Just One Street - Waltham Street off Sheffield Road in 1891

My interest in history began back in 1991 when a family friend asked me about names in my family - she started me on the path of a 30 year journey investigating my own and the OH's family trees (and I was happy to research for anyone else who asked or who looked interesting!) By 2012 I had begun to investigate war memorials as a way of finding out more about the OH's servicemen ancestors and now I am in the first year of a PhD studying Barnsley War Memorials. I've come a long way in those 30 years.

Sometimes a photo or a historical image grabs my attention because it says something about my research of all the different varieties. Today's blog post is about a page of the 1891 census return and in particular some families who I could see at a glance were people whom I knew more about.

1891 census for Barnsley, Piece 3770, Folio 120B - showing Waltham Street

I had begun the day by looking for more information about Esther Fisher who married into the Kellett family who are ancestors of the OH. I don't just go backwards in direct lines in our trees, I like to look at brothers and sisters and the families of wives and husbands who married into our families. It is always useful to examine a page of census information to see what you can find out about the area where your family lived.

Waltham Street is off Sheffield Road and useful sites for photographs of the area before the clearances of the 1930s and 1960s are The Tasker Trust and YOCOCO. You might also try the Barnsley Streets books from Pen & Sword publishers, Waltham Street appears in Volume 1.

The top of Waltham Street (with thanks to the Tasker Trust) Image ref: EGT1442

1906 map of Sheffield Road showing Waltham Street (from Old Maps)

Here is a map of the area in 1906 from the Old Maps website, which is also the date and scale of the Alan Godfrey historical maps you can buy from Experience Barnsley (for our area) and online. The houses on Waltham Street are larger than some nearby, and of later date than those on Taylor Row nearby or in Wilson's Piece on the other side of Sheffield Road. The large building at the top of the street on the left was the Rising Sun pub (details on the CAMRA ?What Pub website).

The census page above shows part of the Elliott family, who are living in a Court off Waltham Street, at the top, then:

56 Waltham Street - the Fisher family - William and Sarah with three children and two boarders Harry and Clara Sherburn. William was a Wood Turner and both he and his wife were incomers to Barnsley from Kendal in Westmoreland (now part of Cumbria). Esther, the daughter I was researching, was born in Barnsley in about 1871 and popping back 10 years to 1881 I could see that she had an older sister, Isabella, born in Barnsley in early 1868. So the family had been in Barnsley for at least 23 years by the time of the census shown above. The houses on Waltham Street were quite small, only four rooms (look in the column just before the names) not counting the kitchen. I do wonder how they fitted in the boarders, but I suppose they brought in some extra money for the family. Technically a boarder shares meals with the family, while a lodger has to provide their own. Sarah Fisher died a few months later and is buried in Barnsley Cemetery, William remarried within a year and appeared to have done well for himself moving to Park Road by 1901 (maybe his new wife had a little money - she was also a widow) and running a lodging house on Doncaster Road in 1911. Esther Fisher, aged 19 in this census return, married Alfred Kellett, who was the OH's 1st cousin 3x removed, in 1892.

54 Waltham Street - John and Mary Ledgar - an elderly couple, both from Ireland. Mr Ledgar was a Coal Carter. I hope that at the age of 70 he only had to drive the cart rather than carry the coal - but our ancestors had to do what they could to make a living. They appeared to have a lodger too - although the census entry is amended showing that John Clarke, age 24, was a separate household within their house although how they separated the four rooms is a puzzle. There was a second lodger at number 54 listed out of order lower down the page, John Corley, aged 20. Goodness knows how they fitted him in as well.

52 Waltham Street - the Law family - this is a family I know quite well as they had several sons who served in the First World War. Head of the household was Fergus Law, aged 50, a Coal Miner, his wife and five children were all fitted into another of the four roomed houses. Sons Fergus and Walter were killed and son Arthur survived service in the Royal Engineers. I wrote a post about Fergus in 2017 after visiting his grave in Rawmarsh Cemetery. Fergus Law, head of the household was born in Barnsley in 1841 and his parents had married at St George's church here, but I have not yet found details of his father during my research. He appears to have gone missing before the 1841 census return so I don't know his age or where he was born. One for the 'to do' list.

50 Waltham Street - the Jaques family - this family is distantly related to the OH as a cousin, Ernest Jaques, also married into the Kellett family.  I have researched the Jaques family back to the beginning of the 19th century in Barnsley. At least five members of the extended family served in the First World War, and there may have been more as the Jaques ran to large families and there were a number of sons the right age to have served that I haven't researched yet. Bearing in mind that consciption was introduced in early 1916 by the end of the war most men aged 18 to 50 had been called up. Tom Jaques, son of the Tom Jaques aged 21 in the census return above, was killed in 1917 at Bullecourt. Another fatality in the family was George Frederick Jaques, a cousin of the above family, who was accidently killed whilst guarding a military camp in South Shields, Durham. He was buried in Barnsley Cemetery and has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission gravestone. An older man, he had served in the Boer War. Mary Ann Jaques, head of the household at 50 Waltham Street had been widowed in 1887 when her husband Peter, a Quarryman, died age 50 at 7 Copper Street. I can find nothing about his death in the Barnsley Chronicle so I can only assume it was due to natural causes. He was also buried in Barnsley Cemetery.

A few days ago I discovered a Jaques was killed in the Swaithe Main Colliery disaster in 1875, Henry Jaques aged 27, a cousin of the deceased Peter Jaques.

48 Waltham Street - the Carroll family - is the last household on this page. One member is on the next page. I have not researched this family. 

But having looked up this page, 1891 Barnsley, Piece 3770, Folio 121F, I scanned quickly down and found a very familar name!

40 Waltham Street -the Priestley family - these were the OH's direct ancestors. Robert and Fanny Priestley, from Nottinghamshire, are his 2x great grandparents with Fanny also a Kellett before her marriage. In 1891 there were five children at home, although they had thirteen in all eventually. Robert was a coal miner at this point in time and in this census one of his teenage sons was already a hurrier down the pit. The OH's great grandmother was just six years old - my mother-in-law remembers her as her 'little grandma' who didn't pass away until 1970. I find it amazing that someone I might have known (if I'd lived in Barnsley in those days) might have been able to give me a first hand account of life on Waltham Street in the 19th century. I never knew my own great grand parents as my father and mother were by far the youngest children in their respective families.

The youngest Priestley son, Walter Clarke Priestley, who was born in 1896, a few years after the census return above, was lost in First World War in April 1918 as the Germans made their last advances. His older brothers Robert and William, who were listed with their parents in the 1891 census, both served and survived the war. The husbands of two of the Priestley daughters also served and survived. Walter, William and their brothers-in-law were all in the Barnsley Pals, either the 13th or 14th Battalions of the York and Lancaster Regiment. 

I wrote a series of posts about the Priestley family back in 2014. These two concern the First World War. The Priestley Home Front pt1 and The Priestley Home Front pt.2.

The Kellett family, who linked several of these households in Waltham Street together, came to Barnsley from Retford in Nottinghamshire between 1868 and 1874. I can see from the births of the children in the various branches that Robert and Fanny came here first and must have sent word back to their siblings and cousins as other branches arrive over the next few years. Fanny's father George Kellett and her youngest sister also moved to Barnsley before 1874. The family had been mainly agricultural labourers, although George Kellett had a stint as a toll-bar keeper and as a publican. 

