a baker) he had a bungalow built for them, called 'Herradura' next door.

Another son, Bernard married Audrey Flanders. Audrey was born 10 Sep 1907 at Portsmouth, where her father was a chauffeur, and she had done a secretarial course after school. Following their marriage in 1930 they took out a mortgage to buy a bungalow at Newton Bromswold, where their son David was born. He was christened at the church on 9^th February 1932. In August that year Bernard’s mother died and the family asked him to return to his former home to look after his father.

Rushden Echo, 20th April 1923, transcribed by Kay Collins

HomingMr. Charles Clark, retiring from the presidency of the Wellingborough and District Homing Society at the annual meeting held at the Angel Hotel, Wellingborough, on Saturday, was elected a vice-president. He is president of the N.N.R.F.C. and of the Northants Federation. Mr. Clark offered a special prize of 10s. 6d. to each average winner, old and young birds. Specials were also offered by other members.


Wellingtonia - 1929 - note the little Monkey Puzzle Tree - in the late 1930's - the tree grew well -

Wellingtonia decorated for the 1937 Coronation

Decorated for the Coronation in 1937

So it was that David Clark grew up at ‘Wellingtonia’. His grandfather, Charles had built a pigeon loft and belonged to the Rushden Pigeon Club, and he taught David how to look after the pigeons. The club would meet at the Railway Hotel on race days and held an annual dinner at the Oakley Arms. Occasionally they would have a special day out to Newmarket. Audrey was sometimes asked to drive baskets of pigeons out in their Austin 12 to certain locations and set them free at a given time. Charles employed Charlie Newell to help look after the pigeons and together they would await the arrival of the pigeons to log their time and work out the speed. One day Audrey was fed up with this and set all the pigeons out together!

During the war some of the pigeons were a welcome addition to the meat ration and Audrey would preserve some of the eggs in isinglass.


Some of Charles' medals for pigeon racing


David & pigeon basket at a race meeting	David in front of the pigeon loft & with the car


1937 Carnival & Mr Catlow presents David with his prize

David went to Alfred Street School and was there on the day in October 1940 that a bomb was dropped and although he was not injured he lost a friend. Later he went to Bedford School and Audrey was “doing her bit” for the war effort with the Women’s Voluntary Service. She had been a billeting officer for the WVS and had some evacuees to stay at ‘Wellingtonia’, and from March 1944 to October 1944 she was a car pool driver in London. Following Bernard's death, at the end of 1944 she left ‘Wellingtonia’ and took David to stay with her sister Doris Bailey at Stanwick.