Nanny
(29 May 1914 – Feb 1989)

as recollected by Sonia Kaulback

My twin brothers, seven years younger than me, called Bryan and Peter, were born in 1948. Soon after that Nanny (aka Cecelia Maud Mary Kelly) joined us and became a vital part of the family. In fact, even after the two boys went to Prep School in Kent, Nanny stayed on and took over running the laundry for my parents' hotel. In my memories, Nanny was just always there!

Nanny on duty at the laundry

The hotel, Ardnagashel, was down by the water front, but we family resided in the converted stable buildings, just up from the sea, round a bend of the drive. This was Nanny's kingdom. Indeed, until my younger sister and I went to boarding school, at ages 11 and 10, we and Kay our governess also lived there. There was also a sitting room, where Nanny kept the radio permanently on at full blast, and a small kitchen where it was my great joy and responsibility to make coffee for Nanny and Kay (using that mysterious liquid concentrate known as Camp Coffee).

I have lots of happy memories of dear Nanny. Once a year she would take a months' holiday and go to her parents' home in Cornwall; but she had no intention of allowing anyone else to look after her beloved twins, and she always took them with her! On occasional evenings, after the twins had been put to bed, Nanny would turn up at the Bar in the hotel, and my father would ask, What will you have, Nanny? And she would generally answer, I'll have a Gin and Orange please, Daddy, which she would then carry back to her domain (and we often wondered whether a small drop or two of the gin would be used to encourage the twins to sleep more soundly!).

Nanny with Bryan and Peter

In the holidays from boarding school Nanny was like a second mother to Susie and myself - my own mother (and father, of course) being always so busy running Ardnagashel. Nanny would advise me on tricky problems like how to wash woollens (I did all my own laundry from the age of 11), and she would help with the multitude of difficulties facing a teenage girl.

I can't remember when Nanny finally departed from Ardnagashel and returned to Cornwall, but we always kept in touch. She attended Robin's and my wedding in 1967, and later on (when we were living in Reading) she came to stay with us. By that time she was becoming increasingly forgetful, tending for instance to turn on the gas to make herself a cup of tea, and then forgetting to turn the gas off!! But she was always our dear, much-loved 'Nanny', an important member of our family, never to be forgotten.