Born: 22 November 1893

Birth Certificate:

Baptised: 14 March 1894, St Barnabas Islington

Father: Robert Kirk

Mother: Eleanor Amelia Leahair

5-generation pedigree

Siblings:

1. Harold Leahair Kirk [4^th qtr 1883 Islington RD, baptised 2 December 1883 Tollington Park St Marks - 24 May 1962] married 3^rd qtr 1907 Islington RD Ethel Stuart Turner [- 1918] died in the great influenza epidemic
   1. Kathleen Winifred Kirk [24 August 1910 - 2 January 2004] married 2^nd qtr 1933 Edmonton RD Leslie J Porter [29 August 1911 -]
      79 Bellamy Drive, Harrow: RG101/795J sn252 {1939 [Leslie and Kathleen. No closed entries]}
   2. Gladys E Kirk [10 September 1914 Edmonton RD -] married 1^st qtr 1942 Edmonton RD William Frederick 'Bill' Holmes
      26 Hawksley Road, Stoke Newington: RG14/1013 sn109 {1911 [2 children, 1 surviving]}
   Harold Leahair Kirk married 4^th qtr 1920 Islington RD Rose Wortley [1^st qtr 1890 Islington RD - 17 October 1961]
   3. Kenneth Harold Kirk [11 July 1921 - 1^st qtr 1993 East Staffordshire RD] married 3 November 1945 All Saints Forest Gate Joan Olive Harding [2 May 1925 - 10 November 2003]
      1. Susan Joan Kirk
      2. David Kenneth Kirk
      134 Effingham Rd, Tottenham: RG101/903C sn48 {1939 [Harold, Rose, Gladys and Kenneth. No closed entries]
2. Robert Leahair Kirk [2^nd qtr 1886 Islington RD - 3^rd qtr 1886 Islington RD]
3. Ralph Leahair Kirk [5 April 1887 - 13 November 1946 Los Angeles CA USA ] married 1921 Dooley MO USA Virginia Lizzie 'Ginny' Barnhouse [14 December 1896 IL USA - 18 May 1955 San Mateo CA USA ]
   1. Marjorie Lee Kirk [7 May 1932 CO USA - 4 October 2007 Tuolumne CA USA ] married 19 December 1979 Reno NV USA Frank Lee Trover [- 2003 Tuolumne CA USA ]
   Sheridan MO USA: roll T625_975 page 3A {1920}
   Hill Ave, Grand Junction, Mesa CO USA: roll T626_247 page 4B {1930}
   3972½ West Santa Barbara Avenue, Los Angeles CA USA: roll T627_418 page 15A {1940}

   Ralph Leahair Kirk sailed to New York on the SS Majestic arriving 13 April 1913, his final destination being Spy Hill SK Canada. Shortly after, he adopted the name Robert Leahair Kirk. In January 1917 he moved across the Canada/USA border at Portal ND, on his way to Dooley MT, where he worked as a hired man on the farm of John A Newburg, via Council ID. In later records he is shown as a baker.

   The obituary for Virginia L Kirk in the San Mateo Times of 19 May 1955 says she was a resident of Los Angeles and native of Illinois. She died at the home of her daughter, Mrs Marjorie L Trover, 970 Magnolia Drive, Millbrae. She was also survived by sister Mrs Harriet H Bristow of Eugene OR, brother V G Barnhouse of Pasadena, and two unnamed grandchildren.

