Table of Contents
This family group is rather large and so to aid readability it is split across a few parts.
G6: Elizabeth Profit (1836-)
Birth: Elizabeth Profit was born in Axton during 1836. She was the fourth child of Edward and Dorothy.
Christening: on 23 October 1836 in Llanasa.
Residences: Berllan, Gwespyr (1841-1851)
Note: many online trees put Elizabeth as marrying Edward Profit in 1853, but the marriage registration clearly shows that the father of the bridge was named Thomas, who was a brewer, and not cited as being deceased – all of which are incorrect. There is always a possibility that the record is wrong, but further clarification is needed. Our Elizabeth is possibly the one who was working as a servant in Liverpool in 1861, and then back in Gwespyr in 1871.
G6: Susannah Profit (1840-1918)
Birth: Susannah Profit was born in Llanasa during 1840. She was the fifth child of Edward and Dorothy.
Christening: on 5 January 1840 in Llanasa.
Marriage: to Frank Spencer on 31 October 1867 at the St Mary’s Church on Sandown Road in Edge Hill. They were both aged 27.
Spouse history: Frank had been born in Nottingham during 1840 to Benjamin Spencer and Mary Smith. He was christened at St Mary’s church on 30 March. His father was a miller and baker and the family lived on Menton Street, moving to Mount Vernon by 1851.
Children: (1) Edward in 1868, (2) Mary in 1870, (3) Alice in 1873, (4) Susannah in 1879. Sadly, all but Mary died in childhood – and in fact Susanah outlived all her children.
Occupations: Susannah entered service and in 1861 worked as a dairy maid for the elderly Henry Knight, a ‘landed proprietor’ whose home was Strand House on Park Road in Wavertree, Liverpool – in a time before the mass swathes of terraced houses covered the area. Frank meanwhile had followed in his father’s footsteps and become a baker. The records are a little inconsistent and he seems to alternate between baking and working as a railway porter.
Residences: it’s likely that in 1861 Frank lived with fellow baker Thomas Smith and family on Charlotte Street. It’s not known when or why he moved to Liverpool. The married couple lived in Wavertree for the rest of their lives, seeing it grow from a distinct village into a suburb dominated by terraced housing. They often took in lodgers to help pay the rent.
Their daughter Mary lived with them until her own wedding, and by 1901 the roles had been reserved with Frank and Susannah, now in the sixties, living with her. In 1911 the widowed Susannah lived with her friend Blanche Bowyer, who was a professional actress.
- Susannah: Berllan, Gwespyr (1841-1851); Strand House, Park Road, Liverpool (1861); Anderton’s Square, Liverpool (1871); 35 Bishopgate Street, Liverpool (1873-1879); Hey Green Road, Liverpool (1881); 35 Bishopgate Street, Liverpool (1885-1893); 19 Cambridge Street, Liverpool (1895); 63 Wavertree Vale, Liverpool (1901); 9 Wavertree Vale, Liverpool (1902); 11 Cramond Avenue, Liverpool (1911); 13 Dunstan Street, Liverpool (1918)
- Frank: Menton Street, Nottingham (1840); Mount Vernon, Nottingham (1851); Anderton’s Square, Liverpool (1871); 35 Bishopgate Street, Liverpool (1873-1879); Hey Green Road, Liverpool (1881); 35 Bishopgate Street, Liverpool (1885-1893); 19 Cambridge Street, Liverpool (1895); 63 Wavertree Vale, Liverpool (1901); 9 Wavertree Vale, Liverpool (1902)
Deaths: Frank died on 22 February 1902 and was buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery. Susannah died in 1918 when aged 78 and was buried in Allerton Cemetery on 2 July.
G5: Edward Profitt Spencer (1868-1869)
Birth: Edward Profitt Spencer was born in Liverpool during 1868. He was the first child of Frank and Susannah.
Christening: on 15 November 1868 at Holy Trinity Church on Church Road in Wavertree.
Death: died on 28 October 1869 when aged 1 and was buried at Holy Trinity.
G5: Mary Spencer (1870-1909)
Birth: Mary Spencer was born in Liverpool during 1870. She was the second child of Frank and Susannah but the only one to survive infancy.
Christening: on 2 October 1870 at Holy Trinity Church on Church Road in Wavertree.
Marriage 1: to Walter Deal during 1892 in Liverpool. She was aged 22 and he was 19.
Spouse history: Walter had been born on 5 June 1872 to commercial clerk William Joseph Deal and his wife Margaret Theresa Fallon. He was christened at St Anne’s Roman Catholic Church on Overbury Street, and when the census had been taken the previous year, they had lived with his maternal grandparents on Sophia Street. Sadly, Walter’s father died when he was just six. By the time of the next census they family lived on Forbes Street in Edge Hill, with his mother working as a seamstress to make a living, later moving to nearby Cardwell Street.
Children: (1) Gladys in 1893.
Death: Walter died in August 1895 when aged just 23. He was buried in Yew Tree Cemetery.
