My Genealogy Home Page:Information about Wallace Perry
Wallace Perry (b. 05 Dec 1906, d. 30 Dec 1983)
Notes for Wallace Perry:
Wallace had an unhappy childhood after the loss of his mother and then his brother, and he and Doris became very close in the face of adversity. When he left school he got a job in a cycle shop, which he enjoyed and was happy there, he added various extras to his own bike whilst working there. Unfortunately he ommited to ask permission and to pay for them.
His father was informed of the theft Wallace*s boss was expecting his father to pay for the items, but Herbert was a strict man and a Baptist lay Preacher, and Wallace attended the Sunday childrens church meetings so justice had to be seen to be done. Wallace had to be punished, the police were called and he was charged with theft and locked up in the cellsovernight.The following morning Herbert paid for the goods and Wallace was released, but his father had arranged a form of "community service" for him as a further punishment, and Wallace was shipped to the Isle of White to spend some time with Herberts sister Nellie, who was arightious God fearing woman. and her family.It was here that he met the Rev Nicholls, a friend of the family whom they hope would show him the error of his ways. However, this was not the punishment his father had envisaged! Wallace enjoyed life with auntie Nellie, the Rev Nicholas, the church work and particularly being away from home.
On his return from the Isle Of White, and after a particularly nasty row with his stepmother, Wallace was reluctant to live in the family home, and his aunt Minnie Louise, took him in and treated him as her own. He was happy with this arrangement,and he and his cousin Frank were more like brothers than cousins being of similar ages.Through all this Wallace and his father remained very close as of course did Doris. Perhapssurprisingly Wallace and Doris and their half sister Nena were also very close, which caused another rift in the family, with Nena falling out with her mother for a while. In the ensuing years it was Nena who always strived to keep the family together and in touch with each other, something she feels may have arisen out of the family tribulations, and also something she has been successful at to her great credit.
Circumstances dictated that it was not possible for Wallace to return to workng in the cycle shop and his father who was by then a manager at terrys Springs factory was instrumental in securing an apprenticship there for him. Although the pay was less, the prospects were better than the cycle shop, and Wallace enjoyed the work. he joined the works fire brigade and was often seen iin the local carnival procession with the rest of the brigade in their smart uniforms and highly polished brass helmets.
Wallace met Constance Winifred Hartnells and begancourting her , but Win as she was known was a good looking blonde, blue eyed, good time girl,and when wallace not only refused to go dancing with her, he refused to learn to dance(his Baptist upbringing led him to believe it was a sin) she soon dropped him for someone with aless strict outlook.
As it happened Win*s eldest sister Norah Mayworked at Terry*s Springs, but in a dirrent part of the works to Wallace, but having met him when Win brought him to their home, she noticed him around the factory and he noticed her. Soon they were going out together.
It is worth mentioning at this point that further recomended reading would be "Norah May" a bookby her eldest son Ivor Perry which explores her background in depth and in which Norah May tells her own story and shares her memories with the reader.
Wallace and Norah were married on the Bank Holiday August 6th 1928 at the Baptist chapel that Wallace*s familyattended. Their Honeymoon was the rest of the day spent at Reddith Horse Fair, 9 months and 2 weeks later their son Ivor was born on May 20th1929, the couple were now a proper family, but they had to work to earn a living, Wallace was still working at Terry*s, now a fully qualified Tool maker, but one day he heard of a business for sale in a nearby village called Inkberrow. His father guarateed a loan at the bank and a business , a petrol station and shop with ajoining house was purchased. Not long after they had moved in with Wallace continuing to work at Terry*s and Norah looking after the garage business their son Kenneth was born on January 24th 1934. Still the living wasn*t easy. But Wallace was always working towards better things.
Wallace*s father Herbert died in 1937 and the bank foreclosed on the loan he had guaranteed. adding a further financial burden to the family Shortly afterwards a neighbour accused Wallace of letting Petrol contaminate his well but after many tests on the well no petrol was found to be present but the neighbour made life difficult for them anyway.The outbreak of the Second World war added to their misery.
Quite out of the blue Wallace heard from a friend about a job in a Tool Room at Arthur Dixons in Halifax Yorkshire..he looked into it and soon he was on his way to Halifax to see what it was all about and returned full of enthusiasm. Norahwas not keen to move so far away from her roots and family and reluctantly agreed to go with him on his next trip.she hated it ! However she was guided by Wallace*s promise of a better future for the family and they moved to Halifax and eventually settled in.
Once Ivor and Kenneth had settled in to their new schools and Wallace was well on top of his job, Norah May had started to make new friends too. The North was not as grim as they first thought! Financially the family was comforable for the first time, and Norah May decided it was time to "try for a girl"before she was too old to have children. on 1st March 1943 their daughter Norah Elizabeth was born at a small nursing home called Crevanagh in Kings Cross Street Halifax. The family now complete were living in a large Victorian terraced house at 6 Royd Terrace Saville Park Halifax.
More About Wallace Perry and Norah May Marshall:
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Children of Wallace Perry and Norah May Marshall are: