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The Teal Pages

Page 1: Cook / Unwin

CLICK FOR Page 2. Naylor / Ball
CLICK FOR Page 3. The Haywoods

A photograph from our gallery specific to the families featured in this section will display randomly here each time you come to this page

Commemorative plaque to Jospeh Naylor
Commemorative plaque to Jospeh Naylor

MATERNAL INFLUENCES
 

It is with great delight that I am creating another colour supplement. In part this is an administrative move as the main (red) section was getting very full and increasingly difficult to navigate around. It is also however the new area for stories, recollections and memorabilia about the maternal side of my family.

First and foremost are the pages relating to my grandfather, George Cook. He was a very keen Savoyard and I have been able to use several of his photographs to illustrate a series of reviews that I wrote a couple of years ago about the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Aspects of his story appear on several pages in this section and these have now been brought together in a single article.

My grandmother, Miriam Naylor, came from a large family of coalminers - she had seven older brothers!. It has taken some time to tease out the branches that originated in the villages near Alfreton in Derbyshire. Their stories have now been collected together in a series of articles which can be found on PAGE 2 of this section. Research into the other South Normanton families which have intermarried with the Naylors now appears on PAGE 3

GEORGE COOK AND THE GILBERT AND SULLIVAN LEGACY
 

"I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, of pre-Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell you that I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmal primordial atomic globule. Consequently, my family pride is something inconceivable." Boo-Bah; from The Mikado.


  George Cook as Nanki-Poo

I have already written about my grandfather, George Cook (1883 – 1968) in another article on these pages. He was a leading light in the local amateur dramatic society in Leicester in the 1920s and early 30s. I am told that he had a fine tenor voice and was on the edge of pursuing a professional career. I have photographs of him in costume from a number of staged productions. In more recent times other family members have developed a similar keen interest in Gilbert and Sullivan.

He also produced and annotated a photographic record of his fellow actors in several of the Leicester Amateurs productions at the Royal Opera House, Leicester. Many of his pictures have been reproduced here on the following pages:


"HMS PINAFORE" - 1922 by GEORGE COOK
"TRIAL BY JURY" - 1922 by GEORGE COOK
"G&S MISCELLANY" by GEORGE COOK
HMS PINAFORE / TRIAL BY JURY PROGRAMME

A couple of years ago I wrote a series of reviews that were posted on two web-based consumer opinion sites. I am currently updating these articles and illustrating them with some of these old photographs. I am dedicating this section to his memory and I hope to have this complete by the time of his birthdate in January next year.

With the addition of "The Grand Duke" the series is complete. All that is left to add is the illustrated review of the D'Oyly Carte performance of "Orpheus in the Underworld".

Newfloridian - Last modified: April 25th 2008

   

THE NAYLOR FAMILY REUNION 2007
(Added May 23rd 2007)

Members representing five of the descendent lines from the South Normanton family of John and Ann Naylor met last week to compare notes and photographs and for two days of chat and research at a hotel in Derbyshire. A report and pictorial record can be found at:

THE TEAL PAGES: Page 6

FEATURE ARTICLES
 

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD FROM BARTON TO BARTON "A good holiday beats a good husband any day!!"

A COOK'S TOUR AROUND MY FAMILY “Grandma Cook took in the baby and was paid to look after her ... "

TOO MANY COOKS .... SPOIL THE BRATS? “Grandpa Walter walked all the way to Leicester from London, you know!” ...

"A WAND'RING MINSTREL I!" Married life appears to have been happy and suited George until tragedy struck in 1916 ...

QUITE A CHARACTER WAS MY DAD "He was a bit of a rover in his younger days and worked in many places... "

'THE MIKADO' 1904 "I like to think that it was the spur that led him into performance himself... "

'HMS PINAFORE' 1922 " A programme for the performances by the Leicester Amateurs at the Royal Opera House"


MEET THE EDITOR
 

  Eva Unwin, Associate Editor
I am delighted to welcome 'Auntie Eva' to this page. In reality we are first cousins (once removed) but old habits - and family titles - are hard to break. Eva now lives in 'retirement' in Humberside although she will be the first to admit that she looks forward to her day trips and relishes her lunches out! She is our remaining link back to our Victorian roots in the Leicester area and with her new article about her father and her portrait gallery this circle is just about complete.

We have continued to gather details of the descendents of Walter Cook from Grandborough and his wife Elizabeth Burditt. These add the Unwin and Putterill families to our genealogical wood with flavours of rural Leicestershire and urban Lancashire.

In preparation is another insightful article of memories and reminiscences of Eva's own aunts and uncles. This will be added shortly

In the mean time, thank you for reading. Enjoy!!

WHAT'S ON THE OTHER PAGES
 
-- PAGE 2: THE NAYLORS OF SOUTH NORMANTON --
-- PAGE 3: THE HAYWOODS AND OTHERS --

My maternal grandmother's family, the Naylors, came from the villages and coal fields near Alfreton in Derbyshire. They were intertwined by marriage with the Haywoods, the Ball family and the Marriotts amongst others.

-- PAGE 4: AN APPRECIATION OF GILBERT AND SULLIVAN
(in 14 parts) --


A series of articles written for a consumer opinion web site a couple of years ago which have been embellished and illuminated with George Cook's photographs.

-- PAGE 5: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (TEAL PAGES) --

-- PAGE 6: MEETINGS AND REUNIONS --

There have now been two successful reunions of members of the various branches of the Naylor family. A computer crash erased the photographic record of the first meeting in October 2006. You can read about the 2007 meet here.

PLEASE CONTACT US
 

If you have any questions or comments about the information on this site, please contact us at alancrax@aol.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

© The Craxford Family Genealogy Magazine and individual copyright holders. Edited and maintained by Alan D. Craxford 2005 - 8. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.
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