REQUEST
We have lost a photo album that was at one time in George & Queenie's possession.   It is full of photographs taken at their 50th Wedding Anniversary.   If you know of its whereabouts, please please contact us as we would dearly love to have copies of those family photos.   Thank you.


The following is taken from Donald Lea's collection of Lea family information, written in the early 1990s.   In Chapter 15 he writes about his mother Queenie Lea nee Glass.   More of the book and thus family can be found by following the 'Lea Family' link at the bottom of this page.

"Queenie May Glass, daughter of Albert and Daisy Glass, was born at 1 Church Street, Old Town, Swindon on the 22 June 1911.   Her father died during the 1914 - 1918 war and her mother remarried, to her husband’s brother Ernest.   They had three children, Ernie, Joan and Ivy.

Queenie and George were married at the Registry Office in Swindon on the 24th of October 1931 in the presence of Fanny Lea and Arthur William Lea.

Their first home was at the old toll house in Shrivenham Road, Swindon, although the address on the marriage certificate reads Oxford Road, Stratton St. Margaret.   The toll house was more commonly known as the 'Pike House' and was pulled down many years ago for road widening purposes.   Sadly no photographs have emerged of this fine old house that I understand had stood on its own in beautiful countryside since 1830 until it eventually found itself surrounded by redevelopment that made its own position rather precarious.   The only illustration of the Pike House is in the form of an old painting.   The first child of George and Queenie was Anthony George who was born at the Pike House and I myself was conceived at this house before they moved to 107 Bright Street, Gorse Hill some two miles away.

Following Anthony George the next born was myself, Donald Edward and then my brothers and sisters, Dennis Percival, Vera Joan, Brian, Margaret Ann, David Richard, Valerie Jean, Dianne, Barbara Joyce and Linda Doreen, eleven children in all.   Everyone being born in the two bedroom terraced house that sadly has also fallen foul to redevelopment.

All of the children of Queenie and George are still living in and around the Swindon area with the exception of two daughters.   Dianne and Barbara, who for many years have lived in Sydney, Australia.   Their return every few years is reason enough for many family get-togethers and outings.   Not that this family needs any excuse for a party!   It has been an ongoing event for many years to go on a double-decker bus outing to the seaside each summer, a Christmas party with a band or disco to help the one hundred or more family and friends enjoy their evening.

Weddings are also fairly frequent as each generation grows up and are cause of more family meetings, which everyone looks forward to eagerly.

At the centre of this family is my mother, Queenie, she is now eighty one years old.   She has eleven children, thirty nine grandchildren and twenty eight great grandchildren to date.   And this does not include the in-laws.   One amazing thing about Queenie is that every child and member of the family receives a birthday card from her every year and has done for many years past.   The latest marriage planned is that of my own daughter Tracey Anne-Marie to Neil Donald Loader, giving Queenie one more name to add to her birthday list.

I collected my mother from her home in Cricklade Road at 11 am on boxing day 1992 to take her to my own home in Toothill where we were to spend the day together with my family.   Thinking that a short ride around the town may be a change for her I made no effort to hurry from home to home.   I drove the car into Church Road where my mother was born, and asked if she could remember the stone cottage in which her Auntie Rose lived.

“Oh Yes” she replied.   “It stood at the end of the road on that piece of wasteland pointing to the corner of Church Road and Little London.   I turned the car around and into the narrow road that would take us down the hill to Cricklade Street, but half way down my mother stated that my father and Bill Gladwin, his half brother, had built the wall along side the cottage.

“Is that how you met?” I asked.

“Well yes and no, I would sometimes see him when I was playing ball with my friends at weekends and evenings, he only lived in that house there.” She pointed to the rear of the house in front of us.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.   “Do you mean to say that dad lived in that house there with granny and grampy Lea?”

“Yes, and Bill lived with them as well.”

Of all the conversations I have had with various members of the family, no one has ever mentioned that my father lived at Cricklade Street, Old Town.   I was very surprised, to say the least, but sensing that I was close to finding out how their lives became entwined I pursued with the questioning.

“Well how did you start going out together?” I asked and in the next few moments all was revealed.

“The first job I had was working for a Mr Brown at 69 Croft Road as a maid and one day when I was busy in the front bedroom I happened to look out of the window and saw your father working on a house that was being built across the road.   He waved his trowel at me and I waved my brush at him.   He later offered to take me to work each day on the back of his motorcycle and that was the beginning of our going out together.   We were courting for four years before we were married.”   "