I’m currently carrying out research for and writing my book, Families.
The book will go into detail about the families associated with an Edwardian country residence overlooking Windermere in its Edwardian heyday – Holt, Brooks, Winterbottom and Chapman:
- Edward Holt was a wealthy Manchester industrialist
- His wife Elizabeth came from the Brooks chemist family of Manchester
- Joseph Holt and his cousins, Archibald and Rowland Brooks, were in the 6th Battalion Manchester Regiment during World War One
- Edith Winterbottom was between maid, having been selected from a Manchester orphanage
- Two of the Chapman brothers were gardeners, responsible for operating the coal-powered generator that provided electricity to the house from its completion in 1901.
Throughout 2022 I’ll be investigating the histories of the families, their similarities and differences, and how they each found their place within Edwardian society.
