Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameIrene Mary ACKERS MBE
, 3C2R
, 3C2RBirth16 Mar 1887, New Ferry, Cheshire
Baptism30 Apr 1887, Rock Ferry, Cheshire
Death1 Dec 1966, Axbridge, Somerset
FatherFrederick James ACKERS (1848-1921)
MotherMary Ada YATES (~1857-1901)
Never married
Notes for Irene Mary ACKERS MBE
In the April to June 1887 birth index Irene Mary Ackers, Wirral, Cheshire, volume 8a, page 459.
Christening Records
Irene Mary Ackers, christened April 30 1887, Rock Ferry, Cheshire, father Frederick James Ackers, mother Mary Ada Ackers.
In the 1891 census New Ferry Park, Lower Bebington, Cheshire.
Head Frederick Ja. Ackers, age 42, Clerk in Holy Orders, born Ardleigh, Essex.
Wife Mary Ada Ackers, age 34, born Eccleshall, Staffordshire.
Daughter Irene Mary Ackers, age 4, born New Ferry, Cheshire.
Visitor Reginald Curran, single, age 17, scholar, born Montreal, Canada (British Subj.)
2 servants
In the 1901 census The Rectory, Normanton le Heath, Leicestershire.
Head Frederick J. Ackers, age 52, Clergyman (Church of Eng.), born Ardleigh, Essex.
Wife Mary Ada Ackers, age 44, born Eccleshall.
Daughter Irene Mary Ackers, age 14, born Rock Ferry, Cheshire.
Mother-in-Law Mary Yates, widow, age 76, living on own means, born Eccleshall.
Cousin Lilian Blanche Yates, single, age 45, professional singer, born Newcastle, Staffordshire.
A border and 2 servants.
In the 1911 census 34 Schubert Road, East Putney SW, London Irene Mary Ackers, Boarder, age 24, single, teacher high school for girls, born Rock Ferry, Birkenhead. There are 4 other teachers and a servant.
Mentioned in her father’s will, probated August 20 1921. She is mentioned as a spinster.
1939 England and Wales register
University Hostel for Women Students, Manor Hall, Clifton Hill, Bristol, Gloucestershire
38. Irene M. Ackers, born March 16 1887, single, Vice-Warden University Hall Residence, Air Raid Warden
The Warden is listed next and last for that address.
In the October to December 1966 death index Irene M. Ackers died age 77, Weston-super-Mare district, Somerset, volume 7c, page 352.
[Actually age 79.]
National Probate Calendar
Irene Mary Ackers of The Anchorage Rodney Stoke near Draycott Somerset died 1 December 1966 at St. Michaels Home Axbridge Somerset Probate Bristol 1 March 1967 to Midland Bank Executor and Trustee Company Limited. 6795 pounds.
From Irene Ackers Legacy
https://www.ourchildrenschildren.co.uk/Irene-Ackers-Legacy
The garden is named by a lady, who as a young girl, was befriended by Irene Ackers, her grandmother's lifelong companion. Irene was a single woman and an able academic, who had retired from the wardenship of a university hall of residence to a small village. They shared interests in gardening, modern languages and their Christian faith.
Irene left her some beautiful jewellery that she felt was too grand for her to wear and was left in the bank safe until, much later, she realised that this was not what her mentor would have wanted.
She had it valued, sold by Sotheby's and the proceeds given to fund a garden dedicated to the memory of her benefactor.
The Irene Ackers' Garden
The garden area is designed to be a space that can not only be enjoyed as a tranquil oasis in the centre of Derby, but will also in itself have an educational and interpretative function.
and also
The Irene Ackers' Story.
Irene Mary Ackers was born in the late 1800s, the only child of the Rector of Normanton.
