Pugh Family 

Pugh: Of Welsh origin, originally ap-Hugh (‘son of Hugh’) [1]

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Part 3: Pugh Descendants

Lydia Ella Pugh (1895 - 1963) was the fourth child of Joseph Pugh and Lydia Gough. She was born 26 January 1895 in Roath, Cardiff, where her father had found work. However, when she was about five, the family moved back to their native Gloucester.

As a teenager, Lydia worked as an assistant to a confectioner. It is not known why but Lydia moved to Sutton sometime after 1911. It is quite possible it was to do with World War I, perhaps working as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse stationed in a Surrey or London hospital. It was during this time she met Sydney Dolton (more information about him appears in the Dolt/Dolton section). He introduced himself as ‘Bobby’, apparently reluctant to reveal his real first name, and Lydia always called him ‘Bobby’ after that!

Sydney was due to go to France with the Labour Corps in early 1918 and he and Lydia married 27 December 1917 in Beddington Parish Church, Surrey. After the war ended, they moved to Cheam, Surrey.

When World War II was declared, they moved to Halifax, Yorkshire, where Sydney worked as part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Lydia undertook Red Cross work. They had no children of their own but adopted a daughter. They later moved back to Surrey and then to Ewell. Lydia enjoyed playing tennis with her husband and was a member of an operatic society. She died 06 October 1963, aged 68.  

Footnotes

[1] www.surnamedb.com/Surname