George's Transatlantic Life
One Lincolnshire man crammed a lot into his short life - including a spell in America
George Chambers spent only a short period of time as a private detective, but was one of the relatively few in Lincoln. His life involved transatlantic travel, marriage to an American, and a sadly short life - after which his wife and surviving children made the long crossing back to New York to start anew there.
George was born in Lincoln in 1874. As with many other private detectives, he had formerly been a police officer, only starting his inquiry officer job after gaining his police pension. In 1903, he married Ida May Welch, a native of Lockport, New York, and the couple had four children - John, born in 1903; George, four years his junior; Phyllis Jessie, born in 1907 and Dorothy May, the youngest and born in 1911. The children’s birthplaces show George’s whereabouts in the early 20th century; both John and Goerge were born in the US, indicating that the family was living there at least between 1903 and 1907, whereas his daughters were born back in Lincoln.
Lockport, home of George Chambers’ wife, and where George lived for a spell
It was back in England, towards the end of the Edwardian era, that George started a private detective business. His base was 69 Carholme Road, Lincoln, and in 1909, he was advertising for someone to help him in his business. This was not a lucrative game, for George made clear that the assistant job would suit someone with a bit of ‘spare time’, and would only be renumerated with a ‘small salary’.
Carholme Road was evidently George’s home as well as his work address, again indicating that this was a small business. In 1911, he was living at 133 Carholme Road with his family; the private detective job may have ended by this point, as he listed himself on the census simply as a police pensioner. However, some private detectives with similar backgrounds did the same, despite still being in business, perhaps because stating that you were a police pensioner was a more ‘acceptable’ description - private detectives often being viewed with suspicion.
George died shortly after the census was taken, although I’m not sure whether he died in the UK or US. His widow, Ida, and at least two of his children, certainly relocated to the US in 1912, and the 1915 US census records Ida living with her children Jessie and George but without her husband. The 1920 census states that she was a widow. Ida died in Buffalo, New York, in 1961; a completely different environment