Walter Staveley (1921-2005) was born on 26th January 1921 at 35 Cardigan Mount, Kirkstall, Leeds as shown in the photograph above. Walter is the first child of his parents Walter Boynton Staveley (1896-1972) and Ruby Millicent Staveley (1894-1970). The photographs below show him as a small baby and at around the age of three.

In 1927 Walter gets his first school report praising him for his excellent English lesson skills and noting that he is very weak at arithmetic. The report also states “He is a very eager worker, especially in English. He answers very well in oral lessons. Is very intelligent”. Like many children in those days he collected stamps and built up a pretty large and impressive cigarette card collection.

Walter’s school reports continue to be good throughout his education. When he leaves school he decides to become an electrician and signs up for an apprenticeship with a local electrical firm. The war interrupts this and Walter Staveley is called out for military service on 22nd September 1939. He is 18 years old. His call up papers instruct him to bring a civilian gas mask and report for duty at the Gibraltar Barracks.

Walter was fortunate in that he was flat footed and not suitable as a foot soldier. Without doubt his experience as an electrician helped him to secure a place as a signalman and subsequently served with the Royal Corp of Signals. At the tender age of 18 he is drafted into the army and by 1941 he is on his way to Egypt to play his part in World War II.

On Saturday 29th June 1940 he is aboard the SS Mauretania II which is steaming off to a destination that is not known to those on board. You can follow his progress by watching a video or reading his dairy of the World War II Convoy.

Walter spent the entire war in the Middle East as a signalman with the Eighth Army in the North Africa Campaign. During this time he found himself for the most part in Egypt but also having been in Jordan, Libya and Iraq. He took quite a few photographs along the way, images of war and every day sights. Photos 1940-1944. Also a small UK selection.

By early 1944 it is becoming very clear that Germany is going to lose the war so preparations are underway to plan for soldiers to return to civilian duties and Walter is placed on a course in Electrical Engineering which he completes in December 1944.In 1945 he is posted to Germany and spends some time there prior to being sent back to the UK in April 1946. He receives his Release Papers on 16th April 1946.

Walter’s notification of impending release from military duties states: “ This man is a trustworthy and steady worker who carries out his duties efficiently without supervision”.

Walter becomes a member of the Royal Signals Association in Leeds on 7th November 1947 and regularly attends functions. From 1946 until 1948 Walter Staveley is being paid by the Ministry of Labour and National Service a full time electricians wage to continue his apprenticeship, to effectively pick up where he left off before the war.

Rationing is still in place and even by 1950 Walter has a ration book for fuel for his motorbike. Walter did not want to continue his career as an electrician. In 1952 he is applying for a position as a Civilian Wireless Operator Admiralty. He is still living in Leeds at this time. In October 1952 he takes a morse test and interview in Scarborough. In December 1952 he signs the Official Secrets Act. Walter Staveley finally ends up being transferred to Cheltenham.

Walter is now working for the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham where he will remain for the rest of his working life. This same year he applies for an International Driving License and plans a trip through Europe with a friend on their motorbikes. Tour Photos.

Walter tours Europe on his motorbike and takes many photos along the way. In 1954 Walter met Ruth Beck at a dance at Cheltenham Town Hall. They became officially engaged on a day out to Bourton on the Water near Cheltenham and were married 6 weeks afterwards on 24th August 24th 1957 at Cheltenham Parish Church.

Ruth Mary Staveley ( nee Beck ) can be seen with her father Wilfred Beck and mother Edith Beck ( nee Marshall ) to her immediate right. We have a separate and full family tree for the Becks and the Marshalls. You can find more information about the Beck’s here.

Ruth Staveley moved around a lot as a child due to Wildred’s work as a commercial traveller or furniture sales representative as he might be called today. He was one of the few people who had a car in those days and he particularly liked the Morris 8.

Ruth worked at Dowty’s in Tewkesbury and for the Coal Board at Stoke Orchard. In 1958 Walter was given the opportunity to work in Singapore. Ruth and Walter sailed from Southampton on the 23rd August 1958 and lived at 3 Poulden Court in Singapore until their return. Their first son was born in Singapore on the 2nd of December in 1960.

Their daughter Julie was born in 1962 and Catherine in 1965. From 1966 – 1969 the family were in Hong Kong where Walter was employed on another overseas tour. Matthew their fourth and last child was born in Hong Kong in 1967.

