Table of Contents
This family group is rather large and so to aid readability it is split across a few parts.
G5: Ralph Plunkett (1877-1948)
Birth: Ralph Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 17 March 1877. He was the third child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 22 April 1877 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre.
Marriage: to Mary Macaulay on 26 June 1902 in Liverpool. He was aged 25 and she was 19.
Spouse history: Mary had been born on 18 April 1883.
Children: (1) George in 1904, (2) Hilda in 1908, (3) Vera in 1911, (4) Elsie in 1913.
Residences: by 1901, 24-year-old Ralph and his younger brother William lived with their maternal aunt Naamah Knowles and family in a terraced house on Jefferson Street in central Everton.
After marrying Mary, they initially lived in a small yellow-brick terraced house on Teck Street in south Everton, but soon moved back to their old neighbourhood where they lived in houses on Waterhouse and Eastlake Streets.
In 1909 they moved out towards Stanley Park to Waltham Road, the same street that Ralph’s sister Naamah and family lived on. When the 1911 census was taken, both Mary’s mother and Ralph’s sister Emma were staying in the house that night. They soon moved across the city to another terraced house on Liscard Road, to the north of Toxteth Park Cemetery.
In 1930 the family moved further into the suburbs, living on Plattsville Road to the east of Wavertree Playground. After six years they relocated a large semi-detached house Menlove Avenue, a wide tree-lined boulevard in the south of Wavertree with plenty of space for their adult children, who still lived at home. Many of their children lived with them until after the war, at which point they moved down the road to No.42 in 1948. Mary lived there with her daughter Hilda until at least 1967.
- Ralph: 17 Reservoir Street (1879-1881); 22 Rothsay Street (1884-1889); 101 Rose Place (1890-1892); 17 Upper Bute Street (1894-1897); 57 Louisa Street (1897-1900); 18 Jefferson Street (1901); 9 Teck Street (1904); 10 Waterhouse Street (1906); 34 Eastlake Street (1907-1908); 33 Waltham Road (1909-1912); 25 Liscard Road (1915-1929); 46 Plattsville Road (1930-1935); 37 Menlove Avenue (1936-1947); 42 Menlove Gardens (1948) – all in Liverpool.
- Mary: 9 Teck Street (1904); 10 Waterhouse Street (1906); 34 Eastlake Street (1907-1908); 33 Waltham Road (1909-1912); 25 Liscard Road (1915-1929); 46 Plattsville Road (1930-1935); 37 Menlove Avenue (1936-1947); 42 Menlove Gardens (1948-1967) – all in Liverpool.
Occupations: Ralph spent his working life as a house painter and decorator.
Military service: at the age of 38 years and 8 months, Ralph Plunkett enlisted into the army during December 1915, just a few days before conscription was introduced and as such avoided immediate dispatch to France. He joined the 2/10th (Scottish) Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool Regiment), but was not mobilised until September 1916. The Battalion was sent to France in February 1917 and for much of the year they served in a quiet section near Armentières. By January 1918 Ralph had transferred into the 1/10th (Scottish) Battalion and attached to 166 Trench Mortar Battery. He remained in France until after the armistice, being discharged in February 1919.
Travel: 51-year-old Ralph departed Liverpool on 2 June 1928 onboard the White Star liner Celtic, bound for Boston and New York in the United States. He gave his occupation as a contractor. Ralph arrived back in Liverpool on the same ship a few weeks later. On both occasions, he travelled Third Class.
Deaths: Ralph died in 1948 when aged 71. Mary died in Liverpool during 1973 when aged 90.
G4: George Ralph Plunket (1904-1974)
Birth: George Ralph Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 11 October 1904. He was the first child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 23 October 1904 at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in the south of Everton.
Marriage: to Edna Irving during 1937 in Liverpool. He was aged 32 and she was 28.
Spouse history: Edna had been born in Liverpool on 22 September 1908, the second child of Edward Winter Irving, who was originally from Abergele in North Wales, and his wife Clara Jones. In 1911 they lived on Canning Place near Canning Dock where her father worked as a shipping butcher.
Children: it is not thought that they had any children.
Residences: in 1939, the newlyweds lived in a brand-new semi-detached house on Childwall Park Avenue. This would be their home until death.
- George: 9 Teck Street (1904); 10 Waterhouse Street (1906); 34 Eastlake Street (1907-1908); 33 Waltham Road (1909-1912); 25 Liscard Road (1915-1929); 46 Plattsville Road (1930-1935); 37 Menlove Avenue (1936); 24 Childwall Park Avenue (1937-1974) – all in Liverpool.
- Edna: 3 Canning Place, Liverpool (1911-1921); 24 Childwall Park Avenue, Liverpool (1937-1983)
Occupations: George was a manager for a manufacturing woodworkers and general constructors.
Deaths: George died at home on 8 April 1974 when aged 69 and was cremated three days later. The cause of death was haematemesis (vomiting blood) caused by congestive cardiac failure. Edna survived him for nine years and died at Broadgreen Hospital on 10 July 1983, when aged 74. She was also cremated.
G4: Hilda May Plunket (1908-2002)
Birth: Hilda May Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 26 January 1908. She was the second child of Ralph and Mary.
Marriage: to Bertram John Humphries during 1931 in Liverpool. She was aged 22 and he was 26. The marriage was not successful however and they were divorced in 1940.
Spouse history: Bertram had been born in Liverpool on 20 August 1904, the first child of Welshman William and Edith Humphries. When the census was taken in 1911, the family lived in a new terraced house on Gorsedale Road to the east of Sefton Park, where his father was a ship and engine smith.
Children: it is not thought that they had any children.
Residences: the couple lived with Hilda’s parents until 1933 before moving into a place of their own on nearby Mosspits Lane. Hilda moved back in with her parents in 1937 after her separation from Bertram, and then lived with them until at least 1967.
- Hilda: 34 Eastlake Street (1908); 33 Waltham Road (1909-1912); 25 Liscard Road (1915-1929); 46 Plattsville Road (1930-1931); 46 Plattsville Road (1933); 45 Mosspits Lane (1935); 37 Menlove Avenue (1937-1947); 42 Menlove Gardens (1948-1967) – all in Liverpool.
- Bertram: 14 Gorsedale Road, Liverpool (1911)
Occupations: in 1939 when she was aged 31, Hilda worked as a filing clerk.
Death: Hilda died in Liverpool on 23 January 2002, aged 93, having never remarried.
Notes: by 1939 Bertram lived in London with an Ena Lissaman with whom he already had two small children. He eventually died in Western Super Mare during June 1988 when aged 83.
G4: Vera Millicent Plunket (1911-1995)
Birth: Vera Millicent Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 19 April 1911. She was the third child of Ralph and Mary.
School: attended Lawrence Road Council School in 1916.
Marriage: to Arthur Augustine Grant Warren on 20 June 1942 at All Hallows’ in Allerton. She was aged 30 and he was 37.
Spouse history: Arthur had been born in Liverpool on 10 August 1904, the second child of Arthur Warren and Elizabeth Patterson. In 1911 the family lived on Milton Road, a typical back-to-back terraced house to the east of Waterloo. His father was a bank cashier. They had moved south into the city to a house on Falkner Square near the Cathedral by 1919. The 1921 census captured 16-year-old Arthur as a pupil at St Oswald’s, a boarding school in Elsmere, Shropshire. The family moved out into the suburb of Allerton in 1925 to a new semi-detached house on Silverbeech Avenue. Like his future wife, Arthur continued to live with his parents long into adulthood, moving with them to Druids’ Cross Gardens in 1930, a semi-detached house in the affluent part of Woolton.
Children: a boy born in 1944 and a girl 1947.
Occupations: in 1939 Vera worked as a lingerie saleswoman, but also volunteered as an ARP Warden, and specifically was part of the first aid parties whose role it was to give first response medical treatment to those injured in air raids. Arthur meanwhile had followed in his father’s footsteps and was a bank cashier.
Residences: post-war the family lived in a terraced house on Gainsborough Road to the east of Toxteth Park Cemetery before moving out to Hunts Cross Avenue in the Allerton suburbs in 1949. They then settled into a long-term home on Wheatcroft Road just south of Calderstones Park.
