Arthur Barrington

Many years ago I asked my grandfather about his uncle Arthur, his mother's younger brother. I have a vague recollection of him saying that he had been a soldier in the Great War, and that it left him rather strange. Nothing more. he was forgotten. He had no wife or children.

Recently, as part of my research, at long last, on the Barrington family, I looked into what I could find out about my great great uncle Arthur Barrington. In my great grandfather's notes, written in about 1905, Arthur is just a name, with nothing else. Arthur was born in 1881 in Salford., the fifth of seven children. He worked as an 'Armature Winder'; presumably winding dynamos. He served in the army, but was invalided out in 1917, and returned to Salford, his mother and his job. He died in 1931in the lunatic asylum in Prestwich. I do not know the cause or why.

Birth Registration

Name: Arthur Barrington
Event Type: Birth Registration
Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar
Registration Year: 1881
Registration District: Salford
County: Lancashire
Event Place: Salford, Lancashire, England
Volume: 8D
Page: 136
Affiliate Line Number: 203

Baptism

Name: Arthur Barrington
Residence Place: Salford, Lancashire, England
Gender: Male
Christening Date: 27 Feb 1881
Christening Date (Original): 27 Feb 1881
Christening Place: Chapelry-of-Christ, Salford, Lancashire, England
Father's Name: William Barrington
Mother's Name: Harriet

This gives his date of birth as 1st January, 1881.

Census 1871

Name: Harriett Barrington
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1871
Event Place: Salford, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Sub-District: Regent Road
Enumeration District: 18
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Marital Status: Married
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Birth Year (Estimated): 1844
Birthplace: Salford, Lancashire
Affiliate Image Identifier: GBC/1871/4023/0100

Household
Role
Sex
Age
Birthplace
Willm Barrington
Head
Male
31
Salford, Lancashire
Harriett Barrington
Wife
Female
27
Salford, Lancashire
Frances Barrington
Daughter
Female
6
Salford, Lancashire
Florence Barrington
Daughter
Female
1
Salford, Lancashire
Eliza Jane Woods
Lodger
Female
19
Warrington, Lancashire

Census 1881
Name: Arthur Barrington
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1881
Event Place: Salford, Lancashire, England
Registration District: Salford
Residence Note: Liverpool Street
Gender: Male
Age: 0
Marital Status (Original): Single
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year (Estimated): 1881
Birthplace: Salford, England
Page Number: 5
Registration Number: RG11
Piece/Folio: 3968/6
Affiliate Record Type: Household

Household
Role
Sex
Age
Birthplace
William Barrington
Head
Male
40
Salford, England
Harriet Barrington
Wife
Female
37
Salford, England
Frances Barrington
Daughter
Female
16
Salford, England
Florence Barrington
Daughter
Female
12
Salford, England
William Hy Barrington
Son
Male
9
Salford, England
Emily Barrington
Daughter
Female
7
Salford, England
Ralph Barrington
Son
Male
5
Salford, England
Arthur Barrington
Son
Male
0
Salford, England

Census 1891
Name: Arthur Barrington
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1891
County: Lancashire
Parish: Salford
Ecclesiastical Parish: ST PHILIPS
Registration District: Salford
Gender: Male
Age: 10
Occupation: Scholar
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year (Estimated): 1881
Birthplace: Lancashire, England
Page Number: 2
Registration Number: RG12
Piece/Folio: 3220/ 4

Household
Role
Sex
Age
Birthplace
Wm Barrington
Head
Male
52
Lancashire, England
Harriet Barrington
Wife
Female
47
Lancashire, England
Florence Barrington
Daughter
Female
21
Lancashire, England
Wm Henry Barrington
Son
Male
19
Lancashire, England
Emily Barrington
Daughter
Female
17
Lancashire, England
Ralph Barrington
Son
Male
15
Lancashire, England
Arthur Barrington
Son
Male
10
Lancashire, England
Maud Barrington
Daughter
Female
8
Lancashire, England

