'Fun, outgoing and adventurous' Nellie dies at 107

Published on Wednesday 15 July 2009 10:09

Nellie Gembles, a proud Southsider and active community member throughout her long life, has died at the age of 107.

Friends and family members have paid tribute to Nellie Gembles who died peacefully last weekend.

Nellie was born Nellie Anderson, on 30 January, 1902 in Causewayside.

She described herself as a proud Southsider all her life and was active in her community from an early age, attending the Sunday School at St Leonard's Church, then called Grange Church.

As a child she attended Causewayside Primary with her younger sister Georgina and older brothers John and James.

Her first job as a youngster was helping to clean her grandmother's house on Forbes Street. She earned three pence for her work which she would give to her mum as a gift.

Even in her later years she never forgot her upbringing and her sharp mind could still recall details from her early youth.

She remembered watching the Band of Hope play in Duncan Street and was known to sina long to the choruses. After watching the show she would take her father, who drove a horse and cab, his tea at his stance on Salisbury Place.

Her son-in-law. Jim Reid. recalled the day when she was visited by a local councillor who was writing a local history book.

Jim said: "The councillor said it was remarkable to meet her because she could fill him in on everything. He learned so much after only speaking to her for 15 minutes."

Nellie was only 12 years old when the First World War broke out and she remembers the many evenings spent under the stairs when the air raid sirens went off.

She left school at 14 and worked full time until 1928 when she fell for fellow Southsider Howard Gembles. The couple had their first date at the Theatre Royal on Leith Street and married a year later in 1929 in the Pleasance Church.

Nellie gave birth to her daughter Helen in 1932. The family lived in a flat in St Leonard's Street. Despite Howard's death in 1984, Nellie stayed in the flat until 2005 before moving to the Cameron House Park Nursing home in Craigmillar.

Jim said: "She was always very independent. She was also very close to her neighbours and she would do anything for them."

Helen and Jim wanted Nellie to move to Wales to live with them but Nellie insisted on remaining in Edinburgh because of her friends. However she remained in close contact with her family, visiting Helen regularly in Wales until she was 90.

Jim describes Nellie's popularity as a "tribute to a lovely lady". She had frequent daily visitors to her nursing home and she was close to members of her church at Kirk o'Fields.

Her friend of 50 years, Ruby Player, described her as "a fun, outgoing and adventurous person".

In her later years she remained active and spent her time in the Kirk o'Fields social club, as well as the Salisbury and La Scala picture houses and the Empire and Churchill theatres. Jim believes her secret for a long life was drinking very little alcohol and having a get-up-and-go attitude.