Who do I think I am ? [13 ~ Part 2] ~ the family at 151 Coggins Row, Hodthorpe ...

Following on from yesterday's blog here are details of who sat on the front row in the photo below. Most of the information in italics came from a deceased uncle [and I apologise if what he says seems inappropriate. He was a straight speaking man] ...

 

NANCY [on the left at the front] ~ "skivvying all her life - spinster until she was 60, then she married Joe Colclough. She was always a bit slow" [I told you he could be straight speaking but what do I do for the sake of family history ? Fudge it ... or report what he told me ?] Nancy doesn't appear in the 1911 Census Return with the rest of the family.

LILY [second from the left] ~ "the domineering one ~ bright girl ~ worked at the George Inn, Whitwell, then head housekeeper at Epsom College, Epsom. Didn't marry. Lived at Whitwell ~ her and Nancy fought like mad. Wordly, intelligent, a bit of a snob ~ died 1975 [ish]" According to the 1911 Census Return Lily [or Lilian as she is called in the Census] was single, aged 26, and a Cook's assistant at a hotel in Chollerford, Northumberland. Her birthplace was given as 'Yorks. Harthill'.

HENRY [third from the left and my great grandfather] ~ "went to work on a farm at Belph Grange [part of the Welbeck Estate] when he was 10. In the 1871 census [when he was 14] he was an Indoor Domestic Servant at Belph Grange - as soon as he could get away from Belph [he was "tied" there] - he went to Wraighton Farm the other side of Worksop [where he worked for the Mellish family and others]. He subsequently became the farm bailiff at Hall Leys Farm, Hodthorpe [where my grandad was born]. [My late uncle also made some mention of Sammy Booth at Bonder Farm ~ did Henry work for him too ?] Henry was a very strong character. He was 96 when he died in 1947 [or thereabouts]. He worked into his 70s. For many years he wouldn't speak to his mother. He was brought up by David F......" There's a mystery as regards Henry ~ who were his mother and father ? In the 1861 Census Return his parents are named as David [61] and Sarah [62]. Henry was only 4 at the time so this would have meant his parents would have been in their late 50s when he was born ... Henry is named as their son. More likely their grandson I suspect.

  SARAH ANN [nee White] [fourth from the left and my great grandmother] ~ "came from Barlborough and St. Helens [or even Wigan]. Sarah was a servant girl at Springfield Farm [owned by Mellish]. Her father before working in the pit was a clogmaker. Died about 1926."  Did she have some connection with Hebden Bridge ? My grandad, Albert had two aunts there ~ one had a pie shop where the millworkers bought their pies. One of Fred's daughters lived there on an isolated farm ... back in the 1980s/1990s this was.

 ALICE [second from the right] ~ "married Bill Atkins from Whitwell She was [had been ?] in service and had four sons by Bill Atkins but left him and supported herself. Bill Atkins wouldn't work." According to my late uncle Bill Atkins wasn't very pleasant. I apologise for any descendants of Bill Atkins who read this !

Finally, RUTH [on the right] ~ "lived in Sheffield. Went to work the other side of Sheffield. Met and married Edwin Smith ~ he wouldn't work either. She had six children and was always on the breadline."  ]. According to the 1911 Census Return Ruth was Anice Ruth ...

Some of the women in the family don't seem to have fared quite as well as the men ... or was it always thus ? Or was it my uncle who had some fairly jaundiced views ?

I could have posted this a few hours ago but I kept looking up different things. Once you start ...

Who do I think I am ? [13] ~ a photograph taken circa 1913 ...

Whilst my father's family originally come from Over Haddon in what is now the Peak District my mother's family were [at least at the beginning of the 20th century] living at 151 Coggins Row, Hodthorpe, near Whitwell, on the other side of Derbyshire.

Here they are, my grandfather, his parents and his siblings. 

 

That's my grandad, Albert, on the back row.

My grandparents, Henry [seated] and Sarah Ann, the matriarch, next to him. Henry would have been about 53 in his photo and Sarah Ann five years younger. I always think Henry looks less than healthy in the photos I see of him but as I understand it he lived into his 90s. Sarah Ann fared less well, dying in 1929 aged 65 or so.

This photo dates from the year 1913 or thereabouts.

According to the 1911 census return Henry was "cartering coal". He was born at Belph a hamlet near Hodthorpe. Sarah Ann was born Sarah Ann White in "St. Elones" [corrected to St. Helens, Lancashire, subsequently]. They had been married for 29 years in 1911 and 12 children "had been born alive" though 2 of them had died by 1911.

It looks like a couple of them on the back row may have been to a wedding ~ they are wearing buttonholes.

To say the photo is a century old we know quite a bit about this family.

HARRY WHITE [on the left at the back] was "born out of wedlock to Sarah Ann  and probably not the son of Henry. He was a brass bandsman and played trombone ..." 

FRED [second from the left] was the eldest son. "He was in the army and had fought in the Khyber Pass and right through the First World War. He was a standard bearer for the Old Comrades [Sherwood Foresters] and went annually to the memorial service at Crich Stand near Crich, Matlock."

JOHN WILLIAM [third from the left] "was called Jack and was probably in the army during the First World War. Later he worked down the pit at both Whitwell and Manton ..." He was referred to in the 1911 Census Return as follows "Pit Boy Collier Pony Driver Below".

ALBERT [third from the right] [my grandad]. "He was aged 18 or 19 in this photo and was in the Navy, mainly on destroyers and minesweepers. He was a leading stoker. When he left the Navy he went back down the pit where he was an underground enginewright eventually [in charge of the underground machinery etc.]" In the 1911 Census Return Grandad was living at home [aged 15]. He was a Pit Boy Pony Driver (Below).

HAROLD [second from the right] ~ "he was also in the pit. His wife was from Huddersfield so eventually they moved there and he worked for the Corporation and the Electricity Board before returning to the pit at Whitwell ..."

LEN [on the right] ~ "farmer and collier. He grew a moustache because of scarring due to a bad accident. After the accident he was an engine driver and on-setter [the man underground sorting out the cage]." He was still living at home in 1911 [aged 21] and at that time he was described as a Collier Below Ground (Hewer). He was born at Belph.

 The information about the family members referred to above comes from an uncle [now deceased].

If this proves to be of sufficient interest to people I will post information about the six people on the front row.