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Mrs Meadows working her bobbins in the old-time occupation of pillow-lace making.
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In a quaint little cottage, roofed with thatch, in the quiet hamlet of Hinwick, two happy old folk are eking out the eventide of their life. They are Mr. and Mrs. Meadows, whose ages together reach the figure of 177, the old gentleman being 90, whilst Mrs. Meadows is three years his junior.
In spite of her age, Mrs. Meadows is still able to perform the domestic duties of her tiny household, and she attends with devoted and patient care to her husband, who is getting very feeble now, and has to keep in bed. Their home, which has been the home of Mr. Meadows all his life, and of his father before him, consists of two small rooms, and the communication between them is by a rather precipitous flight of stairs. The upstairs room has a low lean-to ceiling, and is lighted by a small window at one end. Downstairs wooden beams, black with age, stretch across the ceiling, and there is an old-fashioned open hearth.
Memories of The Past
When our representative visited the place during the week he was struck with the tidiness of everything—nothing seemed to be out of its place. The octogenarian lady showed a little modest reticence when first told the nature of our visit, but kindly gave all the information that was asked of her, and in a manner which showed her to possess a remarkable memory.
Mrs. Meadows was born at Colworth, Sharnbrook, being the daughter of a gardener. Before eleven years of age she entered service, and seven or eight years later was engaged at the Wheatsheaf, Hinwick. Whilst there she became acquainted with Mr. James Meadows, and shortly before reaching the age of 20 she was married to him, so that the aged couple have had over 67 years of married life. When they were married, Mr. Meadow’s parents left the house for them, and they have resided there ever since. Mr. Meadows has been employed on the land nearly all his life, many years working for Mr. Richard Orlebar and for Mr. Augustus Orlebar, with both of whom Mrs. Meadows has also been in service. They had four children, three daughters and a son. One of the daughters died young in life, and another has been dead twelve years, having then reached an age of over fifty years. The other daughter—Mrs. Dover—lives at Wollaston, whilst the son, who is on the railway, is at Belper.
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