Verney Bradder
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Verney was the son of Charles and Jane Bradder (née Wakefield). His father Charles was born in Huthwaite in about 1839, the son of George and Hannah Bradder. His mother Jane was born in Sutton in Ashfield, in 1840, the daughter of George and Sarah Wakefield (née Pick); in 1851 they were living on Par.liament Street, Sutton in Ashfield. Charles and Jane were married at St Mary Magdalene, Sutton in Ashfield, on 22 July 1860 (J/A/S Mansfield). They probably had seven children: George b. 1861 (A/M/J Mansfield) d. 1862/1863; Sarah Ann b. 1863 (A/M/J Mansfield) bap. 26 November 1865 Riddings Derbyshire d. 1909; Hannah b. 28 April 1866; Charles b. 27 August 1869 bap. 26 March 1877 Sutton in Ashfield St Mary Magdalene Sutton; Frank b. 5 January 1872 bap. [Francis] 26 March 1877 St Mary Magdalene 26 March 1877, George Arthur b. 2 January 1874 bap. 26 March 1877 St Mary Magdalene and Verney b. 11 February 1876 bap 1 February 1877. Their places of birth vary with each census but tthey were probably born in either Huthwaite or Sutton in Ashfield. In 1871 Charles, a coal miner, and Jane were living at Pye Hill, Derbyshire, with their first child, George (1) who died young, but had moved to Forest Street, Sutton in Ashfield, by the time four of their children were baptised in 1877. In 1881 Charles and Jane were living on Sherwood Street, Huthwaite. In the home on the night of the census were their six surviving children, Sarah Ann (18) and Hannah (15) whose occupations were given as house duties, Charles (12), Frank (10), George (8) and Verney (6). Jane Bradder died in 1887 (A/M/J Mansfield) and Charles married secondly Hannah Leverton (née Bonser) on 24 May 1890 at St Mary Magdalene. Hannah was a widow whose husband James had also died in 1887 (O/N/D Mansfield). In 1891 Charles and Hannah, a seamstress, were living in Sutton in Ashfield with his son George, a coal miner, and Hannah's youngest child, Harry Leverton (11 b. 1880 J/F/M Mansfield). The name of a fifth person in the house is unclear on the census but may have been Verney, who has not been traced elsewhere. Charles' two eldest daughters were married and living independently by 1891. Sarah Ann had married Amos Fretwell in 1889 (O/N/D Mansfield) and was living in Sutton in Ashfield with Amos, a coal miner, their daughter Lucy (7 months) and her daughter Beatrice Jane Bradder (5, 1885 O/N/D Mansfield). Also in the household was her brother Charles, a coal miner. Hannah had married John William Fletcher Dove (later Fletcher) in 1886 (O/N/D Mansfield) and they were living on Hardwick Street, Sutton in Ashfield, with their daughter Charlotte Dove (2, b. 14 November 1888) and her brother Frank, a coal miner. Frank married Sally Baline Bacon on 16 April 1892, George Arthur married Mary Elizabeth Staniland in 1893 (J/A/S Mansfield) and Charles married Sarah Ann Kirkby in 1895 (J/A/S Mansfield). Hannah Bradder died in 1895 (J/F/M Mansfield) and in 1901 the widowed Charles (71) was living on Bowne Street, Sutton in Ashfield, with his son Charles and his wife Sarah and their children Charles (11), Fred (7), Jane (4) and Elsie (9 months). Charles snr. died in 1913 (O/N/D Mansfield). In 1901 Hannah and her husband John, a bricklayer's labourer, were living at 11 Hardwick Street, Sutton in Ashfield with their children Charlotte, Sydney and Frank. Frank and Sally were also living on Hardwick Street with their children Sarah J. (8), William H. (4). Verney, a coal miner, was living with his sister Sarah Fretwell and her family who had now moved to Goldthorpe, Rotherham, Doncaster. Sarah died in 1909 (O/N/D Doncaster). Verney was living at 89 Main Street, Goldthorpe, in 1911, a boarder in the home of Eli and Jane Wassell. However, by the time he enlisted he had returned to Sutton in Ashfield and according to a newspaper report of his death in 1915 his home was on Parliament Street and he had been working at the Summit Colliery before joining the army.
2nd Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment formerly 13669 Leicester Regiment. Verney served in France from 24 April 1915 and died of wounds less than a fortnight later on 3rd May 1915. He is buried in Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix (III. B. 23). He qualified for the 1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC Rue-Petillon Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix: 'British soldiers began burying their fallen comrades at Rue Pétillon in December 1914 and the cemetery was used by fighting units until it fell into German hands during the Spring Offensive of 1918. The Allies recaptured this sector of the front in September 1918 and when the war ended in November the cemetery was the site of twelve Battalion burial grounds. Many of those laid to rest here had died of wounds in a dressing station that was located in the buildings adjoining the cemetery, which were known as ‘Eaton Hall’ during the war. The cemetery was enlarged in the years after the Armistice when graves were concentrated here from the battlefields around Fleurbaix and a number of smaller burial grounds.'
CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'Died for his country rest in peace' CWGC record gives Verney's age as 34 but he was born in 1876 (registration of birth and baptismal record). Article published 14th May 1915 in the Mansfield Reporter and Sutton Times :- “SUTTON SOLDIER KILLED IN ACTION. “PRIVATE V. BRADDER. “News was received on Sunday morning [9th May 1915] that Private V. Bradder, of Parliament-street, Sutton, had been killed in action on May 3rd. Private Bradder, who was 39 years of age and unmarried, was formerly a miner at the Summit Colliery, and enlisted in the Lancashire [sic] Regiment about eight months ago. After being stationed at Grimsby for some time, he went to the fighting line barely a month before his death. His friends received from him a cheery letter recently. The officer conveying the sad news to the sister of the deceased states that he was just beginning to make himself useful, when he received a wound and died from the effects about an hour afterwards. The remains of this miner soldier who gave his life for his country were laid to rest in a cemetery set apart for English soldiers Above article is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918 Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his sister, Hannah Fletcher, was his sole legatee
