Trafford

Born during the September quarter 1890 in the Salford R.D. - ref: 8d/159,
the son of Thomas Alfred & Elizabeth Alice Sharp (nee Whittall).

1891 Census - 11 Clement Street, Salford.  Son - aged: 7 months - born:
Salford.   Head of household - Thomas Alfred Sharp - Married - aged: 34 -
occ: Railway Clerk - born: Rolvenden, Kent.  Also Elizabeth A. Sharp - Wife
- aged: 28 - born: longsight, Manchester.   Plus a maternal aunt.

1901 Census - 31 Bent Lanes, Davyhulme.   Son - aged: 10 - born: Salford.  
 Head of household - Thomas Alfred Sharp - Married - aged: 44 - occ:
Railway Clerk - born: Rolvenden, Kent.  Also Elizabeth A. Sharp - Wife -
aged: 38 - born: longsight, Manchester.   Plus 4 siblings.

1911 Census - Assaye Barracks, South Tedworth, Hampshire.   Private Soldier
- aged: 20 - born: Salford.   His parents and 3 siblings were still
residing at 31 Bent Lanes, Davyhulme.

CWGC - Son of Thomas Alfred Sharp, of Davyhulme, Manchester.

Kia at St. Julian, Ypres.  N.B. - First use of chlorine gas by the
Germans.

Commemorated on the private family gravestone in Urmston Cemetery.

His father, Thomas Alfred died 16/02/1931 aged 74 years and his mother,
Elizabeth Alice died 22/10/1944 aged 81 years.

From "Family Connections - Past and Present" by Kate Gould.

I am telling this story to celebrate the baton of the gospel which has
passed within our family through five generations, to my own children who
are welcomed into the church community at St. Mary’s today.

My family, the Sharp family, originated from Kent and my
great-great-grandfather’s brother, John Sharp, settled in Davyhulme in
1850.  He became a churchwarden at St. Mary’s in 1897 and was also the
manager of the Church school.  He was also one of 12 constables selected to
form a guard of honour for Queen Victoria when she opened the Manchester
Ship Canal on the 21st May 1894.

My great-grandfather, Thomas Sharp, lived on Bent Lanes, although it must
be said that his affinity to St. Mary’s Church was not as great as his
affinity to the Union Inn, which is now called the Fox and Hounds.

I remember my grandfather, Harold Sharp, very well.  He was born in Bent
Lanes in 1892 and later lived at numbers 127, 143 and 176 Davyhulme Road. 
He attended St. Mary’s School on Cornhill Road between 1897 and 1902.  He
was the Superintendent of the Sunday School for 20 years and a member of
the Church of England Men’s Society.  My grandmother, Jane Sharp, was
treasurer of the Mother’s Union for many years.  My grandfather had three
bothers and one sister and all four of the Sharp brothers fought in the
First World War.  One brother, Richard Sharp, was killed in action and is
commemorated on the War Memorial in the Church grounds and also on the
Davyhulme Cenotaph.

My father Thomas Sharp, was born in 1929 and has lived at numbers 127, 143,
172, 178 and now 186 Davyhulme Road.  He attended St. Mary’s School on
Cornhill Road between 1933 and 1939 and he has been a Lay Reader at St.
Mary’s Church since 1964 He met my mother, Shirley Bain, at St. Mary’s
Church, where he spotted her in the congregation and ‘set his cap’ at
her.  After a little negotiation she agreed to marry my father and the
wedding took place at St. Mary’s in 1959.

My mother was a Sunday School teacher at St. Mary’s over a period of 30
years, she helped lay the foundation stone to the new Church Hall with Mrs.
Bould in 1989, using the same trowel that had been used to lay the
foundation stone of St. Mary’s Church in 1889.  This trowel had been
bequeathed to my grandpa by Mrs. Farrell and it was also used to lay the
foundation stone for the Vicarage in 1928.