Table of Contents
This family group is rather large and so to aid readability it is split across a few parts.
G8: Richard Foulkes
Richard Foulkes is cited on the marriage record of his son Edward as a butcher, but nothing further is known about him. He’s possibly the same person who married Mary Lloyd in 1815, since his son was sometimes cited with the middle name Lloyd, but this is quite tenuous and further confirmation is required.
G7: Edward Foulkes (1818-1870) and Sarah Garrett (1824-1902)
Birth: Edward Foulkes was born in the ancient village of Halkyn in North Wales in around 1818. Nothing is known about his early life.
Marriage: to Sarah Garrett on 29 November 1842 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt. He was aged 24 and she was 18.
Spouse history: Sarah had been born either in Hawarden or Queensferry in around 1824 to Stephen Garrett, a mariner.
Children: (1) Richard in 1843, (2) Stephen in 1845, (3) Edward in 1847, (4) Robert in 1850, (5) Mary in 1851, (6) Margaret in 1853, (7) Thomas in 1856, (8) Sarah in 1858, (9) William in 1863. Unusually for the time, all of their children survived into adulthood.
Occupations: at the time of her marriage Sarah worked as a bonnet maker. Edward was a grocer with his own shop. After his death Sarah continued to run the business, being aided by her children and a James Wharton, who was a shopman. She retired and handed the shop over to son Thomas before 1891.
Residences: in 1851 the young family lived in a terraced house at Pentre Bach in the northwest of Bagillt. Also living with them was Joseph Garrett, an apprentice grocer who was likely Sarah’s brother, plus a grocer’s assistant and two servants. During the 1870s, Sarah and family moved into a house called Castle Villa, where they would live for at least the next 20 years. She earned enough to be able to employ a cook and housemaid into retirement.
Bagillt was a local coal mining centre with hundreds of men working in the eleven collieries that surrounded the village, while there were also foundries producing refined zinc, lead, and iron.
- Edward: Pentre Bach, Bagillt (1851)
- Sarah: Pentre Bach, Bagillt (1851); Rose Place, High Street, Bagillt (1871); Castle Villa, Bagillt (1881-1901)
Death: Edward died in Bagillt on 18 April 1870 when aged 52 and was buried three days later. He left his estate to his sons Richard and Thomas. Sarah died on 26 August 1902 when aged 78 and left her estate of £245 11s 5d (around £19k today) to son Robert.
G6: Richard Lloyd Foulkes (1843-1905) and Margaret Elizabeth Evans
Birth: Richard Lloyd Foulkes was born in Bagillt during 1843. He was the first child of newlyweds Edward and Sarah.
Christening: on 30 July 1843 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
Marriage: to Margaret Elizabeth Evans on 2 December 1867 at St Mary’s. He was aged 24 and she was 22.
Spouse history: Margaret had been born either in Holywell during 1845 to Thomas Evans, a cement stone merchant.
Children: (1) Sarah in 1868, (2) Mary in 1871, (3) Elizabeth in 1873, (4) Alice in 1881. Sarah had learning difficulties and lived with her parents until their deaths.
Occupations: Richard followed in his father’s footsteps and became a grocer and provision dealer. He likely had a shop in each of the towns and villages that the family resided in over the upcoming decades. He was eventually joined in the business by his daughters, while Margaret contributed to the family finances by working as a dressmaker.
Residences: whilst they were still newlyweds, Richard and Elizabeth moved to the small mining town of Rhosllanerchrugog, about six miles south of Wrexham. They lived on Hall Street where they perhaps had a shop employing an apprentice and a servant.
Within a couple of years, they had moved back to Flintshire where they briefly lived in Holywell before settling back in Bagillt. They had had a house called Green Park on High Street along with a grocer’s shop, earning enough money to employ a servant. By 1891 they had moved to a small terraced cottage on Smith’s Terrace in the opposite end of the town, and then on to Howell’s Cottage by 1901.
- Richard: Pentre Bach, Bagillt (1851); Hall Street, Rhosllanerchrugog (1871); Whitford Street, Holywell (1873); Green Park, High Street, Bagillt (1881); 9 Smith’s Terrace, High Street, Bagillt (1891); High Street, Holywell (1895); Howell’s Cottages, High Street, Bagillt (1901)
- Margaret: Hall Street, Rhosllanerchrugog (1871); Whitford Street, Holywell (1873); Green Park, High Street, Bagillt (1881); 9 Smith’s Terrace, High Street, Bagillt (1891); Howell’s Cottages, High Street, Bagillt (1901)
Deaths: Richard died on 7 December 1905 when aged 62 and was buried the next day. He small estate of £50 (£4k today) was split between his wife and son-in-law Samuel Williams, who was a grocer’s business manager. It is not known what happened to Margaret after this – she possibly died in January 1911.
Notes: other than their eldest daughter Sarah, the family was bilingual in English and Welsh.
G5: Sarah Jane Anne Foulkes (1868-1931)
Birth: Sarah Jane Anne Foulkes was born in Rhosllanerchrugog during 1868. She was the first child of newlyweds Richard and Margaret.
Health: Sarah had learning difficulties and was unkindly described in the census of 1911 as being ‘feeble minded’, with a mental age of around 4-years-old.
Residences: Sarah lived with her parents until their deaths – her father in 1905 and her mother probably at the start of 1911, at which point she passed into the care of her younger sister Mary.
- Whitford Street, Holywell (1873); Green Park, High Street, Bagillt (1881); 9 Smith’s Terrace, High Street, Bagillt (1891); Howell’s Cottages, High Street, Bagillt (1901); 2 Sea View Terrace, Holywell Road, Bagillt (1911)
Death: Sarah died in 1931 when aged 63.
Notes: on the night that the 1871 census was taken, Sarah was staying with her maternal grandmother in Bagillt.
G5: Mary Margaret Selina Foulkes (1870-1963)
Birth: Mary Margaret Selina Foulkes was born in Rhosllanerchrugog on 19 May 1870. She was the second child of Richard and Margaret.
Christening: on 12 June 1870 in Rhosllanerchrugog.
Marriage: to Edmund Evans during 1896 in Holywell. She was aged 25 and she was 39.
Spouse history: Edmund had been born during 1857 in Chirbury (commonly cited as the phonetic Churbury), a small town in Shropshire close to the Welsh border. His early life is largely unknown, but by 1880 he lived in Bagillt where he likely married Maria Hughes. Sadly, she was dead before the end of the year, and the census of 1881 captured the widowed Edmund in Pentre Bach, living with another blacksmith who was possibly his brother-in-law. He remained in the area, and a decade later lodged with the widow Harriett Hughes.
Children: (1) Ethel in 1897, (2) Cecil in 1900, (3) Olive in 1905.
Occupations: Mary worked in the family grocer’s shop. Edward was a blacksmith, who for many years worked for lead manufacturers Walkers, Parker & Co. at the Dee Bank Works.
Residences: in 1901 the young family lived in a small white cottage called Glan-aber at the top of New Brighton Road in the ‘Boot end’ of Bagillt – just along from Mary’s younger sister Elizabeth on River View. Over the next decade they moved to Sea View Terrace at the bottom of the road, and then on to Ithel Cottages on the High Street by 1921. By September 1939 the widowed Mary lived with her three adult children and one grandchild in a large detached house called Overdale on Halkyn Road in Holywell.
