Saddingtons - Coal Merchants of Thurmaston - Help needed!

I'm looking for some assistance here.  I recently won a photograph on Ebay of a 1963 coal lorry.

On the side of the cab, it says 'Saddingtons, Coal & Smokeless Fuels, Garden St. Thurmaston'.  The label on the back of the photograph says that it was taken on 12 September 1978 and "still working 1984" - whether this means the lorry or the company I am not sure.

A Google search for 'Saddington coal merchants Thurmaston' turned up the following piece in the 24 July 1931 issue of The London Gazette:

The 21 September 1937 issue of the London Gazette informs us that Walter Saddington made a separate application for discharge from bankruptcy which was suspended for six months, and he was then to be discharged as from 19 February 1938.

A quick check of the 1911 census seems to indicate that Harry and Walter were the sons of William and Bertha Saddington of Thurmaston, Leicester.  More work to be done here.

If anyone can let me know who would have been driving that lorry in 1978, I'd be very grateful.

Bona Vacantia: Ivor Herbert Saddington 1928 - 2002

Ivor Herbert Saddington (1928 - 2002) was brought to my notice by some of my fellow GOONs who had seen his name listed in the Bona Vacantia list on the Heir Hunters television programme.  Ivor Herbert seemed such an unusual name for a Saddington that I was determined to find out more about him and which branch of the Saddington families he belonged to.

Tracking him down in the GRO indices was easy with a name like that - Ivor's birth was registered in the June quarter of 1928 in the Thrapston Registration District and his mother's maiden name was Clarke.  Further enquiries showed that he had an older brother, Clifford Aubrey Samuel Saddington, registered in the June quarter of 1924, also in the Thrapston Registration District.

To be honest, as yet I know very little about Ivor Herbert's life.  I know from the GRO death index that he was actually born on 1 March 1928.  The Deceased Online website tells me that he died on 15 September 2002 and was cremated on 2 October 2002 at Kettering Crematorium.  Further research shows that at the age of 42 he married Ellen McGrath in the December quarter of 1970 in the Huntingdon registration district, but what happened to her remains unknown.  They do not appear to have had any children.

His elder brother, Clifford Aubrey Samuel, was born on 12 March 1924 according to the GRO index.  In February 1989, at the age of 64, he married a lady called Anne Neal (then aged 61) in the Wellingborough Registration District.  I can only hope that they were very happy together, because, according to the burial register of St Peter's Church, Rushden (Roman Catholic), Clifford died on 20 July 1991 and was buried on 26 July 1991 in Plot 13, Section RF of Rushden Cemetery.  Anne Saddington lived on for nearly 10 years, dying on 5 January 2001 and being buried with her husband on 12 January 2001.

I can however tell you a bit more about their parents, Herbert Saddington and Dorothy May Clarke.

Herbert Saddington was born in early 1902 in Denford, Northamptonshire.  In the 1911 census, he is living with his parents, Samuel and Mary Louisa, at 93 Marshalls Road, Raunds, Northamptonshire.  Herbert was an only child.  In the March quarter of 1924, he married Dorothy Mary Clarke in the Thrapston Registration District, and by the dates I think it safe to infer that the birth of their eldest son, Clifford, was not far off.  I assume that Herbert and Dorothy spent the next 30 odd years raising their sons and earning a living.  Unfortunately Herbert died on 22 February 1959 at the relatively early age of 57 and was subsequently cremated on 25 February 1959 at Kettering Crematorium.  Dorothy carried on for another 18 years, before dying on 20 February 1977 and being cremated on 25 February 1977 also at Kettering Crematorium.

Herbert's parents, Samuel Saddington and Mary Louisa (nee Groom), were both born in Denford, Northamptonshire in 1875.  Samuel was baptised on 31 January 1875 in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Denford, the son of John Saddington, labourer, and Elizabeth Hannah (nee Wakefield).  In the 1881 census, Samuel was living at Back Street, Denford with his parents and four siblings.  John and Elizabeth are known to have had eight children and there may have been others.  John is described as an ag lab and Samuel was a scholar.  

In the 1891 census, the family consists of John, Elizabeth, three sons and a grandson and  is occupying three rooms in a house somewhere in Denford.  John is described as a road labourer and Samuel is a furnace labourer.

In the September quarter of 1900, Samuel marries Mary Louisa possibly in Denford, but somewhere in the Thrapston Registration District.  By 31 March 1901, when the 1901 census is taken, Samuel and Mary Louisa are living off High Street, Denford and he is an Electric Dynamo Minder.  Their only son, Herbert, is born in 1902 and then at some point the family moves to Raunds, where they can be found in the 1911 census.  At this point, Samuel is described as a stationary engine man in a boot and shoe factory.

