Thomas and Mary Whaley lived in Hough on the Hill around the turn of the eighteenth century. They had 10 children, all born in Hough:
- Edward Whaley, born 1695 [see 2nd Generation below]
- Mary Whaley, born 1697, died same year
- Anne Whaley, born 1698, died same year
- Mary Whaley, born 1700
- John Whaley, born 1702
- Susanna Whaley, born 1704, died same year
- Rachel Whaley, born 1705 [see 2nd Generation below]
- Thomas Whaley, born 1708, died 1710
- Thomas Whaley, born 1711
- Elizabeth Whaley, born 1714
2nd Generation – Children of Thomas and Mary Whaley
Edward Whaley (born Hough 1695) married Elizabeth Drury Dec 1724. They lived in Hough on the Hill for a few years before moving to Hougham. Their children were:
- Mary Whaley, born Hough abt 1725
- John Whaley, born Hough abt 1726
- Thomas Whaley, born Hougham Dec 1730 [see 3rd Generation]
Rachel Whaley (born Hough1705) had an illegitimate son John Whaley in 1731.
3rd Generation – Thomas (b. 1730), son of Edward Whaley & Elizabeth Drury
Thomas Whaley (born Hougham 1730) lived in Hougham and had 3 children:
- Anne Whaley (born Hougham 1753)
- Thomas Whaley (born Hougham 1756) [see 4th generation]
- Mary Whaley (born Hougham 1759)
4th Generation – Thomas (b 1756), son of Thomas Whaley
Thomas Whaley (b. Hougham 1756) seems to have married twice. His first marriage was to Esther Clark (b. Wisbech St Mary, 1765). They lived in Hougham, then Foston, then Long Bennington. She bore him 6 children before her death in 1799:
- Thomas Whaley, born Hougham 1784
- William Whaley, born Foston 1787
- John Whaley, born Long Bennington 1789 [see 5th Generation]
- James Whaley, born Long Bennington 1791 [see 5th Generation]
- Anne Whaley, born Long Bennington 1795, died 1797
- Esther Whaley, born Long Bennington 1797, died 1798
Soon after Esther died he married Eleanor Brown (Westborough church, June 1799) and they had another 4 children:
- Edward Whaley, born Long Bennington 1800 [see 5th Generation]
- Robert Whaley, born Long Bennington 1802
- William Whaley, born Long Bennington 1804 [see 5th Generation]
- Mary Whaley, born Long Bennington 1806
5th Generation – Children of Thomas Whaley (b. 1756)
John Whaley (b Long Bennington 1789) moved to Hougham before marrying Ann Simpson at Hough in Nov 1812. Ann was a widow (possibly nee Lawson). John worked as an agricultural labourer and died at Hough in Jan 1842.
James Whaley (b. Long Bennington 1791) married Mary Watchorn (born Westborough) in Westborough in Jan 1812. They lived in Westborough until moving to Hough around 1820. James, who was an agricultural labour, died in 1859. Mary died in 1879, aged 86. They had 8 children:
- Ann Whaley, born Westborough 1812, died 1818
- Elizabeth Whaley, born Westborough 1814 [see generation 6a]
- Mary Whaley, born Westborough 1817 [see generation 6a]
- John Whaley, born Hough 1823, died 1828
- James Whaley, born hough 1826 [see generation 6a]
- Sarah Whaley, born Hough 1829 [see generation 6a]
- Ann Whaley, born Hough 1832 [see generation 6a]
- William Whaley, born Hough 1835 [see generation 6a]
Edward Whaley (b. Long Bennington 1800) married Elizabeth (possibly Elizabeth Tow) and lived in Hough, where he was an agricultural labourer and they had 6 children.
