Monday, December 15, 2008

Uncle John

I have written about my Uncle John before (see The Battle of Aisne And Data Security), but finding an old photograph of him I am drawn to return to the subject. This photograph must have been taken sometime in the 1920s (he was born in 1899) and it shows John Arthur Burnett (Uncle John) on the left and an unknown man on the right. I have tried selectively enlarging elements of the photograph to get clues as to the exact date or the location, but with no success
I guess it was taken in Bradford, for that is where John lived for almost all his life. I remember him well, a larger than life, solid Yorkshire man. He once took me to watch Bradford Park Avenue play Halifax Town and fed me with boiled sweets throughout the match. His life and mine - connected by our shared memories - span the centuries in a way that is almost beyond belief. He was born in the nineteenth century, fought in the First World War, drove ancient wagons during the 1920s, fed boiled sweets to his young nephew in the 1950s. And here he is - in the twenty first century - on the web. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

11 March 2024 : Paper Hanging

  Some people read the paper, some try and understand the meaning of life, George II and Elvis Presley both died there .... and photographer...