My Mother's Leather Box

This small, round leather-covered box is another item which lives in the brown suitcase. It contains....

....a miscellaneous collection of objects some of which were my mother's along with others which are more recent.

The pieces of red coral at left come from one of our holidays on the beaches of Tanzania, while the red and brown beans are also East African but once formed part of a necklace. The red beans were known as 'lucky beans' but not so if eaten - they are poisonous.

My mother was an active member of both the Mother's Union and YWCA in East Africa. She was, at different times, secretary and chairman of the 'Y' in Mombasa and worked hard to see the 'new' hostel built in Cliff Avenue. Lastly, the badge with the pale blue on it is from Sale High School, Manchester, my mother's secondary school.

The photos in the small locket are, I think, of Helen's grandmother, Helen (nee Galbraith) and grandfather, Alexander Wilson, 'The Colonel'. The Colonel and his wife lived in Bannockburn House, where my mother's family used to stay when they were 'home' from Burma and, later, when they lived in Sale. The Colonel was largely responsible for the failure of the family business, William Wilsons & Sons, which specialised in making tartans.