WILLIAM CIRKET (1797?-1872), was born in Elstow, Bedfordshire. He may have been baptized into the Moravian Brethren at their Bedford Meeting House on 12 February 1797, the son of Samuel and Alice. He married Elizabeth, aged 83 in 1881 and from West Tilbury in Essex. In 1851 he was an agricultural labourer. William died, aged 75, at the end of 1872. Elizabeth lived on with her son Charles and daughter-in-law Jane, and died, aged 91, at the beginning of 1889. They had issue:
1. FREDERICK WILLIAM CIRKET (1828-1902), baptized at Elstow on 17 August 1828. In 1851 he was a blacksmith. He married Mary Ann Ford on 26 June 1851 at Elstow. They had at least four children. the fmaily moved to Enfield. In 1901 he and Mary Ann were living with his son Henry at 3 Ivy Cottages, Totteridge Road, Enfield. Frederick died in the Greenwich registration district at the beginning of 1902. Mary Ann died at the end of 1909, aged 76.
1.1 HENRY J CIRKET (1864?-19??), born in Bedford. He married Eliza, and they had a daughter, Ivy, aged 1 in 1901.
2. HARRIET SARAH CIRKET (1830-??), baptized at Elstow on 14 November 1830.
3. MARY ANN CIRKET (1833-??), baptized at Elstow on 3 March 1833. She married John Hall at Elstow on 5 June 1854. Their children were Elizabeth (5 in 1861), Thomas C (3) and James W (1).
4. CHARLES GEORGE CIRKET (1835-1872), born in Elstow, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on 5 July 1835. The 1851 census lists him as James George, probably a transcription error by the enumerator. He was an agricultural labourer. See below.
5. LOUISA ELLEN CIRKET (1837-??). In 1851 she was thirteen, and a lace maker, living at home. She married Thomas Disher at Elstow on 21 February 1865.
6. EMMA JANE CIRKET (1841-??), baptized at Elstow on 2 May 1841.
CHARLES GEORGE CIRKET (1835-1872), was born in Elstow, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on 5 July 1835.
He began employment as an agricultural labourer, but followed in his brother Frederick's footsteps as a striker in an iron foundry, probably the Britannia Iron Works, established by John Howard in 1857. He married Eliza Cooper on 14 July 1859 at St Peter's, Bedford, but she died shortly after marriage and was buried at St Peter de Merton, Bedford on 23 February 1860, and the 1861 census lists Charles as a widower at home with his parents.He remarried, to Jane Fowkes at Elstow parish church on 24 December 1862.
Jane was the daughter of William Fowkes (or Fookes) and his wufe Edith. She was baptized at Elstow on 5 March 1937 and aged 44 in 1881. She was a lacemaker. A family bible gives her date of birth as 30 October 1836.
1. SAMUEL GEORGE CIRKET (1863-1939), born on 19 October 1863 in Elstow and baptized on 13 December. In 1878 he was placed in the Third Class in the list of pupil teachers in Bedfordshire. He moved to Arlesey, Bedfordshire, and married Annie Elizabeth Crawley on 30 April 1889. They had met in the local church choir. In 1891, he was alone, boarding out, a schoolmaster at Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire, where he had just been appointed to the Wesleyan Day Schools after working in Atherstone. Annie was staying with the Crawley family at Arlesey.
In 1895, he assumed the post of headmaster of Sutton-on-Sea elementary schools in Lincolnshire, where he remained for 28 years until his retirement. In 1901 Samuel and the family were at 1 Victoria Terrace, Alford Road, Sutton-le-Marsh. Ten years later he was Headmaster of the school at Sutton-on-Sea in Lincolnshire. He also became an urban district councillor and Justice of the Peace. He was active as a Methodist lay preacher and in 1932 was appoinred Lincolnshire County President of the Local Preachers' Aid Association. He died in the Louth registration district on 31 July 1939. Annie died at 72 Bennetthorpe, Doncaster, on 8 February 1949.
Samuel and Annie had one child:
1.1 ANNIE CIRKET (1894-19??), born in Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire, on 3 March 1894. She married Fred, or Frederick, Davey from Alwalton, Huntingdonshire, born on 3 November 1891. In 1921 he was depot manager for coal merchants William Clarke and Son Lid of Westgate Hall, Grantham. In 1939, he decribed himself as an accountant and auditor, a Fellow of the Incorporated Society.
1.1.1 FREDA A DAVEY (1925-?), born on 6 June 1925. She was at school, living at 72 Bennetthorpe, Doncaster. in 1939. She married Eric S Chambers at Doncaster in the second quarter of 1950.
1.1.2 DOREEN JOYCE DAVEY (1928-2016), born at Spilsby on 4 July 1928. She married Eric James Barton at Doncester in the fourth quarter of 1953 (2B/680). She died on 30 April 2016.