- Vera: 33 Waltham Road (1911-1912); 25 Liscard Road (1915-1929); 46 Plattsville Road (1930-1935); 37 Menlove Avenue (1936-1945); 77 Gainsborough Road (1946-1948); 250 Hunts Cross Avenue (1949-1953); 38 Druids’ Cross Gardens (1955); 49 Wheatcroft Road (1956-1970) – all in Liverpool.
- Arthur: 6 Milton Road, Waterloo (1911); 23 Falkner Square, Liverpool (1919-1924); 21 Silverbeech Avenue, Liverpool (1919-1929); 38 Druids’ Cross Gardens, Liverpool (1930-1939); 77 Gainsborough Road, Liverpool (1946-1948); 250 Hunts Cross Avenue, Liverpool (1949-1953); 38 Druids’ Cross Gardens, Liverpool (1955); 49 Wheatcroft Road, Liverpool (1956-1970)
Deaths: Vera died in Liverpool during August 1995 when aged 85. Arthur survived her for two years and died on 1 May 1997 when aged 93.
G4: Elsie Plunkett (1913-1982)
Birth: Elsie Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 4 April 1913. She was the fourth child of Ralph and Mary.
School: attended Lawrence Road Council School in 1918.
Marriage: to Francis Patrick Hughes on 25 November 1939 at St Anthony of Padua’s on Mossley Hill. She was aged 26 and he was 28.
Spouse history: Patrick had been born in Liverpool on 16 March 1911 and was the eldest son of Thomas Hughes and his wife Louisa Alice Jones. He was less than a month old when captured on the 1911 census, living with his family on Cranmer Street off Scotland Road. His father originally worked as a manager for a forwarding agent, later becoming a self-employed haulage contractor. By 1921 they had moved further north to Waterloo, where they had a house on Ashdale Road.
Children: possibly as many as five children.
Occupations: in 1939 Elsie worked as a gown saleswoman and like elder sister Vera also volunteered as an ARP Warden. Francis meanwhile had joined his father in the family business, and they had an office on Union Street. Elsie enrolled to train as a nurse on 22 September 1958 with the Central Wirral Group Hospital Training Scheme.
Residences:
- Elsie: 25 Liscard Road, Liverpool (1915-1929); 46 Plattsville Road, Liverpool (1930-1935); 37 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool (1936-1939)
- Francis: 59 Cranmer Street, Liverpool (1911); 15 Ashdale Road, Waterloo (1921); 21 Hyde Road, Waterloo (1934-1939)
Deaths: Elsie died in Liverpool on 19 April 1982 when aged 68. Francis survived her for six years and died in Warwickshire in 1988 when aged 77.
G5: William Plunkett (1879-)
Birth: William Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 15 June 1879. He was the fourth child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 27 July 1879 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre.
Marriage: to Mary Ann McKeown during 1919 in Liverpool. He was aged 39 and she was 22.
Spouse history: Mary was significantly younger than William and had been born in Bootle on 17 March 1896, at least the fifth child of Patrick McKeown and Margaret Durkin. Her parents were Irish immigrants and her father worked as a dock labourer, probably on Alexandria Dock in Bootle which was adjacent to their home on Bostock Street. The road was renamed Kirk Street shortly afterwards and they lived there until at least 1921.
Children: (1) Elizabeth in 1919, (2) Thomas in 1920, (3) Mary in 1922, (4) Amelia in 1924, (5) Frances in 1926, (6) William in 1928, (7) Margaret in 1929, (8) Agnes in 1931, (9) James in 1934. Sadly, both Thomas and William died as babies. Three of the girls also died young, including Elizabeth aged 46, Amelia aged 50, and Frances aged 55.
Residences: by 1901, 21-year-old William and his elder brother Ralph lived with their maternal aunt Naamah Knowles and family in a terraced house on Jefferson Street in central Everton.
After their marriage, William and Mary initially lived with her widowed father, who like William was unemployed. By 1928 they had a terraced house on Sheridan Place adjacent to Brocklebank Dock in Bootle, moving to Netherton Road by 1939. The National Register shows that they lived with their youngest and eldest child, plus one redacted record – the location of the others is unknown and they had possibly been evacuated.
- William: 17 Reservoir Street, Liverpool (1879-1881); 22 Rothsay Street, Liverpool (1884-1889); 101 Rose Place, Liverpool (1890-1892); 17 Upper Bute Street, Liverpool (1894-1897); 18 Jefferson Street, Liverpool (1901); 24 Kirk Street, Bootle (1921); 26 Sheridan Place, Bootle (1928); 15 Netherton Road, Bootle (1939)
- Mary: 32 Bostock Street, Bootle (1901); 24 Kirk Street, Bootle (1911-1921); 26 Sheridan Place, Bootle (1928); 15 Netherton Road, Bootle (1939-1962)
Occupations: in 1901, William worked as a labourer in a flour mill. Two decades later and he was an unemployed ship’s fireman. In 1939 William, now aged 60, was a dock labourer, specifically a checker.
Deaths: Mary died in June 1962 when aged 68 and was buried in Ford Cemetery on 30 June.
Notes: there is then no record of William for the 18 years between 1901 and his marriage in 1919.
G4: Elizabeth Plunkett (1919-)
Birth: Elizabeth Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 25 June 1919. He was the first child of William and Mary.
Marriage: to Henry Alphonsus Rothwell on 25 August 1951 in Crosby. She was aged 32 and he was 35.
Spouse history: Henry had been born in Liverpool on 19 April 1916, twin brother of Edward. They were christened a week later at St James. The family lived with their paternal grandparents on Litherland Road in Bootle. In 1939, 19-year-old Henry lived with John Wilson and his family on Thornton Road in Bootle, which was unusually a large detached house at the end of a row of terraces.
Children: a boy in 1955.
Occupations: in 1939 when she was age 20, Elizabeth worked as a daily domestic. Henry meanwhile was a cowman – literally someone who managed the cows – a curious occupation for a city-dweller. The man that he lived with was also a dairy farmer.
Residences:
- Elizabeth: 24 Kirk Street, Bootle (1921); 26 Sheridan Place, Bootle (1928); 15 Netherton Road, Bootle (1939)
- Henry: 275 Litherland Road, Bootle (1916-1921); 81A Thornton Road, Bootle (1939)
Deaths: it’s possible that Elizabeth died in 1965 when aged just 46. Henry died in Liverpool during July 1991 when aged 75.
G4: Thomas Richard Plunkett (1920-1922)
Birth: Thomas Richard Plunkett was born in Liverpool during 1920. He was the second child of William and Mary.
Residences: 24 Kirk Street, Bootle (1921)
Death: died in Alder Hey Hospital in early 1922 when aged 19 months. He was buried on 30 March in Ford Cemetery.
G4: Mary Plunkett (1922-)
Birth: Mary Plunkett was born in Liverpool during 1922. She was the third child of William and Mary.
Residences: 26 Sheridan Place, Bootle (1928)
There is no further record of her.
G4: Amelia Plunkett (1924-1974)
Birth: Amelia Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 27 March 1924. She was the fourth child of William and Mary.
Marriage: to John F. McAulffe during 1948 in Crosby. She was aged 23.
Children: a boy in 1951.
Residences: in the 1970s they lived in a small house on Simon’s Croft on an estate in Ford.
- 26 Sheridan Place, Bootle (1928); 64 Simon’s Croft, Ford (1974)
Deaths: Amelia died at home on 7 August 1974 when aged just 50.
Notes: John was possibly born in 1922 to John McAulffe and Florence Dix, and died in 1974, but further confirmation is required.
G4: Frances Lillian Plunkett (1926-1981)
Birth: Frances Lillian Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 12 July 1926. She was the fifth child of William and Mary.
Residences: on the outbreak of war 13-year-old Frances was evacuated to Southport where she lived with Roland and Kathleen Pugh and their daughter Winifred in their semi-detached house on Cemetery Road, just a few houses down from where her sister Margaret had been sent.
Marriage: to Robert Morgan during 1955 in Crosby. She was aged 28.
Children: unknown.
Residences: 26 Sheridan Place, Bootle (1928); 6 Cemetery Road, Southport (1939)
Death: Frances died in York during 1981 when aged 55.
G4: William Plunkett (1928)
Birth: William Plunkett was born in Liverpool in 1928. He was the sixth child of William and Mary.
Residences: 26 Sheridan Place, Bootle (1928)
Death: died shortly soon after birth and was buried in Ford Cemetery on 11 April.
