Harry Webster

Harry was the son of James and Harriet Webster (nee Balance). James was born in Mansfield and Harriet in Morton, Lincolnshire (abt. 1849); they were married in 1872 (registered April/May/June) in the registration district of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. According to the 1911 census James and Harriet had nine children born alive of whom only eight were still living at the time of the census. Eight children were named on the census between 1881 and 1911: Herbert, Alice, Arthur, Henry, Jim, Lillian, Cyril and Edgar. In 1881 James, a stove grate fitter, and his wife were living at 9 Nags Head Yard, Mansfield, with their three children, Herbert (7), Alice (3) and Arthur (1). They were still at the same address ten years later in 1891; James described his occupation as 'kitchen range fitter'. He and Harriet now had seven children; Herbert, Alice, Arthur, Henry (9), Jim (7), Lillian (4) and Cyril (2). However, the couple had moved to 11 Cavendish Crescent, Mansfield, by the time of the next census in 1901. Their eldest child, Herbert, was not in the house on the night of the census but their other children, including Edgar (8) who had been born since the last census, were all at home. James and Harriet were still at 11 Cavendish Street in 1911. James, who was now 64 years old, was now working as an auxiliary postman while his wife (62) was a domestic servant. Only Herbert, a railway drayman, and Harry, a 'hose polder' in a hosiery factory were living at home. James died on 28 June 1918 aged 71 years. The CWGC record was compiled after James' death and gives Harriet's address as 4 The Villas, Creswell. Harriet died on 30 September 1923 aged 74 years.