Introduction

Olga Pansey Dutton was born in 1912 in Staffordshire and her mother was Ethel Sarah Ridler-Dutton.  That much the family knew.  What no one knew was who her father was.   This is the story of how we found out.

Ethel's Background

Ethel was born in 1886 in Eastcombe, Gloucestershire, to Richard Ridler-Dutton and his wife Alice (nee Blackwell).  Ethel, then aged 5, and her family are listed in the 1891 census living at No 1 Laburnum Cottage in Eastcombe in the parish of Bisley.  By 2015 the cottage must still have been in existence because the owners submitted plans to add a timber storage shed!  In fact in 2019 Steve and Lynette got to visit Eastcombe and were given a tour of the cottage by its present owner.

Ethel's family had lived in Eastcombe for several years.  Fifteen years before her birth the 1871 census shows that her grandfather Thomas Ridler-Dutton was a grocer and lived in the grocery in Eastcombe. Ten years later, the 1881 census shows Thomas is now a coal-merchant and Innkeeper at the Lamb Inn, Eastcombe - just 200 yards from Laburnum Cottage. When Thomas died in 1898 he left nearly £2000 having owned cottages, probably including Laburnum Cottages, as well as the Lamb (around £1 million in today's money) to Augustus Randall, his daughter Charlotte's husband.  

Ethel's father Richard was also from Eastcombe and was living with his parents at the Grocers and the pub in 1871 and 1881 respectively. Richard scratched his name into the window of the pub with his diamond ring. His signature can still be seen today. He must have moved from the Lamb Inn to Laburnum Cottages some time between 1881 and 1891, maybe when he married Alice Blackwell in 1883, so chances are that Ethel was born at Laburnum Cottages, if not then The Lamb.

Richard was a painter, plumber and glazier.  Through the 1890s Richard moved the family to Wales, first to Pontypridd and then to Trealaw where, according to family folklore, he worked on Church stained glass windows.  
By the 1901 census Alice and youngest son Frank had moved to Hanley, Staffs where Alice was a housekeeper for a John Walley whilst Richard and oldest son Stanley stayed in Wales lodging with his brother-in-law Frank Blackwell. That year Ethel too, at the age of 14, had moved to Staffs where she was working as a sevant for a Bernard and May Devany in 63 Waterloo Road, Burslem, Staffordhire. Bernard Devany, originally from Ireland, was a Hay and Straw dealer.

Ethel's youngest sister Irene Alice Walley Dutton was born in 1903 in Hanley Staffordshire.  Since Richard Ridler-Dutton was still in Wales it's possible, though not certain, that John Walley was the father;  there's no entry on Irene Alice's birth certificate for her father.  (Ethel's immediate family and ancestors.)

Absalom's Early Life

Absalom Hackney was born in August 1891 in Bridge Street, Silverdale, Newcastle, Staffordshire. His parents were Edward and Rebecca Hackney, Edward was a coal miner.  Absalom, normally called Abe for short,  was named after his grandfather, his father's father who was also Absalom Hackney.  Both his father and grandfather were from Burslem, Staffordshire and his mother from Silverdale, Staffordshire.  Abe's Family Tree is traced back to 1600 - his 7th Great Grandparents.

At the time of his birth Abe had 2 older brothers and 1 sister and he'd go on to have another 4 younger siblings making a total of 8 children, the youngest and oldest being girls, the other 6 all boys.  

By 1901 the family were living at 139 Rosemary Street, Silverdale with both parents and 7 children being listed in the 1901 census.  10 years later in 1911, with Abe now aged 20 the family are living at 24 Chapel Street, Knutton, Staffs. By this time the 3 oldest children had left home, leaving Abe the oldest with his parents and 4 younger siblings as shown in the 1911 census.  Abe was now working as a coal miner whilst his father was a labourer in a tile manufacturer.

How Ethel Met Abe and Olga's Birth

Through a good part of the 1900's Ethel and Abe and their families lived within a few miles of each other in and around Newcastle under Lyme in Staffordshire.  It's quite possible they met sometime during this period when Ethel was in her late teens or early 20's and Abe was in his mid to late teens.

By 1911, however, Ethel had moved away from the area to Ashton U Lyne where she was in service in Brook House, Taunton, Ashton U Lyne for Joseph and Clara Ann Boughton.  Joseph owned a Hatter and Men's Clothing shop as shown in the 1911 census.  Ashton U Lyne is some 40 miles north of where Abe was living in Knutton which is quite some distance. 

