Great Aunt Cicely - Cicely Evelyn Fordham

Great Aunt Cicely was the only member of my grandparents generation that i can actually say i knew well.  At first I contacted her to learn about my grandfather Felix and his family and over the subsequent years developed a close affection and relationship with her.

Cicely Evelyn Fordham was born on 16th July 1907 first child of George Edward and Edith Fordham (nee Woodcock).  Cicely was born in Royston where her father worked as a cashier in a local brewery.

A bright and intelligent young woman Cicely was well educated at the local convent school, becoming fluent in french.  She was very close to many of the nun's and when she left the Convent school she was presented by Mother Adeline with a large etching of the Heart of the Sacred Heart.

Cicely is pictured left on horseback in Thorney outside of Goodwin's yard.   Significantly however the horse is being held by Leonard Belden with whom Aunt Maud had an affair and had to leave England for Canada to have the child.

Her working life saw her working in an office during which time she learnt pitman's shorthand and was a good touch typist.

At some point in her life Cicely had a breakdown.  It is difficult to pin-point the timing or cause but the result was she ended up in a hospital.  A subsequent fall in this hospital caused further damage (she apparently hit her head on the end of the iron bed) and triggered what was to become recurrent suffering from epilepsy.  Some members of the family have attributed the breakdown to a relationship with a young man that caused her considerable distress, others have suggested that her father forcibly broke off the same relationship - the only thing that is clear is that it will prove impossible to resolve without a new discovery or source!

Cicely had a very strong faith from her conversion as a young woman and this stayed with her throughout her life, and if anything intensified over the years.

In 1970 with the death of her Father Cicely was left without a permanent home (Gloucester Road had been rented) and so Cicely moved to Maryland Convent of Our Lady of Mercy, Townsend Drive, St Albans.  Cicely's brother Alan knew the convent from his work with the Catholic Church and visiting St Albans frequently to visit his wife's family and was able to make the arrangements for Cicely to move.

The move proved to be permanent for Cicely.  When she arrived in 1970 the Convent very much operated a home for elderly catholic ladies but by the time she was into her mid 80's it had become a catholic nursing home.

Cicely kept something of a diary and in one of her notebooks she recorded all the resident there from when she arrived and gradually one-by-one struck them off as they died and she outlived them all.

There were many happy times however.  Cicely became close friends with Sister Mary Edith Hughes and they shared many hours and days together.  Sister Mary Edith had been a leading teacher in the local catholic schools and also Mother Superior of the Convent.