In January 2019 I posted a blog about the funeral of Mr John Firth of Holt House Sheffield. John was a major figure in the industrial and commercial life of mid-nineteenth century Sheffield. This week I located his obituary in the Derbyshire Courier dated 24th April 1869 which details the circumstances surrounding his death,
A researcher contacted me this week regarding a feature of his family history
" there is one that I feel I must find more about; the death of Linda Valerie Pridmore, aged 12, in December 1960. This, of course, is late 20th Century when the child mortality rate had improved quite a lot, which poses the question, how did she die? She survived the usual infant diseases, although children of all ages are vulnerable I know. But I have a feeling that there is more to Linda's death that I just need to find out about; it is niggling me.
Her name isn't common and if there was anything untoward about her death, it may have been reported in the local press. I wondered if you could do a search of the local papers of December 1960. The date of her death falls just within the embargo of coroners' reports, so I can't go there yet. I would be grateful for anything that you can dig up."
I checked the BMD and found the following for Linda
Birth Name Linda V Pridmore Registration Date Jul 1948
Registration Quarter Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration district Sheffield Inferred County South Yorkshire
Mother's Maiden Name Todd
Volume Number 2d Page number 86
Death Name Linda V Pridmore Death Age 11
Birth Date abt 1949
Registration Date Jul 1960 Registration Quarter Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration district Sheffield Inferred County Yorkshire West Riding
Volume 2d Page 45
And then I checked the excellent Sheffield Indexers site and found these burial records
PRIDMORE, Ellen (Wife of George, age 57). Died at 5 Durham Rd; Buried on July 9, 1960 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 30979, Section F6 of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield. Plot Owner: ~ ~ of ~. Page No 250
PRIDMORE, Linda Valerie (Daughter of George, age 11). Died at 5 Durham Rd; Buried on July 9, 1960 in Consecrated ground; Grave Number 30979, Section F6 of City Road Cemetery, Sheffield. Plot Owner: ~ ~ of ~. Page No 250
Mother and daughter buried on the same day looked ominous and so I checked the BNA and Newspaper Archive and found this report from The Guardian dated 5th July 1960
I relayed this information back to the researcher and needless to say he was dumbfounded by this revelation. He also informed me that George and Ellen lost two other children, both less than 12 months old in 1941 and 1942. George, who found the bodies, was their first born and their only child to survive childhood. Such a sad story
I can find no photo of the house on Durham Road as it is now the site of the University of Sheffield's multi-storey car park. I have a feeling that the house where the tragedy occurred may have been late Georgian in style similar to those on adjacent streets
And of course if anyone could supple me with any further information I would be grateful.
The following cutting is from the Sheffield Telegraph dated 13th March 1949. I was going to do an article on Joseph but there is quite a bit of material and content online about his life and career and so I did not take it any further.
But there is nothing online about this article which is at times quite sad but also very interesting.
Died at Rawsons Brewery, Pond Street; Buried on February 20, 1939 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 8587, Section H of Shiregreen Cemetery, Sheffield.
His wife Florence died 12 years later
FURNISS, Florence (Widow, age 78).
Died at City General Hospital; Buried on July 28, 1951 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 8587, Section H of Shiregreen Cemetery, Sheffield.
I have just posted an article to the site relating to the life and death of a Sheffield banker Mr William Wild of Pentonvillle, 23 Northumberland Road Sheffield. The newspaper reports are just prodigious in the detail they contain and the tone they set.
Just below the report of his death in the Evening Telegraph and Star dated 21st January 1890 was this report of an inquest into the death of Mr. Robert Hollingworth at Wadsley Bridge railway station.
I have jus updated the article on the Bright family in Sheffield to include details of the life and Death of Maurice De Lara Bright. I had not updated the article for a number of years and I was saddened to find that the excellent Deane Road Cemetery website was no longer in existence. This is happening more frequently and I can only assume that the owners/contributors have moved on to other media outlets or decided that they had taken it as far as they could.
But I also found this rather poignant report in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph 14 November 1911 relating to the death in South Africa of John Lipsey Bright, Maurice's son. John was forty years of age at the time of his death.
This article is very rare thankfully but a a bit of background is needed on the person this blog centres around
THERESA SLOCOMBE
Baptism 18 Dec 1875 • Finchley St Mary, England
Residence 1881 • Hendon, Middlesex, England
Birth of brother Charles Frederick Slocombe(1882–) Jan 1882 • Middlesex, United Kingdom
Residence 1891 • Hendon, Middlesex, England
Death of father Charles Philip Slocombe(1832–1895) Jul 1895 • Middlesex, United Kingdom
Residence 1901 • Hendon, Middlesex, England
02 Apr 1911 • Fairview, Hendon, Middlesex, England Modeller for art metal worker
1946 70 Death Mar 1946 • Chelmsford, Essex, England
This blog relates to the ancestors of Olive Bell who was the wife of noted Sheffield artist Kenneth Steel. Olive wad a victim of the Sheffield Blitz in December 1940
A researcher sent me this information as he is distantly related to Olive (3rd Cousin x 2 Removed.) and thought that I should record it in the Blog. He was right!