She absolutely adored and was adored by her parents, but her mother died when she was quite a young child and her father remarried not too long afterwards. This was a shock to her, compounded by the fact that her stepmother promptly arranged for her to be sent away to school in Switzerland, and she never overcame the feelings of rejection and hurt that this created. The result was that she loathed her stepmother, while maintaining adoration of her father – however illogical this may have been. She was extremely clever and took a First in French at Somerville college, Oxford. Her contact with my family started when in the 1920’s she successfully applied for the post of Vice-Warden of the University Hall of Residence where my grandmother, also a class 1 academic, was Warden. My grandmother had been widowed at the end of WW1, and she and Irene became devoted friends as well as colleagues and intellectual soul mates.
Eventually they retired together. Irene never really recovered from the death of my grandmother, whom she nursed through her final distressing illness (it wasn’t called Alzheimer’s in those days) with great skill and deep devotion. On her own death, she was buried with my grandmother, which had been the wish of them both.
During the second war Irene was very active in the voluntary nursing sector, particularly during air raids, and was awarded the MBE (I still have this) for services. She was a keen Guider, reaching Commissioner ran. Her students admired and respected her and I gather there was many a battle of wits.
I really got to know her well when we used to visit her and my grandmother in the holidays. They had retired to a small country village, to a cottage with a huge garden. There weren’t any other children of our age in the village which made it quite lonely, so I used to spend a lot of time with her in the garden. This was her ‘job’ while my grandmother ran the house.
She taught me everything I could absorb about plants, growing and cherishing them and much more. Her special favourites were sweet peas, artichokes and the wonderful fig tree that grew on the south wall. She kept and showed angora and other rabbits, and had an orchard full of hens. She was also an avid beekeeper. She was a fount of knowledge about all these, and I loved following her around and being allowed to feed, stroke and groom the animals. I had just started to learn French at school and we used to try it out on each other, much to the amusement of my mother, who had a First in French. I owe Irene in part my own lifelong love of languages as a living means of communication rather than a text book study.
She enjoyed sharing her enthusiasms with me and we got on famously despite the age gap. Apart from my grandmother she made no friends in the village. She was, if the truth be told, a bit of an intellectual snob, though I didn’t realise it in those days. So perhaps she was as pleased to have my company as I was to have hers. My grandmother was not an outdoor sort of person.
She was also a deeply devoted and committed Christian, and I always felt it was this that had not only helped her to cope with the childhood traumas she had experienced, but also gave her the strength to support others so well in the war. We used to have pretty good discussions on all sorts of religious and other topics.
We used to sit for hours in the greenhouse, which was our own special place, with our secret packets of chocolate biscuits, talking and talking. She was in her 60s while I was still in single figures, but it was a deep and mutually loving relationship. She encouraged me to join the Guides and shared with me her love of books. She had been at Oxford with Dorothy Sayers and Helen Waddell, and really made me want to read those as well as a great many other writers. I think I was the grandchild she never had, and this all continued right up until she died.
When I was approaching my 21st birthday, Irene told me she wanted to give me her mother’s jewellery since she had no children of her own. She didn’t want it just to be sold when she died, since for her it had such strong sentimental value. It was all that she had of her real mother and she had treasured it all her life. I had had no idea before this that she had it. There were several rings, pins, brooches and the like, but the centre piece was a superb early Georgian amethyst and diamond necklace, wet in solid gold – 132 dark, matching amethysts, arranged in florets linked with diamonds. It is the loveliest thing I have ever owned.
However, times change, and this was a piece to be worn at dinner on beautiful shoulders with a gorgeous gown. I wore it at home once, just to try it, but (unsurprisingly!) felt uncomfortable in it. We eventually put it in the bank – for safe keeping and because I could see I wasn’t ever going to wear it. This all bothered me because she was someone who loved beautiful things and I’m sure that it was not her intention that I should hide it away. However, I didn’t know what else to do about it and I certainly didn’t want it stolen, for example if our home were ever to be burgled.
When the Visitors’ Centre project was launched we didn’t see how we were going to be able to afford the kind of contribution we would have wished to make until one night, in the small hours when I couldn’t sleep, the idea very clearly came into my mind that I should sell the necklace, and give the proceeds to the appeal, but earmarked specifically for the garden (which we had been told would be at the back) to be named for her.
