This page is dedicated in loving memory to Ronald Barrett who passed away in 1984 and to Florrie Barrett
Who  passed away 7th July 2009

The Descendants list has been researched and Compiled by
Shelle Melton and Paul Barrett and written here by Shelle Melton

The furthest back we have traced on the Barrett family tree so far is approx 1800, to my 3 x great grandparents.
John Barrett married Mary Ann Daynes in 1822 at St.Helen’s Church, Norwich.
At this time John was a weaver.
Unfortunately John died in 1839, prior to the first official census of 1841 which has caused us problems tracing any further back. We have found several John Barrett’s on various baptism records dating from late 1700’s to early 1800’s but as yet we have not been able to establish which one may belong to our family.
John & Mary had nine children we know of. One of those being my great great grandfather William Barrett who was born on 2nd April 1829 and baptised at St.Paul’s Church, Norwich in 1833. At the time of William’s birth the family lived at Cowgate Street, Norwich.

William married Sarah Ann Durrant at St.Swithin’s, Norwich on 21 May 1849. By 1861 Wm & Sarah had moved to Suffolk Arms Yard, St.Martin at Oak, Norwich. By 1871 they had moved to the St.Augustine’s area living on Sussex Street, where they went on to live for the rest of their lives. William was a shoemaker.
William & Sarah had five children we know of.
We have noted that William & his elder brother John, also a shoemaker, lived at various houses along Sussex Street over the years. They lived at No’s 3,5,6,7 & 11.
William died in 1907. His brother John lived until he was 103 years old!

One of William & Sarah’s son’s was William Herbert Henry Barrett my great grandfather.
He was born 24 Dec 1857. He married Anna Maria Smith in Norwich in 1878, but we are only aware of one child as Anna died early on in their marriage. William married again in 1885 to Salome Pomfret Dunn, they had five children.

William & Salome lived at Scoles Green, St.John Timberhill, Norwich & then 71 Shipstone Road, Norwich. My grandfather Arthur George Barrett & my father Ronal Walter Barrett were both born at Shipstone Road.
Arthur George Barrett was born 15 July 1886. At 15 years old he was an errand boy. He later became an upholsterer. In the 1911 census he was shown as being a waiter at the Hyderabad Barracks in Colchester. We believe he was with either with the Northumberland Fusiliers or the Durham Light Infantry who were based at the barracks at that time. We are trying to confirm this with Army records. We also believe he may have been injured during WWI as he had a Silver war badge which was given to injured soldiers so that they were not suspected of being deserters by members of the public.

Arthur married Ellen Plumpton on 15 march 1919 in a double wedding with Ellen’s sister Hannah & Richard Youngs of Trimley, Suffolk. They married at St.Barnabus Church, Heigham, Norwich.

At the time of the marriage Arthur was a postman. Arthur & Ellen had three children. Arthur died of a brain haemorrhage in 1929 aged only 43 years.
My father Ronald Barrett was only 3 years old at the time.  Ellen later re-married & went on to have two more children.
When Ellen died in 1962 she was buried in a double plot with Arthur at Earlham Cemetery in Norwich.
One of Arthur’s nephew’s, another William Hebert Henry Barrett was killed aboard the HMS Rawalpindi during WW2. A memorial in his honour is held at St.Augustine’s Church, Norwich & also at the Plymouth Naval Cemetery.

Able Seaman William Herbert Henry Barrett, Royal Navy, HMS Rawalpindi. Died 23 November 1939, aged 31. Son of William and Agnes Barrett of Norwich. Husband of Ellen Barrett of Norwich. HMS Rawalpindi, a lightly armed, converted merchant cruiser, was sunk while patrolling north of the Faroe Islands in the North Sea following a chance encounter with the German battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Able Seaman Barrett was one of 238 members of crew who lost their lives that day, including Captain E. C. Kennedy, father of the broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy.

The plaque below with Williams name just visible is in St Augustines church here in Norwich.  Also pictured below is the HMS Rawalpindi and the Plymouth war memorial that has a credit to William Barrett.

 

My father Ronald Barrett was born 20 March 1926.
During WW2 he was an able seaman in the Royal Navy, based at Portsmouth. He served aboard the HMS Ajax.  The Picture below is of the then Crew of HMS Ajax which was famous for helping to sink the German pocket battle ship Admiral Graf Spee.

Another sailor aboard the HMS Ajax said that if any of his colleagues wanted a pen-pal then his girlfriend had lots of friends who were willing to write. This is how Dad met my Mum.
After Dad was de-mobbed, he & Mum, Florence Baker, married at St.Mark’s Church, Camberwell in 1947. They lived in Camberwell for over a year before moving back to Dad’s hometown of Norwich. Their eldest son George was born in Camberwell, the other five of us were born in Norwich.

Over the years Dad was a butcher and a postman.
In 1961 Mum, Dad & my brothers & sisters moved to Australia with the hope of a better life.

 Dad was made redundant a few times and they decided to come home to Norwich once again. I was born a few years later.
When Dad was in his early 40’s he suffered a stroke which prevented him from working anymore. He went on to have several more strokes which affected his walking, talking & ability to read. He had a massive heart attack on 17th December 1984, two days later he was gone. He was cremated at Earlham Crematorium, Norwich on Christmas Eve of that year.  His wish was to be buried at sea.
His wishes were carried out on 27th June 1985 by the Royal Navy at Portsmouth. With the Union Jack laid over his casket, he was slipped into the Solent to rest on the sea-bed.

On the 7th July 2009 suddenly and sadly we lost our Mum.
Florrie was cremated at Earlham Cemetary Norwich on the 21st July.
Florries internment will be held at Earlham Cemetary on October 30th.
On what would have been her 87th Birthday.

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