When Leaf and Note are Gone by my Aunt Lilla

Poetry by I M Birtwistle

When my aunt Lilla died in 2006, there were obituaries in The Times, The Guardian and The Independent. In fact, the only paper not to run one was The Telegraph, which she would have been the one she’d have read if she hadn’t gone blind. I’ve included these Obituaries from The Guardian and The Independent as they are free. The Times described her as an “Inspiring poet and gallery owner who nurtured young artists despite losing her sight”.

I’ve also included some of her poems below and The Tablet review of the When Leaf and Note Are Gone book of her poems published posthumously by my mother.

(Great Great Uncle) Angus Maitland – Track triumphs

My father send me some bits of pieces, which arrived yesterday. He now lives very close to where our Maitland ancestors hail from in Normandy. Sadly, the photocopies aren’t really good enough to share, but I’ll see if I can get him to bring over the originals when he’s over next. He also sent me a clipping about his (great) uncleAngus Maitland, who I met once or twice at various weddings. I was always impressed because I’d been told that he had been motorcycle champion before the war, and was still beating the local lads in his later years much to their dismay. Anyway, it was great to see a letter in The Times from his daughter, saying their was nothing new about the antics of Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear:

A Kirby-Turner connection?

I noticed in my last post that the marriage of my great great grandfather Alfred Octavius Kirby was assisted by both his brother the Rev. A. G. Kirby and the Rev. J. Kirby Turner (see below). I was wondering whether the Rev. J. Kirby Turner might also be related somehow.