occupation

Labourer, millwright’s labourer

dates

Born: 3 Dec 1872, Claydon, Oxon

Married: Mary Elizabeth PORTER of Sowe,
                Warks, at Coventry, 2 Jul 1899

Died: 12 Dec 1952, Exhall, near Coventry

residence

Grew up in Claydon, Oxon; moved to Coventry

submitted by

Muriel WELLS (granddaughter)

relevant WEBSItE

A PARRITT profile can be found in the family stories section of the Banburyshire website:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~engcbanb/index.htm

Background information

The PARRITT family moved from Bodicote to the village of Claydon in the late 1700s. Earlier in their history they seemed to have migrated from Evenlode, Gloucs, via Enstone, until we find John PARRITT and his wife Mary, née EDMONDS, getting married at Adderbury and settled in Bodicote.

George, their great-great-grandson, was born into William and Betsy's large family, a middle child, in December 1872. His mother was the daughter of John WYATT, the parish clerk and his maternal grandmother had been a PAXTON. Both were Claydon families.

George's father was a farm labourer, so life in the overcrowded cottage would've been very spartan. Elder brothers and sisters had left home to find work in London or the cities of the Midlands.

George followed them, choosing to go to Coventry, where he found work as a labourer, and eventually as a millwright's labourer at the Daimler. He met and married Mary Elizabeth PORTER of Sowe and they had a family of three sons, the eldest dying in infancy. For most of his married life George lived in a terraced house in Narrow Lane, Foleshill. With the expansion of the city this was eventually divided up and renamed, and his address became Kingfield Road. The back gardens were countrified, long and narrow, ending with the bottom boundary at the Nuneaton to Coventry railway line and shunting mazes. Across the lines was the Daimler, where George worked.

George was a phlegmatic man, of few words. He took pride in his vegetable garden and enjoyed the companionship of his terrier, in common with many men of his class and era. I get the impression that he was never truly happy in town, although nothing was ever said.

Claydon, a picturesque village, with its icy cold, austere little church, was a hard beginning to George's life. In fact, it wasn't easy for him from start to finish, and I hope to learn enough about it to keep a record for posterity.