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George
Siddall, was the
second of nine children born to his parents, George and Charlotte. He came along
on Sunday, March 21st, 1909, the first-born child having been named as Edward in
1907.
George started his school life at Christ Church, Bradford, in 1914, but after a short
time he was to change schools when his parents moved to Boslam Street
, Ancoats.
His new school was St. Judes where, on September 18th 1916, George, and elder
brother Edward recommenced their education. George's attendance at St. Judes,
however, was to be short lived for in the school records the following is
stated:- 'George Siddall left this school on November 2nd, 1917 due to illness.'
No illness is specified in the school records, nor is there any clue as
to the nature of the illness. But it was on this date that George was badly
injured in a road accident. Apparently, he was playing in the street when a large shire horse pulling a wagon knocked him down. The wagon, which was fully
loaded, ran over him and both his legs were very badly broken.
As
a result of the accident, George was to spend the next two years in Swinton
Hospital, and he was not yet nine years old. Whilst in hospital he was
surrounded by wounded soldiers - casualties from the 1914-18 War, which was still
being fought at that time. He was the only child amongst all these soldiers and
was well cared for by them, which was just as well, for during the whole of his
two-year stay in hospital, he remembers just one visit being paid to him. That
visit was from his dad who turned up one day dressed in Army uniform. George came home to Cobden Street - where the family were now living - in 1919 and his memories of the house in Cobden Street were of stone flagged floors throughout the living room and back kitchen, the memory of this being uppermost in his mind as every Friday night it was his job to cream stone the floor right through the house. Whilst living in Cobden Street, George, who was by this time about 12yrs old, would arrive home from school each night and after he'd had his tea, he'd be sent out into the streets of Ancoats to sell firewood. Granddad George and dads elder brother, Edward, made the firewood during the course of the day in their backyard, chopping up bits of wood and then bundling it together. The selling of these bundles was then left to George, who would travel the streets knocking on doors, selling his firewood at 4-bundles-a-penny. As long as he made 18d. (7.5p) worth of sales he was all right, as 18d. was sufficient to cover his dads expenses in the pub for the evening. If, however, George made more than 18d. the extra money would be taken by his mother, Charlotte, whereupon young George and brother, Eddie, got 'nowt'. George's favourite pastime during the dark winter nights was playing cards for pennies under the gaslights of Cobden Street. He would sit in a little group with his mates and other kids from various streets, and gamble the few pennies he had in his pocket. More often than not, he would make his way home having lost his money, but one night in particular, his luck was in and he cleaned the other kids out. One of the lads, from another street, had turned up for the game of cards on a nice looking sports bike, which he had propped against the wall before settling down to lose all his money to George. Seeing how disconsolate the lad looked after losing his money, gave George a chance to do a bit of wheeling and dealing, and after a bit of haggling and chat, George got the bike (his first bike) for the princely sum of 2s. 6d. (12.5p). If for any reason George had earned, won, or acquired any money whatsoever, he would tie it in an old sock and stuff it down a grid at the bottom of Cobden street, and George's brothers would do the same with their money. The reason for all this secrecy was simple. As each of the lads entered the house
their dad would frisk them, and if any money was found on them, no matter how little, it would be confiscated and added to their
dads' beer money expense account. When George reached the age of thirteen, he was still out in the streets every night
selling firewood, leaving the house with his dads orders ringing in his ears,
'Don't come back 'til yer've sold up!"
Many a time, whilst out on his firewood round, young George would bump
into his grandmother, Mary Jane, (more commonly known as Nana Siddle). She
would see poor George pushing his barrow round the tatty cobbled streets and
say, "'Ave they got you sellin' that bloody firewood aggen, cock?" His
grandmother would then produce a safety pin from her shawl and fasten up
George's shirt collar to keep out the cold, and at the same time tell him to
throw the wood in the canal, "An' sod yer dad! To throw the wood in the
canal was more than George's life was worth, however, for if he didn't bring home his
dads' beer money he was in trouble, and he knew it. |
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George (left) with workmate, 1925 |
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As he grew into his mid-teen's, George remembers fighting with his dad many times.
George's elder brother, Edward, also fought with his dad on regular
occasions, and at the age of seventeen, George decided he'd had enough and moved out
of his parents home into lodgings. Even after he'd moved, George's two younger
brothers came knocking on his door one night looking for protection. Apparently,
they'd both started fighting with granddad George, but, as they were only young
lads, granddad George
quickly got the better of them, so, after managing to get
their dad on the floor, Joe and Fred pinched his trousers - it was the only pair
he had - and ran off up the street. The two brothers then ran all the way
to George's lodging house, where they were put up for the night. Shortly after this event, George moved into new lodgings in Ardwick with a Mrs. Barrett, who charged him 18/- per week, all meals provided. George was to stay at Mrs. Barrett's for the next four years before moving into lodging's with his uncle Jack, his mother's brother, on Ashton New Road, Bradford. A couple of years later he was to move again, taking a shared flat with his lifelong mate, Albert Drinkwater. And it was from that address that George Siddall, got married. |
