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Pardoe Family - Ward End Birmingham

Hi Morturn - my Nan was Georgina May Pardoe, her dad was George Pardoe, who joined the RHA in the First World War and was killed in 1918 - just before my Nan was born. She grew up in St Margarets Road, Ward End brought up by her maternal grandmother whose surname was Morris. She told me that the Pardoes were hauliers and loved horses - she also told me that George was killed whilst trying to calm some horses during a bombardment. I have just started researching my family tree and would be really interested in any information you may have. My Nan spoke about the various Pardoes, her uncle was Tommy and I am sure she used to mention one called 'Laddie'. I had also heard about the Pardoes having gypsy connections although was never sure exactly how !
 
Hi AmandaGeth
Thank you for posting information about the Pardoe's, I know that two of Herbert Pardoe's children were killed in the Great War.

I was told by my Mom that Herbert would mention George quite a lot in his later years, but I do not have much in the way of the circumstances leading to his death; what I found is;

George Pardoe b1894 d1916
In Memory of
Airman 2nd Class G S PARDOE
17112, Royal Flying Corps
who died
on 31 January 1916
Remembered with honour

BIRMINGHAM (YARDLEY) CEMETERY
Died in WW 1
Airman 2nd Class 17112 31/01/1916 Unknown Royal Flying Corps United Kingdom B.20930. BIRMINGHAM (YARDLEY) CEMETERY.

I do not know who the other brother who died was, other than he was gassed, came home and died a few years later.

If you send me your email address via a private mesage i can send you a file with information on it.

Thanks again.
 
hi mort again today ;
tommy pardoe and family was members of the ward end exservice club in ward end park road quite afew years ago now
he and te family are a great gang of people also the other half of sibbblingmoved up to hay mills and they was mebers of the hay mills social club
i think it was deakin road it was ooppersite red hill road and the red hill taveren ; on coventry rd where the pardoes lived or maty still do ;
i knew them very well indeed ;the ward end club as long gone and the so called maffiea of stewards that ran the place
still thats another story i beleive they have all passed over as well apart from the younger generation of the committee whom would be around but they had no say they just made up the numbers for the committee ; the older generation of the committe whom ran it down have all gone ;
hay mills club is still standing , but it was run for years by a guy whom was a shop steward at the rover up at adderly park division
is name was sqizzer ;and his wife mavis they both died many years ago ;it was taken over by a couple of guy whom was members but ran it down the last report i had its owned by the irish family of the owens now ;
but getting back to tomy the cross guns s under fire about getting rid of it and tommy was stioll drinking in there up until a couple of years ago and he was one of the old guys left inthe area helping the gather whom was from the brook hill pub and an old friend of mine from many pubs he ran around brum
by the name of craig ; i will not mention is surname but they was in theevening mail trying to save the cross guns ; from closure and turning it into shops
but tommy was there in wad end that i do know ; also i was a good friends of the hicks family from years and years ago from boy to man ;
one of them runs a clubin winsongreen down by the grove picture house
any way thats my bit yes you are right tommy was and livinginward endfor donkeys years ;; alan
 
Great Grandma Pic 3 for webb.jpg

Hi again Alan

Thanks for the information about the Pardoe's, I understand they were a well known large family of mainly men.

The above photo is Mather Pardoe (nee Martin) sitting in Pardoe's yard in Ward End. the girl in the foreground is my mother; apparently she had just been pecked my the goose.

The two children to the right are Gypsy childern who lived in the caravans you can see behind the hedge, After Herbert's sand pit had been filled in, he would let Gypsy's live on the land.
 
