Classic pix: fifty+ years after

Sometime it feels right to share. Yesterday we were rummaging around some old family pictures and these gems emerged. Thanks to Matt for doing the scanning.

Click on any of the pictures to make them larger.

Adrian and Nigel Seel c.1956 at WSM

Here my brother Adrian and myself are exploring the delights of Weston-super-Mare. My Wawrinka-style shorts are a sartorial delight, but Adrian easily trumps them with his designer nappy.

Beryl Seel in her early teens

This picture of my mother was probably taken in the late-1930s at her home in William Street, St Pauls, Bristol.

A mysterious person known only as my sister

My glamorous sister, in her youth, had a penchant for pictures like this. Naturally, we keep them very private.

Shirley Porter, Beryl Seel, Nigel, Elaine, Adrian mid-1960s

Yes, kids, the swinging sixties had arrive and (apart from Shirley), the Seel family hadn't noticed!

Wendy and the infant Nigel at 41 Oakleaze, Longlevens, Gloucester 

My first cousin once removed, Wendy, aged 15 years. Your humble author looks three, which would place this picture in 1954-55.

Shirley Porter

My aunt, Shirley Porter, died in the early hours of this morning. I remember her as a very attractive and pleasant woman, married to my mother's brother Gordon who pre-deceased her by a number of years.

Shirley and Gordon Porter

Shirley Porter in the 1960s

Shirley with my mother, and (L to R) myself, Elaine and Adrian (early-sixties)

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Shirley Grace Porter (née Brown): b. 26th July 1935, d. 8th October 2014 aged 79.

Husband: Gordon Alexander Porter: b. 30th October 1925, d. April 30th 1990 (lung cancer) aged 65.

Update (Friday October 17th):

Clare and myself attended Shirley's funeral today at South Bristol Crematorium. There were 30 mourners, mostly her family. The presiding Minister noted that Shirley had trained as a shorthand typist and had worked at the firm John Hall & Sons in Bristol as a secretary and later PA. It was said that anyone she PAed for ended up as a Director, testifying to her competence and, I suppose, her shrewdness in choosing good bosses.

It was there that she met her husband-to-be Gordon Porter (my uncle) who was working as an electrician. They were married in March 1958.

Here are some pictures from today.

Our bouquet

The dedication

The author and his wife preparing to attend the funeral

Order of Service: cover - click to enlarge

Order of Service  - click to enlarge