Inherited Craziness
A place to share all the nuts found on my family tree

Showing posts with label Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jones. Show all posts

Saturday 17 February 2024

David Jones and Laura Elizabeth White

Christ Church Rushbrooke Cobh

My great-grandparents, David Jones, son of Thomas Jones and Mary Harty, and Laura Elizabeth White, daughter of Walter White and Hannah Blazey, married at Christ Church, Church of IrelandRushbrooke, Cobh (Queenstown, as it was then), Ireland on 17 Feb 1892. David Jones was then Sexton of the Anglican Christ Church. But this was not David's first marriage, so we have to rewind for the story that led to this point: 

David was born at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire on 10 Jul 1850 and baptised, on 1 May 1851, at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. That last detail certainly wasn't ever common knowledge.

After being pensioned off from the Navy, at 16, in 1866, David Jones was next recorded at Castle Oliver in Limerick at the time of his father's death in 1873. Records of his Dog Licences then place David at Castle Oliver in 1874 to 1877 too and, from 1878 onwards, man and dog were at Rushbrooke.

On 5 Oct 1880, David Jones married Johannah Anne O'Callaghan at the Parish Church in Inchigeelagh, Cork, By Licence. Johannah's father, Cornelius O'Callaghan was a Schools Inspector and on a later census return pedantically listed himself as Church of Ireland, and a member of the 'Irish Truth Society - Protestant'. Interesting choice of father-in-law for "a nice Catholic boy".

By the time of the baptism of David and Hannah's first child in 1881, David was listed as "Sexton of Church". Rushbrooke had docks, a tradition of ship building and the Irish Naval Service nearby, so I don't suppose it hurt that he was a Naval Pensioner, but the timing and the fact that the pedantically detailed school records were held in the church, lead me to believe that his father-in-law's contacts may have secured David this position. 

From the records in the church, I was able to ascertain that David and Hannah had five children, all baptised at Christ Church, Rushbrooke: 
  1. Thomas Jones b. 19 Oct 1881, bap. 19 Nov 1881. (Died 8 Jan 1891.)
  2. Marcella Jones b. 10 May 1883, bap. 2 Jun 1883
  3. Helena Jones b. 4 Mar 1885, bap. 14 Mar 1885 [1]
  4. Anna Jones b. 14 Feb 1887, bap. 19 Mar 1887. (Died in 1902.)
  5. Marion Jones b. 27 Aug 1889, bap. 21 Sep 1889 (Died 8 Mar 1891.)
And so things might have continued, but Johannah Jones (35), wife of David Jones a Naval Pensioner, died of Typhoid fever, on 18 Feb 1891. 

Johannah was buried, on 20 Feb 1891 in the same plot as David's father, Thomas Jones (Section S, Row 9, Position 76), at the Old Church Cemetery (Cobh), where her son Thomas (9) had been buried little more than a month earlier, on 10 Jan 1891. One assumes from the same cause. Youngest daughter, Marion (2), also died on 8 Mar 1891. There's no record of Marion's burial, but I imagine she'll have been buried with her mother.

The inscription on the grave reads: 
Erected by David Jones In memory of his beloved father Thos. Jones Who died Jan. 8th 1873 aged 56 years Also his beloved son Thomas Who died Jan. 8th 1891 Aged 9 years and 3 months And his beloved wife Johanna Who died Feb 18th 1891 Aged 35 years.
The kitchen at Fota House

And so it was, on 17 Feb 1892 - one day less than a year after Johannah's death - that David Jones married Laura Elizabeth White. Witnesses were Ellen Jones (David's brother Nicholas' wife) and Annie Jones, David's sister. On the marriage certificate, Laura's address is given just as 'Fota', the island in Cork Harbour, just north of Great Island and Fota House & Gardens was (and is) probably all there was there, so perhaps Laura was employed at Fota House, which makes sense, because my gran talked about them baking cakes for "the big house". We also know that the family from Fota House attended the Anglican Christ Church, which is obviously where David and Laura met.

David and Laura added yet another six children: 
  1. Cornelius Walter Jones (Con) b. 2 Jan 1893, bap. 22 Jan 1893
  2. Ellen Jones (Nell) b. 23 Apr 1894, bap. 13 May 1894
  3. Laura Mary Jones (Queenie) b. 2 Aug 1896, bap 28 Aug 1896 [2]
  4. David Jones (Young Dave) b. 10 Nov 1898, bap. 9 Dec 1898
  5. Alice Jones b. 26 Jul 1903, bap. 14 Aug 1903 [3]
  6. Agnes Jones (Daisy) b. 27 Feb 1907, bap. 15 Mar 1907
Here I should mention that prior to going to Cobh in 2014, I'd only known that my grandmother had lived in Ireland growing up: we didn't know when or where she was born. There'd been some mention of her father marrying twice and I'd known of a younger sister. Getting to the church and being let loose with all the original records was a huge surprise: finding record after record until I had various marriages, all eleven children, every relevant baptism, school record and, where appropriate, burial, was quite a shock.

It's interesting that the first son by the 2nd wife is named after the 1st wife's father first and the 2nd wife's father second. (Irish logic?) David appears to be - less strictly with the girls - following the traditional naming pattern that was often used by Irish parents until the later 19th century, but it's clear that this is in the order of the father's 1st, 2nd, etc., child irrespective of which wife produced it. Did wives not matter? That's probably rhetorical.

