Foreword

Through marriage, the male line of descent of our Harris family has Our work on Part Two of our story has brought an added bonus. By links with Clark, Matthews, Price, Jones and Graves families. delving more deeply into the lateral branches of our tree, our findings have thrown new light on the family of our first known ancestor, John Through the siblings of the Harris males and the families of their Harris, who married Mary Clark in Eastham on 30 December 1779. spouses, we are also linked to such diverse family names as Apperley, Baldwin, Birkin, Boulton, Bray, Browning, Butler, Craik, Brian Harris, Cowbridge, February 2012 Davies, Davis, Garbett, Godfrey, Gore, Gould, Griffiths, Hall, Harrod, Hehir, Homer, Hughes, Moon, Passey, Pitt, Postans, Pound, Preece, Prime, Robotham, Sewell, Skyrme, Sprittles, Stinissen, Thomas,Thurston, Tingle, Turner, Twinberrow, Ward, Yarnold and many more. They are part of a network of Harris connections which takes us beyond the boundaries of , and the rest of the British Isles to Belgium, Australia, Canada and the USA.

It may come as a surprise that two of the siblings of Edward James Harris who emigrated to Canada before WWI had already married and started a family in before leaving these shores. They were George and Edith. Even more surprisingly, Agnes and Hubert, who arrived in Canada as singletons, chose partners who were – like themselves – recently arrived ex-pats and married siblings from the same family of Scottish emigrants, the Craiks.

Cover photographs (clockwise from top): There are more surprises in store, including clandestine christenings in a remote Knights Templar church, the mysterious disappearance of 1. The families of Hubert (Bert) Harris and Agnes (Aggie) Craik (née an English Rose, odd-sounding occupations like spade tree makers Harris), Ontario late 1930s and monthly nurses, the legend of Beatrix Potter, the patriarchal 2. Suzanne Harris née Stinissen, Hoboken, Belgium 1943 relationship of the lord of the manor of Park with his employees, 3. Ethel Homer (née Harris), Church House, Upper Sapey, the annus horribilis of 1859, deaths through war and disease and Herefordshire, 1930 stories of prosperity and poverty, fertility and childlessness. In the 4. Lucy Sophia Skyrme (née Harris) with first son Bill, New Grove, tradition of Victorian melodrama, we also have subplots of forbidden , Worcestershire, 1918 love, unrequited love and the occasional love child alongside the 5. Mollie (née Graves) and Jack Davis, Birmingham 1914 recurrent theme of the extended family support network in times of 6. Caroline Sprittles (née Harris), , Cheshire 1878 need. 7. Arthur Nevil (Artie) Harris, 1928 8. George Clement Harris, Toronto early 1960s Contents

1 Introduction 2 Harris Old Boys and Girls of Upper Sapey School 1910-1931 3 The Harris Family Tree 4 Sibling of John Harris (1795-1829) Elizabeth (Betty) Harris, b.1789 Bishops Frome, bpt. 1789 Eastham THE STORY OF 4A Family of John’s wife Elizabeth MATTHEWS (1791- 1858) A WORCESTERSHIRE 5 Siblings of James Harris (1817-1884) HARRIS FAMILY Mary Ann, b.1816, Hanley Child John, b.1821, Holly Wall, Hanley Child Sarah, b.1823, Holly Wall, Hanley Child 5A Family of James’ wife Susannah Baldwin née PRICE (1816-1894) 6 Siblings of William Harris (1853-1944) Caroline, b.1847, Hanley Child PART TWO James, b.1848, Hanley Child Susannah, b.1850, Hanley Child THE SIBLINGS Mary, b.1852, Hanley Child Richard, b.1856, Hanley Child Elizabeth, b.1859, Hanley Child Arthur John, b.1861, Hanley Child 6A Family of William’s wife Caroline JONES (1849- 1929) 7 Siblings of Edward James Harris (1874-1967) George Clement, b.1875, Hanley Child Amy Beatrice, b.1876, Hanley Child Edith Mary, b.1878, Hanley Child Arthur William, b.1881, Hanley Child Agnes Priscilla, b.1882, Hanley Child Hubert Charles, b.1886, Hanley Child Lucy Sophia, b.1889, Hanley Child 7A Family of Edward James’ wife Ellen GRAVES (1881-1975) 8 The Lives of Others 9 Update 10 Farewell 1. 2. Introduction Harris Old Boys and Girls of Upper Sapey Even at this early stage in our research, it appears that The Story of All nine children of Ted and Nellie Harris attended the school School 1910-1931 a Worcestershire Harris Family is already something of a misnomer. between 1910 and 1931 before the family’s move from Church That’s because Part Two reveals that we have, via generations of House in Upper Sapey to Hanley Cottage in Broadheath. Their The school records the siblings and wives of our direct male ancestors, very strong links great-great-aunt Mary Ann Boulton née Harris (b.1816, elder sister The school records comprise the Admissions Register and the Log with Herefordshire, too. of James Harris) actually lived at Upper Sapey School House as Book. The Admissions Register contains the pupil’s name, date of housekeeper to the schoolmistress of the day between the 1870s, admission, name of parent/guardian, address, date of birth, last It looks increasingly likely that our first known ancestor John (who when the school was built, and the 1890s. The school, which was date of attendance and reason for leaving. The Log Book provides married Mary Clark in 1779) originated from Herefordshire. Our located near Church House, closed in September 1969 and was details of the day-to-day running of the school as recorded by the hypothesis regarding the family connection of Susan Harris and her later demolished to make way for a residential development. Head Teacher along with occasional comments and reports by the illegitimate son Richard (bpt. 13 July 1789, Eastham) still stands. Upper Sapey School: The teaching accommodation is on the left HMI (school inspector), the Rector and the Chairman of the School At the same time, our theory that John Harris and Mary Clark were When the eldest of the Harris children attended Upper Sapey and the School House, formerly occupied by the headteacher and Governors. itinerant farm workers is further strengthened. School, the school boards had been abolished and replaced by housekeeper, on the right Local Education Authorities (LEAs) under the provisions of the 1902 The Admissions Register In our postscript to Part One, we made our apologies for our inability Education Act which raised the minimum school leaving age from 10 The Admissions Register confirms where our Harris family was living windows, lavatory bowls, the map of England & Wales and the to do justice to the lives of Eddie Harris’s siblings in Part Two. So, to 12 years. By the time the youngest Harris children were admitted, at the time of the children’s admission (whether Yearston Cottage, impure water from the pump. On 23 May 1911, he writes: “Mens while we are on the subject of the Herefordshire connection, we the 1918 Education Act made school obligatory for all children up Dudshill Court or Church House). Vera was admitted in 1910, sana in corpore sano impossible – the school is insanitary in have a good excuse to feature them all in the following chapter – as to the age of 14. Under the 1918 Act, additional services were followed by Bert (1911), Arthur (1912) and Olive (1914). excelsis”. (It could have been worse: The use of slates in school had former pupils of Upper Sapey School, Herefordshire. provided in schools, including medical inspections, nurseries and been abolished on 28 June 1907 “for moral and hygienic reasons”!) provision for pupils with special needs. The Register also shows that the five eldest Harris children ‘left the He is also driven to distraction by the problem of dirt and dust, made district’ for six months between leaving Yearston Cottage at the end worse by the use of the school room for village dance nights and the of April 1915 and moving into Dudshill Court in October of that year. Monday evening whist drive. When they are re-admitted to Upper Sapey School, they are shown Mr Addenbrooke departed in 1911 and was replaced by Mr H W as having been attending school in Broadheath across the county Paine who served until April 1914. In September 1914, the school boundary in Worcestershire. It is not known where the family lived appoints Mr A C Pritchard as Head Teacher, his daughter Olive E nor what Ted Harris was doing for a living during this period. One Pritchard as Assistant Teacher and the Rev. E F Tallents as Rector, possibility is that he was helping out at Hanley Court where both he while Mr W J Holder of Yearston Court, employer of our Ted Harris, and Nellie had been previously employed by the Newport family prior continues as Chairman of the School Governors. Vera, Albert, Artie to their marriage in 1904. and Olive Harris would have formed part of the crocodile led by Mr Pritchard on 1 February 1915, when his log entry read: ‘Marched The Log Book the children to Road corner to give a send-off to a number The Log Book is more of a diary in which the head teachers record of recruits from this village at playtime this morning’. The youngest their concerns about the condition of the school building and the five Harris children are admitted from 1915 onwards: Henry (1915), health and attendance of the pupils. Between 1907 and 1911 the Margery (1918), Eddie (1921), Roly (1922) and Ethel who joined the head teacher (Mr Addenbrooke) complains regularly about ‘things new nursery class at the age of three in 1923. needing repair’: Stoves, door fasteners, the roof, wall plaster, broken View from Hanley Child churchyard, looking west over Herefordshire Harris Old Boys and Girls of Upper Sapey School (cont’d)

Mentioned in despatches All nine Harris children are mentioned in despatches. Vera Harris exemption certificate’ [meaning that she had reached 14 years of has ‘a bad cough with vomiting’ (medical certificate received from age] (7 Mar 1927). Edward Harris ‘passed in the 3rd Class of the Dr Elijah Beck 9 Mar 1911). Vera, Albert and Arthur Harris ‘away Diocesan Bible and Prayer Book Examinations’ (15 May 1928 and 7 with chicken pox’ (13 Jun 1913). ‘The five Harris children [Vera, June 1929). The last entry explains Eddie’s frequent use of biblical Albert, Arthur, Olive and Henry] are absent’ (8 Oct 1917). Certificate quotations in later life, such as “Sufficient unto the day is the evil received from Dr Eshelby confirming that the Harris children [Arthur, thereof” when declining a second helping at mealtimes! Olive, Henry and Margery] are ‘suffering from contagious impetigo and cannot attend school until cured’ (19 Apr 1920). Margery Harris The family left Church House in Upper Sapey in 1931 to live at ‘attending Worcester Infirmary for eyesight and adenoids’ (6 Dec Hanley Cottage, a smallholding of 3 acres on the Broad Heath in 1921); the following day ‘Margery returned to school and has been . Ted Harris had bought the property at the auction supplied with glasses’. Olive Harris ‘allowed to see to infants while of the Hanley Court Estate which was held at The Swan Hotel teacher took arithmetic with Standard II and III’ (10 July 1922). ‘Roly in on Tuesday 28 October 1930. Ethel Harris, the Vera Bert Harris has acute bronchitis’ (5 Nov 1923). ‘Ethel Harris admitted’ youngest of the nine children, continued her education at Highwood Vera Gertrude Mary Harris Albert William Harris (26 Nov 1923). Henry Harris ‘left school being 14’ (5 Jan 1925). School in Eastham. b. 4 Nov 1904, The Villa, b. 19 Apr 1906, The Kilns, Yearston ‘All children present except Margery Harris who had received her

After school After school Having left school at twelve years of age, Vera spent around five After leaving Upper Sapey School on his twelfth birthday on 19 years helping around the house, running errands for her parents and April 1918, Bert was sent by his parents to help out grandparents making deliveries by pony and trap for her carpenter grandfather William and Caroline as a live-in farm hand at Stoneyford. This was William. She was willing to turn her hand to almost anything to stay followed by a longer stint at New Grove where his aunt Lucy and her in the district. The Upper Sapey School Log Book shows that, three husband Tom Skyrme were farming on a larger scale. Bert described years after leaving, she returned to school on 9 February 1920 – as Lucy as ‘a slave driver’. He found her regime so tough that after one a temporary replacement for the cleaner (a Mrs James who had hard winter spent pulling root vegetables from the frozen ground he departed without notice) until a permanent cleaner was appointed. decided to sign on as a regular in the army, claiming to be a year But at 17 Vera was finally obliged to leave home to work in service older than his true age. He served with the Royal Artillery in China, in Birmingham. She cried herself to sleep for the first fortnight and reaching the rank of Battery Sergeant Major. Around 1930 he returned couldn’t visit home as she had only one day off per month which she to Civvy Street and found work as a bus driver with the Midland spent visiting her Aunt Mollie TINGLE (her mother Nellie’s sister). She Bus Company. He also found a wife, marrying lass Lilian met her husband Charlie HALL during her war service at Webley & Williamson in Worcester in 1931. They lived at 35 Barry Street next to Scotts, the Birmingham gunsmiths, where Charlie was a machine the Worcester-Birmingham Canal in which Bert would later rescue a tool operator. Vera worked as a parts inspector in the View Room young girl from drowning. Bert was recalled to the Army in May 1940 where she inspected parts intended for Spitfire engines. When the two weeks before the Dunkirk evacuation and saw action in Tunisia, Class 1, Upper Sapey School, 1920/1921 foreman remarked on how thoroughly she did her work, she replied Algeria, Sicily and Italy. He was demobbed after his regiment had Rear left: Head Teacher, Mr A C Pritchard. Circled, left to right from top “I’ve got five brothers fighting in the war”. advanced north of Rome and the Germans in Italy (almost one million to bottom: Henry (10), Arthur (12), Olive (11), Margery (7), Edward (5). men) had surrendered to Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander on 29 April 1945. Artie Olive Henry Margery Arthur Nevil Harris Olive Kathleen Harris Henry John Harris Margery Nelly Harris b. 6 Nov 1907, The Kilns, Yearston b. 23 Feb 1909, The Kilns, Yearston b. 12 Oct 1910, The Kilns, Yearston b. 20 Feb 1913, The Kilns, Yearston

After school After school After school After school After leaving school Artie worked as a gardener for Mr William Holder Olive left the family home before her fifteenth birthday to work as Henry left Church House in Upper Sapey before his sixteenth Margery’s first work experience after leaving school in March 1927 of Yearston Court who also employed his father Edward James a domestic help in a Malvern girls’ school. In 1924, after suffering birthday and headed for where he found a job with at the age of fourteen was in the familiar surroundings of Knapp’s Harris as a stockman for many years. In 1924, a week before a nervous breakdown, she went to live with her Aunt Amy whose Sainsbury’s in Hampstead. While working here as Assistant Knowle in Little Kyre – the home of her grandparents William he turned 17, Artie joined the naval training ship HMS Ganges in husband Harry Prime ran a grocery store in Parkstone, Dorset. Provisions Manager, he met his future wife Mollie Butler who and Caroline. Now in their seventies, they employed Margery as Suffolk. On completing his training he signed on for 12 more years Following her recovery, Olive remained in Dorset, working in service worked in the Accounts Department at the company’s Blackfriars a domestic help. Shortly afterwards, Margery moved to much and was demobbed in November 1937. He found work as a sorter with the Fletcher family. It was not long before she met her soul mate headquarters. Henry and Mollie married on 16 September 1934. larger premises to work as a maid in the household of Sir Francis with the Central Post Office in Birmingham where his eldest sister Herbert Gould from Studland who was a painter and decorator at the Their son Gordon was born on 17 August 1939. War was declared Winnington, 5th Baronet and MP, at the stately Stanford Court in Vera introduced him to his future wife, Beatrice Hehir (pronounced time of their marriage. They married on 6 August 1934 at All Saints a little over two weeks later and Henry joined the Royal Artillery as nearby Stanford-on-Teme. It was while working here that she met ‘Hair’). Only two months after he and Beatrice were married at Church in Hanley William and, after the reception at Hanley Cottage, a volunteer, serving as a Gunner in the 12th Battery 6th HAA (Heavy her husband-to-be, farm worker John POSTANS. They married in the Baptist Church in Shirley, he was recalled to the Navy on 28 returned to Thomas Hardy country where the newly weds began Anti-Aircraft Artillery). Henry was captured by the Japanese on Java in 1934 and settled in , Worcestershire. They September 1939. Beatrice gave birth to their son Brian on 12 April their married life by moving in with one of Herbert’s uncles, a farmer in 1942 and was transferred via Singapore to Hiroshima No. 8 had two children, Patrick (b. 1935) and Mervyn (b. 1941). Tragically, 1940. When his son was barely ten months old, Artie became the who needed an extra hand or two. Over fifty years later, as their Branch Camp, Fukuoka, Kyushu. He died within weeks of his arrival Patrick died aged only 4 years in October 1939 just after the Harris family’s first wartime military casualty on 14 February 1941. marriage had remained childless, they persuaded Olive’s younger at the camp from a combination of malaria and dysentery on 16 outbreak of WWII as the result of a germ he had picked up from a He was killed at his post below deck as Leading Telegraphist when sister Ethel to care for them at her Birmingham home. Olive died in December 1942. young evacuee who had moved in with the family. his motor torpedo boat MTB.41 struck a mine while on patrol in the Birmingham in 2001 aged 92. North Sea off Harwich. Eddie Roly Ethel Edward Victor Harris Roland George Harris Ethel Priscilla Harris b. 3 Nov 1915, Dudshill Court, Upper Sapey b. 11 Feb 1918, Dudshill Court, Upper Sapey b. 23 Jul 1920, Dudshill Court, Upper Sapey

After school After school After school After leaving school shortly before his fourteenth birthday in 1929, Roly was the only one of the country-born and raised Harris brothers Ethel was the only Harris sibling not to have finished her schooling In the same year at the age of fifteen, Ethel followed in the footsteps Eddie started his first job in the gents outfitting department at to remain rooted to the land and in touch with nature throughout at Upper Sapey when the family moved to Hanley Cottage in of her three elder sisters by leaving home to work in service. She Pumphreys store in Bromyard, travelling from Church House his working life - as a forestry man in Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Broadheath. At the age of eleven, Ethel was admitted to Highwood was so unhappy in her first position with a Worcester family that in Upper Sapey by pushbike. By the time the family moved to Forest. How did this come about? Well, around the time that Roly School in Eastham for the next chapter in her life, but has fond her brother Bert came to her rescue and took her away. Ethel’s Hanley Cottage in 1931, Eddie was able to afford a motor cycle. left Upper Sapey School in 1931, both the Kyre Park and Hanley memories of Upper Sapey School and her teacher, Mrs Silcock. next move – to Birmingham – proved a happier one. She was It triggered his passion for life on the open road. This led to Eddie Court estates were being broken up and sold at auction. Along employed as a housemaid by Polish-born Jewish businessman Mr obtaining his HGV licence and working as a fuel tanker driver in with the sale of the land, the buildings and their contents, another Ethel at Highwood School Wolf Goodman at 10 Augustus Road, Edgbaston where her eldest Birmingham between 1935 and 1940. Three days after enlisting with valuable asset was being sold off – timber, especially oak. This Ethel’s teacher at Highwood was Miss Kings (Seniors), while Miss sister Vera was already installed as housekeeper. The wealthy Mr the Territorial Army RA Corps in Birmingham on 2 March 1940, he provided a job opportunity for young Roly as a tree feller working for a Sadler (Juniors) and Miss Yarnold (Infants), sister of Bill Yarnold who Goodman was a successful furniture retailer whose domestic staff started his training as gunner/driver at the RA Depot in Woolwich. In Nottinghamshire timber merchant. Roly’s employer was so impressed married Ethel’s aunt Lucy in 1932, completed the teaching staff. also included a parlour maid, a gardener and a chauffeur. At the March 1941 Eddie was given leave of absence from his training as with his work that he offered him a permanent position in Worksop. outbreak of war in 1939, Ethel was taken out of this comfortable a driver/mechanic in Okehampton, Devon to marry his sweetheart Roly accepted and, as a result, met his future wife - young Kitty Immediately after leaving school at fourteen in 1934, Ethel picked environment to do war service in a factory engaged in the Joan Price in Worcester. On completing his training in Norwich, Godfrey, daughter of WWI veteran Harry Godfrey and his German- gooseberries and blackcurrants at Froggatts Farm opposite the Bell manufacture of suede gloves for use by the Royal Navy. he was posted overseas on 6 January 1942 and served in India born wife Catharina (née Kröll) who had married in Cologne after Inn (now The Tally Ho), followed by a spell at Hanley Court Farm Mr Goodman was keen for her to return after the war was over, but and Burma, reaching the rank of Warrant Sergeant. Eddie was WWI. In fact, Kitty was also born in Germany as her father Harry ran a where she arranged field-grown flowers (mainly tulips) into bunches died aged 84 before Germany was defeated. demobbed in over four years later at the end of January garage business in Cologne until the family decided to relocate to the destined for the Birmingham market. 1946. In total he had served his country for almost six years. UK in 1929 when Kitty was seven years old. Roly and Kitty married in 1941 while Britain was at war with his mother-in-law’s homeland. In 1935 Ethel was confirmed by the Bishop of Worcester at Stanford Roly served in the Royal Navy and was demobbed after five years Parish Church where, four years earlier, she had sung with the choir service. at the graveside of Sir Francis Winnington, 5th Baronet, MP and employer of her sister Margery at Stanford Court. Birthday Book presented to Ethel by Miss Bright, sister of the of Upper Sapey, for regular attendance at Upper Sapey Sunday School, Christmas 1929

Book of Common Prayer presented to Ethel by her teacher Mrs Silcock on leaving Upper Sapey School in December 1931

Dedication page in the New Testament presented to Arthur N Harris by the Headmaster A C Pritchard and Confirmation Book presented to signed by Rector E F Tallents on 19 July 1919 Ethel by the Rev. Yates, Rector of Hanley, on 11 April 1935 This previously unidentified photograph is believed to be of Arthur Harris, pictured around 1920, still wearing his Upper Sapey School tie.

Upper Sapey School football team, around 1929. Eddie Harris in back row with arms folded, brother Roly second from left in front row.

Eddie and Roly pictured at Church House, Upper Sapey, around 1925. Unlike brothers Artie and Henry, both survived WWII, but fell victim to cancer - Eddie in 1984, Roly in 1991. 3. John HARRIS Mary CLARK

Agricultural labourer m. 30 Dec 1779, Eastham b. c.1755, d. Not known (”Both of this parish”) The Harris Family Tree

Elizabeth (Betty) John HARRIS Elizabeth MATTHEWS b. Bishop’s Frome, bpt. 11.7.1789, Eastham Agricultural labourer m. 26 Sep 1816, Hanley Child m. George Garbett, 7.10.1830, Hanley Child bpt. 2 Aug 1795, Hanley Wm b. Docklow, bpt. 1792 d. 8 Sep 1876, d. Sep 1829, Broadheath d. 31 May 1858, Hanley Child

Mary Ann James HARRIS Susannah BALDWIN John Sarah née PRICE bpt. 6.10.1816, Hanley Child bpt. 18.2.1821, Hanley Child b. 1823, Holly Wall, Hanley Child Martin Boulton, 7.4.1842 4.4.1824, Hanley Child m. Carpenter/wheelwright m. 4 Jun 1846, Hanley Child m. Elizabeth Davies, 14.5.1857 bpt. 1896±5, Herefordshire James Robotham 1850 d. bpt. 15 Dec 1817, Hanley Child bpt. 1 Dec 1816, Stoke Bliss d. 4.8.1908, Tenbury Union m. 1873, Brimfield, aged 50 d. 4 Oct 1884, New Grove d. 15 Dec 1894, Kyre Hospital Buried 6.8.1908, Hanley Child d.

Caroline James Susannah (Shukie) Mary William HARRIS Caroline JONES Richard Elizabeth Arthur John bpt. 14.3.1847 bpt. 19.11.1848 b. 12.11.1850 b. 23.3.1852 Carpenter/parish clerk m. 6 Nov 1873, Hanley Child b. 12.8.1856 b. 10.5.1859 b. 17.7.1861 m. Wm. Sprittles d. 6.2.1859, m. John Turner, 1870 d. 26.3.1852, b. 15 Apr 1853, New Grove b. 21 Apr 1849, Stoneyford m. Eliza Baldwin d. 13.5.1859, m. Not known d. 1938, Crewe aged 10 years d. 1941, Collington aged 3 days d. 14 Dec 1944, Broadheath d. 31 Jan 1929, High House d. 1934 aged 3 days d. Not known

Edward James HARRIS Ellen GRAVES George Clement Amy Beatrice Edith Mary Arthur Wm Agnes Priscilla Hubert Charles Lucy Sophia

Stockman/smallholder m. 27 Jan 1904, Hanley Wm b. 2.10.1875 b. 9.11.1876 b. 24.3.1878 b. 2.1.1881 b. 7.5.1882 b. 8.8.1886 b. 25.6.1889 b. 27 Aug 1874, Stoneyford b. 9 Mar 1881, m. Agnes Adams m. H Prime/E Jones m. Isaac Hall m. Ethel Gore m. George Craik m. Elizabeth Craik m. T Skyrme/W Yarnold d. 11 May 1967, d. 12 Apr 1975, W Bromwich d. 19.12.1973 d. 11.1.1960 d. 7.2.1974 d. 6.7.1961 d. 16.7.1967 d. 22.10.1961 d. 19.11.1974

Vera Gertrude Albert Wm Arthur Nevil Olive Kathleen Henry John Margery Nelly Edward Victor Roland George Ethel Priscilla

b. 4.11.1904 b. 19.4.1906 b. 6.11.1907 b. 23.2.1909 b. 12.10.1910 b. 20.2.1913 b. 3.11.1915 b. 11.2.1918 b. 23.7.1920 m. Charles Hall m. Lil Williamson m. Beatrice Hehir m. Herbert Gould m. Molly Butler m. John Postans m. Joan Price m. Kitty Godfrey m. Harry Homer d. 8.2.1993 d. 25.12.1998 d. 14.2.1941 d. 23.11.2001 d. 16.12.1942 d. 22.6.1995 d. 9.12.1984 d. 21.5.1991 4. Elizabeth (Betty) Harris (1789-1876)

Sibling of Elder sister of John Harris John Harris First known child of John Harris and Mary Clark

(1795-1829) Elizabeth’s birthplace Elizabeth Harris was born in Bishops Frome, Herefordshire. During her adult life, she consistently stated Bishops Frome as her place of See Part One for a profile of John Harris (1795-1829) birth in the censuses for 1851, 1861 and 1871. And, in the 1841 Census, she confirmed Herefordshire as her county of birth.

However, Elizabeth was baptised on 11 July 1789 at the Church of Sts. Peter & Paul in Eastham, Worcestershire where her parents HARRIS TREE EXTRACT had married almost ten years previously. Church of Sts. Peter & Paul, Eastham where Elizabeth was baptised This gives us a new perspective on the movements of her parents John HARRIS Mary CLARK following their marriage in Eastham. Both Eastham and Bishops Frome were then, as they are today, important hop growing districts Agricultural labourer m. 30 Dec 1779, Eastham b. c.1755, d. Not known (”Both of this parish”) which offered seasonal employment for agricultural labourers. It shows that John and Mary Harris were willing to go where the work was. This is precisely what brought them both to Eastham in the first place.

Elizabeth HARRIS John HARRIS b. Bishop’s Frome, Hereford 1789 bpt. 2 Aug 1795, Hanley William bpt. Eastham, Worcs 11 July 1789 m. Elizabeth MATTHEWS m. George GARBETT, 7 Oct 1830, Hanley Child 26 Sep 1816, Hanley Child d. 8 Sep 1876, Grendon Bishop d. September 1829, Broadheath Buried 17 Sep 1829, Hanley William

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin in the village of The 12th century sandstone font at which Elizabeth was Bishops Frome, Herefordshire where Elizabeth was baptised in the Church of Sts. Peter & Paul in Eastham, born in 1789 Worcestershire on 11 July 1789 More siblings? The age difference The Garbett-Harris Mini Tree There is another important conclusion to be drawn from our new Neither Elizabeth’s relatively advanced years for a newly-wed nor awareness of the itinerant lifestyle of Elizabeth’s parents. It is the couple’s 16-year age gap affected their marital relationship in that Elizabeth and her younger brother John, our direct ancestor the slightest. In fact, their marriage seems to have been made in (b.1795), might well have had other siblings, born and baptised heaven. All the same, the marked difference in their ages does outside our corner of Worcestershire. It has always struck us as odd appear to have been a sensitive issue when they came to answer George GARBETT Elizabeth HARRIS that Elizabeth (up to now regarded as their first child) was not born age-related questions posed by census enumerators and registrars. Carpenter m. 7 Oct 1830, Hanley Child bpt. 22 Sept 1805, Great Kyre until around ten years after her parents’ marriage in 1779. Their answers on this subject were, to say the least, inconsistent. bpt. 11 Jul 1789, Eastham d. Sept qtr 1883, aged 77 d. 8 Sept 1876, aged 87

Elizabeth’s marriage to George GARBETT Children Elizabeth married George GARBETT* on 7 October 1830 in Despite her age at the time of her marriage, Elizabeth went on to Eastham With Hanley Child. have five children between 1832 and 1841 (Sarah, William, Thomas, Anne and John). Elizabeth was 52 years old when her last child John Sarah William Thomas Anne John *The spelling of the surname in the marriage record is GARBET. was born (bpt. 24 October 1841 in Grendon Bishop). He died in bpt. 1832 bpt. 1833 b. 1836 bpt. 1839 b./d. 1841 As virtually all subsequent records are spelt GARBETT, we shall be infancy (December quarter 1841). Bromyard Grendon Bishop Wacton Wacton Grendon Bishop using the latter variant from here onwards.

A contented life Life as Mrs Garbett The Garbetts were a close-knit family. In all their married life, George Elizabeth’s marriage at Eastham With Hanley Child took place little and Elizabeth never moved outside the adjacent hamlets of Wacton over one year after the untimely death in September 1829 at the age and Grendon Bishop*. All five children were born here, including the of 34 of her younger brother John* from whom our line of the Harris eldest child Sarah who was baptised in Bromyard on 15 January family is descended. 1832.

*We still don’t know the reason for John’s early death. However, *The parish is referred to as Bishops Grendon in the 1841 Census. the Berrow’s Worcester Journal of 24 September 1829 contains a Wacton no longer has its own parish church. It was pulled down in clue as to a possible cause. A report describes the high floods of up 1893. Since then, Wacton residents have used either the church at to 12 feet deep in the neighbourhood of Newnham, Eastham and (erected in 1876/1877) or that of St. John the Baptist in Lindridge resulting from continuous heavy rainfall in the preceding Grendon Bishop, known to locals as ‘the church in the field”. fortnight. Bridges were destroyed and several lives lost. The church in the field: St. John the Baptist in Grendon Bishop. In a unique and picturesque setting, it can only be reached by taking It is likely that Elizabeth returned to Broadheath from Bishops Frome a short but pleasant walk across the sheep meadow belonging to for her brother’s funeral and, as a consequence, met and, in the nearby Grendon Manor (now farmhouse and B&B). following year, married George GARBETT in Hanley Child.

Elizabeth, who gives her occupation in censuses as farm labourer, was 41 years old when she married George, a carpenter by trade. He was the third of at least nine children born to William (labourer) and Jane GARBETT and was baptised in Great Kyre on 22 September 1805. So he was 25 years old when he married Elizabeth – an age difference of 16 years. 3 Wacton

Leominster A44 Bromyard

1 St. John the Baptist Grendon Bishop Location of St. John the Baptist, Grendon Bishop (1), Grendon Manor (2) and Wacton (3) 2 Grendon Manor (Schematic only, not to scale)

A breakthrough The 1841 Census for Grendon Bishop hints strongly at the As for his place of birth, he answers Y(es) to the question whether existence of a wider Harris family and could represent something of born in the county (Herefordshire). The 1841 Census doesn’t ask a breakthrough for our research into the Harris family tree. In short, for the town or village. Frustratingly for us, Thomas died before 1851 we may have tracked down a brother of our first known ancestor, when this vital information became available. Elizabeth’s father John Harris. Thomas Harris’s death certificate

Thomas HARRIS Thomas’ death certificate shows that he died in Wacton in the In the 1841 Census, the Garbett family is living at Three Gates, registration district of Bromyard on 11 March 1845 at ‘77 years of Grendon Bishop. Besides George, Elizabeth and two of their age’*. The cause of death is defined simplistically as ‘old age’. The children (William 7 and Thomas 5), there is an elderly gentleman informant is named as Elizabeth Garbett who makes her mark with a in the household by the name of Thomas HARRIS. He gives his cross and confirms she was present at the death in Wacton. occupation as road labourer and his age as 75. Bearing in mind that the 1841 Census asked adults to round down their age to the *There has to be some doubt about Thomas’ age at death. In the nearest five years, Thomas would have been born in 1764, give or 1841 Census, his age (after rounding down) is given as 75. So he take a couple of years. would have been at least 78 at the time of his death, possibly older.

Unfortunately, the 1841 Census doesn’t ask for his relationship to Although Elizabeth’s relationship to Thomas is not spelt out, the the head of the household. Thomas is too old to have been a sibling circumstantial evidence continues to point to the probability that she of Elizabeth. And we know he couldn’t have been her father. So is his niece and that Thomas is a younger brother of her father John there is a sporting chance he is her uncle and therefore a brother of Harris. her father John.

Death certificate for Thomas Harris, d. 11 March 1845 Not the only Thomas Harris in the village Death of Elizabeth In the village of Grendon Bishop, there’s just one house occupied Elizabeth died on 8 September 1876 at Billfield in Grendon Bishop by a Harris family. The head of the household is a 35-year-old aged 87 years and was buried on 11 September at St. John the agricultural labourer, also called Thomas. We discover from later Baptist Church in Grendon Bishop. She had been suffering from censuses and parish records that he was born in Evesbatch*, ‘cancer in the face’ for seven years. The death certificate shows Herefordshire in 1802, the eldest of four children born to Thomas Elizabeth’s age at death as 80. As she was baptised in July 1789, and Elizabeth Harris. So it’s possible he is the son of the older she would have been 87 at the time of her death. Thomas we found living with George and Elizabeth Garbett. 1881 Census *Evesbatch lies 5 miles south of Bromyard and just 2 miles east of Now a widower following Elizabeth’s death in 1876, George is still Bishops Frome where Elizabeth was born in 1789. The population working as a carpenter at the age of 75 alongside his 23-year- of Evesbatch in the mid-19th century was around ninety persons old grandson Thomas Russell (son of his eldest child Sarah). It housed in fewer than 20 inhabited buildings. Hops top the list of must have given George great satisfaction to have headed three agricultural produce. successive generations of Garbett carpenters and given his family a strong sense of identity in their community. Evesbatch: Yet another Thomas Harris The baptism of yet another Thomas Harris takes place in Evesbatch Death of George Garbett on 28 April 1811. This Thomas is the son of Richard and Elizabeth George Garbett died two years later aged 77 in the September Harris. Could Richard be a sibling of Elizabeth Garbett née Harris quarter of 1883. George’s son Thomas died in 1916 at the age and another son of our first known ancestor John Harris who married of 80. There is a monumental inscription to his memory in the Mary Clark? churchyard at St. John the Baptist, Grendon Bishop & Wacton.

Potentially, we may have uncovered a small but significant ‘nest’ of Infant Harris deaths in Bishops Frome Harrises in the villages of Bishops Frome and Evesbatch. But, at this In the course of our research, we came across the deaths of two stage, all the possibilities need further research. Harris infants. Just days before the death of Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, a Joseph Harris was buried on 13 October 1805, aged one week. Ten years later, in the year of Wellington’s victory over Back to the Garbetts.. Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, an Elizabeth Harris was buried on 27 September 1815, aged three weeks. There is no mention of the father in either case. Throughout his life, Elizabeth’s husband George Garbett enjoyed continuous employment as a carpenter, probably working for one These are the only Harris deaths recorded in the parish’s two of the estates in the area. Indeed, he was born in Great Kyre, volumes of burials, covering the period from 1800 to 1826. Elizabeth Worcestershire, at the heart of the Kyre Estate which employed herself moved on by 1830, marrying George Garbett in Hanley Child successive generations of the Harris family, including carpenter/ and settling down in Grendon Bishop. Could our Elizabeth have wheelwrights James Harris (1817-1884) and his sons William (1853- been their mother? At the time of the two infant deaths, Elizabeth 1944) and Richard Harris (1856-1934). would have been 16 and 26 years old. As you know, she did not marry until she was 41. George passed on his carpentry skills to his two surviving sons, William and Thomas Garbett. Thomas describes his occupation in the 1891 Census as an ‘estate carpenter’. He would have been employed by the Bredenbury, or Saltmarsh estates, all of Death certificate for Elizabeth Garbett, d. 8 September 1876 which bordered on the once 5,000 acre large Kyre Estate. 4A. Family of John’s wife Elizabeth MATTHEWS (1791-1858)

The MATTHEWS Mini Tree

See Part One for a detailed profile of Elizabeth Harris née MATTHEWS

William MATTHEWS Mary HUGHES

Agricultural labourer m. 26 Apr 1773, Leominster

Duty Ann William Elizabeth b. 1776, Wharton b. 1778, Bromyard b. 1785, Pembridge b. 1791, Docklow bpt. Leominster bpt. Leominster bpt. Leominster bpt. Leominster m. Thomas Bray m. Marshall Apperley m. Alice Watkins m. John Harris d. 1856±5 d. 1854 d. 1852 d. 1858 Lugwardine, Hereford Churcham, Gloucester Kingstone, Hereford Hanley Child, Worcester Resting place of Thomas, son of George and Elizabeth Garbett, at St. John the Baptist, Grendon Bishop & Wacton Elizabeth’s parents Elizabeth’s parents were William MATTHEWS and Mary HUGHES. Pock-marked with lichen, Thomas’ headstone inscription reads: They married at the Priory Church of St. Peter & St. Paul in In memory of Thomas Garbett, died 8th October 1916, aged 80 and Leominster, Herefordshire on 26 April 1773. Elizabeth, who was his wife Harriet, died 25th October 1931, aged 87. born in Docklow in late 1791 and baptised in Leominster on 17 February 1792, was the youngest of their four children.

Siblings of Elizabeth Duty BRAY née Matthews (1776-1856±5) Ann APPERLEY née Matthews (1778-1854) William MATTHEWS (1785-1852) The Priory Church of St. Peter & St. Paul in Leominster where Elizabeth and her three siblings were baptised and where their parents were married DUTY MATTHEWS ANN MATTHEWS nine years old. George, born on 16 January 1820, was baptised (1776-1856±5) (1778-1854) along with his younger sister Sarah on 31 December 1822 - almost three years after his birth. Similarly, Margaret and Mary were baptised on the same day in 1832 when Margaret was eight years Eldest sister of Elizabeth HARRIS (née Matthews) Sister of Elizabeth HARRIS née Matthews old. First child of William and Mary Matthews Second child of William and Mary Matthews

Why the belated marriage and baptisms? Duty Matthews was born in 1776 in Wharton, near Leominster Ann Matthews was born in late 1778 in Bromyard and baptised on It’s all down to Marshall Apperley who dragged his feet and hung where she was baptised on 17 November 1776. 28 March 1779 in Leominster. on to his pennies. He seems to have taken the view that religious ceremonies were an unnecessary expense. Marriage Marriage Duty married Thomas BRAY on 6 April 1820 in Moreton on Lugg, Ann married locally-born agricultural labourer Marshall APPERLEY on His wife Ann, on the other hand, had been brought up to respect about four miles north of Hereford. Thomas was born around 1774 28 April 1806 at St. Mary’s Church in Fownhope, Hereford. the church by her God-fearing parents, William and Mary Matthews, and, in his later years at least, earned his living as a gardener. As who had baptised all four of their children in the Leominster church Duty married at around 44 years of age, it is not surprising we have where they had married in 1773. been unable to trace any offspring.

Together with her siblings Duty and William, Ann would have 1841: Withington attended the baptism in Leominster of their ‘baby sister’ Elizabeth The next documentary evidence we have for Duty and Thomas Bray (wife of our John Harris, 1795-1829). Duty and Ann were fifteen and comes in the form of the 1841 Census for Withington, five miles All Saints Church in Moreton on Lugg where Duty Matthews married thirteen years old at the time - old enough to appreciate that such to the north-east of Hereford city on the Worcester road (today’s Thomas Bray rituals played an essential role in respectable, Christian family life. A4103). Thomas is 67, working as a gardener. Duty is 65 years old. They are the sole members of the household. Christened twice Although strictly against the rules, there is evidence that the two 1851: Lugwardine eldest children – Ann and Elizabeth – were christened twice. When we meet up with Duty again ten years on, she is a widow of 74. She has moved to Lugwardine on the Hereford- St. Mary’s Church, Fownhope where Ann Matthews married An Ann Matthews, who was born out of wedlock to a mother of road (A438) and is living as a boarder in the household of master Marshall Apperley the same name, was baptised on 5 May 1805 at St. Michael’s wheelwright William NEWMAN. Despite the death of her husband, Church in Garway, Hereford. This remote village church, close to Duty does not appear to have fallen on hard times, describing her Children the Hereford-Monmouthshire county boundary, would have been status as ‘an annuitant’. Ann and Marshall Apperley remained in Fownhope for their entire chosen to avoid the embarrassment Ann would have experienced married life until Marshall’s death on 17 February 1848. Fownhope as an unmarried mother in the parish of her birth (Bromyard) or baptism records tell us that they had seven children in all – five girls Duty does not make it into the following census. For a number of residence (Fownhope). (Ann, Elizabeth, Sarah, Margaret and Mary) and two boys (George reasons, we cannot be certain of the year in which she died. First, and Marshall). her unusual forename led to frequent transcription errors. Second, Second ‘love child’ of Ann Apperley (née Matthews) she had no children and died without family around her. At her age An Elizabeth Matthews, again daughter of an Ann Matthews, was Baptism dates are no guide to Apperley birth dates and as a paying guest in the Newman household, she was probably baptised at the same Garway church on 18 March 1810. By this We cannot place any reliance on the Apperley children’s baptism addressed simply as Mrs. Bray. So the arrangements for her burial time, Ann Matthews was already married to Marshall Apperley. But dates as a guide to their year of birth. Their first child (named Ann may have been made by persons largely unfamiliar with her full as he only agreed to having his daughter Elizabeth baptised nearly after her mother) was born in 1804 (two years before her parents particulars and family background. nine years later, her mother Ann has taken matters into her own married), but was not baptised in Fownhope until 26 December hands and returned to St. Michael’s in Garway with her second 1814 at the age of ten. Her sister Elizabeth was born in 1810 and child, using her maiden name as before. baptised in Fownhope on 16 January 1819 when she was almost St. Michael’s Church, Garway, Herefordshire

John Hughes, our helpful guide on our visit to Garway, pointed out Life after Marshall a nearby cottage occupied in the past by two sisters who provided Following her husband’s death, Ann moves several miles south of charitable support for unmarried mothers who had come to St. Fownhope to the village of Churcham near Gloucester. The 1851 Michael’s to have their children christened. Census shows she has moved in with the family of William STOCK, whose wife Ann was born in Bromyard. Knights Templar St. Michael’s has a fascinating history. This largely 13th century The household includes the couple’s children and 73-year-old church was constructed around an earlier place of worship with a midwife and widow, Ann Apperley. Her relationship to the head of circular nave built by the Knights Templar around 1180 AD (one of the household, William Stock, is described as mother-in-law. This only six examples in Britain). Fans of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code confirms that Ann senior (b.1778 in Bromyard) and her first-born take note! child, Ann, (born 1804 in Bromyard, baptised in Garway in May 1805 and again in Fownhope in 1814) have been reunited.

