Cyril Ricketts (1910 – 1962)
By Paul Ricketts
Birth and Baptism
Cyril George Ricketts was born in Burlestone, Dorset, England1-4. His father was George Henry Ricketts and mother Alice Maud Ricketts. According to records we know he was baptized on 2 January 1910 in Piddletown, Dorset, England1 but until we find evidence of his birth date he could have been born in late 1909 or the first days of 1910.
Early Life and Marriage
By the time of the 1911 England Census, Cyril is living with his family in Moreton, Dorset, aged 14. His father’s occupation is noted as a labourer and Cyril has a three-year-old brother named Walter John Ricketts4.
In December 1938 Cyril marries Florence Maud Mitchell5. The event is recorded in Winchester, Hampshire but their home is the nearby town of Wickham. It is here in 1939 that their son Alan is born and three years later their daughter Sheila.
During world war two Cyril is registered in a reserved occupation so continues to work as a farm laborer. Food production was critical to sustaining the nation so many farm workers were not called up for active service.
Later Cyril and Florence moved to the Sussex town of Midhurst
Cyril Ricketts Death
In March 1962 Cyril succumbs to a second heart attack and dies3. He is buried in Easebourne cemetery.
Sources:
1 Ancestry.com, England, Select Dorset Parish Registers, 1538-1910 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014), Ancestry.com
2 FreeBMD, England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006), Ancestry.com
3 Ancestry.com, England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007), Ancestry.com
4 Ancestry.com, 1911 England Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Ancestry.com, Class: RG14; Piece: 12328; Schedule Number: 78
5 Ancestry.com, England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010), Ancestry.com
The Ricketts Connection to the Tolpuddle Martyrs
There's an old story that our Ricketts lineage had a connection to the Tolpuddle Martyrs. But the Martyrs story is well documented and told many times, and there's no mention of any Ricketts'. So, if there is a connection it's more by association than genealogy....