The Ient Family: Family History

Sunderland

Originally, I am from Sunderland and I was born at 12 Olive Street, Park Lane, Sunderland, in 1920. This was my grandmother’s house because my father to had go off to London to look for work after WWI. I was a big child; I was 14 pounds at birth, which was quite heavy for those days, or at any time for that matter. Strange as it may seem for the time, the house I was living in was owned by my grandmother. She took in theatrical people from the local Sunderland Empire Theatre. At that particular time, there was a sea captain staying with us on a long term basis and we got quite friendly. I was christened after him, Philip, which was with one L, which was the Greek way – he was Greek. Unfortunately, the second name was spelt incorrectly by the Registrar; we wanted to register Philou as my second name, but the Registrar wrote Filou and I’ve been stuck with that name ever since.

Talking about football Philip added:

The first match I saw at Roker Park [one of the old grounds of Sunderland AFC] was in 1924, which now means I’ve been a supporter for 80 years. I remember my father taking me there on his shoulders and being dumped down at the front on the straw. It was my first match. I’m still a season ticket holder.













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