I have fond memories of my Grandad, Alfred Knowles. He was a dapper, neat and tidy man with a twinkle in his eye. He loved to play the piano, although he had music he clearly played from ear, and was always happy when the family joined in with their voices or violins. I can still picture the house in Robin Hood Lane in Helsby. In the front room the small black and white TV would have the racing or football on and be very loud. The toilet was in the back yard – it was shared in the winter months with Grandad’s motorbike carefully oiled and wrapped in cloth for protection.
Motorbikes were a passion of his – he and my Grandma did a lot of trips on their bike: to Skegness, Llandudno and to my parent’s wedding in South Wales in 1949. Maybe this trip was on the ‘Sunbeam 350c.c sport model motorbike with pillion and paniers’ which Alfred advertised for sale in the Cheshire Observer for £18 in November 1951. In his later years Grandad had a Reliant 3-wheeler which he could drive on a motorbike licence and he loved to tell the tale of being stopped in Chester for speeding and how he charmed his way out of that incident!
Alfred was born on the 28th October, 1902 at Moreton Terrace in Frodsham. He was the second son of Annie Christiana Barker and Joseph Knowles who were married in 1901 in Chester. Their oldest son, Thomas was born in 1900 in Christleton and sadly died of ‘tubercular disease of the bowel’ in July 1908.
By the time of the 1911 census the family had moved to Pinmill Brow in Overton and there were three additional children – Olive (born 1905), Stanley (born 1907} and Gerald (born 1910). Joseph was working as a domestic gardener and the family were living in four rooms not including the kitchen. The census recorded that Olive had ‘Rickets from birth’.
Two more children were born before tragedy struck the family in 1915. Stephen Raymond was born in 1913 and Muriel Constance in March 1915 just three months before Joseph died of ‘pleuro pneumonia (both lungs) 12 days, and heart failure’ . At the time the family were living at Heathercliffe Cottage in Overton and Joseph was employed as a domestic gardener by the Steele family. His death left Annie, aged 39, with six children at home with her eldest, Alfred, just about old enough to work, a disabled daughter and a new born baby. Times must have been very tough and some difficult decisions had to be made.
We next meet the family living at 1 Eden Cottage, Overton in the 1921 census.
- Annie Christiana Knowles, 45, born in London and working at home duties (out of work)
- Alfred Knowles, 18, born in Frodsham and working as a vanman for E. S. Collinson, grocer of Frodsham
- Stephen Knowles, 8, born Frodsham and in full time education
- Muriel Constance Knowles, 5, born Frodsham and in full time education
Where were Olive, Gerard and Stanley? I had an inkling of where to find them. I knew that Olive had spent time in the Dutton workhouse and that her brothers had spent time in a children’s home at Kingsley near Frodsham.
Aunty Olive was special – she was severely disabled and unable to walk. She was also a small person and her brother-in-law, Leonard Eaton, who was a carpenter made her a set of furniture at just the correct size for her. She had a keen mind and was interested in national and local news, loved sending cards and letters and enjoyed company. When Olive was at Dutton she would visit her mother for two weeks each year. In 1936 Olive discharged herself from the Dutton Institution (the workhouse was taken over by Cheshire County Council in 1930) and for many years lived with various family members in rotation. Her later years were spent at Cotebrook Home in Lymn where she received both care and love from the staff and had regular visits from her siblings and the extended family. So it was no surprise to find Olive as a patient at the Runcorn Union Workhouse, Dutton in the 1921 census.
When Alfred’s youngest sister, Muriel died I inherited some photographs. This one taken in 1961 shows Muriel at the annual fete held at the Children’s Home in Kingsley. Her niece explained that Muriel went every year as her brothers Gerard, Stanley and Stephen had lived there after their father died. Newton Hall was within walking distance of Eden Cottage so hopefully Annie saw her boys at regular intervals. Gerard and Stanley were both there in 1921 and as Stanley was aged 14 years and three months he was working as a gardener.
from personal collection
Newton Hall was a model children’s home built by the Children’s Society in 1903. At its peak it catered for 350 children who were housed in ‘cottages’ built around a large green with a chapel, school and hospital on the site. Boys were trained for work in agricultural, gardening and tool making whereas girls were trained for domestic and laundry work. Newton Hall eventually closed in 1983, most of the site remains as residential housing. There is a small plaque at the site commemorating the children who lived there.
My grandfather Alfred appears to be the only breadwinner in his family at the time of the 1921 census when the family were living in one room. He is working as a vanman for Collinsons, the Grocers in Church Street, Frodsham. At first I thought he must be driving a delivery van but I later learned that the term referred to ‘driving’ a horse drawn delivery van. Alfred probably started his working life as a vanboy who was an assistant to the vanman, looking after the horses and loading the cart.
Collinsons was a large shop with another branch in Halton, about five miles away. Although the shop has now gone, the name is remembered in Collinson Court and the entrance to the stable yard can still be seen in the renovated shops.
from personal collection
A newspaper search revealed some interesting facts about the owner of the shop, a Mr Ernest Samuel Collinson. He was up before the magistrate at both the Runcorn and Frodsham Petty Session on several occasions between 1910 – 1920. On one occasion in 1915 he sold bread by size rather than weight and was fined 10s. On another he was fined £1 for selling ‘Cheshire cheese’ which was not in fact Cheshire Cheese. In 1918 Collinson was charged with selling sugar, which at that time was rationed, for jam making. This time he was fined a total of £25 which reflected the seriousness of the crime.
In August 1920 Alfred was charged with ill treatment of a horse at the Frodsham Petty Sessions. It appeared that Alfred was ‘walking’ the horse down Main Street when a local policeman noticed the mare was limping badly. On inspection the horse’s fore leg was badly cut and infected. An Inspector from the N.S.P.C.A examined the wound and said the wound had been caused by barbed wire. Collinson pleaded guilty but angered the magistrate as Collinson had told Alfred not to come to the court but to plead guilty. Alfred was then called for and after answering some questions the case against him was dismissed but with 5s costs. Collinson was fined £5.
It would have been a relief to both Alfred and his mother Annie that Alfred did not receive a larger fine. I wonder how much longer Alfred worked for Collinson. By the time he married in 1924 he was working at the cable works in Helsby. The 1921 census gives a glimpse into the lives of my grandfather and his family at a difficult period of their lives.
from personal collection
Sources
- 1921 Census
- 1911 Census
- Birth Certificate Alfred Knowles October 1902
- Birth Certificate Muriel Knowles March 1915
- Marriage Certificate Alfred Knowles and Annie Christian August 1901
- Death Certificate Thomas Knowles July 1908
- Death Certificate Joseph Knowles June 1915
- Dutton Workhouse – Register of Inmates Aug 1907 – Jun 1937
- NHH 1/32221/1 Cheshire Record Office accessed 2012 (under controlled viewing)
- Newton Hall Children’s Home – http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/FrodshamNCH/ accessed March 2022
- Runcorn Examiner 14th June, 1914
- Runcorn Guardian 19th March, 1915
- Chester Chronicle 10th June 1916
- Cheshire Chronicle 20th July, 1918
- Cheshire Observer 21st August, 1920
- Cheshire Observer 3rd November 1951