2. WILLIAM ARTHUR CIRKET (1866-1945), born on 24 January 1866 and baptized at Elstow on 18 March. He was a bricklayer. In 1891, he was living at home, but in the third quarter of that year, he married Ruth Emily Stapleton.
Ruth had been born at Elstow on 26 August 1868 and baptized on 4 October. She served for over 40 years as treasurer of the Bunyan Meeting in Bedford. She died on 14 March 1958 and was buried six days later.
William and Ruth had three children:
2.1 WILLIAM CIRKET (1891-1973), born on 24 October 1891. In 1911 and 1939 he was a bricklayer. He married Mabel Elizabeth Eleanor Harper at the Bunyan Meeting, Bedford, on 4 August 1919.
Mabel had been born on 16 August 1893. She died 0n 30 March 1972.
2.1.1 ALAN FRANK CIRKET (1921-??), born at Shortstown on 20 February 1921. He was a civil servant, and also drew up a family tree. He married Nora Florence Sharpe on 16 July 1945 at Wilstead Methodist Church.
2.1.1.1 STUART HOWARD ALAN CIRKET (1946-), born on 17 November 1946. He married Valerie Joan Odell on 4 March 1972 at Elstow Abbey Church. Valerie had been born on 17 April 1945 at Bedford. Their chilfrem were:
2.1.1.1.1- NICHOLAS STUART CIRKET (1973-), born at Bedford on 8 January 1973.
2.1.1.1.1- VANESSA CLAIRE CIRKET (1974-), born at Bedford on 10 July 1974.
2.1.2 CLAUDE ALWYN CIRKET (1924-19??), born at Shortstown on 6 October 1924. He married Jean Gertrude Rimmington, who had been born at Kempston on 3 May 1928, at Kempston East Methodist Church on 16 April 1949.
2.1.2.1 DAVID CLAUDE CIRKET (1952-), born on 27 December 1952.
2.1.2.2 HELEN ELIZABETH CIRKET (1956-), born on 27 December 1952. She married Ralph Jeffery Henderson at the Bunyan Meeting, Bedford, on 31 July 1980.
2.1.3 MAURICE WILLIAM CIRKET (1924-19??), born at Elstow on 6 October 1924. He married Joan Edith Brown at Mill Street Baptist Church in Bedford.
2.1.3.1 DAWN JEANETTE CIRKET (1960-), born at Bedford on 15 July 1960.
2.1.3.2 ANDREA JOY CIRKET (1967-), born at Bedford on 17 October 1967.
2.2 FRANK CIRKET (1893-1976), born on 15 January 1893. In 1911 he was a carpenter. He married Elsie G Wells in the third quarter of 1915. In 1939 he and Elsie were at 39 Cauldwell Street, Bedford. By then, Frank was a funeral director.
In the Bedfordshire Times and Independent for 8 January 1954, his firm, Clarabut and Plumbe, announced that the Proprietor Frank Cirket has no connexion with any other firm of a similar name. A lifetime of experience is still at your disposal at their only addresses: 39 Cauldwell Street and 74 Midland Road, Bedford. This was occasioned by the appearance of an advertisement from R Cirket and Son, funeral directors, of 46 Bromham Road, noting that they had a new hearse and limousines.
Frank died at Bedford on 29 November 1976.
Frank and Elsie had two daughters:
2.2.1 BARBARA RUTH CIRKET (1924-1995), born in the second quarter of 1924. She married Bryan Luddington at the Bunyan Meeting, Bedford, in September 1946.
2.2.1.1 TIMOTHY LUDDINGTON (1948-), born on 27 October 1948.
2.2.1.1.1 BEN LUDDINGTON.
2.2.1.1.2 HANNAN LUDDINGTON.
2.2.1.2 ROBERT LUDDINGTON (19?).
2.2.2 SYLVIA GWENDOLINE CIRKET (1927-??), born in the second quarter of 1927. She married Jim George Burridge at the Bunyan Meeting, Bedford, on 27 March 1952.
2.3 MAUD CIRKET (1894-1981), born in Elstow on 19 February 1894. She was a dressmaker in 1911. In 1921, she was still living at home, a moulder at Peek Frean's biscuit factory in Bedford. She married Archibald Leslie Pestell on 2 April 1923 at the Bunyan Meeting House, Bedford. She died on xxxxxxx 1981. Archie died in 1982. They had two children:
2.3.1 MERVYN LESLIE PESTELL (1925-?), born on 9 September 1925 at Bedford. He married Edna M Bird on 9 September 1949 at Kempston East Methodist Church. He was a well-known organist in and around Bedford. He worked for the Post Office as an engineer. Between 2002 and 2018, he and Edna were at 89 Bedford Roadm MK43 9JB.
