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Dordon St Leonard's, Church Road, Dordon (2026)

11/06/2026

This week’s post is linked to others in the churchyard. It covers the subject of care for the elderly in the 1950’s and we also get a glimpse of what Dordon was like in 1950, and perhaps it isn’t quite the image we have of the time!
Although the grave we are looking at is of Lizzie Thorpe who died in 1959, we will also cover Alfred Thorpe her husband, who is not buried at Dordon.
Alfred Thorpe was born on 22nd April 1879 at 46 New St, Birchmoor (see photo below).
He was the ninth of ten children of George and Ann Elizabeth Thorpe. George was a Coal Miner at the time of Alfred’s birth; however, by the time of the 1891 census he is described as being a Greengrocer - but quite often while the men still worked in the colliery their wives would run the shop.
After leaving school, Alfred became a Miner. Sadly, Ann Elizabeth died in 1899 and was buried at Polesworth.
In late 1900, Alfred married Lizzie Rooms.
Lizzie Rooms was born on the 3rd of March 1882 at Tamworth Road, Polesworth (see photo below). Lizzie was the fourth of nine children of John and Mary Jane Rooms. At the time of Lizzie’s birth John was a Colliery Deputy. Lizzie was the older sister of Reg Rooms, the Band Leader and subject of an earlier post (see photo below), and also the elder sister of Archibald Rooms who became a Baker in New Street Dordon (see photo below). She was also the aunt of Neville Allan Rooms who died at the age of seven and has also been the subject of an earlier post (see photo below).
Soon after the 1891 census, Lizzie and her family moved to New St, Birchmoor. John Rooms gave up being a Mine Deputy and became a Butcher, and for a while was successful enough to employ an assistant. It is not surprising that Alfred and Lizzie got together as they would have been close neighbours.
When they first married, Alfred and Lizzie also lived in New St, Birchmoor; in fact their first four children (of eleven) were born there.
Tragedy hit the Rooms family in 1902 when Lizzi’s father John took his own life. His business had not been going so well as many customers owed him money (see article below).
By 1907 Lizzie and Alfred and their four children had moved to 235 Long St. Lizzie and Alfred’s family continued to grow, with their last child Sidney being born on 30th July 1924.
In the 1920’s Dordon had a thriving Infant Welfare Centre and in 1925 at their annual social Alwyn (or Olwyn as she is named in the newspaper), the couple’s tenth child was mentioned as giving a recitation (see article below).
By the early 1930s, Alfred and his family had moved to The Bungalow, 123 Watling St, Grendon where Lizzie ran a Greengrocery. She had a skill for making money and rented a field near Boot Hill for £10 a year which she then rented out to be used as a Fairground. This annoyed the Farmer who had let the land as she was making more of a profit than he was - and so in 1935 there was a dispute that went to court (see article below).
Eventually Alfred and Lizzie moved to 174 Long St. Sadly Alfred developed prostate cancer and became a patient at Warwickshire County Council’s first Old People’s Home, Caldwell Grange, Nuneaton (see article below) which opened in September 1956.
Alfred died at Caldwell Grange on the 14th March 1957 (see death certificate below). He was presumably buried or cremated in Nuneaton as there is no record of him being buried at Dordon.
In 1958 Caldwell Grange suffered a setback when the home was flooded and there is a picture of the assistant matron making tea for patients while wearing wellingtons (see article below).
Meanwhile back in Dordon, in 1950 it was decided that the village needed a Darby and Joan club for pensioners over the age of 65. Dordon Parish Council debated the issue in June 1950 along with other pressing village issues which together give a vivid picture of the village at the time! For starters, the new houses at the corner of Kitwood Avenue and Coppice Drive were described as “Smokey Avenue” as the fire grates emitted lots of smoke and had to be swept every four to six weeks; the plasterwork was shoddy and the window frames weren’t good. In Long St it was reported that night soil, i.e. sewage, from the ashpits at the bottom of the gardens was being deposited on the tip area of Long St (now the doctor’s surgery and playground). Apparently, this caused an awful stench and also attracted swarms of flies. Church Road also had its problems with a plague of rats and Gawby K**b (Barden View) was also being used for unauthorised tipping due to unreliable refuse collection (see article below).
On a brighter note, Dordon Darby and Joan was established in September 1950, and Lizzie was amongst its new members (see articles below).
Lizzie died in St Editha’s Hospital Tamworth on the 24th November 1959; her death and funeral were reported in the local paper (see article below).

