Life at Bushy Park
When the owner of Ashford, Mrs. Elliot, sold to Mr. Gill in the sixties, Malcolm’s services were no longer needed. An old friend, Mr. Elliot Williams, father of Sir Charles and owner of Bushy Park in St. Philip, kindly gave him a job as manager. Unfortunately he landed in a difficult situation. I think Elliot’s sons became interested in the management of the estate. Malcolm went from a position where he had sole managerial responsibility to one in which others had a say. Change is hard for old people.
The manager’s house at Bushy Park was simple wall dwelling that had ample space. The was no garden and the yard was covered in a white limestone gravel that was blinding in full sunlight. It was a comfortable home but it was a far cry from Ashford!
Relatives once staged a big surprise party at Bushy Park for Malcolm and Kathleen. It was to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Hilton Seale (b. 1908, Doris’s husband) pretended to be an Anglican priest and married them again.
Granddaddy did not spend long at Bushy Park. He became ill in his sixties, and was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown in December of 1965.
I was fourteen in 1966 when my first grandparent died. I did not expect it. One day I asked my other grandfather, Lawrence, how Malcolm was doing. Lawrence was annoyed and told me he was on his deathbed.
On the third day of January, 1966, in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Malcolm succumbed to a combination of kidney problems and possible hospital negligence. A tube had fallen out and was just left on the floor. Even though he had quit, past chain smoking had taken its toll.