The Barritts of the Fenlands - Page 13
George Barrett, son of George and Martha
Born 14th November 1839 on Feltwell Fen, George was the eldest son of George and Martha, but unlike his father who worked on the land, he became a blacksmith.
George married Hester Hodson at Feltwell on 14th March 1860 and by the following year was a blacksmith at Hockwold cum Wilton, the next village to Feltwell. Their two eldest sons, George and Lewis both died in infancy and were buried at Hockwold.
About the year 1867 George and Hester moved to Ely and lived in Lavender House, Cow Lane, which was the road to West Fen. This road is now called West Fen Road. George conducted his blacksmith business from a forge at Lavender House.
George and Hester had a total of thirteen children. Five were born at Hockwold and the remainder at Ely, although three of those died in infancy.
Their eldest daughter Martha Matilda went into service as a housemaid at Paddington, London, and had a child there in 1884 at 10 Tavistock Road. She named the child John but he was always known as Jack and was brought up by his grandparents at Ely. Martha Matilda married William Chambers, a coalminer, on 12th August 1893 at Ely St. Mary and they lived at Underwood in Nottinghamshire where they had two sons.
George and Hester's son Fred started his working life at Ely as a baker's assistant. He moved to Highworth near Swindon and was a grocer and a baker at Sheep Street, Highworth. His first wife, Mary Jane, died in 1916 and two years later on 23rd September 1918, he married Constance Alice Martha Worthy Jeffries at the Zion Independent Chapel, Highworth. About this time he changed his profession and became a draper and outfitter at 5 Sheep Street, Highworth. These premises are now the Highworth Post Office.
Elizabeth, daughter of George and Hester, went to Nottingham in search of work and was employed as a housemaid at a private boarding school at 25 Balmoral Road in 1891. She married William (BilIy) Bingham, a lace maker, on Christmas Eve 1900 at Emmanuel Church, Nottingham. They lived at various addresses in Nottingham where they had three sons, all of whom worked for John Player and Son. The eldest son, George, was a very talented artist. Elizabeth, known in the family as Bay, died 3rd January 1959 in Nottingham.
Arthur, born 1873, was a younger son of George and Hester, who moved to Shardlow, Derbyshire and was employed as a wood machinist by Messrs W. R. Ellis Ltd. He married Mary Elizabeth White on 10th June 1899 at Lockington, Leicestershire and they had four sons and four daughters. The eldest daughter, Ethel, born 1900 at Shardlow, was taken to Ely in 1903 whilst her mother was expecting twins and remained with her grandparents in Cow Lane until she married Charles Watson in 1929.
Arthur's brother, William Herbert, went to Minnesota, USA as a young man and worked as an iron ore miner. He never married and invested his income in American stocks and shares. When he died in 1976 at the age of 97 his holdings were converted to many thousands of dollars. All his brothers and sisters had died so the fortune was inherited by his nephews and nieces or their children.
| George and Hester's youngest son, Ernest Kidd Barrett, born 1881, was a butcher of Vineyard Lane, Ely. He married Kate Ellingham, 6th August 1906 at Ely St. Mary and they had four sons and two daughters.
George Barrett the blacksmith died 28th February 1916, aged 77, and was buried in Ely Cemetery. Hester died almost five years later on 25th January, 1921, aged 80, and she too was buried in Ely Cemetery. |
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© Ron Barritt - March 1995