Joseph Brown

Joe was born 1913 in Chorley, Lancashire. Auntie Violet (December 2001) takes up the story.

"His mother was an Irish Catholic and his Dad a miner. Tragically Joe found his mother dead in the bath when he was 6 years old. According to Joe his Dad was pretty useless as a parent and Millie the eldest of the children brought the rest of them up. Joe had five sisters and a brother, although two of the girls died in infancy. All her life Millie was a kind hardworking woman, she also married a miner but they didn't have any family, she'd probably had enough of children by then. She died about 20 years ago and Bill her husband the following year.

Joe did 7 years training as a fitter in Chorley and eventually arrived at ICI Hillhouse in Thornton. When war broke out he went to join the RAF and passed the medical but when they found he was working at the ICI they sent him back saying he was needed there, so that's where he was during the war.

Joe's two younger sisters were both Wrens during the War. They came on leave to Blackpool once when Joe was living there and he took them about and showed them the sights. I have a letter from Clare thanking him for a lovely time. That is the last he heard from either of them, we later found out they had both married Naval Officers. Millie didn't hear from them either, hard on her after bringing them up. The story went that they had told their husbands they had no living relatives. Joe's younger brother Harry just walked out one day and was never heard from him again." Joe pictured in 1957 with Violet and eldest daughter Olwen at their Hambleton cottage. BACK TO STEPHEN'S GENEALOGICAL PROFILE BACK TO VIOLET BROWN'S PAGE