Peake

Arthur Peake was born in Chowbent, Lancashire in 1804 and his trade was Nail Maker.

At the age of 16 he signed up for the Army, although he had to wait 2 years until he was 18, before he could begin his service.
Whilst serving with the 84th Foot (York and Lancaster) Regiment, he met and married Mary from Cork in Ireland. They had 3
sons (2 born in Ireland, 1 in Lancashire) and 1 daughter (born in Portsmouth) before he retired from the army on 10th March
1835, due to ill health. He was not awarded a pension.

Arthur returned to Atherton with Mary and they had a further 3 sons and two daughters. The youngest was Mary Peak, born in
Bolton in 1845.

Arther Peak was shown on the census of 1841 to be living in Millers Lane, Chowbent in Atherton, and working as a Nail
Maker. At his death in Leigh in 1858, his name was registered as Arthur Peake.

One son, Arthur junior, followed his footsteps and joined the 2nd battalion 15th Foot (Yorkshire - East Riding) Regiment in
May 1858. At the end of his army service in June 1880, he returned to live in Bolton with his wife Catherine from County Mayo
in Ireland.

They had 4 children, 1 born in Aldershot, 1 in Gosport, and 2 in India.

Arthur seniors' son Thomas was born in Atherton in 1838.

He followed his father into the trade of Nail Maker, before becoming a coal miner.

Thomas lost his first wife Sarah Moor in 1862, after the birth of their son Richard.

In the census of 1871 Richard Peake was being looked after by his grandmother, Charlotte Moor.

Richard Peake worked as a stocker in a cotton mill before finding work in an Iron Foundry.

In 1901 Richard was absent from his family in Wigan Workhouse Hospital, but was soon to return home, where in 1902 with his
wife Elizabeth Brown, he welcomed their eigth child Edith (Ada) - 7 daughters and one son.

In 1911 they lived at 24 Platt Street, Leigh.

Richard and Elizabeths' second son Arthur was born on 27th June 1904, and their 8th (and final) daughter Lily, was born in
1907, both in Leigh, Lancashire.

Ellis Peak, born in 1859, met and married Eliza Hall from Perth in Australia.

In 1885 - the time of the Australian Gold Rush - they returned to Perth, as did his brother James Peak and his wife Mary Ann.

Ellis, brother James and son in law Reginald Charles Bender, were all employed by the Western Australia Government Railway
as Train Drivers.

Two sons of Ellis Peake and Eliza Hall were involved in the World War One conflict. Ellis Peak, born in Australia in 1891, left
to join the British Army Service Corps in Newcastle-on-Tyne (where his wife Jane Elder was born), in June 1915, whilst
younger brother Jack joined the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces in March 1916. Both returned after the war with
the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Ellis and Eliza Peake are believed to have many grandchildren and great grandchildren living in Perth today.