Alfred Huskinson

Birth surname HUSKISSON. Records show that by 1895 the family was also using the surname HUSKINSON. Alfred was born in 1881 at Sutton in Ashfield and was the son of Mary Ann Huskisson (née Pike formerly Hudson) and her second husband James Huskisson. His mother Mary Ann Pike was born in Sutton in Ashfield in about 1851 and married Thomas Hudson at Sutton in Ashfield St Mary Magdalene on 13 March 1870 (J/F/M Mansfield). They probably had three children one of whom died in infancy: Thomas George b. 1870 (O/N/D) d. 1870 (O/N/D); Arthur b. 1872 and William b. 1875 (J/A/S). Thomas and Mary have not yet been traced on the 1871 census. However, Thomas probably died in 1876 (J/F/M) and Mary married secondly James Huskisson, of Sutton in Ashfield, in 1876 (O/N/D Mansfield). James and Mary had at least six children who were all born in Sutton in Ashfield: Elijah b. 1877 bap. Sutton in Ashfield St Mary Magdalene 1 September 1881; Alfred b. 31 May 1880 bap. St Mary Magdalene 1 September 1881; Elizabeth b. 24 September 1884 bap. St Mary Magdalene 24 November 1994; Edith b. 11 April 1887 bap. St Mary Magdalene 4 August 1893; Hilda May b. 1890 and Edgar b. 1893. (Records: Huskisson) The family was living at Forest Side, Sutton in Ashfield, in 1881: James, Mary, her son William Hudson and their sons Elijah (3) and Alfred (under one year). It seems likely that Mary's son Arthur Hudson had gone to live with an uncle and aunt, John and Sarah Hudson, as he was recorded living with them in Sutton in Ashfield in 1881 and then with the widowed Sarah in 1891 when Arthur was employed as a letter press printers' apprentice. He was married by 1901 and living at 11 Gladstone Street, Mansfield, with his wife Sarah and their three children. Arthur was later a journalist with local papers until his death in April 1926. There was an extensive report in the Mansfield Reporter of 16 April of his career and the funeral which took place in Sutton churchyard; among the mourners was his brother William. By 1891 James a coal miner/stallman, and Mary were living on Phoenix Street, Sutton in Ashfield, with William Hudson (15) a coal miner, Elijah, Alfred, Elizabeth (6), Edith (4) and Hilda (under one year). The third son Edgar was born two years later. James Huskinson (sic) was employed by the Stanton Coal and Iron Company at its Butcherwood Pit and was killed by a roof fall at the pit on 7 March 1895; he was 41 years old. (See 'Extra information' for report of inquest at which his stepson William Hudson gave evidence). Mary Huskisson married thirdly Walter Ratcliffe in 1896 (A/M/J Mansfield). There were no children of the marriage. In 1901 Walter (53, b. Langley Mill Derbyshire), a coal miner hewer, and Mary were living on Phoenix Street with her children Alfred, a carter on a farm, Elizabeth a cotton spinner, Edith, Hilda and Edgar (7). Also in the household was a boarder, Henrietta Jones (17), a cotton spinner. Mary's son Wiliam Hudson has not yet been traced on the census but her son Elijah and his wife Florence were also living on Phoenix Street. By 1911 Walter and Mary were living on Mansfield Road, Sutton in Ashfield; all Mary's children had left home. Elijah, now a coal dealer, was living on Briggs Street, Sutton in Ashfield, with his wife Florence, a yarn spinner, and their daughter. The youngest child, Edgar, a coal miner, was living on Mansfield Road, Sutton in Ashfield, with his married sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth had married Frederick Samuel Fairfield, a coal miner/stallman, in 1905 and they had three sons. Edith had married John Thomas Woodland, a coal miner, also in 1905, and they and their three children were living in Sutton in Ashfield. Hilda had married George Lowe, a coal miner, in 1909 and they were living on Briggs Street, Sutton in Ashfield, with their son; another son had died in infancy. Edgar married Mabel Lottie Langton on 10 February 1913 at Sutton in Ashfield St Michael and they had at least two children, Winifred Mary (b. 3 November 1913) and Norman (b. 1 October 1915). Edgar probably attested in the Sherwood Foresters (16622) in September 1914 but was discharged the following month as unfit for military service. However, he attested in 1915 in the Royal Artillery (85665 Gunner) and served in France (October-December 1916; May-October 1917). In October while on home service he was sentenced to a period of detention for desertion and loss of kit followed by his discharge in 1919. His wife Mabel died in 1929 and he married secondly Rosie E Knowles in 1931; they may have had three children. Edgar died in 1976. Alfred's mother, Mary Ratcliffe, died in 1922. Of his four other siblings, Elijah died in 1915, Elizabeth (Fairfield) in 1926, Edith (Woodland) in 1950 and Hilda May (Lowe) in 1921. In 1903 Alfred married Henrietta Jones (b. 19 March 1884) who in 1901 had been living with the Huskinson family as a boarder. They had four children of whom three survived infancy: Irene b. 2 April 1906, Nellie b. 3 February 1910 and Edna b. 7 July 1915. Edna died aged 3 in 1918 (O/N/D Mansfield). In 1911 Alfred, a general carter, and Henrietta were living at 6 Chapel Street, Sutton in Ashfield, with their daughters Irene and Nellie. Alfred was working for Sutton in Ashfield Urban District Council (Roads and Buildings Dept) when he enlisted. Henrietta continued to live in Sutton in Ashfield after Alfred's death and was living at 14 St John Street when she died on 26 August 1940. Administration of her Will was awarded to her married daughter Irene Binkley. Of Alfred and Henrietta's two surviving children: Irene married George William Binkley in 1925 and in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled they were living in Baldock, Hertfordshire. Irene was working as a hosiery linker while George (b. 26 January 1906) was a dyers' assistant at a hosiery works. Also in the home was George's mother Lemody Binkley; the record of one other member of the household remains closed. George served in the Royal Navy during the war (P/JX334101 Able Seaman) and was killed on 5 July 1942 when the merchant ship SS Empire Byron was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-703. SS Empire Byron was part of the ill-fated Convoy PQ 17 on passage from Hvalfjord, Iceland, for Arkhangelsk, Soviet Union. Irene married secondly Edgar W Peet in 1949 and died in 1982; she was still living in Hertfordshire. Nellie married Arthur Marriott (b. 1 November 1906), a coal miner, in 1927. In 1939 they were living in Sutton in Ashfield with their sons Arthur (b. 20 December 1927) and Ralph (b. 20 February 1936); the record of one other member of the household remains closed. Nellie died in 1971.