And There's Another Country

Book excerpt: From affluence to penury in three generations; love, loss and then the disaster that 'another country' would bring about. Born in 1799 Richard Ward Warren trained as a carpenter as his father had before him and then went on to become a relatively wealthy builder, Freeman of Leicester and Guardian of the Poor. Shortly after Richard's death, however, his son, John dies in tragic circumstances leaving his wife, Mary and their children to fend for themselves. As things gradually improve, Mary's son, also Richard, finds work in the hosiery trade but after he marries and starts a family the changing fortunes of the industry, poor housing and poor health care begin to take their toll alongside the increasing threat of war. When war does break out in 1914 six of Richard's sons are drawn into the conflict and the stories of three of these young men are described in detail along with various other related aspects of that dreadful conflict. After the war, although the Armistice had signalled the end of the physical struggle, for many of those who did return the fight was far from over and the consequences could still wreak havoc. Set against the strains of the times and the developments, particularly during the Victorian era, that mostly, but not always, improved things, And There's Another Country chronicles the effects of these influences on the members of one Leicester family and how the evolving political and social tendencies ultimately led to the First World War and its aftermath.