Photograph of Isabel Burgess in her garden in Tottenham, during the Dig for Victory campaign

Title

Photograph of Isabel Burgess in her garden in Tottenham, during the Dig for Victory campaign

Record type

Photographs

Original Reference

RHS/P/DFV/1/21/2

Author or creator

Archibald Aiken Burgess (photographer)

Date

c.1940

Scope & content

Black and white photograph of Isabel Burgess in her garden in Tottenham, during the Dig for Victory campaign. Dimensions of original photograph: 9.1 (h) x 6.4 (w) cm. Peter Burgess notes 'These photos were taken when my parents were a young married couple at the beginning of the war (and before 1942). My parents were married in 1937. At the time of his wedding dad lived at 20 Broadwater Road, Tottenham. I think he was lodging with his aunt. By the 1939 census he and Isabel were living at 3, Bolton Road, Edmonton, London. Some time after that they lived at 20 Ruskin Road Tottenham. That was during the blitz. I don’t have exact dates but mum kept a daily record of the air raids. Soon after that the family returned to Co Durham with my brother who was a babe in arms. Dad worked in the mines. If I had to give a place for the photos I would give the 20 Ruskin Road address.
They both worked on the garden for produce to make their wages go further. They both worked all of their lives and died just before retirement. We lived in a house with a garden in the early fifties. Dad was a miner at the time. He planted black currant bushes at the bottom of the garden. When summer came we would all pick the black currants and mum would make 52 pounds of black currant jam with a few extra jars to give to special friends. We would have bread and jam or toast and jam for breakfast. In the cold days of winter we would be greeted home from school with a hot drink made with boiling water and a spoon full of jam. Mum was conscious of the vitamin C.
My parents would have taken the photos themselves. Photos and films were quite precious and expensive so they would have dressed up for the event. The camera would have been a Kodak box camera. I remember seeing it when I was a lad.’

Extent

1 photograph

Is part of

Dig for Victory photography appeal

Repository

Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library

Copyright

Peter Burgess

Credit Line

Peter Burgess / RHS Lindley Collections

Usage terms

Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)