Died
14 April 1941
Born
1 July 1869
Sources
Ancestry
CWGC
Cumbria BMD
Place
Themes
John Enoch Marsh
Blitz Victim
IN MEMORY OF
JOHN ENOCH MARSH
KILLED BY ENEMY ACTION
APRIL 14 1941, AGED 72
ALSO MARGARET, WIFE OF THE ABOVE
DIED APRIL 11 1940, AGED 72
John Marsh (aged 72) died with his daughter-in-law Ethel (Aged 26) (Wife of W. Marsh) at 38 Vernon Street. Ethel’s husband, Fusilier Walter Marsh (3460131) 10th Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers, died on 05/12/1942 aged 32, and is buried in Chittagong War Cemetery. (CWGC)
John E. Marsh married Margaret Brown at St James’s, Barrow, in 1892
Walter Marsh married Ethel R. Postlethwaite at St James’s, Barrow, in 1936. (Cumbria BMD)
According to the Cemetery Records, Ethel Rachel Marsh is buried elsewhere in the Cemetery, though this does not accord with the record in the Civilian War Dead Book in the Barrow Records Office.
1939 Register
From Ancestry, the 1939 Register lists the following living at 38 Vernon Street: Enoch J. Marsh (DoB 1 July 1869, Steel Foundry Labourer; Margaret Marsh (DoB 6 October 1868), Unpaid Domestic Duties; Walter Marsh (DoB 6 August 1910), Temporary Lightman; Rachel E. Marsh (DoB 20 May 1914), Unpaid Domestic Duties. The next record is redacted, but is likely to be Margaret J. Marsh (born 1937 – from Cumbria BMD). Where was she on the night of the bombing, or did she survive it?
1911 Census
In the 1911 Census John & Margaret Marsh were already living at 38 Vernon Street, Barrow. John Enoch Marsh (41), Head, Foundry Worker (Worker is crossed out and Brass Foundry Labourer, Shipbuilding overwritten); Margaret Marsh (41), Wife; Eliza Marsh (17), Daughter, Laundry Worker (Machinist); William Henry Marsh (13), Son, Errand Boy, Chemist; Robert Marsh (11), Son, School; John Marsh (7), Son, School; and Walter Marsh (9 months), Son, all born in Barrow, make up the household.
1901 Census
In the 1901 Census the family at 38 Vernon Street consisted of John – at this time a labourer in the Steel Works, but listed as born in Crewe, Cheshire; Margaret; William, Robert and Eliza; with Leah Grainger (20), Boarder, Jute Weaver, born Barrow.
1891 Census
John’s family had lived there a long time. In the 1891 Census living at 38 Vernon Street, Barrow, were: Enoch Marsh (45), Head, Bricklayer’s Labourer, born Gornal, Staffs; Eliza Marsh (46), Wife, born Gornal, Staffs; John E. Marsh (21), Moulder’s Assistant, born Crewe, Cheshire; and Susannah Marsh (19), Daughter, Jute Twisting at Jute Works, born Barrow, Lancs.
Legal Records identify John Enoch Marsh (16), 5ft 3½ins., Brown Hair, Labourer, getting into trouble for
“Wilfully causing an obstruction in a certain public thoroughfare at Barrow by playing at football”.
At the court of 23 February 1885 he was sentenced to 7 days in gaol, or pay a fine of 2s 6d with costs of £1 4s 3d. He appears to have served the 7 days.
John Enoch Marsh was baptised at Coppenhall, Cheshire (Parents Enoch and Eliza Marsh) on 8 August 1869. Another record, also with Enoch and Eliza Marsh as parents, has John Enoch Marsh being baptised at Dalton-in-Furness on 7 August 1879. Was he baptised twice, once at birth and again when he was 10, or have the Ancestry Gremlins struck again?
