Eldest son of Sydney Francis Rebbeck and Emily Coombes Rebbeck
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William George Rebbeck was the eldest son of Sydney Francis Rebbeck and Emily Coombes. He was born in 1901 and saw many changes over his many years. AS a child he was sickly and not expected to survive childhood. His parents wanted a William in the family so christened their third son William as well. George's story, however, is best told by himself in his own memoirs "Recollections of Bygone Days."
From Grandson Peter Hancock
"One thing I did pick up in England was a small manicure
case, given by my Grandfather to my Grandmother during courtship. It is
unfortunately rather tatty and incomplete, but it does contain two letters
which reflect the correctness of society in Edwardian England.
"As promised here are the letters from the manicure box sent to his
future wife Lena. I suspect that the "Xmas card" was hidden
inside the box, and the "R and S" ( Rich and Sickly [food])
was more visible to nosy father/mother/brothers/sisters etc. Lena was
born on Dec 26th, so this was a joint Christmas/birthday present. Lena
did indeed "reverse the numbers of her present age", and proved
to be the best producer of "R and S" I have ever met. George
certainly did not think he would outlive her even in their twilight years,
and to be honest, neither did we. She was an angel on earth, and I will
never forget how fortunate I was to have such a couple as Grandparents."
Note: this is the manicure box and letters generously given to me, Susan Leake, by Peter and his mother, Marjorie, in June 2003. Thank you both - I do appreciate it.
Other Recollections of William George "George" Rebbeck
George's cousins, the Brenton daughters, have said that they can never remember a time when they saw George without his wife, Lena in his company. Long before they married they were already a "couple".
The "Remembrances" were written for the benefit of his grandsons, who kindly sent them for inclusion in this family history. Parts have been placed in other sections. Part has been placed on the Rebbecks Reassembled website.
The following comment came from Peter Hancock in an email to Susan Hale Leake, October 2000 when she bruited the idea of putting the memoirs on the Internet.
"I think my Grandfather would have been delighted to share his stories on the Internet, so please go ahead. I do remember him dearly. He was responsible for a great part of my and my brother's upbringing, along with Lena. He ensured that our interests were great and varied, taking us to visit as many sites of interest as possible, and keeping them interesting. How many 5 year old boys can say that they enjoyed visiting national heritage sites? He was a wise old boy, and as you rightly say, of the old school."
Susan visited George and Lena at Auriol around 1983, dropping in unexpectedly as she was in the area at the time on holiday. She was welcomed with open arms, treated to some of the "R&S" food that was Lena's speciality and shown the delights of a fruit she had never before tasted, a Winchester Berry, which grew in the garden along with gooseberries and other soft fruits.. It was supposed to be a cross with a loganberry and something else but has never seen or heard of it since. As usual, George was full of stories and the time passed too quickly. Susan's extremely large German Shepherd, appropriately called Sealight Rebbeck, was also made welcome. Susan always took her dog with her on holiday for company and would have been quite happy to leave him in the car as a nine stone dog could be quite intimidating. Leaving him the car was out of the question "Bring him in - I am sure he is well behaved." He was.
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