A RICH SEAM OF FAMILY HISTORY
The Naylors of South Normanton, Derbyshire

by Alan D Craxford and Brenda Eldridge

Introduction

Map 1: The English Midlands

In the dim recesses of our childhood we were barely aware of the intricacies of family relationships. We knew who grandma was, where our uncles lived and which auntie had a sixpence on the sideboard to cheer us on our way after a visit – didn’t we? We knew the tragedy of her mother's premature death and our Mum, Hilda Cook, had been brought up by her aunt and uncle in Leicester. Her father married again.

Map 2: Alfreton and District

This is the story of the Naylor family from South Normanton, a mining village near Alfreton in Derbyshire.

"Granny Naylor" Ann Naylor nee Cotterill

John Naylor marries Ann Cotterill.

John Naylor, our great grandfather, was born in Somercotes, Derbyshire in February 1836, the second son of John and Ann Naylor. Like his father before him, by the age of 15 years he had become a miner. He met and married local girl and dressmaker, Ann, the daughter of another miner Henry Cotterill in the nearby village of Pinxton on April 24th 1854. It is abundantly clear from the maps of the area that these are still tightly knit communities, even today, and the distances between them are small.

England Census: South Normanton 1841

John spent his whole working life in the deep mines of the Derbyshire coalfield firstly underground and then moving into management. By 1896 he was under manager at the Cotes Park No.1. and No.2. pits in Alfreton which employed in excess of three hundred souls at the face and above ground.

England Census: South Normanton 1851

The sons and daughters of John and Ann Naylor. Thomas, Joseph, John, Arthur, Edwin, Maurice, Alfred. Seated: Miriam, Mary (Photograph taken in Cotes Park about 1899)

“Nunkie” – Mary’s line (i)

William and Mary Ball with sons Cyril and William jnr

Mary Naylor was born in 1866 at Cotes Park. When she was fifteen she had taken a post as a domestic servant at the household of John and Margaret Stoddart in Church Street, Ripley. He was a printer and confectioner. However she had returned to the family home by the time of the 1891 census.

She met school teacher William Ball, also from South Normanton, whom she married in the early 1890s. They moved to Leicester where they bought a house in Stretton Road in the west end of the city and for a time her younger sister, Miriam, lived with them. They had two sons, Cyril and William junior. William taught science at Alderman Newton’s Boys Grammar School ultimately rising to be Deputy Headmaster. Mary worked as a dressmaker.

William and Mary Ball and grandchildren Peter and Margaret. Right: Hilda Cook. Jacksdale 1933

A servant call system (1) Press a button in one room and a flag vibrates at the main box

"Two Swans?" - Mary’s line (ii)

Cyril Ball married Dorothy Alice Hart in Leicester in August 1926. I well remember his chuckle of delight whenever he explained their initials: COB and DAB. Cyril became Chief Clerk for the Leicester Health Authority and had his office on London Road. He was also the first relative that I recall having a car.

He was increasingly dogged by the effects of asthma and bronchitis – conditions which were not helped by the prevailing weather conditions of the early 1950s. I still remember the return leg of a visit we made by bus to see them in 1952 or 1953 when we ran into a smog. The conductor walked the whole length of London Road in front of the bus with a lamp to warn of our approach. We were several hours late home for our tea.

Cyril and Dorrie Ball, Silver Wedding 1951 L-R: Hilda Craxford, George Craxford, Clarence Wych, [unknown],[unknown], William Ball, Peter Ball, Dorrie, Ruby, [unknown], Cyril, [unknown], Louie Ball

Cyril’s brother William moved to Cheltenham after he was married. We saw very little of Uncle William and Auntie Louie although there were always envelopes from them under the tree at Christmas time. I was often reminded of the time (at about the age of six I think) when I misread the handwriting on the card and asked who “Auntie Loonie” was. They had a son and a daughter (Peter and Margaret). Margaret worked for a long time at the University in Nottingham.

“And The Consequence was …. !” – John Henry’s line.

John Henry Naylor, John and Ann’s fourth son was born in Cotes Park in 1869. He followed the family calling into the coal mine. He married Lily Haywood in 1890 and the family moved to Alfreton. They had three children (daughters Ruby and Clarice and son Lancelot John). Ruby’s middle name was Marion although some documents and offical indexes spell it as Manon. We have been told that Edwin Naylor had a large family which included twins who were born in September 1889. The girl, Ruby Manon, died at two months; the boy, Launcelot Calladine died in December 1890.

Lily was to die young as well in March 1901. The census of that year notes John Henry as a widower living with his three children in West Street, South Normanton. Interestingly his next door neighbour is Ann Naylor (aged 64) whom we presume to be his mother. She is described as a widow. We have not so far identified a death certificate for John Naylor but we know from Miriam's marriage certificate that he had died prior to 1909. This narrows the window to between late 1896 and early 1901.

England Census: Alfreton 1901

Sometime during the early 1900s the family moved away from Derbyshire to Bedworth, a small town near to Nuneaton in Warwickshire. Ruby married Clarence Wych, a mechanic, in 1919 at the Parish Church in Bedworth. Ultimately they moved to Leicester where they established a laundry business from their home in Pinetree Avenue in the Humberstone area of the City. Mum used to tell us of bicycle rides on long summer afternoons from Stoughton Road along Shady Lane to visit them in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Similar accounts of visits have come from our correspondents from the Wych family. (See Letters Page)

Clarice's Holy Communion She was confirmed in April 1908

From Derbyshire into Leicester - Miriam's line

Miriam Naylor with young Cyril

Miriam Naylor was the youngest child of John and Ann Naylor and was our maternal grandmother. She was born in Cotes Park in 1879 - when Joseph, her eldest brother was already 24 years of age. She attended a local school. After her father died she moved to Leicester to live with her sister Mary's family. She was employed as a draper's assistant.

96 Westcotes Drive, Leicester

Epilogue

Within a space of about ten years two of these family lines had died out; the third had been blurred for more than half a century. We had little inkling as children of the significance of these issues. Large families from a century before had become small families through infant mortality, singledom and childless marriages and then just disappeared. It was only through our recent researches that we have been able to uncover the links between these branches and how they relate to us. It is only now with the increasing accessibility of the internet that we have been able to reconstruct our full maternal family tree back to its roots in the coalfields of Derbyshire.

A GALLERY OF CERTIFICATES

BIRTHS

MARRIAGES

DEATHS

REFERENCES:

Added: May 31st 2006
Updated: June 7th 2006