George Robert Besford was born in early 1909.
He married Isabella Summers in 1937. Isabella was always known as Isabel. Isabel came from a large family, being the tenth of eleven children. Her mother had diabetes and was frequently ill. When Isabel left school at the age of 14 she had to take over the running of the household. She had seven brothers to look after and two of them worked at the pit. This meant that she had all of their pit clothes to wash and their pit boots to clean, besides cooking all the meals.
George and Isabel emigrated from England to Canada in 1947. They sailed from Southampton to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the RMS Aquitania, a Cunard-White Star Line ship, leaving on 13th September 1947. The Aquitania had been converted into a troop ship during the Second World War.
The vessel was taken out of service in 1949 as the condition of the ship had deteriorated, and it would have been cost-prohibitive to be brought up to new safety standards.
She was scrapped in 1950 after steaming more than 3 million miles.
George was 38 and Isabel 32 when they left England, accompanied by their daughter Cynthia, who was 7. The family’s address before leaving the UK was 32 Park View, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland. The Aquitania‘s passenger list indicates that George was an insurance agent.
George’s daughter Cynthia gave this description of the Aquitania and the family’s voyage:
“When we sailed on the Aquitania in 1947 the ship was still as it was following its conversion to a troop ship. Men were confined to the left half of the ship and women to the right. Married couples were split up. The cabins were far from luxurious. They consisted of four bunks and that was it. During the night my mother woke up, forgot where she was in the top bunk, and stepped out causing an almighty crash. The occupants of nearby cabins rushed out thinking we had hit an iceberg! The voyage was rough as we encountered the tail end of a hurricane. I, like most of the passengers, spent my time in bed or being sick.”
The family returned from Canada in 1949 and lived in Blyth thereafter. George and Isabella had another daughter, Sheila Besford, who was born in 1952. George died in 1981.
Ancestry
George Robert Besford was the son of John Besford (1872-1954) who was born in 1872 at Blyth, Northumberland. The 1921 census recorded George Robert Besford aged 12 years 6 months, living at 9 Keelman’s Row, Cowpen Square, Blyth, with his parents, John Besford (49) and Mary A. Besford (née Thompson) (43). John Besford had been working for the Cowpen Coal Company as a hewer at the Straker Pit, but was out of work at the time of the census. This was sadly also true of John’s sons (George Robert’s brothers) William (21) and John (18). William had been laid off as a putter at Straker Pit, and John had been laid off as an apprentice blacksmith from the Cowpen Colliery workshops. Mary’s father William Thompson (73) was living with the family, having retired as a shifter for the Cowpen Coal Company.
George Robert Besford’s father, John Besford, was the son of Alexander Besford, a cousin of David Besford (1863-1954). Alexander was a coal miner who was living with his wife Betsy and their family at 21 Cowpen Square, Cowpen , Blyth, when the 1881 census was taken. Alexander was the son of Ann Besford, sister of John Besford (1826-1914).
George Robert Besford was thus the great-great grandson of Robert Besford (1792-1844), and his ancestry goes back to the marriage of his 6x great grandparents James Besford and Margaret Robson who were married at Rothbury in 1679.
One response to “George Robert Besford (1909-1981)”
George R0bert Besford died in 1981. The family returned from Canada in 1949 and lived in Blyth thereafter.