Ernest Parnham

Ernest was the son of Edward and Martha Parnham (née Plowright). His father Edward was the son of Joseph (b. Cropwell Butler) and Ruth Parnham who in 1881 were living in Cropwell Butler with their children Ernest, Clara and Edward (9). Edward was a farm servant in 1891 and living in Colston Bassett in the household of farmer Michael Faulks and his family. Edward married Martha Plowright at Langar St Andrew, Nottinghamshire, in December 1892 and by 1911 had had ten children of whom only eight had survived infancy: Clara b. Langar and Rose Ellen (Helen), Ernest b. 1896 (A/M/J), Ada Elizabeth, George Edward (Edward) and Alice Mary (Mary) who were born in Shelford, William b. Bingham and Edith May b. Hose, Leicestershire. A son, Walter, was born in Hose in 1913. One of the two children who died in infancy was Ruth (b/d 1902). In 1901 Edward, a wagoner on a farm, and Martha were living at Shelford Manor, Shelford, Nottinghamshire, with their children Clara, Helen, Ernest (5), Ada, Edward and Mary. They had moved to Pastures Lane, Hose, by 1911 where Edward was again working as a wagoner on a farm. Only Ada, Mary, William and Edith were still living at home. The eldest daughter Clara was living in Saxondale, Nottinghamshire, a domestic servant in the household of Hodginkson Morris, a farmer, and his family. Ernest was a farm servant at Mayfield House, Hose, in the employ of farmer Henry Hunt, while Edward was living with his paternal grandparents, Joseph and Ruth Parnham, in Colston Bassett. The second daughter, Rose Ellen, has not yet been traced on the census. Walter, was born two years later in 1913. Edward, a dairy farmer, and Martha were living at Kaye Wood Farm, Colston Bassett, in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled. Also in the household were their sons Edward a farm worker and Walter who assisting his father on the farm. The record of one other member of the household remains closed. Edward probably died in 1950. Martha died in 1953; she was still living in Colston Bassett.