Examine just part of one street and you can see inward migration, changes in occupation over time, family experience of mining disasters, the First World War and even (at a stretch) make a connection to the present day. I recommend you expand your family history into the streets around the area where your ancestors lived, you will find out so much more about the way people lived over a hundred years ago.

This is the top of Waltham Street on Google Maps today from a similar angle to the photo above. A lot of the terraced houses have been replaced by bungalows, the pub is a Chinese restaurant and you can't even access it from Sheffield Road because of some traffic calming bollards. Very different.

Waltham Street (Google Maps)

 

Thanks for reading and good hunting.

Who was A Gibson? Where did he come from? Where did he live? I love a mystery!

I am trying to identify all of the men on the Brampton Parish Hall Roll of Honour (RoH) which was brought to my attention in February this year.  This is the latest of many posts I have written about the puzzles I have found along the way.  I have identified the majority of the men but I have a few who require more work.  Most of the men on the RoH have a full forename so when I only have an initial to go on the task is more difficult.

Snip of the Brampton RoH showing Gibson A.

My first clue to the identity of Gibson A. on the Brampton RoH was in a newspaper article dated 18 January 1915.  It was from the Sheffield Daily Telegraph and was found using Find My Past's newspaper search. Find My Past (FMP) shares the same newspaper resources as its sister site the British Newspaper Archive (BNA), which has a better search engine to be honest, but as that would be an extra subscription for me sometimes I search on the BNA and use the results to look for the newspaper on FMP.

Saw Sheffield Private Killed

Private Albert Gibson, of 40, Thomas Street, Swinton, of the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment, has just been invalided home suffering from rheumatism, the legacy of a long period of duty in the trenches up the waist in mud and water. He was at Mons acting with the reserves during the retreat. He first came into action on the Aisne, after forced marching for three days and three nights. It was in the early morning that they received the command to advance and capture some German trenches. This they accomplished, and then for seven days they were confined to the trenches "potting". His friend, Harry Ballard, of Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, who enlisted with him, was killed by his side in a charge the first Sunday after they came into action.  It was between two and three o'clock in the afternoon when they left their trenches in order to charge across a ploughed field, the German trenches being their objective. These, however they did not reach, and Ballard, when about in the middle of the field was killed, his body being almost riddled with bullets from a machine gun. In another charge Gibson saw Joe Allott, a Wombwell man, fatally wounded. Allott and he had worked together in Cortonwood Colliery. Gibson was in several bayonet charges which resulted in trenches being taken and retaken. Later he went to Armentiers, where in taking the enemy's trenches several prisoners were captured, including an officer.

There is a lot of detail here and I will pick out what I spotted that might help solve the riddle of Gibson A. on the Brampton RoH.

(1) Albert Gibson used to work at Cortonwood Colliery with Joe Allott.  I checked the list of names on the Cortonwood war memorial and found A. Gibson on the first panel of 'Men who joined H.M. Forces from the Cortonwood Colliery - there are three panels of men who survived the war and one of men who were killed. J. Allott is listed on the same panel as Gibson, and yet the cutting says Gibson saw him fatally wounded. Let's assume that this means Gibson survived the war - but be skeptical.

(2) Gibson was in the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment and was at Mons with the Reserves.  So he was a regular soldier called up from the Reserve - therefore I am looking for a man who enlisted before the war and who was awarded a 1914 Star.  We know he was in the Reserves, so he had served his seven years and was in his five year reserve period when war broke out. So he must have originally joined up before 1907, therefore he was probably born before 1889.

(3) The date of the article was 18 January 1915 and the action described was the Battle of the Aisne in September 1914 - I should look for the deaths of Harry Ballard and (maybe) Joe Allott around that time.

(4) Albert Gibson was living at 40 Thomas Street, Swinton when he enlisted. It is only four miles from Swinton to Cortonwood, so he may have lived in Swinton while working at Cortonwood Colliery.

Section of the Pension Card Ledger entry for Albert Gibson (WFA)

A likely candidate for Albert Gibson is Pte 7545 Albert Gibson of 1 East Yorkshire Regiment, entered a Theatre of War 8 September 1914 and discharged with a Silver War Badge on 23 September 1915 with sickness. His Pension Card Ledger on the Western Front Association (WFA) website gives his address as 29 Thomas Street, Swinton and suggests he was married but doesn't give the name of his wife. It looks as if a pension for 20% disability was being paid up to 1923 and appeals are noted in 1928 and 1932.  Albert Gibson's Silver War Badge card gives us the additional information that he enlisted on 15 September 1903, so proof that he was a regular soldier.  His seven years would have been up by 1910, but he could well have chosen to re-enlist for a while longer, some men did.

The 1st Battalion the East Yorkshire Regiment arrived in France on 10 September 1914. They were part of the 18th Brigade, 6th Division (Long, Long Trail). This Brigade was attached to I Corps under Haig for the actions on Aisne Heights, 20 September 1914 (Long, Long Trail).

Soldiers who were killed in the First World War are usually easier to find as there are more records online covering their commemoration and burial information.  I began with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website, but despite there being 9 records for men who died from the United Kingdom called H* Ballard in the First World War none of them died in 1914 and none were in the East Yorkshire Regiment. Neither could I find Harry Ballard on the Sheffield Soldiers of the Great War website where I would expected him to be as the article quite clearly states he was from Sheffield. I searched for Harry Ballard in Soldiers Died in the Great War  (SDGW) on 'Ancestry' - nothing.  There were no other mentions in the Sheffield newspapers for this man, I would have expected an obituary or a death notice from his family in addition to the article above. It was time to try some variations on my searches.

On the CWGC website I searched for anyone in the East Yorkshire Regiment who was killed in September 1914.  That brought back 48 results. One was Henry Bolland, Pte 7796 1st Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment who died on 20 September 1914. This seems to be close enough, the right date, Bolland instead of Ballard  is understandable and Henry for Harry is no surprise.  His widow's address appeared to confirm my hopes. He had been married to Clarible (?) but by the time the CWGC records were collected she had remarried to a Micklethwaite and was living at 46, Birch Road, Attercliffe, Sheffield (Attercliffe is spelt Akercliffe on the website). He is remembered on the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial in France so that means he has no known grave.  With this information I went back to my other resources. Sheffield Soldiers notes the same information that is on the CWGC site but adds that Henry was from Heeley in Sheffield and enlisted at Beverley, this extra information looks to have been taken from his SDGW record. He is remembered on the Sheffield Council Official Roll of Honour. 

We know that Joe Allott worked with Albert Gibson at Cortonwood so I decided to look for him in the same way I would look for one of the Brampton soldiers, starting with the census records. In the 1911 census Joseph Allott, aged 30, Coal Miner and Army Reservist (useful!) was living at 1 Inkerman, Jump, near Barnsley.  He had a wife, Harriett and two children Sarah Eliza aged 3 and John aged 1.  Joe was born in Hoyland in 1879 according to the 1881 census (although 1911 minus 30 gives us 1881) where he is living with his parents William and Sarah on St Helen's Street.  He had a younger brother George who may be the man listed on the Hoyland Roll of Honour and the postcard Roll of Honour for the Elsecar Midland Working Men's Club on St Helen's Street.  Interestingly there is no mention of a J. Allott on either of these memorials or the memorial at Jump. I found Joseph's pre-war Militia enlistment records on FMP - he had enlisted in the York and Lancaster Regiment in 1902 but was immediately transferred to the Artillery.