Carvings and masons’ marks The church features an intriguing collection of carvings and incised Death of Ann Apperley senior née Matthews masons’ marks, including one which could be construed as a Ann Apperley (née Matthews) was more fortunate than some monogram comprising the initials K and T (Knights Templar?). (including her elder sister Duty). Ann spent her last days in the company of her eldest daughter, her son-in-law and her

Satan, Green Man, Mohammed or cat? grandchildren in Churcham in the June quarter of 1854 (Registration On the capital of one of the columns supporting the fine Norman district Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire). She was 75 years chancel arch, there is a striking carved figure in the form of a grinning, old. The death record gives her forename as Nancy (a familiar form horned human head spewing two pairs of cords which terminate in of Ann). tassels. By the way.. This enigmatic figure has been variously interpreted as Satan, the In the course of our research, we came across the following Green Man (usually found spewing foliage rather than rope or cord) reference to a Miss Apperley of Fownhope: and as ‘Demmahom’ or ‘Bephamet’ (based on the belief that it represents a satirical take on the prophet Mohammed, tying in with “Before the church [St. Mary’s, Fownhope] was restored in 1882, the Moorish look of the arch itself). Another theory is that the head they had a church harmonium played by a Miss Apperley and a exhibits the features of a cat (possibly with Egyptian associations), ladies’ choir to lead the singing..” including the shape of the head, the feline ears (rather than horns) [Source: Fownhope Village Website] and the just about discernible whiskers. What do you think? According to the 1881 Census, only two Fownhope-born Miss

Death of Marshall Apperley Apperleys resided in Fownhope. They were a 17-year-old farmer’s Ann’s husband Marshall died on 17 February 1848 in Fownhope at daughter Margaret Maria Apperley and a 56-year-old spinster and the age of 69 (Hereford, Vol. 26, p.173). charwoman Mary Apperley, daughter of Ann and Marshall Apperley. We can only conclude that the harmonium-playing Miss Apperley can be narrowed down to a musically talented farmer’s daughter or an unusually gifted charwoman! Who would you plump for? WILLIAM MATTHEWS (1785-1852)

Brother of Elizabeth HARRIS (née Matthews) Third child of William and Mary Matthews

William Matthews was born in 1784 in Pembridge, Herefordshire, and baptised on 1 July 1785 in Leominster.

Marriage William, an agricultural labourer, married Alice WATKINS on 2 July 1811 in Much Dewchurch, Hereford. Alice, the daughter of James and Sybil Watkins, was baptised in Much Dewchurch on 9 August 1789.

Unlike William’s parents, who produced four children at four different locations along the A44 between Bromyard and Pembridge, William and his wife Alice did not venture far during their marriage.

Having married in Much Dewchurch (six miles south of Hereford city) in 1811, they are still living there – alone at Lowe Cottage – at the time of the 1841 Census.

William and Alice were both in their prime when they married. William St. David’s, Much Dewchurch* where Alice was baptised in 1789 was 26, Alice (or ‘Ally’ as she is called in the census) 22 years old. and married William Matthews in 1811. The text of the plaque reads: A hard life, then death So they could have raised a large family in the intervening thirty *The prefix ‘Dew’ comes from the Welsh Dewi, meaning David. Neither William nor Alice live to see the next census. William dies years. But that is unlikely as no baptisms attributable to them can be This hospital was built, endowed and given by William Hoskins Esq. aged 67 in the June quarter of 1852 (Hereford, Vol. 6a, p.329), found in the area. in trust to St. Hungerford Hoskins and Joseph Clark Esq. AD 1712 Alice aged 68 in the December quarter of 1858 (Hereford, Vol. 6a, for ye maintenance of 4 poore men, two of Doir* & two of Kingston p.358). Pauper for[th]with with ye rent of the Byfields and the Stenders. The 1851 Census finds them nearing the end of what has been a The four MATTHEWS siblings hard life. They have moved north-west to Kingstone, a little closer *The modern spelling is Dore (as in Abbey Dore, south-west of Although born over a period of 15 years, all four siblings died to Hereford, where they are the occupants of one of a row of Kingstone). in the same decade, the 1850s. At the time of their death, four Almshouses. William, now 66, is described as an agricultural they were dispersed over The Three Counties of Herefordshire, labourer and pauper. Alice, now 61 years old, is earning a crust as a Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. The marriages of Duty and charwoman. her brother William remained childless. However, Ann and Elizabeth each enjoyed the support of several children and the company of When we asked the postmaster at the local Post Office whether the even more grandchildren at a time in their life when it mattered most. row of houses opposite used to be almshouses, he replied “Still are. And there’s a plaque on the wall.” Elizabeth died on 31 May 1858 in Hanley Child. As St Michael’s Church was not granted burial rights until 1901, she was buried at

The row of Almshouses at Kingstone, Hereford All Saints Church in Hanley William on 3 June 1858. 5. Siblings of James Harris (1817-1884)

See Part One for an in-depth profile of James Harris (1817-1884)

Siblings of James Mary Ann (1816-1896±5) John (1821-1908) Sarah (1823-1873)

HARRIS TREE EXTRACT

John HARRIS Elizabeth MATTHEWS

Agricultural labourer m. 26 Sept 1816, Hanley Child bpt. 2 Aug 1795, Hanley William b. 1791, Docklow bpt. 1792, Leominster d. Sept 1829, Broadheath d. 31 May 1858, Hanley Child

Mary Ann James HARRIS John Sarah bpt. 6 Oct 1816 bpt. 15 Dec 1817 bpt. 18 Feb 1821 bpt. 4 April 1824 Hanley Child Hanley Child Hanley Child Hanley Child d. 1896±5 m. Susannah Baldwin née Price d. 4 Aug 1908 d. 9 Dec 1873 Herefordshire d. 4 Oct 1884, Hanley Child Tenbury Brimfield Buried 7 Oct 1884 Buried 6 Aug 1908 Hanley William Hanley Child

James Harris (1817-1884) Carpenter, wheelwright, shopkeeper MARY ANN HARRIS and Francis (24), are still living with their parents. Both are unmarried. (1816-1896±5) Francis is an agricultural labourer. Against Sarah’s name, there is an additional entry. Chillingly and with Victorian bureaucratic bluntness, it states: Idiot. Elder sister of James Harris child, named Martin after his father, who was born in 1844 and died First child of John Harris and Elizabeth Matthews in 1847 aged only three years. Death of Martin BOULTON Within two years of the 1871 Census, Martin died at the age of 76 Mary Ann Harris was baptised on 6 October 1816 in Hanley Child. Mary’s husband on 3 February 1873. He is believed to have been buried at Upper Mary’s husband, Martin, was the son of Thomas BOULTON and Sapey Church. She was christened only days after her parents’ marriage on 26 Martha SALES and was baptised in , Worcestershire on September of the same year. In what used to be a familiar scenario, 6 November 1796. So he was a good 20 years older than Mary. Mary’s new home and workplace: Upper Sapey School she could have been born some time before her parents married, Their first child, Sarah, was baptised on 9 October 1842 in Stoke By 1881, widowed Mary (64) and her daughter Sarah (37) have the baptism being delayed until after the wedding to avoid the Bliss. But there is no sign of a marriage locally. So where and when moved on to Upper Sapey School House where Mary holds stigma of illegitimacy. did Mary Harris and Martin Boulton tie the knot? the position of housekeeper to the head of the household, schoolmistress Emily Jane Pickard. The forenames she was given pay tribute to the mothers - Mary Kidderminster HUGHES and Mary CLARK - of both parents, while the name Ann We discover that they married in Kidderminster on 7 April 1842. Upper Sapey School was built shortly after the introduction of echoes that of Elizabeth’s elder sister Ann MATTHEWS. However, in Kidderminster could have been chosen out of respect for the compulsory education in 1870. It was designed to accommodate her adult life, she was known simply as Mary. family of Martin’s first wife or, quite simply, because the carpet up to 70 pupils and was attended by all nine of Ted Harris’s children town is roughly equidistant from Stoke Bliss on the eastern edge between 1910 and 1931. In 1891, Mary remains at School House Married? of Herefordshire and Feckenham in the east of Worcestershire (but without her daughter Sarah who died in 1889 aged 46). Mary We failed to find a marriage record for a Mary or Mary Ann Harris where Martin was born and had relatives. (In 1841, BOULTON is now 74 years old (but claims to be 70) and is housekeeper to the in Hanley Child (where she was baptised), nor in Hanley William or families accounted for a sizeable proportion of the village’s 300 or so new schoolmistress, Annie Conn. Eastham. Among the many leads in the 1841 Census, we found a residents). Mary Harris living at Field House in Stoke Bliss on the Herefordshire side of the county boundary. She is working as a maid for Martin The Boultons’ census trail High House, Upper Sapey today – a former tollhouse, BOULTON, an agricultural labourer who is widowed with two In 1861, the Boulton family is living at Parkgate, Kyre Magna (Great hence its new name of Turnpike House children. But is this the Mary Harris we are looking for? Kyre), situated on the edge of Kyre Park itself. Now in his sixties, Martin has reverted to the occupation of agricultural labourer, Leominster where he is running a business as a coal and wood The 1851 Census provides the missing clues to identity. We find working for the Kyre Estate, the biggest employer in the area. merchant. He and his Ombersley-born wife Mary have three Mary at Little Bannalls in Little Kyre and discover that she has given teenage children, one of whom (Ernest Henry Boulton) is working in the correct age (34) and place of birth (Hanley Child), confirming that In 1871, we find that Martin (now 74) and Mary (54) are living at the family business. she is our Mary Ann Harris. What’s more, she has married the head High House Gate in Upper Sapey. This is the High House at the of the household, Martin BOULTON, who is now described as a crossroads of the Clifton-Tenbury and Stanford-Bromyard roads. It would appear that at the time of Mary’s death her family were farmer of 16 acres. He is also listed as a farmer at Little Bannalls in The property is adjacent to Mr. William Holder’s Yearston Court. unaware of her passing and that her details were incorrectly the Billings Directory of Worcestershire for 1855. Readers of Part One of our story may recall that, some years later, reported by the informant. Either that or errors have occurred during Mr Holder employed our Edward James HARRIS as a stockman. Mr transcription. So, for the time being, we can only date the year of Children Holder’s entry in the 1871 Census reveals that he was a farmer of St. Michael’s, Upper Sapey Mary’s death to 1896±5 years. Martin BOULTON’s first wife, Martha HILL, had died in 1840. Two of 462 acres and employed six men. their children - George, 22, miller and Elizabeth, 13 - are part of the Death of Mary Ann Boulton née Harris Mary’s son Francis added farming to his activities in the 1911 household. However, Mary has already given birth to four children As for what Martin and Mary are doing here, the clue is in the Mary cannot be found in the 1901 Census. At this time, her Census. He died on 13 January 1921 at his new home, Nordan of her own (Sarah, Francis, Mary and John), soon to be followed by crossroads, situated on the Hereford-Stourport turnpike road. They only surviving son, Francis, can be found at 79 Bridge Street in Farm, Leominster. He was 74. the arrival of Ellen (bpt. 27 June 1852). In fact, Mary had another are both working as toll collectors. Two of their children, Sarah (28) The Boulton-Harris Mini Tree JOHN HARRIS (1821-1908)

Younger brother of James Harris Their ivy-scarred headstone inscription in Stoke Bliss churchyard Thomas BOULTON Martha SALES Third child of John Harris and Elizabeth Matthews reads:

nd John Harris was born at Holly Wall* and baptised on 18 February Sacred to the memory of Richard Harris who died June 2 1861 th John HARRIS Elizabeth MATTHEWS 1821 in Hanley Child. aged 59 years. Also of Ann his wife who died March 9 1866 aged 68 years.

*Holly Wall (as opposed to the variants Holy Wall, Holy Well or Holly Well) is generally accepted as the correct spelling. However, Martin BOULTON Mary Ann HARRIS the present owners, who rebuilt Holly Wall using stone from the Ag lab, farmer, toll collector bpt. 6 Oct 1816, Hanley Child 300-year-old barn which once stood here, prefer the joined-up bpt. 6 Nov 1796 m. 7 Apr 1842, Kidderminster version Hollywall. Feckenham, Worcs. d. 1896±5, Herefordshire d. 3 Feb 1873, Upper Sapey Marriage to Elizabeth DAVIES John married Elizabeth DAVIES on 14 May 1857 in Hanley Child. John was 36, Elizabeth 39 years old. They were to remain a childless but devoted couple.

Sarah Martin Francis Mary John Ellen Elizabeth’s family b. 1842 b. 1844 b. 1846 b. 1848 b. 1849 b. 1852 Elizabeth DAVIS* was baptised on 11 October 1818 in Eastham. Stoke Bliss Hanley Child Hanley Child Hanley Child Hanley Child Stoke Bliss She was the daughter of William DAVIS and Mary WALKER who Under the spreading chestnut tree: The resting place of d. 1889 d. 1847 d. 1921 d. 1856 d. 1856 d. Not known* Richard and Ann Harris in Stoke Bliss Aged 46 Aged 3 Aged 74 Aged 7 Aged 6 married in Eastham on 4 August 1811. Her father William was baptised in Eastham on 1 January 1792 as the illegitimate son of Mary DAVIS. Whoever commissioned the monument was evidently unfamiliar with their true age at the time of their death – Richard would have been *In earlier records the family name is spelt without the ‘e’. *We lose sight of Mary’s daughter Ellen after the 1871 Census. At 72, Ann 60. that time, 18-year-old Ellen was employed as a cook in the Droitwich Elizabeth’s mother, Mary WALKER, was baptised in Eastham on household of James Bearcroft, Rector of Hadzor. John’s lifelong journey 7 August 1794. She was the daughter of Edward WALKER of The census trail left by John Harris from 1841 to 1901 shows that Eastham and Mary Ann ROGERS of Kington, Herefordshire. The In terms of longevity, the Harris-Boulton offspring were not blessed he never stayed long in one place. At the same time, he never Walkers are a long established family in Eastham with both baptism with the best set of genes. Only Francis surpassed three score strayed far from his roots in his perennial search for work as a and marriage records dating from the 16th century to modern times. years and ten. Sarah, the first-born, was mentally handicapped, servant or agricultural labourer. while Martin, Mary and John all died in childhood. Another HARRIS-WALKER connection The hiring fairs Edward and Mary Walker’s other children include Ann WALKER (bpt As much of the work of the agricultural labourer was of a seasonal Eastham, 16 March 1806) who married Richard HARRIS in Eastham nature, it is likely that John regularly sought new employment at one on 19 February 1829. Remember Richard? He was the illegitimate of the hiring fairs in the area. Here, job seekers could meet with son of Susan HARRIS and was baptised in Eastham on 13 July potential employers looking for workers whose experience and ability 1789 only two days after Elizabeth HARRIS, daughter of John met their requirements. HARRIS and Mary CLARK. As an adult farm labourer, John would have been paid around ten In between censuses The Story of an English Rose shillings a week. He may have been a familiar face at the Statute Between the 1851 and 1861 censuses, life changes for John. In Fair which took place every May 1st alongside the Round Market May 1857, he marries Elizabeth Davies who proves to be his lifelong When we started our research over twenty years ago (1989), we Hanley Child burial rights in Church Street/Market Street,Tenbury. Here, jobs were generally companion. One year later, his widowed mother Elizabeth Harris dies were helped by the late Nell Wilkinson (née Stinton). Her mother was As a Chapelry in the Parish of Eastham, St. Michael’s in Hanley offered on the basis of a 12-month contract. Bromyard had three of ‘asthma and general debility’ on 31 May 1858 at the age of 67. the Susannah Baldwin seen in the 1901 Census for Hanley William. Child - established around 1807 - was not granted burial rights until hiring fairs, held on March 25th, May 1st and September 29th. Nell told us the harrowing story of Susannah’s younger sister Emily 1901. So Elizabeth Harris (d. 1902) and her husband John Harris (d. Presumably, this allowed shorter, seasonal terms to be agreed. If all Life on the move Rose Baldwin, known as Rose. 1908) were among the first to be interred here. Before 1901, burials else should fail, John could simply knock on doors in the manner Between 1861 and 1901, John and Elizabeth move from Holly Hill would have taken place in Eastham and, where appropriate, Hanley of the ‘roadsters’ who would travel from farm to farm and were in Hanley Child to Lower House in Stoke Bliss* then to ‘Stintons’, When she was thirty, unmarried Rose gave birth to a son on 3 July William. prepared to sleep rough in an outbuilding. But, having a partner to Upper Sapey on the Worcester Road. By this time (1881) they are 1912. Her family insisted she left the district and that the child should consider, this may not have been an option for John. both in their sixties. This is the only census in which Elizabeth states be brought up by one of her older sisters. Before leaving home, The burial location map for the churchyard at Hanley Child shows an occupation, describing herself as a farm labourer. But one doubts Rose left behind a box of china which she asked to be given to her the site of the graves of Elizabeth and John at the points marked in 1841: Working locally whether she was a lady of leisure for the rest of the time. son on his wedding day. the photograph below. In 1841 he was living and working only a short distance from his place of birth. He has found work as a servant in the household of *Hard Times Her son, Albert, married at just under eighteen years of age in 1930. miller and farmer John Moore at Hanley Mill in Hanley William. Over Christmas 1866 there must have been little to put on the He was heartbroken that his mother had never got in touch with table at Lower House in Stoke Bliss. Under the headline “GAME him. The only contact Rose’s family ever had was a postcard saying 1851: Head of a mixed household TRESPASS”, the report on the Tenbury Petty Sessions held on she had been offered a job abroad. Albert went on to pursue a Still single at 30, John is the head of a rather mixed household Tuesday 15 January 1867 tells us that, on Boxing Day, John HARRIS successful career as a bank manager. He died in 1995 aged 82, still at Lower Villa in Hanley Child. He shares the house with his and John JAMES trespassed on land at Little Kyre in the occupation not knowing what became of his mother. seamstress mother Elizabeth, widow of John Harris who died in of Edward MYTTON. John was fined 10 shillings 3 pence and costs 1829. of 11 shillings 9 pence, his co-defendant £2 and costs. Incidentally, our Nellie Harris (née Graves) would have known Rose well. Not only were they of a similar age (both were born in 1881), John’s younger sister Sarah and her two children (7-year-old Mary 1891: Back to Hanley Child they lived next door to each other for some time and both would E J and two months old Thomas) make it three generations of the By 1891, both have used up their three score years and ten, but have attended Highwood School. Harris family under one roof, while 64-year-old farrier and widower have to keep moving and working to survive. Geographically, they St Michael’s churchyard volunteer Reg Haycox was able to pinpoint Richard Weaver helps to pay the rent as a lodger. Sarah’s husband, have come full circle – back to Hanley Child where they are living Death of Elizabeth Harris (née Davies) the unmarked graves of Elizabeth (E) and John Harris (J). coachman James Robotham from Ashford in Shropshire, seems to alone in Ivy House. John is still working as an agricultural labourer, but Elizabeth died in December 1902 in Broadheath at the age Elizabeth was buried on 26 Dec 1902, John on 6 Aug 1908. have been on the road when the enumerator called. how much longer can he keep it up? of 84. It is likely that her death occurred while she and John were

boarding with the Vernalls family at Hurcott Cottage. Despite 1901: Hurcutt* Cottage, Hanley William marrying relatively late in life (at 36 and 39 years of age), John and As we arrive in the 20th century, John and Elizabeth have crossed Elizabeth had enjoyed togetherness for four and a half decades. the parish boundary into Hanley William, but remain in the area of Broadheath. At the age of 80, John is still an agricultural labourer. Death of John Harris This time, John and Elizabeth aren’t short of company. They are Losing his companion of 45 years must have been a huge blow boarders in a household of ten headed by Mary Vernalls, a 34-year- for John. He was to live for another six years, dying of senile decay old widow and grocer. Mrs Vernall’s family comprises her five children and heart failure at the age of 87 on 4 August 1908. However, John plus two of her sisters, Susannah Baldwin (24, born in Stoke Bliss) spent his last days in far less agreeable surroundings. The informant and Emily Rose Baldwin (19, born in Hanley Child). on the death certificate is Samuel Luscott, Master of Tenbury Union Workhouse. No family members appear to have been present at the *The modern spelling is Hurcott. In recent years the cottage was death. This is not surprising as John and Elizabeth had no children Hanley Mill, nestling in a secluded location on Piper’s demolished and completely rebuilt a few yards from its original and, despite their tough life, John had outlived all his siblings. Brook between Broadheath and Eastham position and with a different orientation. SARAH HARRIS village and church of Ludford are in Herefordshire, although most of (1823-1873) the parish falls within Shropshire.

James Robotham and his family have recently returned to their roots Younger sister of James Harris after having sampled life in Birmingham for six or seven years of Fourth child of John and Elizabeth the previous decade. They have three new children, two of whom (James, 7 and John, 4) were born in Birmingham. The third (Henry, Sarah was born at Holly Wall in late 1823 and baptised on 4 April 2) was born in . There has been another change: Their father 1824 in Hanley Child. has learned a new craft, that of spade tree maker*.

Sarah’s first child, Mary *A spade tree maker made the wooden parts required in the To quote the parish record: ‘Mary, daughter of Sarah Harris, single manufacture of a spade, i.e. the shaft and the handle. Similar woman of Broadheath’ was baptised on 9 April 1843. wooden parts could also be used to produce forks and other agricultural and gardening implements. There would have been a Marriage ready market for the woodworker’s output, with many spade trees Sarah married James ROBOTHAM in the parish church of Ashford being bought as replacements to fit to the more durable and valued Carbonell, Shropshire on Boxing Day, 26 December 1850. James, steel blade. who was employed as a groom for John Fox Downes Esq at the time of their marriage and, in the following year, worked as a Next stop: Brimfield coachman, was born in Ashford, Shropshire in 1826, the son of By 1871, the Robothams have moved yet again, this time to schoolmaster Thomas Robotham. Wyson Lane, Brimfield, Herefordshire (population 755 in 1871, 704 in 2001). Brimfield lies five miles to the west of Tenbury Wells, Following her marriage, Sarah had six further children (Thomas so Sarah is the closest she has been to home territory for many b.1851, James b.1853, John b.1856, Henry b.1859, Frederick years. Meanwhile, the family has expanded by two more children b.1863 and Ellen b.1867). – Frederick aged 7 (born in Ludlow) and Ellen aged 3 (born in Sarah’s census trail 1841-1871 Brimfield). Including her first-born, Mary, Sarah (now 47) has given birth to seven children. One thing hasn’t changed: James is still earning his living as a spade tree maker. Orleton Court, Eastham In 1841, Sarah is working locally as an ‘FS’. This is the census enumerator’s shorthand for female servant. She is employed in the household of farmers John and Thomas DALLOW at Orleton Court in Eastham (Chapelry of Orleton).

Lower Villa, Hanley Child By 1851, Sarah Harris has become Mrs ROBOTHAM. She and her first two children (Mary and Thomas) are at Lower Villa in Hanley Child where the head of the household is her brother John.

To Birmingham and back In 1861 the growing Robotham family is living in Ludford, Herefordshire. Ludford is situated on the south bank of the River

Death certificate for John Harris (1821-1908) Teme close to the Shropshire town of Ludlow. Confusingly, the The parish church of Ashford Carbonell, Shropshire The Robotham-Harris Mini Tree

James ROBOTHAM Sarah HARRIS

Coachman/spade tree maker m. 1850, Ashford Carbonell b. 1826, Ashford, Shropshire b. 1823, Hanley Child d. 1910, Kington, Hereford d. 1873, Brimfield, Hereford

Mary HARRIS*

bpt. 9 Apr 1843 Broadheath, Hanley Child

Thomas James John Henry Frederick Ellen

b. 1851 b. 1853 b. 1856 b. 1859 b. 1863 b. 1867 Ashford Birmingham Birmingham Ludlow Ludlow Brimfield

*What happened to Sarah’s illegitimate child Mary? The only definite James Robotham’s life after Sarah sighting we have is in the 1871 Census. Aged 27, she is on a Aged only 47 himself when Sarah died, and having youngsters to visit in Warton, Lancashire where she is staying with the Benson bring up, it would not be surprising if James were to marry again. He family in Lodge Lane. Mary gives her place of birth as Hanley Child, did so in the December quarter of 1876, marrying Esther KITCHEN, Worcestershire, and her occupation as cook (unemployed). She is still originally from Knowle in Worcestershire. They married in Kington, single. Hereford – which is where we find them in the 1881 Census. James is now 54, his new wife 53. And he is doing what he does best –

Death of Sarah making spade trees. Sarah died in Wyson, Brimfield on 9 December 1873 at the age of 50. Disease of the bladder was stated as the certified cause of her death. James died in the December quarter of 1910 in Kington, Hereford The physician notes that she had been receiving treatment for this at the age of 84. His second wife, Esther outlived him, passing on in condition for two years. Sarah was buried at Brimfield Church on 12 Kington at the age of 93 in the March quarter of 1921. December 1873.

Marriage certificate for James Robotham and Sarah Harris Brimfield Church, resting place of Sarah Robotham née Harris Death certificate for Sarah Robotham 5A. Family of James’ wife Susannah Baldwin née PRICE (1816-1894)

See Part One for a more detailed profile of James’ wife Susannah

Parents Susannah’s mother Mary PRICE née PASSEY Susannah’s parents were John PRICE and Mary PASSEY who We still do not know for sure where or when Susannah’s mother married in Stoke Bliss, Herefordshire on 10 April 1806. Mary was born. In the 1851 and 1861 census returns, Mary gives her place of birth as Kyre, Worcestershire, but there is no baptism Susannah’s father John PRICE record to confirm this – nor in Stoke Bliss where she married John We do not know the place or date of birth of Susannah’s father Price. John PRICE. Like the name Harris, Price is one of the commonest surnames in the UK and, as such, is especially difficult to trace From 1837, when new legislation was introduced concerning the back. official civil registration of births, marriages and deaths, much more detailed information becomes available for tracing ancestors than Again, like Harris, Price is a patronymic name. For example, while previously provided by parish records alone. Harris comes from ‘son of Harry’, Price comes from the Welsh ‘ap Rhys’, meaning son of Rhys. So the origin of the name Price From 1841 onwards, we have at our disposal the ten-yearly is firmly rooted in Wales, in particular in Radnorshire, Brecon and censuses which enable us to track our forebears throughout their Monmouthshire. The list of English counties with the highest relative lives between the cradle and the grave. In the case of Susannah’s frequency of the name is headed by Herefordshire, Shropshire and mother Mary, we learn that in 1841 she was working as an Worcestershire. agricultural labourer, living alone on Stoke Bliss Common (from which we can deduce that she is already a widow even though the Death of John PRICE 1841 Census does not ask for her marital status). John PRICE died in 1837, the year in which Susannah married her first husband, John BALDWIN, in Stoke Bliss and moved into New Agricultural widow Grove, Hanley Child. The 1851 Census spells it out: Mary Price is an ‘agricultural widow’. Living with her at Old Wells in Stoke Bliss is her granddaughter* You may recall from Part One that John BALDWIN died a young man Sarah BALDWIN (13 years old), Susannah’s eldest child from her at the age of 33 on 26 January 1844. So, in less than seven years, first marriage. Susannah lost both her father and her husband. *Mary describes Sarah as a ‘niece’. She obviously had difficulty in defining their relationship now that Sarah’s mother Susannah had remarried. However, it is pleasing to see that the Harris-Price- Baldwin support network is working well. At this time, Sarah’s three Susannah Harris, formerly Baldwin née PRICE younger brothers are living with James and Susannah at New Grove. (b. Stoke Bliss 1816, d. Kyre Hospital 1894) Kyre Hospital Hospital. – the almshouses are still available for rent today The almshouses are still available for rent today

Widows of the estate Siblings? From the 1861 Census, we can appreciate the benefits of being It is ironic that Susannah, who gave birth to twelve children in the a ‘widow of the estate’. At the age of 76, Mary is in Great Kyre at course of her two marriages, does not appear to have been blessed Kyre Hospital, also known as Pytts Cottages, a row of originally with any siblings. eight almshouses, since converted into four. They were founded in 1716 under the terms of the will of Ann Pytt of the Kyre Estate to accommodate eight widows, one from Kyre and one from each of the surrounding seven parishes. Mary Price née Passey died aged 81 in 1866.

As another widow of the estate, Susannah herself also availed herself of a place in one of the almshouses. She died there on 15 December 1894 aged 78. The cause of death was apoplexy. The informant is her daughter and namesake Susannah who is now married to John Turner of Collington and, at this time, already has Death certificate for Susannah Harris (1816-1894), twelve children of her own. widow of master carpenter James Harris 6.

Siblings of William Harris (1853-1944)

See Part One for an in-depth profile of William Harris (1853-1944)

William was the fifth of eight children born to James and Susannah Harris and one of only five who survived into adulthood. All were born at New Grove in Hanley Child.

Siblings of William Caroline (1847-1938) James (1848-1859) Susannah (1850-1941) Mary (1852-1852) Richard (1856-1934) Elizabeth (1859-1859) Arthur John (1861-19..)

New Grove where William and his seven siblings were born between 1847 and 1861 William Harris (1853-1944) Carpenter, wheelwright, farmer Clerk of the Parish of Hanley Child for 40 years CAROLINE HARRIS (1847-1938)

Eldest sister of William Caroline’s life before marriage First child of James and Susannah In 1851, 4-year-old Caroline is living with her parents James and Susannah at New Grove in Hanley Child. She leaves home before Caroline was born at New Grove, Hanley Child in the March quarter the age of 14, and the next sighting we have of her is in 1871. of 1847 (Tenbury, Vol. 18, p.547) and baptised on 14 March 1847 Now 24, she is working as a housemaid at The Rectory in in Hanley Child. Bryngwyn, Monmouthshire. The head of the household is William Crawley, Rector. Witness at William’s marriage

When William married in 1873, his eldest sister Caroline (or Carrie The Rev. Crawley was rector of Bryngwyn for 62 years from 1834, as she was known in the family) was one of the witnesses. At 26, becoming Archdeacon of Monmouth and Canon of Llandaff. The she was still single. There is no record of her having married in the oak tree on the green in front of the church was planted by him Hanley Child area. So did she ever marry? in the year of his marriage to Mary Gertrude, third daughter of Col. Sir Love Jones Parry MP of Madryn, Caernarvonshire. The Photograph clue inscription on the surrounding kerbstone reads: “Erected in memory A studio photograph, for which we are indebted to Clare Fisher of Archdeacon Crawley who planted this tree in the year 1837 and (descendant of Caroline’s sister Susannah) yielded a vital clue as of Charles Crawley, Captain of Bryngwyn Golf Club, drowned in the to where she had married and settled down. The photograph was Wye 1899, erected by old members of the BGC”. taken in one of the studios of Thomas Mason of Crewe, Cheshire. At the time of Caroline’s employment in 1871, the widowed

Marriage in 1878 Reverend Crawley is living with his five daughters, aged from 17 to The marriage of Caroline Harris and William SPRITTLES was 25. A fellow servant, 25-year-old Mary Bury, who is described as a registered in the district of Nantwich, Cheshire in the December lady’s maid, hails from Bockleton in Worcestershire, Caroline’s part quarter of 1878. The ceremony would have taken place in the parish of the world. of Monks Coppenhall (now Crewe).

Caroline’s husband William SPRITTLES William SPRITTLES was born in Wolverton, Bucks in the registration district of Potterspury, Northants in the December quarter of 1847. Wolverton lies close to the much changed Milton Keynes in northern Buckinghamshire, adjacent to the boundary with Northamptonshire. With the advent of the Wolverton railway works in 1838 and the opening of the steam locomotive tramway linking Wolverton and Stony Stratford, many of the Sprittles families in the area were able to leave behind their traditional occupations as agricultural labourers or shoemakers to take up employment in the modern steam locomotive industry. This is how Caroline’s husband, William SPRITTLES, became a boilermaker and found his way to Crewe in Bryngwyn Church Cheshire which was developing into one of the country’s foremost Caroline pictured around the time of her marriage to locomotive building centres. William SPRITTLES in 1878 Employees of the Crewe Works (Source: Crewe Chronicle, 11 December 2009)

Life after marriage By the time of the 1881 Census, Caroline, her husband William and There’s little change in 1911. William (now 63) is approaching their eleven months old first-born Arthur William Sprittles are installed retirement as a boilermaker, while his son Arthur (still single at 30) in their new home at No. 8 Furber Street, Monks Coppenhall. is now an iron turner in the engine shop. Both are employed by the Loco Railway Company. Caroline’s forename has been erroneously Monks Coppenhall was a township built for the employees of transcribed as ‘Catherine’. But there’s no mistaking their address: the locomotive works. It was made a in 1866 before No. 38, Rigg Street. becoming the Borough of Crewe in 1877. The population grew rapidly – from just 121 in 1801 to over 42,000 in 1901.

By 1891, following the arrival of three more children (Albert John, Gertrude and Percy James), they have moved to No. 38 Rigg Street, Crewe - by modern standards a modest, two-bedroom terraced house.

They are still at No. 38 Rigg Street at the turn of the century (1901). William continues to earn his living as a boilermaker, and two more wage packets are coming into the household – those of Arthur W (20, iron furnace fitter apprentice) and his brother Albert J (19, steam engine fitter apprentice). Their daughter Gertrude, who would have been sixteen, is no longer with them. Sadly, Gertrude died in 1894 at the age of ten. Archdeacon Crawley’s Oak The Sprittles-Harris Mini Tree JAMES HARRIS (1848-1859)

Elder brother of William Second child of James and Susannah

William SPRITTLES Caroline HARRIS James was born in the December quarter of 1848 at New Grove, Hanley Child (Tenbury, Vol. 8, p.505) and baptised on 19 November Boilermaker m. 1878, Crewe b. Dec qtr 1847 b. Mar qtr 1847 1848 in Hanley Child. As the first male heir produced by James and d. 1926, Chester, aged 79 d. 1938 Crewe, aged 91 Susannah, he was christened James, no doubt to the great pride of his father.

Death in childhood James died in childhood at the age of ten. The cause was a condition described in the death certificate as ‘cynanche maligna’. Arthur Wm Albert John Gertrude Percy James This archaic medical term is variously defined in the 19th century as a form of diphtheria [Hooper, 1822] and as a ‘putrid sore throat’ b. 1880 b. 1882 b. 1884 b. 1887 d. 1940 d. 1967 d. 1894 d. 1927 [Thomas, 1875]. Aged 59 Aged 85 Aged 10 Aged 39

James died on 5 February 1859 at New Grove. His father ‘James Harris, wheelwright’ was present at the death. The death certificate indicates that young James had died eight days after contracting Caroline’s lifestyle Death of Caroline this fatal disease. The burial of young James took place on 10 In this relatively prosperous industrial environment, Caroline’s In common with many members of the Harris family tree, Caroline February 1859 at All Saints Church in Hanley William. lifestyle since her marriage to William Sprittles has undergone a enjoyed a long life. She died in 1938 at the age of 91 (Crewe, Vol. dramatic change from that of the siblings and country cousins she 8a, p.371). Her sister Susannah (Shukie) made it to 90, her brother Epidemic left behind in rural Worcestershire. There, farmers were struggling William to 91. However, with the exception of her son Albert Sprittles Less than 15 months previously, on 21 November 1857, the British and agricultural workers suffering hardship due to the steady who reached the age of 85, her own children did not fare so well. Medical Journal published an article by W.M. Bryden, M.D. of decline of farming, leading to both unemployment and emigration Her eldest child Arthur died aged 59 in 1940, Percy aged 39 in Mayfield in Sussex entitled The Treatment of Cynanche Maligna. on a large scale. In contrast, Crewe was a boom town offering 1927 and her only daughter, Gertrude, at the tragically young age of job opportunities in the engineering and metalworking industries ten years in 1894. Dr. Bryden refers to ‘an epidemic, of a very severe character, that associated with the construction of locomotives. This is not to say has for some time been raging in this neighbourhood’. He goes on that Caroline’s Worcestershire kinsfolk would have willingly changed to share details of his successful treatment methods with his fellow places with her. Life could be just as hard for the industrial working physicians: ‘Out of between twenty and thirty cases of the disease, classes. I have not lost one [valuable life]’. A key component of the treatment involved frequent gargling of the throat with a solution of chlorinated soda.

Hardly rocket science. But did Dr Bryden’s words of advice get through to Hanley Child? SUSANNAH (SHUKIE) HARRIS (1850-1941)

Elder sister of William Third child of James and Susannah

Susannah was born on 12 November 1850 at New Grove and baptised on 15 December 1850 in Hanley Child.

Shukie Although christened Susannah after her mother, young Susannah would be known as ‘Shukie’ for the rest of her long life, while her mother of the same name was referred to as ‘Susan’.

Marriage to John TURNER On 5 May 1870 in Hanley Child church, Susannah married John TURNER, an agricultural labourer born in Whitton, Shropshire*.

*John gives three different parishes for his place of birth in different censuses. The other two were Burford and Greete. It transpires that the township of Whitton and the hamlet of Greete are both part of the Parish of Burford. John’s civil birth registration confirms that he was born in Whitton on 9 February 1846. His parents were

John TURNER (b.abt. 1815 in Sutton, Tenbury) and Mary (née Susannah Harris around the time of her marriage MILICHAMP). to John Turner in 1870

Children 1881: Bank Street, Little Kyre Their first child was John Phillip Turner, known simply as Phillip to The 1881 Census tells us that Phillip did not remain an only child. avoid confusion with his father’s name. He was christened on 7 April Far from it. By the time the family had moved to Bank Street in Little 1871 in Hanley Child and was just 13 days old when the census Kyre, Phillip (now 10) is joined by four new siblings – William Richard enumerator called at their cottage on 2 April of that year. (Dick) (8), Sarah Ann (Annie) (6), James (4) and Mary (Polly) (2). The three youngest were all born in Little Kyre. At the time, the Turner family were living at Property No. 33 as listed in the schedule. It comes between New Grove (loosely referred to as ‘Old House’, where Susannah’s parents and younger siblings were living) and Cheveridge Farm. So the property in question could be little Woodbine Cottage, next to the cattle grid as you approach New Grove from Stoneyford Farm.

