Gertrude Mary Cunningham was the daughter of Thomas and
Hannah Cunningham (nee Mills) and in 1911 was living with her family at 74
Sheep Fair, Rugeley, working as a domestic servant.
Gertrude was born on the 29th June 1894 in
Rugeley and had an older sister, Edith (born 1886) and two younger brothers
Thomas (born 1899, who would become my Auntie’s father in law) and Reginald
(born 1909). Her older brother William had been killed in January
1917 whilst serving with the North Staffordshire regiment in France.
Gertrude was aged 22 when she married Thomas McElroy, the
son of Bernard and Bridget McElroy between July & September 1917. Thomas
was born in 1892 in Bilston, Wolverhampton.
Their first child Lucy was born in 1917 in Rugeley between
October and December 1917.
Thomas McElroy was serving as a Private with the 5th
Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment. He had been out in France since August
1915. In 1911 he was working as a sheet mills iron worker.
One can only assume that Gertrude and Thomas got married whilst Thomas was home on leave.
