27 Wood street a mid-terrace Victorian house in the heart of Ladywood close to the centre of Birmingham.
Home to the Harts, John Patrick, Muriel Nora, Patricia Sheila, Josephine Anne, John Thomas, Anthony Joseph, Christopher Leslie & Judith Marie.
The house comprised of a front room, living room, kitchen, outside brick-built lavatory, a small larder at the top of the stairs leading to a coal cellar, traditional cast iron range provided heat and limited cooking facilities together with a gas stove, the kitchen doubled up as a bathroom for Friday night ablutions in a tin bath.
Upstairs there were 3 bedrooms, therefore sharing was inevitable. With no inside bathroom, chamber pots were the order of the day.
There was also an Attic always used as storage until Josie started night shifts at Birmingham Accident Hospital when it was put into service as a “quiet bedroom” during the day, difficult for 6 & 7 year olds to be quiet for extended periods.
The heat was provided by coal fires in every room, lighting was gas until the mid-fifties when electricity was installed, our only source of media entertainment was a “Wireless”(radio) powered on a rechargeable battery called an accumulator taken to a local shop for recharging.
The area was self-contained with a Butcher a Baker not sure about Candlestick maker, but a Cobbler, Swimming Baths, Library, Doctors surgery, Midwife, District Nurse, Churches and Chapels of every denomination, Milk and Bread was delivered daily by horse-drawn cart. As Birmingham was famous worldwide for its engineering and manufacturing skills, there were many factories including J P Hart & Sons owned by Grandfather Hart and staffed by his sons. Schools serving the community were the Oratory RC which taught generations of Hart’s, and Osler Street, plus St. Barnabus which Mom and her siblings attended. The area was also home to the now world-famous “Children’s Hospital”
More importantly, a family support network who all lived within a five-minute walk, therefore there was an abundance of Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins for practical help and moral support.
With housing, shops, workplaces, and families in a compact area, mobility was a rare thing, the term “Social Mobility” was several decades away. Ladywood was and still is today one of the most deprived areas in the country, child mortality was high in the area.
Josie’s childhood was interrupted and influenced by ill health, having spent several periods in hospital, the second World War where she was twice evacuated to Measham in Leicestershire and Gloucestershire with elder sister Pat, accounts of these events are contradictory between Pat & Josie, however, it is safe to say, a pleasant experience it was not, particularly for Mom and Dad who missed them, eventually, Dad brought them home saying " if we go we will all go together". The war years will have been traumatic because Birmingham suffered heavy and extensive bombing with several houses close by receiving direct hits and because factories were the target a direct hit on Dockers paint factory was quite spectacular from the accounts of our parents.
In September 1935 aged 6 & 5 respectively Pat & Josie were presented with a Baby Brother, John Thomas who sadly died when aged 6 whilst convalescing in Leicester, Jose remembered it well, Johns Death devastated the whole family.
Josie survived the war years and poor health and left school aged 14 or 15, the norm in those days, with good qualifications and an offer of a place at Aston College, however, it was not to be, times were hard with money always in short supply, Mom & Dad were unable to support her, so she was expected to turn over her wages. This had a profound effect on Josie and was a cause of resentment throughout her life together with an abhorrence of poverty, which I am convinced was a driver to have a better life for her family, something she achieved in spades given the education and career paths of David & Mark.
Following jobs in offices and a spell nursery nursing, Josie finally secured a position to train as a nurse at Birmingham Accident Hospital. This transformed her life, having money of her own and opening a whole new world for her. Blessed with good looks an eye for fashion and dress sense, with great interpersonal skills together with the ability to communicate at all levels made her popular with colleagues and patients, Josie soon had a circle of friends many of whom came from more affluent backgrounds, in the 1940s / 50s there were very few doctors from working class backgrounds, therefore, her new found friends were a sophisticated bunch. Of course amongst the crowd were suitors, encouraged by Dad to bring her boyfriend’s home, being Josie's younger siblings we met most of them and on occasions, they would take us out, the outings were eagerly awaited and also meant Josie having a hand in our upbringing where we learned new social skills.
