| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Richard Railton Pearcy, the eldest son of Tom Pearcy and his wife Mary Ann Railton, was born at Dalton Holme on the 5th November 1891. His father, a gardener, came from Etton and his mother from Garton-on-the-Wolds. Growing up in Dalton Holme, Richard had an elder sister, Ethel, who was born in Beverley on the 4th November 1889 and a brother, Alfred Ernest, born on the 19th June 1895 at Dalton Holme. Between 1894 and 1898 the three Pearcy children were enrolled at the National School, Dalton Holme, though by 1899 the family had moved for a short while to Willerby, where Christopher Jesse, the youngest of the family, was born on the 30th November 1899. By the end of March 1901, the family was living at Norton Street, Beverley.
A Beverley & District Co-operative Society document dated 11th December 1907 reports the appointment of 'delegate R.R. Pearcy as secretary'. At the time of the 1911 Census the Pearcy family's home address was 90 Lairgate, Beverley and Richard was a 'general clerk out of work'.
Richard married Ann Elizabeth Storr, of 13 Pasture Terrace, on the 26th December 1912 at St Mary's Church, Beverley. Over the next fourteen years they had six children, Kathleen Annie; Barbara Ellis; Thomas Ellis; Richard Ronald (known as Ronald); Ethel Mary and Robert Ellis.
Richard Railton Pearcy's military rank has been described as 'sergeant' although particulars from the Medal Rolls state he was Pte 44093 of the Northumberland Fusiliers. As his attestation papers were lost in the Blitz in 1940, there is only sparse documentation of his Army life. His promotion from Officer Cadet to temporary 2nd Lieutenant, East Yorkshire Regiment was announced in the London Gazette of 4th October 1918. Richard's two brothers also served in the Great War: Alfred Ernest as a sergeant in the Army Service Corps and Christopher Jesse joined the Royal Flying Corps (which became the Royal Air Force on the 1st April 1918).
Following demobilisation, Richard returned home to his wife and young family in Beverley. When the Civil Registration was taken in September 1939, Richard was employed as a civilian clerk with the Royal Air Force. Ann worked as a cinema usherette. They lived at 97 Walkergate, together with their married daughter, Mrs Barbara Gadd, and Valdor Baker, the son of Richard's deceased sister, Mrs Ethel Baker. File also includes notes and documents relating to the Baker family.
Ann Elizabeth Pearcy died on the 19th of May 1968. She was seventy-six years old. Richard Railton Pearcy, aged eighty-seven, died in Hull on the 29th of October 1979. They are both buried in St Mary's Cemetery, New Walk, Beverley.
Richard Railton Pearcy had some interesting relatives and in-laws.Richard's sister, Ethel Pearcy (1889-1927) was a dancer at the Folies Bergere, Paris, where she was known by her stage names 'Etoile, or Kitty, Lenoir' . Ethel married Augustus George Chevalier Baker (stage name 'Gus' Chevalier) who was born in Paris to a theatrical family. His parents, Thomas Henry Baker and Jane Annette Tresahar Jeffree ('Finette') were known in Europe and America by their stage names of Elder-Hearn, or 'Ma and Pa Hearn'. 'Gus' Chevalier appeared in musical-hall productions in theatres all over Britain and also in films in the 1930s. Until his death in 1947 he had been the principal comedian at the Windmill Theatre, London for more than 32 years. According to a family history document found online, Gus and Ethel were friends of the French film star Maurice Chevalier whom they persuaded to go to Hollywood. 'Mistinguett', the celebrated French star of the Folies Bergere and former mistress of Maurice Chevalier, was Ethel's friend. The British film star Kenneth More, who began his acting career at the Windmill Theatre, said Gus Chevalier was his mentor. Gus had a brother Tom Elder-Hearn (stage name Tom Hearn) who served in the Royal Flying Corps in the Great War. In 1914 Tom bought an aeroplane from, and was taught to fly by, the famous French aviator, Louis Bleriot.
Includes information taken from census, military records, newspapers. |