Thanks to the Rushden Research Group, I can tell you that Samuel Saddington continued to live at 93 Marshalls Road, Raunds for the rest of his life, dying on 31 July 1928, age 53.  His obituary in The Rushden Argus of 3 August 1928 reads:

"Obituary - we regret to record the death, after a long illness, of Mr S Saddington, of 93, Marshalls-road, Raunds, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 53.  Deceased, who for 27 years was engineer at Messrs R Coggins and Sons Ltd., Nene Works, was well-known and greatly respected, and much sympathy is felt his widow and only child, Mr H Saddington.  The funeral will take place at Raunds Cemetery on Saturday, at 2.30."

Messrs R Coggins and Sons Ltd were a boot and shoe factory in Raunds which apparently specialised in footwear for the Army and Navy.

A quick search of the GRO death index seems to indicate that Mary Louisa, like her daughter in law, Dorothy, carried on for another 17 years, dying at the age of 70 in early 1945 in the Wellingborough Registration District.

This branch of the Saddington family can be traced back to the early 1800s to a John Saddington who married a Mary and had three, possibly four, children in Denford, Northamptonshire, but that is for another day and another post.  However, if you are related to this family, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Richard Frederick Kitchener Saddington (1899 - 1972)

At Easter I received this lapel badge as an addition to the Saddington One Name Study collection.  It is somewhat battered and difficult to read, but it led to some interesting research.  The badge itself has the words "National Safety First Association" on the blue stripe, "Free From Accident" on the red stripe, and in the middle, it says 1933.  The National Safety First Association was the forerunner of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

On the back, at the bottom, there is a name - R F K Saddington.  Such a combination of initials could not be too difficult to locate and I soon found a birth reference for Richard Frederick K Saddington in the December quarter of 1899 in the Huntingdon registration district.  My next searches, in the 1901 and 1911 censuses, initially proved fruitless until a query on the Guild of One Name Studies Forum pointed me in the direction of a family that I had already done some work on.  The suggestion was made that I should look more closely at the 1 year old Richard Saddington Binge enumerated in the 1901 census and the 11 year old Kitchener Binge enumerated in the 1911 census, on both occasions listed as the son of Richard Binge and Laura (nee Saddington).

In 1901, the family were living at 25 East Street, Newtown, St Mary, Huntingdon, sharing their home with two boarders, Emma Measures from Leicester and James Allen Horner from Alconbury, Huntingdonshire.  Richard Binge was employed as a bricklayer's labourer and Laura stated that she was 47 years old.  

In 1911, the family had moved to 13 Adelaide Terrace, Godmanchester - a small town south of Huntingdon.  James Horner still shared their home but also living with them were two boys, Edward Clayton (age 11) and Albert Clayton (5) who are enumerated as adopted and as having been born in Huntingdon.  Richard Binge is now employed by the Huntingdonshire Gas Company as a lamplighter, Laura states that she is now 58 years old and the three boys are attending the Council School.

Considering Laura's age and knowing something of her past, I was somewhat suspicious of her claim to be RFK's mother so I invested in his birth certificate.  My suspicions were justified.  RFK was born on 7 September 1899 at New Town, Huntingdon - the son of Kate Saddington, domestic servant.  Kate was Laura's third and youngest illegitimate child, born around 1880 in Huntingdon.  I happened to know that Kate had emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s with her elder sister, Elizabeth, and that they had married two brothers, William and Charles Brown, in Ontario.  The Binges were almost certainly covering up for Kate, preserving the family's respectability (if that was at all possible with Laura having had three illegitimate children before her marriage).  A less cynical viewpoint is that Kate might not have wanted to take such a small child on such a long journey with who knew what at the end of it.

 
But RFK was obviously told at some point what his real name was.  The World War One medal rolls at The National Archives list a Kitchener Saddington, who was initially a private in The Queen's Regiment (regimental number 70248) and latterly a private in the Northamptonshire Regiment (regimental number 70689).  He received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, indicating that he had served overseas in a theatre of war.  Why he changed regiments and where he fought are questions that remain to be answered.