In 1901, David Jones (50), Laura (30), Helena (16), Cornelius (8), Ellen (6), Laura (4) and David (2) were living at Queenstown Urban, Cork. Marcella had already left home and was working as a servant in the household of Edward Gibbings, Rector of Kinsale, at Rampart's Lane (Kinsale Urban, Cork), while Anna (or Annie) (13), was staying with her grandfather O'Callaghan.

Then on 13 Apr 1902, Annie Jones (14), Daughter of a Naval Pensioner, died from Tuberculous meningitis. Her grandfather was present when she died.

In 1911, the household, still at Rushbrooke, included David (58), Laura (40), Cornelius (18), Ellen (16), Laura (14), David (12), Alice (7) and Agnes (4). 

On both census returns, David listed his birthplace - wrongly - as Wales, but I think we can all imagine reasons why being Welsh in Ireland was far more desirable than being English and with a name like Jones and his father supposedly born in Swansea, this was a perfectly believable fib.

Laura Jones, wife of David Jones a Naval Pensioner, died, aged 46, on 17 Jan 1917 from Splenic Leucocythemia (or Leukemia) and Influenza. Laura was buried, on 19 Jan 1917 at the Old Church Cemetery (Cobh), in Section D, Row 6, Position 50. So David was widowed again. Daughter Ellen (Nell), then 23, (resentfully) looked after the house and younger children until she married, after which David's sister, Annie, took over as housekeeper. 

On 7 Aug 1935, David Jones, widower, 79, Sexton of Church, died at Church Lodge from Hemiplegia 2 years (from which I'm reading that he'd probably had a stroke in 1933) and Cardiac failure. David was buried, on 10 Aug 1935, at the Old Church Cemetery (Cobh), in Section D, Row 6, Position 50, along with second wife, Laura, and their son Cornelius, who had died in 1926.

The Jones Family Church Lodge Rushbrooke at Rest, Section D, Row 6, Position 50
Old Church Cemetery (Cobh). Resting place of David Jones (1850-1935), Laura Elizabeth Jones (1870-1917), Cornelius Walter Jones (1893-1926) and David Jones (1898-1966).

[1] The last record I have that mentions Helena Jones is where she was witness to the marriage of her sister, Marcella to Edward John Bicknell, in Portsmouth, in 1906, so we know she was in England then. There are also records of voyages to America for a Helena Jones of the right age.

[2] Laura Mary Jones was alive and unmarried in 1942, when she and her sister Alice were both witnesses at their brother Dave's wedding.

[3] As with her sister, Laura Mary, I've found no records that I can definitely attribute to Alice Jones beyond 1942. My belief is she stayed in Ireland, as when I was a child, my gran used to have shamrocks sent to her for St. Patrick's Day and I'm sure I remember them coming from an Alice, in Ireland. Family stories - we know how reliable those are - alleged that Laura and Alice had been thrown out of the family home and sent to the workhouse as they both had children out of wedlock. We were unable to find records of them entering the Cork workhouse. My late cousin had said they had lived at the Cork County Hospital for years and visited them there in 1946. Unfortunately, without an admission date, the Health Service in Ireland couldn't (wouldn't) make a search of the records for me to be able to confirm.

More about David Jones: 

Sunday 7 January 2024

Thomas Jones and Mary Harty

St John the Baptist Church, Cobh (Queenstown) Via: Cobh Heritage Centre

Cobh Parish Office, were able to tell me that my 2x great-grandparents, Thomas Jones and Mary Harty had married, on 7 Jan 1844, at St John the Baptist Catholic Church in Cobh (Queenstown). St John the Baptist was the Catholic Church for Cobh from 1810 to 1868, when it was demolished to make way for the bigger St Colman's Cathedral. Nobody in the family had even considered the possibility of an Irish Catholic ancestor. 

Thomas Jones, according to his merchant seaman's register ticket, issued on 5 Mar 1847, while on board HMS America, states he was born on 9 Apr 1817, in Swansea, Glamorganshire. (On the 1851 census in England, he is listed as having been born in Swansea, Glamorganshire too.) The merchant ticket goes on to tell us that Thomas Jones, then a Ship's Corporal, was 5 ft 9½ in, with dark brown hair and, it looks like hazel eyes and had a ship [tattoo] on his left arm and a man & woman on his right; that he went to sea as a boy (of 10) in 1827 and, 'when unemployed', resides at Cove of Cork.

Born in the reign of George III, during the The Regency, Thomas Jones lived through the reigns of George IV, William IV and much of Queen Victoria. He served in the First Opium War and the Crimean War; emigrated TO Ireland during the Great Famine and lived through four Cholera pandemics.

Mary Harty, according to what records there are, must have been born around 1821. Although she married in Cobh, I see no reason to assume that she was from there originally. My late cousin in Ireland had said that Mary later went "up country" to where her people were from, so perhaps she may have come to Cobh for work and met Thomas there. What we do know from that 1851 English census is that Mary was born in Ireland and, later from the 1901 Irish census, that she spoke both Irish and English. But I've found no records that tell me where her exact place of birth nor original parish was though. 

