Ettie bids Samuel Lewis Estate farewell after 90 years
18 March 2008
Ettie Annenberg who was 99 yesterday is moving out of the Samuel Lewis estate (Camberwell) after 90 years. (Pictured left: Ettie Annenberg with Angela Prickett, Southern Housing Group's London Region Director at the Samuel Lewis Estate) (17.03.08)
Esther Annenberg, (née Garcia) who celebrated her 99th birthday yesterday, is in the process of moving out of Southern Housing Group's Samuel Lewis Estate, Warner Road in Camberwell; her home for 90 years.
"Ettie" first moved into the Samuel Lewis Estate on Empire Day (24 May) 1919 when she was nine-years old with her parents and two brothers Jack and Sidney. When Ettie moved there David Lloyd George was Prime Minister and King George V (HM The Queen's grandfather) was on the throne. Hers was one of the first families to move into the estate as the two-bedroom flat was turned into family accommodation after being used as a barracks during World War I.
Ettie's memories of the flat were that the rent was six shillings a week. It still had the illustrations of nude women on the walls drawn by soldiers that had lived their previously. The flat's unique design features were: a toilet that could only be flushed by lifting the seat which provided Ettie and her brothers hours of amusement; a bath hidden by a marble slab in the kitchen; and fire places were used until central heating became standard.
Ettie is now moving away from the estate into sheltered accommodation and she said:
"I have been very happy here it used to be great fun. I am very sad to be leaving and I used to know everybody on the estate as we all grew up together. I grew up here and I brought up my sons David and Brian here."
Ettie recalls the day she moved in when there was a maypole in the square below to celebrate Empire Day. Her other recollections were:
"During the Second World War I walked from the Oval to Camberwell during the Black Out; I just got on with it. We did have a fantastic street party to mark the end of it."
Ettie had a phenomenal work ethic and trained as a seamstress. She worked in a dry cleaners all her life despite having a disability. She retired when she was 65 and simultaneously gave up smoking.
Ettie's mother sold groceries to the neighbours and when Ettie was a young woman she spent five years in hospital. She was married in 1936 and temporarily moved away from the estate. She moved back home to care for her dad when her mother died and she has lived there ever since.
Angela Prickett, Southern Housing Group's London Region Director, said:
"I am in awe of Ettie's longevity and I'd like to wish her a happy birthday and farewell; I'm sorry to see her move on. Her life experience at the Samuel Lewis Estate is marvellous and in many ways is a reflection of Southern Housing Group's founding father whose legacy was to establish life-long social housing."
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For more information please contact Karen Bermingham Communications Team on 020 7553 6479
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