Great Grandfather William Batchelor

My Great Grandfather William (c 1882 - 1939) was a railway worker, farm labourer, blacksmith, and father of four. 

Alas, despite my best efforts in researching William, his early life and origins remain a mystery. Later records imply he was born around 1882 and that his father was called John. Family legend says he came down to Devon laying railway lines, possibly from Birmingham; whilst, a newspaper article from the 1920s, says he was a native of Oxford. I hope the release of the 1921 census in three years time may reveal answers. 

What we know of William's life is from 1923 onwards...

From around February to July 1923, William was hired as a workman for the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway, to help construct the line from Halwill to Torrington in North West Devon. It is reported by the Colonel Stephens Society that "unemployed men had been shipped in for construction but lacked either skills or willingness, and in June 1923 rowdiness turned to a fairly nasty fracas". 

What was this fracas? On Saturday 23rd June 1923, many of the company's workers spent the evening in Hatherleigh, dancing to the music of the Town Band in the square. Unfortunately, several were unhappy when police encouraged them to return to their camp at the end of the evening. Things quickly grew violent and two policemen were attacked. We know William was not one of the main culprits, but likely knew the men involved. 

After what is reported as a 'short holiday', William returned to that area of North Devon on Monday 30th July 1923, arriving by train at Okehampton Station. Could the working class man afford to go on a short holiday or did he purposely leave the area after the fracas?

What we do know is that day at Okehampton Station, William's life changed forever...

From the station, William got a lift in a lorry belonging to Mr J. H. Treneman of Hatherleigh. The lorry, driven by Frederick Northcott, carried six further railway workmen, and heavy iron and steel girders for use in the construction of the railway bridge over the River Torridge.

At the top of the hill, chains on the lorry broke, causing it to become a runaway. The driver shouted to the other men to jump, whilst he tried to control the vehicle. All the men, apart from William, managed to escape. The lorry quickly gained speed, reaching about fifty miles an hour. At the bottom of the road, it crashed into the garden wall of the police station. William Weeks was at work there at the time and was instantaneously killed. Our William and the driver were thrown forward, and the girders hurled through the air, landing on and around them. They were renders unconscious and seriously injured. William sustained broken ribs and a fractured jaw.

The pair were taken by motor ambulance to the Okehampton Workhouse Infirmary and treated by Dr Wright. A month later, they were still too ill to give evidence in the inquest of the death of William Weeks; however, our William was able to get out of doors.

Family legend states that William was subsequently unable or found it difficult to work due to his injuries.

Amazingly the above is photograph of the crash site in 1923!

Despite his injuries, William at some point managed to find a little work at Stockleigh Farm, which is about half way between Hatherleigh, where the fracas took place, and nearby Highampton. Stockleigh Farm was owned by one John Isaac. Also working at the farm, as a domestic servant, was young Dinah Bessie Easterbrook. Dinah had already had two children out of wedlock: Dinah was forced to give her eldest, Evelyn Mary (born 1920), up for adoption; she was able to keep her second child, Donald Jasper (born 1924), who family legend says was the son of Dinah's employer, farmer John Isaac. John Isaac passed away on 1st May 1928. Soon his funeral took place and principal mourners included William and Dinah. Days after John Isaac's funeral, William (his age is given as 46, implying he was born around 1881/1882) and Dinah (25) married on 10th May 1928, in Highampton. 

Their wedding was reported in the Western Times on 18th May 1928:

That summer, John Isaac's brother sold Stockleigh Farm, meaning William and Dinah had to find work elsewhere. The pair, with their young children, moved around mid Devon following work. On her marriage certificate, William's daughter Bette lists his occupation as blacksmith. Did he find work as a blacksmith during the 1930s? Or did he perhaps work as a blacksmith prior to working for the railway? By the 20th century, there was less call for traditional blacksmithing; however, if skilled and trained in working metals, he would have been ideal to replace the unskilled workmen originally brought in to construct the railway lines. 

After his marriage, William unofficially adopted Dinah's young son Donald. William and Dinah also had four more children:

• Victor W J  1929 - 2016 (87)
• Bessie 'Bette' Anne  1930 - 2010 (79)
• Stillborn twin (or died shortly after birth)  1930 - 1930 (0)
• Audrey Dinah  1934 - 2001 (66/67)

Alas William grew ill and by 1939 was incapacitated. By then the family were living in South Molton.

1939 Census:

In December 1939, William passed away, aged about fifty-seven. 