2.3.2 FREDA MAVIS PESTELL (1928-?), born on 7 July 1928. She married Bruce Arnold in 1964 at the Bunyan Meeting in Bedford. A son,
2.3.2.1 MATTHEW PESTELL (1966-) was born on 28 July 1966.
3. SARAH JANE CIRKET (1866-18??), born on 30 December 1866 and baptized at Elstow on 10 March 1867. In 1881 she was a lacemaker.
4. CHARLES CIRKET (1868-1937), of whom more below.
5. LOIS LOUISE CIRKET (1870-1963), born on 28 November 1870 and baptized at Elstow on 5 March 1871. She married John Henry Rose, an iron turner, in the last quarter of 1900. In 1901 and 1911, they were at 44 Hurst Grove South, in Bedford. John died in 1946, and Lois died at the end of 1963, aged 92. Their children were:
5.1 EDITH CIRKET ROSE (1905-??), born in the third quarter of 1905. She married Cyril H Edwards at the beginning of 1929.
5.2 DOROTHY ANNIE ROSE (1908-2000), born on 10 February 1908. She remained single, and died in the summer of 2000.
CHARLES CIRKET (1868-1937), was born in Elstow, Bedfordshire on 23 February 1868 and baptized there on 12 April.
He father died when he was four. In 1881, he was an agricultural labourer, living at home. He married Jane Bowler on 14 August 1894 in the Bedford registration district.Jane was also from Elstow, a year younger than Charles, having been born on 7 January 1869. In 1891, she and her sisters Ada and Sarah were in service in Kensington. Her sister, Sarah Ann Bowler, who married Peter Masters in 1899, is mentioned in the family bible as dying on 26 December 1905 at the age of 33. Another sister, Bertha, was living with the Cirketts in 1901, and married Frank Seville in 1906. Frank worked for the Mansfield Electricity Company. The Sevilles lived at 22 Beech Hill Drive in Mansfield, and remained good family friends.
In 1901, the family had moved to 11 Portland Terrace, Mansfield. Charles was a locomotive stoker. In 1911 the family was at 61 Milton Street, East Kirkby, and Charles was now an engine driver with the Midland Railway. They were still at Milton Street in 1925. Jane died on 7 April 1937, and Charles survived her by only a few weeks, dying on 13 July the same year. They had issue:
1. BERTHA DOROTHY RITA CIRKET (1896-1897). She was born in Mansfield on 14 July 1896 and died on 31 August 1897, soon after her first birthday.
2. CHARLES HUMPHREY CIRKET (1897-1897), born on 30 July 1897, who died on 24 August the same year.
3. SYDNEY LAMBERT RAY CIRKET (1898-1984), known as Ray. He was born in Mansfield on 15 August 1898. He served in the First World War as a private in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment, with service number 100046. He married Winifred Evelyn Swindell at the Primitive Methodost Meeting in Kirky in Ashfield on 27 December 1920. The couple lived for a time in Kirkby-in-Ashfield. He took over his cousin Charles' undertaking business in Bedford. Winifred died in Bedford on 19 February 1969. Sydney died in Bedford on 12 November 1984. They had an adopted son, John, and a son:
3.1 KENNETH CHARLES CIRKET (1930-), born on 28 December 1930 in the Basford registration district. He married Pauline Joan Knibbs at St Peter's Moravian Church, Bedford, on 17 April 1953. They lived at 131 Spenser Road, Bedford.
3.1.1 PHILIP CIRKET (1958-), born on 17 May 1958.
3.1.2 GRAHAM CIRKET (1962-), born on 6 May 1962.
4. ETHEL MAY CECILIA CIRKET (1901-1980).
She was born in Mansfield on 8 May 1901. She married Charles Gordon Parkin on 19 March 1930. She died on 2 June 1980.5. BERTRAM CHARLES MAYHEW CIRKET (1904-1961), known as Bertie, born in Mansfield on 28 May 1904. He married Doris Victoria Wright on 5 July 1924 (born on 5 April 1905) at St Mark's Church, Mansfield, in the Basford registration district. He suffered from asthma. He worked as an agent for the Prudential. In 1939 the couple were living at 35 Newlands Estate, Forest Town, Mansfield, Notts. Bertie died in Hastings on 15 July 1961.
5.1 PETER EDWARD THOMAS CIRKET (1933-), born on 22 April 1933. He became a submariner. He was best man at his cousin Kenneth's wedding in 1953. He married Rita E T Ireton at St Leonards on Sea Methodist Church on 5 November 1955. Their children were:
5.1.1 ADRIAN CIRKET (1956-), born on 26 October 1956.
5.1.2 BERTIE CIRKET (1958-), born on 16 December 1958.
5.1.3 PETER CIRKET (1961-), born on 17 November 1961.