Greenwood, Gladys - David Scott Forum

The Search for Gladys Greenwood

David Scott — Mon, 18 May 2020 07:25:54 +0000

The following texts are transcribed from Steve's messages on Messenger after he made contact with Nancy Jackson, née Wood

One of Harry & Sarah Wood's sons (William Winberg) had a daughter (Nancy) who was born in 1922. It turns out she is still alive and living in an old people's home in Wakefield. Bearing in mind she would have been 10 at the time of Thomas & Gladys's divorce, I thought she might remember something about Gladys if, as we assume, Harry & Sarah had effectively taken over as Gladys's parents on the death of Florence. I've been in touch with one of Nancy's relatives and she's spoken to Nancy.

Unfortunately William Winberg abandoned his wife and children to go live in Leicester when Nancy was young so she had more to do with her mother's family. She doesn't seem to remember Gladys although does remember Harry & Sarah and also Damaris (if you don't understand the significance of Damaris, just say). I suspect this means that Gladys didn't maintain contact with Harry & Sarah after the divorce and that she wasn't close to that side of the family. If you remember, the story was the Gladys didn't have any relatives at the wedding. That's always seems strange to me as Harry was witness and he had 3 grown up children who should have know Gladys well if she lived with the Woods for 6 years; one of whom (Beatrice) was nearly the same age. There's something missing from this story and not sure what.

It's not completely dead this line as Nancy has a lot of photos from the 1900's and used to write the names on the back. She also keep a 'log' (whatever that means). One of the relatives is going through them and will let me know if they find anything.

Damaris Swift was the niece of Harry & Sarah Wood and they took her in when she was orphaned at 12. That's why she appears living with them on the 1911 census. Harry Wood was a witness at her wedding in 1931 when she was 35. On the 1939 census, she and her husband were living just 2 doors away from the Woods. So the Woods had history of acting at de facto parents for orphaned family members and in the case of Damaris, remained close. That doesn't seem to be the case for Gladys however, who was about the same age as Damaris when she was orphaned.

I get the feeling Nancy, who is 98 now, is failing so maybe it's her memory going. However I'm getting the feeling that the idea that Gladys went to live with the Woods when her mother died, where she remained till she married Thomas, isn't quite that as simple. We'll find out more when the 1921 census is released in 1922 but I dont really want to wait...

The Death of Gladys Greenwood

David Scott — Wed, 09 May 2018 10:05:37 +0000

Gladys death has been reduced down to three possibilities, using the following tool: England and Wales Death Index. The 3 possibilities are: Name: Scott, Gladys Birth: ca. 1909 Date registered: September 1942 Age at Death: 33 District: Holderness County: East Riding Volume: 9d Page: 91 Name: Scott, Gladys Birth: ca. 1909 Date registered: June 1949 Age at Death: 40 District: Chelmsford County: Essex Volume: 4a Page: 405 Name: Scott, Gladys Birth: ca. 1909 Date registered: December 1956 Age at Death: 47 District: Sheffield County: West Riding Volume: 2d Page: 308

What happened to Gladys after she was orphaned?

David Scott — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 08:31:09 +0000

As we now know, Gladys was an orphan at the age of 13. Her father died in January 1921 and her mother passed away less than 2 years later in December 1922. One of the many mysteries surrounding Gladys is what happened to her after her mother’s death. As the death is registered in Dewsbury, one assumes that she was living in Batley at that point, although when she moved back to the Heavy Woollen District is also not known. Maybe the death certificate of her mother might shed a little more light into the matter. It is unclear whether Gladys spent time in a workhouse, or maybe in a children’s home. There was one children’s home in Batley, the infamous Hyrstlands School for Senior Girls up Track Road. Hyrstlands was an (Approved School). There were also a few Workhouses in the area: Batley workhouse was situated at the top of Carlinghow Lane on the left hand side (going up) at the corner of White Lee. There was also a workhouse at Gomersal at the end of Muffitt Lane (the building still stands today), and one in Dewsbury (part of the hospital buildings). However there a re no clues as to the inhabitants at this time. There is lot’s of information to be gleamed from the workhouses website (link) but there are no available lists of inmates for the period in question. Gladys did have a living brother, but there is no evidence that they had any contact. Certainly he wasn’t present at the wedding to Thomas, if old tales are anything to go by. On present evidence it seems highly unlikely that she lived with him after her mother’s death.