The Andrews, Bradford, Bayley and Allen Families.

When I start to research one of my old photos or a collection of photos I never know where that research will take me, every family is so different, sometimes families might live in the same area or spread themselves far and wide across the world. Sometimes they have many children sometimes none, I find myself often feeling quite sad when I come across babies and very young children who have died before they’ve lived a life.

But this family has been quite different from any I’ve researched before. I have been surprised, shocked, and deeply saddened by what I found and it’s left me wondering about the individuals in this and many other families and just how they coped with it all.

This is their story, starting with just two old photos from a small collection I discovered a while ago at the Fleamarket in Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

Ellen Barker Andrews
Agnes Jane Andrews
Amy Marion Andrews
Fanny Elizabeth Andrews

It’s not often that I start a family tree with four named people, and this made it much easier. I was able to add parents and two more sisters fairly quickly!

Nellie (Ellen) Bailey seated

The parents of these sisters were George Andrews (1822-1905) who was born on 7 November 1822 in Bradbourne, Kent and he married Ellen Barker (1832-1917) on 4 October 1854. The couple had six daughters, these two old photos are of the eldest four.

Sisters

The eldest daughter was Ellen Barker Andrews who was born in 1858, she married James Bayley (1858-1922) on 25 Jan 1880 in Willesborough, Kent. The couple had 9 children. In 1923 Ellen a widow was living at 21 Old Dover Road, Canterbury, Kent but died at Halston Vicarage, Halstow, Sittingbourne, Kent.

The second born was Agnes Jane Andrews born in 1857, she married Harold Allen (1856-1937) on 12 June 1881 also in Willesborough, Kent. The couple had four children. In 1926 Agnes lived at 13 Holmdale Road, West Hampstead, Middlesex and died at London Hospital for Women, Soho, Middlesex.

The third daughter was Amy Marian Andrews born on 29 March 1859, she met and married George Bradford (1845-1911) on 7 June 1885 again in Willesborough, Kent. The couple had five children. In 1951 Amy was living and died at 3 Ravenlea Road, Folkestone, Kent. Probate to Sir Thomas Andrews Bradford Knight D.S.O. (Distinguished Service Order)

The fourth daughter was Fanny Elizabeth Andrews born on 7 November 1860 she met and married Edward Robert Olive (1857-1924) the couple had no children. In 1945 Fanny lived at Milbanke, Ravenlea Road, Folkestone, Kent and died at Monkton Vicarage, nr Ramsgate, Kent.

The fifth daughter Mary Louisa Andrews was born in 1865 and never married. At the time of her death on 4 January 1917, she was living and died at Dunns Hill House, Willesborough, Kent. Probate to youngest sister Bertha also a spinster.

The youngest daughter Bertha Eliza Andrews was born on 23 February 1868, like her sister Mary she never married or had children. On 13 January 1943, she was living and died at Monkton Vicarage, Monkton, Kent.

It was only when I started adding the children to the married sisters I discovered that between them they had tragically lost five sons during World War 1.

1916

Agnes and Harold Allen lost their youngest son first. Kenneth Beale Allen was born on 4 July 1890 and was killed in action on 23 March 1916 in France and Flanders. He was a Private in the Royal Welsh (Welch) Fusiliers, 15th Battalion his Regimental Number was 22051. “Kenneth worked for London & County Bank at its London Harrow Road branch. In 1909 London & County Bank merged with London & Westminster Bank and Allen became an employee of the enlarged London County & Westminster Bank. In November 1913 he transferred to the London Aldersgate Street branch. During the First World War Allen left the bank to join the army, serving as a Private in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He died on the Western Front on 23 March 1916. He was 25 years old“. He is commemorated on a bank war memorial at London Barbican Branch.

1917

1917 started very badly for the family as on 4th January the fifth sister Mary Louisa died at Willaston Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire, with her sister Ellen Barker Bayley present. As you can see it says the cause of death was Addison’s Disease and Synscope.

Then less than two months later Ellen and James Bayley‘s son Edward Vincent Bayley who had been born on 5 August 1885, died on 24 February 1917 at the British Flying School, Vendome, France. He was 31. Edward was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps. His secondary unit was the 6th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment.

Then we come to the Bradford Brothers or the Bradford Boys as they have become known. They were the three youngest sons of Amy and George Bradford. From what I have read about them they were all remarkable young men. There has been much written about them, a book and a film and more.

