John William Lilley

John William was the son of John and Ellen Lilley (née Cutts).

Both parents were born in Nottingham and were married at Nottingham St Paul on 18 December 1877; John was a clogmaker and both were living in Ball Yard, Nottingham. The couple had eight children of whom two had died by the time of the 1911 Census. Their eight children were traced on the Census between 1881 and 1911, all of whom were born in Nottingham: Mary Ann b. 1878, Annie Elizabeth b. 1880, Mabel b. 1883 d. 1898, Florence b. 1885, Bertha b. 1888, Ethel birth registered 1891 JFM d. 30 July 1918, John William b. 1894 and Francis Frederick b. 1897.

John, a clog maker, his wife and their two daughters, Mary Ann (3) and Ann [Annie Elizabeth] (6m), were living at 61 Cross Street, Nottingham, in 1881.

Neither child was recorded in the family home in subsequent census. Mary Ann might be one and the same Mary Ann Lilley (13 b. Nottingham) recorded on the 1891 Census as a servant at Hucknall in the household of Eli Wardle, a grocer, and his wife. No other records have been traced for Mary Ann and it is likely that with Mabel, who died in 1898, she was one of the two children who had died by the time of the 1911 Census. However, Annie Elizabeth has been traced on the 1911 Census when she was working as a lace mender and was a boarder in the household of a married couple at Harcourt Villas, Porchester Road.

John, Ellen and their four children, Mabel, Florence, Bertha and Ethel (born between 1887 and 1891), were recorded at 35 Bromley Street, Nottingham, in 1891. Their two youngest chldren, their only sons, were born in 1894 and 1897.

Mabel died in September 1898 aged 15 and was buried on 15 September (Nottingham St Catherine). The burial record gave her address as Westminster Street.

Her family had moved to 24 Cathcart Street, St Ann's, by 1901. John was now working as a tree feller although he later returned to his former employment as a clog maker, Ellen was a lace hand as was their daughter Florence. Three of their children, Bertha, Ethel and John, were school age and Francis, the youngest, was four years old.

Florence, who was living with her parents at 24 Cathcart Street, married Allan Aldridge (24), a porter, at Nottingham St Ann in 1909. The two witnesss to their marriage were Florence's sister, Bertha, and her future husband, Frank William Hudson. Florence, a lace clipper, and Allan, a warehouseman, were living at 5 West Court, North Sherwood Street, in 1911 and with their two children, Ivy (b. 1913) and Allan (b. 1916), at 29 Truman Street in 1921. Their son Allan died in October 1925 and 'In Memoriam' notices were published annually in the local paper, with a few exceptions, from 1926 to 1937 (inc.). The family was still at the same address when the England & Wales Register was compiled in 1939. Allan died in February 1961; the Probate record gave his address as 29 Truman Street. His widow Florence died in 1972 aged 87.

Bertha and Frank Hudson (22), a machine builder, were married at Nottingham St Ann in October 1910; both were living at 24 Cathcart Street. The couple were living at 15 Hyde Terrace, Nottingham, in 1911; Frank was now a blacksmith striker and his wife a jennier. Bertha was widowed in September 1917 when her husband was killed in action while serving with the Sherwood Foresters. She and their son, Frank Leslie (b. 1915), were still living at 15 Hyde Terrace in 1921 together with a female lodger. Her widowed father, John, later lived with her until his death in 1923. Bertha and her son were recorded at 16 Kingswood Road, Sneinton, in 1939; Frank was an insurance claims assessor. Bertha died in 1964.

John and Ellen were recorded on the 1911 Census at 24 Cathcart Street. Three of their six children were in the home on the night of the Census; Ethel, a lace hand, John, a joiner, and Francis who was school age.

Annie Elizabeth (33), a net mender, resident 29 Truman Street, married Samuel James Joseph Clarke (26), a soldier, at Nottingham St Ann on 11 May 1915. Her youngest sister, Ethel, was one of the two witnesses. The couple's daughter, Iris May, was baptised at Nottingham St Ann in May 1918 (home address 29 Truman Street); her father was still serving in the Army. However, the family had moved to Disworth, Leicestershire, by 1921 when Annie's brother, Francis, a quarryman/stone mason, was also living with them. Annie Elizabeth probably died aged 83 in 1962 (JFM Nottm).

Francis married Ethel E Screaton in 1926 (reg. Shardlow) and in 1939 they were living in Castle Donington. Also in the home was an 'evacuee from Sheffield', Rita Waldron (b. 1933). Francis died in 1956; Probate was awarded to his widow, Ethel Elizabeth.

John William had already enlisted in the Army when he married Florence Woolley at Nottingham St Ann on 29 January 1917. The marriage certificate gave his occupation as 'soldier', home address 39 Belle Vue Road, while his wife, a lace hand, was living at 1 Cathcart Street. Florence's father, Thomas James Woolley, was also a soldier.

Both his mother, Ellen Lilley and his sister Ethel died in 1918; Ellen on 28 July and Ethel on 30 July (burial 3 August). They were buried in Nottingham General Cemetery.

Ellen's husband, John, was recorded on the 1921 Census at 30 Belle View Road but he later lived with his widowed daughter, Bertha Hudson, at 15 Hyde Terrace, Nottingham, where he died on 27 December 1923 aged 68. He was also buried in Nottingham General Cemetery.