Mary a.k.a Molly, born 15th January 1896 was the youngest of the three Chambers daughters and is the one child about whom little is known in later years. Whilst a pupil at Underwood School in 1908, Mary won first prize in a competition run by the Nottingham Guardian for the best written description of 'How I Spent My Christmas Holidays.' On the 1911 census, aged 15, she is shown as 'working at home' which was then Swinehouse Farm where the family had moved in 1910.
She married William Stanley Skerritt (b. 23/9/1893) in 1916. His family lived in Arnold where they were well known. His father, Francis, had been a hairdresser & a newsagent in the town & in 1911, William was also working in the former profession, possibly alongside his father. Initially in WW1, William was enlisted in the Sherwood Foresters and then the Royal Fusiliers. He was discharged on 1/8/1919 with a disability pension.
Their first child, Robert William b. 16/9/1920 was born at their home on Queen Street, Arnold and William's occupation is given as Temporary Postman and Army Pensioner. The birth of their second child, Brian Oates b. 2/4/1930 took place at the poultry farm on Calverton Road, Arnold and William's occupation is now Poultry Farmer and Dairyman.
Mary and the children departed Liverpool in April 1938 on board the Duchess of Bedford, bound for Montreal. Their contact address in the U.K. is c/o Thos Cook & Son, Nottingham. Meanwhile, in 1939, William is living with his parents and elder brother John at 60, Arnot Hill Road, Arnold and his occupation is listed as a Storekeeper in Cycle Works. Francis died in October 1939 and William in 1969.
The life led by the Skerritt family in Canada is mainly unrecorded. Molly and her sons kept to themselves. In Newsletter no. 13 there is a mention of a family visit to them and that at one time Mary ran a Christmas tree business, fished and hunted game.
There are Canadian death records for Mary Chambers Skerritt d. 28/8/1983, Robert William Skerritt d. 17/4/1989 and Brian Oates Skerritt d. 2/12/1994 all buried in Mountain View Cemetery, North Cowichan, British Columbia.
Carol Mills