G4: Agnes Rose Plunkett (1931-2005)
Birth: Agnes Rose Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 7 September 1931. She was the eighth child of William and Mary.
Marriage: to James Smullen during 1952in Crosby. She was aged 21.
Children: six children between 1953 and 1965, including a pair of twins.
Residences: 10 Farm View, Ford (2003-2005)
Death: died in Liverpool in May 2005 when aged 73.
G5: Mary Ann Plunkett (1881-1970)
Birth: Mary Ann Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 1 August 1881. She was the fifth child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 25 December 1881 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre. It’s interesting to note that the baptism record cites her father as Alfred, which is possibly a mistake from the notary mishearing Ralph as Alf.
Marriage: to John James Sandham on 16 April 1900 at St Benedict’s Church on Kepler Street in Everton. She was aged 18 and he was 22.
Spouse history: John had been born in Liverpool on 16 May 1877 to Thomas Sandham and Sarah Richardson and was christened five days later at St Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church on Great Howard Street. His father had died by 1891, when 13-year-old John lived with his widowed mother and siblings in a back-to-back terraced house on Bethesda Street in the north of Everton. Despite his young age John worked as an office boy at the port.
Children: (1) John in 1900, (2) Mary in 1902, (3) Doris in 1907, (4) Norah in 1914. Their first child was born four months after their marriage.
Residences: at the time of their marriage the couple lived in different houses on Jefferson Street, with John at No.5 and Mary with her aunt Naamah Knowles No.18. They then moved several times over the next decade, including houses on Beau and Ruthin Streets in Everton, a new house on Curate Road in Anfield, and eventually settling on neighbouring Rector Road. In 1928 they moved further into the suburbs and a new house on Broad Lane, part of the Norris Green estate in West Derby. Widowed Mary later moved a mile east to Dencourt Road.
- Mary: 17 Reservoir Street (1881); 22 Rothsay Street (1884-1889); 101 Rose Place (1890-1892); 17 Upper Bute Street (1894-1897); 57 Louisa Street (1897-1900); 18 Jefferson Street (1900); Beau Street (1900); 7 Ruthin Street (1901); 22 Curate Road (1907-1911); 13 Rector Road (1912-1926); 98 Broad Lane (1928-1938); 19 Dencourt Road (1939-1965) – all in Liverpool.
- John: 9 Bethesda Street (1891); 5 Jefferson Street (1900); Beau Street (1900); 7 Ruthin Street (1901); 22 Curate Road (1907-1911); 13 Rector Road (1912-1926); 98 Broad Lane (1928-1937) – all in Liverpool.
Military service: It’s possible that John served with the Royal Army Medical Corps during the war with service number 110878 but further confirmation is required.
Occupations: John spent his career working as a French polisher, being employed in 1921 by James Pattinson Contractors. French polishing is a labour-intensive wood finishing technique that results in a very high gloss surface. The French polisher applies many thin coats of shellac using a specific combination of different rubbing motions, waiting for considerable time, building up layers of polish and then spiriting off any streaks left in the surface. The shellac needed to be dissolved in some sort of solvent, and for years French polishers used Benzene. We know now that long-term exposure to Benzene damages bone marrow and red blood cells, and sadly this was the case for John.
Deaths: John died of leukaemia when aged 60, caused by a lifetime of exposure to Benzene. He was buried in Anfield Cemetery. Mary died of senility at Whiston Hospital in Prescot during 1970 (possibly on 3 June) when aged 88. She was cremated at Liverpool Crematorium on 8 June.
G4: John Ralph Sandham (1900-1977)
Birth: John Ralph Sandham was born in Liverpool on 18 August 1900. He was the first child of John and Mary.
Christening: on 23 September 1900 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre.
Occupations: in 1921 when he was aged 20, John worked as a clerk for Dutton Hassey & Co. who were colliery properties and shipping agents.
Residences: John mostly lived at home into adulthood, although in 1928 he may have lived with James and Maud Beeny on Abbotsford Road, and then with his sister Mary on Cherry Lane in 1929. He was back living with his parents in their new home on Broad Lane by 1931.
- Beau Street (1900); 7 Ruthin Street (1901); 22 Curate Road (1907-1911); 13 Rector Road (1912-1926); 442A Cherry Lane (1929); 98 Broad Lane (1931-1935) – all in Liverpool.
Deaths: John died in Liverpool during September 1977 when aged 77.
Notes: it’s highly likely that John married Lilian Nolan in 1937, with the couple living on Dunnerdale Road into the 1970s.
G4: Mary Lillian Sandham (1902-1989)
Birth: Mary Lillian Sandham was born in Liverpool on 28 August 1902. She was the second child of John and Mary. Although not recorded on the birth registration, Mary was sometimes cited with a middle name of Thelma, which was also occasionally used as her first name.
Marriage: to Edward George Wilson Slater during 1923 in Liverpool. They were both aged 20.
Spouse history: Edward had been born in Liverpool on 20 January 1902 as the youngest of the five children of William Thomas Wilson Slater and Margaret Jane Ellis. In 1909 the family lived on Richmond Terrace in central Everton, just a short walk from his future wife’s home. In contrast with many of the neighbouring streets, his road had large semi-detached houses. His father was a manufacturing confectioner. Edward attended St Margaret’s school in Anfield in 1909 before joining Liverpool Collegiate School on Shaw Street in 1911, where he was a pupil for five years.
Children: (1) Joan in 1902, (2) Doris in 1926. Their first child was born a few weeks after their marriage.
Occupations: in 1921 when she was aged 18, Mary worked as an invoice clerk for Singleton & Cole. who were a tobacco merchant on Paradise Street. Edward meanwhile was a clerk for Atkinson & Co., who were stockbrokers based on Exchange Street. He was still a clerk in 1939.
Residences: the young family moved around frequently, first living in a flat on Huntly Road near Newsham Park from 1926 before moving out to West Derby in 1929. They initially lived in what was probably another flat on Cherry Lane with Mary’s brother John for two years, before having house shares on Green Lane and Antrim Street. By 1939, they lived on Woolfall Crescent on a new housing estate in Huyton.
In 1949 they moved out into the new suburbs southeast of the city, living in a semi-detached house on Kingsthorne Road on the border between Speke and Halewood. Mary lived there after Edward’s death with her youngest daughter and son-in-law for many years before moving into a detached house on Menlove Avenue just north of Calderstones Park.
- Mary: 22 Curate Road, Liverpool (1907-1911); 13 Rector Road, Liverpool (1912-1926); 442A Cherry Lane, Liverpool (1929); 69 Green Lane, Liverpool (1931); 18 Antrim Street, Liverpool (1933); 31 Woolfall Crescent, Huyton (1939); 67 Kingsthorne Road, Liverpool (1949-1970); 50 Menlove Avenue, Liverpool (1989)
- Edward: 25 Richmond Terrace, Liverpool (1909-1921); Flat 3, 23 Huntly Road, Liverpool (1926); 442A Cherry Lane, Liverpool (1929); 69 Green Lane, Liverpool (1931); 18 Antrim Street, Liverpool (1933); 31 Woolfall Crescent, Huyton (1939); 67 Kingsthorne Road, Liverpool (1949-1960)
Deaths: Edward died at Sefton General Hospital on 23 January 1960 of lacerations to the brain following a skull fracture. He was aged only 58 and cremated at Liverpool Crematorium. Mary died of cancer in November 1989 when aged 87 and was cremated at Liverpool Crematorium.
Notes: Later in life Mary was cited as Wilson-Slater.
G3: Joan Edwina Slater (1923-1992)
Birth: Joan Edwina Wilson Slater was born in Liverpool on 23 September 1923. She was the first child of John and Mary, born just a few weeks after their marriage.
Marriage: to Noel C. Taylor during 1961 in Liverpool. She was aged 37.
Children: none.
Occupations: despite being only 16 years old in 1939, Joan worked as an invoice clerk – the same job that her mother had as a young woman.
Residences: Joan lived with her maternal grandmother on the Norris Green estate in West Derby for the duration of the war. She then lived with her parents well into adulthood, including after marrying Noel. The couple finally moved into a flat of their own on Crompton’s Lane in 1969.
- Joan: Flat 3, 23 Huntly Road (1926); 442A Cherry Lane (1929); 69 Green Lane (1931); 18 Antrim Street (1933); 19 Dencourt Road (1939-1945); 67 Kingsthorne Road (1949-1969); Flat 19, 2 Crompton Court (1970-1992) – all in Liverpool.
