Writer Trevor Locke

Tag: Portsmouth

  • Hampshire Lockes

    This is my page about the Locke ancestors who lived in Hampshire, England.

    Who were they?

    My father – Leslie Locke – was born in Andover, Hampshire, and lived most of his life in Portsmouth where he was in the Royal Navy.

    I have traced my ancestors back a long way. To the 17th century, in fact.

    Charity Locke was born in 1792 or 1796. Charity was born in Abbotts Ann, near Andover. She died in Andover in 1876, aged 84. She married William Locke in 1820 when she was 24. Her maiden name was Charity Clark. There is an entry for Charity Lock in the census of 1871 when she and Thomas were living in Smannell, a village near Andover. Charity’s age was given as 78.

    Joseph Locke was my great-grandfather. He was born in 1868 in the village of Little London, near Smannel, in Hampshire. He was the son of Thomas Locke, a shoemaker, of Andover. He lived at 25a Adelaid Road, Andover, at the time his son – my father – was born in 1904. Joseph was married on 16th March 1903, age 35, at Andover. His spouse was Agnes Florence (nee Snook) aged 27. Agnes was born on 6th December 1876 in Redenham. She died in 1956. She was the only grandparent I can remember meeting when I was a young child. Joseph worked as a bricklayer when he was living in Little London, in 1901.

    Victorian Era

    In the census of 1891, Joseph is recorded as living in Little London, near Andover, aged 22, working as an agricultural labourer. With him was the head of the household Elizabeth Locke, a widow, aged 62, born in Monxton. Also living with them, as a lodger, was Blanch Locke, aged 4, from Brixton in London.

    The census of 1881 shows Agnes F Snook, aged 5, living with her parents George Snook and Jane in the parish of Fyfield. In the same household was her brother George S Snook aged 10, Frederick W. Snook, aged 8, Eliza J Snook aged 13, Annie J Snook aged 14 and Ada K Snook aged 3.

    The SNOOK family

    My grandmother was born Agnes Snook. Agnes Locke (nee Snook) and her daughter Ivy Doris in Fareham in the 1950s

    Agnes and Ivy Locke
    Agnes Locke (nee Snook) and her daughter Ivy Doris in Fareham in the 1950s

    Thomas Locke, the shoe-maker, was born in 1828. His children were Esther, Rose (born 1857), Elizabeth, William and Joseph.  Thomas was christened at Smannell, near Andover, in 1828. He was the son of William and Charity Lock(e). The name Lock was sometimes spelt, in very old records, – without the E at the end – and most of these ancestors would have been unable to read or write their own name. Thomas married in 1853 at the age of 25. His marriage took place at Andover Parish. His spouse was Elizabeth Applegate, also aged 25, the daughter of Paul and Sarah Applegate.  Thomas is known to have lived in Little London, Monxton, Mitchener Bottom and Andover (the town.) Thomas died in 1881.

    Paul Applegate (born 1794) married Sarah Oliver (born 1795)  in 1820. Their daughter Elizabeth Applegate, became a Locke when she married Thomas Locke in 1853. They were the parents of Joseph Locke who was the father of Leslie Locke, my father.

    Read about one of the most significant events in the life of Leslie Locke.

    Leslie Locke aged 17 in 1921; his first ship was HMS Vivid

     

  • Lockes of Portsmouth

    The Portsmouth Lockes

    This posts was imported here from my old blog.

    Leslie and Doris Locke (my parents) lived in Portsmouth, Hampshire,  after they had moved there from Fulham (in London) in the 1940s.

    Leslie and Doris Locke at a party in the 1940s

    When I was born the family lived in a house on Tangier Road, in the Copnor area of Portsmouth

    159tangierroad
    Here is the house in Portsmouth in which I was born in the 1940s

    In 1960 we moved to house in Chichester Road, North End (a district of Portsmouth). I maintained the garden there.

    The garden at the house in Chichester Road in 1963.
    The garden at the house in Chichester Road in 1963.

    The circular object in the middle of the photo is a bicycle wheel; I placed it there for the Nasturtiums to grow up. In the bottom left of the picture you can see strawberry plants; they produced a good crop of fruits and where brought back from my visit to Surrey went I sent to stay with my Aunt Nell and Uncle George. On the left of the picture are the runner beans that I grew.

    Leslie (my father) had parents who lived in Abbotts Ann near Andover, a village in Hampshire in England.

    Abbotts Ann village around 1917. The village in which some of my ancestors were born and grew up..
    Abbotts Ann village around 1917.
    The village in which some of my ancestors were born and grew up..

    His father was called Joseph, who married  Agnes Florence Snook in 1903.

    Joseph was the son of Thomas Locke, born 1828, married to Elizabeth Applegate (born 1828 in Monxton). They married in 1853 at Andover Parish Church. Thomas was born in Little London, near Andover and he lived there most of his life and worked as a shoemaker. Thomas Locke’s father was William Locke, born 1789 in Smannel,  who married Charity Clarke in 1820. Leslie Locke lived in the Hampshire village of Little Ann, near Andover. In 1922 Leslie volunteered to enter the royal navy; he was 18.

    Leslie Locke as a boy in navel uniform.
    Leslie Locke as a boy in navel uniform.

    The above photo is not dated but could have been taken at around the time that my father entered the navy; he does, after all, have a navel uniform on. It is however the uniform issued to a naval rating, which is possibly why it is white in colour rather than blue. There no information with the photo. Leslie and Doris had their first child in 1936; he was called Peter.

    Leslie and Doris Locke with their son Peter in 1938
    Leslie and Doris Locke with their son Peter in 1938

    Leslie was a CPO in the Royal Navy when Peter was born; Doris was working as a waitress in Southsea. They lived in Tangier Road in the district of Copnor, in Portsmouth.

    Leslie Locke in 1982
    Leslie Locke in 1982

    Leslie’s Royal Navy records are in my family archive. They show that after he joined in 1922, in the port division of Portsmouth, he served in the navy until December 1960. Ships on which he served included Courageos, Victory, Despatch, Doulas and Dryad, among others. He achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

    As a child I remember paying visit’s to my father’s shire base, HMS Vernon.

    My mother – Doris Locke – worked as a waitress at the Savoy Ballroom in Southsea, the holiday resort at the southern end of Portsmouth.

    The Savoy ballroom and cafe in Southsea, 1950s. Opposite South Parade Pier.

    I spent many of my childhood days on the beach at Southsea and visited South Parade Pier, Canoe Lake and the Rock Gardens. Leslie and Doris Locke had two children: myself (Trevor) and Peter (born 1938)

    Peter Locke c. 1939

    The above photo shows my brother Peter in 1939; he would have been around a year old. The photo was taken in Baffins Pond, Copnor, I think. Peter died in 2003.

    Agnes, Mary, Derek and Peter Locke in 1942.

    Here is my grandmother Agnes with my cousins Mary and Derek and my brother Peter. Taken in 1942.

    Page last edited 9th November 2022.