Posted by Laurence Monkhouse on May 06, 2003 at 21:17:40 from 62.252.196.62 user Laurence_.
In Reply to: Bob Blackett posted by Ed Kiser on May 02, 2003 at 17:02:25:
It isn't just Bob Blackett who is missing. What other men in their 30's and 40's are there in the Lake Books. Consider:-
Holly Howe. Mr Jackson seems well into Late Middle age. No young Mr Jackson.
Dixon's - Farmed by Mr Dixon - married to Dorothea's mother's nurse and 'Old' Silas. No young Mr Dixon.
Swainsons - Farmed by Mr Swainson - 90 years old and his youngest grandchild. No young Mr Swainson.
Tyson's - Farmed by Mrs Tyson and her son Robin. No Mr Tyson.
Billies. Young Billy had grandchildren older than Titty, but no Even Younger Billy (although he might just have left a dying industry).
Watersmeet. Jacky's father was evidently one of the really lucky ones.
Could this not add up to a disastrous attack by a 'Pals Battalion' of some North Lancashire regiment (commanded by Colonel Jolys?) right at the end of the War??
The contrast with the other families in the series is stark - most of the other characters (except for Jim Brading)- Coots, Eels, Swallows, D's do have living fathers. It really sounds as though the Lake Community suffered from a disaster, and the War really seems the obvious cause.