Husband: Arthur FINDLAY [I263]
Born: 27 OCT 1909 | .jpg) |
Notes:
Uncle Fred Findlay Married Edith (extract from Louise Buffin's Diary)
Edith (b. 2 Jan, d. 8 Jun 1960), Fred (d 9 Jan 1957)
A note appears in diary (Arthur d. 24 Jun 1950) - maybe Arthur Findlay (#I263)'s father????
Arthur gave Chris Osborne a Bronze Medal from "XIV Olympiad London 1948", which came from Gymnastics. This is from Ken Buffin (see his page).
Fr: Ian G. Williams (by email)
Dt: Thursday, 17 January 2008 3:10 AM
Arthur and his brother Fred were apprenticed to their father as "french polishers". Unfortunately the old process of french polishing used highly volatile stains and polishes and like many people in the 1920s Arthur's father didn't have any form of insurance. The inevitable happened the business caught fire burning the rented buildings and clients furniture. Arthur's father went bankrupt.
Arthur decided to join the Army, his father said not to go into the infantry as he remembered the first world war and how the infantry had suffered losses in the trenches. So Arthur joined the Royal Artillery, which was horse drawn and learned to muck out and ride horses. As a young man in Hull he had been in and out of trouble (he was in the boys Brigade and won the Silver Bugle (an award given to the best bugler in the whole of Hull at a competition when all the boys brigades in Hull met for a day), he received the award in the morning but 2 hours later he decided to bugle the command for "officers to report" and followed it up with "at the double". He said the sight of the fat old men trying to run to him from all directions on the field still made him laugh. Needless to say the bugle was taken off him. His career in the army was the same he made corporal on a number of occasions only top be busted back to trooper. Then a sergeant had some serious words with him and according to Arthur "took him under his wing" the outcome was that by the end of the war Arthur was a Regimental Sergeant Major.
You may remember how small he was, when I was about 10 he took me to watch Cardiff play rugby. I still remember the first time he shouted encouragement, it wasn't the volume I remember mostly, it was the way three rows of chaps in front of us ducked and the looks on their faces when they turned around.
He was a very keen sportsman he played football for the works team in Cardiff until he was in his early 40s and played cricket for quite a few years after that. When I was at university I lived with Nan and Arthur during my last 2 years, we used to watch various TV quiz programmes he always said he could only answer sports questions. That was probably true but he got every sports question right.
[ed: In 1972] after Nan [Jessica Louisa Buffin (#208)] died (he had nursed her for some years) he thought to sell up and go and live on the Isle of Wight near my parents. But he then went to Zimbabwe and when he returned he was really worried as how he could explain to my mother that he had decided to go and live with your grandfather (my parents weren't too worried as long as he was happy). It was during the troubled times before independence and Arthur said to me Raymond has given my own gun which I practice with and I swim in the pool everyday, its just like being back in the army. Some years later I came to Bulawayo whilst on a business trip and spent the weekend at your grandfather's - Arthur said to me that he was so pleased he had made the decision to live with them, he really seemed so happy.
My only problem with Arthur was his wicked sense of humour and how he liked to tease Nan -
1. On one occasion she mistakenly sprayed her hair with flyspray instead of hair spray just as she was going out - she was quite upset and Arthur comforted her saying "no you can't smell it" (you could it stank) and finished with "well look at it this way Lou you're walking death to all flies"
2. But the worst was when all three of us were watching a TV programme of men catching 5foot long alligators in South America the commentator said it was important to try to identify the sex of the alligator before you grabbed it; as once the females were tuned on their backs they would lie still whilst the males would carry on fighting. At this point Arthur turned to Nan and said "Lou, in all these years I had never realised you've got alligator blood". 40 years ago those sort of subjects were not given the airing they are today, I knew I shouldn't laugh but...
Wife: Jessica (Jessy) Louisa (Louie) BUFFIN [I208]
Born: 01 JAN 1900 | %20Louisa%20(I208).jpg) |
Notes:
A very devout Christian. She was abandoned by husband and then divorced. For this reason she was not allowed to take communion and her son, Raymond (I51) gave up studying for the priesthood because of how she was outcast by the church.
[I237] Rita Williams (Letter, 23 May 1998):
"(Jessy) used to hire a chalet at the outdoor Lido (public swimming pool) at Cold Knap, Barry (http://www.barrywales.co.uk/showimage.asp?ID=692) and we had wonderful times there. She was a fun-loving, 'larger-than-life' person - jolly, blonde and fat and always laughing... (Her son, Charles Godfrey Williams (I94)) was born in Barry because (Jessy) came to Barry to be with (Gertie) her mother."