George Beasley

Census Address: Benson’s Field, Grantham
Place of Birth: Barrowden/Uppingham
Date of Birth: 1890
Enlistment Address: Stamford?
Regiment: Lincolnshire Regiment
Service Numbers: 200215
Place of Death: Stamford
Date Died: 1945
Coochs Court

George Beasley

George came from a Barrowden family. He birth was registered as in Uppingham but on some census returns it was recorded as in Barrowden where his parents, William and Rachel, his 2 older sisters and 2 older brothers were all born. The family moved to Cooch’s Court in Stamford about 1895 where his 2 younger sisters were born.

George was travelling with the fair when he left home and in 1911 can be found on the census for Grantham living in a caravan in Benson’s Field. He was described as a ‘traveller with roundabout’. A family recollection is that he used to challenge onlookers to box in a ring. He was at one point knocked out, not by a contestant but by a swing boat.

George served with the Lincolnshire Regiment and gained Lance Corporal status. His medal record shows he was serving in France by March 1915. He was wounded but stayed on duty. A communication was sent to his father, William, living by then at 13 Eight Acres regarding this. He developed a contused back (due to being wounded?) and was in the military hospital for a while. He also developed impetigo, and dysentery in the trenches.

When he came home after the war, in March 1919, his health was very bad as he’d inhaled some mustard gas and he was very thin.

He lodged with Robert Edward Wade, a widower, and family at 3 Brosley Cottages, at the bottom of Cemetery Road (now Radcliffe Road).

When Wade’s wife died, his daughter Edith Emily was only 14 years old and she had taken on the role of mother to the rest of the family. George and Edith Emily fell in love and married.

They lived for a while at the bottom of Foundry Road, then went to 17 Little Casterton Road. Lucy Beasley (George’s sister) probably took over as housekeeper to Robert E Wade and eventually married him.

George could no longer do physical work so he cut hair and mended watches from home and his wife worked as a cleaner on Tinwell Road to supplement their income. George nearly died several times when he caught colds as his lungs were very bad due to the gas he inhaled.

He succumbed to pneumonia in December 1944 and was buried in January 1945 in Stamford Cemetery.