My mother’s father, Frederick Baker, was born 20th December 1881, and died 23rd October 1947, aged 65. I never met him, although his younger sister Mabel was a favourite great-aunt.
This page describes his experiences before and during WW1, and other pages cover his marriage to my grandmother Lottie, failed adventure in Canada, and his work and escape from China.
Auntie Mabel as I remember her. I used to love visiting them in Bristol, as she was always so friendly, and best of all they lived near huge marshalling yards. I remember standing on a bridge, watching with fascination as the sorting was done by gravity, with free-running trucks being formed into trains with the judicious use of points.
Frederick became a Freemason in 1908, when he was 26, but seems to have lapsed.