Section of the Pension Card Ledger entry for Joseph Allott (WFA)

Joseph Allott was quickly found in the Pension Cards on the WFA website.  He was Joseph Allott Gunner 27656 in the Royal Field Artillery and he was discharged on 2 November 1915. His address was the same as in the 1911 census. There are more details on his card - he was paid 12/- for himself and 8/10 for his wife in 1921 for a few weeks for a 30% disablilty, and then reduced to 8/- and 4/8 for a 20% disability until September 1923. There are dates up to 1932 on his card but notes OK and No Action in the later years.  So if this is the same man Albert saw being shot Joe was severely wounded enough to be discharged but happily he did survive the war. Which is as we suspected after seeing him remembered on one of the Men Who Served panels of the Cortonwood Colliery Memorial.

I could not find Albert Gibson in the 1901 or 1911 census returns in Swinton or anywhere else for that matter.  However a likely hit turned up in 1891 in Rotherham Workhouse aged 8 with a sister Jane and a brother Benjamin. All three were born in Swinton. I was able to find the birth registration of Albert Gibson Bailey in Q1 1884 in the Rotherham Registration District (RD).  Both Jane Ann (b.Q4 1881) and Benjamin (b.Q1 1883) were also registered as Gibson Bailey. In November 1884 Jane Ann Gibson and Benjamin Gibson were baptised at the Parish Church in Swinton (baptism records on FMP).  Their parents were John and Ada Gibson of Swinton. John was a Glass Blower.  Oddly Benjamin and Albert were baptised again in 1898, this time from the Workhouse - their birthdates were given as 8 August 1883 and 23 December 1884 respectively.  Sadly Benjamin died in 1900 aged 17 in the Workhouse, but in the residence box someone has helpfully added 'formerly Bow Broom', which is an area of Swinton including Thomas Street where Albert Gibson lived before the war.  Just imagine, Benjamin was baptised aged 14 and died aged 17 - this suggests to me that he was sickly as surely they would have tried to find work for him before that?

Snip from the 1930 Ordnance Survey map for Swinton showing Bow Broom
The road running top to bottom on the left is Thomas Street (from Old Maps)

This map snip shows the Bow Broom area of Swinton and the houses on Thomas Street. A later map includes the numbers and so I know that the lowest house shown here is number 40 and that the numbers run contiguously from north to south, not odds on one side and evens on the other.

I was able to find John and Ada in the 1881 census living at 8 William Street in Swinton. John was from Sunderland (which was an exciting moment as I was born in Sunderland!) and Ada was from Adwick, Yorkshire.  There is no record of them ever having married, which is no doubt the reason for their children being registered as Gibson Bailey.  Ada appears to have been a bit of a character appearing in court reports in the local newspapers in 1882 and 1886; on both occasions it was for fighting with another woman after a quarrel.  In the latter report Ada is Rotherham Workhouse, so we can assume that her children had been there from at least that date. There is no further sign of John Gibson but Ada Bailey married John Bloore in Q1 1891 (while her children were in the Workhouse!) and in the 1891 census return (5 April 1891) she is living with him at 16 Hicks Square, Glasshouse Road, Kilnhurst, near Rotherham and only two miles from Swinton. They already have one child, Harriet Ann aged 1 born in Kilnhurst. I am 100% certain this is the same woman as she gives her place of birth as Adwick and Harriet Ann's mother's maiden name is given as Bailey in her birth registration Q1 1890 in Rotherham RD.  I can find only one Ada Bailey of the right age born in 1862 in Adwick upon Dearne, to Charles and Emma Bailey.

Ada and John Bloor (also Bloore, Blower and Blewer) were living in Denaby Main at the time of the 1901 census by which time Sarah Ann, Polly and Mary had come along to join Harriett. Ada Bloor(e) continues to have an interesting life. She appears in the Mexborough and Swinton Times on 4 March 1905 accusing another woman of using obscene language towards her.

Obscene Language at Denaby Main

A lady who rejoices in the somewhat ill-fitting cognomen of Matilda Spruce, and who is described as a married woman, of Denaby, was summoned by another lady, by name Ada Bloore, for using obscene language towards her, on 21st February. The complainant stated that the defendant was always calling her filthy names, and that she wanted a stop putting to it. Defendant denied the insinuation that she used filthy language, stating that she was a respectable women. The Bench dismissed the case, whereupon the defendant, who only restrained her evident surprise and glee as "having won the day", with difficulty said: "Thank you sir, have I anything to pay?"  Upon being informed she could go, the defendant excitedly waved her "fur boa" in the air and exclaimed: "Three cheers", and merrily bounced out of court.

Despite her abandonment of her first three children in the workhouse (presumably after her desertion by John Gibson) I had hoped Ada found some happiness with John Bloor. Sadly it was not to be as he died in 1907 and by 1911 Ada is living with a John Hegin on Manningham Road in Attercliffe, Sheffield. This is definitely the right woman as the Hegins have Polly and Mary Blower living with them and Harriett Ann and Sarah Ann Blower are listed and then crossed out, all as step daughters - presumably because Ada gave her older girls names to the person who filled the schedule in for her (she signs with a x) before telling them that the two oldest were not living with her at that time.  Again I can find no sign of a marriage for Ada Bloor or Bailey to a John Hegin, but as the form was filled in by someone else and Ada was illiterate Hegin may be just as poor an intepretation of what was said at the time as Blower was for Bloor.

Having digressed to follow Ada around Yorkshire I must get back to Albert Gibson as he was the orignal object of this post.

In the 1918 Electoral Register an Albert Gibson is living at 39 Thomas Street in Swinton which is obviously very close to number 40, the address given in the newspaper article I first found. There are three other men at the address, Frank Arthur Waite, Leonard Hanking and William Abbott, although Abbott is marked as an Absent Voter in the Forces.  Albert is at the same address every year up to and including 1934, with various other occupants. In 1920 Grace Mary Abbott is listed there but no sign of  William Abbot, but Albert Gibson, Frank Arthur Waite, Leonard Hanking are there plus two other men. Grace Mary Abbott is still at 39 Thomas Street with Albert Gibson in 1934 and so is Frank Arthur Waite, now joined by Ethel Waite.  Albert would have been 50 years old by this time.

Section of 1939 Register for 39 Thomas Street, Swinton (from FMP)

Of course this turns out to have been all too simple ... at the same address in the 1939 Register I found Grace M Abbott apparently born 29 November 1852 and Albert Gibson born 22 November 1917!  There are two redacted names between these two people.  This cannot be the same Albert Gibson named in 1918 - he would have only been 1 year old!  And the birth day and month do not match that given in his workhouse baptism record. Is this a mistake? or his son? or a complete co-incidence?

1911 census for 40 Thomas Street, Swinton (edited to save space)

If Grace Abbott was indeed born in 1852 that made her 87 years old in 1939, which seemed a good age, so I thought I would investigate her.  Jackpot! In the 1911 census William and Grace Mary Abbott are living at 40 Thomas Street, Swinton, the very address Albert Gibson gives in the newspaper report in 1915. Grace Mary Abbott gives her age 57, which is within two years of the birth year of 1852 she reported in 1939. William and Grace say they had been married for 40 years and reported twelve (!) children to their marriage, of whom eight were still living in 1911. Only two of their children were still at home when the census was taken, but they also had two nephews living with them.

