The Fearon / Plunkett Family Part 2

13 May 2024
By David

This family group is rather large and so to aid readability it is split across a few parts.

The Fearon / Plunkett Family Part 1

29 September 2024

The Fearon / Plunkett Family Part 2

11 August 2024

G6: John Jones and Mary (1843-)

Nothing is known about John other than what was cited on his son’s marriage certificate – that he was a pattern maker. We know that his wife Mary was born in Edinburgh in around May 1843. When the 1921 census was taken, she lived with her daughter and family on Solway Street in the Toxteth Park area of Liverpool.

G5: William Fearon (1876-1945) and Caroline Mary Jones (1868-1952)

Birth: William Fearon was born at 47 Blundell Street in Liverpool on 16 July 1876. He was the sixth child of William and Rachel and the second son that they had named William following the untimely death of his predecessor.

Christening: on 30 July 1876 at St Peter’s Church on Church Street.

Marriage: to Caroline Mary Jones on 17 September 1902 at St Silas’s Church in Toxteth. He was aged 26 and she was 33.

Spouse history: Caroline had been born in Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire on 15 December 1868 to John Jones, a pattern maker, and Mary Ann Jones. Due to the commonality of her name nothing more is known of her early life.

Children: (1) Edward in 1902, (2) Florence in 1904, (3) May in 1906, (4) William in 1908, (5) Albert in 1910, (6) Evelyn in 1913. Edward was born just two months after their marriage. The 1911 census cites a son born in 1896, some six years before they were married. It’s possible that this was an illegitimate child from an earlier relationship of Caroline.

Occupations: in 1891 when aged 14, William worked as a telegraph messenger, using a bicycle to carry telegrams to all parts of the city. Telegram boys wore Post Office uniforms and were expected to behave in a manner befitting one who wore the uniform of The Queen. William spent his career working on the railways however. In 1901 he was a railway goods porter, loading and unloading freight or baggage from trains, before becoming a brakesman, responsible for applying the brakes of goods wagons during shunting. By 1921 he had become a goods checker. He worked for the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Company, which until the government forced railway companies to merge in 1923 was the largest railway in Britain – covering an area from Carlisle in the north, to London in the south, and from Liverpool in the west to Leeds in the east.

Residences: when the 1901 census was taken, 24-year-old William boarded with Henry and Jane Redington on nearby Rosebery Street. At the time of their marriage the couple lived next door to William’s brother Thomas on Lothian Street in central Toxteth. The family moved through several houses in the immediate neighbourhood, including a two-storey apartment above a shop on the main Lodge Lane. The census taken in 1911 shows that they shared with three lodgers, who were all seamstresses working at home. In 1912 they moved to a terraced house on Solway Street, where they would live for the rest of their lives.

William: 47 Blundell Street (1876-1878); 186 Upper Frederick Street (1878); 13 Grey Street (1879-1887); 27 Windsor Street (1889-1891); 1 Rosebery Street (1901); 22 Lothian Street (1902-1903); 83 Mozart Street (1904-1907); 127 Tiber Street (1908); 79A Lodge Lane (1909-1911); 63 Solway Street (1912-1945) – all in Liverpool.
Caroline: 22 Lothian Street (1902-1903); 83 Mozart Street (1905-1906); 127 Tiber Street (1908); 79A Lodge Lane (1909-1911); 63 Solway Street (1912-1951) – all in Liverpool.

Deaths: William died in Liverpool during 1945 when aged 69. Caroline survived him for seven years and died aged 84, being buried at Allerton Cemetery on 25 March 1952.

Notes: after the untimely death of their eldest daughter Florence of TB in June 1934 when aged just 29, the couple took custody of their grandson Ron from his alcoholic father and raised him thereafter.

G4: Thomas Henry Fearon (1896-)

Thomas Henry Fearon is something of an anomaly. The only record of him is the 1911 census, which lists him as a son of William and Caroline – born in 1896, a full six years before they were married. 15-year-old Thomas worked as a billiard marker at the Reform Club.

There is no birth registration that matches the date and name in the census. His mother is somewhat older than his father, and so it’s possible that he was an illegitimate child from an earlier relationship.

G4: Edward James Fearon (1902-1974)

Birth: Edward James Fearon was born at 22 Lothian Street in Liverpool on 8 November 1902. He was the first child of William and Caroline.

Christening: on 2 March 1903 at St Peter’s Church on Church Street.

School: enrolled at Tiber Street school in November 1905 when aged just two. It’s possible that in 1921 Edward was an inmate at the Akbar National School in Heswall on the Wirral, which was a reformatory school, i.e. a penal institution, specialising in teaching seamanship and marine signalling.

Marriage: to Beatrice Amy Gibbs on 30 April 1934 at Brentford Register Office. He was aged 31 and she was 47. Edward and Beatrice’s marriage was witnessed by her sister Emmeline and husband Frederick Moore, with whom she lived in a lovely terraced house on Paxton Road in Chiswick.

Spouse history: Beatrice was somewhat older than Edward and had been born on 25 July 1886, one of eight children of John Gibbs and Abigail Gates. She was born at home at 45 Martindale Road, a terraced house close to the docks in the Canning Town area of East London. (Coincidently, this is the same street that the Copus family – an unrelated branch of my tree – would live on two decades later). Beatrice was not christened until October 1891, when in a service at St Luke’s Church she was given the middle names Ann Abigail rather than Amy as on the birth registration.

Children: none.

Occupation: Edward became a mariner after leaving school and in August 1928 was a crewmember of RMS Ebro, a liner of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company used on the New York to Chile service, sailing through the Panama Canal. Records show that he arrived in New York from Talcahuano bimonthly for two years through to November 1930 when the company went bankrupt following the Wall Street Crash. Edward began as an assistant steward, with duties that would have included stocking, cleaning, and assisting with the preparation and serving of meals. In May 1929 he became the linen keeper in charge of sorting, counting, and stocking the linen and issuing them to the crew and passengers.

