From Christine Bate’s document titled BateBatchford.doc
The Batchford Family
Geoff’s mother was born Beatrice Batchford on July 17th 1897. Her parents were John and Annie Batchford née Watson. Annie Watson came as a young girl by boat from Aberdeen to Hull with her parents, John and Elizabeth. John Watson was a comb maker in Aberdeen. Annie Watson married John Batchford who was a gamekeeper in the York area. They lived at Brandsby and then moved to the Sheffield area where he was employed as gamekeeper at Aston Hall. Later, they kept the Globe public house at Gleadless and their three children, Beatrice James and Elizabeth (Dot), were in school there. The family then moved to Handsworth and kept the Old Crown near the church. There was a dinner for the Duke of Norfolk once a year when I believe his tenants in Handworth paid their rents. Gram used to talk about all the work that was involved. John Batchford was “called up” into the army during WWI but did not pass the physical and so was sent to work as a forester. One day, a day when Gram recalled standing at the gate and waving him off, something she rarely did, he had a heart attack and died. He was brought home on a gate and his funeral was on Geoff’s mother’s twenty first birthday.
Gram’s parents were John and Elizabeth Watson. John died October 6th 1912 and Elizabeth died February 7th 1920.
Annie Watson Batchford (Gram), had three sisters and one brother, George, who was a chauffeur and gamekeeper. One sister was named Dot and lived at Bridlington. There was also a sister named Peg who may have been the mother of Lou from York. Lou used to come and visit and sometimes Betty stayed with Lou and her husband in York. The youngest was Nell who, at the time of WWII kept a shop with her husband Lal on Flaxby Road near the Norfolk Hotel. Geoff’s family had their ration books at Lal and Nell’s shop in the hope of being sold more extras with their rations, but they were not treated differently from anyone else. There was a time when Gram had a shop somewhere in Handsworth near the Norfolk Hotel after she was widowed and Geoff’s mother considered having a corner shop after his father became ill but when she asked the doctor if it was a good idea, he told her that if she was thinking of doing it to make her own living, to go ahead. This was the first time she was told that Geoff’s father would not get well. She told me that she walked around Sheffield for hours before going home
Beatrice Bate was the eldest of three children, with Jim being the middle child and Dot the youngest. Jim married Carrie who came from a large family and they had three children, Marjorie, Dennis and Jean. Auntie Dot married Wilf and they had one child, Eric, who did not thrive and died as an infant.