It seemed that despite the smallness of the house, with only four rooms declared, they managed to fit six people in somehow. This obviously continued for many years, but boarders/lodgers replaced children and nephews. An Albert Gibson appears to have lodged with them for many years, and Albert Gibson the soldier says he lived at 40 Thomas Street, but whether, over the years, it was the same man or two men with the same name, has not been demonstrated yet. 

One thing that may make sense is that the William Abbott who was an Absent Voter in the 1918 Electoral Register was probably the William Abbott jnr listed on the 1911 census as 13 years old.  I have mentioned before men aged 19 and over and in the Forces were also able to vote in 1918, so William jnr at 20 would have been listed.

For the sake of completness and with my fingers crossed I checked the 1901 census for Thomas Street. William and Grace Abbott are at 38 Thomas Street with five children. Grace gives her age as 48 years, that is born in 1852/3 in agreement with the 1939 Register.  William said he was 50 years old, but in 1911 he gave his age as 65.   That would have made him 72 years old in 1918, defintely too old to have been in the Services as an Absent Voter.

Remember this for later ... Jonathan Abbott aged 23 born in Normanton near Wakefield is living at 40 Thomas Street just two doors away.

It took a couple of looks for me to spot something strange ... in the 1901 census William and Grace's children are listed out of order and there is someone missing.  (in the lists below 'Do' means ditto)

William Abbott    Head    Married     M    50    

Grace M     Do     Wife    Married     F    48

Harriett       Do    Dau       Single        F    18

Sarah Jane    Do    Dau    Single        F    13

Albert         Do    Son      Single        M    19  (which has been over written in very heavy ink)

Hannah L    Do    Dau    Single        F    11

Edith L        Do    Dau    Single        F    8

I looked back at the 1891 census entry for the same family and found them at 38 Thomas Street in Swinton.

William Abbott    Head    Married    M    44

Grace     Do        Wife    Married    F    37

Thomas    Do       Son    Single    M    15

Jonathan    Do    Son    Single    M    13

Francis    Do        Dau    Single    F    10

Harriett    Do        Dau    Single    F    7

Grace        Do    Dau    Single    F    5

Sarah Jane    Do    Dau    Single    F    3

Amelia Eliza   Do    Dau    Single    F    1

Can you spot the difference?

(1) Where is Albert aged 9 in 1891?  If Albert is actually 10 in 1901 which would better fit the placing in the list, why has it been heavily written over as 19 to emphasise it?

(2) Where is William Abbott jnr in 1901, if he was 13 in 1911 he should be 3 in 1901?

I should comment on one of the girl's names - Amelia Eliza in 1891 becomes Hannah L in 1901 - that could just be transcription and enumerator error.

And look ... Jonathan Abbot who was living two doors away in 1901 is the right age to be their son shown as 13 in 1891 and ... both were born in Normanton. So by 1901 the Abbott family were occupying two houses, numbers 38 and 40.

I went back to check 1911.  The name of the person who filled in William and Grace's census form was Albert Edward Cook, he also filled in the census form for the house two doors away, where he appeared at the top of the schedule as 'Nephew' not the head of the household ... and this house was apparently also 40 Thomas Street!  A closer look suggests that actually William and Grace were living at number 38 according to the address information on the page following their return and number 40 was occupied by six men, four nephews and two boarders with, as we have noted, no head of household indicated. The name given on the address information was also W. Abbott. So the Abbott family was still occupying both houses and number 40 - the real number 40 was being used as a kind of lodging house.

Back to Albert ...

 

I hoped I wasn't on a wild goose chase ... but maybe William and Grace took Albert Gibson in as a lodger when he left the workhouse and the enumerator mistakenly listed him as their son in 1901. He wasn't have been living with them, in either house, in 1911, maybe because he had joined the army in 1903 and stayed on a bit longer than his seven years, but it seems to fit that in 1915 he gives the address of their second house, the lodging house, 40 Thomas Street as his home.

I needed to check William and Grace's children on the General Register Office (GRO) online index of births. I prefer to do this on the GRO because mother's maiden names are not recorded before 1911 on the FreeBMD or Ancestry indexes.

Let's take Harriett Abbott, she's in both census returns.

Born 1883 or 1884 in Bolton upon Dearne (which would be in the Doncaster RD)

Abbott, Harriet Robertson [mmn] Robertson

GRO Reference: 1883 J Quarter in Doncaster Volume 09C Page 722

Ok, now Sarah Jane Abbott, born 1888 in Swinton (which would be in the Rotherham RD)

Abbott, Sarah Jane [mmn] Robertson

GRO Reference: 1888 M Quarter in Rotherham Volume 09C 654

We have established that Grace Mary's maiden name was Robertson, and sure enough on FreeBMD I found the marriage of Grace Mary Robertson to William Abbott in the December Quarter (Q4) of 1872 in the Pontefract RD.  That makes Grace Mary Robertson 20 years old when she marries William, a very reasonable age.

Here's the crunch ... is there an Albert born to this family, surname Abbott mmn Robertson in either 1882 or 1891. This is what I found.

Tamar Howarth Abbott b.Q3 1872 in Pontefract

William Oath Abbott b. Q3 1874 in Pontefract

Thomas Robertson Hoult Abbott b.Q2 1876 in Pontefract

Jonathan Robertson Abbott b.Q2 1878 in Wakefield

Frances Tamar Abbott b.Q4 1880 in Barnsley Union

Harriet Robertson Abbott b.Q2 1883 in Doncaster

John William Abbott b.Q1 1885 in Rotherham

Grace Ann Abbott b.Q1 1886 in Rotherham

Sarah Jane Abbott b.Q1 1888 in Rotherham

Hannah Eliza Abbott b.Q2 1890 in Rotherham

Edith Elizabeth Abbott b.Q3 1893 in Rotherham

Eleven children born to William and Grace Mary Abbott - not the twelve they declare in 1911, but sometimes people counted miscarriages. No Albert! And no William Abbot jnr born in 1898.  We will never know for certain but it does look as if Albert Gibson could have been living with William and Grace Mary Abbott at 38 Thomas Street in 1901 and later in the other house they owned, the lodging house at 40 Thomas Street two doors away. 

When a stray child like William Abbott jnr turns up in the household of an older couple one common reason is that they have taken in a grandchild by a daughter to help her out. 

I haven't found deaths for Albert Gibson, or Ada Hugin/Bloor/Gibson/Bailey yet so their stories are not completely finished, but that is enough for today.  This has turned  into a mega post!

Thanks for reading.

References:

1939 Register, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/1939-register, accessed 28 June 2020.

British Newspapers, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers, accessed 28 June 2020.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission, https://www.cwgc.org/, accessed 28 June 2020.

General Register Office, Online ordering service, https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.asp, accessed 28 June 2020.

Long, Long Trail, 'Enlisting into the army', https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/enlisting-into-the-army/, accessed 28 June 2020.

Pension Records, Western Front Association, https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/ancestry-pension-records, accessed 28 June 2020.

Sheffield Soldiers of the Great War, http://sheffieldsoldierww1.co.uk/Home.html, accessed 28 June 2020.

UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1543/, accessed 16 June 2020.

James and Albert Crawford First World War Soldiers from Concrete, Brampton

The section of the Brampton RoH showing James Crawford's name

I have been investigating the Brampton Roll of Honour which hangs in Brampton's Parish Hall since February this year. For briefness I will refer to it as the Brampton RoH or just the RoH.