- Mary: Hall Street, Rhosllanerchrugog (1871); Whitford Street, Holywell (1873); Green Park, High Street, Bagillt (1881); 9 Smith’s Terrace, High Street, Bagillt (1891); Glan-aber, New Brighton Road, Bagillt (1901); 2 Sea View Terrace, Holywell Road, Bagillt (1911); 4 Ithel Cottages, High Street, Bagillt (1921); Overdale, Halkyn Road, Holywell (1939-1963)
- Edmund: Pentre Bach (1881); Pentre Bach (1891); Glan-aber, New Brighton Road (1901); 2 Sea View Terrace, Holywell Road (1911); 4 Ithel Cottages, High Street (1921) – all in Bagillt.
Deaths: Edmund likely died in Holywell at the start of 1939. Mary died some 24 years later on 24 April 1963 when aged 92. She left her effects of £409 1s (around £7k) to her daughters.
Notes: at times Mary was perhaps known by her middle name of Margaret.
G4: Ethel Alice Evans (1897-1983)
Birth: Ethel Alice Evans was born in Bagillt on 24 June 1897. She was the first child of Edmund and Mary.
School: enrolled into Bagillt Board Girls School in 1904, where she remained until transferred to County School as a probationer in 1910.
Occupations: Ethel was aged 23 when the 1921 census was taken and worked as an assistant mistress (schoolteacher) at the Bagillt Infants School and later progressed to be a full schoolteacher.
Residences: Ethel lived at home until her mother’s death in 1963. She then inherited their large house called Overdale and lived there for the rest of her own life.
- Glan-aber, New Brighton Road, Bagillt (1901); 2 Sea View Terrace, Holywell Road, Bagillt (1911); 4 Ithel Cottages, High Street, Bagillt (1921); Overdale, Halkyn Road, Holywell (1939-1983)
Death: died on 2 October 1983 when aged 86, leaving an estate of £46,365 (around £128k today). She never married.
G4: Cecil Evans (1908-1981)
Birth: Cecil Evans was born in Bagillt on 22 August 1900. He was the second child of Edmund and Mary.
School: enrolled into Bagillt Board Infants School in August 1903 when aged just 3 and attended there for the next three years. A school record from the Bagillt Board Boys School in 1907 is almost certainly for Cecil, but the date of birth is wrong.
Military service: Cecil celebrated his 18th birthday by enlisting into the Royal Navy. He was described as 5 feet 3 inches tall with a 35-inch chest, brown hair and eyes, fresh complexion, and scars on his upper left lip and right shin. He stated that his prior occupation was as a clerk. Cecil was given serial number K53257 and sent to learn how to be a stoker. The war ended before he could be utilised however, and he was discharged on 29 March 1919.
Marriage: to Doris Yarnall Davies during 1947 in Holywell. He was aged 46 and she was 38.
Spouse history: Doris had been born in Mold on 8 June 1908 and was the first child of newlyweds Robert Yarnall Davies and Agnes Ann Adams. She was christened on 9 August, at which time the family lived in a flat above a shop on Wrexham Street. Her father was a clerk for the police. When captured in the census three years later, they lived at the police station as despite being only 27 years old, her father was now the police superintendent. His career continued to flourish and by 1921 was the Chief Constable, with the family living around the corner from the police station on Grosvenor Street.
When the National Register was taken in September 1939 the family lived in a period cottage called Ty Coch in the hamlet of Maeshafn, which was about five miles southwest of Mold. Her father had now risen to the rank of Chief Constable of Flintshire.
Children: none.
Occupation: after leaving the Navy Cecil began work for the Holywell Board of Guardians, which oversaw the running of the workhouses, at their Union Office building in Holywell. He was a third assistant clerk, rising to deputy public assistance officer by 1939. Doris meanwhile was a shorthand typist.
Residences: both Cecil and Doris lived with their parents well into adulthood when they were married. The couple then got a semi-detached house called Chirbury on Halkyn Street, the same road as Cecil’s old family home, which he perhaps named after the birthplace of this father.
- Cecil: Glan-aber, New Brighton Road, Bagillt (1901); 2 Sea View Terrace, Holywell Road, Bagillt (1911); 4 Ithel Cottages, High Street, Bagillt (1921); Overdale, Halkyn Road, Holywell (1939); Chirbury, Halkyn Street, Holywell (1956)
- Doris: 34 Wrexham Street, Mold (1908); Police Station, Chester Street, Mold (1911); Ty Coch, Maeshafn (1939); Chirbury, Halkyn Street, Holywell (1956)
Deaths: Cecil and Doris had just nine years together before his untimely death on 7 October 1956 when aged 56. Doris went on to marry James Tattum in Ruthin during 1958 and eventually died in 1981 in Rhosesmor in northeast Wales.
Notes: there was another Doris Davies recorded in the 1939 Register with the same date of birth. She was married to Ernest Davies and had the maiden-name Crook. The 1939 Register was actually kept updated by the NHS into the 1980s and it appears that the records of the two people with the same name and date of birth became muddled, since the record for Doris Crook was later updated with details of our Doris.
As an interesting sidenote, Doris’s successful father was awarded an MBE in 1920 when he was the 36-year-old Chief Police Officer for HM Factory, Queensferry, under the Ministry of Munitions. In the 1927 New Year’s Honours List he was awarded the King’s Police Medal (for gallantry or distinguished service), by which time he was the Chief Constable of Flint. A decade later his service was recognised again with promotion to the OBE, and in 1939 was given the Order of St John, a royal order of chivalry that generally recognised those who have acted in such a manner as to strengthen the spirit of mankind and to encourage and promote humanitarian and charitable work aiding those in sickness, suffering, and/or danger. He died in 1942.
G4: Olive Evans (1905-1996)
Birth: Olive Evans was born in Bagillt on 10 November 1905. She was the third child of Edmund and Mary.
School: enrolled into Bagillt Board Infants School on 31 August 1908 when aged just 2. She studied there until transferred to Bagillt Board Girls School in 1911.
Marriage: to Joseph Jones during 1937 in Holywell. She was aged 31 and he was 24.
Spouse history: Joseph had been born on 5 March 1912. Nothing further is known of his early life.
Children: (1) Bryn in 1938.
Residences: in September 1939, the family lived with Olive’s recently widowed mother and two adult siblings in Overdale in Holywell.
- Olive: 2 Sea View Terrace, Holywell Road, Bagillt (1911); 4 Ithel Cottages, High Street, Bagillt (1921); Overdale, Halkyn Road, Holywell (1939)
Occupations: Joseph was a bus conductor.
Deaths: Olive likely died in January 1996 when aged 90. Joseph survived her for three years and died in June 1999 when aged 87.
G3: Bryn Evans Jones (1938-2011)
Birth: Bryn Evans Jones was born in Holywell on 12 June 1938. He was the only child of Joseph and Olive.
Residences: Overdale, Halkyn Road, Holywell (1939); Overlea, Prince of Wales Avenue, Holywell (2003-2010)
Deaths: died in Holywell on 9 May 2011 when aged 72.
G5: Elizabeth Emma Foulkes (1873-) and Samuel Williams (1874-)
For the history of Elizabeth and Samuel see the Williams family group.
