Ethel Rayner
Clerk
Ethel Sawdon was born in the first quarter of 1884 in Bridlington, to William Sawdon, of Kelk, near Driffield and Eliza Sawdon nee Adamson, of Barrow-in-Humber. She was the youngest of eight children, three of whom died in infancy.
In 1891 the family lived at Woodbank Cottage in Harden. William was a coachman. Ethel was seven years old, her older sisters were Gertrude and Marion (later referred to as May). Siblings Florence and Ernest had moved to their own homes by then.
In 1901 the family had moved to 29 Unity Street in Bingley. For some reason William was not with his family on the night of the census. Gertrude was 22 and an assistant school mistress, May was 20 and a college student. Ethel was now 17 and working as a Post Office clerk.
The Sawdon family, minus William, on the 1901 census
In 1911 William was at home, which was now 3 Myrtle Avenue in Bingley. He was a retired coachman by now. Gertrude was a certified head mistress, May an assistant head mistress. Ethel was a sorting clerk and telegraphist for the Post Office and government. William died later in 1911.
On 25th March 1918 Ethel married John Thomas Rayner at Holy Trinity Church in Bingley, two years her senior. He was a soldier from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex. I haven't found any records of them having children.
Ethel Sawdon and John Thomas Rayner's marriage
In August 1918 Ethel put her administration skills to use for the war effort, working at the War Hospital in Keighley as a clerk. She fulfilled this role until June 1919.
The electoral registers show Ethel and John lived at 3 Myrtle Place for several years, many of them with her sister Gertrude until her death. I haven't been able to locate them on the 1939 Register. I believe Ethel died in 1947 as there is a death registration in the Worth Valley in her name for the last quarter of that year, and she does not show on the electoral registers after that.
Sources:
England and Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
1891 England Census
1901 England Census
1911 England Census
West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1813-1935
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1962
England and Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
