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 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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