Edward was a member of the crew of the brand-new liner MV Georgic in 1932, which was the last ship built for the famous White Star Line before its merger with the Cunard. It operated on the Liverpool to New York route, travelling via Boston. By 1933 he had transferred onto the sister-ship MV Britannic running the same route until 1935 when she was switched to the route between London and New York via Le Havre, Southampton, and Cobh. Between some scheduled transatlantic crossings Britannic fitted in short cruises from New York, such as four-day weekend and midweek cruises to the Bahamas. Edward first served as a steward until becoming the long gallery steward in 1935. He remained a part of the crew until the end of 1936. He was described as 5 feet and 11 inches tall and weighing 162 lbs.

Beatrice meanwhile had entered service as a housemaid, and in 1901 the 16-year-old girl worked for John and Annie Kain and their nephew Sid in North Woolwich. She remained in service over the next decade, and by 1911 worked in an upmarket boarding house on Knaresborough Place in affluent South Kensington. The residents came from England, Poland, India, and Sweden and were either self-sufficient or with professional jobs such as a barrister. A decade later and she was still a housemaid, part of the large staff of another boarding house on Longridge Road. There were over 30 guests from far and wide, including Paris, Moscow, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden as well as India, Fiji, Norway, and Argentina.

The National Register taken in 1939 showed that 36-year-old Edward had upskilled to become a telegraph and telephone fitter for the Post Office, for whom he would work until retirement. He was also a member of the ARP Decontamination Squad, who were trained to deal with and clean up incidents involving chemical and gas weapons.

It appears that he went back to sea 1942, serving a second steward onboard the SS Hilary between September and December 1942 when it sailed between the UK and New York as a convoy commodore vessel. In October 1942 it was torpedoed amidships but the torpedo failed to explode. This is curious, as in November 1941 he had been listed in The London Gazette as being a skilled post office worker. When Edward retired from the Post Office in 1962, he was awarded the Imperial Service Medal for his long service.

Residences: despite his ship only beginning to run the London line from 1935, Edward had lived in London from at least 1929, where he had a room on Child’s Place in fashionable Kensington. This was a fine three-storey terraced house on a narrow cul-de-sac running off Earl’s Court Road and which was perhaps the home of Charles and Elizabeth Hornsby and family.

Following their marriage, the couple immediately moved in together, lodging on Archel Road, one of the many roads of fine terraced houses that characterised north Fulham. They lived with 56-year-old barmaid Mildred Brown and her son Edward, who in 1939 was an aircraft planning engineer.

The couple moved to Chiswick in 1945 to live with Beatrice’s sister and husband on Paxton Road, and although they both died in the 1950s, Edward and Beatrice would live here for the rest of their lives.

Edward: 22 Lothian Street, Liverpool (1902-1903); 83 Mozart Street, Liverpool (1904-1907); 127 Tiber Street, Liverpool (1908); 79A Lodge Lane, Liverpool (1909-1911); 21 Child’s Place, Earl’S Court (1929-1934); 56 Archel Road, Fulham (1935-1939); 22 Paxton Road, Chiswick (1945-1974)
Beatrice: 28 Hartington Road, Canning Town (1891); 66 Albert Road, North Woolwich (1901); 9 Knaresborough Place, Earl’S Court (1911); 44-46 Longridge Road, Earl’S Court (1921); 22 Paxton Road, Chiswick (1934); 22 Paxton Road, Fulham (1936-1974)

Deaths: Edward died from lung cancer on 10 September 1974 at the age of 71, while residing in the Hostel for God hospice (now known as Royal Trinity Hospice) on Clapham Common, North Side. He was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium in Richmond, southwest London. He left an estate of £287 (around £2k today). Beatrice died less than a month later on 4 October while at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith. She is buried in Chiswick New Cemetery. She left an estate of £1,499 (around £11.5k today).

Notes: Edward and Beatrice’s marriage certificate has a few anomalies. His occupation was given as a club steward, although we know that he was a steward onboard the MV Britannic at this time. It’s also curious that he gave his father’s details as ‘deceased’ and a ‘chef’ when he was both alive and working on the railway. There is no doubt that this is the same person, however. It has been suggested that Edward may have served with the Cheshire Welch Regiment in the Far East, but there is no evidence of this.

G4: Florence Ida Fearon (1904-1934) and Patrick Vincent Howard (1900-1968)

Birth: Florence Ida Fearon was born in Liverpool on 6 October 1904. She was the second child of William and Caroline and commonly known by her middle name.

Christening: on 4 January 1905 at St Bede’s Church on Hartington Road in Toxteth.

Marriage (1): to Patrick Vincent Howard on Boxing Day 1927 at All Saints Church on Bentley Road in Toxteth. The marriage was witnessed by her siblings William and May.

Spouse history (2): Patrick had been born in Ireland on 16 June 1900 to Edward, but nothing is known about his early life.

Children (1): (1) Ronald in 1928

Deaths: Sadly, Ida died of tuberculosis in June 1934 when aged just 29. She was buried at Allerton Cemetery.

Marriage (2): Patrick moved back in with his in-laws following Ida’s death, but the relationship was not good as they blamed him for the death of their daughter and disliked his alcoholism. Patrick soon moved on, leaving young Ron in the care of his grandparents. He married Emma Wilson at All Saint’s Church on Christmas Day 1925 – his second festive wedding at this church.

