Florence Emma WARD (W0301#) Last Edited: 07 Sep 2019

Florence was born on the 6th of February 1896 in Middleton by Wirksworth in Derbyshire. She was the first of two children born to John Henry Ward, a Stone Quarry worker, and his wife Grace (nee Bates). She was baptised about a month later on the 9th of March at their local church in Middleton, Holy Trinity.

In later life, Florence told her daughters that she had been brought up by 'Grannie Bates' and this seems to be evidenced by the 1901 Census, where she is recorded living with her maternal grandparents, Richard and Mary Anne, at their home of 1 Pelham Street in Normanton, Derbyshire. In the same census, her parents were living in Sheffield with their 10 month old son Richard.

In 1907, her grandfather Richard Bates became the licensee of the 'Black's Head' public house in Market Square, Wirksworth and the eleven year old Florence moved into the pub with them.

However,when the census was taken in April 1911, her grandparents had moved out of the pub and Florence was no longer with them. After years of trying to find them in the 1911 census records, Florence was eventually found with her parents and her brother Richard, at 3 Cross Gilpin Street in the Philadelphia district of Sheffield - the reason it had been so difficult was that her father had completed the form with a false surname! He used the surname of his step-father 'Killer' and not their true surname of 'Ward'. Why? Florence, aged fifteen, was working as a 'Confectionary Hand', quite likely at the Bassett's Factory in Broad Street.

It is not known how or where Florence and Isaiah Jackson met, some have said that it was at the 'Black's Head' pub in Wirksworth but she was living in Sheffield by then. Isaiah was an Outfitter for a company in Blackburn, Lancashire that manufactured Steam Engines and other machinery. He travelled around the country, spending several days or weeks installing equipment in various mills and factories, so it may even have been at the Bassett's factory where they met. A relationship soon developed between them which led to her becoming pregnant in October 1912. There was just one problem, Isaiah already had a wife and baby daughter back in Blackburn, Lancashire.

The dual relationship continued, with both Mary in Blackburn, and Florence in Sheffield having more children. No name is given for the father on the birth certificates of Florence's first two children, so they took the surname 'Ward'. However, when Olive was born in October 1919, Isaiah was named, so she was registered with the Jackson surname. Florence's occupation on the birth certificates was given as a 'Sugar Boiler'.

In 1920, a 'Josiah Jackson' appears in the Sheffield electoral registers living at 18 Carrfield Road (next door to Florence's parents at that time) and is described as a Journeyman Millwright. This is the same address where Olive was born in October 1919, so this must have been Isaiah Jackson and perhaps is an indication that he had left his wife Mary around 1919. He is still recorded at that address in the 1922 electoral register. However, in the spring of 1922, Isaiah appears in the Blackburn electoral registers, staying with his mother Rachel and brother Alfred at 82 Johnston Street. Florence isn't listed as the voting age for women wasn't lowered from 30 to 21 until 1928 but it's most likely she and the children were with him. Grace was the first of their children to be born in Blackburn on the 25th of October 1923, at 50 Ash Street, where he and Florence were living as guests of his brother William.

Florence and Isaiah had nine children together.

William Ward ...1913-1983
John Ward ...1915-1984
Un-named Jackson ...1916-infant or stillborn
Olive Jackson ...1919-1997
Grace Jackson ...1923-1984
Florence Jackson ...1926-2016
Alice Jackson ...1928-2013
Kathleen Jackson ...1930-2004
Jean Jackson ...1934-1999

Isaiah never divorced his first wife Mary and didn't marry Florence until the 14th April 1934, about 2 weeks after Mary died and just 2 days before their last child Jean was born.

Florence was a good cook and the aroma of freshly baked bread and barm cakes always greeted you upon entering the house in Cromwell Terrace.

Florence spent her final years in a Nursing Home in Great Harwood, Lancashire. However, a fall in December 1979, resulted in a broken femur and she was admitted to Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where she developed Bronchopneumonia and died on Christmas day, 25th December 1979, at the age of 83 years. Her funeral took place on the 2nd of January 1980 at Pleasington Crematorium on the outskirts of Blackburn.


Notes