Death certificate for James Harris 1848-1859 The Legend of Beatrix Potter 1891: Pye Corner, Collington KNIGHT. They had four children (Arthur jnr, b. 1904, Ernest William By 1891, the first five children have all moved out. Their places b.1905, Edith Mary b. 1907 and Gertrude A. b.1910). Annie died Mary Turner, known as Polly, married Albert T Potter in 1912. It have been taken by five new mouths to feed. The eldest of these, aged 95 in 1970. was claimed by some that he was the brother of Beatrix Potter, the Caroline (10), was born in Little Kyre, the four youngest (Susannah, celebrated children’s author. The author’s parents, Rupert and Helen Arthur, Samuel and Lucy) in Collington where the family is now Tragically, James lost his wife Emily and their three children (Caroline, Potter, had only two children – Helen Beatrice (as Beatrix herself was living at Pye Corner. John Turner is still working as a farm labourer 4, Mabel, 2 and Arthur, 1) within one week in 1919 during the christened) and a son Walter B Potter. It appears that Albert was (although he is listed in Kelly’s Directory of the same year as a Spanish flu epidemic. telling porkies. So who was the real Albert T Potter? farmer), but the family’s income is now supplemented by Susannah’s earnings as a grocer. Her shop was also licensed to sell cigarettes After their marriage in 1912, Polly and Albert POTTER moved to We found an Albert Potter (aged 26, born in Little Kyre, and tobacco. Birmingham where, according to the 1911 Census, Albert was Worcestershire) who, in 1901, was working in a Birmingham screw already working as a gardener. Although their marriage remained factory and boarding in Edgbaston. 1901: More children? childless, they brought up a foster child, June. After Albert’s death in Woodbine Cottage: John and Susannah Turner’s first home? Yes, another two. Ellen (Nellie) (9) and Percy Henry Turner (4), both 1952 at the age of 78, Polly returned to Herefordshire. She died in Ten years earlier, at the age of 16, he had been living at home born in Collington, take the grand total to twelve*. 1968 aged 88 in a Leominster care home. with his parents (James and Emma Potter) and his five siblings in Coppice House, Little Kyre, yards from Richard and Eliza Harris *The 1911 Census return for Pye Court, Collington shows that John Samuel remained a bachelor. After having survived at least one (Shukie’s younger brother and sister-in-law) at Dog Kennel Cottage. and Susannah Turner had 13 children altogether, one of whom had previous heart attack while loading hay at Baldwin’s of Underley, he At 16, Albert is an agricultural labourer and, yes, he does have a died. He was Thomas who was born in 1894 and died in 1895 ‘died in his chair of a heart attack’ aged 46 on 16 November 1933. sister. She is 12-year-old Beatrice A Potter! So Albert wasn’t entirely aged 10 months. At the time, he was living with his mother at Pye Corner following the fibbing after all. What probably began as a tongue-in-cheek remark death of his father in 1926. appears to have been taken seriously by some locals and relatives In 1911, the only children living at home were James (34), farm (including Vera Harris, born 1904 in Stoke Bliss). The fact that Albert labourer, and Percy (14). James was still single. He married Two days later, at the age of 52, his unmarried sister Caroline died had lived away from the area for some years probably added to his the following year (Tenbury, June qtr 1912). His bride, born in of ‘hypostatic congestion of the lungs and combined poserolateral mystique and credibility. Middleton-on-the Hill, was Emily HAY. James and Emily had three sclerosis of cord’. Off the record, it was said that she died ‘from the children. feet up of pernicious anaemia which went gangrenous’. Samuel and For the record, Albert Thomas Potter, son of James and Emma Caroline were buried on the same day at Collington Church. Potter, was born in January 1874 (Tenbury, Vol. 6c, p.309) and What became of John and Shukie Turner’s children? Albert Potter and Polly Turner around the time of their marriage in christened on 25 January 1874 in Stoke Bliss. Thanks to the help we have received from descendants of John and In 1908, Susannah married George DAY who, nine years later, 1912. We thank our cousins Susan Layton and Clare Fisher for this Shukie Turner, we can tell you – in brief - that the first-born, Phillip became an early victim of the flu outbreak in 1917. Susannah portrait of an Edwardian romance. Turner, was also the first to wed, marrying Rochford girl Sophia Jane remarried in 1938, becoming Mrs JONES. She and her husband MARKS in 1895. Their son Edward John was not only John and William settled in Worcester. Shukie’s first grandchild, he was born in the same year as their own youngest child Percy. Arthur married Hanley Child girl Ellen Jane (Nell) CORKE in 1906. In 1911, they and their first three children (Joseph, Annie and Dora) In 1906, William Richard (Dick), whose expertise as a hop dryer were living at Hawkins Cottages in Hanley William as next door was much in demand, married Julia Victoria Garratt HALE from neighbours of Charlotte and William GRAVES whose daughter Ellen Netherton, whom he met while she was hop picking. In (Nellie) married our Edward James HARRIS. (The semi-detached 1911, they and their only child, Henry, were living at Park Cottage, cottages between Broadheath and All Saints Church have since Netherwood. At this time, both Dick and his mother’s youngest been converted into a single dwelling called Hawkings). sibling, Arthur John HARRIS, were working for Tom MORRIS at Netherwood Farm. In 1909, Lucy married William LARCOMBE and went to live in Brecon where she raised seven children including the late Gwyneth In 1903, Annie married Collington neighbour and roadman Arthur Mary JONES who helped with our research. Ellen (Nellie) met Canadian WWI soldier Private Edson MILLER while Christ and that was what shaped his values and the course of his working as a bus conductress in Birmingham. They married in 1918 life. He served on many Church boards over the years and was an and emigrated to Canada in January 1919, settling in Castor - a tiny active member of BC Tree Fruits. His love of music was evident up township in Alberta. In February 1924, Nellie was back in Collington to the last years of his life. One of Percy’s delights was when he was with her two children – Percy (4) and Isabel (3) – but without her surrounded by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Percy husband. In July 1924, while staying with her sister Lucy’s family in also gave generously of his time and resources to kids’ bible camps, Brecon, Nellie gave birth to her third child, Raymond. She returned mission groups, bible schools and his local church. Survived by to Canada within a short time when Edson had found a new home his wife of 65 years, Dorothy; two sons, George (Marjorie) and for his family in British Columbia – first in Princeton then, from 1928 Fred; four daughters, Darlene (Mac) Butler, Barbara (Ed) Damour, onwards, in the agreeable climate and surroundings of Summerland Patricia Manke and Sue (Gary) Demerse; 12 grandchildren; 15 where Edson earned his living as a fruit grower and kept his promise great-grandchildren; also many extended family. Predeceased by his to give up drinking, becoming a Gideon member*. parents Edson and Nellie Miller, brother Raymond Miller and sister Isabel Halvorson.” *The Gideons association of Christian businessmen was formed in the USA in 1899 with the aim of spreading the knowledge of God, placing copies of the Gideon Bible in hotels, hospitals, prisons, student accommodation, care homes and medical centres.

John and Shukie’s youngest child, Percy, married Jessie DANIEL in 1923 and died in 1955 aged 58.

The Turner family’s Canadian legacy Unlike her brother William HARRIS, four of whose eight children emigrated to Canada before WWI, only one of Shukie’s twelve children to survive into adulthood left the UK. As we have just heard, that was Nellie who emigrated to Canada just after WWI. Her leap into the unknown bore fruit in more ways than one.

Nellie’s eldest child, Percy Edson MILLER, passed away very recently at the age of 90. His obituary shows that John and Shukie TURNER had a grandson to be proud of: Percy Edson Miller (1920-2010)

“Percy Edson Miller went to be with his Lord Jesus Christ, September 20, 2010. Percy was born in Castor, Alberta April 29, Death of John Turner 1920. His family moved to Princeton and then to Summerland John Turner who, years previously, had lost the sight of an eye in where he has lived the last 82 years. He also met his beloved wife an accident while hedge cutting at Underley, died at Pye Corner Edwardian bride and groom Susannah Turner and George Day, Dorothy here at Summerland Baptist Church. Percy worked for on 24 January 1926 aged 79 ‘after a somewhat protracted illness’. pictured outside the picket fence at Pye Corner. Susannah would Boeing Aircraft for a short time during the war. He returned to be The cause of death was a cerebral haemorrhage. His daughter be widowed only nine years later. co-owner with his father of Miller & Son Orchards in Trout Creek. He Mary Potter (Polly) was present at the death. John was buried on 28 was not afraid of long hours and hard work and, even though it was January at Collington Church. A report on his passing in the local a mixed fruit farm, he was known for his mouth watering peaches. press expressed the high regard in which he was held in the area. His neighbours could always count on him to prune a tree or plough a driveway as needed. As a young boy, Percy put his faith in Jesus Shukie’s letter to Lucy

Again, through the generosity of Shukie’s descendants, we have Death of Shukie TURNER (née HARRIS) a copy of a letter written by Shukie on her 89th birthday to her Within 18 months of writing this letter, Shukie died on 12 April daughter Lucy Larcombe. It tells us a lot about her as a caring 1941, having spent 15 years as a widow. Although she had been mother and her carry-on-regardless character. Just in case, here’s a Methodist chapel-goer for many years, she became a member of the transcription: the Church of England in later life and was laid to rest at Collington Church alongside her husband John and close to the children who Bushfield had predeceased her. Collington Her entry in the National Probate Calendar reads: Susannah Turner Nov 12th [1939] of Bushfield, Collington, Herefordshire, widow, died 12 April 1941. Probate Oxford 30 May to Mary Potter, married woman, and Percy Dear Lucy and All, Henry Turner, farm worker. Effects £151 1s.

I am sorry I can’t see to write or read. My sight has gone lately. I Want to know more about Shukie and the Turner family? can see to get about alright, but not to read or write. I am sorry If you would like to know more about the Turner family and farming you are so unwell. Hope you will soon be better. Thank you so life in Herefordshire, you couldn’t do better than read Riding on a much for your birthday present. Plough and Furrows Past by Ivan Turner.

Polly sent me a magnifying glass. It does magnify, but I can’t see The author is a great-grandson of John and Susannah Turner and to read or write. I am doing this more by aim than sight. was a farm worker at Netherwood Manor* near Collington for 48 years. So his knowledge and first-hand experience are second to Glad to say I have been keeping fairly well. We are all well at none. present and can get plenty of food. We can get all we want and *You’ll find more information on Netherwood in the section on plenty of coal. Shall be glad when this cruel war has ended. Shukie’s youngest sibling, Arthur John HARRIS (b.1861), who worked there around 1911. Jessie* is out at work every day. Well I must close. With all our love to all when you see them.

From your affect[ionate] mother Thanking you for all God bless you all

I have just made me a[n] apple dumpling on the 89th birthday.

Shukie’s letter to Lucy, dated Nov 12 1939. *Jessie is her daughter-in-law (wife of her youngest son Percy). Shukie had gone to live with them at Bushfield Cottage sometime after her son Sam’s death in November 1933. Riding on a Plough First published 1994, ISBN 1-872017-80-0

Furrows Past First published 2002, ISBN 0 9542819 0 X MARY HARRIS (1852-1852)

Elder sister of William Fourth child of James and Susannah

Mary was born at New Grove and baptised on 23 March 1852 in Hanley Child.

Childhood Mary does not appear along with the rest of the family at New Grove in the 1861 Census when she would have been eight years old. She could not be found living elsewhere.

Another early death? We began to suspect that Mary had fallen victim to the same pernicious epidemic of cynanche maligna that had taken the life of her elder brother James who died on 6 February 1859.

So we gambled on 1859 as the year of her death and ordered the death certificate for a Mary Harris who had died in the registration district of Tenbury in that year. The certificate we received was for an unrelated Mary Harris, widow of Joseph Harris. This Mary, poor soul, had died in Tenbury Union Workhouse ‘of an abscess’ at the age of 64.

Infant death confirmed A second guess yielded the result we had feared. Our Mary Harris died on 26 March 1852, just three days after her birth. The death certificate shows she died of ‘debility’. At first sight, the term debility would seem to imply bodily weakness, i.e. that the infant was not physically strong enough to survive. However, in dictionaries of archaic medical terms, it is defined more specifically as a ‘convulsive disease of infancy’ and as ‘disease present in an infant at birth’.

The certificate states that no medical attendant was present at Mary’s death. Mary’s baptism on the day of her birth is a clear indication that her death was not unexpected. Her burial took place at St Peter and Paul’s Church in Eastham on 28 March 1852.

Death certificate for Mary Harris (d. 26 March 1852, aged 3 days) RICHARD HARRIS (1856-1934)

Younger brother of William With the loss of his wife, he loses interest in his farming and milling Sixth child of James and Susannah business and decides to retire to Tenbury. Along with Mary Jane (10) and Philip John (7), William shares his home with his daughter

Richard was born on 12 August 1856 at New Grove and baptised Sarah (19), her husband William YARRANTON and their two young on 31 August 1856 in Hanley Child. children. There can be no doubt that William appreciates their company and support.

Richard’s birth certificate reveals that his father James, who made a cross for his name on his own marriage certificate in 1846, is now Meanwhile.. able to sign his name. He has probably been coached by his wife Meanwhile, Richard Harris and William’s daughter Eliza have married Susannah who was able to read and write from a young age. and started a family of their own at Apple Cross in Little Kyre with the birth of a daughter in January 1878. She is christened Anne after

Marriage Eliza’s recently deceased mother. In the 1881 Census, Richard gives Richard married Eliza BALDWIN at Hanley Child on 28 September his occupation as labourer and woodman. 1876. Richard was 20, his bride 21 years old. Children

Eliza’s family Richard and Eliza had five children between 1878 and 1899 (Anne Eliza, the daughter of William and Anne BALDWIN, was baptised on b.1878, Susanna b.1887, Caroline* b.1890, Ellen Gertrude b.1896 7 May 1855 in Bockleton. Eliza’s father was born in Collington and and Samuel Richard b.1899). baptised on 31 January 1819 in Hanley Child. Her mother, Anne, was born in nearby Stoke Bliss. *In the 1901 Census, Caroline’s name is incorrectly recorded by the enumerator as ‘Catherine’.

In the 1861 Census for Bockleton, William is living at Birchley Mill with his wife and two children (William and Eliza). He is a miller and Estate carpenter farmer of 28 acres. Prior to the 1871 Census, William and Anne had Following in the footsteps of his father James and elder brother a third child who was named Anne after her mother and baptised in William, Richard was also employed as an estate carpenter. Bockleton on 16 May 1868. Young Anne died aged only 18 months Thanks to our cousin Carole Freegard of Bromyard, we are given on 12 October 1869. a fascinating insight into the benevolent, patriarchal relationship of the lord of the manor, the Rev. Edward G. Baldwyn-Childe, with the

By 1871, William has increased his acreage to 44 acres and is employees of the Kyre Estate. It comes in the form of a Certificate continuing to work as a miller alongside his son William, now 18. for Long Service which was presented to Richard in 1897. The size of his family has also increased with the addition of Sarah Ann (8) and Mary Jane (two months). The Rev. Baldwyn-Childe died the following year (1898). His much respected widow, Frances Christina, became lady of the manor

In 1874 William and Anne have another son, Philip John. He was to and continued to run the estate with the same energetic and caring be their last child. Between the birth of Philip and the 1881 Census, commitment until her death at the age of 97 in 1930. William was struck a tragic blow through the early death of his wife Anne.

Birth certificate of Richard Harris, b. 12 August 1856 The headstones of Mr and Mrs Baldwyn-Childe - for fifty years lord and lady of the manor of Kyre Park - at St. Mary’s Church, Long Service Certificate presented to Richard Harris, signed by Kyre Magna ‘his friend and employer’ the Rev. Edward G. Baldwyn-Childe

Dog Kennel Cottage In our cousin Ivan Turner’s book Furrows Past, Dick is probably the in-law). Vera described Eliza as rather eccentric and lackadaisical. Richard and Eliza spent many years at Dog Kennel Cottage in Young Emily lived to tell the tale. Ten years later, in 1902, Emily Harris who ‘held the pig’s tail’ in the poem ‘Killing the Pig’, penned Caroline Harris – who worked hard in pursuit of her middle class Little Kyre, close to Cheveridge Farm and New Grove which lie married James COUNLEY. She died a widow on 23 March 1940 locally in 1898, while Dick’s elder brother William is certainly the aspirations - was hardly a kindred spirit and kept a formal distance, in the adjoining parish of Hanley Child. During this time, Richard aged 59 at The Caulders in Rochford near Tenbury. Harris of Knapp’s Knowle who contributed to the fund-raising for a calling Eliza “Mrs Harris” rather than by her first name. progresses from agricultural labourer to carpenter. new Methodist Chapel in Collington. Free spirits Samuel Richard HARRIS An incident that took place at Dog Kennel Cottage in February Retired farmer David Spilsbury, whose family own Cheveridge Memories Richard and Eliza’s youngest child and the only boy, Samuel Richard th 1892 attracted the interest of the county press. Under the headline Farm, revealed that in the latter part of the 20 century Dog Kennel Vera Harris (b.1904 in Stoke Bliss), eldest child of Ted and Nellie Harris, was born on 2 June 1899. Samuel married Florence NOTT “CHILD SHOT NEAR TENBURY”, the following story was published Cottage was home to various free spirits who were attracted by Harris, related an anecdote which bears out Eliza’s readiness to flout in Bromyard in 1921. Florence, who was known to her family and on 27 February 1892: its isolated and peaceful location and who devoted themselves the norms of the day: friends as ‘Luvvie’, kept the Harris fertility flag flying with a record- to a creative, alternative lifestyle. Nowadays, one might use the equalling thirteen children. Florence died in January 1972 at the Eleven-year-old Emily Yarranton and her 9-year-old brother William expression ‘Bohemians’. It has been suggested by some that Eliza When the vicar called at Lane House and spotted a clay tobacco age of 72, Samuel on 20 January 1984 aged 84. We are indebted were going to Kyre School from their home at Pound House in was an early example of one such unorthodox occupant. pipe in the hearth, he asked who it belonged to. Feigning ignorance to Carole Freegard for the photograph of Samuel and Florence Hanley Child when they called at the cottage of their uncle Richard and innocence, Eliza asked the same question: “Well, whose is that reproduced below. Harris, who left them in the house. A few minutes afterwards he By 1911, Richard and Eliza have moved to Lane House in Little pipe then?” One of her children let her down by replying “Why, it’s heard the report of a gun and, on going into the house, found the Kyre with their son Samuel Richard Harris. The census confirms that yours of course, mother”! A monumental error girl lying on the floor. She said her brother had shot her with a gun Richard remains in the employ of the Kyre Estate as a ‘carpenter on The monumental mason responsible for Mrs. Baldwyn-Childe’s that had been left behind the door. The boy said that, when he estate’, that Richard and Eliza have had five children in all and that Eccentric and lackadaisical headstone has misspelt her middle name. The correct spelling is picked it up, it caught the table and went off. The girl was taken to all five are living. Vera sometimes visited her ‘Uncle Dick’ in the company of her Christina. St. Mary’s Hospital and detained. grandparents, William and Caroline (Richard’s brother and sister- Christopher John HARRIS (b.1923) The second of Samuel and Florence’s thirteen children, born on 3 July 1923 in Chepstow where his father was working for a time as a gamekeeper for his Herefordshire employer, was our cousin Chris Harris. We first met Chris over twenty years ago when we visited Tedstone Delamere Church in its picturesque Herefordshire setting with panoramic views across neighbouring Worcestershire.

The sun was setting and the light fading when Eddie’s son Brian arrived at the neatly tended churchyard and stepped inside the church where churchwarden Chris, still in his wellies after tidying up outside, was putting everything in place in readiness for the next service. Cousin Chris Harris and his wife Kathleen (Ledbury, July 2010)

When Chris learned that Brian was looking for Harris ancestors, he shook Brian’s hand “as one Harris to another!” At that moment both Stanley Baldwin were unaware that they were in fact cousins. Chris has an amusing way of deflecting questions about his connection with the Baldwin family, saying: “The only Baldwin I’m God’s rainbow related to is Stanley Baldwin!” As the older ones among us will Chris explained that his family had started work on a family tree but remember, Stanley Baldwin was a respected Conservative politician had decided against delving too deeply having found that one or who served three times as Prime Minister between 1923 and 1937. two ancestors were, as he put it with poetic delicacy, “born at the other end of God’s rainbow”. In this respect, Chris’s family are in Stanley Baldwin was born and raised in our corner of Worcestershire good company. (b.1867 in , d.1947 in Astley) and served on the Tenbury Agricultural Show Committee in the 1920s and 30s. He did many things, but there is no evidence that he ever called in at Lane House in Little Kyre!

Death of Richard Harris Richard Harris, grandfather of Chris Harris and brother of William Harris, died in the March quarter of 1934 aged 77. His death was registered in Worcester. Richard’s wife Eliza predeceased him. She died in 1930 aged 75. Her death was registered in Tenbury under the name Eliza Harris. So, from baptism to burial, she was always Eliza. Like George Bernard Shaw’s Eliza Doolittle, the name Elizabeth just would not have suited her. Born in the same year (1899), Samuel and ‘Luvvie’ are a picture of togetherness. In the

timeless attire of the farm worker, Samuel St. James Church, Tedstone Delamere gives no clue as to when the photograph was taken. This snapshot is thought to date from the 1940s when the family lived at The Grove on Bringsty Common. ELIZABETH HARRIS (1859-1859)

Younger sister of William Modern treatment Seventh child of James and Susannah Modern treatment methods include the use of diphtheria antitoxin, antibiotics, penicillin, erithromycin and mechanical respirators, none Another infant death of which were available 150 years ago. Elizabeth was born on 10 May 1859 at New Grove and baptised on 13 May 1859. She died on the day of her christening. Elizabeth’s Questions death was registered on 17 May 1859, two days after her burial Diphtheria is an acute contagious illness which primarily affects at All Saints Church in Hanley William. The cause of death (not children, although adults may be carriers. Were James or Susannah certified) was given as ‘debility’. carrying the contagion which caused the death of their son James three months earlier? And was the contagion still present at New Annus horribilis Grove when Elizabeth died? The death of Elizabeth compounded what was already an annus horribilis for James and Susannah Harris. They had now lost three of their first seven children (Mary, James and now Elizabeth), the last two in the space of three months.

Was there a link between the deaths of James and Elizabeth in 1859? Bearing in mind the definition of the archaic medical term ‘debility’ as ‘disease present in an infant at birth’, one cannot help thinking that the latest two deaths were linked. Cynanche maligna, stated as the cause of the death of James, was likened to diphtheria by 19th century physicians.

Causes of diphtheria If this is the case, what are the causes of diphtheria according to modern thinking and how is it spread?

Diphtheria is caused by bacteria called corynebacterium diphtheriae. The bacteria spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes and droplets of their saliva enter another person’s mouth or nose. Once a person is infected, the bacteria quickly multiply and spread through the inside surface of the mouth, throat or nose. In severe cases, the bacteria produce a toxin which starts to kill cells in the throat. The dead cells build up rapidly, forming a grey-white membrane. The toxin can also spread through the blood and damage the heart and nervous system.

Death certificate for Elizabeth Harris, d. 13 May 1859 aged 3 days ARTHUR JOHN HARRIS In Furrows Past Ivan, whose father and grandfather also worked Did Arthur marry? (1861-19..) at Netherwood, describes the generosity of Tom Morris. Following The 1911 Census provides the last confirmed record we have an accident at work, Ivan’s grandfather William Richard (Dick) for Arthur John Harris. Despite all our efforts, we still do not know Turner couldn’t work for a while. Although Dick had insurance whether Arthur married (nor indeed when he died). Youngest brother of William Netherwood cover for such eventualities, the insurance agent had pocketed his Eighth child of James and Susannah contributions. Tom Morris stepped in to foot the bill. As for marriage, rabbit catcher Arthur would not have been the Netherwood Farm (or Manor, for they are one and the same) lies in perfect ‘catch’ himself. We should bear in mind that Arthur was not Arthur John was born on 17 July 1861 at New Grove and the parish of Thornbury in Herefordshire, around three miles south of Dick and his wife Julia, who married in 1906, were living at Park just the eighth and last child of James and Susannah. He was his christened on 11 August 1861 in Hanley Child following the civil Kyre Park and two miles west of Collington. Cottage around the time that our Arthur Harris was working at mother’s twelfth child and she was around 45 years old at the time registration of his birth on 1st August 1861 in Tenbury Wells. He was Netherwood Farm. Dick and Arthur would have known each other of his birth. This could explain why Arthur, the youngest of James’ the last of James’ eight - and Susannah’s twelve - children. Netherwood has a long and distinguished history. In Furrows Past, well as ‘family’ and as fellow employees of Tom Morris. Indeed, Dick three sons who survived into adulthood, lagged behind his older Ivan Turner provides a detailed account of its occupants from the may well have been prevailed upon by his mother Shukie to help her brothers William and Richard in terms of his career path. Traces (1086) to the 20th century, including Robert youngest sibling to get the job in the first place. Still at New Grove with his parents James and Susannah in 1881, Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, who was born at Netherwood on 19 There is no suggestion that Arthur was physically or mentally he has reached an age at which he would be expected to be November 1566. He later became a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I - handicapped in any way. This would have been revealed by the earning a living. In the previous census, his brother William was only to be executed with her reluctant consent on 25 February 1601 census enumerators who, from 1871 onwards, noted those afflicted working for his father as an assistant carpenter at the age of 17. after having been accused of making a dishonourable treaty with the as blind, deaf and dumb, invalid, lunatic, imbecile and idiot. In 1911, However, no occupation is given for Arthur. Meanwhile, he is the Earl of Tyrone whose rebellion in Ireland he had been sent to quell. ‘feeble-minded’ was added to this list. Fortunately, Arthur was none only child left at home. His carpenter brothers William and Richard of these. He just wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. have both married. His father James is still working as a carpenter at Furrows Past takes a close-up look at the families who have lived 64 years of age, but there is no indication that 19-year-old Arthur is and worked in the area around Netherwood, stretching from But he was probably as good as the next man when it came to helping out in any capacity. Collington to Little and Great Kyre, and from Thornbury to Stoke pulling his weight as an unskilled worker. At the same time, he must Bliss and Hanley. have had other good qualities - and have been remembered with General labourer and rabbit catcher affection - for William and Caroline to have christened their sixth Three years later, in October 1884, James died of English cholera There are references to Dick Harris (Richard b. 1856 who married child Arthur William (b. 1881). In the following generation, and exhaustion. In 1891, now aged 29, Arthur is living at Yew Tree Eliza Baldwin) and William Harris (b. 1853) as carpenters of the Kyre Ted and Nellie Harris named their third child Arthur Nevil (b. 1907). Hall in Rochford, near Eastham. His widowed mother is head of Estate as well as to their parents, James and Susannah Harris, the household. This time he has an occupation – that of ‘general from whom our Harris line and our cousin Ivan Turner’s family are Having been born at a time when infant mortality rates were, on labourer’. descended. average, 150 deaths for every 1,000 live births and, considering that his sister Elizabeth had died in infancy two years before his In 1901, following the death of his mother in Kyre Hospital in1894, Arthur’s employer: Thomas MORRIS own birth, Arthur was fortunate to have a life. So, as long as he was Arthur has been having to stand on his own feet and, still a bachelor Despite his lack of vocational qualifications, Arthur was clearly a happy catching rabbits, nothing else matters. at 39, is lodging with the family of blacksmith Thomas Rouse on willing and trusted odd job man and was privileged to be working at the Kyre Road in Tenbury. His occupation is described as ‘rabbit Netherwood for Thomas Morris, a popular and respected farmer. catcher’.

Tom Morris started at Netherwood in 1900 with 22 horses and 22 Ivan Turner, our cousin and author of Riding on a Plough and Arthur at Netherwood men. From 1900 to 1918, he farmed as a tenant of the Kyre Estate. Furrows Past By 1911, Arthur has moved on again, but not far. He is employed He bought the 487-acre property from Mrs Baldwyn-Childe of Kyre by 40-year-old farmer Thomas MORRIS of Netherwood. At 49, he Park for the sum of £9,650 on 6 December 1918 and remained at is still single. His occupation is first given as ‘general workman’, then Netherwood until 1943. deleted and replaced by ‘farm labourer’ to put him into an accepted pigeon hole. Mr Tom Morris and family at Netherwood in the 1930s

New Grove, Hanley Child, birthplace of Arthur John, Birth certificate for Arthur John Harris, b. 17 July 1861 his seven siblings and four half-siblings 6A. Family of William’s wife Caroline JONES (1849- 1929)

See Part One for an in-depth profile of Caroline Harris née JONES Keeping up with the Jones: Caroline’s siblings Caroline (b. 21 April 1849) was the youngest of eleven children and

Caroline’s parents the only one of Edward and Mary’s three daughters to survive into Caroline was the daughter of Edward JONES (labourer, born 1799, adulthood. Caroline’s ten siblings were: baptised 15 December 1799 in Upper Sapey, Herefordshire) and Mary (née PITT), born 1804 in Rochford, Worcestershire. Mary was Ann (1828-1833), Edward (1829-1833), Charles (1832-1916), intensely proud of her maiden name. Rightly so. The Pitt family’s Samuel (1834-1899), John (1837-1925), Mary (1838-1838), Thomas (1839-1905), William (1842-1912), George (1843-1917), Herefordshire roots can be traced all the way back to Gabriell PYTT Stoneyford Cottage, birthplace of Caroline, the majority of Edmund (1846-1918) who married Joane TURNOR in Colwall, Hereford on 14 July 1655. her siblings and all eight of her own children

Mary and Edward married in Rochford on 17 December 1827. Over fifty years later, Caroline’s parents died within days of each ANN JONES (1828-1833) EDWARD JONES (1829-1833) other at Stoneyford Cottage in Hanley Child. Edward died from a Our thanks go to Ella Skyrme and her late husband Bert for this stroke (described as ‘paralysis’) on 16 April 1881, four days after his Eldest sister of Caroline Elder brother of Caroline photograph taken on the occasion of William and Caroline’s Golden wife Mary had died of heart disease. William HARRIS, their son-in- First child of Edward and Mary Second child of Edward and Mary law, was present at both deaths. Wedding Anniversary in November 1923.

Ann was baptised on 22 January 1828 in Hanley Child. Edward was born in Kyrewood, Worcestershire and baptised on 18 September 1829 in Tenbury. Familiar circumstances Ann was baptised five weeks after her parents’ marriage in Another early death Rochford. In what are proving to be familiar circumstances Edward died in May 1833 in Hanley Child and was buried in surrounding the baptism of the first-born, Ann came into the world Eastham on 25 May 1833, one week before the burial of his sister shortly after (perhaps shortly before) Edward and Mary’s wedding in Ann. late 1827. The deaths of the first two children, Ann and Edward, were clearly Traces linked. One possible cause is the spread of the cholera epidemic Ann is no longer with the family when the first census became of 1831-1832 from urban to rural areas. However, the parish burial available (1841). As the name Jones is notoriously difficult to trace records contain the briefest of details, and certified death certificates without the presence of family members, her census trail runs cold. were not issued until 1837.

Early death A search of the burial records for Hanley Child/Eastham revealed that Ann had died aged 5 years in May 1833. She was buried in Eastham on 1st June 1833. CHARLES JONES (1832-1916) By the way.. had already left home. In fact, Emma states that she has had nine Little Ann THOMAS, whom we met briefly in the 1871 Census children in all, seven of whom are still living. in Kinton, Hereford, is also in the United States. Now nine years Elder brother of Caroline Death of Hannah old, she is in Kenosha, Wisconsin on the western shore of Lake From the delivery to the ‘despatch’ business Third child of Edward and Mary Charles’ wife Hannah died suddenly in 1867 at the age of 34 while Michigan, around 800 miles to the north-west of Charles and Charles’ feelings of anno domini may have been influenced by the family was living in Leintwardine. Her death was registered in Emma’s home in Delaware. Ann has come a long way since her his present occupation. In 1880 he was working in the delivery Charles Jones was born in Kyrewood, Worcestershire in 1832 and nearby Ludlow, Shropshire (Ludlow, Vol. 6a, p.355). birth in Knighton, Radnorshire (the 1880 US Federal Census business. At the time of the 1900 US Census and for the rest of his baptised at St. Mary’s Church in Tenbury on 18 August 1832. confirms her birthplace as Wales). working life, Charles was at the ‘despatch’ end of the job spectrum Charles’ new wife: Emma THOMAS - working as a cemetery superintendent. His son and namesake is Traces Charles remarried on 21 June 1870 in Leintwardine. He is 38, his The head of the household is her mother, Ellen THOMAS (37), employed at the same location as a cemetery labourer. We find Charles with his family at the time of the 1841 Census new wife Emma (née THOMAS) just 17 years old. Emma was born and Ann now has a sister Mary (aged 8) and a brother David for the Eastham Chapelry of Hanley Child. They are living in an in the hamlet of Adforton which lies within the parish of Leintwardine. (11 months). Ellen gives ‘keeping house’ as her occupation and 1910 US Federal Census unnamed ‘Hanley Child Cottage’. It is clear from its position in the ‘married’ as her marital status. Her husband is not at home. Head of the household Charles is still going strong. He still has his property schedule that this is Stoneyford Cottage. In 1871 Charles, Emma and Caroline (now 11) are living in Kinton job as cemetery superintendent at the age of 77 (although he claims in the district of Leintwardine and are looking after an infant of 2 1900 US Federal Census to be 75 years old). Charles is eight years old. Besides his parents, Edward (40) and months. Her name is Ann THOMAS and she is described by The US Federal Census for the township of Brandywine in the Mary (35), the household also comprises Charles’ younger brothers Charles as his ‘sister-in-law’, born in Knighton, Radnorshire, Wales. county of New , Delaware shows that the enumerator is again Sure enough, two daughters appear for the first time in the census Samuel (6), John (4) and Thomas (2) as well as his widowed We shall be meeting up with her again nine years later and around hard of hearing. This time he has entered Charles’ first name as for Representative District 6 in the county of New Castle, Delaware. paternal grandmother Mary JONES (75). Charles has left home by 4,000 miles away. ‘George’. It must have had something to do with the Worcester- The daughters who have evaded us so far are Sarah (28) and the time of the 1851 Census, but we don’t have to wait long before Hereford accent. Emma (26), both single, both born in Delaware, both employed as he reappears on the scene. Farewell machine hands in a cloth mill. Charles decides to make a fresh start for his new family by Every other fact is correctly stated – ages (Charles aka ‘George’ Charles’ marriage to Hannah BIRKIN emigrating to the USA. In November 1873, he returns briefly to 66, Emma 45), dates of birth, number of years married (30), year Another daughter? On 7 November 1854, at the age of 22, Charles walks down the Hanley Child as one of the witnesses to the marriage of his sister of immigration (1874) and place of birth of both parents. Two of There is a third surprise – another ‘daughter’ reappears. She aisle at Hanley Child to marry local girl Hannah BIRKIN, also 22 Caroline to William HARRIS. Here, he has the opportunity to the three children listed in the previous census two decades ago is 37-year-old widow Mary FILE, born in England. She has her years old. Hannah is the daughter of wheelwright William BIRKIN and introduce his young wife to the Jones and Harris families and to say (Caroline and Sapphire) have flown the nest. But Charles junior 17-year-old son Charles with her, a farm labourer born in Delaware. his wife Mary of Holly Bush, Hanley Child (next to Holly Wall where his goodbyes. (now 23 and married) is back with his parents accompanied by his several Harris family members have lived). Maryland-born wife Margaret and their three children – Charles A Mary File turns out to be one of the daughters of Ellen THOMAS, Emigration 1874 Jones (4), Ella (2) and Arthur (7 months), all born in Delaware. mother also of Ann whom we first met in Kinton in 1871. On that Charles’ occupations Charles, Emma and their daughter Caroline arrive in the USA the occasion, Ann’s relationship to Charles was described as ‘sister- Unlike his wheelwright father-in-law, William BIRKIN, Charles never following year (1874). By the time of the 1880 United States Federal Nostalgia in-law’. So the same description rather than ‘daughter’ should be learned a craft. But he could turn his hand to whatever work was Census, the Jones family has settled in Christiana, New Castle In the 20 years since the last census, Charles and Emma have applied to her younger sister Mary. Or is there something we don’t available to support his family. Over the following years, Charles County, Delaware. Charles (49) and Emma (28) have two new produced at least four* more children of their own. They are Helen know about Charles’ relationship with their mother Ellen THOMAS? earns his living in a variety of ways after the couple’s move to children, Charles (4) and Sapphire (2), both born in Delaware. Still in (16), Hannah (12, named after Charles’ first wife), Thomas (named Leintwardine in Herefordshire, working as a groom, a gardener, a the delivery business, Charles is working as a coachman, and his after Charles’ brother who emigrated to New South Wales, Australia 1920 US Federal Census domestic servant and a carrier (a man with a wagon, rather like the daughter Caroline* (now 19) is still at home. in 1870) and William (8, named after Charles’ carpenter brother who Charles doesn’t make it into the 1920 US Federal Census. He modern equivalent of a man with a van). moved to Leintwardine with his wife Martha shortly before Charles died on 29 June 1916 just short of his 84th birthday as a result *The census enumerator has written “Coraline” instead of Caroline and his family left for the United States. As the years passed, of ‘paralysis’ (stroke) and was buried at Lombardy Cemetery in Birth of daughter Caroline and has stated her age as ‘9’ rather than 19. The misspelling is Charles was becoming a touch nostalgic, if not homesick. Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware where he had worked as Around 1860 they have a child, Caroline, who doesn’t appear in the understandable. And perhaps the enumerator didn’t believe his a superintendent until his retirement. His second wife Emma died in 1861 Census and is probably being looked after by relatives. She ears if Emma was the respondent – how could 28-year-old Emma *It is possible of course that, during the 20 years between the two 1923. does appear, however, in the following 1871 Census at the age of have a 19-year-old daughter? Our view is supported by the fact that censuses, Charles and Emma had one or two more children who 11 years. During this period, a lot has happened in Charles’ life. “Coraline’s” place of birth is stated as England. Approach to Hanley Child Church, Spring 2011 (planting and SAMUEL JONES (1834-1899) hedge laying by Reg Haycox) Wood, Middlesex) and described in the previous census as the Elder brother of Caroline granddaughter of Frances MOON. Orphaned through the death Fourth child of Edward and Mary in 1864 of her mother Harriet, she has – in a loose sense – been adopted by Samuel and Jane. Samuel was born at Stoneyford in 1834 and baptised on 15 June 1834 in Hanley Child. A new home In 1881, Samuel and Jane are in a new home at 9 St Peter’s Street Traces in Tunbridge Wells. Samuel is still gardening, daughter Frances (16) In 1851, at the age of 16, Samuel is working locally at Hill Farm in is working as a dressmaker and his wife Jane has had two more Hanley Child. His employer is widow Ann Smith, a farmer of 180 children (Harriet, 8 and Clement, 7), both born in Tunbridge Wells. acres. Samuel is employed as a ‘cowman and groom’. Their ‘adopted’ daughter Matilda Harriet (now 26) is living elsewhere.

