Edwin Henry Meadows, Jeff and Roger’s dad, was born at Arden, Parkhurst Road, Bexley on 16 November 1906. He describes himself as ‘a very shy boy’ and ‘not a bright scholar’. He writes: “My first school was Upton College at Bexley Heath where I got the cane almost daily for my bad writing (I was left-handed and had much difficulty managing a spluttery pen in my right hand).” And later: “Dartford Grammer School meant cycling across Dartford Heath and to help me speed along I used to hang onto the backs of lorries which in those days seldom did more than 20 mph.” He speaks of ’several clashes with authority’ and it appears his father interceded more than once on his behalf finally removing him from Dartford Grammer over a perceived injustice. His education ended when the family moved to Beech in 1922.
Edwin Henry married Joan Audrey Powell, known as Peg, at St Lawrence Church in Alton on 25 March 1940. Edwin Henry’s own family knew him only as Whisk. He was an enthusiastic photographer and much of the material on this website comes from his notes. Whisk was a wireless technician in WW2. He and Peg kept an electrical shop in Alton from shortly after the war until his untimely death in a train accident in Portugal in 1979. Peg is still enjoying family life with her four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Edwin Henry (Whisk) with Joan Audrey Powell (Peg) in Bournemouth in 1938
Edwin Henry Meadows | Birth Certificate
