ABSTRACT
M y mother was bom in Norfolk on 5 November 1856 and died in Bethnal Green on 1 January 1942. She used to work in an eel shop in the capital, Norwich. Her name was Milligan, Mary Anne Milligan. I’ve sometimes thought she might have had some Irish blood. When she was well boozed she used to sing Irish songs: ‘Bold Robert Emmet who died with a smile’, all that kind o f thing. It was a famous song with her - who he was I haven’t the faintest idea. And I can remember, years later, going into a wake to pull her out, after Mrs Abbot died in Gibraltar Gardens. They was all sitting round drinking beer.