The next sighting we have of Samuel is in Park Street, Tunbridge Death of Samuel’s wife Jane JONES Wells, Kent where, in the 1861 Census, he is a lodger with the Two years later, Samuel’s wife Jane dies at the age of 52 in the MOON family. Samuel, now 26 and still single, is working as a December quarter of 1883. Her death is registered in Ticehurst in gardener. The rest of the household consists of three generations East Sussex, close to the county boundary with Kent and in the of the MOON family – Frances MOON (widow, 63, matron by county of her birth. profession), Harriet Emma MOON (married daughter, 23, invalid) and Matilda Harriet MOON (granddaughter, 6). Keeping it in the family Samuel marries again (December qtr 1887, Tonbridge, Vol. 2a, Samuel’s marriage to Jane MOON Charles’ legacy p.1180). His new wife is 32 years old and has known Samuel (now One year later (June qtr 1862), in the district of Tonbridge*, Kent, His son Charles junior has left the cemetery behind. Now aged of the entertainment business at the beginning of the 1920s. He is 53) virtually all her life. She is Matilda Harriet MOON who, sixteen Samuel marries Jane MOON. Jane, who was baptised on 16 43, he is an electrical repair man living in Wilmington Ward 7, New a ‘lantern operator in a moving picture theatre’. And, to show that life years previously, had been his ‘adopted’ daughter. October 1831 in Frant, Sussex, the daughter of George and Castle, Delaware with his wife Margaret and their two sons (17-year- really does go on, they have a 15-month-old daughter Margaret M Frances MOON, appears to be another daughter of Samuel’s old paper mill worker David Nolan and 11-year-old W Lewis). What’s Wright, great-granddaughter of Charles senior. The entire household 1891: New home, new children landlady. more, their daughter Ella has returned. She is now married to is part of the legacy of Charles Jones, born 1832 in Tenbury, The 1891 Census shows that Samuel and family have moved again, Leonard C Wright whose job description evokes all the excitement Worcestershire, literally a lifetime ago. this time 3 miles westwards to Rusthall New Town in the parish of *Tonbridge is the registration district for Tunbridge Wells. Speldhurst, close to the county boundary with Sussex, where they are living at 3 Poplar Cottages. Samuel’s census trail 1871-1891 Subsequent censuses reveal Samuel’s increasingly complex Samuel (now a gardener and domestic servant) and his wife Matilda relationships with female members of the MOON family. share their new home with four children from his first marriage. They are Frances (26, single, dressmaker), Harriet (18, single), Clement By 1871, Samuel and Jane (37 and 39 years old, respectively) (17) and, presumably the last child of his first wife, Edmund C Jones have three children of their own – Frances Mary (6), George Edward (6). (4) and Adelaide Caroline (2), all born in Tunbridge Wells. Their first names have been taken from close relatives in the MOON family, Samuel and his second wife have a son, Earl Percy*, aged 3 years. their middle names from those in the JONES family. There is also an infant in the household, one month old Edwin M Jones, who is described as Samuel’s grandson and has to be the Above: Marriage certificate for William Harris and Caroline Jones, bearing Another member of the household is also described as a daughter. illegitimate child of Frances or, possibly, Harriet. All the children were the signature of Charles Jones as witness to his sister’s marriage on 6 She is 16-year-old Matilda Harriet MOON (born in St. John’s born in Tunbridge Wells. November 1873 at the Chapel of Hanley Child *On his birth record, Earl Percy, born March qtr 1888 is registered Full circle JOHN JONES (1837-1925) as Percy Earl Jones (Tonbridge, Vol. 2a, p.682). So when Matilda isn’t working as a monthly nurse, she is almost certainly living at the same address as her son Percy and Elder brother of Caroline Elizabeth PITT, related by marriage to John and William’s mother Death of Samuel stepdaughter Frances. The descendants of the Sussex MOON Fifth child of Edward and Mary Mary (née PITT). Elizabeth has four children, the eldest of whom Samuel died on 12 February 1899 aged 64. The cause of death family have reunited and returned to their roots. Like the moon itself, (William, 22) is – fittingly for the Black Country – a coal miner. was gastric ulcer haematemesis (vomiting of blood). H. Tapp, son- the MOONs have come full circle. John was born at Stoneyford in April 1837 and baptised on 21 May in-law, was present at the death. 1871 Census 1837 in Hanley Child. John has left the Black Country and seems to have disappeared Matilda’s life after Samuel into a Black Hole. After persevering, we catch up with him in Wyson Traces 1841-1851 When Matilda married Samuel in 1887, she would have hoped that Lane, Brimfield, Herefordshire. By a strange coincidence, Sarah We first find John at the age of four with his family at Stoneyford in marriage would bring her some degree of security. Samuel’s death ROBOTHAM (née HARRIS, b.1823) and her spade tree-making the 1841 Census. Ten years later and aged 13*, he is the eldest at the relatively young age of 64 could not have come at a worse husband James are neighbours in Wyson Lane, Brimfield. of the children still at home. His younger siblings are William (9), time for her. George (7), Edmund (4) and Caroline (1). There is no sign of his John’s marriage to Mary WARD brother Thomas (b.1839). At the time of Samuel’s death, Matilda would have been around 43 John married Mary WARD in the June quarter of 1865 (Tenbury, years old. She had at least one young child to take care of. Percy Vol. 6c, p.325). Mary, who was born in 1842, appears in the *The 1851 Census was conducted on 30 March. Although the would have been only eleven years old when his father died. So previous 1861 Census as the 19-year-old niece of Elizabeth WARD, transcript gives John’s age as 12, closer inspection of the original how did Matilda cope? innkeeper of the Roebuck Inn in Brimfield where Mary was employed census return shows his age to be 13. In fact, he was coming up as a domestic servant. By 1871, they are still without children, but to his fourteenth birthday. So his age of 4 as stated in the 1841 Monthly nurse have two lodgers for company and extra income. Census is correct. That’s because the census of that year was For our next glimpse of Matilda’s life as a widow, we have to go to Samuel’s first place of work - Hill Farm in Hanley Child where he was conducted later in the year on 6 June 1841. the Sussex coastal resort of Eastbourne in 1901. Now 46, Matilda is employed as a cowman and groom - before starting his new life as living-in with the Banfield family at 130 Ashford Road. a gardener in Kent, the so-called Garden of England Blacksmith By 1861 John has left the district. The task of tracking down a Matilda Jones is described as a widow and servant. The service John Jones looked daunting. But we got lucky. We found him she provides is that of monthly nurse. The clue as to what this living as a boarder in Kingswinford, Staffordshire. He is described means lies in the age of the youngest member of the Banfield family: as an unmarried blacksmith, aged 24*, born in ‘Hanley’ [Child], Dorothy Banfield is only nine days old. As a monthly nurse, Matilda’s Worcestershire. duties involve attending to the mother during the first month after childbirth. *As the 1861 Census was conducted on 7 April, we can narrow down John’s date of birth to the first week of April 1837. What happened to Percy Jones? We didn’t have to look far to find young Percy. Just a few hundred But that’s not all. There’s another boarder in the house, a 19-year- yards across town, in fact. He is living with the family of Henry old carpenter/joiner, also born in Hanley, by the name of William The Roebuck Inn, Brimfield where John Jones met Mary Ward HEALEY (33, baker and corn dealer’s manager) at 8 Church Street. JONES. It’s John’s younger brother. There’s a visitor present , too – Still childless the Jones boys’ pal from Hanley, 22-year-old William BUCKINS, also Percy, now 13, is a market gardener. His relationship to the head of Until after the turn of the century, John and Mary remain in a carpenter/joiner. Maybe he has come to celebrate John’s birthday! the household is defined as ‘nephew’. Mr Healey’s wife was born Brimfield. Still childless, they continue to take in lodgers (including in Tunbridge Wells and her name is Frances M Healey. Now, does So how have John and William ended up on the fringe of the Black fellow blacksmiths and even spade tree makers) alongside John’s her first name ring a bell? Yes, Frances M (now 36) is Samuel’s Country? Well, there would be plenty of work available for skilled blacksmith business. But from around 1890, they welcome a new dressmaker daughter from his first marriage. The MOON family craftsmen in this thriving district. But there’s another reason why kind of boarder. In 1891, they are looking after a one-year old. She support system has come to the rescue of Percy and his widowed they are here. Their landlady is ‘family’. She is 50-year-old widow, is Edith MAUND, born in Richard’s Castle, Shropshire. mother. Ten years later, at the age of 64, blacksmith John is slowing down. He no longer works for himself, but as a ‘worker’ or employee. Young Edith MAUND, now eleven years old, is back as a ‘visitor’. Or has she been here all the time? We suspect the latter.

A quick detour..

Although not central to the story of the Jones family, we are intrigued By the way.. by what appears to be a cover-up. So we requested young Edith Edith’s mother Esther married around four years after Edith’s birth MAUND’s birth and marriage certificates in the hope that these (June qtr 1893, Ludlow, Vol. 6a, p.1148b). One would like to think would shed some light on her story. that she visited her love child at the Jones’ home in Brimfield. But Victorian attitudes may just as easily have kept her away. Edith’s birth certificate Edith was born on 27 August 1889 in Woofferton, Richard’s Castle, less than a mile north of Brimfield on today’s A49. Her mother was Esther MAUND, a 33-year-old unmarried domestic servant living in Woofferton.

Several MAUND families lived close to John and Mary Jones in Wyson Lane who would have been aware of their childless situation and their willingness to take in young Edith, perhaps in return for payment rather than as an informal adoption.

Edith’s marriage certificate On 8 December 1909, in the Parish Church of Brimfield, Edith MAUND (21) married Wallace Wilfred PUGH, a 25-year-old sawyer’s labourer, son of blacksmith William PUGH.

One of the witnesses was Dinah Amelia MAUND (21), nicknamed Minny by her parents Alfred MAUND of Woofferton and Dinah (née BREAKWELL) of Eastham. The fact that Minny attended Edith’s wedding as a witness is proof that the MAUND family kept in touch with Edith throughout the time she was growing up with John and Mary Jones.

Up until the day of her marriage, Edith’s illegitimacy was a closely guarded secret. To the census enumerator, she was a boarder or a visitor. The secret was out when the registrar asked Edith for her father’s name and occupation. He could only enter two dashes.

Birth certificate for Edith MAUND, b. 27 August 1889 Back to John and Mary JONES..

Death of John’s wife Mary Mary died a few months after the 1901 Census at the age of 59 (September qtr 1901, Tenbury, Vol. 6c, p.126). Sadly, she was not to be present at the wedding in 1909 of the young girl she had reared for the first twelve years of her life.

Family support for widower John In those days, the surviving partner of childless couples who are parted by death would often look to the families of their siblings for support. True, in the case of the Jones family, several had either emigrated or already passed on. John was fortunate. He had a caring, younger sister close by – Caroline HARRIS (née JONES) who married our William HARRIS in 1873.

So in 1911 we find John, widower and blacksmith, back at Stoneyford – the house in which he was born 74 years previously. Apart from 61-year-old Caroline and 57-year-old William (carpenter and farmer), the household includes 21-year-old Lucy Harris

(farmer’s daughter) and 16-year-old, Rochford-born Reginald Locks Cottage, located just off the A456 between Brimfield and MILWARD whose job description has a Wild West ring to it – Tenbury Wells ‘cowboy’.

Death of John JONES For 36 years husband of Mary, for 24 years a widower, John JONES died on 15 March 1925 at The Locks Cottage, Brimfield, Herefordshire. He was 88. Bronchitis is given as the cause of death..

The current owner of this attractive and historic property explained that the Leominster to Stourport () Canal alongside which Locks Cottage was built went out of use 140 years ago and has since been filled in.

Marriage certificate of Edith MAUND and Wallace Wilfred PUGH Caring for elderly family Ethel’s story members Take Ethel’s case. Ethel HOMER (née HARRIS) lost her husband Harry to cancer in October 1964, leaving her to bring up their two For generations, the task of caring for the elderly has fallen to their We are sure Caroline and many others willingly gave their support young daughters. When her mother Nellie was widowed less than extended family. As we have seen in our Harris story to date, there to family members in need at a time when few options existed. But three years later, Ethel did not hesitate to welcome her in her home are many instances of daughters and other female relatives who there are instances where, even as we approached the 21st century in Great Barr. Nellie spent four happy years here until her health were expected to bear the burden of care. when other alternatives were available, female siblings were put under pressure to act as carers. Often taken for granted, they were started to deteriorate. She moved to Quinton where her eldest daughter Vera cared for her until shortly before her death in 1975 at Four centuries ago, estate workers who had no family to fall back prevented from leading a life of their own. the age of 94. on could qualify for an almshouse or pauper’s cottage built by the estate owners under the provisions of the English Poor Law Some years later, Ethel received a letter from her elder sister Olive of 1601. The owners of Kyre Park Estate, for example, built Pytts and brother-in-law Herbert GOULD who had spent their married Cottages (also known as Kyre Hospital), a row of almshouses to life in Dorset. Olive and Herbert, whose marriage had remained accommodate ‘widows of the estate’. Its former occupants include childless, wrote that they expected to move in with her as was ‘the James Harris’ widow Susannah who died in 1894. right’ of elder siblings. Olive (born 1909) was eleven years older than Ethel (born 1920). The parishes also did their best with limited resources. Following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, groups of individual parishes At the time, Ethel was leading a busy life providing accommodation formed Poor Law Unions which offered an alternative – the Union for students from Aston University in addition to working at a local Workhouse. This was the last resort – one used by John Harris supermarket. So Ethel turned from landlady enjoying the company of (b.1821) who died in Tenbury Union Workhouse in 1908. young, independent persons to carer for an elderly, more dependent couple. Meanwhile, the are a thing of the past, and the Ethel at 10 years of age (Upper Sapey, 1930) extended family has remained the preferred option for elderly care until the present day. The earliest example we have dates from 1841 when Elizabeth GARBETT (née HARRIS) cared for her 75-year- Her new guests paid her modestly, assuring her “You’ll be alright old uncle Thomas HARRIS in Grendon Bishop, Herefordshire. A when we’re gone”. Ethel cared for them for ten years until Ethel generation later, James Harris’ widowed mother Elizabeth (née herself was approaching her 80th birthday. Olive outlived her MATTHEWS) was looked after by her son John in Hanley Child. In husband Herbert and was persuaded by her solicitor to alter her will. the following generation, William Harris’ wife Caroline took in her As a result, Ethel did not receive a penny. widowed brother John JONES. And, in the next, William himself was cared for, first, by his daughter Lucy at Upper House in Orleton, Ethel celebrated her 90th birthday in 2010 and is the sole surviving then by his daughter-in-law Nellie (née GRAVES) until his death in sibling. She now has her own home and her own life back. 1944. In fact, Nellie also cared for her mother Charlotte GRAVES (née TWINBERROW) at Hanley Cottage in Broadheath for most of Today, due to increased life expectancy, smaller families and the the 1930s until Charlotte moved to Dudley to spend the last years of scarcity of affordable places in residential homes, the problem of her life with her son Frederick TWINBERROW and his second wife elderly care is as acute as ever. Ethel (née SEWELL). The home of Nellie’s daughter, Vera Hall (née HARRIS) in Holly Road, Quinton, was also a welcome refuge for Ted Ethel on her 90th birthday (Birmingham, 2010) TINGLE following the death in Birmingham of his wife Mollie (née GRAVES) who was Nellie’s sister and Vera’s favourite aunt. MARY JONES (1838-1838) THOMAS JONES (1839-1905)

Elder sister of Caroline Elder brother of Caroline Sixth child of Edward and Mary Seventh child of Edward and Mary

Mary was born in January 1838 in Hanley Child. Thomas was born at Stoneyford Cottage on 3 May 1839 and baptised in Hanley Child on 26 May 1839*. Named after her mother Ten years after the birth of her first daughter Ann (who bore the *The baptism record does not show up in the transcript. It is easily forename of her maternal grandmother), Mary gave birth to her overlooked in the original handwritten record as the registrar has second daughter and, in keeping with tradition, named her after erroneously entered the name James, subsequently deleting this herself. and writing Thomas above in fainter ink.

Death in infancy Traces In a tragic repeat of her first daughter’s early death at the age of 5 Thomas makes his first appearance in the 1841 Census when he years, Mary’s second daughter failed to survive for more than a few is two years old. He is at Stoneyford with his parents and several days. Mary junior died in January 1838 in Hanley Child and was All Saints Church, Hanley William, where Mary was buried as St. siblings as already mentioned. In 1851, at the age of 12, he is buried on 10 January 1838 at All Saints Church in Hanley William. Michael’s in Hanley Child did not have burial rights at this time. working as a servant/agricultural labourer at Cleobury Lodge in Neen Savage, near in Shropshire. His employer is Edward WOOTTON, a farmer of 250 acres employing 3 men. From 1861, Thomas disappears from the scene.

Thanks to Edwina.. Thanks to Edwina Smith of St. Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia, we have been able to fill in the gaps. We ‘met’ Edwina on ancestry.

co.uk when she put out feelers for anyone connected with her own Thomas Jones as a young man around 1870 JONES family tree. We told her of our connection through William’s wife Caroline and sent her a photograph of Stoneyford in Hanley Child where Thomas was born and where Caroline gave birth to In 1851 and 1861 her father Edward was a farmer of 16 acres her eight children. In return, Edwina has generously provided the at Maidenhead Farm House in Humber, Hereford and in 1871 a following photographs as well as collaborating with us on the stories castrator/farmer. In 1881, following the death of his wife Ann, he of other siblings of Caroline HARRIS née JONES. has returned to Stoke Prior, his birthplace where he is boarding in the Blacksmith’s Shop, home of his brother William. Edward’s other Thomas’ marriage to Sarah GRIFFITHS daughter, Mary Ann, is William’s housekeeper. Now 69, Edward has Thomas JONES is Edwina’s great-grandfather. Thomas married given up farming but has added another string to his bow. He is now Sarah GRIFFITHS on 16 March 1870 at the Congregational Church a castrator and vet. in Leominster, Hereford. At the time of their marriage Thomas was

working as a gardener and living at Buckfield, Leominster. In 1861, nine years before her marriage to Thomas JONES, 20-year- old Sarah was working as a dressmaker while living at Green Farm Sarah was born on 2 January 1841 in Stoke Prior, Hereford, the in Felton, Herefordshire with the family of John HILL, a farmer of 228 daughter of Edward GRIFFITHS and Ann née GREEN who married in acres. By the time she married Thomas in 1870 Sarah had moved Leominster in 1840. to School Lane in Leominster and was employed as a milliner. Watercolour portrait (possibly a hand- coloured studio photograph) of Thomas, Marriage certificate for Thomas Jones and Sarah Griffiths dated Sarah and baby Thomas Edwin Jones, 16 March 1870 c. 1876 Employment Thomas Jones (1839-1905) and his wife Sarah (1841-1922) Thomas senior first found employment as a gardener and later outside their home at 150 Eveleigh Street, Redfern, New worked on the railway in Sydney until his retirement. South Wales c. 1890s

Death of Thomas senior Thomas died in 1905 at his home in Eveleigh Street, Redfern. The cause of death was stated as ‘chronic interstitial nephritis and uraemia’*. His wife Sarah died on 11 April 1922 in Newtown, NSW at the age of 81.

*Interstitial nephritis means inflammation within the kidneys. Uraemia is defined as excessive amounts of urea in the blood, leading to kidney failure

Thomas Jones senior c. 1900 Thomas’ legacy: Another Tom Jones Thomas Edwin and his wife Alvina Jane were doubly blessed. First, Emigration to Australia they produced five healthy children - Harold, Donald, Gordon, Thomas and Sarah set off for New South Wales, Australia in the year Barbara and Raymond – all of whom survived well into their adult of their marriage (1870). They had five children, only two of whom years. And they were spared the pain of a single infant death. survived. They were Edwina’s grandfather, Thomas Edwin JONES (sign writer), born 4 April 1873 in Chippendale, NSW and his sister Mary Ann, born 1879 in Redfern, NSW.

Infant deaths Thomas and Sarah suffered the pain of the loss of three children in infancy. Edward, the first-born, was born on 11 February 1871 in Sydney and died on 28 November 1871 in Marrickville, NSW at the age of 9 months and 16 days. The cause of Edward’s death was diarrhoea.

William Stanley was born on 11 January 1875 and died on 13 February 1876 at the age of 1 year and 1 month. The cause of William Stanley’s death was debility following scarlatina. A second William Stanley was born on 22 January 1878 at 150 Eveleigh Street in Redfern. He died on 19 September 1878 at the age of 8 months. The cause of death was convulsions.

The family’s first decade Down Under had been a tough one. Fortunately, their fifth and last child, Mary Ann, born in 1879, went Thomas Edwin Jones (1873-1961) and his wife Alvina Jane née on to live a full life, marrying Edmund Joseph Osborne in Sydney in BOYLE (1873-1951), grandparents of our cyber-friend Edwina 1901. Smith, around the time of their marriage in 1899 A pre-automotive era view of Redfern Railway Station (Source: Wikipedia Commons) WILLIAM JONES (1842-1912) The family is still on the High Street, two doors away from the Lion Hotel. William and Martha’s son Edward (35), now a carpenter and joiner, is sandwiched between William’s home and the Lion Hotel Elder brother of Caroline a successful business locally. Already, he is established as a builder with his wife Beatrice (35) from Craven Arms, Shropshire. Edward Eighth child of Edward and Mary and is living on Leintwardine’s High Street. is poised and well prepared to take over the running of his father’s business in the 20th century. William was born at Stoneyford Cottage and baptised in Hanley 1891: Builder and pump maker Child on 13 February 1842. William’s career has gone from strength to strength. Now 49 years 1911: Taking a back seat old, he is a builder and pump maker*. The pumps were probably Now aged 69, William has taken a back seat in the family business Recap well pumps for lifting the water from wells drilled on the land of he built up. He has now reverted to his original craft, that of In 1851, we found William at home in Stoneyford Cottage along with farmers in the area. His sons Edward (25) and Benjamin (16) are carpenter. He and his wife Martha (now 72) are still at their home his elder brother John. In the following census (1861), we found him both in the building trade. And he and Martha have a sixth son, (Waterloo House) on the High Street in Leintwardine which they with John again – this time in Kingswinford, Staffordshire, lodging in Roland (8), born in Leintwardine. share with their son Harry Frederick Jones, a ‘jobbing gardener’ the home of Elizabeth PITT. So let’s move on to 1871 and pick up who, although still single at 39, married Ann RUDD in 1918. his story from there. *William had made his mark as early as 1876, appearing in Littlebury’s Directory and Gazetteer of Herefordshire 1876-7 in which William’s eldest son Edward (now carpenter, joiner and employer) 1871: Carpenter in Kent he is listed as a builder and pump maker. and his wife Beatrice (still childless at 45) remain next door at No. 2 We track William down to a far-flung corner of England we have Waterloo House. been to before with William’s elder brother Samuel – the county of 1901: Builder and contractor Kent. At the age of 59, William is taking on bigger jobs as a builder and Meanwhile Roland has married and has turned his back on the contractor. His son Benjamin (25) is a carpenter, while the youngest, building trades, working as an ‘assistant clothier’ in Ludlow. His William (29) is still using his carpentry skills and is now married. His Roland (18), is learning the ropes the hard way, working as a wife of four years, Sarah Jane (née PRICE), has already presented wife is Martha HARROD (32, born in Fairlight, Sussex). They had ‘navvy on the Birmingham Waterway’. Just as his sister Caroline William with two granddaughters, Florence Minnie (3) and Clara married in 1865 in the district of Hastings, Sussex and have wasted HARRIS (née JONES) brought up her children and grandchildren to Price JONES (1), both born in Ludlow, soon to be followed in quick no time in starting a family. They already have three sons – Edward appreciate the value of hard graft and discipline, William didn’t use succession by Elsie (1911), Georgina (1912) and Thomas (1913). (5), William (3) and Herbert (1) – all born in Margate where the family his success to featherbed his own children. is now living at 13 Grotte Cottages. Death of William JONES William died on 18 July 1912 aged 70 at Waterloo House in 1881: Builder in Herefordshire Leintwardine, Herefordshire. Eldest son Edward (now living at The While his brother Samuel was content to spend the rest of his life Hollies in Leintwardine) was in attendance. ‘Senile decay’ was in his adopted county of Kent, William clearly missed his family and stated as the cause of death. William’s wife Martha died nine years the familiar landscape of the Worcestershire, Herefordshire and later in 1921 at the age of 81. Shropshire borders.

In 1881, we find William in the village that his elder brother Charles left in 1874 to seek his fortune in the USA – Leintwardine. Although within the county of Herefordshire, Leintwardine is in the registration district of Ludlow, Shropshire.

No. 1 Waterloo House on Leintwardine’s High Street, occupied William and Martha have two more sons, Harry (8) and Benjamin (6), by William and his wife, now serves as the village Post Office. both born in Leintwardine, revealing that William’s family had arrived The Lion Hotel is adjacent to the bridge over the in the village before Charles left for the USA. But whereas Charles (left). left Leintwardine to build a future elsewhere, William stayed and built GEORGE JONES (1843-1917)

Elder brother of Caroline Bodenhams Ninth child of Edward and Mary The stunning half-timbered building occupied by the traditional gents outfitters Bodenhams was built as a clothes shop in 1405 and has George was born on 6 November at Stoneyford and baptised on 26 remained a shop for all of its 600-plus years. November 1843 in Hanley Child. Reunited Traces 1851-1881 Ten years later, in 1901, the family is reunited in Richards Castle, George’s census trail begins at Stoneyford Cottage in 1851. George Shropshire. Richards Castle lies midway between Wigmore where is 7 years old. His youngest sibling Caroline, later to become Mrs we last found them in 1881 and Brimfield in Herefordshire where William HARRIS, also makes her census debut. In 1861, George George’s brother John is plying his trade as a blacksmith. George is in Wolferlow, Hereford, working as a servant in the household of (57) and his wife Mary Ann (55) are still farming – this time with the John DREW, a farmer of 360 acres who employs six men and one support of their son Arthur (still single at 29). boy. George’s occupation is described as ‘ cow boy’. Arthur’s move to Richards Castle would prove to be a good one By 1871, George has moved to The Vicarage in Kinton, as it was here that he met his future wife. Five years later, in the Leintwardine where he is a general servant to the Rev. Edward J December quarter of 1906, he married Martha HANCOCKS, a local Green, vicar of Leintwardine. George is already married. His wife school assistant who was born in the nearby village of Overton, the Mary (born at White Cross, Hereford*) is a fellow servant, working as daughter of John and Susannah Hancocks. a cook. In 1911, following his marriage to Martha in 1906, we find Arthur *White Cross is a district of Bridstow, near Ross-on-Wye. (now 39) back in Ludlow and back in the rag trade as a clothier’s Meanwhile, grandfather George JONES (67) and his wife Mary Ann manager at 6 High Street, Ludlow. He and Martha (35) have been (66) are going it alone at Mitnell Farm in Richards Castle. The 1911 The Vicarage, by the way, is next door to Harp Cottages where blessed with their first child (now 3 years old), named George after census return tells us that, during their 40-year marriage, they had George’s brother Charles and his second wife Emma are living prior his grandfather. Martha’s parents are still in Overton (at Property No. had two children, one of whom had died. to their emigration to the USA in 1874. So three of the Jones boys 7 in the schedule) along with their 32-year-old bachelor son Arthur. (Charles, William and George) have made Leintwardine their home. Of 17th century construction In the course of restoration work by the present owners, Tim and Career-wise, George appears to be at the start of an upward curve Rosemary HARRAL, the original beam over the fireplace was in 1881. He has left the role of servant behind and has become uncovered showing that Mitnell Farm House dates back to 1674 his own man as a farmer of 30 acres in the parish of Wigmore in when it was built by TB (thought to be Thomas BESSANT) for RS Hereford. He and Mary have also produced an heir, Arthur Jones (9), (thought to be Richard SOLWAY). born in Leintwardine.

Death of George JONES Traces 1891-1911 George died at The Villa in Richards Castle on 1 July 1917. So far, we have failed to track down George and Mary’s Described as a retired farmer, he was 73. The cause of death was whereabouts in 1891. However, we did succeed in locating their ‘locomotor ataxia’. His son Arthur George Jones of 6-7 High Street, son Arthur in Ludlow, Shropshire. Aged 19, he has found both work Ludlow was the informant. as a draper’s apprentice and accommodation with the Bodenham family on Gravel Hill in the parish of East Hamlet, Ludlow. Mitnell Farm House, Mitnell Lane, Richards Castle EDMUND JONES (1846-1918) Back to Somerset By 1891, now aged 44, Edmund has returned to Somerset with his family. They are living in East Street, Martock. Much has changed Elder brother of Caroline since we last saw them. Edward Charles (who would now be 13) Tenth child of Edward and Mary is working nearby as a butcher’s assistant, while Edmund and Elizabeth have three more children – Percival (5), Florence (2) and Edmund was born in 1846 at Stoneyford Cottage and baptised on Harry (1). And Edmund has a career which will require all of his 26 October 1846 in Hanley Child. social skills – innkeeper. He is the landlord of The Nags Head.

Traces 1851-1861 We know from the birth certificate of their youngest child Harry Edmund was just four years old at the time of the 1851 Census and Frederick JONES that, at the time of his birth on 31 January had already left home by 1861. At the age of 14, he was earning 1890, Edmund was working as a butler, his wife Elizabeth as a his living as a ‘carter boy’ at The Parsonage, a farm (later also used domestic servant in Kingsdon – probably for the new occupants The Glamorganshire Clubhouse as a ) on the Kyre Park Estate. The Parsonage is of The Mansion where Edmund had been previously employed as adjacent to Kyre Hospital (Pytts Cottages) and Kyre Park, the manor a footman by William NEAL. So Edmund’s move into the licensed Edmund’s youngest son Harry Frederick (now 11) is at school, while house of the estate. So Edmund had arrived close to the HQ of one victuallers’ trade would have taken place around one year ago at the Percival (14) is employed as a ‘garden boy’. Their future is looking of the area’s main landowners and employers. The experience of most. brighter. mixing, from an early age, with people from all walks of life would stand him in good stead for the rest of his working life. Death of Edmund’s wife Elizabeth The Glamorganshire Golf Club, as it is now known, was founded Just as Edmund was settling in to his new career as ‘mine host’ and in 1890. One of its club members was Dr. Frank Barney Gordon The best social circles the family into their new life in Somerset, they were devastated by Stableford who devised and gave his name to the golf scoring In 1871, at the age of 24, Edmund has set his sights high. As a Parsonage Farm today – still very much a working farm the loss of wife and mother Elizabeth at the age of 42 in early 1892. method used, especially by amateur golfers, the world over. good mixer, he is mingling with the best social circles – albeit in Edmund was left with five children, three of whom were aged only 2, a modest capacity. He is a footman at The Mansion in Kingsdon, 4, Netley Street, St Pancras. Edmund gives his occupation as 3 and 6 years. 1911 Census Somerset, home of magistrate and landowner William NEAL. It’s a ‘gentleman’s servant’ and that of his father Edward as ‘farmer’. By 1911, Edmund (now 64) has done well enough to retire earlier career move which, some years later, may have inspired his nephew Elizabeth’s father Jeremiah, a farm labourer, had died in Hingham Marriage to Caroline PREECE than most. And, since there’s no place like home, that’s where he George Clement HARRIS, son of Edmund’s sister Caroline. three years previously at the age of 68. Both witnesses are from While visiting relatives in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, Edmund and his wife Caroline (now 42) have headed. They are living at The Elizabeth’s side of the family - Charles and Emma THURSTON. met his second wife. She was Caroline PREECE, born 1868 in Tolley in (between Tenbury and Brimfield). Edmund’s move to London Stoke Bliss, the daughter of William and Margaret PREECE. Edmund By 1881, Edmund is proving that he possesses both social and Following their marriage, Edmund may have been required to leave and Caroline married in the June quarter of 1896 (Tenbury, Vol. 6c, geographical mobility, having moved to London. We find Edmund the employ of the NEAL family or, at best, continue to work for them, p.373). Edmund was 50, his bride 28 years old. at 54 Cornwall Road, Kensington and he is now married. His wife although not on a live-in basis. is Elizabeth née THURSTON (b. 1848 in Hingham, Norfolk), the The perfect job in the perfect place daughter of Jeremiah and Ann THURSTON. The 1881 Census tells us that Edmund and Elizabeth have two Edmund and Caroline have a sound basis for a good life together sons, Edward Charles (3)* and Sidney (2), both born in Kensington. in the early 20th century. Through his innkeeping experience and his The reason for Edmund’s move to London appears to lie in the There is also a visitor present – Edmund’s 14-year-old nephew ability to get on with people at all levels, Edmund has landed the decision taken by his wealthy employer William NEAL to up-sticks George JONES, son of his brother Samuel who has settled in Kent. perfect job in the perfect place. and take his family and retinue of servants from the West Country to And although he is himself a member of the servant class, Edmund their new home at No. 7 Park Crescent in Marylebone. is sufficiently comfortably off to employ a domestic servant. He is the steward of Penarth Golf Club and the family’s home is the Clubhouse on the golf course. Penarth is a coastal resort, a short Marriage to Elizabeth THURSTON *We shall be meeting up again with Edward Charles JONES at a distance from Cardiff in South Wales, which affords splendid views Edmund and Elizabeth had married at St James Church in St much later stage in his life back in Hanley William, Worcestershire in across the Bristol Channel towards Somerset, Edmund’s home in a Pancras on 3 August 1876. At the time, they were both living at 1947. previous life. The Church of St Mary Magdalene in Little Hereford Birth certificate of Harry Frederick Jones, b. 31 January 1890 Death certificate for Edmund Jones, d. 4 October 1918 Boarding house keeper From the parental details supplied in the marriage certificate of 7. his son Edward Charles Jones, we learn that Edmund earned his living in later years as a ‘boarding house keeper’. Located in the Siblings of scenically attractive and sparsely populated rural district of Little Hereford, The Tolley was perhaps what we would now call a guest Edward James Harris house or B&B. (1874-1967)

Death of Edmund JONES

Edmund’s career, and indeed his life, ends on a quieter note. In his See Part One for an in-depth profile of Edward James Harris retirement, when he died at the age of 72 on 4 October 1918 at

Haynall Lane in Brimfield, he was working as a domestic gardener. Siblings of Edward James The cause of death was ‘general atheroma*, cardiac disease and George Clement (1875-1973) exhaustion’. Amy Beatrice (1876-1960) Edith Mary (1878-1974) *The term atheroma pertains to coronary artery disease caused by Arthur William (1881-1961) thickening of the arteries due to fatty deposits (cholesterol). Agnes Priscilla (1882-1967) Hubert Charles (1886-1961) The informant on the death certificate is ‘A. Bebb, sister-in-law, Lucy Sophia (1889-1974) present at the death’. She is Anne BEBB (née PREECE), elder sister of Edmund’s wife Caroline. Anne farms at The Pulpits in Little

Hereford. She has not had an easy life, having been left with six Edward James HARRIS: Quick recap children between the ages of 1 and 10 years when her husband Edward James HARRIS, born 27 August 1874 at Stoneyford John BEBB died in 1897 at the age of 40. Cottage and baptised on 3 September in Hanley Child, was the

eldest of eight children born to William HARRIS and Caroline (née Ted Harris c. 1900

Carrie, Ted and Harry JONES). ‘Ted’ was the only one of the eight to spend his entire life Edmund’s widow Caroline née PREECE continues to stay in close close to his Worcestershire roots. contact with both the JONES and HARRIS families. Over a decade after Edmund’s death, Caroline and her stepsons Ted and Harry Four of his siblings emigrated to Canada before WWI, while another JONES are among the mourners at her sister-in-law Caroline spent several years there after WWII. One spent the best part HARRIS’s funeral at Hanley Child Church following her death at of fifty years on England’s south coast. And another exchanged High House, Hanley William on 31 January 1929 at the age of rural Worcestershire for the industrial north-east immediately after 79. How do we know this? Under the headline “THE LATE MRS marrying in Tenbury in 1910. C. HARRIS”, the Tenbury Wells Advertiser of Saturday 9 February 1929 covered the proceedings in some detail. So we know that Mr We know from Part One of our story the reasons behind their E Jones (nephew) and Mr H Jones (nephew) were among the chief decision to leave the land of their fathers. So who went where? How mourners and that a floral tribute was sent “with heartfelt sympathy did they earn their living? And did they ever return? We hope to from Carrie, Ted and Harry”. discover some of the answers in the following profiles, starting with Ted’s brother George Clement.

The service was conducted by the Rector, Rev T Bannister Jones, assisted by the Rev E E Lea, Rector of Eastham. Extract from the report in the Tenbury Wells Advertiser Ted Harris, 1949 on Mrs Caroline Harris’ passing GEORGE CLEMENT HARRIS (1875-1973)

Younger brother of Edward James Second child of William and Caroline

George Clement Harris was born on 2 October 1875 at Stoneyford and baptised on 22 October 1875 in Hanley Child.

While his elder brother’s first names (Edward James) were chosen in honour of maternal grandfather Edward JONES and paternal grandfather James HARRIS, George is named after one of his maternal uncles, George JONES. Like Edward, George appears for the first time in our tree. Unlike Edward and George, Clement appears for the first and, so far, the last time. George Clement Harris

Five Harris siblings meet Traces 1881-1906 carpentry and wheelwright work were not George’s forte. But he had up in Toronto, June 1952 Our first encounter with George is in the first census to take place other strengths, like intelligence, adaptability and, as he would later Left to right: Lucy, Hubert, (1881) after the marriage of his parents in November 1873. William display, engineering and entrepreneurial skills. Agnes, George, Edith and Caroline have not been slow to fill Stoneyford with the sound of children – five of them, to be precise. At five years of age, George is In 1891, we find George taking his first steps in the outside world. the second eldest after Edward James (6), followed by Amy Beatrice His place of work is Mount Cottage on the Sutton Road in Tenbury (4), Edith Mary (3) and Arthur William (three months). where he is one of three servants to the family of solicitor Francis PRESTON. His duties are those of ‘page’. As such, he would By the age of fifteen, George has left home. In those days, children have to possess the social graces required to greet visitors in this were not expected to outstay their welcome. First, there was the professional environment as well as running errands and conveying pressure on living space. By 1891, three more children had come messages to local clients. into the world at Stoneyford – Agnes Priscilla, Hubert Charles and Lucy Sophia. Second, they were expected to be self-supporting The experience would prove useful in preparing young, upwardly unless they could actively contribute to the father’s business. Maybe mobile George for his future career moves, including that of secretary at Highley Manor in Balcombe, Sussex where George was working when he married his wife Agnes.

Where was George in 1901? We failed to discover George’s whereabouts in the UK at the time of the 1901 Census. Was he perhaps on one of his early exploratory trips to Canada? One of the family stories circulating on this side of the Atlantic is that enterprising George worked his first passage to Canada as valet to the ship’s captain (Source: Vera Hall née Harris, Stoneyford Cottage where Ted 1904-1993). This certainly fits in with his persona and curriculum and his seven siblings were born Highley Manor is a 19th century country house set in 7.5 acres vitae to date, though we have no confirmation of this. between 1874 and 1889 of Sussex countryside near Haywards Heath The Harris-Browning Mini Tree

George Clement HARRIS Agnes ADAMS James ADAMS

née BROWNING Boot maker Engineer / Garage proprietor m. Woking, 31 Aug 1906 m. 1900, Guildford b. 2 Oct 1875, Stoneyford, Hanley Child b. Horsham, Sussex 1879 b. 1871, London d. 19 Dec 1973, Toronto, aged 98 d. Toronto, 5 Jun 1925 d. 1904, Reigate

Agnes Elizabeth William Pitt George Geoffrey Dorothy Edith James Marcus ADAMS

b. 27 Mar 1907 b. 22 Apr 1910 b. 7 Mar 1916 b. 29 Jul 1917 b. 1903 m. R Good 1933 m. Dorothy Fallon m. Alice A Hill m. Earl N Hancock m. Laura Breadner m. A Wilson 1962 d. 1960 d. 1982 d. 1981 d. 1976 d. 1992

Barbara E Good Wendy Lou Harris Susan Hancock Ruth Adams Frances R Good Janie Harris Joan Adams

Marriage Judging by their choice of names for their offspring, Agnes’ George was 30 years old when he married 27-year-old Agnes parents weren’t exactly conventional. Instead of choosing first ADAMS (née BROWNING) on 31 August 1906 at Christ Church in names which had a family connection, all eight children were given Woking, Surrey. George’s younger brother, Arthur William HARRIS, names beginning with the letter ‘A’ – Alice, Albert, Ada, Arthur, was one of the witnesses. Alfred, Agnes, Amos and Amy. Confusion must have reigned in the household when a letter arrived for Master or Miss A. Browning! Agnes’ family background Agnes was born on 12 March 1879 in Horsham, Sussex, the Agnes’ first marriage daughter of Mark BROWNING and Elizabeth (née JUPP). In 1881, Agnes had been married before. Her first husband was James her father Mark was a ‘farmer of 50 acres employing two men’. By ADAMS, a boot maker born in Marylebone, London. They married 1891, at a time when farmers throughout the country were finding in 1900 (Guildford, Vol. 2a, p.195) and had a child, James Marcus it difficult to make a living, he was a hay binder. In 1906, when his ADAMS, who was born in the June quarter of 1903 (Hendon, daughter Agnes married George, he was working as a gardener. Vol. 3a, p. 339). Agnes was widowed through the early death of her husband James at the age of 33 in the June quarter of 1904 (Reigate, Vol. 2a, p.101). Many years later, George’s granddaughter Wendy was told he had died in a motorcycle accident.

Marriage certificate for George Harris and Agnes Adams Birth of Bessie Arrival of Agnes’ sister Ada in Toronto George and Agnes’ first child, Agnes Elizabeth (Bessie), was born The example set by migrants who settled successfully in their on 27 March 1907 (Guildford, Vol. 2a, p.80). She was named chosen country often proved an inspiration to their friends and Agnes after her mother, of course, and Elizabeth after her maternal family. As we know, this happened with four of the HARRIS siblings. grandmother Elizabeth BROWNING (née JUPP). In 1912, it was also the case with Agnes’ sister Ada.

Checking out Canada Ada, born in Horsham, Sussex in 1873, was 5 years older than George had made at least one more reconnaissance trip to Canada Agnes. In 1901 Ada was employed as a cook at one of the great alone before the family emigrated together in 1908. The passenger historic schools of England – Charterhouse in Godalming, Surrey. list for the SS Victorian shows the arrival in Montreal on 15 June She married John Edward (Jack) HILLIER in Guildford, Surrey 1907 of George C. Harris, aged 32, who describes himself as a in 1903. They had one child, Hilda Ellen (later known as ‘Helen’ farm labourer. George would have given this as his occupation HILLIER), born in late 1909 at Ada’s parental home in Horsham. Two simply because farm workers were particularly sought after by the years later, the HILLIER family followed in the footsteps of Agnes and Canadian authorities at this time. George’s journey took place shortly emigrated to Canada. after Bessie’s birth and served as a means of finding employment for

himself and preparing a nest for his family. They arrived in St John, New Brunswick on 17 February 1912 on the SS Empress of Ireland. Jack was 39, Ada 38, their daughter Canada here we come! Helen just over 2 years old. Their destination is Toronto where George returns to England having achieved his objective. When Jack, a gardener by trade, hopes to find work in the same line of the family emigrates for good, arriving in Montreal on board the business. Having the support of relatives who are already well SS Corsican on 26 April 1908, George has a job waiting for him settled in and know the ropes, it is not long before Jack finds in Toronto as a chauffeur. He is accompanied by his wife and two employment as a gardener with the City of Toronto. children*, having adopted – formally or otherwise – his stepson

James. Bridesmaid Ada and Jack HILLIER’s daughter Helen was a bridesmaid at Bess *Agnes Elizabeth (Bessie) is 1 year and James 4 years old. HARRIS’s marriage to Ralph GOOD in 1933. Helen was a dedicated and much respected school teacher, remaining single until – to Birth of William Pitt (Willie) everyone’s surprise – marrying in her early sixties. George’s first son, William Pitt Harris, was born on 22 April 1910. While Bessie’s forenames honoured Agnes’ mother and maternal grandmother, Willie was named after his paternal grandfather and the maiden name of his maternal grandmother. The folks back home must have been delighted.

