John (Jack) Speed was born on 26th October 1913 in Daresbury parish, the son of John Johnson Speed and Mary Elizabeth (nee Hayward). The father was from a local family and the mother was from Shropshire.
The 1921 Census recorded the family as living at Preston Brook where the father was employed as a canal warehouse porter for the Manchester Ship Canal Company. By this time Jack was at school. A younger brother called Walter Scott had been born in 1916 (and who also served in World War Two).
In 1939 Jack was living at home with his parents and brother and was employed as a plumber in engineering in a soap works. His father was now a private gardener.
Jack served as a merchant seaman during World War Two, but no details of his service are known, other than his discharge number, which was R207706 and that he received a medal for his war service. He appears in a list of servicemen at an event for Victory Celebrations in June 1946 in Preston Brook. Should anyone know details of his service please contact Daresbury District Heritage Group.
In 1941, in Glasgow, Jack had married Margaret Mould Johnston who was from that city, and they settled in Preston on the Hill after the war ended and lived with Jack’s father, his mother having passed away in 1942. Jack and Margaret eventually had a family of their own.
When John (Jack) Speed passed away on 26th April 1992 at the age of 78 years, the couple were living at Norton Cottages in Runcorn. Margaret Speed passed away four years later.