G5: Alice Lloyd Foulkes (1891-1966)
Birth: Alice Lloyd Foulkes was born in Bagillt during 1881. She was the fourth child of Richard and Margaret.
Christening: on 23 October 1881 in Bagillt. She was the first of her siblings to formally have the middle name ‘Lloyd’, although the others seem to have adopted it later in life.
Marriage: to Joseph Jones during 1937 in Salford. She was aged 25 and he was 24.
Spouse history: Joseph had been born in the Holywell area during 1882, but due to the commonality of the name nothing further is known.
Children: (1) Gladwys in 1910, (2) Richard in 1914.
Occupations: by 1901 Alice had flown the nest and become the first of her family to move outside of Wales when she crossed over the border to Chester. She worked as a nurse to the two young children of James Bate, the County Coroner, and lived with them in their large villa called Summerfield on Kilmorey Road in the Chester suburb of Hoole. Joseph was a house painter.
Residences: the young family lived in a terraced house on Wythburn Street in the inner-city suburb of Seedley. By the 1930s they had a pleasant terraced house that sat opposite Seedley Park. After Joseph’s death, Alice moved onto the Langworthy Estate.
- Alice: 9 Smith’s Terrace, High Street, Bagillt (1891); Summerfield, Kilmorey Road, Chester (1901); 26 Wythburn Street, Salford (1910-1921); 135 Lower Seedley Road, Salford (1936-1939)
- Joseph: 26 Wythburn Street, Salford (1910-1921); 135 Lower Seedley Road, Salford (1936)
Deaths: Joseph died when aged just 53, on 15 January 1936 at 91 Eccles Old Road in Pendleton. He left his estate of £821 2s 5d (around £41k today) to his wife. Alice died on 29 September 1966 when aged 85 at Hope Hospital in Salford. She left her estate of £393 to her son William.
G4: Gladwys Jones (1910-1994)
Birth: Gladwys Jones was born in Salford on 13 April 1910. She was the first child of Alice and Joseph.
Christening: on 4 May 1910 at St Luke’s Church on Derby Road.
Marriage: to William G. Walker during 1945 in Salford. She was aged 34.
Spouse history: nothing is known about William’s earlier life due to the commonality of his name.
Children: (1) Gladwys in 1910, (2) Richard in 1914.
Occupation: in 1939 when aged 29, Gladwys worked in a factory that made waterproof garments and was responsible for inspecting the quality of the work. It would soon switch to making barrage balloons.
Residences: 26 Wythburn Street, Salford (1910-1921); 135 Lower Seedley Road, Salford (1939)
Deaths: Gladwys died in Salford during August 1994 when aged 84.
G4: William Richard Jones (1914-1997)
Birth: William Richard Jones was born in Salford on 19 June 1914. He was the second child of Alice and Joseph.
Christening: on 5 July 1914 at St Luke’s Church on Derby Road.
Occupations: in 1939 when aged 25, William worked as a laboratory assistant.
Residences: 26 Wythburn Street, Salford (1914-1921); 135 Lower Seedley Road, Salford (1939)
Very little further is known about him due to the commonality of his name. He was the executioner of his mother’s Will in 1966 when he worked as an administrator. It’s likely that he died in December 1997.
G6: Stephen Garrett Foulkes (1845-1888)
Birth: Stephen Garrett Foulkes was born in Bagillt during 1845. He was the second child of Edward and Sarah.
Christening: on 28 February 1847 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt alongside his brother Edward.
Emigration: Stephen emigrated to the United States, and by 1867 lived in San Francisco, California. He became a naturalised US citizen in August 1877.
Marriage: to Charlotte Ann Solley on 12 January 1876 in San Francisco. He was aged 30 and she was 20.
Spouse history: commonly known as Lottie, she had been born in Sunderland in 1855 to S.S. Solley. In 1871 when aged just 16, Lottie worked as a domestic servant for the baker William Hills and his wife Mary at their home on Rendezvous Street in Folkestone, Kent. Lottie emigrated to the United States in 1875 and must have almost immediately met Stephen as they were married soon after.
Children: (1) Edward in 1876, (2) Stephen in 1877, (3) Charlotte in 1880, (4) Lewis in 1884.
Occupations: Stephen was a bookkeeper who until 1873 worked for Agard, Foulkes & Co., which appeared to be an importer and distributor or alcohol, possibly run by William Agard and Thomas Foulkes. It’s not known if they were of any relation. Stephen then worked for Middleton, Bryde & Co. until 1878. The census taken in 1880 recorded that 34-year-old Stephen was now a ship chandler, which was a dealer in supplies and equipment for ships and boats, probably still for Middleton & Co.
In 1891 Lottie worked as a dressmaker and perhaps had her own store, living in an apartment on Mission Street on the main commercial street of the Mission District.
Residences: Stephen had several residences as a bachelor, including one on the corner of Montgomery and Vallejo Streets in the Telegraph Hill area until 1868. He then moved a block northwest to Kearny Street in an area described as an avenue of honky-tonks and saloons frequented by racetrack tipsters and other shady professionals. In 1871 he moved a few blocks west to an apartment on Green Street where he lived for at least five years.
In August 1877, the family lived in an apartment on Greenwich Street, just a few blocks south of the docks. The family then moved south to the newly built Inner Mission area in east-central San Francisco, where they lived on Capp Street.
The widowed Lottie and children moved frequently over the next two decades, all within about a 10-block radius.
- Stephen: Pentre Bach, Bagillt (1851); Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA (1867-1868); 1312 Kearny St, San Francisco, CA (1869-1871); 722 Green St, San Francisco, CA (1873-1876); 830 Greenwich St, San Francisco, CA (1877-1878); 1005 Capp St, San Francisco, CA (1880-1887)
- Charlotte: Rendezvous Street, Folkestone (1871); 830 Greenwich St, San Francisco, CA (1877-1878); 1005 Capp St, San Francisco, CA (1880-1887); 2607 Mission St, San Francisco, CA (1891); 34 Lapidge St, San Francisco, CA (1896-1897); 238 Lexington St, San Francisco, CA (1898-1900); 2319 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA (1901-1904); 3816 23rd St, San Francisco, CA (1905)
Deaths: Stephen died at home on 6 August 1888 when aged just 43 and was buried at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma, California. The British probate recorded that an estate of £355 was left to his wife and his son Edward. The probates were awarded in 1905 and 1908 respectively, and the reason for the delay is not known. Lottie died on 26 June 1905 when aged just 49, in Corte Madera to the north of San Francisco. She was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park.
G5: Edward William Foulkes (1876-1954)
Birth: Edward William Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 1 November 1876. He was the first child of newlyweds Stephen and Lottie.
Marriage: to Catherine Opie on 26 August 1907 in Kings, Saratoga, NY. He was aged 30 and she was 24.
Spouse history: Catherine had been born on 7 March 1883 to James Opie and Mary Bryant, who may have been Welsh. She left school after the eighth grade.
Children: (1) Jane in 1916, (2) William in 1917. Jane died as a baby.
