Introduction

James Willy Matraves was the son of Thomas Matraves, the village blacksmith. After training as a blacksmith, James left home around the age of twenty and moved to Farnham, where he changed his occupation to carpenter. In 1904, he married the daughter of a Basingstoke tailor. The couple later settled in Basingstoke, where James died in 1945.

Early life at Hardington

John was born at Hardington on 15 April 1877, the fourth of seven children born to Thomas and Mary Matraves. His father was the village blacksmith. Willy was his mother’s maiden name.

His childhood was unsettled. When he was six, his younger brother, Thomas, died from acute laryngitis.[1] When he was eleven, his mother died of tuberculosis at the age of 39.[2] The following year, he had to adjust to life with a new stepmother when his father remarried.

The three oldest boys—John, George, and James—began their careers as blacksmiths. By April 1891, John and James were both working in his father’s forge while George was serving an apprenticeship with his uncle at South Petherton. Significantly, their sister, Frances, was working as a domestic servant in Basingstoke, which may have influenced James’s later life choices.

In about 1897, Thomas Matraves sold his blacksmithing business and moved to Moulton’s Farm, Haselbury. It was probably then that John and James left home, with John moving to Streatham and James to Farnham. The brothers maintained a close relationship, and on 19 February 1901, James was the best man at John’s wedding at Bournemouth.[3]

Marriage

By March 1901, James was a carpenter in lodgings at Bridge Farm, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey. He then moved twenty miles west to Basingstoke, where, in 1904, he lived at 1 Myrtle Villa, Essex Road. While living in the town, he met and courted Amy Attwood, who resided at 13 Cambridge Terrace with her widowed mother, her brother George and two sisters, Ada and Annie. Her father, George Frederick Attwood, and his father, George Attwood, had both been tailors in the town, and Amy, Ada and Annie learned the same trade, continuing to work in it after their father’s death in April 1903.[4]

On 1 November 1904, James and Amy Attwood were married at St Michael’s Church, Basingstoke. Amy’s siblings Gilbert and Ada served as witnesses to the wedding.

After their marriage, James and Amy moved to the Farnham area. Their first child, Amy Frances, was born at Lower Bourne on 24 October 1905.[5]

By April 1911, James, his wife and daughter were living at 1 Glenwood Villas, Frensham, Surrey.

Life In Basingstoke

By late 1918, the family had settled in Basingstoke, where their second daughter, Florence Ada, was born on 5 October 1918.

By June 1921, the family lived at 52 George Street, Basingstoke. James worked as a carpenter and joiner for W J Harris, a builder of Basing Road, Basingstoke.

In September 1939, the family lived at the same address, and James was a builder’s foreman.

Death

James died in the Basingstoke area in 1945, aged 67.

Amy remained at 52 George Street until her health declined, at which point she moved in with her married daughter, Amy Scott, at 9 Winchester Street. She died on 24 March 1949 at the age of 69, leaving an estate valued at £647-14s.[6]

Children

James and Amy had two daughters: Amy Frances and Florence Ada.

References

[1] Death certificate of Thomas Matraves.

[2] Death  certificate of Mary Matraves.

[3] Langport & Somerton Herald, 2 March 1901, p.5.

[4] Ada and Annie never married. According to the 1921 census, they were employed by the Burberry factory.

[5] Western Gazette, 27 October 1905, p.12; 1921 census.

[6] National probate calendar. Amy Matraves died intestate.