Bernard Claude Fell

Bernard Claude was the second son of Frederick William Fell and his wife Catherine (Kitty) Rebecca (née Mawer).

His father was born in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire (birth registered 1865 JFM), and his mother in Canwick, Lincolnshire, in December 1863, the daughter of Forman and Eliza Mawer. They were married at Canwick parish church on 16 October 1888. Frederick (24) was a draper and his father, William Crossland Fell, a railway station master. Catherine's father, Forman Mawer, was a groom. There were three witnesses; Forman Mawer, Eve Augusta Mawer and Harry Crossland Fell.

The couple had four children; Cyril Montague b. 1889 and Bernard Claude b. 1893 who were born in Sheffield, Gladys Mary Elizabeth b. 1896 in Lincoln, and Lily Doris Evelyne b. 1898 in Birley Carr Yorkshire.

Frederick, a draper's assistant, Catherine, a costumier, and their son Cyril were living at 406 Glossop Road, Ecclesall Bierlow (Sheffield), in 1891. Also in the household was a domestic servant.

The family had moved to 34 Wellington Street, Nottingham, by 1901; Frederick was now working as a railway clerk. Only three of their children were in the home on the night of the census; Cyril, Bernard and Lily. The eldest daughter, Gladys, was recorded on the census at 9 Ranby Road, Sheffield, in the home of her uncle and aunt, William and Elizabeth Lillian Wing (née Mawer m. 1894 Ecclesall Bierlow).

Frederick , a commission agent on his own account, Catherine and their children, Cyril a dental assistant, Bernard a law clerk, Gladys and Lily, were still at 34 Wellington Street in 1911. Also in the household was a boarder, Louie (Lizzy) Parker, a machinist (textiles).

There is a record of the marriage of a Bernard C Fell to Rosa Furniss in 1913 (JFM Nottingham), but no other records confirm this.

Frederick William Fell died on 30 December 1914; the Probate record gave his address as 34 Wellington Street.

Bernard was serving in the Army by 1915 and was recorded on the Electoral Roll Absent Voters List for 1918 and 1919, address 48 Wellington Street, Nottingham. He has not yet been traced on the 1921 Census but at the time of his death in 1939 he was living at 11 Gill Street, Nottingham.

In 1921 Cyril's widowed mother was living at 48 Wellington Street with her two daughters. Gladys was a teacher at St Mark's school and Lily a wages clerk for Cammel Laird & Co Ltd, waggon and carriage builders, Kings Meadow Road. Lizzie Parker (46), a blouse machinist with JM Perry & Co, a blouse and pinafore manufacturer, was still living with the family as a boarder.

Catherine, her daughter Gladys, a school teacher, and Lizzie Parker, a robe and blouse machinist, were still living at 48 Wellington Street in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled. Catherine died aged 76 at 48 Wellington Street on 22 February 1940; Lizzie Parker died in 1949 aged 74 and Gladys died in 1968 aged 72.

Cyril married Ethel Mary Forshaw in 1922 and in 1939 they were living at 3 Gladstone Street, Leicester; Cyril was a dentist. He died in 1962 and was survived by his wife.

Lily qualified as a nurse, registered 25 November 1925 (Bermondsey, Rotherhithe Hospital 1922-1925), and was recorded on the 1929 Electoral Roll at Redhill Hospital, Burnt Oak, Middlesex. She married Eric Edward Holdsworth in 1930 (reg. Edmonton, Middx.) and they probably had two children, John EA b. 1931 and Christine b. 1936. In 1938 they were living on Redstone Road, Hornsey, Middlesex, and her husband, a medical practitioner and radiologist, and their son were recorded at the same address on the 1939 England & Wales Register. The record of one other member of the household remains closed. Lily was recorded on the Register in the household of Joseph Cordon, a mining engineer, and his wife at Outwood Grange, Stanley, Wakefield; her occupation was given as 'unpaid domestic duties'. Lily probably died in 1960 (reg. Luton Bedfordshire).