George Wardle

George Wardle was born in 1887, the son of Betsy Wardle (b. 1868, Basford). He was baptised on 31 August 1887 at Bulwell St Mary the Virgin & All Souls; the baptismal register recorded that he was Betsy's illegitimate child. His surname was given as 'Harvey' on the 1891 Census and as 'Wardle' on the two subsequent census, but he is described on the CWGC record as the 'son of Walter and Betsy Harvey'.

Betsy married Walter Harvey in 1888 (reg. AMJ Basford). Walter was born in 1865 at Earlson, Suffolk, the son of John and Sarah Harvey, and baptised in the parish church on 17 August the same year. Walter, his younger brother Joseph, both coal miners, and his widowed father John, a farm labourer, had moved to Nottinghamshire by 1881 and were living on Half Moon Yard, Bulwell.

According to the information provided on the 1911 Census, Walter and Betsy had had eight children, three of whom had died in infancy or early childhood. Five children who were born in marriage were recorded on the census between 1891 and 1911. They were born between 1889 and 1904 and with the exception of one child, Bruce, were baptised at Bulwell St Mary: Kate b. 1889 bap. 27 November 1889; John b. 1894 bap. 28 August 1894; William birth registered 1897 (JFM) bap. 17 February 1897 died 1901 (JAS); Albert b. Dec 1898 (reg. 1899 JFM) bap. 3 May 1899 and Bruce Wallace birth reg. 1904 (JFM). As one of the five, William, had died by 1911, it is likely that Walter and Betsy had included George as one of their five surviving children.

Walter, a coal miner, Betsy and George (3) and Kate (1) were living at 3 Dora Terrace, Latimer Street, Bulwell, in 1891. Also in the household was a lodger, Agnes Huntsworth, an ironer.

The address given on Albert's baptismal register in May 1899 was 70 Albert Street, but by the time of the 1901 Census the family was again living at 3 Dora Terrace: Walter, a coal miner hewer, Betsy and the five children George, also a coal miner hewer, Kate, John, William and Albert. William died later that year, aged four, and Bruce was born three years later.

In 1911 Betsy completed the Census as head of household, giving her status as 'widow'. She was living at 37 Newmarket Road, Bulwell, with her five children, George and John, who were both coal miners, Kate, a steel box maker, and Albert and Bruce who were school age. Also in the household was Eliza Wardle (79) a widow whose relationship to the head of household was described as 'grandmother' but may have been Betsy's mother.

However, Betsy's husband, Walter, was a prisoner in HMP Bagthorpe, Nottingham, in 1911: 'Walter Harvey, age 45 (abt 1866) born Earlsom Suffolk, married'.

George Wardle married Eliza Winnard Winfield (b. July 1890) later that year 1911 They had four children, the eldest of whom died in infancy: John b. 1912 d. 1912, Frederick Gordon b. 21 March 1913, George Granville Verdun b. May 1916, and Georgina Elaine b. December 1917. They lived at 70 Deptford Street, Highbury Vale, Bulwell, but the pension record of 1917 gives his widow's address as 6 Deptford Street.

Walter Harvey died in 1912 (JFM) and was buried on 6 March. His widow married Arthur Adams, a widower, of 23 Key Street, Bulwell, at Bulwell St Mary on 18 December 1915.

Arthur, a builders' general labourer, and Betsy were living at 23 Key Street in 1921. Also in the home were Arthur's daughter Florence, an out of work lace dresser, and two of Betsy's sons, Albert, an out of work general labourer, and Bruce, a hosiery trimmer.

Betsy Adams died in 1933 aged 66.

Kate married John William Harrison, a carter, at Bulwell St Mary on 31 July 1915. They had a son, John William, in May the following year, and then George (b. 1917), Harry (b. 1919) and Doris (b. 1921). John William attested in January 1916 but was discharged from the Army the following year. In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, John, a pig farmer, Kate and their four children were living at 126 Hempshill Lane, Bulwell. Kate died in 1983.

Albert married Millie Hoole in 1923 and in 1939 he and his wife and their children, Walter (b. 1924), Frank (b. 1928), Betsy (b. 1930), Albert (b. 1933) and Frederick (b. 1938) were living on Archdale Road, Arnold. Albert died in 1955 aged 56.

Bruce Wallace married Iris R Carrington (b. 1906) in 1925 and had two sons, Stanley (b. 1926) and Jack (b. 1931). Bruce died on 11 June 1933 aged 33 and was buried in the Northern Cemetery, Bulwell. His widow married Percy E Shipley in 1937 (OND), and had a son, Percy E. in 1938 (JAS). In 1939 Percy a miner hewer, Iris and her son Stanley, were living on Keys Street, Bulwell; the records of two other members of the household, probably Jack and Stanley, remain closed. Iris Shipley died aged 36 in 1942 (OND Basford).