Harold Viccars Bright

He was the son of Arthur Bright and Margaret Ellis Bright (nee Viccars).Arthur was born in Nottingham in 1851 (O/N/D Nottingham) and Margaret Ellis Viccars in Leicester in 1861 (A/M/J Leicester). They were married in 1881 (A/M/J Leicester) and had six children: Margaret Warner b. 1882 (A/M/J Nottingham), twin boys Arthur Kingsley and Archibald Viccars b. 1884 (J/A/S Nottingham), Adeline Mary birth registered 1888 J/F/M Nottingham, Elsie Downing b. 1892 (J/A/S Nottingham) and Harold Viccars b. 1898 (A/M/J Nottingham).Arthur Bright was a solicitor and in 1891 he and his wife Margaret were living at 7 Villa Road, Mansfield Road, Nottingham, with their four children, Margaret (8), Arthur (6), Archibald (6) and Adeline (3). Also in the home on the night of the census were two visitors, Arthur's unmarried sister-in-law Frances D Viccars (34) who was a school mistress, and Frank E Baker (32) a single man who was a chartered accounted. Arthur employed three servants, Jane Jones (26) a cook, Mary Hucknall (24) a nurse, and Mary Voce (22) a housemaid.By 1901 the family had moved to 30 Mapperley Road, Nottingham. Only four of their six children were in the house on the night of the census: Margaret (18), Adeline (13), Elsie (8) and Harold (3). It is likely that his twin sons Arthur and Archibald, who would have been 16 years old, were away at school. Arthur employed three live-in domestic servants; Elizabeth Painter (27) a cook, Mary Francis (27), a housemaid and Harriett Bonnallo (23) a nurse.Harold's eldest sister, Margaret, married Sydney Woodward in 1907 (O/N/D Nottingham), and in 1911 they were living at Park Dale, Peveril Drive, Nottingham. Sydney (27) was a lace manufacturer and a director of Frank Woodward Co. Ltd. He and Margaret (28) had one daughter, Evelyn (2). Also in the household were three domestic servants. However, on 19 July 1916 Margaret filed a petition for the 'restitution of conjugal rights' and although the petition was dismissed there were further proceedings in 1918 and 1919. The probate record for Margaret Warner Woodward describes her as a 'single woman' so if not divorced she may have been legally separated.Arthur Bright died at the age of 57 in 1909 (J/A/S Nottingham) and in 1911 his widow, now head of household, was living at 40 Mapperley Road. Also in the home on the night of the census was Arthur (26) a farm student, Archibald (26) a solicitor, Adeline (23) and Harold (13). Margaret Bright employed two servants, a cook and a housemaid.Margaret Ellis Bright was still living at the same address when Harold was killed in 1918 but she later moved to Leicester and at the time of her death on 13 February 1937 was living at 81 Knighton Church Road, Leicester.Of Harold's siblings:Margaret Warner Woodward died on 27 March 1956 in hospital in Lincoln; her address was then The Cottage-on-the-Green, Car Colston, Nottinghamshire.Archibald Viccars, Lieutenant Sherwood Foresters 3rd Bn attd 11th Bn, was killed in action on 7 June 1917. Arthur Kingsley served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and appears to have remained in Canada as there is a record of him on the 1921 Canadian Census.Adeline Mary married Frederick Crooks in 1920 (J/A/S Kings Norton Warwickshire), and died on 5 March 1964. She was a widow and living at The Cottage-on-the-Green, Car Colston. Elsie Downing married in Canada (Dayton) and died on 8 February 1953 in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Harold's cousin, Second Lieutenant Frank Arnold Bright, 1/7th Bn Sherwood Foresters, youngest son of Sir Joseph and Lady Bright, was killed in action on 13 October 1915. Another son of Sir Joseph, Captain Arthur Stanley Bright, Sherwood Foresters, was wounded and taken prisoner in March 1918 but was repatriated in the September. Another cousin, Joseph John Bright, the son of Lawrence and Hannah Bright, served in the 7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (117439 Private) and died of illness in Lincoln Hospital on 27 June 1918.

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