The events that led to Alfred Bell's tragic death had their origins in this fatal accident as reported in the Bridport News dated 16th May 1868
"Kenneth (Steel) as you know married Olive Bell. Olive is from my Bell line her father was Harold Alfred Bell b. 10 Jan 1893 d. 07 Jun 1965 who married Aloysie Henriette "Louisa Henrietta" Frölich in 1914. Louisa was b. 30 Aug 1891 and d. In Q4 1990 aged 99. She was born in Manhattan, New York the daughter of German immigrants.
Olive's fathers middle name Alfred was from his grandfather who while in a drunken state took a bet to dive into the River Don from the Bow Bridge in Rotherham and died as a result of it on 21 Jun 1868. He was my 3rd great-granduncle and his brother John Swinden Bell was my 3x G Grandfather".
Sheffield Independent dated 23rd June 1868
Many years ago I posted an article that culminated in the execution of Frederick Nodder at Lincoln Gaol on 30th December 1937.
It was followed by an article that I put together in an attempt to correct some of the misinformation that surrounded his early life.
I have also put additional information in this blog in 2011 and 2017.
But last week some more information came to light that was surprising to say the least.
I located a copy of his baptism record and also his entry in the marriage records of St Marys Church Walkley Sheffield
His address is given as 130 Howard Road in the marriage record which still stands today. It was adjacent to the now demolished Howard Road Methodist Church. and can be seen on this photograph. It is on the right hand side just about where the pedestrian is.
I have never been able to locate a service record for Frederick Nodder but in the 1921 Census his family are living at 61 Providence Road which is at the other end of Walkley
1921 Census
First name(s) Last name Relationship to head Sex Birth year Age in years Birth place Occupation Employer
Frederick Nodder Head Male 1887 33 Sheffield, Yorkshire, England Motor Mechanic T Greatorex Tripe Dresser 8 Mitchell St Sheffield
Amy Nodder Wife Female 1887 33 Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Margaret Nodder Daughter Female 1914 6 Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Frederick Nodder Son Male 1916 4 Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
It was sometime after this that Noddder deserted his wife and family and began his path that led to his date with the hangman in December 1937.
As for his family, they stayed together and they prospered. The 1939 National Register reveals that they moved to 112 Westwick Road, a three bedroomed semi-detached house in the Greenhill area of Sheffield.
Frederick Nodder (his son) is now a Quantity Surveyor, a professional person who looks as though he is making a life for both himself and his mother and sister.
A few years ago (2018) I was going to post an article on the site on the life and achievements of Thomas W Ward, a prominent Sheffield industrialist but when I checked recently there was great deal on content online and some excellent articles. Not wishing to duplicate material I decided to post details of his last resting place in Crookes Cemetery Sheffield
But first a brief summary
Thomas Ward was born in 1853, started work at 15, became a coal merchant and then, because the time was right for it, a scrap metal dealer in Sheffield. In the early 1870s there was a big demand for scrap metal. There were many big engineering projects and Thomas Ward developed an expertise in dismantling big structures including ships. He had breakers' yards at ports round the country and became the biggest scrap dealer in the country, taking apart old warships and redundant luxury liners. These included the Majestic, sister ship to the Titanic, which was broken up at his yard at Morecambe, and the Olympic, which was finally towed to Inverkeithing.
Thomas Ward Ltd of Sheffield opened its ship dismantling department in 1894 and soon became the largest supplier of scrap metal to the growing steel industry. The keynote was efficiency - everything on board a ship was dismantled and resold. Ships' fittings and equipment were sold at the showroom in Sheffield. Books, lamps, toilets and carpets were all dismantled. It is said that even the timber was turned into garden furniture.
During the First World War, Thomas Ward's was heavily engaged in war activities. There was a shortage of horses which had been sent to the Front and in 1916 Ward leased an elephant (and a man to look after it) from a circus. Circuses had been stood down for the duration of the war. The firm had the elephant for a couple of years, stabling her near the factory and using her for hauling heavy loads of steel around Sheffield. The elephant's name was Lizzie and the records are full of anecdotes about her - eating a schoolboy's cap, putting her trunk through a kitchen window to help herself, and pushing over a traction engine.
The firm carried on until the early 1980s.
The burial records are from the excellent Sheffield Indexers site
HAYTHORNTHWAITE, Gerald Graham (Retired, age 82).
Died at 22 Endcliffe Crescent; Buried on February 27, 1995 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: Ashes. Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 181
HAYTHORNWAITE, Ethel Mary Bassett (~, age 92).
Died at 22 Endcliffe Crescent; Buried on April 23, 1986 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: Cremated remains removed from Hutcliffe Wood No. 24457.Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 136
WARD, Gertrude Miller (Retired, age 94).
Died at Ranmoor House Retirement Home; Buried on August 16, 1989 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: Cremated remains. Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 154
WARD, Mary Sophia (Widow, age 92).
Died at 60 Endcliffe Vale Road; Buried on December 29, 1955 in Consecrated ground;
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: ~. Remarks: ~. Plot Owner: of ~. Page No 245
WARD, Thomas William (Director of ? Company, age 72).
Died at Endcliffe Vale Road; Buried on February 13, 1926 in Consecrated ground; cremated.
Grave Number 1181, Section BB of Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield.
Parent or Next of Kin if Available: Remarks: Cremated Remains. Plot Owner: ~ of ~. Page No 157
This cutting is from the Sheffield and Rotherham Independent dated 15th May 1880 and refers to the discovery of an illicit still in Gertrude Street which was off Infirmary Road in Sheffield
