After months of planning the great Prior family
gathering was held on a sunny day in April 2003 at Warren House,
Kingston-upon-Thames Surrey
Over 80 family members came to the event with ages
ranging from 10 months to 91 yrs and there were messages of support from
family who were unable to attend on the day.
The day started at 11.30 and everyone was welcomed
on arrival with tea or coffee provided by staff at Warren House.
To help identify members of the family everyone was supplied with a name
badge which also showed their relationship to George & Emma Prior.
The names of all the family were also shown on a large family tree -
which stood over 8' tall in the reception room.
Many of the family brought along photographs and
family mementoes - Peter Prior brought a photo of his father Tom's
wedding and Eva Prior was able to identify herself as the young child
sitting at the feet of GRRP in the photo. There was a "Four
Generation" picture showing Edward George, Henry, Edward George and baby
Neil Prior.
Most of the day was spent enjoyably chatting to
long lost cousins and recognising some amazing family likenesses and
swapping names and addresses - everyone who came said how much they
enjoyed the day.
After lunch there was a raffle with prizes
generously donated by the family. The star prize, donated by
Malcolm Prior the Lute Maker, was a beautifully carved fret which was
won by Pat Prior. There were jewellery and watches donated by Ian
Prior, Liz Prior's lemon drizzle cake was much admired, Gill
Sentinella donated some family honey from her own bees.
Rachel Prior chose a cookery book (donated by Amy Prior) however her son
George (10months) had his eyes firmly on the magnum of champagne. Perdita Prior was keen to win the large box of sweets which she duly did
due largely to the purchase of a large number of raffle tickets - by her
grandmother Wynne!
The children played in the gardens on what turned
out to be a beautifully sunny day and there were tours of Warren House
where Charles Prior's Chippendale style furniture (carved in 1927) was
much admired. The billiard room was well used with some members of
the family demonstrating their skills at snooker.
Due to the extraordinary generosity during the
raffle and the personal donations by family members on the day we were
able stay within the budget for the event and my particular thanks go to
David Sentinella whose help in organising the day was invaluable and
particularly in finding our grandfather's furniture at Warren House and
suggesting it as the venue for the gathering.
The day was remarkably successful and many new
friends were made and family reunited - it was a day that will live long
in the memories of all who came.
Pictures of the day
Did you take any pictures on the day that you'd
like to share? - email them to
pictures@the-priors.com
If you'd like higher resolution images suitable
for printing please email Anthony
Prior
Click each image to enlarge