Spouse history (2): Emma had been born in Liverpool on 27 November 1909, the fourth child of Peter Shepherd Wlson and Emma Nelson. The family lived in Edge Hill where they had a typical terraced house on Lindley Road. Emma was christened at nearby St Dunstan’s Church in the new year. Her father worked as a porter at Park Lane railway goods station at Wapping Dock, which was connected to close-to-home Edge Hill Station by the Wapping Tunnel. By 1911 they had moved south to Eden Street off Lodge Lane, then on to nearby Solway Street in 1914, which would be Emma’s home for at least the next 36 years.

Children (2): three girls between 1937 and 1942, including a set of twins. It’s possible that Emma had an illegitimate child, Joan Wilson, in 1931 before she met Patrick.

Residences: at the time of their marriage, Patrick and Ida lived with her parents. Their only child was born in December 1928 in a yellow-bricked terraced house on Cantsfield Street just north of Toxteth Park Cemetery, which may have been the home of a Margaret Thornley. They then moved to a flat above a shop on Lodge Lane in 1931.

After Patrick’s second marriage, he and Emma lived with her father until his death in 1956. It was quite literally just down the road from where his son Ron was being raised by his former in-laws, but despite their proximity they had very little to do with each other.

Florence: 83 Mozart Street (1904-1907); 127 Tiber Street (1908); 79A Lodge Lane (1909-1911); 63 Solway Street (1912-1927); 67 Cantsfield Street (1928-1930); 107A Lodge Lane (1931-1934) – all in Liverpool.
Patrick: 63 Solway Street, Liverpool (1927); 67 Cantsfield Street, Liverpool (1928-1930); 107A Lodge Lane, Liverpool (1931-1934); 63 Solway Street, Liverpool (1935); 104 Solway Street, Liverpool (1935-1960); 36 Delaware Crescent, Kirkby (1968).
Emma: 19 Lindley Street, Liverpool (1910); 95 Eden Street, Liverpool (1911); 104 Solway Street, Liverpool (1914-1960); 36 Delaware Crescent, Kirkby (1968); 67 Elstead Road, Kirkby (1995).

Occupations: when the 1921 census was taken, 16-year-old Ida worked as a kitchen assistant in Reece’s Café on Charlotte Street. Patrick worked as a ‘jobber’.

Deaths: Patrick died in June 1968 at 36 Delaware Crescent on a post-war housing estate in Kirby. He was buried in Ford Cemetery on 13 June. Emma survived him for some 27 years and died in Knowsley in December 1995 when aged 86. She was buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery on 11 December.

G3: Ronald Christopher Howard (1928-2009) and Alice Knight (1932-2010)

Birth: Ronald Christopher Howard was born at 67 Cantsfield Street in Liverpool on 12 December 1928. He was the only child of Patrick and Ida, but as detailed above he lived with his maternal grandparents after the untimely death of his mother.

Military service: Ron completed his National Service with the army in the late 1940s, specialising as a marksman.

Marriage: to Alice Knight on 29 October 1955 in the Everton Road Methodist Chapel.

Spouse history: Alice had been born in Liverpool on 23 November 1932, the fifth child of dock labourer Charles Knight and Margaret Jones. The family lived in a terraced house on Beatrice Street in central Everton. Like her husband, Alice was also evacuated to Wales during the war but enjoyed the experience much more. Her father died in an accident on the docks in the week before Christmas in 1946. This had a lasting effect and for the rest of her life Alice disliked the holiday season. Alice lived at home until she married.

Children: two girls in 1956 and 1964.

Residences: at the beginning of the war Ron was evacuated to the safety of Wales and is thus not captured with his grandparents on the 1939 Register. He did not enjoy life in the countryside however, and as soon as he could he moved back to Liverpool, often telling us how he then slept through the Blitz.

When he married Alice in 1955, Ron still lived on Solway Street, which he had presumably taken over following the death of his grandmother three years previously. The couple moved to the new town of Speke in 1963, where they lived in a large council house on Central Way. In the mid-1990s the couple moved to a smaller house on Keithley Walk.

Ron: 107A Lodge Lane (1931-1934); 63 Solway Street (1935-1962); 50 Central Way (1963-1995); 5 Keithley Walk (2003-2009) – all in Liverpool.
Alice: 45 Beatrice Street (1932-1939); 40 Copeland Street (1953-1956); 63 Solway Street (1955-1962); 50 Central Way (1963-1995); 5 Keithley Walk (2003-2009) – all in Liverpool.

Occupations: at the time of their marriage Ron was an assistant storekeeper for a rubber company. He spent his life working in the warehouses of local industry before taking early retirement to care for his wife.

Deaths: Ron died in Liverpool on 13 March 2009, aged 80. Alice then moved into a nursing home close to her daughter but survived him for only a year and died in Chorley on 19 January 2010 when aged 77.

G4: May Fearon (1906-1944)

Birth: May Fearon was born in Liverpool on 8 September 1906. She was the third child of William and Caroline.

Christening: on 14 October 1906 at St Bede’s Church on Hartington Road in Toxteth.

School: enrolled into the Tiber Street Council School in September 1911.

Marriage: to Harold Joseph Davies on 27 September 1931 at St Bridget’s Church on Bagot Street in Wavertree. She was aged 25 and he was 29.

Spouse history: Harold had been born on 29 November 1901, the third child of Francis Henry Davies and Sarah Ann Davies. He was christened during December at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church in the south of Toxteth. His father was a postman and until 1912 the family had lived in a terraced house close to the docks on nearby Emerald Street. They then moved across the city to north Everton before heading back to Toxteth towards the end of the First World War.

Children: two girls and two boys between 1932 and 1944.

Occupations: despite her young age, the 1921 census shows that 14-year-old May worked as an assistant to a confectioner named Dowling on Granby Street. Harold meanwhile worked on the same road as an assistant cinema operator at the Granby Cinema, where his father was the assistant manager. This small cinema had opened in 1912 after being converted from a billiards hall, and with good attendances it survived until 1965. Harold continued as a cinema operator for at least the next 20 years, although perhaps not at the same cinema. During the war years Harold also volunteered as an ARP Warden.

