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Thomas Willie Acaster


hilldweller

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hi hoping this may give a bit of a personal insight instead of just paperwork insight. Thomas Willie Acaster was my great grandfather and yes indeed had to get married rather quickly cos Uncle Edwin was on the way. I think he and his wife had 6 children but i'll have to check with my mum, I know there was Edwin,Ethel(eldest girl),Lottie and Nellie,then there was one that died when young(think it may have been from t.b but thats something else i'll have to check with my mum) and maybe another one(muuuuuuuuuuuuuum!!!!!). Ethel was my grandma and her birth was registered as 1st July 1906 although the 1st of July was an estimate cos when she was registered no one could actually remember the date she was born.Anyway Uncle Edwin did go to live at the top end of Capel Street(again my mum knows the address) when their mother couldn't manage all of them and every time he got drunk he used to cry that his mother had given him away and kept the rest-it did him some real damage. My Grandma was always told that her father was killed on 1st July 1916(her 10th birthday) but they didn't find out until the 14th. My Grandma married Lawrence Frederick Rusby on Christmas Day but i can't remember what year and they had my mum Kathleen Margaret Rusby(04-03-39).My Auntie Lottie married John Whitehead or Whitehouse and they had Mary and Elaine.Auntie Nellie married too but yet again i'll have to ask my mum the details. Hope that starts to make it a bit more personal and helps you feel as if you know them a bit more.

Thank-you Sojajo for filling in a bit more of the jigsaw.

The chap we called Uncle Edwin was cousin to my father Ken which makes my father your grandma's cousin I think.

When I knew him he lived in an very old whitewashed cottage on Luke Lane with his wife "Aunty Hilda". In the mid fifties (and perhaps before), he was a very successful pidgeon racer. His sideboard was laden with huge silver cups, many of them foreign. He had a back injury, caused down the pit and spent his last years confined to bed.

Their cottage was tiny and comprised one room downstairs with a door and small window looking out into the front yard, the back faced into the earth bank. There were tiny narrow stairs in a wooden cupboard arrangement and one larger bedroom at the front and a tiny one with a sloping roof-line at the back. there was a tiny window in this room down at floor level with a view through the grass growing at the back.

He had a strong resemblance to the rest of the clan and was heavily built.

I attended Wisewood School for a while in the late fifties and used to go and sit with him upstairs in my lunch hour. He told me that some of his family used to live at Darnall and mentioned something about the old church that used to stand near the crossroads, perhaps this was his wife's family.

I think he died in the late sixties but I remember introducing "Aunt" Hilda to my new wife sometime in the early seventies.

Thanks once again.

hilldweller

postscript

There's a picture of the row of cottages in Ron Claytons "Hillsborough & Beyond" book. It's on page 21 and "Uncle Edwins" cottage is the one with the open upstairs casement. The ruined brick base of the pidgeon coop is to the left of the Anderson Shelter.

further postscript

I've still got nagging doubts as to wether "Uncle Edwin" was Thomas Willie's son or his brother. As a young teenager I found it difficult to estimate ages. Perhaps you or your mum could help out on this one. He looked a bit old for late fifties in around 1960 but it could have been because of his disability.

even further postscript

Just been looking on FreeBMD and it would seem that the older Edwin died in 1938 aged 54. There is a marriage for what might be the younger Edwin in 1927 to a Miss Ibbotson.

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Thank-you Sojajo for filling in a bit more of the jigsaw.

The chap we called Uncle Edwin was cousin to my father Ken which makes my father your grandma's cousin I think.

When I knew him he lived in an very old whitewashed cottage on Luke Lane with his wife "Aunty Hilda". In the mid fifties (and perhaps before), he was a very successful pidgeon racer. His sideboard was laden with huge silver cups, many of them foreign. He had a back injury, caused down the pit and spent his last years confined to bed.

Their cottage was tiny and comprised one room downstairs with a door and small window looking out into the front yard, the back faced into the earth bank. There were tiny narrow stairs in a wooden cupboard arrangement and one larger bedroom at the front and a tiny one with a sloping roof-line at the back. there was a tiny window in this room down at floor level with a view through the grass growing at the back.

He had a strong resemblance to the rest of the clan and was heavily built.