The 1844 parish marriage record is very scant in detail and does not include the names of the bride and groom's parents and there wasn't civil registration in Ireland at that date, so there aren't any of the usual hints to follow.

The only other clue is that Mary had a younger sister, Ellen Harty (b. 1825), who was visiting them in Sutton Bridge, England in 1851, but who was also one of the sponsors at Nicholas Jones' baptism, in Rath, Ireland in 1853.

Thomas and Mary Jones had six children in all: 

  1. Mary Ann Jones, b. in Ireland in 1844
  2. Rees Jones, b. 25 May 1849 in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire
  3. David Jones, b. 10 Jul 1850 in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire
  4. Anna Jones, bap. 4 Oct 1851 at Sacred Heart Church, Rath
  5. Nicholas Jones, b. 10 May, bap 17 May 1853 at Sacred Heart, Rath
  6. Thomas Jones, bap. 17 Sep 1854 at Sacred Heart, Rath
Rath and The Islands Parish is the Catholic Community of Baltimore, Sherkin Island and Cape Clear Island and surrounding areas. This explains why my late cousin drew a complete blank when she'd gone down to Baltimore to try to find records of the family: she'd only looked in the Church of Ireland.

Nobody ever spoke of Mary Ann, Rees, nor Thomas Jr. The only mention of Mary Ann is on the English 1851 census. David was the one who did things one would associate with the role of eldest son, so I'm sure Rees perished as an infant. One month before they moved back to Ireland, both Rees and David were baptised, on 1 May 1851at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. That's the last record for Rees. David was my great-grandfather. Anna still lived with her mother in 1901 and later became David's housekeeper. She never married and died on 8 Mar 1934. Nicholas was my cousin's grandfather. The baptism is the first I heard of son Thomas. 

The only other record I've found [so far] for Thomas Jones Jnr is when he was enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 14 Apr 1871. On it, there's a reference provided by a John Lombard, which states, "Thomas Jones is a Protestant Parishioner of Queenstown, and son of a Naval Pensioner. He is a steady, well conducted lad." Emphasising Protestant for what purpose? 

Also attached to the record is a Declaration Before a Magistrate in Thomas Jones (the father's) own handwriting - I recognise his signature - stating that, "I hereby certify that my son Thomas Jones was born in Baltimore, Cork on May 25th, 1855." Not when he was baptised in 1854, he wasn't! Clearly the date wasn't a mistake and can only have been a deliberate falsification, because later on the form, it states that, "Boys for the Navy must be over 15 and not above 16½ years of age ..."  He was 17. Thomas Snr had retired in ill health, so one can perhaps understand him doing this in an attempt to ensure that his son was taken care of. The most curious part of this record, however, is that the service record is blank. Thomas Jnr was not even assigned to a training ship: it's like he didn't even turn up. He then just disappears. 

Thomas Jones Sr had a 40+ year career: 
Thomas Jones died, aged 56, on 8 Jan 1873, at Castle Oliver, from Morbus Cordis (unspecified heart disease) 4 years certified (which ties in with his date of retirement) - presumably in the surrounding village, rather than Kim and Kanye's honeymoon castle itself. Could that be the "up country" area Mary had originally come from? Can't think of another reason for them to be in Limerick.

Thomas Jones was buried, on 10 Jan 1873, in the Clonmel Old Church Cemetery (Cobh), Cork in section S, row 9, position 76

The inscription on his grave reads, 
Erected by David Jones In memory of his beloved father Thos. Jones Who died Jan. 8th 1873 aged 56 years”.
In 1901, Mary Jones, widow, was living with her daughter, Annie (who claimed to be 30, but was 50) at The Glen, Passage West (Monkstown, Cork). Mary Jones (81), Widow of Thomas Jones a Coastguard Pensioner, died of senile decay on 14 Aug 1903 at The Rock, Queenstown, Cork. 

Section S of the Clonmel Old Church Cemetery (Cobh), Cork

Tuesday 12 December 2023

Edward John Bicknell, Marcella Jones & Harry Babb

Portsmouth Cathedral
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © N Chadwick - geograph.org.uk/p/6829155

Edward John Bicknell married Marcella Jones, daughter of David Jones and Johannah Anne O'Callaghan, at St Jude's Church, Southsea on 12 Dec 1906. Among the witnesses was Marcella's younger sister, Helena Jones. At the time of this marriage, Edward John Bicknell was a Corporal RGA (Royal Garrison Artillery) and was then stationed at Southsea Castle. On the marriage certificate, Bicknell's father is listed as Edward Bicknell, a farmer

Their only child, David Nicholas Bicknell was born on 20 Jan 1909, at 15 Gold Street, Southsea and baptised, on 10 Feb 1909, at The Anglican Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, now known simply as Portsmouth Cathedral.

In 1891, Edward Jno Bricknell (sic) (10), nephew, had been living with Henry Palmer (42) Butler domestic and Elizabeth F Palmer (54) from Withycombe, Devon, at Hencroft Street, Upton with Chalvey, Eton, Buckinghamshire.

On 17 Dec 1895, Edward John Bicknell, listed originally as aged 14 years, 11 months (although the 14 appears to have been over-written as 15 on the 2nd page), from Withycombe [Withycombe Raleigh], Exmouth, Devon, formerly a Telegraph Messenger, had enlisted for Long Service in the Royal Artillery, at Slough, Bucks. The name and address of his next of kin was given as Mrs F E Palmer, 18 Hencroft Street, Sough, Bucks. In 1901, Elizabeth F Palmer (60) Tailoress, from Withycombe, Devon, was listed at that address.

