Minnie's
childhood
My great
grandmother Minnie's birth was registered in the last quarter of 1900 in the
district of Maidstone in Kent. Her
father was Herbert Charles Rouse, a 22 year old Maidstone born gas-fitter and 21
year old Ada Taylor, the daughter of an Engine Fitter born in the nearby New
Brompton. Minnie's parent's had married
the year before she was born in Maidstone, after living together unmarried (for
the time scandalous!)
On 31st
March 1901, when the national census took place Minnie and her parents were
living in Maidstone. Her father Herbert
was listed as a gas works labourer while other mother Ada fascinatingly worked
in an Eiffel Tower Factory.
Married Life And Parenthood
On the 13th
September 1924 Minnie, aged 24, married 41 year old Minnie in the church of St.
Marks in New Brompton, Kent. Minnie had
been living at 19 Cross Street in the neighboring town of Chatham, and her
father had become a gas fitter. Her
husband James had been living at 5 Jeffrey Street, Gillingham, which would go
on to be there family home for several years, and worked as a clerk and
draughtsman. Ironically, with James
working in his "wordy" profession his new wife could not write and
had to sign her mark with an X12.
At the time
of their marriage Minnie was pregnant and on the 11th April 1925, two days shy
of their seven month wedding anniversary, Minnie and James' first child was
born at 5 Jeffery Street, Gillingham. At
the time of birth James was working as a draughtsman for the War Department.
On the 4th
November 1926 Minnie gave birth for a second time in the same family home as
their first child. James was still
working for the War Department but as a civilian clerk.
At some
point the family move to an extension on 37 Third Avenue still in Gillingham,
where Minnie's third child was born on 17th November 1928. James was still working as a civilian clerk
for the War Department.
Each summer
during the 1920s a fair took place in Gillingham Park as a fundraiser for St.
Bartholomew's Hospital. The traditional
highlight was a demonstration of firefighting and rescue by the Gillingham Fire
Brigade. On the 11th July 1929, in what
would later be known as the Gillingham Fair Fire Disaster the demonstration
went fatally wrong resulting in 15 fatalities.
The demonstration involved a three story wood and canvas mock house with
simulated fire using smoke and flares. After
demonstrating a rescue the firefighters would then light the house to
demonstrate firefighting skills.
This year
six men and nine boys from local naval cadet and sea cadet groups aged 10 to 14
entered the building. For reasons still
unknown the real fire was ignited prematurely
trapping all occupants inside the burning structure. The firefighters recognised the threat
immediately but most of the audience were only made aware when two boys, with
clothes on fire, jumped to their deaths from the upper floors. The fire was put out quickly but the heat of
the blaze led to 13 dying in the blaze, and the remaining 2 survivors dying in
hospital. The funeral for the disaster
was held on the 17th July, 6 days later.
On the 5th
of January 1931 Minnie and James' fourth child was born. They were still living at the extension on 37
Third Avenue in Gillingham. James at
this point was still working for the War Department, as a correspondence clerk.
It All Falls Apart
At some
point Minnie's family moved to a house called Great Hermitage at Higham and on
the 5th November 1932 her fifth child was born.
At the time James had moved jobs and was working as an electrical
draughtsman. The registration of the
birth was late, being registered on the 24th February the following year.
At some
point in 1936 Minnie's sixth child was born, however the birth appears never to
have been registered. During this period
the family moved from Higham to Cambridge Terrace in Chatham, the neighboring
town to Gillingham where they had spent most of their married lives.
The family
appear to be seriously struggling and on the 25th November 1937 the Nottingham
Evening Standard reported that Minnie and James had been jailed for a month after
having their case heard at Chatham Police Station. They were charged with neglect of their five
children and the children were removed by magistrates order.
The children
were described as "verminous and grimed with dirt from head to foot". Her 5 year old child was "From his chest
to the sole of his feet it would have been impossible to place a shilling
without touching sores on his body".
Her 10 year old child "had been sleeping in a baby's cot, the bed
of which had rotted through, so that he was lying on the bare board. The bedroom and bedding were in a filthy
condition."
"For
the defence, Mr. Henry Flint urged that Bailey and his wife belonged to the
"submerged strata of these islands."
