Arthur Gerrard Ryder was born on 21st September 1895 in Runcorn registration district and baptised on 3rd November that year at All Saints, Daresbury. He was the son of James Ryder (born Aston-by-Sutton) and his wife Sarah Elizabeth (nee Gerrard) who was born in Manchester.
The 1901 census recorded the family as living on Newton Lane in Newton-by-Daresbury. The father was a stonemason. Five year old Arthur had a younger brother Tom (2) and four older brothers, Charles (18), Albert (16) and Frank (10) and James (8). Sisters Ethel and Sarah were 14 years old and 12 years old respectively. Charles was an apprentice stonemason and Albert was an apprentice cabinet maker. James lived with his aunt and uncle. All six brothers would serve in the Great War.
Ten years later the family were living at Newton Bank in Newton-by-Daresbury and also had the youngest of all the brothers, Cyril (4). Daughters Ethel and Sarah had left home. Arthur Gerrard was an apprentice engineer and Frank was working as a joiner. The two eldest brothers had qualified in their chosen trades. James was working as a canal clerk. Their mother declared that one of her ten children had died previously.
Arthur served with the Army Service Corps in the Great War. His service number was 023650. (Some records stated that he was in the Army Ordnance Corps.) At the end of the war he was living at Newton Lane Cottages in Newton-by-Daresbury. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his war service.
In mid-1933 Arthur married Ellen Moorefield from Astley, near Leigh, at Holy Trinity Church in Runcorn. She was four years younger than Arthur. They would have two sons: James born in August 1934 and Frederick, born in 1938. Ellen had been in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in the Great War.
The 1939 Register showed Arthur and Ellen living at Sunny Hill, Preston-on-the-Hill, with James who was at school and Frederick. Arthur was a builder’s labourer, deemed able to do heavy work.
Ellen Ryder died in 1972, seven years before Arthur passed away.
Arthur Gerrard Ryder died on 20th May 1979 and was buried at Daresbury. He was 83 years old.