Residences: the couple both still lived at home at the time of their marriage. They immediately moved just a few doors down from Harold’s parents on Banner Street. Three years later they put a little distance between from the in-laws by moving to Bligh Street – the next road! They moved half a mile to a similar house on Bird Street in 1950.

May: 83 Mozart Street (1906-1907); 127 Tiber Street (1908); 79A Lodge Lane (1909-1911); 63 Solway Street (1912-1931); 50 Banner Street (1932-1934); 47 Bligh Street (1935-1949); 10 Bird Street (1950-1970) – all in Liverpool.
Harold: 10 Emerald Street (1901-1912); 1 Doel Street (1913-1914); 57 Banner Street (1918-1931); 50 Banner Street (1932-1934); 47 Bligh Street (1935-1949); 10 Bird Street (1950-1974) – all in Liverpool.

Deaths: Harold died in Liverpool during September 1974 when aged 72 and was buried at Toxteth Park Cemetery on 17 September. May died in Liverpool during October 1994 at the age of 88.

G4: William Fearon (1908-1967)

Birth: William Fearon was born in Liverpool on 21 April 1908. He was the fourth child of William and Caroline.

Christening: on 17 May 1908 at St Bede’s Church on Hartington Road in Toxteth.

Marriage: to Lillian Ashton on 5 November 1929 at Liverpool Register Office. He was aged 21 and he was 20.

Spouse history: Lill was found on the steps of an orphanage in Canada and never knew her real birthday or exact age, but her death certificate recorded her approximate date of birth as 24 September 1909. She was brought to England by British soldier Joseph Jones, who had been seconded to the Canadian Armed Forces, and they settled in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Manchester. Joseph was from Northrop in Wales and his wife Annie Matilda was from Liverpool. In 1921 they lived on Hope Street with their 2-year-old biological daughter and two beloved Pekinese dogs. Joseph worked in the Globe Ironworks of John Summers and Sons in nearby Stalybridge. As soon as Lil was old enough, she fled to work in the cotton mills before taking a job in Yates’ Wine Lodge, in Douglas, on the Isle of Man.

Children: (1) a girl in 1930, (2) Edward in 1933, (3) Kenneth in 1935, (4) a boy in 1940, (5) a girl in 1944.

Occupations: Bill followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the staff of Edge Hill railway station on Tunnel Road in Toxteth. At 21 he was asked to leave and re-apply for his job after two years. These were the journeymen years when it was thought that some time spent working as a clerk would provide more experience. As a change of career beckoned, a change of scenery was also called for and a young Bill moved to the Isle of Man, where he worked as a cellarman at Yates’ Wine Lodge. It proved to be the journey of a lifetime as it was on the island where he met and fell in love with Lil and they moved back to Liverpool to start a life together.

Bill returned to the railways as a loader. Lill took work here and there during the war when Bill was serving in the army, while looking after the children. Bill returned to his old job on the railways, this time at Park Lane goods station on Crown Road, Toxteth, and although times were hard and the couple both worked, they shared the care of their children, with Bill working nights for most of his life. When Park Lane closed, he returned to where his career had begun, in Tunnel Road. Lill found work in Dunlop’s and Hutchinson and Pollock rope markets. A lifelong asthmatic, Bill was eventually forced into early retirement after 41 years’ loyal service.

Following his death Lill worked in the canteen at Liverpool bus depot in Dingle. Every morning she would get up at 4am, and there would be a bus waiting to take her to the kitchens, so the bus drivers never went without their breakfasts.

Residences: the newlyweds lived next door to Bill’s parents on Solway Street until 1932, appearing to lodge with Jessie George. By 1935 they had moved half a mile north to a terraced house close to Edge Hill train station. The 1939 National Registers records two of their three children as living in Mynydd Seion in rural Wales and had probably been evacuated. Also recorded living with them were Richard and Ann Williams. In 1962 the family moved to the other side of Toxteth where they lived on Longville Street close to Brunswick Goods Station at the docks.

Bill: 127 Tiber Street, Liverpool (1908); 79A Lodge Lane, Liverpool (1909-1911); 61 Solway Street, Liverpool (1912-1932); 26 Overbury Street, Liverpool (1934-1939); 85 Solway Street, Liverpool (1945-1961); 4 Longville Street, Liverpool (1963-1967)
Lil: 129 Hope Street, Ashton-Under-Lyne (1921); 61 Solway Street, Liverpool (1930-1932); 26 Overbury Street, Liverpool (1934-1939); 85 Solway Street, Liverpool (1945-1961); 4 Longville Street, Liverpool (1963-1970)

Military service: Bill was stationed in the Orkney Islands during the Second World War, where the Royal Navy’s chief naval base was located at Scapa Flow. His role was to man the artillery guns, most probably of the air defence variety. After being bombed out of previous homes the family finally settled back on Solway Street, a few doors down from his brother Albert.

Deaths: Bill died on 3 July 1967 when aged just 59. Lill survived him by 31 years and died in Sefton Drive Nursing Home during March 1998 aged 88.

Notes: the couple were active in the local community. Bill was a member of St Clements cricket club and the St John’s Ambulance, where he took pride in teaching his children first aid. The couple were also caretakers at the Co-Op Hall, where they helped many other families enjoy special events and functions. A lover of food and an amazing cook, Lill would often round up the Teddy Boys in the 1950s and let them play cards in the hall with a plate of chips to keep them out of trouble. Bill kept himself busy in retirement, surprising everyone by taking up knitting, embroidery, and basket-making.

G3: Edward James Fearon (1933-2004)

Birth: Edward James Fearon was born in Liverpool on 15 January 1933. He was the second child of Bill and Lil.

Residences: Edward continued to live at home until 1958 when he was 25.

