Betty Ethel Manley nee Taylor (1921-94)

Betty Ethel Manley nee Taylor was a half-sister of my father, Eric William Taylor, who both had the same father, William Taylor. Eric’s mother (Gertrude) was William’s first wife who died in the influenza pandemic in 1919. She was a younger sister of Betty’s mother (Ethel).

Betty was born on 31 December 1921 in Woolwich, the only child from the marriage of William Taylor to his second wife Ethel Suter nee Wilkins. William and his family lived at 16 Brewer St, Woolwich. The site of the house is now occupied by John Wilson Street, a dual carriageway that forms part of the South Circular Road (A205). The electoral register shows William living at the address from 1921 until 1933.

Betty recounted that, as a small child, she slept in a room full of “knocked off” goods from the dockyard. One of her earliest memories was of her father taking the labels off stolen canned food (stored under her bed) to resell !  She also remembered seeing big, boxed dolls one Christmas, but she was not allowed to have one, just the usual piece of coal, a satsuma, some nuts and a coin.  The only real present she remembered receiving was a watch from her elder half-brother Eric for a birthday.

Ethel (Betty’s mother) died on New Years Day 1933 aged 51 when Betty was 11. She then brought up herself with help from her half -sister Doris Suter, who lived in Seddlescombe, a small rural village in Sussex. When Betty was about 15, her father (William) found her a flat in Woolwich above a greengrocer’s shop. William married Eleanor Mary Bateman (known as Nell or Nellie) in 1938 when Betty was 16. One morning he produced a little box with a ring inside it and told Betty "I am going to marry Nell today". Betty was surprised and also hurt that she wasn’t invited.

     

Before the war Betty was apprenticed to a tailor, a skill she kept all her life. With the onset of World War II she went to work in a factory making swivel eyes (aircraft parts), which is where she met her future husband Frederick Cecil Manley.  He was an engineer by trade and as such, kept at home during the war. Fred was Betty’s foreman and he used to come her bench and help her knock out a nights work and then they would spend the rest of the night in the broom cupboard ! 

 Betty, as a young woman

Betty was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her half-brother Eric to Grace Ivall (my parents) in Cambridge on 12 Feb 1944. Betty was also a witness on the wedding certificate. Her address at this time was 1A Conduit Way, Stonebridge Park, Willesden, London NW10.

When the war was over Fred was called up (to the RAF) and he decided that they should marry on his return.  However, Betty and Fred had a row about the wedding arrangements.  Betty did not hear from him for several days but he eventually returned, complete with a special license and they were married on 30 November 1946 at All Hallows Church, Greenford, West London. He was aged 25 and she was 24. The witnesses were Betty’s father William and her half- brother Eric.

Initially the couple lived with Betty’s half sister Vera and her husband Frank but their first home together was Orchard Cottage, a rented property in the grounds of a large house in the village of Seddlescombe, East Sussex. They moved here to be near Betty’s half-sister Doris and husband Arthur Moore. He and Fred started a bakery machinery servicing business. Betty and Fred’s first two daughters were born in Seddlescombe. Eventually the large house was acquired by the Pestalozzi Children’s Village and the cottage was required for staff quarters. By this time Doris and her family had moved to Emsworth in Hampshire, where their third daughter was born.  Betty and Fred brought a bungalow here in 1958 for £1800.  In 1971 Fred died of lung cancer leaving Betty to bring up her three daughters alone. She knocked five years off her age and obtained a job in a factory making seatbelts for Ford cars. 

In 1981, when Betty was 59, she had a stroke from which she never fully recovered.  However she did improve sufficiently to live on her own and continue with a full and active life.  She was a well known figure in Emsworth riding a large adult three wheel tricycle around the village causing traffic chaos!!

 

 Betty in 1988

Having had three daughters but always wanted a son, Betty was delighted to be presented with a first grandson in 1989 and despite her disabilities she was a very hands on Grandma. She suffered a major heart attack in June 1994 and died on 2 July aged 72.

Eric William Taylor (1913-2003), local government officer

Eric Taylor was my father. This profile contains information he told me, from my mother’s life story and from family history research.

Eric was born on 31 August 1913 in Woolwich, the eldest child of William and Gertrude Taylor. He was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, New Charlton on 19 October 1913. William and Gertrude later had two other children namely Vera Gertrude (1916-2002) and Ronald Albert (1918-88).

Gertrude, Eric’s mother, died of influenza in 1919 when he was aged 5. His father married Ethel, Gertrude’s elder sister, in 1920. They had a daughter, Betty Ethel in 1921. The family lived at 16 Brewer St, Woolwich until 1933.

When he was a child, Eric used to spend holidays in Sedlescombe (a village in Sussex) with Doris (b1903), Ethel’s daughter from her first marriage, who was married to a car mechanic. He used to cycle there on his own – quite a distance !

