Septimus Alfred Spencer was born on 5th May 1873 at Newton-by-Daresbury and baptised on 17th August of that year. He was the son of William H. Spencer (born Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire) and his wife Jane (nee Walker), who was born in Preston Brook. William was the vicar at Daresbury All Saints. Septimus was their seventh son and the youngest of eight children. He was born at The Parsonage.
The Census of 1881 showed Septimus living at the Vicarage in Newton-by-Daresbury, with his parents and his older siblings William (19), Charles (18), Henry (17), Christopher (15), Herbert (12) and Frederick (11) and his mother’s sister, Hannah Walker. He also had a 13-year old sister, Annie, who was a boarder at St.Elphin’s College for the Daughters of the Clergy in Warrington.
On October 13th 1883 the vicar died, aged 65 years of age.
Septimus would have still been at school when his father died. When he left school, having moved to Stockton Heath with his widowed mother, his sister Annie and his brother Fred, he was employed as a leather polisher. His mother was living on her own means, Annie was not employed outside of the home and Fred was a clerk in a tanyard. They lived at 4, Hawthorns Lea in Stockton Heath. Jane’s grandson Christopher also lived with them.
Sadly, on the 29th April 1891, Jane Spencer died at the age of 51 years. She was buried at Daresbury.
Septimus married Mary Isherwood from Appleton in January 1893.
The 1901 Census showed Septimus and his family living at 1, Whitefield Road in Stockton Heath. Septimus was employed as a tanner’s labourer and they had three children: William Lawton born in 1894, Marion born in 1896 and Elsie Mary born in 1899.
Ten years later they were living at 24, Roman Road in Stockton Heath and Septimus was employed as a stationary engine man in a wire rope works. They now also had Frank Isherwood and Frances J., who had been born in 1905 and 1909 respectively.
Septimus was recorded in the Royal Naval Reserve service records for the Great War, with two service numbers: 2089U and T1176. He was a stoker, serving in Europe and being awarded the 1914-15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. His eldest son William Lawton Spencer also served in the Great War. His younger son Frank Isherwood Spencer fought in the Second World War and died in 1945 in a prisoner of war camp in the Far East.
By 1939 all the children had left home and Septimus and Mary were living at 1c, Palmyra Square in Warrington. He was employed as a wireworker.
Septimus Alfred Spencer died in 1944, four years before Mary. He was 71 years of age.