When I was a lad,I used to help the milkman deliver milk in Ward End, and several times I delivered milk to a gypsy lady who lived in a caravan in a yard opposite St. Margaret's church, next to the walk that used to be there from Washwood Heath Road to the church ; she used to give me a cup of tea , and I used to watch her make paper roses and carnations that seemed to me as a child be to be pretty close to the real thing
 
hi mort ;
just picking up on one or two of your threads and you saying that your parents was of a gpsy origin ;
my other half,s family side mainly her father was from a true romany irish gypsyies his mother and father used to have the drawn
horse and cart the true gps caravan i have seen th pictures of her grand parents sitting out side the van smoking there old clay pipes
it was a very decorated caravan there was about five members on his family and he was the only one whom ran away from ireland to come to england
with his bride whom was the m,other inlaw and used to tell me the stories of the irish familys that came here and the english would not give them board and lodging around brum ; but they found a house at the back of cannon hil park whom did take them in and that was balsall heath in those days
and of course spark brook was another area the irish community found refuse and that then became the irish communitiy of brum ;
stratford rd and braithwaite rd was another popular area for the irish comunitity where upon digbeth was the chinese quarter and and the jews was edgbaston ;and still his today ; but the irish and gspys work hard there no geting away from it ;
when you think back how the irish was excepted to come and build our rd becaiuse the eglish could not build them but the english would not let them board in there big houses i think it was disgusting l any wayu weve moved on now thank god ; theres good and bad in al creeds i say ;
have you got any names for your hick,s alan ;; astonian;
 
Hi Alan

I don't recall the Hicks family, unfortunately my mom whohad all this family knowledge, and knew about the Pardoe's died last year; lefta big gap regrettably.

Thanks again for the information.
 
Hi,
I’m new to the Forum but very interested in my family history.

I realise this part of the forum is not current in terms of recent posts, but I hope to find old photographs of my family. If anyone has any old photographs of the Pardoe family, I would appreciate seeing them please and will upload what photo's we have available. Hopefully this is of some interest to others.

I am the Grandson of Fred Pardoe, one of Herbert and Martha’s 15 Children.

Fred was one of the elder Brother's of Tommy Pardoe, the Boxer.

Fred was Tommy’s ‘corner man’ in most of Tommy’s fights. The corner man is also referred to as the boxers ‘second’. He would shout advice and encouragement to Tommy and assisted him between rounds. Tommy turned professional and had a memorable fight for the British Welterweight title. He bravely fought against the well known and very experienced Scottish boxer, Benny Lynch.
Tommy was said to have put up a ferocious fight but was defeated in the final rounds.

Fred was born in Cleobury Mortimer, Ludlow in 1900, one of the elder of the 15 children. This was some years before the family moved to Ward End, Birmingham, a journey of about 40 to 50 miles.

I was always aware that we were of Traveller/Gypsy/Romani heritage from the Pardoe side of the family, it was never a secret, my family were proud of their heritage. My Grandmother was from Romany heritage as are people from my Mothers side, they were from Smethwick and had relatives on the Black Patch. When I was growing up I was told stories of our Gypsy heritage including of how we originate from Spanish Romani (Gitanos) who made their way to Britain many generations before Herbert and George.

My grandmother would make things to sell to raise money. Toffee Apples were a favourite, apparently a long que to buy them would form when she had some for sale. To me, it makes perfect sense of why gypsies were allowed to live on Pardoe owned property as by the non gypsy population, they were often frowned upon and not trusted. I doubt any non Traveller / Gypsy would allow a person of Gypsy origon, to live on thier land.

My Dad has recently told me of his memories of visiting his cousins at the 'Big house' as he called it.

I am also hoping to find information on the WW2 bombings in Rocky Lane, Neechalls which are relevant to this side of the Pardoe family. I have posted a separate thread in the hope that someone has photographs of the bombed houses.

In adult life, Fred married and lived at number 1, Rocky lane, with my Grandmother, Two sons (one of whom is my Father), and two sisters. There was an elder third sister, who had married and moved to Weoley Castle.

During the second world war my Grandfather (Fred Pardoe) lied about his age for the second time. In WW1 he claimed he was older than he was and in WW2 he said he was younger so he would be allowed to fight for his country. He was stationed on the South East coastline. His role was to operate the large anti-aircraft guns that would shoot down Nazi planes and the V1 flying bombs as they flew towards our coastline.

While Fred was away defending our country, my Grandmother took her children to visit her eldest daughter in Weoley Castle who had married and thankfully left home.
My Auntie was obviously worried about her Mother and younger family members going back home to Rocky Lane and insisted that the family stayed the night in Weoley Castle.