Eric was a bright boy and won a scholarship to Shooter’s Hill Grammar School. The admissions register of the school shows that he started there on 29 Sep 1924 (when he was 11) and left on 13 March 1931 (when he was 17½). I have a leather bound dictionary given to Eric in July 1928 as a school prize for Geography. He passed the London County Council (LCC) entrance exam and started work at County Hall in Central London, becoming a wages clerk.

Ethel, Eric’s stepmother, died in 1933. William Taylor and his family then moved 105 Brookhill Road, Woolwich. He got married again in 1938 to Eleanor Mary Bateman, a widow with four children from her first marriage. They all moved to 116 Sandy Hill Road, Woolwich in 1938.

The 1939 register shows Eric (a LCC general grade assistant) living at 116 Sandy Hill with his father William (a labourer, munitions work), stepmother Eleanor, brother Ronald (a grocery porter) and stepsister Constance L Bateman (a glass operative). There is also a closed record, which is presumably Eric's half sister Betty (born in 1921).

Eric met his future wife, Grace Evelyn Ivall (who also worked at County Hall) at an office dance in April 1940.

I obtained Eric’s war record from the Army after my father’s death. Eric joined the Home Guard in June 1940. He was enlisted into the Army on 22 October 1940 aged 27. He joined the Royal Artillery and was posted to the 907 Defence Battery at Southend on 20 November 1940. He spent the next 18 months in East Anglia and when granted leave he would hitch hike to visit Grace, who by then was living in Cambridge. Eric was appointed Unit Clerk Class IIIb on 12 April 1942. He was subsequently sent to North Africa, travelling on a troop ship that left England on 14 July 1942, sailing via Cape Town and arriving at Egypt on 3 September 1942. This was at a time that German U-boats were sinking a lot of shipping, so it must have been an interesting journey ! Eric was in a gun crew in the Eighth Army that fought under General Montgomery and won the battle of El Alamein, 23 October to 2 November 1942, one of the first allied victories and a turning point in the war. The German and Italian Armies were subsequently driven out of North Africa. The allies invaded Sicily on 10 July 1943 and the fighting to capture the island was over by 17 August. Eric was in Sicily between 17 July and 28 August 1943. He then returned to North Africa and was later sent back to the UK, embarking on 27 November 1943 and arriving on 9 December 1943.

Eric married Grace Evelyn Ivall on 12 February 1944 at the Church of St Andrew the Great in Cambridge. He was aged 30 and she was 22. The witnesses on the marriage certificate were Eric’s half sister Betty (who was also a bridesmaid) and Albert Ivall (Grace’s uncle). Grace was working as a St John’s Ambulance nurse at the Gresham Road Convalescent Home in Cambridge. I have a wedding photo showing the other nurses holding up splints to form an arch for them to walk through. They had a short honeymoon in Lyme Regis.

Eric and Grace in about 1944

Soon after his marriage, Eric fell ill with malaria that he had caught in North Africa or Sicily. He was admitted to Colchester Military Hospital (in Black Notley) on 7 March 1944.and discharged to the Gresham Road Convalescent Home on 20 March 1944, where he stayed until 20 April 1944 when he was sent back to his unit, the 64^th Medium Regiment R.A. On his return, he was promoted from Gunner to Lance Bombardier. He had another attack of malaria and was admitted to Colchester Military Hospital on 13 May 1944, returning to his unit on 5 June 1944, the day before D-Day. Eric was sent to Normandy on 8 July 1944 and later took part in the fighting in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He received a head wound on 12 December 1944 and was wounded again on 13 March 1945 but both times remained on duty. After Germany surrendered on 7 May 1945, Eric was part of the occupation force in Germany. He was promoted to Sergeant on 4 January 1946 and was sent to back the UK on 21 February 1946. Eric’s discharge paper stamped 26 February 1946 describes his military conduct as exemplary and his commanding officer has written “An exceptionally hardworking and sober NCO. He has a first class brain, plenty of initiative and is an extremely efficient organiser. I consider that he should have held commissioned rank.”

After he was discharged from the army, Eric had three months leave, which he spent in Cambridge with his wife at her mother’s house, 33 Paradise Street. Eric then returned to work with the LCC (who had made up his army pay to his full salary during the war). He and Grace stayed with Alec Henderson (who also worked at the LCC) and his wife Betty in Potter’s Bar, North London for a few months and then bought 309 Parkside Avenue, Barnehurst in September 1946 for £1,195. The house was a mid terrace house built in the 1930’s. Parkside Avenue was a long straight road and 309 was about a mile from Barnehurst Station. Eric walked there to catch a train to work (County Hall is close to Waterloo Station).

