Peter Brown Family History

Joseph Speight was born at 4 Palmerston Street, Thornaby on Tees, South Stockton on Tees, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire but for some reason his mother lived at number 27. He was the eldest of three children (one brother, Leonard George, and one sister, Amelia). His brother later died in WW1.

He fought in Boer war in 1899 and was awarded the Queens South African campaign medal, (a common medal awarded to 178,000), and he received the third issue of the medal, (finger towards the ‘F’). He did not enter First World war as invalided and he suffered from a bad ulcerated leg. He went to China and ran the NAFI there.

When he married Amy Rhodes in October 1910  he was employed as a labourer at the steel works and lived at 30 Warwickshire street, Hunslet, Yorkshire. They had three daughters born in Yorshire and then in about 1915 the family moved to London (38? Maudslay Road, Eltham, SE9) where they had one son born.

Joseph was initially employed at the Woolwich Academy for Officers as a Batman, but is thought to have been sacked for trying to form a union. He then worked as a steward in a club in Belvedere and later ran a public house in China Town. He was a Steward in a club called ‘Elvsis’ possibly in Fulham Road, Chelsea. The family moved  to 2, The Bank??, Guildford in about 1932 where he ran a public house (or was he a Steward) called xxxx.  At some time they rented a house in Norwood. Their children had all left home by early 1937. In about 1941 Joseph and Amy moved to Brighton and he worked as a Licensed Victualler. The pub he ran may have been called ‘The Windmill’.

He had a reputation during his life for excessive drinking with some aggressive tendencies and a temper. It is rumoured that he gambled a lot but that he was also a generous man towards others, sharing what he had won and treating people to drinks in his clubs and pubs.

. At the time of his death he lived at a public house at 52 Carlton Hill, Brighton, Sussex and he is buried in Brighton cemetery (near the race track) with his wife Amy..

Amy was the middle of three children and had two sisters ( Ethel and Ada Fanny).

She was employed as a Cap Maker at the date of her marriage to Joseph Speight on 17^th October 1910 and at that time lived at 25 Sussex Avenue, Hunslet, Yorkshire. The marriage at Hunslet Registry office was witnessed by Alexander Henry Bowerman and Ada Fanny Rhodes (her sister).

Joseph and Amy were very short of money when they had moved to London in 1915, and it is believed that the eldest daughter Alice was sent back to Yorkshire to stay with her grandparents -Francis Rhodes and Fanny Bland. (Note there is a photograph showing only the 3 youngest children) The grandparents were very strict catholics which is why Alice became a strict catholic in her own right.

Amy did cooking and baking for the various clubs that her husband worked in as a steward.After her husband died she lived with her daughter Annie in Horne until her own death. Whilst in Brighton, Joseph and Amy cared for Mr Wainfor, the second husband of Joseph’s Mother Priscilla. Amy died 23^rd February 1951 in Redhill hospital. She is buried in Brighton cemetery with her husband Joseph Speight.

Leonard went to Gordon school, Well Hall, Eltham but left school at age 14 and became a messenger boy in London. When he was 16 he left home and undertook an apprenticeship for 4 years as a coachbuilder.

In 1936 at age 20, he went to Spain and fought against Franco at the later stage of the civil war for about 3 months. On return he had a job in Loughborough.

He joined the British army on 2^nd September 1939, the day after war was declared.  He was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. (Note: he actually met the brother of his future wife Alice on the ship and thus consequently met Alice when he stayed with man as he no where else to stay).

After only 2 days leave after Dunkirk he was transferred to duty in Northern Ireland where he remained for a year. To get out of this posting he joined the 1st Battalion Airborne Division (1^st had the red lanyard).  He was parachuted into Algiers, North Africa in November 1942 with 200 men and also parachuted into Scilly in July 1943, but was captured. He was a prisoner of war for 6 (or 3?) months, but when the Italians surrendered he was freed and made his way to the allied lines. He carried on fighting in Italy and was wounded by a mortar which prevented him going to Arnhem and any other involvement in the war. He was awarded seven medals including the Italian Star and the African Star.

  After the war he went to work on the London buses as a bus conductor and then later as a driver. After his marriage to Alice they lived at 39 Apelfield road, Erith, Kent. and they later moved to Belvedere in 1951. He retired in xxxx

In 1953 his wife Alice became a Jehovah’s Witness. This was followed in 1962 by his daughter and then in 1970 by Leonard joining the sect. Leonard and Alice  moved to live with their daughter at 1 Long Acre Drive, Notage. Porthcawl, South Wales in 2003 when he was losing his sight.