 
RFK survived the war and got himself a job as a postman.  Then, on 7 December 1925, he married Ivy Doreen Dighton at the parish church in Godmanchester.  However, the family cover up continued.  Although Ivy's father, James, a general labourer, stood as a witness, RFK gave his father as Arthur Saddington, also a general labourer.  Where he got the name Arthur from, I am not sure as his mother's brother was called Alfred and his great grandfather, Laura's father, was called Charles.  Laura's brothers were Frederick, Charles and Dennis, so no link there.  However Laura did stand as witness to the marriage so he did have some real family there.

 
The next official record in RFK's life was the birth of a son, Frederick, in the June quarter of 1932.  The family are still living in the Huntingdon area.

 
In 1933 RFK became involved with the National Safety First Association.  I have been in contact with RoSPA, but it appears that he was not actually a member of the organisation.  RoSPA have suggested that perhaps he took part in a national "Safe Driving" competition which ran from 1926 (having commenced in the London area in 1918).  RoSPA say that

"The awards were a system for awarding drivers (often those professionally employed within large businesses/organisations) for safe driving. The system was rather complicated (and the rules were regularly amended) but entrants would receive medals and bars for consecutive years of non-accident driving. For example for the first four years of safe driving the driver received annually a diploma. The fifth year entitles him to a medal, and subsequent years entitle the driver to medals for 10, 15, 20 and 25 years blameless driving.

 

In 1933 for example, there were 58,634, unfortunately with the number of entrants each year, records have not been kept going back all these years.

(Source of the figures : RoSPA Annual Report and Accounts 1933  London: RoSPA)" 

Perhaps RFK became involved through his job as a postman - he may have been driving post vans at this point in his life. 

The final record that I have for RFK is the index reference for his death.  Richard Frederick Kitchener Saddington died in the March quarter of 1972 aged 72 years in the Cambridge registration district.

There is still a lot of research to do on this family, so if you are related or can help in any way, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Horace Claude Saddington (1884 - 1946) - Update No. 1

This is a short update on a post that I wrote back in March 2008 - link here.

Since then of course more resources have become available to the family history researcher, including the 1911 census.

Access to the Leicester Schools Register Index tells me that Horace was born on 16 July 1884 and that he left education in the Leicester area on 18 March 1898, shortly before his 14th birthday.

In the 1911 census, Horace is living at 4 Wilson Street, Leicester, aged 27, with his wife, Florence Emily, aged 25, and their two children, Beatrice aged 4 and Joseph Henry aged 1.  He describes himself as being a clerk employed by "Lester" Corporation - this means that he worked for what is (since 1974) now Leicester City Council.  Horace also states that he was born in Glenfield, Leicester, has been married for 6 years, that there have been two children of the marriage and that both are still alive at the time of the census.

Horace and Florence also went on to have three further children beyond those mentioned in his military pension papers.  Horace was born in the March quarter of 1920, Kenneth R was born in the September quarter of 1921 and Doris E was born in the June quarter of 1923, all in the Leicester Registration District.

Unfortunately not all of Horace and Florence's children lived to adulthood.  Thanks to the excellent index of burials at the Welford Road Cemetery, Leicester compiled by members of the Leicestershire and Rutland Family History Society, I can tell you that Horace was buried on 25 October 1924 aged 4 and Violet Ada was buried on 6 May 1931 aged 19, having been living at 14 Marston Avenue, South Wigston, Leicestershire at the time of her death.  Horace Claude himself was buried at Welford Road Cemetery on 23 March 1946 aged 61.  His abode at the time of his death was 7 Bartholomew Street, Leicester.  All three of them are buried in the same grave.

If this Saddington family is related to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

William Leonard Saddington 1919 - 2011

Rest In Peace

Arthur Saddington 1909-1931

Arthur Saddington was born in Middlesbrough in the June quarter of 1909 (volume 9d, page 552), the eldest child of Penrith Saddington Taylor, commonly known as Penrith Saddington, and his wife, Emily May Roxby. Arthur was the eldest of thirteen children born over a period between 1909 and 1934.

In the 1911 census, Arthur, then nearly 2, and his parents were living at 17 Harewood Street, Middlesbrough, the home of Penrith’s parents, Arthur Charles Saddington and his wife, Hannah (nee Robinson). Also sharing the house were five of Penrith’s brothers and sisters ranging in age from 17 years to 1 year. Penrith was employed as a bricklayer while his father, Arthur, worked as a blast furnace man and the next eldest son at home, Nathan, aged 17, was a butcher.

As we must wait to see the 1921 census, I can only surmise what happened to Arthur over the next twenty years. He grew up in a large family, probably leaving school in his early teens in order to find a job and earn money to support the rest of the family. At some point he decided to become a sailor, a decision which eventually led to his tragic death.

