George Dodsworth

Birth

George Dodsworth was born on Friday 10^th February 1883 in the village of Minskip near Boroughbridge, the son of Thomas and Sarah Dodsworth. The Dodsworths were a  large family. George was the tenth child and two more were yet to be born in the following years. Thomas registered his son’s birth and gave his occupation as an agricultural labourer. He was by that time aged 38. Sarah was aged 32.

George’s ancestors were very well established in Minskip long before his birth and have so far been traced back to 1764. Minskip is mentioned in the Domesday book [[1]]. The registers of the parish church of St. Andrew, Aldborough hold much information relating to the history of the Dodsworths. Aldborough is also mentioned in the Domesday Book [[2]]. It is unfortunate that no family bibles are available, as family events were often recorded on the blank pages at the front of these.

George was baptised at Aldborough Parish Church on Thursday 23^rd February 1883 when he was almost two weeks old. It is to be assumed that both his parents and some of his siblings were present. Of his grandparents, only his paternal grandmother Isabella Dodsworth and his maternal grandfather William Slater were still alive. George appears on the 1891 Census for Minskip (Figure 14) as aged 7 and a scholar. It is not known which school he attended [[3]]. On the 1901 Census for Minskip (Figure 15), he is given as a single man aged 18, an agricultural labourer living with his parents.

Nothing else is known of George’s early life, of his childhood or adolescence. No photograph of George has been found. Nothing is known of his physical appearance or temperament.