Great Great Grandfather Francis 'Frank' George Wright

My Great Great Grandfather Frank (1868 - 1939) was a tinplate worker, plumber, and father of ten.

Francis George Wright was born in Oct/Nov/Dec 1868 in St Mary Major, Exeter, Devon to William Wright (about 47), a man of many occupations but at the time of Frank's birth a labourer in an iron foundry, and Sarah Wright (nee Emberry) (about 39), later an outdoor servant and laundress.

At the time of Frank's birth, the family lived in Prospect Place, which was a small court off Rack Street in Exeter's West Quarter. Frank lived in the West Quarter for most of his life. 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 rebuilding of the West Quarter. Most families were relocated to new houses in Burnthouse Lane by the mid 1930s. Frank would see the Exeter of his youth vanish in his old age.

Frank was baptised on 4th November 1868, also in St Mary Major, Exeter.

Frank was the seventh of eight children (six sons and two daughters):

• Thomas William  1849 -
• Henry John  1851 -
• Frederick Emberry  1854 -
• Ellen  1857 -
• Walter Charles  1861 -
• Alfred Frank  1864 -
• Francis 'Frank' George  1868 -
• Bessie T  1870 -

1871 Census:

When Frank was eleven, his father William passed away, aged fifty-nine, on 24th June 1880, at their home at Prospect Place.

1881 Census:

Sometime in the 1880s, the family moved from number 11 to 3 Prospect Place.

1891 Census:

In Jul/Aug/Sep 1891, Frank (22), a tinman, married Emma Bennett (20) a domestic servant, in Exeter.

Emma and Frank had twelve children (eight sons, two daughters, and two unknown):

• Francis 'Will' William  1891 - 1967 (76)
• George Charles  1893 - 1918 (25)
  
• Unnamed Stillborn Child  1894 - 1894 (0)
• Unnamed Stillborn Child  1895 - 1895 (0)
• Charles Arthur  1897 - 1897 (5 weeks old)
• Thomas 'Tom' Edwin  1898 - 1977 (78/79)
• 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, Emma gave birth to two stillborn children, after one another, in 1894 and then 1895. Emma and Frank paid 5s for each child to be buried at Exeter Cemetery. Her next born, a son, was born alive. Sadly, baby Charles, would pass away at only five weeks old, in 1897.

It seems Frank's occupation changed about in the 1890s. On his eldest son Will's 1892 baptism record, Frank's occupation is listed as plumber; whilst on his second son George's 1893 baptism record, Frank is recorded as a labourer. However, by 1897, as seen on his fifth child Charles' 1897 baptism record, Frank was back working as a tinman. Yet again he was recorded as a plumber on his sixth child Tom's 1898 baptism record, and as a tinplate worker on his seventh child Walter's 1900 baptism record. A tinman or tinplate worker is a person who makes and repairs things made of light-coloured metal, particularly tinware.

In late 1892/early 1893, Frank and his young family moved from Prospect Place to 5 Mermaid Lodge, also in Exeter's West Quarter. However, by early 1897, they were back living at 10 Prospect Place. Around 1899/1900, the family moved again to nearby 6 Teigh Place, another small court off Rack Street. The 1901 Census shows Frank's elderly widowed mother Sarah lived only two doors down at 4 Teigh Place.

1901 Census:

Photograph of Frank, most of his siblings, and their mother Sarah, c 1900

Standing left to right: Alfred, Walter, Frank and Frederick

Siting left to right: Thomas, Sarah and either Ellen or Thomas' wife Mary

1911 Census:

Around 1912, some fifteen to twenty years before the clearing of the poor West Quarter, Frank and his family moved from the area to nearby 11 Clinton Street, Exeter. Despite their humble origins, the Wright family had worked hard, had worked their way out of the slums.

Frank's second son 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 his father Frank was forty-nine.

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. Frank's son George seems to be the only uncle of Delma who served in the First World War, so it seems likely that my father's story is alas about him.

Photograph of Frank and Emma in middle age, c 1920

Frank would not live to see the Second World War. He passed away in January or February 1939, aged seventy, at his home of 11 Clinton Street, Exeter.

From the Express and Echo on 13th February 1939:

Frank was survived by his wife, Emma, eight of their ten children, and many grandchildren.

Who Frank Left Behind: 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