William's young daughter Bette adored her father and was distraught when he died. She fondly remembered him playing his piano accordion. Unusually for the time, William wore earrings. Bette had near-black hair, hazel eyes, and skin that tanned to olive in the summer. Did she inherit her colouring from William? With his origins difficult to find in documents, his being of no fixed abode in 1923, his earrings, piano accordion, and possible colouring, it has been theorised that he was maybe of Romany gypsy origin.

Whether he was a gypsy, English blacksmith or Midlands navvy, hopefully the 1921 census will help us find out.

I like to picture him as a younger man, mop of dark hair, singing and playing his piano accordion, looking a bit like Alfie in Lark Rise to Candleford:

Great Grandmother Ivy Jane Wright (nee Boobier)

My Great Grandmother Ivy (1905 - 1978) was a housewife and mother of seven.

Ivy Jane Boobier was born on 17th May 1905 in Exeter, to Walter Boobier (34), a municipal labourer, and Mary Ann 'Polly' Boobier (nee Manning) (35), a former laundress.

Ivy was one of two daughters:

• Ellen Emma  1903 - 1977 (74)
• Ivy Jane  1905 - 1978 (73)

Very young Ivy and Ellen, c 1906

Ivy and Ellen grew up in 4 Colleton Grove, Exeter, just around the corner from the Quay.

On 17th June 1908, Ivy, aged three, like Ellen before her, began attending Holloway Street Infant School in Exeter. She left the school on 1st August 1912, aged seven, to start at the upper school. After a month-long summer holiday, on 2nd September 1912, Ivy began attending Holloway Street Girl's School. On 11th July 1919, Ivy finished her schooling, aged fourteen.

1911 Census:

Early in 1916, when Ivy was ten, her mother Polly passed away, aged forty-six.

In the summer of 1919, when Ivy was fourteen, her Aunt Kate also passed away, aged forty-eight.

Ivy, her father Walter, and sister Ellen in the early 1920s

Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell the sisters apart, though at a guess, by looking at her wedding photographs, I'd say Ivy may be on the right. 

In the summer of 1924, when Ivy was nineteen, her father Walter passed away, aged fifty-three. Ivy (19) and Ellen (21) were left orphans, as their father and his brothers had been at a similar age. One hopes kind relations took them in.

By the mid 1920s, Ivy had moved a few street away from 4 Colleton Grove to 26 Melbourne Street, Exeter.

Ivy as a young woman in the early 1920s

On 22nd July 1925, Ivy (20) married Ernest 'Len' Leonard Wright (20), a refreshment attendant for the Southern Railway in Exeter. Ivy was about four months pregnant with twins at the time.

Ivy and Len's wedding in the summer of 1925

Ivy and Len are stood centre. Ivy's older sister, Ellen, is stood second from left. Len's parents, Frank and Emma are together on the far left. Len's oldest brother, Will, is stood third from right.

Ivy and Len had seven children (three daughters and four sons):

• Delma Margaret Emma  1925 - 1992 (66)
• Mercia 'Merce' Eileen May  1925 - 2017 (91)
• Barbara Kathleen Ellen  1927 - 1990 (63)
• Cyril Walter G  1929 - 1997 (68)
• Gordon C  1930 - ?
• Desmond Clifford E  1932 - 1998 (66)
• Phillip L J  1940 - ?

By the start of the Second World War, Ivy and her family had moved to Burnthouse Lane, Exeter. Most of the residents of the newly built Burnthouse Lane estate, including Ivy's husband Len, were former residents of Exeter's West Quarter, an old slum area of the city, which was cleared in the 1920s and 1930s.

Alas I know little of Ivy's later life, as my father was not close to the Wright side of the family. He remembers her only as a little old lady.

Ivy (59) and Len (59) summer holidaying in Woolacombe, 1964

In 1973, Ivy passed away, aged seventy-three, in Exeter.

Great Grandfather Ernest 'Len' Leonard Wright

My Great Grandfather Len (1905 - 1981) was a railway refreshment attendant, later a road transport worker, and father of seven.

Ernest 'Len' Leonard was born on 17th January 1905 in Exeter, Devon, to Francis 'Frank' George Wright (36), a tinsmith (a tin plate worker for an oil colour merchant), and Emma Wright (nee Bennett) (33).

