The Autobiography of Edward Peckham

I do not remember any of my grandparents, but I do remember my step-grandfather George Washington Tremlett. More of him later.

None of my grandparents were born in the UK and my two grandfathers were dead before I was born. My maternal grandfather Paul Alexander Chetoulenko (possibly Chatoulenko) was born in Taganrog, Russia about 1880. He died in Vevey, Switzerland in 1917 of TB, having come to Switzerland to be treated for the disease. My mother Tatiana was born in Vevey in 1912 and she too had TB when she was very young. Her two sisters Sonia and Chouka were also born there. As far as I know, based on what my cousin, Sonia's daughter Tessa, and I have been able to discover, no photo exists of Paul.

My paternal grandfather Alfred Stroman Peckham was born in 1869 in either Niagra Falls Ontario or Niagra Falls New York and he died in 1942, I think, in Niagra Falls, Ontario. He and his father and some brothers worked on the Erie and Niagra Railroad. I know very little about him and my father never talked about him. I only found a picture of him when we were clearing out my mother's flat after her death. It is a typical staged 'family portrait' in their Sunday best and when I can locate it I will try and copy it.

So both my parents were born outside the UK. My mother married my father during the war and he was over here with the Canadian army. We were sent to Canada in about 1946 as part of the 'war bride' scheme and this is only time I met my paternal grandmother, Sarah Emma Peckham (born Guerin). I have a few photos of her with my Canadian cousins, but I don't remember her and again I will try to locate them and copy one or two. By all accounts she was a formidable woman with very strong views on subjects such as religion, the up-bringing of children and alcohol. She was against alcohol, whereas my father and his elder brother John (always known as Jack) both liked a drink. Their younger brother Guerin was like his mother and looked down on alcohol as the devil's work. I knew Jack and Guerin quite well and preferred Jack because he was more fun.

We were only in Canada for a little over a year and then we returned to England and my father never went back to live permanently in Canada after that. So the next time we visited Canada my grandmother was dead. I am still in contact with my cousins, but I have not been back to Canada for many years.

My maternal grandmother Blanche De Long was both in Philadelphia USA in 1886. She was a difficult woman and did not get on with any of her daughters and, I suspect, nor with her second husband George W Tremlett. They married, after the death of my maternal grandfather and lived in France. I believe George was born in France and certainly his parents lived in France and had a shop in Paris. After the second war Blanche lived in France, principally Nice, and George lived in England and ran a shop in London and the shop in Paris. Sonia had married a Welshman and settled in Enland whereas Chouka had married a Frenchman and they both stayed in France.

George was one of the nicest people you could meet. He had been in the First World War and was badly wounded and captured in 1917, but he never complained about his disability. I only knew when I was quite young and I remember he had an Irish terrier (I think) called Mick that had a very bad temper. He wouldn't attack you, but if you came too close he would bite you. Once when George was quite old and living in Eastbourne we went to see him and Mick cornered me in the toilet and wouldn't let me out. George told us that once Mick went out on his own and came back with a number of baloons in his mouth. He had obviously persuaded one of the seaside baloon sellers to part with some of his wares.

I will try and attach a photo I found which shows Blanche and George with my mother and father and my aunt Sonia and uncle Sandy. It must have been taken during the war, but I don't know where or when. My dad, obviously, is in uniform and George is the only one with a hit. He is holding an earlier Mick and my mother is standing behind Blanche. Sonia is looking an Mick and Sandy is standing behind my Mother. Finally, if you look closely at the photo, you will see that at least three of the people are holding cigarettes.