Residences: it’s not known when or why Edward moved east. It’s possible that he relocated following the 1906 earthquake. By April 1910, he was married to Catherine and the couple lived in Denver City, Colorado, where the census captured them residing in a boarding house on California Street, one of the main streets through downtown. They soon moved to California and settled in Oakland on the opposite side of the Golden Gate Bay to San Francisco. They lived in a couple of small houses over the next few years before renting a small apartment on Waverly Street close to Lake Merritt back in Oakland.
In 1923 the family were able to buy a large home on Jean Street in Oakland, which would be their home for the rest of their lives. This was a big house close to Morcom Rose Garden in the eastern residential suburbs. The 1930 census valued the house at $8,500 and noted that they owned a radio set.
- Edward: 830 Greenwich St, San Francisco, CA (1877-1878); 1005 Capp St, San Francisco, CA (1880-1887); 2607 Mission St, San Francisco, CA (1891); 34 Lapidge St, San Francisco, CA (1896-1897); 238 Lexington St, San Francisco, CA (1898-1901); 2319 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA (1901-1904); 3816 23rd St, San Francisco, CA (1905); 1315 California St, Denver, CO (1910); 2306 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA (1911); 681 Aileen St, Oakland, CA (1912); 629/631 Lincoln Ave, Alameda, CA (1915-1917); 2306 Waverly St, Oakland, CA (1918-1920); 2016 Encinal Ave, Alameda, CA (1922); 722 Jean St, Oakland, CA (1923-1954)
- Catherine: 1315 California St, Denver, CO (1910); 2306 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA (1911); 681 Aileen St, Oakland, CA (1912); 629/631 Lincoln Ave, Alameda, CA (1915-1917); 2306 Waverly St, Oakland, CA (1918-1920); 2016 Encinal Ave, Alameda, CA (1922); 722 Jean St, Oakland, CA (1923-1957)
Occupations: Edward left school after the sixth grade, and in 1896 was an Assistant Bookkeeper for Hulse, Bradford Co., a manufacturer of upholstered goods such as carpets and rugs. He became their cashier the following year, a post he held until 1905. In 1910 he was a bookkeeper for a hotel in Denver.
After moving to Oakland, Edward became an accountant for the Rosenberg Brothers & Co. in San Francisco and remained there until his retirement some 35 years later. It was a major packer of dried food, including rice, raisins, prunes, figs, or beans, and by 1930 was the largest shipper of dried fruit in the world. The business involved agreeing a price with the farmers for their crop months in advance – high enough to get the farmer to sign a contract, but low enough to ensure a profit could be made – and then drumming up sufficient interest to sell the product ahead of time.
The farmers delivered the product to one of their canneries or packing houses across California, which cleaned, prepared, and put it in containers, before trains and ships took it away. The company’s primary shipping point was on the docks at Oakland, sending 50,000 tons of fruit a year from their warehouses. It was bought by a Consolidated Grocers Corp. of Chicago (which later became Sara Lee) in December 1947 but remained an independent subsidiary. It went out of business in 1957 and was sold off. The 1940 census showing that Edward’s salary was $3,120, almost three times the national average. He was noted in the 50-year history of the company published in 1943 as one of the employees with over 25 years’ service.
Deaths: Edward died on 20 March 1954 when aged 77 and was cremated three days later. Catherine survived him for 18 years and died in Oakland on 2 April 1972 and was buried at Mountain View Cemetery.
Notes: when first registered to vote at the turn of the century he was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall with a fair complexion and grey hair – a description repeated when had registered for the draft in 1918. Edward and Catherine were registered Republicans.
G4: Jane Catherine Foulkes (1916)
Birth: Jane Catherine Foulkes was born in Oakland, CA on 6 June 1916. She was the first child of newlyweds Edward and Catherine.
Death: on 18 July 1916 and was buried in the Chapel of the Chimes.
G4: William Opie Foulkes (1917-2005)
Birth: William Opie Foulkes was born in Oakland, CA on 16 October 1917. He was the second child of newlyweds Edward and Catherine.
School: William attended Piedmont High School and then the University of California, Berkeley where he studied economics and commerce and was a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
Marriage: to Alberta Marie Mitchell during August 1940 at the Hotel Del Monte in Oakland, CA. They were both aged 22. The couple had met in school and then went to college together. They were engaged in the summer of 1940, by which time Alberta was already pregnant. Her father threw them an engagement party at the St Francis Hotel that was reported in the Oakland Tribune on 16 July. They went on a month’s honeymoon to the Grand Canyon.
Spouse history: Alberta (perhaps commonly known as Marie) has been born on 4 June 1918 to George Ernest Mitchell Jr. and Edith Helen O’Brien. When the census was taken in 1920, the family rented a small house on South Gramercy Place in the Vermont Square area of Los Angeles, California. Her father worked in newspaper advertising. By 1930 they had moved north to Alameda near San Francisco, moving to nearby Oakland by 1935 where they lived in a large detached house on Rosal Avenue, with her father earning a comfortable $2,500 per year. Alberta also attended the University of California, Berkeley where she studied French and was a member of the Sigma Kappa fraternity.
Children: four daughters between 1940 and 1962.
Occupations: after graduating in the class of 1939, William moved back home to his parents and worked as a teller for the Morris Plan Bank. For the half year that he had been employed when the 1940 census was taken, he had earned $595, compared to $3,120 for his accountant father.
Military service: William had a long and successful career with the US Navy. He enlisted into the Supply Corps of the US Naval Reserve during early 1944 and after completing training saw active service in Hawaii and in Okinawa. He decided to remain in the service post-war, joining the regular Navy in 1946. He again saw active service in 1950, serving as a Lieutenant onboard the seaplane tender USS Suisun, whose aircraft patrolled off the Korean coast during the early days of the war. Although William spent the bulk of his career ashore, rotating through various positions in the supply branch of naval aviation, he did have a spell as a task force supply officer onboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge in the Pacific during the early 1960s. He retired in 1972 with the rank of Captain.
Residences: after their marriage the couple moved to Dallas, Texas where they rented an apartment on Coles Manor Place. After William joined the Navy the family followed him around his various postings, including spending periods in Hawaii, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Japan, and back in Oakland, CA. During this latter period the family lived in a large house on Highland Avenue in the Piedmont area, close to where they both went to school. The couple seemed to enjoy their time in California, with William joining the board trying to start a tennis club and Alberta being given a small award in April 1969 for volunteering over 1,000 hours to the Navy Relief Society.
After his retirement in 1972, the couple soon moved to the East Coast and settled in the small town of Reisterstown to the northwest of Baltimore, Maryland, where between 1980-2002 they lived on Deer Park Road.