I attended Wisewood School for a while in the late fifties and used to go and sit with him upstairs in my lunch hour. He told me that some of his family used to live at Darnall and mentioned something about the old church that used to stand near the crossroads, perhaps this was his wife's family.

I think he died in the late sixties but I remember introducing "Aunt" Hilda to my new wife sometime in the early seventies.

Thanks once again.

hilldweller

postscript

There's a picture of the row of cottages in Ron Claytons "Hillsborough & Beyond" book. It's on page 21 and "Uncle Edwins" cottage is the one with the open upstairs casement. The ruined brick base of the pidgeon coop is to the left of the Anderson Shelter.

further postscript

I've still got nagging doubts as to wether "Uncle Edwin" was Thomas Willie's son or his brother. As a young teenager I found it difficult to estimate ages. Perhaps you or your mum could help out on this one. He looked a bit old for late fifties in around 1960 but it could have been because of his disability.

even further postscript

Just been looking on FreeBMD and it would seem that the older Edwin died in 1938 aged 54. There is a marriage for what might be the younger Edwin in 1927 to a Miss Ibbotson.

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Hi again, so is your Dad Uncle George's brother ? That would make you Stevens cousin.

My mum has a family tree that she's going to find for me:) That should make things easier for you.

The family tree was done by Uncle Tommy (Uncle Toms son).

Crikey aren't there times when you wish they'd come up with different names !

Shouldn't say that though because I've called my youngest Jonathan Thomas just to join in the fun for future generations !!

There were 2 Uncle Edwins but the one on Luke Lane was indeed my Grandma's brother and their dad was Thomas Willie who was killed on The Somme.

When Uncle Edwins cottage was demolished he went to live on the Kelvin.

We all went to Wisewood School too (including my mum).

If you know Ron Clayton you could ask him if he knows anything because he knows virtually everything about local history, if not I'll ask him next time I see him.

P.S.Uncle Edwin was the oldest, Ethel May, Auntie Lottie, Uncle Tom, Auntie Nellie - there was 5 of them.

Their mum Ethel (Dyson) died of heart disease or so my mum was always told but she'd had tuberculosis as well so don't know but there were whispers she'd actually had an abortion and that led to her death.

My mum got tb when she was 17 and my Grandma freaked because she thought it had laid dormant in her from her mother.

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Hi again, so is your Dad Uncle George's brother ? That would make you Stevens cousin.

My mum has a family tree that she's going to find for me:) That should make things easier for you.

The family tree was done by Uncle Tommy (Uncle Toms son).

Crikey aren't there times when you wish they'd come up with different names !

Shouldn't say that though because I've called my youngest Jonathan Thomas just to join in the fun for future generations !!

There were 2 Uncle Edwins but the one on Luke Lane was indeed my Grandma's brother and their dad was Thomas Willie who was killed on The Somme.

When Uncle Edwins cottage was demolished he went to live on the Kelvin.

We all went to Wisewood School too (including my mum).

If you know Ron Clayton you could ask him if he knows anything because he knows virtually everything about local history, if not I'll ask him next time I see him.

P.S.Uncle Edwin was the oldest, Ethel May, Auntie Lottie, Uncle Tom, Auntie Nellie - there was 5 of them.

Their mum Ethel (Dyson) died of heart disease or so my mum was always told but she'd had tuberculosis as well so don't know but there were whispers she'd actually had an abortion and that led to her death.

My mum got tb when she was 17 and my Grandma freaked because she thought it had laid dormant in her from her mother.

My father who passed away in 1984 did indeed have a brother called George and eight ! other brothers and sisters, including Gladys who lived to be 101, Alfred,

John (Jack), Charles, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mildred, & Doreen.

I have a brother named Stephen and also my uncle Thomas had one son with the same name.

HD

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Hi hilldweller I'm on with this family tree. I can see from other people's work she is said to be born in Oban. 

The only reference I can find is possibly 'Oban' over written on a census form. 

If you're on ancestry let me know and I'll share the tree. 

Cheers 

dalesdaisy 

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Thanks dalesdaisy, my uncle George always maintained there was a link with Oban.

I'm not on ancestry as I have an aversion to paying any sort of ongoing subscription. I think that my care with money is down to my Yorkshire ancestry rather than any Scottish connections. If I can buy something outright, no problem, otherwise forget it.

hilldweller

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