Table of Contents
This family group is rather large and so to aid readability it is split across a few parts.
G6: Mary Foulkes (1851-1935)
Birth: Mary Foulkes was born in Bagillt on 23 July 1851. She was the fifth child of Edward and Sarah.
Marriage: to Joseph Wood Massey Evans on 19 June 1878 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt. She was aged 26 and he was 32.
Spouse history: Joseph had been born at home in Flint on 3 January 1846 and was at least the fourth child of Joseph Evans and Maria Matilda Massey. He was christened at the opening of the present St. Mary’s Parish Church in 1848. His father had a general store known as Pendre Stores, and in 1851 they lived on Church Street in the centre of town.
Children: (1) Edward in 1879, (2) Gladys in 1880, (3) Mai in 1882, (4) Sarah in 1884, (5) Dorothy in 1886, (6) Nina in 1888, (7) Arthur in 1893. Dorothy died in childhood.
Occupations: Joseph entered into business with his father when he was 18 years of age. In 1871 Pendre Stores employed a shopman, an apprentice, and a domestic servant. This trend continued in 1881 when he had four servants, including a grocer’s general servant, a shop assistant and two domestic servants. Between 1891 and 1911 they appeared to have different shops on Church Street. As the children grew up Mary spent more time working in the shop, while daughter Nina became her father’s secretary. After his father’s death he carried on the business of Corn Miller at the Bryn Mill.
Residences: the family lived in the flats above their shops on Church Street. They shared their home with Joseph’s sister Annie for at least 30 years.
By 1921 Joseph and Mary had made a somewhat confusing change – they still lived at 63 Chapel Street, but not the one in Flint – they were now down the road in Connah’s Quay. They lived with their 52-year-old son Edward and 39-year-old daughter Mai and her three young children, plus the now elderly Annie.
- Mary: Pentre Bach, Bagillt (1851); Church Street, Flint (1881-1888); 29-33 Church Street, Flint (1891-1901); 57-63 Church Street, Flint (1911); 63 Church Street, Connah’s Quay (1921)
- Joseph: Church Street, Flint (1851); 6-7 Church Street, Flint (1871); Church Street, Flint (1881-1888); 29-33 Church Street, Flint (1891-1901); 57-63 Church Street, Flint (1911); 63 Church Street, Connah’s Quay (1921)
Hobbies and interests: Joseph was extremely well known and highly respected in the town of Flint. He served on the Flint Town Council in the late 1870s and was also an alderman of the Flintshire County Council for some time. He was responsible for the planting of trees in Church Street to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1898. His name was enrolled on the Commission of the Peace in 1909.
He was a staunch Conservative and was president of the Flint Conservative Club for many years. He was also an ardent churchman and was a faithful member of St Mary’s Parish Church, Flint, where at different times he occupied various offices, including those of warden and sidesman.
Deaths: Joseph died at home on 29 October 1929 when aged 83. He had contracted a chill and was taken worse two days later, when Dr Dobey, Chester, was called in consultation with Drs J Humphry Williams and Bateman, but he gradually became weaker and passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning. He left his estate of £15,963 11s (around £730k today) to his son Edward, and a John Denny who was the town clerk. Mary survived him for six years and died after a long illness on 7 June 1935 when aged 83. She was buried with her husband and their daughters and left her estate of £385 13s 8d (around £20k today) to her son Edward.
Notes: Mary is missing from the 1861 and 1871 censuses.
G5: Edward Nevylle Evans (1879-1965)
Birth: Edward Nevylle Evans was born in Flint on 24 March 1879. He was the first child of newlyweds Joseph and Mary.
Christening: on 13 April 1879 at St Mary’s Church in Flint.
Marriage: to Mary Agnes Faulds on 15 October 1927 at St Simon and St Jude’s Church on Anfield Road in Liverpool. He was aged 48 and he was 33.
Spouse history: Mary was 15 years younger than Edward and had been born in Liverpool on 7 March 1894, the third child of Adam Faulds and Mary Adelaide Smith. She was christened at Emmanuel in Everton in April, at which time the family lived in a terraced house on Tweed Street, which bordered Snail Park. Her father was originally from Scotland and worked as a ship’s steward. During her childhood they moved between several houses, eventually ending up in Walton.
Children: none.
Occupations: by March 1901 Edward had become a commercial clerk in Liverpool. He had a long career in insurance, working in 1917 for the Royal Insurance Company at North John Street in Liverpool where he specialised in fire insurance. By 1929 Edward had worked his way up to become an insurance branch manager, an occupation he still had on the outbreak of war.
Mary meanwhile had worked as a shop assistant for an umbrella marker, likely in the same shop where her older sister Jessie was the manageress. By 1920 she was a kiosk attendant in the merchant marine, being described as 5 feet 4 inches tall with brown eyes and hair and a dark complexion. She soon moved on, with the 1921 census recording that she was a stockkeeper for Welch Margetson gents outfitters in the Chicago Building on Whitechapel. During the war she volunteered as an ARP ambulance driver.
Residences: in 1901 Edward lived with a Charles Meredith, who was perhaps a colleague, in a terraced house on Needham Road on the edge of the Wavertree Botanical Gardens. Edward remained a bachelor into his forties – in 1911 he lived in a boarding house on Rake Lane in Wallasey on the Wirral and probably commuted across the Mersey. By 1921 he was back living with his parents in Connah’s Quay.
At the time of their marriage, Edward lived in a semi-detached house on Grove Road in Wallasey, while Mary lived with her parents. By 1939 they had moved into a large semi-detached house on Osmaston Road on a new housing estate in the Prenton suburb of Birkenhead.
- Edward: Church Street, Flint (1881); 29-33 Church Street, Flint (1891); 116 Needham Road, Liverpool (1901); 144 Rake Lane, Wallasey (1911); 63 Church Street, Connah’S Quay (1921); 17 Grove Road, Wallasey (1927); 18 Osmaston Road, Birkenhead (1939-1965)
- Mary: 36 Tweed Street, Liverpool (1894); 24 St. Andrews Road, Liverpool (1901); 6 Walton Vale, Liverpool (1911); 43 Clapham Road, Liverpool (1921-1927); 18 Osmaston Road, Birkenhead (1939)
Hobbies and interests: in 1913 Edward joined the Wallasey Lodge of the Freemasons.
Deaths: Edward died at home at home on 24 July 1965 when aged 86. He left his estate of £21,596 (around £381k) today) to his wife. Mary survived him by some 25 years and died in South Glamorgan in February 1990.
G5: Gladys Marie Evans (1880-1933)
Birth: Gladys Marie Evans was born in Flint during 1880. She was the second child of Joseph and Mary.
Christening: on 7 November 1880 at St Mary’s Church in Flint.
Occupations: in 1901 Gladys worked as a governess at a school.
Residences: Church Street, Flint (1881); 29-33 Church Street, Flint (1891-1901)
Death: on 25 April 1933 at her parent’s home when aged just 53. She left her estate of £1,865 4s 2d (around £85k today) to her sister Nina. She never married.
G5: Mai Evans (1882-1976)
Birth: Mai Evans was born in Flint on 12 April 1882. She was the third child of Joseph and Mary.
Christening: on 7 May 1882 at St Mary’s Church in Flint.
School: enrolled into Holywell County School on in April 1882 when aged 15, having previously been privately educated.
Marriage: to Joseph Henry Kahn on 30 April 1913 at St Mary’s, which was a Church of Wales even though he was Jewish. She was aged 31 and he was 39.
Spouse history: Joseph was an American, and the elder brother of her younger sister Sarah’s husband Otto. He had been born in New York City on 17 October 1873 to Dr Hermann Kahn, a physician who had emigrated from Bavaria five years earlier, and his wife Isabella who was of German descent. In 1880 the family of six lived in St Joseph, Missouri – a lively town that served as the final stopping off point for travellers to the ‘Wild West’. It was around this time that outlaw Jessie James was killed at his home about a mile away from theirs. Their time in the south appeared brief however, as when their fifth child was born in 1882 they were back in New York.
In 1901 they owned a very smart five-storey town house on the Upper East Side. 26-year-old Joseph worked as a salesman, but at the end of June enlisted into the US Marine Corps. He was described as 5 feet 5 inches tall with brown hair and eyes and a ruddy complexion. He did not serve for long and deserted from the USRS Vermont on 1 November. This was an old ship of the line that was permanently moored in New York harbour as a store and receiving ship. It’s not known if Joseph faced any punishment for his desertion, but there is a big chunk of his life following this incident that is unaccounted for. He evidently moved to England and South Africa for a while and worked as a merchant. He travelled between Liverpool and New York in 1906 on the SS Campania.
