John William Hewes

Note: some of the family used an alternative spelling of their surname, 'HEWIS'. John William was the son of James William Hewes and his wife Sarah Harriett nee Sadler. His father was born in Bulwell and his mother in Mansfield in 1854 (O/N/D Mansfield). They were married in 1873 (J/A/S Basford). According to information provided by the widowed Sarah on the 1911 census she had been married to James for 36 years and they had had nine children of whom four had died. Five children were named on the census between 1881 and 1911; Ethel (Hewis) birth registered 1876 (J/F/M Basford), Joseph birth probably registered 1879 (J/F/M Basford), John William birth registered 1884 (J/F/M Basford), Harry b. 14 January 1890 (J/F/M Basford) and Edith Ann b. 13 December 1892 (1893 J/F/M Basford). Ethel and Joseph were born in Hucknall and the younger children in Bulwell. In 1881 James (27), a coal miner, and Sarah were living at 24 Musters Road, Bulwell, with their two children Ethel (5) and Joseph (2). The family had moved to 7 Belgrave Street, Bulwell, by 1891. James and Sarah now had four children; Ethel (15) a hosiery machinist, Joseph (12), John (7) and Harry (1) James and Sarah were still at the same address ten years later in 1901; only their three youngest children, John (17) a carpenter, Harry (11) and Edith (8), were in the home on the night of the census. The two oldest siblings, Ethel and Joseph, have not been positively identified after the 1891 Census although Joseph was one of the executors of his mother's will in 1923. John's father, James William, died on 15 November 1910 (O/N/D Nottingham) aged 56. In 1911 his widow naming herself as Harriett and spelling her surname 'Hewis', was living at 14 Belgrave Street, Bulwell, with her two youngest children, Harry (21) a railway engine cleaner, and Edith (18) a lace dresser. It is possible that John William had already emigrated to Canada by 1911 where he later enlisted in the Canadian Infantry. His brother, Harry, also emigrated to Canada and he too enlisted but under the surname 'Hewis'. Harry served in the Canadian Cavalry Machine Gun Squadron (14653 Private) and was killed in action in France on 8 August 1918 aged 23 years (Vimy Memorial). The CWGC record gives his mother's address as 39 Thames Street, Bulwell. Sarah Harriett died on 18 March 1923 aged 68 years. Their sister Edith Ann married Arthur Staley (b. 28 December 1885) in 1921 (O/N/D Nottingham). Arthur had enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) in 1915. At the time of the 1939 England & Wales Register Edith and Arthur, a general labourer, were living in Nottingham. Arthur died in 1951 (March Nottingham) and Edith on 10 August 1974 (Sep Nottingham) aged 81.