On February 6, 1881 a little boy was born in Hull, England and his parents named him Herbert. My great grandfather, Herbert, was born in 1881 in Hull, England, but I don't know for sure if the family I have found is for sure my great grandfather, but it is the only Herbert Hall I have found that was born in Hull in 1881. I don't know my great grandfather's birth date, only his birth year. If I can trust what I am piecing together from Census searches, his father was named William L. and his mother’s name was Elizabeth. He was the firstborn child, and he had a sister named Edith, who was born three years after he was.
The address of their residence was 13 Hanover Square, and the father worked on a barge. Information on Herbert’s obituary indicates he had one brother and two sisters. I have no way to tell if those were surviving siblings, or if that was all the siblings there ever were. While I cannot find record of birth or know with certainty this information is the correct match, this appears to be my great-grandfather’s birth and parents. I can find no other Herbert Hall living in Hull, England at that time, so I am claiming these to be my relatives.
Also supporting my theory, at least circumstantially is the census information that reveals the Jickells family living across the street at #12 Hanover Square. My great-grandmother was always known as “Carrie”, and even named her daughter “Carrie”. The census does not list a Carrie Jickells at 12 Hanover Square, but there is a daughter listed in the Jickells family with the same birth year named Clara E. Jickells, and it is easy enough for me to believe that she took Carrie as a permanent nickname. The information I have pieced together from 1901 on I know is accurate.
Carrie was a year older than Herbert. When they grew up, they got married. Herbert served in the military for Great Britain. At the time of the 1901 Census, Herbert, aged 19 and Carrie, aged 20 were married. Their first son, Herbert Hall, Jr., was born March 3, 1904. Their daughter Carrie was born in 1907, and Robert William was born in 1908. England had a tradition, at that time, of giving land grants in Canada to their veterans, and when Herbert, a bricklayer, returned to civilian life he traveled to Hamilton, Ontario Canada to set up the homestead and find work.
The 1911 England census shows Herbert, Sr. is still a resident of England, but he was physically in Canada. If I search long enough I think I will find him on a 1911 Census for Canada as well. The rest of the family relocated in 1912, as documented by the 1921 Census for Hamilton City, Ontario, Canada.
The Great War began in 1914, and Herbert, Sr. went back into active duty serving for England. I have a stack of amazing, embroidered postcards sent from Herbert, Sr. to his son Herbert, Jr. while he was away serving during the war. No other written record can be found.
Herb Sr.
The Hall family was living, in 1921, at 245 Balmoral Avenue, Hamilton, City, Ontario, Canada. Herbert and Carrie raised their three children in Canada: Herbert, Jr., Carrie and Robert. When Herbert, Jr. got married in 1924, jobs were scarce for bricklayers, and Herb and Dora decided to move to the United States where there were available jobs in Washington, DC. Herb, Sr. and Carrie decided to make the same transition, so they all moved to Greenbelt, Maryland. Herb, St. and Carrie still had Carrie and Robert at home with them.
Front row is Herb Jr. and his brother Bob. Behind Herb, Jr. is his mother Carrie, and I believe Carrie's mother, whose name I am unsure of. 
Dora with Eddie on her lap; Bob in the center, little Herb on the right.
Carrie (the daughter) reached adulthood and married Ray Tomlinson. The two were married shortly after Herb and Dora. They also settled in Greenbelt. The two couples both had children, and the cousins grew up very close friends. Carrie and Ray's children, June and John were especially good friends with Herb and Dora's oldest two boys, Herb and Bob. Herb and Dora's youngest son was born a bit later, and the gap in their ages made it such that Eddie didn't usually hang out with the other four kids.
Herb, Sr. and Carrie were still living in Greenbelt when World War 2 started. Their son, Robert, went and fought in the war. Their son, Herbert Jr., was too old to enlist.
Robert, in uniform, with his mom Carrie:
Robert never recovered from fighting in the war. When he returned to civilian life, he was an alcoholic, and did not live long. I don't know more about this. No one talked about him and my dad did not tell me much more than this.
When Herbert, Jr.'s son Herbert William (my dad) was old enough to enlist, he was working in a machine shop on the waterfront in DC. His job was too important to the war effort, so they would not let him enlist. His enlistment started, instead, in April of 1945 to 1947, and he re-enlisted 1947-1949.
Herb (my dad)'s brother Bob also enlisted, in the Navy. When they enlisted, their brother Eddie was still a schoolboy. When Herbert got out of the Army Air Corp, he bought a new car (below). In the photo below, left to right: My grandma Dora, my great grandma Carrie, my uncle Eddie, my dad Herbert, my uncle Bob, I'm guessing my great grandfather's sister Edith, then my great grandfather Herbert Sr.
Herbert Hall, Sr. was my great grandfather and his wife Carrie, my great grandmother. Herbert Hall, Jr. was my grandfather, my father’s father.
My great grandfather passed away in 1965. I was only six or seven, but I remember him well. He will appear more as I tell the story of my own life in later installments of Family Stories.
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