George Bilbie

George was the son of Joseph and Matilda Ann Bilbie (née Hunt). Joseph, a coal miner, and Matilda were married at Duffield St Alkmund in 1876. They had ten children, two of whom died young, including an unnamed daughter: John William b. Belper 1878, Herbert b. Morton 1878 d. 1882, George b. North Wingfield 25 August 1880 bap. North Wingfield 10 October 1880, Mary Ann b. North Wingfield birth registered 1884 (J/F/M), Sarah b. North Wingfield 1885, Rowland b. Clay Cross 1887, Nellie b. North Wingfield 1889, Lily b. North Wingfield birth registered 1891 (J/F/M), unnamed daughter b. 1893 (O/N/D) d. 1893 (O/N/D) and Annie Matilda birth registered 1898 (J/F/M). The family was living in Morton, Chesterfield, in 1881 and in North Wingfield by 1891. Joseph's wife Matilda Ann died in 1899 and in 1901 he was living in New Village, Creswell, with his three daughters, Mary, Nellie and Lily and son Rowland. Also in the household was his housekeeper, a widow, and her three children together with a male boarder. George married Sarah Elizabeth White (b. 1882) at Chesterfield Holy Trinity in November 1899; both were living at The Wharf, Chesterfield. They had seven children, four of whom died young: Violet birth registered 1900 (J/F/M) d. 1901, Annie Matilda b. 1901, Lily b. 1903, Florence Maud b. 1905, Minnie birth registered 1907 (J/F/M) d. 1907, George b. 1909 d. 1911 and Roland b. 1912 d. 1918. George, Sarah and their daughter Violet were living at 5 Railway Terrace, Chesterfield, in 1901, but the couple had moved to 111 Bathurst Terrace, Langwith near Mansfield, by 1911. Two of their children, Violet and Minnie, had died in infancy and in the home on the night of the census were their four surviving children Annie, Lily, Florence and George (1) who died later that year. Their youngest child, Roland, was born the following year but died aged six in November 1918 and was buried in Mansfield Woodhouse St Edmund King and Martyr churchyard on 2 December. (His sisters Lily d. 1975 and Florence d. 1976 who, like their sister Annie, were married at St Edmund's, were also buried in the churchyard.) George and Sarah were still living at 111 Bathurst Terrace when he attested in 1914 but subsequent army records gave Sarah's address as 121 Blake Street, Mansfield Woodhouse. Sarah was awarded a pension of 28 shillings and nine pence per week for herself and three children (Lily, Florence and Roland) with effect from 31 December 1917. Her eldest surviving daughter, Annie, was sixteen years old. Sarah completed a form for the army in 1920 listing her husband's surviving relatives, naming: Wife and children: Sarah Elizabeth Bilbie and Annie Matilda, Lily and Florence Maud of 121 Blake Street, Mansfield Woodhouse. Father: Joseph Bilbie (62), 52 Carlton Street Mansfield (d. 1922). Brothers: John W Bilbie, Chesterfield; Ernest Bilbie, North Wingfield, and Roland, 52 Carlton Street Mansfield. Sisters: Mary Ann Adsetts (m. Thomas Adsetts 1904) Pilsley Derbyshire; Sarah Mottershaw (m. James Mottershaw 1904) 5 Carlton Street Mansfield; Nellie Handbury (m. George Hanbury 1904) Brampton Chesterfield; Lily Brocklehurst (m. George Leonard Brocklehurst 1913) Upper Brampton Chesterfield. All three of George and Sarah's daughters married: Annie Matilda to Clarence Albert Fensom in 1921, Lily to Frederick Joseph Varley also in 1921 and Florence Maud to William Shilling in 1923. Sarah did not remarry and in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled, she was living with her eldest daughter Annie (Fensom) and her husband and their four children in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. Sarah died in 1940.