Kershaw/ Hughes/Simkin Family Album

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The Family of Jack Kershaw

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John Daniel Kershaw was born in Haggerston, East London, on 21st May 1905, the eighth of 13 children born to Ann Heath (born 1871, Hackney, East London) and James Meadowcroft Kershaw (born c1870), an engineer's fitter from Rochdale, Lancashire. James Meadowcroft Kershaw ,'Jack' Kershaw's father, had been born and raised in Rochdale, but had settled in London after securing an engineering job in the capital. During the 4th Quarter of 1891, at Bethnal Green, East London, James Meadowcroft Kershaw married Ann Heath, the twenty year old daughter of Sarah and Henry Heath, a London shoemaker. During a marriage that lasted nearly 44 years, the couple produced thirteen children - Emma Ann Kershaw (born 1892, Hackney), Elizabeth Ellen Kershaw (born 1893, Hackney), Jane Kershaw (born 1895, Hackney), Alice Victoria Kershaw (born 1897, Hackney), James Thomas Kershaw (born 1899, Hackney), Charles John Kershaw (born 1901, Haggerston - died 1903), Florence Melinda Kershaw (born 1903, Haggerston), John Daniel Kershaw (born 1905, Haggerston), Albert Edward Kershaw (born 1907, Bethnal Green), Beatrice Hilda Kershaw (born 1909, Bethnal Green), Rosina M. Kershaw (born 1912, Bethnal Green), Elsie A. Kershaw (born 1914, Bethnal Green - died 1914) and Charles J. Kershaw (born 1916, Bethnal Green).

At the time of the 1911 census, six year old John ("Jack") Kershaw was living with his parents and 8 siblings at 34 Matilda Street, Bethnal Green, East London. Jack's father, 40 year old James Meadowcroft Kershaw, was employed as an engineer's fitter and the only other person in the household in paid employment was Jack's eldest sister, twenty year old Emma, who was working as a packer in a local factory.

 

 

 

The Kershaw Family of East London

James Meadowcroft Kershaw ,'Jack' Kershaw's father, originated from Lancashire, having been born in Rochdale around 1870. After marrying Ann Heath (born 1871, Hackney, London) in Bethnal Green in 1891, James Kershaw settled in East London.  James and Ann Kershaw's first five children were born in Hackney, the next three were born in the Haggerston district of Hackney and their last five children were born in Bethnal Green in London's East End.

James Meadowcroft Kershaw

(c1870-1935)

Father of 'Jack' Daniel Kershaw

Florence Melinda Kershaw

(born 1903)

Sister of 'Jack'  Kershaw

Jane Kershaw

(born 1895)

Sister of 'Jack'  Kershaw

 

[ABOVE] John 'Jack' Daniel Kershaw, photographed around 1925 when he was serving in the Seaforth Highlanders. Jack was born John Daniel Kershaw on 21st May 1905 in the East London district of  Haggerston. The pith helmet, decorated with a white hackle (feather plume), which has been placed on the table, suggests that Jack Kershaw was serving with his regiment in India or the Middle East when this photograph was taken. Jack is wearing a pair of trews in the Seaforth Mackenzie tartan (see picture in colour, below).

The Seaforth Highlanders was an historic regiment of the British Army. Formed in 1881, the Seaforth Highlanders served in Egypt, India, Sudan and South Africa before the First World War. During the 1914-1918 World War, the Seaforth Highlanders fought on the Western Front. After the First World War, the Seaforth Highlanders were stationed in India and Palestine.

 

[ABOVE] Mrs Lily Kershaw (formerly Lily Herbert) flanked by her two daughters, Joyce Lilian Kershaw (born 7th November 1930), on the left, and Maureen Violet Kershaw (born 4th April 1934) on the right,. This family portrait was taken around 1939, when Joyce was about nine and  Maureen was around five years of age.

[ABOVE] John 'Jack' Kershaw , photographed around 1925 when he was serving in the Seaforth Highlanders. Jack Kershaw married Lily Herbert (born 1907, Bethnal Green) during the 4th Qtr of 1929.

 

Mrs Lily Kershaw and the Herbert Family of East London

Lily Herbert was born in Bethnal Green, East London, on 10th October 1907, the daughter of Margaret and Samuel Herbert, a printer's labourer of Shoreditch.

Samuel Herbert, Lily's father, was born on 6th May 1874 in Bethnal Green, East London, the son of Anne Gill and William Richard Herbert, a blacksmith, who at the end of his life was working as "hawker" in East London.

On 26th March 1899, at Mount Street Church, Bethnal Green, Samuel Herbert married Margaret Howe (born 1877, Bethnal Green), the daughter of Elizabeth and John Howe, an engineer. Samuel and Margaret Herbert produced at least six children including Elizabeth Herbert (born 1899, Shoreditch, London), Samuel William Herbert (born 1901, Shoreditch, London), Florence Herbert (born 1902, Bethnal Green, London), Alfred Herbert (born 1904, Bethnal Green, London), Lily Herbert (born 1907, Bethnal Green, London) and John Herbert (born 1914, Bethnal Green, London).