Len was the sixth of ten children:

• Francis 'Will' William  1891 - 1967 (76)
• George Charles  1893 - 1918 (25)
• Charles Arthur  1897 - 1897 (5 weeks old)
• Thomas 'Tom' Edwin  1898 - 1977 (78 or 79)
• Walter Henry  1900 - 1986 (85/86)
• Ernest 'Len' Leonard  1905 - 1981 (76)
• Samuel 'Sam' John  1908 - 1977 (68)
• Florence 'Florrie' Ellen  1910 - 1999 (88)
• Doris May  1912 - 1991 (79) 
• Harold Reginald  1914 - 1985 (70)

Alas Len's older brother Charles passed away as a baby, eight years before Len was born.

A week and a half before his third birthday, Len began attending Rack Street Central School. He started on 6th January 1908. On the school register, his birthday is incorrectly given as December 1904. I wonder if the was purposely done to make Len just old enough (three years old) to start school that year.

Of Rack Street Central School, His Majesty's Inspectors Reports noted in 1907 that "Managers and Teacher do all in their power for the benefit, both moral and mental, of the children, who are almost without exception of the poorest class."

Len left the school on 23th December 1913, aged eight, when he transferred to another school.

1911 Census:

Len and his family lived in Teigh/Tighe Place, a small court off Rack Street, in Exeter's West Quarter. Alas the West Quarter was overcrowded and poverty stricken, an historic but poor area of Exeter. Bathhouses, temperance societies and soup kitchens were set up to help alleviate the appalling conditions; nonetheless, in 1925, the council began plans for demolition, clearance, and re-building of the West Quarter. Most families were relocated to new houses in Burnthouse Lane by the mid 1930s.

Around 1912, before the clearing, Len and his family moved from the West Quarter to 11 Clinton Street, Exeter.

Len's older brother George served in the First World War. After four years in the Territorial Royal Army Medical Corps, George, aged twenty-one, joined the 7th Reserve (Cyclist) Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment as a private, on 17th December 1914. George passed away, aged twenty-five, in March 1918, in Exeter, when Len was thirteen.

My father recalls being told that an uncle of his mother, Delma, struggled after his experience in the First World War, and lived in a shed in the bottom of the garden, and wouldn't go in the house. Len's older brother George seems to be the only uncle of Delma who served in the First World War, so it seems likely that my father's family story is alas about him.

After leaving school, Len worked for the Southern Railway as as a refreshment attendant.

Len as a young man in the 1920s

This rare footage of Exeter from the 1920s shows the Exeter that Len would have known as a young man. We see trains he may have worked on, streets he would have walked down.

On 22nd July 1925, Len (20) married Ivy Jane Boobier (20) in Exeter. Ivy was around four months pregnant with twins at the time.

Len and Ivy's wedding in the summer of 1925

Len and Ivy are stood centre. Len's parents, Frank and Emma are together on the far left. Len's oldest brother, Will, is stood third from right. Ivy's older sister, Ellen, is stood second from left.

Len and Ivy had seven children (three daughters and four sons):

• Delma Margaret Emma  1925 - 1992 (66)
• Mercia 'Merce' Eileen Mary  1925 - 2017 (91)
• Barbara Kathleen Ellen  1927 - 1990 (63)
• Cyril Walter G  1929 - 1997 (68)
• Gordon C 1930 - ?
• Desmond Clifford E 1932 - 1998 (66)
• Phillip L J  1940 - ?

The electoral roll of 1928 shows Len was living at Crannaford Cottage in Broadclyst, a village about five miles north east of Exeter.

In March 1939, when Len was thirty-four, his father Frank passed away, aged seventy, in Exeter.

By the start of the Second World War, Len and his family had moved to Burnthouse Lane, Exeter, and Len was working as a road transport worker (heavy loader).

1939 Census:

Coloured Photograph of Burnthouse Lane in the 1930s

Another Coloured Photograph of Burnthouse Lane in the 1930s

The City Council had been inspired by the Garden City movement in their design and development of the Burnthouse Lane estate, which, alongside modern housing, included new schools, churches, a recreation ground and a pub. Alas suburban Burnthouse Lane was soon nicknamed 'Siberia', as some of the heart of the West Quarter was lost. A small minority took to vandalising the new buildings and stealing the freshly planted shrubs and trees. Also the live firing of guns from the nearby Topsham Barracks often broke the quiet of the estate. Still, compared to the West Quarter, the homes of the Burnthouse Lane estate were a revelation.

Len did not serve in the Second War World, being in his late thirties and having poor eye sight.

