William Walkley was my Grandfather and Hannah Walkley (nee Bingham) my Grandmother. I am Stuart Walkley. I knew Hannah Walkley but William died before I was born. Nevertheless I know the family history very well. HEre is a little of it.
Hannah Bingham came from Cudworth in Barnsley and moved to Tewkesbury as a Salvation Army Officer in 1911 (she was a young Lieutenant, new to the work). In Tewkesbury she met William who was older, had been widowed and left with a family of 6 surviving children. He was a Sand a Gravel Merchant, a Log Haulier, the Local Horse Cab driver....and the Bandmaster of the Local Salvation Army. They married and had a number of children....Ada (who moved to live with Hannah's childless sister in Cudworth), Grace, Hubert (my Father), Sidney, Evelyn....all are now dead....... They were all Salvationists and William Walkley was Bandmaster for over 50 years...he was also a Town Councillor in Tewkesbury and died in 1939.
Hannah Bingham continued to live in Tewkesbury until her death in 1978 at the age of 88..she was a marvellous Salvationist and a recipient of the Maunday Money (in 1972) at Tewkesbury Abbey...I remember her well and visited with her the "Yorkshire relatives" when I was a child...I remember Aunt Ada (just) and I think a daughter of hers, Stella....some of the family moved to Sheffield.
There are now no more Walkley's in Tewkesbury. I live in a nearby town and visit sometimes. A Road was named afer William Walkley in memory of his work in the Town where he was greatly loved.... but his early years were grindingly poor...he was born on a barge, lived in a shed near the barges and like many people in Tewkesbury during the 19C was lucky to survive.
He was a marvellous Cornet Player and his son, Sidney, took over as Bandmaster in 1939 until he left Tewkesbury in 1988 --- I have continued the musical tradition of the Walkleys in Gloucestershire and am ORganist at a local Church further South in Gloucestershire...we can trace our musical tradition for Christian workship in Tewkesbury from 1987 (when William as a young man became Bandmaster of the Salvation Army there) through to the present day when I continue as Organist.....
There are many amusing and some sad tales of the family, as with all families. My Grandmother (Hannah Bingham) was deeply proud of her Yorkshire roots, was a very fine Baker, a great singer, and blunt ...she was a fervent agent for social justice once throwing out of the Tewkesbury Workhouse the slop buckets because they made conditions there unhuman...
I have some family records, not many --- this includes the Marriage Certificate for William Walkley and Hannah Bingham who married at the Congregational Church in Barnsley.....
Bless you, whoever you are and wherever you are....life is for living, enjoy it.
