Arthur Duke

He was born about 1885, the son of Arthur Duke and Eliza Jane Duke (nee Betts). Seven children were named on the census between 1881 and 1901; Florence, John, Arthur, Albert, Gertrude, Edward and Alice. In 1881 Arthur, a labourer, and his wife, Eliza, were living at 4 Lion Terrace, Nottingham, with their daughter, Florence (2). A nephew, John Dodson (12) was also with them on the night of the census. Ten years later in 1891 they were living at 54 Cowley Street, Nottingham, with their five children, Florence, John (8), Arthur (6), Albert (3) and Gertrude (1). Arthur and Eliza later had two more children; Edward (b. 1892, J/F/M) and Alice (b. 1893, O/N/D). Arthur died in 1898 aged 40 and by 1901 his eldest son, John, had responsibility for at least four of his siblings. John, a hosiery-scourer, Florence, a lace mender, Arthur, a hosiery trimmer, and Edward (b.1892) and Alice (b. 1893) who were school age, were living at 52 Cowley Street; John was the designated head of household. Florence married Thomas Henry Lovett in 1903 (A/M/J) and in 1911 they were living at Edward Villas, Standhill Road, Sneinton, with their two sons, Thomas Henry (6) and Arthur (1) and Florence's younger siblings, Edward (19) and Alice (17). John Duke married Ethel Cartwright and in 1911, by which time they had been married for 2 years, they were living at 62 Eland Street, New Basford, with their daughter, Gladys (2). Another brother, Albert, a hosiery finisher and packer, was recorded in the same census as a boarder at 26 Bailey Street, Old Basford, in the home of John and Charlotte Orridge. The third sister, Gertrude, has not yet been traced on the 1911 census. The same year, 1911, Arthur was serving with the Northumberland Fusiliers in the census registration district of Pontefract, Yorkshire. The notice of his death in 1914 gave his address as Standhill Road, so it is likely that he had made his home with his married sister, Florence, although he joined the army around the time that his sister married Thomas Lovett.