Lt Col James Wright OBE and Lucy Jane Ratty

Ruins of Charles Church, Plymouth
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Alan Murray-Rust - geograph.org.uk/p/7530164
Devastated in the Second World War, retained as a ruin as a memorial to the war. Looking like a traditional medieval Gothic church, it is unusual in being one of very few built in the Commonwealth period. Listed Grade I.

James Wright (b. 2 Jan 1872 in Bristol) Bachelor, Civil Service, of 69 Ashley Road, Bristol, son of James Wright and Eliza Beavis, married Lucy Jane Maddock, Widow, of 27 Tavistock Road, Plymouth, daughter of William Pearce Ratty, Shipwright and Elizabeth Hyde, at Charles Church, Plymouth on 23 Sep 1894. Witnesses were the bride's father, William Pearce Ratty and Eliza Mary Wright, James' sister. Lucy was listed as 29, which was a fib.

Born Lucy Jane Ratty on 24 Aug 1862, she was baptised on 2 Nov 1862, again at Charles Church, Plymouth and first married Frank Louie Maddock in the last quarter of 1882. Francis Louis Maddock, b. 17 Sep 1861, was the son of William Henry Maddock and Eliza Tucker Walters. The couple had one son, Frank Reginald Maddock b. 1884 J Quarter in PLYMOUTH Volume 05B Page 345, but who died the following quarter, 1884 S Quarter in PLYMOUTH Volume 05B Page 189. Then Francis Louis Maddock died, aged 24, in 1886 S Quarter in PLYMOUTH Volume 05B Page 180. In 1891, Lucy Maddock (28) Widow, Sister-in-Law was living at 27 Tavistock Road, Plymouth in the household of Richard Holwill and his wife Thirza, Lucy's sister.

James and Lucy Jane Wright had a further four children together:

1. Lucy Wright b. 10 Jun 1895 S Qtr in BARTON REGIS Vol 06A Page 64
2. James William Wright b. 23 May 1896 S Quarter in BARTON REGIS Volume 06A Page 54
3. Frank Reginald Wright b. 1899 D Quarter in BRISTOL Vol 06A Page 213, Died, aged 1, in 1901 M Quarter in BRISTOL Vol 06A Page 156
4. Reginald Stanley Wright b. 24 Sep 1905 D Quarter in BRISTOL Volume 06A Page 193

The mother's maiden name on all of the birth registrations is RATTY. 

In 1901, James Wright (29) Sorting clerk & telegraphist (post office) and Lucy Wright (35ish!) were living at 23 York Avenue, Bristol, while Lucy Wright (5) and James W Wright (4) were staying with James' parents.

In 1911, James Wright (39) Assistant Superintendent (Post Office), Lucy Jane Wright (45 with discount), Lucy Wright (15) Unestablished telephonist; James William Wright (14) and Reginald Stanley Wright (5) were living at 37 Cornwall Road, Bishopston, Bristol. On this census they confirm that they had four children, of whom three were living, during their 16 year marriage.

In 1921, and still at 37 Cornwall Road, Bishopston, Bristol, were James Wright (49) Civil Service Superintendent Post Office; with Lucy Jane Wright (55+) and their youngest son Reginald Stanley Wright (15).

In 1939, Lt Col James Wright OBE, Civil Servant - Retired (Head Postmaster) and Lucy Jane Wright were living at 29 Rockside Drive, Bristol. 

According to Lives of the First World War and his Medal Card (if James Wright's Service Record as an Officer survives, this is not available online and would need to be ordered from the National Archives at Kew), he was first a Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals and then Lieutenant Colonel Chief Signal Officer Lines of Communication - which makes perfect sense with his experience in the Post Office - and served in France during WWI. I've searched online but have not [yet] found the record of his OBE.

Lucy Jane Wright died on 1 Apr 1942 (J Quarter in BRISTOL Volume 06A Page 1), with age (under) estimated as 77. The Western Times of 4 Apr 1942 carried the announcement: WRIGHT: Lucy Jane, passed peacefully away, April 1, beloved wife of Lieut Col J Wright O.B.E. of 29 Rockside Drive, Henleaze. Internment Canford Cemetery, 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 7. 