26 Overbury Street, Liverpool (1934-1939); 85 Solway Street, Liverpool (1953-1958)

Death: died in Liverpool on 31 August 2004 when aged 71.

Notes: there is no record of Edward in the 1939 National Register, although his two siblings were living in Wales and had probably been evacuated. He probably married Muriel Langley in 1957 but further confirmation is needed.

G3: Kenneth Fearon (1935-2002)

Birth: Kenneth Fearon was born in Liverpool on 20 March 1935. He was the third child of Bill and Lil.

Residences: Kenneth was evacuated to rural Wales on the outbreak of war in 1939, living with his sister Lillian in the home of Janet and Giraldus Morris, who was the minister of Mynydd Seion.

26 Overbury Street, Liverpool (1935-1939)

Deaths: Kenneth died in Liverpool during October 2002.

Notes: he likely married Mary Higgins in 1955 but further confirmation is required.

G4: Albert Norman Fearon (1910-1972)

Birth: Albert Norman Fearon was born in Liverpool on 6 May 1910. He was the fifth child of William and Caroline.

Christening: on 10 July 1910 at St Bede’s Church on Hartington Road in Toxteth.

Marriage: to Sarah Evelyn French on 10 August 1932 at St Nathaniel’s Church on Windsor Street in Toxteth. He was aged 22 and she was 21.

Spouse history: Sarah had been born on 13 July 1911 to John French and Alice Jenkins. She was christened during July at St Silas’s Church on Pembroke Place, and the family lived on nearby Sirdar Street close to Edge Hill Station. Her father was a decorator, and specifically a paperhanger. In 1921 he worked as a painter for the Cunard Steamship Company.

Children: a boy and a girl in 1933 and 1939.

Residences: the newlyweds initially lived with Sarah’s parents, but soon moved into a house on Solway Street in either 1936 or 1937, with Albert’s brother William and family following a few years later.

Albert: 79A Lodge Lane (1910-1911); 63 Solway Street (1912-1932); 21 Sirdar Street (1932-1935); 31 Solway Street (1937-1969) – all in Liverpool.
Sarah: 21 Sirdar Street (1911-1935); 31 Solway Street (1937-1969) – all in Liverpool.

Occupations: Albert was a salesman, possibly a milk salesman as recorded in the 1938 Liverpool Directory. The 1939 Register recorded him as a milkman, and he also volunteered as an ARP Warden.

Military service: it appears that Albert enlisted into the Royal Artillery and was given service number 1719610. He was posted to a light anti-aircraft battery on 5 October 1941. He was discharged after reaching the age limit.

Deaths: Albert died in the Widnes area during 1972, aged 62.

G4: Evelyn Jessie Fearon (1913-2000)

Birth: Evelyn Jessie Fearon was born in Liverpool on 6 October 1913. She was the sixth child of William and Caroline.

Christening: on 26 October 1913 at St Bede’s Church on Hartington Road in Toxteth.

Marriage: to William Edward Sykes during 1932 in Liverpool. The couple were both aged 19.

Spouse history: William had been born on 25 August 1913 to labourer Edward Allen Sykes and his wife Isabella Hayes. The family lived in Edge Hill where they had a house on Walpole Street near the railway station. William was christened at nearby St Dunstan’s Church in October.

Children: a boy in 1933.

Residences: the family moved to a house on Forbes Street, which was adjacent to Walpole Street. Post-war they had a terraced house on Solway Street, just a few doors down from Evelyn’s parents.

William: 9 Walpole Street, Liverpool (1913-1921); 14 Forbes Street, Liverpool (1935-1939); 57 Solway Street, Liverpool (1946-1963); 5A Mildenhall Way, Liverpool (1977)
Evelyn: 63 Solway Street, Liverpool (1913-1921); 14 Forbes Street, Liverpool (1935-1939); 57 Solway Street, Liverpool (1946-1963)

Occupations: William worked as a labourer in a press tools store.

Deaths: William died on the first day of 1977 at Broadgreen hospital when aged 63. He was cremated at Liverpool Crematorium. Evelyn survived him for some 23 years and died in August 2000 when aged 86.

G5: Thomas Fearon (1878-1949)

Birth: Thomas Fearon was born in Liverpool on 15 May 1878. He was the seventh child of William and Rachel.

Christening: on 28 May 1878 at St Peter’s Church on Church Street.

Marriage: to Gertrude Annie Jones on 26 November 1899 at St Bede’s Church in Toxteth. He was aged 21 and she a year younger.

Spouse history: Gertrude had been born in Liverpool during 1879, the third of five children born to railway foreman Henry Jones and Ellen Jackson. She was christened in October 1879 at St John the Baptist on Park Road in Toxteth. The family lived in a typical terraced house on nearby Copperfield Street. By 1881 they had moved across Liverpool to Saxon Street in West Derby, but by the next census in 1891 were back in central Toxteth where they lived on Elwy Street.

Children: (1) Thomas in 1900, (2) Robert in 1903, (3) Gertrude in 1905, (4) George in 1909, (5) Annie in 1914.

Residences: at the time of their marriage, Thomas lived on Aspen Grove in north Toxteth. This is a terraced house and today there is a bricked-up window shared across two houses on the upper level, so perhaps 2A was a flat. Gertrude still lived at home.

The family were perennial movers, living in no fewer than five houses within the same neighbourhood between 1900 and 1918. They then had a period of relative stability when they lived in the same property on Vandyke Street for 13 years. In 1931 the family moved a mile south to Voelas Street next to Princes Park. After Gertrude’s death, Thomas moved with his daughters Gertrude and Annie to Lidderdale Road near to Wavertree Playground.