On 25th July 1940, it was reported in the Express and Echo that Len was fined for black-out offences:

The Wright family, c 1940

Stood from left to right: Walter, Doris, Florrie and Harold

Sat from left to right: Sam, Tom, Emma, Will and Len

On 14th December 1944, when Len was thirty-nine, his mother Emma passed away, aged seventy-three, in Exeter.

Alas I know little of Len's later life, as my father was not close to the Wright side of the family.

Len (59) and Ivy (59) summer holidaying in Woolacombe, 1964

In 1978, when Len was seventy-three, his wife Ivy passed away, aged seventy-three, in Exeter.

In 1981, Len himself passed away, aged seventy-six, in Exeter.

Great Grandmother Winifred Violet Vernon (nee Edworthy)

My Great Grandmother Winifred (1895 - 1982) was a domestic servant, housewife and mother of three.

Winifred Violet Edworthy was born on 4th September 1895 in Exeter, Devon, to William Edworthy (43), a railway guard and horse keeper/groom/carman, and Bessie Staddon Edworthy (nee Nott) (36).

Winifred was baptised on 16th October 1895 in St Davids, Exeter. At the time of Winifred's birth, the family lived at 64 Howell Road, Exeter. Howell Road is just around the corner from Exeter Central Station and not far from Exeter St Davids Station. Winifred's father and later both her brothers worked for the railway.

Winifred was the youngest of six children:

• Edith Florence Jessie  1878 - 1895 (16)
• William Gilbert John  1880 - 1949 (69)
• Beatrice May  1882 - 1969 (86 or 87)
• Cora Agnes  1886 - 1907 (21)
• Frederick 'Fred' Cecil  1888 - 1975 (87)
• Winifred Violet  1895 - 1982 (87)

Alas two of Winifred's older sisters, Edith and Cora, passed away young.

Edith passed away in March 1895, aged sixteen, six months before Winifred was born.

Winifred as a very young girl, c 1900

The 1901 Census shows Winifred and her family have moved from 64 to 54 Howell Road:

Winifred's older sister Cora is not shown at home in the 1901 Census. Possibly due to compilations at her birth, she retained only the abilities of a very young infant. She was unable to talk, and had to be washed, dressed, fed etc by others. Her parents tried to care for her at home, but struggled. She was initially sent to Earlswood Asylum in Surrey, but in 1904 her parents got her back closer to her home in Exeter and she spent the remainder of her short life at Digby Hospital (Exeter City Asylum). Cora passed away from phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis or a similar progressive wasting disease), aged twenty-one, on 29th December 1907, when Winifred was twelve.

In January 1911, when Winifred was fifteen, her father, William, also passed away, aged fifty-nine. Edith, Cora and William were all buried at Exeter Higher Cemetery in Heavitree, Exeter, but being poor their graves are alas unmarked. After their father's death, Winifred's older brother Fred became the breadwinner.

By 1911, the family had moved from Howell Road to Park Road, which is just around the corner from Exeter Higher Cemetery.

1911 Census:

Winifred as a young woman in the 1910s

Winifred's older brother, William, served in the First World War as a private in the Devonshire Regiment from 1916. He was transferred to the Labour Corps in 1917. Thankfully he survived the war.

It seems sometime in the 1910s, Winifred and her mother moved to 4 Morley Cottages, Paignton, to live with her sister Beatrice. During this time, Winifred worked as a domestic servant.

On 3rd April 1919, when Winifred was twenty-three, her mother Bessie passed away, aged about sixty, in the district of Totnes.

On 27th September 1919, Winifred (24) married Sergeant Walter Charles Vernon (26) in Totnes. Together they set up home at 2 Council Cottages, Cowley, near Exeter.

Winifred and Walter had three children (two daughters and one son):

• Winifred Peggy Doreen (known as Peggy)  1925 -
• Leslie 'Les' Walter  1927 -
• Christine 'Chris' May  1937 - 2012

Walter (32), Winifred (30) and baby Peggy at Peggy's christening in 1925

As their family grew, they moved next door to 3 Council Cottages, which was larger.

After leaving the army, Winifred's husband Walter, like her father and brothers, worked for the railway.

1939 Census:

Her daughter Peggy's wedding in 1944 captures Winifred and her family in the Second World War. Walter (51) is stood centre, Winifred (49) is sat second from right, bride Peggy (19) is sat third from right. Les (17) is stood furthest right, and Chris (7) is sat second from left.

