'On The Naughty List'

I had to laugh yesterday! Last Christmas I videoed the film 'Elf' starring Will Ferell, James Caan and Zooey Deschanel but until yesterday afternoon it had 'hung around' on my Sky box and not been watched...

My Great Grandfather,
Walter Hobbs

Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather when the main characters father (played by Caan) turns out to be called Walter Hobbs.

A self-centered businessman, Walter is on Santa's 'Naughty List' at the North Pole and as such is the kind of 'Scrooge' like character in the film. Will Ferrell plays 'Buddy' the Elf who it turns out is actually Walter's son. Buddy's mum never told Walter about his birth and put him up for adoption instead. He ended up with Santa at the North Pole after crawling into Santa's bag of presents as a baby (Santa was delivering to the orphanage he was in at the time and had been distracted by a large plate of cookies left out for him).  The film itself is about as daft as you can get but its good, clean fun and the kind of thing Sir Norman Wisdom would have been AWESOME in. The cheesyness of the traditional Christmas spirit message is as safely cheddar as ever but its nice to watch films like this when you are in the Christmas spirit because it gives you a glimpse of the idealistic thing Christmas could be if we all really did get into singing carols together in local parks and by the side of the road.

Anyway,  the reason I laughed so much at the name is because I have THREE ancestors with the name Walter Hobbs! No wonder my luck always seems to turn sour at Christmas! I don't think any of the three were particularly naughty but perhaps Santa knows better!

The first Walter Hobbs you see here was my Great Grandfather. He was a coal merchant and had his own business based in Hughenden Rd, Hastings. He was a member of the Ancient Order of Foresters and was well-known in and about the area. Walter got married to his first wife on Christmas Day at St Michael's Church, Silverhill as well! Could he really have been on the 'Naughty List'?

The second Walter Hobbs you see here is my Grandfather. He was a 'Lamplighter' for a number of years and served in the First World War. He was very musical so it may be from him I get my musical talents. I loved my Grandad very much as he was the type to spend a lot of time with me. If I was collecting stickers or stamps he collected them as well and would bring around a few 'swops'. Sadly, he died in 1975 but I will always remember him..

The third and last Walter Hobbs you see here is of my Uncle. He was a brilliant but troubled man who was very autocratic. Uncle loved to show you how things worked or demonstrate the features of the new radio or T.V. he had bought but he wasn't a good listener like my Grandad. I would have liked to have been closer to Uncle than I was but he did not make that easy really. Still, I do have some happy memories of him which is nice!

Oh well, I guess I know now where the run of bad luck I seem to perpetually get at Christmas time comes from! With THREE Walter Hobbs's in the family I guess my family has a bit of a 'history' with Santa!