James Wright died, aged 91, on 10 Aug 1963 (1963 S Quarter in BRISTOL Volume 07B Page 209) and is buried with his late wife, also in Canford Cemetery.

William Henry Middleton and Alice Maud Osmond

Admiralty Mews, Deal
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Philip Halling - geograph.org.uk/p/1407334

William Henry Middleton (b. 4 Nov 1888), son of Emma Middleton, married Alice Maud Osmond, in Tiverton, on 21 Sep 1918. Alice Maud, known as Maud, (b. 2 Nov 1888, bap. 23 Dec 1888 at St. Mary, Willand), was daughter of cousins John Osmond (son of Henry Osmond from Halberton) and Annie Osmond (daughter of John Osmond of Willand).

William Henry "Bill" Middleton, giving his birth date as 10 Dec 1889, had enrolled in the Royal Marines on 4 Nov 1907, at Exeter (record says was underage between then and 9 Dec 1907), and was sent to Royal Marine Depot, Deal, until 2 Oct 1908, before Plymouth Division. William Henry was promoted to Corporal in 1911, and Sergeant in 1916 while serving on HMS Roxburgh (1904), which he was with from 4 Jun 1912 until 13 Aug 1916 - she was hit by a torpedo on 20 Jun 1915 but escaped with serious damage to her bow - latterly at the North America and West Indies Station.

From 13 Apr 1917 until 26 Nov 1918, Bill was with HMS Highflyer (1898), which means that he was present in Halifax, Nova Scotia during the Halifax Explosion on 6 Dec 1917. 

"Royal Navy cruisers in port sent some of the first organized rescue parties ashore. HMS Highflyer, along with the armed merchant cruisers HMS Changuinola, HMS Knight Templar and HMS Calgarian, sent boats ashore with rescue parties and medical personnel and soon began to take wounded aboard."

From 27 Nov 1918, Bill was transferred back to Plymouth Division, with a brief sojourn at HMS Excellent (shore establishment) near Portsmouth on 23 Dec 1918, but was Invalided on 25 Sep 1919. While I don't know the nature, can only surmise it may have been as a result of the Halifax blast.

Remarks on his marine's record say, "Has a good knowledge of semaphore ..."

In 1921, William Henry Middleton (32) Road Chargeman for Devon County Council, and Alice Maud Middleton (32) were living at Lower Trickey Cottage, Ash Thomas, Halberton, Devon.

In 1939, William H Middleton, Road Chargeman for Devon County Council, and wife Alice Maud were still at Trickey Cottage, Ash Thomas, Devon. Lodging with them was Frederick H Kerslake (20) Railway Clerk, nephew, son of Maud's sister Emily and her husband, Frederick James Kerslake.

Bill and Maud didn't have children, for what reason I'm unaware, but they had a cat named "Stripy" (a tabby, obviously), who, I was told, used to drink milk out of a jug on the windowsill, by dipping his paw in the jug (like Arthur from the Kattomeat ad). In our family, if you cleaned your plate at the end of a meal, someone would exclaim, "Poor old Stripy!", intimating that the poor cat, fed on scraps, would therefore go without. I only hope this was in jest!

Bill Middleton died on 23 Nov 1967. Alice Maud Middleton of Tidcombe Hall, Tiverton, died on 21 Sep 1982, just short of her 94th birthday. 

Tiverton : Tidcombe Hall
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Lewis Clarke - geograph.org.uk/p/6337380
Early 19th century house, shown as Tidcombe Rectory on late 19th century Ordnance Survey map. Much altered in late 20th century. The building was also once a Marie Curie daycare unit.

Robert Middleton and Elizabeth Baker

St Peters Church, Knowstone
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Roger Cornfoot - geograph.org.uk/p/6092409

Robert Medelton (sic) (b. ~1791) married Elizabeth Baker (b. ~1800) at St Peters Church, Knowstone, Devon on 21 Sept 1821. Unfortunately, there are no baptism records to trace their origins further, however, Elizabeth Baker was from Knowstone and came to the marriage with an illegitimate daughter, Mary Baker, born ~1821, but for whom there's no baptism record either.