Chauffeur The original, handwritten birth record tells us that Willie was born at 279 Howland Avenue in Toronto. The father’s occupation is stated as chauffeur. The record also tells us that George and Agnes were married in England on 31 August 1906. However, when asked

whether the mother has been married more than once, the box is Helen HILLIER, daughter of George’s sister-in-law Ada née An informal snapshot of Agnes taken in England prior to the left discreetly blank. BROWNING and Jack HILLIER who were inspired by George and family’s emigration in 1908 and one studio portrait, probably Agnes to follow them to Canada in 1912 dating from after their arrival in Toronto First trip home Next stop: SE England his timing was impeccable, too. Before WWI was over, George and Towards the end of Part One of our story, we made a brief mention After sharing the laughter and tears of reunions and goodbyes, Agnes had two more children – George Geoffrey (b. 7 March 1916) of the family’s first homecoming just before the outbreak of WWI. George and his family leave the rolling hills of Worcestershire and – who would always be known as Geoff to avoid confusion with his Herefordshire for the downs and wealds of Sussex and Surrey. father - and Dorothy Edith Harris (b. 29 July 1917). They made the outward journey on the SS Virginian, travelling from Here, George’s wife Agnes has family to hug and stories to tell Montreal, Quebec and arriving in Liverpool on 3 June 1914. The before boarding the SS Scotian in London homeward bound for Death of George’s wife Agnes family of five comprised George Harris (38, engineer), his wife (Mrs Montreal. George and Agnes have planned their ports of arrival and Agnes died on 5 June 1925 in the family home at 335 Lonsdale Geo. Harris, 35) and their three children – Bessie (4)*, Willie (3)* and departure well to fit in with the locations of their respective families. Road, York County, Toronto at the age of 46. The primary cause James (9). A tick appears against all five names to indicate that they of death was breast cancer, for which she had been receiving intend to return to Canada. Return to Toronto treatment for one year. Lung cancer was stated as a contributory In the passenger list of the SS Scotian, the words ‘RETURNED cause. At the time, two of her children were under ten, two were *The ages given for Bessie and Willie are inaccurate. Bessie (b. 27 CANADIANS’ are stamped against the names of each member teenagers. James, her son by her first marriage, had recently George’s destination: High House, Broad Heath, Hanley William March 1907) would have been seven, Willie (b. 27 April 1910) four of the Harris family. The form confirms their onward destination married at the age of 21, but continued to live at 335 Lonsdale years old. is Toronto and that they have lived there for six years. Agnes E. Road with his wife Laura (née BREADNER). (Bessie) is shown as having been born in Canada, despite being George gives his destination as High House, Broad Heath, Hanley Engineer one year old when the family emigrated in 1908. William, Tenbury, Worcs. He had come to comfort his father In the four years since the birth of his son William in 1910, George William and, understandably, to be consoled in return. George has progressed from chauffeur to engineer, probably working on stays in the UK for almost two months, arriving back in Montreal steam automobiles which, between 1900 and 1914, held the from Southampton on 28 July 1929. His choice of London and advantage over the internal combustion engine. By 1920, the latter Southampton for his outward and home journeys would indicate that had advanced to the point that the steam automobile soon became he also wished to spend time with his late wife’s family in the south- obsolete. east of England. Interestingly, he states that he has been in Canada from 24 May 1907, one year earlier than the family emigrated as a First stop Broadheath group. He gives his profession as garage proprietor*. George and his family were to stay in the UK for around seven weeks. First, they headed for the north-west county boundary of *We are told by George’s granddaughter Barbara that he bought the Worcestershire with Herefordshire. garage at 335 Lonsdale Road with the help of a customer. It was located in one of the city’s prominent and wealthy areas known as At this time George’s parents, William and Caroline, his youngest Forest Hill Village. Barbara and her sister Frances (Fran) lived with sister Lucy and her fiancé Tom Skyrme were living in Hanley Child, their divorced mother Bess GOOD in one of the two apartments while brother Ted, sister-in-law Nellie and their first six children were above the garage. The apartment comprised 3 bedrooms, 2 living less than two miles away at The Kilns, Yearston Court in Upper rooms, kitchen, bathroom, a large dining area, a back porch and a Sapey, Herefordshire. huge roof where the girls used to sunbathe. The other apartment

This photograph of Agnes seen here with her youngest daughter was occupied by George’s stepson Jim who, on his marriage to Then there was his Aunt Shukie (now Mrs John TURNER) in Dorothy was taken in 1924, one year before her death from cancer Laura BREADNER on 26 February 1925, reverted to using his Collington, his Uncle Dick (Richard HARRIS, b.1856) in Kyre, and for which she was already receiving treatment. biological father’s surname of ADAMS. many of the younger members of their two families were still living Geoff HARRIS as a 17-year-old high school rugby player in Toronto, Prior to his retirement, George kept the garage business in the family locally. By now, his younger brother Arthur was in Middlesbrough, 1933 A heavy heart by selling it to his son-in-law Earl HANCOCK as a car and body but they may have met up all the same, especially since Arthur had On 3 June 1929, at the age of 53, George returns to England via repair shop for ‘expensive’ vehicles. A short while later, Earl sold the travelled from Tenbury to be a witness (and best man, no doubt) at In the nick of time! London and with a heavy heart. Not only was it around the fourth building to a property development company who built an apartment George and Agnes’ wedding in Woking, Surrey back in 1906. They arrive back in Montreal, Quebec on 25 July 1914, only days anniversary of Agnes’ death, his mother Caroline had passed away block on the site. before North Atlantic shipping would become prey for German on 31 January of that year. U-boats. George always dressed impeccably. On this occasion, Cyrus was a young child when his family emigrated from England. First they settled in the USA and moved to Ontario, Canada within a few years. From the 1871 Ontario Census onwards, Cyrus leaves a clear trail of documentary evidence. In 1871, aged 19 and single, he is living in Welland Village where he has found work as a machinist.

In the same year, on 28 November 1871, now a grocer at the age of 20, he is walking up the aisle in Welland to marry his first wife 18-year-old Hannah HICKS. They have a son, Thomas, born on 3 March 1874. When we catch up with Cyrus in Addington, Ontario in the 1881 Census of Canada, he has a new wife (Ontario-born Charlotte) and a new career (baker).

His first-born Thomas, now 18, rejoins the family in Oshawa in 1891. The eldest of his five half-siblings is Earl’s father Benjamin HANCOCK, then just 9 years old.

Two views of George’s garage Following Benjamin’s marriage to Margaret Ann KING on 24 in Lonsdale Road, Toronto September 1902, Dorothy’s future husband Earl makes his first (top: c. 1940 below: c. 1930) appearance at the age of one in the 1911 Census of Canada. At this time, he is the youngest of four children.

Dorothy HARRIS and Earl HANCOCK on their wedding day, 26 September 1939. Dorothy was 22, Earl 29 years old. The two witnesses were their friends Victor Ernest HAMILTON and Margaret GORDON who, we understand, also became man and wife not long afterwards.

Dorothy’s husband Earl HANCOCK Earl Norman HANCOCK, to give him his full name, was born on 19 March 1910 in the county of Welland, Ontario, the son of baker Benjamin HANCOCK and Margaret Ann née KING.

Earl had always told his daughter Susan that his family were Canadian-born. His father Benjamin was born in Nepanee, Ontario on 10 February 1882, the son of Cyrus HANCOCK and Charlotte Temperance née DEGROFF (or BEGROFF according to some records).

Grandfather Cyrus HANCOCK: English-born However, Earl’s grandfather Cyrus – who was also a baker for most

of his working life – was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in Dorothy and Earl pictured in 1945 England back in 1852. Earl’s great-grandfather William HANCOCK support the family”. Earl served with the regiment until the end of Grandfather Cyrus was the son of a preacher man. His father WWII. (Earl’s great-grandfather) was Baptist/Presbyterian minister William HANCOCK. William was born on 30 May 1809 and christened at The marriage certificate shows Earl’s religion as “Church of England St Leonard, Shoreditch, London, England. The son of John and in Canada”, providing further proof that his forebear’s allegiance to Elizabeth HANCOCK, William was destined to go forth and multiply. Presbyterianism hadn’t filtered down through the generations. Not necessarily in that order. At the time of his marriage to Dorothy, Earl is working in the printing William’s first move was to marry Jane LANGLEY at St Matthew’s trade. In fact, he had started up his own printing company - The Church in Bethnal Green, Middlesex on 30 April 1833. Their first Franklin Press, Printers & Engravers, of 208 West King Street, child was William Langley HANCOCK, soon to be followed by Jane, Toronto. Earl’s work ethic and business sense must have impressed Elizabeth, Dorothy, Frances, then Benjamin, Thomas, Cyrus and his father-in-law George who later saw him as a suitable successor Maria. For the first time, we learn in the 1851 Census of William’s to take on his own Lonsdale Garage business. occupation or rather calling. He is the Baptist Minister of Chipperfield Chapel, Kings Langley in the district of Hemel Hempstead. A good team Thanks to Earl’s reputation for high quality repairs and paint jobs, Emigration to the USA and Canada his customers followed him to his new trading address nearby. Earl George surveying the scene at the garage Having multiplied, his next move was to go forth – first to the USA. and Dorothy made a good team. Earl, who had reached the rank he established, now run by his son-in-law In 1860, we find William and Jane with eight of their nine children in of Major in the Toronto Scottish Regiment, brought a quiet military Earl Hancock Fort Edward, Washington, New York. The Presbyterian Church in the discipline to running the business, while Dorothy excelled as an small town of Fort Edward had been set up in 1853 with the Rev AG outstanding hostess who never forgot a name. Cochrane as its first Pastor. As William’s job description in the 1860 US Federal Census is “Presbyterian Minister”, it is likely he was the In the 1950s Earl and Dorothy owned and ran a holiday complex at Rev Cochrane’s successor. Wasaga Beach comprising a hotel (“Hotel Breakers”) and cottages used by mainly American visitors. By 1871, the family has moved over the border to Welland County, Ontario – close to Niagara Falls and Buffalo to the east. From 1872 to 1875, William serves in Welland Village in Ontario as Minister at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (est. 1864). In the 1881 Census, they are in nearby Thorold where the St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church has been going strong since 1802. And, at 71, William is still a Minister of the “Canada Presbyterian Church”.

Another ten years later, the death of the Rev William HANCOCK is announced. William passed away in York at the age of 81 on 18 January 1891. He had come a long way in his quest to spread the word of God. George and granddaughter Susan (daughter of Dorothy and Earl) on Wasaga beach in 1951. Already in his mid-seventies, George Earl: No Scottish roots after all continued to enjoy his country pursuits – shooting and riding. So Earl’s traditional Scottish attire on the day of his wedding doesn’t Throughout his life, George looked after his health and physical George and Earl (right) check out a point to Scottish roots after all, but stems simply from his career with wellbeing. He started each day with loosening up exercises to keep customer’s vehicle. Long after his the Scottish Regiment. He joined at the age of 16 as a ‘bat boy’ his joints in tiptop condition – hence his ramrod-straight back! ‘retirement’, hyperactive G.C. continued to because (as he told his daughter Susan) “he needed a job to help do the bookkeeping for Lonsdale Garage. A family business Geoff: From aircraft electrics to GM staff training Before selling the garage to son-in-law Earl HANCOCK, George After serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1945 involved the whole family in its operations. as an aircraft electrician, George’s youngest son George Geoffrey (Geoff) HARRIS returned to work at the garage until the summer Jim: Customer quotes of 1951. Geoff’s garage experience clearly stood him in good For example, on his marriage to Laura BREADNER in 1925, stead when, in January 1954, he joined the Instructors’ Staff of George’s stepson Jim ADAMS gave his occupation as ‘garage the Oshawa Training Centre of General Motors of Canada. On 1 business’ and his address as that of the garage at 335 Lonsdale December 1977, having worked his way up to second-in-command Road, Toronto. In later years, Jim worked alongside Earl, preparing at the Centre, he was forced to retire after suffering a series of customer quotes. strokes. Geoff died in January 1982, three months after a further major stroke. He was just short of his 66th birthday.

Jim and Laul ADAMS on their 50th Geoff’s vintage vehicle makes headlines Wedding Anniversary 26 February 1975 It was to have been an exciting day. Eighteen-year-old Geoff HARRIS’s own vintage car, described as one of the best entries in Bill: The foreman the 1934 parade at Sunnyside in Toronto, was an 1899 vehicle with George’s eldest son William Pitt (Bill) HARRIS was the garage an Avery engine and solid tyres. With his sister Dorothy and three foreman. Bill was not involved in the hands-on mechanical work, but friends on board in period costume, it looked the part – but failed to acted as the interface between the customers and the workshop. start! In short, he was the friendly front man. Bill was married to Dorothy FALLON. They had no children.

Laura (Laul) ADAMS and daughters Joan and Ruth with four-legged Sadly, Bill did not match his father’s longevity, dying from sclerosis of friends the liver around the age of fifty in 1960. Barbara: “You never saw him drunk. Over the years he just consumed enough to do permanent damage to the liver.” Then Jim changed careers, revealing another talent as a very competent chef. At Woodbridge, around 15 to 20 miles west of Toronto, he managed the kitchen of the golf club which catered to the club’s members and participants in golf tournaments held there. In the early seventies, Jim moved to another golf club in Aurora, a similar distance to the north of Toronto. Here, he and Laura (or Laul Geoff and sister Dorothy, the latter resplendent in period costume, as she was fondly known) took over the running of the kitchen and before the vintage car parade *Born on 23 April 1902 in York County, Ontario, Ralph was the son bought a nice home in the area. While in Aurora, Jim and Laura did of Lincolnshire-born immigrant Charles F GOOD and Elizabeth née the catering for one of George’s birthday celebrations. Jim died in Bessie’s story MUNRO. 1976, Laura in 1987. Their niece Janie REESON, daughter of Geoff Circumstances dictated that George’s first-born, Bessie, was able

HARRIS, remembers them both as good people who her family to play only a minor role in the running of Lonsdale Garage after WWII broke out when Barbara was five and before Fran had reached enjoyed visiting. She still pictures Jim, a heavily built man, in his large her marriage to Ralph Edward GOOD* on 1 July 1933. The first three. Bessie’s husband Ralph did his bit, serving in Italy with the chef’s hat and white apron. Jim and Laura had two daughters, Joan of their two daughters, Barbara Elizabeth GOOD, was born in Army Service Corps and reaching the rank of Sergeant. But when and Ruth. April 1934. By the time Barbara could walk and talk, her baby sister WWII ended, so did their marriage. When their father returned home, George pictured in the 1950s with his son Bill and Frances Rae (Fran) had come into the world in December 1936. Barbara was 10 and Fran 7 years old. But he didn’t stay long daughters Dorothy and Bessie Bessie had her hands full. (Barbara: “He wasn’t cut out to be a father”). Geoff Harris and his wife Alice

née HILL, parents of Wendy Sisters Barbara and and Janie, at distinctly different Fran with their young stages of their life together cousin Susan Hancock Nogood Boyo visit to Canada as well as brothers Ted and Arthur, the latter now in As far as his children were concerned, Ralph GOOD didn’t live up Redcar in the north-east of England. to his surname. Within a year of his returning home, Bessie and

Ralph divorced. Barbara was eleven, Fran eight years old. Barbara: Back again in 1958 “We didn’t know him at all”. Ralph left for Vancouver and moved in Then, at the age of 83, George returns to these shores on 20 with a woman he had met in the bakery in Forest Hill Village when October 1958. His destination is The Holloway, Droitwich, home of he was working in the corner grocery store before the war. He died his youngest sister Lucy who, two years previously, had returned in Vancouver in 1990. His widow sent Barbara his war medals and from her long stay in Canada. a photograph of him she had admired on a rare visit to Vancouver.

Both Barbara and Fran declined a share of his estate. The Holloway is within walking distance of his elder brother Ted and sister-in-law Nellie who had moved to Droitwich in 1950. Life after Ralph Although Bess and the girls continued to live at the garage, Bess Bess (right) on a visit to Broadheath in 1980 with English cousin had to go out to work in an office to support them as she received Ethel HOMER (née HARRIS). As postmistress of the quaint village no financial help from her ex-husband. In 1962, she married dental post office, Nell WILKINSON (née STINTON) (centre) followed in the salesman Archibald (Arch) WILSON. Bess and Arch worked for the footsteps of her father Vincent who was for many years the previous postmaster. Nell was well acquainted with the family of Ted and same firm, DENTSPLY, a supplier of dentures. After many years with In the absence of her father Ralph GOOD, Bessie’s daughter Nellie HARRIS who lived at nearby Hanley Cottage between 1931 the company, Bess held the position of office manager. Barbara is given away by her grandfather George on the day of her and 1950. marriage to Alex MANIKAS in 1957

Tracking travellers’ movements At present, the Canadian passenger lists allow us to track travellers’ movements only up until 1935. However, UK incoming passenger lists enable us to keep tabs on them until 1960. George (right) with sister Lucy, brother Ted and sister Amy (1949)

Queen Mary Unrecorded visits in the 1960s On 7 April 1949 in Southampton, George is seen to arrive in style – George made further visits in the 1960s (outside the period covered on board the Queen Mary from New York. His destination is Hanley by the available UK incoming passenger lists). On one occasion, Cottage, Broadheath, Tenbury, the home of his elder brother Ted he is joined by his son Geoff who is remembered by the indigenous and sister-in-law Nellie. Harrises for requesting “just plain water” when asked what he would Bess with her second husband Arch WILSON like to drink. Perhaps this was a reaction to the premature death Now aged 73, George was retired, but still possessed the sprightly of his older brother Bill three or four years earlier from sclerosis of Like her father, Bess was not afraid of hard work and, at the same step of a much younger person. Within days, he would be doing his the liver. Geoff had health issues of his own which had not been time, was a thoroughly social animal, keeping in touch with family rounds, being his usual generous self towards the whole of Harris- identified and addressed at this time, including high blood pressure wherever they lived. As a caring person who was good company, kind. Brian, a great-nephew (7 years old at the time), recalls the stir and cholesterol. The first of the strokes Geoff suffered took place in she also devoted her free time as a volunteer at a day centre for the Bess in the Roaring Twenties with younger sister Dorothy he caused as he bounced along Wellington Street, Worcester in his the following decade. Although his daughters Wendy and Janie had elderly on one of Toronto’s islands. In later years, she also provided Panama hat and gold-rimmed specs to deliver greetings and more seen no warning signs, it is possible that he was not in the best of support for her younger sister Dorothy who had fallen victim to to the lucky Harris family living in one of the prefabs there. health at the time of his visit. Alzheimer’s, visiting her regularly in hospital until Dorothy’s death at In 1984, Bess was diagnosed as having breast cancer. She survived for seven years before the cancer spread to the brain. the age of 63 in May 1981, six months after her husband Earl had During this trip, George would also meet up with his sister Amy who At one point, Geoff declared that he had only come along “to make After a further year of radiation treatment, Bess passed on in 1992. died at the age of 70 in November 1980. had returned to Worcestershire after spending most of her life sure my father doesn’t give all his money away!”. She was 85. in Dorset, sister Lucy who would shortly embark on an extended As Geoff’’s daughter Janie describes her father as “a caring man who had a wonderful sense of humour”, it seems that Geoff’s flippant remark was taken seriously by some who didn’t know him better. By the way, George’s generosity was indeed legendary, as also his love of the grand gesture. While on one visit to brother Ted’s in Droitwich, George was seen to light up a cigar with a dollar bill. No doubt this was intended to shock, irk or impress his thrifty, stay- at-home elder brother!

*One of these trips was, at least in one sense, a ‘flying visit’ in 1961 when George was 86 and took a flight from Toronto to London. We heard this from descendants of George’s aunt, Shukie TURNER née G.C.: Always dapper and, more often than not, a twinkle in his eye HARRIS, whose daughter Ellen (Nell) MILLER had settled in British Columbia and clearly kept in touch with her cousin George.

The Grand Tour In the same year and possibly on the same trip, generous George treated his two daughters, Bess and Dorothy, to a memorable George in his nineties sightseeing visit to Paris and Venice. The trio returned home by around 1970 ship. During the crossing on board the Empress of Canada, George entered a fancy dress competition, winning first prize dressed as an older woman. Apparently, even with his moustache, he looked just like his sister Lucy! A big appetite for life: George at the buffet on his 98th birthday, 2 October 1973

George’s legacy To quote Barbara: “If there was one word to describe what was inherited from our grandfather it would be ENERGY!". George was energy personified. He worked hard, played hard and enjoyed keeping in touch with his big family circle in Canada and the UK. And he stayed true to his roots.

One English relative put it like this: “He wasn’t a bit stuck up. He was still a country lad at heart. He loved walking. He’d disappear for hours, roaming around the countryside, soaking it all in.”

Death George died on 19 December 1973. He had lived a full and O sole mio! George and his daughters during their visit to La successful life to the remarkable age of 98 years. Let’s not forget Serenissima in 1961 that he spent 48 of those years without the support of his wife Agnes. AMY BEATRICE HARRIS (1876-1960)

Younger sister of Edward James Third child of William and Caroline

Amy Beatrice Harris was born on 19 November 1876 at Stoneyford in Hanley Child.

Hastings, Sussex in 1891 It seems a huge step for a girl of Amy’s 14 years to have taken, but in 1891 we track her down a long way from home at 6 Blomfield Road, Hastings in Sussex. Here, she is working as a housemaid for the family of Beatrice Macron, a young widow of 33 living on her Amy Beatrice Harris (1876-1960) own means. The census return reveals that another member of the staff, nurse Emma Venmore (28), is also from Amy’s part of the world Harry’s background – Tenbury. Miss Venmore may have been instrumental in getting Harry was born in the March quarter of 1863 in Cottenham, Amy the post and taken her under her wing. Cambridgeshire (District of Chesterton, Vol. 3b, p.493), the son of corn miller Samuel PRIME and Eliza Jane (née BRAND). Poole, Dorset Ten years later (1901), Amy is still on the south coast, but has While his younger brother Percy carried on the family’s tradition as moved a couple of counties westwards to Parkstone in the district a miller and bread maker, Harry found employment at the retail end of Poole, Dorset. of the food trade, first as an apprentice grocer (Cottenham, 1881), then as a grocer’s assistant (Cottenham, 1891 and Saffron Walden At 24, Amy holds the position of ‘ladies maid’ in the household on in 1901). At the time of his marriage to Amy in 1903, he had his own Blake Hill Road headed by sanitary engineer Sidney JENNINGS. grocery store in Parkstone, Poole. Amy’s employer is a member of the family which owns the adjacent pottery works – George Jennings South Western Pottery – When Harry’s widowed mother Eliza Jane Prime died on 9 April manufacturers of salt-glaze drainage and sanitary pipes. The works 1921, probate was granted to her younger son Percy who had it own steam locomotive which ran on a private branch line from continued to run the family bakery business. The National Probate Parkstone Station. It was in Parkstone that Amy met her husband- Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) tells us that his to-be, Harry PRIME, probably when she was out shopping. That’s mother’s estate was valued at £837 1s 4d. because Harry was a local grocer.

Children Marriage to Harry PRIME Following their marriage in 1903, Amy and Harry had two children. Amy Beatrice married Henry Alfred (Harry) PRIME on 21 April 1903. They were Gladys Ella Agnes (b.1904) and Harry Archibald PRIME They married at the Chapel of Hanley Child in the Parish of Eastham. (b.1907). Both births were registered in the district of Poole, Dorset. The witnesses were her sister Edith Mary and her brother George Gladys was the first to leave home after marrying pharmacist Ernest Clement Harris. Samuel (Ernie) BENNETT in 1926. They had one child – Neville Antony (known as Tony) – born in 1927. Archy was slower off the

mark, marrying Wimborne girl Gertrude Emily STRATTEN in 1934. Marriage certificate for Amy Beatrice Harris and Henry Alfred PRIME They too had just the one child – Janet, born in 1938. A surprise visitor in 1911 In the 1911 Census, Amy and Harry are living above their grocery and confectionery shop in Commercial Road, Parkstone. Their daughter Gladys is 6, their son Archibald 4. There’s also a visitor in the house. It is Amy’s younger sister Agnes Priscilla HARRIS. Three years later, Agnes was to emigrate to Canada.

A helping hand for Olive In the following decade, Amy and Harry provided a helping hand for another HARRIS in need. It was their young niece Olive Kathleen HARRIS, born 1909, daughter of brother Ted and sister-in-law Nellie. After leaving school, Olive found it difficult to adapt to life in All Saints Church in Hanley William service and had suffered a nervous breakdown while working as a servant in a Malvern girls school. She was sent to Dorset in 1924 to recuperate in Amy’s care with a little occupational therapy thrown Amy’s second marriage in – as an extra pair of hands in the grocery shop. After her recovery, Then, at the age of 70, Amy left Cradley to marry for a second time. Olive stayed in Dorset and worked in service with a local family. In The wedding ceremony for her first marriage had taken place in the process, she not only found her feet again, but also a husband, Hanley Child Church. This time, on 20 January 1947, she walked Herbert GOULD. down the aisle in Hanley William where her brother Ted and sister- in-law Nellie were active members of All Saints Church. For many Harry’s death in 1940 years, Ted was its verger and gravedigger. Harry died in the December quarter of 1940 (Poole, Vol. 5a, p.723). He was 77 years old. To quote the National Probate Calendar: Amy’s second husband: Edward Charles JONES Henry Alfred PRIME of Nabcot, Clarendon Road, Broadstone, Amy’s second husband was 69-year-old bachelor Edward Charles Dorsetshire, died 18 December 1940. Administration to Harry (Ted) JONES, a joiner by trade, of Ivy Cottage, Rockhill, . Archibald Prime, gas fitter. Effects £127 17s 8d. They had known each other in a previous life, long before Amy’s marriage to Harry Prime. So why had Amy and Ted JONES waited Return of the native so long before tying the knot? After a while, Amy returned home to her native Worcestershire to be closer to the Harris families remaining in the area – those of her sister Lucy and brother Ted. By now, Amy’s daughter Gladys and Forbidden love her husband Ernie are farming in Banbury, Oxfordshire. It was a story of forbidden love. To understand how it all started we

First, Amy found a cottage in Cradley, Worcestershire not far have to rewind more than fifty years. from Lucy and the younger of her two sons, Hubert Frederick (Bert) SKYRME, who were farming at Stonehouse Farm in nearby Mathon. Ted was born in Kensington, London in 1877, the son of a As a young fellow farmer, Bert got on splendidly with Ernie whenever ‘gentleman’. In 1891, aged 13, he was a butcher’s assistant he and Gladys came to visit Amy. Ernie (born 14 August 1903 in in Somerset. In 1892 his mother died and, in 1896, his father Poole, Dorset) was almost twenty years Bert’s senior, so he would remarried in Stoke Bliss. That was when Ted Jones, going on 18, have been well qualified to pass on some useful farming tips to Bert. met Amy Harris, going on 19, and took a shine to her. And she to him.

Marriage certificate for Amy Beatrice PRIME and Edward Charles JONES Ted’s father was Edmund JONES, born in Stoneyford Cottage in Repercussions of Amy’s marriage 1846. Edmund was the brother of Caroline HARRIS (née JONES) Amy’s marriage to Ted Jones in January 1947 brought various who was Amy’s mother. That made Ted and Amy first cousins. And, members of the extended Harris family together. Their reunion at this for Amy’s parents, that made marriage unthinkable. stage in their lives must have generated a lively debate on what they were going to do with the rest of the years allotted to them. It gave Over fifty years on, in 1947, there was no impediment to their rise to a substantial increase in transatlantic travel among the Harris marriage. Amy’s mother Caroline had died in January 1929, her clan on both sides of the water. As we shall see later on, Lucy was father William in December 1944. And, of course, there was no among the first to make a move. chance of their union leading to offspring.

The Queen Elizabeth Amy’s daughter Gladys (now 44 years old) and her husband Ernie BENNETT (45) had evidently thought along similar lines and, on 27 April 1948, we find them on board the SS Queen Elizabeth, about to disembark at New York at the end of the first leg of a long journey. Gladys and Ernie state that they are ‘in transit’ – en route to Canada.

They returned to the UK sixteen months later on 26 August 1949 arriving in Liverpool from Montreal on board the SS Empress of Canada. When asked what address they would be staying at, they give 32 Beverley Road, Rubery, Nr Birmingham. That’s where Gladys’ mother Amy and Ted JONES are now living. Around this time, more relatives - including George HARRIS, George CRAIK and his wife Agnes née HARRIS from Toronto - would be beating a path to their door. Exciting times indeed!

Amy (right) with sister Lucy and brother George in the garden of their Another wedding niece Vera in Quinton, Birmingham (1949) There was a reason why Gladys and Ernie returned when they did. Their only child, 22-year-old Tony, was due to get married to One of the witnesses is the bride’s youngest sister Lucy Sophia 18-year-old Margaret YELLS in the district of Shipston-on-Stour, YARNOLD (formerly SKYRME, née HARRIS). The other witness is Warwickshire in just a few weeks’ time. the groom’s younger brother Harry Frederick JONES, born 1890 in

Kingsdon, Somerset. At the time of his birth, Harry’s father Edmund A visit to Ted with Eddie held the position of landlord of the Nags Head in Martock. By 1901, Eddie Harris, the social networker on wheels, visited Ted and Amy eleven-year-old Harry was living in the Club House at Penarth Golf in the latter half of the 1950s. Eddie and his son Brian found Ted Club where his father had been appointed club steward. Amy and working on the front garden of his Rubery home. Tall, lean and Ted’s marriage certificate gives us an update on the occupation of looking good for nearly 80, Ted cut a striking figure in his brown Edmund Jones prior to his death in 1918 at the age of 72. Edmund trilby, white shirt and grey flannel trousers which were held up, is described as having been a ‘boarding house keeper’. country style, by a sturdy leather belt. His garden was equally striking. In stark contrast to his neighbours’ lawns and herbaceous borders, Ted’s garden was bursting with every vegetable of the season.

Death certificate for Edward Charles Jones, d. 1 May 1958 Death of Ted JONES in 1958 and Amy in 1960 Thirteen years later on 7 July 1984, Ernie died of bronchopneumonia Amy and Ted spent eleven years of contented companionship at Middlewood Hospital, Sheffield aged 80. Known as the South together until they were parted by Ted’s death in 1958 at the age Yorkshire Lunatic Asylum between 1872 and 1935, Middlewood of 80. The primary cause of death was myocardial failure and Hospital was dedicated to the treatment of mental illness and senile myocardial degeneration. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema, geriatrics until its closure in 1995. possibly due to the sawdust in Ted’s former working environment as

a foreman joiner, were stated as secondary causes. Death of Amy’s son Archy Amy’s son Archy – or Harry A Prime as the death record shows – Amy followed less than two years later on 11 January 1960 after died in the June quarter of 1968 at the age of 61. His death was suffering a cerebral haemorrhage. She was 83. registered in Poole. So, in contrast to his globetrotting sister Gladys, Archy had spent a lifetime in Dorset, the county of his birth. Both deaths were registered in Sheffield, West Yorkshire. When

Ted’s health had taken a sudden turn for the worse in the late Death of Tony in Australia 1950s, he and Amy had moved from their home at 32 Beverley Gladys and Ernie’s son Tony spent the rest of his life in Australia. Road, Rubery, Worcestershire to be cared for by Amy’s daughter Tony died in Rockingham, Western Australia in 1989. He was 62. Gladys and son-in-law Ernie BENNETT at 1 Wordsworth Drive, Parson Cross, Sheffield.

Having grown up in her parents’ grocery shop in Parkstone, Dorset, it appears that Gladys had been tempted back into the retail trade. Either that or Ernie had returned to his first career as a pharmacist. Whatever the case, their address – one of a row of shops - is now (2011) the business premises of a fish and chip shop and Chinese takeaway.

Death of Gladys in Australia Sometime after Amy’s death in 1960, Gladys and Ernie headed for Australia where their son Tony and his family had settled in Western Australia. We don’t know for sure whether this was intended as a short-term visit or a long-term stay. But soon after Gladys’ death on 25 September 1970 at the age of 66 in Beverley District Hospital, York, Western Australia, Ernie returned to the UK. We know this because he re-married in Sheffield in the June quarter of 1971.

Ernie’s second marriage Our cousin Ella SKYRME, who knew Amy, Gladys and Ernie well, wasn’t surprised to learn that Ernie had remarried so soon. While Gladys was, by nature, a little on the serious side and “a bit straight- laced”, Ernie was fun-loving and gregarious, not the sort to enjoy being on his own for long. Ernie’s second wife was 32-year-old Christina DIMLER. At the time of their marriage, Ernie was 67.

Death certificate for Amy Beatrice Jones, formerly Prime, née Harris EDITH MARY HARRIS (1878-1974)

Younger sister of Edward James Fourth child of William and Caroline

Edith Mary Harris was born on 24 March 1878 at Stoneyford Cottage in Hanley Child.

Still at home in 1891 Edith is the eldest of the five children remaining at home in 1891. She is now 13 years old and soon to follow in the footsteps of her sister Amy. We imagine that she will be working ‘in service’ Hanley Child Church where 11 members of our Harris tree were somewhere. The only question is, where shall we find her in 1901? married between 1816 and 1934

A different direction Farmed out Edith has taken a different direction and headed north to Cheadle Given the family’s circumstances with so many children born in in Cheshire on the southern fringe of the Manchester conurbation. quick succession, two or three of them, including Isaac, were At 23 years of age, she has followed the familiar career path, that of ‘farmed out’ to relatives. Isaac was placed with his maternal domestic servant. In 1901, she is employed as a housemaid at 17 grandparents William and Sarah DIXON who in 1881 lived across Brooklyn Road, Cheadle by Thomas Alcock, a retired bachelor and the Pennines in Swillington, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire where William former cashier, and his spinster sister Eliza, both of whom are ‘living was working as a farm bailiff. on own means’. Later on, Isaac and his grandparents moved to the parish of

Marriage to Isaac HALL Mosser in Cumbria where, at the age of 17, Isaac helped out on Edith married Isaac HALL on 30 August 1905 at the Chapel of his grandfather’s farm as an ‘agricultural assistant’. Isaac was not Hanley Child in the Parish of Eastham. Edith was 27, Isaac 30 years reunited with his family until after the death, first, of his grandmother old. The witnesses were Edith’s brother George HARRIS and Isaac’s Sarah at the age of 71 in 1895, soon followed by that of his father sister Elizabeth (Lizzie) HALL. Edith gives her address as Stoneyford Joseph in late 1896 at the age of 51. By this time, Isaac was in his in Hanley Child and her father’s occupation as ‘farmer’. twenties.

Isaac’s residence at the time of their marriage is The Hillwood Belatedly then, along with the widowed grandfather who effectively in Eastham where he is employed as a farm bailiff. He gives the brought him up, Isaac rejoined his widowed mother and five of his occupation of his deceased father (Joseph Hall) as ‘farmer’. siblings. So, in 1901, we find him surrounded for the first time by a ‘proper’ family. Four years later, he married Edith – to be part of a

Isaac’s family background proper family of his own. Isaac was born in Bolton in the district of Wigton, Cumbria in the December quarter of 1873, the fifth of ten children born to Joseph HALL and Elizabeth (née DIXON). His father Joseph was a farmer of 64 acres at Greengill Farm in Gilcrux, Cumbria. Death certificate for Ernest Samuel Bennett Children Edith and Isaac had four children, all girls. Two were born in the UK. The first, Leonora Amy HALL, was born on 13 August 1907 (Lichfield, Vol. 6b, p.475). Sadly, she died aged 1 year on 30 October 1908. Their second child, Edith Vera HALL, was born on 19 March 1910 (Lichfield, Vol. 6b, p.472). Their next two children were born in Canada.

1911: Farm bailiff at Home Farm At the time of the 1911 Census, we find Isaac (36), Edith (33) and their surviving daughter Edith Vera (1) at Home Farm in Swinfen,

Lichfield. Isaac is the farm bailiff. But he has a greater ambition in Elsie and Les TUDOR with visiting English cousin Angela and her mind – to be a farmer in his own right. husband Robert BEDDOE

Emigration to Canada A second tragic loss Edith, Isaac and their daughter Edith Vera made their life-changing Tragically, Edith and Isaac were to experience the heart-rending pain journey to Canada from Liverpool on board the SS Virginian*. They of the loss of a second child in infancy. Their fourth daughter, Alma set foot on Canadian soil in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 18 April 1913. Dorothy HALL (b. 13 September 1915 in West Hill*), died aged nine Isaac was 39, Edith 35 and Edith Vera 3 years old (rather than 28, months on 14 June 1916. Her death was due to ‘pneumonia and 30 and 2 years, as stated in the manifest). Perhaps they thought convulsions’ arising from ‘failure of circulation from leakage in heart their prospects would be enhanced by knocking off the odd year or and maldevelopment from birth’. two. *West Hill is a neighbourhood at the eastern end of Toronto in the

*Edith’s brother George and his family used the same steamship for former city of Scarborough. In 1998 Scarborough was merged with their first visit to the Old Country in 1914. five other municipalities to form the new City of Toronto.

Destination Toronto Isaac’s details in the passenger list tell us that their onward destination is Toronto, Ontario, that he last worked in the UK as a farm bailiff and that his objective is to be a farmer in Canada.

Born in Canada Elsie May HALL was the first of their children to be brought into the world as a home-grown Canadian. She was born on 23 June 1914 and grew up to become Mrs Elsie TUDOR, a name which became familiar to many of the older generation of English Harrises. Elsie not only kept in regular touch with her relatives on this side of the Atlantic, but also entertained visiting English kinsfolk at her home in Toronto. Elsie’s name is also associated with the extensive Canadian Harris Family Tree she put together over a period of many years.

Marriage certificate for Edith Mary Harris and Isaac Hall The Hall-Harris Mini Tree

Joseph HALL Elizabeth DIXON

Ag. lab./Farmer of 64 acres m. Sept qtr 1866, Wigton, Cumbria bpt. 22 Mar 1846, Bolton, Cumbria b. 15 Oct 1848, Torpenhow, Cumbria d. Dec qtr 1896, aged 51 years d. Sep qtr 1906, aged 58 years

Isaac HALL Edith Mary HARRIS

Farm bailiff/Farmer m. 30 Aug 1905, Hanley Child b. 1873, Wigton, Cumbria b. 24 Mar 1878, Hanley Child d. 1944, aged 70, Toronto d. 7 Feb 1974, aged 95, Toronto

Leonora Amy Edith Vera Elsie May Alma Dorothy b. 13 Aug 1907 b. 19 Mar 1910 b. 23 Jun 1914 b. 13 Sep 1915 Swinfen, Lichfield Swinfen, Lichfield West Hill, Toronto West Hill, Toronto d. 30 Oct 1908, aged 1 m. Ernest S Earnshaw m. Les Tudor d. 14 Jun 1916 Lichfield aged 9 months, York

Carol Marilyn Linda Beverley Nancy b. 25 Dec 1932 b. 1940 b. 1943 b. 1949

A life’s ambition fulfilled At West Hill, Isaac fulfilled his ambition to be a farmer as the following three photographs show.

Aggie’s first job in Canada had been as housekeeper to her brother- in-law Isaac. On the reverse, Edith has written: “Do you know these three old people? Agg, Isaac and Yours Truly, in case you don’t know. I will get a better picture of the house. This is just the front.”

The second picture showing a country gentleman holding a shotgun, a brace of pheasants, but only ‘half a couple’ of rabbit appears to have been taken in rural Worcestershire or Herefordshire rather than West Hill, Toronto. Again, Edith’s message on the reverse puts us right: “This is Isaac. This was taken when he had been pheasant shooting. You won’t know him. He is so thin.”

The first, taken on the steps of their farmhouse, pictures a tired- looking Isaac with his wife Edith on the right. So who’s that on the left? It’s Edith’s younger sister Agnes who emigrated to Canada in 1914. The photographer A possible reason for Edith’s visit It is more than likely that the three preceding photographs were Edith’s visit may have been paid for by elder brother George who taken by sister Agnes’ husband George CRAIK who was for many had been widowed just weeks earlier. Not only was George kept years an employee of Kodak Canada. busy by his successful garage business, he was needed by his young children who had just lost their mother. Edith would have put William and Caroline in the picture regarding George’s loss, conveyed messages from the bereaved and described their new way of life in Ontario.

Family support Following Isaac’s death in 1944 at the age of 70, Edith (or Edie as she was known among the Canadian Harris clan) enjoyed the support of the extended family in Toronto as this photograph shows.

Death of Edith Edith died in 1974 at the age of 95, just short of her 96th birthday. She survived her husband Isaac by almost 30 years.