In 1949 their daughter Evelyn was born and in 1953 a son, Philip (me). In 1957, Eric and his family moved to 92 Barnehurst Avenue, which was a detached house with a large garden. They lived there for forty years. In 1958, Grace’s widowed mother came to live with them (she had the downstairs front room as her own). She was disabled as a result of a fall and broken hip joint and stayed at Barnehurst Avenue until her death in 1970.

Eric had a successful career with the LCC (which became the Greater London Council). He rose to a senior managerial role in the Highways and Transportation Department, working in the section that organised road improvements. In 1977 he was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal for Outstanding Service. He retired in 1978, aged 65, having worked for the LCC / GLC for 47 years.

When living at Barnehurst Avenue, Grace and Eric kept their garden in first class condition – it won prizes in the “Bexley in Bloom” competition. Eric produced large amounts of fruit and vegetables in the garden and he grew pot plants in a conservatory. Other interests included botany, classical music and history. Grace and Eric attended evening classes on these subjects over many years. They also enjoyed walking in the countryside.

Grace and Eric in their garden at 92 Barnehurst Avenue, c 1990.

Eric had an active retirement until his health deteriorated in the last five years of his life. In 1997, Grace and Eric moved to 24 Fern Court, Bexleyheath, a flat in a block designed for retired people. A combination of medical problems  resulted in Eric becoming less physically and mentally able and he died of bronchopneumonia at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup on 28^th May 2003 aged 89.

Ernest Edward Taylor (1879-1944), explosives worker

My grandfather William Taylor had nine siblings (six brothers and three sisters). However, he doesn’t seem to have had much to do with them during the latter part of his life. I am trying to find out what I can about their lives. Ernest Edward Taylor was one of my grandfather’s elder brothers.

His birth certificate shows that Ernest was born on 28^th March 1879 at Weedon Barracks, Northamptonshire. His father George Taylor was a bombardier in the 4^th Brigade, Royal Artillery. Ernest’s mother was George’s wife Margaret Taylor nee Smiles. George was posted to Woolwich, where Ernest was baptised at St Mary Magdalene, Woolwich on 26 November 1880. George was then sent to India (where his daughter Harriet Jane was born in 1881) then back to Woolwich (where his son Charles was born in 1885). I don’t know whether Ernest went to India with his parents.

It appears that George left the army in 1886 and the family moved to Charlton. The 1891 census shows George Taylor (aged 41, a labourer) and Margaret (36) living at 9 West Street, Charlton with their children George (14), Ernest (12), Harriet (9), Charles (6), Margaret (4) and Thomas (2) and William (10 months). This was an area of poor housing.

In 1900, Ernest married a local girl Annie Edith Bradley (born in Charlton) in Woolwich. He was aged 21, she was 22. The 1901 census shows them living at 74 Church Street, Woolwich. Ernest’s occupation was general labourer.

By 1911, they were living in 3 rooms at 17 Monk Street, Woolwich. Ernest, aged 32, was an explosives worker at Woolwich Arsenal. The census return says that they had one child who had died. In 1916 they had another child, Hazel Marion Florette Taylor, who was born in Woolwich. 

Electoral registers show Ernest and Annie living at 15 Woolwich Common in 1919. 

The 1921 census shows Ernest (aged 42) living at 310 High Street, Plumstead with his wife Annie (43) and daughter Hazel (5). Ernest was a “Technical foreman, explosives” at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. Also living at the address was Annie’s sister Florence Lily Atley (31), her husband William Henry Atley (27, a cable worker at Siemens Bros, electrical engineers, Woolwich) and their children William Edward (3) and Florence Lily (1). Also listed are Jane Bradley (72), Annie’s mother. Also, Ralph Edward Winter (22), who was an orphan and is described as Ernest’s adopted brother. Finally, Alice Wood (44), a visitor. The house (which is opposite St Nicholas Gardens) still exists.

The next record I can find of them is not until 1932, when Electoral Registers show Annie (but not Ernest) living at 310 Plumstead High Street. Annie and Ernest were at this address from 1935 to 1938. That year their daughter Hazel (by then of voting age) is also listed with them. She married Frank A Thouless in 1939.

The 1939 Register shows Annie living at 310 Plumstead High Street with her sister Florence Atley plus Florence's husband William and their two children. I can't find Ernest in the Register.

Ernest died on 16^th Aug 1944 in Hammersmith Hospital aged 65 and was buried in grave H / 1334 in Plumstead Cemetery. Annie died in 1953 (also in Hammersmith) aged 75 and was buried in the same grave, which has no stonework on it.

Stanley Hugh Jenkins (1911-44), RAFVR flight engineer who died in WW2

Stanley was a son of Elizabeth Jane Jenkins nee Wilkins (1876-1953), who was the eldest sibling of my grandmother Gertrude Taylor nee Wilkins. He was therefore a cousin of my father.

