A NEW LIFE IN A NEW WORLD - BUT MY NORTH LONDON ROOTS WERE NEVER FORGOTTEN "THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME" The story of Susannah Elizabeth (Macey) Mayes : 1878-1960 |
Susannah Macey was
born at Summerhill Terrace, Commerce Road, Wood Green, London in 1878 and she was one of
eight children born to Arthur James Macey and Eliza Macey (nee Newton). Her early
upbringing in Victorian London was very tough but she was loved by her family and enjoyed
living in the friendly neighbourhood in this particular corner of Wood Green.
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EARLY
PHOTOGRAPH OF COMMERCE ROAD- WOOD GREEN - LONDON |
It is believed that
her birth father, Arthur James Macey, had first moved to New York to seek work intending
for his family to follow on at a later date. We are informed that Arthur was later to move
back to England where he unfortunately died in 1884 aged 38 years.
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Pictured Left: Susie Macey-Mayes(Centre) with Mother (Eliza) and two daughters at Miami Beach in 1924. Pictured Above: Susie, wearing pink hat, alongside husband Charles and three of their daughters - Miami c 1945.
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We understand from the family of Susie Mayes that for many years Susie had
subscribed for a copy of the local newspaper from Wood Green to be mailed to her home in
Florida. This was a means of keeping in touch with events and activities from her place of
birth that she still yearned to return to one day. It was then in October 1959, at the grand age of 81 years, that Susie decided to write to the newspaper in England and ask for her story to be published in the hope that it might provoke some memories from others who had lived in Wood Green at the same time as her. We have searched the newspaper archives at Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham, North London and eventually managed to find a copy of the original article that was featured in the newspaper. To our surprise the story had not been published in the Tottenham & Edmonton Weekly Herald, as we had expected, but the Wood Green, Southgate and Palmers Green Herald and we have provided below a copy of the original article, as it appeared in the newspaper in October 1959 under the title Theres No Place Like Home. |
SCANNED IMAGE OF ORIGINAL NEWSPAPER ARTICLE - COURTESY OF BRUCE CASTLE MUSEUM - TOTTENHAM - LONDON |
We have been sent a handwritten copy of the original letter that Susie Mayes had sent the newspaper. It had been re-written by one of her family members which we have now re-produced below. It is not known if she ever did receive any replies or indeed whether the newspaper itself was able to send her some pictures. When searching for the old newspaper article we discovered another article written just 2 weeks previously on the 2nd October, 1959, that announced plans to demolish large parts of Commerce Road which included the area where she had once lived. Once again we have no idea whether or not this information was shared with Susie, although it would have been an unpleasant shock for her to discover this news. |
WEEKLY DIARY THERES NO PLACE LIKE HOME October 16th 1959 Theres no place like home, says the old song. Weve had a letter from a woman to whom Wood Green is still home, although she left 67 years ago. She was then Susie Macey, the little girl who was born at 7 Summer Hill Terrace, Commerce Road, Wood Green. She is now Mrs. Susie Mayes, 531 East 26th Street, Hialeah, Florida U.S.A, and she is now 81 years old. If theres one thing that Susie wants, its news from home, and if she can hear from some of the people she knew back in the old days, so much the better. Mrs. Mayes has the Weekly Herald sent to her every week, and she tells us. It sure had plenty of news about the places I lived in for 14 years, when my mother and family moved to America. We never were able to get back to see old England again, but my thoughts were always about it. I would like to know if those old houses on Commerce Road are still standing, and I would like to see, if possible, some of the pictures of Wood Green (In fourteen years I got to know a lot about Wood Green, Southgate, and other places. I remember Truro Road and the High Road.) When I was five years old, I was lost all night, and was taken to Southgate police station. I stayed there until after 2 A.M. The police were very kind and tried to get me to tell where I lived, but I was afraid to talk. Then word came and the policeman carried me home under a rain coat. He had to walk all the way back, as there were no buses, and the trains didnt run all night. Mrs. Mayes says she remembers hearing her mother tell of seeing Blondin walk the tight-rope at Alexandra Palace. Wed like to help Mrs. Mayes, and if any reader would like to send us word, or pictures, that might bring pleasure to his lady, we would be glad to send them on to America with our own letter, which will be sent off in a few days from now. Well wait until about the middle of next week, before we write. Note: This is a letter which Mom wrote to the Weekly Diary of the Weekly Herald in England. You can see how the editor wrote a few lines, then used quotes from Moms letter. |
The
letter itself is really fascinating and clearly she had yearned for many years to return
to the place of her birth. We have since informed her family that within 1/2 mile of
Commerce Road there is a Mayes Road, which is well known within the Wood Green area. We
explained that it had once housed a very famous sweet (or candy) company named Barratts.
The company was established in Mayes Road, Wood Green in 1880 so would no doubt have been
known to her Great Grandma at the time that she lived there. Coincidentally she was of
course later to become Mrs. Mayes. In her original letter to the newspaper Susie had recalled her mother telling her of the tight-rope walk of Blondin at Alexandra Palace. Blondin was a huge celebrity of the age who had also walked a tight-rope across the Niagara Falls in the U.S.A and many other world landmarks. We have managed to uncover a copy of the original poster for Blondins feat at Alexandra Palace and accompanied it with a postcard image of the original Alexandra Palace before it was severely damaged by fire in 1873. |
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In her letter to the Weekly Herald Susie had also asked for some photographs of Wood Green dating back to the time when she had lived there as a child. We have now sent photographs to her family of Commerce Road and several more of Wood Green in general of which three have been copied below. It is comforting to think that members of her remaining family today can take pleasure in seeing some photographs that may possibly have been denied to herself. |
WOOD GREEN HIGH ROAD c 1900 |
JOLLY BUTCHERS HILL - WOOD GREEN c 1905 |
THE NAGS HEAD JUCTION - WOOD GREEN HIGH ROAD |
WOOD GREEN HIGH ROAD - JUNCTION WITH MAYES ROAD |
One final nugget of information that has been shared with the family is that Alexandra Palace was later to become the place where the worlds first television broadcast took place in 1936. It is not known whether Susie was ever aware of the fact that Ally Pally, as it is more colloquially known in the area, and which dominated the skyline from her home in Commerce Road, was later to play such a significant role in the birth of television. |
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The family first contacted us because they had discovered our Tottenham- Summerhill Road website. We have since informed them that Summerhill Terrace in Commerce Road, Wood Green bears the same name as a former terrace of houses in Summerhill Road Tottenham but they were in fact a couple of miles distant from each other. Sadly both of these locations have since been demolished. Nevertheless it presents a wonderful story and one that we are proud and privileged to publish on our website. |
Alan Swain: November 2016
Acknowledgement: Picture of Commerce Road- 'Tottenham & Wood Green-Past & Present' by Christine Protz and Deborah Hedgecock
Background Image - Wood Green Public Library- Sponsored by Andrew Carnegie -Philanthropist- (Also sponsored Carnegie Hall - New York City)