Ernest Matthew Knighton (1918 - 1986)

Born 9 Oct 1918 in Yaxley, Huntingdonshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Annie Irene (Gill) Knighton — married 23 Jan 1946 in Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 11 Aug 1986 at age 67 in Darley Dale, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile managers: James Knighton [send private message] and Jason Knighton [send private message]

Biography

Ernest Knighton was born in Huntingdonshire, England.

Ernest Matthew Knighton was born at Middleton's Lane in the village of Yaxley, Huntingdonshire on October 9, 1918^[1], near the end of World War I. His father Ernest Jabez Knighton was a Lance Corporal in the Northamptonshire Regiment at the time. His middle name comes from his uncle Matthew Coles who had died earlier in the war.

He had two older siblings, Florence and Jabez who both died young; Florence died two months after he was born and Jabez died two years prior.

Ernie grew up outside the village of Thorney, Cambridgeshire at the address of 21 Thorney Dyke. He lost his mother Ethel at the age of fourteen. His father was strict and made him and his younger brothers work hard. He was a witness at the marriage of his brother Tom. In the 1939 register he is living with his father, younger brothers and a housekeeper named Kate Quincey.^[2]

During World War II he was a Driver in the Royal Army Service Corps. He was captured as a prisoner of war on June 2, 1943 in Italy. He managed to escape by hiding in pile of manure in the back of a truck over the Swiss border.^[3]

At some point in the war he visited the town of Matlock in Derbyshire. He fell in love with the area due to its picturesque hills and cliffs, a far cry from the flat, featureless land he was born and grew up on. After the war, he returned and lived there for the rest of his life.^[4] He met his wife Irene Gill and married her on Jan 23, 1946 at the Imperial Road Methodist Church in Bakewell, Derbyshire.^[5] They had two children; Veronica and Charles.

Ernie held several jobs during his life; farm worker, brick layer, lumberjack, lorry driver and furnaceman. He was talented at woodwork and looking after animals. He had rabbit hutches and beehives in his garden.^[6]

He developed lung cancer in his sixties. A photo was taken of him with his three younger brothers, this would be the last time they were all together. He died on August 11, 1986 at Whitworth Hospital in Darley Dale, Derbyshire.^[7] He was buried at Matlock on August 15, 1986.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FBG-GXD : 1 October 2014), Ernest M Knighton, 1918; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ Ancestry.com, 1939 England and Wales Register (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Ancestry.com, The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/6344H.
3. ↑ Find My Past, Prisoners of War, 1715-1945, POW - Escape via Switzerland - report, WO208/4257. E M Knighton, driver, service number T/138919, Royal Army Service Corps., captured 02 Jun 1943, interviewed 29 Nov 1943 in Switzerland.
4. ↑ Charlie Knighton, son of Ernest.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVD9-99CH : 8 October 2014), Ernest M Knighton and null, 1946; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1946, quarter 1, vol. 7B, p. 2015, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
6. ↑ Jason Knighton, grandson of Ernest.
7. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZ9-MQ5J : 4 September 2014), Ernest Mathew Knighton, Aug 1986; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death Registration, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
8. ↑ Ancestry.com, Derbyshire, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1991 (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Ancestry.com, Derbyshire Record Office; Matlock, Derbyshire, England; Derbyshire Church of England Parish Registers; Diocese: Diocese of Derby; Reference Number: D1978/A/PI/5/5.