In January 1913, Joseph arrived at Southampton from Durban, South Africa onboard the RMS Saxon, before making his way to Liverpool and almost immediately sailing for New York onboard the SS Mauetaria, arriving in early February 1913. He gave his permanent residence as Mossel Bay in South Africa where he lived with a Mrs Mackay. He married Mai two months later, taking her back home.
Children: (1) Kenneth in 1914, (2) Douglas in 1916, (3) Arthur in 1919, (4) Dorothy in 1925.
Occupations: by 1913 Joseph worked as a produce and general merchant for Kenner, Khan and Company. He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Committee of the Public Library, and the Mossel Bay Hospital Board. He was obviously a successful businessman, with children in prestigious private schools and large houses in affluent areas. The National Register of 1939 recorded him as a retired patent broker.
Residences: after living in Mossel Bay throughout the war, the family returned to the UK onboard the SS Llanstephan Castle in September 1919. After seeing them settled, Joseph travelled alone to New York the following month to visit his mother, arriving at the end of October and returning at the end of November. The 1921 census captured Mai and the children living with her parents in Connah’s Quay.
By 1923 the family had settled in the leafy South London where over the next few decades they had larges houses in Sutton and Carshalton.
- Mai: Church Street, Flint (1891); 63 Church Street, Connah’s Quay (1921); 37 Grove Road, Sutton (1923-1936); 15 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (1937-1939); 10 Fairview Road, Sutton (1945-1956); 19 Peaches Close, Sutton (1957-1968); The Meads, Howell Hill, Cheam Road, Sutton (1976)
- Joseph: N 5th St, Saint Joseph, MO (1880); 158 E 74th St, New York, NY (1900); 37 Grove Road, Sutton (1923-1936); 15 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (1937-1939); 10 Fairview Road, Sutton (1945-1946)
Deaths: Joseph died at home on 24 March 1946 when aged 72. He was buried three days later, although the record noted that he was exhumed on 6 July 1973. He left his estate of £1,662 15s 11d to his wife. Mai died at home on 11 April 1976 at the age of 94. She had last lived with son Douglas and his family, leaving an estate of £8,292 (around £63k today).
Notes: Mai is missing from the 1901 and 1911 censuses.
G4: Kenneth Evans Kahn (1914-2003)
Birth: Kenneth Evans Kahn was born in Mossel Bay, South Africa on 11 February 1914. He was the first child of Joseph and Mai.
Christening: on 18 March 1914 at St Peter’s Church on Marsh Street in Mossel Bay.
Schools: attended Dulwich College in London, the prestigious private school.
Military service: Kenneth joined the Royal Artillery and was given service number 1578015, being commissioned as a Lieutenant on 22 November 1940. Nothing is known of his war service, but he resigned his commission on 12 June 1943, which is unusual during wartime.
Occupations: before the war Kenneth worked as a bank clerk while Beryl was a part-time school mistress. Ken retired as a bank manager.
Marriage: to Beryl Sylvia Hoare during 1944 in Surrey. They were both aged 29.
Spouse history: Beryl had been born in Epsom on 7 May 1914 to Frederick Walter Hoare and Nellie Florence Holland. In 1921 the family lived in a semi-detached house on Salisbury Avenue in Sutton. Her father was a buying agent for Marrison & Co. export merchants on Queen Victoria Street.
Children: a girl in 1953.
Residences: the newlyweds lived with Beryl’s parents between 1947-1948 before moving literally around the corner into an impressive semi-detached villa in a well-to-do neighbourhood. They appeared to lodge with a couple named Arthur and Annie Jackson. When Beryl fell pregnant in 1953 they moved back in with her father and remained there until 1960. They then moved to another impressive house on Gander Green Lane, still a stone’s throw from her parents, where they lived until at least 1973.
- Kenneth: 63 Church Street, Connah’s Quay (1921); 37 Grove Road, Sutton (1923-1936); 15 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (1937-1939); 61 Salisbury Avenue, Sutton (1947-1948); 15 Bridgefield Road, Sutton (1949-1952); 61 Salisbury Avenue, Sutton (1953-1960); 11 Gander Green Lane, Sutton (1962-1973)
- Beryl: 61 Salisbury Avenue, Sutton (1921-1948); 15 Bridgefield Road, Sutton (1949-1952); 61 Salisbury Avenue, Sutton (1953-1960); 11 Gander Green Lane, Sutton (1961-1973); 23 Downs Side, Sutton (1999)
Deaths: Beryl died in Sutton on 14 August 1999 when aged 85 and was cremated 12 days later. She had spent her last months in Chegworth Nursing Home, having borne an illness for 20 years without complaint. Ken retired as a bank manager, and died at Philbeach Nursing Home in Hythe, Kent on 28 May 2003 when aged 89. He had moved there to be closer to his daughter. He was buried in Sutton Cemetery.
G4: Douglas Haig Evans Kahn (1916-2006)
Birth: Douglas Haig Evans Kahn was born in Mossel Bay, South Africa on 13 July 1916. He was the second child of Joseph and Mai.
Christening: on 25 September 1916 at St Peter’s Church on Marsh Street in Mossel Bay, presumably being named after Field Marshal Douglas Haig who was commander on the Western Front at the time.
Schools: attended Dulwich College in London, the prestigious private school.
Marriage: to Betty Kathleen Marshall during 1942 in Surrey. He was aged 25 and she was 26.
Spouse history: Betty had been born on 30 November 1915 to self-employed leather merchant Frederick George Marshall and Nora Kathleen Gill. In 1921 they lived on Ringstead Road in Sutton, later moving to a large house on Overton Road.
Children: (1) a girl in 1946, (2) Rosemary in 1948.
Occupation: by 1939 Douglas was an articled clerk with a firm of chartered accountants while Betty was a company secretary.
Residences: post-war the newlyweds lived in what appeared to be a large semi-detached house on Angel Hill in north Sutton. They then cycled through a series of big houses until their deaths.
- Douglas: 63 Church Street, Connah’s Quay (1921); 37 Grove Road, Sutton (1923-1936); 15 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (1937-1939); 25 Angel Hill, Sutton (1945); 72 Egmont Road, Sutton (1946-1951); 11 Mayfield Road, Sutton (1952-1960); The Meads, Howell Hill, Cheam Road, Sutton (1961-1976); 35 Downs Side, Sutton (2003-2005)
- Betty: Cleeve, Ringstead Road, Sutton (1921); 38 Overton Road, Sutton (1939); 25 Angel Hill, Sutton (1945); 72 Egmont Road, Sutton (1946-1951); 11 Mayfield Road, Sutton (1952-1960); The Meads, Howell Hill, Cheam Road, Sutton (1961-1976); 35 Downs Side, Sutton (2003-2005)
Deaths: Douglas died on 11 May 2006 when aged 90, with Betty surviving him for just a year and died in March 2007 when aged 92.
G3: Rosemary Alison Kahn (1948-1972)
Birth: Rosemary Alison Kahn was born in Surrey during 1948. She was the second child of Douglas and Betty.
Residences: 72 Egmont Road, Sutton (1948-1951); 11 Mayfield Road, Sutton (1952-1960); The Meads, Howell Hill, Cheam Road, Sutton (1961-1972)
Death: Rosemary died on 29 April 1972 when aged 24.
G4: Arthur Harold Evans Kahn (1919-1944)
Birth: Arthur Harold Evans Kahn was born in Mossel Bay, South Africa on 6 May 1919. He was the third child of Joseph and Mai.
Christening: on 20 July 1919 at St Peter’s Church on Marsh Street in Mossel Bay.
Schools: attended Dulwich College in London, the prestigious private school. He lost his attendance through illness however and completed his education at Epsom College.
Occupations: in 1936 Arthur joined the Marine Branch of the Switzerland General Insurance Company.
Military service: Arthur joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in May 1939 and although he was initially accepted as a pilot was soon re-tasked as an Observer. Following a period of training he was commissioned and joined No.248 Squadron during September 1940. This was a Coastal Command squadron equipped with the Blenheim IVF for maritime patrol, anti-shipping, and convoy escort duties over the North Sea and along the coast of Norway. Initially based at RAF Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands, they moved to RAF Dyce in Aberdeen in January 1941. Most missions were uneventful patrols with little excitement.