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

04/06/2026

This week’s post was quite difficult to research and involves a couple who were only married for 4 years.
Ernest Bayley was born on the 29th November 1900. He was the fifth and youngest child of Edward and Emma Bayley, who were subject of an earlier post (see photo below). Ernest was baptised at Dordon on the 17th February 1901 (see record below).
Edward was a Brickmaker. The Bayley family had close links with our church as Ernest’s grandfather Daniel Bayley allowed services to be held in his cottage on Church Road for about two years until St Leonard’s was built in 1868 (see article below).
By 1911 the family were living at 157 Long St. Soon after the 1911 census was taken, Ernest’s elder brother Alec died at the age of 25 after having his appendix removed. Alec was a Coal Miner; he also was a Sunday School Teacher at St Leonard’s and a member of the choir. His funeral was reported in the Tamworth Herald (see article below). From this article we know that Ernest was known as Ernie.
The 1921 census tells us that Ernest was still living at home and was working at Pooley Hall Colliery with his father Edward (see photos below).
The 1939 register records that Ernest was still living at 157 Long St with his parents and that his father Edward, now in his late 70s, had retired. By 1939 Ernest had left the colliery and was working as a Painter Brushhand. It is likely that Ernest was helping to support his parents who both lived to the age of 80.
In the summer of 1952 at the age of 52, Ernest married Edna May Biddulph. It is likely that he met Edna whilst working at the Humber Works in Coventry (see photos below) as an Inspector of Works, as this was where Edna’s father also worked. The couple’s marriage was registered in Stoke unfortunately the record isn’t clear whether this means Stoke on Trent or the Stoke area of Coventry where the Biddulph’s lived.
Edna May Biddulph was born in the spring of 1911 at St John Street, Coventry. She was the third of five daughters of Edgar and Lillian Biddulph. At the time of Edna’s birth, Edgar was working as a Liner and Etcher. By 1921 the family had moved to 187 Humber Avenue near Humber Road, Coventry (see photo below). Edgar was working as a Clerk at the Humber Motor Car Works.
So far, I’ve not been able to find out where Edna May worked after she left school.
After Edna married Ernest, she moved into 157 Long St. Sadly Ernest died on the 13th January 1956. His death certificate tells us that he had Cardiac failure and that he was still working as an Inspector of Works (see death certificate below). He left Edna £6243 16s and 8d, which would be about £139,000 today (see records below). Edna continued to live at 157 Long St until her death on the 18th August 1967.

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

28/05/2026

Before we look at this week’s post, I’d like to thank members of the Atherstone Heritage Group for pointing out that even though there is a lovely picture from the 1840’s of St Mary’s Atherstone with a spire, this was never built - but just an impression of what it could look like with one. It just goes to show that old drawings aren’t always accurate!
This week’s post involves some old Dordon surnames and hints at interesting family dynamics within our small community, including a street brawl involving 50-60 people! It also gives us an insight into how old or incapacitated miners survived after retiring before there was a welfare state.
Alfred Wallbank was born on the 9th March 1888 in Dordon and baptised on October 14th 1888 at St Leonard’s (see record and photo below). He was the second child (of seven) of Alfred and Clara Wallbank who have been the subjects of an earlier post (see photo below). This branch of the Wallbank family in fact came from Bilston in Staffordshire and are not directly related to the Wallbank family who lived in Dunn’s Lane. Alfred senior was a Miner and the family lived in Woodside Cottage, Dordon which was probably situated in Church Road.
When Alfred junior left school, he became a Miner. He is mentioned in a newspaper article in 1911 when he and a group of friends took an old car out of a shed and rode it around the village before leaving it on the Watling St to cause an obstruction. The car had no tyres and was used to run a cinematograph. The men were all fined (see article below).
In the spring of 1919, Alfred married Edith Florence Jackson.
Edith Florence Jackson was born on the 14th May 1895; she was the sixth child (of nine) of George and Ellen Jackson. Out of their nine children, they only had one son, John Oxford Jackson. The family lived at 61 Church Road (see photo below). Interestingly, although all the Jackson children were baptised at Dordon, there was usually a gap of about a year to two years before their christenings. Edith Florence was baptised on 20th September 1896 (see record below).
George Jackson was a Miner and an interesting character. He is first mentioned in local papers when in May1893 he had a fight with William Wallbank, who was Alfed Junior’s Grandfather (see article below); however, it appears that the pair became friends again.
We know that George frequented the Black Swan at Grendon (see photo below) as in 1895 he was assaulted by William Cooper, another Miner from Dordon who was fined (see article below).
After Alfred and Edith Florence married, they lived at 61 Church Road with George and Ellen Jackson. Their first child Edna Florence was born there on May 22nd 1920. In 1921 Alfred had an argument with his brother Edward and was fined 10 shillings for using abusive and threatening language. The article makes interesting reading as 50-60 people congregated in Church Road and were urging the men on to fight. Edith Florence (known as Florrie) knocked a woman named Jackson (presumably a relative) to the ground (see article below). The article paints a vivid picture of the event!
The couple had a second daughter Muriel on the 20th February 1923. Neither daughter appears to have been baptised.
Alfred and his family moved to 195 Long St, Dordon. By the late 1920s George Jackson was no longer working as a Miner due to his age and was running a small shop with Ellen. The shop sold sweets and the finest table vinegar in the village. However, in September 1928, a Food Inspector found that the vinegar was a hundred per cent artificial and George was sent to court (see article below). The case was dismissed; however, later in December 1928 the case against George was proved and he was fined £2 which, as the elderly couple were living on a few shillings a week, would have been a real hardship (see article below). Remarkably Ellen lived to the age of 85 and George 90. They both died in 1950 and are buried in an unmarked grave (see articles below).
By 1939, Alfred was unable to work and so the family fell on hard times. Alfred’s illness was probably the reason why he did not give his daughter away at her wedding in 1941 (see article below). In 1942 a benefit dance was held at the Village Hall (see article and photo below) to raise money for Alfred and his wife. This was quite a common occurrence in Dordon if a Miner could no longer work.
Alfred died on the 10th February 1955. Edith Florence or “Florrie” like her father lived to the age of 90 and died on the 19th June 1985.