- Noel: 67 Kingsthorne Road, Liverpool (1962-1969); Flat 19, 2 Crompton Court, Liverpool (1970)
Deaths: Joan died of breast cancer on 3 March 1992 when aged 68, being cremated at Liverpool Crematorium.
Notes: Noel was likely Noel Cyril Taylor who was born in 1920 and died in 1993, but further confirmation is required.
G3: Doris Jocelyn Wilson-Slater (1926-2002)
Birth: Doris Jocelyn Wilson-Slater was born in Liverpool on 2 August 1926. She was the second child of John and Mary. It’s curious that her birth was registered with the surname Wilson-Slater while her elder sister was just Slater. The latter seems to be what she commonly used, and she also perhaps went by Jocelyn.
Marriage: to James Daniel Aitken during 1951 at St Hilda’s in Hunt’s Cross. She was aged 24 and he was 23.
Spouse history: James was an American and had been born in the Jamaica neighbourhood of New York on 25 July 1927 to Albert Aitken and Lilian Dodge. His father worked in a theatre, and they lived in a typical New York apartment block.
James joined the US Merchant Marine in December 1945; at which time he lived in Queens on Long Island. He was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 135 lbs, and with a light complexation. I doubt this was the date of his actual enlistment, as he was listed as a messman on the SS John E. Schmeltzer when it arrived in New York from Newport, Wales in October 1944, and on the SS Rogue River when it arrived in New York from London in February 1945. James enlisted into the US Army Air Force on 28 January 1946 in Houston, Texas. He was given service number 18094844 and served for exactly 20 years.
Children: a boy and two girls between 1954 and 1958.
Residences: shortly after their marriage Doris arrived in New York, having sailed from Bremerhaven in Germany on the USNS General Maurice Rose – used by the army to transport soldiers and their families to occupied Germany and back. Her stated destination was her in-laws. She soon returned to England however, where two children were born in London, and then a final child in Châteauroux, France during February 1958.
Doris and the children arrived in the US again on 27 November 1959, having flown into McGuire AFB in New Jersey from RAF Mildenhall in Norfolk. She gave her permanent residence as that of her parents, but it is doubtful that she actually lived there.
- Doris: 442A Cherry Lane, Liverpool (1929); 69 Green Lane, Liverpool (1931); 18 Antrim Street, Liverpool (1933); 31 Woolfall Crescent, Huyton (1939); 67 Kingsthorne Road, Liverpool (1949-1950)
- James: 8806 150th St, New York, NY (1930); 93-16 95th St, Queens, NY (1945)
Deaths: James died in Northampton on 17 July 1992 when aged 64, while Doris survived him for 10 years and died there on 28 December 2002, aged 76.
G4: Doris Cicely Sandham (1907-1937)
Birth: Doris Cicely Sandham was born in Liverpool during 1907. She was the third child of John and Mary.
Residences: Doris lived at home with her parents for her entire life.
- 22 Curate Road, Liverpool (1907-1911); 13 Rector Road, Liverpool (1912-1926); 98 Broad Lane, Liverpool (1928-1937)
Death: died during early 1937 when aged just 30 and was buried in Kirkdale Cemetery on 4 February.
G4: Norah Eileen Sandham (1914-1978)
Birth: Norah Eileen Sandham was born in Liverpool on 24 March 1914. She was the third child of John and Mary.
Christening: on 10 May 1914 at Holy Trinity on Breck Road.
Marriage: to Donald Wainer Kirton on 13 May 1942 at St Mary the Virgin Church on Almond’s Green in West Derby. She was aged 28 and he was 24.
Spouse history: Don had been born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, on 24 March 1918, the youngest of the two children of Charles Herbert Kirton and Lucy Lintin. There is a story shared on Ancestry:
My father, Roly Bilson, Don’s cousin, often told me tales of how he and Don would play together up at The Grange....home to their Grandparents....they would play for hours in the Orchard...making ‘Dens’ and running riot. On one occasion, around Halloween, they decided to play a trick on their grandmother...not a good idea as, by all accounts, she was a fearsome lady!!! They hunted around for a pumpkin on the farm...gouged it out to make a frightening face.... took it inside and filled it with candles...then left it where they knew ‘Grandma’ would find it.... I do believe it made her jump.... but not half as much as the boys did when she came after them to punish them!!! Roly also used to recall the large Kitchen at the farmhouse......there was one large table for the adults and then another very large table for all the children.... they had such a great time...!
Military service: Don joined the Royal Navy (service number P/MX 60088) and became a Chief Petty Officer.
Children: two boys between 1944 and 1949.
Occupations: in 1939 when she was aged 25, Norah worked as an electrical appliance assembler.
Residences: at the time of their marriage Norah still lived at home while Don lived on North Parade in Sleaford. The couple settled in Sleaford.
- Norah: 13 Rector Road, Liverpool (1914-1926); 98 Broad Lane, Liverpool (1928-1938); 19 Dencourt Road, Liverpool (1939-1942)
- Donald: 31 North Parade, Sleaford (1942); 25 North Parade, Sleaford (2003-2006)
Deaths: Norah died on 10 February 1978 when aged 63. Don survived her for some 28 years, and died on 25 January 2006, aged 87.
Notes: it’s possible that Don married Miriah Burks during 1980.
G5: Rachel Plunkett (1883-1959)
Birth: Rachel Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 27 November 1883. She was the sixth child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 3 February 1884 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre.
Marriage – 1: to Edgar Dayer on 31 March 1905 at the Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas with St Anne, on Chapel Street. She was aged 21 and he was 31.
Spouse history – 1: Edgar had been born Newport, Wales, during 1874 to William Dayer and Martha Hazell, and was christened on 27 August. In 1881 his family lived with his maternal grandparents on Tredegar Street in the centre of the town. 6-year-old Edgar was in school, while his grandfather was an agent. In September 1884 10-year-old Edgar was in trouble when found guilty of stealing a tame rabbit alongside three other boys and was sentenced to a day’s imprisonment. He was in trouble again a few months later, as described in an article in the Western Mail on 24 January 1885:
Ivor Gunter, Edgar Dayer, and William Bean were charged with stealing four sacks, the property of the Rhos Llantwit Coal Company. On Monday last a policeman saw Gunter with a sack, which he dropped as soon as he saw the officer. This led to Dayer and Bean’s apprehension, when Dayer said he stole the bags. Gunter and Dayer said Bean was there also. George Harris said he saw Gunter drop a sack. Dayer put a sack on the buffer of a truck. He did not see Bean. Thomas Berriman, agent to the company, said the sacks were in a shed. He identified the sacks, which were used to carry corn to the works. Bean was discharged. Gunter and Dayer were sentenced to receive six strokes each with a birch rod.
It was not long before he was in trouble again, as taken up by the South Wales Echo on 20 March 1885:
John Lewis, Edgar Dayer and Henry Fairfax, boys, were charged on remand of stealing a coat value 4s belonging to Alfred Collins, 55, Capel Crescent. The prosecutor’s son attends Tredegar Wharf Schools, and on Tuesday afternoon, the prisoners, having been granted half-holiday in honour of St Patrick’s Day, went to the vestibule of the schools. Dayer unhooked the coat, and threw it down; Lewis picked it up, and Fairfax beat him and compelled him to go to Mr E. Jacob’s shop to pledge it. Mr Jacob’s suspected that the coat was stolen, because similar pilferings had previously taken place, and on charging him with it, Lewis bolted, but was chased and captured. A fourth boy was implicated, but the mother appeared and urged so pitifully the disgrace of her boy’s name appearing in the newspapers that the magistrates allowed her to carry him away. Fairfax belonged to a family which had given great trouble, and Mr Stevens, school attendance officer, stated that the lad was a general corrupter of boys’ morals. Fairfax and Dayer were reprimanded and discharged; Lewis was ordered to receive six strokes with a birch rod.
The same incident was described in the Western Mail the following day:
Juvenile thieves George Lewis, Edgar Dayer, Henry Fairfax, and Frederick Pollard, young boys, where charged on remand with stealing an overcoat from the Tredegar Wharf Schools. Lewis was taken into custody on Tuesday last in the attempt to pawn the stolen coat. It was taken from the school, and belonged to a boy named Collins. Lewis told the policeman that Dayer took the coat from the nail, and Fairfax said “Go an pawn it”. Pollard was discharged. Robberies of this description are very frequent, and the pawnbroker at once suspected that it was stolen, and gave Lewis into custody. Fairfax is a notoriously bad boy. He was discharged for lack of evidence, and so was Dayer. Lewis, six strokes with a birch rod.
