Had she been born later in the 20th century, the life of my aunt Lucy Brown, who has died aged 91, would probably have taken her down a different path. She was born into a farming family in Ingleton, North Yorkshire, and left school to start work at the age of 14: Lucy’s father believed his children should go into farm service but unfortunately she wasn’t suited to the life – she didn’t like taking orders from others.
At the age of 21 Lucy decided she wanted to play the violin and worked hard to become an accomplished string player. This became her life’s passion.
Determined not to become stuck in domestic drudgery, Lucy established a career as a cook, housekeeper and then domestic bursar at schools and colleges, including Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where she played her violin alongside the boys in the school orchestra.
Lucy made her home at Ingham in Lincolnshire, and in retirement music took over her life. She joined local orchestras, played quartets with like-minded friends and gave music lessons to local children. For 15 years she arranged an annual concert for the families and friends of her pupils in the village hall – they became known as “Lucy’s tea parties”. What she enjoyed most was sharing her passion with others. She bought all her nephews and nieces a musical instrument; between the nine of us we had a large collection of recorders, violins and clarinets.
In between all this musical activity, Lucy also found time to complete an arts degree with the Open University.
In her 89th year she moved to a home in the north-west of England to be nearer family. There were one or two things about communal living she disliked: the music played and the difficulty in finding someone to play Scrabble with. Lucy was always practical and when she died she had made comprehensive plans for her funeral, including the choice of music.
She is survived by her sister, Mary, and by her nine nephews and nieces.
