Joseph Barker

Joseph Barker was the son of Thomas and Harriett Barker (née Tissington). His father Thomas was born on 17 January 1863 in Ironville, Derbyshire, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Barker (née Stevenson, m. Alfreton St Martin 2 August 1846) and baptised in Riddings parish church on 12 April 1863. In 1881 the widowed Joseph, who was employed as an engine driver (probably in a factory or works), and three of his children, including Thomas (18) a bricklayer, were living in Alfreton, Derbyshire. His mother Harriet Tissington was born on 4 May 1861, also in Ironville, the daughter of John, a miner, and his wife Maria. She was baptised on 1 September 1861 in Ironville, probably at Christ Church. Thomas (32), a widower, and Harriet (33) were married on 2 July 1894 at Christ Church, Ironville. Marriage records suggest that Thomas was twice widowed. There is a record of the registration of the marriage at Christ Church, Ironville, on 31 August 1886 of Thomas Barker (23), bachelor, occupation bricklayer, the son of Joseph Barker (deceased) an engine driver, to Eliza Ann Dexter (21) spinster, daughter of Francis Ensor and Sarah Ann Dexter. Eliza Ann was born on 2 June 1865 and baptised at Christ Church on 3 June 1866. Eliza may have died in 1889. Thomas (27 b. Ironville, widower, bricklayer) was recorded on the 1891 Census as a boarder at the Tailor's Shop, Market Place, Alfreton, Derbyshire, in the home of his married sister, Fanny Coupe (39), and her husband John, a master tailor, their daughter Anne (16) a pupil teacher, and her daughter, Annie Barker, a dressmaker. There is then a record of the marriage of Thomas Barker (29, widower, bricklayer), father Joseph (deceased), to Eliza or Elizabeth Pitt (29), spinster, resident Ironville, daughter of Samuel Pitt (deceased). Elizabeth was born in Staffordshire but in 1891 was a domestic servant living in Alfreton. She may have died in 1892 (O/N/D Basford) aged 30. Thomas and Harriet had four children who were born in Jacksdale (Basford registration district) but baptised at Christ Church, Ironville: Joseph b. 1895 bap. 20 November 1895; Ellen b. 7 September 1896 bap. 28 December 1898; Gladys b. 8 October 1897 bap. 28 December 1898 and John Tissington b. 13 June 1899 bap. 15 November 1899. The family was living on Sedgwick Street when Ellen and Gladys were baptised in 1898 and Thomas and Harriet and their four children were recorded on Sedgwick Street in 1901. They were still living there in 1911; Joseph (15) was an apprentice bricklayer, Ellen (14) of no occupation, and Gladys (13) and John (11) who were still at school. Harriet died in 1931 (O/N/D Basford). In 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, Thomas, a retired bricklayer, and his wife Mary (née Tinsley, b. 28 February 1867), whom he had married in 1932, were living at 19 Sedgwick Street, Jacksdale. Thomas died on 1 December 1942 in Mansfield although his home was still at 19 Sedgwick Street. Probate was awarded to Francis Clayton of no occupation. Of Joseph's siblings: Ellen has not yet been traced after 1911. Gladys married Horace Bakewell in 1925 and in 1939 they were living in Basford, Nottingham. Horace (b. 10 May 1897) was a building contractor. Also in the home was their daughter Josephine (b. 10 October 1927). Gladys died in 1980. John Tissington married Dorothy A Martin (b. 27 September 1903) in 1922 and in 1939 they were living on Church Lane, Brinsley; John was a painter. Also in the home were their three children, Gladys G. (b. 26 April 1922) a shorthand typist, Dorothy M. (b. 12 August 1924), a laundry hand, and John (b. 30 January 1938. John snr. died in 1973.