Robert and Elizabeth added seven children, baptised in Knowstone: 

1. Elizabeth Medelton (sic) bap. 19 Jan 1823 (buried 23 May 1824)
2. William Medelton (sic) bap. 13 Mar 1825 (buried 5 Jun 1825)
3. Robert Medelton (sic) bap. 4 Jun 1826
4. Jane Medelton (sic) bap. 15 Mar 1829
5. Maria Middleton bap. 22 Jan 1832 (buried 21 Sep 1834)
6. Harriot Medelton (sic) bap. 4 May 1834
7. Thomas Middleton b. 1841 M Quarter in SOUTH MOLTON Volume 10 Page 209, mother's maiden name BAKER, bap. 25 Jul 1841

Spellings are always variable, but none more so than with Middleton / Medelton and it's variations, which I'm sure is as a result of the officiator writing down what they heard said in a thick West Country accent. 

The North Devon Journal of 25 Jun 1835 reported that "Farmer William Blackwell, of Knowstone, charged Robert Middleton, a labourer, with harbouring Mary Baker, his parish apprentice. It seemed that for some fault the farmer's wife had beaten her, not by any means with undue severity, and that she had run off to the defendant's (her father-in-law)[1], who, instead of taking her back to her master, had kept her at home a fortnight: this he had done on other occasions before. The defendant appeared to have acted under the idea that the child had been treated cruelly; but the magistrates warned him that supposing that had been the case, of which there was not the slightest proof, his duty was to apply to the overseers who would see that the parish apprentices were not subjected to any improper usage."

[1] On many occasions I've seen "in-law" used in place of "step".

In 1841, Robert (50), Agricultural Labourer, and Elizabeth (40), were living, as were many other families, in "Part of Lower High Building" in Knowstone, with Harriet (7) and Thomas (0). Robert Middleton Jnr (15) Ag Lab was out working, for William Follett at Bransford, Knowstone, while Jane Middleton (12), was similarly employed by John Bucknell at Beaple's Barton. 

Robert Middleton died, aged 50, and his death was registered in 1842 J Qtr in SOUTH MOLTON Vol 10 Page 140. The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette of 19 Mar 1842 reports on the particulars. "Suicide: On Monday last the 14th inst., an inquest was held in the parish of Knowstone, before J Partridge, Esq., coroner on the body of Robert Middleton, a man of rather weak intellect, and a pauper of that parish, who had committed suicide, by lacerating his left arm with a razor, and bled to death. It appeared that on Saturday the 5th, he had received half-a-crown for labour, from a farmer of the parish, and that he went to a public house, and spent the greater part of it. In consequence of spending the money, an altercation took place between him and his wife. On the Sunday morning following he was heard to say that he would destroy himself, and one of his children observed that he took a razor and made a slight laceration in his arm, from which blood appeared; soon after which he left his house, and about nine o'clock the same morning, he was discovered lying upon his face in a barn, a few hundred yards distant from his cottage. He was desired to leave the barn, which he did, and walked in the direction of a coppice on the other side of the field, and was never seen alive afterwards. He was accidentally found on Sunday the 13th by his landlord, in the coppice towards which he had been walking. The body presented a most emaciated and wretched spectacle, being enveloped in rags and filth, with the same shirt in which he had left the Union [Workhouse] at Christmas. In the left arm were several slight lacerations, but one had divided the artery and caused death; in his waistcoat pocket was found a razor stained with blood. The Jury returned a verdict of Felo de se, and he was accordingly buried in the church-yard, between the hours of nine and twelve the same night."

Persons who were judged guilty of Felo de se (felon of himself) - it was then a crime - would forfeit their property (very doubtful Robert had any) and be subjected to 'a shameful burial'. Burials for felones de se typically took place at night, with no mourners nor clergy. In England and Wales, the offence of felo de se was abolished by section 1 of the Suicide Act 1961.

