John Smith's Family Tree Website

Pugh family

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Part 2: Joseph Thomas Pugh (1858 - 1919)

Working life and marriage to Lydia Gough

Joseph Thomas Pugh was born in Gloucester in 1858, the fifth child of George Pugh and Selina Davis. Like his father he worked in the timber industry and was a lath cleaver (splitting hard wood into thin, narrow strips which might be used to hold tiles on roofs, in partitions or in ceilings). Joseph had a spell out of employment in his early twenties. He moved away from Gloucester and lived in Longfleet, Poole, Dorset and worked as a mechanic.

It is most likely Joseph had met his future wife, Lydia Gough (1861 - 1946), before he moved away. He gave his address in Dorset on the marriage record and they were married 12 May 1883 in her parish church of Hempsted, just south-west of Gloucester. (More information about Lydia appears in the Gough section.) The family stayed in Gloucester for a few years where their three eldest children were born: Selina Ann, Ernest Charles and Herbert. They then moved to Cardiff, Wales, possibly for better work prospects and Joseph worked as a lath render. There was an eight year gap before Joseph and Lydia had any more children: Lydia Ella, Frank Edward and Sydney James. The family then returned to Gloucester and lived at 6 Cecil Road where Edith Alice and Arthur Joseph were born. In his later years rendering probably became too difficult and Joseph worked as a checker at the docks. He died 05 November 1919, aged 61, suffering arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and cardiac failure. Lydia died in 1946.

Children of Joseph and Lydia

Selina Ann (1884 - 1976) was known as ‘Lena’. She was born 26 March 1884 in Gloucester. As an adult she went to work at the Birmingham City Asylum to nurse the ‘insane’ as described in the 1911 census. She married Richard Victor Barrett (1884 - 1969 and known as ‘Dick’) in 1921 in Gloucester. Richard died in West Bromwich in 1969 and Selina in the same area in 1976.

Ernest Charles (1885 - 1972) was born 16 September 1885 in Gloucester. He worked as a telephone clerk as a teenager and later became an accountant’s clerk for the Gloucestershire County Council. He married Eliza Sharp (c1887 - ?) in 1910 and they had four known children, Dorothy Edith, Douglas Ernest, Kenneth and Eileen. Sadly Eileen died within a few months of her birth. Ernest died in Gloucester in 1972 but it is not certain when Eliza died.

Herbert (1887 - 1892) was born in 1887 in Gloucester but sadly died aged 5 in Cardiff in 1892.

More information about Lydia Ella (1895 - 1963) appears in Part 3.

Frank Edward (1896 - 1984) was born 12 December 1896 in Cardiff. As a teenager he worked as an office boy for some furniture removers. It is likely he married Freda Jones in 1921. Frank died in Gloucester in 1984, aged 88.

Sydney James (1899 - 1982) was born 29 May 1899 in Cardiff. He enlisted 19 February 1916 and served as a private with the Royal Berkshire Regiment. On 27 May 1918 he was wounded and taken prisoner but fortunately he was repatriated with other prisoners of war back to England in late September the same year. He was discharged in July 1919 and received a Silver War Badge which was presented to those given early discharge (and was sometimes known as the 'Silver Wound Badge'.[1]  He married Nora Gertrude Bennett (1902 - 1994) 03 September 1925 in Gloucester. He died in Gloucester in 1982, aged 83, and Nora died in 1994, aged 92.

Edith Alice (c1903 - ?) was born 1903 in Gloucester. She married Vincent Gilbert Haines (1897 - 1974) in 1921. Vincent died in 1974, aged 76, and Edith died in 1993, aged 90.

Arthur Joseph (1904 - 1977) was born 23 October 1904 in Gloucester. He died in Gloucester in 1977, aged 73.

Next: Lydia Ella Pugh

Footnotes

[1] Silver War Badge, Imperial War Museum (www.iwm.org.uk/history/silver-war-badge-and-kings-certificate-of-discharge)