This seemed to me to be such an absolutely right thing to do. She would be remembered in a living way, with a cathedral garden combining the elements of faith and love of growing things which had both been such fundamental parts of her life and our relationship. If it were to be enjoyed by children, whom she also loved, so much the better.
end of quote
Christening Records
Irene Mary Ackers, christened April 30 1887, Rock Ferry, Cheshire, father Frederick James Ackers, mother Mary Ada Ackers.
In the 1891 census New Ferry Park, Lower Bebington, Cheshire.
Head Frederick Ja. Ackers, age 42, Clerk in Holy Orders, born Ardleigh, Essex.
Wife Mary Ada Ackers, age 34, born Eccleshall, Staffordshire.
Daughter Irene Mary Ackers, age 4, born New Ferry, Cheshire.
Visitor Reginald Curran, single, age 17, scholar, born Montreal, Canada (British Subj.)
2 servants
In the 1901 census The Rectory, Normanton le Heath, Leicestershire.
Head Frederick J. Ackers, age 52, Clergyman (Church of Eng.), born Ardleigh, Essex.
Wife Mary Ada Ackers, age 44, born Eccleshall.
Daughter Irene Mary Ackers, age 14, born Rock Ferry, Cheshire.
Mother-in-Law Mary Yates, widow, age 76, living on own means, born Eccleshall.
Cousin Lilian Blanche Yates, single, age 45, professional singer, born Newcastle, Staffordshire.
A border and 2 servants.
In the 1911 census 34 Schubert Road, East Putney SW, London Irene Mary Ackers, Boarder, age 24, single, teacher high school for girls, born Rock Ferry, Birkenhead. There are 4 other teachers and a servant.
Mentioned in her father’s will, probated August 20 1921. She is mentioned as a spinster.
1939 England and Wales register
University Hostel for Women Students, Manor Hall, Clifton Hill, Bristol, Gloucestershire
38. Irene M. Ackers, born March 16 1887, single, Vice-Warden University Hall Residence, Air Raid Warden
The Warden is listed next and last for that address.
In the October to December 1966 death index Irene M. Ackers died age 77, Weston-super-Mare district, Somerset, volume 7c, page 352.
[Actually age 79.]
National Probate Calendar
Irene Mary Ackers of The Anchorage Rodney Stoke near Draycott Somerset died 1 December 1966 at St. Michaels Home Axbridge Somerset Probate Bristol 1 March 1967 to Midland Bank Executor and Trustee Company Limited. 6795 pounds.
From Irene Ackers Legacy
https://www.ourchildrenschildren.co.uk/Irene-Ackers-Legacy
The garden is named by a lady, who as a young girl, was befriended by Irene Ackers, her grandmother's lifelong companion. Irene was a single woman and an able academic, who had retired from the wardenship of a university hall of residence to a small village. They shared interests in gardening, modern languages and their Christian faith.
Irene left her some beautiful jewellery that she felt was too grand for her to wear and was left in the bank safe until, much later, she realised that this was not what her mentor would have wanted.
She had it valued, sold by Sotheby's and the proceeds given to fund a garden dedicated to the memory of her benefactor.
The Irene Ackers' Garden
The garden area is designed to be a space that can not only be enjoyed as a tranquil oasis in the centre of Derby, but will also in itself have an educational and interpretative function.
and also
The Irene Ackers' Story.
Irene Mary Ackers was born in the late 1800s, the only child of the Rector of Normanton.
She absolutely adored and was adored by her parents, but her mother died when she was quite a young child and her father remarried not too long afterwards. This was a shock to her, compounded by the fact that her stepmother promptly arranged for her to be sent away to school in Switzerland, and she never overcame the feelings of rejection and hurt that this created. The result was that she loathed her stepmother, while maintaining adoration of her father – however illogical this may have been. She was extremely clever and took a First in French at Somerville college, Oxford. Her contact with my family started when in the 1920’s she successfully applied for the post of Vice-Warden of the University Hall of Residence where my grandmother, also a class 1 academic, was Warden. My grandmother had been widowed at the end of WW1, and she and Irene became devoted friends as well as colleagues and intellectual soul mates.