Then the following item appeared in the same newspaper of 2 Apr 1842. "KNOWSTONE AGAIN: Resurrectionists.- Several attempts have been made to steal the body of that poor unfortunate creature, Robert Middleton, who a short time since committed suicide, and was buried about midnight in the churchyard of this parish; but hitherto the villains have been disappointed. It was suspected that on a certain night an attempt would be made, and the grave was accordingly watched; when in the dead of the night two notorious characters of the parish were observed to remove the earth to within about a foot of the body, when finding they were discovered they made a most precipitate retreat, once more disappointed of their booty."

A Beginner’s Guide to Body Snatching, explains why the interest in his body: "In the early days of surgery, dissecting a corpse was seen as a heinous defilement of the body, akin to cannibalism in its vulgarity. But the growing field of surgical science demanded bodies for study. The gallows were the only place surgeons could get cadavers. Executed criminals were fair game to slice and dice, as were suicide victims, but not regular law-abiding corpses."

In 1851, Betty Medelington (sic) (46) Widow from Knowstone, Devon; Thomas Medelington (10) and Robert Medelington (24) were all Lodgers in the household of Thomas Chapple, Farm Lab, at Rock, Knowstone.

In 1861, Thomas Middleton (19) was a House Servant to James Perryman at Higher Radnidge Farm, Old Way Road, East Anstey, Devon.

In 1871, Elizabeth Middleton (71), widow and annuitant, was a lodger in the household of George Bawden, at Bawden Cottage, Knowstone, who was Elizabeth's son-in-law, married to her eldest daughter, Mary Baker.

Elizabeth Middleton died, aged 73 in 1873 S Quarter in SOUTH MOLTON and was buried on 31 Aug 1873, at St Peters Church, Knowstone.

Joseph Rundle Trevail and Eliza Thursby

Lambeth Palace, London SE1.
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Hallam-Jones - geograph.org.uk/p/3972034
The redundant St Mary-in-Lambeth Church at the side.

Joseph Rundle Trevail, claiming to be 40 and a Bachelor, son of Joseph Trevail, Farmer, married Eliza Thursby (34) Spinster, listed as daughter of James Thursby, Butcher, at St Mary, Lambeth, on 21 Sep 1890. Just 5 days later, on 26 Sep 1890, Joseph R Trevail and Eliza Trevail embarked on RMS Ormuz, bound for Victoria, Australia, where they arrived in November.

However, Joseph Rundle Trevail (bap. 21 Jun 1847 in Luxulyan, Cornwall), son of Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle, had previously married Gertrude Augusta Shepherd (bap. 25 Apr 1845 in Colaton Raleigh in East Devon), illegitimate daughter of Eliza Shepherd, in Q1 of 1871 in St. George Hanover Square, London. Naturally, checked the National Archives for a record of a divorce, though it would be unlikely, and of course there wasn't one.

What's more, Joseph and Gertrude Trevail had five children:

1. Charley Thomas Trevail b. 1871 D Quarter in ST THOMAS Volume 05B Page 35 (Died 1871 D Quarter in ST THOMAS Volume 05B Page 27)
2. Charley Joseph Walter Radford Trevail b. 1872 D Quarter in ST. THOMAS Volume 05B Page 44
3. Annie Gertrude Trevail b. 1875 M Quarter in ST. GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE Volume 01A Page 435
4. Kate Olivia Trevail b. 1880 D Quarter in LAMBETH Volume 01D Page 442 (Listed as ALICE OLIVIA GERTRUDE Trevail at the GRO)
5. Gertrude Augusta Trevail b. 1884 D Quarter in LAMBETH Volume 01D Page 453 (Died 1885 S Quarter in LAMBETH Volume 01D Page 266)

Mother's maiden name, in all cases, spelled SHEPPARD.