Records show that Henry Palmer had married Elizabeth Fanny Bicknell, at St Margaret's, Westminster, London, in 1873. In 1881, they had been living at Church End, Tempsford, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, where Henry was Under butler. Elizabeth Bicknell (bap. 5 Jan 1834), listed in Withycombe Rawleigh in 1841 and 1851, certainly had a brother named Edward, born in 1830. However, he had died in 1870, so could not have been the boy's father. In fact, there were very many people named Edward Bicknell, in Withycombe, going right back to the 17th Century. Not one of them were farmers.

There is no birth, nor baptism for an Edward John Bicknell, around 1880/1. The most likely record is of an illegitimate birth of an Edward Bicknell in St Thomas, Devon (under which Withycombe would fall), in 1879. That child, born 19 Nov 1879, in the Village, Withycombe Raleigh, was the son of Rose Creasley Bicknell, Domestic Servant, Cook. His birth was registered by his mother, on 9 Dec 1879 and the name of the deputy registrar on the certificate was Edward John Carter. Is that where the Edward John came from?

There was a Rose Cressly Bicknell b. 1859 M Quarter in TOTNES Volume 05B Page 173 and baptised on 2 Jan 1859 at St Saviour's Church, Dartmouth, Devon, the base child of Elizabeth Bicknell (and a bloke named Cressly, I wouldn't be surprised). Edward John was described as Elizabeth's nephew, but I think it possible that she was actually his grandmother.

That and naming their son after Marcella's father and uncle and not after his father, leads me to think Bicknell had no idea who his father was and, as is so often done, just made one up for appearances on the marriage certificate.

Fort Rowner-Gosport
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Colin Babb - geograph.org.uk/p/704877

When he enlisted in 1895, Edward John was 5' 1⅝' tall, weighed 98lbs, had a fresh complexion, hazel eyes and dark brown hair. He was then sent to Fort Rowner, Gosport on 21 Dec 1895. Initially passed as fit, he spent 29 days in hospital from 5 Feb 1896 to 4 Mar 1896, suffering from an illness referred to only by the initials V.D.H. (valvular disease of the heart and implies some organic disease or heart malfunction), of unknown cause and was discharged on 7 Mar 1896, as "Not being likely to become an efficient soldier."

On 19 Sep 1900, in London, at 18 years and 9 months, Edward John Bicknell, once again enlisted in the Royal Artillery. The record, again, says he was from Withycombe, Exmouth, Devon. Was he cured of his previous condition, or hopeful nobody would tie the two together (which they don't seem to do)?

In 1901, Edward John Bicknell (19) Gunner Royal Artillery, was listed on the census at Leith Fort North Fort Street, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Part of Tigné Barracks, now incorporated in The Point Shopping MallSliemaMalta.

In 1911, Sergeant Edward John Bicknell (29), from Exmouth, Devon, was listed on the census of Overseas Establishments with 96th Company RGA (Royal Garrison Artillery) at Fort Tigné, Malta. Also listed there at that time were wife, Marcella Bicknell (26) and son, David Nicholas Bicknell (2) (96th Company, I believe, remained in Malta for the duration of World War I.)

But on 27 Oct 1919, Edward John Bicknell, then a Battery Sergeant Major at Sandown Barracks, Sandown, Isle of Wight, filed for divorce from Marcella, citing her adultery with co-respondent, Harry Babb, a Fitter in His Majesty's Dockyard at Portsmouth, with whom she was allegedly residing at 34, Castle Road, Southsea. The final decree was granted on 29 Sep 1920 and Harry Babb was ordered to pay costs of £63 18s 4d (around £2,900 in 2021).

In 1920 and 1921, records show that Sergeant Major Edward John Bicknell was a member of Sandown Masonic Lodge on the Isle of Wight. 

Edward J Bicknell remarried, to Ida G Priestley, on 25 Mar 1921, on the Isle of Wight. Ida Gertrude Priestley (b. 31 Dec 1891), was the daughter of Thomas F (a Yacht steward) and Sophia C Priestley (from Jersey, Channel Islands). In 1901, the family address was Grocer's Shop, 62, West Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight (now a branch of The Co-operative Food). In 1911, Ida Gertrude Priestley (20), had been employed as a Lady's Maid to a Mrs Winifred Walker at 10 Marmion Road, Battersea, London.

Edward John Bicknell was discharged from the Army on 18 Sep 1921, at Dover, under Paragraph 392 (xxi) of the King's Regulations - the end of a period of engagement. He was awarded a pension of 51½d per day for life from 19 Sep 1921. His address on discharge was 177, Filbert Street, Leicester. But Edward John Bicknell of 4 Burton Street, Leicester, Bank Messenger, died on 21 Apr 1922, at Leicester Royal Infirmary from shock following an operation, having been diagnosed with stomach cancer 5-6 months previously. He was 40. His death was registered by P H Priestley, Brother-in-law (Ida's younger brother, Percy H Priestley, born 1895).

34, Castle Road, Southsea, alleged address of these shocking adulterers.

