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Showing posts with the label Bullecourt

Betrayal – Fred & Beatrice – (1915-1920)

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  Fred’s thoughts turned from disbelief to sadness and quite quickly to anger. He couldn’t believe what he was being told at first. He couldn’t understand why she would do such a thing, and become well known for it! They hadn’t been married much longer than a year in September 1917. Fred had been away in the army for a year, but so had most young men in that time period. Beatrice had grown up in the Paddock area of Huddersfield and was well known around Luck Lane which linked to the Marsh district and then on to her new marital home in Birkby. Luck Lane was where he was told Beatrice had been seen committing adultery, on many occasions. The ultimate indignity and horror for Fred was for this to culminate in her having a miscarriage at their house in Corby street. The fact that the potential father of the child was unknown only compounded the sordid nature of this event. The actual cause of the miscarriage was not known but with the doctor having been called to attend meant it c...

The Tragedy of War - James Parkinson (1891-1917)

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  James Parkinson’s first breath of life was experienced in the dour surroundings of the Haslingden Union Workhouse in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. His mother, Alice Parkinson, was a resident in the workhouse with the obligatory “pauper” status. Even though she had employment, as a Drawer of Cotton in a textile mill, the wages were not sufficient to finance a household. Alice had to fight adversity from an early age, having lost both parents and sister before she was 10 years old. What made Alice’s situation more extreme was having children out of wedlock. Towards the end of 1887, aged 21, she had given birth to a daughter, Harriet, father unknown. Despite working as a Card Room Hand for a number of years, being an unmarried mother rendered this impossible and she lost her job, housing and was condemned to seek support of the Parish. It was into this environment that James arrived on Wednesday 9 th December in 1891, also of an unknown father and adding to his mothers now considera...