Ralph William Askew

My grandfather, Ralph William Askew, was born on 3rd August 1895 at 22 College Road, Masbrough. He was the ninth of ten children. His father, George, was born on 27 December 1852 at Toynton St Peter in Lincolnshire. He moved to Rotherham to work in the coal mines. The census of 1881 for College Road shows he was married to a Jane Cuthbertson, but despite a number of searches, there is no record of an official marriage.

George was still a miner at the age of 57. He was joined at the pit by sons Thomas, George and Ralph, the last two being 17 and 15 classed as pit boys. So we know Ralph had a hard upbringing. In 1914 he was 19, so he joined the army for the first world war. I have no details of his war record, Mum never mentioned it. After the war, he met and married Edith Agnes Leather on 1 August 1921 in Rotherham Parish Church. The photograph was taken while he was in his twenties. My aunt Iris told me he was a tap dancer and loved the popular music of the time. They had four children: Dorothy, Iris, Donald and Geoffrey.

After the war, Ralph was back at the pit. But during his time as a miner, Ralph suffered an accident and broke his back. He received £200 in compensation and invested the money in two shops in. The hardware shop in Cambridge Street, over which the family made their home, made no money. Apparently he gave away leather when he saw children with no proper shoes. The shop went bust. At the same time his wife had a baker's shop in Barley Terrace. She used to get up at 4am every morning to make barm cakes etc. They were always sold out by midday. But she suffered with four getting on her chest, so they had to give up this shop too.

So for the first time, Ralph and Edith had to seek the support of the council, who found them a house at 88 Wordsworth Drive in Rotherham. However this was in a very poor neighbourhood, the children eat bread and lard outside. Ralph and his family may have been poor, but they always had good manners and eat proper meals.

Ralph had a number of jobs after the shops closed. He was a postman, a bus conductor and, according to his death certificate, a brassworks water valve tester.

It was not until Mum was working for one of the bigwigs at the Municipal Offices that this helped to find another house. 58 Wordsworth Drive had been occupied by an old lady, and when she died, it became available. Their names were on the list and they were offered the move to what was a much better property in a much nicer location. It must have helped that Mum did babysitting for this man at the Council. The house was a reasonably new in the "Wembley" design. It was very close to Herringthorpe Playing Fields, the largest open space in the town.

Ralph died on 13 April 1945. He was 49 years old. The death certificate records that he died of a respiratory obstruction that led to cardiac arrest.