- Rebecca Whaley, born 1830 [see generation 6b]
- John Whaley, born 1832, died 1846
- Ellen Whaley, born 1835 [see generation 6b]
- Ann Whaley, born 1837, died 1853
- Robert Whaley, born 1840 [see generation 6b]
- Edward Whaley, born 1844 died in infancy
Elizabeth died in 1844, only about 7 weeks after their infant son Edward. By 1851 Ruth Lawson, a widow born in Stragglethorpe, was acting as housekeeper for Edward and his younger son Robert. By 1861 his housekeeper was another widow, Esther Blackbourn (nee Squires), who he married in 1863. Edward died in Aug 1875.
William Whaley (b. Long Bennington 1804) was convicted in Apr 1827 (Kesteven Quarter Sessions) of stealing a sack and a pair of men’s leather slippers, the property of Robert Rimmington of Long Bennington, farmer; and stealing a hempen sack and 1 other sack, the property of Samuel Campain. The stolen property was found under Whaley’s bed. He was sentenced to 7 years transportation to New South Wales. The convict ship Bussorah Merchant sailed from London in March 1828, but Whaley was the first of 4 convicts to die on board, on 18th April (medical report). On arrival in Australia the ship was quarantined due to the smallpox onboard.
Generation 6a – Children of James Whaley (b. 1791) & Mary Watchorn
Elizabeth Whaley (b. Westborough 1814) was a servant for Richard Hickson (farmer) in Hougham in 1841. In Jul 1847 she married John Sills at Hough. He’d been born in Little Pointon but was by then working as a servant in Ancaster. They moved between various places between Ancaster and Sleaford following John’s work as a farm bailiff/foreman. By 1871 they had their own 30 acre farm at South Fen, Helpringham. After John died in 1886, Elizabeth lived in Wilsford. She died in 1895, age 79. Their children were:
- Robert Sills, born Willoughby Heath, Ancaster 1849. He married Sarah and was a wheelwright in the Ancaster area.
- John Sills, born Ancaster 1851, married Elizabeth Gill in 1879 and lived in Wigtoft until she died in 3 years later. In 1886 he married Annie Chaney, a widow with 2 children. They moved to Donington and had 2 more children
- Francis Sills, born Ancaster 1854 married Eleanor and lived in Nottingham before moving to Yorkshire.
Mary Whaley (b. Westborough 1817) seems to have lived with her parents in Hough until Mar 1847 when she married John Beecham, a farm labourer from Hough. They lived in Hough. By 1871 Mary was a widow and the housekeeper for Joseph Wright (joiner) in Hough. She died in Oct 1886.
James Whaley (b. Hough 1826). In 1841 James had left home but was still in Hough as a servant to Joseph Cucksey, gamekeeper. By 1851 (age 23) he’d moved to Frieston as a servant to William Codd, a farm bailiff. In Nov 1853 he married Mary Atkinson at Hough. She’d been born in Aunsby but by 1851 was also a servant in Frieston, for John Garton (farmer). When they married she was living in Welbourn. James and Mary lived in Hough where he worked as a farm labourer. Latterly they lived in one of the cottages on the Frieston Road. James died in Hough in 1905, after which Mary moved in with her daughter Caroline near Dogdyke; she died at Chapel Hill in 1913. Their children, all born in Hough, were:
- William Whaley, born 1854
- Emma Whaley, born 1856
- Caroline Whaley, born 1858
- John Whaley, born 1861
- Sarah Ann Whaley, born 1863
- Mary Whaley, born 1865
- Joseph Whaley, born 1868
- George Whaley, born 1871
Sarah Whaley (b. Hough 1829) was a cook for Thomas Winter (solicitor) in Grantham in 1851. In Aug 1856 she married John Fisher and moved to his home village of Welby where they had a small farm. Sarah died in Aug 1863, leaving 4 children (all born Welby):
- Alfred Fisher, born 1857, married Harriet, died in Tuxford in 1936
- Mary Fisher, born 1859, died 1864
- Elizabeth Fisher, born 1860 was with her grandmother, Mary Whaley, in Hough in 1861 but later returned to Welby. She did not marry and died in 1935.
- Frederick Fisher, born 1861 married Agnes Louisa and seems to have stayed in Welby. He died in 1943.