After Winifred's young son Les (18) married pregnant Delma Margaret Emma Wright (20) in 1946, the young couple moved in with Winifred and Walter at 3 Council Cottage, and lived there with their three eldest children.

For Christmas 1949, Winifred's daughter Chris was gifted an autograph book. In it there are two poetical contributions from Winifred offering advice to her young daughter:

After marring American George Wise in 1944, Winifred's daughter Peggy had emigrated to America. In the 1960s, in their late sixties, Winifred and Walter travelled to Iowa, America to visit their eldest daughter and her growing family.

Winifred and Walter, with their American granddaughter Carol, in Iowa, in the early 1960s

Winifred's husband Walter passed away, aged seventy-two, in 1965, when Winifred was sixty-nine.

Winifred (74/75) in her home in 1970

Peggy says her mother had a wonderful mischievous sense of humour.

Winifred's American granddaughters also have fond memories of their Gran-in-England...

Her granddaughter Carol recalls that Winifred had lots of sayings. If told she couldn't wear something, Winifred would reply: "I'll black me arse and go naked if I bloody well please!". If a knife was dull, she would remark: "so dull one could ride to London bare-arsed on this thing 'n not get cut!"

Winifred had a parakeet called Georgie, whose cage can be seen in the background in the above photograph. Carol recalls: "She would sit in her comfortable chair between him and the coal burning fireplace, talking to him or twisting up paper logs for the fire."

Carol cherishes a small teacup gifted to her, when she visited England as a girl, by Winifred. She recalls a story: one time Winifred was "looking up and the teacups (they were displayed and then there were ones hanging off cup hooks) were swinging. She laughed and said 'it be ghosts', but it was an earthquake!"

Winifred in old age. Her displayed teacups and parakeet's cage can be seen behind her right shoulder.

Winifred's English grandchildren also have fond memories of visiting their Gran every Saturday for afternoon tea. They would sit around and watch the wrestling, followed by the football results, on the television.

Winifred had dark hair and icy blue eyes, which she passed on to her daughter Peggy. Photographs show Winifred also greatly resembled her mother Bessie.

Bessie (left) and daughter Winifred (right)

On 27th December 1982, Winifred passed away, aged eighty-seven, in Exeter.

Great Grandfather Walter Charles Vernon

My Great Grandfather Walter (1892 - 1965) was a soldier, railway worker and father of three.

Walter Charles Vernon was born on 14th December 1892 in Crediton, Devon, to Isaac 'Harry' Harwood Vernon (23), a agricultural labourer and farm carter, and Lucy Vernon (nee James) (24), a former domestic servant.

Walter was baptised on 26th February 1893 in Crediton. On his baptism record, Joseph is crossed out before Charles. Did the person writing the record of baptism make a mistake or did his parents change their mind over his middle name?

Walter was the second of four children born to Harry and Lucy (one daughter and three sons):

• Edith Ellen 1891 - 1971 (79)
• Walter Charles  1892 - 1965 (73)
• William John  1894 - ? (?)
• Frank  1896 - 19?? (?)

Walter's young mother Lucy was ill with pulmonary tuberculosis and passed away from the disease, aged 29, on 25th March 1897, in Kennerleigh, when Walter was four years old.

Before Lucy passed away, Harry seems to have begun an affair with Ellen Tonkin, whom he would soon marry. From this marriage, young Walter gained a step-mother and ten younger half siblings:

• Fred (born Tonkin, later Vernon)  1897 - 1915 (18)
• Mabel Ellen  1898 - 1994 (95)
• George  1900 - 1900 (0)
• George Henry  1901 - 1973 (71)
• Ernest Isaac  1904 - 1997 (93)
• Isaac Harry  1906 - 1964 (58)
• William Harwood  1908 - 1972 (64)
• Florence Emily  1911 - 1993 (82)
• Sidney  1913 - 2004 (91)
• Percy  1915 - 2002 (86)

The fact that the family moved around mid-Devon a lot, likely as Harry sought rural work, is revealed in the children attending different schools...

As a young boy Walter first attended school in Thorverton.

On 2nd Oct 1899, when Walter was six, he began attending Stockleigh Pomeroy Church of England School in Stockleigh. His older sister Edith also attended the school. At the time, the family lived in East Combe.

Next Walter, Edith and their younger half brother, Fred, attended school in Cadbury. Walter, aged seven, began at the school on 12th March 1900. At the time, the family lived in West Bowley, Cadbury.