4. Gilbert Leahair Kirk [born 16 March 1888, baptised 29 April 1888 Islington St Barnabas - 12 July 1942] married 1 March 1919 Finchley Holy Trinity Ada Austin [1^st qtr 1896 Barnet RD - 1^st qtr 1968 Barnet RD]
   1. Eric Austin Kirk [1^st qtr 1920 Barnet RD - 16 April 1942]
   2. Madeline Bertha Kirk [2^nd qtr 1924 Barnet RD - 7 March 2011 Waltham Abbey as Mrs Madaline Bertha Alger] married 3^rd qtr 1953 Hendon RD John H Alger
   3. Doreen M Kirk [3^rd qtr 1927 Barnet RD - 4^th qtr 1928 Barnet RD]
   4. Evelyn Marian Kirk [3^rd qtr 1936 Barnet RD -] married 3^rd qtr 1959 Hendon RD Kenneth G Brereton
      26 Regal Court, Edmonton {1961, 1963 electoral rolls}
      22 The Larches, Southgate {1965 electoral roll}
   5. John William Kirk [3^rd qtr 1936 Barnet RD -] married 2^nd qtr 1960 Hendon RD Sylvia I Wray
      1. Austin John Kirk
      8 Upway, Finchley: RG101/769D sn260 {1939 [Gilbert and Ada. 4 closed entries]}
5. Cecil Leahair Kirk [28 September 1889 - 3^rd qtr 1966 Hackney RD] married 27 July 1919 Stoke Newington All Saints Rosina Dudley [25 September 1876 -]
   69 Denman House, Stoke Newington: RG101/569G sn202 {1939 [Cecil and Rosina. No closed entries]}
6. Leonard Leahair Kirk [1^st qtr 1892 Islington RD - 2^nd qtr 1892 Islington RD]
7.   Alexander Leahair Kirk [1893 - 1939]
8. Georgina Eleanor Leahair Kirk [born 21 January 1895, baptised 24 March 1895 Islington Emmanuel - 1^st qtr 1895 Islington RD]
9. Winifred Alice Kirk [born 9 January 1903, baptised 21 May 1903 Islington St Mary Magdelene - 3^rd qtr 1962 Salisbury RD] married 4 August 1928 Ernest Valentine Rodway [26 April 1901 - February 1984 Salisbury RD]
   1. Ronald E Rodway [13 September 1930 - 1^st qtr 1962 Huntingdon RD] married 3^rd qtr 1956 Wood Green RD Millicent Alice Edwards [23 February 1932 - 3^rd qtr 2000 Hastings and Rother RD]
   2. John R Rodway [4^th qtr 1938 Edmonton RD -]
      Church Street, South Kesteven LIN: RG101/6396H sn156 {1939 [Ernest, Winifred, and Ronald Rodway, and 1 closed entry, Alice Kirk (widow born 29 March 1914, Winifred's mother) and Ethel G Kirk {sister}.]}
10. Eric Richard Kirk [25 November 1904 - 1^st qtr 1981 Canterbury RD] married 2^nd qtr 1934 Stoke Newington RD Dorothy Susie Annie Leader [9 March 1904 - 4^th qtr 1976 Chichester RD]
    29 Hydethorpe Avenue, Edmonton: RG101/740B sn162 {1939 [Eric and Dorothy, and Susan Leader born 25 April 1868, presumably Dorothy's mother. No closed entries]}
11. Stanley Robert Kirk [14 October 1906 - 4^th qtr 1974 St Austell RD] married 4^th qtr 1929 Edmonton RD Maud Allen [13 July 1909 -]
    1. Jean P Kirk [1^st qtr 1930 Edmonton RD -]
    2. Brian R Kirk [4^th qtr 1936 Edmonton RD -]
    3. Rita J Kirk [1^st qtr 1940 Malling RD -]
       59 Fernleigh Rise, Malling KEN: RG101/1831A sn244 {1939 [Stanley and Maud, and 2 closed entries]}
12. Laurence Walter Kirk [25 October 1907 - 3^rd qtr 1995 Chichester RD] married 1^st qtr 1935 Pancras RD Ivy Iris Hoare [16 March 1907 St Pancras RD -]
    15 St James' Court, Nightingale Rd, Wood Green {1935 electoral register}
    92 Woodfield Way, Wood Green: RG101/991D sn171 {1939 [Laurence and Ivy. No closed entries]}
    Laurence Walter Kirk married 4^th qtr 1945 Edmonton RD Betty M Findlay Ivy I Kirk married 3^rd qtr 1945 Westminster RD Norman H Hutton so Ivy and Laurence must have divorced.
    1. Robert A Kirk [4^th qtr 1946 Islington RD -]
       Robert Kirk worked in libraries in New Zealand in the early 70s, and was appointed Deputy County Librarian of Surrey in 1978, becoming County Librarian in 1992. He served with LASER as Chairman of the Management Advisory Panel and also on the British Library Advisory Committee for Bibliographical Service and Document Supply. In April 2000 he was seconded to the role of Head of e-government to West Sussex County Council
       1. Jamie Kirk
13. George Edward Kirk [2 May 1909 - 2^nd qtr 1981 Haringey RD] married 3^rd qtr 1934 Stoke Newington RD Vera Adelaide M Blandford [11 June 1909 Edmonton RD - 1^st qtr 2002 Chichester RD]
    1. Rita M Kirk [3^rd qtr 1940 Nottingham RD -]
    2. Janice M Kirk [1^st qtr 1943 Nottingham RD -]
    3. John A Kirk [3^rd qtr 1945 Nottingham RD -]
       25 Grand Avenue, Hornsey MDX: RG101/863J sn211 {1939 [George and Vera Kirk, Alice M Blandford born 28 April 1877 (presumably Vera's mother), Elsie M K Blandford born 26 May 1906 (presumably Vera's sister). No closed entries]}
       The household also contained John T Parkins born 27 May 1890, Percy G Wiles born 19 September 1911, William J Wiles born 23 February 1912, and Douglas G Lee born 25 July 1920
14. Edith Catherine 'Kitty' Kirk [24 August 1910 - 2^nd qtr 1993 Bourne RD] married 2^nd qtr 1936 Edmonton RD Ronald E 'Jack' Long [22 November 1908 -]
    1. Lawrence N Long [1^st qtr 1937 Bourne RD -]
    2. Christine M Long [2^nd qtr 1948 Bourne RD -]
    3. Richard A Long [1^st qtr 1951 Bourne RD -]
       Church Street, South Kesteven LIN: RG101/6396I sn80 {1939 [Ronald and Edith, and 1 closed entry]}
15. Ethel Grace Kirk [8 April 1913 - ] married 3^rd qtr 1940 Bourne RD Morris A 'Rodney' Mason
    1. Janet Mason [2^nd qtr 1942 Bourne RD -]
16. Phyllis M Kirk [2^nd qtr 1914 Hackney RD - 4^th qtr 1917 Bourne RD]
    The last 8 siblings were stepsiblings by Robert Kirk's second wife, Alice Sherman
    44 Hawksley Road, Stoke Newington RG14/1013 sn91 {1911 [7 children, 6 survivng]}