[ABOVE] Mrs Margaret Herbert (formerly Howe), Lily Herbert's mother, photographed around 1936. [ABOVE] Samuel Herbert, Lily Herbert's father, photographed around 1936.

[ABOVE] Mrs Lily Kershaw (formerly Lily Herbert) photographed around 1950. Lily Herbert was born in Bethnal Green, East London, on 10th October 1907, the daughter of Margaret and Samuel Herbert, a printer's labourer of Shoreditch.
 

 Joyce and Maureen - Jack and Lily Kershaw's Two Daughters

[ABOVE] Joyce Kershaw (born 1930, Stepney, London) photographed in a London studio sitting on a donkey between her grandparents Margaret and Samuel Herbert (c1936). [ABOVE] Maureen Kershaw (born 1934, Bethnal Green, London) pictured cutting her birthday cake on her 4th birthday. Maureen's elder sister, seven year old Joyce Kershaw, and their mother Lily Kershaw look on (1938).

[ABOVE] Maureen Kershaw (born 1934)  pictured in 1946, around the time she joined Beams' Breezy Babes, a juvenile dance troupe.

[RIGHT] A school group photograph taken at William McGuffie School, Greenleaf Road, Walthamstow, in North-East London (1946). Twelve year old Maureen Kershaw (born 1934) sits second left  in the 2nd row.pictured in 1946, around the time she joined Beams' Breezy Babes, a juvenile dance troupe.

[ABOVE] A school group photograph taken at William McGuffie School, Greenleaf Road, Walthamstow, in North-East London (1946).

 

[ABOVE] Jack & Lily Kershaw's eldest daughter Joyce Kershaw (born 1930) photographed around 1962. Joyce Kershaw married Frederick Charles Gay on 5th August 1951.

Jack and Lily Kershaw's Two Daughters - Joyce and Maureen

The union of Jack Kershaw and Lily Herbert produced two daughters Joyce Lilian Kershaw, who was born in Stepney, East London, on 7th November 1930 and Maureen Violet Kershaw, who was born in Bethnal Green, East London, on 4th April 1934.

Maureen Kershaw attended the William McGuffie School, Greenleaf Road, Walthamstow, in North-East London. [See School Group photograph above]. Maureen had a natural talent for singing. A friend of the Kershaw family, hearing Maureen performing a "party piece" at a social gathering and impressed by the eleven year old girl's vocal ability, suggested that Maureen should take formal singing lessons. During 1945, Maureen attended singing and dancing lessons and soon she was performing as a singer and tap dancer in money-raising events for the Red Cross and taking part in local talent competitions. In 1946, at the age of 12, Maureen Kershaw joined "Beams' Breezy Babes", a juvenile dance troupe run by Eleanor and Peggy Beams. This marked the beginning of Maureen Kershaw's show business career which was to last over a quarter of a century. [See the link to  Maureen Kershaw's Show Business Career web pages, below].

On 5th August 1951, at the age of twenty, Joyce Kershaw married Frederick Charles Gay (born 1927, Hackney, London). The couple went on to have four children - Frederick John Gay (born 13th June 1953), Trudy Maureen Gay (born 5th July 1955), Julie Margaret Gay (born 23rd February 1960) and Joyce "Joy" Gay (born 12th April 1971).

In 1955, Maureen Kershaw married her first husband Burton Benjamin Brown, a booking executive with Lew and Leslie Grade's Variety Agency. (Burton Brown was born "Baruch Benjamin Braverman" in Minsk, Russia but the family changed their surname to Brown when they emigrated to America). Burton Brown worked as a pianist during the late 1930s and 1940s and his brother Louis/Les Brown was a professional musician in the USA. On 3rd October, Maureen Kershaw gave birth to her first and only child, a son christened Stephen Daniel Burton Brown.

[ABOVE] Jack & Lily Kershaw's youngest daughter Maureen Kershaw (born 1934) photographed in 1949 when she was a young professional singer.

 

To read a full  account of Maureen Kershaw's show business career, click on the link below:

 The Show Business Career of Maureen Kershaw

 

Jack and Lily Kershaw in Middle Age

 

[ABOVE] Lily and Jack Kershaw photographed in the 1950s, possibly at the wedding of one of their daughters.

[ABOVE] Lily Kershaw (centre, left) and Jack Kershaw (seated 5th from the left) photographed at Butlin's Holiday Camp. The young man seated on the far right is the comedian Jimmy Tarbuck who worked as a Butlin's Red Coat between 1961 and 1962.

[ABOVE] Jack and Lily Kershaw photographed in a holiday camp's entertainment lounge around 1962.
 

Acknowledgements

 I am grateful to Mrs Maureen Weller (Maureen Kershaw) for supplying photographs and providing information on the family of Jack Kershaw. Maureen Kershaw is the youngest daughter of Lily Herbert and John 'Jack' Kershaw.
 

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