‘He never did things like hug but
Saturday November 10, 2018
When war broke out in 1914, and again in 1939, George Chetwynd stood up to serve his country, joining the Royal Engineers and then the Home Guard. ADAM GRATTON talks to George’s granddaughter Phillipa Marson about his life
BORN in 1892 one of nine children, George Chetwynd was the fourth youngest child of William and Sarah Chetwyn. George’s father supported the family, earning a living as a ‘Higgler’ selling produce from the back of his small truck as he travelled around the towns of Stoke-on-trent
Growing up in Burslem, George’s formatives years were spent playing and attending school to a backdrop of an industrial Potteries.
At the age of 13, George found work at Palmers Saw Mill, Hanley where one of the highlights was walking to Sneyd Green Secondary School each week with a big bag of firewood for the headmaster, who gave him six-pence - a fortune then for his troubles.
He would often spend it taking in Western Shows at the Empire Theatre or over at the Grand Palace Theatre, Hanley.
However it was at the end of those