Stories From History And More

  Based on extracts from “A Yorkshire Lass” memoirs of Joyce Gill (in italics ). With additional information and editing by Jonathan Blackburn. By 1910 the new development of Clement Street in the district of Birkby, Huddersfield was almost complete. It consisted of 55 stone built houses in two terraces either side of the street. The even numbers side only went up to 30 as the Birkby Council School intercepted the end of the street. The odd numbered side reaching 79 before it terminated. Although they were still terraced houses, designed for the burgeoning workforce of Huddersfield, they were a step up from the previous generation of workers cottages. The ceilings were higher and they had front and back gardens instead of opening directly onto the street. A big step forward was sanitation as toileting facilities were now integral to the house, instead of an outhouse in the back yard. 1911 Census 57 Clement Street, Birkby - Number of Rooms Schedule – Signed by Rowland Blackburn It w...

  A Normal Life. At the beginning of 1917 Percy Blackburn was thirty four years old and gainfully employed in Huddersfield as a Tailor’s Cutter , which he had been for the previous twenty years. He was also the head of a young and expanding family. His wife Nora was expecting to give birth to their third child in March and his growing responsibilities were uppermost in his mind. { Percy & family late 1917 - L to R Lawrence, Percy, Annie, Nora & Marjorie} The growing demands of the war, which had been raging in Europe since 1914, was, however, making demands on the wider population. Throughout 1914/15 the armed services had relied on volunteers to fight the " Great War ". The sheer scale of the conflict and weight of casualties meant that this method of recruitment was no longer enough to maintain the effort required. In an effort to satisfy this need, compulsory conscription was introduced by the government on 4 th  January 1916 for all males aged 18 to 41. ...