Thankfully they took her advice and stayed the night. The next morning they went home to Rocky Lane. When they arrived home their home had been bombed during the night. The house was flattened, with smoke and flames coming from the rubble. All people in neighbouring properties had been presumed killed during the nights bombings.
If it wasn’t for the fact that my auntie had insisted the family stay in Weoley Castle that particular night, this side of the Pardoe family would not exist.

If anyone has any pictures of Rocky Lane during this time, I would very much appreciate seeing them, hopefully some of the bombed houses.

I have many good memories of my Grandfather and our regular fishing trips, he would always catch Brown Trout that were often cooked at the riverside on his old parrafin cooker. He would keep the Eels we caught in a bucket, ready to make 'jellied Eels'. He would put an old sock over his hand as the Eels would wrap themselves around his hand and arm. The sock gave a better grip to hold them. To this day, I've never eaten any, the sight of them put me off, or 'was it the use of the old sock'.
He would fascinate me with his knowledge of the land, he knew about every tree and plant and would collect Mushrooms, fruits and berries for cooking and jam making.
Our fishing trips when I was older always ended in a pub. Fred sadly passed away in or around 1984.

Below is an interesting link to a wartime news feature. It shows the role Fred played during WW2 with fellow servicemen and women desperatley shooting at the flying V1 bombs and enemy aircraft.

CUT AND PASTE IF LINK DOES NOT WORK.
https://www.itnsource.com/de/specials/world-war-ii/shotlist//BHC_RTV/1944/09/07/BGU409190026/
 
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Pardoe_Tommy(51738).JPGA few pics of Tommy Pardoe, there is also a picture of Martha Pardoe in the post above. The little girl in the foreground is my mother Doreen Pardoe, daughter of Bert. The two children are Gipsy children who live in Pardoe's yard.

TommyPardoeUK.JPGIMG_0051.jpg
 

Hi Morturn,
Thank you, the photo’s you have posted are very much appreciated and will be printed to give to my Dad.

I have searched the internet looking for photo’s of Tommy’s fights, in the hope that they would show Fred in the corner, but as you know photo’s of this era are few and far between. I hope the information I’ve given is of help to someone. I have wonderful memories of Fred.

I’ve asked my family to sort out any photo’s they have of Fred. Sadly we all live miles apart so I am missing out on looking through the photo’s with them and sharing the memories.

In the 60’s and 70’s the family would use any excuse to have a party. Fred would be asked to sing and would go through the routine of being humble and saying no several times but all the time, despite his protests he was eager to get up and sing for the family. Once up, he was always the one singing the most songs. He would play the spoons and was a very good player of the Acordian, often creating happy times in the pubs.
 
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Hi everyone I'd love to say a few things anyway I'm andrew pardoe, my father is Kenny frank pardoe who is 76 now. I have one brother and four sisters, the other side of the family is my fathers family, yes some worked and lived in haymills ,Coventry rd south Yardley and they also ran a glazing business & roofing at Albert rd stechford,bham. I no a few pardoes they are john, Ronny, glen and Albert pardoe. I grew up in homelea rd south Yardley until I were 21, my mother and father lived in a bk to bk house summer lane, Aston, Birmingham when times were very hard an rough. yes our ancestors were Gypsy's back in the day iv heard that many story's over the years. My father and his one sister patty pardoe apparently were left in an attic as young kids by there mother not are her name and some off the pardoes brought my father up..I no south Yardley and stecford well and I'd like to say if there is any relatives out there it be great to talk and find out more .thanku for reading. Andy pardoe...
 
Hi everyone I'd love to say a few things anyway I'm andrew pardoe, my father is Kenny frank pardoe who is 76 now. I have one brother and four sisters, the other side of the family is my fathers family, yes some worked and lived in haymills ,Coventry rd south Yardley and they also ran a glazing business & roofing at Albert rd stechford,bham. I no a few pardoes they are john, Ronny, glen and Albert pardoe. I grew up in homelea rd south Yardley until I were 21, my mother and father lived in a bk to bk house summer lane, Aston, Birmingham when times were very hard an rough. yes our ancestors were Gypsy's back in the day iv heard that many story's over the years. My father and his one sister patty pardoe apparently were left in an attic as young kids by there mother not are her name and some off the pardoes brought my father up..I no south Yardley and stecford well and I'd like to say if there is any relatives out there it be great to talk and find out more .thanku for reading. Andy pardoe...