- William: 2306 Waverly St, Oakland, CA (1918-1920); 2016 Encinal Ave, Alameda, CA (1922); 722 Jean St, Oakland, CA (1923-1945); 4719 Coles Manor Pl, Dallas, TX (1940); Aviation Supply Naval Depot, 700 Robbins Ave, Philadelphia, PA (1950); 127 Highland Ave, Oakland, CA (1957); 500 Occidental Ave, San Mateo, CA (1963-1974); 6313 Deer Park Rd, Reisterstown, MD (1980-2002)
- Alberta: 4423 S Gramercy Pl, Los Angeles, CA (1920); 1615 6th St, Alameda, CA (1930); 700 Rosal Ave, Oakland, CA (1935-1940); 722 Jean St, Oakland, CA (1945); Aviation Supply Naval Depot, 700 Robbins Ave, Philadelphia, PA (1950); 500 Occidental Ave, San Mateo, CA (1963-1974); 6313 Deer Park Rd, Reisterstown, MD (1980-2002)
Hobbies and interests: William was good at sports and particularly at tennis, being ranked as a state junior, and met his future wife Alberta in the tennis club at Piedmont High School. William continued his love of tennis through the Berkeley Tennis Club, making the varsity team, while Alberta was a member of the University Ski and Skating Club. While in the Navy William kept playing tennis to a high standard, and in the summer of 1949 was selected for the 12-man team to compete with the Army and Air Force in the Leech Trophy in Washington, DC. By 1968 he was ranked by the US Lawn Tennis Association as one of the top seniors’ double players in the East and had won the Navy’s senior singles crown for the last three years and five of the last eight championships. In 1970 William won yet another All-Navy Senior Doubles title, making it 14 titles in all (six single and eight doubles). On 27 July 1971, he competed in his last All-Navy tennis tournament at Long Beach, California, but was not to add to his titles tally after suffering defeat in the final.
Alberta was generous to everyone who knew her and was compassionate to all those who needed her. Her awards for work were many especially from the Red Cross, Navy Relief Society and Special Needs Children.
Deaths: William died on 12 October 2005 when aged 87. He was buried at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery in Owings Mills, Maryland. Alberta survived him for two years and died on 7 July 2007 when aged 89 and was buried with her husband.
G5: Stephen Charles Foulkes (1877-1908)
Birth: Stephen Charles Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA during 1877. He was the second child of Stephen and Lottie.
Marriage: to Gertrude Mary Hannan on 1 July 1906 in the Cathedral Mission of the Good Samaritan, San Francisco. He was aged 29 and she was 20. The marriage was witnessed by Stephen’s younger brother Lewis.
Spouse history: Gertrude had been born on 20 March 1886 in Chicago, Illinois to John Hannan and Jean E. Ferguson, who were immigrants from Ireland and England respectively.
Children: (1) Edward in 1908.
Occupation: Stephen appears to have had a varied start to his working life. In 1896 he was listed in the town directory as a driver, then as a porter the following year, and then as a shipping clerk for Wiester & Co. between 1898-1899. The census of 1900 gives his occupation as a trainer of greyhounds, and then in the period 1901-1904 he was listed in various directories simultaneously as a clerk, or a driver or drayman. Gertrude meanwhile worked as a seamstress in a shade factory. After Stephen’s death she worked as a carpet sower for 25 years, with her last employer being the Annstein Carpet Co.
Residences: at the time of their marriage the couple lived on Harrison Street in downtown. In 1910 the young widow Gertrude lived with her mother and extended family in what must have been a cramped apartment on York Street, an elegant road in the Mission District. She remarried in July 1910 to Joseph James McGrorey, an Irish immigrant who worked as a teamster for Bare Bros. The new family lived together in an apartment on Lombard Street, a steep road in the north of the city just a few blocks from the docks. Over the next decades they moved through several apartments in and around this area before moving close to the huge Golden Gate Park in 1920, and then onto Presidio Heights.
- Stephen: 830 Greenwich St (1877-1878); 1005 Capp St (1880-1887); 2607 Mission St (1891); 34 Lapidge St (1896-1897); 238 Lexington St (1898-1901); 2319 Folsom St (1901-1904); 3816 23rd St (1905); 777 Harrison St (1906) – all in San Francisco, CA.
- Gertrude: 800 York St (1910); 2072 Bryant St (1911-1913); 928 Lombard St (1919); 888 Chestnut St (1919-1920); 737 Waller St (1920-1922); 158A Carl St (1923-1924); 18 Collins St (1924-1940); 2262 20th Ave (1948-1957) – all in San Francisco, CA.
Deaths: Stephen died on 19 August 1908 when aged just 31. He was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma. Gertrude died of a cerebral thrombosis (blood clot to the brain) in Kirkland Nursing Home, in Castro Valley, California on 14 September 1964 when aged 78. She was also buried at Cypress Lawn.
G4: Edward Ernest Foulkes (1908-1988)
Birth: Edward Ernest Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 17 February 1908. He was the only child of newlyweds Stephen and Gertrude.
School: Edward attended Galileo High School and was cited as an artist for the 1925 yearbook.
Marriage: to Barbara Elizabeth Broder on 29 August 1930 at the Ford Samaritan Church, San Francisco. He was aged 22 and she was 19. The couple divorced in the 1950s.
Spouse history: Barbara had been born during 1911 to Joseph Broder, who was of Swiss descent, and his wife Lillian Morgan. When captured in the 1920 census, Barbara was for some reason recorded as Elizabeth Mary. The family lived in a large house on Eureka Street in the Dolores Height area and her father was a clerk in a shoe shop. By 1930 her parents had divorced. Barbara lived with her mother and sister Gladys, still on Eureka Street, which was valued at a princely $7,500. Both sisters worked as stenographers in an office (possibly for a steamship company), while their mother worked in a department store.
Children: (1) Barbara in 1932, (2) Nancy in 1935, (3) Suzanne in 1940. Barbara died aged four.
Occupations: by 1927 Edward had begun working as an advertising salesman and by 1930 was employed in the lease department of Foster & Kleiser, which was the west coast’s leading billboard company. He became a district representative for the company, and in 1940 worked 40 hours per week for a salary of $2,400. A decade later he was a distribution manager for the same firm. Edward was curiously listed as a policeman in the voter list of 1938, but this was certainly a mistake.
Residences: the newlyweds continued to live with Edward’s parents on Collins Street until after their first two children were born. They quickly moved through houses on 41st Avenue, in the Vista Del Mar area at the very west of the city, and 5th Avenue at the opposite end of Golden Gate Park. In 1938 the family moved to the small town of San Anselmo, about 20 miles north of San Francisco. They rented a classic wooden house on San Anselmo Avenue.
The family moved around California during the early war years, first living in a lovely detached house in the small agricultural town of Watsonville in 1941 before moving to the state capital of Sacramento. By 1950 they lived back in San Francisco, in a house on 15th Avenue in the Golden Heights area to the south of the bridge. After their divorce Barbara and daughter Nancy lived together on 15th Avenue in 1957, with Edward on 29th Avenue.
- Edward: 800 York St, San Francisco, CA (1910); 2072 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA (1911-1913); 928 Lombard St, San Francisco, CA (1919); 888 Chestnut St, San Francisco, CA (1919-1920); 737 Waller St, San Francisco, CA (1920-1922); 158A Carl St, San Francisco, CA (1923); 18 Collins St, San Francisco, CA (1924-1936); 743 41st Ave, San Francisco, CA (1937-1938); 440 5th Ave, San Francisco, CA (1938); 1037 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA (1938-1940); 701 Brewington Ave, Watsonville, CA (1941-1942); 3 Canterbury Rd, Sacramento, CA (1943); 2165 15th Ave, San Francisco, CA (1950); 1417 29th Ave, San Francisco, CA (1957)
- Barbara: 219 Eureka St, San Francisco, CA (1920-1930); 18 Collins St, San Francisco, CA (1931-1936); 743 41st Ave, San Francisco, CA (1937-1938); 440 5th Ave, San Francisco, CA (1938); 1037 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA (1938-1940); 701 Brewington Ave, Watsonville, CA (1941-1942); 3 Canterbury Rd, Sacramento, CA (1943); 2165 15th Ave, San Francisco, CA (1950-1959)
Deaths: Edward died in San Francisco on 15 August 1988 when aged 80, at which time he lived in Ross, California.
