Biography

Thomas Arthur Carr's name appears on the 1945 Service List of the Electoral Roll for Collingham, annotated with a D indicating that he had been recently discharged from the services. However details of his service ae not provided, and, to date, we have not been able to identify what service he gave in the Second World War. As more records are released we hope to be able to give a fuller picture.

Family background

Thomas Arthur Carr was born on the 29th December 1910, the son of Joseph Carr (sometimes listed as Joseph Kellett Carr), a French Polisher, from Leeds, and his wife, Eliza Jane Carr (nee Wright) from Holham, Yorkshire. A few months later, on census day 1911, the family were living at 19 Cottingham Avenue, Beverley Road, Hull. Joseph and Eliza Jane had married about a year previously, on the 1st January 1910, at St. Luke's Church in Hull.

In the 1910s, Joseph and Eliza Jane had two further children, Annie Elizabeth (1912-1980) and Charles Joseph (1913-1990), both born in Beverley. After the 1911 census, it becomes much harder to find Joseph, Eliza Jane and family, but we believe we have found Thomas Arthur Carr in the 1921 census. He is aged 11 and is living with his widowed aunt, Julia Cousins, at 4 Walker Gate, Beverley. Thomas is aged 11 years and is listed as Tommy Carr. The Cousins family was Julia Cousins, aged 34 years 4 months from Hotham, Yorks; her son and daughter Arthur Cousins and Greta Cousins, aged 2 and 11, respectively; and John Herbert Wright, Julia's brother, who was 48 years old and was a farm labourer. Interestingly, as well as 'Tommy' living with his aunt, we also find 'Charlie' present in the household, aged 7, and this is almost certainly Charles Joseph Carr, Thomas Arthur Carr's brother. We have been unable to find Thomas' parents on the 1921 census.

The mystery of Thomas' parents whereabouts in 1921, is made slightly clearer by a newspaper article of 20th June 1922:

Thus Joseph and Eliza separated and Thomas and Charles lived with their father, while Annie Elizabeth, their sister, lived with her mother.

We next think we find Joseph in the 1925 electoral roll for Scarcroft. Registered at Lake Cottage, Scarcroft, are a Joseph Carr and an Elsie Carr. Joseph and Elsie can be traced on the electoral rolls at Lake Cottage, Scarcroft in 1915 and 1926, and then at Church Street, Boston Spa from 1927 to 1933. But who was Elsie, and why do we think this is Joseph Carr, the father of Thomas Arthur Carr?

The second of these questions is easier to answer - Thomas Arthur Carr was born in December 1910 and thus would pass his 21st birthday at the end of 1932, and would become eligible to vote and be on the electoral roll, and, from 1932 to 1934, Joseph and Elsie Carr's names are joined on the roll at Church Street, Boston Spa, by the name of Thomas Arthur Carr.

The other question - of who Elsie Carr was - is harder to answer. Joseph had separated from his wife in 1922, but we can find no record of his re-marrying. Several family history sources on the web suggest that this could be Elsie Chadwick, but we can find no record of Joseph marrying and cannot confirm who Elsie was. However Joseph and Elsie's names appear together on electoral rolls for a number of years.

We continue to find Thomas Arthur Carr registered on electoral rolls with Joseph and Elsie in 1931, 1933 and 1933, living at Church Street, Boston Spa. In 1934, their names are joined by Thomas' brother's name, Charles Joseph Carr, at Church Street. However a new chapter for Thomas opens in 1935, when he married and moved from Boston Spa.

In summer 1935, Thomas Arthur Carr married Margaret Evelyn Wilkinson, and they moved to 3 Elmwood Terrace, Collingham, marking the start of Thomas' association with Collingham. A year later, Thomas and Margaret had moved to 2, Providence Place, Collingham, and they can be found at that address on the electoral rolls from 1936 to 1939. When the 1939 National Registration took place Thomas and Margaret were registered at Providence Place, Collingham. Thomas was described as being a poster writer, while Margaret was a housewife. There are two redacted records in the National Register in 2023, which could be spaced for the names of children of Thomas and Margaret, or might be lodgers. The household was completed by Sarah A Johnson who was a widow.

Service record

Thomas Arthur Carr was aged 28 when war broke out and would therefore have been liable for military service. His listing on the 1945 electoral roll on the Service List, clearly shows that he had served in the war, but, as yet, we have not been able to identify what his service was.

After the war

After Thomas' name appears on the 1945 Collingham electoral roll, we have not found definite traces of him after the war.

Biography last updated 24 November 2023 17:16:03.