Thomas: 47 Blundell Street, Liverpool (1878); 13 Grey Street, Liverpool (1879-1887); 27 Windsor Street, Liverpool (1889-1891); 2A Aspen Grove, Liverpool (1899); 65 Cooper Street, Prescot (1900); 21 Pecksniff Street, Liverpool (1901); 24 Lothian Street, Liverpool (1902-1903); 79 Ponsonby Street, Liverpool (1903-1907); 19 Solway Street, Liverpool (1908-1911); 54 Solway Street, Liverpool (1913-1914); 85 Vandyke Street, Liverpool (1918-1930); 47 Voelas Street, Liverpool (1931-1939); 61 Lidderdale Road, Liverpool (1939-1949)
Gertrude: 52 Copperfield Street, Liverpool (1879); 87 Saxon Street, Liverpool (1881); 15 Elwy Street, Liverpool (1891-1899); 65 Cooper Street, Prescot (1900); 21 Pecksniff Street, Liverpool (1901); 24 Lothian Street, Liverpool (1902-1903); 79 Ponsonby Street, Liverpool (1903-1907); 19 Solway Street, Liverpool (1908-1911); 54 Solway Street, Liverpool (1913-1915); 85 Vandyke Street, Liverpool (1918-1930); 47 Voelas Street, Liverpool (1931-1938)

Occupations: in 1899 Thomas worked as a mechanic, but spent the majority of his career working in the gas industry. He began as a gas fitter, progressing by 1911 to work as a gas meter inspector for the Liverpool United Gas Light Company. By 1921 he worked as a pre-payment collector for automated gas meters.

Deaths: Gertrude died in 1938 when aged 59 and was buried in Allerton Cemetery on 5 August. He died on 7 February 1949 when aged 70 and was buried three days later alongside Gertrude. He left his estate of £302 6s 4d (around £9.5k today) to his daughter Gertrude.

G4: Thomas William Fearon (1900-1918)

Birth: Thomas William Fearon was born in Liverpool on 22 January 1900. He was the first child of Thomas and Gertrude.

Christening: on 1 April 1900 in Prescot.

School: enrolled into Granby Street School in 1903, moving to Tiber Street School in 1905 when curiously his date of birth was given as 22 February 1899.

Residences: 65 Cooper Street (1900); 21 Pecksniff Street (1901); 24 Lothian Street (1902-1903); 79 Ponsonby Street (1903-1907); 19 Solway Street (1908-1911); 54 Solway Street (1913-1914) – all in Liverpool.

Military service: Thomas turned 18 during the final year of war and quickly enlisted into the army. He was sent to France with D Company, 8^th Battalion, King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. He was killed in action on 23 October 1918 during an attack near Romières. It was just 19 days before the end of the conflict.

Death: Thomas is commemorated on the memorial at the Vis-en-Artois Cemetery, on the road from Arras to Cambrai. This Memorial bears the names of over 9,000 men who fell in the period from 8 August 1918 to the date of the Armistice in Picardy and Artois, between the Somme and Loos, and who have no known grave.

G4: Robert Edgar Fearon (1903-1974)

Birth: Robert Edgar Fearon was born in Liverpool on 9 March 1903. He was the second child of Thomas and Gertrude.

Christening: on 12 April 1903 at St Philemon’s Church on Windsor Street in Toxteth.

Marriage: to Ethel Doris Mellor during 1929 in Liverpool. He was aged 25 and she was 23.

Spouse history: Ethel had been born in Liverpool on 11 March 1905, the ninth child of ship painter John Henry Mellor and Emily Roberts. The family lived in the south of Toxteth where they had a typical back-to-back terraced house on Greta Street. Ethel was christened at nearby St. Silas’ Church in October and later enrolled into the attached primary school. By 1921 they had moved to Danube Street, just a stone’s throw from future husband Robert.

Children: (1) Edgar in 1935.

Occupations: Robert was just too young to serve in the First World War, which claimed the life of his brother in 1918. In 1921 he worked as an apprentice wheelwright for R. Lyon & Sons – someone who made and repaired wheels for horse-drawn vehicles. 16-year-old Ethel meanwhile worked as an apprentice carpet maker for R.J. Smith’s on Williamson Square. Robert later became a joiner.

Residences: the newlyweds moved around the corner to a place of their own, a two-storey apartment above a shop on Smithdown Road. They then briefly lived around the corner on River Avon Street before taking a large semi-detached house on Hilary Avenue, part of a new estate in Huyton.

Robert: 24 Lothian Street, Liverpool (1903); 79 Ponsonby Street, Liverpool (1904-1907); 19 Solway Street, Liverpool (1908-1911); 54 Solway Street, Liverpool (1913-1914); 85 Vandyke Street, Liverpool (1918-1929); 40A Smithdown Road, Liverpool (1930-1936); 22 River Avon Street, Liverpool (1937-1938); 31 Hilary Avenue, Huyton (1939-1940)
Ethel: 9 Greta Street, Liverpool (1905); 33 Greta Street, Liverpool (1911-1912); 3 Danube Street, Liverpool (1921-1929); 40A Smithdown Road, Liverpool (1931-1936); 22 River Avon Street, Liverpool (1937-1938); 31 Hilary Avenue, Huyton (1939-1940)

Deaths: Ethel died aged just 35 and was buried in Allerton Cemetery on 18 November 1940. Nothing is known of Robert’s later life, except that he died in Clwyd, Wales, during 1974 when aged 71.

G3: Edgar Alan Fearon (1935-2004)

Birth: Edgar Alan Fearon was born in Liverpool on 9 January 1935. He was the only child of Robert and Ethel.

Marriage: to Doreen Heaton during 1956 in Liverpool. He was aged 20 and she was 27.

Spouse history: Doreen was a few years older than him and had been born in the city on 18 March 1928 to Samuel Heaton and Maud Helena Fitzsimmons, but they had divorced by 1939. Her mother lived on Wrayburn Street, but when the National Register was taken Doreen lived with Fred and Mary Thompson in a house called Somerset on Shay Lane in the village of Oscroft in Cheshire. It’s possible that she had perhaps been evacuated into the country.

