Chapter 1
It is 1905 in a town called St Helens, on the outskirts of a large city named Liverpool in the north of England.
George Parr is on his way home from working as a labourer in a glass factory, where he has been lifting and carrying all day. He queues up outside the factory every morning hoping for work, but sometimes there isn’t any, and he worries about paying his rent. The people who live in this area never have money to spare.
This is Union Street, a row of small houses in one of the poorer areas of the town. The air is foggy with the smoke from factories, and at night it is lit only by gas lamps.
There are no cars on the road, only horses and carts.
George Parr’s wife is Sarah. She works from dawn until dusk looking after the house and children.
Sarah sometimes delivers coal in the mornings, heaving heavy sacks from a handcart and delivering them to her neighbours. This gives the family extra money.
The Parrs have three children. John is eight years old and loves to play football on the streets. Next oldest is Lizzie. She helps her mum and isn’t so interested in playing outside. Bob is only little, and wants to follow John.
On 26th April 1905, a new baby is born at the house on Union Street. Birth is a risky time for mother and child in the early 1900s, but this baby is healthy. She cries and kicks her legs.
We’ll call her Lillian.
Lily for short! Yes. Lily Parr.
Look, she’s kicking!
As soon as Lily can walk, she follows her big brothers, John and Bob, when they head to the little patch of wasteland to play football and rugby. The bigger boys laugh at little Lily until they see how hard she can kick!
Soon Lily’s mother has another baby, George. As Lily grows, she has three brothers to play with.
And Lily really does grow! Before long, she is the same height as her brothers and eats more than they do. Although the Parr family don’t have much money, they do have a yard to keep chickens so there are always big portions of eggs.
At school, Lily doesn’t enjoy the things girls are supposed to, like sewing and cooking.
Her brothers encourage her to play football with them. None of the boys laugh now, as she is very fast and skilful.
In 1914, Lily Parr is nine years old. One day her father comes home with a newspaper and John reads it out loud to the family.
That’s how the Parr family find out that the First World War has begun.
