Notes made by John Blaylock 3rd May 2001
Sadly my grandfather died before I was born so there is only a little I can tell.
John Edward Blaylock married Emma Coward of Keen Ground, Hawkshead on 9th April 1896. The marriage was by Banns and the witnesses were Thomas Coward and Margaret Coward, almost certainly brother and sister of Emma.
I know he was a joiner, carpenter and boatbuilder of Bowness on Windermere and he assisted in the recovery of the wreck of the speedboat "Miss England II" following the third and fateful attempt by Sir Henry Segrave to break the world water speed record. It was June 1930 and the boat had completed two runs on Lake Windemere at speeds of 96 and 101 m.p.h. when a third run was made. The boat left the water and spun in the air at an estimated speed of about 120 m.p.h., fatally injuring Segrave and his mechanic Halliwell. I believe the boat was fitted with a Rolls Royce engine made in Derby.
John Edward Blaylock worked at times for Peter Yates who was building up his chain of Wine Lodges. He accompanied Yates on many of his property buying deals and supervised the fitting out of the acquired properties into Wine Lodges.
John Edward Blaylock also owned a fleet of rowing boats which were hired to holidaymakers on Lake Windermere. He employed two men during the summer months for this purpose. He also used one of the Cushion Huts located at the side of Bowness promenade for storage of fishing tackle. The wooden Cushion Huts were demolished recently but re-erected in the original style using modern materials.
He died on 30th July 1937 whilst examining a boat on one of the tarns on Claife Heights.
The place of residence in Bowness is given as Heathwaite for the baptisms of Harold and John and 5, Thornton Terrace for Morland.
Gravestone in the Churchyard of St. Michael's and All Angels, Hawkshead:
"In Loving Memory of John Edward Blaylock 1871 - 1937 and Emma Blaylock his wife 1869 - 1957"
The grave is located in high ground above the footpath in the churchyard that leads to Roger Ground.
Notes made by John Blaylock:-
I remember as a child when on an evening stroll with my father in Bowness on Windermere, my father pointed out to me a lighted window in the upper floor of a terraced house close to the top of Crag Brow. He explained to me that he had been born in the room of the lighted window. The birth took place on 19th November 1897 but soon afterwards the family moved from Crag Brow to a house called Ivy Bank situated on the corner of Craig Walk and Biskey Howe Road. Ivy Bank remained the family home until the mid nineteen thirties when my father's parents moved to Outgate, near Hawkshead. The row of terraced houses on Crag Brow was demolished I would think in the 1970's, probably to make way for the Quarry Rigg Shopping Centre.Ivy Bank remains in situ.
My father attended the local school in Bowness which is situated close to St. Martin's Place and Kendal Road. After leaving school at the age of fourteen he found employment as a telegram boy working from the office in Bowness. This consisted mostly of delivering telegrams to the local hotels. The hours were long as he was on duty until nine o'clock in the evening. A bicycle was provided but given the number of steep hills in the area it must have been hard work. His worst moment would be on a freezing cold winter evening when a telegram would arrive at about five minutes to nine for one of the remote hotels such as the Storrs Hall down past the Windermere Ferry. There was no choice but to deliver the telegram which meant that he would not be home until after ten o'clock. It was a hard life for a young boy.
About the age of fifteen my father was apprenticed as a joiner and carpenter to Pattinsons of Windermere, a local company who built in South Lakeland Stone many of the hotels and houses which are so familiar to us today in the Bowness, Windermere and Coniston areas. The company built the Belsfield Hotel and Old England Hotel in Bowness, the Windermere Hotel and Windermere Railway Station in the mid to late 1800's. Many other hotels were built by Pattinsons.A story frequently told is that during a scripture lesson by the Vicar of Bowness at the local school, the Vicar explained that God had created Heaven and Earth, "Aye Mister" interjected a farm boy at the back of the class, "but Mr Pattinson built tha houses". I still have my father's toolchest which he made during his apprenticeship. It is a piece of fine workmanship. My father's apprenticeship was interrupted as he volunteered at the age of about seventeen and a half for service in the British Army. England had declared war on Germany in 1914 and the Army was in desperate need of new recruits. He signed up at Windermere and was sent to Newark, Nottinghamshire, for training in the Royal Engineers.
On completion of his training my father sailed to France as Private 204202RE. The first World War was a subject he was reluctant to talk about but I know he saw active service at Passchendale and Ypres in Belgium and Arras in France.His war record was distinguished. He was a superb marksman and I know of mention of one occasion when the German forces were getting the better of the day and the order came to retreat whilst two of our men were trapped in a dugout. My father refused to leave his comrades to their fate and by what means I do not know but he did manage to rescue the trapped men despite intense enemy fire.The commanding officer had witnessed the event and recommended my father for a decoration. This was however refused by the high command. I have since learned that very few private soldiers were awarded gallantry medals in WW1. This was almost the exclusive right of the officer class. Again I am not clear of the circumstances, possibly he became detached from his regiment because of the confusion of war, but at some time he became Private 57309 of the Northumberland Fusiliers.
Towards the end of the War the German forces began using gas. This was either chlorine or mustard, I am not sure which but my father was badly affected and was sent to a hospital in Belfast Northern Ireland to recover. He spoke very highly of his treatment in Northern Ireland but left the Army and eventually returned home to Bowness on Windermere
Timescales are difficult for me to relate to but I do know my father sailed to Canada on the Cunard White Star Liner Scythia. His mother, the former Emma Coward of Keen Ground Farm, Hawkshead had three brothers who had emigrated to Canada about 1900. I have little doubt his trip would have included a visit to his uncles.