In May 1941 Arthur was posted as an instructor to a flying school in Nova Scotia, Canada, where he spent a comfortable two years training new recruits. He then returned home and on 1 June 1944 joined No.172 Squadron at RAF Chivenor in Devon as a navigator, arriving just days before the Allied invasion of Europe. Arthur was killed on the night of 14/15 June, his first mission with the squadron, when his aircraft went missing in the Bay of Biscay.
Marriage: to Helen Margaret Morice during 1943 in Surrey. He was aged 23 and she was 22.
Spouse history: Helen had been born in Surrey on 14 January 1920 to Owen L. Morice, a civil servant, and Annie C. FInlayson. She followed in her father’s footsteps, and in 1936 was appointed as a Grade 1 Clerical Assistant in the civil service, serving in the Registry of Friendly Societies.
Children: none.
Residences:
- Arthur: 37 Grove Road, Sutton (1923-1936); 15 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (1937-1939)
- Helen: 10 The Byway, Sutton (1939)
Death: Arthur was aged 25 when he was killed. He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, which commemorates over 20,000 men and women of the air forces, who were lost in the war and who have no known graves. He left his estate of £825 8s 10d (around £29k today) to his widow.
Notes: Helen married Wallace Corrie in 1952.
G4: Dorothy Mary Isabel Kahn (1925-2018)
Birth: Dorothy Mary Isabel Kahn was born in Epsom on 5 February 1925. She was the fourth child and first daughter of Joseph and Mai.
Marriage: to Stephen John Lane during 1960 in Surrey. She was aged 34 and he was 33.
Spouse history: Stephen had been born in Croydon on 20 May 1926 to Charles W. Lane and Dorothy M. Meek. In 1939 the family lived in a large terraced house on Richmond Road near Thornton Heath Recreation Ground.
Children: two daughters in 1962 and 1968.
Residences: when the National Register was taken in September 1939, 14-year-old Dorothy was living with her mother’s first cousin Edith Rees and her husband David, who was the vicar of Llanerfyl in Wales. It’s likely that she had been sent away from the capital due to the fear of German bombing.
The newlyweds lived together in a small terraced house on Longfield Road in Cheam, before in 1965 moving to what looks like a very large detached house, or possibly a flat within, on Christchurch Park in neighbouring Sutton. Their final home together was in Ewell.
- Dorothy: 37 Grove Road, Sutton (1925-1936); 15 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (1937-1939); Llanerfyl Rectory, Llanerfyl (1939); 15 Beeches Avenue, Carshalton (1947-1948); 10 Fairview Road, Sutton (1949-1956); 19 Peaches Close, Sutton (1957-1960); 103 Longfield Road, Worcester Park (1960-1961); 9 Christchurch Park, Sutton (1965); 8 Garbrand Walk, Ewell (1983)
- Stephen: 15 RIchmond Road, Thornton Heath (1939); 103 Longfield Road, Worcester Park (1960-1961); 9 Christchurch Park, Sutton (1965); 8 Garbrand Walk, Ewell (1983)
Deaths: Stephen died on 20 April 1983 when aged just 56. Dorothy died on 26 September 2018 when aged 93.
Notes: Dorothy took a trip to New York between May and August 1956, sailing to and from Liverpool on the RMS Franconia. She was by now a medical secretary, but still lived with her mother in Cheam.
G5: Sarah Olive Evans (1884-1965)
Birth: Sarah Olive Evans was born in Flint on 6 February 1884. She was the fourth child of Joseph and Mary and commonly known by her middle name.
Christening: on 9 March 1884 at St Mary’s Church in Flint.
School: 17-year-old Sarah was captured on the 1901 census as a pupil at the Howell School for Ladies in Denbigh. This was a private school with a mix of boarding and day pupils.
Marriage: to Otto Charles Kahn on 30 June 1909 at St Mary’s, which was a Church of Wales even though he was Jewish. She was aged 25 and he was 34.
Spouse history: Otto was an American businessman and the younger brother of her elder sister Mai’s husband Joseph – although they were the first to marry. He had been born in New York City on 12 December 1874 and educated at the City College of New York.
Children: (1) Evans in 1910, (2) Gwyneth in 1913.
Occupations: by the age of 25 Otto worked as a clerk for Kuhn Lobe investment bankers. The company had been founded by Jewish German immigrants as a dry-goods and clothing merchants but became a prominent investment bank. Otto paid a visit to Germany in 1908, departing Hamburg in June onboard the SS Deutschland. He arrived in England just six weeks before his marriage in 1909, by which time he was by the head of the stock transfer department of the Union Pacific Railroad which ran from Nebraska in the central United States to the Pacific Coast and handled a mix of freight and passenger transport. Otto would work for the company for the rest of his career – by 1918 he was the Assistant Secretary with an office on Broadway in New York City, retiring with the same role in 1934.
Residences: after their honeymoon, the couple moved to the United States, where they spent the summer at Otto’s parents’ summer home at Lawrence on Long Island, and then lived with them on in New York City. Otto’s job evidently paid well as by 1913 they had moved upstate to the wealthy suburb of New Rochelle, where they owned a very large house on The Court. They had moved to a more modest house on Hartford Avenue in Greenwich on the Connecticut coast by 1950, taking their daughter with them. It was possible that this was a second home, as when Olive took trips back to England the 1950s she gave her address as Centre Avenue, which was possibly an apartment in the centre of New Rochelle.
- Olive: 29-33 Church Street, Flint (1891); 158 E 74th St, New York, NY (1910); 9 The Court, New Rochelle, NY (1914-1940); Hartford Avenue, Greenwich, CT (1950-1958); 151 Centre Ave, New Rochelle, NY (1961)
- Otto: N 5th St, Saint Joseph, MO (1880); 158 E 74th St, New York, NY (1900-1905); 158 E 74th St, New York, NY (1910); 9 The Court, New Rochelle, NY (1914-1940); Hartford Avenue, Greenwich, CT (1950-1958)
Travel: the family’s wealth enabled Olive to take regular trips home, including visits with her children in the months either side of the First World War. On this latter occasion she had to apply for permission to leave the US, which included the following statement:
I have no relatives of my own in this country, an after an absence of over five years from my aged parents, I desire to visit them for what, without question, will be the last reunion. Some of my nearest relatives, including my brother (who was killed) have been killed or wounded in the war, and the surviving members of our immediate family are now on their way to England. My sister, her husband and family, are coming from South Africa for this occasion, and should I be prevented from attending the reunion, I should be the only absent one. I therefore respectfully urge you favourably to consider my appeal. I am an active worker and officer of the “Daughters of the British Empire”, and since the entry of the United States in the war, have worked untiringly for my adopted country.
The appeal was apparently successful for she sailed a few weeks later. Olive made regular trips home in the 1920s and 1930s, with the passenger lists often recorded her as ‘Olive Evans Kahn’.
Deaths: Otto died in Nathaniel Witherell Hospital, Old Greenwich, on 13 October 1964 when aged 89 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Jewish Cemetery in Hawthorne, NY. Olive died on 6 December 1965 aged 86.
G4: Herman Evans Kahn (1910-1986)
Birth: Herman Evans Kahn was born in New York City on 13 June 1910. He was the first child of newlyweds Otto and Sarah and commonly known by his middle name.
School: Evans attended first the Mayflower and then New Rochelle High School, where in 1927 he was part of the news team on the school’s Purple and White paper. He then attended the prestigious Yale University where he graduated with honours in 1932.
Travel: Evans made a first solo visit to England in 1931 when aged 21, stating that he was intending to stay on Park Road in Lincoln with the W.B. Kahn & Co., which was a firm of patent brokers based in New York.
Military service: Evans enlisted into the US Navy Reserve in November 1942 when aged 32. He was joined the submarine chaser USS PC-625 in March 1943 as a Lieutenant J.G. and saw service in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. He was in command for almost exactly a year from October 1943. He then served on the USS Renate attack cargo ship in the Pacific. After the war Evans continued in the reserves for the next 25 years.
Marriage: to Edith Josephine James on 26 May 1947 at the First Unitarian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was aged 36 and he was 33. Following a reception in the home of the bride’s parents, they left for a southern trip.