Amongst the boyfriends, Denis emerged as a regular who engaged well and was popular with the family, as young children we failed to see the implications of the relationship, until the fateful day. Family meeting/gathering were a regular event taking place in the kitchen whilst cooking, ironing and such tasks were in progress, it suddenly became clear Josie and Denis were to be married, I remember being upset at the thought of losing Josie and made my feeling clear, being older and wiser Josie was able to placate me with promises of visits and stayovers at their new house soon reassuring me that perhaps it would be okay after all.
What should have been joyous times with wedding plans was marred by an event that impacted on all our lives.
The Harts were Catholics, our Mother converted when she Married Dad, so we were a practicing Catholic family.
Dad worked for his father in the Rann Street factory along with his brothers, on telling his father the good news, the response was “is Denis a Catholic? When learning he was not, the next was “will he take instruction ?” which in effect meant will he convert? The reply will have been something along the lines of “that’s up to him”
Dad's response was due to his philosophy " one half of the world lives one way and wants the other half to live the same way" which was the cause of all conflicts and wars, therefore he would not impose his will on grown up children. Although not party to it I can only imagine heated conversations took place over several days.
When two strong willed individuals come to an impasse something must give, the inevitable outcome was Dad lost his job.
With six weeks to the wedding, a family feud was in full swing, grandchildren’s Sunday morning visits to affirm they had attended Mass and receive “pocket Money” were stopped, the families were never fully reconciled.
The Grownups all pulled together, the front room at Wood street was decorated and prepared, Wedding dresses, flowers, cake, and so on were all ordered. The ceremony took place in the Oratory Catholic Church on Saturday 28th March 1953, with a small reception at 27 Wood Street, I believe it all went well without a hitch, however, there must have been a cloud of recent events ever present.
Wedding photographs show a Handsome and Happy couple with a whole new life before them. Their first home together was being built and not due for completion for some time. An exceedingly kind offer from Aunty Lil and Uncle Len of a room at their home, eagerly accepted, their married life together began in Great Barr, forming a lifelong bond between the couples.
Josie and Dennis’s first house was a new build in Sutton Coldfield’s green belt area, surrounded by farms and green fields, what a contrast with Ladywood, indoor bathroom with hot water on tap together with inside Loos, it seemed like a whole new world to me.
Josie was as good as her word and once they were settled, saw me staying most weekends for the first couple of years, Josie continued her work at BAH until David was born on the 23rd of November 1955. David's birth sparked another worrying time for the family because he was born with a digestive problem which needed an operation to correct, this was just before Christmas 1955, I recall Dad attempting to manage Josie's expectations telling her David may not be home for Christmas, in the event the operation was successful so he celebrated at Christmas with the family.
David was still a baby when Josie returned to nursing on a part time basis at weekends with Dennis babysitting, this was no mean feat for a young mother to undertake Saturday Night shifts in Birmingham’s busiest casualty department.
Mark joined the Family on the 23rd of February 1959 and so began a new chapter as Josie and Dennis settled down to raise their family.
Josie achieved many "firsts" not just for the Harts but for the wider family, the first of her generation to Marry, buy their own house, and to give birth to the first grand and great-grandchild. In many respects, Josie paved the way for the family to see beyond our humble beginnings in the post war boom.
Josie and I had many conversations comparing our early lives whilst I was termed a "Victory Baby" being born in 1945 as the war came to an end, things were a little easier for most people, at times the period was sometimes called the "Post War Boom", I was clothed, never hungry and Loved.
On the other hand, Josie had to endure illness, evacuation, death of a younger brother, air raid shelters, bombing, and a degree of poverty and two things which were a recurring theme in our conversations was not to be to further her education and handing over her wages. Therefore I understand her desire to improve her lot.
Despite the traumas of her early life, Josie turned out to be an Icon within the wider family touching the lives of everyone with acts of kindness and counselling as indeed she did throughout her nursing vocation often going beyond the call of duty.
Josie, Rest in Peace, My Big Sister & Soul Mate.