Alfred Houghton was born in Whitley in the summer of 1888 and baptised on 6th August of that year at All Saints’, Daresbury. He was the eldest son of Walter Houghton (born Great Budworth) and his wife Mary (nee Maddock Green) who was born in Whitley.
The 1891 census recorded Alfred as living with his paternal grandparents, James and Sarah Houghton, at Heron’s Cottages on Chester Road in Newton-by-Daresbury. James was a domestic gardener. Alfred’s parents subsequently had three more sons, James, Frank and Tom, who lived with them in Hatton. All four sons served in the Great War.
Alfred continued to live with his grandparents throughout his childhood, teenage years and into adulthood. They lived on Newton Lane and at Delph Cottages in Newton-by-Daresbury. By 1911 his grandfather was still working as a gardener and 22-year-old Alfred was now employed as a plumber.
No service records would appear to have survived for Alfred, so it is not known when he enlisted. The absent voters’ lists for 1918 and 1919 for the parish of Hatton recorded him as being in the Royal Engineers and having the rank of Sapper. His service number was either 26387 or 263871. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service in the Great War.
On 14th August 1915 Alfred married Emily Dixon at Holy Trinity church in Chester. She was born Chester in 1892. They would eventually have three children, Alfred in 1916, Lilian in 1917 and Emily in 1927. At some point they lived in Goose Lane in Hatton.
By 1939 the family (except for Lilian) were living at 2, Southern Street in Stockton Heath. Alfred was a plumber by trade and his son was an electrician. Emily was at school.
Alfred’s mother Mary died in 1943 at the age of 78 years and her husband Walter died ten years later in 1953.
Alfred Houghton died in late 1951 in Warrington at the age of 63 years. His wife Emily passed away thirty years later, also in Warrington.