Although Ethel had left the area her mother and younger siblings remained in Newcastle. In  1909 Ethel's father Richard Ridler Dutton had died and in 1911 her mother Alice was living in Staffordshire at 6 Ashley Square, off Penkhull Street, Newcastle Under Lyme, just a mile from the Hackneys.  (Penkhull Street was later renamed High Street.)  Ethel's younger brothers Oswyn and Frank and her sister (Irene) Alice were living with their mother at that time as shown in the 1911 census on April 2nd.  

If they didn't already know each other, what would almost certainly have brought Abe and Ethel together though was the marraige in April 1911 of Ethel's mother Alice to Abe's Uncle, Caleb Baggaley (sometimes spelt Bagguley) in Wolstanton, Staff.  Caleb was the brother of Abe's mother Rebecca.  In the 1911 census, just before his marraige, Caleb, a widower, was living with his nephew John Stone in 16 Chapel Street just 4 doors up the road from Hackneys! 

At the time of her mother's marraige to Caleb, Ethel would have been 25, some 5 years older than Abe who was 20.  Because of the marraige, Abe and Ethel were now related by marraige as step-cousins.

In any case, whatever the exact circumstances of their meeting, by October 1911, some 6 months after her mother's wedding, Ethel must have been expecting.  The birth certificate shows her daughter, Olga Pansy Dutton was born at 8 Chapel Street in the district of Wolstanton, Staffordshire on July 9th 1912.  It's likely that after their wedding Ethel and Caleb had gone to live at 8 Chapel Street, 4 doors up the road from where he was previously living and 8 doors up the road from the Hackneys and that  Ethel had left her job and went to live with them before and after Olga was born.

How We Know Absalom was Olga's Father

Although it looks highly likely that Ethel and Abe knew each other that's no proof he was Olga's father of course.  

This proof comes from his army records in WWI.  This includes an army document detailing the contents of the court order dated 12th August 1912  for Abe to pay Ethel Sarah Dutton the sum of 4 shillings a week maintenence for the support of his child born in July 1912. In addition there is another army document dated 7th October 1915 outlining the deduction in pay of 4d a day from Abe's wages which rises to 7d a day if he got promoted to Sergent!  The wording is a little blunt but there can be no doubt that Olga was Abe's daughter.

The typical daily pay for a private in the British Army during WWI was around 1 shilling so some 1/3rd of Abe's pay was taken to support Olga and this was still less than the 4 shillings a week the court ordered which would have been well over half his pay as a soldier.

After Olga's Birth

Clearly, Abe and Ethel did not continue their relationship after Olga's birth and 3.5 years later on 1st January 1916 Abe got married to Maria Scott (aka Marian and Mariah).  Abe and Maria were married for 57 years had 8 children between them, 3 daughters and 5 sons born between 1917 and the 1930's.  These would have been half-brothers and sister to Olga.  Though we don't know whether she knew them or even knew of them.  Certainly, none of the Hackney family apart from Abe himself were aware of Ethel and Olga until the war records were found over 100 years later. 

One of Abe's sons,  their oldest son Sidney, was killed in action in 1944 in Caen, Northern France during WW11. Whilst fighting with 2/6th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment. Abe & Marion's Decendants.

Details of Abe's duties in the army and other matters are shown in further army documents.  It's shown he was 5 ft 9 1/4 inches and had dark brown hair. He joined the army in September 1915 and during the war there were periods when he was released for work in the Tyler and Freeman munitions factory.  After the war Abe got a job as an electrician at a munitions factory. A brilliant article describing Abe's electronic skills featured in the local paper in 1966 celebrating their golden wedding.

By 1939 the census showed that Abe and Marion and their 8 children were living at 37 Harper Avenue and Absalom was employed as a Steel Works Electrician.  Living next door to the Hackneys at number 39 were Frederick and Alice Millward and their  4 children,  John, Mary, Sheila and Gladys.  Abe's son Clifford would go on to marry Shiela and have two children, Jacqueline and Keith. Jacqueline and Keith are thus Abe's grandhildren and are  half-cousins to Barbara, Bernard, David, Bob and Danny. By age though they are closer to, and slightly younger than, Abe's first great-grandchild Lynette.

Abe died on 18th September 1973 at the age of 82 at Bucknall Hospital, Bucknall, Staffordshire from Stomach Cancer.  His wife Maria died just 3 weeks later on 8th October 1973, also at Bucknall Hospital.