Matthew Wilkinson Bestford was born on 7th May 1892. He was the son of Robert Bestford (1865-1935) and his wife Phyllis Bestford (née Woodman).
The 1901 Census recorded Matthew aged 10 living with his parents at the Station House, Chollerford, Northumberland, where his father was Station Master. His brothers Robert (6) and George (1), and his sisters Mary Jane (12) and Florence (3) were also in the household.
Ten years later the 1911 Census recorded that Matthew (now 18) was working as a gardener. He was still living at home with his parents at Chollerford Station. Mary Jane, Robert and Florence were all still living with their parents as well, but George had sadly died.
On 4th August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany as the First World War broke out. Matthew Wilkinson Bestford enlisted the following day as a Private in the Northumberland Fusiliers. He went to France in 1915 and records show that he was wounded and as a result was issued with the Silver War Badge.
In 1916 Matthew married Ethel Hannah Lowes at St. Michael and All Angels Parish Church, Warden, Northumberland.
Matthew was discharged from the army on 3rd July 1919.
The 1921 Census recorded Matthew and his wife Ethel living at Humshaugh, Northumberland. Matthew was aged 29 years and one month, and was working as a self-employed motor mechanic at Humshaugh Garage. Ethel was aged 28 years 3 months. She and Matthew had a daughter, Phyllis M. Bestford, who was 3 years 5 months old. Also in the household was a boarder, Ethel Roschmiller, who was 23, single, and working as a clerk at Armstrong Whitworth’s at Scotswood, Newcastle.
In 1928, Matthew emigrated to Australia at the age of 36. He left the Port of London on 17th April 1928, bound for Adelaide, aboard the Ballarat, a 7,900 ton vessel owned by P&O. He was not accompanied by his wife Ethel and daughter Phyllis. Matthew arrived at the port of Adelaide on 5th June.
Ethel and Phyllis sailed to Adelaide from the Port of London almost six months later on 2nd October 1928. Ethel was 35 and Phyllis was 10. They sailed on a vessel named the Moreton Bay, owned by the Aberdeen and Commonwealth line.
Matthew and family lived in Australia for just over six years before returning to the UK. Matthew sailed from Brisbane on board the Jervis Bay, arriving in Hull on 24th September 1934. The ship called at the following ports en route: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle, Colombo, Port Said, and Malta. As had occurred on the earlier move to Australia, Ethel and Phyllis followed Matthew at a later date. They sailed on the Barrabool and took in Aden as well as the previously named ports of call. Ethel and Phyllis disembarked at the Port of London on 1st May 1935.
The 1939 Register, taken at the start of the Second World War in 1939, recorded Matthew, Ethel and Phyllis living at Waverley House, Hexham, Northumberland. Matthew (47) was described as a Motor Engineer (Master). Ethel (46) was carrying out home duties, and Phyllis (21) was working as a bookkeeper in a garage – presumably that of her father’s.
Phyllis Bestford married Albert J. Clark in 1940.
Ethel Bestford died in 1975.
Matthew Wilkinson Bestford died in 1978.
The deaths of both Ethel and Matthew were registered in Carlisle.
Ancestry
Matthew Wilkinson Bestford’s parents were Robert Bestford (1865-1935) and Phyllis Bestford (née Woodman). Matthew’s Besford/Bestford ancestry is thus as per Robert Bestford’s , but one generation down. Matthew was therefore the 5x great grandson of James Besford and Margaret Robson who married in Rothbury in 1679.
