Horace was born in November 1903 to parents George Hambleton whose family originated in Weston Subedge, Gloucestershire and Florence (nee Airey) from Lancashire.
One of the Schools he attended was Hope Street School where many years later he was fondly remembered by the old Headmaster when his daughter Joyce started there.
He was a poultry dealers assistant & a busker in his early years.
He married Fanny Loone in 1922 she was a Sunday school teacher at the Elizabeth Green Mission in Alcester Street.
They moved into her mother Elizabeth’s house at 79 Cheapside, which was a back-to-back house, a three storey that fronted the street. The house had a cellar, a walk in front room, an upstairs bedroom and an attic.
Florry Airey
Fanny and Horace were given the attic to live in. To get water they had to go out of their house, up an entry and get the water from a standpipe in the communal yard, the shared toilet and Brewus was nearby.
During November 1923 they had their first child, Joyce Evelyn, she was born by candlelight in the attic, the only lighting in the house was by oil lamps in the main living room and candles everywhere else.
In 1925 Horace junior was born and in 1926 Florence Elizabeth came along. Fanny and Horace now had to share their room with the three children.
Horace in 1960
One day in August 1926 Fanny asked her husband Horace not to go out busking as she didn’t feel very well, he went, as he always did, because they needed the money, by the time he got back home Fanny was dead.
She had been suffering with backaches for ages and unknown to her she had a tumour on her kidney. Horace did not have her insured so Fanny was buried in a pauper’s grave at Witton cemetery.
Site of Fanny hambletons Grave
Horace was left to look after three children and within 18 months he met and married Gladys Randles from Darwin Street who had moved to Birmingham with her family from Lancashire (Gladys was a single parent with a daughter named Florence. Florence was brought up by her Grandmother Randles in Darwin Street).
Horace in the 1960's
Lots of children followed, Joan, Lillian, Myra, Dorothy, Beatrice, Rosina, George, Leonard, Reginald and Albert plus the three from Horace’s previous marriage. Times were hard and half of the Children never lived past the age of five and at one stage because of a false accusation of theft by a jealous market trader against Horace, Gladys ended up with all of the children in the Workhouse back of Dudley Road Hospital and Horace went to prison for three months.
The family always lived in rooms, as did many families who could not afford to rent a whole house. They moved a lot, usually when the unpaid rent had built up to an amount that meant eviction so again they moved on. Cheapside, Bradford Street, Deritend, Hockley, Erskine Street in Vauxhall and Tavistock Road, Acocks Green were some of the areas they moved to with a rented handcart.
In later years they were living in Freeman Road, Nechells, it was here that Horace passed away in 1964 and he is buried in Witton Cemetery as is his 2nd wife Gladys who died in 1980 while living in Shard End.
He was a poultry dealers assistant & a busker in his early years. 
She had been suffering with backaches for ages and unknown to her she had a tumour on her kidney. Horace did not have her insured so Fanny was buried in a pauper’s grave at Witton cemetery. 
Horace was left to look after three children and within 18 months he met and married Gladys Randles from Darwin Street who had moved to Birmingham with her family from Lancashire (Gladys was a single parent with a daughter named Florence. Florence was brought up by her Grandmother Randles in Darwin Street).