Eventually they retired together. Irene never really recovered from the death of my grandmother, whom she nursed through her final distressing illness (it wasn’t called Alzheimer’s in those days) with great skill and deep devotion. On her own death, she was buried with my grandmother, which had been the wish of them both.
During the second war Irene was very active in the voluntary nursing sector, particularly during air raids, and was awarded the MBE (I still have this) for services. She was a keen Guider, reaching Commissioner ran. Her students admired and respected her and I gather there was many a battle of wits.
I really got to know her well when we used to visit her and my grandmother in the holidays. They had retired to a small country village, to a cottage with a huge garden. There weren’t any other children of our age in the village which made it quite lonely, so I used to spend a lot of time with her in the garden. This was her ‘job’ while my grandmother ran the house.
She taught me everything I could absorb about plants, growing and cherishing them and much more. Her special favourites were sweet peas, artichokes and the wonderful fig tree that grew on the south wall. She kept and showed angora and other rabbits, and had an orchard full of hens. She was also an avid beekeeper. She was a fount of knowledge about all these, and I loved following her around and being allowed to feed, stroke and groom the animals. I had just started to learn French at school and we used to try it out on each other, much to the amusement of my mother, who had a First in French. I owe Irene in part my own lifelong love of languages as a living means of communication rather than a text book study.
She enjoyed sharing her enthusiasms with me and we got on famously despite the age gap. Apart from my grandmother she made no friends in the village. She was, if the truth be told, a bit of an intellectual snob, though I didn’t realise it in those days. So perhaps she was as pleased to have my company as I was to have hers. My grandmother was not an outdoor sort of person.
She was also a deeply devoted and committed Christian, and I always felt it was this that had not only helped her to cope with the childhood traumas she had experienced, but also gave her the strength to support others so well in the war. We used to have pretty good discussions on all sorts of religious and other topics.
We used to sit for hours in the greenhouse, which was our own special place, with our secret packets of chocolate biscuits, talking and talking. She was in her 60s while I was still in single figures, but it was a deep and mutually loving relationship. She encouraged me to join the Guides and shared with me her love of books. She had been at Oxford with Dorothy Sayers and Helen Waddell, and really made me want to read those as well as a great many other writers. I think I was the grandchild she never had, and this all continued right up until she died.
When I was approaching my 21st birthday, Irene told me she wanted to give me her mother’s jewellery since she had no children of her own. She didn’t want it just to be sold when she died, since for her it had such strong sentimental value. It was all that she had of her real mother and she had treasured it all her life. I had had no idea before this that she had it. There were several rings, pins, brooches and the like, but the centre piece was a superb early Georgian amethyst and diamond necklace, wet in solid gold – 132 dark, matching amethysts, arranged in florets linked with diamonds. It is the loveliest thing I have ever owned.
However, times change, and this was a piece to be worn at dinner on beautiful shoulders with a gorgeous gown. I wore it at home once, just to try it, but (unsurprisingly!) felt uncomfortable in it. We eventually put it in the bank – for safe keeping and because I could see I wasn’t ever going to wear it. This all bothered me because she was someone who loved beautiful things and I’m sure that it was not her intention that I should hide it away. However, I didn’t know what else to do about it and I certainly didn’t want it stolen, for example if our home were ever to be burgled.
When the Visitors’ Centre project was launched we didn’t see how we were going to be able to afford the kind of contribution we would have wished to make until one night, in the small hours when I couldn’t sleep, the idea very clearly came into my mind that I should sell the necklace, and give the proceeds to the appeal, but earmarked specifically for the garden (which we had been told would be at the back) to be named for her.
This seemed to me to be such an absolutely right thing to do. She would be remembered in a living way, with a cathedral garden combining the elements of faith and love of growing things which had both been such fundamental parts of her life and our relationship. If it were to be enjoyed by children, whom she also loved, so much the better.
end of quote