George Thomas Nelson
Born: 28th April 1901
Father and Mother: James and Harriet Louisa Nelson
George married Doris Weston on 30th May 1928 at St Anne’s Church in Stanley. At the time of the marriage, he was living at 36 Highfield Rd, Stanley, and is described as a coal dealer. William James Nelson was the best man.
He was the best man at his brother Stanley’s wedding.
He is mentioned in his mother’s death notice in the Echo;
Loving mother of George, Bill, Tom, and Lill.”
Their first child Ronald was born on 4th May 1927, at 119 Moscow Drive (the home of George’s in-laws. They were living at 15, Aconbury Place.
They had a son, William. This is my Uncle Bill who is still alive.
George and Doris had a daughter, Margaret (my Mum) on 28th September 1930. At the time they were living at 15 Aconbury Place in West Derby. George’s profession is described as a coal merchant’s motor wagon driver.
He worked for Babcock’s as a steel erector. He worked on power stations and definitely traveled extensively working on projects abroad. In the fifties, his wife traveled with him to Helsinki, Stockholm, and Turkey, according to the stamps on her passport.
George died on 28th March 1970
Doris died on 27th March 1980.
Family Stories
My Nana did not broadcast the dates of Ron’s birth and her marriage. When she died all the children’s birth certificates were neatly lined up, but her marriage certificate was missing.
Family lore used to have it that George and Ken Dodd’s dad shared a horse to service their rounds!
During the 1930's the family was poor and George was out of work. The story is that he cycled to London, staying in Salvation Army hostels along the way. He found work, but I am not clear if it was then that he started working for Babcock’s. It would make sense that this came later.
My Nana, Doris, used to say about Turkey, “The doctor told me that if I didn’t go home, I’d be going home in a box.” We have quite a few postcards from Sweden and photos of the two of them in Athens, Turkey, etc. My uncle met someone who had worked with him in Africa, so he must have got around.
When George was working in the 1950s, my mother married, as did Bill, and Ron. Obviously, when George and Doris had married, money was tight and I don’t know if Doris had an engagement ring or it was inexpensive. My Mum recalls her father saying, not in a mean way, that as all the kids were getting engaged and had rings, Doris better has a new one too. He made sure that his wife’s was the best of the bunch which I thought was quite sweet.
My mother remembers her father as a quiet, kind man with a very dry sense of humour. He was encouraging to his children, agreeing to pay for my mum to stay on at sixth form (but she left after a few weeks, as she fancied the world of work!) I can only remember him as a man, old before his time, with wheezy lungs. He was a keen gardener and would encourage me to pick tomatoes etc. The cause of his death was disputed – it is listed as cancer on the death certificate. However, the family believed that the cancer was caused by contact with asbestos or similar materials whilst he was working as a fitter, but this was never proved/dis-proved
