Towards the end of the 19th century my great aunt Maria emigrated to America, where I presume she went in to service to work with a wealthy family. When she had saved enough money she returned home to Ireland, sometime around 1910. I have found records for her living at home in our National Census records for 1911.
Around that time my other great aunt Rosie was about to get married, and Maria brought her home this lovely bone china tea set, which is stamped and signed on the base as having been made in Czechoslovakia, as a wedding present. It was this Aunt Rosie who gifted her house, my childhood home to my mother. When my mother's eldest sister Marie was getting married to her husband John, Rosie decided to pass this tea set on to them as her wedding gift to them. By clicking on next you can see a picture of Marie and John on their wedding day, the only image I have ever seen of Marie.
Marie died an untimely death at the age of 36. Her daughter, Alma, is my godmother, a vibrant, intelligent, independent woman who, I like to think, threw some of those gifts into my christening cradle. Yesterday I had lunch with her, and she gave me the most wonderful surprise as I was leaving when she told me she was giving me this tea set as a gift. Now it has pride of place among the special things I treasure.