Barkby Family
Swannington To The Core
The coal mining Barkby family spread through St George’s Hill and Hough Hill, diversifying occupations and travelling to far flung corners of the world during wartime.
Swannington To The Core - Barkby Family
Board outside The Knoll, 64 Hough Hill where the Barkby family lived in 1939
Barkby Family Tree
The Barkby family tree highlights a number of interesting features:
- Griffydam’s Joseph Barkby 1853-1912 and Hannah Springthorpe 1853-? had seven children between the 25th April 1879 and the beginning of 1894. They then married in Worthington parish church on the 22nd December 1894. Having children then getting married was more unusual in Victorian times than in the 21st century.
- The Springthorpe children took the Barkby name after the marriage of their parents.
- The two Springthorpe/Barkby boys married the Fearn sisters – Joseph married Hannah in 1907, George married Sarah Alice in 1912.
- In copy cat fashion, the two youngest Springthorpe/Barkby girls married the Hemsley brothers from Ellistown – Mabel married William in 1914 and Nellie married Walter in 1915.
Barkby Family and First World War
During the First World War the Barkby men continued to work as coal miners which was an essential job for the war effort.
Barkby Family and Second World War
As the Second World War burst into ugly life there were six branches of the Barkby family living in Swannington.
Branch 1 – Family of Joseph Springthorpe Barkby 1882-1951
In 1939 the family lived at The Knoll, 64 Hough Hill.
Joseph Springthorpe Barkby 1882-1951 – In 1939 Joseph was a colliery road repairer, below ground.
Hannah Fearn 1886-1972 – In 1939 Hannah performed unpaid domestic duties.
Joseph Barkby 1908-2002 – In 1939 Joseph lived in Sinope near his cousin Maurice, see below.
Ethel Selina Barkby 1910-1988 – In 1939 Ethel Selina lived in Station Row, see below
George Henry Barkby – 1912-1962 – In 1939 George was a colliery haulage hand, above ground. He married Hannah and lived at 106 Hough Hill.
Constance Marie Barkby 1914-1994 – In 1939 Constance was a packer in a biscuit factory. Constance Marie married Coalville lorry driver Trevor Sanderson in 1940.
Kenneth Barkby 1916-2000 – In 1939 Kenneth was a colliery clipper, below ground. A clipper attached (clipped) the coal carts to the wire or rope which was used to drag the carts to and from the coal face. Kenneth married Peggy Anita Clarke of Oxford Street, Coalville on the 29th October 1943.
Doris Barkby 1917-2003 – In 1939 Doris was an overlocker in a hosiery factory. In 1942 Doris married Clarence Webb.
Phyllis Edna Barkby 1919-? – In 1939 Phyllis Edna was an overlocker in a hosiery factory. In 1942 Phyllis Edna married former lorry driver James Birkbeck a corporal in the Gloucestershire Regiment, who took part in the D-Day landings and died in France on the 25th August 1944. Phyllis married Edgar Reynolds in Penzance in 1948.
Branch 1, Twig 1 – Joseph Barkby 1908-2002
In 1939 the family lived in the Sinope part of Swannington.
Joseph Barkby 1908-2002 – In 1939 Joseph was a coal mine shift worker, packer, below ground.
Doris May Lee 1911-1995 – In September 1939 Doris May had only been married a few months and was getting used to her new life as a married woman.
Branch 1, Twig 2 – Family Of Ethel Selina Barkby 1910-1988
In 1939 the family lived at 8 Station Row, Swannington, houses since renumbered.
John William Ramsell 1912-1997 – In 1939 John William was a colliery haulage hand, below ground.
Ethel Selina Barkby 1910-1988 – Ethel Selina had married in 1935 and in 1939 was performing unpaid domestic duties.
Barry Ramsell 1938-? – Barry was a year old.
Branch 2 – Family of George Springthorpe Barkby 1886-1949
In 1939 the family lived at 19 The Council Houses, Swannington (now St George’s Hill).
George Springthorpe Barkby 1886-1949 – In 1939 George was a coal miner, hewer.
Sarah Alice Fearn 1893-1975 – In 1939 Sarah Alice performed unpaid domestic duties.
George Barkby 1913-1941 – Sargent George Barkby of the Leicestershire Regiment was killed in Malaysia on the 10th December 1941. He was buried at Taiping Perak cemetery, Malaysia.
Gladys Barkby 1915 -? – In 1939 Gladys was a smallware weaver.
Maurice Barkby 1916-1975 – In 1939 Maurice was married and living in Sinope, see below.
Walter Barkby – Next to nothing is known about Walter. He is presumed to be the “record officially closed” entry of the 1939 register at his parents’ address.
Branch 2, Twig 1 – Family Of Maurice Barkby 1916-1975
In 1939 the family lived in the Sinope area of Swannington.
Maurice Barkby 1916-1975 – In 1939 Maurice was a chain pattern maker engineering hosiery frames. Maurice was married to Gladys Evelyn Smithies.
Branch 3 – Family Of Elizabeth Springthorpe Barkby 1880-1957
In 1939 the Fern family were living in Tan Yard.
Frederick Fern 1882-1960 – In 1939 Frederick was an incapacitated chargeman coal miner.
Elizabeth Springthorpe Barkby 1880-1957 – In 1939 Elizabeth performed unpaid domestic duties.
Sarah Ann Fern 1907-? – Sarah Ann had married Richard Peat and lived in Coalville in 1939.
Ernest Fern 1908-? – In 1939 Ernest’s whereabouts are unknown.
Frederick Fern 1915-? – In 1939 Frederick was a colliery banksman, above ground.
Harold Fern 1918-? – In 1939 Harold was a coal hewer, below ground.
Sargent George Barkby, died Malaysia 1941
Maurice Barkby
Walter Barkby
George Barkby gravestone - photo Iain MacFarlaine
Death of James Birkbeck - Leicester Chronicle 16th September 1944
Death of James Birkbeck - Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Knoll, 64 Hough Hill, Swannington
The Knoll, 64 Hough Hill, Swannington