Cornish lad Tom found work
in Redruth town at the inn as
an ostler like his horse loving
forefathers. They were drivers,
stable boys, ostlers, working
with horses, teaching their
sons their horse loving skills.
Young laundry maid Bessie at his
inn caught is eye, his fancy,
his love. Soon she was pregnant,
they wed. Later little Tom was
joined by a sister, and a brother.
Hard times came to Cornwall.
Unemployed Tom joined the
desperate ranks at the mine
head daily, grasping odd
days of work as two more
babies arrived. In despair
at the mines’ darkness, in
grief for his stable days
Tom wallowed in alcohol
blotting out his pain.
Hi sisters in New Zealand
married to farmers, set up
his family’s passage there.
But alcohol now gripped him
hard despite his new job in
the livery stables, caring
for horses. His drinking
continued, lost him his life.
His widow and children now
faced life in a new land without
him after two months in their
distant new homeland.
Previously posted September 2017.
I often wonder why men take to drink so quickly. People say to forget their troubles. Most women do not have the choice. They have to face life for themselves and their children.
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Very true. His wife aged 28 had to bring up five very young children on her laundrywoman’s income, and support herself in her old age. Both her sons died young, and her daughters married and had children of their own.
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Ooo, so sad. Sounds like my paternal grandfather. š š
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Yes. I researched our family history for a while and there are many such horror stories among the low income families.
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