"A man finds room in the few square inches of the face . . .

     for the traits of all his ancestors; for the expression of all his history, and his wants."  
                                                                  --Ralph Waldo Emerson


Erik, 
     What follows is the limited information I have of Poppa's grandparents, my great-grandparents.  I include it because it is quite interesting.  This information come from Poppa and from my cousin, Anne Shelton.
                                                                  --Mom


     Albert Shelton, Poppa's grandfather, was born March 23, 1869.  He was the sixth child of what would become a family of eight.  He was known my the nickname "Mickey" all his adult life.  In June 1897, he married Maria Oscroft.  She already had two sons, John Henry Oscroft and Fredrick Albert Oscroft.  When Albert married Maria he was listed in the 1901 Census as a coal miner but by 1904 he was a shop keeper.  Maria's family perhaps 'had a bob or two' and Albert may have been given a good dowry for marrying Maria and raising her two sons.  
FYI:  a 'bob' is old British slang for a shilling.  A shilling is a former British coin equal to one twentieth of a pound or twelve pence.
     Albert and Maria had four sons of their own, eldest to youngest, Joe (my grandfather), Jack, Bill and Tom.  Albert had a horse and dray which he would drive to the neighboring villages of Calverton, Oxton, Epperstone and Woodborough, selling china, glassware, and paraffin oil for lamps.
     Often one or more of his boys would ride with him on the dray, helping to tether the horse and keep watch over the goods while Albert was doing business.  He had a set route which he and the lads did whatever the weather conditons because people would be relying on him, especially for paraffin oil for their lamps.   He also had a shop at 74 Front Street in Arnold.  Maria ran the shop. Their home was at the rear of the property.

a dray, a low cart for delivering loads, usually pulled by one horse

        Maria and Albert's son, Jack, remembered that he and his brothers went to Sunday school. He said it wasn't really like school, but rather "somewhere to go when it was raining, somewhere to go and have a sing, or a have a Bible story told us."  He remembered once getting a 'bat up't tab' (a smack round the ear) from the Sunday school teacher for singing the wrong words to a hymn.  Their lyrics went something like this:



          "There is a happy land, far, far away.
           Where they eat bread and jam three times a day.
           Oh how they slap it on."



     Once, Albert and Joe, 'borrowed' a rickety old bike from outside a gate in Arnold. No tires, just steel rims on the wheels and no brakes. They rode off with the bike toward Arch Hill planning on a few 'croggies' down the hill.  (A croggy is a ride on the handlebars of a mate's bike.) Things didn't go as planned; they lost control and hit the wall of the old Coaching Inn at the bottom of Arch Hill.
     The front wheel was so badly buckled the boys were scared to take it back.  They threw the bike into a pond in front of the inn.  For weeks after whenever they heard a knock at the door, they panicked.  They thought it was the local bobby (police officer), Bobby Wilson coming to lock them up.

     When the boys were young, everyone in the family learned a song, poem, or story to recite and entertain the rest of the family on Sunday evening or at family get-togethers.
FYI:  The first television wasn't invented until the late 1920's.

 

    


     The kerosene lamp (widely known in Britain as a paraffin lamp) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as a light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a table, or hand-held lanterns may used for portable lighting.


   
     Sadly, Albert Shelton died of chronic bronchitis and heart failure in November 1911, at the age of 42. He left behind a wife, Maria, and six sons.
     On August 13th, 1918, John Henry Oscroft, Albert's stepson, a private in the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regt) was killed in action in Proyat, France.  He along with 518 other soldiers lost their lives just twelve weeks before the end of the war.  He was 24 years old.
     One year later on February 25, 1919, Maria Oscroft Shelton, died from bronchitis at the age of 44.
Her youngest son, Thomas, would've been about 17 at her death.  It is not known who took in the boys. Perhaps their grandparents?