WALKLEY, Margaret Elizabeth

1944 -  (81 years)

• Name	WALKLEY, Margaret Elizabeth
  Birth	10 Feb 1944	South Croydon, Surrey, England   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Person ID	I03927	Main Tree | Ward and Walkley, The Walkley Family
  Last Modified	1 Jul 2016

  
  

  Father	WALKLEY, Albert Edward,   b. 09 Jul 1885, Lambeth, London, Surrey, England d. 26 Feb 1960 (Age 74 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	ANDREWES, Alfrida Louise,   b. 15 Aug 1908, Kensington, London, England d. 13 Feb 1999 (Age 90 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	13 Mar 1937	Fulham, London
  Family ID	F01253	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Born: 10.2.1944 at South Croydon, Surrey, UK ? during an air raid! Margaret was known as Liz. She grew up with her parents and her siblings, Jill, Malcolm and Richard, in South Croydon, a suburban part of South East London. Her early childhood was influenced by her father, Albert Edward Walkley, who was greatly involved in Scouting: Liz became a Brownie, a Girl Guide, a Sea Ranger, and also a Brown Owl. Her mother being a keen tennis player introduced Liz to tennis. In her teens, she spent 2 summers in France with a French family, improving her French and making life-long friends. Liz attended The Old Palace Girls Grammar School, Croydon, completing her CGE ?O? Levels. It was at this time in 1960 that her father died. In 1961 she started work as a Junior Secretary in Pall Mall in London, and in 1966 secured a contract as an English/French Secretary working at the giant Nestle Company?s headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. At the end of 1968 Liz relocated back to the UK headquarters of Nestle in Croydon. Six months later she was seconded to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Lagos, Nigeria, during the time of the Biafran Crisis. On her return to Croydon when the war ended, adventure beckoned and Liz signed up for a £10 passage to emigrate to Australia. She had been aware that her father had corresponded with ?Aunty Minnie? [Minnie Hainsworth, wife of Frederick Percy Walkley] in New Zealand and was keen to discover if indeed she had New Zealand relatives. Australia and New Zealand looked close on the map, and £10 was a cheap fare to travel to the other side of the world. After 6 weeks on board Sitmar?s ?Fairstar?, Liz stepped ashore in Sydney in August 1970 and also landed a job as PA to the Managing Director of Nestlé Australia. 3 years later, together with her mother Freda who flew out from UK for a visit, Liz crossed the Tasman to New Zealand to be met by Stan Walkley at Christchurch, ?who looked just like my father?! Stan and Albert Edward were indeed 1st cousins and were very similar in stature and in looks. Liz worked in Auckland for a year, and was introduced to many New Zealand Walkleys, who remain firm friends. Nevertheless, she travelled back to UK in 1974 overland, on a bus from Katmandu to London, and took a job as PA to the chairman of the hire purchase company Mercantile Credit. She finished her career as administrative assistant to the UK head of the French Utility giant, Générale des Eaux. Liz has been a keen tennis player all her life, and has enjoyed badminton, swimming and skiing. She is Secretary of her local tennis Club in Bromley, Kent where she now lives, is a member of the National Trust, and belongs to various groups within U3A.

  
  

• Sources

  [S00446] Ancestry.com, England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005, (Name: Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008;). Online publication - Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.Original data - General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office, © Crown copyright. Published by permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Office for National Statistics. You must not copy on, transfer, or reproduce records without the prior permission of ONS. Indexes created by the General Register Office, in London, England..