Marriage 2: to David Henry Johns on 14 February 1898 at St Mary’s Church on Sandown Road in Wavertree. She was aged 28 and he was 25.
Spouse history: David had been born on 21 April 1872 to David Henry Johns and Elizabeth Roberts, the third of an eventual seven children. His father was a gardener and in 1881 the family lived on the High Street in Wavertree, possibly in a flat above a shop. By 1891 David had moved in with publican John Wynn and family in The Wellington on nearby Picton Road, for whom he worked as an assistant.
Children: (1) Sadie in 1903; (2) Frank in 1906.
Occupations: Walter followed in his father’s footsteps and by 1891 worked as a railway clerk. Second husband David meanwhile worked as an assistant in a pub, but soon began what would be a long career at sea by becoming a ship’s steward. In 1901 he was part of the crew of the grand ocean liner RMS Lucania, operated by Cunard on the transatlantic route. It was at around this time that Lucania became the first Cunard liner to be fitted with a Marconi wireless system.
Residences: in 1893 Walter and Mary lived on Cambridge Street, likely with her parents. After marrying David, the family lived a nomadic lifestyle, occupying eight different houses over the next decade including four on Wavertree Vale. This is where they were captured on the 1901 census, with the family of three being joined by Mary’s parents.
- Mary: Anderton’s Square (1871); 35 Bishopgate Street (1873-1879); Hey Green Road (1881); 35 Bishopgate Street (1885-1893); 19 Cambridge Street (1895); 51 Bishopgate Street (1898-1900); 144 Picton Road (1900); 63 Wavertree Vale (1900-1901); 9 Wavertree Vale (1901-1906); 98 Picton Road (1906); 48 Wavertree Vale (1906); 29 Wavertree Vale (1906-1908); 23 Litchfield Road (1909) – all in Liverpool.
- Walter: 4 Forbes Street (1881); 85 Cardwell Street (1891); 19 Cambridge Street (1895) – all in Liverpool.
- David: 59 High Street (1881); 236 Picton Road (1891); 51 Bishopgate Street (1898-1900); 144 Picton Road (1900); 63 Wavertree Vale (1900-1901); 63 Wavertree Vale (1900-1901); 9 Wavertree Vale (1901-1906); 48 Wavertree Vale (1906); 98 Picton Road (1906); 29 Wavertree Vale (1906-1908); 23 Litchfield Road (1909); 21 Cowper Road (1912-1913); 22 Scotia Road (1914-1941) – all in Liverpool.
Deaths: Mary died in August 1909 when aged just 39 and was buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery.
Notes: David married Amy Swift in 1912 and had a further three children. He died on 15 May 1941 at Walton Hospital after being injured while at Huskisson Dock on 4 May. The Luftwaffe launched the heaviest raid of the war against Liverpool on the night of 3 May, during which the cargo ship SS Malakand – moored in Huskisson Dock and loaded with munitions– was hit by bombs. The fire could not be contained and in the early hours of the 4th it exploded, sending flames more than 500m into the sky, destroying the entire Huskisson No. 2 dock and killing four people. It took 74 hours for the fire to burn out. Debris from the Malakand’s hull plating was strewn for more than two miles, with its two-ton anchor stock landing next to Bootle General Hospital. During the First World War he had survived his ship being sunk.
G4: Gladys Louisa Deal (1893-1921)
Birth: Gladys Louisa Deal was born in Liverpool on 7 March 1893. She was the only child of newlyweds Walter and Mary.
Christening: on 16 April 1893 at St Clare’s Roman Catholic Church on Arundel Avenue in Toxteth. Six months after her mother married second husband David Johns in 1898, Gladys was christened into the Church of England on 7 September at St Mary’s Church on Sandown Road.
Marriage: to Albert Milne during 1913 in Liverpool. They were both aged 19.
Spouse history: Albert had been born on 16 January 1893 into the large family of Imogene Milne. In 1901 they lived on Fearnside Street, later moving to Ash Grove – literally around the corner from his future wife.
Children: (1) Imogene in 1913; (2) Eileen in 1915; (3) Albert in 1916; (4) Walter in 1921 – who died as a baby.
Occupations: in 1911 Albert was a driver for the Co-Operative Society.
Residences: in 1911, 18-year-old Gladys lodged with the Williams family on Wavertree Vale. The newlywed couple settled in a terraced house on Dunstan Street
- Gladys: 35 Bishopgate Street (1893); 51 Bishopgate Street (1898-1900); 144 Picton Road (1900); 63 Wavertree Vale (1900-1901); 9 Wavertree Vale (1901-1906); 98 Picton Road (1906); 48 Wavertree Vale (1906); 29 Wavertree Vale (1906-1908); 23 Litchfield Road (1909); 27 Wavertree Vale (1911); 13 Dunstan Street (1913-1921) – all in Liverpool.
