Work all day. Went to Lady Mackintosh funeral service at St P in aft. Had lunch hour late! Choir requested to be there – 14 of us. Roy rang in am – spoke to E – told her he’d come Christmas Eve & stay over New Year. Very depressed about this in evening. 1L.
Notes
Mum Worked for Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens
During this period, mum worked as part-time medical secretary for the private practice of two surgeons, Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens, see Chapter 121. This practice was based at 41 Newmarket Road. She worked all day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and half day on Fridays. As it was Wednesday, she was at work all day. She had a late lunch so that she could attend a funeral service in the afternoon.
Lady Mackintosh’s Funeral
In the afternoon (aft), mum went to Lady Mackintosh’s funeral. This was held at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. Harold Mackintosh was well-known to be a devout Methodist and supporter of the Sunday School movement. I am not sure if Lady Mackintosh had a specific connection to St Peter’s in general, or the church choir, in particular. However, the choir had requested to attend the funeral and 14 of them were there. In addition, a news article about her funeral noted that she had loved music.
Constance Emily Mackintosh née Stoneham
Constance Emily Stoneham was born on 11 June 1891 in Fulham. Her father, Edgar Stoneham, was Chief Bookkeeper of the Board of Trade. She worked as a clerk at the Bank of England. In 1916, she married Harold Vincent Mackintosh. She died on 11 December 1975.
Dad and Christmas
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew, see Chapter 114. He phoned in the morning (am) and spoke to my young sister Liz (E for Elizabeth), who would have been ten at this time, and told her that he would be coming on Christmas Eve and would stay over until New Year.
Mum was clearly not happy about this call. Partly, she might have had reservations about dad coming, although it was his usual practice to spend Christmas with us even after they had split up. I am sure she would not have been happy to have had the message communicated to her through Liz!
Depressed
During this period, mum had had severe struggles with her mental health, suffering with depression and anxiety, see Chapter 116. While she did not always identify a reason for feeling depressed, she did on this occasion, namely the call that dad had made telling Liz that he would be with us from Christmas Eve into the New Year.
Mum was on antidepressants. On this occasion, she took one tablet of long-acting amitryptilline (Lentizol, L).
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