Spouse history: Like her husband, Edith was commonly known by her middle name. She had been born in the city on 27 February 1914 to Joseph Hidy James and Edith M. Mallison. Her father was the head of the department of chemical engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology and was distinguished for his research. He would hold this position until retiring in 1937. In 1930 the family owned a detached house on Douglas Street, a quiet road in the eastern suburbs valued at $20,000. Josephine went to university in 1936 and became a graduate both of Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago. When the census was taken in 1940, she lived with two friends in an apartment on North Linden Avenue. Like one of her flatmates, she was a social worker for a juvenile court, earning a salary of $1,600.
When the US entered the war after Pearl Harbor Edith joined the American Red Cross and served in the Southwest Pacific. She pioneered the establishment of service clubs for troops in northern Australia and later served in army and navy hospitals in New Zealand, Australia, and New Guinea. After three years abroad she sailed home from the Philippines onboard the USS General John Pope. Her service in the Red Cross mirrored that of her future sister-in-law Gwyneth and it’s possible that they knew each other.
Children: a boy and a girl between 1952 and 1955.
Occupations: after graduating Yale, Evans worked as a private secretary. In 1940 he worked for the American Cyanamid Company, which was growing into one of America’s leading conglomerates making chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and plastics. He returned to the company post-war and became one of their patent attorneys, where he was responsible for patenting the titanium dioxide pigment process used in the manufacture of paper. Evans was a member of the Bar of the City of New York, and the American, Connecticut, and New York Patent Law Associations.
Edith meanwhile continued with the Red Cross after the war and in 1947 was an administrative assistant with the national headquarters in Washington, DC.
Residences: the couple settled in New Rochelle, New York, living in his parents’ old home on The Court when the census was taken in 1950. They followed them to Connecticut and in 1959 lived in a very large house in Old Greenwich – one of the wealthiest communities in the US.
- Evans: 9 The Court, New Rochelle, NY (1914-1958); 105 Shore Rd, Old Greenwich, CT (1961-1986)
- Josephine: 5868 Douglas St, Pittsburgh, PA (1930-1932); 123 N Linden Ave, Pittsburgh, PA (1940); 5868 Douglas St, Pittsburgh, PA (1947); 9 The Court, New Rochelle, NY (1950-1958); 105 Shore Rd, Old Greenwich, CT (1961-1975)
Divorce: the couple divorced on 12 March 1975 after six months of separation. Evans never remarried.
Deaths: Evans died on 17 April 1986 when aged 75. Josephine died on 9 February 2003.
G4: Gwyneth Evans Kahn (1913-2019)
Birth: Gwyneth Evans Kahn was born in New York City on 29 August 1913. She was the second child of Otto and Sarah.
School: attended New Rochelle High School, where in 1929 she followed her elder brother onto the news team on the school’s Purple and White paper and played in the championship cup winning tennis team. Gwyneth attended Wellesley College in the early 1930s.
Occupation: after college Gwyneth remembered, “I plunged right into the Depression, head-first, and that was very, very hard.” Her ailing mother returned to England, and Gwyneth went along to care for her, remaining from 1937 to 1940 and finding work for a women’s magazine. She wrote several short stories and also freelanced stories and light verse. She stayed in England during the first year of the war, hoping to serve in some wartime capacity, but when the United States sent a “last chance” ship to bring home its expatriates she took it. She made the somewhat hazardous journey across the Atlantic in June 1940 despite the risk from German U-boats, escaping London just before the Luftwaffe began raining destruction.
Back in the States she joined the ‘William Allen White Committee to Defend America by Aiding its Allies’, barnstorming through New England giving talks on village greens and in town centres. She became a reader at Paramount Pictures in New York but when the US entered the war after Pearl Harbor she responded to an American Red Cross recruitment drive. Expecting to be sent to Europe she found herself in the Southwest Pacific including New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. The large island nation of New Guinea saw one of the war’s most devastating military campaigns, resulting in the deaths of about 216,000 Japanese, Australian and US soldiers, sailors, and airmen. She sailed from the US on 30 March aboard the SS Klipfontein. After a three-year tour of duty, she sailed from Leyte in the Philippines onboard the USS General Charles H. Muir, arriving in New York on 14 August after a six-week journey. She returned to live with her parents.
Post-war Gwyneth resumed her editing and writing career. “I sold a story to the Saturday Evening Post for a vast sum, $750, a lot of money in those days, and I thought my future was assured.” Alongside freelancing she began working for Time Magazine, where she stayed for more than 20 years. Asked what she did during her employment with Time Magazine, she replied jovially: “A lot of people wondered.” She worked in promotion, did research for Time-Life Books, and along the way contributed articles to Vogue and the New York Times Magazine. She later worked for the Saturday Evening Post.
She continued to travel transatlantic, making a trip in 1948, but by 1953 had traded steamships for airlines, flying from London to New York with TWA. This was the year that her parents, whom she still lived with, moved to Hartford Avenue in Greenwich on the Connecticut coast.
Marriage: to Harold Barger on 10 December 1955 at the home of Gwyneth’s parents. She was aged 42 and he was 48.
Spouse history: Harold was a widowed economics professor at Columbia University in New York. He had been born in London on 27 April 1907, son of George Barger and Florence Emily Thomas. In 1911 the family lived in a fine detached house on Tyrwhitt Road in the St John area of Lewisham next to Hilly Fields. His father was a lecturer for nearby Goldsmith’s College. Harold followed in his footsteps and received a B.A. from Cambridge in 1930 and a PhD from the London School of Economics in 1937, having been a lecturer at the University of London since 1931. He married Anne Macdonald Walls on 8 July 1937, just three weeks before they moved to the United States. They initially lived in an apartment in the West Village area of New York. He taught at Columbia for almost 40 years, beginning in 1937 as an instructor in economics, becoming an assistant professor in 1943.
Harold became a naturalised US citizen in 1940, registering for the draft on 16 October. He was described as 5 feet 11 inches tall with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a light complexion. Rather than serving in the army however, as a specialist in monetary policy and income and employment theory, Harold served as a consultant to the US Bureau of the Census and Bureau of Mines. He conducted studies for the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1940-54, and between 1943-45 also served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) – the forerunner of the CIA. From 1945-46 he was an assistant division chief for the State Department. He returned to Columbia as associate professor in 1947, becoming professor in 1954, the year that his first wife died. Harold was assistant to the dean of the college from 1954-59, and chairman of the economics department from 1961-64.
Children: none.
Residences: after their marriage the childless couple resided in apartments in the West Village close to Colombia, and on weekends in Chatham. The couple then spent a sabbatical year in Paris living in the Montparnasse district as Harold served as the first director of Reid Hall, the campus recently acquired by Columbia. She served as staff manager and supervised the reconstruction of the building. In 1975 they retired to their country home in Kinderhook, where they became active in community affairs, and kept a second home in Spencertown.
- Gwyneth: 9 The Court, New Rochelle, NY (1913-1952); Hartford Avenue, Greenwich, CT (1950-1958); 161 E 46th St, New York, NY (1953); 54 Morningside Dr, New York, NY (1962); 35 Hudson Street, Kinderhook, NY (1984-1995)
- Harold: 107 Tyrwhitt Road, Lewisham (1911); 29 W 8th St, New York, NY (1940-1953); 67 Charles St, New York, NY (1958); 54 Morningside Dr, New York, NY (1962)
Deaths: Harold died of pneumonia on 9 August 1989 after a long illness. Gwyneth died on 15 January 2019 when aged 105.
Notes: Gwyneth wrote for many of the newspapers and magazines in Columbia County. On the 50th anniversary of the 1929 Crash the couple collaborated on an article for the New York Times Magazine and also wrote a book, “College on Credit”, detailing the history of united student aid funds, a private organisation.
The couple had always travelled extensively in Europe, and after her husband died Gwyneth added to her travels Russia, China, Turkey, Egypt, and India. In 2001 she moved to Kimball Farms Lifetime Care Community in Lenox, MA, and remained active and contributed to the many activities it offered.
