Chesterfield families sent 14-year-old children off to work, had servants to help with domestic duties and took in boarders in 1921

Families in Chesterfield employed servants to help with the housework, had three or four generations living under one roof and took in boarders in 1921.
St Marys Gate ChesterfieldSt Marys Gate Chesterfield
St Marys Gate Chesterfield

Boys of 14 would have left school and be working in industry to boost the household finances.

Popular surnames within a five mile radius of Chesterfield included Widdowsons, of which there are 230 records in the census, 93 Bothams and 68 Yeomans.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The records show families living at addresses that no longer exist, such as Brunston Street.

The census record of the Yeoman family who lived at 6 Brunston Street, Chesterfield, in 1921 (photo: findmypast).The census record of the Yeoman family who lived at 6 Brunston Street, Chesterfield, in 1921 (photo: findmypast).
The census record of the Yeoman family who lived at 6 Brunston Street, Chesterfield, in 1921 (photo: findmypast).

Thomas Yeomans was a 66-year-old dad living at 6 Brunston Street and working as a platelayer at Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Company when he filled in the census form. His 40-year-old son Albert worked at the same place as his dad, while 14-year-old grandson Arthur Ernest Varley was an assistant wagon repairer at Chatsworth Wagon Works. Thomas’s wife, Elizabeth, 64, was employed on household duties.

Over at 1 Beetwell Street, Walter Yeomans, 40, was a saddler and boot repairer who had a wife, Elizabeth, 35, a daughter Kathleen, 11, and sons, Walter, 3, and two-month-old Arthur.

Soloman Widdowson, a 49-year-old foreman machinist at Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Company, lived with his wife Eveline, 31, their son Kenwood, 7, father Henry, 69, and two boarders at 7 Holland Road, Old Whittington.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Two families with the surname Botham lived on Chatsworth Road. Josiah, a 52-year-old carting contractor, was head of the household at number 455 where he shared a home with wife Elizabeth, 47, sons William, 19, and Thomas, 16, who did the same job as their dad, and a two-year-old grandson, Harry.

Joseph Archdale Botham, 54, was head of the family at 506 Chatsworth Road. The writing on this census record is hard to decipher but it looks as though Joseph was an auctioneer. His wife was Annie, 48, and they lived with their son Joseph, 15, and a home help.

There were Bothams at Pond Farm, Newbold, where Robert, 59, was the farmer and married to Mary 57. They had a daughter Mary, 23, a son Percy 35, who was married to Hannah, 33, a grandson Herbert, 10 and a one-year-old granddaughter Betty.

Related topics: