Person:Ernest Moles (1)

Ernest Moles was born on 6th April 1876 at Hitchin in Hertfordshire. He was the son of a midwife called Fanny Moles, formerly Worbey, and her husband Thomas Moles, a mole and rat catcher. Some time between Ernest's birth in 1876 and his sister Julia's birth in 1879 the family left Hitchin and moved to the neighbouring parish of St Ippolyts, just south of the town. Ernest appears in both the 1881 and 1891 censuses living with his parents and siblings in St Ippolyts. By 1891 he was working as an agricultural labourer.

Ernest's father died in 1895 at St Ippolyts.

On 20th January 1900, aged 23, Ernest married Alice Elizabeth Savage. They married at New Southgate, in the rapidly expanding northern suburbs of London, some thirty miles south of Hitchin. Ernest's older brothers George and James had each moved to New Southgate a few years earlier.

They settled in the New Southgate area after their marriage, having three children there: William Ernest later in 1900, Alice May in 1904 and Elsie Maud in 1911. The 1901 census finds the family living in three rooms at 29 Lower Park Road in Southgate. Ernest was described as a general labourer at this time.

The family has not been found in the 1911 census, but by 1916 they were living at 28 Palmers Road in New Southgate. Ernest's brothers George and James both also lived in Palmers Road - George and his family at number 34 and James and his family at number 17.

Ernest signed up for the army that on 18th July 1916, despite being forty years old by then. Perhaps the news of the great loss of life at the Battle of the Somme that summer then underway led to increased pressure to recruit more men. Ernest served with the Royal West Kent regiment for just over a year, before transferring to the Labour Corps, serving until 1919 when he was demobilised following the end of the First World War.

Back in Hitchin, Ernest's mother died in 1922.

Ernest and Alice's three children all married, and they had four grandchildren born between 1926 and 1942.

The family continued to live at 28 Palmers Road until about 1939. Their daughter Alice and her husband Oliver Winter lived with them there for the first few years of their marriage. In about 1939 the family moved to Green Road in Southgate; Ernest's daughter Alice and her husband Oliver Winter moved with their young son to 85 Green Road, whilst Ernest and Alice moved to 38 Green Road. Ernest was described as an invalid in 1939.

Ernest's son William Ernest died in 1940, aged 39.

During the Second World War, Ernest's son-in-law Oliver Winter joined the Royal Navy, and was posted to HMS Lanka, a shore-based naval establishment in Colombo, Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as it was then known). Oliver died at sea on 12th February 1944, probably when the SS Khedive Ismail was torpedoed and sank in the Indian Ocean on its way to Colombo.

After the war, Ernest's daughter Alice died in 1948, aged 43. Ernest and Alice then moved to their late daughter's former home at 85 Green Road to live with their orphaned grandson James, who was seventeen when his mother died. Ernest and Alice appear to have lived with their grandson James at 85 Green Road for the rest of their lives.

Ernest died in 1954, aged 78. His death was registered in the Barnet district, suggesting he did not die at home. (Southgate was in the Wood Green registration district at the time.) Alice survived him by nearly seven years.

1. ↑ Births index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   b. Ernest MOLE, June Quarter 1876, Hitchin Registration District, Volume 3a, page 354, Worbeys

2. ↑ Baptisms register, in Church of England. Parish Registers of St Mary's Church, Hitchin. (Hertford: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies).

   BAPTISMS solemnized in the Parish of Hitchin in the County of Hertford in the year One thousand eight hundred and Seventy Nine
   No.	When Baptized	Child's Christian Name	Parents' Name		Abode	Quality, Trade, or Profession	By whom the Ceremony was performed
   			Christian	Surname
   1680	1879 June 4	Ernest	Thomas & Fanny	Moles	The Folly	Labourer	W.A. Pope

   Baptised same day as his sister Julia.

3. ↑ England. 1881 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands: . (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG11; Piece 1420; Folio 62; Page 8, 3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Ippollitts Folly, Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   Thomas Moules, head, married, male, 42 [1838/9], Agr[icultura]l Lab[oure]r (Mole & Rat Catcher), b. Willian, Hertfordshire
   Fanny Moules, wife, married, female, 39 [1841/2], b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Herbert Moules, son, unmarried, male, 17 [1863/4], Agri[cultural] Lab[oure]r, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   George Moules, son, unmarried, male, 15 [1865/6], Agri[cultural] Lab[oure]r, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   John Moules, son, male, 13 [1867/8], Scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Annie M. Moules, daughter, female, 10 [1870/1], Scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   James Moules, son, male, 8 [1872/3], Scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Ernest Moules, son, male, 5 [1875/6], Scholar, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Julia Moules, daughter, female, 3 [1877/8], Scholar, b. Ippollitts, Hertfordshire

4. ↑ England. 1891 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG12; Piece 1108; Folio 71; Page 1, 5 Apr 1891.