Sister Act: Edith, Aggie and Lucy pictured in Toronto, June 1952

Edith’s one trip back to the country of her birth Through their commitments as full-time farmers, Edith and Isaac would have found it difficult to take a break together, however short. As a result, Isaac never returned to UK shores. And Edith made only Edie pictured with brother George (right) and Alice, wife of George’s one visit. That was in 1925. son Geoff, with her first-born Wendy HARRIS. Wendy was born in the year Isaac passed on. The photograph would have been taken The UK Incoming Passenger List for the SS Doric which arrived in by Geoff who probably caught the fish as well! Liverpool on 26 July shows that Edith, who travelled alone, was heading for Knapp’s Knowle in Kyre Parva near Tenbury. At this time, this was the home of her parents William and Caroline who had moved here after leaving Stoneyford Farm in Hanley Child and before moving to High House on the Broad Heath in 1928 where

Edith poses for the camera in the garden adjacent to Edith’s mother died in January 1929. the farmhouse in West Hill and close to the spot where Isaac was standing with his hunting trophies. Elsie May TUDOR Looking up the WORRALLS Edith’s daughter Elsie, who was so generous in her hospitality In her letter to Bert and Ella, Elsie says she and Les will be looking towards visiting English relatives, made at least one journey across up Frank WORRALL of Kyre on behalf of his sister Millie SANDUSKY The Pond with her husband Les TUDOR, visiting Harris and related who they see quite often in Toronto. Millie, who was born in 1905, families in the Worcester-Birmingham area and further afield in 1979. had emigrated to Canada in 1926 and visited her home in the 1920s and 30s before her marriage and again in the late Fifties.

Among others, they stayed with Bill SKYRME and his family in Home was “The Worcestershire Arms” between Collington and Kidderminster, with Bert and Ella SKYRME’s daughter Doreen and Tenbury where her father George WORRALL was landlord for many her husband Martin WILESMITH in Dymock and with Vera HALL years. After George’s death in 1928 at the age of 52, his wife Alice (whose late husband Charlie was no relation to Isaac) in Fountain took over as landlady. Road, Edgbaston. Three generations: Mother Edith HALL, daughter Elsie TUDOR and Millie’s brother Frank WORRALL (born 13 December 1903) worked granddaughters Linda (12), Nancy (3) and Beverley (9) during the at The Hyde in Kyre, then as a shepherd and hedge layer at Master class in sheep shearing at Netherwood visit of Edith’s sister Lucy in June 1952 Netherwood in Thornbury. Frank played cricket for Stoke Bliss well with Frank Worrall (standing with back to camera) into his fifties and, in terms of longevity, had a ‘a good innings’, passing on in January in 1998 at the age of 94. We are told by Frank’s daughter Patricia that Millie herself did equally well, bowing from the UK. Currently, Linda and her husband are stationed in out at 93 in Canada the following year. Brandon, Manitoba. So their visit to Toronto will involve a drive of 1,600 miles each way. Thanks We thank Patricia WORRALL for these photographs of her father Elsie’s sister Edith Vera EARNSHAW Frank at work and play. Elsie’s elder, English born sister Edith Vera, known for obvious reasons as Vera, married Ernest Stanley EARNSHAW around 1930. They were blessed with a daughter, Carol Marilyn, born on Christmas Day 1932. In Elsie Tudor’s letter to Bert and Ella, we learn that Vera had also visited her mother Edith’s homeland back in 1969. We are told that Vera and Ernest eventually left Canada to settle in Australia.

Elsie TUDOR on her visit to the UK in June 1979

In her letter to Bert and Ella in May 1979 to arrange their itinerary, Elsie Tudor mentions the whereabouts of her three daughters. The youngest, Nancy (b. 1949), now married to Franklyn Nillard NEAL, is still living close to her parents in Toronto and will be “cutting the grass and watering the garden” while they are away. The Sisters Elsie TUDOR (left) and Vera EARNSHAW with Elsie’s eldest All-rounder Frank was renowned for his spin bowling middle daughter, Beverley (b. 1943), married to John Alexander daughters Linda (nearest camera) and Beverley around 1948 McGREGOR, lives accross the US border in Belford, New Jersey which is 550 miles away. The eldest, Linda (b. 1940), is married to Edward Lloyd SCHRADER - a Major in the Army - and “moves all Edith Vera EARNSHAW (née HALL) over”. Linda and Edward plan to visit Mom and Dad on their return ARTHUR WILLIAM HARRIS (1881-1961)

Younger brother of Edward James Fifth child of William and Caroline

Arthur William Harris was born on 2 January 1881 at Stoneyford Cottage in Hanley Child.

Three months old When the census enumerator called at Stoneyford Cottage on 3 April 1881, Arthur William (named after his youngest paternal uncle Banfield’s ironmongers in Teme Street, Tenbury Wells and, of course, his father) had not long arrived in the world. He was three months old. In the following census (1891), at the age of ten, Marriage to Ethel GORE he is the eldest of the children still at Stoneyford. Arthur married Eva Ethel GORE on Boxing Day, 26 December 1910 at the Parish Church of St. Mary in Tenbury Wells (Tenbury, Vol. 6c, Still at home at twenty p.404). Arthur was 29, Ethel 25 years old. The marriage certificate Almost without precedent in the Harris household, Arthur continues reveals that Arthur had already left Hanley Child and moved to South to live under his parents’ roof at the age of 20. Younger brother Bank (part of the conurbation of Middlesbrough on the south bank of Hubert (14) is also at home and even his elder brother Edward (Ted the River Tees) where he is working as an ironmonger. Two members Harris, now 26) has returned to Stoneyford. of the GORE family serve as witnesses to the marriage – Alfred GORE and Catherine Mary GORE who are older siblings of the There’s a good reason or two for this, of course. To start with, bride. Ethel gives her father’s name as Samuel GORE (deceased), there are fewer children at home. Their age structure is altogether stating his former occupation as ‘proprietor of livery stables’. different, too – which means that they can be usefully employed around the workshop and farm (William is now a wheelwright, farmer No HARRIS witness and employer). And the three sons would be contributing towards Is it significant that no member of the HARRIS family appears as their bed and board. a witness? Arthur’s granddaughter Reinette HINCHLIFFE had the feeling there may have been a rift between Arthur and his parents as Ironmonger he appears to have had no contact with them after his move north Whereas Ted and Hubert are described as ‘farmer’s sons’, Arthur is and little contact with siblings. now an ironmonger. There is no evidence of an ironmonger’s shop in the immediate district of Broadheath, so he may have been working Farmer William for Banfield’s of Teme Street, Tenbury where brother Ted’s future Arthur gives the occupation of his father as ‘farmer’. Evidently, wife Nellie GRAVES was in service. Indeed, Arthur’s own future wife, William’s carpentry and wheelwright work have been relegated to a Eva Ethel GORE, was living only yards away from Banfield’s at her part-time economic activity. This is confirmed by the 1911 Census family’s hair dressing* business and, aged 15, working as a draper’s which took place just over three months later. It shows William as an apprentice in the town. ‘employer’ at Stoneyford where he and his wife Caroline are farming with the support only of their daughter Lucy (21) who is in charge *Hair dressing in this context has to do with grooming horses rather of the dairy and a local teenage farmhand who is described as a than humans. Marriage certificate of Arthur William HARRIS and Eva Ethel GORE ‘cowboy’. No doubt William and Caroline would have wished for more help In 1861, Samuel was working as a groom with the family of solicitor from their offspring as they approached their retirement. But two William MARSHALL at South Hall, their residence in Kettering, (George and Hubert) were already in Canada, soon to be followed Northants. Grooming horses would remain Samuel’s career for life - by two more (Edith and Agnes) before the outbreak of WWI; Amy and would lead to his marriage with Ethel’s mother Sarah POLLARD. was married with children and living in Dorset and, apart from Lucy, only Edward (Ted) was living locally. Now married to Ellen (Nellie) née Ethel’s mother Sarah née POLLARD GRAVES, who had already given birth to five of their nine children, Sarah was the fourth of nine children born to cottager/farmer William Ted was fully committed to his work as stockman for Mr Holder at POLLARD (b.1800 in Gretton, Northants) and his wife Catherine Yearston Court. Now that Arthur has also ‘abandoned’ his parents (née OLIVER, b.1810 in Drayton, Leics). All nine children were for a new life in the North-East, it is not surprising that William is on born in Barrowden, Rutland, their births being registered in nearby record as saying his daughter-in-law Nellie was worth all four of his Uppingham. sons put together! Bockleton 1871 Ethel’s background At first sight, it appears that the paths followed by Samuel Eva Ethel GORE was born on 28 September 1885 in Tenbury, GORE and Sarah POLLARD cross for the first time in Bockleton, Worcestershire. She was the daughter of Samuel GORE and Sarah Worcestershire where in 1871 they are both servants (Samuel a (née POLLARD) who originated from the smallest English county groom, Sarah a parlour maid) on the staff of the Reverend Richard of Rutland, married in Chorlton, Manchester in 1874 and settled in MENCE at The Vicarage. In truth, Samuel and Sarah have known Tenbury around 1876. each other for a lot longer. The adjacent villages in which they grew up – Barrowden (population 400 or so) and Ketton (population Ethel’s father Samuel GORE 1,500) – are only two or three miles apart. And if they didn’t meet Ethel’s father Samuel started life as Samuel DUNFORD, the during their childhood at school, they would have done so sooner or illegitimate son of Mary DUNFORD. He was baptised on 21 March later in their adult life - either at The Exeter Arms in Barrowden or The 1841 in Ketton, Rutland. This is where he appears in the census Northwick Arms in Ketton. of that year which took place on 6 June 1841. Aged 4 months, Samuel is living in the household of his 66-year-old widowed grandmother (Mary DUNFORD née COOPER) together with his mother Mary (24) and her 27-year-old brother Samuel after whom her first-born appears to have been named. Mary’s late father, incidentally, was John DUNFORD.

In the December quarter of 1844, Samuel’s mother married agricultural labourer William GORE. From now on, her first-born bears the name Samuel Dunford GORE or plain Samuel GORE. He also has a half-sister, Sarah GORE, baptised in Deene, Northamptonshire on 14 December 1845. At the time of the 1851 Census, Mary is pregnant with her third child, Mary Elizabeth GORE, who is baptised in Deene on 27 July 1851. Martha GORE, baptised The only pub in the village: The Exeter Arms in Barrowden in Deene on 17 October 1858, makes it a trio of daughters for [Source: Wikipedia Commons, Attribution: Wehha] William and Mary.

Birth certificate for Sarah Pollard born on 1 Dec 1841 in Barrowden, Rutland Why Bockleton? Street and the Regal Cinema. Their youngest child, Eva Ethel GORE, So what brought them both from the East Midlands county of who became the wife of Arthur William HARRIS, was born here on Northampton to Bockleton in remotest Worcestershire? Well, in 28 September 1885. 1861 their employer was Curate of Weldon in Northants. His parish included nearby Deene where Samuel’s parents, William and Mary Auntie Jane takes mother’s place GORE, were living and which was also the birthplace of William The 1891 Census poses a question: Where is Samuel’s wife Sarah and his three daughters. It appears that Samuel (who in 1871 gives GORE? Samuel’s sister-in-law Jane POLLARD, born in Barrowden, his birthplace as Deene, Northants rather than Ketton, Rutland) did is looking after the children while Samuel continues to support the everything required to persuade the Middlesex-born Reverend to family as a ‘hair dresser’ and driver. His son Alfred is an apprentice take them with him to the Wild . saddler. Ethel is now 5 years old. But there is no sign of her mother Sarah. We discover that, at the time of the census on 5 April 1891, In Bockleton, as fellow servants living under the same roof, they Sarah was one of eight patients in the care of Burford Cottage would have got to know each other a lot more closely. Perhaps too Hospital in the county of Shropshire, just a mile or so away from her closely as Sarah fell pregnant, and they were obliged to leave their family on the other side of the Teme Bridge. posts during 1874 to marry and to bring their offspring into the world at a discreet distance.

Marriage in Manchester Samuel Dunford GORE and Sarah POLLARD married in the December quarter of 1874 in Chorlton, Manchester. The birth of their first child, William Alfred Dunford GORE was registered in Chorlton in the March quarter of 1875.

Family support It turns out that Samuel and Sarah didn’t choose Manchester for privacy and anonymity alone, but primarily for reasons of family support. You see, Samuel’s stepfather William and mother Mary were now living at 1 Peel Place, Moss Side in Manchester where Burford Cottage Hospital - now known as the Tenbury Community William had found work as a gardener. This was not a permanent Hospital move for Samuel’s parents. By 1881, when they were approaching Death of Ethel’s father Samuel their retirement at 64 years of age, they had moved back to Samuel GORE died on 21 March 1898 at the age of 57. The Deene in Northamptonshire where William was now working as a causes of death were bronchitis (10 days) and capillary bronchitis general labourer. It was also Mary’s last move. She died in Deene (2 days). His eldest son, Alfred, was the informant and was in (registration district Oundle) two years later in the March quarter of attendance at his death. Ethel was just over 12 years old. 1883 at the age of 66.

Following Samuel’s death, Ethel’s mother Sarah, who outlives Back to Worcestershire her husband by 30 years, is back at home in the 1901 Census. Within a year or so Samuel and Sarah would be back in Meanwhile, her sister Jane POLLARD has moved on, but not back Worcestershire where, in the space of nine years, they had six more to Rutland. Instead, she has found work in Marden in Herefordshire children, all born in Tenbury. Here, the Gores set up their own horse as a domestic servant to widowed farmer Ozeman MATTHEWS and grooming business at premises reached via an alleyway off Teme his two sons. Street. Today, it is located between Tenbury Barbers at 45 Teme Death certificate for Samuel Gore (1841-1898) Eva Ethel Harris (centre) pictured Goodbye to Tenbury with her widowed mother Sarah Soon after their marriage on Monday 26 December 1910, Ethel and Gore and 5-year-old niece Ethel her husband Arthur William HARRIS left the district to make a new Maude Gore. At this time (1911) start in the north-east. In fact, according to the marriage certificate, young Ethel Maude was living with Arthur had already moved north and was living in South Bank, her grandmother Sarah, while her Yorkshire at the time of their marriage. two siblings (Roland Harry, 7 and Sarah Vera May, 2) and her parents Shortly after her marriage Ethel, wearing her recently acquired Roland and Edith May (née Taylor) wedding band, posed for this portrait with her mother Sarah and lived at the Crow Hotel, owned niece Ethel Maude GORE at the studio of photographer Thomas by Roland’s father-in-law William J Evans of 5 Corve Street, Ludlow. Subsequent events within the Taylor. family may explain why a Ludlow photographer was commissioned rather than Charles DAVIS, owner of the local Tenbury studio only doors away from Sarah’s home.

Early deaths among DUNFORD-GORE males Ethel Maude’s father, Roland GORE, died at the age of 35 around the time this photograph was taken. With the sole known exception* of Alfred William Dunford GORE, who reached 80 years of age, the males in the ‘DUNFORD-GORE’ line from Samuel onwards rarely attained their proverbial three score years and ten. Samuel himself 5 Corve Street, Ludlow, formerly a photographer’s died in 1898 at 57, his sons Sydney and Edward John at 52 and studio, now an antiques shop (2011) 61, respectively. The womenfolk who were ‘DUNFORD-GORE’ by birth, on the other hand, not only fulfilled the statistical superiority of their gender in terms of longevity, but did so by a comfortable margin. Ethel Maude, for example, who was born on 19 November 1905, died in Kidderminster in May 1993 at the age of 87.

*Samuel GORE junior (b.1882) emigrated to Canada in 1910, heading for Winnipeg in Manitoba. We have been unable to ascertain the year of his death.

Temporarily insane However, Roland’s death was not due to natural causes. He died on Wednesday 14 June 1911, only yards from his birthplace in Teme Street, as a patient in the Infirmary of the Tenbury Union Workhouse. The death certificate states that the 35-year-old ostler had died from “haemorrhage and exhaustion, the result of a self-inflicted wound whilst temporarily insane”. The death was registered on 19 June after receipt of the certificate from George F S Brown, Coroner for Worcestershire, following the Inquest held on 16 June 1911. SUICIDE OF TENBURY MAN family trouble, Alfred replied: “He has had a lot of family trouble.” “Local News” FOUND WITH THROAT CUT: Several witnesses reported that he had appeared “strange in his The first the public had heard of this tragic affair appeared in a report manner” for about two months. In fact, Police Inspector W F Milsom under “Local News” published by the Tenbury Wells Advertiser THE INQUEST had seen him acting strangely on the Teme Bridge at 20 minutes to two weeks previously on Tuesday 6 June 1911. The brief item is nine the night before. reproduced verbatim below: Under this headline, The Tenbury Wells Advertiser published on

20 June 1911 its report on the Inquest held in the Boardroom of When another juror asked whether the deceased had been living MAN FOUND WITH THROAT CUT the Tenbury Workhouse on 16 June 1911. The inquiry set out to on good terms with his wife [Edith May Gore, barmaid at the Crow “In the early hours of Thursday morning the residents of Teme Street examine the circumstances surrounding the death of George Roland Hotel], the Coroner said there was no need to go into these details. were awakened by an unusual disturbance which was caused by Gore, aged 35 years, a Tenbury man who was found with a severe They had heard that the deceased had had family troubles and that the finding of Mr Roland Gore at the Crow Hotel with his throat cut. wound in his throat at the Crow Inn, Tenbury, in the early hours of 2 was quite sufficient. The police were quickly on the scene and he was removed to the June. Workhouse Infirmary where he has since been attended by Dr Ross. In summing up, the Coroner said there was no doubt the wound Many rumours have been circulated regarding the sad occurrence William Taylor (right) and friend pose alongside the postbox near The was self-inflicted. Everything that was possible was done for the The first witness was Annie Taylor, wife of William Taylor of the Crow but further particulars are withheld pending official inquiries. The Worcestershire Arms which, between 1910 and 1943, was run by deceased and if the jury agreed that death was due, as the doctor Inn, Tenbury. She states that the deceased was ostler at the inn sufferer is reported to be progressing favourably.” his daughter Alice Maud and her husband George Worrall where he lived and describes how she was disturbed by a strange had told them, to haemorrhage and shock caused by the wound, and that the deceased was not in his right mind when it occurred, it noise on the stairs between 12 and 1 o’clock in the morning of 2 Roland’s widow Edith May GORE We thank Patricia WORRALL (great-granddaughter of William was for them to say so, and return their verdict to that effect. June. After lighting a candle, she went downstairs and saw Gore Roland’s widow, Edith May GORE née TAYLOR, remarried two years TAYLOR) for these unique family photographs. in the passage by the tap room. He had a large wound in his later. Her second husband was James E ROBERTS. They married The foreman announced that the jury had returned a verdict as throat. When he came towards her, she fled outside and asked her in Kidderminster where their first child, Tom L ROBERTS, was born suggested by the Coroner. A vote of sympathy to the mother and neighbour, Mr Downs, to summon a doctor and the police. in the first quarter of 1915. He died aged 2 years in Kings Norton, The taller of the two gentlemen [circled] outside the brothers and sisters of the deceased was also passed. Worcestershire in the June quarter of 1917. Crow Hotel is its tenant - and later proprietor - William Taylor Gore was attended by Dr Ross who stitched up the wound. The deceased was then taken by Police Constable William Carver to the Workhouse Infirmary where he remained until he died twelve days later on 14 June. Dr Ross expressed the opinion that the wound, which went “right through the windpipe”, was self-inflicted and that, despite attending Gore two or three times a day thereafter, the deceased had to be fed mechanically and had no hope of recovery.

Elizabeth Luscott, Matron at the Infirmary, said that on the morning the deceased was brought in he was hardly able to speak because of his injuries, but told her “They have driven me to this” and spoke a lot about family affairs. He explained why he took his desperate course of action: “I saw something and went and did it.” Mrs Luscott confirmed that, subsequently, he strove hard to live whilst in the The foreman of the jury was ironmonger William C Banfield. The Infirmary and told her he must have been mad. When asked by a photograph shows his late father, Devon-born James Gay Banfield juror: “Have any of his family been to visit him?”, Mrs Luscott replied: (1831-1903), in front of the iconic hardware shop which he “Yes, his brothers have been to see him.” established. It is located in Teme Street between the Crow Inn and the Tenbury Union Workhouse. Alfred Gore, brother of the deceased, of Teme Street, Tenbury, said the body was that of his brother George Roland Gore who was 35 years of age last May. When asked whether his brother had any Birth of Geoffrey Arthur Gore HARRIS Sister Lucy’s visits Just over nine months after their marriage, Worcestershire-born We also know that Arthur and Ethel were visited by his youngest Arthur and Ethel have a son Geoffrey Arthur Gore HARRIS, born sister Lucy between the late 1940s and early 1950s prior to her long on 5 October 1911 in the district of Ormesby, Middlesbrough in stay in Canada. We know this from Lucy’s driving licences which the North Riding of Yorkshire. Geoff, as he was known to all bar his were issued for the years 1948-49 and 1949-50, giving Arthur’s mother, was to remain their only child. address at 50 Park Avenue, Redcar. Otherwise, Arthur and Ethel kept themselves to themselves, enjoying a quiet, low-key lifestyle. Shop manager Having started his working life as an ironmonger, Arthur’s career in the north-east is in a related trade. The 1911 Census, which was conducted only months after his marriage to Ethel in Tenbury in late December 1910, shows that Arthur is the manager of a plumbers and gas fitters shop. The shop was located near the prestigious Binns department store on the corner of Linthorpe Road and Newport Road in the centre of Middlesbrough. Arthur and Ethel are living at 28 Cromwell Road in Redcar on the North Sea coast, just outside Middlesbrough.

Living family members have no recollection of any visits made by Arthur and Ethel to their corner of Worcestershire. However, four years before his move up north, Arthur did travel from Tenbury Arthur’s wife Ethel entertains sister-in-law Lucy around 1949 to Woking in Surrey to be present as a witness at elder brother George’s marriage to Agnes ADAMS in 1906. George returned Lucy not a long-term guest the compliment by calling in on Arthur during his visits to the Old Lucy’s granddaughter Barbara, daughter of Bill and Lilian SKYRME Country between 1914 and 1961. of Kidderminster, tells us that, rather than being a permanent fixture in Arthur and Ethel’s home, Lucy held a position nearby in the north Arthur at mother Caroline’s funeral in 1929 of England as a ‘lady’s companion’. Later, she held a similar position A surprisingly detailed report in the Tenbury Wells Advertiser of 9 in Canada to support herself during her years there from 1952 until February 1929 on the passing of his mother Caroline documents Mr her return to the UK in 1956. A Harris (son) as one of the family mourners present. A floral tribute is also noted: “In loving memory of dear Mother and Gran - from Art, A very correct gentleman Ethel and Geoff”. This would appear to scotch any thoughts of a rift Arthur’s granddaughter Reinette HINCHLIFFE describes her between Arthur and his parents. grandfather as a very correct gentleman who was always well turned out in jacket, waistcoat, tie and trilby, with a walking stick to round Fifteen years later, on 30 December 1944, the same newspaper lists off his attire. Gardening and watching cricket (played by his adopted the names of “Art and Ethel” as among those who sent wreaths on county of Yorkshire) were his two greatest passions. Arthur’s years the occasion of the funeral of William Harris who had died at Hanley as a cricket supporter spanned the illustrious careers of Yorkshire Cottage, Broadheath on 14 December at the age of 91. At this greats from Wilfred Rhodes and Herbert Sutcliffe to Len Hutton time, Britain was still at war with Germany, of course. Arthur’s son and Fred Truman. He would have seen them in action not only at Geoff was serving with REME in Belgium, and William had already Headingley, but also closer to home at the Scarborough Cricket lost two of his grandsons in the conflict. Death certificate for George Roland Gore, brother of Arthur Harris’s Festival and, during the later years of his life from 1956, on his wife Ethel and father of Ethel Maude Gore doorstep at Acklam Park in Middlesbrough. Death of Arthur Arthur William Harris (“Art” to his late wife Ethel) died in the September quarter of 1961 at the age of 80 (Middlesbrough, Vol. 1b, p. 591). Ironically, Arthur’s love of gardening proved a contributory factor in his death. Having ordered a large quantity of manure for the garden of his semi-detached retirement bungalow at 93 Normanby Road, Ormesby, Arthur immediately set about moving it by wheelbarrow from the driveway to the rear garden. His exertions triggered a stroke from which he never recovered. Arthur survived for a year, but without regaining his speech. Elder brother George Clement found time on one of his transatlantic trips in the early 1960s to pay his respects to Arthur’s widow, Margaret.

Arthur and Ethel’s legacy Their only child, Geoffrey Arthur Gore (Geoff) HARRIS, was privately educated in Redcar and went on to study for a degree in pharmacy at Edinburgh University. It is fairly certain that - in the 1930s - Geoff became the first university graduate in our line of the Harris family. Subsequently he pursued a career as a pharmacist, working for various chemists in the north-east, including in Thornaby, Stockton- on-Tees and in various Co-op pharmacies in the area.

We wish to thank our cousin Reinette HiINCHLIFFE née HARRIS (pictured above) for her enthusiastic support in providing us with records and images used in the profiles of her grandfather Arthur William, her father Geoffrey Arthur Gore Harris and their respective wives and families.

Although Arthur was a keen Yorkshire fan, one would like to think that his loyalties were occasionally divided when Roly Jenkins was bowling his leg-spinners for Worcestershire, the county of his birth.

Death of Ethel Arthur’s wife Ethel predeceased him, passing on in the December quarter of 1957 at the age of 72 (Cleveland, Vol. 1b, p.700). During their life together, Arthur always referred to his wife as “My Lady”. His family were none too pleased, however, when Arthur married another lady within 11 months of Ethel’s death. His bride, Margaret E Hudson, was marrying for a third time.

Arthur and Ethel on a walkabout in Middlesbrough, June 1936 Geoff’s first marriage In the late ‘thirties, Geoff moved south to join the ‘bowler hat brigade’ in London where he met his first wife, Dorothy Frances Nichols. It is believed they already knew each other as fellow students at Edinburgh. Their marriage in 1938 (Surrey South Eastern, June quarter 1938, Vol.2a, p.1417) produced a son, Malcolm Geoffrey HARRIS, born on 15 July 1940 in Surrey.

Geoff’s war service Geoff received his call-up papers while living in the London area and, on the basis of his degree in a technical subject (Pharmacy), was assigned to serve with REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers). He could never see any logic in this.

Divorce Geoff and Dorothy divorced around the end of WWII. Dorothy remarried in 1948 (Surrey S E, Vol. 5g, p.1532). Her second husband was Ronald T COOPER who, according to Geoff, “used to be my best friend”.

Malcolm Geoffrey COOPER (formerly HARRIS) Dorothy’s son Malcolm later took his stepfather’s surname and, as Malcolm Geoffrey COOPER, died aged 62 on 5 September 2002 at Geoff Harris pictured in Belgium at the end of WWII (note a care home in Pembroke, South Pembrokeshire, having previously the REME cap badge) lived at 6 Waterloo Road, Hakin, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. The cause of death was metastatic disease and adeno carcinoma caecum. The informant was his half-brother Nicholas Ronald COOPER who was present at the death. Malcolm’s mother Dorothy Frances COOPER (formerly HARRIS, née NICHOLS) had died eight years previously in the same Welsh town at the age of 80 in 1994.

Malcolm married three times. His second marriage resulted in the birth of two daughters – Tina who now lives in New York and Kate who chose New Zealand. Malcolm earned his living through managing public houses and, in later years, through running an estate agency.

Arthur and Ethel in the garden of their home at 93 Normanby Road Geoff back in Civvy Street, Redcar, 28 June 1946 Geoff’s second marriage Zanne’s family Meanwhile, Geoff returned to the north-east where he too remarried Zanne was born on 13 August 1918 in Bas-Oha in the district on 10 June 1948 at the Register Office in Guisborough, N Yorkshire. of Huy, Province of Liege, Belgium, the daughter of engineer The marriage certificate shows that the newly weds were staying Louis Constant STINISSEN and Laure Adeline Joséphine (née with Geoff’s parents at 50 Park Avenue, Redcar. Geoff’s bride was DELCOURT). She had a sister, Marie-Louise, known as Mimi. Belgian-born Suzanne Marie Henriette Emilie STINISSEN whom he had met amid the euphoria of VE Day in Hoboken, a suburb of Life in German-occupied Belgium Antwerp, while serving with the British Army in Belgium. Geoff and After attempting unsuccessfully to flee to France from German- “Zanne” had three children - Reine-Marie (Reinette) Ethel Laure occupied Belgium at the beginning of WWII, the STINISSEN family b.1949, Martin b.1951 and Urwin b.1952. was obliged to have a member of the SS billeted in their Antwerp home. When Zanne’s father protested that this was unacceptable Reinette’s search for her half-brother Malcolm as he had two daughters living at home, he was given a choice. Some years ago Reinette attempted to trace her half-brother Either put up one SS man or forty ordinary soldiers instead! Not Malcolm Geoffrey HARRIS. By the time she became aware that he surprisingly, Monsieur STINISSEN reluctantly agreed to house the had adopted his stepfather’s surname of COOPER, he had already SS man. passed on. Reinette later learned from one of Malcolm’s daughters that, having been brought up by his mother Dorothy to believe that Nurse STINISSEN his biological father and half-siblings wanted nothing to do with him, During the war, Zanne first worked for a dentist, then joined the Red Malcolm discovered the truth following his mother’s death in 1994. Cross as a nurse. What she witnessed and experienced on 16 Among her belongings, she left a pile of unopened envelopes from December 1944 would be etched forever in her memory. At this Geoff to his first-born, containing letters, photographs and cheques. time, the tide of the war in Europe was on the turn and the Belgian It was twenty years too late for Malcolm to contact his father. port of Antwerp had been liberated by Allied troops in the preceding September.

Death in the Afternoon

The Rex Cinema on the Avenue De Keyserlei in Antwerp was packed. The audience of nearly 1,200 were settled in their seats and enjoying a screening of ‘The Plainsman’ starring Gary Cooper.

At twenty minutes past three in the afternoon, the film – and hundreds of lives – came to an abrupt and bloody end. A V2 rocket, launched by members of the SS Werfer Batterie 500 in Holland, had scored a direct hit on the cinema. The death toll was 567 with another 291 injured. More than half of the dead and two-thirds of the injured were US, British and Canadian soldiers. It was the highest death toll from a single rocket during the war in Europe.

Nursing staff from the overstretched hospitals who were despatched to the scene worked around the clock in horrendous conditions to Already the best of friends: locate and tend to the trapped, injured and dying. Ethel and future daughter-in- Zanne’s Belgian Red Cross ID card (1943) law Suzanne in Redcar, 1948 Years later, Zanne described to her daughter Reinette how she would reach for a hand protruding from the dust and debris and hope that it was still attached to a body. It took the rescue teams six days to dig out all the dead. For the part she played in this horrific trauma, Zanne was awarded The Palm Medal by the Croix-Rouge de Belgique (Belgian Red Cross) and a certificate.

Geoff’s visiting Belgian family After Geoff’s marriage to Zanne in 1948, his parents Arthur and Ethel had played host to his visiting family members from across the Channel.

Martinus Delcourt, Arthur Harris, Lucy, Ethel, Laure Stinissen (Zanne’s mother), Zanne and Geoff

The family’s move to Billingham Geoff decided to move home to 3, Kennedy Gardens, Billingham to reduce his commuting time. This was at the cost of increasing the travel time for the children who wished to continue their education in Thornaby and now needed to catch a bus. The family’s new home in Billingham was an apartment where Geoff may have hoped that he and Zanne would be able to enjoy an easier life after retiring. (Unlike his father, Geoff was no gardener). But their hopes of sharing

Arthur Harris and Martinus Delcourt, Zanne’s maternal uncle, many more years together were dashed by Geoff’s death in 1974 summer 1949 before he had even reached retirement age.

Death of Geoffrey Arthur Gore (Geoff) HARRIS Geoff’s postwar career as a pharmacist in the north-east Geoff HARRIS died on 13 July 1974 at the General Hospital in Now back on familiar territory in the north-east, Geoff soon found Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland at the same age (62) as his first son a position as a pharmacist in Thornaby and a new home at 1 St. Malcolm. The causes of death were cardiogenic shock, myocardial Luke’s Avenue. Unfortunately, he didn’t see eye to eye with the infarction and atherosclerosis. The informant was his daughter proprietress who insisted that Geoff and his family leave the house Reine-Marie Ethel Laure HINCHLIFFE. which ‘went with the job’ despite the fact that Zanne was pregnant with her third child Urwin. Death of Zanne HARRIS (née STINISSEN) Zanne passed away on 3 August 1990 at the Macclesfield District The law was on Geoff’s side, however, and he was granted a stay General Hospital in Macclesfield, Cheshire ten days before her of execution during which he found a new post in the pharmacy 72nd birthday. The causes of death were bronchopneumonia, unit within the Co-op store in Thornaby. After more than a decade cerebrovascular accident and diabetes. Again, the informant was here Geoff moved on to become manager of Carter’s Chemists in her daughter Reine-Marie Ethel Laure HINCHLIFFE. Billingham where he enjoyed a good working relationship with the The Palm Medal and certificate awarded to Nurse Suzanne Stinissen owner Mr Brown. The mixed legacy of the other Ethel Gore

Ethel Maude GORE (b. 19 Nov 1905 in Balsall Heath, Birmingham) was the daughter of ostler George Roland GORE whose wife’s implied infidelity led him to commit suicide in June 1911. He was a brother of Eva Ethel GORE who married Arthur William HARRIS, so Ethel Maude was her niece.

Ethel Maude GORE, who appears to have been brought up for a time by her grandmother Sarah, married John Henry PHILLIPS in Tenbury on 15 November 1928. Her husband was a gents Tenbury Barbers at 45 High Street, Tenbury (the alleyway on the right hairdresser. Their address in Tenbury was 45 Teme Street which is once led to Samuel and Sarah Gore’s horse grooming premises) still trading as Tenbury Barbers today (2011).

who stood to inherit up to half of his father’s £30m fortune, had been planning a new life with a girlfriend. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. His father Robin had died two months previously on 25 September 2000.

House hunting in Toronto What have the PHILLIPS to do with our HARRIS story? Well, when Robin was about to move to Canada at an early stage in his career, he would have been told by his mother Ethel Maude that her aunt Ethel’s husband Arthur HARRIS had relatives in Toronto. This is how Robin PHILLIPS and his wife Ruth came to contact George HARRIS’s family for advice on house hunting in the Toronto area. Left to right: Ethel Maude, sister ‘Sally’ Vera and mother May Taylor George’s granddaughter Barbara BALLANTINE tells us that her Gore Roberts at Ivy Villa, May’s home in St Michael’s, Tenbury mother Bess put them up and assisted them in their search.

They had a son, Robin Henry PHILLIPS (born 4 April 1933), who made a name – and a fortune – for himself. After gaining a 1st Class Degree at the London School of Economics, he pursued a successful business career in the washing machine rental and hand dryer manufacturing sectors (WORLD DRYER). He became a multi- millionaire, featuring in The Sunday Times Rich List.

In 1957, he married Ruth GOLD in Westminster, Middlesex. They had two sons, one of whom – Alun - hit the headlines for another reason. In November 2000 he was found guilty of murdering his

Death certificate for Geoffrey Arthur Gore HARRIS wife, 34-year-old Nadine Marie, by drowning her in her bath in the early hours of 16 May 2000. It was claimed that 36-year-old Phillips, Birth certificate of Ethel Maude Gore, b. 19 November 1905 Marriage certificate for Ethel Maude GORE and John Henry PHILLIPS AGNES PRISCILLA HARRIS (1882-1967)

Younger sister of Edward James Sixth child of William and Caroline

Agnes Priscilla Harris was born on 7 May 1882 at Stoneyford Cottage and baptised on 2 July 1882 in Hanley Child.

Traces 1891-1901 In 1891, at eight years of age, Agnes is one of five children of William and Caroline at Stoneyford Cottage. Besides her siblings (Edith, Arthur, Hubert and Lucy), there is a visitor in the house – Kent-born William JONES. He is Caroline’s nephew, son of her elder brother William and his wife Martha whose first three children (including the visitor) were born in Margate, Kent before the family moved closer to home to Leintwardine, Herefordshire.

In 1901, we see that Agnes’ career has followed the same path as that of her elder sisters, Amy and Edith, although she has not had to travel nearly so far to find work as a domestic servant. Agnes Priscilla Harris (1882-1967)

Not directly related Patricia Worrall revisits her place of birth: Emigration Although the Harris family is only indirectly related to the PHILLIPS The Worcestershire Arms in Stoke Bliss, At the age of eighteen, she is working for a widowed farmer at Field You may recall from Part One of our Harris story that Agnes made it via the marriage of Arthur William Harris to Eva Ethel GORE, some now a private residence House Farm* in Stoke Bliss, two miles from her home in Hanley members of the HARRIS clan on both sides of the Atlantic are still Child. to Canada in 1914, a few months before the outbreak of WWI. She in contact with Robin’s first wife Ruth. We are told that Ruth has Memories of a contemporary was accompanied by her younger brother Hubert Charles (b.1886) expressed the view that her former husband had a drink and drugs Our Eastham friend David SPILSBURY was a contemporary of *Agnes is not the first Harris to live at Field House Farm. Sixty years who had already spent more than nine years in Calgary, Alberta, problem long before their son Alun was arrested for the murder of his Robin PHILLIPS and travelled on the same school bus from Tenbury earlier in 1841, her great aunt Mary Ann Harris (b.1816) lived there, having emigrated in 1905. wife. Robin’s death at the age of 67 was probably hastened by the to Kidderminster where they were fellow pupils at King Charles I too – as housekeeper to widower Martin BOULTON and as nanny publicity surrounding the ensuing court case. Indeed, some believe Grammar School in the 1940s. to his two children. Mary Ann ended up marrying her employer. While Hubert’s ultimate destination is Calgary, Agnes (still single at that - like his maternal grandfather Roland GORE - he took his own But there is no chance of history repeating itself. Agnes’ widowed 31) is heading for Toronto, Ontario where a position is waiting for her life. David tells us that Robin was a talented all-rounder who excelled employer is a woman - Harriet WILCOX. as ‘housekeeper to her brother-in-law’ (Isaac HALL). We also learn at both sports and academic studies. But perhaps Robin is best from the inquisitive passenger list that she has been working as a Even seven years before his death when he attended his mother’s remembered locally for paddling down Tenbury’s Market Street in a As we have already heard, we stumble across Agnes in 1911 when cook in England. With her culinary skills, petite figure and refined funeral at St Mary’s Church in Tenbury in May 1993, Robin had cut kayak during the 1947 floods shortly before his fourteenth birthday she happened to be visiting her sister Amy in Parkstone, Poole, features, Agnes surely won’t stay single for long. a sorry figure. We are told by fellow mourner Patricia WORRALL that (see page 54 of Around Tenbury Wells in Old Photographs by David Dorset. The next time the two sisters would meet would be in 1953 he looked much older than his sixty years. By a rare coincidence, Green, first published 1994, ISBN 0-7509-0834-3). in Rubery, near Birmingham, on Agnes’ first trip home since her Marriage Patricia’s grandmother, Alice Maud WORRALL née TAYLOR, former emigration to Canada in 1914. Helpful brother Hubert not only brought Agnes to Canada but also – landlady of The Worcestershire Arms in Kyre, was an older sister On page 76, the same collection features a photograph of 45 Teme more through serendipity than by design – brought Agnes together of Edith May GORE née TAYLOR whose involvement in the events Street in the 1920s when it was a saddlery business run by Alfred with her future husband. As a direct result of Hubert’s marriage in of June 1911 had sown so much unhappiness in the Gore family. (‘Farf’) GORE and his wife Annie (née BULLOCK) who is pictured in 1916, Agnes met - and four years later married - Hubert’s brother-in- Patricia knew her as ‘Aunty May’. the shop’s doorway. law George CRAIK. Agnes’ marriage to George CRAIK Agnes married George CRAIK on 28 April 1920 at the Melville Presbyterian Church on the Old Kingston Road, Scarborough, Toronto. Agnes was 37, her husband 33. Agnes gives her address as 18 Vaughan Road (near the junction of St Clair Avenue W and Bathurst Street). It’s a short walk from George’s current address – Christie Street Hospital. What’s he doing here? Part of the answer lies in George’s occupation which he describes as ‘Serving the King’.

Serving the King George was living at 1123, 10th Street, E. Calgary, Alberta and working as a ‘drug clerk’ when he received his military service draft papers. By the time he presented himself for his army medical in Trenton, Ontario on 25 October 1918, WWI was all but over and, thankfully, 30-year-old George would not see active service. Instead, his military service was ‘commuted’ to hospital work in Toronto.