I knew the Pardoe's in Summer Lane. I'm really not sure of first names but it may have been Albert. He also would have been around the same age as me, born in 1940 and possibly went to Cowper St school.
 
I knew the Pardoe's in Summer Lane. I'm really not sure of first names but it may have been Albert. He also would have been around the same age as me, born in 1940 and possibly went to Cowper St school.
Albert and Kenny grew up together, they used all the pubs in Aston and prob had a fight everyday.my old mans still alive an Albert too...
 
Albert and Kenny grew up together, they used all the pubs in Aston and prob had a fight everyday.my old mans still alive an Albert too...

That is good news! I left Brum when I was 16 so I wouldn't have been a part of the "pub scene". I lived in Paddington St and my name is Dave Astley. I think that they may have lived up the yard behind Charlie Deathridges grocery and bicycle shop.

Dave A
 
That is good news! I left Brum when I was 16 so I wouldn't have been a part of the "pub scene". I lived in Paddington St and my name is Dave Astley. I think that they may have lived up the yard behind Charlie Deathridges grocery and bicycle shop.

Dave A
Your right there can I ask how you no the pardoes, are you related
 
Hi Andrew
i can recal most of your family ,especialy hay mills and of course the other side from Aston
yes they liked a scape now and then probaly more often than then
i was born and brought up in aston and my lot knocked around the Aston pubs
the old man ran the golden cross andi have ran quite afew myself around brum and up country
i know your roofers, as i lived on coventry road oppersite now Asda but before then the old car factory
was there, plus i knew them from the monica pub and of course from the old Haymills
we drank together and my mrs used to work there behind the bar her name is Teresa ,mention her name to the gang
they will know whom we are and at the monica pub as well and seamus the gaffer you must know him and his mrs Ann
whom was the manager but i will not say any more on them two as you would have known about the carrying on
but i will not say no more on that either , I beleive old sqisser as long gone and burried and the club as changed hands and name
i came down that way some weks back sad to see how its all gone the area i mean
even deakins road where the lads used to live
well andrew got to shoot of now nice to hear the pardoes are still going strong and are around today
best wishes Alan,, Astonian,,,,,
 
Your right there can I ask how you no the pardoes, are you related
No, I'm not related. When the name Pardoe came up, it rang a bell. It's such a long time ago, it really is difficult to be specific about anything from that time period. As I said, I may have gone to school with him, as most kids in the area went to Cowper St. There was another family up that yard called the Edwards, he may have known them too.

Dave A
 
The Pardoe’s of Church Walk, Ward End were a very large family, Tommy Pardoe was an amateur boxer who fought in the 1932 Olympic Games. There was also a person called Joe Dainty who lived with them, and continued to live at the old house.

If anyone does have any information about them, it would be much appreciated
My mom's family was the gypsies that stayed there she remember the pardoes very well would of been 1940s we have a ve day party photo took on church walk her cousin married one of the pardoes. Mom.remember the being a stuffed gorilla in his loft
 
My mom's family was the gypsies that stayed there she remember the pardoes very well would of been 1940s we have a ve day party photo took on church walk her cousin married one of the pardoes. Mom.remember the being a stuffed gorilla in his loft

Hi Polly47. I did hear that story about one of the Pardoes marrying one of the gypsies. I suspect the Pardoes were infact gypsies themselves at some time. I was also told about a lot of stuffed animals in the house too. Would love to see the photo please if you have it.
 
Hi Polly47. I did hear that story about one of the Pardoes marrying one of the gypsies. I suspect the Pardoes were infact gypsies themselves at some time. I was also told about a lot of stuffed animals in the house too. Would love to see the photo please if you have it.
Mom was saying yesterday I tried to view your photo with no luck here’s the VE Day party that was on church walk when they lived in pardoes yard ,could you pop you picture up again please so I can show mom
 
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