Edgar appeared to stay out of trouble or a few years, but as the Monmouthshire Beacon reported on 30 March 1889:
At the police court on Friday two youths named Edward Evans, aged 18, and Edgar Dayer, aged 15, were charged with stealing a coat from the shop of Messrs A.J. and E. Jacobs, outfitters, Alice Street; and further with stealing four pocket-handkerchiefs, from the shop of Mr D.W. Price, draper. On Wednesday afternoon a little girl named Bessie Faust saw the boys unhang a coat in Messrs Jacobs’ shop and make off, Evans placing it under his arm. She apprised the manager, Mr Hughes, who went in pursuit, but the boys thew the coat over into St Stephen’s churchyard. The handkerchiefs taken from Mr Price’s shop were found on them when they were taken into custody by police constable Faulks. The prisoner Evans had a notoriously bad history as disclosed by the police books. He begun a life of thieving in 1879, and had been convicted no less than nineteen times, although he is only eighteen years of age. When the present robbery was effected he had only been out of prison a month, after serving a serving a sentence of twelve months incarceration. There were three previous convictions against Dayer. The Bench decided to commit the prisoners to trial.
Edgar was acquitted at trial the following month, whereas his compatriot was sentenced to 12 months hard labour. The record showed that Edgar had two previous convictions, one for stealing.
Military service: Edgar enlisted into the army on 14 April 1891, joining B Company of the 3rd Battalion, The South Wales Borderers with regimental number 3536. Although only 16, he was described as 18 years and 8 months old, 5 feet and 3 inches tall, weighing 118 lbs with grey eyes, brown hair, and a fresh complexion. He deserted just two days later and there the record ends, but not his story. He joined the army again three years later, enlisting into the South Lancashire Regiment on 11 July 1894 and stating that he had never served previously. He gave his age as 19 years 11 months with a similar physical description. He enlisted at Warrington, having worked as a platelayer, and was given regimental number 4406. He served at home for the first year before joining the 2nd Battalion in India in October 1895. He remained on the continent for seven years before returning home in March 1903 to be demobilised. He remained in the army reserves for a further three years before his full discharge in July 1906. Some sources cite that he served during the Boer War, but this only seems to be true in so far as he was in the army at the time the war was ongoing, but Edgar remained in India throughout.
Children – 1: (1) Eveline in 1905, (2) Martha in 1906, (3) Minnie in 1908. Unusually for the time, their first child was born three months before their marriage. Eveline soon died and Rachael gave Minnie up for adoption at the age of four to a family named ‘Malenberg’ (or variant) and wanted nothing further to do with her.
Death: Edgar died in City Hospital when aged just 34 and was buried on 17 February 1909 in Kirkdale Cemetery. He left quite a good sum of money from insurance to Rachel, who went with the children (Martha and Doris) to stay for a while with Polly Drayer, Edgar’s aunt. There are accusations that Polly was gradually taking this money from a drawer where it was kept. 20 years later – three months before he died – Rachel’s father Ralph left his wife to live with Polly.
Marriage – 2: to Arthur William Edwards on 17 January 1927 at Bootle Register Office. She was aged 43 and he was 44. They had been living as a common law couple for the previous 16 years.
Spouse history – 2: Arthur had been born in 1883 in West Felton, Shropshire, to George Edwards and Mary. His father was a maltster – someone whose occupation is making malt for the brewing industry. In 1891 they lived at Mill House in the nearby hamlet of Woolton.
Children – 2: (1) Arthur in 1911, (2) Ruth in 1915, (3) William in 1918, (4) Alfred in 1923, (5) Hannah in 1927.
Occupations: Rachel went into service as a girl. After leaving the army, Edgar obtained a job as a janitor with an engineering firm called Boothroyds in Seaforth. Second husband Arthur was a dock labourer.
Residences: the young family lived in a terraced house on Conway Street, part of the neat grid of terraced roads in Seaforth, and then on to the small cul-de-sac of Bute Place.
After beginning a relationship with Arthur, the couple initially lived on Strand Road – one of the main thoroughfares through Bootle. They moved to Miller’s Bridge near Brocklebank Dock by 1915, where they lived in two different houses.
Arthur kept his own record of rent paid between 1938 and 1941, during which time had three different houses on Marsh Lane. They were bombed out of here during the blitz of October 1940, with the rent book noting a change in location due to ‘war action’. They then had houses on Balfour Road and Boreland Street. The record ends in May 1941 with “Due to enemy action, no fixed address” . By April 1943 they had another house on Marsh Lane, where they lived until their respective deaths.
- Rachel: 101 Rose Place, Liverpool (1890-1892); 17 Upper Bute Street, Liverpool (1894-1897); 57 Louisa Street, Liverpool (1897-1900); 5 Church Place, Liverpool (1901); 12 Conway Street, Seaforth (1905); Denison Street, Liverpool (1905); 37 Conway Street, Seaforth (1907); 2 Bute Place, Seaforth (1909); 160 Strand Road, Bootle (1911); 124 Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1915); 92A Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1918-1927); 50 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1939); 24 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1940); 46 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1943-1959)
- Edgar: 3 Tredegar Street, Newport (1881); 12 Conway Street, Seaforth (1905); Denison Street, Liverpool (1905); 37 Conway Street, Seaforth (1907); 2 Bute Place, Seaforth (1909)
- Arthur: Well House, Woolston (1891); 160 Strand Road, Bootle (1911); 124 Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1915); 92A Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1918-1927); 50 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1939); 24 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1940); 48 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1943-1952)
Deaths: Arthur died at home of coronary thrombosis (a blood clot in the heart) on 9 February 1952 when aged 69. Rachel survived him for seven years before also succumbing to coronary thrombosis on 25 September 1959 when aged 78. They were both buried in Bootle Cemetery.
Notes: Edgar’s army record shows that he married an Agnes Ann Casson on 13 August 1903, which is very curious since the marriage record shows that she married John Thomas Dalzell.
There is no record of Arthur in the National Register of 1939, but there is a separate entry at the same address for an Elizabeth Edwards and family (who are all redacted).
G4: Eveline Dayer (1905)
Birth: Eveline Dayer was born in Seaforth on 31 March 1905. She was the first child of Edgar and Rachel.
Christening: on 14 April 1905 at St Thomas’s Church in Seaforth.
Residences: 12 Conway Street, Seaforth (1905)
Deaths: died soon after her christening.
G4: Martha Dayer (1906-1985)
Birth: Martha Dayer was born in Seaforth on 9 November 1906. She was the second child of Edgar and Rachel.
Christening: on 9 January 1907 at St Thomas’s Church in Seaforth.
Marriage: to Martin Bahan on 26 December 1928 at St Mary’s Church on Derby Road in Bootle. They were both aged 22.
Spouse history: Martin had been born in the suburb on 9 September 1906 to James Bahan and his wife Mary McCabe. When his father was discharged from the army after being wounded in 1916, the family lived on Balliol Terrace, a block of terraced houses on Miller’s Bridge – the same road as his future wife. His father joined the army of dock workers.
Children: (1) James in 1929, (2) a girl in 1931, (3) a girl in 1932, (4) Arthur in 1934. Sadly, James died aged just 5.
Residences: at the time of their marriage the couple lived with their respective parents. By 1939 they had a terraced house on Marsh Lane – one of the main roads in Bootle. They took in Martha’s parents in 1940 after they were bombed out of their home at the other end of the street.
- Martha: 37 Conway Street, Seaforth (1907); 2 Bute Place, Seaforth (1909); 160 Strand Road, Bootle (1911); 124 Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1915); 92A Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1918-1928); 24 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1939)
- Martin: 3 Balliol Terrace, Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1916-1928); 24 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1939)
Occupations. In 1939 Martin was a cement mixer.
Deaths: Martin died at Fazakerley Hospital (107 Rice Lane) during 1941 when aged just 34 and was buried in Ford Cemetery. Martha died in Liverpool in July 1985, aged 78. She never remarried.
G3: James Edgar Bahan (1929-1935)
Birth: James Edgar Bahan was born in Liverpool during 1929. She was the first child of Martin and Martha.