Under the heading ‘Particulars of Recruit’, the contents of George’s army medical tell us he had brown eyes and brown hair. Distinctive marks: A tattooed dot on his right hand. Of medium height at 5 feet 7 inches tall, George nevertheless appeared to tower over his dainty

wife Agnes. Agnes and George CRAIK

George CRAIK’s family George was born on 18 October 1887 in Brechin, Angus, one of from husband George’s parentage and Scottish roots. 13 children born to Robert CRAIK and Mary Jane (née CLARK). Hubert George married once, but divorced without issue. Donald George’s father was a stonemason. At the time of the 1901 Robert, who earned his living as an electrician, married Annie Census, when the family was living at 73 River Street, Brechin, RUSHTON and had four children: Rodney Donald, Donna Dianne, 13-year-old George had a part-time job as a chemist’s assistant. His Valerie Ann and Hugh George, all of whom live in Toronto. interest in chemistry would be the key to his next two career moves in Canada where the majority of the Craik family emigrated in 1911, Visits to UK family settling in Calgary West, Alberta. According to the 1916 Canada Visits to the UK by Canadian Harrises, who faced a long, not always Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, George (now 28) comfortable journey by steamship before the jet-setting era, were was working as a laundryman. After his marriage to Agnes, George always special occasions for the visitors and the visited. Agnes worked for Kodak Canada for many years. and her husband George made at least one trip. They arrived in Liverpool from Quebec on 9 May 1953 on board the SS Franconia. Children Agnes was 71, George 65 and now retired. Their destination in the Birth certificate for Agnes Priscilla Harris George and Agnes had two children. The first, Hubert George UK was 32 Beverley Road, Rubery, near Birmingham, the home CRAIK, was born in 1921. The inspiration for their choice of of her sister Amy and her second husband Edward Charles (Ted) forenames goes without saying. After all, the part played by Agnes’ JONES who had married in Hanley William six years previously. brother Hubert had shaped her life. Their second child, born the following year, was Donald Robert CRAIK, both forenames deriving The Craik-Harris Mini Tree

Robert CRAIK Mary Jane CLARK

Stonemason b. abt 1863, Montrose, Scotland b. abt 1861, Montrose, Scotland

George Clark CRAIK Agnes Priscilla HARRIS

Chemist’s assistant, laundryman, m. 28 Apr 1920, Scarborough, Toronto Kodak Canada employee b. 7 May 1882, Hanley Child, Worcs b. 18 Oct 1887, Montrose, Scotland d. 16 July 1967, aged 85 d. 2 Aug 1970, aged 82

Hubert George CRAIK Donald Robert CRAIK Annie RUSHTON b. 23 Feb 1921 Electrician d. 28 Feb 1957, aged 36 b. 9 Aug 1922 d. 2009, aged 86

Rodney Donald Donna Dianne Valerie Ann Hugh George

Agnes and George’s visit may have been inspired by meeting up Above right: Two generations of the CRAIK and HARRIS families: with Lucy in Toronto less than a year previously in June 1952. Lucy Rear (l to r) George Craik and wife Agnes née Harris, Lizzie née would have told them all the news, including the story behind Amy’s Craik and husband Hubert Harris second marriage to her childhood sweetheart at the age of 70 in Front (l to r) Hubert George Craik, Ruth Harris, Donald Robert Craik 1947 at which Lucy had been one of the witnesses. and Thelma Harris

Death of Agnes Agnes – known throughout her life on both sides of the Atlantic as ‘Aggie’ - died on 16 July 1967 in Toronto, a fortnight after her 85th birthday. She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband George passed away three years later on 2 August 1970. He was 82.

Their first son, Hubert George, predeceased them, dying of stomach cancer at the age of 36. Their second son, Donald Robert, died Agnes and George CRAIK (right) in his 87th year in 2009. Like his mother, Don also fell victim to with Hubert and Lizzie HARRIS Alzheimer’s. pictured in Toronto in June 1952 HUBERT CHARLES HARRIS (1886-1961)

Younger brother of Edward James Seventh child of William and Caroline

Hubert Charles Harris was born on 8 August 1886 at Stoneyford Cottage and baptised on 31 October 1886 in Hanley Child.

Hubert was given the middle name Charles in honour of his maternal uncle Charles Jones who had emigrated to the USA in 1874. In so doing, his mother Caroline repaid the compliment Charles had paid to her when he used her name for his first-born in 1860.

Traces At the age of 14 (1901 Census), Hubert was the youngest of William and Caroline’s boys who were still living at home. As a ‘farmer’s son’, he was expected to earn his keep working in the 60 acres of farmland around Stoneyford Cottage. Life under Caroline’s disciplinarian regime could be hard, as Hubert’s nephew Albert William Harris (b. 1906) was to discover just after the end of WWI. Hubert Charles Harris around 1907

Emigration to Canada Although he was the seventh of William and Caroline’s eight children, Bishop’s Frome in 1906 – one year after Hubert and friends. Hubert may have been the first to emigrate. At the age of 18, he was the youngest of a trio of like-minded young men who saw no Harry tells us he was driven [by pony and trap] to the station future for themselves in Hanley Child - or the UK even - and booked at Hereford by his brother Jack to catch the express train to tickets for the maiden voyage of the SS Victorian from Liverpool, Birkenhead. Here, he and his fellow passengers are “taken in hand arriving in Halifax, Novia Scotia on 5 April 1905. by an agent of the Allen Line Steamship Company”. First, they are placed on a ferry to take them across the Mersey to the port of The families to which the three belonged were close neighbours in Liverpool. There they are taken to a boarding house where they are Hanley Child. In fact, they appear on the same page of the 1901 made to feel very comfortable, enjoying a supper and breakfast next Census which had taken place four years before almost to the day. morning. All this was provided at no extra cost, being included in the Hubert’s two companions were Garfield MORRIS (23) from Court fare for the steamship. Farm and Christopher SPILSBURY (33) from Town Farm. After breakfast, they are escorted to the docks where the SS A graphic account of the emigrants’ journey Victorian is waiting. Once on board, they are shown to their cabins Thanks to our Eastham friend David Spilsbury, we have had access below deck and, after depositing their suitcases, return to the upper to a graphic, first-hand account of the journey to Liverpool and deck to observe the hustle and bustle going on around them. from there to Canada on board the very same steamship on which Without warning, the ship’s fog horn announces their departure. On Hubert travelled. It is recorded in the memoirs of David’s uncle Harry reaching open sea, Harry writes: Birth certificate for Hubert Charles Harris Spilsbury (1889-1985) who made the journey at the age of 17 from “The vessel’s 10,000 tons was now beginning to pitch and roll. I could hear the constant rumble of the ship’s propeller. The engine room door was a short distance away and I got the sickly smell of oil and grease. I ate dinner, but that was the last solid meal I had until we reached the St. Lawrence River. With the constant up and down motion and the noise, I was really seasick. Seasickness has been known to be so bad that people have asked to be thrown overboard. It is a feeling of complete helplessness. I endured the seven-day crossing and woke up one morning to find the vessel sailing fully stabilized and I immediately felt better. It was a great relief to know that the ordeal was over.”

What happened to Hubert’s two pals? On their arrival in Canada, all three describe themselves as farmers and say they are heading for Calgary, Alberta. Garfield knew what to expect as he is a ‘Returned Canadian’, having settled in Calgary two years earlier in March 1903. Hubert and Christopher are first-timers. Garfield Morris returned briefly to Hanley Child in 1909, possibly to visit his mother Rachel who died in 1913 aged 66. By 1916 Garfield Resting place of Garfield’s parents Rachel and Isaac Morris had left Calgary and settled in Saskatchewan - first in Kindersley, a small town of 4,412 inhabitants (2006), then in Donavon, a tiny hamlet, 30 miles south-west of Saskatoon. Around 1926 he married pal and fellow migrant Hubert Harris. How do we know? Both he a US-born girl less than half his own age. In July 1933, Garfield (now and Hubert are on board – surely more by design than coincidence. 51), his wife Ethel May (24) and their 6-year-old son Stanley paid a visit to the Morris family home at Court House Farm, staying for Hubert: A ‘Returned Canadian’ two months. In the passenger list of the Duchess of York Garfield Hubert had returned to England in 1914 to collect a precious cargo describes his occupation as ‘section foreman’. (In this context, a - his sister Agnes Priscilla Harris. His record in the passenger list of section is a part of a farm corresponding to one square mile or 640 the SS Empress of Ireland describes him a ‘Returned Canadian’. acres. As section foreman, Garfield would have been responsible for The manifest tells us that Hubert (27 years old and single) is all farming activities within this area). returning to Canada having previously lived in Alberta for 9 years.

The National Probate Calendar tells us that Isaac Morris of The Court We also learn that his last occupation in the UK was that of Farm, Hanley Child, Tenbury, Worcestershire died 19 April 1926. [commercial] traveller and that his destination is Calgary where Probate Worcester 30 December to James William Morris and Alfred he intends to work as a ‘steam fitter’. Our cousin Paul McMILLAN Morris, farmers. Effects £1,253 15s 8d. – one of Hubert’s five grandchildren – enlightened us. A steam fitter is someone who installs and repairs heating, ventilation and

Christopher Spilsbury emigrated in 1905 after selling Town Farm refrigeration systems. following the death of his mother the year before. After his arrival in Canada, Christopher evades our limited methods of detection New friends for nine years. Then he reappears in the passenger list for the SS While living in Calgary, Hubert (better known as ‘Bert’ among his Empress of Ireland, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia from Liverpool on Canadian friends and family) became acquainted with a family of 24 April 1914. It shows that Christopher remained settled in Calgary Scottish immigrants who arrived in 1911. They were the CRAIK Hubert HARRIS during his early years in Canada as a farmer. It also reveals that he had kept in touch with his young family from Brechin, Angus. (possibly a 21st birthday portrait in 1907) The CRAIK family The Harris-Craik Mini Tree Before leaving Scotland, 50-year-old stonemason Robert CRAIK and his wife May Jane had produced thirteen children. In 1911, seven of their children were living with them under the same roof in Calgary, their ages ranging from 12 to 23 years. Hubert Charles HARRIS Elizabeth CRAIK

Steam fitter/Insurance salesman m. 19 Jun 1916, Calgary, Alberta A few doors away another of their children, Thomas (26), was living b. 8 Aug 1886, Hanley Child b. 3 Dec 1894, Brechin, Angus d. 22 Oct 1961, Peterborough, Ontario d. 23 Mar 1984, Peterborough, Ontario with his wife and two-month old son. Thomas had arrived in Calgary three years ahead of the rest of the family and had been able to prepare the way for his parents and siblings. However, several of the Craik siblings do not appear to have joined them. They include Helen (24) and Robertina (21) who may have married and remained in Scotland, perhaps to emigrate another day. (We later learn that Thelma HARRIS Ruth HARRIS Helen settled in British Columbia). Bert HARRIS and Lizzie CRAIK on their wedding day, 19 June b. 9 Apr 1919, Bowmanville, Ontario b. 19 Oct 1923, Bowmanville, Ontario 1916, in Calgary, Alberta m. Joseph GRIERSON, 17 Aug 1940 m. Thomas Paton McMILLAN, 16 Sep 1944 d. 20 Sep 2006, aged 87 years d. 15 Apr 1988, aged 64 years Bert’s marriage to Lizzie CRAIK

Fortunately for Bert, young Elizabeth Anne (Lizzie) CRAIK did come Life after Calgary, Alberta: Bowmanville and Peterborough, to Canada - at the age of fifteen. Born on 3 December 1894 in Ontario Brechin, Scotland, Lizzie was 21 years old when she married Following their marriage on 19 June 1916, having met and fallen 29-year-old Bert on 19 June 1916. Their marriage unexpectedly for each other on the plains of Alberta, Bert and Lizzie gravitated cemented Anglo-Scottish relationships even further by bringing towards other HARRIS and CRAIK family members now living in Gary Karen David Thomas Paul Gregory together Lizzie’s brother George CRAIK and Bert’s sister Agnes. As Ontario. First they settled in Bowmanville (47 miles east of Toronto). b. 1943 b. 1946 b. 1946 b. 1949 b. 1952 you know by now, George and Agnes married within four years. Later they moved to Peterborough, a larger city with a population Thanks again Bert! today of around 75,000, situated 78 miles to the north-east of Bert and Lizzie remained in Peterborough for the rest of their lives. Ruth and Tom had three children – David Thomas (b.1946), Paul Toronto. Children Here, Bert enjoyed fishing in the Trent Canal during his retirement. (b.1949) and Gregory (b.1952). Ruth died on 15 April 1988 aged 64, Tom on 15 March 1995 aged 73. Both are at rest in Little Lake Bert and Lizzie had two children, both girls – Thelma (b. 9 April After leaving Alberta behind, Bert changed careers from skilled, Bert and Lizzie’s legacy: Thelma and Ruth HARRIS Cemetery, Peterborough. 1919) and Ruth Elizabeth (b. 19 October 1923), both born in hands-on work as a fitter to a professional, white collar occupation Both Thelma and Ruth were born in Bowmanville - Thelma on 9 April Bowmanville, Ontario. as an insurance salesman. In fact, he had now come full circle, 1919, Ruth on 19 October 1923. having worked in England as a commercial traveller prior to his So was that going to spell the end of the Harris name? We thought emigration in 1905. He had the right personality for the job. And he Thelma HARRIS married Joseph GRIERSON on 17 August 1940. not as Elsie TUDOR’s Canadian Family Tree showed that Gary and looked good in a pinstripe suit, too! Karen - Thelma’s children by Joseph GRIERSON – had retained the While Thelma was half-Scottish through her mother Lizzie, Joe was name Harris. However, we are assured by our cousin Karen that Scottish through and through, having been born in Uddingston, both she and her brother are Griersons. Scotland on 9 December 1907. Thelma and Joe had two children – Gary (b.1943) and Karen (b.1946). Joe died aged 71 on 4 July The end of the HARRIS name in Canada 1979, Thelma at the age of 87 on 20 September 2006. Both are at It means we in the UK must face up to the fact that the name rest at Rosemount Memorial Gardens in Peterborough. HARRIS, introduced into Canada by four siblings from Hanley Child one hundred years ago, has completely died out in their adopted Ruth Elizabeth HARRIS married Thomas Paton McMILLAN on 16 country. But one thing is certain – their genes will live on! September 1944. Tom was born in Glasgow on 13 June 1921. Thelma GRIERSON née HARRIS pictured with her nephew Paul McMILLAN around 2000 Bert and Lizzie’s daughters: Ruth (left) and Thelma A less formal wedding snap. Ruth’s sister Thelma is the bridesmaid on the right.

Ruth Elizabeth HARRIS and Thomas Paton McMILLAN Lizzie and Bert Harris, at their wedding in St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, possibly at daughter Ruth’s Peterborough, Ontario, 16 September 1944 wedding in 1944 The Piglet Story on, Tom joined Outboard Marine (manufacturers of Johnson and Evinrude outboard motors). It proved a good career move. After working through the ranks for over 40 years, Tom became the Bert’s grandson Paul McMILLAN has one particularly vivid company’s President and General Manager. recollection of his grandfather who, he says, was never afraid of a drink or two. Here, in his own words, is Paul’s Piglet Story: Throughout their life together, Ruth was the perfect homemaker and, as Tom was frequently away on business, bore much of the “Dad and Grampa Bert were heading to the Saturday morning responsibility for raising their three boys. Outside the home, Ruth market in Peterborough to buy a piglet with the intention of was closely involved with St Paul’s Church, the IODE*, the Parent- butchering the creature, roasting it, and enjoying a suckling pig Teachers Association and various fund-raising initiatives for those dinner with the entire family. Neither one of them had ever butchered “less fortunate than ourselves”. or roasted a whole pig before, but Bert was certain he could manage. I was about three years old and was along for the ride. Paul: “She was a kind, warm, loving mother.”

The pig was purchased and we brought it back to Bert and Lizzie’s *IODE stands for The Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire. Its home on Mark Street in a cardboard box. We were in the kitchen, slogan: IODE ..women dedicated to a better Canada. Established and while Dad and Grampa were sitting at each end of the kitchen in the first decade of the 20th century, IODE Canada is a national table, having their first drink of the day, the pig escaped from the Four generations: Lizzie, her daughter Ruth, grandson Paul and Paul McMILLAN and his sons Tom (left) and Matthew, Calgary 1997 women’s charitable organisation dedicated to enhancing the quality box. Squealing madly, it started to chase me in circles around the great-grandsons Matthew and Thomas McMILLAN of life for individuals through education support, community service kitchen. I was terrified! I don’t recall who was crying and screaming Ruth and Tom McMILLAN Tom was under two years old when his 31-year-old father and and citizenship programs. the loudest, the pig or me. Meanwhile, Dad and Grampa were Paul’s picture of life in Peterborough namesake, Thomas Paton McMILLAN, arrived in Canada from laughing uncontrollably, enjoying the humour of my predicament. Cousin Paul McMILLAN paints a colourful picture of the family’s life Scotland alone on 15 April 1923 on board the SS Marburn. He in Peterborough where Bert and Lizzie’s first home was a two-storey had £5 in his pocket and an engineering job to go to with Canadian I was not part of the butchering process, but I do know that Grampa brick-built house on Mark Street. Ironically, for someone who had General Electric in Peterborough (nicknamed “Electric City”). did not fare well. It was more of a challenge than he had anticipated, worked at the cutting edge of central heating technology, Bert relied His wife Lily joined him two months later along with Tom junior so he and Dad had to fortify their resolve with a few more drinks of on old-fashioned coal which had to be delivered and shovelled who celebrated his second birthday during the crossing. Tom’s rye. through a basement window, then charged into the monstrous grandparents were Dugald McMILLAN, an ‘iron driller machine man’ furnace as and when needed. It turned out that they were also ill prepared to remove the hair from from Maybole, Ayrshire, and Grace née PATON. Hence the middle name borne by father and son. Grace’s father was Thomas PATON, the pig. The hot water method was not working, so Grampa took his Many family gatherings took place in the house – with Aunt Thelma a wine and spirit merchant. personal shaving kit and shaved the pig! (Bert and Lizzie’s oldest daughter), Uncle Joe (Grierson) and cousins Gary and Karen. As a child, visiting their home was full of Tom’s mother Lily passed away around 1952. Tom’s widowed father The pig was roasted to perfection and arrived at the table for adventure and fun. There was the basement to explore, a garden moved in with the family on Rubidge Street until he too passed Grampa to carve, complete with roasted apple in its mouth. Grampa full of raspberries to raid and the chance to eavesdrop on the on in 1954. He was a keen bowls player. In fact, he was at the took one look at the pig and immediately left the table, rushing conversations of the adults in the kitchen via the ventilation shaft Peterborough Lawn Bowling Club when he died. Tom’s son Paul upstairs, and not returning for the entire evening. With all the stress on the second floor. Not to mention the thrill of sliding down the (then four or five years old) recalls that he and his paternal Grampa of preparation, when Grampa saw the roasted pig, I guess he hardwood stairs on a blanket! suddenly lost his appetite.” would always get up early and have breakfast together – shredded wheat softened with hot water, then drained and packed down with In the late 1950s, Bert and Lizzie moved to a smaller home on brown sugar. McCannon Avenue. In fact, it was when Paul and his brothers David and Greg were staying here while their Mom and Dad were on a At the time of Ruth and Tom’s marriage in 1944, Tom was working holiday that Bert passed away in 1961. as a tool and die maker at Westclocks in Peterborough. Later Ruth and Tom McMillan, around 1975 Making a splash on Ladies’ Bridge Night The sinking of the SS Empress LUCY SOPHIA HARRIS Every couple of months, Ruth would play host to the women’s of Ireland (1889-1974) bridge club at their home on Holloway Drive. On one such occasion, when Paul was six or seven, he got out of bed and went to the The SS Empress of Ireland was built in 1906 by Canadian Pacific to Younger sister of Edward James bathroom for a pee, but omitted to close the bathroom door. As he target the emigrant trade. Its slogan was “Only 4 Days Open Sea”. Eighth and last child of William and Caroline relieved himself, there was a pause in the conversation from the two tables of bridge players downstairs. It was painfully obvious On the afternoon of 28 May 1914, 1,057 passengers boarded the Lucy was born on 25 June 1889 at Stoneyford Cottage, Hanley that all eight ladies present could hear what was going on upstairs. ship in Quebec City harbour, bound for England. In the early hours Child. Ruth was mortified, but defused their collective embarrassment by of the following morning, thick fog descended on the St. Lawrence casually remarking “Well, at least I know what he has in his hand!” River. Captain Kendall decided to stop the ship for safety reasons. Lucy was the youngest of William and Caroline’s eight children, all of A Norwegian collier, the Storstad, failed to see the SS Empress of whom were born in Stoneyford Cottage*. Paul: “Mom had a great sense of humour and we always enjoyed Ireland and struck the liner amidship, inflicting fatal damage. The her easy laughter.” ship listed and sank within 15 minutes. There was only time to *Similarly, in the previous generation, all eight of James and launch four of the forty-two lifeboats. Most of the passengers were Susannah’s children were born in New Grove. But that’s where Home thoughts from abroad fast asleep and drowned in their cabins. the similarity ends. The lives of three of James’ offspring were cut Unlike his siblings - George, Edith and Agnes - Bert did not visit tragically short. In contrast, all William’s children survived well into his family in the UK after WWI. Between the two wars he and Lizzie With the loss of 1,024 lives, the sinking of the SS Empress of Ireland adulthood and set records for longevity within the Harris family. were bringing up their two girls. Maybe by the time WWII was over, is among the great shipping disasters of the 20th century. In fact, They benefited from the advances made in medicine, medical Lucy Sophia Harris (1889 - 1974) he felt it was too late to make the effort - both his parents had more passenger lives were lost than on the Titanic where many care, hygiene and sanitation, as well as from the introduction of passed on and virtually all Lizzie’s Scottish family were in Canada more crew members perished. compulsory education in 1870. anyway. What’s more, their daughters Thelma and Ruth were busy Tom SKYRME’s background producing grandchildren for them to babysit and play with! Lucy’s husband Thomas Richard SKYRME was born in Droitwich Death of Bert Dairy farming at Stoneyford in the September quarter of 1888, the son of Thomas SKYRME Hubert Charles (Bert) Harris died in Peterborough on 22 October At the time of the 1911 Census, Lucy was helping her parents with However, when Bert’s father William HARRIS died at Hanley and Elizabeth (née GIBBS). Elizabeth was the daughter of Charles 1961. He was 75. His wife Elizabeth (Lizzie) died in Peterborough their dairy farming work at Stoneyford. Here she would have been in Cottage, Broadheath, Tenbury on 14 December 1944, the report GIBBS, a baker trading on the High Street in Droitwich, while on 23 March 1984 in her 90th year. They are both at rest in the precisely the right place to follow in her mother’s footsteps in more published in the Tenbury Wells Advertiser of 30 December 1944 on Thomas was descended from a long line of Herefordshire farmers. peaceful and attractive surroundings of Little Lake Cemetery, ways than one. Just as her mother Caroline had perhaps lain in wait the funeral which took place in Hanley Child noted that the wreaths Peterborough. for her future husband William to pass by on his way to and from included those from “George and Bert, Canada”. So, at this time, Tom’s father New Grove, Lucy (who had her eye on Tom Skyrme, now farming their thoughts were indeed back home in Worcestershire. Tom’s father Thomas was born on a farm in Winslow (just outside No living member of the Harris family in the UK ever set eyes on Bert with his parents at New Grove) may have used the same tactics. Bromyard) in November 1860 and educated at a boys’ boarding or Lizzie. The photographs brought back by Lucy after her extended The plan evidently worked as she and Tom married three years later. Earlier on in their life together when Bert and Lizzie were living in school in Docklow (1871 Census), experiencing farm life only at stay in Canada during the 1950s - and only recently rediscovered Calgary, the journey would have been 2,000 miles longer. As for weekends and during the school holidays. He started his working life in Bert and Ella SKYRME’s album - enabled us to see for the first Lucy’s marriage to Tom SKYRME the ocean crossing, Bert may have been haunted by the fate which as a draper’s assistant on the High Street in Droitwich (1881). time what they looked like. We are also grateful to our cousin Paul Lucy married Thomas Richard SKYRME* on 12 August 1914 in befell the SS Empress of Ireland on which he and his sister Agnes McMILLAN for sharing his memories and photographs with us and Hanley Child. Lucy was 25, Tom 26 years old.. had been passengers just five weeks earlier. A Skyrme family tragedy bringing Bert and Lizzie back to life. At this time, Thomas Skyrme’s younger brother Richard was *This unusual surname derives from two Viking brothers who settled working a few doors away on the same High Street – as a ‘baking on the Isle of Skye. Between the 8th and 10th centuries, their apprentice’ to Elizabeth’s father Charles GIBBS. Three years later, descendants migrated south to Pembrokeshire in South West Wales Richard died suddenly on 4 September 1884 at the age of 18. The and Herefordshire in England where they became known as ‘Skye- death certificate shows that Richard, occupation baker, had died Man’. In the course of time, the spelling evolved into SKYRME. of peritonitis. The informant was Thomas Skyrme, brother of the deceased, who was in attendance at the address in High Street, Droitwich. Lucy Sophia Harris (1889-1974) with the first of her two sons, Bill Skyrme, circa 1918

Death certificate for Richard Skyrme, d. 4 September 1884 High Street draper Bert SKYRME and elder brother Thomas and Elizabeth married in 1886 (March qtr, Droitwich, Vol. Bill pictured around 1924-25 6c, p.103). By 1891, not only did Thomas have his own High Street drapery business, he and Elizabeth have two children – Lucy HARRIS’s future husband Thomas Richard* (now 2) and Annie Maud (1 year old).

*The middle name Richard is a mark of respect both to Thomas Skyrme’s father and his brother who had died four years earlier.

Back to farming By the time of the 1901 Census, Tom’s father had left the drapery business behind and followed in the footsteps of his Herefordshire forebears by taking up farming at Sands Farm in Hartlebury, Worcestershire. There, the two older children are joined by two new siblings – Susan Elizabeth (8) and Minnie Beaumand (7), both born Hop picking in the late 1920s: Lucy is on the right. The young lad in in Droitwich. Elizabeth’s widowed mother, Susan Gibbs* (68), has the schoolboy’s cap is probably one of her two sons. moved in with the family.

*Susan (née GRAVES) was Charles GIBBS’ second wife and Tom’s grandfather and great-grandfather Elizabeth was the first of her three children. Charles’ first wife, Tom’s grandfather was Richard SKYRME, a farmer of 135 acres, Elizabeth (née WOODHOUSE) of Bromsgrove, died aged 35 in who was born in 1833 in Brimfield and farmed in Upper Winslow, 1862. With young children to bring up, Charles married Susan the Hereford. His great-grandfather was another Thomas SKYRME, following year. Before their marriage, Susan had been a servant in a farmer of 230 acres, who was born in Canon Pyon, Hereford the household of Droitwich grocer Frederick WAGSTAFF. around 1802 and farmed at Stewards Hyde in Winslow. So farming was in young Tom’s blood.

New Grove, Hanley Child By 1911, the magnet of Thomas senior’s past life has drawn him Children further west. Together with his wife Elizabeth and three of their Lucy and Tom had two sons – Thomas William (known as Bill), born children, including Tom (now 24, ‘farmer’s son working on farm’), on 21 May 1917, and Hubert Frederick (known as Bert), born on 29 Minnie (16, ‘dairy worker’) and their youngest child William (8), born December 1921. in Stourport, they are dairy farming on the 49 acres at New Grove, Hanley Child. Farming as a full-time occupation A shocking incident Full-time farming marked a departure from the occupations of the two preceding Harris generations. Lucy’s father William and The two girls may not have slept quite so soundly had they been “A double-barrel gun was lying across the body, the muzzle of the grandfather James had each earned their living primarily from their aware of a shocking incident which had taken place twelve years gun being about two inches from deceased’s mouth. His left hand carpentry and wheelwright skills. However, William did farm on before on Wednesday, 27 January 1915 when the cottage was was slightly clutching the barrel. There was one live cartridge in a modest scale towards the end of his working life, as also his home to 52-year-old William Thomas Jones and his family. the gun, and the trigger was at full cock. Annie Jones, wife of the son and Lucy’s eldest brother, Edward (Ted) Harris, who had a deceased, stated that her husband had been away from home smallholding at Hanley Cottage on the Broad Heath from 1931 to Under the headline “WORCESTERSHIRE FARMER SHOT DEAD”, since last Saturday, and returned on Tuesday evening, together with 1950. At New Grove, Tom and Lucy bred short-horn dairy cows until the following report appeared in The Tenbury Wells Advertiser on her son Lawson.” Tom’s sudden death in 1927 at the age of 39. Saturday, 30 January 1915: The jury returned a verdict of “Suicide, but there was no evidence as Tom’s death to the state of the deceased’s mind at the time he shot himself”. “Supt. Groves, of the Bromyard police, on Wednesday evening On 24 September 1927, Tom died of septicaemia resulting from an visited Knapp’s Knowle, a smallholding at Kyre, Worcestershire, for unfortunate set of circumstances. The dye from his leather riding [With thanks to the Tenbury Museum at Goff’s School in Cross the purpose of arresting Thomas Jones, the tenant, on a charge boots had entered the bloodstream through a cut (some say a boil) Street, Tenbury Wells for allowing us to consult the relevant back of stealing sheep. He was informed that Jones was not in, but on his leg. Lucy was grief-stricken, and Bill and Bert were left without issues of the Tenbury Wells Advertiser] upon telling the man’s wife he proposed to search the house, she a father at the ages of ten and five. said her husband was in bed. She went up to him, and told the A child’s chair for Bert superintendent on returning, that her husband would be down in On a happier note, it was at Knapp’s Knowle that William made this a few minutes. Directly afterwards a gun report was heard and, on child’s chair specially for his grandson Bert Skyrme who had just going into the bedroom, the police found the deceased dead in lost his father. Today it remains in the safekeeping of Bert’s daughter bed, he, apparently, having shot himself in the head with a double- Doreen. Knapp’s Knowle, the cottage in the apple orchard barrelled gun which he was clutching.”

Life after Tom The Inquest and Verdict Shortly after Tom’s death, Lucy and her boys moved in with

William and Caroline who, in their seventies, had left Stoneyford The following week, on Saturday, 6 February 1915, the newspaper for Knapp’s Knowle (now known as The Knowle), not far from The published details of the inquest and verdict under the headline Worcestershire Arms in Little Kyre. “KYRE FARMER’S SUICIDE”:

Inscription Bert Skyrme’s cousin Ethel HOMER (née HARRIS) remembers “Mr G F S Brown (the Coroner for West Worcestershire) held an Tom is buried in Hanley Child churchyard between the resting place Knapp’s Knowle well. She stayed there around 1927 when her sister inquiry at Kyre, on Friday, concerning the death of Thomas Jones, of Lucy’s parents, William and Caroline, and Tom’s parents Elizabeth Margery was working as a domestic help for her grandparents. a smallholder of Knapp’s Knowle, Kyre, Tenbury, who shot himself and Thomas senior who had now lost a brother and a son. The Ethel was 7, Margery 14 years old. The cottage had an unusual whilst in bed at his home on the previous Wednesday evening. heartfelt inscription on Tom’s headstone reads: layout which meant they had to go through the pantry to reach

the bedrooms. For them, this was a bonus. At bedtime they were PC Ridley stated that on Wednesday evening, about 8.40, he, with In Memory of able to pick up a couple of apples on their way upstairs. Margery the Superintendent of the Bromyard Police, visited deceased’s home Devoted Husband and Father always offered to eat Ethel’s core to conceal all evidence of their for the purpose of arresting him, as he was wanted on a warrant Thomas Richard Skyrme misdemeanour! for sheep stealing in Herefordshire. Witness saw deceased’s son Who Passed Away Lawson, who was standing at the door, and asked him when he September 24, 1927, Aged 39 came home. The son replied, ‘Last night’.” Too Good in Life to be

Forgotten in Death The scene of the incident was described as follows: The child’s chair, hand-crafted by William for young Bert Upper House, Orleton Skyrme and Harris families, “worked her boys hard”. One of her The Visitors’ Book Lucy carried on farming at New Grove with her in-laws. Around grandchildren went so far as to say “She was a tough one - a 1932, when she had found her feet again, she moved to Upper tyrant”. Around 1990, while on a visit to Hanley Child Church, one of Bill’s House in Orleton and invited her widowed father William to join her Harris cousins noticed a request in the Visitors’ Book. Frank Thaxton family there. Harris family friend Gladys HILL (née WITTS) also had first-hand of St. John’s, Worcester wanted to contact Bill who had been memories of Lucy. As a young girl of twelve or so, her mother sent a good friend during their time at the Royal Grammar School in her to work for Lucy at Upper House as a domestic help. She kept Worcester. Bill’s Kidderminster address and telephone number were her opinions to herself, but it was clear she had not enjoyed her time passed on to Frank who was able to meet up and keep in touch as Lucy’s employee. with Bill.

Outside the family (in a social and business context, for example) Four years later, Frank attended his old pal’s funeral where he was Lucy left a far better impression. David SPILSBURY, formerly of Bill Skyrme at work on a Wilton loom in the Kidderminster invited by Bill’s daughter Barbara to give a reading of Wordsworth’s Eastham Court Farm, whose father Jack bought dairy cows from carpet industry Daffodils. It was one of Bill’s favourite poems which they had learned her, assured us “Lucy was a lovely lady – really”. at the WRGS. Frank was pleased to oblige. Visitors not welcome Lucy’s sons: Bill and Bert Bill and Lil had made quite a sacrifice in forgoing their own SKYRME independence to support Lucy. But the situation became intolerable when Lil, who had been deprived of contact with her family and Upper House, Orleton friends in Kidderminster, asked if they could receive a visitor one Bill SKYRME’s story afternoon. Lucy turned down her request, insisting that a working Soon after his father’s sudden death, Bill Skyrme, the elder of the Lucy’s marriage to Bill YARNOLD farm was no place for visitors. After returning to Kidderminster, Bill two boys, won a place as a boarder at Worcester Royal Grammar In the same year (1932), Lucy married for a second time. Her new went on to work for Carpet Trades as a Wilton Department tuner, School. For Bill, it meant he would have a good start in life. For husband was William Henry Stephen YARNOLD of The Forge, resetting the carpet weaving machines which had been mothballed his mother, it meant she would have less help to rely on around Hanley William. Bill Yarnold, born 1894 and around five years during the war. the farm. So perhaps this was indeed a consideration when Lucy younger than Lucy, was a WWI veteran. While serving with the accepted Bill Yarnold’s offer of marriage. Worcestershire Regiment, Bill had sustained a severe facial injury Death of Bill Skyrme which necessitated the implantation of a metal plate in his jaw. After suffering a hernia and then having a pacemaker fitted, Bill died When her son Bill reached the minimum school leaving age, his Naturally, this did not help his appearance or his speech. on 21 March 1994 while recuperating from a stroke at his daughter teachers at the WRGS assured his mother that he possessed the Barbara’s home in Swindon, Wiltshire. Bill was 76. Kind and caring ability to proceed to higher level studies. But Lucy insisted that he Bill Yarnold died in 1960 at the age of 66. All who knew him return to work on the farm straightaway. describe him as an extremely kind and caring individual. Bill’s name appears on the death certificate for Caroline Harris as having been In time, Bill left his farming background behind to join Attwoods, a present at her death at High House in January 1929, three years Kidderminster tailoring firm where he met his future wife Lil (Ada Lilian Bill and Lil Skyrme at the seaside with daughter Barbara before his marriage to Lucy. Despite his warm heart, he was cold- BINT). Then war intervened. For medical reasons (deafness in one shouldered by Lucy who clearly married him for the wrong reason. ear), Bill did not see active war service, but was put on munitions Perhaps she saw in Bill no more than another hand to help with her work locally. During this period, he and Lil married on 11 June 1941. dairy farming work. Even after their marriage, newlyweds Bill and Lil were persuaded by Lucy to help out at Stonehouse, her dairy farm in Mathon (near

Hard to get on with Malvern) where Lil, more used to an urban lifestyle, was obliged to Lucy, on the other hand, was reputed to be “hard to get on with” learn a new skill – milking cows. and could be “cantankerous”. She had also inherited her mother’s Bill Skyrme (1917-1994) and his wife Lilian (1908-1998) disciplinarian work ethic and, according to members of both Bert SKYRME’s story Younger brother Bert, the last of the descendants of James Harris to be born in New Grove, remained fully committed to farming for all his working life. At the Orleton farm, Bert was his mother’s little helper from the age of ten until at least 1940*, by which time Bert was eighteen. Bert became Lucy’s right-hand man following their move to Stonehouse, their dairy farm in Mathon.

*Kelly’s Directory for 1940 contains an entry for Lucy Yarnold as an Orleton-based farmer. She specialised in breeding short-horn dairy cows.

Forthright Ella and Bert SKYRME take a break from haymaking (Cradley, 1949) Unlike his elder brother Bill, a sensitive person who took things to heart, Bert was able to stand up for himself when his mother was being unreasonable. He could be so forthright and his use of language so colourful that he became affectionately known among his Harris cousins as ‘Bloody Bert’!

Bert’s marriage to Ella JACKSON It was in Cradley that Bert met his Ella (née Isobel JACKSON). Her family were long established farmers in the area. Bert and Ella married in Cradley just after the end of WWII in 1945. Their daughter Doreen was born the following year. They continued to live with and work for Lucy at Stonehouse Farm in Mathon until March 1947 when Lucy put the farm up for auction at very short notice.

Bert pictured outside The Old Forge with Canadian cousin Barbara After spending a short time at The Barrow, a farm in nearby Suckley, Ballantine, granddaughter of George Clement Harris (June 1989) Worcestershire, Bert and Ella moved to The Old Forge in Cradley, where they spent over 50 years before moving to Ledbury in 2003 to be near Doreen’s family.

Bert and Ella specialized in stock farming on the eight acres at The Old Forge plus more land rented at Model Farm on Croft Bank, – rearing sheep to lamb down and cows to calve down, aiming to sell the lambs at around 18 months old just before Christmas.

Death of Bert Skyrme Hubert Frederick Skyrme, known and loved as Bert, passed away on 6 November 2010 at his home in Ledbury after a long illness. He was 88. His funeral took place on 16 November 2010 at St. Mary’s Church in nearby Donnington. St. Mary’s Church, Donnington, where Bert Skyrme is at rest Bert Skyrme (1921-2010) Lucy: Off to Canada Lucy’s Canadian hosts Lucy’s destination: Kidderminster When both her sons were married and had started a family of their From Lucy’s own snapshots, found in Bert and Ella’s album, we Lucy declares that England is her ‘country of intended future own, Lucy decided to pack her bags and go on The Grand Tour, know that her hosts in Ontario were the families of her brother permanent residence’ and that her destination in the UK is 51 visiting - not the cultural capitals of Europe - but every single one George and his daughter Bess (GOOD), sister Edith (HALL), Edith’s Shrubbery Street, Kidderminster – the home of her son Bill. of her siblings, starting here in the UK. In the early ‘fifties, she then daughter Elsie (married to Les TUDOR) and sister Agnes (married headed for Toronto - initially to sample six months of the good life in to George CRAIK). She also met up with her brother Hubert who Bill’s daughter Barbara, who was twelve years old at the time, Ontario. She found the experience so much to her liking that she had long since moved with his wife Lizzie from Calgary, Alberta to recalled her father’s concern about the state of Lucy’s health which ended up staying in Canada for several years, spending much of the more congenial climate of Peterborough in Ontario. In fact, Lucy he put down to her having ‘lived it up’ during her years in Canada. this time picking fruit in British Columbia. was so fond of Hubert that she had named her second son after Wrapped in a fur coat she had bought on her travels in Canada, him around 30 years before. diminutive Lucy looked older than her years (“More like eighty than It was thought that Lucy had gone to Canada soon after the sale sixty-six”) and appeared to be smaller than ever. of Stonehouse Farm in the spring of 1947. However, two driving Lucy also found time to visit her cousin Nell MILLER (née TURNER, licences issued to Lucy in Redcar, North Yorkshire, dated 27 daughter of Shukie HARRIS and John TURNER) in Summerland, Lucy explained the reason for her unexpected return: As Bill was August 1948-49 and 1949-1950, reveal that, before leaving for British Columbia where Nell’s Canadian-born husband Edson approaching 39, the age at which her first husband Tom died, she Canada, Lucy stayed with her elder brother Arthur who was living in MILLER was a fruit grower. We know from a taped message sent was worried something might befall him, too. Bill turned 39 within the north-east seaside town at the address stated on the licences. to Nell’s relatives in England that in 1960 the Millers sold 57 tons of four weeks of her arrival in Liverpool. Bill’s daughter Barbara also recalls that her father drove Lucy from peaches and 4,000 boxes of apples. Lucy picking peaches in Summerland, British Columbia Kidderminster to Liverpool to catch the boat train bound for Canada Droitwich at the beginning of the 1950s. The entertainer After recuperating in Kidderminster, Lucy found a home for herself in During her four years in Canada, Lucy charmed and entertained Droitwich. It was in the perfect spot – a couple of hundred yards to Lucy’s motives many relatives and new contacts. In a letter to Bert and Ella the shops and a short walk to her brother and sister-in-law, Ted and Lucy may have conceived the idea of contacting all her siblings at SKYRME, Elsie TUDOR wrote: “Having known your Mother and Nellie Harris, who had left Hanley Cottage in Hanley William to retire this stage in her life as a result of attending her elder sister Amy’s enjoyed her company so much, I feel a little closer to you than to to Droitwich in 1950. marriage at the age of 70 to Ted Jones in Hanley William. That other relatives who are only names.” was in January 1947. By March of the same year she had put her Lucy’s new home was one of the Almshouses in The Holloway – a Mathon farm up for auction. Lucy was a hit with the unidentified, unrelated lady by whom she neat row of terraced cottages built along a raised pavement above appears to have been employed as a companion. The pair, looking the road. Today, these character properties are available for rent for Lucy’s motives for emigrating differed from those of her siblings who reminiscent of a work by artist Beryl Cook, clearly enjoyed each ‘tenants of limited means’. Lucy made the most of the social life on had risen to the challenge nearly fifty years earlier. For Lucy, it was other’s company. In fact, judging by the pictures overleaf, she offer, becoming captain of the Droitwich Ladies Bowls Club. not so much a challenge as an opportunity to take time out and seems to have become part of the family. meet up with her siblings for possibly the last time. Death of Lucy Back to Britain Lucy died on 19 November 1974 at Ronkswood Hospital in When asked what his mother had done in Canada, Bert replied Lucy returned to the UK at the age of 66, arriving in Liverpool on Worcester. She was 85. “Picked peaches most of the time”. Bill’s daughter Barbara also tells the SS Saxonia on 27 April 1956. Her record in the passenger list us that Lucy had picked fruit, moved from one Harris sibling’s home under the name Lucy YARNOLD is revealing. She gives her marital A controversial figure to another and, on one occasion, acted as a paid companion to a status as ‘single’. As we know that Bill Yarnold was still living (he Like her eldest brother, Ted Harris, Lucy received rather mixed lady wintering in Florida. died in 1960), Lucy appears to have been a divorcee. But her son reviews from those who knew her. Perhaps things might have been Lucy pictured with cousin Nell Miller née Turner on her visit Bert had no idea that they had ever divorced. Bill Skyrme’s daughter different had she not lost her husband Tom so early in their life to Summerland, BC Barbara clarified the matter, pointing out that Lucy and Bill Yarnold together. had agreed a legal separation around 1941 prior to Lucy’s move to the farm at Mathon. Despite her single status, Lucy gives her occupation as ‘housewife’. Cruising for Toy Boys (with apologies to Beryl Cook)

Lucy (right) - part of the family 7A.

