My Mum, Jessie Barclay Galloway, was born to Henrietta and William Galloway on 30th November 1919. The family lived at 10 Salisbury Street in Edinburgh’s Southside on the edge of Holyrood Park, in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat.
She likely attended Milton House Primary School on the Royal Mile (now Royal Mile Primary School) before going on to James Clark School, commonly known as “Jimmy’s” in the area.
After leaving school, she worked at Mackay’s Sweet Factory in Fountainbridge, and during the Second World War, she worked at Bertram’s St Katherine’s Engineering Works in Sciennes. Bertram’s was a manufacturer of paper-making machines, and as part of the war effort, they manufactured various parts for artillery guns, including “breech mechanisms”, which Jess worked on.
As a young woman, Mum had many interests and was a member of several groups and clubs. The “Pleasance Trust Mixed Club” was popular with the residents of the Southside and offered several activities for its members, including a theatre group that regularly put on shows. One such show, “On The Air,” a variety show and play, was performed in April 1947, and Jess took a leading role under her “stage name” of Jerry Galloway.
She was a keen tennis player, as was the organiser of the Mixed Club, Mrs Florence Ivory, who lived in Laverockdale House in the village of Colinton on the outskirts of the city. Laverockdale House had its own tennis courts, and she would often play there.
Mum married Reginald (Reg) Lines on the 25th February 1950. She met Dad through one of her friends, and their relationship started as pen pals. Dad was a deck hand with the Red Funnel Line Ferries on the crossing between Southampton and the Isle of White. Shortly after their marriage, they moved to Southampton to live with Dad’s family, but very soon, they returned to Scotland with Mum saying that “the weather did not agree with her”.
On their return, they stayed with my Gran at 10 Salisbury Street until shortly after the birth of my older sister, Sheonaid, when they moved into their first home at 8 Firrhill Loan, where they lived for ten years. During that time, I was born, and my sister, Diane, was born two years later. In the summer of 1963, the family moved to a larger home on Oxgangs Avenue. Dad passed away on 3rd January 1984, and Mum remained at the family home until 2013, when ill-health forced her into Morlich House Care Home, where she passed away on 9th July 2015.
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