This is a short film showing the brothers’ resting places and their headstones by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Bradford Brothers

Lieutenant James Barker Bradford MC
The Durham Light Infantry, Aged 27
Who died in France of wounds received in action
on 14th May 1917.

James was awarded the Military Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Somme in 1917. He was injured and died in hospital after a week-long battle. 

On 5 July 1917, the Sisters lost their Mother Ellen Andrews who was 84, their father had died in 1905.

Brigadier General Roland Boys Bradford VC, MC
The Durham Light Infantry, Aged 25
Who fell in action in France on 30th November 1917

Roland The youngest brother, Roland became the youngest Brigadier General in the British Army at the age of 25. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and led his brigade in the Battle of Cambrai, the first major tank battle, in 1917. He was killed on the tenth day of the battle. 

1918

Lieut Commander George Nicholson Bradford, VC
Royal Navy, Aged 31 who fell in action on the Mole, Zeebrugge on 23rd April 1918

George The second oldest brother, George was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. He volunteered for a mission against German submarines in Zeebrugge on St George’s Day 1918, and was killed during the mission. 

“Only one of the four brothers survived the 1914-18 War in which all were awarded medals for gallantry, including the Victoria Cross to two of the siblings. Born in Witton Park in County Durham, they are the most decorated brothers in British Military history“.

Thomas Andrews Bradford. The eldest brother, Thomas was the only one to return home from the war. He was knighted for his contribution to public services in 1939. 

Memorials to the brothers and some links for more information.

Their bravery was touched on in an archive film, The Wear at War, produced by the Lonely Tower Film and Media company in 2016 as part of a series for history groups in the Northeast funded by Heritage Lottery Fund grants.

The Bradford brothers are honoured with a memorial in Witton Park, where commemorative stones for George and Roland stand side by side. Ray Lonsdale’s sculpture The Ball and The Bradford Boy depicts the brothers’ pre-war footballing and cricketing interests. 

North East War Memorials Project

Brass memorial plaque in the north aisle of Holy Trinity Church, Woodland Road, Darlington-unveiled 11th November 1921 by the only surviving brother, Captain T Bradford, DSO. “To the Glory of God and in memory of three brothers “Abide with Me“

A book by a former Aycliffe headteacher tells the story of the Fighting Bradfords, four brothers who fought for their country in the First World War.

Here are a few excerpts from the book:

The “Fighting Bradfords” were truly extraordinary: four brothers who between them during the First World War won two Victoria Crosses, a Distinguished Service Order and two Military Crosses.

The Bradford brothers’ story begins with their father, George, a mining engineer.

He was an authoritarian figure, who never spared them the rod – perhaps that is what encouraged them to seek sanctuary in the Armed Forces; perhaps that is what instilled in them such courage and outstanding determination.

When father George had married their mother, Amy, he had just been appointed the manager of Messrs H Stobarts’ Bishop Auckland Collieries; she was from Kent and seems to have had no prior knowledge of the County Durham coalfield.

They lived in Witton Park, a mining village near Bishop Auckland.

In six years in Carrwood House, Witton Park, Amy gave birth to her four remarkable sons, who were christened in St Paul’s Church opposite.

When the youngest boy, Roland, was two, the family moved to Morton Palms Farm, on the eastern edge of Darlington. Their father insisted on his sons walking the four miles into school and back because it was good for their character.

In 1898, the family moved to Milbanke, a large house in Milbank Road, in Darlington’s West End. The athletic boys each attended the nearby grammar school for a couple of years, although their father kept finding them new educational establishments with ever tougher disciplinary arrangements.

When their father George died in 1911, aged 66, it felt like a weight was lifted from their lives – although by now the die was cast, their characters had been forged.

War was looming. If ever there were boys who were born to fight, it was the Fighting Bradfords.

The book is excellent and you can find more excerpts here: The North East at War

This is the small family tree I have compiled for the families: Andrews & Bayley Family

Amy and George Bradford also had a daughter Amy Isabelle Bradford who never seems to get a mention, she was the youngest of their children, she was born on 3 May 1901. It must have been very hard for her to lose three of her brothers and also two cousins when she was just a teenager. When she was 21 on 25 July 1922 she married Harry Leslie Holloway Cremer, the couple had three sons and a daughter and her three brothers were remembered in the names they gave their children. Amy died on the 23 February 1962 at the Westminster Hospital, London. She was 60. Harry died in July 1976.

“In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Till next time then……..