Family of Edward James’ wife Ellen GRAVES (1881-1975)

See Part One for an in-depth profile of Ellen (Nellie) GRAVES

The Graves-Twinberrow Mini Tree James GRAVES James TWINBERROW (1807 - 1885) (1811 - 1889) m. Ann CULL, 23 Jul 1832 m. Sarah WALKER, 17 Dec 1835

William GRAVES Charlotte TWINBERROW (1851 - 1912) (1851 - 1940) b. Hanley Child, Worcs b. Suckley, Worcs d. Hanley William, Worcs d. Dudley, Worcs

Frederick James TWINBERROW (1873 -1944) b. Suckley, Worcs d. Dudley, Worcs

Ellen (Nellie) GRAVES Mary Jane (Mollie1) GRAVES b. 1881, Suckley, Worcs m. Alfred John DAVIS (1913), Edwin 2 George TINGLE (1918) m. Edward J HARRIS (1904) b. 1884, Hanley Child, Worcs d. 1975, West Bromwich d. Birmingham, 1968

Leslie John DAVIS b. 15 Dec 1913 d. 30 Dec 1913

1 The spelling of Nellie’s younger sister’s name varies in the records shows his first name as Edward. It is reminiscent of the registrar’s between Mollie and Molly. mistake on the marriage certificate for Ted and Nellie in 1904 when 2 Ted Tingle’s birth and death records give his full name as Edwin Edward James was recorded as Edmund James HARRIS. George TINGLE. However, the certificate for his marriage to Mollie Ellen (Nellie) Harris née Graves (1881-1975) Nellie’s father William GRAVES Nellie’s father was William GRAVES, born September 1851 in Hanley Child. He worked as a wagoner for most of his working life, delivering fruit and other produce to Tenbury Market. It was thirsty work judging by his appearance before the Petty Session, as reported in the Tenbury Wells Advertiser on 29 September 1874, when he was fined for being drunk while in charge of a wagon and horses.

In the 1911 Census, when he and his wife Charlotte were living at Hawkins Cottages in Hanley William, William continues to be described as a ‘wagoner on farm’. He doesn’t appear to have inherited the entrepreneurial spirit shown by his father James and elder sibling Thomas Henry Graves.

Death of William GRAVES Less than a year later, William GRAVES died on 11 March 1912 (Tenbury, Vol. 6c, p.319) and is buried in Hanley William. The inscription on his headstone reads:

In loving memory of William, the beloved husband of Charlotte Graves (of Hanley William), who died March 11th 1912 aged 60 years. Resting place of Nellie’s father William Graves Father in Thy gracious keeping leave we now Thy servant sleeping.

The Ludlow Hounds Meet at the Bell Inn (Tally Ho) in Hanley around The Church of St. John in Bedwardine, Worcester where James GRAVES married Ann CULL on 3 Jul 1832 the time of William Graves’ death in 1912 (We are indebted to John Death certificate for William GRAVES (d. 11 Mar 1912) Thacker and the staff of The Tally Ho for this image) (Photo: Barry Lester Harris) William’s death certificate Death of William’s brother Herbert GRAVES The death certificate shows that farm labourer William died from Around 1871 James’ newly wed son Herbert and his wife Mary Ann broncho-pneumonia. The informant was the younger of his two Maria (née KINSEY) took over as tenants of The Bell Inn. The new daughters M Graves (Mary Jane known as Mollie) who was present partnership was not to last. Herbert died on 25 May 1875 at the at the death. She gives her address as 4, Plough & Harrow Road, age of 36 years. The cause of death was “disease of the liver and Edgbaston where she was working as a housemaid in the Joseph mouth”. Herbert’s second son Edwin James GRAVES had been household, a family of Birmingham goldsmiths. born three months earlier on 1 February 1875.

Nellie’s paternal grandfather James GRAVES Death of James GRAVES Nellie’s father William was the youngest of seven children (all Meanwhile, Herbert’s father James was starting to take things a boys) born to James GRAVES and Ann née CULL, both of whom little easier and, by 1881, had moved to Garden House next to Bell originated from the Pershore area and married at St. John in Cottage, earning a living as a market gardener. James died on 19 Bedwardine, Worcester on 3 July 1832. May 1883 aged 75 years. The cause of death was “gangrene of the foot”. James was born in Pensham, near Pershore on 30 November 1807. After his marriage to Ann, James worked as a gamekeeper William’s brother Thomas Henry GRAVES for over a decade in nearby Drakes Broughton. The first four of their William’s elder brother Thomas Henry GRAVES made his mark seven sons were born during this period - Edwin (b. 1833), Henry as a businessman of some repute in the area. Born at the Bell Inn (b.1836), Herbert (b. 1839) and Frederick (b. 1844). Sadly, both on 3 November 1848, he later managed The Crow Inn and the Henry and Frederick died in infancy. Pump Rooms in Tenbury. Thomas was also a renowned grower of fruit, including apples for cider, of course. So it could be said that Gamekeeper to the lord of the manor younger brother William enjoyed the fruits of his labour! Headstone for Ann GRAVES (d. 12 Feb 1858, wife of James In 1845, James’ young family moved to the north-west corner Christina GRAVES née POWELL, wife of Edwin James GRAVES GRAVES) and her son John who died at the age of 24 on By Royal Appointment of Worcestershire to take up residence in the Keeper’s Lodge (1875 - 1960). This snapshot was taken around 1954 in the 7 November 1870 The Princess Pippin apple variety owes its name to Thomas Henry in Eastham. Here, James served as gamekeeper to the Rev. hopyards of Risbury, Hereford where Christina was champion hop Graves. When Edward Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra were Thomas Henry NEWPORT, lord of the manor of Hanley William picker. She died in Fullham, London in 1985 at the age of 104. We Overseer visiting the Dudleys at Witley Court, Thomas Henry presented them (Hanley Court), who succeeded his half-brother James Wakeman thank her granddaughter, Pat BLAKE née GRAVES for this image. The year before Ann’s death, in April 1857, James GRAVES was with a basket of apples. The variety was given the name ‘Princess NEWPORT in 1838. appointed Overseer for Hanley Child. This was a respected position Pippin’ and Thomas Henry was allowed to put the Royal Crest on of trust in the community which involved distributing relief to the sick his hampers. It was in Eastham that James’ three youngest sons were born - and poor of the parish and keeping accurate records in the account John (b. 1846), Thomas Henry (b. 1848) and William (b. 1851). books. Thomas Henry Graves died on 23 January 1921 aged 72. His wife James’ wealthy employer died in June 1855 and was buried in Louisa née BARNETT predeceased him on 6 May 1919 aged 68 Claines, Worcester where he had been christened on14 October Unjust weights and measures and was interred at St. Mary’s Church in Tenbury Wells. Although 1776 and married Charlotte MICHAEL on 26 May 1807. His wife However, nine years later in September 1866, James’ reputation also a resident of Tenbury Wells at 46 Teme Street, Thomas Charlotte predeceased him in 1845. must have taken a knock when the local press published a less was interred five or six miles away at All Saints Church in Hanley favourable report on his activities. James GRAVES of The Bell Inn William. It is rumoured locally that this was on the instructions of the Subsequently, James took over as innkeeper of the Bell Inn (now was charged with possessing and using unjust measures and was bereaved family who were upset that, following the death of his wife, The Tally Ho) on the corner of Bell Lane in Broadheath. In fact, fined 7 shillings with 8 shillings costs. Thomas had taken up with another woman (said to have been his James adds two more strings to his bow - as a farmer of 60 acres secretary). and as a fruiterer. Just as James was unfolding his entrepreneurial talents, he suffered the loss of his wife at the age of 51 years. She died on 12 February 1858 and was buried at All Saints Church in Hanley William. Lionel Graves and his protégés at Lindridge School c.1948. Mervyn is seated on the far right in the front row

Where did the money go? The National Probate Calendar tells us that Thomas left effects valued His grandson Lionel GRAVES of Worcester told us that, in his later at £1,434 3s 8d. This was considerably less than his family had years, Thomas seemed determined to spend everything he had - anticipated. After all, with his sales and marketing skills, he had built up mainly on drink! quite an empire as innkeeper, farmer and fruit merchant. However, he By the way.. seems to have had a lackadaisical attitude towards bookkeeping. His Lionel, former schoolmaster at Lindridge School, has built up an appearance before the Deputy-Registrar in Kidderminster in early 1895 Over sixty years later (2009), extensive Graves Family Tree. It can be viewed at showed that he “failed to keep ledgers and day books, relying only on cousins Mervyn and Brian meet www.graf-tek.com/graves/index.html fruit sales tickets for his fruit dealing transactions”. up at a service station on the M4 in South Wales As we mentioned briefly in Part One of our story, one of Lionel’s Moreover, he appears to have mixed personal drawings with his pupils was a cousin of ours, Mervyn POSTANS, son of John and business account, having written 80 cheques in favour of two Margery (née HARRIS) of Eardiston. Neither Lionel nor Mervyn were persons named Smith and Davies, but insisting that “he knew no aware they were related. It took sixty years – and a nudge from such persons”. In March 1895 he was declared bankrupt, owing his another cousin, Rod HARRIS of Worcester – for the penny to drop! creditors over £3,000.

On another occasion, in July 1901 while also trading as Graves & Birch, fruit merchants of East Wigan, he was found to have ‘unsecured liabilities’ of £779 0s 10d. Nellie’s mother Charlotte GRAVES at Hanley Cottage on 6 August 1934, the Charlotte GRAVES day of her granddaughter Olive’s (1851 - 1940) marriage to Herbert GOULD. Charlotte was 83 years old when Nellie’s mother was Charlotte GRAVES (née TWINBERROW). this snapshot was taken. During Charlotte was born on 30 March 1851 and baptised on 27 April the 1930s, Charlotte lived at 1851 in Suckley, Worcestershire. Hanley Cottage, Broadheath, the home of her daughter Nellie and The 1851 Census was conducted on the evening of 30 March. The son-in-law Ted (Edward James enumerator entered ‘NK’ (Not Known) for the name of the youngest HARRIS). of the nine children in the household. Charlotte, as she was later christened, was only 11 hours old when he knocked the door of Suckley Church where Charlotte Graves was baptised in 1851, her Green Hill Cottage in Suckley. daughter Ellen (Nellie) in 1881

Charlotte’s parents were James TWINBERROW (agricultural labourer, Hilltop Cottage, Eastham 1891 baptised on 1 October 1809 in ) and Sarah née WALKER, By 1891, Charlotte and William have a home of their own at Hilltop a smockfrock maker, born around 1813 in the adjoining parish of Cottage in Eastham. They also have another daughter, Mary Jane . (Mollie) GRAVES, who was born in Hanley Child in March 1884 and is now seven years old. Mollie and Nellie were not just sisters, they

Charlotte’s census trail were also the closest of friends for life. By the time of the next census in 1861, Charlotte is ten years old and has three younger siblings – Caroline (8), Edward (6) and Lane Cottage, Hanley William 1901 William (3), bringing the number of James and Sarah’s offspring to In 1901, Charlotte and William are living at Lane Cottage in twelve children in all. Hanley William. Their children have all left home. But they are not entirely alone. They have their 7-year-old granddaughter Matilda

Brecon 1871 TWINBERROW for company. Born 1894 in Upper Sapey, she is the In 1871, Charlotte is working for the family of Joseph Cobb (49, daughter of Charlotte’s son, Frederick James Twinberrow. attorney-at-law and solicitor) in Brecon, Wales. Mr Cobb and his wife Emily have five children and seven servants, four of whom hail from Hawkins Cottages, Hanley William 1911 Suckley – Ann Adams (40, nurse), Fanny Adams (22, housemaid), At the age of 16, Matilda is still with her grandparents in 1911. Hilda Susannah Cox (18, kitchen maid) and Charlotte TWINBERROW (20, Mary (as she was christened) is described as a general domestic nursemaid). A cook, a parlour maid and a gardener complete the servant. However, as she has never appeared together with her live-in staff. parents Frederick and Bertha, it is more than likely that she has been brought up by Charlotte and William since the birth of her younger

Green Hill Cottage, Suckley 1881 sister Annie Louisa in 1895. In 1881, Charlotte is back at Green Hill Cottage, the home of her parents, James and Sarah TWINBERROW. Since we last saw her, Death of Charlotte Charlotte has married. Her husband, William GRAVES, is part of In the late 1930s, Charlotte moved to Dudley to live with her eldest the household along with Charlotte’s first child, Frederick James child Frederick TWINBERROW. She died there in the September TWINBERROW, born out of wedlock in 1873 and now seven years quarter of 1940 (Dudley, Vol. 6c, p.21). She was 89 and had spent old, and their newly born daughter Ellen (Nellie) GRAVES (b. 9 March 28 years as a widow. 1881) who is less than four weeks old on the day of the census. Siblings of Ellen (Nellie) GRAVES (1881 - 1975) Matilda’s marriage to Ben WARD Frederick James TWINBERROW (1873-1944) Hilda Mary (Matilda) TWINBERROW, eldest child of Frederick and Mary Jane (Mollie) GRAVES (1884-1968) Bertha, married Ben Rubery WARD in the December quarter of 1917 (Tenbury, Vol. 6c, p.211). Matilda was 22, Ben 26 years old. Frederick James TWINBERROW (1873-1944) Ben WARD was born in Hanley William, the son of joiner/estate carpenter Alfred WARD (born in Whitbourne, Herefordshire) and his wife Alice (born in Tipton, Staffordshire). In 1901 the family was living First child of Charlotte GRAVES (née TWINBERROW) at Poolhouse in Hanley Child. Half-brother of Ellen (Nellie) HARRIS (née GRAVES)

Death of Fred’s wife Bertha Frederick James TWINBERROW was born in the December quarter Just months after her daughter Matilda’s marriage, Frederick’s wife of 1873 (, Vol. 6c, p.301) and baptised in Suckley on 26 April Bertha died in the March quarter of 1918 at the age of 44 (Dudley, 1874. After the OWENS moved on, three generations of the KERBY family Vol. 6b, p.1078). Originally built as two semi-detached homes, Hawkins Cottages have occupied windswept Hill Farm since 1925. Ivor KERBY, the between Broadheath and All Saints Church have since been Although Fred Twinberrow was a familiar name among his Harris present incumbent whose forebears moved to Hanley Child from Fred married his second wife, Ethel Mabel SEWELL, in West converted into a single dwelling called Hawkings. Matilda was living relatives, we have been unable to source a photograph. Birmingham, was born here in 1926. Bromwich in the September quarter of 1918. Fred was 44, his bride with here with her grandparents William and Charlotte GRAVES at 32 years old. Ethel was born in in 1886, the daughter the time of the 1911 census. Single mother Kidderminster 1901 of Monmouthshire-born plumber Charles SEWELL and his Dorset- Frederick’s single mother Charlotte TWINBERROW was 22 years As an uncommon surname, TWINBERROW should be relatively born wife Mary. old at the time of his birth. Her pregnancy would have led her to easy to track down. However, even when the census enumerators *Matilda had been living with her daughter Dorothy who married terminate her employment with the Cobbs in Brecon and to return get the spelling right, errors can occur at the transcription stage. George E ROBERTS in 1953 and lived in Kidderminster. Matilda’s Fred and Ethel had one son, Stanley J Twinberrow, born in 1924 home to give birth in the bosom of her family in Suckley. This has happened here. Frederick’s surname had been transcribed son Stanley had moved to Braintree, Essex after his marriage, while (Dudley, Vol. 6b, p.1749). as ‘FUMBERSON’. So how on earth did we trace it? By entering just her elder son Leslie predeceased her, having died in Kidderminster Hill Farm, Hanley Child 1891 the couple’s first names (Frederick and Bertha). Result! five years earlier in 1974. Early death of Ben WARD In 1891, 17-year-old Frederick is a farm servant with the OWENS Within six years of their marriage, Matilda’s husband Ben WARD family at Hill Farm in Hanley Child. Hill Farm is located between The Frederick and Bertha are living in Kidderminster. And daughter Death of Frederick James TWINBERROW died aged 32 in 1923 (Tenbury, Vol. 6c, p.75), leaving her to raise Tally Ho in Bell Lane and Hanley Child Church and is set back from Matilda (currently with her grandparents in Hanley William) has two Frederick James (Fred) TWINBERROW, half-brother of Nellie and three young children – Leslie Ben (5), Phyllis Dorothy (4) and Stanley the road at the turning for Stoke Bliss. new siblings. They are Annie, aged 5, born in Tenbury, and Frank, Mollie GRAVES, father of Matilda, Annie, Frank, Harold, Everard and F Ward (1). aged 2, born in Kidderminster. They are living at 26 Hurcott Road Stanley J TWINBERROW, died in the December quarter of 1944

Marriage to Bertha POUND in 1893 and Frederick is now employed as a labourer in a flour mill. (By the (Dudley, Vol. 6c, p.17), little more than four years after the death of Hilda Mary aka Matilda aka Tilly WARD Two years later Frederick married Bertha POUND (June qtr 1893, way, the enumerator wrote ‘flower mill’). his mother Charlotte GRAVES (née TWINBERROW) who had been Ethel HOMER (née HARRIS), youngest daughter of Ted and Nellie Tenbury Vol. 6c, p.275) who, in 1891, had been working as a living with him. HARRIS, knew Matilda as ‘Tilly’ and was a contemporary of Tilly’s domestic servant in Kidderminster with the family of general dealer/ Kidderminster 1911 three children. Ethel recalled how hard Tilly worked to support shopkeeper Richard Dadford. Still at 26 Hurcott Road, Frederick (now 37) has a new job as a Throughout the time he was living in Kidderminster and Dudley, Fred her fatherless family, including as housekeeper to the Reverend T motor driver and his wife Bertha has given birth to two more boys. stayed in regular contact with the families of his half-sisters, Nellie Bannister Jones, Rector of Hanley William. Birth of daughter Matilda The older of the two, Harold (aged 2, b. 1909) is at home with his and Mollie. And it is good to know that, as a love child, he remained One year after their marriage, Bertha gave birth to a daughter, parents and his two elder siblings – Annie (16) who is a spinner in part of his mother’s life to the end. Hilda Mary WARD (née TWINBERROW), also known in her lifetime Hilda Mary TWINBERROW, born in Upper Sapey on 7 May 1894. a woollen mill and Frank (12) who is at school. The younger of the as Matilda and Tilly, died in Kidderminster* in 1979 at the age of 84. This is the ‘Matilda’ who, at 7 years of age, was staying with her new arrivals (Everard, b. January 1911) is not at home. At the age We are told she was laid to rest in Hanley William. grandparents William and Charlotte GRAVES in Hanley William in of three months, he is in Kidderminster Hospital. Sadly, he did not 1901. So where were her parents, Frederick and Bertha Twinberrow, survive beyond the summer of 1911 (d. September quarter, 1911). at this time? MARY JANE (MOLLIE) GRAVES (1884-1968)

Third child of Charlotte GRAVES (née TWINBERROW) Younger sister of Ellen (Nellie) HARRIS (née GRAVES)

Mary Jane, as she was christened, was born in Hanley Child in March 1884 (Tenbury, Vol. 6c, p.270).

Ripplewood Farm, Collington At the time of the 1901 Census, Mary (as her employer calls her) is working as a domestic servant at Ripplewood Farm in Collington, the home of Herefordshire-born farmer James OWEN, his wife and their three children between the ages of one and five years. Seventeen-year-old Mary is described as a ‘useful help’. She must have had a multi-tasking role covering household chores, childcare and farm work rolled into one.

Unplanned pregnancy In early 1913, Mollie (as Mary Jane was generally known) suffered a setback to her plans for the 20th century. In an uncanny repetition of Nellie’s sister and best friend Mollie Graves (1884-1968) her mother Charlotte’s unplanned experience of motherhood, Mollie fell pregnant. Her Harris nephews and nieces, including Vera (b.1904) Stoke Works, Worcestershire). But Jack is not the only Davis to and Ethel (b.1920), were told that she had lost the baby. have found a refuge here. Another sister, 36-year-old milliner Ada Maria DAVIS, is a boarder.

Mollie’s move to Birmingham It happened after Mollie’s move to Birmingham where she had found Two years later, Jack’s brother-in-law William HINKS would be work as a domestic servant. The 1911 Census reveals that ‘Mary present at his marriage to Mollie as one of the witnesses. GRAVES, b. Tenbury’ was a housemaid with the JOSEPH family. The head of the household at No. 4 Plough & Harrow Road, Edgbaston Mollie’s marriage to Jack DAVIS was Joseph JOSEPH. He and his two sons Percy (32) and Leslie On 5 July 1913, one year after the death of her father William in (29) were all ‘manufacturing goldsmiths’. 1912, Mollie married Alfred John DAVIS (known as Jack). They were both 29 years old. Jack was born in Stoke Prior (or, to be

Mollie not only found work in Birmingham, she also found love. precise, Stoke Works) near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the son Fortunately, she had the support not only of the father of her unborn of Tibberton-born salt maker John DAVIS and his Bromsgrove-born child, Jack DAVIS, but also that of the DAVIS family network. wife Susannah.

In fact, Mollie’s future husband is already enjoying the support of Stoke Works and ‘The Salt King’ family members in 1911. Out of work at the time, Jack is described Stoke Works owes its existence to engineer and philanthropist John For King and Country: It would appear that Mollie as a ‘visitor’ at 148, Larches Street, Sparkbrook in the civil parish CORBETT (1817-1901). It lies in the parish of Stoke Prior between has donned Jack’s Coldstream Guards trench cap of Aston. William HINKS, a 33-year-old publican, is head of the Bromsgrove and Droitwich (where salt had been mined since before and greatcoat to great effect! household. William is married to Jack’s sister Minnie (32, born in Roman times). Marriage certificate for Mollie GRAVES and Alfred John DAVIS Birth certificate for Leslie J DAVIS, born 15 December, registered on 30 December 1913 Corbett developed an efficient and profitable process for extracting the Coldstream Guards in 1904 at around twenty years of age. (The A new life salt. Dubbed ‘The Salt King’, he made a fortune, much of which service numbers issued to those enlisting at the start of hostilities in was channeled into good causes. True, he built a magnificent August 1914 ranged upwards of 11147). On 2 November 1918, nine days before Armistice Day when the home for himself (Chateau Impney near Droitwich), but also good outcome of the war was long since a foregone conclusion, Mollie quality housing and facilities for his employees, including schools, In all probability, Jack would have signed on for six years with the began a new life with a new partner. Her second husband was Edwin almshouses, a dispensary and a Workman’s Club. His employees colours (from 1904 to 1910) followed by a further six years on the George TINGLE (known as Ted). Mollie was 34. Ted gives his age as (numbering between 500 and 600 in 1879) also benefited from free army reserve (until 1916). 33. However, as Ted was born in the September quarter of 1890, he rations of meat and coal. was in fact only 28 years old. Perhaps he didn’t want to be regarded Lance Sergeant DAVIS as a toy boy. Railway policeman Jack’s military background explains his rapid rise to the rank of L/ At the time of their marriage, Jack is employed as a railway station Sergeant within a matter of weeks of training with the Coldstream Mollie also stretches a point on the marriage certificate. On her policeman. Their address is given as 3 Florence Place, Tennant Guards in Aldershot. marriage to Jack DAVIS in 1913, she described her late father’s Street, Birmingham. This turns out to be the home of Gertrude occupation as ‘general gardener’. On marrying Ted TINGLE, William is Catherine NASH - the other witness shown on the marriage In August 1914, the Regiment (nicknamed “The Lilywhites”) had posthumously promoted by Mollie to the rank of ‘farmer’*. certificate. The 1911 Census reveals that her husband George three battalions. All three were committed to the British Expeditionary Stuart NASH has two things in common with Jack DAVIS. He is Force. The 1st Battalion, in which Jack served, was in the 1st *This is not at all unusual, but occasionally works the other way employed at New Street Railway Station (as a porter) and also hails (Guards) Brigade, 1st Division. around, too. For example, as the informant on Nellie HARRIS’s death from Stoke Works. A reassuring picture is emerging of the friends certificate in 1975, her eldest daughter Vera describes her mother as and family Jack and Mollie can turn to in times of need. In the course of the war, the Regiment suffered 14,137 casualties, ‘the widow of Edward James Harris, farm labourer’, downgrading her including the loss of 180 officers and 3,860 other ranks. Seven father from stockman and smallholder. Needless to say, she was not Edwin George (Ted) TINGLE (1890 - 1969) Mollie describes her own occupation as domestic servant, that of Victoria Crosses were won and 36 Battle Honours awarded. The terribly fond of him for reasons explained in Part One. her deceased father William GRAVES as “general gardener”. Maybe Regiment’s motto: Nulli Secundus (Second to None). it had a better ring to it than “wagoner”. Ted TINGLE Killed in action Ted Tingle appears in the 1911 Census as ‘Edward’ George TINGLE, Birth – and death – of their child The war was indeed over by Christmas for Jack. He was killed born Spalding, Lincolnshire. He is a boarder with the JAMES family On 15 December 1913, Mollie gave birth to a boy, Leslie John in action at Gheluvelt, Belgium on 29 October 1914, only 12 at 80 Bury Park Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. Aged 20, he is a DAVIS, at 94 Vincent Parade. His birth was registered on 30 weeks after the declaration of war. His regiment suffered such high compositor in the printing trade. December 1913 by an E. DAVIS. This was probably Jack’s 25-year- casualties that the 1st Battalion had no officers left and only eighty old sister Elizabeth who lived at 93 Vincent Parade and was present men survived. At the time of his marriage to Mollie in 1918, Ted was serving at the birth. Sadly, baby Leslie did not survive beyond the month of with the RAF, 150 Squadron, based at Wyton, Huntingdonshire. December 1913. The battle of Gheluvelt In the marriage certificate he describes his father’s occupation as The battle of Gheluvelt (29-31 October 1914) was part of the first ‘fellmonger’*. England expects battle of Ypres (pronounced ‘Eepre’ in French, but flippantly called ‘Wipers’ by the British Tommies). Heavy losses were sustained on *A fellmonger was a dealer in hides or skins who might also prepare both sides. In theory, an infantry battalion comprised around 1,000 When war was declared on 4 August 1914, the mood of the British skins for tanning. men and 36 officers. In practice, these figures were somewhat lower public was one of euphoria in the belief that it would be all over by in the context of WWI. Christmas. Married for 50 years Mollie with her second husband Ted Tingle on a visit to Lucy and Despite their childless marriage, Mollie and Ted were constant son Bert at Upper House, Orleton Mollie in WWI An experienced soldier companions during their 50 years of married life. Both remained Widowed after only one year of marriage, Mollie threw herself into At the outbreak of WWI Jack was no rookie, but an experienced close to Mollie’s Harris-Twinberrow-Graves relations in general and to her work as manageress of a munitions factory canteen for the soldier. The 1911 Census confirms that he was an army reservist. Mollie’s sister Nellie HARRIS in particular. duration of the Great War. At this time, she was living in Balsall Heath, His army service number (5491) tells us that he had enlisted with Birmingham. Mollie (circled) at the wedding of her nephew Arthur Nevill Harris and his Irish-born bride Beatrice Hehir in Shirley, Birmingham in July 1939. Mollie’s niece Vera is seated to her left, while her 19-year- old sister Ethel is Beatrice’s bridesmaid. At this time, both Vera and Ethel are working in service in Edgbaston, Birmingham for the same employer (furniture retailer Wolf Goodman) - Vera as housekeeper, Ethel as housemaid.

Marriage certificate for Mollie Davis (née Graves) and Edwin* George Tingle *As pointed out at the beginning of Chapter 6A, the registrar misheard the name Edwin as ‘Edward’. 8. The Lives of Others

Looking into the lives of others has put our own Harris line in a much Emigration before WWI and the loss of life in WWII have contributed broader context, making us more aware of what we are part of. When to this imbalance. John Harris and Mary Clark married in Eastham in 1779 they were to play their part in increasing the population of the Latest findings from 6.5 million in the mid-18th century to 9 million by 1801, Our latest findings underline the significance of Herefordshire as culminating in the present figure of around 62 million (2011). John another cradle of Harrises at the top end of our tree – focused on and Mary’s descendants therefore defied the prediction made by the the hop growing district of Bishops Frome. Perhaps influenced by Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus* that the poor would perish through his Harris genes, our cousin Ivan TURNER made Bishops Frome his their vices, leading to inevitable famine and premature death and so home, moving there from The Knowle in Little Kyre over 45 years keep the country’s unsustainable population growth in check. We are ago, while descendants of Richard Harris (1856-1934) are still to be all living proof that - so far at least - Malthus has got it wrong. found in large numbers in and around Bromyard. And no fewer than Mollie and Ted Tingle (left) with four generations of descendants of Lucy Harris (who married Tom Nellie and Ted Harris, George *His “Essay on the Principle of Population’’, was published in six SKYRME) can be found in the Ledbury area where they are keeping Clement Harris on a visit from editions between 1798 and 1826. their centuries-long farming tradition very much alive. Toronto and Vera’s husband Charlie Hall in the garden at Cousins galore Hanley Cottage (1949) As a result, we have cousins galore. At the time of the Domesday Book (1086), the estimated population of the UK was two million Today, most of the descendants of those two million are related Death of Mollie to each other somewhere along the line. This is borne out by our Mollie TINGLE (formerly DAVIS née GRAVES) died aged 84 in own modest family tree which at present spans only 230 years. For Birmingham in the December quarter of 1968 around the time of their example, in the process of researching the Harris siblings we made Golden Wedding Anniversary. the acquaintance of retired teacher Nicky Mawson from Chester. Nicky is related to us twice over - first, as a descendant of George Now alone and suffering from cancer, Ted needed family support. He Garbett who, in 1830, married Elizabeth Harris (1789-1876), making found it at 17 Holly Road, Quinton, the home of Mollie’s niece Vera us fourth cousins, twice removed; second, through the marriage in (née HARRIS) and her husband Charlie HALL. Ted succumbed to 1906 of Shukie Turner’s son William Richard to Julia Victoria Garratt cancer within a few months and passed away at Hallam Hospital in Hale, whose sister Lavinia married Nicky’s father. In both cases, West Bromwich in the March quarter of 1969. He was 78. Herefordshire is the location of these family connections.

Herefordshire links Charlie Hall’s Morris 8 which brought the visitors from The links we have with Herefordshire are manifold. This is not entirely Birmingham to Broadheath. At the end of the year (1949), Ted and surprising, seeing that the county boundary is so close to our part Nellie moved to their retirement home in Droitwich to be nearer the of Worcestershire. Today, the number of Worcestershire families majority of their children and grandchildren. descended from Ted and Nellie’s offspring (those of Bert, Margery and Eddie) is comfortably exceeded by the descendants of William’s siblings Shukie and Richard who chose to settle in Herefordshire. 9. Update

Whatever happened to Emily Rose? Half-cousins Do you remember the “Story of an English Rose”? Emily Rose It means that, through James’ wife Susannah HARRIS formerly BALDWIN, known as Rose, was the unfortunate young woman who, BALDWIN née PRICE, all HARRIS descendants of James are ‘half- in 1912, had to leave her love child behind in Hanley Child to be cousins’ of Emily Rose BALDWIN, her sisters Mary Annie, Eliza, Dora brought up by her sisters. Shortly after leaving home, she sent her Louise, Susannah and Caroline, brother Albert Edward, even niece family a postcard saying she had been offered a job abroad. It was Nell WILKINSON née STINTON, Rose’s love child Albert John and assumed that she had emigrated to Canada, Australia or the USA. many more BALDWINs.

As we failed to find any trace of her in the passenger records of the It explains why John BALDWIN’s widow Sophia remained so close to period, we considered the possibility that she had used the offer of a William and Caroline’s HARRIS family that, in 1889, they christened job abroad as a smokescreen and remained in the UK. This proved their youngest daughter Lucy Sophia after her. It also explains why, to be the case. What we discovered was eye-opening in more ways in 1901, Mary Annie VERNALLS née BALDWIN provided a home for than one. James’ octogenarian brother John HARRIS and his wife Elizabeth. At this time, the Baldwins and Harrises clearly considered themselves

As the certificate shows, Rose married 49-year-old widower and to be members of one and the same extended family, a biological bookmaker* William WESTLEY in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire on 10 connection which – ninety years later - family friend Nell WILKINSON September 1927. had been unaware of when we chatted to her in The Fox Inn around 1990.

Déjeuner sur l’herbe – Hereford style (Cradley, c. 1949) *The census records for 1901 and 1911 tell us that William previously Left to right: Lucy, Doreen, Ella and Bert Skyrme and other hungry earned his living as a plasterer. haymakers At the time of their marriage, Rose was working at the Royal Hotel Cheltenham as a chambermaid. But, having been born in the December quarter of 1881, Rose would have been all of 44 years old rather than forty. We can forgive Rose for this understatement, seeing that she didn’t bend the truth about her father’s name and occupation - John BALDWIN (deceased), wheelwright.

In fact, Rose’s father had died at the age of 39 several months before she was born. It was history repeating itself. John BALDWIN’s own father - of the same name and also a carpenter and wheelwright in the service of the Kyre Estate – died at New Grove at the age of 33 and was buried on 26 January 1844 at St Peter’s Church in The Old Forge, Stiffords Bridge, Cradley, Bert and Ella’s Stoke Bliss. John senior left a widow (Susannah) and four children. home for over 50 years As you may have deduced by now, his place was taken by our Nell Wilkinson, formerly Churchill, née Stinton James HARRIS (1817-1884). Rose’s father was not only brought up by James, but also served his apprenticeship as a carpenter/ wheelwright under his stepfather’s professional guidance. Rose died in the December quarter of 1951 (Walsall, Vol 9b, p609). Developments in our Harris Tree The record in the name of Rose WESTLEY, is based on her assumed Through our research for Part Two we have come a step closer age and shows her age at death as 66. In reality, Rose would have towards discovering the antecedents of our first-known ancestor been 70. Her husband William WESTLEY passed on in the March John Harris. quarter of 1955 at the age of 77 (Walsall, Vol 9b, p913).

For example, there is every possibility that the Herefordshire-born The move to Walsall was prompted by William’s desire to keep in Thomas Harris living with the family of George and Elizabeth Garbett touch with the surviving seven of the eight children from his first in Grendon Bishop towards the end of his life in 1841 is a younger marriage to Elizabeth née FEELEY. Elizabeth, all of whose children brother of John. Thomas died in Wacton on 11 March 1845. were born in the West Midlands town, had died in 1919 at the age

of 39. In Walsall, Rose would have felt a little closer to the corner of It is also likely that the Susan Harris whose illegitimate child Richard Worcestershire she was compelled to leave in a previous life. was baptised in Eastham in 1789 is a younger sister of John.

Wacton Church in 1881: Already beyond repair, the church was taken down to five feet in 1893. It had no burial rights. Burials went to the ‘Church in the Field’ at Grendon Bishop or to St. Peter’s in Bromyard.

Marriage certificate for Emily Rose BALDWIN and William WESTLEY Furthermore, the Richard Harris whose son Thomas was baptised in Meanwhile, his son William has been forging a successful career for 10. Evesbatch in 1811 could well be a sibling of Elizabeth GARBETT née himself – first as a Bromyard-based carrier. Then – at the time of the HARRIS (born less than two miles away in Bishops Frome in 1789) 1881 and 1891 censuses when Mary Ann BOULTON née HARRIS and her younger brother John (bpt. 1795 in Hanley William). was housekeeper at Upper Sapey School House - William set himself Farewell up as a farmer of 208 acres. Where? At nearby Dudshill Court in Out of interest, we traced the career and movements of Thomas Upper Sapey. It was here that this William HARRIS died in 1899 at the We thank all who collaborated with us on Part Two of our story. In HARRIS junior (b.1802 in Evesbatch, Hereford) and those of his age of 64. Sixteen years later, it was here at Dudshill Court that my addition to those whose contributions were acknowledged in Part eldest son William (b.1836 in Bromyard, Hereford). father Eddie HARRIS was born in 1915. Pure coincidence, of course. One, we thank our English cousins Pat Blake (née Graves), Estelle Or is it? Gross (née Harris), Graham Harris, Don and Roy Harris, Reinette After Thomas senior’s death in Wacton in 1845, Thomas junior and Hinchliffe (née Harris) and Ivan Turner; our Canadian cousins Barbara his family moved across the Hereford county boundary to Astley in Ballantine, Susan Coleman, Donna Froggatt, Karen Grierson, Worcestershire. Thomas remained a farm labourer for the remainder Wendy Hall, Paul McMillan, Colin and Janie Reeson as well as the of his working life and, after the death of his wife Ann, we find him descendants of James and Laura Adams. We also thank Patricia in 1881 as a 78-year-old lodging at Yew Tree Cottage in Suckley, Worrall – not related, but closely connected - for her intriguing Worcestershire. revelations. Special thanks go to all who kindly provided photographs

Dudshill Court, a Grade II listed building, where Eddie, Roly and and family stories. Ethel Harris were born between 1915 and 1920. The family moved to Church House, Upper Sapey around 1921. For their support and our use of their invaluable facilities, we thank the Local History Centre in Bromyard and the Family History Centres in , Tenbury Museum in Goff’s School and the Glamorgan Archives in Cardiff. Not forgetting the staff and customers of the Tally Ho Inn, Bell Lane, Broadheath near Tenbury who have fed and watered us, and told us where to go!

While working on Part Two, we were saddened to learn of the passing of family friends Jack and Gladys Hill of Orleton who died within days of each other in November 2010. In the same month we lost our cousin and friend Hubert Frederick (Bert) Skyrme who died peacefully at his home in Ledbury after a long illness. Our thoughts are with his wife of 65 years, Ella (née Jackson).

Finally, we say farewell and thank you to yourselves for joining us on this extended journey from Eastham, Hanley William and Hanley Child.

Brian Harris

© All rights reserved ADDENDA

Mary HARRIS b. 1843 Hanley Child, Worcestershire

Daughter of Sarah, single woman of Broadheath Children See Chapter 5 (Sarah, sibling of James HARRIS) Charles and Mary had five children between 1875 and 1886 (Fanny Elizabeth, Thomas Walter, Myra Lily, Charles Herbert and William), What happened to Mary? all born in Stafford. It’s good to know that Mary led a fulfilling life as a In 1871, we found Mary (then aged 27) on a visit in Warton, wife and mother. Her mother Sarah ROBOTHAM (née HARRIS), who Lancashire where she was staying with the Benson family in Lodge died just over one year before Mary's marriage, would have been Lane. Mary gave her place of birth as Hanley Child, Worcestershire pleased for her. and her occupation as cook (unemployed). She was still single.

New identity As we failed to locate her in subsequent censuses, we assumed she had married. Fortunately, Hanley Child has such a tiny population that it served as a valuable pointer to her new identity. In our search, we entered only her first name, her date of birth (March qtr 1843) and place of birth.

Marriage The 1891 Census linked her to Stafford-born Charles HARVEY, a general labourer and later farm stockman. It turned out that they had married in the parish of Somershall Herbert, Derbyshire on 26 January 1875 (Registration district Uttoxeter, Vol. 6b, p.395). Charles makes his mark, while Mary signs her name. The witnesses were George Green for the groom, Harriet Ann West for the bride.

Discreet Not surprisingly, as she is now living far from her childhood home and family, Mary remains discreet about her illegitimacy. She gives her ‘father’s name and occupation’ as John Harris, labourer. However, she provides additional proof that we have found the right Mary by stating her occupation as ‘cook’.

We have also established that no other Mary or Mary Ann Harris was baptised in Hanley Child nor indeed is on record as having been born in the registration district of Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire at the time of her birth (March qtr 1843). Marriage certificate for Mary Ann HARRIS and Charles HARVEY