Gwyneth celebrated her 100th birthday in 2013, having a party that was reported in the local newspaper. She said at the time that she had but one regret, that she had wanted to ride in the passenger seat of a four-wheeled motorcycle as part of her celebration but was talked out of it for safety’s sake. Described by neighbours in the independent-living wing of the retirement community as one of the most beloved residents, she was “quite spry, sharp as a tack and very adventurous” said Michelle Rosier, director of residential services. “She did a lot of the planning for her party”. During a conversation with a visitor on her birthday, she enthused about the just-concluded lunch of burgers and onion rings celebrated with her late husband’s niece, Kirsten Barger, and her goddaughter Hilary Marshall, both visiting from England. They quaffed a bottle of champagne “we downed it, knocked it off” said Gwyneth, well-coiffed, vivacious, and eager to recount highlights of her life story. Those days, her greatest pleasure was “seeing all my friends, that’s been the greatest joy in my life. That big party last Sunday was the most wonderful thing that could have happened.” Asked to describe the most significant change she has witnessed during the past century, she responded without hesitation, “I would think the Internet. It can remember things I can’t!”
G5: Dorothy Vois Evans (1886-1890)
Birth: Dorothy Vois Evans was born in Flint in 1886. She was the fifth child of Joseph and Mary.
Christening: on 29 August 1886 at St Mary’s Church in Flint.
Residences: Church Street, Flint (1886-1888)
Death: Dorothy died early in 1890 when aged just 3 and was buried on 5 May.
G5: Nina Evans (1888-)
Birth: Nina Evans was born in Flint in 1888. She was the sixth child of Joseph and Mary.
Christening: on 21 October 1888 at St Mary’s Church in Flint.
School: 12-year-old Nina was captured on the 1901 census as a pupil at the Howell School for Ladies in Denbigh.
Marriage: to Reginald Elsenham Montgomery Moore on 19 June 1920 at All Saints in Sydenham. She was aged 32 and he was 28.
Spouse history: Reginald was an Australian, and had been born in Bundaberg, Queensland on 27 September 1891, one of six children of Dr William Holmes Moore and his English wife Emily Rachel Carpenter. After his father died in 1896, his widowed mother moved the family back to her homeland. In 1911 they lived in a large semi-detached house in the Forrest Hill area of Lewisham. During the war he served with the 1st Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment, being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 21 November 1915. After returning he lived with his mother at what must have been a newly built end terrace villa on Queensthorpe Road close to Sydenham tube station.
Children: none.
Occupations: in 1911, 19-year-old Reginald was a clerk for a provision merchant, while Nina was a merchant’s secretary – which is possibly how they met. In 1921 he was a salesman for a produce merchant on Milling Lane.
Residences: the newlyweds initially boarded with the widow Emily Rimmer in her home on Taylor Road, where they were captured in the 1921 census. They possibly lived in a house called Westhays on Sidney Road in Walton-on-Thames between 1925-1926.
- Nina: 29-33 Church Street, Flint (1891); 57-63 Church Street, Flint (1911); 57 Taylor Road, Wallington (1921); Westhays, Sidney Road, Walton-on-Thames (1925-1926)
- Reginald: 71 Woolstone Road, Sydenham (1911); 2 Queensthorpe Road, Sydenham (1918-1920); 57 Taylor Road, Wallington (1921); Westhays, Sidney Road, Walton-on-Thames (1925-1926)
Deaths: Reginald died on 6 June 1926 when aged just 34, and was buried in Walton-on-Thames Cemetery. He left his estate of £4,704 14s 11d (around £193k today) to his wife and her elder brother Edward.
Notes: I can find no further record of Nina.
G5: Arthur Leslie Evans (1893-1917)
Birth: Arthur Leslie Evans was born in Flint on . He was the seventh child of Joseph and Mary and known by his middle name.
Christening: on 7 January 1894 at St Mary’s Church in Flint.
School: Leslie was educated at King’s School, Chester, a historic boarding school.
Occupations: in 1911 when he was aged 17, Leslie worked as an apprentice corn merchant with Messrs. John Blyth & Sons of Bootle.
Residences: 29-33 Church Street, Flint (1901); 57-63 Church Street, Flint (1911).
Military service: Leslie enlisted into the army in September 1914, just five weeks after the outbreak of war with Germany. He joined his cousin in the 17th (Service) Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment and arrived in France during November 1915. His battalion was involved in the initial attack of the Battle of the Somme in June 1916, and then supported the follow-up attacks over the next few weeks. The battalion was held in reserve for the big offensive around Arras in April 1917. On 30 July they were involved in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres, with such heavy casualties that they were withdrawn until September. Leslie was wounded on 4 December during a sporadic artillery attack on the trenches during an otherwise quiet period and died two days later.
Death: Leslie is buried in the Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, with the personal inscription “Gone from our life but never from our hearts”. He left his estate of £627 16 d 7d (around £18k today) to Alfred Harvey Blake and Richard Mogridge, who were insurance clerks.
G6: Margaret Hannah Foulkes (1853-)
Birth: Margaret Hannah Foulkes was born in Bagillt during 1853. She was the sixth child of Edward and Sarah.
Christening: on 6 December 1853 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt. The church record gives Hannah as a middle name compared to Ann as given on her birth registration.
Marriage: to John Thomas Roberts on 15 February 1882 at St Mary’s. She was aged 29.
Spouse history: due to the commonality of his name nothing is known about Thomas other than he was an agent who lived in Mostyn.
Children: unknown.
Residences: Rose Place, High Street, Bagillt (1871); Castle Villa, Bagillt (1881)
G6: Thomas Foulkes (1856-1926)
Birth: Margaret Hannah Foulkes was born in Bagillt during 1856. He was the seventh child of Edward and Sarah.
Christening: on 20 January 1856 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
Occupations: Thomas worked with his mother in the family grocer’s shop, taking it over after her death.
Residences: Thomas lived at home with his mother well into adulthood, after which he continued to live Caste Villa until his own death.
- Rose Place, High Street, Bagillt (1871); Castle Villa, Bagillt (1881-1926)
Death: Thomas died on 17 June 1926 when aged 70. He was buried three days later, with the service performed by his niece’s husband Octavius Rees. He left his estate of £1891 6s 5d (around £78k today) to his younger brother William, also a grocer.
G6: Sarah Selina Foulkes (1858-1941)
Birth: Sarah Selina Foulkes was born in Bagillt on 16 July 1858. She was the eighth child of Edward and Sarah.
Christening: on 8 August 1858 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
Marriage: to William Thomas Pierce on 6 June 1883 at St Mary’s. She was aged 24 and he was 31. The event was reported in the local newspaper:
The popularity of the bridegroom and his father and of the family of which the bride is a member was testified by the manner in which the inhabitants celebrated the occasion, the town being decorated throughout with triumphal arches, flags, banners, mottoes & etc... Besides the large congregation at the church, hundreds of the inhabitants turned out in the streets to welcome the happy pair and to vent their hearty expressions of goodwill. After the ceremony the party returned to Castle Villa for the wedding breakfast, and Mr and Mrs Pierce left in the afternoon for London and the Isle of Wight, where the honeymoon will be spent. As they left they were heartily cheered by a large crowd, the cheering being accompanied by the usual showers of rice etc. A grand ball was held in the evening in the Assembly Hall of Coca House, and was well attended... A public testimonial is to be given to Mr Pierce upon his return from the honeymoon, a subscription list already exceeding £100 having been opened for the purpose.
Spouse history: William had been born in 1852 as the second child and only son of William Pierce and Judith Hunt. He was christened at St Mary’s in July. His mother died the following year, after which his father never remarried. In 1861 the family lived with his father’s elderly aunt Fanny Thomas in a house called Bryn Avvin in the south of the village, who no doubt helped care for the two young children while he was out working as a brewer and maltster. Over the next decade they moved to Oaklands, which looks to be an old farmhouse off Gadlys Lane, and perhaps where William brewed his ale. They still shared their home with Aunt Fanny, although there were also three servants: a housemaid, a domestic servant, and a groom. Little changed over the next decade, although they had four servants by 1891, with a coachman and a ‘boots’ replacing the groom.
Children: (1) Judith in 1886, (2) William in 1887, (3/4) Frank and Sarah in 1891, (5) Violet in 1894. By 1921 the had adopted Louise Hughes.
Occupations: William followed in his father’s footsteps and became a maltster and brewer, becoming a corn and hop merchant by 1901. The 1921 census revealed that he was a clerk and commissioning agent in farm seeds.
Residences: the newlyweds lived with her parents at Oaklands until moving to Chester before 1901. They had a large terraced house on Brook Lane on the very northern edge of the city and could afford to employ a domestic servant, with space in their home for William’s now elderly father.
They moved back home to Wales over the next decade, with the 1911 census capturing them on Gladstone Road, a semi-detached house that backed onto the canal. They lived with their three youngest children and a lodger. Living with them in 1921 was Thomas’s sister-in-law Elizabeth Catherine Saunders, who perhaps was a relative of one of his siblings rather than his wife.
