From a railwayman in India to a Dunkirk hero, my family photographs capture my fascinating ancestors

Sepia photograph of a man in old-fashioned clothing standing in front of a steam train

My great grandfather James Thomas Hawkins worked his way up to become a train driver for the London and South Western Railway. My father’s cousin still has the watch visible in James’ waistcoat pocket.

Black and white photograph of an older man and woman

James and my great grandmother Frances (née Childs) in later life.

Black and white photograph of six white men in old-fashioned suits with an Indian man in a turban

James' son Harry Hawkins (back row, far left) spent a decade as a boilermaker with Indian Railways.

Black and white photograph of a man and woman getting married

Harry and Doris Hawkins wed in 1922.

Black and white photograph of two women standing up, an older woman sitting down and holding a baby, and a little boy

Left to right: Doris; my great grandmother, Sarah Williams, holding my father Peter; Doris’ sister Ida May Jessie; and my uncle Brian, who was born in India.

My great aunt Ada Hawkins and her husband Herbert Campaign on a ship in the Ascension Islands.

Black and white photograph of a man in an old-fashioned military uniform

Thomas Williams, my great grandfather, joined the Royal Horse Artillery in 1866. He transferred to the Reserves in 1893.

Black and white photograph of a middle-aged man and woman in old-fashioned clothes

My maternal grandmother Daisy Dawe was a spinster when she married Robert Brown in 1940. She’d already had eight children (it’s a long story!)

Black and white photograph of a man, a woman and three young children in old-fashioned clothes

Daisy with George Bray AKA Taylor, my grandfather.

Black and white photograph of a young man in Second World War uniform

Mum’s stepbrother, Leonard Brown, died at Dunkirk in the Royal Berkshire Regiment.

From a railwayman in India to a Dunkirk hero, my family photographs capture my fascinating ancestors

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