Richard Thorne
Richard is one of 8 siblings (7 surviving) of the Thorne family from Edward Street. His warm and generous wife, Connie, passed a few years ago and his son, Marco lives with him at their home in Mitchell’s Plain. He occasionally experiences memory lapses wherein he returns to Harfield to his childhood home believing that he still lives there. Despite this, he is extremely independent and enjoys walking wherever he can and as far and often as he can.
“We lived at number 21 Edward Street. Five brothers and three sisters. I’m the eldest – I will be seventy three next year (2016) on February the 28th. My father’s name was David, my mother Geraldine (previously Galiemah).
Every summer, when it would get really hot, we would take our mattresses out to Prince’s Park in front of our house and we would sleep in the park at night. I don’t remember everybody’s name that would go with me – I remember only funny names, but there were a few of us out there whenever it got hot. It was nice in the fresh air.
All of that was a long time ago. Some things I remember. I remember getting my first – and only – tattoo. It was from a tattoo artist in Salt River, Mr Wessels was his name. He was in Laker Road, I think. I remember some of the guys who were in gangs in Second Avenue – but I wasn’t a gangster. I remember one gang – I can’t be sure which street they were from – called The Spoilers. Mostly the gangsters would hang around with each other and talk about sport or sing. Sometimes they would fight. But it wasn’t like gangsters today.
We would go to the bioscope at the Scala or the Orpheum in Claremont. I also remember swimming at the public pools on Bath Road in Claremont. It was the corrugated iron building. It was a long time ago, more than forty years.”
Visit the Thorne Gallery for more pictures of Richard & his siblings from Edward Street.