Photographs of his siblings

Married: Sybil May Bonas 15 November 1915

Marriage Certificate:

The Marriage Certificate gives the date of marriage as 15 November 1915, but is dated 5 November. Examination of the entries before and after in the Register shows that the ceremony took place on the 15th.

Children:

1. Lavinia May Kirk
2. Henry Cecil Kirk
   Born in Swaffham Norfolk.
3. Violet Sybil Kirk

The Kirk Family circa 1926

All known descendants

Died: 22 January 1939

Death Certificate:

Buried: 27 January 1939, Colchester

Newspaper: Unknown, January 1939:

The Late Mr. A. L. Kirk The funeral took place at St. Leonard's, Lexden, on January 27th, of Mr. Alexander Leahair Kirk, of 134, Collingwood Road, Lexden. Deceased was for some time in the employ of the L.N.E.R., and was engaged at the level crossing at Chitt's Hill. He was a popular personality. Death occurred after a long illness, patiently borne. There were numerous wreaths. The chief mourners were the widow, Vena and Violet (daughters), Henry (son), Gilbert (brother of deceased) and Mrs. G. Woodrow (sister-in-law). The service was conducted by Rev. S. L. Dolph, and the funeral arrangements were carried out by the Colchester Co-operative Society.

Employment:

He worked at several stations, firstly on the Great Eastern Railway, then on the London and North Eastern Railway following LNER's takeover of GER in 1923: Brimsdown, possibly Tottenham Court Road, Swaffham, Roudham Turnpike Level Crossing, and finally Chitts Hill (to which he moved in February 1932).

At Brimsdown in 1914

While he was permanent crossing keeper at Roudham Turnpike Level Crossing, there was an accident on 27th October 1926:-

"As a 2-ton pneumatic-tyred open Morris type motor lorry, owned and driven by a poultry carrier of Attleborough, was passing over this level crossing from the direction of Norwich on a journey to London, it was run into by the 1.20 pm. down special goods train, Peterborough to Yarmouth.

I regret to report that [the driver] sustained injuries from which he succumbed in Thetford Cottage Hospital early next morning. [Two passengers] were travelling on the front seat with him. The former was seriously injured and the latter severely shaken, singed about the face, and bruised on the legs and back."