There are 100 names listed on the RoH, 22 of these men (and they are all men) were killed in the First World War, the others survived to return home to their families.  I have found census data allowing me to establish who these men were and where they lived for 91 of these names and military information for 73, an increase of one since my last post. 

I have also begun to collect a list of men from the area covered by this memorial, ie the Concrete Cottages and Wath Junction, who served in the war but who were not listed on the RoH.  There were three additional names on the Cortonwood Wesleyan Methodist Roll of Honour (found online) which are not on the Brampton RoH, 29 more men were marked as Absent Voters in the 1918 Electoral Roll for Brampton or Wombwell South (the wards which include Concrete and the Junction and which available on Ancestry.co.uk) and three more have been found (so far) in the local newspaper, the Mexborough and Swinton Times (MST).

The Mexborough and Swinton Times was added to the British Newspaper Archive this month, June 2020 (also available on sister site Find My Past). It covers the southern part of Barnsley including Wombwell, Great Houghton, Thurnscoe (all within the modern Barnsley boundaries) plus Brampton, Wath, Swinton, Mexborough and Conisbrough. In the last two days, purely with a search on the word 'Concrete' I have added three more names to my research list, including one man from Concrete, George Clark, who was killed.

One odd thing about these additional names is that they include men who are the brothers of men who are listed on the Brampton RoH. We could suggest a couple of reasons for this, maybe they moved away from the area before the list was compiled? Possibly so, but many of the men listed on the RoH, despite living in Concrete earlier in their lives, were already living away from the area in 1911.  Maybe their families did not want them included - which is strange if one brother is listed but not another.

James and Albert's names on the Cortonwood Wesleyan RoH

For this post I am focusing on James (b.1896) and Albert (b.1891) Crawford, brothers who were both killed in the war. James Crawford is named on the Brampton RoH, Albert Crawford is not, but I had found him on the Cortonwood Wesleyan RoH alongside his brother.

They were living at home, 11 Wath Road, Wombwell Junction, with their parents James snr and Emily Crawford in 1911. Also listed on the census return is another brother, William (b.1893) and a sister Rose (b.1901). The return states that Emily has been married for 20 years and has had five children, one of whom had died before 1911. A search of the General Register Office (GRO) indexes tells us that Ann Crawford was born in 1895 and died the same year. These searches can be carried out in five year chunks using a surname and mother's maiden name. They are very useful for discovering the absent children that the 1911 census additional information tells us about. According to the census only Rose was born in Wombwell, the other children having all been born in Worsborough Dale.

James Crawford snr and Emily Pickard had married in Worsborough Dale (the second 'o' was lost from the area name in the early to mid 20th century), about five miles from Wath Junction, on 31 December 1890. James was originally from Thirsk, North Yorkshire and Emily from Otley, West Yorkshire (according to the 1901 and 1911 census returns), although in the 1891 census when James and Emily were living with her parents in Worsborough Dale, all her family (including James Crawford) are listed as being from Worsborough Dale itself.  This is an error as the 1881 census tells us that Emily's father William Pickard was from Otley, her mother Hannah from Darfield, Emily and Samuel, the older of three children, from Otley and Herbert, the youngest child, from Darfield. So the family moved around quite a bit, Otley being about 44 miles from Darfield.  It is always best to cross-check information found on a source as transcriptions or information given to the census enumerators or even to clergy for marriages, baptisms or burials can often be in error.

The Cortonwood Wesleyan RoH helpfully tells us that James was in the K.R.Rif., the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and gives us his Service number 467. This information tallies with his Service Records which have fortunately survived (60% of these records were destroyed in the blitz during the Second World War) and his entries on Soldiers Died in the Great War (SDGW) and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) website. He was killed on 18 June 1916 and his CWGC entry confirms that his father was James Crawford, of 11 Wath Road, Wombwell, Barnsley and that he was buried in the Cambrin Military Cemetery in France. His SDGW entry adds that he was killed in action and that he was born in Wombwell - which is therefore in disagreement with the 1911 census return. The information about his regiment reminded me of another memorial in Wombwell - the Church Lads Brigade memorial in St Mary's Church which was affiliated to the King's Royal Rifle Corps. Sure enough a Crawford, J. is listed there as well. He is also listed on the Wombwell Reform Club Members RoH in the Killed in Action section at the top alongside a Crawford, A. Pte. Y.L.

Two Crawford men named on the Wombwell Reform Club RoH

According to the Cortonwood Wesleyan RoH Albert was in the R.N. Lanc. Regt., Service number 31329. Tracing Albert's records was more complicated. His CWGC entry tells us that he was in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment Service number 42151 (could someone have confused Loyal with Royal when preparing the Cortonwood RoH?) - this is the correct man as his parents are listed as Mr and Mrs J Crawford of 11 Wath Road, Wombwell. We also discover from this record that Albert was married, to a Mabel F. Crawford, and that her address at the time the CWGC information was collected was 4 Hough Lane, Wombwell. Bear in mind that the addresses for widows do not necessarily reflect the place where a soldier lived before he enlisted. Widows often moved after a man's death, maybe to return to their parents' home, or after re-marriage. Albert's SDGW entry adds that he was formerly in the York and Lancaster Regiment Service number 44591 and that he was born in Worsboro' Dale - which is correct according to the 1911 census return. He was killed on 4 November 1918 and was buried in the Mazinghien Communal Cemetery in France. Interestingly the additional documents on the CWGC page for Albert Crawford include a Graves Registration form which tell us that he was one of eleven Loyal North Lancs men killed on that day buried in that cemetery which suggests that a significant action had taken place (in my opinion). There seems to have been some confusion about his identity at some point as the type written entry reads 42151 Crawfers Pte.A. which is overwritten in ink, 44591 Crawford. Note that this is his Y&L Service number!

Graves Registration for Mazinghien Communal Cemetery CWGC

Now having the information that Albert had initially served in the York and Lancaster Regiment the Wombwell Reform Club entry makes sense.  Both James and Albert are also listed on the main Wombwell memorial outside St Mary's church - but as these names were renewed and updated in the last 10 or 20 years (see a photo from the 1930s on the Yococo website) it cannot be ruled out that they were added during the update.

Albert Crawford and Mabel Florence Hazzard had married on 23 May 1918 at Wombwell Parish Church and that record states his occupation is miner. So when did he join the Army? If it was after their marriage he was not long in the forces before he was killed. Barely enough time for initial training compared to the men who enlisted earlier in the war. After his death two death notices appear in the Mexborough and Swinton Times (MST) on 23 November 1918, one from Mabel and one which names his parents, James and Emily, giving their address at 11 Wath Road. Albert's photograph appears in the newspaper the following week, although it gives his regiment as the York and Lancaster, despite the death notice the week before more accurately reporting him in the Loyal North Lancs.

Albert and Mabel do not appear to have had any children. Mabel remarried in the September quarter of 1923 to Samuel Wardell (according to FreeBMD) and bore him two children, Albert in Q3 1924 and Mabel in Q4 1926. It is touching to see that her first child was named after her previous husband. In the 1939 Register the couple were living at 25 Cemetery Road in Wombwell with Albert and a redacted entry, probably young Mabel. In the comments column at the far right it was noted that Samuel was an Air Raid Warden.

