september 19th 1904 unknown to gladys gertrude pilling

liverpool, lancashire to southport, lancashire

16.57 miles

the message

“Dear Gladys

Here for the day, with love

???”

the sender

The signature of the sender looks like E Grace but that does not match anyone in the wider family.

the recipient

Gladys Gertrude Pilling (1890-1974) was the daughter of Benjamin Pilling (1860-1917) and Elizabeth Alice Ashworth (1864-1935). In 1911 Benjamin was a cotton weaver in Oswaldtwistle but in 1901 he kept a restaurant in King Street, Southport which was the address to which this card was sent. In 1891 he had a tripe and chip potato restaurant in North Meols, Southport.

Gladys was also working in the cotton industry in 1911 as a Beamer. In 1918, aged 28 Gladys married George Grimshaw (1890-1919). George was a clerk in an Income Tax department in Oswaldtwistle in 1911. George served in the army in WWI and died in 1919 a few days after his discharge. It is not clear if his death was due to the war. Gladys did not remarry and they had no children.

the tree

the places

Liverpool to Southport, Lancashire

Liverpool, Lancashire

Southport, Lancashire

what the card says to us

The picture shows the Livepool Landing Stage (https://rmstitanichotel.co.uk/blog/pier-head-liverpool-photo-story-120-years/). The card was sent from Liverpool.

The sender was probably from Southport as making a day trip to Liverpool would not have been uncommon.

Although the card itself is quite mundane, the story of Gladys Pilling is more interesting. The had a tragically short marriage and never remarried. When she was young her father kept restaurants but in his later years he had to return to cotton weaving. What went wrong?