The parents had done what they could to look after their children." The newspaper also reported that Minnie was
now going blind and was expecting another child. No child was born suggesting either the
newspaper report was incorrect or that Minnie has a miscarriage.
The day
before her husband's 55th birthday, on 28th April 1937, when Minnie was 37, her
youngest child died aged 22 months at 42 Magpie Hall Road, Chatham. The cause of death was Tuberculosis and
Meningitis. Unlike the birth which was
never registered the death was registered Minnie registered the death the
following day.
Infant
mortality in the 1930s was high, with around one in twenty children dying of
infectious diseases before their first birthday. Poverty, poor diet and bad living conditions,
such as those of the Bailey family at the time, lay at the root of much
childhood illness. Doctor Harold Everley
Jones, an early pediatrician that qualified in 1934 described houses of the
period when he recalled:
"I stood in a house to which I
was called and was amazed to see the wallpaper moving
due to the bugs underneath. Many of these houses were little more better than hovels."
It was only
in 1939 that the first anti-bacterial drugs became available, and 1947 was a
specific drug to tackle TB was discovered.
At time of her
child's death Minnie and her family were living at Cambridge Terrace, Chatham. Unable to find work as a clerk or draughtsman
her husband James turned to working as a labourer.
Get Life Back Together
At some
point Minnie's family moved to 84 Layfield Road, Gillingham, where on the 9th
July 1943, when Minnie was 43, her seventh and last child was born. At the time of birth her husband James had
the interesting occupation of Rescue Worker Civil Defence (Engineering
Commercial Traveller).
In 1945
additional structures were added to the World War I Naval War Memorial on the
Great Lines to honour those who died in WWII.
In the third
quarter of 1946, when James was 64 his third child was married
On the 4th
December 1951 saw the Gillingham bus disaster strike. The street was incredibly poor and weather
was reported as dark and foggy. A
company of fifty-two members of the Royal Marine Volunteer Cadet Corps were
marching in dark blue battledress and berets along the side of the road from
Melville Royal Marine Barracks to the Royal Naval Barracks in Chatham.
While
walking through a darker patch due to a broken street light, a double-decker
bus ploughed into the back of the marching company. The company consisted of children between the
age of ten and thirteen. Twenty-four of
the cadets were killed and another eighteen injured. At the time this was the highest loss of life
in any road accident in British history.
A military
funeral was held at Rochester Cathedral.
Thousands of local people stood outside the cathedral and lines the
streets for the procession to Gillingham cemetery. Royal Marines acted as pall bearers and
guarded the coffins. The driver was
charged with dangerous driving with a recommendation of leniency from the jury. He was fined and banned from driving for
three years.
On 27th
November 1954 Minnie's second eldest child, living at James' home in still in
84 Layfield Road, married. Her husband James,
then aged 72, was working as a Gate Keeper at an engineering factory.
On the 11th
December 1958 Minnie's husband James had died at 23 Knight Avenue, Gillingham
in Kent aged 76. His cause of death was Broncho
Pneumonia and Bronchitis. His profession
on the death certificate was retired timekeeper Engineering Works. The informant to the death was one of his
children living nearby14.
Minnie's
death was registered in the last quarter of 1976 in Maidstone district in Kent. She would have been 76 years old.
1. See James Jr.'s birth
certificate registered in the ???? quarter of ????
2. See James Sr.'s birth
certificate registered in the first quarter of 1851
3. See 1881 census (full
reference details TBC)
4. See Harry's birth
certificate registered in the ???? quarter of ????
5. See 1891 census (full
reference details TBC)
6. See James Sr.'s death register
registered in the last quarter of 1892
7. See 1901 census (full
reference details TBC)
8. See 1911 census (full
reference details TBC)
9. See Eleanor's death certificate
registered in the first quarter of 1913
10. See Harry's marriage certificate to
Laura registered in the last quarter of 1913
11. Thanks to my mum for
the information!
12. See James marriage
certificate to Minnie registered in the third quarter of 1924
13. Thanks to my mum for
the information!
14. See James Jr.'s death certificate
registered in the last quarter of 1958
15. See Minnie's death
register registered in the last quarter of 1976
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