Death: died during 1935, aged just 5.
G3: Arthur Terence Bahan (1934-1992)
Birth: Arthur Terence Bahan was born in Liverpool on 2 September 1934. He was the fourth child of Martin and Martha.
Marriage: to Cynthia Berenice Hazelgrove during 1963 in Liverpool. He was aged 28 and she was 22.
Spouse history: Cynthia had been born in the suburb on 6 April 1940 to Cecil Hazelgrove and Margaret Boyes.
Children: two boys in 1966 and 1967.
Residences: 24 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1939)
Deaths: Arthur died in Wigan during January 1992 when aged 57. Cynthia survived him for eight years and died in Wigan on 1 December 2000 when aged 60.
G4: Minnie Doris Dayer (1908-1996)
Birth: Minnie Doris Dayer (commonly known by her middle name) was born in Seaforth on 18 November 1908. She was the third child of Edgar and Rachel.
Christening: on 6 January 1909 at St Thomas’s Church in Seaforth.
Adoption: Doris was adopted in 1912 at the age of 4 by Charles and Elizabeth Malmberg, who were in their fifties. There were no legal adoption procedures at this time, and she went to them by mutual agreement. Charles was originally from Sweden and a marine engineer for the Cunard Line (he possibly died when his ship was sunk during 1915). The 1911 census had recorded the couple on Benedict Street in Bootle (Minnie’s grandniece would live in this same house some 90 years later). They had been married for 30 years and did not have any children of their own, but sadly it seemed that Doris was used for manual labour before being sent to an orphanage when a teenager. Doris never knew why she had been given up, and although she went to see her biological mother around this time, Rachel wanted nothing to do with her.
Emigration: aged 21, Doris moved to Canada for a job, sailing on the SS Minnedosa on 21 February 1930 bound for St John in New Brunswick. She gave her occupation as a domestic and her address as 1 Smith Drive, a new end terraced house on the Orrell Park estate in Walton. This was the residence of her half-brother Arthur Edwards when he married Catherine Beckley two years later. She travelled using the name Doris Desmond, believed to have been the name of an American whom she had met while working at the Lonsdale Hotel in London, and then her birth name of Minnie Dayer.
She made her way to the United States, where she crossed the border at Noyes in Minnesota on 15 October 1930. She was described as 5 feet 3 inches tall with brown hair and eyes and $20 in her pockets. She gave her last residence as a small wooden house on Trent Avenue in Winnipeg. She claimed this was the home of her mother Elizabeth Dayer, which is a curious combination of her adoptive mother’s forename and her birth surname, and almost certainly false. She stated her intended destination as Chicago to visit an aunt and uncle, named as Carl Malmberg, the brother of her adoptive father.
It’s not known whether Doris ever did go to Chicago, but eventually she made her way to New York where she created a new identity for herself as Carole Joy Brown (as we will now call her).
Marriage: to Francesco Angelo Lini on 12 September 1931 in Kings, Manhattan. She was aged 22 and he was 21. After over 30 years of marriage, the couple appeared to go through a tumultuous phase when they divorced and remarried on two occasions. The first divorce was in May 1964, with Frank claiming desertion by Carole. The couple quickly reconciled and married again on 26 April 1965, but then divorced again in August the following year with Frank this time citing cruelty. The couple remarried for a final time on 23 April 1969 in Vancouver, Washington (which sat opposite the Columbia River to Portland).
Spouse history: Frank had been born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania on 27 March 1910, the third of eight children born to Italian immigrants Angelo Lini and Maria Bravi. Curiously there is a birth certificate that gives his date of birth as 12 April 1911, but in all other documents it is 27 March 1910. His father was a miner who had arrived in New York in 1903 and settled in the anthracite coal mining town of Old Forge. When he became a US citizen on 4 April 1916, the family lived in a very small, white-painted wooden house on Oak Street which was the road out of town. Frank was educated in the Old Forge public schools, after which he was drawn by the bright lights of New York City. In 1930 when he was aged 19, Frank lodged in an apartment on 47th Street in Queens on Long Island, making a living as a clerk on a soda fountain.
Children: (1) Robert in 1932, followed by four more between 1935 and 1945.
Residences: although their first child was born in Taylor, Pennsylvania, they had moved to New York by 1935. In 1940 they lived in a typical apartment block on the upper west side. During the war the family uprooted and moved out west to the incredible Vanport City, Oregon. This was a new town created entirely from scratch in August 1942 on the outskirts of Portland to house the wartime workers of the Kaiser Shipyards, where Frank now worked. It quickly became home to 40,000 transient labourers attracted by the high wages. The family lived on West Broadacres, although due to the lack of amenities by the end of 1943 families were moving out at the rate of 100 a day, and the trend quickened post-war. In 1950 the family had joined the exodus and lived in Portland.
In 1964 when they were separated, Frank lived in a small white-painted wooden house in Tigard, Oregon while Carole lived about 6 miles away in nearby Beaverton. After their second divorce Carole moved to the small town of Oak Harbor, Washington, and then on to San Diego, California where she lived with her eldest son and his new wife on Camber Drive. By 1976 she lived in an apartment overlooking the Pacific on Del Monte Avenue to the north of Point Loma with her daughter Arlene.
- Carole: 2 Bute Place, Seaforth (1909); 160 Strand Road, Bootle (1911); 335 Trent Ave, Winnipeg, MB (1930); 1 Smith Drive, Liverpool (1930); 526 W 112th St, New York, NY (1940); 2305 W Broadacres, Vanport City, OR (1942); 4415 NE Garfield Ave, Portland, OR (1950); 3887 W 144th St, Beaverton, OR (1964); 213 SW Farmington Rd, Beaverton, OR (1965); 6105 60th NW St, Oak Harbor, WA (1966); 5668 Camber Dr, San Diego, CA (1969); 5073 Del Monte Ave, San Diego, CA (1976-1978)
- Francesco: 894 Oak St, Old Forge, PA (1920); 48-29 47th St, Queens, NY (1930); 526 W 112th St, New York, NY (1940); 2305 W Broadacres, Vanport City, OR (1942); 4415 NE Garfield Ave, Portland, OR (1950); 11310 SW North Dakota St, Tigard, OR (1964-1969)
Occupations: in 1940 Frank worked as a cook in a restaurant, earning $1,560 per year. After a brief hiatus working in the Kaiser Shipyards during the war, he joined the Union Pacific Railroad as a cook, a career that would take him through to retirement. Carole meanwhile worked as a dietician in a nursing home during the 1960s.
Military service: Frank registered for the draft on 16 October 1940, being described as 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 154 lbs and with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair. It’s unclear whether he ever actually served, however.
Deaths: Frank died aged 69 on 8 January 1980 following an illness. Carole survived him by 16 years and died in Alpine, San Diego, California on 31 January 1996 after battling with Alzheimer’s for many years.
Note: much of the information above is taken from Doris’s record on Ancestry Tree TomMills222. We are grateful for their research.
G3: Robert Patrick Lini (1932-2001)
Birth: Robert Patrick Lini was born in Taylor, Pennsylvania on 6 August 1932. He was the first child of Frank and Carole.
Marriage: to Janet Louise Magill on 22 June 1963 at St James’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Seattle, Washington. He was aged 30 and he was 25.
Spouse history: Janet had been born in Everest, Washington on 5 October 1937 to Jefferson Magill and his wife Louise. In 1940 they lived in a small wooden house on Wetmore Avenue, not far from downtown. Her parents both worked in a meat market, her father as a salesman and her mother a bookkeeper.
Children: two boys and two girls between 1964 and 1971.
Occupations: when captured in the 1950 census, 17-year-old Robert lived at home and worked as a dishwasher on the railroad, perhaps working alongside his father who was a cook. After school he became an electronic engineer at the Naval Training Device Center – the section which designed and tested electronic systems for the military.
Residences: Robert and Janet moved to San Diego, California in 1967, where they would live for most of their lives. By 1969 they had moved into their long-term home on Camber Drive in the suburbs. Later in life they moved into a second-floor apartment on Arnold Way, a manged estate in the small town of Alpine, California.