After a three year tour the family travelled back to England on the cruise ship “SS Oronsay“.If you have ever wondered what daily life and entertainment on a cruise ship in the late 1960’s might have looked like then step aboard the Oronsay!

The family disembarked some six weeks later at the Port of Southampton. They travelled by train to London and caught a black cab back to Cheltenham. The house in Delabere Road ( which had been rented ) was vacant and waiting for them when they returned. The Staveley family now settled down to life in England.

Walter continued to work at GCHQ Cheltenham and would sometimes travel to work on his Honda 90 during the summer months. He was a keen gardener and enjoyed the occasional tipple at “The Apple Tree” or “The Swallow” in Bishops Cleeve. Ruth would work at the Civil Aviation Authority until she retired and she was a keen dancer. After her retirement she would attend dancing classes and had many certificates to show for it.

The children would grow up in Bishops Cleeve and attend the local schools. Walter Staveley passed away in September 2005 and Ruth Staveley joined him in September 2014. Sadly missed by their 4 children and families.

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Walter Boynton Staveley was born on January 10th 1896. He was the son of John Staveley (1861-1909) and Mary Elizabeth nee Boynton (1864-1944). At the age of 13 his father died from tuberculosis and he would have been looked after by his older sister Hilda May.

In the 1911 census he is living with Hilda May at 8 Belle View Street, Scarborough. Hilda May has been married since 1909 and lives there with her husband Henry Godfrey. Walter Boynton Staveley is 15 years old and already working as a builders clerk.

Walter Boynton Staveley enlists in the army on the 22nd December 1911. He serves with the Northumberland Batteries, Royal Field Artillery which were units of the Territorial Force with its HQ at The Drill Hall, Barrack Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His rank is Corporal.

On 28th July 1914 at the start of the First World War, Walter Boynton Staveley is sent to France where he serves with the artillery units. His military papers show that he is disembodied ( released ) from duty on 12th February 1919.

Walter Boynton returned to Leeds to start a family

Walter Boynton married Ruby Millicent Rowlin when he was 21 years old. The couple married on 24th October 1917 at the Parish Church of Burley. Walter Boynton was a soldier still in active service at the time and living at 47 Cardigan Crescent in Leeds.

Founded in 1905 by Henry Price the company’s factory was built in 1923 on Lennox Road and was extended as far as Cardigan Crescent, off Kirkstall Road in the 1930s.

Ruby was the daughter of Baron Rowlin ( left ) a munitions worker ( shown here on the right) although the family held the village post office at Rudston near Bridlington.

My father, Walter Staveley, was born on the 26th January 1921, his sister Gladys was born in 1925 and Margaret in 1935. The family lived at 35 Cardigan Mount in Leeds but later moved to 15 Monk Bridge Avenue in Leeds. This is the address that I remember and the one that we visited as children.

Both Walter Boynton and Ruby Millicent remained at this address until they died, Ruby Millicent on 1st June 1970 and Walter Boynton on the 8th October 1972.

I remember both grandma and grandad Staveley well. I can recall several visits to Leeds with the family and one occasion just Dad and I both before and after Ruby Staveley died. The house in Monk Bridge Avenue was one of the old back to back terraced houses with a cobbled street and an outside toilet. Coal fires were still used to heat the properties and you could smell the smoke in the street.

Even in the 1970’s this house would have looked very much as it had done when it was built. Although the house now had electric, you could still see the old gas lighting fitments. The house still had its outside loo. A bad pan in the room was needed at night to save having to get up and walk down the path to the toilet. As a small child I hated that outside loo, especially in the winter.

Walter Boynton was not interested in mod cons and he had been used to this lifestyle all his life so there was no need to change. He would have been brought up in an environment where children were expected tp speak when spoken to by adults and where the dinner would be on the table when he arrived home from work. He still used a cut throat razor for a shave in the morning.

When visiting Leeds I can recall that grandad would always give me some pocket money and send me off to the corner shop to buy myself some sherbert and sweets.

Walter Boynton Staveley was keen on football and after leaving army service he went to work at William Thompson & Sons Builders as a clerk. He remained a clerk until he retired.

Take a look at the website Leodis – A photographic archive with over 62,000 images of Leeds, old and new, managed by the Local and Family History team at Leeds Libraries.

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