Audio for Sheila

This complete website is dedicated to the memory of Sheila who sadly died in September 2002 after a courageous battle against cancer lasting almost a year. She was a leading member of her local church at Graveny in Kent where the funeral and memorial service she had composed was held. Sheila was the only daughter of George Henry and Amelia Ann Line and the eldest grandchild of Thomas William and Susannah Line. 

Sheila met Raymond Henry Griffin in 1952 and they were married the following year. At the time Ray worked as a book-keeper for the paint manufacturer Bolloms in Sundridge Park on the border of Greater London and Kent. Later he was to work in the City of London and finally became a major player in the city`s financial centre as Chairman of a Lloyds insurance syndicate.

Soon after the London Blitz had started in earnest, Sheila had a narrow escape from death. On her way home from primary school at Lancelot Road in Downham she, and a number of her school friends were machine gunned by a German Messershmitt 109. Sheila escaped by finding cover in a garden. It is believed some of her friends were injured or killed. It was a traumatic event which was to stay with her for the rest of her life.  According to reports at the time it was the same aircraft which had been escorting bombers over London that had machine gunned and killed a number of schoolchildren in the playground of their school in nearby Catford ( South East London). There is no doubt that the pilot knew exactly at whom he was firing.

In 1941 at the age of nine Sheila, along with her cousin Alan Afford, was evacuated to Ilminster in Somerset to escape the horrors of the blitz in London. For many evacuees the wrench from family and friends was traumatic, often made worse by the hostile reception with which many were met by country people. Not so in the case of Sheila who was made more than welcome by her host at the Nelsons Arms public house in the town. The licencee, Ada Raffells, wrote this postcard (opposite) to Sheila`s mother: " Dear Mrs Line, Just to let you know Sheila is quite alright. She will be happy with us. We are only three of us, my husband and my son, 19 years old. This is a p.c of the house, so you can picture Sheila here. We will look after her, so don`t worry." 

Within months her mother, aunts and grandparents had relocated to Ilminster. It was here that her maternal grandmother Mary Noon died before the end of hostilities. It was at the Nelsons Arms that Sheila was introduced (in minute quantities) to the delights of "scrumpy" - Somerset rough cider.

In 1946 at the age of 14 Sheila was presented with a baby brother, David George Line.      Three years earlier she had been awarded a scholarship to Sydenham County Secondary School where she achieved considerable examination success despite the demands made on her time by her mother which included helping to care for her brother.

Until her marriage, Sheila lived at home at 63 Gareth Grove, Downham. After school she worked at Guys Hospital in London and then for Lloyds Bank in the City. On being asked why she was resigning from the bank she famously told her superior that it was because there were no women bank managers and no chance of one ever being appointed. She is pictured here with mother Amelia Ann Line in the garden of their Downham home. The field behind is now occupied by a secondary school. At the time of this photograph it was home to the remains of a WWII barrage balloon winch.  

Sheila married Raymond Henry Griffin on 19th September 1953 at St Andrews Church in Grove Park and honeymooned in Bournemouth. For a period they lived with Ray`s mother before moving to Barnshurst in Kent. Following a particularly serious asthma attack, they sold up and moved to Tankerton near Whitstable in Kent to escape the foul London air. It here that she gave birth to son, Andrew and daughter, Nicola.  She is seen in this picture with her father  George Henry Line on her wedding day..