Albert Crawford's Pension Card from the WFA website

So why was Albert not included on the Brampton RoH?  It could be that his wife Mabel did not know about the RoH or did not want him included. It could be that at the time of the compilation of the memorial there was some uncertainty about Albert's death.  However Albert's Pension Card (on the Western Front Association website and also available via Fold3 on Ancestry) states that his death was notified on 27 November 1918 which is not a long delay. This tallies with the date of the death notices published in the MST on 23 November.  On the Pension card Mabel's address has been changed from 4 Hough Lane, Wombwell (the address we saw above on the CWGC entry and the address from which she married in May 1918) to Laurel Dene, Lepton, Huddersfield so maybe she was living away from home for a while (there is no mention of her second marriage on the card). But why would his parents James snr and Emily omit him? It seems unlikely that a list of 100 men was compiled as soon as the Armistice was announced - and that the news of Albert's death came too late for him to be added. Could it be because he enlisted so late? Was the RoH compiled before his enlistment?

James and Albert are listed side by side on the Cortonwood Wesleyan Methodist RoH and the Wombwell Reform Club RoH but not on the Brampton RoH. And what happened to their brother William (b.1893), he was the right age to have served in the war and but I have found no military records for him yet. More questions that require further research if I am ever to understand this document.

William Crawford married Winifred Carr in Q3 1918 and I have found them in the 1939 register. They had two children, Albert b.1920 (another named after the Albert who died in the war?) and Joan b.1923. I have also found them in the 1939 register living in Hemingfield near Wombwell. William dies just two years later from the same address 16 Garden Grove, aged just 48. He predeceases his parents James snr, who dies in 1945 and Emily, who dies in 1948. They are buried in adjacent plots in Wombwell Cemetery. Sadly whilst searching in the Cemetery records I discovered that Rose Crawford who had married Lionel Hawksworth in Q1 1919 died in January 1922 and was buried from 11 Wath Road, her parents' home. This means that James snr and Emily outlived all their children.  The only consolation that I can find is that Rose gave birth to a daughter, Bessie, in 1920, who in 1939 is married and living with her widowed father and his mother in Wombwell. 

I have not yet confirmed which organisation compiled the Brampton RoH or when it was drawn up. It was apparently discovered in a poor state in the papers of a Brampton Parish Clerk as he handed over to a new incumbent very recently.  The discovery of the document was reported in October 2018 in the local parish council magazine where it was also noted that the former Parish Clerk had retired on 31 March 2018 after 32 years service!  So the RoH had been hidden away for many years.

Thank you for reading.

References:

1939 Register, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/1939-register, accessed 16 June 2020.
British Army Service Records, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1219/, accessed 17 February 2020.
Census returns, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/ukicen/, accessed various in February - June 2020.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, https://www.cwgc.org/, accessed 16 June 2020.
Cortonwood Wesleyan Methodist Roll of Honour, My Methodist History, https://www.mymethodisthistory.org.uk/topics-2/war_memorials/a_further_204_late_returns/cortonwood, accessed 9 March 2020.
General Register Office, Online Ordering Service, https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/login.asp, accessed 16 June 2020.
Mexborough and Swinton Times, British Newspaper Archive, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/mexborough-&-swinton-times, accessed 15 June 2020.
Parish News, Issue 21, October 2018, Brampton Bierlow Parish Council, https://www.bramptonbierlow-pc.gov.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_docs/brampton_bierlow_oct_18_3_0.pdf, accessed 16 June 2020.
Parish Records for Worsborough Dale, Yorkshire Marriages, Find My Past, https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/yorkshire-marriages, accessed 16 June 2020.
Pension Records, Western Front Association, https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/ancestry-pension-records/, accessed 16 June 2020.
UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/1543/, accessed 16 June 2020.
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1962, Ancestry, https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/3057/ accessed 22-28 May 2020.
Yococo Image Database, Barnsley Council Online, https://wwwapplications.barnsley.gov.uk/librarydigitisation/details.aspx?imageID=2755 accessed 16 June 2020.

Distant connection - the Brampton Parish Hall Roll of Honour

It was bound to happen eventually ... I have found a connection between some of the men named on the Brampton Parish Hall Roll of Honour and my husband (aka the OH).  As I have been researching the OH's family history for the past twenty years or so I have come to realise that Barnsley really isn't that big a place. If your family has a line that stretches back two hundred years in the area, just beyond the census returns and into the realms of the parish records being the best available sources, there is a very good chance that you are connected to everyone else in the area who has equally long lines.

Quite a few years ago now I discovered that the OH's father and one of his best friends, who had for many years, with their wives, been accustomed to taking Tuesday nights off and going out for a drink together, were fifth cousins. I have shown that the OH is related to a number of his own friends, admittedly in some cases with marriage links rather than blood lines, and using the OH as an intermediary one of my BWMP (Barnsley War Memorials Project) colleagues was related to her husband!  These connections are usually via the OH's paternal grandmother Mary Blackburn; I have determined that thirteen of her great-grandparents (out of a possible sixteen) were born in the Barnsley area between 1800 and 1831. In comparison, on his mother's side not a single one of her great-grand parents were born in Barnsley!

Cropped section of the Brampton Parish Hall RoH
showing Joseph and Walter Savage's names

The connection with the Savage family is via a marriage link. In 1957 the OH's great aunt married into the Savages, a family who have been in Barnsley since about 1819.  George Savage, born 1767, his wife Mary and at least three of their eight children (that I am aware of) moved to Barnsley in time for the birth of their youngest son Joseph in 1819. They had previously lived in Newark in Nottinghamshire and George, head of the family, was a weaver. The OH's connection descends from that Joseph Savage born in Barnsley in 1819 and the two brothers on the Brampton Parish Hall Roll of Honour descend from his older brother, George Savage, born in Newark in 1806.

A short history of the Savage family by Vivian Thomas can be found in Moving Lives: Stories of Barnsley Families (Barnsley Family History Society, 2007). Vivian is the granddaughter of Walter Savage who was listed on the Roll of Honour and her article includes a photo of Walter in uniform. I confess that I have only just noticed this, my only excuse is that I bought the book years before I really started researching the OH's First World War relatives.

I have been researching the names on the Brampton Parish Hall Roll of Honour since the beginning of February. At a rate of one or two men a day, and with a hundred names on the list, it is not a quick job! Yesterday I reached Joseph and Walter Savage. I did wonder about them as Savage is not a common name in Barnsley, but with them being in Brampton I didn't immediately assume there was a connection to the Barnsley family I knew were related to my husband.

1911 census for 6 Wath Road, New Wombwell (from Ancestry)

My first search was in the 1911 census where I found the two men, obviously brothers, living at 6 Wath Road, New Wombwell, with their father George, mother Mary Jane and two other siblings, Charles and Sarah. The address is in the vicinity of most of the others I have traced on the Roll of Honour and therefore I accepted that I had found the correct men.  In a previous post I explain how most the men named (that I have researched so far) appear to come from a small area around the Concrete Cottages and Wombwell Junction.

I noticed that George Savage, the father of the assumed soldiers, was born in Barnsley in 1866, and my suspicions were aroused. It was fairly easy to find his marriage to Mary Jane Skiffington at St George's Church in Barnsley in 1886 on Ancestry and I saw that both he and his father Charles Savage were described as Publicans. I remembered that the Savages in the OH's family tree had run a few pubs so I tracked back one more generation. Charles Savage married Sarah Naylor at St George's Church in Barnsley in 1864 and his father was George Savage 'Inspector of Nuisances'. Yes, they were connected to the OH!  I wrote a post about the family in 2013.

