From The Chester Chronicle of 17 February 1912: "ALLEGED THEFT FROM RAILWAY VAN. At an occasional court at Mr. Churton's office, on Monday, before Mr. J. Fenna, Joseph Crimes, Westminster-road, Hoole, was charged with stealing a bass [basket?] containing 18lbs. of fish, value 5s. the property of L. and N.W. Rly. Co., on Saturday. [Witness Statements] .... Prisoner, who was remanded until Saturday week, was allowed bail, himself in £10 and his brother (Arthur Crimes) in £10." This report is baffling. Joseph CRIMES b.1863 was himself a Railway Porter in 1911, but there is no mention of this in the 1912 report. I need to find a report of the trial before reaching any conclusions. In the 1921 England Census Joseph gave his age as 58 years and 11 months, resulting in a date of birth of July 1862 which is unlikely given that his birth was not registered until 1863 Q3. I have therefore ignored the declared age. In 1921 Joseph was employed by Summer's Steelworks of Hawarden, Flint. From The Cheshire Observer of 29 December 1945: "HOOLE DIAMOND WEDDING Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Crimes, 145 Westminster-road, Hoole, will have been married 60 years this Sunday. The wedding took place at All Saints Church on December 30th, 1885, the Vicar, the Late Rev. F. Anderson, officiating. After their marriage they lived first in Newtown, and have resided in their present house for 52 years. Mrs. Crimes is 80, and her husband 82, and they are both exceedingly hale and hearty. Until his retirement 12 years ago, Mr. Crimes worked as a labourer at John Summers and Sons Ltd., Shotton, and now he has made gardening his hobby. He takes great pride in his back garden, which boasts a greenhouse where Mr. Crimes cultivates fine dahlias and chrysanthemums. Mr. and Mrs. Crimes have a family living of three daughters and one son: Mrs. J.T. Jones, of Hoole, Mrs. R. Lewis (Worsley, Manchester), Miss Alice Crimes, and Mr. J.W. Crimes, both of whom live with their parents. There are four grandchildren. One grandchild, John Jones, was killed at Tobruk when serving with the Eight Army in the Royal Signals. The diamond wedding celebrations were held on Boxing Day at the home of the eldest daughter, Mrs. J.T. Jones, of 37, William-street, Hoole. There were fourteen present, including the one and only grandchild, ten months old Hilda Bithell. A feature of the party was a beautiful iced cake made by Mrs. Jones." |