His daughter Violet remembers the injured men being carried into the gatekeeper's cottage. The report on the accident makes it clear that the accident happened while Alexander Kirk was away due to illness, his job being temporarily performed by two replacements.

WW1 Service:

33833 Alexander Leahair Kirk enlisted in the 3rd Battalion East Surrey Regiment 1 May 1917, and discharged on medical grounds: exophthalmic (marked by protrusion of the eyeball) goitre, 19 October 1917.

Directory:

Electoral Roll:

Addresses:

His addressbook (written in several hands - not all of which can be his, as the entries refer to people born after his death - and containing the addresses 60 Elwood St, Highbury, N and 44 Hawksley Rd, Stoke Newington), contains the following entries:-

§ In the 1901 census (RG13/177 f100 p1), Alexander's brother Harold is listed as a visitor at 295 Liverpool Road, Islington. The Head of the household was George Sherman (70). Also in the household were his wife Mary A Sherman (52), daughters Alice Sherman (27), Emma Sherman (24) and Mary A Sherman (15), sons William Sherman (20) and Richard Sherman (12), and visitor Alice M Barnes (7). In 1871, the Kirk family was living at 108 Liverpool Road.

He spent some time at the Herman De Stern Convalescent Home in Felixstowe Suffolk. The Home is shown on a postcard he sent to his wife as "Mrs A L Kirk, 22c Alfoxton Ave, West Green, South Tottenham, London N-15", which reads:
Nov 23rd
Dear S

Just a card to say got letters and B'day Cards alright. Thank little Violet, I feel 27 today. Well dear I'm still getting fat for Xmas you wont know me. I'm here for another 2 weeks. I shall be at Hospital about (11-30 AM on Dec 6th)

Goodbye

Alec
The card is postmarked 24 November, but the year cannot be read. However, from Violet Kirk's recollection, and the reference "I feel 27 today'', the year 1930 (in which he was actually 37) seems likely. In the same year, he also attended the London Hospital - hence the family moved back to Alfoxton Avenue for about 6 months - and convalesced in Herne Bay. The costs of these convalescences may have been met by the London and North-Eastern Railway Company.

According to a family tradition, he once tried to break into Buckingham Palace to see the Queen (Mary of Teck?).

Amongst the photographs kept by his daughter Violet was a cutting from an unidentifiable newspaper, with a poem attributed to A. SELL KIRK:-

WHAT'S THE M.L.S. CROSSING KEEPER?

I am on duty twenty-four hours a day,
My freedom, there is none to dispute.
From this centre I give right of way
To the man, the motor and brute.

O servitude! where are the charms
Through these gate I oft put my face,
Better be in the mid'st of some farms
Than dwell in this out-landish place.

I am out of humanity's reach
While I stand by these gates all alone;
Never hear the sweet music of speech,
But some growls like a dog at a bone.

The beasts that roam over the "main,"
My form they can hardly see,
They are so unattended by man,
And their lameness is shocking to me.

No society or friendship. I shove
These gates are too much for one man.
O, had they the wings like a dove,
How soon I'd taste freedom again.

My sorrows I then in old age
Would soothe with religion and truth;
Might learn to live out of this cage,
And be cheer'd by the friendship of youth.

Ye winds that make me your sport
Sometimes in the morning at four;
"Gate, gate!" Oh, I've heard the report.
Some day I shall hear it no more.

My friends, do you ever intend
Or wish to liberate me?
O tell me I yet have a friend,
Though a friend I never can see.

When I think of my own bit of land,
Scant moments I've time to be there.
Forty times a day with my hand
I open these gates in despair.

The bird is gone to its nest,
The beast is down on the moor;
They have a season of rest -
I my fate in my cabin deplore.

No mercy for me in this place -
Not one encouraging thought.
I've no time to buy boots or a lace
Now I am stopped the few hours I had got.

The similarity of the names A. SELL KIRK and Alexander Kirk is interesting. Was Alexander the poet? There is no known railway with the initials MLS — the closest being the MSL (Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire) and LMS (London, Midland and Scottish), but there is no evidence to suggest he worked for either.

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© Alan M Stanier (contact details)