My Father - Peter Richard Boyd Roberts

Dad was born on the 2nd May 1917 at "Baulby", Busheywood Road, Totley Rise, Dore, Derbyshire. (Dore is now within the boundaries of the City of Sheffield and therefore in Yorkshire). This was the home of his parents, Stanley Boyd Roberts (Solicitor) and Edith Haywood Roberts, formerly Hoyland. (I believe it was after my brother John was born in 1946 that Dad and Mum moved out of her mother's house at 58 Wordsworth Drive to live in a house on Busheywood Road. Possibly the same house where Dad was born? And Busheywood Road is also the address where Dad's mother Edith lived at the age of 19 with her parents Charles Haywood Hoyland and Louisa Maria Hoyland, formerly Brooks.)

He had three brothers: John Haywood Boyd Roberts born 1915, Arthur Wynne Boyd Roberts born 1916 and James Brian Boyd Roberts born 1923. The photo below is of John, Dad and Arthur.

Dad also had another brother: David Littlewood Boyd Roberts born in 1918. He died in infancy in 1923 of the dreaded Spanish Flue. He is buried in the churchyard of Dore Parish Church (Christ Church) alongside Dad's father Stanley, where the monument has the inscription reads "For Of Such Is The Kingdom Of Heaven".

At some time Dad's family lived at "Redmires". The name comes from a number of huge reservoirs in the hills of the Peak District outside Sheffield in Derbyshire. I can vaguely remember Dad referring to the photograph where his father is sitting in a motor car outside the house.

By the time Dad went to school (around 1924), his family had moved to 88 Ashdell Road in Sheffield. We know this because he attended Westbourne Park Preparatory School at 50 Westbourne Road which is in walking distance. Here he became head boy and,in recognition of this role, he was presented with three books by Robert Louis Stevenson including Treasure Island.

The photograph above is of John, Gran, James, Dad and Arthur.

It is unclear whether Dad attended any senior school. We know that his family had money problems and unable to pay school fees for private school. His mother refused to send him to state school and he was therefore educated at home by tutors. He obviously learnt Latin as for years he could recite some of what he learnt.

He joined the Sheffield Repertory Theatre as a boy actor and appeared in a number of productions, including "The Marriage of Columbine" in 1928.

There are also photographs of plays when he must have been seven or eight years old.

Dad must have been attached to the theatre for a number of years as when he was thirteen, he appeared in the 1930/31 production of Sing a Song of Christmas. He must have made an impression, as he was presented with The Works of William Shakespeare signed by 30 members of the company.

Dad's eldest brother John may have gone to private school, and he did go to theological college in Oxford. John was very close to his grandfather Vincent Littlewood Roberts. Vincent could not stand Edith, John and Dad's mother. So John and Vincent had to meet in secret. Vincent may have provided the funds for John to go to college.

My Auntie Mollie (John's wife) recalls that Dad was very gregarious when he was a young man, always amongst friends.

But there were no funds to send Arthur and Dad to university, and they both had to seek employment at the end of their education. Their father Stanley, a solicitor, had become insolvent in 1932 when Dad was fifteen. Arthur was found a job in a high class shoe shop and Dad went to work for Arthur Davy and sons, pork butchers and general grocers. They had shops, with restaurants attached, in Sheffield, Leeds and Rotherham. They had their own pig farms, and also specialised in their own coffee and tea blending. Dad was probably trained at the shop in Fargate, Sheffield.

An extract from http://www.sheffieldonthenet.co.uk/ says "High up on the wall above the WH Smith store in Fargate can be found four carved heads of pigs and cows. They have no connection with the present store but relate to a previous occupier of the building. One Arthur Davy and Sons Ltd, who were pork butchers and general grocers. The upper floor was once Davy's Restaurant, which was very popular with city shoppers".

During this time, Dad's father Stanley must have had some employment. His death certificate indicates that is occupation at the time of his death was "Steelworks Clerk". However, Stanley's great love was music, and there is a posting on this blog about Stanley's obituary. Dad was there when Stanley died on 12th January 1937 at home at 88 Ashdell Road. Dad was nineteen years old.

Dad was back on the stage in 1936. He appeared in the Hallamshire Arts Club production of "Richard of Bordeux", and two years later in the West End Stage Club's "Girl in Question". The photograph below could well be from this play.

His employment at Arthur Davy and Sons came to an abrupt end when he enlisted in the army at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. His trade took him to The Royal Army Service Corp. As Dad would say, this was as comfortable a place as there was in wartime, even if his postings were overseas.

We know he was in Egypt in 1939. He is mentioned in a letter from his grandfather, Vincent, to another grandson, Basil Buchanan, dated 4th February 1940: "........... the third grandson went out to Egypt two and half months ago. He is in the Army Service Corps. I had a letter from him the other day and he is quite happy".

I guess the happiness did not last, as Dad contracted malaria, asthma or a disease caused by the heat. He had to be shipped home, but had to wait in various places for the first boat going west. This is how he came to be marooned in South Africa. Apparently he had to wait some time for a boat, but enjoyed his time there immensely, being well looked after by the locals.

Back in England, the army was desperate to find more officers. I do not believe that dad sought a commission (he was quite happy as a Private or Corporal in the RASC) but his background made him an ideal candidate. He always said (according to my brother Paul) that it was because he knew how to hold a knife and fork properly, and that his class origins would have singled him out.

So off he went to Dunbar in Scotland for officer training (OCTU). This made a big impression on him. He was destined for the infantry (The York and Lancaster Regiment). It may have been around this time that he learnt how to use a rifle. He could always remember the instructions on how to load and fire, and as I remember he was a fine shot. He ofter told the story of the passing out at Dunbar, when the night before they became officers, his group rolled down the high street making baa baa noises. A comment on how they saw their training?

Dad joined the the Second Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment as a Lieutenant and was posted with them to India on their way to Burma in 1944. Dad made strong representations to join another regiment, as he knew that another trip to the sub continent would result in the same illness as last time. But the army had no flexibility, so off he went to India and not France.

He did fall ill, and once again he had to be shipped home. I was a few months old when he returned, so that could have been the Spring of 1945. He had failed to fire a shot in anger, despite being in the infantry. Paul recalls Dad spoke a few times about someone he knew in the war who must have been quite well off. His name was McConachie and he was involved with pickles.

Dad kept one programme from his visits to the theatre. This is from a wartime variety show at the Sheffield Empire on 15th September 1941. The most interesting point being the final act "Youth Takes A Bow". It featured certain Morecambe and an Ernie Wise before they became a double act.