Ann Whaley (b. Hough 1832) stayed at home in Hough. By 1861 she was a schoolmistress but she died in 1864, aged 32.
William Whaley (b. Hough 1835). In 1861 William was an agricultural labourer, living with his brother James’ family in Hough. In 1871 he was living in Caythorpe with Ann Colby (a widow, nee Bishell) and her surviving 2 children. Her children with her first husband Charles Colby (died 1867) were:
- Sarah Colby, born Wilsford 1859
- William Colby, born Wilsford 1860, died 1863
- John Colby, born Caythorpe 1862
That spring William married Ann and their first daughter was born in Caythorpe that August. They then moved to Hough. William and Ann had 5 daughters:
- Emma Whaley, born Caythorpe 1871
- Anne Whaley, born Hough c1871
- Alice Whaley, born Hough 1876
- Eliza Whaley, born Hough 1879
- Mary Whaley, born Hough 1883
William died in Apr 1884. Ann stayed in Hough and married William Bennett from Welbourn in 1886. She died in 1888, aged 51. William Bennett stayed in Hough until he died in 1912.
Generation 6b – Children of Edward Whaley (b. 1800) & Elizabeth
Rebecca Whaley (b.1830). We haven’t found Rebecca on the 1851 census, but she died at the age of 28 and was buried Hough in Dec 1857.
Ellen Whaley (b. Hough 1835) was a domestic servant for John Minta in Normanton in 1851. She married John Bailey in 1859. He was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Bailey and had been bought up in Long Benington. John and Ellen lived in Long Bennington where he was an agricultural labourer. John died in the 1870s and Ellen and the children moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, USA about 1881. Their children were:
- Ann M Bailey, born Hough 1857, died 1916
- William Bailey, born Long Bennington 1860, died 1881
- Thomas Bailey, born Long Bennington 1862, married Mary Jane Winegar, died 1889
- Elizabeth Bailey, born Long Bennington 1864, married Gabriel William Smith, died 1953
- Mary Bailey, born Long Bennington 1866, married John Heber Tillet, died 1888
- George Bailey, born Long Bennington 1868, married Grace Hannah Green, died Salt Lake City 1943
Robert Whaley (b. Hough 1840) seems to have been a farm labourer for John Hackett in Long Bennington in 1861, but we can’t find any records thereafter. There was also a John Whaley working in Long Bennington in 1861; he may be the John that was born in Grantham workhouse about 1842, but later said he was from Hough.
Generation 7a – Children of James Whaley & Mary Atkinson
William Whaley (b. Hough 1854) was living in Haydor in 1871, as the groom for George Sandeson. In Nov 1879 he married Mary Anne Pollard from Normanton. Her younger half-brother George Pollard married Caroline Glossop from Hough. Mary had already had a son the previous year, when she’d been a housekeeper in Normanton
- Arthur Pollard, born Hough 1878. In 1911 he was a sergeant in the Royal Field Artillery and was visiting William’s sister Caroline Marston in Chapel Hill, near Dogdyke.
In 1894 William Whaley of Hough on the Hill was brought up on remand, charged with stealing 43 fleeces of wool valued at £17, 8/, 4d, the property of Thomas Lord, farmer of Hough, between 1st March and 7th July. Mary Whaley, his wife was also implicated and faced charges. William was presumably imprisoned, whilst by 1901 Mary had moved to Sheffield (probably with their daughter Agnes, although the census says Annie). In 1911 Mary was housekeeper to her widowed son in law, Thomas Henry Bennett, at Newton, near Alfreton, Derbyshire. She died at Newton Post Office in Jan 1945. Meanwhile William had became a fitter by 1899 (when Mary Ann married) and was lodging in Lincoln in 1911. He died in Boutham, Lincs in 1935. Their daughters were:
• Mary Ann Whaley, born Hough 1880.