1891 census for 1 and 2 Wombwell Junction, Guide Post Inn (from Ancestry)

In 1891 Charles Savage was running the Guide Post Inn at Wombwell Junction. George, his son, already married to Jane (aka Mary Jane), was still living in his father's household along with his sons Charles and Walter.  Charles had previously run the Melbourne Hotel on Sheffield Road in Barnsley which is where I found him and his family in the 1881 census.

1905 map snip of the Wombwell Junction area
(from National Library of Scotland)

Vivian Thompson, in her article in Moving Lives, refers to the triangle of houses with the Guide Post Inn at the apex (see map on left) as 'the three cornered hell' which seems a little harsh. She does not explain from where she got this term.

There is a picture of the pub on the Old Pictures of Barnsley Facebook site which probably dates from the 1960s as the houses behind it appear to have been demolished. In several of the comments attached to the picture the term 'three cornered hell' is also mentioned.

Walter Savage enlisted in the Royal Artillery in 1909 giving his address as 6 Wath Road, Wombwell and his occupation as Colliery Trammer. His place of birth was New Wombwell, which I have noticed is the term used for the area covered by the Junction and the Concrete Cottages.

You might have spotted that in 1911 he is listed as a Soldier in his father's census return. As George also includes a deceased child, Tom Savage, he appeared to interpret the census instructions very broadly, including all his children whether at home or not, so the presence of Walter on the return does not mean that he was living at home in 1911.

A further search of the 1911 census, now that I know Walter had enlisted in 1909, uncovered him in Kirkee, India (now known as Khadki) in an army barracks with the 81st Battery, Royal Field Artillery. Some information on the 81st Battery and the 5th Brigade of which it was part can be found on the Long, Long Trail website.  Walter's Medal Card, service number 54143, informs us that he reached a theatre of war (unspecified, so it could be Egypt or France) on 6 November 1914, which qualifies him for the 1914 Star. His rank was Gunner.  The Barnsley Chronicle on 13 November 1915 reports that he had a brief return home to Wombwell.

Corporal Walter Savage, R.F.A., on Wednesday, made an unexpected re-appearance amongst his family and friends at Wombwell Junction, Wombwell, after being absent for over six years. At the outbreak of war Savage was serving in India. The regiment was recalled after the outbreak of war, and he was drafted to France in October without having the pleasure of paying a visit to his home. He has seen a great deal of heavy fighting, but, fortunately, so far has received no injury. He was given a great reception by his old friends. Savage was once prominent in local football circles.

He was discharged on 1 January 1921 and the address he gave at that point was 74 Hawes Side Lane, Blackpool.  He had married Faith Hope Charity Pearson (lovely name!) on 24 December 1920 at Marton in Lancashire, presumably whilst on his final leave from the army. Marton is now a suburb of Blackpool and is very close to Hawes Side Lane. By 1939 he had moved around the corner to Powell Avenue. Walter and Charity (Vivian refers to her by this name) appear to have only had one child, Alice born in 1922 in Wombwell oddly enough.

Joe Savage, Walter's younger brother, enlists into the Territorial Force in June 1915 and joins the (West Riding) Royal Horse Artillery, service numbers 4050 and 831644. Joe's Service Records have survived and can be viewed on Ancestry and Find My Past. He was a tall man for the time, 5 feet 11.75 inches and with a 38 inch chest. He gives his father's address as 6 New Wombwell, but I assume this is the same as 6 Wath Road. He lands in France on 23 May 1916 and is wounded in the right leg in September 1917, but this does not appear to cause any lasting disability.  He was discharged on 13 March 1919 and gives his address as 6 Wath Road, New Wombwell. He marries Nellie Count on 21 September 1919 at St Mary's Church in Wombwell. They have three children, Betty who dies young, Jessie and George. In 1939 the family is living at 80 Wath Road in Wombwell. Joseph is listed as a Licensee - but of which pub?  Vivian's article helps again telling us that the Guide Post Inn was run by three generations of the family (although not continuously), Charles, George and Joseph before its closure in 1968.  Joseph apparently ran it for 38 years!

It is always nice to link the OH to pubs as he is a longstanding member of the Campaign for Real Ale (Barnsley Branch). But he hadn't heard of the Guide Post Inn before so I look forward to telling him his tenuous connection.

Thank you for reading.

Two Members of the Same Family both named Irving Killed in Action a Generation Apart

There are at least 154 war memorial gravestones in Barnsley Cemetery, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. These grave markers commemorate a man who has been lost in a conflict, be it the Boer War, the First World War or the Second World War by an inscription on the stone work upon or around their family's grave plot. The men in question are NOT buried in the Cemetery, most lying in Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries overseas or commemorated on CWGC memorials across the world.

Recently, from March to July 2018, a volunteer has been walking the cemetery checking every plot for these inscriptions. Wayne Bywater has now moved onto the cemetery in Bolton upon Dearne but the Barnsley War Memorials Project and myself are very grateful to him for finding and photographing so many of these memorials which give valuable family information about our servicemen. Wayne's work has added names to the BWMP First World War Roll of Honour (due to be presented to the Mayor of Barnsley in November 2018) and has identified many Second World War men for future researchers.

The gravestone that I was logging this morning is particularly interesting as it commemorates two servicemen in one family, one killed in the First World War and one killed in the Second World War. Coincidently both were called Irving. Irving Lindley was killed in action 20 November 1917 and Irving Parry was killed in action 19 November 1944.  Intrigued by this I decided to find out exactly how the two men were related.

Lindley family gravestone, plot 7 371, Barnsley Cemetery
Photo by Wayne Bywater in July 2018

The gravestone gives us lots of clues. Irving Lindley's parents were Violet C, who died in 1929 and Arthur who died in 1933. Irving Parry was their grandson.  

Arthur Lindley, born 1870 in Wombwell, married Violet Charlotte Bower, born 1875 in Sheffield, in Wombwell Parish Church on 24 December 1895. It seems they had known each other for a while for in the same church on 7 January 1894 their daughter May Lindley Bower was baptised. No father's name is given, but the inclusion of the Lindley name in the child's forenames is a huge pointer towards her parentage!

Following their marriage Arthur and Violet had three more children, Edgar, born in the September quarter of 1896 (so around nine months after their wedding), Irving, born in December quarter 1897 and Ida, born in the January quarter of 1899.  All four of the Lindley children are at home with Arthur and Violet in the 1901 census when the family are living at 28 Gower Street in Wombwell. May is listed as a Lindley and all the children were born in Wombwell. Arthur's occupation is Coal Hewer. Gower Street runs off Park Street, to the left of the 'Last Orders' pub. On Google maps I can see that there are only three older terraced houses remaining on the street, most of the housing now being modern bungalows.

The 1911 census finds the Lindley family in Worsborough Dale, a few miles outside of Barnsley town centre. Their full address was 23 James Street and that house can still be seen on Google maps. Arthur Lindley, now aged 41, is listed as a Ripper in a Coal Mine and Violet's entry gives us the following information; they have been married for 15 years, and have 3 children born alive, all three are living. Under Violet's name the whole of the next entry has been scratched out but enough is visible to suggest it did read May Lindley. Under that are the other three children. Edgar is 14 years old and a Labourer in a Saw Mill, Irving is 13 years old and a Screen Boy at a colliery and Ida is 11 and still at school.

