Family of Cubbington sisters looks back to their tragic deaths on Good Friday 100 years ago

Family members of two sisters from Cubbington who drowned in Weston-under-Wetherley are remembering them by sharing the story of the tragedy 100 years later.
The Pickett children are pictured in front of their cottage in Church Terrace, Cubbington. The baby in the high chair is baby Iris, the boy on the left is William Pickett Jnr, known as 'Son,' and the girl at the back is Violet.The Pickett children are pictured in front of their cottage in Church Terrace, Cubbington. The baby in the high chair is baby Iris, the boy on the left is William Pickett Jnr, known as 'Son,' and the girl at the back is Violet.
The Pickett children are pictured in front of their cottage in Church Terrace, Cubbington. The baby in the high chair is baby Iris, the boy on the left is William Pickett Jnr, known as 'Son,' and the girl at the back is Violet.

Rose and Iris Pickett drowned at Weston Mill on Good Friday in 1919.

They are the late aunts of Fiona Maher who would tend their graves at St Mary’s church during her childhood.

Fiona’s mother was just three when her sisters died.

Iris Pickett taken some years before her death.Iris Pickett taken some years before her death.
Iris Pickett taken some years before her death.
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Fiona said: “The basic story was that they went for a picnic by the river and Iris aged six had new patent leather shoes on, they were slippery and she fell from a plank into the water, her teenage sister, Rose died trying to save her.

“They were buried together in a beautiful grave and Rose was posthumously awarded a medal by the Royal Humane Society for sacrificing her own life trying to save her sister.”

“Granny received enough money to have a magnificent marble grave made with intertwining rose and iris carved in the marble.

“I often wondered how my grandparents felt after coming through the Great War only to have this dreadful loss of their two little girls in peacetime.”

The girls' grave as it is today in Cubbington.The girls' grave as it is today in Cubbington.
The girls' grave as it is today in Cubbington.
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A mention of the incident and a photo of the bridge where it took place are in Gustavus Peppitt’s book on Cubbington.