Gladys Dorothy Whiting 1898-1989

Parents: John Whiting and Kate Kiddy.(1)
Born: 2nd September 1898 at 123 Burton End, Haverhill.(1,2)
Baptised: 30th November 1898 at St Mary's Parish Church, Haverhill.(1)
Married: William Bramwell Hales in 1921 in Medway district.(3)
Children: Gladys D Hales b.1924
Died: Dec 1989, Chatham district.(5)

Bio: Gladys was third daughter of John Whiting and Kate Kiddy, and was born at 123 Burton End on 2nd September 1898.(1) Her father was Publican of the Royal Standard in Burton End, Haverhill. She appears on the 1901 census living at the pub with her parents and sisters, Lily May, Beatrice and Annie.

On the 1911 census, Gladys is still living at home with her parents and family at 96 Burton End. We see her second name referred to as Dorothy on this census. Her father John is no longer the publican of the Royal Standard, but is working as a silk weaver instead.

Gladys married William Bramwell Hales in the first quarter of 1921 in the Medway district. The marriage probably took place in a register office as it doesn't appear in any of the church registers scans for that district available on Cityark.

William Bramwell Hales appears to have been the son of Charles George Hales, a butcher from Chatham, and Eliza Mary H Waghorn, who were married in 1892(9). He was born in Chatham on 11th July 1898 (8,4). The Hales family can be seen on the 1911 census living at 26 Melbourne Road, Chatham. William is at school. During the First World War, William was living at the same address and working at a munitions factory which might well have been a protected job, but enlisted on 2nd March 1916 and was called up to attest for the East Kent Regiment, 'The Buffs', on 13th February 1917 as Private No.24079(7). He joined 6th Battalion 'A' Company and was sent to France on 18th July 1917. He saw action, served a stint as a Lance Corporal and was suffered a gunshot wound on 8th September 1918 after which he was hospitalized temporarily. At the end of the war he received the Victory and British War Medals.

Gladys and William had a daughter Gladys in 1924(6).Their marriage is confirmed by the 1939 Register which shows Gladys and William living at 72 Skinner Street, Chatham, Kent(4). William is a capstan lathe hand at the docks, and Gladys is doing 'unpaid domestic duties', which presumably means she was a housewife.

William was probably the William B Hales who died aged 69 in the Maidstone district in 1967(10). Gladys died aged 91 in the Chatham district at the end of 1989. (5)

Sources:

(1) Suffolk Records Office, Bury St Edmunds, Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Haverhill. Fiche 578/4/p39 of 41
(2) Birth Register. 3rd Quarter 1898, Risbridge District, Volume 4a Page 780
(3) Marriage Register. 1st Quarter 1921, Medway District, Volume 2a Page 1577
(4) 1939 Register, RG101/1689B/019/6, Findmypast.co.uk
(5) Death Register. 4th Quarter 1989, Chatham District, Volume 16 Page 729
(6) Birth Register. 2nd Quarter 1924, Medway District, Volume 2a Page 1189
(7) British Army WW1 Service Records, burnt documents,National Archives, WO363, ancestry.co.uk
(8) Birth Register. 3rd Quarter 1898, Medway District, Volume 2a Page 638
(9) Marriage Register, 3rd Quarter 1892, Medway District, Volume 2a Page 1008
(10) Death Register, 4th Quarter 1967, Maidstone District, Volume 5f Page 529