Walter Smith

Walter was the eldest surviving son of Joseph and Jane Smith. Joseph was born abt. 1868 in Creswell/Holbeck, Derbyshire, while his wife, Jane, was born in Heanor, Derbyshire. They recorded on the 1911 Census that they had been married for 21 years and had had five children of whom only three were still living at the time of the census. Only three children were named on the census of 1901 and 1911; Walter (b. abt 1888, Long Eaton, Derbyshire), Thomas (b. abt 1892, Creswell, Derbyshire) and John (b. abt. 1899, Creswell, Derbyshire). In 1901 Joseph (35), a miner, and Jane (33) were living on Chapel Row, Creswell, Derbyshire, with their three sons; Walter (13), Thomas (9) and John (2). By 1911 the family was living at 22 Birkley Terrace, Carlton Street, Woodhouse Road, Mansfield. The youngest son, John, was still at school but the two older boys were, like their father, miners/labourers working below ground. His younger brother Thomas died in an accident at Sherwood Colliery three years later on 24 June 1914 (headstone) when he was 22 years old. The colliery was owned by Sherwood Colliery Co. Ltd. Thomas was working as a ripper at the time of the accident and an investigation into the accident found that, 'Deceased was engaged checking off some side and taking down ripping in a coal heading. He had been trying to wedge the side off but without success and it is thought that be went under the ripping to get his ringer when 3 or 4 tons of the side and ripping rolled off and pinned him to the ground. He was extricated quickly and carried out on a stretcher, but he died on the 20th (sic) June from his injuries.' Joseph and Jane later lived at 46 Carlton Street, Mansfield (CWGC). According to the inscription on the family gravestone, the youngest boy, John, died as a result of war service at the age of 25 on 16 April 1923. Their father died the following year on 20 January 1924 in an accident at Welbeck Colliery aged 56 years. Their mother, Jane, died on 12 December 1951.