Ernest Bannister was born in Hatton on 31st August 1899 and baptised at Daresbury on the first day of October that year. He was the son of Annie Bannister (born in Walton).
In 1901 he is living with his mother and his grandparents at Factory Yard in Hatton. Also living there are his uncles James (27) and William (19) and his cousin Jane E (14).
Ten years later Ernest was still living in Factory Yard with his grandparents, Edward Ellison Bannister and his wife Ellen who were old age pensioners. His Uncle James was still living at home, as well as their other grandchildren Jane Ellen and Ernest’s brother Stanley, who was 8 years old. Ernest was attending school. He also had another brother Wilfred born in 1907 and would eventually also have two sisters, Doris May and Mabel.
Ernest served in the Great War with the Welsh Regiment, with the rank of private. His service number was 65514. He is not on the electoral roll for Hatton in 1918 or 1919 as an absent voter. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
After living in Hatton for 24 years, on 23rd June 1923 Ernest married Georgina Hilditch from Warrington. In 1924 their only daughter Lillian J. was born in Warrington.
The 1939 Register shows that Ernest and his family were living in Warrington in Haryngton Avenue and that Ernest was a lengthsman on railway engineering maintenance and repair work. A lengthsman’s job was to look after a particular stretch of railway line.
Ernest lived in the Bewsey and Dallam areas of Warrington for 68 years and worked for British Rail at Dallam for 43 years.
Ernest died on 25th February 1991 in Warrington General Hospital, the year after his wife passed away. His funeral was at Walton Lea on March 5th 1991. He was 91 years old.