Notes: when Edward registered for the draft on 16 October 1940 in San Francisco, he was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 70 kg with a light complexion and brown eyes and hair. Barbara married Sidney Glass in 1979 and died in 2002.
G3: Barbara Lee Foulkes (1932-1937)
Birth: Barbara Lee Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 28 June 1932. She was the first child of newlyweds Edward and Barbara.
Death: Barbara died on 9 March 1937 when aged just 4, being buried at Holy Cross following a service at St Edward’s Church. An autopsy was undertaken, which showed that the cause of death was status-lymcio lymphaticus, an enlargement of the thymus gland and other parts of the lymphatic system that at the time was believed to be a predisposing cause to sudden death in infancy and childhood. It appears that she recently had her tonsils removed following a general anaesthetic. The autopsy tested for poison, which was negative.
G5: Charlotte H. Foulkes (1880-1972)
Birth: Charlotte H. Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 22 September 1880. He was the third child of Stephen and Lottie.
Marriage: to George Therkof on 28 April 1906 in the Alameda, CA. She was aged 25 and she was 31.
Spouse history: George had been born in California on 4 September 1874 and was the third child of German immigrants George and Elizabeth Thenerkauf. In 1880 the family lived in Soledad, California where his father was a farmer. By 1898 they had moved to San Francisco, where they lived in the Mission District. George was described as 6 feet tall with a dark complexion and dark hair and eyes. It is around this time that he appears to have simplified his surname to Therkof.
Children: (1) Roland in 1912.
Occupations: Lottie worked for A.M. Speck & Co. between 1898-1905, first as a stenographer – a secretary trained in shorthand writing and transcription – and then as a cashier. George initially worked as a carpenter, but during his 20s he studied at the College of Dentistry, University of California – later setting up his own practice in Livermore, 40 miles to the east of San Francisco.
Residences: by 1910 George and Lottie owned a large bungalow in Livermore on I Street. They perhaps temporarily moved to a house on Q Street in 1924-26. George and his son still lived there in 1930, but there is no record of Lottie in the census as the couple had likely separated.
Lottie moved to Oakland by 1932, perhaps to be near her son who was attending the nearby University of California, Berkeley. She lived in an apartment above a shop overlooking Lake Merritt, being joined there by Roland after he graduated in 1934. Over the next few years mother and son rented various apartments and houses in the area. In 1950, 69-year-old Lottie lived alone in an apartment on 34th Street.
- George: 620 Shotwell St, San Francisco, CA (1898); 344 Dolores St, San Francisco, CA (1900-1903); 813 I St, Livermore, CA (1910-1934); Q St, Livermore, CA (1924)
- Charlotte: 1005 Capp St, San Francisco, CA (1880-1887); 2607 Mission St, San Francisco, CA (1891); 34 Lapidge St, San Francisco, CA (1896); 238 Lexington St, San Francisco, CA (1898-1901); 2319 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA (1901-1904); 3816 23rd St, San Francisco, CA (1905); 813 I St, Livermore, CA (1910-1928); Q St, Livermore, CA (1924); 378 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA (1932-1935); 655 Wesley Ave, Oakland, CA (1936-1940); 3336 Birdsall Ave, Oakland, CA (1940); 5925 Outlook Ave, Oakland, CA (1940-1942); 479A 34th St, Oakland, CA (1950)
Deaths: Lottie died on 24 September 1972 when aged 92. George had died a decade earlier on 28 October 1962 when aged 88.
Notes: despite being aged 44, George was obliged to register for the draft in September 1918, being described as tall with a medium build with brown eyes and black hair. He had remarried by 1934.
G4: George Roland Therkof (1912-1980)
Birth: George Roland Therkof was born in Livermore, California on 16 March 1912. He was the only child of George and Lottie. He was commonly known by his middle name.
School: attended Livermore High School where in 1929 he was elected class vice-president and was involved in the operetta and the senior play. He enrolled into the University of California, Berkeley in 1930 where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Marriage: to Leona Margaret Lassen during 1937. He was aged 24 and she was 25.
Spouse history: Leona had been born on 30 May 1911 to Frederick Christopher and Annie Marie Lassen. Her mother was of Danish descent, while her father was a German immigrant who had lived in the US for some 25 years already and a prominent member of the Livermore community – when it became a city in 1927 he was its first mayor. The family of six lived on North K Street, with Leona attending nearby Livermore High School where she was president of her class, president of the Girls’ League, the Red Cross representative and part of the basketball team. She was also a member of the Honor Society – alongside her future husband. In 1930 she went to the State Teacher College of San Diego where she majored in Education and Art. In 1936 she took a trip to Japan, returning home from Yokohama in August.
Children: unknown.
Residences: in college Roland lived with his Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in their large house on Bancroft Way – which it still houses today. After graduating in 1934 he moved into his mother’s apartment above a shop overlooking Lake Merritt. Over the next few years, they rented various apartments and houses in the area.
Curiously as newlyweds Roland and Leona did not appear to live together for the first few years of their marriage. Roland continued to live with his mother and Leona with her parents until the end of the war. In 1950 the couple finally lived together on College Avenue in Livermore.
- George: 813 I St, Livermore, CA (1912-1926); 2722 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA (1930); 378 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA (1934); 655 Wesley Ave, Oakland, CA (1936-1940); 3336 Birdsall Ave, Oakland, CA (1940); 5925 Outlook Ave, Oakland, CA (1940-1942); 2900 Best Ave, Oakland, CA (1943); 787 College Ave, Livermore, CA (1950)
- Leona: 309 N K St, Livermore, CA (1920-1940); 787 College Ave, Livermore, CA (1950)
Occupations: with the Great Depression in full swing Roland alternated between periods of unemployment and shifts as a garageman or labourer, which must have been disappointing given his college degree. In 1940 he worked for the L.A. Young Spring and Wire Co. as an inspector of auto seals, earning $800, while Leona earned $1,200 as a teacher. In 1950 George worked as an assistant funeral director, while Leona taught at the City Elementary School.
Deaths: Leona died on 22 April 1974 when aged 62. Roland survived her for six years and died on 14 March 1980 when aged 67. He is buried at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Livermore, CA.
Notes: Roland registered for the draft on 16 October. He was described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighted 137 lbs with a dark complexion and brown eyes and black hair. It is strange that he stated his father as the “name of the person who will always know your address” and not his wife. In the 1950s the couple took trips to Mexico City with Pan Am.
G5: Lewis Albert Foulkes (1884-1966)
Birth: Lewis Albert Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 21 October 1884. He was the fourth child of Stephen and Lottie.
Marriage: to Louise Bernadette Lund on 31 July 1912 in San Francisco. He was aged 27 and she was 19.
Spouse history: Louise had been born on 20 January 1893, the fifth child of Hans Lund and Nellie McManus. Her father was a master mariner who had emigrated from Denmark in 1868, while her mother was of Irish descent. In 1900 the family lived on Harrison Street in downtown, but by 1910 had moved fives into the southern suburb of Excelsior, where they lived in a detached house just to the west of McLaren Park.
