John’s maternal family tree - narrative

John Reginald McCarthy OBE -

From Alan Potts, nephew of Dorothy and Reg, via e-mail 20th September 2022:

When I was born we lived in Hotspur Street and Aunty Dorothy and Uncle Reg lived on the corner of Stanwick Street and Hotspur Street so I saw a great deal of them.

Uncle Reg was a bit of a character and a rogue but he was a fantastic uncle to me. He had been a captain but was forced to stop because of drinking. I'm sure this would know be understood as Post Traumatic Shock. During the war he was on convoys and was torpedoed and sunk on more than one occasion. The rule for the other ships was to continue so you were on your own. On one occasion he got other crew members into a lifeboat and took charge during the time they were adrift. He was credited with saving their lives and was awarded the OBE. I'm fairly sure this is documented in a book as I remember an author presenting him with a book.
During his time at sea he apparently did a bit of custom's avoidance using the expression "over the dock wall" and I remember hearing that they had to leave Glasgow in a hurry!
They moved to London sometime in the early 50's and bought a large house in Cambridge Park Road Wanstead. It had a big garden stables and a coach house. This they made into Melrose Guest House. I visited many times at first with my parents and at the age of 8 I was put into the Flying Scotsman and told Uncle Reg would meet me at King's Cross.

John Reginald McCarthy OBE -

From Alan Potts, nephew of Dorothy and Reg, via e-mail 2 Dec 2022:

After a night out Uncle Reg put the chip pan on and fell asleep resulting in a fire. The house and road had a compulsory purchase order so insurance would not pay for repair. Uncle Reg went to live with a friend and Aunty Dorothy was placed in a bedsit in Wanstead. It was a miserable room but eventually she was found an apartment in Romford where she ended her days. I visited her a few times and she seemed happy. Young Reg looked after the family silver and probably anything else of value.

John Reginald McCarthy OBE -

From Alan Potts, nephew of Dorothy and Reg, from an e-mail on 27th December 2022:

You ask when the fire was. I can only say roughly that it was probably around 1975. Cambridge Park Road was due for demolition to put in a new road. You will see it no longer exists. If you want to research it l know it was in the local papers with a headline something like War Hero Saves Wife From Blaze. This really annoyed Dorothy as it was his drunken behaviour which caused the blaze. Their son young Reg had given up the sea several years earlier and was living in Loughton. As far as I know his major role was to remove anything of value for safe keeping! According to Dorothy she saw little of him and he was of no help. I know there had been a family rift years earlier but I remember seeing them together which usually resulted in arguments. She suffered from anaemia and ended up in hospital a few times. I would visit her but she never mentioned Reg coming to see her. When she died she was the last of her generation having outlived my dad by about 10 years
I was very fond of Uncle Reg and he spent a lot of time with me taking me on cruises on the Thames and the Medway and a day trip to Boulogne from Southend pier. We also visited the Cutty Sark where he knew the captain so I can boast of having coffee with the captain of the Cutty Sark! Whatever his faults he was a great uncle to me.