• Agnes Whaley, born Hough 1886
Emma Whaley (b. Hough 1856). At the age of 14 Emma was living in the High Street, Colsterworth as a ‘nurse girl’ for the family of Edward Doubleday (butcher). By 1881 she was the cook in the household of Joseph Hancock, postmaster and grocer, at 19 Market Place Grantham, next to the post office. She married Henry Herrod at Hough church in Nov 1888. Henry was a joiner from Barrow on Soar, Leicestershire. His first wife, Sarah Jane (Adcock) had died 4 years earlier, leaving him with 4 children:
• Fred William Herrod, born 1877 died 1945
• Eunice Annie Herrod, born 1879
• Elsie Olive Herrod, born 1881
• Lillie Herrod, born 1883
Henry and Emma lived in Barrow; in South St, then Industry St. Emma died there in 1947. They had 2 children:
• Harold Joseph Herrod, born Barrow on Soar 1891, died 1897.
• Martha Emmeline Herrod (known as Emmie) born 1892, married Wilfred Ball in Sep 1916.
Caroline Whaley (b. Hough 1858). At the age of 12 Caroline was working as a servant for Edward Rowe (farmer) in Hough. She was still a servant in 1878 when she married Henry Marston at Hough. He’d been born in Normanton and had served in the Grenadier Guards. At first they lived in Carlton Scroop where Henry was an agricultural labourer (1881) and then a railway porter (1891). By 1901 they’d moved to Fulbeck Heath where Henry was the gate house keeper (level crossing?). In 1911 they were Landlord and Landlady (presumably of the pub) in Chapel Hill, near Dogdyke. They had one daughter:
• Annie Marston, born 1886
John Whaley (b. Hough 1861) was a labourer, still living at home,when he married Sarah Ann Thurlby (born Harston) in 1883. They lived in Hough where John worked in the ironstone mines for several years, though by 1911 he was a cottage farmer. He died in 1921. They had 8 children:
• Sidney Whaley, born 1884
• John Lewis Whaley, born 1885
• Percy Whaley, born 1888
• Grace Emma Whaley, born 1892
• Mary Caroline Whaley, born 1894
• Lucy Whaley, born 1897
• George Whaley, born 1899
Sarah Ann Whaley (b. Hough 1863) was brought up in Hough but by the age of 19 she was working in Coddington Lane, Balderton as a servant for Thomas Whittaker. In 1883 she married George Caunt (born Long Bennington). In 1891 they were living in Arnold, where he was railway signalman. Then they moved to Hucknall where he was a railway wagon maker. Their 4 children were:
• George E Caunt, born Bulwell 1888
• Florence Mary Caunt, born Arnold 1890
• Joseph Henry Caunt, born Daybrook 1892
• Christopher M Caunt, born Hucknall 1896
Mary Whaley (b. Hough 1865). At 15 Mary was a servant for Carver Trevor, printer of 31 Swinegate, Grantham. In 1891 she was in Southampton, a servant for Edward & Lucy (nee Lord) Fox. Later that year she married William Kettle.
Joseph Whaley (b. Hough 1868) worked as a farm servant before signing up in Grantham (5 Sep 1887) for general service in the cavalry. He was described as 18 yrs 11 months, 5ft 7 1/2”, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He joined 7th Dragoon Guards (the same year as Thomas Tunnadine) as 3546 Private Whaley. After 2 years in the UK he served in India (Sep 1889 to Mar 1893), probably at Umballa and Muttra. From Nov 1894 to Feb 1900 the battalion were on home service, initially at Shorncliffe, Kent . In Jan 1897 he was admitted to the Norwich and County Hospital after being knocked out while exercising an officer’s horse. On 2 Mar 1898 he married Marion Marshall at St Matthews Thorpe, Norwich. At Colchester the following year (still a private) he signed on for another 7 years. From 8 Feb 1900 to 8 Aug 1904 he served in South Africa during the Boer War. He was promoted to lance corporal in Apr 03, then full corporal in Aug. By Jan 04 he’d been a lance sergeant, then sergeant. This may have been an acting field rank because he reverted to corporal in May that year. However, by the time he was discharged at Canterbury in Aug 1908 he was a sergeant, with an exemplary record.