I first learnt about Arthur’s death courtesy of the Gravestone Photographic Resource Project, an on-line international grave monument directory. When I was sent a photo of Arthur’s gravestone, I was intrigued by the inscription written on it. It said that the gravestone was:

“In Loving Memory of
Our Dear Son
Arthur Saddington
Who was accidentally killed
On the SS Dalwhinnie
Dec. 2nd 1931 aged 22 years
Someday we’ll understand.”

I googled the SS Dalwhinnie and discovered that it was a steamship built in Holland in 1919 to carry cargo up and down coastlines. It was originally called the SS Begonia, and was owned by a Norwegian. In 1922 it passed into the hands of T C Steven & Co of Leith and was renamed the SS Dalwhinnie. In 1938 it was sold to Comben Longstaff & Co – Williamstown Shipping of London, and renamed the SS Whintown. Unfortunately it was then sunk in a collision off Great Yarmouth on 7 December 1939.

Having got this far, I emailed my contact in this branch of the Saddington family, who knew about the gravestone but not what had happened to Arthur, and who agreed to do some further research for me.

A search of the local paper, the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, produced the following sad story reported on 3 December 1931.

Tragedy of the Tees
Boro’ Man Falls Into River

An unfortunate drowning tragedy occurred in the River Tees, off Messrs Gjers, Mills and Company’s wharf, about nine o’clock last night. The victim is Arthur Saddington, aged 22, of Palmer-street, Middlesbrough, an able seaman of the crew of the s.s. Dalwhinnie, which was berthed at the wharf.

It appears that Saddington was fixing the gangway from the vessel to the wharf when he overbalanced and fell into the river in the short space between the ship and the wharf. One of his mates on the crew immediately dived to his rescue, but Saddington had completely disappeared from view.

Grappling operations were carried on by members of the crew with the assistance of River Police officers, and after about 20 minutes, his body was recovered. Artificial respiration was tried for some time, but Dr. Hepplethwaite, who had been called to the scene, pronounced life extinct.

The body was conveyed by ambulance to the mortuary.

The member of the crew who showed so much gallantry in diving to his comrade’s rescue was Bo’sun Gatenby. After his futile efforts to trace Saddington he was hauled aboard by other members of the crew.

It is thought that Saddington may have struck his head on the boat or the wharf in his fall, and was rendered unconscious.

The Dalwhinnie have moved from Dent’s Wharf to Gjers’ Wharf at the time of the tragedy.

A tragic accident and a young life lost – no wonder Arthur’s parents had inscribed on his gravestone the words “Someday we’ll understand.”

If you are related to the Middlesbrough branch of the Saddingtons, or have any further information about the SS Dalwhinnie, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Potterspury Registration District Marriage Challenge

The last post of 2010 comes courtesy of Tracy Barrall's Potterspury Registration District Marriage Challenge.

Potterspury Registration District lies in the area between Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Towcester and Northampton to name the biggest towns in the immediate vicinity.

As there are just two marriages to report, I propose to give full details of them.

The first marriage also appears to be the first to be recorded in the parish of Passenham with Deanshanger under the new registration procedure commencing in late 1837.

Marriage solemnized at St Guthlac in the Parish of Passenham with Deanshanger in the County of Northamptonshire

No. 1
5th Oct 1837

James Saddington 21 Single Groom Passenham James Saddington Groom
Pheobe Ayres 26 Single Dairy Maid Passenham - -

Married in the Church of Passenham according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England after Banns by me, L ? Smith

This Marriage was solemnized between us, James Saddington, Phobe Ayres
in the presence of us, George Buckingham, Martha Buckingham

The second marriage took place just under 10 years later.

Marriage solemnized at St Guthlac in the Parish of Passenham with Deanshanger in the County of Northamptonshire

No. 77
5th Apr 1847

George Clarke 25 Bachelor Labourer Deanshanger Thos Clarke Labourer
Mary Ann Sadington 24 Spinster Servant Deanshanger George Sadington Labourer

Married in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England after Banns, by me ?

This Marriage was solemnized between us, George Clarke x his mark, Mary Ann Sadington x her mark
in the presence of us, William Clarke, Sarah Ann Foxley x her mark

Passenham and Deanshanger are slightly south of the A5 between Towcester and Milton Keynes. As yet I have no further information about the Saddingtons in this area, but would be delighted to hear from anyone who has these people in their family tree.

I send my best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year to everyone who reads this post.