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

21/05/2026

This week’s post is an example of how a family in Atherstone could all be employed in the same Hatting Industry and also how crowded houses could be in Dordon due to poverty.
It also records yet another death due to Tuberculosis.
Daisy Holland was born on the 25th January 1885 at 16 Long St, Atherstone (see photos below). She was the youngest of eight children of James and Ellen Holland.
On May 3rd 1885, Daisy was baptised at St Mary’s, Atherstone (see photos and record below). James Holland was a Hatter and Ellen was a Hat Trimmer. The 1891 census records that the whole family (six children were still living at home), apart from the two youngest children - which included Daisy, were employed in the Hatting Industry (see photos of the hatting industry below). When Daisy left school, she became a Hat Trimmer like her mother and elder sister.
In the summer of 1911 Daisy married John William Smith of Dordon.
John William Smith was born in Warton on the 11th July 1888. He was the eldest son (of two) of John Henry and Mary Smith who have been subject of an earlier post (see photo below). John Henry Smith was a Miner. By 1890 the family had moved to 26 Watling St, Dordon (see photos below). John William was baptised at St Leonard’s, Dordon on the 12th October 1890 (see record below). The family lived with John Henry’s widowed mother Elizabeth, John Henry’s younger brother Joseph, his 11 year old nephew Henry Dennis, and John Henry’s older widowed brother William and his two daughters (John William’s cousins).Bearing in mind that 26 Watling St only had 5 rooms it would have been a tight squeeze. In 1892 Arthur John, William’s younger brother, was born - making it an even more crowded house!
When John William left school, he became a Miner.
After John William and Daisy married, they lived at 26 Watling St with John William’s parents, his brother Arthur and his cousin Hannah Phipps.
The couple had four children: James Henry (born 1912), John (born 1913), Mary (born 1915) and Marjorie (born 1921). All four children were baptised at St Leonard’s.
Sadly, James Henry died at the age of 3 of Tuberculosis (see baptism, death certificate and burial record below). He was buried in an unmarked grave in our churchyard.
William Henry and his family do not seem to appear in the newspapers very much; however, Marjorie is mentioned in October 1938 when she was a Bridesmaid to her neighbour and friend Annie Jackson (see article below).
Daisy died on the 8th February 1954 aged 69; her death and funeral were reported in local newspapers (see examples below). John William died at the age of 82 on October 12th 1970. He died at 6 Whitehouse Road. His death does not seem to have been reported in the local papers.

