Dorothy was born to parents Leonard and Harriett (nee Weakland) on 31st March 1936 in Selly Oak Hospital, and named ‘Dorothy Jean Delaney’.  She was one of eight children, the others being Anita, Florence, Iris, Margaret, Reg, Len & Bill.

Parents Len and Harriett were both born in Green lane, Small Heath.

The family and the children settled into 12 Overton Road, Acocks Green. Dorothy attended Seven Road School.

Harriett worked days at the Button Factory and she brought work home with her and the children sat and helped her. 

Leonard worked nights at a factory in Sheepcote Street. He worked there all night by himself.  Sometimes Dorothy went down to take him something for his lunch.  He put the machines on to show her how they work.  She learnt how to work the hand press and a line of auto’s so when she got a job she could already do it.

Dorothy remembered being offered a house in Ladywood. It was an old house with an attic and a cellar.

There was no bath, so they had to have a tin bath in front of the fire and take it in turns. There was no fancy soap to wash with, it was carbolic soap or Sunlight, no hair shampoo just the soap.  They had no electric lights; the house was lit by gas lamps.  They had to go down to the cellar to put money in the meter.

Dorothy first met her husband Edwin when she was 14, she didn’t see him again until she was 17 as he was in the Air Force. Edwin Rainsford married Dorothy in 1954 and they were parents to 4 children, Ivor, Trevor, Yvonne and Deborah.

At the time of writing, Dorothy is a Committee Member of the Heartlands Local History Society, and is living in Lea Hall, Birmingham. Sadly, Edwin passed away in 1994.

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                                                                                                Dorothy Delaney 2013