The 1901 Census shows the family back in Thorverton:

Walter then attended school in Upton Pyne.

Walter later attended Crediton Hayward School. He started at the school, aged eleven, on 10th October 1904.

On the school register, his character is listed as 'bad'. He left the school on 19th July 1905, when he was sent to a reformatory.

Why was his sent to a reformatory/industrial school? In the summer of 1905, aged twelve, Walter stole a silver watch and chain from a local farmer.

The case was reported in local newspapers...

From the Western Times on 25th August 1905:

From the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette on 25th August 1905:

After three years in an industrial school, Walter worked briefly as a farm labourer before joining the army as a private, aged seventeen. On 12th October 1910 (two days before his eighteenth birthday), Walter enlisted in the Royal Tank Corps. He had previously been in the 3rd Hussars (a special reserve Devonshire regiment).

Walter's enlistment papers give an accurate physical description of Walter as a very young man. He was just over 5'5'', weighed 9st 2lbs, and had a chest measurement of 35 1/2'' (with a 2'' expansion range). He had a fresh complexion, brown eyes and brown hair.

Soon after enlisting, Walter was transferred to the Irish C Depot on 15th October 1910, then the 11th Hussars on 25th January 1911, and then the 13th Hussars on 19th December 1912.

With the 13th Hussars (a cavalry regiment), Walter served in India from 19th December 1912 to 18th November 1914.

Walter (about 20) in India, c 1913

Wider View of Same Photograph

Walter (in his 20s) in his army uniform, c 1910s

The First World War had begun that July. From 19th November 1914 to 26th June 1916, Walter served with the 13th Hussars on the British Eastern Front in France. He then served on the Mesopotamian Front in Iraq from 27th June 1916 to 6th May 1919.

Whilst in Basra, Al Basrah, Iraq, Walter suffered from the effects of heat, and was in hospital because of such from 27th July 1916 to 8th August 1916. He was in hospital again because of diarrhoea from the 1st to the 26th November 1916. 

Walter (in his 20s) in his army uniform, c 1910s

On 4th June 1919, Walter was transferred to the 2nd Battalion.

Back in Devon, Walter (26) married Winifred Violet Edworthy (24) on 27th September 1919, in Totnes. Together they set up home at 2 Council Cottages, Cowley, near Exeter.

Walter was mobilised into the 13th Hussars on 11th April 1921, then finally transferred again to the 2nd Battalion on 6th June 1921. He was discharged on 11th October 1922. 

Walter was a soldier for over a decade. He earned himself the 1914/1915 STAR, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. By family it is said the experience reformed him from troublesome farm lad to a good husband and father. He had gone from a 'bad' schoolboy to an 'exemplary' sergeant.

Walter's younger half brother, Fred, followed Walter into the army as a private. Sadly he passed away aged only eighteen on 30th September 1915 in France. 

Back in civilian life, Walter and Winifred had three children (two daughters and one son):

• Winifred Peggy Doreen (known as Peggy)  1925 - 
• Leslie 'Les' Walter  1927 - 
• Christine 'Chris' May  1937 - 2012

As their family grew, they moved next door to 3 Council Cottages, which was larger.

Walter (32), Winifred (30) and baby Peggy at Peggy's christening in 1925

Family tells that Walter had wanted to name his daughters after women he had met in France, but was not allowed. 

Peggy remembers her father, as a military man, being strict but fair. She remembers on cold nights, he would gently lay his large coat over his three sleeping children.

On Christmas Eve 1934, when Walter was forty-two, his father Harry passed away, aged sixty-five.

By the 1930s, Walter was a lorry driver for the railway. He would later become a signalman. 

1939 Census:

His daughter Peggy's wedding in 1944 captures Walter and his family in the Second World War. Walter (51) is stood centre, Winifred (49) is sat second from right, bride Peggy (19) is sat third from right, Les (17) is stood furthest right, and Chris (7) is sat second from left.

For Christmas 1949, Walter's daughter Chris was gifted an autograph book. On one page is a poem by Charles Spurgeon written out by Walter on 19th March 1950:

After her marriage to American George Wise, Walter's daughter Peggy would emigrate to America. In the 1960s, in their late sixties, Walter and Winifred travelled to Iowa, America to visit their eldest daughter and her growing family. 

Walter and Winifred, with their American granddaughter Carol, in Iowa, in the early 1960s

Walter, later in life, in his railway uniform

Walter passed away, aged seventy-two, in 1965, in his home in Cowley, near Exeter.