Alfred Airey was my Great Grandfather and is the father of my Grandmother Sylvia Airey.
Alfred Airey was born on the 10th February 1912 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire to Little George Airey and Caroline Gasgoine. He was the oldest of five brothers, Leslie, Wilf, Ernest and Harold. Grandad Alfred died in Barnsley, Yorkshire on 15th June 1978.
Alfred Airey’s grandparents were George Airey & Susan Smith, William Gasgoine and Elizabeth Jane Earl.
The earliest public record of Alfred following his birth is on in the last quarter of 1932, where at 20 years old, he married Kath Roberts in Barnsley South Yorkshire.
Alfred and Kath had three children. Their eldest son who they named Alfred was born in October 1933. Alfred Airey junior sadly passed away at 5 years old in January 1939. Alfred’s twin daughters born in 1938 were called Caroline and Catherine Airey. All three children were born in Barnlsey indicating that Grandad Alfred lived in Barnsley, South Yorshire from at least the age of twenty.
Sometime between 1938 and 1944 Alfred Airey and Kath Roberts separated. Alfred then met a woman named Nellie Graham (My great grandmother). Nellie was also separated and just as Grandad Alfred had lost a child, Nellie too had lost her toddler (Maureen Stanley) who was killed at Stairfoot on the railway lines.
I’d like to think that Alfred and Nellie found comfort from one another in the difficulties they had experienced. Alfred and Nellie settled down together and had my grandmother Sylvia Airey in 1944, Edward Ernest Airey in 1946 and Bernard Airey in 1949.
Alfred lost Nellie in 1965 and he passed away in June 1978 aged 66.
What else do I know about Alfred Airey?
Alfred Airey was a miner. He worked in the Barnsley main pit near Hoyl Mill. Alfred was in the Barnsley main pit Explosion and was fortunate to survive with a punctured lung.
Alfred was a boxer. I’ve heard he was a boxing champion in Barnsley.
My father Gordon Key remembers his grandad Alfred making little houses and fruit bowls out of lollipop sticks and chairs out of wooden pegs. Alfred must have been talented at making things as my father Gordon has developed this trait also and can make anything out of wood. I wonder if Alfred planted the seeds in my dad to enjoy making and creating things out of wood?
I hope to discover more about Alfred Airey. There is limited information but I shall try to learn more so that I can add to the history and memory of my great grandfather Alfred.
Angela xx