   Address: The Common, St Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   5 or more rooms occupied
   Thomas Moles, head, married, male, 56 [1834/5], Agricultural Labourer, employed, b. Willian, Hertfordshire
   Fanny Moles, wife, married, female, 51 [1839/40], b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   John Moles, son, single, male, 22 [1868/8], Agricultural Labourer, employed, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Annie M. Moles, daughter, single, female, 20 [1870/1], General Servant, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   James Moles, son, single, male, 17 [1873/4], Agricultural Labourer, employed, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Ernest Moles, son, single, male, 15 [1875/6], Agricultural Labourer, employed, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Julia Moles, daughter, single, female, 12 [1878/9], Scholar, b. St Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   Minnie Moles, daughter, single, female, 7 [1883/4], Scholar, b. St Ippollitts, Hertfordshire
   Ellen Moles, grand daughter, female, 4mo [1890/1], b. St Ippollitts, Hertfordshire

5. ↑ England. England. 1901 Census Schedules for England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. (
   Kew, Richmond, Greater London TW9 4DU, United Kingdom:
   The National Archives (abbreviated TNA), formerly the UK General Register Office.)
   Class RG13; Piece 1267; Folio 63; Page 14, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 29 Lower Park Road, Southgate, Middlesex
   3 rooms occupied
   Ernest Moles, head, married, male, 25 [1875/6], General Labourer, worker, b. Hitchin, Hertfordshire
   Alice Moles, wife, married, female, 23 [1877/8], b. Hampstead, Middlesex
   William E. Moles, son, 3mo, b. New Southgate, Middlesex

6. ↑ General Register Office. 1939 Register
   29 Sep 1939.

   38 Green Road, Southgate, Middlesex
   MOLES Ernest, male, b. 6 Apr 1876, married, Invalid
   MOLES Alice, female, b. 21 Mar 1878, married, Unpaid Domestic Duties

7. ↑ Deaths index, in General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration. (London: General Register Office).

   d. Ernest MOLES, September Quarter 1954, Barnet Registration District, Volume 5a, page 509, aged 78 [1875/6]

8.   British Army WW1 Service Records, 1914-1920 (ancestry.co.uk).

   Summary of information:
   Name: Ernest Moles
   Corps: Royal West Kent
   Address: 28 Palmers Road, New Southgate
   Age: 40 years 3 months
   Trade: Roadman
   Enrolment: 18 Jul 1916 at Mill Hill
   Next of Kin: Alice Moles, wife (3 children)
   Married: 20 Jan 1900, Parish Church, New Southgate
   Children:
   Alice May, daughter, b. 2 [could be faded 21] Apr 1904 at New Southgate
   Elsie Maud, daughter, b. 18 Feb 1911 at New Southgate
   [a separate loose leaf sheet later also refers to son William Ernest Moules born 29 Dec 1900]
   Transferred from 11th Royal West Kents to Labour Corps 20 Nov 1917
   Transferred to Class Z Reserve on Demobilization: 6 Mar 1919 at Nottingham
   Character Good

9.   London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965 (London Metropolitan Archives / ancestry.co.uk).

   1922: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   No change 1923
   
   1924: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   Moles, William Ernest
   
   1925: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Battams, Albert George
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   No change 1926
   
   1927: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   
   1928: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   Winter, Oliver
   
   1929: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   Winter, Alice May
   Winter, Oliver James John
   No change 1931, 1932
   
   1934: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Elsie
   Moles, Ernest
   Winter, Alice May
   Winter, Oliver James John
   
   1936: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Elsie Maud
   Moles, Ernest
   Winter, Alice May
   Winter, Oliver James John
   
   1937: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Elsie Maud
   Moles, Ernest
   
   1938: 28 Palmers Road, N11, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   
   1939: 38 Green Road, N14, Southgate
   Moles, Alice Elizabeth
   Moles, Ernest
   
   1945: 38 Green Road, N14, Southgate
   Moles, Alice E.
   Moles, Ernest
   No change 1946, 1947
   
   1948: 85 Green Road, N14, Southgate
   Moles, Alice E.
   Moles, Ernest
   No change 1949, 1950, 1951
   
   1952: 85 Green Road, N14, Southgate
   Moles, Alice E.
   Moles, Ernest
   Winter, James
   No change 1953