George Kitching (1853-1929)
George Kitching, his wife Sarah and their children moved from North Yorkshire to Kirk Langley (between Derby and Ashbourne) about 1896. Then to Champion Farm, Windley (Northwest of Duffield) and finally to Lady Lea Farm, Sawley in 1911 (on the bend between Back Street and Wilne Lane). They grew crops in a field off Draycott Road and kept cows and chickens, but they sold up in 1921. Their children were:
- Florence (1887-1903) died at Windley, aged 16
- Arthur (1889-1972) married Martha Stevenson in Breaston in 1916. After she died 9 years later, he married Nellie Hall. By 1939 he was a dairy farmer at Friesland Farm, Shardlow. They retired to Chaddesden.
- Mabel (1892) married Everard Walter Johnson (1885-1979) in Sawley in 1913. They moved to Derby where he was a farmer and dairyman. They retired to Breadsall Hilltop.
- Gertrude (1895) married John William Adams in 1920.
- George (1897-1918) – see below
- Amy (1900-1968) married Robert William Woodward, a farmer’s son from Breaston. In 1939 they were running Windley Meadows Farm, near Duffield.
George Kitching (1897-1918)
George and his sister Amy started at the Cross Street National School in April 1911. Before that they’d attended school in Little Eaton. George later worked on the farm and became a bell ringer at the church. After the outbreak of the Great War, he volunteered for the East Riding Yeomanry. However, at some point he was transferred to 10th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. This newly formed infantry unit was sent to France in 1915 and took part in all the subsequent major battles. From Mar 1918 they were involved in holding the line against the German spring offensive, fighting over the old 1916 Somme battlefield. George was seriously injured during this fighting and sent to a casualty clearing station at Gezaincourt. He died of wounds on 16 Jul 1918 and was buried in the Bagneux British Cemetery there.