This is one of a series of posts about local men named on the Keighley Union Workhouse roll of honour.
George Henry Buckle is in the 1911 census for the Central Children’s Home off Fell Lane. The home was attached to the Workhouse at that time.
George Henry Buckle. No definite proof of service found.
His name is on the Keighley Workhouse Roll of Honour as: Buckle, George Henry.
Early life:
George’s parents were John Buckle and Annie Buckle née Hart who were married at St. Peter’s Church in Keighley on the 13th of September 1890.
In the 1891 census they were living at 19, Pitt Street in Keighley, John was 26 and a labourer in a timber yard and Anna(sic) also aged 26, was at home. They had a three year old son called Robert Hart (John’s step son) and a daughter called Eliza who was aged just three months. John was from Selby but Anna, Robert and Eliza were all born in Keighley.
George was born in 1898 and his birth was registered at Keighley in the second quarter of that year.
Their mother Annie died in 1901 and her death was registered at Keighley in the first quarter of the year.
Shortly after Annie’s death was the 1901 census which is somewhat confusing. They were lodging at 3, Barrett Street in Parkwood with Alice A. Nobbs, a widow aged 27 (with no apparent income) and her son Albert Nobbs, aged seven. Lodging with them were John Buckle (wid?) aged 6(?); Widower Albert Hart aged 38 employed as a blacksmith’s striker; Eliza Buckle aged ten and George Henry Buckle aged two. There is no mention of step son Robert Hart, who would have been thirteen years old by now.
We are reasonably sure that there’s a mistake here and the ‘6’ year old John Buckle is in fact 36 year old and recently widowed John Buckle, father of Eliza and George Henry Buckle.
John Buckle features in the electoral rolls at several address which are listed as successive addresses in the rolls, so we are pretty sure it’s the same man (and his family) moving from one rented property to another.
In the following years they lived at 1, Croft street, 83 Beck street, 40, Low Utley, 32, Nelson street, 15, Barrett street, 67, Beck street, 15, Pitt street. John is last seen on the electoral roll at 15, Pitt Street in 1903, then there is no mention of him after that and he may have absconded, or died, leaving the children orphaned. We could not find a death record for him.
In the 1911 census, George Henry is aged twelve and an inmate of the Central Children’s Home attached to the Workhouse in Keighley.
His sister Eliza is now aged 20 and boarding at number 4, Princeville Road in Bradford and employed as a spinning frame tenter.
War service:
We did find a couple of men with the name George Henry Buckle who served in the armed forces during the war, but none of them could be proven to be ‘our’ George. The only evidence we have for him serving is his name on the Workhouse war memorial in the care of Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley.
George may have enlisted and he would have been aged 16 at the beginning of the war in 1914. There is no Army service record for him and he may not have served overseas due to his age, so there would not be a medal record either.
Remembrance:
George is remembered on Keighley Workhouse war memorial as detailed above.
Post war:
George had moved to the South side of Bradford and was employed as a coal hewer in the 1921 census. He was aged 22 years and 2 months and was boarding at Moor Top, Drighlington.
Whilst here he must have met his future wife Alice Hollingsworth, who was the daughter of Richard, also a coal hewer. She was living close by at the delightfully named area called Wasp’s Nest in Drighlington. Alice was aged 20 years and 4 months and was on home duties at the time of the census.
George and Alice were married on the 10th of December 1921 at St. Paul’s Church, Drighlington Parish Church.
Despite living away from each other, Eliza and George must have kept in touch because George was a witness at her wedding on the 21st of July, 1923 at Victoria Park Wesleyan Chapel on Bradford Road in Keighley. Eliza was aged 32 and married Sam Hainworth who was to year her junior, aged 30. Eliza was a cloth weaver of 35, Marlborough Street and Sam was a ‘rougher in’ for bobbin turning and he was living at 286, Fell Lane in Keighley.
In the 1939 register George was living at West Street in Morley with his wife Alice. He would have been about 41 at that time and was employed in heavy work as a wireworks warehouseman. Alice was a worsted coating weaver aged about 39. In wartime George was part of the Air Raid Patrol for his employers. A redacted entry for their household might be for a child.
A George H. Buckle died aged 59 on the 16th of January 1958 and was buried at St. Paul’s Churchyard in Drighlington.
An Alice Buckle died aged 81 in the last quarter of 1982, registered at Leeds.
Note: Initially when we were researching George we thought he might have been Corporal George Henry Buckley of Ingrow, but we are sure that they are two different men as that particular George does not appear in the Keighley Workhouse records.
Information sources:
West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935.
1891 England Census.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915.
1901 England Census.
1911 England Census.
1921 England Census.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005.
West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935.
West Yorkshire, Non-Conformist Records, 1646-1985.
1939 England and Wales Register.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007.
UK and Ireland, Find a Grave® Index, 1300s-Current.
