We first meet Jack Canham in a newspaper report published in November 1934.
The report concerns the court case of Great Ellingham farmer Basil Jude. Jude’s crime is selling ‘cheap milk to the poor’. He found himself in trouble with the Milk Marketing Board for selling his milk at tuppence a pint – the price being less than the price set by the Board.
The newspaper report includes the names of a few of the impoverished villagers to whom Basil Jude supplied his milk. One such person is Jack Canham.
War Service
Jude refers to Jack Canham as a ‘disabled ex-service man who was on war service from January 1915 to March 1919’.
No Work for 6½ Years
Basil Jude also says of Jack Canham
“He has done no work for six and a half years. He lives with his wife and fourteen-year-old son in a cottage for which he pays a rent of 2s 8d a week. He has a disability pension of ten shillings a week. He gets another ten shillings from his sick club. The boy earns twelve shillings a week at a factory of which the lad gives up ten shillings for his keep. A total of 30s a week to keep a family of three.”
Besthorpe Born
According to various census returns, Jack Canham was born in the village of Besthorpe around 1891.
1901 census
The 1901 census captures 10 year old Jack with his parents, John and Clara Canham, in Silver Street, Besthorpe. Jack is one of four children with John and Clara Canham. 18 year old Sidney Carpenter (likely born before John Canham married Clara Carpenter), 11 year old Jessie Canham, 10 year old Jack and 5 year old Effie Canham. Jack’s father is working as an agricultural labourer.
1911 United Service Club
Ten years’ later, Jack Canham is in London.
The 1911 census captures 20 year old Jack Canham (said to have been born in Attleborough), working and living at the United Service Club in Pall Mall which is in the parish of Westminster St James. Jack is one of 17 all male waiters at the gentleman’s club.
2nd London Regiment
On the 14th July, 1915, and at the age of 25, Jack Canham enlists for war service with the 2nd London Regiment. He is then living at 486 Wharncliff Gardens which, I believe, is in Westminster. However his military service (which did not include overseas), was relatively short. He was discharged on the 14th February, 1916, due to sickness.
In 1917, Jack is living at 8 Chapel Street, Edgware Road, London.
Jack marries Hilda
On the 26th October, 1918, as John Francis Canham, Jack marries Hilda Kate Lilley in the Parish Church of Clacton St Paul, Essex.
Great Ellingham
At some point after the marriage, Jack and his Essex born wife come to Great Ellingham. Their son, John Desmond, was born in the village during the latter part of 1919. John Desmond was baptised in St James’s Church on the 29th February, 1920. The baptism record provides Jack’s occupation as a chauffeur.
The family are living in Bow Street.
‘Sunnymeade’ at the corner of Town Green with Penhill Road.
Sunnymeade, Town Green
However, by 1921, Jack and Hilda have moved to Town Green.
Although the 1921 census does not specifically state where the couple are living in the village, I am confident that they are living at ‘Sunnymeade’, which is at the corner of Town Green with Penhill Road.
The census tells us that 31 year old Jack Canham is a postman working for the G.P.O. in Great Ellingham. Jack’s wife Hilda is now 29 and their young son, John Desmond, is just eighteen months. Jack and Hilda are being visited by Hilda’s sister, 31 year old Amelia Maud Allen and her 32 year old husband Walter Joseph Virgo Allen. They have two children. 6 year old Iris Isobel Allen and one year old Thomas Virgo Allen.
1939 Register
The 1939 England & Wales Register finds Hilda still in Town Green. For some reason, Jack Canham is not listed with his wife. However, Jack is listed with Hilda on the 1942 Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Records.
Jack Canham died on the 2nd November 1948 whilst still living at Sunnymeade. He was buried in the churchyard at St James’s Church on the 6th November. Hilda Canham died in 1963.
Conclusion
Jack Canham was only in his early forties when he is mentioned in the newspaper report concerning Basil Jude.
The report suggests that life for the Canhams was difficult. Jack Canham was out of work and the family of three were living on 30 shillings a week which was made up of Jack’s disability pension of 10 shillings, another 10 shillings from his ‘sick club’ and a contribution of 10 shillings from his 14 year old son’s wages. As a rough guide (according to AI), a family of three then needed 35 to 40 shillings a week to cover basic ‘human needs’.
Sick Club
I do not know the name of the ‘sick club’ which is paying Jack Canham 10 shillings a week. It may be linked to the village Men’s Club , the Ancient Order of the Foresters, or another of the benevolent clubs in the village. In 1876, a Beneficent Club is formed by some of the members of the Baptist Church.
Silver War Badge
The report also says that Jack Canham was on war service from 1915 to 1919. However, service records show that he was discharged in 1916 due to ‘illness’. He was subsequently awarded a Silver War Badge. This is usually given to those servicemen who had been honourably discharged from military service in WWI by reason of wounds, sickness or age.
Asthma
Along with coronary thrombosis, asthma was a contributory factor in Jack Canham’s relatively early death at the age of 58 in 1948. It is quite possible that Jack Canham had lived with asthma for many years, and the condition may well have led to his early discharge from military service.
Employment
In the early 1930s, Jack is in a period of unemployment. However, at the time of his death, he is working as a clerk for the Ministry of Transport.
I wonder whether at the time of the 1939 England & Wales Register, Jack is already working for the Ministry of Transport in London or elsewhere, leaving Hilda in rural Great Ellingham. However, this is no more than a guess. Jack is listed with Hilda in Town Green on the 1942 Invasion Committee Records.
Nonetheless, it does seem that after the early 1930s, Jack Canham found work and the couple’s financial situation improved.
Sources:
1901 census RG13/1867/56
1911 census RG14/505/50
1921 census RG15/9790, ED4, Sch.1
1939 England & Wales Register
1942 Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Records
1939 England & Wales Register. Hilda Kate Canham. The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/6590HAncestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Draper, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018.
26 October 1918 Marriage Clacton St Paul Jack Canham & Hilda Kate Lilley. Essex Record Office; Chelmsford, Essex, England; Essex Church of England Parish Registers Ancestry.com. Essex, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1937 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019. Original data: Essex Church of England Parish Registers, Essex County Council, Chelmsford, Essex, England.
UK British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920. Jack Canham. The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; War Office: Soldiers’ Documents from Pension Claims, First World War (Microfilm Copies and Medical Cards); Reference: WO364; Piece: 608Ancestry.com. UK, British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Original data: The National Archives of the UK (TNA).
UK Silver War Badge Records 1914-1920. Jack Canham. The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; War Office and Air Ministry: Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War. Silver War Badge. RG WO 329, 2958–3255; Reference: 329. Ancestry.com. UK, Silver War Badge Records, 1914-1920 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data: War Office and Air Ministry: Service Medal and Award Rolls, First World War. Silver War Badge. RG WO 329, 2958–3255. The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, England.
5 February 1949. Jack Canham. England & Wales Probate Calendar (Index of Wills & Administrations) 1858-1995. Principal Probate Registry; London, England; Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England
Great Ellingham Parish Registers. Norfolk Record Office. PD 609. Also available www.familysearch.org
GRO Index. Also available FreeBMD website
Daily Express 29th November, 1934. Viewed via The British Newspaper Archive
Electoral registers 1832-1932 Image. Constituency in full: Parliamentary County of Norfolk, Southern Division Constituency: P C of Norfolk, Southern Division Register type: Parliamentary County Polling district or place: Great Ellingham County: Norfolk Country: England Archive: The British Library. Also available www.familysearch.org and FindMyPast website
Jack Canham. 1948. Death Registration Image. GRO
1942 Great Ellingham Invasion Committee Records. Sue Fay