Elizabeth Titford (Flach)

b. 19 Jan 1905 d. 28 Nov 1981 m. 29 Aug 1936 Maurice Titford b. 22 Feb 1910 d. 9 Jul 1967

Elizabeth, known in the family as Bibby, was born in January 1905 and was the seventh of Joseph and Eva's children. There had been a ten-year gap in the family before Bibby arrived and she might have been a lonely child, but fortunately Paul was born two and a half years later and so the two formed a separate little family, with a group of fond older brothers and sisters who were more like uncles and aunts and helped to cushion the blow for her on the death of their father when she was three years old. She enjoyed her schooldays at Our Lady's Convent, Stamford Hill and, like the rest of the family, was musical and learned to play the piano and later the cello.

On leaving school Bibby took a secretarial course, and it was some years later while working for the family firm that her mother's health gave cause for concern and it was arranged that Bibby should give up work in order to keep her mother company at home. She later said that it was these years being 'the daughter at home' that enabled her to maintain such strong links with the different branches of the family.

In August 1936 Bibby married Maurice Titford. The Titfords were long-established funeral directors in London. The couple made their home initially at No. 47 Bethune Road, where their first child, Maureen, was born in 1938. Following Eva 's death, Bibby and Maurice moved to Palmers Green. However their life changed abruptly when Maurice was called up to serve in the army and Bibby and Maureen were installed in a flat above St Ignatius Catholic Club in Stamford Hill. It was here that their daughter Clare was born in 1942 and in 1945 their son Michael.

After the war the family lived for a brief time at the Titford family business in Stoke Newington before moving in 1948 to Brighten Road, South Croydon, and it was here that Bibby and Maurice spent the major part of their married life and brought up their family. Bibby and Maurice worked together on the renovation and, in some cases, actual construction of buildings and workshops which were then rented out to small business tenants. After Maurice's early death in 1967 Bibby continued to manage this business until, following the onset of Alzheimers Disease in 1979, she became increasingly frail and died peacefully in November 1981.

Descendants of Elizabeth Titford (Flach)

* Maureen Titford b. 24 Nov 1938 m. 18 Aug 1965 David Froggatt

* James Froggatt b. 15 Nov 1968

* Antonia Froggatt b. 18 Dec 1969

* Clare Titford b. 7 Apr 1942 m. 27 Sep 1967 Ian Longworth

* Timothy Longworth b. 12 Feb 1975

* Alison Longworth b. 15 Apr 1978

* Michael Titford b. 25 Mar 1945 m. 6 Dec 1976 Rebecca Thompson

* Zachary Titford b. 22 Aug 1978

* Kathryn (Katie) Titford b. 12 Mar 1981

* Joshua Titford b. 27 Feb 1984