Children: (1) Louise in 1913, (2) Charlotte in 1916, (3) Ellen in 1918, (4) Lewis Junior in 1920, (5) Herbert in 1923.
Occupations: Lewis had begun work by 1900 when he was aged 16, and for the next three years was a clerk and driver for Hulse, Bradford & Co. – which also employed his elder brother Stephen – and was a seller of drapery and upholstery goods. By 1910 he worked as a truck driver for a laundry company, a job he would keep for the next two decades. During this 1920s he also seemed to spend some time labouring in a foundry, which was perhaps a sign of the times as the Great Depression was in full swing.
Residences: by 1910 Lewis was lodging at a large boarding house on Mission Street. Following their marriage the couple bought a house on Naples Street, close to Louise’s parents. By 1922 they had sold this and paid $30 a month to rent a larger house just a few blocks away on Newton Street. It would be their family home for at least the next 25 years.
In the 1950 census, Louise appeared to live on Moscow Street with her brother Herbert, sons Lewis and Herbert, and granddaughter Virginia. There is no record of husband Lewis. She is also curiously recorded as ‘partner’ of Herbert. It’s possible that they had separated.
- Lewis: 1005 Capp St (1884-1887); 2607 Mission St (1891); 34 Lapidge St (1896-1897); 238 Lexington St (1900-1901); 2319 Folsom St (1901-1904); 3816 23rd St (1905); 1941 Mission St (1910); 1633 Washington St (1912); 710 Naples St (1912-1920); 65 Newton St (1922-1948); 160 Precita Ave (1966) – all in San Francisco, CA.
- Louise: 920 Harrison St (1900); 559 Moscow St (1910); 537 Moscow St (1912); 710 Naples St (1913-1920); 65 Newton St (1922-1948); 542 Moscow St (1950) – all in San Francisco, CA.
Deaths: Lewis died in the Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Oakland on 5 March 1966 when aged 81 and was cremated three days later at Olivet Memorial Park in Colma, California. Louise survived him for under a year and died on 4 February 1967. She was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma on 8 February.
Notes: when obliged to register for the draft in September 1918 he was described as medium height with a slender build with hazel eyes and brown hair.
G4: Louise Marie Foulkes (1913-1978)
Birth: Louise Marie Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 7 December 1913. She was the first child of Lewis and Louise.
Marriage: to George Arvid Christensen in either 1937 or 1938. They were both aged around 23.
Spouse history: George had been born in San Francisco on 2 November 1914, the first son of Hans C. Christensen and Mary E. Vandeelen. His father was a labourer and a naturalised citizen originally from Denmark, while his mother was of German and Dutch descent. They owned a small wooden house on Girard Street in the south of the city.
Children: (1) George in 1939, (2) Marie in 1942.
Occupations: Louise began working as a clerk in 1935, becoming a ‘wrapper’ the following year. George meanwhile was working as a labourer, becoming a clerk by 1937. The census taken in 1940 showed that George worked as a warehouseman for a wholesale candy manufacturer with a salary of $1,300. When he registered for the draft later that year he was employed by Wellman & Peck at Embarcadero – which was California’s largest wholesale grocery firm. By the 1950s George worked as a docker.
Residences: in 1938 the newlyweds rented a small bungalow on Moscow Street in the McLaren Park area close to Louise’s family. The family soon moved across John McLaren Park to a distinctive looking house on Britton Street, where they lived until at least 1950.
- Louise: 710 Naples St, San Francisco, CA (1913-1920); 65 Newton St, San Francisco, CA (1922-1936); 555 Moscow St, San Francisco, CA (1938-1940); 77 Britton St, San Francisco, CA (1944-1950)
- George: 173 Girard St, San Francisco, CA (1920-1937); 555 Moscow St, San Francisco, CA (1938-1940); 77 Britton St, San Francisco, CA (1944-1950); 8685 Koolish Rd, Minocqua, WI (1982)
Deaths: Louise died in Sacramento, California on 15 December 1973 when aged 65, and like many of her siblings was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California. George survived her for some 25 years and died on 28 July 1997 aged 81 in El Dorado, California and buried with his late wife.
Notes: when George registered for the draft in 1940, he was described as 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 87 kg with a light complexion and blue eyes and blonde hair. It’s interesting to note that he was a registered Communist, which must have made life difficult for him post-war.
G3: George A. Christensen (1939-2018)
Birth: George A. Christensen was born in San Francisco, CA on 27 April 1939. He was the first child of George and Louise.
Marriage: to LaReta Jean Grendahl on 9 April 1961 in Portland, Oregon. He was aged 21 and she was 18. The marriage ended in divorce.
Spouse history: commonly known by her middle name, Jean had been born in Baltimore, Maryland on 8 April 1943 to Reuben Grendahl and Iva M. Poe.
Children: one child in 1965.
Military service: George served with the US Air Force in the early 1960s and left as an Airman Second Class.
Residences: at the time of their marriage, George lived at 337th Matrol PIA, which was probably on-base, while Jean lived in a large wooden bungalow in the Hazelwood suburb. In 1980 George lived in a bungalow on Darvon Street in Newark, to the south of Oakland.
- George: 555 Moscow St, San Francisco, CA (1939-1940); 77 Britton St, San Francisco, CA (1944-1950); 337th Matrol PIA, Portland, OR (1961); 36477 Darvon St, Newark, CA (1980); 10317 Small Road, Manteca, CA (1993)
- Jean: 221 North East 143rd Avenue, Portland, OR (1961)
Deaths: George died on 3 August 2018 and is buried in the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery.
Notes: George probably married Lynn M. Ballard in 1970. Jean went on to marry David Cafferata but divorced him in August 1976 before marrying Larry Grassmick the following year. She married her fourth husband, Richard Meyer in 2001. She died in Longview, WA on 12 October 2012, and was buried at Longview Memorial Park. She was survived by five children, 16 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Her obituary notes:
She loved her years as a league bowler and was always up for a bingo game or a trip to a casino. She loved going to the grocery store and cooking for her family. Jean could light up a room just by entering it. She never met a stranger.
It is curious that in all her marriages she gave her maiden name as Hedges rather than her father’s surname of Grendahl. Perhaps Reuben was not her biological father.
G4: Charlotte A. Foulkes (1916-)
Birth: Charlotte A. Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 26 July 1916. She was the second child of Lewis and Louise.
Marriage: to Courtland Walter Bunker during January 1947. She was aged 30 and he was 35.
Spouse history: Courtland had been born in Great Falls, Montana, on 29 September 1911, the second child of carpenter Dougald [sic] E. Bunker and Mina A. Gilbertson. The family lived on 1st Avenue North in the small city located just east of the Rocky Mountains which was a thriving industrial and supply centre. By 1920 they had moved about 60 miles northwest to sparsely populated Teton County, where they had a farm. By the early 1930s the family had moved again, this time about 700 miles west to Aberdeen on the Washington coast – a port built around the logging industry.
On 26 June 1934 when he was aged 22, Courtland married Ruth E. Wilson, who was 19 years old and originally from Missouri. The marriage did not last long, for by the time that the census was taken in 1940 Courtland was single again and lived with his parents.
