Willie Tony Clarke
1892-1955
Willie Tony Clarke1892-1955 |
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This directory contains information and documents about Kate and Anthony Clarke's 6th child Willie Tony, and his family. This is the line of both Roger Clarke and Anne Kratzmann, and is fairly prolific; so there's quite a lot in this branch of the site.
For details of Kate's life, see her own directory.
For details of Kate’s very interesting first husband Anthony, including his families with other wives, see the AJCheeper/Clarke directory.
Willie Tony was born on 8 Mar 1892, while the family was at 282 Ivydale Road, Brockley Lewisham (S. London). His birth certificate shows his father as Anthony Clarke, book publisher, and his mother as Kate Clarke.
He appears in the April 1901 census as Willie T., son, 9, born Nunhead (an adjacent suburb to Lewisham).
The family has no knowledge of Willie Tony's location between 1901 and 1915. We assume he was with his mother in South London until about 14 years of age, i.e. 1906. His father, by then aged 68, had abandoned his mother sometime around 1904, leaving multiple young mouths to feed.
We suspect he may have enlisted about 1908. The earliest information anyone ever seems to have had of Willie Tony is in 1915, at age 23, by which stage he's an NCO in the Hampshire Regiment. It remains a mystery as to how a London-born man with no connections with Hampshire (and probably none even with his mother's original home in Dorset) came to be in the Hampshire Regiment. Although of course the army would have offered reliable accommodation, food and income to someone coming from his desperate financial background. There are rumours of some colour in his youth and early adulthood. His sister-in-law, Freda, was never a fan of his, that much was clear.
What we do know is that, in 1915-16, Willie Tony was billeted on George Henry (Harry) Haskins in Romsey (between Winchester and Southampton). That resulted in an introduction to Harry's younger brother Frederic, in Portsmouth. There Willie Tony met Ethel Mary (Queenie).
Several members of the family have said, independently, that Willie Tony had been in the Royal Hampshire Regiment, and that he used to go to reunions in Winchester. The badge visible in his wedding photo bears a strong resemblance to that of the Hampshire Regiment. And the birth certificate for his first child shows his occupation as 'Sergeant, 3rd Hants Regiment'.There used to be a considerable amount of inconsistency on the various web-sites that describe the Regiment; but the quality has been improving. Here is a list of the battalions. What it says about the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, extant 1881-1953, is consistent with all of the little we know: a depot/training unit that remained in the UK throughout WWI, in Winchester in August 1914, and from January 1915 to the end of the War in Gosport as party of Portsmouth Garrison. (Willie Tony is known to have had a liaison in Gosport, because he was supporting a child there c. 1918). Here's a short history of the Regiment. The Regimental Museum in Winchester may help overcome some of the confusions if and when any of us ever get there.
We've so far been unable to find out where he served, because his records in military archives have eluded us. A search of the medal records list disclosed only one near-match in the Hampshire Regiment, a Serjeant William <no second name> Clarke, no. 6873, but he appeared to have been in India for extended periods. If all of Willie Tony's service was in the 3rd Battalion, then he may have stayed in England for the duration of WWI. This possibility seems more likely in that his medal box, held by his eldest son Fred and now May, in 2005 contained only a World War I Star (but no British War Medal or Victory Medal).
Willie Tony was engaged to Ethel Mary (Queenie) in 1916. The engagement photo shows him in a Sergeant's uniform.
He married Ethel Mary (Queenie) Haskins on 19 May 1917, in St Bartholemew’s, Portsea. Queenie's Haskins and Roberts lines have been well-documented by Peter Haskins and John Miller.
The marriage certificate (left, right) shows him as being 24 (although he was already 25), a bachelor and a soldier. His father is shown as Thony Clarke, commercial traveller, and there is no mention of him being deceased. (He actually died the following year, but they had very likely been out of contact since as long ago as 1904). In the only wedding photo we have, Willie Tony again wore a sergeant's uniform.
Ethel Mary is shown as 20, spinster, and her father as Frederic Haskins, grocer. Both were shown as residing at 4 Cleveland Road. The witnesses were Queenie's sister K.C. Haskins (Kathleen) and F.W. Herridge.
Queenie had worked at Whitcombe & Whitcombe, grocers, but of course gave that up when she married, and didn't work again outside the home. Tony is sure that Willie Tony worked at Whitcombes after he left the Army, possibly from as early as 1918, and until the Depression forced him out of work about 1929-30. (We've speculated that he may have enlisted in 1908 for 10 years, and been an early release following the end of the War. It would have been dangerous to leave before mid-1918. Trench warfare was still killing vast numbers of men as late as July 1918, and if he'd finished a regular army contract he could have been conscripted straight back in, and gone straight to the front lines).
Apart from a brief period in 1917-18, Willie Tony and Queenie stayed with her parents at 4 Cleveland Rd Southsea following the completion of his contract with the army (or, if he was a conscript, from his demobilisation), so perhaps from 1918 until 1930.
Willie Tony and Queenie had five children. The Cleveland Rd house was more than full, with two couples and by 1930 children aged 13, 11, 8 and 4. In this photo, taken in 2005, 4 Cleveland Road is the house with the cream render to the left of the tree. It was unrendered in the times of the Haskins and Clarkes.
From 1930, they lived at 69 Hayling Avenue Southsea. At that stage, he was 38 and Queenie 33. He was there until his death in 1955 (at 63) and Queenie until hers in 1968 (at 71). This photo of all five children was taken in about 1937.
