Hi Maggie

I'd be interested to know the date of birth of Laura Starkey. If, as your mother believes, Laura was older than her brother, James, then she must have been still working as a companion/ housekeeper into her 70s. And Jessie would have been a very young mother.

Does your mother recall the name of the large house at The Vollan where Gladys Starkey worked ? Elizabeth Catherine Clegg, who bequeathed £1000 to Laura in her will, had previously lived and brought up her family in a large house at The Vollan, Ramsey. It was built by her late husband. Perhaps Gladys worked for the same family ?

It seems that Elizabeth had named her house in Douglas "The Vollan" after the place in Ramsey where she'd spent her married life.

Jean