Alfred Hempsall

Alfred was the son of William and Elizabeth Hempsall (née Levick). William and Elizabeth were married in 1874 (J/F/M East Retford) and had 13 children of whom only nine were living in 1911. Twelve children, all born in the East Retford registration district, have been traced on the census between 1881 and 1901, including Elizabeth's son, John William Levick, who was born before her marriage but took the surname Hempsall: John William Levick b. 1873 (O/N/D); Sarah Ann b. 1875 bap. Retford St Swithun 7 August 1875; Eliza birth registered 1877 (J/F/M); George b. 1878, Nellie b. 1881, Ada b. 1883 d. 1895 (J/F/M); Henry (Harry) birth registered 1885 (J/F/M); Kate b. 1886; Frank b. 16 March 1888; Edith b. 1889; Ethel b.1891 (A/M/J) and Alfred birth registered 1893 (J/F/M) bap. St Swithun 2 February 1893. There were also two other birth registrations (East Retford, Hempsall/Levick) but the children died young and did not appear on a census: Sidney b. 1884 d. 1896 and Jessie May b. 1897 (O/N/D) d. 1897. In 1881 William (40), a railway labourer, and Elizabeth (31) were living on Thrumpton Lane, Retford/Ordsall, with their four children John (7), Sarah (5), Eliza (4) and George (3). They were still living on Thrumpton Lane ten years later in 1891. William was now working as a coalman and he and Elizabeth had ten children: John a railway wagon greaser, Sarah, Eliza, George, Nellie (10), Ada (7), Harry (6), Kate (4), Frank (3) and Edith (1). Ethel was born later that year and Alfred in 1893. Ada died in 1895 (reg. J/F/M) aged 11. William died on 10 May 1898 aged 58. At the time of the 1901 census the widowed Elizabeth was still living on Thrumpton Lane but now working as a laundress. Only six of her children were living at home: Nellie, Henry an iron moulder, Frank, Edith, Ethel (10) and Alfred (8). Also in the home was her granddaughter Doris Hempsall (b. 1900). Her eldest son, John, a railway goods guard, was married and he and his wife and their two children were also living on Thrumpton Lane. In 1911 the widowed Elizabeth was living at 94 Thrumpton Lane, Ordsall, and recorded on the census as a market gardener on her own account. According to the information she provided on the census only nine of her 13 children were still living. Four were in the family home on the night of the census: Sarah Ann a 'worker at home', Henry an iron moulder, Frank a railway shunter and Alfred a railway lamp man. Elizabeth's granddaughter, Doris, was still living with the family. Her son John, his wife Annie and their four children were living on Stanley Street, Ordsall, and her daughter Edith was a domestic servant in Sheffield in the household of a merchant tailor. Ada had died in 1895 and of the remaining five children recorded on the census between 1881 and 1911 - Eliza, George, Nellie, Kate and Ethel - Eliza may have married in 1896 (Sims) and been living in Retford in 1911 and Kate probably married in 1907 (Bell or Sanderson) but has not yet been traced on the 1911 census. George has not yet been traced on either the 1901 or 1911 Census and Nellie and Ethel have yet to be traced on the 1911 Census or registrations of marriage. Neither those three nor Kate have been identified on the registrations of death. Their mother Elizabeth died on 11 February 1928 aged 76 years.