Census 1901
Name: Arthur Barrington
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 31 Mar 1901
Event Place: Salford, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
County: Lancashire
Civil Parish: Salford
Ecclesiastical Parish: Salford St Philips
Sub-District: Regent Road
Registration District: Salford
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Occupation: ELECTRIC ARMETURE WINDER
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Birth Year (Estimated): 1881
Birthplace: Salford, Lancashire
Schedule Type: 10
Page Number: 3


Household
Role
Sex
Age
Birthplace
William Barrington
Head
Male
61
Salford, Lancashire
Harriet Barrington
Wife
Female
57
Salford, Lancashire
Emily Barrington
Daughter
Female
26
Salford, Lancashire
Maud Barrington
Daughter
Female
19
Salford, Lancashire
Arthur Barrington
Son
Male
20
Salford, Lancashire

Census 1911

Name: Harriet Barrington
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1911
Event Place: Pendleton, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
County: Lancashire
Parish: Pendleton
Sub-District: Pendleton
Sub-District Number: 1
District Number: 465
Enumeration District: 11
Registration District: Salford
Gender: Female
Age: 67
Marital Status: Widowed
Marital Status (Original): WIDOW
Number in Family: 3
Birth Year (Estimated): 1844
Birthplace: Salford, Lancashire
Relationship to Head of Household: Head Mother
Schedule Type: 214
Page Number: 1
Registration Number: RG14
Piece/Folio: 425
Affiliate Record Identifier: GBC/1911/RG14/23942/0425/1


Household
Role
Sex
Age
Birthplace
Harriet Barrington
Head Mother
Female
67
Salford, Lancashire
Arthur Barrington
Son
Male
30
Salford, Lancashire
William Barrington
Grandson
Male
10
Salford, Lancashire

Army Discharge 1917

Arthur Barrington
Gender: Male
Rank: Pte
Record Type: Disability
Birth Date: 1881
Residence Place: Leedley
Military Service Region: England, North West
Discharge Date: 9 Feb 1917
Service Number: 29023
Corps, Regiment or Unit: Tr. Res. R.F.A.
Service Branch: Military (Army)
Title: PRC Ledgers
Description: Pension Record Ledger
Reference Number: 3/MB/5283

Administration Grant 1932

Name: Arthur Barrington
Event Type: Probate
Event Date: 27 Sep 1932
Event Place: Salford, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom
Event Place (Original): Manchester, Salford, United Kingdom
Death Date: 18 Oct 1931
Beneficiary's Name: Frances Wilkes
Second Beneficiary's Name: Arthur Percy Wilkes
Additional Person's Name: Maud Adams

The grant of probate says that he died at 535, Bury New Road. I did some research and it seems that was the address of the Lancashire County Mental Hospital. I have childhood memories of references to 'Prestwich' as a euphemism for a mental hospital. Army records show that he had a disability; I wonder what it was. By coincidence his grant of probate is almost adjacent to that of his mother.  

Elsie was Arthur’s niece, and my grandfather was his nephew. I wept reading accounts on the internet of life in that hospital. 

I had the doubtful privilege of visiting Calderstones, Rampton and Langdon ‘Mental Hospitals’, and three decades ago I was a part-time chaplain at Dartmoor, Exeter and Channings Wood Hospitals. They were all run on the same lines, with warders, punishments etc.

The Barrington Family

I was delighted to receive a message from my father's cousin Celia in San Francisco, which told the story of a little girl who was burned to death. I'd heard a much abbreviated version of the story from my grandfather, when he was trying to find a missing photograph of the poor child in the story. Celia's account motivated me to find out more, which proved successful, and led to more discoveries about my great grandmother's family.

"I remember my mother talking about a relative (a little girl with long hair) who was going to be a bridesmaid at her aunt's/cousin's wedding the following day. Apparently the bride-to-be left her for a few minutes to pop into next-door I believe, and the girl found some matches and her clothing caught fire. Her father ran with this little girl presumably to a doctor or hospital to no avail, and on the way the little girl said to her father "Don't let them put me in the bury hole". I don't know who this might have been, or how much truth there is to this but my mother said it definitely happened."