Marcella Bicknell had remarried to Henry Babb in the 4th quarter of 1920.

Babb was no easier to pin down than her first husband. The only relevant birth of a Harry Babb, in the 4th quarter of 1894, is in Barnstaple, Devon, with his mother's maiden name given as Ware. There was a marriage of an Eli Francis Babb and Annie Ware on 21 Feb 1880, at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in The Strand, London. Harry was baptised on 25 Jan 1895 at Holy Trinity Church, Barnstaple and the baptism record gives his parents as Levi Frank and Annie Babb, with his father's occupation listed as 'Boots' at the Fortescue Hotel. (The word 'Boots' came from, ‘boot boys’, an occupation in the 1830s and 40s requiring young men to clean the boots of hotel guests. Later, the occupation had become simply known as ‘boots’, and duties included odd-jobs.)

In 1921, Henry Babb (30) - making himself 4 years older - from Barnstaple, Devon, working for the Department (Engineering) H M Dockyard Portsmouth was indeed living at 34, Castle Road, Portsmouth with Marcella Babb (36), step-son David Bicknell (12), four Boarders and one Domestic servant.

In 1939, Harry Babb (b. 17 Nov 1894), Marine Engineer, Marcella Babb, David N Bicknell and a lodger were living at 10 Wilberforce Road.

Marcella Babb of 1 Festing Grove, Southsea, died on 9 Oct 1963, at 80.

Henry Babb, also of 1 Festing Grove, Southsea, died on 19 Nov 1967. 

David Nicholas Bicknell never married. He died of a cardiac arrest on 22 Jan 1987, two days after his 78th birthday. The retired production controller still lived at 1 Festing Grove, Southsea. His place of birth on his death certificate was India. The records show that he was, in fact, born in Southsea, so I wonder if his father spent time in India while he was growing up, or did David only think it was India, being just a small child in the heat of Malta?

Festing Grove, Southsea
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Kate Jewell - geograph.org.uk/p/3319369

Friday 1 December 2023

David Jones and Catherine Rice

The door from Kitty's solid fuel stove. Photo: Jerome Mc Cormick

David Jones, son of David Jones and Laura Elizabeth White, married Catherine Rice, daughter of Richard Rice and Mary Hagerty, at the Registrar's Office, Cork on 1 Dec 1942. David Jones, Labourer, of The Bungalow, Rushbrooke, Cork, known as 'Young Dave', was 44 and Catherine, a Domestic Servant, residing at 14 Middleton Park, Rushbrooke, known as Kitty, was 36. Witnesses were Dave's sisters, Laura Mary Jones and Alice Jones.

Young Dave 'inherited' the job of Sexton of Christ Church, Church of Ireland, Rushbrooke from his father - and Christ Church has only ever had these two Sextons, both called David Jones - and he seems to have kept the job even after his marriage to Catherine, who was a Roman Catholic. Allegedly, he also worked for the Rushbrooke Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, cutting grass, etc.

Richard Rice, from Fermoy, County Cork, Harness Maker, son of John Rice, Farmer, married Mary Hagerty, farmer's daughter, from Lismore, Waterford, at the Roman Catholic Chapel at Ballyduff, Waterford, on 27 Sep 1900. In 1901, they were in Princes Street, Fermoy. By 1911, they were in Bank Street (apparently now renamed Kent Street), with Richard Rice (42), Mary Rice (43), John Rice (9), Mary Rice (8) and Catherine Rice (5).

Dave Jones died on 21 Nov 1966 (aged 68). Under his name on the record of his burial, on 23 Nov 1966, kept in Christ Church, is marked (Sexton) in brackets, hence knowing he had kept the job. He is buried in the family plot at the Old Church Cemetery (Cobh), along with his mother, brother and father.
Hendrick Verwey (Visit Cobh), once told me, "I grew up just up the road from Christ Church Rushbrooke and a very small lady called Mrs Jones lived in a tiny corrugated iron house across the road. I think that her husband looked after the church, but he died many years before her."
Kitty Jones, Widow, died on 13 Aug 1987 (aged 80–81) and was buried on 15 Aug 1987, also at the Old Church Cemetery (Cobh)

Friday 18 August 2023

Andrew Ephire King and Annie Jones

The former St. Luke's church
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Jonathan Thacker - geograph.org.uk/p/5436811

Annie Jones, only daughter of Nicholas Jones and Ellen White, married Andrew Ephire King, Chief Yeoman, United States Navy, son of Joseph Damos King and Josephine Martel, at St Luke's Church, Cork, Ireland on 18 Aug 1919. Witnesses were Frederick Joseph Lee and Nelly Jones.

Andrew Ephire King, b. 10 Nov 1894, in 1910, was in Dover, New Hampshire, with parents Joseph D King (39), Josephine (35) both Canadian, Andrew (15), Dina (13), Wilfred (12), Victor (10), Lena (9), Philip (4) and Amelia (2).

The couple met in 1917, wrote their daughter, Margery, "... when Dad was on one of the destroyers sent by the US Navy to patrol the south coast of Ireland and convoy supply and troop ships to English and French ports."

