Tuesday 20 March 2018

The Family of Henry Hughes (1891 - 1918) - Sheffield and Merthyr Tydfil

Henry Hughes was executed by the British Army on  10th April 1918. He was 27 years old

Information on Henry is scarce but the CWGC records show that he was the son of John Charles and Ellen Hughes. 
I was researching the 1911 Census and found this entry


Name: John Hughes
Age in 1911: 52
Estimated birth year: abt 1859
Relation to Head: Head Gender: Male
Birth Place: Sheffield, Yorkshire, England Civil Parish: Sheffield County/Island: Yorkshire-West Riding Country: England
Street address: 25 New St Sheffield Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Hawker Of Hardware
Registration district: Sheffield Registration District Number: 510 Sub-registration district: South Sheffield ED, institution, or vessel: 8 Piece: 27856
Household Members:
Name Age
John Hughes 52
Ellen Hughes 42
James Hughes 12


His wife of 25 years Ellen was born in Merthyr Tydfil and a check on the BMD registers revealed this entry 

Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Marriages Sep 1886 HUGHES John Merthyr T Volume 11a Page 659 Spouse Ellen Jones



and then there was this entry five years later

Births Mar 1891 Hughes Henry Merthyr T. Volume 11a  Page 671.

Superficially this could be Henry's family but to be certain I would need further information to verify them. I could send of for the certificates and this would undoubtedly help. But they cost £9.25 each at the moment which is prohibitive to say the least.  



Nevertheless three points on the census stand-out - firstly John was unable to read and write - he just placed his mark on the form and someone else must have completed it for him Secondly the family were living in just two rooms and finally their son James was living with them. There was another child that was still living (was this Henry who would have been 20 at the time of the census?) but was not resident at 25 New Street. John and Ellen had eleven children but only two were still living in 1911. 

If Henry was the other son it means that the British Army executed one of their only two surviving children. You are left literally speechless! 



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