In 1939, 81-year-old Sarah lived with daughters Sara and Louise.
- Sarah: Rose Place, High Street, Bagillt (1871); Castle Villa, Bagillt (1881); Oaklands, Gadlys Lane, Bagillt (1891-1894); 20 Brook Lane, Chester (1901); 4 Gladstone Road, Chester (1911-1939)
- William: Bryn Avvin, Bagillt (1861); Oaklands, Gadlys Lane, Bagillt (1871-1894); 20 Brook Lane, Chester (1901); 4 Gladstone Road, Chester (1911-1919)
Deaths: Thomas died in 1933 when aged 80. Sarah died early in 1941 when aged 82 and was buried back in Bagillt on 31 March 1941.
G5: Judith Pierce (1885-1969)
Birth: Judith Pierce was born in Bagillt on 14 July 1885. She was the first child of William and Sarah.
Christening: on 9 August 1885 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
School: registered at Holywell County School in January 1898 when aged 12, having previously been privately educated.
Occupation: by 1911 Judith had become a nursery governess for the children of the West family, living with them in their grand villa on Devonshire Road in the affluent Birkenhead suburb of Oxton. She was responsible for teaching the children reading and writing.
Emigration: in the autumn of 1911 Judith emigrated to Canada, arriving in Quebec during October onboard the SS Empress of Ireland. She was evidently engaged, declaring at emigration that her reason for travelling was to be married and her intended occupation was a housewife.
Marriage: to William Dawes Fawthrop on 17 October 1911 in Calgary, Alberta, just five days after arriving in the country. She was aged 25 and he was 34.
Spouse history: William had been born in Queensbury, Yorkshire on 13 November 1876 to Dr John Fawthrop and Katherine Louisa Gathorpe, and christened in January 1877. His father was a surgeon, and in 1881 they lived on High Street where he probably had his surgery. After his death in 1897 the family moved to the Wirral, running a boarding house on Westbourne Grove in West Kirby. William trained to be a chemist, and in 1901 when aged 24 lived with his mother and younger sister on Oxford Street in central Liverpool. In 1910 he emigrated to Canada.
Children: (1) Dennis in 1912, (2) Basil in 1916, (3) Harold in 1918, (5/6) twins Frank and Monica in 1921.
Emigration: William and Judith and their five children emigrated to the United States in 1923, arriving in Seattle, Washington on 28 June onboard the Canadian Pacific Railway night boat the Princess Charlotte. In January 1925 William filed a Declaration of Intention, the first formal step towards becoming a US citizen. He was described as 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 125 lbs, with a fair complexion brown hair and grey eyes. It’s interesting that his date of birth is out by five years. William filed a second Declaration of Intention in May 1933, probably after the first had expired, followed by a Petition for Naturalization in September 1936 to finally become a US citizen. Judith became a naturalised US citizen in 1939.
Residences: the newlyweds settled in Calgary, Alberta, and by 1917 had a small wooden house on 13th Avenue Northeast in the Crescent Heights suburb, which had only just ceased to be a separate village. The family moved to Vancouver in British Columbia over the next few years and in 1921 lived on Quebec Street in the South Main suburb.
After moving to the United States, the family lived in a series of small houses before buying their own property on 29th Avenue in the Madrona neighbourhood, which was valued at $4,250. In 1932 they lived in a small wooden house on 16th Avenue South in the southern suburbs, moving to the adjacent 17th Avenue North in 1935.
- Judith: Oaklands, Gadlys Lane, Bagillt (1891-1894); 20 Brook Lane, Chester (1901); 20 Devonshire Road, Birkenhead (1911); 233 13th Ave NE, Calgary, AB (1919); 3484 Quebec St, Vancouver, BC (1921); 801 NE 64th St, Seattle, WA (1924); 706 N 63rd St, Seattle, WA (1925-1926); 1529 29th Ave, Seattle, WA (1927-1934); 1900 16th Ave S, Seattle, WA (1932); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1935-1960)
- William: High St, Queensbury (1881); Westbourne Grove, West Kirby (1891); 44 Oxford Street, Liverpool (1901); 233 13th Ave NE, Calgary, AB (1919); 3484 Quebec St, Vancouver, BC (1921); 801 NE 64th St, Seattle, WA (1924-1925); 706 N 63rd St, Seattle, WA (1925-1926); 1529 29th Ave, Seattle, WA (1927-1934); 1900 16th Ave S, Seattle, WA (1932); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1935-1941)
Occupations: by 1921 William worked as a druggist for a wholesaler. After moving to the US William worked as a clerk for S&HD Co., but soon moved to a glue factory at Kaseno Products Co. where he was an industrial chemist. In 1934 he moved to the Adhesive Products Co. In 1940, he worked 40 hours per week and earned three times the national average at $3,500 per year.
Travel: Judith and children made a visit to Britain between May and September 1920. Judith made a solo visit back to England in 1952, staying with a Mrs Pierce in Chester in her mother’s old home, who had died a decade before.
Deaths: William died on 12 August 1941 when aged 64 and was buried at Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home. Judith died on 13 February 1969 when aged 84 and was buried next to her husband.
G4: Denis William Fawthrop (1912-1998)
Birth: Denis William Fawthrop was born in Alberta, Calgary on 15 August 1912. He was the first child of William and Judith.
Emigration: the family moved to the United States in 1923. In October 1930 Denis filed a Declaration of Intention to become a US citizen. He was described as 5 feet 8 inches with grey eyes, brown hair, and a mole near his left ear. In the next step of the citizenship process, Denis filed a Petition for Naturalization in September 1936, becoming a US citizen.
Marriage 1: to Fern Dorothy Copenhaver on 7 July 1940 in Seattle, Washington. He was aged 27. The marriage was destined to be a short one.
Spouse history: nothing is known of Fern’s early life.
Children: none.
Marriage 2: to Gertrude Rose Stacy on 11 December 1945 in Seattle, Washington. He was aged 33 and she was 24.
Spouse history: Gertrude had been born in the Gattaran area of the Philippines on 17 April 1921 to Walter C. Stacy and Eugena Conde. She arrived in the United States in May 1945 at San Pedro, California, having travelled from Manilla onboard the SS Admiral E.W. Eberle.
Children: (1) a boy in 1947, (2) Maureen in 1948.
Occupations Denis was a seaman in the early 1930s before working as a glue mixer for the Adhesive Products Co. where his father was a chemist. He was then employed on the Seattle docks, undertaking various jobs such as longshoreman (who loaded goods onto ships), sealer and helper, and in 1940 was employed by the Seattle Waterfront Employers Association, earning a respectable $1,300 salary.
He enlisted into the merchant marine in January 1944 when aged 31. In September 1947 he was an assistant plumber on the crew of the USAT General LeRoy Eltinge which was a US Army transport ship.
Denis then worked as a steam fitter for a heating company, a job he kept until at least 1956.
Residences: newlyweds Denis and Fern lived together at her home on 13th Avenue close to downtown, but he was back living with his parents by 1943 after the end of his marriage. By 1950 he had settled with his second wife and young children in a wooden house on South Holden Street between the airport and the coast. In 1955 they moved to the town of Kent, about 20 miles south of Seattle.
- Denis: 233 13th Ave NE, Calgary, AB (1919-1920); 3484 Quebec St, Vancouver, BC (1921); 801 NE 64th St, Seattle, WA (1924-1925); 706 N 63rd St, Seattle, WA (1925-1926); 1529 29th Ave, Seattle, WA (1927-1934); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1935-1940); 124 13th Ave, Seattle, WA (1940-1941); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1943); 4803 S Holden St, Seattle, WA (1948-1956); RD 4 Box 195, Kent, WA (1955); 28511 68th S Ave, Kent, WA (1986-1987)
- Fern: 124 13th Ave, Seattle, WA (1940-1941)
- Gertrude: 4803 S Holden St, Seattle, WA (1948-1956); 28511 68th S Ave, Kent, WA (1986-1987)
Deaths: Gertrude died in Tacoma, Washington on 4 January 1994 when aged 72 and was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Auburn, WA close to their home. Denis died on 22 November 1998 when aged 86 and was buried next to his wife.
Notes: when Denis registered for the draft on 16 October he had evidently grown as was described as 5 feet 11 inches tall, some 3 inches taller than in 1930, with hazel eyes, brown hair, and a light complexion.