Children: a boy and a girl in 1958 and 1960.

Residences: the newlyweds initially lived with Doreen’s mother and partner William Budd in their terraced house on Wrayburn Street near Edge Hill Station. In 1959 they moved into a house of their own, albeit on the same street. At the end of the 1960s they moved a mile to the other end of Smithdown Road into a terraced house on Patterdale Road, which would be their home until their deaths four decades later.

Edgar: 22 River Avon Street, Liverpool (1937-1938); 31 Hilary Avenue, Huyton (1939-1940); 61 Wrayburn Street, Liverpool (1957-1959); 38 Wrayburn Street, Liverpool (1959-1968); 18 Patterdale Road, Liverpool (1969-2004)
Doreen: Somerset, Shay Lane, Oscroft (1939); 61 Wrayburn Street, Liverpool (1957-1959); 38 Wrayburn Street, Liverpool (1959-1968); 18 Patterdale Road, Liverpool (1969-2008)

Deaths: Edgar died on 11 July 2004 when aged 69, while Doreen followed on 5 May 2008 when aged 80.

G4: Gertrude Beatrice Fearon (1905-1969)

Birth: Gertrude Beatrice Fearon was born in Liverpool on 15 August 1905. She was the third child of Thomas and Gertrude.

Christening: on 30 August 1905 at St Philemon’s Church on Windsor Street in Toxteth.

Residences: Gertrude lived at home well into adulthood. She kept her parents company until at least the outbreak of war in 1939 and then lived with her father until his death in February 1949. After that she lived with her younger sister Annie until her own death.

79 Ponsonby Street (1905-1907); 19 Solway Street (1908-1911); 54 Solway Street (1913-1914); 85 Vandyke Street (1918-1930); 47 Voelas Street (1931-1939); 61 Lidderdale Road (1939-1948); 18 Eastfield Drive (1953-1957); 2 Eastfield Drive (1958-1959); 22 Northmead Road (1960-1969) – all in Liverpool.

Occupations: in 1921 15-year-old Beatrice worked as an apprentice dressmaker for H.S. Bacon of Bold Street. The National Register in 1939 showed that she did not have a job, other than domestic duties, although she enrolled as a nurse in June 1945.

Deaths: Gertrude never married and died in Liverpool on 12 February 1969, when aged 63. She was buried at Allerton Cemetery five days later, leaving an estate of £997 (around £14k today).

Notes: on the night that the 1911 census was taken, 6-year-old Gertrude was a patient in the City Hospital (North) on Netherfield Road North, which specialised in treating infectious diseases such as smallpox, polio, and scarlet fever.

G4: George Henry Fearon (1909-1953)

Birth: George Henry Fearon was born in Liverpool on 4 March 1909. He was the fourth child of Thomas and Gertrude.

Christening: on 28 April 1909 at St Philemon’s Church on Windsor Street in Toxteth.

School: enrolled into Tiber Street Council School in 1913 alongside his cousin William.

Marriage: to Alice Ann Scott on 1 September 1929 at St Bede’s Church on Hartington Road in Toxteth. They were both aged 20.

Spouse history: Alice had been born on 13 March 1909 to labourer Samuel Scott and Frances Rebecca Williams. The family lived on Park Street near Brunswick Docks in the south of Toxteth, with Alice being christened at nearby St John the Baptist in April. They later moved to Harold Street the north of Toxteth, where they lived in one of the courts of low-quality houses.

Children: five girls and a boy between 1930 and 1947.

Occupations: at the time of their marriage George worked as a tinsmith while Alice was a cook. The 1939 Register revealed that George had followed his father’s footsteps into the residential gas industry and was a maker of gas meters.

Residences: they initially lived together with George’s parents, but soon had a flat above a shop on bustling Lodge Lane. In 1933 they moved around the corner into a terraced house on Vandyke Street, which would be their home until death.

George: 19 Solway Street, Liverpool (1909-1911); 54 Solway Street, Liverpool (1913-1914); 85 Vandyke Street, Liverpool (1918-1930); 80A Lodge Lane, Liverpool (1931-1932); 67 Vandyke Street, Liverpool (1933-1953)
Alice: 19 Park Street, Liverpool (1909); 4/1 Court Harold Street, Liverpool (1921); 80A Lodge Lane, Liverpool (1931-1932); 67 Vandyke Street, Liverpool (1933-1977)

Deaths: George died on 16 August 1953 when aged just 44 and was buried at Toxteth Park Cemetery. Alice survived him for 24 years and died on 5 December 1977, being buried next to her late husband. She left an estate of £2,761 (around £11k today).

G3: Beatrice Rose Fearon (1932-2002)

Birth: Beatrice Fearon was born in Liverpool on 18 November 1932. She was the second child of Thomas George and Alice.

Marriage: to James George Grace during 1953 in Liverpool. She was aged 20.

Children: (1) James in 1953. He sadly died aged 4 months.

Residences: when the National Register was taken in September 1939, 7-year-old Beatrice lived in the village of Kington in rural Herefordshire with a Doris Morris and had likely been evacuated. Between 1965 and 1970 James and Alice lived in a terraced house on Fearnside Street to the north of Toxteth Park Cemetery.

Beatrice: The Nook, Broken Bank, Kington (1939)
James: 64 Fearnside Street, Liverpool (1965-1970)

Deaths: Beatrice died in Liverpool in May 2002 when aged 69.

Notes: there is not a birth registration for George, indicating that he was neither English nor Welsh.

G2: James George Grace (1953-1954)

Birth: James George Grace was born in Liverpool during 1953. He was the only child of newlyweds Beatrice and James.