"While looking through old books and photos, I came across a book in which I had written various events and stories re our family, and funnily enough I came upon the one I must have written down in the 60s, maybe earlier, re the little girl I wrote about in my previous email. It is somewhat different from what I wrote which shows how some stories can change and be "mis-remembered" over time. This is what I wrote back then.
My mother told me about an uncle who had a beautiful little girl with very long fair hair. On the eve of the wedding of the girl's aunt, the girl had gone to visit the aunt who lived next door, but the aunt was taking a bath. There were suddenly screams from downstairs, and the little girl had got hold of a box of matches and set herself alight. Her screams brought her father, who lived next door, and wrapping her up in a blanket he ran round to the he hospital with her On the way, she had looked at him and said "Don't let them put me in the bury hole papa". She died shortly after arriving at the hospital. Later this father had 4 sons, each one was named Ralph and all died of convulsions before they reached a year old. The fifth son they called Roy, and he lived.
Now, I'm sure the story of the little girl is true, but the part about the 4 sons, each called Ralph, each dying before their 1st birthday, how much bad luck can a family have. I'm sure my mother related what she remembered, but maybe the story has changed as it was passed down through the years, but I just wanted to correct what I had written in previous email. I can't see anyone in the Gent family tree who had a son called Roy, but it could possibly, if true, be on the Barrington side."

In fact, the account written down by Celia some sixty years ago, is remarkably accurate, and with its clues, and the help of the internet, it has been possible to fill in the details of names and dates. I replied to Celia:

"I have been intrigued by the story of the little girl, and am trying to piece it all together. Your account is remarkably accurate it seems. Did Ralph and Edith have a daughter though? And when did she die? It's an obstacle that the mother's maiden name was not given before September 1911, and there were quite a few Barrington children born in Salford in the relevant period. I haven't yet found out who Edith's parents were. But we do now have the names and dates of four sons who died in infancy.There is a possibility that the case would have been reported in the press, as happened with Randle."

I knew Ralph, and his wife Edith Hargreaves had lost several sons in infancy, from my great grandfather's notes. I had the clue of it being the night before an aunt's wedding. I was right about an earlier child, and the notes showed that she was called Edith, like her mother. Incidentally, the mother's maiden name is variously spelt Hargreaves, Hargraves and Hargrave.

These are the birth and death registrations for Ralph and Edith's daughter Edith Eliza, who would have been two and a half at her death.

These are the registration details for the births of Ralph and Edith's children after registration included the mother's maiden name. 

These are the registration details for all Ralph Barringtons born in Salford. The father was born 1876, he married in 1898, and the two Ralphs were born in 1903 and 1905, both dying in infancy.

Ralph and Edith's last and only surviving child was Roy, born in 1915 when his parents must have given up hope. They emigrated to America, and settled in Providence, Rhode Island.

Public records in America show that Roy was a photographer who married Ellen, who was a waitress in a cafe. I believe they had a daughter called Dolores who was born in 1935. Roy died in 1978 in Providence.

An announcement in the 'Manchester Evening News' of Edith's death.

I then checked through the details of my great grandmother's siblings, to see who might have been married in the spring of 1902. It was in fact her sister Emily, who was close to her, and who married Albert Green.

A census return for the Hargreaves family.

William Barrington and Harriet Diggles: their families. There is a left side and a right side.

Whilst researching the marriages of my great grandmother's siblings I came across other information, some of it very sad. My great grandmother Florence had a brother, William Henry, born in Salford in 1871. He married in the last quarter of 1900 Emma Harrison, who I believe was 18. Their son William was born in the first months of 1901, so obviously it was a hurried wedding. Emma died in the spring of 1902. At some time the father, William henry, went to New Zealand where he died unexpectedly in 1921 aged 50. His son appears in the census for 1911 living with his grandmother Harriet Barrington, need Diggle, and his uncle Arthur Barrington. Arthur never married, and died on 18th October, 1931. Harriet died on 16th January, 1932, and probate was granted to William in 1932, ten years after his father's death, presumably to inherit the house in Benson Street, Salford.

The grave of Florence Gent, née Barrington. There are several members of the barrington family buried in the Weaste Cemetery. Details of two plots are in the family tree written by my great grandfather.