Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

This is the last month and conclusion of Rhoda’s Diary, wherein I elaborate more on the text. To check the rest of the diary entries, click here.

March 2, Friday

I have mentioned elsewhere that my mother was the ‘boss’, and was in charge of the family economy. But my father was still the patriarchal head of the family. So vital decisions such as his job, and where they should live, were left up to him. It seems that my mother was not involved in this decision.

“Post-war Britain”

During the post-war period, the idea was that education was the key to social mobility. My father had taken many ‘further education’ courses to improve his CV (see Volumes I and II of “No Woman, No Cry”). Since the First Industrial Revolution, people have moved from rural to urban areas. In the second half of the twentieth century, there was a tendency to ‘move South’ in the UK due to higher wages. But, of course, housing was more expensive in the South, so this was not an easy equation.

My father wanted to get some payback for all his extra studies. The salaries in the South were higher, but my father’s opportunities to move up the salary scale were limited when working for a state employer (Atomic Energy Authority). I don’t want to go into a long imagined scenario here about the possible consequences of the choices my parents made in 1962, but, in brief, I can say that the family became a victim of capital forces, as described by Arthur Miller in the Death of a Salesman (1949). 

Of course, anyone can be ‘smart’ when armed with hindsight. Although the path my father plotted from 1962 onwards resulted in the ‘Harkness ship’ having to circumnavigate many hidden rocks in stormy seas, I can say that at least we managed to leave the ‘provincial’ North. But in the short term, the results were perhaps mainly negative. 

Conclusive remarks of the 1962 Diary (January – June)

My Volume II of No Woman No Cry (1948-1962) only focuses on the period up to the summer of 1962. When the family moved from Culcheth, Lancashire to Billericay, Essex, this period is covered in Volume V (from 1962 to 1968-1969) of “No Woman No Cry”. But as a prelude to the move to Billericay, which is also included in “The Diary”, I will include an insert from November 28: “Alex not home until 10.15 pm (…) I don’t see how I can stand it. This is the third night his meal has been wasted. It would make one lose one’s heart completely.”

In other words, the move to the South was no easy transition. In Lancashire, the family was on the whole thriving and fairly well adjusted. Lastly, in Essex, many problems emerged, but these will be focused on in Volume V.