Personal Record

John Isaac attended the National School in Hucknall up to the age of 14.

The 1901 Census states that, at the age of 16, he was working as a “cow lad on farm”. The farm is assumed to be Beacon Hill Farm on the outskirts of Hucknall where his father worked and was close to where the family lived.

Ten years later he was working for the Hardstaff family at Hall Farm, Linby, as a “waggoner”. It was here that he met his future wife, Annie, who came from Newark and was working as a nanny at Castle Mill in nearby Papplewick. They were married on 1st June 1911 at St Mary's Church Newark.

In 1913, John was appointed manager of Portland Farm off Portland Street in Hucknall. John and Annie’s first child, Alice, died there aged 2. Their eldest son John Hugh was born in 1914 followed by Frank in 1916 and Philip in 1919.

The family left the farm and moved to 79, Watnall Road where twins James and Nancy were born in 1921. Mary arrived in 1923 followed by Richard in 1925.

In 1925 Philip died aged 6. Tragically Annie died two years later on 11th February 1927 of a lung infection and influenza, aged 39. A few days later John's widowed father, Hugh, died. John arranged for Gladys, the daughter of his older brother Charlie, to come and live with the family and help him look after his six children aged between 3 and 13.

John found employment with Hucknall Council managing their stables and horse-powered transport.

In 1936 the family moved to 86, Derbyshire Lane in Hucknall. John (or 'Pops', as he was called by his daughters) worked for Hucknall Council until he retired in 1950. He kept an allotment off Sandy Lane from before the war until he died of heart disease in 1956. He was buried at Hucknall Cemetery in the same grave as his wife, Annie.

John and Annie's Children

See the separate Personal Record for John and Annie's eldest son, John Hugh.

Son Frank married Peggy Parkin in 1940 and they had two daughters: Rachel and Ellen. In the war, Frank was firstly a stoker on board ship in the Mediterranean and then served in the Royal Marines. After the war the family lived on Papplewick Lane, Hucknall.

Son Jim served in the Royal Navy in the war. He married Olive Jewsbury in 1948 and they had a daughter, Kirsten. They lived in Nottingham.

Daughter Nancy married Keith Lowe in 1942. He was drafted in to the British Army in 1942 and completed his wartime service in India. On returning home in January 1948, Keith trained as a school teacher and, over the years, taught in six local schools. He spent the last 15 years of his career at Bestwood Village School, where his sister-in law, Theo, was the school secretary. Nancy had a passion for designing and making clothes and this led to her appointment as a lecturer in fashion studies at the former Trent Polytechnic (now the Nottingham Trent University). Keith and Nancy lived on Beardall Street in Hucknall and had a son, David.

Daughter Mary married Jozef Goralik in 1954. Jozef came from the Krakow area of Poland and was serving in the Polish Air Force when the Germans invaded in 1939. With many thousands of his compatriots, he escaped to Britain through Romania, the Balkans and Greece. In Britain, he was assigned as a mechanic to 304 Polish Bomber Squadron, which had been formed within the Royal Air Force and was initially based at Syerston near Newark. After the war the Polish units were disbanded in early 1946 and Jozef was sent to the RAF base at Hucknall for resettlement. With Poland then occupied by the Russians and in the process of becoming a Warsaw Pact communist puppet state, Jozef, like many of his fellow demobilised airmen, decide to stay in Britain. He found work in the building trade in Hucknall and subsequently met Mary. They set up home at 86 Derbyshire Lane, Hucknall, where they raised two daughters: Josephine and Suzanne.

Dick, the youngest son, served in the Army (Royal Engineers) in the Second World War and was posted to a unit in South Wales towards the end of the war. It was whilst he was there that he met his future wife - Marian Roberts from Swansea. They were married in 1948 and had two daughters: Ann and Christine.