Family folklore records the visit to Brighton of (still unidentified) relatives of Patrick ahead of his proposed wedding to Edith in 1920. The story is that they endeavoured to ensure that Patrick’s bride-to-be would convert to Catholicism and that subsequent children would be raised as Catholics. The exact nature of Patrick’s response is not known.…
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A good theory – while it lasted
First published in 1687, in Latin, the ideas contained within ‘Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica’ are better known as Newton’s Laws of Motion. These laws work extremely well in most cases. Over time, certain minor discrepancies began to be noticed. For example, the orbit of Mercury does not quite accord with the theory. Einstein came up…
The quick and the dead (and the living)
I have been unable to find any evidence that there was a formal training scheme to help disabled ex-servicemen become hairdressers. The most usual route into the profession was to be trained by a skilled man. I have a picture of Patrick standing outside his place of work. The Gloster Toilet Saloon was situated at…
Labourer to hairdresser
The fact that Patrick is missing from the 1921 census (see The Irish Pimpernel) is doubly frustrating due to the amount of information recorded on that occasion. The occupation and place of employment are both part of the census return. For example, his brother-in-law Ernest Delves worked as a Suction Gas Plant Attendant at John…
From Dewsbury to Brighton
Following my visit to the back-to-Backs in Birmingham, I started to think about Patrick’s accommodation in both Dewsbury and Brighton either side of the First World War. In 1911, Patrick, following eight years’ service in the Army, was living at 20 Elmwood St, Dewsbury. He shared the house with his widowed sister Mary Muldoon and…
The Irish Pimpernel
I seem to have mislaid my grandfather. He has disappeared, again. I started my search for Patrick Stanley in 2006. The lack of census returns for Ireland in 1891 was a known problem. I looked for him in both Ireland and England on the 1901 census (taken 31st March) without success. (I rechecked earlier to…
More heartbreak for Patrick (2)
There is a major unanswered question. When did Leslie Dunn first meet his future wife? He married Kathleen Stanley, my aunt, in Brighton Registry Office on 12th May 1944. Their daughter was born on 23rd November, six and a half months later. She must have conceived in the middle of February 1944. This is only…
A tale of two squadrons
Patrick’s eldest son, William, served on 142 Squadron in the first five months of 1942. In that period, the Squadron launched 256 sorties and lost 10 aircraft, a loss rate of 4%. This loss rate gives a crew a 50% chance of surviving beyond their 17th mission. From accounts that I have read, the majority…
More heartbreak for Patrick
I have already made a brief reference to Patrick’s son-in-law Ernest Leslie Dunn. (see VE Day: Patrick’s perspective) The days leading up to Remembrance Sunday made me investigate his story in more detail. The service records always refer to him as Leslie Dunn. There is no one left that can tell me whether he was…
Gassed
My Father was sure that Patrick came back from the Front on a stretcher three times. I can only find hard evidence of two occasions. The first time was in October 1914. He arrived back in England on 16th October. I have found no records that contain any details of his injuries. He was taken…