Sidney Hayes

Sidney Hayes was the husband of Alice Hayes and father of Ada Hayes, Fred Hayes, Esther Hayes and Tom Hayes.

The Hayes family moved into 5 Coronation Street in 1908. Then 32, Sidney had just married Alice, 25, and they had no children yet. Sidney was a lay preacher and held down a respectable job as a clerk at the GPO, whereas most of his neighbours were mill workers. Their eldest children were Ada, born in 1910, and Frederick, who was born in 1915 but died from diphtheria as a baby.

Sidney was a pacifist and stood by his principles during the war by refusing to sign up, with Alice's backing. He was imprisoned for the duration of the war, but his troubles didn't end with the Armistice as he was beaten up during a victory parade and his family was ostracized for years to come.

The younger Hayes children were Esther and Tom, born in 1924 and 1926 respectively. During the Depression, with many neighbours falling on hard times Sid's soup kitchen at the Glad Tidings Mission Hall was appreciated and their old prejudices were laid to rest. He died during an air raid on 24th December 1940 while returning home from a delivering a sermon at Booth Street Chapel.


 * Sid first appeared in Daran Little and Bill Hill's "Weatherfield Life", published in 1992. Other information is derived from Little's follow-up book, "Around the Coronation Street Houses".