The Harwards stayed on 40 Tillingham Street after George and Eliza Mead had passed away. Bertha Harward (nee Mead) died in 1943, Horace Frank Harward in 1963.
Their daughter, Dorothy Harward, was born in 1922 and looked after Frank until his death. She then seems to have just decided to abandon the house, leaving all the family possessions in situ.
The house was then empty until 1968 when a tenant took it on an emergency basis. I have met her. In her diary, she describes how the house was in 1968 - amazing for me to have a copy of all of this. When she had to vacate at the time of demolition she took three albums of family postcards with her and some photographs - she has now passed these onto me, having spent nearly 50 years trying to locate a member of the family to return them to. The postcards give an amazing insight into the life of an ordinary working class Birmingham family in the years leading up to the first World War. This has special relevance for me as George Mead was a German immigrant from Hannover and Eliza was also German, having acquired German nationality from her father John Fischer who was from Baden-Baden.
I am captivated by the history of Tillingham Street and the lives of the people who lived there. I live in hope that, someday, I will find photos of George and Eliza.
Best wishes to all
Alexander