Recollections of Blaisdon Hall
Deane Jones RIP ???? - 2001
St. Joseph's Enfield 1937? - 1940
Preston, Lancashire 1940 - 1943
Blaisdon Hall 1943- 1945
18 May 2010, is the 9th Anniversary of Deane's death. May He Rest in Peace.
Sian, Deane's daughter has let me know that Deane spent time in the Cobblers Shop and in the Gardening section.
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We have another request for information of those who might have known Deane Jones, who sadly died in 2001. His Son, Michael, has had an exchange of Emails with me and is so anxious to discover more about his Father and time at Blaisdon and Enfield. It would be great if we could come up with the kind of help we were able to provide for Michelle Oatt and her family.
I will be able to add some background later, but if anyone knew Deane, or of him, it would be great to be able to fill in some of the background for Michael and his family. Here's hoping
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Well. once again an Old Boy has come up trumps for Michael and his family.
Norman Taylor knew Michael's Father well both at Enfield and at Blaisdon. Norman is planning to be at Blaisdon, so if you make it to our Reunion I am sure you will want to have a real chat with Norman.. Below is Norman's first shot in our search:
Hi John,
I remember Dean Jones from Enfield and Blaisdon. Dean arrived at St. Joseph's in either 1937/38. I became friends with Dean until he was transferred to Preston Lancashire in 1940. He was sent there with Lennie Thacker and another boy whose name escapes me.
When Dean and Lennie arrived at Blaisdon they had acquired a strong Lancashire accent and they sounded very strange to us Cockneys.
The Catholic Children's Society (Westminster) may be able to help his family with details of Dean's history before he came to St. Joseph's.
Norman Taylor 17 May 2010
(The CCS(W) makes a charge to carry out research for dependents of past pupils of Enfield and other houses. An application Form is available on request to the CCS(W))
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From Norman's information above, I will have been at Enfield at the same time as Dean and Lennie Thacker, and their names are familiar to me. However my memories of events at Enfield are really poor. I arrived at Blaisdon in 1946, so just missed Deane there. Do we know what trade Deane trained in whilst at Blaisdon? John Ward
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A message from New Zealand
Hi John.
I had never heard of that lad. The war was well under way when I was dumped in Helllfield.
Great that some history looks like being received by the family.
I wonder how many people are out there who have no idea of family history because of feckless parents in those distant days.
For so many of us the only family known is our old school chums'
Regards
Alastair
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For access to the Enfield photos, click here