- Robert: 526 W 112th St, New York, NY (1940); 2305 W Broadacres, Vanport City, OR (1942); 4415 NE Garfield Ave, Portland, OR (1950); 5668 Camber Dr, San Diego, CA (1969-2000)
- Janet: 3401 Wetmore, Everett, WA (1940); 5668 Camber Dr, San Diego, CA (1969-2000); Apt 86, 1750 Arnold Way, Alpine, CA (2001-2020)
Personal: Robert was widely known and loved for the quiet, loving leadership that he provided for numerous movements and organisations in San Diego County. In his later years he offered volunteer support to two organisations, a retreat house, and a hospice. Janet was also a hospice nurse.
Deaths: Robert died on 18 September 2001 when aged 69. Janet survived him for 12 years and died on 17 January 2013 when aged 75 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. They were both buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego.
G2: Jason Lini (1971-2000)
Birth: Jason Lini was born in Lamesa, California on 14 July 1971. He was the fourth child of Robert and Janet.
School: attended law school.
Residences: 5668 Camber Dr, San Diego, CA (1971-2000); 5177 Arlene Pl, San Diego, CA (1993)
Death: killed in a motor vehicle accident at mile post 451 on Interstate 90 in Billings, Montana on 2 August 2000. Aged just 29, he died of blunt force trauma to the head after his vehicle was struck from behind by a truck. He was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in San Diego.
G4: Arthur Thomas Edwards (1911-1985)
Birth: Arthur Thomas Edwards was born at home in Bootle on 13 May 1911. He was the first child of Rachel and second husband Arthur.
Marriage – 1: to his first cousin Elizabeth Plunkett during 1929 at St John and St James’s Church on Monfa Road. He was aged 18 and she was 22. The marriage did not last long however.
Spouse history – 1: Elizabeth had been born in Seaforth on 10 October 1906 to Luke Plunkett and Ann Barnes. She was christened on 21 November 1906 at St Thomas’s Church.
Marriage – 2: to Catherine Beckley on 27 February 1932 at the same St John and St James’s Church. They were both aged 20. Arthur’s sister Ruth Edwards later married Catherine’s brother William (see below).
Spouse history – 2: Catherine had born in Seaforth on 16 November 1911, the eldest child of William Henry Beckley and Jane Lane. She was christened in December at St Thomas’s and the family lived in a terraced house on nearby Kendrick Street. They moved to a similar house on Stafford Street in central Bootle by 1914. Her father was a dock labourer who was killed on the Somme during 1916 while serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery. When the census was taken in 1921, the family lived with Catherine’s paternal grandfather on Milton Street. Her mother was not recorded at home.
Children – 2: (1) William in 1932, (2) Ronald in 1934, (3) a boy in 1935. Ronald sadly died as a baby.
Occupations: in 1932 Arthur was a joiner’s labourer.
Residences: at the time of their marriage, Arthur lived in a new end terraced house on the Orrell Park estate in Walton, while Catherine was literally around the corner on King Avenue. By 1939 the family lived in Catherine’s grandfather’s old house on Milton Street. Arthur’s 21-year-old brother William also lived there, but there is no record of their children who may have been evacuated. They lived on Muspratt Road in Seaforth by the 1950s, which would be their lifelong home.
- Arthur: 160 Strand Road, Bootle (1911); 124 Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1915); 92A Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1918-1927); 1 Smith Drive, Bootle (1932); 46 Milton Street, Bootle (1939); 33 Muspratt Road, Seaforth (1952-1985)
- Elizabeth: 9 Bangor Street, Bootle (1906); 60 Beaumaris Street, Seaforth (1908-1909); 51 Audley Street, Bootle (1911); 16 Wolsey Street, Bootle (1921)
- Catherine: 7 Kendrick Street, Seaforth (1911); 24 Stafford Street, Bootle (1914); 46 Milton Street, Bootle (1921); 203 King Avenue, Liverpool (1932); 46 Milton Street, Bootle (1939); 33 Muspratt Road, Seaforth (1952-1986)
Military service: there is a picture of Arthur in the army during the war but nothing further is known.
Death: Arthur died at home on 10 March 1985 when aged 73, with Catherine following on 7 September the following year, aged 74.
Notes: little more is known about Elizabeth. There is no record of her in the 1939 census, but she evidently did not remarry, as she died in Knowsley during 1979 as Elizabeth Plunkett Edwards when aged 72.
G3: William Arthur Edwards (1932-2011)
Birth: William Arthur Edwards was born in Bootle on 26 May 1932. He was the first child of Arthur and Catherine.
Deaths: died in Aintree on 28 August 2011, aged 79.
Notes: there is no record of him living with his parents in the 1939 Register and perhaps had been evacuated. It’s possible that he married Joyce Bennett on 24 September 1955, but due to the commonalty of the names further confirmation is required.
G3: Ronald Edwards (1934-1935)
Birth: Ronald Edwards was born in Bootle during 1934. He was the second child of Arthur and Catherine.
Deaths: died the following year.
G4: Rachel Edwards (1913-)
Rachel Edwards was born at home in Bootle during 1913. She was the second child of Rachel and second husband Arthur. This is a curious case since there is no corresponding birth registration for a Rachel Edwards. The first record of her is when she is cited as a child of Arthur and Rachel on the 1921 census when aged 8 (birth c.1913). There is then a marriage record for a Rachel Edwards to James Hudson in 1934 when she was aged 21 (birth c.1913). This gives her address as 11 Chaucer Street and his address as 46 Milton Street, where Rachel’s sister-in-law Catherine Beckley grew up and likely still lived with Rachel’s brother Arthur. A Rachel Hudson then died in Bootle in 1936 when aged 22 (birth c.1914).
G4: Ruth Edwards (1915-1989)
Birth: Ruth Edwards was born in Liverpool on 9 December 1915. She was the third child of Rachel and second husband Arthur.
Christening: on 22 December 1915 at St John’s Church on Brasenose Road in Bootle.
Marriage: to William Henry Beckley on 26 December 1935 at St Leonard’s Church on Peel Road in Bootle. She was aged 20 and he was 21.
Spouse history: William was the younger brother of Catherine Beckley, who had married Ruth’s elder brother Arthur two years previously. He had born in Bootle on 20 October 1914 and was christened during November at St Leonard’s Church.
Children: a boy in 1936 and a girl in 1939.
Occupations: William was a driver.
Residences: the newlywed couple initially lived with William’s father but by 1939 had a house on Audley Street in northern Bootle. This appeared to be the home of Mary Flaherty, a 50-year-old laundress.
- William: 24 Stafford Street (1914); 46 Milton Street (1921); 46 Milton Street (1935); 9 Audley Street (1939) – all in Bootle.
- Ruth: 124 Miller’s Bridge (1915); 92A Miller’s Bridge (1918-1927); 46 Milton Street (1935); 9 Audley Street (1939) – all in Bootle.
Deaths: William died during 1981 when aged 66. Ruth survived him for eight years and died in Liverpool during July 1989, aged 73.
G4: William Edwards (1918-1996)
Birth: William Edwards was born in Bootle on 29 March 1918. He was the fourth child of Rachel and second husband Arthur.
Christening: on 12 May 1918 at St Mary’s Church on Derby Road.
Residences: on the outbreak of war in 1939, 21-year-old William lived with his elder brother Arthur and wife Catherine. It was William who reported his father’s death on 9 February 1952, at which time he lived in the house next door on Marsh Lane.
- 92A Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1918-1927); 46 Milton Street, Bootle (1939); 46 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1952)
Occupations: in 1939 William worked as a news vendor.
Deaths: died in November 1996 when aged 78.
Notes: it’s possible that he went on to marry a Hilda Atherton, but further confirmation is required.
G4: George Edwards (1921-)
Birth: George Edwards was born in Bootle during 1921. He was the fifth child of Rachel and second husband Arthur.
Residences: 92A Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1921)
G4: Alfred Edwards (1923-1990)
Birth: Alfred Edwards was born in Bootle on 29 June 1923. He was the sixth child of Rachel and second husband Arthur.
Military service: Alfred joined the Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) on 15 April 1943. Formed during 1942, REME had the responsibility of maintaining, servicing, and inspecting almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army. He joined as a Private with service number 14583718 and was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 115 pounds, and with a pale complexion, brown eyes, and brown hair. He transferred into the REME in May 1943 and had completed his training to become an armourer by Christmas. Nothing more of his service is known.
Marriage: to Jessie Gow on 25 November 1950 in Scunthorpe. He was aged 27 and she was 18.
