Harold Smith

Harold was the son of John and Sarah Ann Smith (née Denman).

Both parents were born in Nottingham and married at Nottingham St Mary on 9 December 1867.

They had 12 children, two of whom died in infancy or childhood. Ten children were named on the census between 1891 and 1911: Robert Alexander b. 1870 OND, Mary Elizabeth birth registered 1872 JFM, Alexander b. 1875, Elizabeth b. abt. 1877, Joseph Ernest b. 1879 JAS, John b. 1881 JAS, Edward birth registered 1884 JFM, William b. 1886 AMJ, Harold birth registered 1888 JFM and Bertie b. 19 February 1884. With the exception of Elizabeth who was born in 1877 whose birth registration has not yet been traced, the births of her nine siblings were registered in Nottingham (Smith/Denman). There is a record of an Ellen Smith born 1873 OND (Denman), who probably died in 1875.

Four of the children, Robert Alexander, Mary Elizabeth, Alexander and Elizabeth, were baptised at Meadows Our Lady & St Patrick RC; Robert Alexander, Mary Elizabeth and Alexander on 9 September 1877, and Elizabeth also at Our Lady & St Patrick on 16 September 1877 (b. 2 September 1877). Harold may have been baptised at St Barnabus RC Cathedral on 1 April 1888 (b. 7 February 1888).

In 1877 when Elizabeth was baptised the family was living at 34 Butcher Street, Nottingham.

John (44), a cordwainer, and his wife were living at 5 Platt Court, Nottingham, in 1891. In the home on the night of the census were nine children: Robert (21), a lace maker, Mary (19) and Alexander (15) who were hosiery hands, Liza [Elizabeth] (13) who worked at a lace warehouse, Joseph (11), John (9), Edward (7) and William (5), who were school age, and Harold (3). Bertie was born three years later.

By 1901 the family had moved to the Plough and Harrow Inn, 6 Lowdham Street, Nottingham: John (53), whose occupation was given as cordwainer and inn house keeper (own account), Sarah (57) and seven of their children: Elizabeth (22), a lace hand, Joseph, a foundry labourer, John, a cordwainer, Edward a foundry labourer, William and Harold (13), who were errand boys, and Bertie (7).

Robert Alick-sic had married Annie Hopkins at Sneinton St Luke on 18 April 1892. They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. Three of the four children were Frederick Ernest b. 1893 (AMJ), George birth registered 1898 (JFM) and Albert birth registered 1891 (JFM) who died in infancy or early childhood. Robert, a lace dyer, Annie, a lace clipper, and their three sons, Frederick (7), George (3) and Albert (u/1y) were living at 4 Magson Terrace in 1901.

Mary Elizabeth had married John Dearman Severn, a machine fitter, (b. 1861, parents Amos and Mary Ann), at Sneinton St Luke on 31 July 1897. They had three children, one of whom died in infancy: Ellen b. 1898 (JAS) and twins Lily and George Hector births registered 1901 JFM. Lily died in 1902 (JFM). In 1901 Mary, a lace hand, was living at 9 Villa Place with her three children, Ellen (2) and Lily and George (u/1y). Her husband John was a prisoner in HM Prison Bagthorpe, Hucknall Road, Nottingham; he has not been traced after 1901 but Mary was recorded on the 1939 England & Wales Register as a widow.

Alexander had married Alice Mary Russell (b. abt. 1888, Manchester) in 1897 (OND). They were to have three children, one of whom died in infancy or early childhood. In 1901 he, his wife and their two children, John (3) and Ethel (2), were living at 6 Villa Place, Sneinton. Alexander was working as a fruit carter. The family had moved to Royal Oak Hill, Nottingham, by 1911.

Elizabeth married George Ward (b. Birmingham) in 1901 (OND). They had three children, one of whom died in infancy or early childhood. Their surviving children were George Hector b. 1909 (d. 1927) and John W. (b. 1913). In 1911 George (41), a tobacconist, Elizabeth (36), assisting in the business, and their son Hector, were living at 51 Broadmarsh, Nottingham.

John married Lily Eleanor Robinson in 1902 (OND); their daughter Lily Ena was born in 1906, another child died in infancy or early chidhood.

Harold married Ethel Russell in 1906 (reg. Nottingham). Ethel, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Russell, was born in Manchester on 29 August 1885 and baptised at Manchester All Souls on 16 September the same year. They had at least three children: Elsie (b. 1906), Gertrude Alice (b. 1911) and Sarah Ann (b. 1914).

Joseph Ernest married Ada Adelaide Rose in 1907 (AMJ). Their daughter, Ada Adelaide, was born the following year (JAS) but died in 1909 (JAS). A second daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born in 1909 (OND).

Harold (23) a moulder (iron foundry), Ethel (25) and their daughter Elsie (4) were living at 10 Clarence Street, Nottingham, in 1911. According to a notice of Harold's death in 1917 his widow was living at 16 Hyde Terrace, Lowdham Street, Nottingham.

Harold's parents were still at the Plough & Harrow Inn, 6 Lowdham Street, in 1911. Only two sons were still living at home: Bertie, a clerk, and John, a shoemaker (own account), his wife Lily (29) a machinist, and their daughter Lily Ena (4); another child had died in infancy.

In 1911, their son Joseph (31), a lace dyer, was living at 3 Storer Street, Nottingham, with his wife Ada (40) and their daughter Mary Elizabeth. Also in the household were two of Joseph's siblings, Robert (41) married, and his two sons, Frederick (17) a barman, and George (13), and Mary Severn (38) married, a lace hand, and her two children Ellen (12) and George (10).

John Smith snr. died on 24 June 1911.

When his youngest son Bertie, attested in 1915 he gave his address as 90 Burgess Road, Thorneywood Lane, Nottingham, and his next of kin as his mother, Sarah, of the same address.

However, in 1921 Sarah and her sons Robert (50) and Bertie (27) were recorded at 6 Lowdham Street, in the home of her married daughter, Elizabeth Ward, her husband George and their sons George Hector and John.

Harold's widow, Ethel, and her three daughters, Elsie, a cotton spinner, Gertrude and Sarah, who were school age, were living at 2 Lowdham Street, in 1921.

Harold's mother, Sarah, died on 8 June 1930. The probate record gave her address as 90 Burgess Road, Nottingham.

Harold's daughter, Gertrude, married William H. Beet in 1933. In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, she and William (b. 1911), a carpenter, were living at 27 Plantagenet Street, Nottingham. Also in the household was her unmarried sister Sarah, a blouse and robe machinist. The record of one other member of the household remains closed.

Sarah Ann of 2 Lowdham Street, married Cyril Stanley Lowe, Royal Engineers (father Ernest Lorenzo Lowe), at Sneinton St Matthias on 17 August 1935. Cyril died in 1985 and Sarah in 2008.