Family History: John William Horn 1887

John William Horn 1887 - 1965

My Mum's grandfather was John William Horn. According to the 1939 register he was born on 31st March 1887. He was born in Margate and was the son of John William Crump Horn (1862 - 1919) and his wife Mary Ann Setterfield (1858 - 1929).

John's siblings were:

Dorothy Emily 1889 - 1925
George Henry 1890 - 1890
Henry Edward 1891 - 1912
Winifred Mary 1893 - 1979

The first official documentary evidence I have for him is the 1891 census. On it he is living at 1 Clifton Street in Cliftonville with his parents, John and Mary, and his sister, Dorothy.

1891 census John William Horn (courtesy of The National Archives and Ancestry)

The house where the family lived has since been demolished as there is now only a gap where the house was once located. The house would have been roughly where the car is on the left hand side of the picture below.

Clifton Street, Cliftonville, Margate (courtesy of Google Maps)

On the 1901 census the family had moved house and were living in Milton Road in Margate. All of John's siblings, who survived into adulthood, are included on the census. Also living with the family is John's paternal grandmother, Elizabeth. More about her later!

1901 census John William Horn (courtesy of The National Archives and Find My Past)

The house they were living in during the night of the 1891 census is still standing. It's a lovely house but does look rather small for 7 people.

Milton Road (courtesy of Google Maps)

On the 1911 census John is living in the same house, as on the 1901 census, with his parents and his younger brother Henry Edward. Henry was to die the following year aged only 20.

1911 census John William Horn (courtesy of The National Archives and Find My Past)

On the 1911 census John's profession is listed as a hairdresser. My Mum told me stories about visiting her grandfather at his hairdresser's salon. He used to give my Mum pocket money which she would save rather than spending. Mum was always rather careful with money.

On 18th February 1914 John married Clara Nelly Fuller at St John the Baptist church in Margate. Apparently Clara's family considered that she had married beneath her. Clara's family were well known as a family of builders in the Thanet area and, as far as I understand it, they had become quite well to do.

John served in the First World War. He was enlisted in the Labour Corps. It would seem that his actual war records no longer survive but his pension records, from after the end of the First World War, do.

1919 pension records for John William Horn (courtesy of The National Archives and Find My Past)

John William Horn is the only one of my direct ancestors who served in either World War. My other ancestors were either too young or too old to serve. It is certainly a blessing that none of my other direct ancestors were involved as plenty of them had brothers or uncles who served and who lost their lives. I have no idea what John's experience of World War One was like. My Mum certainly didn't reveal any stories that he may have related about his service. Presumably, like many other men at the time, he did not like to talk about it.

On the 1939 Register John and his wife, Clara, were living with 3 of their 4 daughters (including my Mum's Mum). The family were living in Byron Avenue in Margate. The house is just around the corner from Milton Avenue where John lived in 1911 with his parents.