More Bibles.

My grandmother, Edith Butler was sadly orphaned  before her first birthday when both her parents, Charles and Everil Butler, died of bronchopneumonia in 1900 and 1901; this was before the days of antibiotics. 

Edith herself also died at the age of 25 following an accident at home when her apron caught fire as she was dusting the mantelpiece. My mother was 3 at the time so did not remember her mother.  She did have her Bible and prayer book. 

Edith had written two addresses in the Bible, the first being Rose Cottage, Ravenfield which was their home address and also Leyburn Hall, which I think is where she worked in service.  It also says given her by her loving grandmother.

The next page she has written  from John 15 verses 13 & 14

Inside the back cover she has also written quotes. 

The next book I have is a Holy Communion Book which Edith received on her Confirmation in 1915 at the age of 15. 

I also have Edith's book of Common Prayer and Hymns.

I think Edith must have been very fond of this one as she had inscribed messages inside both covers.

Difficult to read but as far as I can make out it says:

 "Steal not this book for fear of shame

for here you see the owner's name

Edith Butler

For if you do the Lord will say

Where is the book you stole that day. 

Inside the back cover this one says

Edith Butler 

Ravenfield

Not to be taken away. 

This last book is not a Bible of prayer book but it is a Christian book published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.  I think I read this book as a child but can't remember the story.  

It was given to Edith at Christmas 1908 as either a prize or Christmas gift from St James' Church, Ravenfield

 Mum has written her name inside the cover of this one. Hilda Stobart whose name is above mum's was mum's cousin.  Don't know why her name is there though. 

My Grandmother Edith Butler

My grandmother Edith Butler was born on 8th July 1900 in Wakefield, Yorkshire. She was the youngest child of Charles Henry Butler and his wife Everil nee Stacey.

As related in my previous post on Fanny Butler, Edith was orphaned when she was less than a year old.  She was taken, along with her 12 year old brother Ernest,  to live with their paternal grandparents, William and Annie Butler and their family, in Ravenfield.

This is a photo of Edith as a baby.  Don't know how old she was but maybe around one year I would think.








Below is a photo of Edith in what looks like a Christmas concert at Ravenfield school.  Edith is second from the left on the back row. Again don't know the year this was taken but I would think maybe Edith was in her early teens.

Left is Edith with my grandfather Herbert William Tirrell and I think this was before their marriage.  Possible an engagement picture.



















They were married on 26th December 1920 at St James Church in Ravenfield.  The photo right was taken on their wedding day.  No fancy wedding dress but maybe they couldn't afford it.

My mother was born on 3rd March 1922 in Bramley, Yorkshire.  This Edith and my mother Kathleen.
                                                               

According to my mother this was taken at a wedding which she thought was in Ravenfield.  She didn't know who the couple were and I have been unable to find out whose wedding it was.  It was taken in 1925 shortly before my grandmother's death.  Edith is on the front row first left with my mother sitting on her lap.

Sadly, on 25th September 1925, while Edith was dusting the mantelpiece in their home, her apron caught fire. She was admitted to Rotherham Hospital but died later of shock due to the burns.  This is a news item copied from the Sheffield Mail.   Apparently Herbert had signed on to a free insurance scheme that the newspaper ran. 

This is a photograph of Edith's grave in St James' Churchyard.  Such a lot of flowers. Mum was very upset a few years ago when visiting the grave as the ground have been leveled and she couldn't see where it was.  There never was a stone as granddad couldn't afford one. 

Great grand aunt Fanny

What a title but the relationship my family tree programme gives me for Fanny is daughter of great, great grandfather.  Fanny was the half sister of my great grandfather Charles Henry Butler.  Charles' mother died in November 1865 when Charles was only 2 years old.  She died, at the age of 25, of pulmonary tuberculosis (then termed phthisis) shortly after the birth of Charles' brother William.  Her husband William Butler remarried and went on to have six more children, Three boys and three girls.  The girls were Fanny born in 1868, Eliza in 1878 and Emma in 1879.  This photo  is of the three girls. Not sure of the occasion but maybe  Fanny's 21st birthday (not sure if they did celebrate 21st  at that time).  The short haircuts of the 2 younger girls make me wonder if they had been ill or maybe has head lice!

Charles married my great grandmother Everil Stacey in January 1887 and they had three children, Ernest, Lily and Edith (my grandmother).  Sadly my great grand grandmother Everil died in August 1900, of pneumonia and heart failure, when Edith was only 25 days old. My great grandfather Charles died also of pneumonia and heart failure the following January.  Everil had become an orphan when she was less than a year old.   The informant on Charles' death certificate was his half sister Fanny who I believe was living with him in Wakefield and taking care of his children after he lost his wife.

The 1901  census shows Fanny back in Ravenfield with her parents and also 13 year old Ernest and baby Edith.   Ten year old Lily was living with her maternal grandparents John and Mary Stacey also in Ravenfield.  In 1911 Ernest and Edith were still with their grandparents but Fanny was now living with her sister Emma and her husband Joe Brocklesby and their son Stanley also in Ravenfield,  Lily was still with John and Mary.

Fanny's sister Emma died in 1914 and Fanny married her late sister's husband in 1915.  By this time Fanny was 48 and so it was too late for her to have children of her own.  I think she had spent her life caring for her siblings and their children.  Although Ernest and Edith were living with their grandparents I think Fanny was more than likely the one who looked after them.

So my great grandfather never knew his mother and my grandmother never knew either of her parents.  Tragedy was to strike yet again when my grandmother Edith died in 1925, at the age of 25, after her clothes caught fire.  This meant my mother did not remember her mother either as she was only 3 at the time of this tragedy.    What she did have fond memories of was spending time with aunt Fanny and uncle Joe who took her in when her mother died and she stayed with them until her father remarried two years later.

Below is a later photo of Fanny and also one of Fanny and Joe with their pigs, not a very good one though.
One thing mum used to tell me about Fanny was that she always wore a man's cap!