Children: unknown.
Occupations: Charlotte began working in 1940, folding paper boxes and envelopes for a glass manufacturing company and earning a respectable salary of $1,040. By 1944 she had become a clerk. Courtland meanwhile worked as a logger in the sawmill of the Wilson Brothers Lumber Co.
Military service: Courtland Bunker enlisted into the US Navy Reserve in February 1942, just a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After a period of training he joined the crew of the USS Trever (DMS-16), an old destroyer that had been converted into a fast minesweeper and sailed to participate in the first US amphibious assault of the war at Guadalcanal during August 1942. Trever continued to support the land campaign by escorting high-speed supply convoys and sometimes carrying supplies itself. Courtland transferred to the auxiliary motor minesweeper USS YMS-97 in May 1943, which was to help clear mines inshore ahead of the amphibious assault ships. As a sonarman Courtland’s role was to detect submerged the mines. He was transferred to sistership YMS-122 in June 1944 where he served until discharged in August 1945. It’s possible that he had previously served with the US Marines between 1930-33, and the US Army in 1941.
Residences: in the late 1960s Courtland and Charlotte lived in Algona to the south of Seattle.
- Charlotte: 710 Naples St, San Francisco, CA (1916-1920); 65 Newton St, San Francisco, CA (1922-1947); 135 6th Ave N, Algona, WA (1966)
- Courtland: 1004 1st Ave N, Great Falls, MT (1911); 211 S Chehalis St, Aberdeen, WA (1940); 135 6th Ave N, Algona, WA (1969)
Deaths: Courtland died on 25 March 1969 when aged 57 and was buried in the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma.
G4: Ellen Gertrude Foulkes (1918-2006)
Birth: Ellen Gertrude Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 9 October 1918. She was the third child of Lewis and Louise.
School: attended Balboa High School and graduated in the class in 1936. Her yearbook notes “a home is my goal… a happy life I will lead!”
Marriage: to John James Roderick Kavanagh on 29 March 1940 in Carson City, Nevada. She was aged 21 and he was 25.
Spouse history: John had been born on 22 November 1914 in the small mining town of Grand Forks, just north of the US border in British Columbia, Canada. His father John was a carpenter who had emigrated from Ireland in 1901, while his mother Laura Annie was Canadian born. He normally styled himself Roderick John Kavanagh and was commonly known as Rod. In 1921 the family lived on 6th Street in Grand Forks, but they emigrated to the United States in July 1923, entering at Blaine, Washington on the Great Northern Railway. Immigration records show that John Senior was already living in Kelso, Washington and Laura and the children were on their way to join him. By 1930 his parents were divorced, and he lived with his mother and sibling in a rented apartment on Leavenworth Street in San Francisco. She was the manager of a rooming house. Rod became a US citizen in July 1942, being described as 5 feet 9 inches tall with an olive complexion, hazel eyes, and brown hair.
Children: one child in 1940.
Occupations: by 1938 Ellen worked as a clerk for Taste Good Bakeries. Rod meanwhile earnt a salary of $1,560 as an assistant engineer for the Euclid Candy Co. on Battery Street. By 1950 he was an air conditioning salesman.
Residences: when the 1940 census was taken the newlyweds lived on Washington Street just a block from the docks in downtown, which they rented for $27 per month. They moved to the pleasant Excelsior neighbourhood where they had a small house on Moscow Street, before moving twice more over the next five years. Little is known of their later life, but by the 1990s they had retired to the desert where they lived in the suburbs of El Paso, Texas on the border with Mexico.
- Ellen: 710 Naples St, San Francisco, CA (1918-1920); 65 Newton St, San Francisco, CA (1922-1940); 127 Washington St, San Francisco, CA (1940); 368 Moscow St, San Francisco, CA (1942); 241 Minerva St, San Francisco, CA (1945); 1224 7th Ave, San Francisco, CA (1948-1950)
- John: 6 St, Grand Forks, BC (1921); 1031 Leavenworth St, San Francisco, CA (1930); 65 Newton St, San Francisco, CA (1940); 127 Washington St, San Francisco, CA (1940); 368 Moscow St, San Francisco, CA (1942); 241 Minerva St, San Francisco, CA (1945); 1224 7th Ave, San Francisco, CA (1948-1950); 322 Thunderbird Dr, El Paso, TX (1992); 4124 Siete Leguas Rd, El Paso, TX (1993)
Deaths: Rod died in the city on 26 January 2001 and was buried at the Coronado Christian Church. Ellen survived him for five years and died on Christmas Eve 2006 when aged 88. Like many of her siblings she was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.
Notes: Rod registered for the draft on 16 October 1940, despite not yet being a US citizen.
G4: Lewis Albert Foulkes, Jr. (1920-2003)
Birth: Lewis Albert Foulkes Jr. was born in San Francisco, CA on 28 February 1920. He was the fourth child of Lewis and Louise.
Military service: Lewis enlisted into the US Naval Reserve in November 1942, and after a period of training joined the crew of the cruiser USS Pensacola (CA-24) at Pearl Harbor in July 1943. He first joined the team responsible for ensuring that the ship’s engines and their auxiliary machinery ran correctly, later becoming an electrician responsible for maintaining the ship’s electrical systems. For almost the next two years the ship operated in the Pacific in support of the island-hopping campaign, escorting landing forces and bombarding enemy positions, operating off Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Lewis returned home at the end of the war to live with his mother.
Occupation: in 1940 Lewis was employed as a moulder by the Vulcan Steel Works in Oakland. After the war he used the experience gained in the Navy to become a telephone installer.
Residences: 65 Newton St, San Francisco, CA (1922-1942); 542 Moscow St, San Francisco, CA (1950)
Death: Lewis died on 18 April 2003 and like many of his siblings was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.
Notes: it’s interesting to note that the 1940 census appears to have his information muddled with his younger brother Herbert. It’s highly likely that Lewis married Jessie Kellie Chalmers, but further confirmation is required.
G4: Herbert Waldemar Foulkes (1923-2008)
Birth: Herbert Waldemar Foulkes was born in San Francisco, CA on 4 September 1923. He was the fifth child of Lewis and Louise.
School: attended Balboa High School.
Military service: Herbert registered for the draft on 30 June 1942 even though he was still at school. He was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 147 lbs with a light complexion and brown eyes and hair. He enlisted into the US Army on 9 January 1943 and was given service number 39119785, serving with an anti-aircraft unit. He was admitted to hospital in June 1945 with furunculosis – a deep infection of the hair follicle that had caused an abscess that needed to be drained. Herbert was discharged from the Army on 12 December 1945. He returned home to live with his mother.
Occupations: post-war Herbert worked in a warehouse before becoming a clerk for the Pacific Fruit Exporters.
Residences: by 1955 Herbert lived in a detached house on Morse Street out in the southern suburbs, remaining there for the next 35 years at least.
- 65 Newton St, San Francisco, CA (1923-1948); 542 Moscow St, San Francisco, CA (1950); 664 Morse St, San Francisco, CA (1955-1990)
Death: on 17 November 2008, and like his siblings was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.
Notes: it’s interesting to note that the 1940 census appears to have his information muddled with his elder brother Lewis.
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