Later, "When Cork became "out of bounds" to the crews of the US Fleet when the Sinn Féiners attacked them, Dad asked Mum to come down to Rushbrooke / Queenstown to visit him. In this way, Dad became acquainted with Nellie and the rest of her family, often going to Rushbrooke for tea when he had a few hours liberty when his ship was in port." One entry from Andrew's diary:

April 24, 1918: "Liberty was granted today. I went ashore at 4:30 p.m. and went to see Nellie Jones. Today was her 24th birthday. She had made a chocolate cake and some cookies so we had a quite nice little tea party. I gave her a gold pendant for a gift. Novak came up about 7:30 with a fruit cake that his sister in Portland, Oregon had sent him. We had cocoa and some of the cake. Returned to the ship at 10:30 p.m."

After they married, Annie King applied for permission to depart for the United States, expecting to sail on USS President Grant on 6 Sep 1919, giving her future address in the US as 31 Chapel Street, Dover, New Hampshire.

Andrew and Annie had three children:
  1. Douglas Andrew King born 23 Mar 1921 in Norfolk, Virginia
  2. Edith M King born 22 Feb 1923 in Brooklyn, New York
  3. Margery Ellen King born 6 Apr 1927 in Cork, Ireland
In 1920, Andrew King (25) and Annie King (29), were living in Duval, Florida.

In 1921, Annie King applied for a US Passport for herself, accompanied by her minor child, Douglas Andrew King.

In 1930, in Norfolk, Virginia, were Andrew E King (36), Annie King (40), Douglas A King (9), Edith M King (7) and Margery E King (3). In 1935, they lived in Portsmouth, Virginia. A record shows that on 7 Jul 1935, Douglas Andrew King (14) travelled from Cobh (Queenstown), on the RMS Laconia, arriving in Boston in 14 Jul 1935. Margery remembered them visiting the family in Rushbrooke in the 1930's.

And by 1940, they had moved out to San Diego, California, with Andrew E King (45), Annie King (49), Edith M King (17) and Marjory E King (12).

Andrew Ephire King sailed from Pearl Harbor on 7 Aug 1942, on USS Henderson, while she did service as a transport between California and Hawaii during World War II, arriving in San Francisco, California on 15 Aug 1942. He was still serving in WWII. Was he in Pearl Harbour the year before?

On 5 Apr 1945, Douglas Andrew King (24) married Daisy Mae Hadlock (19), daughter of Ivan Hadlock and Esther Smith, in Hampton, Virginia.

Margery and her mother travelled to Ireland and England, visiting Dave and Kitty in Rushbrooke, Queenie and Alice in Cork City, my grandparents in Birmingham and stayed with Marcella in Portsmouth, in 1946. Margery wrote that, "My mother had kept in touch with her cousins all through WWII while we were in the USA and was anxious to see them all again."

A licence had been applied for, for the marriage of Margery Ellen King to a Donald William Gemmel in January 1950, but this marriage never took place. Margery never mentioned this. No surprise. I always knew her as Mrs Margery Hamilton, but haven't been able to find any record of a marriage for her.

In 1950, Edith King married Kenneth Crawford, in Cork. Her parents went to Ireland for a couple of months for the wedding, and returned on RMS Franconia, leaving Liverpool on 21 Sep 1950, arriving in Quebec on 29 Sep 1950. The Crawfords had at least one son (name and birth date unknown, but thought to be still living in Ireland), as Margery often mentioned her nephew - who now has possession of Andrew Ephire King's detailed diaries.

Annie King of 28 Oceana Avenue, Ocean Park, Maine (wife of Andrew Ephire King, Retired Lieutenant Commander U.S.N.), died on 21 Dec 1950, at the Trull Hospital, Biddeford, Maine, aged 60, leaving her effects to her husband. Annie King is buried at, New Town Cemetery, Rollinsford, New Hampshire.

On 26 Sep 1953, Margery King left Cobh on the MV Britannic, presumably for her father's marriage, on 24 Oct 1953, at the Methodist Church, Plymouth, New Hampshire, to divorcee, Elma Marguerite Wyman (née Dunphy).

Andrew Ephire King, who died on 1 July 1983, Lieutenant commander United States Navy Mexican Border, WWI & WWII, is also buried in the family plot at New Town Cemetery, Rollinsford, New Hampshire.

Douglas Andrew King died on 13 Mar 2002.

We visited Margery in Ireland in 2014. Her sister, Edith, had died not long before. Margery must have died in 2016, which, sadly, we only discovered when the Post Office returned my correspondence. Her contribution to this research has been invaluable: even when the family stories she was told weren't quite true, they've provided valuable clues that I continue to pursue.

Monday 7 August 2023

Albert Stone and Agnes Jones

Tiverton : King's Crescent
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/3053842
On Bert's Marines record, Agnes' address is given as King's Crescent, Tiverton.

Albert Stone (Bert), son of Charles Stone and Emma Middleton and brother of Charley Stone, married Agnes Jones (Daisy), daughter of David Jones and Laura Elizabeth White and sister of Ellen Stone (née Jones), married, on 7 Aug 1926 at the Anglican Church of Saint Matthew, which was in Clarence Place, opposite the former Royal Naval Hospital at East Stonehouse, in Plymouth. 
As you may have deduced, the two brothers married two sisters.

