Kathleen Mary Datson (27 Nov 1928 - 13 Jan 2018)

On the 13th January 2018. Our beloved Mum, Nan, Great Nan, and Great Great Nan, passed away at the age of 89.
A devoted mum of 5, and the greatest nan to 35.
We lived in Bermondsey, on the Silwood Estate for 16 years. Our dad worked away a lot of the time, as that was where the best wages were earned. Our mum would wake up early and go to her cleaning job, then come back and get us up and ready for school. Once we were all dropped off, she would go to her next job which was up London, where she was a silver service waitress. From there she would pick us up from school and take us home, Whilst we played out she would be doing the house work and preparing our dinner. She would be at the front door calling out our names letting us know our dinner was ready. Once we were all finished she would clear up and get ready for her evening cleaning job at Molins. A neighbor would keep an eye on us until she returned. A few years later she became an home help working for the Borough of Southwark.
Our mum was very well known for selling knocked off gear." We can tell everyone your secrets now mum because you can't get nicked" A memory that sticks in our minds was when our dad returned home from working away. On the Saturday evening he was watching the tele when Police 5 came on, he shouted ere Kath come and have a look at this little haul, I bet you wouldn't mind getting your hands on that, she came and had a look and said, its upstairs under the bed Dan. No matter who knocked on her door with something to sell she would buy and sell it on. If you wanted to knock anything out just go round to 18 Moland Mead, where our mum would buy the whole parcel. This might be hard to believe but she even bought and sold knocked off meat, a delivery that should have gone to Trust House Forte, but ended up a 18 Moland Mead, and we're not talking about a leg of lamb or a bit of topside. NO we're talking half a sheep, large pieces of cow, where she would cut them up and sell the joints and chops etc. Our cat was so use to having fresh meat that when it all stopped the cat turned its nose up to a tinned cats food and didn't eat for a couple of days, but mum said, oh f...k him, he'll eat it if he's hungry. Our friends would come round and ask our mum to write them a note for school, it might be that they hopped the wag or to skip a class.
Because our dad was away working our mum had to act has both parents. We led her a dogs life. Mums eldest boys, Dannyboy and Dennis were boxers and would make a ring with chairs and rope, then put me Sharon, and our Colleen in the ring to teach us how to fight, and the youngest of us all was Jamie would sit watching clapping his hands. But sometimes things went a bit too far and we would all end up fighting, our poor mum would say, thats it I can't take anymore I'm f...king off and ain't coming back. Me Colleen and Jamie would cry and the boys would say, she's only gone along to Chrissy Osbourns house, she'll be back later and of course she did. When any of us got into a fight in the street, we always got the blame saying we hit out first. The parent would come knocking on our door screaming and shouting before the front door was even open, blaming which ever one of us who had the fight. There's one thing most people new about Kathy Datson. Never go to her front door screaming and shouting, blaming her kids for something your kids said they had done, or started because the outcome was always the same, our mum would yank our front door open, and the person standing in front of her ranting and raving, be it man or woman,
would get a good hiding. Someone was always there to pull our mum off, she was like a mad woman, but always let the person know she was fighting. My kids are no angels, but if there's a next time, you might want to think before banging on my front door and blaming my kids before you or I have heard there side of the story. There was one particular time when our mum ended up at the Old Baily for fighting but thankfully got a not guilty. There are so many stories we can tell about her life in Bermondsey but we will end here for now.
Our parents moved to Greenwich in 73 where things were a bit calmer, our dad never worked away anymore, and our mum only has a couple of arguments, over our Jamie, mums youngest, but thankfully no fights. Mum gave up the home help and started work at the Royal Naval College where she worked for 27 years then retired. And believe it or not, up until a few months ago our mum was still doing a bit of buying and selling.
This is only a fraction of the life of Kathy Datson.