By Lynn Heiden
Join me as we continue the story of the Tester family. If you have not checked out my previous blog, make sure you read it here.
George Francis Tester, the baby in the photo had one sister and three brothers. In this blog, we will be exploring more about the family and the parents.
Starting with the father, George Tester, born on 21 December 1874, and the son of Elizabeth and George. George married Alice Mary Lines in the second quarter of 1898 in Potterspury, Northamptonshire. In 1901, he was a self-employed plumber and decorator with his first two children. By 1911, he was working as a shopfitter.
In the 1921 census, George was listed as a builder and decorator, and he was also an employer. He died on 28 March 1950 at the age of 75.
The mother in the photo is Alice Mary Lines. She was born on May 27, 1870, in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire. Her parents were William, an engine driver on the railway, and Mary. Alice lived a long life and died in August 1970 in Newton Abbot, Devon at the age of 100 years and 3 months!
George Francis Tester’s Four Siblings
Evelyn Alice Tester, the second child, was born on July 23, 1900. In 1921, she was employed as a bookkeeper for a butcher in Tunbridge Wells. In April 1925, she married Ernest Henry Jarrett, with whom she had three children. By 1939, Ernest was working as a builder’s manager. Evelyn lived a long life, passing away in December 1996 at the age of 96, while Ernest had died earlier, in 1970.
The next born was Leslie James Tester, who arrived on 8 July 1904. In 1921, he was an articled pupil at Stanley Philips Ltd Architects. Leslie later became an architect and travelled to Canada and America during his working life. I have been unable to find any evidence of a marriage for him. Leslie died on 28 July 1977 in Exmouth, Devon, at the age of 73.
Did the mother, Alice, move to Devon from Kent to be near her unmarried son, Leslie, in her later years?
George and Alice’s next child was Robert William, born on February 23. 1906. He married Rose Kathleen Cox on May 27, 1934. Rose was the daughter of a police inspector, and young Robert was a police constable. The couple had two children during their marriage.
Longevity ran in the family as Robert lived to the age of 99 and died on 27 June 2005 in Brighton, Sussex.
A Terrible Discovery
While researching this small branch of the Tester family, I came across a shocking and sad tragedy. I was looking into why the couple’s eldest daughter, Ann Christine Tester, had died at age 6 years old but her digital death record was unavailable. Strange? So, I obviously had to dig a little deeper.
It’s often worth simply Googling a name, it’s certainly been very helpful for me over the years and most definitely in this case. This is just one result from that search.
I started to follow all the different links associated with the bombing in Hastings during WW2 to build a story of what happened the day Ann died. It was Sunday, so no school…
Blitz on the Coast: The Bombing of the Swann Inn, Hastings
“At 1 pm on Sunday the 23rd May 1943, German fighter bombers, probably Focke Wulf 190s, swept across Hastings and St Leonards in a ‘Tip and Run Raid’. They dropped 25 high explosive bombs and sprayed machine gun fire indiscriminately. The raid was the second worst for the town in terms of casualties, with 25 people killed in total and 85 injured, 30 seriously. Among the buildings suffering direct hits from the bombs were the Swann Hotel, Swan Terrace and Reeve’s Antiques, all on the High Street in Hastings Old Town”. – Hastings History
I was puzzled as to why Ann would be at a hotel. Eventually, I found out and it wasn’t just Ann that was killed but also her Auntie Violet, her mum’s sister. Hastings suffered very badly all that week.
“Violet Cox and her niece Anne Tester, aged 6, were Clive Vale residents and lived next door to each other. On 23rd May 1943, Violet took Anne to the White Rock Pavilion. They were walking home when they heard the siren and sheltered in the post office passage. But the Swan landlord invited them to shelter in the inn”. – Friends of Hastings Cemetery
Anne lived with her parents and sister at 55 Belmont Road, Hastings while Violet lived at number 53 (right next door!). They were half a mile from home when the siren sounded.
The Swan Hotel took a direct hit and Violet and Anne were killed instantly, along with 15 others and many were injured. Violet and Anne’s funeral took place on 27 May 1942 at the Borough Cemetery in Hastings.
A memorial service was held at St. Clement’s Church on Wednesday, May 16, 1946, for those who lost their lives in the raid during World War II. Later, to commemorate the significant loss of life at this site during the war, the bombed area was cleared in late 1952 and converted into a memorial garden, which features a sundial with the names of those who had lost their lives engraved on the pedestal.
If you want to read more about Hastings during WW2, there are several good websites you can visit. There are also non-fiction books about Hastings during WW2 written by the excellent author Nathan Dylan Goodwin Books.
Newspaper article about Violet and Anne’s funeral in the Hastings & St Leonard’s Observer on 29 May 1943.
More Family History
The youngest child was John Stanley, who was born on 17 April 1911. John married Annie E. Adams on 13 June 1934 in Tonbridge, Kent and had one child. In 1939, John was a solicitors’ managing clerk and the couple lived with George and Alice, John’s parents, at 9 Eastcliff Road, Tunbridge Well, which is still there today!
Celebration of Life
There was a celebration of the mother, Alice Mary, reaching 100 years old reported in the Kent & Sussex Courier on 29 May 1970.
Newspaper article about Alice’s birthday. Image source: Kent & Sussex Courier 29 May 1970.
When Alice unfortunately died 3 months later, there was a report in the Torbay Express on 12 September 1970. These give us a little family history too and confirmed what I already thought: she was living with her son Leslie in Devon.
News article about Alice’s death. Image source: Torbay Express & South Devon 12 September 1970.
The Tester family’s story is filled with resilience, love, and loss. Their journey through the years has left a lasting legacy, and connecting the past with the present is always special.
Are you a descendant of the Tester family? If you are, please do get in touch as I would love for this fabulous old photo to return to its family.
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