Ernest Blackburn

Ermest was the son of George Blackburn and his wife Charlotte Jane (née Twells) and the husband of Gertrude Clara (née Hulatt). Ernest's parents, George and Charlotte Jane Blackburn, were married in 1875 (reg. Nottingham) and had seven children, all born in Nottingham and baptised at Nottingham Holy Trinity: Albert Henry b. 1876, John Herbert b. 1877, Alice birth registered 1879 (J/F/M), George b. 1880, Ernest b. 1882, Nelly (or Nellie) b. 1883 and Arthur b. 1885. The family was living at 42 Skynner Street, Nottingham, when the children were baptised between 1884 and 1885 but had moved to Mansfield Road, Nottingham, in 1891. By 1901 the family had moved to Leicester and were living on Abney Street with six of their seven children: Alice (22), George (20) Ernest (18) a monumental mason, Nelly (17) and Arthur (15). The eldest child, Albert Henry, had married in 1898 and he and his wife were also living in Leicester By 1911 only the youngest son, Arthur, was still living with his parents who had now moved to Lord Byron Street, Leicester. Ernest married Gertrude Clara Hulatt (b. Leicester 1884) at Leicester St Peter on 16 August 1903. They had six children, the youngest of whom was born after Ernest's death and died in infancy: Ernest George b. Leicester 1904; Nellie b. Leicester 1906; Lydia Elizabeth b. Mansfield 1908; Gertrude b. Mansfield 1911; Arthur Henry b. Mansfield 1914 and Leonard b. Mansfield May 1918 d. 1918. In 1911 Ernest and Gertrude were living at 29 Broomhill Lane, Mansfield, with their three children, Ernest George (7), Nellie (5) and Lydia (2). Gertrude was born later that year, Arthur in 1913 and Leonard in May 1918, five months after the death of his father. Ernest's army service record contains correspondence dated May and June 1918 between his widow and the army concerning the payment for her sixth child, Leonard, which she had not received. Gertrude completed a form for the army in 1919 listing Ermest's surviving blood relatives: Widow Gertrude Clara and children: Ernest, Nellie, Lydia, Gertrude and Arthur, all of 29 Broomhill Lane, Mansfield. Parents: George and Charlotte Blackburn, 10 Wordsworth Road, Leicester Brothers: John Henry, 16 Bampton Street Loughborough, and George, 35 Healey Street South Wigston Sisters: Alice Watson, address not known, and Nellie Bates, 10 Wordsworth Road Clarendon Leicester Ernest's younger brother Arthur served with the Royal Field Artillery and was killed on 15 July 1917 leaving a widow and three children (see 'Extra information'). Ernest's widow Gertrude Clara probably had another child, Albert, in 1921 (reg. J/F/M Mansfield, mother's maiden name Hulatt). Albert has not yet been traced on the 1939 England & Wales Register, but there is a CWGC record for: 'Albert Blackburn, 4976259 Private, 1st Bn Sherwood Foresters, died 13 June 1942 (Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Libya) age 21. Son of Gertrude Blackburn of Mansfield Nottinghamshire.' Gertrude was still living at 29 Broomhill Lane in 1939. She probably died in 1959 (J/F/M Mansfield).