Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

In Rhoda’s 1962 Diary, my mother talks about her frustrations with my father arriving home late.

February 21

This ‘late-home-coming’ (AWOL) of my father is a topic that crops up repeatedly in the Diary – perhaps sometimes connected to alcohol abuse?

February 22

I don’t think the Humber Hawk was very expensive, as it was six or seven years old, and I think my father got it at wholesale price. The fact that Sandy had a £20 share in it seems to suggest that the family finances were under pressure, perhaps one of the reasons my father was on the lookout for a higher paid job. 

In retrospect, it might have been a better solution if my mother had found a part-time job. Our neighbour Mrs Babcock had a job, so they were probably better off than us. Mr. Babcock was a fireman, and they only had two sons, Roger and Billy. At one point, they sold their old Ford 8 and bought a Bedford Dormobile, which they could use for holidays.

The Babcock’s Cars