In 1911 Joseph and Marion were living in Leeds, he was a doorkeeper with an Army pension, but we think that Joe may have moved back to Hough and perhaps remarried. He was at his sister’s house/pub at Chapel Hill when his mother died in 1913.
George Whaley (b. Hough 1871). After growing up in Hough, George moved to Arnold to work in a brewery. At first (1891) he was boarding with his sister Sarah Ann’s family. In 1892 he married Harriet Dring and by 1901 they were living on Red Hill, Daybrook where he worked as a brewery drayman. By 1911 they were living at 143 Cinder Hill Road, Bulwell and he was a horse-keeper down a coal mine. He died in 1940, Harriet died in 1958. They had 2 daughters:
• Clarice Evelyn Whaley, born Daybrook 1897
• Sylvia May Whaley, born Daybrook 1901
Generation 7b – Children of William Whaley and Ann Colby
Emma Whaley (b. Caythorpe 1871). In 1891 Emma was a servant for James Bellamy in Ancaster. Another servant was Joseph Cooke Sharpe from Digby. They married in December the following year and lived in Frieston before moving (c 1898) to West Willoughby (between Honington and Ancaster). Joseph was a (cattle) yardman and they lived in the Old Maltkiln House (presumably the house now called Old Malt House – the nearby West Willoughby Hall was dynamited in 1964). They later moved to (or near) Melton Mowbray . Emma died in Melton Mowbray in 1932 and Joseph in 1959. They had 6 children:
• Aaron Sharp, born 1894, died 1971
• William Sharp, born 1895, died 1962
• Joseph Sharp, born 1897
• Ethel May Sharp, born 1898, died 1986
• Robert Edward Sharp, born 1899
• John Henry Sharp, born 1902
Anne Whaley (b. Hough c1871) married Albert Wass Rawlinson (born Ropsley) in 1891. Later that year they were lodging with Harriett Wass (widow) at 28 Grantham Rd, Ropsley. In 1901 they were living at 19 Grantham Rd, Ropsley and Albert was an agricultural labourer. By 1911 they were at 23 Newgate St, Lenton, Nottingham where Albert was working at the Raleigh cycle factory. He died in Nottingham in 1931; Annie probably died 1930. Their children were:
• Alice Emma Rawlinson, born Ropsley 1891
• Albert Edward Rawlinson, born Hough 1892
• Florence Mary Rawlinson, born Ropsely 1894
• William Henry Rawlinson, born Ropsley 1896
• Ernest Alfred Rawlinson, born Ropsley 1897
• Mary Annie E Rawlinson, born Ropsley 1899
• James L Rawlinson, born Ropsley 1902
• Ethel Margaret Rawlinson, born Ropsley 1905
Alice Whaley (b. Hough 1876). In 1891 Alice was working in Hough as a servant at the Brownlow Arms in Hough (landlord Robert Pachett). In 1901 she was in Vicars Court, Southwell as a servant for Anna Watkins. On Christmas Day 1902 she married Robert Henry Wintin. He’d grown up at the Waggon and Horses beer house in Caythorpe, which his parents ran, and had been working as an engine driver – probably in the ironstone quarries. In 1911 they were living in Caythorpe Low Fields (probably a house now demolished) and he was a farm labourer. He died in 1954, Alice died in 1957. They had 3 children:
• Robert William Wintin, born 1904, married Eleanor Fox, died 1966
• George Edward Wintin, born 1905, married Florence Foreman, died Kings Lynn 1987
• John Henry Wintin, born 1905, married Lilian Warriner, died Leadenham 1976
Eliza Whaley (b. Hough 1879) was a domestic servant for John Marston in Carlton Road, Hough at the age of 12. In 1901 she was the cook for Rev Henry Clinton at Cromwell Rectory (Notts). In 1902 she married Frederick Rose from Norwell Woodhouse, Notts. In 1911 they were living at the Grange, Ossington, Notts where Frederick was farm foreman. They both died in 1956. Their children were:
• Walter Rose, born Ossington 1903, died 1978
• Arthur Rose, born Ossington 1904
• Elsie Rose, born Ossington 1905, died 1987
