Emily Myers
Sewing and mending
Emily Myers was the oldest child of Ellis and Mary Jane Myers. She was born on 13th July in Keighley and baptised on 16th August 1869.
Emily Myers' baptism record
Ellis was a commercial clerk at the time of the 1871 census. As well as Emily, who was yet to turn two, they had six-month-old William. They lived on Devonshire Street in Keighley.
By 1881, at 9 Devonshire Street, they had three more sons, John Ellis, Percy, and Harry Duxbury.
In 1891 Ellis was described as a cashier. William and John were science students, Percy a bank clerk. Emily didn't have an occupation listed. At this time, Mary Jane's parents were staying with them - Humphrey and Ellen Duxbury. Humphrey was a retired miller from Padiham, Lancashire.
The Myers family on the 1891 census
By 1901 the family had moved up the road to 64 Devonshire Street. Ellis was still working as a cashier in the worsted spinning industry. I think that William's occupation reads as science master - school, Harry was an accountant's clerk and Emily still didn't have an occupation. The family must have been financially comfortable as they now had a servant, a 19-year-old young lady called Elizabeth Fish.
By 1911 the household had reduced somewhat. Mary Jane had died in 1903 and Ellis in 1909. The address on the census is Brandwood - I'm not sure if this was the name of the house on Devonshire Street or they had moved, but there was just 42-year-old Emily, living on private means, Harry, now 31 and an accountant, and a servant named Kate Mullaney.
In May 1915, a few months after the outbreak of war, Emily joined the war effort as a VAD. She worked without pay for the remainder of the conflict at Spencer Street Auxiliary Hospital for three hours a day, sewing and mending. I haven't found any military records pertaining to her brothers.
I haven't been able to find Emily on the 1939 Register, but electoral registers show her as living on Richmond Street from 1919 onwards.
Emily never married, and died on 30th April 1946. She was buried with her parents at Utley Cemetery, and her brothers William and Percy were later buried with them.
The Myers family's grave at Utley Cemetery, findagrave.com
Sources:
England and Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
West Yorkshire, Non-Conformist Records, 1646-1985
1871 England Census
1881 England Census
1891 England Census
1901 England Census
1911 England Census
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1962
England and Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
findagrave.com
