The Gilbert and Sullivan Newsletter Archive

GILBERTIAN GOSSIP

No 37 -- Summer 1991     Edited by Michael Walters



OBITUARY — MRS. LYNDSAY WALTERS

(the Editor's mother), formerly of 62 Mark Street, Portrush, died on 24th July 1991, aged 79. She had lived all her life in or near the town, and her greatest wish was to die and be buried there. Her wish was granted. She was born in 1912 just outside Portrush, the youngest of 4 children of Allen Macmurray and his wife Bessie (the daughter of George Macbeth of Lifford, Co. Donegal). While my mother was still a child, the family moved into the town of Portrush, and shortly after this her father, who had been comparatively well off, lost his money when the firm in which he had invested went bankrupt. As a result, the family's financial position was permanently altered.

My mother studied art and domestic science at Glasgow, and later in London. During World War 2, she met and married Patrick Walters, a sergeant in the North Irish Horse, which was at that time billeted in Portrush, and I was born in November 1942. Only a few months later, my father was killed in action in North Africa, and his widow was forced to bring me up and support her sick aunt, Maud Macbeth, on a tiny and wholly inadequate widow's pension. She was obliged to contribute 10 shillings, which she could ill afford, to pay for a marker on her husband's grave in North Africa, a grave which funds never permitted her to visit. She remained comparatively poor for the rest of her life, but never once complained. She was an active and well–known figure in the town, being involved for many years as a highly accomplished actress with both the Portrush Players and the Ballywillan Drama Group, and supported both groups in many other capacities. Later she was a prominent member of the town's bowling club, and took up painting and pottery–making. She proved to be a talented painter, and was able to sell a few of her paintings, as well as presenting a number to her friends. For a number of years she worked part time at Portrush Recreation Grounds, where she made many friends in bowling circles throughout Northern Ireland. Together with her sister Eileen, she was instrumental in helping to found the Women's League of Health and Beauty, for which she taught classes in Portrush for some years, till ill health forced her to retire. It is a little known fact that the League, now based in London, was actually founded in Portrush by Mrs. Bagot– Stack, whose husband is buried in the town cemetery.

In the early 1980s, my mother's health began to deteriorate, and she was subject to frequent bouts of severe pain. In 1987 she became so weak that she was obliged to move into Lismara Residential Home, Portrush, where she gradualy became almost totally confined to a whelchair and required oxygen constantly to hand. All the years of illness were borne with great dignity and courage, and without complaint. She remained cheerful, winning the hearts of all those around her, and retained a sense of humour to the end. MICHAEL WALTERS

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