Hampton Avenue

Here is my mother's father, my grandfather, John Richards Parker, who came to Canada from Blackburn, England, and worked until his retirement around 1946 as a fire man for the City of Montreal. Above: my grandfather's house at 2217 Hampton (below Sherbrooke Street West). A few years ago the flats next to this, identical to my grandfather's, were for sale and I walked around in them. They had been made into a single home with the upper unit for bedrooms and the lower for a kitchen and living room, dining room. I was most struck by how small they were, perhaps 900 square feet each. I have no memories at all of my maternal grandmother, she had bad health and didn't like to have her photograph taken; I believe she died around 1957. This photo (above) is from the mid-1960s.

My grandfather in his back yard.

My grandfather owned the two units; the lady who rented upstairs (in above photo) and her daughter were my grandfather's last tenants.

My brother and I, on the front stairs outside the Hampton Avenue flats. Around 1954 - 1955. I remember putting lit matches in my Uncle John's mailbox (he lived upstairs from my grandfather) and setting the curtains on fire, and I remember my Aunt Muriel completing a jig saw puzzle which either my brother or I pulled apart, perhaps testing how strong the pieces really were... I've always loved a fire, perhaps appropriate since my grandfather was a fireman.