Spouse history: Jessie had been born in Glasgow on 19 May 1932, the second of the six children of William Gow and Agnes McVey.
Children: a boy in 1951 and a girl in 1965.
Occupations: in 1939 when he was aged 16, Alfred worked as a guillotine hand – presumably in a slaughterhouse. He later became a turner on a central lathe manufacturing industrial parts. The turner plays a crucial role in the manufacturing process by producing precision components – they are skilled machinists who use the lathe to remove material from a workpiece to give it a desired shape or dimension.
Residences: 92A Miller’s Bridge, Bootle (1923-1927); 50 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1939); 46 Marsh Lane, Bootle (1943)
Deaths: Alfred died in Liverpool during February 1990, aged 66. Jessie survived him by two decades and died in Fazakerley in Liverpool on 8 October 2010. She was cremated at Thornton Crematorium.
G4: Hannah May Edwards (1927-2005)
Birth: Hannah May Edwards was born in Bootle on 1 May 1927. She was the seventh child of Rachel and second husband Arthur and commonly known by her middle name.
Marriage: to Patrick James Cranney during 1949. She was aged 21 and he was 33.
Spouse history: Patrick had been born in Bootle on 31 July 1915 to Irish immigrant James Cranney and his English wife Mary Helen Burns. He was christened a week later at St James Catholic Church, at which time the family lived in a terraced house on Browning Street, close to Gladstone Dock. His father worked as a labourer in a foundry.
Children: two boys in 1952 and 1954.
Residences: 39 Browning Street, Bootle (1915-1921); 20A Moss Lane, Liverpool (2003-2005)
Deaths: Patrick died on 16 February 2005 when aged 89 and was followed by Hannah just a month later on 11 March, aged 77.
G5: Martha Plunkett (1886-1887)
Birth: Martha Plunkett was born in Bootle on 20 April 1886. She was the seventh child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 30 May 1886 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre.
Residences: Martha Plunkett: 22 Rothsay Street, Liverpool (1886-1887)
Death: early died age 1 and buried in Everton Cemetery on 17 February 1887.
G5: Emma Plunkett (1888-1969)
Birth: Emma Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 27 April 1888. She was the eighth child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 8 July 1888 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre.
Marriage: to Edward Patrick Dunne during 1915 in Liverpool. They were both aged 26.
Spouse history: Edward had been born in Liverpool on 18 July 1888, one of the five children of Patrick Dunne and Fanny Pemberton. He was christened at St Francis Xavier’s Roman Catholic Church later that month. The next three census captured the family living in terraced houses on Letterstone Street, Spurgeon Street, and Phoebe Anne Street in central Everton. His father originally came from Rathdrum in Wicklow, Ireland and was a coachman while his mother was a domestic servant.
Children: (1) Frances in 1915, (2) Edward in 1921, (3) Marcella in 1922.
Occupations: in 1911 when she aged 22, Emma worked as a laundry manager. Edward meanwhile was a clerk at a cotton maker. Over the next decade he became a labourer in the sugar refinery of Henry Tate & Sons on Love Lane. The company had been formed in the 19th century and the refinery on Love Lane opened in 1872. Not long after the census was taken, they merged with their rivals Abram Lyle & Sons to form Tate & Lyle, between them refining around 50% of British sugar. The Liverpool refinery was expanded in 1937. Edward likely had a long career here since the National Register of 1939 cited him as a sugar delivery man. The refinery eventually closed in 1981.
Residences: in 1911, Emma lived with her brother Ralph and his young family in their terraced house on Waltham Road. After marrying Edward they moved first to nearby Premier Street, but then left the neighbourhood for a house on Whitman Street beyond Wavertree Playground. They raised their family here for a decade before moving into their final home on an estate in West Derby, featuring plenty of space and modern amenities.
- Emma: 22 Rothsay Street (1888-1889); 101 Rose Place (1890-1892); 17 Upper Bute Street (1894-1897); 57 Louisa Street (1897-1900); 5 Church Place (1901-1907); 33 Waltham Road (1911); 59 Premier Street (1921); 16 Whitman Street (1923-1931); 6 Lynsted Road (1932-1969) – all in Liverpool.
- Edward: 19 Letterstone Street (1891); 24 Spurgeon Street (1901); 9 Phoebe Anne Street (1911); 59 Premier Street (1921); 16 Whitman Street (1923-1931); 6 Lynsted Road (1932-1973) – all in Liverpool.
Deaths: Emma died at home during 1969 when aged 81 and was cremated at Liverpool Crematorium on 13 November. Edward survived her for two years and died of anaemia caused by bladder cancer when aged 84, being cremated at Liverpool Crematorium on 5 January 1973.
G4: Frances Margaret Dunne (1915-1997)
Birth: Frances Margaret Dunne was born in Liverpool on 4 October 1915. She was the first child of newlyweds Edward and Emma.
Marriage: to Francis William Lawton on 26 December 1938 at Holy Spirit Church on Dovecot Avenue in Knotty Ash. She was aged 23 and he was 24.
Spouse history: Francis had been born on 17 August 1914 to George Francis Lawton and Mary Elizabeth Wilcox, and was christened at All Saints, Stoneycroft during September. The family lived in a terraced house on nearby Sapphire Street in central Wavertree, from where his father went to work on the railways. His family also moved out to the new suburbs of West Derby in 1931, living in a town house on Longreach Road.
Children: a girl in 1946.
Residences: the couple still lived with their parents at the time of their marriage in 1938, but a year later had moved to Derby. They lived in a semi-detached house on St Mark’s Road next to the cricket ground. By the end of the war, they were back living with Frances’s parents in Liverpool. It was not until 1956 that they got a place of their own on Allerford Road.
- Frances: 59 Premier Street, Liverpool (1921); 16 Whitman Street, Liverpool (1923-1931); 6 Lynsted Road, Liverpool (1932-1938); 109 St Mark’s Road, Derby (1939); 6 Lynsted Road, Liverpool (1945-1955); 83 Allerford Road, Liverpool (1956-1970)
- Francis: 7 Sapphire Street, Liverpool (1914-1930); 41 Longreach Road, Liverpool (1931-1938); 109 St Mark’s Road, Derby (1939); 6 Lynsted Road, Liverpool (1945-1955); 83 Allerford Road, Liverpool (1956-1970)
Occupations: Francis was a railway porter.
Deaths: Frances died in Liverpool during January 1997 when aged 81.
G4: Edward James Dunne (1921-)
Birth: Edward James Dunne was born in Liverpool on 26 February 1921. He was the second child of newlyweds Edward and Emma.
Occupations: in 1939 18-year-old Edward worked as a telephone draughtsman – responsible for creating technical drawings and diagrams related to telephone systems. They were involved in the design phase of telephone systems, creating schematic diagrams that illustrated the layout and connections of various components such as switchboards, wiring diagrams, and other technical illustrations. They generated technical documentation that accompanied the drawings, providing detailed information about the specifications, standards, and procedures to be followed during the installation and maintenance.
Residences: 59 Premier Street, Liverpool (1921); 16 Whitman Street, Liverpool (1923-1931); 6 Lynsted Road, Liverpool (1932-1947)
Notes: Edward lived at home until 1947 when he probably married Eileen Hesketh, but further confirmation is required.
G4: Marcella Dunne (1922-1995)
Birth: Marcella Dunne was born in Liverpool on 14 July 1922. She was the third child of newlyweds Edward and Emma.
Residences: lived with her parents into adulthood, residing with them until at least 1970 when she was aged 48.
- 16 Whitman Street, Liverpool (1923-1931); 6 Lynsted Road, Liverpool (1932-1970)
Death: in October 1995 when aged 73.
G5: Richard Plunkett (1891-1894)
Birth: Richard Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 8 February 1891. He was the ninth child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 5 April 1891 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre – the same day that the census was taken.
Residences: 101 Rose Place, Liverpool (1891-1892); 17 Upper Bute Street, Liverpool (1894)
Death: early soon after being christened and was buried in Everton Cemetery on 15 April 1891.
G5: May Plunkett (1894-1970)
Birth: May Plunkett was born in Liverpool on 1 May 1894. She was the 10th child of Ralph and Mary.
Christening: on 5 August 1894 at St Peter’s Church in the city centre.
Residences: 17 Upper Bute Street, Liverpool (1894-1897)
There is no further record of her.