On 27 July 1914, at the age of 14½, Albert Stone enlisted as a Bugler in the Royal Marines and from 7 Dec 1914 until 29 May 1917, was assigned to his first ship, HMS Hilary (1914), a former passenger steamship, converted to an armed merchant cruiser for service during the First World War. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy at Liverpool on 6 Dec 1914 and patrolled between the British Isles and the Denmark Strait, often in the area between the Outer Hebrides and Faroe Islands and also to the Shetland Islands. 

On 25 May 1917, HMS Hilary was torpedoed and sunk west of the Shetlands, by German submarine, SM U-88, captained by Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger. Schwieger was infamous for sinking RMS Lusitania two years earlier, an event Agnes (Daisy) remembered as a child, living in Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, where both survivors and dead were brought ashore. 

Bert was one of the survivors in the seven lifeboats from HMS Hilary, picked up by the naval drifter Maggie Bruce or the destroyer HMS Sarpedon.

After that, Bert was transferred to Plymouth Division and was at Deal from Sep 17 to Apr 18, becoming a Private in Dec 17, shortly before he was 18.

From 25 June 1919 to 21 Aug 1919, Bert embarked on HMS Cornwall (1902), presumably for her return journey from Bermuda to Devonport.

In Oct-Nov of that year, he was at HMS Impregnable training establishment (at that point the former HMS Black Prince (1861) in Devonport. And then at the HMS Vivid shore establishment from Dec 1919 until Dec 1920. 

His subsequent excursions were with: 

Bert, who had been promoted to Corporal in July 1927, was discharged at the end of his second period of engagement in Jan 1939. But, on 27 Sep 1939, he was back for service during World War II, until 1 Jan 1942.

They had two sons, Albert Henry Stone (1927-1999) and one living.

In 1939, Albert Stone, Postman, wife Agnes, son Albert H (Harry) and two other occupants were living at 9 Falconhurst Road, Birmingham.

Albert Stone died in 1974. Agnes died in 2000.

Saturday 5 August 2023

Nicholas Jones and Ellen Brennan otherwise White

Glenbrook from the R624 near Carrigalore
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Ian S - geograph.org.uk/p/5837006

Nicholas Jones, son of Thomas Jones and Mary Harty, married Ellen Brennan otherwise White, widow, on 5 Aug 1886, at Christ Church, Church of Ireland, Rushbrooke, Cobh - the church where his brother, David Jones, was Sexton. Nicholas' address at the time of the marriage was given as Rushbrooke and Ellen's as Glenbrook. Witnesses to the marriage were a George Owens and Annie Jones - David and Nicholas' sister. Nicholas' rank or profession is Able Seaman. Records show he was a Merchant Seaman. 

Nicholas had been baptised on 17 May 1853 at the Catholic church of the Sacred Heart, Rath, near Baltimore (Rath And The Islands Parish), Cork. Sponsors were a James Hayes and Ellen Hart (sic) - his mother's sister. 

Ellen White was born in Epsom, Surrey in 1854. The civil record of her birth gives her mother's maiden name as Smith. On the record of Ellen's marriage to Nicholas, she gives her father's name as William Henry White, a farmer, but it hasn't been possible to find a marriage of a William White and someone whose surname is Smith in the right timeframe and area. Nor has it been possible to locate Ellen's previous marriage to Mr Brennan.

Nicholas and Ellen had one daughter, Annie Jones. On both the 1901 and 1911 census returns the ages given for Annie, 12 and 22, respectively, calculate to a year of birth of 1889/90. In both cases, it states she was born in England. Annie's own daughter could never find a birth record for her, so I'm sure I can't and we're forced to conclude that Ellen probably didn't register the birth before leaving England, nor once she got back to Ireland.

Records of Shipping agreements and crew lists at the National Archives of Ireland suggest that Nicholas served on various vessels, including the following ships: SS Xema departing from Cork in Jun 1891, Dec 1891, Jun 1893, Dec 1893, Jun 1894 and Dec 1894; SS Rotterdam from Dublin in Dec 1896, Lee from Cork in 1898 and Blamey from Cork in Dec 1900.

In 1901, Ellen Jones (47), wife, and Annie Jones (12), scholar, were living in the Lower Glanmire Road, Cork City. Nicholas will have been at sea. 

In 1911, still in Lower Glanmire Road, were Nicholas Jones (57) Ship's Steward, Ellen Jones (57) and Annie Jones (22) Bookkeeper. The household also included three Boarders: Samuel Donald Dare (42), James Raynane (22), John Foley (25) and Hannah Healy (40), Domestic Servant, Visitor. 

Nicholas Jones, Sailor, died on 22 Jan 1930, ultimately from cardiac failure. His death was registered in the district of Carrigaline, KinsaleCounty Cork. The record said he was 72, but he will have been 76. 

Ellen Jones, Sailor's Widow, died on 23 Dec 1931, also in Carrigaline. She was 76. Her daughter, Annie King, was present at her death.

See also:

Monday 3 July 2023

Charley Stone and Ellen Jones

St George's Church, Tiverton

Charley Stone (Char), son of Charles Stone and Emma Middleton, married Ellen Jones (Nell), daughter of David Jones and Laura Elizabeth White, on 3 Jul 1922, at St George's Church, Tivertongenerally considered to be the finest Georgian church in Devon, and one of the best examples in England. Witnesses were Francis Stone, the groom's uncle; William Henry Middleton, the groom's elder half-brother and their mother, Emily Stone (former Emma Middleton). Given that line up, my feeling is that Bill was best man, while Frank gave away the bride as her own father was back in Ireland.