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

14/05/2026

This week’s grave may not actually have the right pot on it! However, it is the site of the grave of one of the first teachers of Dordon school who later became Headteacher, and of her husband who has links to Grendon Hall.
Edith Green was born on the 23rd January 1880 at Baddesley Ensor. She was the second of three daughters of Joseph and Sarah Ann Green who have been the subject of an earlier post. Edith was baptised at St Nicholas, Baddesley Ensor on 11th March 1880 (see record and photo below). At the time of Edith’s birth, Joseph was a Miner. Sometime between 1883 and 1891 the family moved to 205 Long St.
In November 1892 tragedy hit the family when Edith’s elder sister Eliza Frances aged 16 died of severe anaemia which caused fainting (see death certificate below). This condition is easily treated today but could be fatal in the 1890s. Eliza Frances was buried on 19th November at Dordon (see record below).
When Edith left school, she became an Assistant Teacher at Baddesley Ensor.
When the new school was built at Dordon at the top of New St Edith was appointed as an Assistant Teacher (see article and photo below). Edith had a salary of £45 a year (which has a value of about £7,000 today). The school had enough desks for 140 pupils.
The family were doing well according to the 1901 census; Joseph had become a Colliery Deputy and both Edith and her younger sister Florence were recorded as being School Teachers.
In 1906 Edith qualified as a Certified Teacher (see article below).
By 1911 Edith had become the Headteacher of Dordon Elementary School; she was still living at 205 Long St.
On 26th December 1912, Edith married Henry James Southam at St Leonard’s, Dordon. There was a large article in the newspaper about their marriage with a complete list of wedding presents, which makes fascinating reading (see article below).
Henry James Southam was born in Dordon on 30th June 1877; he was the youngest of seven children of James and Mary Southam. Although technically living in Dordon on the Grendon Road (see photo below), the family lived near Kitchen’s Bridge, also known as Canal Bridge 49 on the Coventry Canal (see photo below) or Grendon Bridge. This last name is confusing as the medieval bridge crossing the River Anker to Grendon Hall was also known by this name (see map below). The 1850 tithe map shows the probable site of the Southam’s cottage (see map below).
With their close proximity to Grendon and the fact that James Southam was a Gardener at Grendon Hall (see photo below), it is not surprising that Henry James was baptised at All Saint’s Grendon on the 5th August 1877 (see record and photo below) rather than at Polesworth where Dordon baptisms usually took place at this time.
After leaving school Henry James became a Carpenter and Builder.
After Edith and Henry James married, they moved into 7 Whitehouse Road, also known as Ivy Dene Villa. Henry James ran his business from this address.
On the 13th November 1913 the couple’s first child Joan was born prematurely. She was privately baptised on the same day and sadly died two days later (see death certificate and records below). Long before special care baby units, premature babies rarely survived.
On the 20th September 1914 the couple’s second daughter Marjorie Florence was born at her grandparent’s house on the Polesworth Road. Marjorie was baptised at Dordon on the 29th November 1914 (see record below).
The Southams were next mentioned in local newspapers when some timber was stolen from the back of their house (see article below).
In May 1927 Marjorie Florence won first prize in a Fancy-Dress competition held at the village hall (see article below).
When Marjorie Florence left school, she became a Shorthand Typist; however, during WWII she joined the forces, where she met Stanley William Charles Emptage. The couple married on the 8th July 1943 at St Leonard’s, Dordon (see article below).
On the 18th January 1949, Edith died (see articles below). Four years later, on the 21st July 1953 Henry James died at Tamworth General Hospital (see article below).

