This autobiography is essentially the work of Mark Bostock. I am unable to say when he prepared the earlier parts of it, but the memories are vivid, particularly where food is concerned, which suggests he must have kept a diary from early times. In his later years the excerpts are more directly from his diaries.
The diary was collected together and edited by his older son Clinton Willard. Clinton's sister Grace did all the typing, as was necessary, from the original hand-written sheets. It was sent me, as email attachments, by his younger son George Mark, who took the trouble to scan each page and send them to me.
There is no doubt that Mark had a tough upbringing in a boarding school in West London for homeless children, which comes across clearly in his story. He then tells of his emigration as a boy worker to Canada, and how his life progressed from there.
The book may be called up page by page by selecting the page numbers. What follows is an index, following the edited page titles done by Clinton. The main pictures are indexed after.
| Cover, Editor's Notes and Introductory Pictures |
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| West London District School 1897 - 1904 |
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| Ocean Voyage to Canada, and Sutton, Quebec 1904 - 1907 |
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| Return trip to England, 1910 |
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| Springfield, Massachusetts, 1913 |
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| Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Co, 1914 - 1915 | |
| The H. Wales Company of Meridan, Conn, 1915 | |
| Gilbert & Barker Manufacturing Co, 1916 |
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| The Sons of Saint George, 1915 | |
| Lake Lorraine, 1917 | |
| New York State Holiday, 1917 |
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| Influenza Epidemic 1918 - 1919 | |
| Return to England (Fen district), 1920 |
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| Courting, 1921 |
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| Wedding, 1921 |
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| The Return to America, 1921 |
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| Grace Rose is born, 1922 | |
| A parallel | |
| Thanksgiving, 1930 | |
| Leonard Street, Agawam, Mass, 1929 | |
| West Springfield Stamp Club | |
| The Fairbanks Mansion, West Springfield, Mass, 1936 - 1946 |
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| The Hurricane, 1938 | |
| Editor's Notes | |
| Rose Goodchild Bostock obituary, 1948 |
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| Mark and Violet trip to England, 1954 |
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| Diary, 1959 |
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| Diary, 1960 |
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| Diary, 1961 |
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| Diary, 1962 |
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| Diary, 1963, including a trip to Nassau, Bahamas, and a Texan holiday |
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| Xmas Diary, 1965 |
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| Diary, 1966 |
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| Diary, 1959 |
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| Record of Cars | |
| Random Shots | |
| Holiday to Florida, 1969, and son George |
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| Diary, 1969 |
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| Letters, 1969 - 1970 |
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| First Stroke, 1970 | |
| Last Stroke, and Funeral, 1970 |
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| Last pictures and Tributes |
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The book contains a number of pictures. These are the main ones:
| Mark's parents | |
| Mark's brother Ted | |
| Mark on his motorbikes |
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| Mark working for the National Guard, 1918 | |
| Mark's Wedding |
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| Mark's wife Rose |
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| Xmas 1965 with Barbara and Clinton |
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| Annabelle and others | |
| Mark's son George | |
| Mark as a boy | |
| Mark in later years | |