But bad times came, and very bad times they were, such as we know little about, despite all the grumbling of this modern era.

Nottingham, where the family was then located, suffered heavily, a large proportion of its poorer classes being reduced to the verge of starvation.

My father, who had invested the entire savings of his lifetime in small house property, was seriously affected by these calamitous circumstances; in fact, he was ruined.
"The brave way in which my mother stood by his side during that dark and sorrowful season is indelibly written on my memory.

She shared his every anxiety, advised him in all his business perplexities, and upheld his spirit as crash followed crash, and one piece of property after another went overboard.

Years of heavy affliction followed, during which she was his tender, untiring nurse, comforting and upholding his spirit unto death; and then she stood out all alone to fight the battles of his children amidst the wreck of his fortunes.
"Those days were gloomy indeed; and the wonder now in looking back upon them is that she survived them.