Finding regular employment was always a serious problem in the Windermere area. It was probably for this reason that my father's father, John Edward Blaylock, began working in Derby and later in Manchester and Liverpool. In Derby both father and son worked on houses being built in the Osmaston Park Road area. It would be at this time in the late 1920's that my father met my mother, Ann Josephine Carter, of Havelock Road, Normanton. They married in 1931 and later moved to Manchester. John Edward Blaylock became chief foreman for Peter Yates, who was buying large city properties and converting them into his Wine Lodges. My father also joined Yates assisting in the interior fitting out of the acquired properties. Eventually my father took over the job as chief foreman, mostly working in Manchester and Liverpool, and John Edward Blaylock retired to Outgate, near Hawkshead.
My father bought a house in Manchester, No.1 Naburn Street, close to Victoria Park. He had no plans to leave Manchester but WW2 came along and the bombing of Manchester city centre was intense. A move was made to Didsbury on the outskirts of Manchester but this not satisfactory and a further move was made to Outgate. My grandfather, John Edward Blaylock, had retired to Outgate and rented two adjacent cottages. The intention was to convert the two separate cottages into one large property but sadly he died before this conversion could be carried out. My grandmother continued to use the one cottage at Outgate into which she had moved from Ivy Bank and my father, mother and baby sister, Josephine, were accommodated in the spare cottage. The entire row of Outgate cottages together with a barn and coppice called Spica, was owned by Leslie and Ivy Milligan.Later the family rented a larger cottage at Outgate, close to the Outgate Inn. This cottage was owned by a Miss Goode of Derby who had moved to Morecambe. My aunt Florence and cousin Patricia, who were at this time living in Liverpool, also joined my family at Outgate.
My father initially found employment at the sawmill on the Hawkshead to Ambleside road but he soon moved to Flookburgh where an RAF airfield was under construction. After a short period at Flookburgh he was placed in charge of the project.
On completion of the work at Flookburgh my father worked on other RAF airfields at Newark and Castle Donington near Derby.
With the move to Castle Donington came the opportunity to settle in Derby, the home town of my mother, the former Ann Carter of Havelock Road, Normanton.
My father began employment in Derby with Gee Walker and Slater who were building landing craft for the Normandy invasion. He had great expertise in the steam bending of timber used to form the framework of the hull of these craft. Eventually the war came to an end and he moved to the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works until his retirement in 1963.
The family home was No. 2A Boulton Lane, Alvaston, Derby, from Christmas Eve 1945 until the death of my mother in 1990.
CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH
Harold Blaylock, boy, Nineteenth November 1897, Registration District of Kendal, Sub-district of Ambleside.
This is an abreviated certificate of birth obtained 29th March 1955.
CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE
I Certify that According to the Register of Marriages kept at St. Joseph's Church, Gordon Road, Derby, Harold Blaylock son of John Edward Blaylock and Annie Josephine Carter daughter of Thomas Carter were Married at the said Church by Rev. Thomas Henry Drury on the 1st day of August 1931 in the presence of Florence Carter and John Carter {signed} James F. Hargreaves Parish Priest, Given this 11th day of September 1943.
EXTRACTVM EX LIBRO MATRIMONIORVM
Notes made by John Blaylock:-
My Mother, the former Ann Josephine Carter was born in Derby of Parents Thomas Carter and Anastasia Lacey. She attended St. Joseph's School in Normanton and her first job was assembling radiators at the Spiral Tube Company Ltd. on Osmaston Park Road, Derby. The job involved inserting tubes into radiator frames prior to soldering. The radiators were used on Leyland and Rolls Royce motor vehicles. Many local people in the area were employed by the company. The foreman was George Lee (possibly Lea) of Goodale Street, Normanton who became a great friend of my Mother's brother, John Henry Carter.
John Henry Carter married Violet Everill and George Lee married her sister Nellie Everill. The Everill family lived at 241 Harrinton Street, Pear Tree, Derby.
My Mother was very accomplished at crochet work and embroidery. She made an altar cloth for St. George's Church in Village Street, Normanton. The cloth was still in use in recent years.
CERTIFIFIED COPY OF AN ENTRY OF BIRTH
Registration District of Shardlow in the County of Derby
No. 55, Twelfth January 1902, 30 Havelock Road, Normanton, Derby, Annie Josephine, girl, Father = Thomas Carter, Iron Moulder, Mother = Annie Statia Carter formerly Lacey, Informant = A.S.Carter, Mother, Registered Nineteenth February 1902. Where such Young Person or Child Born = 42 Havelock Road, Derby. Certificate acquired 31st March 1916 for the purpose of Commencing Work, The Factory and Workshop Act, 1901. Address at this date = 40 Havelock Road, Derby. Note: The of date of birth on this certificate is incorrect and should have read 14th January 1902.
CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE
I Certify that According to the Register of Marriages kept at St. Joseph's Church, Gordon Road, Derby, Harold Blaylock son of John Edward Blaylock and Annie Josephine Carter daughter of Thomas Carter were Married at the said Church by Rev. Thomas Henry Drury on the 1st day of August 1931 in the presence of Florence Carter and John Carter {signed} James F. Hargreaves Parish Priest, Given this 11th day of September 1943.
EXTRACTVM EX LIBRO MATRIMONIORVMCERTI
BURIAL
Anne Josephine Blaylock is buried in Normanton Cemetery, Stenson Road, Derby, in the grave plot of her father and mother.
John Edward Blaylock of Craig Walk, Bowness on Windermere, married Emily Sewthwaite of 2, The Green, Staveley, Westmorland, on 1st July 1922. The witness was David Sewthwaite.