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

07/05/2026

This week’s post is unusual as it tells the story of a young boy with an amazing voice and his stepfather. It covers child mortality due to tuberculosis and also the dangers of an unguarded open fire.
Derek Benjamin Edwards was the eldest of five children (and the only son) of Benjamin and Edith Sarah Edwards who were the subject of an earlier post (see photo below). He was born on the 22nd July 1932 at 9 Hall End Cottages (see photo below).
The family worshipped at Dordon Methodist Church where Benjamin was an organist (see photos below).
Benjamin worked as a Chauffeur for the Colliery Owners.
Benjamin and Edith had a baby girl in 1934 who died soon after birth and was buried in our churchyard on the 21st September 1934; the record calls her “baby Edwards” as she was not named. The couple went on to have three more daughters: Patricia in 1936, Beryl in 1938 and Deardry in 1943. In 1941 Beryl was taken to the Isolation Hospital at Grendon where she died of Tuberculosis. Beryl has also been subject of an earlier post (see photo and article below).
Benjamin, Derek and Patricia all appear to have been talented musicians. Benjamin was an organist and keyboard player, Patricia was a violinist and Derek had a brilliant singing voice. Derek is mentioned many time in the local papers for singing solos at concerts and also winning singing competitions (see examples below). The articles I found show that Derek not only sang with the Methodist Choir but also at St Leonards and the Congregational Church. Sadly, Derek’s father Benjamin died at the age of 60 on 30th September 1945. Two years later Edith married John Hatton and the family moved to 47 Bailey Avenue, Hockley, Wilnecote.
After leaving school, Derek worked at Tamworth Railway Station. Luckily, many photos survive of the old station to show how it would have looked when Derek worked there (see photos below).
In the summer of 1948, Derek became too ill to work and after being nursed at home he died on the 28th December. Like his sister Beryl he died of Tuberculosis (see death certificate below). Although the family now lived in Hockley, Derek was buried at Dordon where his father and two sisters were buried (see articles below).
On Derek’s grave there is a pot which reads “In Loving Memory of John 8.5.64”. This is where John Hatton’s (Derek’s Stepfather) cremated remains were buried.
John Hatton was born in Brook End, Fazeley (see map below) on 11th July 1894. He was the second son of John and Mary Ann Hatton. John senior was a Miner. John junior was baptised on the 5th August 1894 at St Paul’s, Fazeley (see record and photo below).
Although John senior was a Miner, he struggled to get full time work and in 1895 he was only working two days a week. In March 1895 William, John’s younger brother tragically died when he was fatally burned. The family were too poor to buy a fireguard (see article below). A few weeks later in May 1895, John’s father died leaving Mary Ann to bring up John Junior alone. It is not surprising that later the same year she married again. Henry Wardingly, John’s new Stepfather, was a Miner and a widower with three children. The family lived at Brook End according to the 1901 Census; however, by 1911 the family had moved to East St Dosthill. At this point Mary Ann and Henry had six children of their own. After leaving school, John worked as a Labourer at George Skey’s Colliery at Wilnecote. George Skey is famous for his pottery and Earthenware and had a large factory (see aerial photo below).
In early 1918 John married Nellie Brown. After they married, they lodged with Nellie’s married sister Gertrude and her family at 47 Shelton St, Wilnecote. The couple had five children: Nellie Irene in 1918, John in 1924, Arthur in 1925, Maurice in 1928 and Jean in 1931. John and his family moved to 47 Bailey Avenue. The 1939 register tells us that John was still working as a Miner. Sadly, in September 1946 Nellie died in Tamworth Hospital aged 49 (see article below).
A year later John married Edith Edwards and the blended families lived together at 47 Bailey Avenue.
John died on the 8th May 1964 and his cremated remains were buried with Derek Benjamin. Edith later married for a third time; however, when she died, she was buried with Benjamin, her first husband.

