Aunt May was born on May 1st 1903 in Fowey, Cornwall. She attended St Blazey Infant School and went into service after finishing school.
Apparently she saved all she could of her five shilling wages while in service, to equip herself for the Salvation Army training college. She had joined the St Blazey Corps of the Salvation Army in 1923 and I believe became an officer in 1926.
While in the Salvation Army at St Blazey she revelled in the open air meetings, sold the War Cry (the Salvation Army newspaper) in public houses and collected for the self-denial effort, in outlying villages.
After becoming an officer in 1926 she carried out slum work in Bath and had similar appointments in Portsea, Abbey Street and Shadwell. While at Shadwell I understand she was responsible for the 'penny kitchens', providing penny dinners for the homeless.
Not long after she was at Shadwell she went to East Africa where she undertook many wonderful adventures, some photos of which I will share with you in later posts.
She retired from the Salvation Army and Africa on October 1st 1960. She was working at the Hostel for the Ambulant Sick in Kampala, Uganda at the time.
While in Africa she used to broadcast on African Radio in Swahili, see the picture above.
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