ALICE EMILY LAWSON nee PUNNETT

Many thanks to HEATHER CAVE for contributing the following story.

My Punnett family are from Folkestone and the surrounding area. Although the information is recent (as in the last 100 years), all the parties concerned are dead.

Alice Emily Punnett was born in 1882 at 17 Radnor Street,Folkestone to Henry Whittingham Punnett and Elizabeth Hayward Webb. The family were a poor fishing family and all Alice's older brothers, George, Thomas, Jack and Dick were fisherman. The family were at 17 Radnor Street in the 1881 and 1891 census, but by 1901 had moved to 1 Castles Yard, Dover Street.

In 1901 Alice married Ernest Lawson. He was born in Stockton on Tees, but had travelled from Hartlepool on a coal barge and was an able seaman in Folkestone when he married Alice. Their eldest son Johnny Lawson, who was born on 2 July 1901 followed the seagoing tradition and joined the Royal Navy as a regular seaman. Alice and Ernest had fifteen children, five were stillborn, or died at birth.

Johnny Lawson died at St Athens RAF Hospital, Glamorgan, after being taken off HMS Brighton on the 22 May 1943. He is buried at Folkestone New Cemetery. Ernest died of blood poisoning the same year. In March of 1944, as she was alone at 69 Dover Street, Alice's son Ernest arranged for her to visit his family in Plymouth, where he was a train driver,. She had a wonderful visit, this was the first she had left Folkestone. In April 1944 she returned to Folkestone as the council were thinking of re housing her as part of the roof had tiles missing from her home at Dover Street. She went to stay with her friend, Esther Murton at 16 Bridge Street, where they were both sadly killed on the 3 July that year in the air raid. HEATHER CAVE

(Small world! Emily, when living at Castles Yard in 1901 was the neighbour of my great grandfather William Bailey of The Queen who lived at 2 Castles Yard. - Penny)

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