Page 2 - Sam Jelbert

Richard Laurence (Sam) Jelbert

I was born in Porthleven on 18.10.1942, the fifth child and third son of George
Jelbert from St Juste and Dorothy Stephens, a Porthleven girl. My father, working
with one of his brothers and their father, travelled with their corn threshing machine.
The farmers would hire them to do the threshing work. They spent the whole winter
going round doing this. One day they travelled all the way over to Tremaine and
went down to the Ship Inn in Porthleven where my mother’s uncle, Willie Burgess
was the landlord and my mother was the pot girl. That is how they met. Willie
Burgess, gave me a table made from wood from the HMS Anson. I had that table
for many years.
My dad used to cycle from St Just to Porthleven to court my mother. They married
and had a son Tony, who died aged 7 of polio, Brian served in the Royal Marines,
45 Commando and was killed in Aden aged about 27, Valerie married and moved

to Scunthorpe, Angela moved to Fishermead, Milton Keynes when it first opened
and died about five years ago.
My dad died when I was three years old, and my Uncle Norman, became my
mother’s partner. Uncle Norman was a farrier and blacksmith, I used to go and
turn the handle for the bellows and by the end of the day I was covered in soot and
when he took me home he would tell my mother he had brought little Sambo back
to her – that is how I got the name Sam. Norman was the only local farrier and I
used to marvel at his strength and admire all he did. He and my mother had three
more children - John married a girl from Birmingham and became a bus driver
and driving instructor, he had a heart attack and died when he was about 55 years
old. Suzanne married a Penzance boy and when he retired from the hotel trade
they went to Wales where they run a cream tea place. Norman was a very strict
disciplinarian and he didn’t hesitate to belt us children if we did not obey – like most
of the parents and many teachers at that time.

My mum was caretaker of the local primary school and I used to go early in the
morning with her in the winter to riddle the stoves, shaking out the dead ashes, and
topping up the wood, coal and coke, and light the stoves. Most children had their
chores to do in those days. The school had a field, a part for sports and the rest
where the children had small plots and grew the vegetables for the school cooks.
Farmers’ children would bring in a bag of spuds or other vegetables to supplement
the food provided by the Council. There was a canteen where we had a hot dinner
and a pudding each day – and Mrs Buckfield, the cook and Mrs Andrews her
assistant made sure we were well fed. We all looked forward to our school dinners
because at home, for many, good meals were few and far between.

We went blackberry picking, scrumping apples, and down to the harbour where
the fishermen would sometimes give us a little carrier bag with a few fish in to help
mother feed her family.