The Cordwainer's Daughter
- Maid of Kent
'Ethel Pocock, ‘Maid of Kent’, grew up wanting a career and her own family but Fate got in the way. It took almost four decades, numerous personal setbacks and ‘The War to End All Wars’ before she finally achieved her dreams.
This is her story . . . . . .
Ethel Pocock, my maternal grandmother, was a diminutive powerhouse of a woman, born in England to a Kentish cordwainer (bespoke shoemaker) in the middle of Queen Victoria’s reign, when women were not permitted to amount to much, no matter how talented they were. Growing up in a close-knit family with seven other siblings, her dream was to build a career as a buyer in the clothing industry and to one day have her own family. Fate had other ideas, however, and placed many obstacles in her way.
Ethel's parents were influential in the local political arena and were ardent members of the Liberal party. They were also accustomed to being around several famous people of the day, with friends including writer Charles Dickens and politician Lloyd George, As a result, Ethel came to understand the secret of success at an early age.
Losing her closest sister from consumption at the age of fourteen had a deep impact on Ethel, strengthening her determination in reaching her goals in life, though it took almost four decades and WW1 for her to finally succeed. With the aid of tape recordings I made in 1965 of my grandmother reminiscing, hundreds of letters and photographs I have kept since I was a boy, coupled with extensive research carried out by myself and three willing researchers who live in the region where my grandmother grew up, I have been able to piece together Ethel’s story – much of it written in her own words.
The Cordwainer's Daughter can be purchased from Amazon and other on-line book stores in most countries, either in paperback or hardback. Due to the fact that the book contains more than 100 photographs and images, it was not possible to create a Kindle eBook version. I tried but the output was clumsy and difficult to navigate.
With regards the matter of pricing, as per my reply in the News section, this can vary depending upon where you live and which Amazon website you use to search for the book. In summary:
As a rough guide, in the UK the paperback version (including postage if purchased through Amazon) is £10 and £19 for the hardback. In the US this represents US$14 and US$26 and in Australia, AU$19.00 and AU$37. Postage if you buy the book from other sites does vary and can sometimes be at no cost, so it pays to look at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.au before you make a purchase.
The Cordwainer's Daughter contains a large amount of factual details of people and life in Kent and Berkshire during the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, much of it being of interest to historians and researchers alike. To give a glimpse of what the book contains, I have listed below a summary page listing a number of topics and people, along with the relevant pages in the book as well as a map of the River Medway and two sample pages.