G3: Maureen Judith Fawthrop (1948-1976)
Birth: Maureen Judith Fawthrop was born in Seattle, Washington on 17 May 1948. She was the second child of Denis and Gertrude.
Marriage 1: to Ronald N. Cushway on 10 May 1968 in Seattle, Washington. She was aged 19. The marriage was destined to be a short one.
Spouse history: nothing is known of Ronald’s early life.
Children: possibly one.
Divorce: on 16 April 1969 after just over a year of marriage.
Marriage 2: to Terence Lionel Foote on 14 March 1972 in Seattle, Washington. She was aged 23 and he was 24.
Spouse history: Terence had been born in Ramsey, Minnesota on 6 February 1948 to Maxwell Gordon Foote and Anne Marie Echle. The family moved to the town of Billings, Montana in 1948, where his father worked as an equipment inspector for the railroad.
Children: unknown.
Divorce: on 14 December 1973, again after only a year of marriage.
Residences: 4803 S Holden St, Seattle, WA (1950)
Death: Maureen died on 14 June 1976 when aged just 28.
Notes: Terence went on to marry and have two children, settling in Montana. He died on 26 August 2015 when aged 67.
G4: Basil Chester Fawthrop (1916-1987)
Birth: Basil Chester Fawthrop was born in Alberta, Calgary on 3 August 1916. He was the second child of William and Judith.
Emigration: the family moved to the United States in 1923.
School: attended Garfield High School in Seattle where he was the football manager.
Marriage: to Helen Wilbur McNicoll on 16 September 1949 at the Trinity Episcopal Church on 8th Avenue in Seattle, Washington. He was aged 33 and she was 26. Her bridal dress included the traditional white gown and a 150-year-old Sicilian lace mantilla.
Spouse history: Helen had been born in Edmonton, Alberta on 4 February 1923 to David John McNicoll and Helen Louise. The family emigrated to the United States in May 1924, arriving in Blaine, Washington before making their way to Seattle. Her father was an architect, a well-paid profession which by 1927 allowed them to own a large house on McGraw Place in the fashionable Queen Anne neighbourhood. Helen attended John Hay Grammar School and then in 1938 Queen Anne High School where she was a member of many societies. The 1941 yearbook recorded her ambition as “to have all the fun I can”. She then went on to study at the University of Washington.
Children: (1) a boy in 1947, (2) Maureen in 1948.
Occupations: after graduating Basil worked as a messenger, first for WUT Co. and then for FFM Co., and was likely also a student at the University of Washington. From 1940, 24-year-old Basil worked with his father as a chemist at the Adhesive Products Co., earning a $600 salary. Post-war he worked as a salesman for Van Waters & Rogers until at least 1955, which was a rapidly growing chemicals company. After moving to Los Angeles in the 1950s Basil worked first for H.V. Nootbaar & Co., and then for the Kwik Manufacturing Co., where he was the secretary and treasurer.
Residences: the newlywed couple lived first lived together on Bellevue Avenue before moving into a detached house on 48th Avenue, a quiet residential road in the northeast of the city. They moved to Los Angeles in 1956, where for a year they lived in the huge Baldwin Hills complex of apartments in south LA, specifically designed for young families. They then moved into a small house in Altadena, to the north of Pasadena. From at least 1993, the widowed Helen lived in her large childhood home on McGraw Place in Seattle which she had presumably inherited.
- Basil: 233 13th Ave NE, Calgary, AB (1919-1920); 3484 Quebec St, Vancouver, BC (1921); 801 NE 64th St, Seattle, WA (1924-1925); 706 N 63rd St, Seattle, WA (1925-1926); 1529 29th Ave, Seattle, WA (1927-1934); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1935-1948); 204 Bellevue Ave, Seattle, WA (1950); 5106 48th Ave NE, Seattle, WA (1953-1955); 4141 Muirfield Rd S, Los Angeles, CA (1956); 297 W Mariposa St, Altadena, CA (1957-1960)
- Helen: 180 McGraw Place, Seattle, WA (1927-1940); 204 Bellevue Ave, Seattle, WA (1950); 5106 48th Ave NE, Seattle, WA (1953-1955); 4141 Muirfield Rd S, Los Angeles, CA (1956); 297 W Mariposa St, Altadena, CA (1957-1960); Apt 6, 900 University St, Seattle, WA (1993-2002)
Deaths: Basil died in Seattle on 1 July 1987. Helen survived him for over 20 years and died on 3 January 2009.
Notes: when Basil registered for the draft in October he still lived at home and was described as 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 154 lbs with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a light complexion.
G4: Harold Victor Alan Fawthrop (1918-1997)
Birth: Harold Victor Alan Fawthrop was born in Alberta, Calgary on 14 November 1918. He was the third child of William and Judith.
Emigration: the family moved to the United States in 1923.
School: attended Garfield High School in Seattle where he was on the basketball and soccer teams and involved in school productions as a member of the ticket committee. He then graduated Wilson Business College.
Marriage: to Jane Frances Sommerhauser on 9 April 1947 at St Joseph Roman Catholic Church on 18th Avenue East in Seattle. He was aged 28 and she was 24. Her sister Ann was her bridesmaid, while the best man was Sergeant Ray Dofelmeir. The reception was held at the home of her parents at in their large house on 20th East.
Spouse history: Jane had been born on 12 February 1923 in the small town of Anaconda, Montana to Herman J. Sommerhauser and Mary Alice Clinton, both originally from Missouri. In 1930 they lived in a small wooden house on West 6th Street on the edge of town. Her father was a partner in a hardware store. Jane graduated from Anaconda High School and in 1942 was a student at Montana State College where she was a member of the Chi sorority, living in Hamilton Hall in Bozeman. Inhabited solely by freshman girls, the college yearbook claimed that “friendships were formed that will last through college days and far beyond”. She also attended Butte Business College. By 1944 she worked as a clerk for the Montana Power Company, living just down the road from her parents in an apartment on Main Street.
Children: (1) a boy in 1947, (2) Maureen in 1948.
Occupations: in 1939 Harold briefly worked as a stenographer before becoming a bookkeeper. He served four years in the army. Post-war Harold worked as a salesman for K-C Co., progressing to become a supervisor in the mid-1950s.
Residences: the newlyweds initially lived together on West Thomas Street, which was possibly an apartment in a converted hotel. By 1953 they had moved to a nice house on 20th Avenue East, a quiet tree-lined street which would remain their home for the rest of their lives.
- Harold: 233 13th Ave NE, Calgary, AB (1919-1920); 801 NE 64th St, Seattle, WA (1924-1925); 706 N 63rd St, Seattle, WA (1925-1926); 1529 29th Ave, Seattle, WA (1927-1934); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1935-1943); 19 W Thomas St, Seattle, WA (1948); 931 20th Ave E, Seattle, WA (1953-1997)
- Jane: 410 West 6th Street, Anaconda, MT (1930-1941); Hamilton Hall, Bozeman, MT (1942); Apt 7, 520 Main St, Anaconda, MT (1944); 19 W Thomas St, Seattle, WA (1948); 931 20th Ave E, Seattle, WA (1953-1997)
Deaths: Harold died in Seattle on 23 February 1997 and was buried at Holyrood Catholic Cemetery in Shoreline, WA. Jane survived him for seven years and died on 9 July 2005, being buried next to her husband.
G4: Frank Rodney John Fawthrop (1921-1937)
Birth: Frank Rodney John Fawthrop was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on 23 August 1921. Together with his twin sister Monica, they were the fourth and fifth children of William and Judith. He was commonly known by his middle name.
Residences: 801 NE 64th St, Seattle, WA (1924-1925); 706 N 63rd St, Seattle, WA (1925-1926); 1529 29th Ave, Seattle, WA (1927-1934); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1935-1937)
Death: Rodney died on 27 December 1937 when aged 16 and was buried at Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home.
G4: Monica S.K. Fawthrop (1921-1990)
Birth: Monica S.K. Fawthrop was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on 23 August 1921. Together with her twin sister Frank, they were the fourth and fifth children of William and Judith.
Emigration: the family moved to the United States in 1923.
School: attended Broadway High School.
Marriage: to Adrian Ed Zandbergen on 26 August 1940 at the home of her parents. She was aged 19 and he was 25.
