Percy Longhurst

Percy Longhurst was the late husband of Martha Longhurst and father of Lily Haddon.

Shunter Percy married Martha just after the war in 1919 and they moved into 7 Mawdsley Street straight-away. Due to problems conceiving, with Martha suffering two miscarriages, Lily wasn't born until 1926, with a son, Harold, following soon afterwards. The Longhursts troubles began when Harold drowned in Mosley's Flash in the back end of 1929 and then when Percy lost his job at the shunting yards and was out of work for a year. Percy hated being reliant on Martha's wages from charring at the new Town Hall, and with Martha refusing to let him touch her out of fear of having another miscarriage, Percy started looking elsewhere for affection. Unemployment also took its toll on Percy's good nature and he routinely beat Martha.

Percy eventually found work as a foreman at a warehouse but his dalliances with other women continued. In 1934, he ran off with a hairdresser, but later reconciled with Martha. He calmed down as he got older and in 1946 after a slow decline he succumbed to illness and passed away.

Percy lived at 13 Coronation Street briefly when the Longhursts' home was bombed during the Manchester Blitz. In 1964, when Martha died from a heart attack, one of the people to pay their respects was Billy Rabbitt, an old friend of Percy's.


 * The main image on this page is taken from Martha's photo of Percy, seen in Episode 358 (18th May 1964).