Deaths: died when aged 4 months and was buried at Anfield Cemetery on 1 April 1954.

G4: Annie Lilian Fearon (1914-1990)

Birth: Annie Lilian Fearon was born in Liverpool on 26 March 1914. She was the fifth child of Thomas and Gertrude.

Christening: on 7 May 1914 at St Clement’s Church on Beaumont Street in Toxteth.

School: enrolled into Tiber Street Council School in 1919.

Occupations: Annie went on to work as a telephone assembly operator.

Residences: after her mother died in 1938, 24-year-old Annie continued to live with her widowed father until his death in February 1949. After that she lived with her younger sister Annie until the latter’s death in 1969, first in a couple of houses just south of Sefton Park, and then out to a newer semi-detached house in Garston from 1960.

54 Solway Street (1914); 85 Vandyke Street (1918-1930); 47 Voelas Street (1931-1938); 61 Lidderdale Road (1939-1948); 18 Eastfield Drive (1953-1957); 2 Eastfield Drive (1958-1959); 22 Northmead Road (1960-1970) – all in Liverpool.

Notes: the 1939 National Register shows that she married someone named Brown, but a matching marriage record can’t be found. However, an Annie Lilian Brown with the same birth date died in December 1990, and it is assumed that this is the same person.

G5: Henry Fearon (1881-1961)

Birth: Henry Fearon was born in Liverpool on 14 April 1881. He was the eighth child of William and Rachel. It is likely that his birth was not registered as there is no record of him in the indexes.

Marriage (1): to Fanny Humphreys on 14 April 1906 at St Thomas’s Church in the Cheetham suburb of north Manchester. He was aged 25 and she was 27. Sadly, the marriage was a short one as Fanny died the very next year.

Spouse history (1): Fanny had been born in the neighbourhood on 8 July 1878 to Paul Humphreys and Mary Johnson and was christened during August in the same church that she would later be married in. The family lived nearby in a terraced house on nearby Hargreaves Street, which remained their home until at least 1901. This strange road was a mix of houses and industry, including a chemical works and a dye works, and likely an unpleasant place to live. Her father was a plumber, but he died in 1889 and her mother then had to work as a charwoman to support the family. By 1901, 22-year-old Fanny had become an attendant in a public bath.

Marriage (2): to Margaret Fox on 9 November 1912 in Salford. He was aged 31 and she was 28.

Spouse history (2): Margaret had been born in Salford on 22 July 1884 to Edmund Fox and Margaret Edmundson. She was not christened until June of the following year, with the service taking place at St Clement’s Church. Six years later the census captured the family living on nearby Stock Street near Ordsall Park. Her father was an engine driver, while her 17-year-old sister Eliza was a tailoress. A decade later Margaret, now 17 herself, had followed her sister into the clothing trade as a dressmaker. She lived with her parents in a terraced house on Halliwell Street, just around the corner from their old home. Nothing much changed over the next decade, and in 1911 Margaret was a lady’s skirt hand machinist.

Children: (1) Norman in 1914, (2) Kathleen in 1915.

Residences: By 1901, 20-year-old Henry had moved to Salford where he lodged with piano teacher William Jackson and his wife Mary on Arrow Street in Broughton. At the time of his marriage to Fanny they lived in different houses on Hargreaves Street.

By 1911, the widowed Henry had moved back to Broughton where he lodged in a very small house on Clement Street, just a few streets away from where he lived as a bachelor. This was the home of John and Helen Boden and their daughter Florence.

By 1921, Henry and his new family had moved across the city to the eastern suburb of Gorton where they had a terraced house on Water House Road. By 1939 they had moved onto one of the new housing estates built by Manchester City Council in the suburb of Burnage, along the new Kingsway route into city centre. Their home was a large semi-detached house on Shawbrook Road, and they lived here for the rest of their lives.

Henry: 13 Grey Street, Liverpool (1881-1887); 27 Windsor Street, Liverpool (1889-1891); 3 Arrow Street, Salford (1901); 29 Hargreaves Street, Manchester (1906); 16 Clement Street, Salford (1911); 8 Water House Road, Manchester (1921); 42 Shawbrook Road, Manchester (1939-1961)
Fanny: 9 Hargreaves Street, Manchester (1878-1901); 3 Hargreaves Street, Manchester (1906)
Margaret: 26 Stock Street, Salford (1891); 85 Halliwell Street, Salford (1901-1911); 8 Water House Road, Manchester (1921); 42 Shawbrook Road, Manchester (1939)

Occupations: Henry spent his career as a clerk, first for a builder, then as a forwarding clerk in 1911, and a decade later for the Salford Housing Association. The National Register showed that 58-year-old Henry was a cost clerk for an electrical engineer.

Deaths: Henry died at home on 3 December 1961 when aged 80. He left his estate of £585 (around £12k today) to his wife.

G4: Norman Fearon (1914-2005)

Birth: Norman Fearon was born in Manchester on 15 June 1914. He was the first child of Henry and Margaret.

Occupations: in 1939 Norman worked as a chemist for a pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Residences: 8 Water House Road, Manchester (1921); 42 Shawbrook Road, Manchester (1939)

Death: died in Huntingdon on 13 December 2005 when aged 91.

G4: Kathleen Fearon (1915-2003)

Birth: Kathleen Fearon was born in Manchester on 21 November 1915. She was the second child of Henry and Margaret.

Marriage: to Bertram J. Foster during 1944 in Manchester. She was aged 28.

Occupations: in 1939 Kathleen worked as a junior clerk for a box manufacturer. She was also a red cross worker for her employer as well as a voluntary ARP Warden.

Residences: 8 Water House Road, Manchester (1921); 42 Shawbrook Road, Manchester (1939)

Death: Kathleen died in North Walsham, Norfolk, during July 2003 when aged 87.