• Kathleen Rose, born Ossington 1910, died 1986
• Frank Rose, born Ossington 1912, died 1990
• Alice Rose, born Ossington 1914, died 1990
• Anne Rose, born Caunton 1919, died 2003
Mary Whaley (b. Hough 1883) was the youngest daughter of William an Ann. After both her parents had died, she stayed in Hough with her mother’s 3rd husband William Bennett. In 1901 she was a servant (age 18) for George Pye (a farmer) in Eakring. The following year she married William Henry Dicken in Nottingham. He died in Nottingham in 1904, but she then gave birth to a son:
• William Henry Dicken, born Hough Jul 1905
In May 1908 she married James Parr in Dilhorne, Staffordshire. Initially they lived in Staffordshire but by 1911 they’d moved to Alfreton, Derbyshire where he was a coal miner (hewer). They had 2 more children:
• James Parr, born Forsbrook, Staffs 1908
• Cicely Maude Parr, born Caverswall, Staffs 1910
Generation 8a – Children of William Whaley & Mary Pollard
Mary Ann Whaley, born Hough 1880 married Alfred Ulley at St Marks Church, Nottingham in Dec 1899.
Alfred was a soldier. He’d first served a few months in the militia, in 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Light Infantry (YLI) whilst working as a bricklayer. He then joined the regular army at Pontefract in 1890, initially joining 1 YLI before transferring to the Kings Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB). He served with 2nd KOSB in India 1892-1898, including the Relief of Chitral in 1895. He was on home service when he married Mary Ann. He then transferred to 1st KOSB and served in South Africa during the Boer War (Jan to Aug 1900), possibly in the mounted infantry company. Although he wasn’t finally discharged from the Army until 1902, by 1901 he was back in Sheffield and working in the steel works.
They moved to his home town of Sheffield where Alfred worked in the steel works. In 1901 they were living in Fowler St, Sheffield, 2 streets away from Johnson St, where her mother (Mary, nee Pollard) and sister (Agnes) lived. By 1903 the Ulleys had moved to Johnson St, which had been renamed Jedburgh St. They had 9 children; Mary Ann died in Sheffield in 1964.
Agnes Whaley, born Hough 1886 moved to Sheffield with her mother Mary Anne after her parents split up. In 1904 she married Thomas Henry Bennett in Sheffield, but she died about 5 years later in the Mansfield area. By 1911 Thomas, a signalman on the Midland Railway, was living in Newton near Alfreton and Agnes’ mother was his housekeeper.
Generation 8b – Daughters of Henry Herrod and Emma Whaley
Eunice Annie Herrod (b. Barrow on Soar 1879) married Ernest Jarvis. They had a daughter:
• Norah Jarvis was born in Grimsthorpe, Yorkshire in 1907. In 1911 (age 4) she was living with her grandparents in Barrow on Soar. At 14 she went to live with her aunt Lillie and (John) Lewis Whaley in Hough. She married Tom Johnson in 1936. In the 1950s Tom Johnson took over Lewis Whaley’s land and milk business.
Elsie Olive Herrod (b. Barrow on Soar 1881) married Sidney Whaley (see below)
Lillie Herrod (b. Barrow on Soar 1883) married John Lewis Whaley (see below).
Generation 8c – Children of John Whaley & Sarah Ann Thurlby
Sidney Whaley (b. Normanton 1884) lived with his parents until 1914 and worked as an ironstone miner. In 1914 he married Elsie Olive Herrod (his aunt Emma’s step-daughter) in Barrow on Soar. Sidney was a bell ringer and sang in the church choir at Hough. In 1940 Sidney and Tom Johnson were pallbearers at Samuel Nicholson’s funeral (he’d died at the post office age 75). Sidney died in Hough in 1953; Elsie died in 1962. They had a daughter:
• Jessie Whaley, born Hough 1916, married John Edward Rimmington from Marston at Hough in 1935.
