It might seem strange that someone that was born in England is writing to you but the fact is both my parents were born and reared in Belfast and my mother was from North Thomas Street in Sailortown. My mother was Margaret ( Peggy) Stevenson who was born and lived at 19 North Thomas Street.

Her mother was Cassy and father Joseph Stevenson. My mother was born in 1920 and was one of ten children eight of whom, all girls, survived. There was in ascending order of age, Lilly, Sarah, Kathleen, Peggy (my mother) Eileen, Alice, Maudy and May.

At the time of writing the surviving girls are Sarah (90's) Alice and May ( in 80's). Sarah and May live on the outskirts of Belfast,  Alice in England. My grandfather Joseph was initially a seaman and when I first knew him, he worked at Harland and Wolf. Cassy died in her 70's (1966) and Joseph was 96yrs old when he died.

My recollections of my Granny was as a big, always jolly woman who was generous and always had a little song she would sing but to words she invented herself.

I remember my first visit to my Granny's house from England. I was about five years old (1951) and being told that she had put a cot up for the 'bairn'. Needless to say I slept in it in one of the two small bedrooms and it wasn't long before the bottom of the cot fell out.

The everlasting memories, after many visits, are of the scullery with my Granny frying up and insisting that we had to have something to eat with a 'wee' cup of tea and of the outside toilet in the back yard. There was also the smells of the bakery and Gallaghers.

When my Mother left school she went to work in Gallaghers. She left there in 1944 and moved to London to join Kathleen and Alice who had already moved there and whose husbands were in the Forces. She married my father Robert (Bobby) Watters in London in 1944 when he was on leave from the forces. He originated from North Belfast.

My Aunt Alice is enthralled with your web site. I have printed much of it off and she sits and pours over it reminiscing and mentioning that she remembers the streets a lot of the family names shown.

Well done, the site has filled and old lady with a lot of happy memories.

Regards

Chris Watters

Many Thanks Liam for kind thoughts and memory of the old district. Many years ago when I was a child my aunt and her husband (both deceased) used to share rooms in a house in North Thomas St. with a Kitty Murray I believe. In those days ,early 1950s, housing was scarce an it wasn't unheard of for people to share a house before getting  a place of their own. I must ask my mother for some more details

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