Son of Leonard Bunn Balshaw and Marjorie May, 16th November 1943.
My full name is Kenneth Howard Balshaw. I was born on 16/11/1943 & my Birth Certificate shows that I was registered in the Registration District of Tonbridge, Kent; Sub-District of Tonbridge Wells.
My father’s name is/was Leonard Bunn Balshaw. I have no knowledge of whether or not he is alive, and if he is where he is. My mother and he were divorced when I was very young and my only recollection of him is when he once came to visit us at my maternal grandparent’s house in Bexleyheath, Kent. That memory is very vague and I can’t even visualise what he looked like. The middle name is unusual and whilst my mother thinks it was spelt Bunne, on my Birth Certificate it is spelt Bunn.
If my father was alive, I understand he would now be 85. The only other facts I know about him is that he had a brother who was fifteen years his junior (his name was Howard Balshaw) & that my father emigrated to New Zealand. My mother thinks that he went there in the late 1950s, but I think it more likely that it was the late 1940s.
My mother’s maiden name was Margorie May Ross. She did marry again many years later (I recall 1971) and consequently is no longer a Balshaw. When my parents were together they lived at 78 Genesta Road, Plumpstead, London SE18. I was the only child from that marriage.
My knowledge of my father’s parents is virtually nil [but we are now almost certain of the link to Harry Balshaw - NHB]. The only facts I do know is that they used to live at 156 Ellesmere Road, Newcastle Upon Type, NE4 8TR. From resources available to me, it is most unlikely that any Balshaws live at that address now. I understand that my father’s father was a dental mechanic. I’m told that when my father was in an accident and knocked four of his front teeth out, his father made the dentures to replace them. My mother tells me that they moved to Newcastle from Cheshire.
Regarding myself, the facts are as follows:-
I’m happily married to Gill Balshaw. This week we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. We both work full time and enjoy life to the full, frequently eating out & enjoying foreign holidays. We live in Bishopston which is in central Bristol. I have lived in and around Bristol since moving here from Erith in Kent in early 1972.
I worked for the Post Office since 1967 until the end of June this year when Consignia lost the TV Licensing contract to Capita (I then moved to Capita). I started as a post office counter clerk in the Eastern Central district in London. I subsequently transferred to the then embryonic TV Licensing Department in October 1971 which was soon to be moved to Bristol.
Apart from eating out and foreign holidays, my interests are tropical fish, digital photography & computing. Additionally, I am obviously now interested in Balshaws.
I have been married twice before. The first time I was married to Ann (nee Collins) who is the mother of my two children. As she married again, she is no longer a Balshaw.
After Ann, I was married to June (nee Gordon). Although she married again (for a relatively brief period of time) she obviously liked the name Balshaw, as she has never changed it since.
My two children are Paul Howard Balshaw (born in Barnhurst Maternity Hospital in Kent on 17/11/1967) & Louise Claire Balshaw (born in Barnhurst Maternity Hospital in Kent on 25/03/1970). Louise married some years ago and consequently is no longer a Balshaw. Louise & her husband Mark have three children (James, Beth & Harry) & live in Portishead near Bristol.
My son Paul lives with his girlfriend Katrina Rich in Nailsea near Bristol. On 5 June this year Katrina gave birth to a son. Although not married (I don’t know what if any their longer term plans are) their son has been named Jude Howard Balshaw. Given the frequency of the name Howard in my known family & your own middle name being the same, Howard is obviously a popular name with the Balshaws.
I have no objection to any of the detail above being made freely available to anyone else interest in Balshaws. With regard to my son, neither does he.