Maxfield

[tonymaxfield]

I don't know if this is the right place to put a post like this but here goes anyway!
The only photographic memory I have of my Dad's dad is a memorial in Keyhill cemetery. Thomas Henry Maxfield. He died soon after ww1 when my dad was 6 and I never saw him.. obs!
My dad said he was a sign writer and he worked for the new Hudson cycle company. Others in the family also worked on cycles.
They lived in Claremont Place, Brookfield Road and in Rosebery Street.
I have never seen any photos of what it looked like.
The family moved from Sheffield where they were cutlers to Birmingham around the mid nineteenth century. Some took jobs like electroplating.
If you have any pictures, photos or information to share I would love to know.
I know things about my family, the Maxfields but have no visual memories and I guess Birmingham no longer looks the same.

 

[MWS]

Old photos of specific roads are a bit hit and miss.

Thomas is listed as a Cycle Finisher for Hudson Cycles living at the Brookfield address in 1921. Here is a map, showing Clarmont Place, it is a little later (1950)...

 

[pjmburns]

1919 eroll gives his army ref from WW1 - I copied the full entry so you can see the address fully.


1920 eroll at 8 Claremont Place

1922 at 6 Claremont Place (Porter family still at number 8).

 

[pjmburns]

Are you on Ancestry? His pension record is there with a medical report. I can copy it but it would be easier if you were able to download it.

He lost the tip of his lttle finger - shot off".

 

[pjmburns]

Wow - if I have the right person (based on you saying he lived in Claremont Place) he was awarded the Military Medal. Tricky to find out why.

 

[Astoness]

jan would there be anything in the newspapers about the award

lyn

 

[pjmburns]

Just trying to look. They were usually announced in the Gazette but citations were rarely published.

 

[Astoness]

re post 5...noticed that thomas maxfield was a cyclist...just looked it up and it seems they played a very important roll during ww1 including taking messages back and forth so maybe he got his medal for doing this..3 links below...it seems many cyclists died..

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100720

Bicycle Battalions

World War I is known for introducing wartime innovations such as tanks and submarines, but the world’s armies still made plenty of use of “old-fashioned” technology.

www.theworldwar.org

Army Cyclist Corps - First World War Casualties - A Street Near You

Find out more about Army Cyclist Corps casualties in the First World War

astreetnearyou.org

 

[pjmburns]

The award was published in the London Gazette (but National Archives say citations rarely survive).


Can't see it in newapers but not all war yearsseem to be there.

 

[Astoness]

just to add to my post 8 also noted that thomas worked for hudson cycle co so it must have been in his blood

lyn

 

[pjmburns]

re post 5...noticed that thomas maxfield was a cyclist...just looked it up and it seems they played a very important roll during ww1 including taking messages back and forth so maybe he got his medal for doing this..3 links below...it seems many cyclists died..

He actually joined the Royal Warwicks - frustratingly the pension record does not give a date for his transfer to the Lancs.

 

[pjmburns]

His medal card

 

[pjmburns]

I can't find him amongst the reports in local papers. Plenty of others but not Maxfield. Still looking.

 

[tonymaxfield]

re post 5...noticed that thomas maxfield was a cyclist...just looked it up and it seems they played a very important roll during ww1 including taking messages back and forth so maybe he got his medal for doing this..3 links below...it seems many cyclists died..

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100720

Bicycle Battalions

World War I is known for introducing wartime innovations such as tanks and submarines, but the world’s armies still made plenty of use of “old-fashioned” technology.

www.theworldwar.org

Army Cyclist Corps - First World War Casualties - A Street Near You

Find out more about Army Cyclist Corps casualties in the First World War

astreetnearyou.org

Wow - if I have the right person (based on you saying he lived in Claremont Place) he was awarded the Military Medal. Tricky to find out why.
View attachment 183642
View attachment 183643

That's him!

1919 eroll gives his army ref from WW1 - I copied the full entry so you can see the address fully.
View attachment 183641

1920 eroll at 8 Claremont Place
View attachment 183639
1922 at 6 Claremont Place (Porter family still at number 8).
View attachment 183640

Alice was a Maxfield married to Joseph and Kate was also Thomas's sister. How exactly did the back to back houses work?

 

[pjmburns]

Usually in a court behind other houses.
See this thread for some explanation

2 Back 22, Villiers Street, Ladywood

Hi My 2xG Grandmother was resident at the time of her death, in 1910, at the above address. Despite viewing old OS maps, I'm not able to locate the address. Have I missed something or is/was Villiers Street not in Ladywood but a nearby district? Also, why the unusual numbering (i.e. 2 Back 22)...

birminghamhistory.co.uk

However, looking at the map from post #2 Claremont Place seems to be a line of houses at right angles to Brookfield Street. Different arrangement to back to backs.

 

[Astoness]

i was born in a back to back house...in my case imagine 2 houses joined by one wall...the only windows were on the front of the house...or better still just stand back to back with someone that gives you an idea

lyn

 

[MWS]

Looking at the map they don't look like 'proper' back to back houses. Apart from the houses on the road something similar to these terraces on Marroway St maybe...

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

 

[tonymaxfield]

Have also seen it called 6 Back 30 Brookfield Road without the Claremont Place. Is that the same house.

 

[Astoness]

Looking at the map they don't look like 'proper' back to back houses. Apart from the houses on the road something similar to these terraces on Marroway St maybe...

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.co.uk

quite right mark they are not proper back to backs as they have a path dividing one line of terraces houses from the other..proper back to backs such as the one i was born in were built far earlier than terraced houses and as most of us know the only surviving back to back houses in birmingham are in hurst st which we can visit as they are owned by the national trust

lyn

 

[Alberta]

1911 census has at 117 Hingeston street
Joseph Porter age 30 Boatman
Alice age 28 nee Maxfield
Thomas H Maxfield ,single,age 26 Cycle maker
Kate Maxfield,single, age 21, Cycle worker
Elizabeth Maxfield, single age 19, Lacquerer

Kate Maxfield married Joseph Porter 26th dec 1903 at St Pauls.both gave address 89 Pope street.
her father Joseph Maxfield(dec) Cutler
witnesses Thomas H Maxfield and Annie green.

 

[pjmburns]

Have also seen it called 6 Back 30 Brookfield Road without the Claremont Place. Is that the same house.

Yes. If you look at the map in post #2 you can find 30 Brookfield Road and behind it is Claremont Place.

Perhaps you would let us know if any of the information we have posted has been of use.

 

[tonymaxfield]

Yes. If you look at the map in post #2 you can find 30 Brookfield Road and behind it is Claremont Place.

Perhaps you would let us know if any of the information we have posted has been of use.

Yes sorry it has been coming in thick and fast and I am trying to take it in. But many thanks to everyone.

 

[Astoness]

tony its a little tip we have and that is when you come back to a thread always make sure that you start reading from the last post you made..this ensures that you do not miss anything that has been posted..you would be surprised how much info members miss by not doing this....

lyn