Salvation Army Working Mens Home 26 Loveday Street

[Bearnan]

Annbee, It's so sad that your great grandparents failed to help their sons children especially when he was killed France in 1916. However, its fantastic that you are now in contact with a descendant of his.

At least we were able to tell dad in recent times that his grandfather ended up with his daughter eventually.

Thank you for posting the picture of the Salvation Army hostel, I hadn't seen that before.

[Annbee]

Bearnan, I think it's fantastic you could reassure your father with your news. (My father would have loved what I have unearthed, but he never got to hear). Also, we'll never really know why a family doesn't take in a needy member when the going is tough: there is probably good reason which we can not know. For one, Birmingham was very short on housing and places could be cramped. So many unknowns 

[Bearnan]

Annbee, I agree entirely. Most of my ancestors lived in the back to back houses which were cramped and overcrowded. Dad used to say to us that the past was in the past and that was where it should stay,we had to tread very carefully.

We started delving because we wanted to find out about his beloved maternal grandmother who he adored. We did find and visit her grave for him. We also found out that her father was a bigamist at least twice over..... We never did tell dad!

[Annbee]

We also found out that her father was a bigamist at least twice over..... We never did tell dad!

He probably knew something Bearnan - that's why the 'past is the past'! Yes, I've have uncovered far more skeletons and terrible dramas than was previously known. It's a pity history doesn't record as much as of the fun side of life too!

[Rena]

The industrial age may have brought cash into many households but in many parts of the country it also meant rivers were polluted and the water not drinkable - the alternative being ale/alcohol, which explains why many men and women living in industrial areas became alcoholics.

My late father was born in 1910 and recalled seeing wives and children standing outside public houses (pubs) waiting for husbands and fathers to be paid by their bosses and then to come out into the street to hand them some housekeeping money.

More often than not the workmen would stay in the pub having a convivial time with their workmates.