My Paternal Grandparents

Charles and Millie Decent

Both of my grandparents have now died but I can just remember them.

They were both born in Brixham to sefaring families. Millie was one of 11 children and Charles one of 6. They married in 1915 and moved to Kent because of my grandfather's job during WW1. After the war they came back to Brixham for a while but then moved to Plymouth, I'd love to know why.

My paternal set both died before I reached the age of 7, and all I can recall of my grandfather is fear. This sounds bad but he never got on with my parents and there were arguments each time he visited. We used to have a real coal fire in the living room and I can remember clearly how upset my mother would get when granddad spat into the fire, usually missing. The other source of arguments was money. I have no recollection of why but I do remember finding a 10-shilling note in the rubbish bin and handing it to my mum. Because he was deaf he used to shout and that scared me too. My Nan died when I was still a toddler and I don't remember her at all although there is a photo of me with her.

click on photo to enlarge

Although there were so many siblings very little contact was kept, and by the time I arrived no one was in touch with anyone. Whether this was just the sign of a poor family relationship or something deeper rooted I have no idea. Everything I know about Dad's family comes from Mum, as he will not talk about his upbringing at all.

I can vaguely remember the house they lived in but only from the outside, and we also all went on holiday together to Cornwall but that is it.