Nothing But Bad Times: Chapter Eight, Part Two
The years after Michael's death passed quietly for Mary Ann and her family. This so, for her children however, the grieving for their “daddy” was long and painful, as one expects it would be so. Yet, with the outbreak of war in August 1914, the world suddenly became an uncertain place. For Mary Ann and her family, this meant nothing at all. They had spent most of their lives living in constant fear of what might happen next. It was an uncertain time for all. The nation rallied together in a united act of patriotism, to go out and fight for the freedom that the British held so dear, the freedom that defines them.
This burst of patriotism that engulfed the nation was felt very much so in 2 Nimmo's Row's. Mary Ann's first son, Francis (Frank), was now twenty five years old, and had joined the army previous to the outbreak of war. He was due to marry his girlfriend, Flora McLachlan, but the wedding was postponed until Frank got back from the war. He must have been one of those who thought it would be over by Christmas. Frank was sent to France in late 1914 with his regiment, the Royal Field Artillery.
Forward now, and with her eldest son away fighting in France, Mary Ann must have been worried sick, as Flora and Eliza must have been. He wrote home a few times, when he could, when the officers would allow it. He was not allowed to reveal his location or his experiences for security reasons. All Mary Ann knew, was that her son was fighting an enemy deadlier than anything the world had known before, in a foreign field of battle that was soon to transpire into the bloodiest conflict in British military history.
Whilst Frank was away, Mary Ann's worries trebled. Her son Patrick and her adopted nephew Peter were called up to fight for King and Country. They were so in July 1915, likely on the same day. Patrick was entered into the same regiment as his half brother Frank, and Peter was ordered into the Machine Gun Corps, later to be transferred to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Peter was nineteen years of age. Patrick was eighteen.
If we take a short break to look back here to look back, the Owens family by this point in time, had suffered immensely at the hands of fate and circumstance. Their journey across the sea had been in fact a dream shattered by heartbreak and death. Yet, as one does, one carries on, one keeps heart. The manifestation of this psychology in my great great grandmother is all too clear, but her biggest test was yet to come.
The focus of the story shifts here and a major event transpires. Suddenly on November 9 1915, Eliza collapsed after suffering from a brain haemorrhage in 2 Nimmo's Rows. Mary Ann's concerns were taken off her two sons and nephew, and she soon found herself looking after her ailing mother, whilst also bringing up her children. A very small relief was that Maggie, Bernard (Barney) and Nellie were at school, which gave Mary Ann some time at least to give her mother her sole attention. After all, she had brought her into the world.
Eliza had come an extremely long way since her marriage to Bernard way back in Ireland, 1858. Her struggle after his death, and her life defining wrangling's with the poor relief inspectors seems ironically, to have taught her how to survive. Also, her second marriage to Devaney had been cut short but his untimely death (like that of Bernard). If Devaney had not died in 1906, it is likely he would still have been alive come 1915. Nonetheless, Eliza is a pivotal character in the Owens story, and had an impact on many of her family's decisions and fortunes. Five days after her haemorrhage, Eliza died in her sleep. After seventy-five years of constantly struggling through life, Eliza was at peace. Her passing is, as I have touched on, a major turning point in the story. Head of a family for fifty years, she had given her place in its history. She won't be forgotten. We'll never know what she looked like, but you and I know more about her than some of her own children did. Mary Ann now found herself writing to France to tell Frank, Patrick and Peter the news about their granny. With a war raging and men dying every day, Mary Ann was right of course to be gravely worried, if not terrified, and she longed to see the day when she would receive a knock at the door and find that Frank, Patrick and Peter had come home. The Great War was now in its second year, and in late November 1916, a knock at the door came, at long last...
Copyright © Matthew Reay, 2008
