Continuing Chapter. One

I'm sorry this is short, but I haven't been feeling too well and this was the most I could manage this time around.


Granny and Grandad settled down and opened a boarding house in Eton Square, Victoria, London. They still had good connection with America and so, many rich Americans stayed with them including, according to Aunty Sissie, the Vanderbilts.
One of their ambitions was to own a country club in Canada, and that became their next venture. Mummy’s younger sister Frederica (my Aunty Sissie) was born in Canada. She was named after her father Frederick, but Mummy always called her Sis and the name Sissie stuck, at last with our side of the family. Her husband George and all his family always called her Freddie,
When Sissie was three months old, Grandad had to go away on business, leaving Granny and their two little girls (our mum and aunty Sis) alone. The snow was very deep reaching the windowsills, and there were no other houses, nothing but trees for miles around. Two large bears came to the cabin door and started scratching to get in.
Granny, who was only four feet eleven inches tall, dragged all the heavy furniture she could handle, and piled it up against he door. When help finally came, the bear’s claws had almost gone through the door! Soon after this, Granny and Grandad decided to take their two little girls to America where it would be safer.
Once in the States, Grandfather Fordham found himself a job in the film industry as an actor. I don’t know exactly how that came about; perhaps it was the novelty of him being English. During this period of time, my mother and aunt were engaged by the studio to appear in crown scenes.
They both appeared in a silent movie epic. I can’t remember now if it was ‘Birth of a Nation’ or ‘Ben Hur’ but it was certainly one or the other. In one particular scene the two children, accompanied by my grandmother, were up on a balcony cheering and waving to the soldiers as they marched past. Aunty Sissie didn’t want to do this, and was throwing a tantrum, screaming and flaying her arms about. At the end of the shoot the Director complimented her on her fine acting and show of jubilance! However, it was my mother who caught he director’s eye, and she went on to appear in several movies, mostly with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Snr.