Joseph Feather
Hospital, Convoys and Air Raids
Early life:
Joseph Feather was born on 14th October 1895, one of ten children born to William, a farmer and Jedidah Feather nee Sunderland. They lived at Haley Farm in Oxenhope, and Joseph appears to have lived there for much of his life.
In 1901 the family consisted of William and Jedidah, aged 42 and 41. Their children were Mary H (18, a worsted weaver), Miriam (17), Ernest (13), Julius (11), Ruth (9), Seth (7), Joseph (5), Luther (2) and Alice (one month). There was another sister, Deborah, who was born in 1886 but sadly died in 1900, and Luther died later in 1901.
The 1901 census, Haley Farm
In 1911 all of the surviving children were still living at home on the farm. Miriam, Ernest, Julius and Ruth were working as worsted weavers, Mary was a dairy worker, Seth working on the farm and Joseph was a 'jobber'.
War service:
Joseph worked at Morton Banks War Hospital from May 1916 until May 1919. He was involved in hospital work, convoys and air raids. He kept some of his supplies which were kindly donated to Men of Worth by a family member:
Joseph's First Aid kit
The First Aid contents, and Joseph's New Testament Bible with the date of June 1916
Joseph never married or had children.
Post war:
In 1939 he was at Haley Farm, he had presumably taken over the dairy farm when his father died in 1932. His sister Alice and her husband Willie Butterfield, a joiner in the building trade also lived there. The 1939 Register shows that Joseph went on to volunteer during World War Two in the ARP service.
The 1939 Register
The electoral registers show Joseph still at Haley Farm in 1957. I don't have further records until his death in 1980, registered in Keighley so do not know if he ever left the farm.
Sources:
1901 England Census
1911 England Census
1939 England and Wales Register
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers 1840-1962
England and Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
