I knew Mary as “Auntie Mary" (actually my mother's aunt). Her full
name was Alice Mary Sayer. She was a teacher and Head Mistress of a
school. She never married and lived with Millicent Webb who | knew as
“Auntie Milly". We used to visit them at their nice house in St
Leonards on Sea, near Hastings, Kent. | always liked their garden
which was in the English country garden style with many mysterious
hidden places (as | recall). | remember Auntie Mary as a very cultured
person - soft spoken, articulate and literate. Her skin was fair and
smooth, undamaged by sun, and she had a warm and kind disposition. She
exuded authority, and her nephews and nieces (i.e. Herbert Sayer's
children) and their children such as me, held her in awe. She was the
matriarch of the family. I remember her comment on receiving a
Christmas photo of my family visiting Uncle Kenneth and family at
Queenborough, Sheppey, that the picture was very nice but she didn't
like to see the cherry brandy bottle on the table! Millicent Webb wasa
long time college friend of Mary's. She lived with her parents and a
sister until her parents died. She and Mary bought a house together in
St Leonards (Waldslow Down?) and Mary's mother, Hannah Sayer, lived
with them until she died in Ocober 1939. (Joan Dennett remembers
Hannah being at her wedding in August 1939.) In Mary's early life, she
lived with her parents at "The Tors", their house on Maidstone Road in
Chatham. Her brother, Frank Samuel, Also lived with them. (Joan
remembers that Mary described Frank as "not her favourite brother".)
