My Grandfather, Walter Williams was born in 1898 at 47 Duke Street, Hulme.

Walter Williams. Born July 16th 1898 in Stretford, Manchester Died December 8th 1973 in Northenden, Manchester.

World War I started when Walter was only sixteen. His older brother, Vernon, joined the Army Reservists in August 1913, and then the Army when War was declared in 1914. Walter was two years younger than Vernon, and he joined the Royal Navy in May 1918 and became an Acting ERA 4 (Engine Room Artificer). His signup papers say he was formerly in the RNVR (Royal Naval Reserve Volunteers) and his occupation was a Fitter. Although he would have been aged 20 in 1918, his birthdate is recorded as July 16th 1896, rather than the true date of July 16th 1898. Possibly he lied about his age when he joined the RNVR and then couldn't change it? Or perhaps it was simply a clerical error. He was assigned to HMS Victory II, which I found was a training vessel docked in Portsmouth and then to HMS Minotaur. This was towards the end of the war, and he was also assigned on the minesweepers Clonmel and Kildangan.

When he returned from the war he was employed as an engineering fitter at the British Oxygen Company (BOC) in Trafford Park, Manchester. He and Eveline married in April 1918 in Barton-upon-Irwell, a suburb of Manchester, just before the end of the War.

I couldn't find a picture of Alder Street, but apparently it is adjacent to City Road, which is shown here in a photograph taken in 1910. From the Manchester Archives and Local Studies website (used with permission)

My Grandmother, Eveline Williams (nee Hulme) born May 31st, 1896 in Hulme, Manchester, Lancashire, UK. Died of Tuberculosis in 1931 at the age of 35. I think Eveline was about 18 when this photograph was taken, which would make the year about 1914.

Eveline's family (the Hulme's) lived on Hancock Street. Please visit the Hulme Family page for their information, and where there is a picture of Hancock Street taken in 1965 from the Manchester Archives and Local Studies site. These houses look awful by the 1960s, but they probably looked worse when my Grandparent's lived in them. Hulme was one of the poorest districts in Manchester during the Industrial Revolution. The following link is to a description of Hulme including during the 19th Century.

Hulme - Districts and Suburbs of Manchester

When Walter and Eveline married they lived at 4 Alder Street, Hulme. My Uncle Hal described the house and the following are his words:

"The house was one in a long terrace, 'two up and two down' as these house were called in those days. The two downstairs rooms were a front room and a scullery at the back of the house with a stone flagged floor and a shallow earthenware sink with only a tap of cold water. There was also a large galvanized tub in which our clothing and bedding was washed, aided by heat underneath supplied by coals. Outside the scullery was a small yard, no more than 7 feet by 6 feet, which housed a lavatory that was shared by neighbours on each side of our house."

The two upstairs rooms were bedrooms. There was no bathroom; a tin bath was used for bathing. Uncle Hal remembered that his father was the highest paid resident in Alder Street, earning £3.10 a week when the average wage was £2.10.

Housing was very scarce in the years after the war, and many families took in lodgers, probably because money was pretty scarce too.

Previous Generation: Walter's parents were Walter Williams and Lillie (Elizabeth) Skidmore.

Eveline's parents were John Hulme and Ada Vernon. See Hulme Family page.