Elijah Henry Godber

Elijah Henry was the son of Aaron and Mary Alice Godber (née Woolley). His father Aaron was born in Kimberley in 1864, the son of Frederick Godber, a coal miner, and his wife Eliza (née Harper). The family was living on High Street, Greasley, in 1881; Aaron was a coal miner. His mother Mary Alice was born in Radford, Nottingham, in about 1863, the daughter of James and Frances Woolley. It is likely that her birth was registered as Mary Ann [Woolley] (1863 O/N/D Radford mother's maiden name Smith). In 1881 Mary, a cotton winder, was living with her mother at 19 Bedford Square, Radford; her mother was married but recorded as the head of the household. Aaron and Mary Alice were married at Radford St Peter in May 1890. They had two sons, Elijah Henry b. Kimberley 1891 and William Clarence b. Bobbers Mill 1903. In 1891, the year after their marriage, Aaron and Mary were living on Lawrence Street, Radford. Also in the household were Mary Woolley (67) a widow living on her own means and a lodger, Annie Burton, a cotton winder. By 1901 Aaron and Mary were living at 3 Mosley's Buildings, Plantation Side, Bobbers Mill, Nottingham, with their son Elijah (9). Also in the household on the night of the census were her widowed mother Frances Woolley and a visitor, Gracia Baker (3 b. Nottingham). They were still living at the same address in 1911. According to the information provided on the Census, Aaron and his wife had had three children who were all in the home on the night of the census: Elijah a tobacco hand sorter, Willie [William] (8) and Grace [Godber] (13). Grace Godber was Gracia Baker, the child who was registered visiting Aaron and Mary on the night of the 1901 Census. Gracia Bardill Baker was born in 1898 (reg. Nottingham, mother's maiden name not given). She was baptised at Hyson Green St Stephen the same year; the baptismal record gave her mother's name as Kathleen Baker of Mosley Buildings [Plantation Side, Bobbers Mill]. Elijah married Minnie Elizabeth Bryant in 1915. His wife was born in 1890, the daughter of James and Eliza Bryant. In 1911 Minnie, a leaf stripper (probably working at John Player & Sons), was living with her family at 131 Burford Road, Nottingham. There were no children of the marriage. The CWGC record gives Minnie's address as 175 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields, Nottingham, However, by 1927 she had moved to 30 Chadwick Road, Bobbers Mill, and was recorded at the same address in 1939; she was working as a tobacco sorter. Minnie was still living at the same address at the time of her death in 1962 aged 91. Elijah's parents were still living at Plantation Side when he was killed in 1918. His father Aaron died in 1938. It is likely that his widow Alice was living at Cyril Avenue, Nottingham, when the 1939 England & Wales Register was compiled; also in the household was Sarah A Watts (b. 1864) who was also widowed. Mary died in November 1941.