Charley Stone born 6 Jun 1898 at 1 Silver Street, Tiverton, and baptised on 20 Jul 1898 at St Peter’s Church Tiverton, lied about his age when he enlisted in the Royal Marines at Exeter on 18 Jan 1915, which is why this and many subsequent records suggest he was born a year earlier in 1897. The marines can't ever have discovered the one year discrepancy though, because his record notes the 139 days he was underage, from 18 Jan 1915 to 5 Jun 1915, but 6 Jun 1915 will only have been his 17th birthday, not his 18th.

Char did his training at the Royal Marine Depot, Deal, until 18 Aug 1915. Then after a brief period at Plymouth Division, was assigned to HMS Revenge (06) on 1 Feb 1916 and stayed with this ship until 24 Jan 1918, being promoted to Corporal on the 1st day of that year.

Revenge (left) and the battleship Hercules (right) at the Battle of Jutland

Consequently, on 31 May - 1 Jun 1916, just five days before his 18th birthday, Charley Stone took part in the Battle of Jutlandthe largest naval battle of the First World War. "In the course of the battle, Revenge had fired 102 rounds from her main battery [...]. She also fired 87 rounds from her secondary guns. She was not hit by any fire during the engagement."

British battleship HMS Glory at Murmansk
From 23 May 1918, until 16 Jul 1919, Char was assigned to HMS Glory (1899), of the British North Russia Squadron, which took him to Archangel and Murmansk during the North Russia intervention. "Glory was based at Archangel to protect supplies that arrived there for the Russian Army. The squadron's mission evolved after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 into preventing the supplies that had been delivered from falling into the hands of the Red Army." Arrived just in time for A Fire, a Riot, a Bombing, and a Mutiny. Like most who went through these events, Char never spoke about his experiences, except to a brother who was also a Marine, and what I've been told only intimated that things were really bad (understatement) up there. 
HMS Royalist (1883)
Continuing his amazing ability to turn up in all the wrong places at the right times, from 12 Feb 1920 to 15 Mar 1922 Char was sent to HMS Colleen (formerly HMS Royalist (1883)), which was then the depot ship at Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, at the height of the Irish War of Independence. Being hulked (stuck in one place), allowed more opportunity to fraternise with the locals, obviously. The 1921 Census shows Charley Stone (24) [i.e. still maintaining he was a year older than he really was], Corporal R M L I, was with the Royal Navy, Armed Forces Overseas.

Nell and Char's only child, Charles Francis Stone (Frank) was born, on 17 July 1923 at The Military Families Hospital, Devonport and christened at The Anglican Church of Saint Paul, Durnford Street, East Stonehouse on Sunday, 5 Aug 1923. This was the day after the wedding of Char's first cousin Frederick Thomas Stone and Kathleen Mullarkey, at which Char was best man and could have been the new baby's first "social engagement" - not that he'd have remembered it - but it feels like a real connection to the past to imagine that maybe Maria Mullarkey, the bride's mother, may have fawned over the new infant (as you do). The family's address at that time was 36, Admiralty Street, East Stonehouse. Now The Fig Tree Restaurant, this was once a shop.

Nell and Char's only child, Charles Francis Stone (Frank), aged around three.

The rest of Char's Royal Marines' career was spent mostly at Plymouth Division - they lived in the Eastern King battery where Frank played football on the landings - and at HMS Impregnable training establishments in Devonport: the former HMS Black Prince (1861) in late 1922 and the former HMS Ganges (1821) in 1923/24. Char was promoted to Sergeant from 9 Aug 1924, Colour sergeant from 2 Apr 1931, and Quartermaster sergeant (QMS) in Aug 1932, retiring on 5 Jun 1936. 

Charley Stone's uniform tunic now in the possession of the Royal Marines Museum

(Here's an exhibit you wouldn't see on display, even if the Royal Marines Museum wasn't currently homeless. So I consider myself fortunate that I was able to visit when it was still housed in the former officers’ mess on the Eastney Barracks (now to be turned into a five-star hotel) a few years ago and had made arrangements for a private viewing of the tunic pictured.)

Nell and Char on their
25th Wedding Anniversary
in 1947, in the garden of 117,
Corisande Road, Selly Oak.
After he retired from the Royal Marines, Char took a job as a Post Office Van Driver in Birmingham, which is where we find the family in 1939, at 117 Corisande Road, Selly Oak with Charley Stone, Postman Driver (Heavy Work) still listing himself as a year older and Ellen trying to bridge the four year age gap and be two years younger. Frank (16) was working as a Stationery clerk at the Screw Works. 

Char had worked as a gardener before he'd joined the marines, having worked in the kitchen garden at Knightshayes Court in Tiverton. In Birmingham, he grew soft fruits - I remember being sent up the garden to pick raspberries and blackcurrants - and he had a greenhouse stuffed full of his favourite fuchsias that, in his Devon accent were always pronounced foosherrs.

Charley Stone died on 10 May 1973 at Selly Oak Hospital. He was 75.

Ellen Stone died on 31 Jan 1993 in Highcliffe, Dorset, in her 99th year.