Ernest Hodgkinson was born on 1st June 1896 at Moulton near Winsford. He was the son of William Thomas Hodgkinson (born Ettiley Heath, Sandbach) and his wife Emily (nee Minshull) who was born in Over, Winsford.
The 1901 census recorded the family living on Summer Lane in Newton-by-Daresbury. The father was a joiner and farmer. Four-year old Ernest had three older sisters, Mary E. (15), Nellie (13) and Emily (8). All the children had been born in the Winsford/ Northwich area. There was also a brother called William Thomas, who was born in 1889, but who always lived in Wharton (Winsford) with his grandparents.
Ten years later there was only one daughter left at home, Mary Elizabeth. Ernest was now working on the family farm. He now had a four year old brother called Jack, who had been born in Newton-by-Daresbury.
The electoral roll for 1914 and 1915 showed the father as occupying land and a tenement on Summer Lane in Newton-by-Daresbury. This property was recorded as Summer Lane Farm in 1918 and 1919.
Ernest served as a Private with the 9th Cheshires in the Great War. He was given the service number 33797. There are no surviving service records for Ernest, but it is known that he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his war service. According to the absent voters list at the end of the war, he lived at Summer Lane Farm in Newton-by-Daresbury. By 1919 he had returned home.
In early 1922 Ernest married Naomi Elsie Ravenscroft in Runcorn registration district. She was the daughter of a farmer in Kingsley, near Frodsham and had been born in 1898.
Ernest’s mother, Emily, died in June 1937, aged 73 years.
The 1939 register showed the couple living at Meadow Farm on Marsh Lane in Whitley. Ernest was a dairy farmer and was noted as a heavy worker. Naomi was a housewife. They would appear to have one child, but it was not clear as to what their name was, as the record was closed.
Ernest’s father died in July 1962, aged 94 years.
Ernest Hodgkinson died on 18th April 1975 in Vale Royal. He was living at “Shenstone” on Top Road in Kingsley. Naomi died in July 1978, aged 80 years. They were both buried at Kingsley and Newton Cemetery, near Frodsham. Ernest was 78 years old.