Dora Baynham (1899-1978)
Born: at Walsall in 1899
Parents: Arthur William Baynham and Elizabeth Pye
Married: Howard Leslie Walker in 1920
Died: at Birmingham in 1978
Dora was born at Walsall, in 1899.
She married Howard Leslie Walker, son of Marshall Walker and Louisa Pye (Dora’s mother’s sister) at Birmingham in 1920, when they were both 21. They had four children: Betty Dora, in 1921; Geoffrey Marshall, in 1924; and twins Malcolm Howard and Joyce Vera in 1928. Howard died at Birmingham in 1953, aged 54.
Dora died at Birmingham in 1978, aged 79.
Dora was born on 13th May 1899 at the family home 26 Oxford Street, Pleck, Walsall and was baptised on 8th June at St. John’s, the local family church.
At the time of the 1901 census, she is just 1 year old and living there with her parents Arthur William and Elizabeth and four siblings – Arthur (19), Louisa (Lillie) (15), Tom (11) and Marshall (‘William‘) (3).
Her father and brother Arthur are both working on the railways and Lillie is a tailoress.
Later in 1901, her oldest brother Arthur got married and set up home with his wife Ann a few doors away at 14 Oxford Street.
Another brother Henry (‘Harry’) was born in 1903.
Sadly her father Arthur died in 1905, aged 49, when Dora was just 5; her sister Nellie, who was working away from home as a housemaid, died the following year, aged 23, probably of tuberculosis.
It is probably around this time that her mother Elizabeth moved the family to 151 Prince Street, Pleck which would remain the family home for more than 70 years.
Just after Christmas 1910 Dora’s sister Lillie was admitted to the lunatic asylum at Burntwood and a month later her brother Tom died suddenly at 21, of intestinal problems (his death was the subject of an inquest).
The 1911 census shows Dora, a schoolgirl aged 11, living there with her widowed mother Elizabeth (50) and three siblings in what looks to be a troubled household – Lillie (25) is working as a sewing machinist in tailoring, but is described in the Infirmity column as “lunatic” as she has yet to be discharged from the asylum at Burntwood where she has spent the past few months; William (13) has already left school and is working as an apprentice whip maker; Harry (9) does not appear to be at school either which may be related to ‘hip troubles’ when he was younger. They also have a boarder, Thomas Reeves (61).
Dora then suffered two more family deaths: her eldest brother Arthur died in 1913, aged 31 (in a work-related accident which was the subject of an inquest), and her mother Elizabeth died in 1915, aged 53. Dora was just 16.
So throughout the war, Dora must have continued living at 151 Prince Street with Lillie and Harry, though presumably William stayed there too, when on leave from The Front.
In 1920, just before her 21st birthday, Dora married Howard Leslie Walker at Birmingham.
Howard was her cousin – he was the son of Marshall Walker (1871-1956) and Louisa Pye (1869-), the younger sister of Dora’s mother, Elizabeth Pye.
Howard had served in WWI with the 5th Battalion of The Dorset Regiment after enlisting in early 1917; before the war he had worked as an assistant electrician.
They had four children: Betty Dora was born in 1921, Geoffrey Marshall on 4th May 1924 and twins Malcolm Howard and Joyce Vera on 14th June 1928.
The 1939 Register shows Dora and Howard, who would both now be 40 years old, living at 7 Tew Park Road in Handsworth, Birmingham with their four children – Betty (18); Geoff (15), working as an apprentice printer; Malcolm and Joyce (both 11), at school. Howard is now a Foreman Electrical Fitter.
Howard died at Birmingham in 1953, aged 54.
In 1957 Dora, now 58, is still living at 7 Tew Park Road with Malcolm (29).
Dora died at Birmingham in 1978, aged 79.
Vera died in 1987, Geoff in 1991, Betty in 2015.