At the time of the 1871 census, Joseph Trevail (24) Engineer Fitter, was living in Denbigh Street, Westminster with wife Gertrude (25), brother Charles (20) Engineer Fitter, sisters Amy* (16) and Jane (12), as well as a visitor, Selina Rundle (20). (* Joseph didn't have a sister called Amy. Kate, maybe?)

In 1881, the family living at 6, Meadow Terrace, Lambeth, London, comprised: Joseph R Trevail (34) Engine fitter, Gertrude A (36), Charles J W R (8), Anne G (6), Kate O (0) and Eliza Sheppard (69) 'Relative' (Gertrude's mother).

In 1891, Gertrude Trevail (46) wife, married, mender of fine lace, was alive and well, at the family home in Meadow Terrace, Lambeth, with daughters Annie G (16) & Kate O (10), and her mother, Eliza Shepperd (78).

By 1901, Gertrude Trevail (55) Married [still], Honiton lace manufacturer, was living at 153, Kennington Road, Lambeth, with daughter Kate (20).

Meanwhile, Joseph Rundle Trevail, Engineer, was shown on the Australia Electoral Rolls in 1903, in Market Street, New South Wales, Australia.

Gertrude Trevail died, aged 58, in 1910 D Qtr in EPSOM Vol 02A Page 27.

Mr J R & Mrs Trevail (not) departed from London, on 17 Nov 1910, on the RMS China, this time bound for Sydney, via Freemantle, Adelaide and Melbourne, arriving in Fremantle, Western Australia on 20 Dec 1910.

Then, in 1911, Joseph Rundle Trevail married Eliza Thursby in Canterbury, New South Wales, Australia. Again. Non-bigamously this time.

On 27 Feb 1921, J R and Mrs Trevail left Sydney for Wellington, New Zealand, on the SS Marama, as tourists. Joseph's sister Mary Ann had just died and his sister Ellen was still in New Zealand.

The last will and testament of Joseph Rundle Trevail of 52 Market Street, Randwick, New South Wales, Gentleman, who died on 20 Jan 1934, aged 86, left the balance of his estate to his 'dear wife Eliza', after various other bequests. Among beneficiaries were a grandson, Arthur Waymark (daughter, Annie Gertrude Trevail had married Louis Charles Waymark in Lambeth in 1898); his sister Olivia Caldwell (Olivia Trevail had married Thomas William Colwill in 1886 in St George, Hanover Square); her daughter was Elsie Bates; a niece, Florence Wright; other bequests go to a John Edwards and to granddaughters, Amy Edwards and Edith Anderson (née Edwards) (daughter Kate Olivia Trevail had married Frank William Edwards in 1903). His estate was valued at £3,757 in 1934 (worth over £275,000 today).

Thomas Travally and Rachel Winnall

St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney - East end
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/3477011

Thomas Travally (b. ~1676) [1] and Rachel Winnall (b. ~1680), daughter of John Winnall and Alice Woodin, married at the church of St Dunstan & All Saints, Stepney, on 20 Sep 1704. The record lists Thomas Trevalle (sic) of Ratcliff, Waterman and Rachel Winnall of Blackwall, where her father was also a Thames Waterman. (St Dunstan's, known as the "Church of the high seas" because of the great number of sailors who lived there and "The Mother Church of the East End" has had an important role in my family history, from baptisms in the 1630s, to the baptism of my own grandfather in 1897.)

Thomas Travally and Rachel Winnall had six children:

1. Elizabeth Travally b. Monday, 6 Aug 1705, daughter of Thomas and Rachel Travally of Ratcliff, Waterman was bap. 26 Aug 1705 (at 20 days old) at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney [2]
2. Esther Travally daughter of Thomas and Rachell Travally of Ratc[liff] Waterman bap. 18 Jul 1709 at St Dunstan and All Saints (the edge of the page is missing that would have shown the number of days old) [3]
3. Mary Travally b. Tuesday, 22 Jan 1712, [daughter] of Thomas and Rachel Travally Ratt Waterman bap. 30 Jan 1712 at St Dunstan (at 8 days old)
4. Winnall Travally b. Tuesday, 26 Apr 1715, [son] of Thomas and Rachel Travally Ratt Waterman bap. 15 May 1715 at St Dunstan (at 19 days old)
5. Martha Trevally (sic) b. Sunday, 29 Jan 1716, [daughter] of Thomas and Rachel Travally Ratc Waterman bap. 17 Feb 1716 (at 19 days old)
6. Warden Travally b. Saturday, 1 Feb 1718, son of Thos Travally of Ratt Waterman and Rachel bap. 10 Feb 1718 at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney (at 9 days old). As Warding (sic) son of Thomas Travally of Rat was buried at St Dunstan and All Saints on 1 Nov 1719.