Spouse history: Adrian had been born on 24 April 1915 in Detroit, Michigan to Adrian and Clasina Zandbergen. His parents were Dutch immigrants, having moved to the US in 1914 where his father became a travelling insurance salesman. By 1926 they had moved out west where they lived in the city of Portland, Oregon before settling in Seattle. They first lived close to the docks and massed railway lines in the north of the city before moving north to a house on a busy road, and then to a lovely detached house overlooking Green Lake.
Children: a girl and a boy in 1944 and 1947.
Occupations: by 1940 Adrian had begun a long career in radio when he worked as a technician for radio manufacturers North Radio Co. earning a salary of $1,600. Post-war he worked as a technician for a marine radiocast. George was granted a patent later in life for a new way of making radio wave antennas. It was cited in over 50 other patents over the years including mobile phone manufacturers and defence companies.
Residences: in 1950 the couple lived in a small wooden bungalow on West Prosper Street. Nothing is known about their life together, except that they appeared to move to Port Ludlow.
- Monica: 801 NE 64th St, Seattle, WA (1924-1925); 706 N 63rd St, Seattle, WA (1925-1926); 1529 29th Ave, Seattle, WA (1927-1934); 1219 17th Ave N, Seattle, WA (1935-1940); 4002 W Prosper St, Seattle, WA (1950); 20 Camano Lane, Port Ludlow, WA (1990)
- Adrian: 3402 15th Ave W, Seattle, WA (1930); 1424 N 45th St, Seattle, WA (1935); 6218 East Green Lake Way N, Seattle, WA (1940); 7315 Winona Ave N, Seattle, WA (1940); 4002 W Prosper St, Seattle, WA (1950)
Deaths: Adrian died on 17 December 1989 when aged 74, while Monica followed almost exactly a year later on 15 December 1990 when aged 69.
Notes: when Adrian registered for the draft on 16 October 1940 he was described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 160 lbs with a light complexion and blue eyes and brown hair.
G5: William Victor Edward Pierce (1887-1955)
Birth: William Victor Edward Pierce was born in Bagillt on 29 June 1887. He was the second child of William and Sarah and possibly commonly known as Victor.
Marriage: to Adah Aston during 1911 in Chester. He was aged 23 and she was 20.
Spouse history: Adah had been born in Newton-le-Willows on 28 December 1889 (mother maiden name was Jones).
Children: (1) Frank in 1915, (2) Victor in 1918. It’s possible that they had as many as eight children.
Residences: the newlyweds living on Canal Street in the centre of Chester. By 1919 they lived on Cecil Place, which was one of just four terraced houses on a small cul-de-sac that jutted off Lorne Street, just around the corner from their old home.
- William: Oaklands, Gadlys Lane, Bagillt (1887-1898); 20 Brook Lane, Chester (1901); 4 Canal Street, Chester (1911); 3 Cecil Place, Chester (1919-1939); 33 New Crane Street, Chester (1955)
- Adah: 4 Canal Street, Chester (1911); 3 Cecil Place, Chester (1919-1939)
Occupations: William worked as a blacksmith striker. By 1921 he was a fitter for William Gamon & Co. who made casements and metal sashes. By 1939 he had become a builder’s labourer and volunteered with the demolition section of the civil defence.
Deaths: William died at the City Hospital in Chester on 21 October 1955 when aged 68. He left his small estate of £196 10s 6d (around £4,700 today) to his wife.
Notes: Adah possibly remarried twice more, to a Stretton and a Hayley.
G4: Frank Owen Pierce (1915-1997)
Birth: Frank Owen Pierce was born in Chester on 22 June 1915. He was the first child of William and Adah.
Marriage: to Jessie Cresswell Clarke on 4 June 1938 in Flint. He was aged 22 and she was 18.
Spouse history: Jessie had been born in nearby Holywell on 9 June 1919 to bricklayer George Clarke and his wife Maud. In 1921 she likely lived at 35 Chapel Street, but further confirmation is required.
Children: unknown.
Occupations: Frank was recorded on his marriage certificate in June 1938 as being a labourer, but when the National Register was taken in September 1939 he worked as a club steward.
Residences: the newlyweds lived on Christleton Road in Chester.
- Frank: 3 Cecil Place, Chester (1919-1938); 159 Christleton Road, Chester (1921)
- Jessie: 159 Christleton Road, Chester (1921); 66 Mount Street, Flint (1938)
Deaths: Frank died on 5 July 1997 when aged 82 and was cremated two weeks later. Jessie survived him for six years and died on the last day of 2003 when aged 84.
G4: Victor Aston Pierce (1919-2009)
Birth: Victor Aston Pierce was born in Chester on 6 April 1919. He was the second child of William and Adah.
Occupations: Victor worked as a milkman in 1939.
Residences: 3 Cecil Place, Chester (1919-1939)
Death: on 28 February 2009 when aged 90. He was cremated at Chester Crematorium.
Notes: he almost certainly married Kathleen Lindup in 1941, but further confirmation is required.
G5: Frank Alfred Pierce (1891-1916)
Birth: Frank Alfred Pierce was born in Bagillt on 12 November 1891. Along with his twin sister Sara they were the third and fourth children of William and Sarah.
Christening: on 3 December 1891 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
Residences: Oaklands, Gadlys Lane, Bagillt (1891-1894); 20 Brook Lane, Chester (1901); 4 Gladstone Road, Chester (1911)
Occupations: in 1911 Frankie was aged 19 and worked as a bookkeeper in an insurance office.
Military service: Frankie enlisted into the army in September 1914, just five weeks after the outbreak of war with Germany, joining his cousin in the 17th (Service) Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment. They were sent to France during November 1915 and were involved in the initial attack of the Battle of the Somme in June 1916. Over the next few weeks, they supported several follow-up attacks. Frank was killed in one such action on 30 July as the battalion attacked Guillemont in very thick mist.
Death: Frankie is remembered on the Thiepval memorial, which bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men who died in the Somme sector and have no known grave. He is also commemorated on the Chester Town Hall War Memorial.
G5: Sara Ivy Pierce (1891-1956)
Birth: Sara Ivy Pierce was born in Bagillt on 12 November 1891. Along with her twin brother Frank they were the third and fourth children of William and Sarah.
Christening: on 3 December 1891 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
Occupations: in 1911 Sara was aged 19 and worked as a bookkeeper in a ‘lady keep’. This was typically a gatekeeper of a large estate or a public institution, typically involving overseeing the entrance to the property, managing visitors, and ensuring the security of the premises. By 1939 she was a nurse governess.
Residences: Sara never married and as late as 1939 still lived with her mother.
- Oaklands, Gadlys Lane, Bagillt (1891-1894); 20 Brook Lane, Chester (1901); 4 Gladstone Road, Chester (1911-1939)
Deaths: Sarah died on 14 May 1956 when aged 64 and was buried two days later.
G5: Violet Marie Pierce (1894-)
Birth: Violet Marie Pierce was born in Bagillt during 1894. She was the fifth child of William and Sarah.
Christening: on 4 March 1894 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
Occupations: in 1911 Violet was aged 17 and worked as an artist’s assistant in a photography studio. She kept this occupation for at least the next decade, when in 1921 she worked in the Kodak depot of W.R. Rose in Chester.
Residences: Oaklands, Gadlys Lane, Bagillt (1894); 20 Brook Lane, Chester (1901); 4 Gladstone Road, Chester (1911-1921)
Due to the commonality of her name, nothing further is known.
G6: William John Alfred Foulkes (1863-1942)
Birth: William John Alfred Foulkes was born in Bagillt on 2 August 1863. He was the ninth child of Edward and Sarah.
Christening: on 30 August 1863 at St Mary’s Church in Bagillt.
Residences: William had left home by the age of 17, and when captured in the 1881 census was lodging in the large house of Sarah Clough on Martin’s Lane near Central Park in Liscard on the Wirral. There is no further record of him in any of the census taken through to 1911. Is it possible that her was overseas, perhaps in India? When the census was taken in 1921, 57-year-old William lived with brother Thomas in the family home at Castle Villa.
- Rose Place, High Street, Bagillt (1871); 27 Martin’s Lane, Wallasey (1881); Castle Villa, Bagillt (1921-1942)
Occupations: in 1881 William was a commercial clerk for India Trade. There is no other record until 1921, when he was recorded in the census as a retired merchant. William was the executioner of his father’s will in 1926, at which point he was a grocer.
William died at home on 13 November 1942, leaving his estate of £1,795 2s 7d (around £64k today) to his nephew Edward Evans and John Williams, an accountant.