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

30/04/2026

This week’s post incorporates two of the many older pits associated with Dordon and also, we have a glimpse into what was considered state of the art housing in the 1889!
William Lawrence Boulstridge was born on the 4th May 1874 in Dordon. He was the eldest of seven children of Richard and Mary Jane Boulstridge. He was not baptised as the Boulstridges attended Dordon Methodist Church (see photo below). Richard was a Coal Miner from Dordon and began his working life in 1864 at the age of 9 at Gawby (or Gorby) K**b pit - also known as Whitehouse Colliery - which seems to have closed in the 1880’s as it is shown on the 1885 map as an old shaft (see map below). He then moved to Cockspur or Birchmoor Colliery (see map below). In the late 1880s the family moved to 83 Long St which at the time was a new house (see photo below). In 1889 four properties were up for sale with “sitting tenants” including the Boulstridge family. The houses are described as having a good water supply, a garden, pig sty and a communal wash house and bakehouse for cooking. There was a communal well which collected rainwater in an underground tank; these wells still exist in some of the houses in long st (see article below). Rent on such a property was £30 11s per year (about £3400 today).
When William Lawrence left school, he became a Miner. On 26th June 1900 William Lawrence married Rebecca Gertrude Baxter at St Editha’s, Polesworth (see record below).
Rebecca Gertrude Baxter was born on the 29th June 1878 in Polesworth. She was the fourth (of eleven) child of John and Ann Baxter of 15 Trensale St, Polesworth. Trensale St was near Polesworth Canal and the Chetwynd Arms (see photo below). John Baxter was a Miner.
By 1891 the family had moved to 13 Bridge St (see photos below). By 1911 the Baxters had lost three children, including their daughter Nellie who died at the age of 11 (see article below).
After William Lawrence and Rebecca Gertrude married, they moved to Four Oaks Cottage in Dordon where their first child Isaac was born. Sadly, the little boy died at the age of two months from gastrointestinal catarrh, something which today could be easily cured with antibiotics (see death certificate below).
On May 5th, 1904, the couple had a daughter, Gertrude Mary. By 1911 the couple had moved to 115 Long St, Dordon. On the 23rd March 1916 the couple had a son named William Owen. By 1921 the family had moved to 11 Whitehouse Rd (see photo below). William Lawrence is recorded as working at Pooley Colliery and Gertrude Mary, the couple’s daughter, was working as a Shop Assistant for A L Wootton, a Drapers and Milliners at 23 Market Place/ St, Tamworth. We have found some lovely adverts from the Tamworth Herald (see adverts and photo below).
In 1923 William Lawrence’s parents were mentioned in the local papers as they celebrated their Golden Wedding - which was quite a rare occurrence at the time (see article below).
In October1932 William Lawrence took over the license of an Off License from John Boulstridge (probably his brother), which Rebecca ran (see article below). The Off License also sold general groceries and household goods. In September 1933 Maurice Vincent Rose stole 6 table forks from there, valued at 5 shillings; this with other similar offences meant that he was sentenced to three months hard labour (see article below).
In March 1935 Richard Boulstridge, William Lawrence’s father died and was commemorated in the local news papers (see articles below).
Gertrude Mary (or May as she was sometimes known) was married at St Editha’s, Polesworth in June 1937 (see article below). Her brother William Owen was married a few years later in 1941 (see article below). William Owen had not followed his father’s footsteps working as a Miner, but instead was Chief Projectionist at a cinema. During the war he served in the Royal Army Service Corps.
Sadly, William Lawrence died at home on the 4th March 1948 (see articles below). Rebecca died in 1956; she had been a Methodist Sunday School Teacher, a Member of the Methodist Church Choir and a member of the Dordon Darby and Joan Club. She had actually managed the Off License and Grocery Store since 1932 although it was in her husband’s name, and William Lawrence continued to work as a Miner (see article below).

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

02/04/2026

This will be the last post for a couple of weeks, so I wish you all a lovely Easter.
This week’s grave concerns a young father who was tragically killed and also gives us an insight into a Model Mining Village in Derbyshire.
Benjamin Ronald Goddard was born on 11th November 1916 in Retford, Nottinghamshire (see photos below). He was the sixth (of eight) child of Joseph and Lily Goddard. By 1921 the family had moved to Cromwell, Nottinghamshire (see map below). Joseph was working as a Farm Horseman for JJ Davenport who lived at Cromwell House (see photo below). Cromwell is noted for being one of those very few ‘Thankful Villages’ which did not suffer any casualties during WWI.
Like many farm workers, Joseph left working with horses to become a Coal Miner. The family moved to 150 Cresswell Model Village and both Joseph and Benjamin found work at Cresswell Colliery (see photo below). The model village of Cresswell in Derbyshire was begun in 1895 to house the workers from the local colliery. It was built around central gardens with a bandstand (see maps and photo below). The maps show that the village had a cricket ground, a recreation ground, a working men’s club as well as allotments. It even had its own railway station (see photo below).
In late 1941 Benjamin married Irene Davies from Southwell in Nottinghamshire.
Irene Davies was born on the 25th August 1919 at 22 Smith St, Mansfield (see photos below). She was the third child (of seven) of Charles Samuel and Edith Emma Davies. Charles Samuel was a Miner at Bolsover Colliery (see photo below).
By 1939 the family had moved to 8 South Avenue, Rainworth (see map below) and Irene was working as Machinist in a local Shoe Factory.
After Benjamin and Irene married, they moved to New St, Birchmoor (see photo below). In late 1944 they had a daughter, Edna Edith. Benjamin worked at Haunchwood Colliery, Nuneaton (see photo below). On Friday 13th February 1948 Bemjamin was working on sinking a new shaft at the colliery when a chisel resting on a girder above fell into the shaft and pierced his head. He was taken to Nuneaton General Hospital where he died the following day. Reports of the accident and the inquest were printed in several local newspapers (see examples below). Benjamin’s death was commemorated in the Tamworth Herald (see examples below).
In 1951 Irene married Kenneth Bates; she died in 1983. Edna Edith married Gordon Pratt in 1965.

Copyright B Garratt on behalf of St Leonard’s Church.

Dordon St Leonard's

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