On 26^th March 1900, Elizabeth Jane Wilkins married Walter Hugh Jenkins at St Thomas, Charlton. She was aged 23, he was 24, born in Plumstead, a son of William Henry Jenkins, a blacksmith. Walter’s occupation was given as machinist on the marriage register. The witnesses were Elizabeth’s brother Albert and sister Ethel. Walter’s occupation was given as bookkeeper in the 1901 census and their address was 11 Elm Street, Plumstead.

The 1911 census shows Walter (35, a bookkeeping clerk at the Royal Arsenal) and Elizabeth (35) living in three rooms at 17 Piedmont Road, Plumstead. The census return says that they had two children but that both had died before the census date. One of these was Walter Leslie Jenkins, who died in 1907 aged 3. Elizabeth later had two more children, Stanley Hugh Jenkins (born May 16th 1911) and Winifred Jenkins (born April 11th 1913).

Walter Jenkins died in 1920 aged 44, when Stanley was aged 8. The 1921 census shows Elizabeth Jenkins (aged 44, a widow) at 17 Piedmont Road with her children Stanley (10) and Winifred (8). There is no occupation listed for Elizabeth, so it is not clear how she had enough money to support her family

Electoral registers show that Elizabeth continued to live at 17 Piedmont Road with her children. Stanley is listed at the address from 1933 (when he reached the age of 21) and Winifred from 1937. The 1939 national register shows Elizabeth Jenkins living at 17 Piedmont Road with her children Stanley (a vehicle builder) and Winifred (a florist). Winifred married Norman William Sutch in 1943 in Woolwich.

Stanley joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR), which was formed in July 1936. The object was to provide a reserve of aircrew for use in the event of war. By September 1939, the RAFVR comprised 6,646 Pilots, 1,625 Observers and 1,946 Wireless Operators. When war broke out the Air Ministry employed the RAFVR as the principal means for aircrew entry to serve with the RAF. A civilian volunteer on being accepted for aircrew training took an oath of allegiance ('attestation') and was then inducted in to the RAFVR. Normally he returned to his civilian job for several months until he was called up for aircrew training. During this waiting period he could wear a silver RAFVR lapel badge to indicate his status. By the end of 1941 more than half of Bomber Command aircrew were members of the RAFVR. Eventually of the "RAF" aircrew in the Command probably more than 95% were serving members of the RAFVR.

WW2 service records have not yet been made public so I don’t have full details of Stanley’s time in the RAFVR. However, I do know that he was a Sergeant and served in 578 Squadron as a flight engineer. 578 Squadron was formed at RAF Snaith, East Riding of Yorkshire on 14 January 1944. It transferred to RAF Burn, North Yorkshire in February 1944 and was disbanded there on 15 April 1945. It was equipped with Halifax Mk III bombers which had four Hercules engines and a crew of seven - pilot, navigator, wireless operator, bomb aimer, flight engineer and two gunners - mid-upper and rear. 578 Squadron carried out 2,721 operational sorties with the Halifax for a loss of 219 aircrew and 40 aircraft.

On the right hand side of the Halifax cockpit was a fold down seat that the flight engineer used. The centre mounted throttles could be reached by both the pilot and flight engineer. On take-off, the flight engineer handled these while the pilot concentrated on keeping the heavily laden aircraft straight. The flight engineer was there to assist the pilot, monitor the engines and fuel levels and transfer fuel to maintain the balance of the aircraft.

Halifax Mk III bomber

The 578 Squadron Association have supplied me with information on five operations that Stanley took part in during 1944, including 3 attacks on Berlin and one on Leipzig. On 15/16th March 1944, the squadron attacked Stuttgart. It was a night raid, the planes took off at 18.52 on the 15^th. Stanley’s Halifax bomber later returned having completed its mission, but went out of control within sight of RAF Burn airfield and crashed at Selby Brickworks, killing him and most of the other crew. Only the navigator and wireless operator survived. The cause of the crash was never established. Stanley died on 16^th March 1944 aged 32 and is buried in a war grave in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery.

The grave is inscribed

126234 SERGEANT

S H JENKINS

FLIGHT ENGINEER

ROYAL AIR FORCE

16TH MARCH 1944 AGE 32

DUTY DONE

RIP

There are 988 WW2 burials in this cemetery, nearly all of airmen. Probate records show that Stanley’s mother was granted administration of his estate (£545).

Elizabeth Jenkins lived at 17 Piedmont Road until her death on 28 April 1953 aged 77. She was buried in Plumstead Cemetery in the same grave (K / 2222) as her husband. Probate on Elizabeth’s estate (£2001) was granted to her daughter Winifred, who died in 1981 (in Tunbridge Wells) aged 68. As far as I can tell, Winifred had no children.