G is for George Mawson Armitstead

George Mawson Armitstead ( my great grandfather)was born in Kendal Westmoreland England in 1851 son of a beerseller William Armitstead and his wife Agnes Mawson Armitstead. The Murgatroyd-Armitstead partnership of carpenters and joiners was dissolved in November 1850 and so when George  was born his father was a beerseller. Shortly after George's birth the family  moved  from Kendal to Preston. Did they use the Kendal to Preston canal to take the family of 7 ( William,  Agnes, Margaret, Mary Ann, Isabella, Hannah and a very young George)  to Preston in the early 1850's? In the 1861 census the family were living at 35 Berry St Preston and father William was listed as a carpenter- back to his trade. As he had been fined for having a noisy beerhouse after hours on a Saturday night maybe he thought he should go back to carpentry. Agnes his wife was not listed but Mary Ann aged 16 was a cotton weaver, Isabella aged 14 was also a cotton weaver, Hannah aged 12 and George aged 10 were both scholars. By now Margaret Ellen aged 21 and cotton weaver had married James Clarkson aged 25 and a cotton cloth looker so they were there too with their one month old son William
In the 1871 English census George was listed with his father and both were house carpenters. By 1873 George had moved to Bury Lancashire as he married Jane Fairclough in 1873 in St Maries Roman Catholic Church. They had 10 children but only 6 reached adulthood.

 One of these children  was another George Mawson Armitstead and he was born on 4th May 1885  while the parents were living  at 71 Britain View, Hardys Gale in South Bury. George senior was listed as a joiner-journeyman  By 1901( from the English Census) George junior is an apprentice toolmaker and living with the family at 35 Dumer's Lane Bury Lancashire.
George junior married Margaret Jackson in the Church of St Paul, Astley Bridge, Bolton,  Lancashire on  September 6 1904 and was listed as a fitter and his father was listed as a joiner. Margaret's father Thomas was listed as a blacksmith. Witnesses were William and Elizabeth Jackson, her brother and sister.
 By 1909 they had 2 children Harold Mawson and Hilda.
George Mawson left Liverpool on September 14 1910 on SS Haverford and arrived in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on September 25 1910
Margaret and the children followed on the  "SS Zeeland" leaving from Liverpool to arrive in Boston Massachusetts  on 10 Nov 1910
Two more children, John and Stanley, were born in the USA
In the 1920 US census the family were living in Quincy Norfolk, Massachusetts and George was listed as a toolmaker in a shipyard
In the 1930 census the family were living in Revere Suffolk, Massachusetts and George was a die maker for a die manufacturer. Hilda was now a stenographer for an insurance company. Harold was now married.
In the 1940 census George Junior was  aged 55 and living with Margaret aged 56 and Stanley aged 27 who was now working as a clerk in the gas industry. They now lived in Winthrop Ave Revere,Suffolk Massachusetts
There was even a third George Mawson Armitstead and he was the son of Stanley and Edith Armitstead and was born in 1946 and sadly died in 2012. He had been keen on cars and favoured Stan's old car which featured on his Facebook page.