John Henry Whitty was born in the December Quarter of 1881(West Derby Vol. 8b, Page 384), the son of Thomas Whitty and possibly his wife Jane (nee Williams)# who he had married in 1879, being a widower on their marriage certificate, (below) having previously been married to Elizabeth Mary Lant formerly Mattison who he married in the December Quarter of 1876 (W. Derby Vol. 8b, Page 681) when Thomas Whitty was again described as a widower, so he had married before between 1871 and 1876, however, I cannot find out who his first wife was.# John HenryWhitty’s birth Certificate would have to be purchased to ensure we get the right mother.
Thomas’s marriage to Jane Williams:-St. Saviour, Everton, Liverpool -Page 103 No. 206 12th May 1879 By Licence – Thomas WHITTY, Full age, Widower, Cabinet Maker. 47, Landseer Road, Father John WHITTY, Hatter & Jane WILLIAMS, Full age Spinster 25, Eastlake Street, Father John WILLIAMS Warehouseman. – Witnesess:- Levi WILLIAMS and Mary Alice CALFREYMAN
John Henry’s mother# was to die before the 1891 census as Thomas is shown to have a wife named Florence, married circa 1882, (according to Ancestry “Bright Family Tree”) however, I cannot find their marriage. Later Thomas was to marry again his bride, this time was an Annie E., but who she was, I again, cannot find out. By this time Thomas was living in Hanley, Stoke on Trent, Staffs.
1881 saw ThomasWhitty living at 27, Eastlake Street, Everton, Liverpool, Lancs. Head of the household is Thomas Whitty, 32, a Billiard Table Maker, born in Liverpool, as had his wife Jane Whitty age 31 years. Thomas’s daughter Elizabeth, 10, was, I think the child of his former wife Elizabeth Mary and she had been born in Stafford, Staffordshire. Thomas & Jane’s son Thomas L. (Levi?) was 14 months old and also born in Liverpool.
John Henry Whitty had a very strange childhood, with all the changes of his father’s wives, but he is seen for the first time on the 1891 census, living at Islington Hold, Islington, Great Crosby, Liverpool (St. Luke). Father Thomas Whitty*, 41 was a Publican Manager, his new wife Florence, 38 had been born in Holyhead, Wales, his daughter Elizabeth was now 18 years old. Sons Thomas L., 10, John Henry, 8, Reginald, 6 had been born in Liverpool, Lancashire, daughter Nellie, 4 had been born in Halifax, Yorkshire.
* Thomas Whitty is mentioned in at least 2 Trade Directories as a Billiard Table Maker in Kelley’s Directory of 1900 on pages 80 and 603, his address was given as Waterloo Road, Burslem. The other Directory entry was in the 1904 Kelly’s Directory of Staffordshire – Page : 202, street address: 16 Broad street.
The 1901 census shows the family now living at 7, Maron Street, Hanley, Staffordshire (Shelton St Mark), Thomas Whitty, 53 is a Billiard Table Maker (Toy) in his own account, his new wife was Annie E. Was age 32 years and born in Wales. His sons were Thomas C (sic), 21, was an Apprentice Joiner & Carpenter, John H., 18, Apprentice Joiner & Carpenter and Reginald, 16, and his daughter Nellie, 14.
Thomas, John Henry’s brother, was to go to sea as Crew as he is listed on 2 ships, age 24, the “Campania“ in 1906 and the “Saxonia” on the 22 Nov 1906.
The 1911 census sees father Thomas Whitty, 63, Widower and Billiard Table Repairer, born in Liverpool, Lancs., living at the Blue Bell Hotel, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., in the household of Henry Eaton Spratt and his wife Edith Mary, their 3 sons and 2 daughters in the above hotel. There was a servant, Harriet Eliza Challinor, 23, Single, born in Hanley, Staffs
In the December Quarter of 1908 John Henry Whitt was to marry Ada Mary Mounfield (Chester Vol 8a, Page 734) and they are seen on the 1911 census living at 15, Steele Street, Chester, Cheshire. John Henry, 28 was a Ship Steward and his wife was shown as Annie, was this an enumerator’s mistake? Annie had been born in Tipton, Staffordshire. They had been married 2 years and 1 child was born, (still living), she was Prudence Elizabeth Whitty, born in Saltney, Chester. There was another family living there as boarders, William & Nora Morris, and their daughter Irene, all had been born i Pontypridd, South Wales.
I cannot find any Army Service Records for John Henry Whitty, but other Army Documents tell us a little more about him.
John Henry Whitty in the UK, Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 also gives his widow’s name as Annie, so perhaps she wanted to be known by that name. His Legatee widow Annie Whitty & chdn. Paid on the 19th November 1917, £2. 18s 0d, War Gratuity paid 22nd November 1919 £4. 10s 0d. – Written in pencil below was “Claim on W3094 of £1. 10s 8d recd 8th December 1917.”
John Henry Whitty in the UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 confirms his regimental information and that he was bor in Liverpool, but resided in Saltney, he enlisted in Salford, Lancashire.
John H Whitty in the British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 does not tell us where his first Theatre of War was nor when he entered it.
Ada Mary (aka Annie) Whitty was to marry again in the December Quarter of 1918 to Thomas Picton Fraser in St. Mark’s Church, Lache-cum-Saltney, Chester (Vol. 8a, Page 720).
John Henry’s name was put forward for him to be remembered on the War Memorial at Saltney.