This man is my grandfather, and sadly I never met him. He was born to Lily MUNCASTER in Houghton le Spring in 1906. The middle name of "Proud" is not on the birth certificate, and there is no father given; nor is "Proud" given in the 1911 census. However, he had adopted this middle name by the time he joined the Army (Territorials in 1924, Green Howards in 1929). I have not managed to find a baptism to find whether "Proud" is part of his name earlier than that time, and thus given to him by Lily rather than chosen by himself. Lily married in 1907 in Chester le Street. By all accounts this step-father James Henry HEWITT was not an easy man. I am convinced that my grandfather took the name "Proud" of his own choice in reaction to his step-father, in fact one of his uncles (the husband of Lily's sister Elizabeth) was called John PROUD and I feel that my grandfather may have considered him a father-figure. In partial confirmation of this another of Lily's sisters called a son John Proud ATKINSON (although not on the birth reg., it is on the 1911 census), this John Proud was born the year before my grandfather, and I wonder therefore if my grandfather may have used this cousin's name as inspiration! My uncle however is convinced that "Proud" is the name of the unnamed father. He is further convinced that this unnamed father is therefore the uncle! I find this, although not outside the realms of possibility, to be highly unlikely, not to mention uncomfortable. I suppose I cannot expect to convince my uncle (although I have tried), but I wondered if the consensus of the forum would be on my side or his. And also can anyone track down a baptism? Many thanks Christel
On a more practical note. Lily (b 1889) and James Henry Hewitt (b 1885) are living at 10 Poplar terrace, Chester le Street in 1911 census. There is a fair bit of overwriting on this (by the enumerator?) and can anyone see what James Henry Hewitt wrote for the company he worked for (before "Coal" was written over the top of it)?
It is very difficult to read! ?Begins with 'Wo_ke_. Maybe James put 'worker' in the wrong column? Karen
I agree with dizzyme. It looks like Worker then realising it was written in the wrong column, it looks to me as though it has been over-written by the word Coal - so Coal Company. I did think to start with it could be Local, but coal would make more sense.
dizzyme and Jellylegs thank you, I agree about the "Coal company" written over the top, and now that I look again I can see that your suggestion is correct in that "Worker" was written originally, especially comparing it to the next column where "Worker" is correctly placed. I can now see it clearly, sometimes an extra set (or two!) of eyes is really handy Christel