Like a lot of other people, Willie Tony was out of work for a considerable period during the Depression, through the first half of the 1930s, at a time when he had a family of four small children. Fred and Tony both went out to work at the first opportunity, c. 1931 and 1933, to help support the family.
Willie Tony worked in the Royal Navy Dockyards, I think from the mid-late 1930s until some time after the War, possibly as late as 1950. During the War, Willie Tony was also a Captain in the Home Guard. (Fred also worked at the Dockyards from before the War until he emigrated to Australia in 1947).
Willie Tony had always understood that that was merely the name used within the family, and that his formal name was William Anthony. When he went to arrange his army pension (or to collect some insurance, I'm not sure which), he was very surprised to discover that his birth certificate was in the name Willie Tony. He had to fill out an affidavit dated 22 August 1953, to swear that he was himself .
Willie Tony suffered bladder cancer around 1950, in his late 50s. He was in remission for a time, but a second round took him out (possibly with the unwitting assistance of a naughty 5-year-old grandson who made him run after a bus, resulting in a fall in the gutter). He died on 21 April 1955, at 63, at St Mary's Hospital, Milton. His death certificate shows his occupation as foreman's writer.
Queenie continued to live at Hayling Avenue, as did Enid. Queenie passed away on 13 May 1968, at 71, also of cancer. Her death certificate shows the informant as E.M. Clarke, her daughter Enid.
Willie Tony and Queenie had 5 children and 9 grandchildren, all of whom were born during Queenie 's lifetime and all but one during Willie Tony's (although two were born in Australia, and didn't return to England during their grandparents' lifetimes). The grandchildren comprise 3 Smiths in England, and 6 Clarkes in Australia.
They also have 24 great-grandchildren (the first couple born in Australia shortly before Queenie passed on). They comprise 8 in England (1 Walker, 4 Smiths and 3 Sievwrights), and 16 in Australia (in Fred's line, 8 Clarkes and 4 Kratzmanns; and in Tony's line, 2 Clarkes and 2 Waters).
In May 2008, there were 23 great-great-grandchildren – 21 through Fred (3 Clarkes, 3 Collins, 1 vanderLeest, 5 Kratzmann, 4 Sippel, 3 Dennien, 1 Tribe, 1 Kingston), 0 through Tony and 2 through Kath (1 Walker, 1 Sievwright)
Each of the lines is intended to have their own web-page shortly. For now, this section provides the basics.
01 - Frederick William Clarke16 Oct 1917 - 30 Jan 2004 |
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Fred was born when the family was at 4 Cleveland Road. He was a cabinet-maker. He was married in 1939 to Mabel (May) De Prose. He worked in the Royal Navy Dockyards during WWII. They migrated to Kingaroy in South Queensland in 1947. They later moved to Maryborough, Bundaberg and back to Maryborough. Fred passed away at 86.
Fred and May have 4 children, 12 grandchildren, and (in Oct 2005) 15 great-grandchildren:
Further details are in this rough family tree for Anne Clarke-Kratzmann, and rough family tree for Michael, Paul and Peter Clarke.
[The lists and counts and family-trees have developed further, and an up-to-date set is intended for release in mid-2008]
02 - Edward Anthony (Tony) Clarkeb. 29 Dec 1919 |
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Tony was born when the family was at 4 Cleveland Road. Briefly, he was apprenticed to a grocer in the 1930s, but spent WWII get chased out of France, Greece, Crete and (almost) North Africa. He was married in 1948 to Irene (Rene) Gladys Whiteman. They migrated to Kingaroy in South Queensland in 1951 (where his elder brother Fred was already settled in), returned to England 1954-56 for because Rene's parents were ailing, and re-migrated in 1956, this time to Bundaberg. They later moved to Sydney (1967-85) and on retirement to Macarthur (50km south of Sydney), and then to Camden a further 20km south-west. Rene passed away in 2004, at 78. Here are details of Tony's story, and of Rene's story.
Tony and Rene have 2 children, and 4 grandchildren:
Further details are in this rough family tree.
03 - Enid Clarke10 Jan 1922 – 29 April 2007 |
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Enid was born when the family was at 4 Cleveland Road. She was in the ATS during the War, and worked in the Coop. She lived with Willie Tony and Queenie at 69 Hayling Ave. from 1930, and stayed there with Queenie until her death in 1968. Enid then moved in with her long-time friend Pat Saunders, in Eastney, and c. 1990 moved within Eastney to a retirement village. She died at the age of 85.
04 - Kathleen Clarke-Smithb. 10 May 1926 |
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Kath was born when the family was at 4 Cleveland Road. She was married to Alan Smith in 1945. Alan was a naval shipwright, later a nurse, and they lived in Weymouth, Cyprus and Fareham. Alan passed away in 2001. Kath has since moved back into Portsmouth, most recently Copnor.
Alan and Kath have 3 children, 8 grandchildren and (in Oct 2005) 1 great-grandchild:
Further details are in this rough family tree.
05 - Kenneth (Ken) Clarkeb. 8 May 1935 |
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Ken was born when the family was at 69 Hayling Avenue. He worked in the Post Office. He was married in 1960 to Rhoda Ireland. They spent a lot of time ballroom-dancing. They live in Copnor.
This a page within Roger Clarke's Family Web-Site
Contact: Roger Clarke and/or Anne Kratzmann
Created: 8 October 2005; Last Amended: 7 May 2008 rev. 30 August 2008
