Peter Fawcett was born Christmas Day 1925 in Saltaire to George Fawcett and Maud Pitts. In the 1939 Register they were living at 48 Caroline Street, Saltaire. George was a manager in a spinning department.

Peter, along with his siblings Raymond and Sally, was an accomplished violinist. He served in WW2 with the Royal Navy.

Extract from the Shipley Times 15 March 1944: -

AIREDALE SEA CADETS

Reports keep coming in from former Cadets, stressing the benefits they have derived from their training with the Airedale Unit. They are unanimous in saying that their training has lessened the difficulties of the change over from civilian to service life.

The latest report comes from Peter Fawcett, who has been in the Navy for only 10 weeks. He writes:

“All that I have learned in the Airedale Unit has been of the greatest help, and everything I have done here so far has been what I did before in the Unit. The first five weeks are spent in squad and rifle drill, and after an examination in this, I passed on to the Elementary Gunnery and Seamanship Course, which I am still undergoing. My examination is due in a week’s time, and after passing out, I hope to get a good leave.”

O/S. Fawcett left the Airedale Unit to join the Fleet Air Arm and is currently at H.M.S. Ganges. When he passes out from Ganges, he expects to go to H.M.S. St. Vincent for elementary flying training.

His address is:

O/S. Peter Fawcett, Benbow Division, H.M.S. Ganges, Shotley, Ipswich.

Peter married Kathleen Mary Midgley in 1955. By 1958 they were living at 33 Avondale Road, Shipley. They had a son, George, born in 1960. In 2005 they were at 35 Fern Hill Road, Shipley.

Peter died 25 January, 2008.

 

Jack Fillingham was son of George William Fillingham. George was born c1879 in Lincoln. He married Frances Tweadall 8 April 1905 at North Bierley Registry Office. They had six children.

Jack was born 8 September 1906 in Shipley. In 1911 they were living at 1 Crowgill Place in Shipley with George working as a borer. Frances died in 1913.

Widower George served in WW1. Towards the end of the war he was transferred to a munitions factory in Derby. He married Mabel Ethel Kinney 14 July 1918 at St Peter’s Derby. They had five children.

Report from the Shipley Times 09 April 1925: -

SHIPLEY LAD SENT TO BORSTAL.

Jack Fillingham (18), Shipley youth, pleaded guilty at Halifax Quarter Sessions on Thursday, to a charge of stealing number small articles from the Halifax branch of Messrs. F. W. Woolworth & Co. The goods were valued at 7s. l0d.

Detective-Constable Moorhouse said the lad belonged to Shipley. He had lost his mother, the father remarried, and there were 10 children. Between 1914 and 1918 the lad resided with an aunt and got out of control. Since then had frequently left home for days together with a younger brother of 13, who had been sent to an industrial school by the Halifax Bench, when they were caught together on this occasion. There were three convictions in Bradford against him.

The Recorder, Mr. J. Willoughby Jardine, said he did not consider prison was the best thing for him. He would be committed to a Borstal institution for three years.

Working as a labourer Jack enlisted with the Queens Royal West Surrey Regiment 26 April 1927in Halifax.

Jack married Ethel Brooksbank 1 August 1937 at Dagenham in Essex. They had at least one child. In 1939 they were living in Bingley where Jack was a spot welder at a motor works. Jack served in WW2. In 1940 they were living at 28 Adelaide Street in Shipley; by 1945 they were living at 1 Helen Street In Saltaire, where they remained until 1948.

Jack died in September 1992.

 

Kenneth Firth was born 22 May, 1923, at 30 Titus Street, Saltaire to Edwin Firth and Sarah Ann Pitts. They were married 4 January, 1919, at St Paul’s Shipley.

In the 1939 Register they were living at 3 Higher School Street, Saltaire, where Edwin was a dyer’s labourer and Kenneth, a grocer’s assistant with Windhill Co-Operative Society. Kenneth’s mother was the manageress of the Shipley Air Training Corps canteen.

Kenneth served in the Shipley Air Training Corps joining the R.A.F. to become an engine fitter.

He married Edna Spurr in 1943. They had a son, Robert, born in 1943. After the war Kenneth returned to working for the Windhill Co-op where in 1958, he was reported as being a manager. They lived at 3 Higher School Street, Saltaire, until around 1956.

Extract from a report in the Shipley Times 28 July 1948: -

First steps to attempt regular reunions of the former No. 377 (Airedale) Squadron of the Air Training Corps base met with a very gratifying response. About 50 of the old cadets came together at the Rosse Hotel, Shipley, on Thursday night (22 July), to talk matters over.

A committee of twelve was formed, with Mr. Kenneth Firth, 3 Higher School Street, Saltaire, as secretary, to make the arrangements for a reunion dinner to be held towards the end of October.

Edna died 7 September, 2010. Kenneth died 19 October, 2016.

 

Ernest Free was the son of Robert Free. Robert was born in 1873 in Cambridgeshire. He married Jane Anne Backhouse 1896 in Tadcaster.

Ernest, the third of seven children, was born 9 July 1901 in Biggin near Selby. In 1901 the family were living in Biggin, by 1911 they had moved to Tadcaster; Robert was a farm labourer. In 1914 the family were living at 1 Shirley Street in Saltaire and by 1918 they had moved to 38 George Street.

In 1921 they were living at 15 Victoria Road, Saltaire, with Ernest and the rest of his family working at Saltaire Mills. Ernest was a cloth finisher.

Ernest married Dorothy Wainman in 1924. They had a son, Norman, born 25 March 1926. From 1926 to 1930 they lived at 23 Albert Terrace, Saltaire. From 1931 they were living at 39 Whitlam Street, Saltaire. In the 1939 Register Ernest was employed as a wool warehouseman.

Report from Shipley Times 21 October 1942 as follows: -

L/Cpl Ernest Free (41), husband of Mrs. Dorothy Free of 39 Whitlam Street, is serving in R.A.O.C. somewhere in England. He has been in H.M.F. one year. Before enlisting he was employed by Salts (Saltaire) Ltd., Saltaire Mills.

Ernest died 1 st Qtr. 1949 at 39 Whitlam Street. Their son, Norman, who served in WW2, was Lord Mayor of Bradford in 1983/84.

 

Norman Free was born 25 March 1926 at 23 Albert Terrace, Saltaire to Ernest Free & Dorothy Wainman. By 1930 they had moved to 39 Whitlam Street, with Ernest working as a wool warehouseman and Dorothy was a reeler. Norman attended the Saltaire Congregational Sunday school.

After serving with the Shipley Air Training Corps, Norman joined the R.A.F. in May 1944, to serve in WW2 as a teleprinter.

Having survived the war, in April 1948, Norman was elected secretary of the Shipley Labour Party’s League of Youth. In October 1951 he was Chairman of the Shipley Festival of Great Britain Social Sub Committee. In February 1952 he was elected President of the Shipley Trades Council.

Norman married Barbara Thompson, 1 March 1952, at Saltaire Congregational Church. They lived at 36 Greenfield Avenue, Shipley, before moving to 94 Hollins Land, Shipley about 1957.

In May 1952, representing the Labour Party, Norman contested, but lost, the local election in the West Ward. In February 1955, Norman was secretary of the Shipley Branch of the National Union of Municipal & General Workers. In November 1957 he represented the Shipley Labour Party at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton.

By 1981 Norman and Barbara were living at 192 Leeds Road, Windhill. In 1983/84 he was Lord Mayor of Bradford.

Norman died in 2005; Barbara in 2014.