Children of Cherrytree: Irene and Colin Bramhall
Irene Bramhall was born in Sheffield on 10 November 1910, the only daughter of Joseph Bramhall and his wife Edith, nee Harvey who had married at St. Luke's Parish Church, Dyer's Hill on 14 November 1909. In the census of 2 Apr 1911, the Bramhall family were living at 64 Bernard Street in the Park District of Sheffield. Joseph was working at an iron works as a steam crane driver. A son, Colin, was born on 9 February 1913.
On July 1914 Joseph Bramhall enlisted as a Private in the 1st Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment at Sheffield. He was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force and died from wounds received in action on 21 October 1914. Joseph Bramhall was aged 29. He was buried at the Bailleul Communal Cemetery, Nord, France and posthumously awarded the 1914 Star, British Campaign Medal, and Victory Medal.
The In Memorium column of the Sheffield Evening Telegraph carried this moving tribute for Joseph on the first anniversary of his death:
BRAMHALL - In loving memory of my dear husband, Private Joseph Bramhall, of 1st East Yorkshire Regiment, died October 21, 1914 of wounds received in France, of 64 Bernard Street.
We think of him in silence,
And his name we often call;
Though there's nothing left to answer
But his photo on the wall.
- From his loving wife and children.
It would appear that after her husband's death, Edith and her two children returned to live at her parents' home at 61 Rhodes Street, Park. She died there on 21 January 1917 at the age of 34 and was buried on 3 February in City Road Cemetery.
L/R: Rev. Sandford Woods and Albert Senior
Sometime later that year Irene and Colin Bramhall were placed into the care of Cherrytree Orphanage, Totley. They were referred to the Orphanage by Rev. Sandford Woods and Albert Senior. Rev. Woods was the Vicar of Sale Memorial Church, Dyer's Hill, Sheffield. The Church was formerly known as St. Luke's and was the church where Irene had been baptised on 7 December 1910. Albert Senior was the son of Alderman George Senior, a former Lord Mayor of Sheffield and Master Cutler, and managing director of the steel manufacturing firm George Senior and Sons Ltd. of Ponds Forge, Sheffield and a director of several other large companies in the city. It is possible that Joseph Bramhall may have worked for one of Mr. Senior's companies before the war.
Nothing is known about Irene's time in the Orphanage. When she left the Orphanage on 12 July 1927, Irene was placed into domestic service with "Mrs. Bush of York" but unfortunately no more details of her placement are recorded. Her bank book had been forwarded to Mrs. Thompson, a senior member of the Orphanage's Management Committee, who would have been responsible for monitoring her progress. Irene was aged 16; a small War Gratuity would have been payable to her once she attained the age of 18.
Colin Bramhall got into a number of minor scrapes at the Orphanage and was twice reported to the Management Committee for bad behaviour, both times in the company of other older boys. Nevertheless they must have thought well of him because when an opportunity came up for a placement on a farm in Canada, Colin was chosen. Boys were normally outplaced at the age of 14 but the arrangements with the Ministry of Pensions were protracted and no doubt complicated by the Pensions Act of 1925 which gave additional protection to orphans. The Orphanage had earlier successfully financed the emigration of boys to Canada through the auspices of the Canadian National Railway, but in this case there was an offer made to the Lord Mayor's Office from a Mr. Petrie of Alberta to adopt a boy and by 19 July 1927 the matter was fully resolved.
SS Minnedosa
Colin Bramhall's name appears on the passenger list of the Canadian Pacific's SS Minnedosa which sailed from Liverpool on 16 September 1927, bound for Quebec City and Montreal. Although there is no entry in the Orphanage minutes, it was usual for Dr. Mary Andrews, the Orphanage's Medical Officer, to accompany boys to their ports of departure and to see them safely aboard ship.
At the Management Committee meeting on 18 October 1927 it was reported that "Letters from Colin Bramhall, the last dated September 29th from Linaria, Alberta, were read giving interesting details of the boy's passage across the Atlantic and his arrival at the hostel at the place named."
December 2019