According to the Binding Records of the Thames Watermen & Lightermen, Winnall Travally was apprenticed and therefore bound to his father, Thomas, on 18 Jul 1729. He would then have been around 14 and would be free on 20 Jan 1743, by which time he would have been 28 years old. That seems an inordinately long time. Did Thomas just not trust his son? Apprenticeships are still completed for those wanting to work on the river, offered through the Company of Watermen and Lightermen, lasting 5 years.

"If watermen were the river’s taxi drivers, then lightermen drove the lorries."

Race for Doggett's Coat and Badge

The World's Oldest Boat Race

Since 1715 the Race for Doggett’s Coat and Badge has been passionately rowed by apprentice river workers on the Thames. It is believed to be the oldest continually competed sporting event in the world. Thames Watermen compete to earn a coveted red Waterman's coat and badge. The race therefore dates, coincidentally, to the year of Winnall Travally's birth. Thomas and Winnall must surely have known about it. Could they even have taken part? (And little did I think that I might have been 'following family tradition' when I took part in the Dongola Race at Sunbury Amateur Regatta one year.)

Land Tax Records in 1736 and 1738 place Thomas Travally in Butcher Row and Ratcliff Cross, respectively. (Butcher Row on a 1795 map, The Lost Hamlet Of Ratcliff, In Search of Old Ratcliffe, Ratcliffe Cross Stairs.)

On 22 Dec 1741, Martha Travally of Ratcliffe Cross, Master Milliner, is listed in the Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures (Premium £4 0s 0d), having taken an apprentice, Elizabeth Goffe, daughter of Joseph Goffe. (Apprentices usually being 14, there was indeed an Elizabeth Goffe, daughter of Joseph & Susannah Goffe, baptised at St Dunstan's, on 17 Dec 1727.)

Thomas Travally of Pump Yard [Ratcliff] (parallel to Narrow Street) was buried at St Anne, Limehouse on 14 Mar 1744 - St Anne's, Limehouse was consecrated in 1730. Prior to 1730, the parishioners were included in Stepney St Dunstan Parish. The parish includes Limehouse, the Regent's and ship building docks, and until 1838, part of the hamlet of Ratcliff.

Rachel Travally, Widow, also listed as being of Pump Yard, was also buried at St Anne, Limehouse, on 15 July 1755.

1. A year of 1676 has been suggested for Thomas' birth and there's a baptism of a Thomas Travell (sic), son of Thomas and Mary Travell, on 24 Jul 1676, at St Botolph without Aldgate. Elsewhere, a 1685 birth has been inferred and the baptism that has been associated, at St James, Westminster, was for Thomas the son of Sr Thomas Travell - Sr is Sir - who was a Member of Parliament from the 1690s. Not impossible, but highly improbable that the son of an MP and knight of the realm, would become a waterman in the east end. However, there are no records to corroborate either and no indication of his age at death, but I'm more inclined to accept the former. It could, of course, be neither.
2. It has been inferred that Elizabeth Travally died in 1709, however, the burial referred to is for an Elisabeth Travell of Wapp (Wapping) Spinster. Name has inconsistencies, wrong area and a four year old would not be considered a Spinster, therefore I'm unable to accept this record.
3. In 1764, Esther Travally was listed in the Land Tax records at Painters Rents. There is a burial of an Esther Travally of Ratcliff, with age given as 65, at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, on 3 Feb 1779.