Autobiography
I am the older one, by 15 minutes, of the identical FitzWalter twins, Anne and Christine. We arrived in Dundee from the Scottish Borders in 1946 and joined Downfield Primary School at Easter. We immediately disconcerted our teacher by getting out our knitting, fair isle pullovers, while the rest of the class struggled with dishcloths of 20 stitches in garter stitch. Somewhat precocious we had been taught at our Borders village school with the primary 5 class. Downfield relegated us back to our peer group in primary 3 and we suddenly discovered that we were not so clever after all with whole new subjects like geography and history to challenge us.
The latter was also to challenge Miss Stewart (Kipperfeet) at Morgan! What history we did not know, we invented! Another Miss Stewart is the teacher who made the most impression on me. She was Miss Constance Stewart at Downfield School. She comes to mind along with Mrs (Ma) MacDonald at Morgan as having had the most influence on my learning.
We reached Morgan and joined 1a girls in 1948. A hike to the terminus at Downfield, a tram to Dens Road/Dura Street and a bus to Morgan every school day for 6 years for me. We loved school so much that when we had that heavy snow in the winter of 48/49 we trudged the 4 miles or so to school, arriving second period, only to be greeted by Pa Brown in Geography scathingly remarking on our lateness!
After an excellent education at Morgan I went on to St Andrews University where I graduated with an MA Hons. in Political Economy and Geography in 1958. Awarded a Fulbright scholarship I then went on to the University of Maryland USA to study for a Ph.D. I had some wonderful experiences there. I used to research in the Library of Congress library in Washington DC 2 days a week and met Jack Kennedy when he was campaigning for the presidency. I have a signed photograph of me with Chief Justice Earl Warren who admimistered the Oath of Office at Kennedy's Inauguration, and chaired The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. I met him through Senator Fulbright who held a reception for international Fulbright scholars.
I travelled widely in the States for 3 months in the summer of 1959, east to west and back, through 29 states. I have since added two more, Texas and Oregon. I went up in to Canada and returned to the UK. from Montreal in the autumn of 1959 planning to finish my Ph.D, but instead, was offered and took up the post of Economist/Statistician with the International Wheat Council in London. A wonderful job which suited me completely as I could also use my languages. It was at the Intervarsity Club in London that I met my husband Dr John Golden, a London University graduate and government research scientist. We married in University Chapel, St Andrew's in 1961. A daughter and two sons followed, a Pharmacist, a Civil Engineer and a Chartered Surveyor. All married, they have given me 7 lovely grandchildren.
In 1968 John was promoted from ERDE (The Explosives Research and Development Establishment) in Waltham Abbey to head a research department at the RAE in Farnborough and so we moved in the May to Camberley in Surrey. Sadly he died 10 months later from cancer. Age 32 and with children aged 6, 4 and 3 years, who were now my priority, I went back to work lecturing in Economics. I still live in Camberley.
I was to spend the next 22 years at Farnborough College of Technology while I saw the children through their education. For the last 10 years I was Head of the Business department with 50 full time and 20 part time staff to manage. I sat on 2 BTEC Boards and also worked with the Institute of Bankers, writing their teacher notes for Monetary Economics and as Editor of the Association of Banking Teachers Bulletin. I also did revision courses in Monetary Economics for the banks and the building societies at weekends often working a 7 day week- all to help pay school fees for the boys who followed their father into public school. I don't know yet how I managed it all but we have all survived.
Once the children had fled the nest life began for me. I took early retirment in 1992 and have been having a great time since. I have travelled widely, two long visits to Australia, vists to America, Oregon and Texas, and in Europe. I know Paris like the back of my hand! I joined a walking club and enjoy walking, even up hills in Scotland. Christine's husband is a Munroist and they have pushed and hauled me up many a hill.
I have an interest in and have studied antiques over many years and also history to feed my addiction to family history research. I have the FitzWalters back to 500AD to King Fornjot of Knevland. I have written several family history 'books' for family consumption, had 12 articles published in various family history magazines and started up a Camberley U3A family history group. I do a lot of presentations for U3A and West Surrey Family History Society.
Thus I keep busy and, of course, there are the seven grandchildren. The 3 eldest are at University and they range in age down to an adorable 7 year old. This year I have been up to Inverness to see Christine and Ian twice (Christine and I are modestly proud of the fact that on a recent, 2008, trip to Rosemarkie, on the Black Isle, we won the glamorous granny contest at their summer fair - our pride is tempered by the fact that it was a cold miserable Scottish summer day, and no other grannies had ventured out!)
I've also made 6 trips this year to Cornwall where my son has a cottage at St Just, a few miles from Land's End. So you see alongside my 'international' interests I have covered Britain from John o' Groat's to Land's End. Besides Christine and Ian, Hawick, St Andrews and Dundee still draw me back to Scotland. I loved my days at the Morgan and have enjoyed the Reunions.
Camberley, December, 2010
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