It seems that May had been mistakenly entered on the census by her father as she can be found listed in the 1911 census at Croft House in Linthwaite in West Yorkshire working as a Housemaid to Benjamin Walker, the local Registrar of Births and Deaths.  She is 17 years old. The fact that she is not included in the tally of Violet's children on the census return could have been to cover up the fact that she was born prior to their marriage, or just purely in strict adherence to the direction at the top of the column which asks for 'children born alive to the present marriage', and of course she was born before the wedding.

At some point in the next seven years the family move to 58 Agnes Road, much nearer to the centre of Barnsley. This long street of terraced houses with several local shops runs from Park Grove to Princess Street, just a few hundred yards south of Morrisons on Westway, Barnsley.

From the Barnsley Chronicle 9 February 1918
With thanks to Barnsley Archives

The next record of the family that I have been able to find is the report of the death of the second son, Irving Lindley, born late 1897 in Wombwell, who was 20 years old in 1917. He had been working at Barrow Colliery, which is in Worsborough, until his enlistment in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. His service records have not survived so it is difficult to tell exactly when he signed up, but his service number is 41914 and his war gratuity (paid to his father after his death and which can be seen on his Army Register of Soldiers' Effects record) was only £3 and 10 shillings, we can estimate that he enlisted in November 1916, this making it likely he was conscripted. The cutting from the Barnsley Chronicle on 26 January 1918 is the source of the family's address and Irving's occupation. There are no details given of how he met his end.


We know he was in the 2nd/5th KOYLI when he was killed and that he was subsequently buried in Hermies Hill British Cemetery in the Pas de Calais area. According to the CWGC site for the cemetery there are buried on this site 70 soldiers from the UK who fell on 20 November 1917, the first day of the Battle of Cambrai, most of whom belonged to the infantry of the 62nd West Riding Division (which included the 2/5 KOYLI). Some of these graves were concentrated (gathered in from) other cemeteries after the Armistice and it not always possible to know the exact location of a particular grave. Irving Lindley is named on a special memorial in the cemetery along with 30 other men who are also believed to be buried there.

Some of Irving's story can be found on Lives of the First World War.

The Lindley family story continues with the marriage of May Lindley (or Bower) in the final quarter of 1918. Her husband was David Parry from Chapel Street, Carlton and he had been discharged from the army in December 1918, 'released to coal mining' according to his service record. This record also tell us that they married on 31 October 1918 in Barnsley Register Office, so whilst he was still a soldier. He had not served abroad probably because he was only mobilised in April 1918 and caught influenza shortly afterwards. May and David have four children, Irving born in the December quarter of 1919, and no doubt named after her brother, David, born in the June quarter of 1921 (the only one of the children whose mother's maiden name is given as Lindley, the others are all Bower), Marjorie C, born in the December quarter of 1923 and finally Hazel J, born in the June quarter of 1929. Irving Parry, their eldest son, is the man named last on the gravestone above, below the uncle after whom he was named.

Ida Lindley marries Horace William Ibbotson on 25 December 1919 at St John's Church in Barnsley. This is in the area once known as 'Barebones' because of the way the boulders of the underlying terrain protrude into the streets (although some people claim that the name was given because of the poverty and hence poor clothing of the inhabitants!) Ida's home address is 58 Agnes Road, so the Lindley's are still based there. She is 20 years old and a Machinist. Ida also chooses to remember her fallen brother in naming her children. Horace Irving Ibbotson was born to David and Ida on 31 December 1920. They also had a daughter, Violet Gwendolyne born 24 September 1927.

Edgar Lindley, the eldest son of Arthur and Violet marries last. He is of the right age cohort to have served in the First World War but I am unable to work out if he did or not. There are two possible Edgar Lindleys listed in the Medal Cards, but if he did not serve abroad, like his brother in law David Parry, then he would not be included in that record set, so he could be neither of the men I have found. Edgar marries on 20 September 1924 in St Mary's Church in Barnsley. His bride is Elizabeth Linsley (confusing?) and he was 28 years old, a miner and still living at 58 Agnes Road with his parents. Edgar and Elizabeth have a total of four children, Raymond b.1925, Irene b.1927, Betty b.1933 and Una b.1938.

We know that Violet Lindley is buried in Barnsley Cemetery on 5 June 1929 having died on 1 June. She has seen the death in war of her younger son, the marriages of her other three children and the births of at least eight grandchildren. We don't know if her son's (Irving Lindley) details were added to her gravestone straight away, or even when the stone was erected. It could have been put up at any time and the style and age of the lettering does look similar suggesting it was mostly all done at once, so maybe after the Second World War.  We do know that she had been living at Birk Avenue, Stairfoot or Kendray and she was only 54 years of age. That's younger than I am now!  She left £180 and her husband Arthur was granted administration of her affairs.

Arthur Lindley joins his wife in plot 7 371 in October 1933, just four years later. He was 63 years of age and died in Beckett Hospital. His Probate Calendar entry tell us that he had been living at 1 Birk Terrace, Kendray and that adminstration of his estate was granted to son Edgar. Arthur left £299 17s and 6d. He will have seen the birth of another grandchild, Edgar's Betty in early 1933. 

At the beginning of the Second World War a register was taken of everyone in the country (although servicemen and women are not listed on the records accessible online). These listings were used for many years afterwards as the source of numbers for the National Health Service as well as being the basis of the ration card system in the war itself. These records give the actual birth dates of the people listed, but some records are obscured (officially closed) as they belong to people who may still be alive, that is those people under 100 years old and not recorded by the NHS as dying in the intervening years.

In 1939 Edgar Lindley was living at 56 Lambert Road in Barnsley with Elizabeth. He is still a Ripper in a coal mine, although his occupation now reads Contractor as well. Only their children Raymond and Betty's records are visible, but there are two blanked out lines which must obscure Irene and Una's details.

Ida and (Horace) William Ibbotson are living on the Manor Farm Estate somewhere in Hemsworth in 1939. William is a Colliery Ripper or Stone Contractor and appears to have chosen to use his second name for official purposes. Their children Horace I (already working in Colliery Haulage) and Violet G are listed too.

In 1939 David and May Parry are living at 178 Carlton Road, Barnsley. David is a Colliery Deputy and of their children only Marjorie can be seen listed. There is an obscured line above which must hide David and another below which must be Hazel. If Irving had still been at home his record would have been visible as we know he was killed in 1944. I cannot find a separate entry for him which suggests he was already in the forces.

Irving Parry, son of David and May, joins the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in the Second World War. When he is killed on 19th November 1944 he is a Sergeant Pilot in 70 Squadron. He was 24 years old. His CWGC entry tells us that he was married to Eva Dorothy Parry and that after the war she lived at Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. He is buried in Belgrade War Cemetery in the old Yugoslavia now Serbia. You can see his gravestone on the Find a Grave website. Interestingly it is a collective grave and Irving is buried with three other airmen from the same squadron, killed on the same day. 

Irving had married Eva Dorothy Hall in the Brentwood district of Essex in the June quarter of 1943, so maybe he met her whilst he was training in the RAF.  They had only been married for a year and a few months when he was killed.

There are a couple of online trees on Ancestry for this family, so someone out there is researching these people. Maybe writing this blog will help them, and at least they will now know where to find one of their family gravestones, complete with the sad story of two men from Barnsley with the same name who lost their lives in the World Wars.