John Lewis Whaley (b. Hough 1885) was an ironstone miner at 15. By 1911 he was a carpenter and still at home. In May 1912 he married Elsie Olive’s sister Lillie Herrod (28) in Barrow on Soar. They are believed to have lived in Mill Mound Cottage in Hough where Lewis (as he was known) had a smallholding and was also the milkman. They had no children but brought up John’s neice Norah Jarvis who came to stay when she was 14. John Lewis died in 1969; Lillie died in 1965.
Percy Whaley (b. Hough 1888) followed his brothers into the ironstone quarries. In 1923 (aged about 35) he married Clarice Lavinia Bellamy (19). Later Percy ran the Hough cricket club. Clarice played the organ in the church and helped run the drama group. Their daughter was:
• Sylvia Ella Whaley, born Hough 1924, married Wilfred Nicholson of Hough in 1942
James Whaley (b. Hough 1890) was born in Wright’s Yard, Hough on the Hill. Perhaps influenced by his uncle Joe’s army service, James was already a volunteer with 4th? Lincolnshire Yeomanry when Britain declared war on Germany on 4 Aug 1914. On 11 Sep 1914 he signed up for full time service in the Lincolnshire Regiment at Sleaford. By then he was an asylum attendant (presumably at the Rauceby Mental Hospital, which opened in 1902), aged 24 years, 136 days. He was described as having a dark complexion, 5ft 6 1/2”, 134lbs, with light blue eyes and dark hair.
He was initially posted to 3rd battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, but this was soon changed to 7th battalion. His regimental number was 12944. He got into trouble during training for being absent without leave from Bovington Camp (Dorset) from 5th to 9th Jan 1915. By mid May the battalion was at Lulworth Camp. Whaley was then transferred to the 3rd battalion, then a month later he joined 1st battalion as they embarked for France.
Only part of his service records are readable. He spent 12-16 Oct 1915 in a field hospital with scabies. On 13 Jan 1916 he was sent to join his unit at the front. In Feb 1916 he had tonsillitis. He was wounded on 28 Feb 1916 but remained at duty. On 13 Jul 1916 he was wounded in action and sent to a field hospital with a gunshot wound to left leg. The next day he was admitted to Boulogne hospital then dispatched to England the same day on hospital ship ‘Jan Breydel’. On 15 Jan 1917 he was posted to class W of the reserve (‘for all those soldiers whose services are deemed to be more valuable to the country in civil rather than military employment’) and returned to the ‘White House’ in Gelston. In 1919 he signed a disclaimer that he was not suffering from any disability due to military service.
During 1916 he had married Gladys May Lemons in Sheffield. They lived in Hough/Gelston. James died in 1988, Gladys in 1977. They had 3 children:
• Leonard John Whaley, born 1918, died in Sheffield 1985
• Clifford James Whaley, born 1920
• Monica Whaley, born 1922, died 2005
Grace Emma Whaley (b. Hough 1892) married Leslie North in 1919.
Mary Caroline Whaley (b. Hough 1894) married Thomas Mason Lofthouse, a miller’s son from Yorkshire in 1916. They seem to have lived in Hull, where Mary may have died in 1946 (age 51). However, Thomas died at Honington in 1950. They had 3 children:
• Gwendaline Lofthouse
• Joan Lofthouse
• Vivian Lofthouse, born Hull 1921, married John Masterman, died in Grantham 1967
Lucy Whaley (b. Hough 1897 ) married Thomas Edwin Teat at Hough in 1924. She died in 1923.
George Whaley (b. Hough 1899) married Madge Hutton in 1921. George Whaley was the coalman in Hough about 1920; they had a daughter
- Joyce Whaley