- Albert: 25 Fearnside Street (1901); 22 Ash Grove (1911); 13 Dunstan Street (1913-1921); 119 Lawrence Road (1921-1923); 133 Chatham Street (1924-1928); 24 Teynham Crescent (1931-1932); 122 Richard Kelly Drive (1933-1955) – all in Liverpool.
Military service: it’s thought that Albert served in the army during the war.
Death: Gladys died in 1921 when aged just 28, likely due to complications from childbirth. She was buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery on 2 April.
Notes: following Gladys’s death Albert moved in with his mother. He wasted no time in finding a new mother for his children, and in 1922 married Robina Frances Anderson. They had two children together. They initially lived on Chatham Street near the cathedral before moving north to the new Norris Green Estate where they settled into a semi-detached house on Richard Kelly Drive. He died in Dyserth, Flintshire on 26 June 1955 when aged 62, although he still lived in Liverpool.
G3: Imogene Milne (1913-1995)
Birth: Imogene Milne was born in Liverpool on 20 April 1913. She was the first child of newlyweds Albert and Gladys.
Christening: on 17 July 1913 at St Mary’s Church on St Mary’s Road in Wavertree.
Marriage: to Stanley Jones during 1936 in Liverpool. She was aged 23 and he was 29.
Spouse history: Stanley had been born on 18 July 1906, the second son of David Owen Jones and Jessie Maud Musker. He was christened at Holy Trinity in Anfield during August, and the family lived just around the corner in a terraced house on Ludwig Road. By 1911 they had moved into a two-story apartment above a shop on Priory Road in Anfield. His father was a joiner. They remained in the area and during 1921 had a property on St Domingo Grove, with bachelor Stanley later moving to the adjacent St Domingo Vale.
Children: two girls and a boy between 1936 and 1940.
Military service: Stanley joined a territorial unit of the Royal Artillery in 1933 and was called up for active service on the outbreak of war. He did invaluable work as Regimental Chief Clerk reorganising the coastal defences in the early stages of the war – a time when Britain faced the very real prospect of defending against a German invasion. He proceeded to Mauritius in 1941 and as Chief Clerk assisted in the formation of the Mauritius Coast Regiment, RA. In addition to his normal duties, Stanley was the Secretary and Treasurer to the President Garrison Institutes and was responsible for organising sport and entertainment for the based troops, including management of the garrison hall and cinema. In 1943, he was granted special leave to organise a permanent holiday camp up country to which gunners from the coast could proceed for brief rests. This was highly successful and much appreciated by the troops. On return to the UK in 1945, Stanley was attached to HQ RA Western Command and did much work on the welfare side for the RA Association.
On the reformation of the Territorial Army in 1947, Stanley was given special release for the purpose of taking over his previous position of RHQ Clerk of 420 Coastal Regiment. He was of great value in re-establishing many of the old connections of the regiment, and instrumental in recruiting the return of many ex-members. It was noted that he “was a tower of strength to succeeding adjutants who have without exception graded his work above average… He has been an example of loyalty to the Regiment”. For his long service Stanley was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 1957 New Year Honours List. He also received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953.
Residences: the newlyweds briefly lodged on St Domingo Grove before settling on Dominion Street for the next decade. When the National Register was taken in 1939, the young family were captured at the home of Stanley’s younger brother Leslie and wife Zillah on Lambshear Lane in the village of Lydiate in Sefton. Perhaps they were just visiting, or perhaps they have temporarily moved to escape the expected bombing of the cities.
They then moved to a house on Walton Lane, boarding Stanley Park, during 1949 before relocating to nearby Alroy Road in 1957. Interestingly, this house now sits under the Anfield Stadium of Liverpool Football Club.
- Stanley: 11 Ludwig Road (1906); 66 Priory Road (1911); 94 St Domingo Grove (1921); 69 St Domingo Vale (1934-1935); 61 St Domingo Grove (1936); 10 Dominion Street (1937-1948); 47 Walton Lane (1949-1955); 5 Alroy Road (1957-1967) – all in Liverpool.
- Imogene: 13 Dunstan Street (1913-1921); 119 Lawrence Road (1921-1923); 133 Chatham Street (1924-1928); 24 Teynham Crescent (1931-1932); 122 Richard Kelly Drive (1933-1935); 61 St Domingo Grove (1936); 10 Dominion Street (1937-1948); 47 Walton Lane (1949-1955); 5 Alroy Road (1957-1967) – all in Liverpool.
Deaths: Stanley died in 1980 when aged 73. Imogene survived him for 15 years and died in Wrexham Maelor in North Wales during 1995 when aged 82.
G3: Eileen Milne (1915-1996)
Birth: Eileen Milne was born in Liverpool on 31 January 1915. She was the second child of Albert and Gladys.
Christening: on 17 March 1915 at St Mary’s Church on Walton Road in Wavertree.
Marriage: to Alfred Harold on 3 October 1936 at St Thomas’s Church on Ashfield Street in Liverpool. She was aged 21 and he was 25.
Spouse history: Alfred had been born on 10 May 1911 – the ninth child of Thomas Harold and Sarah Clarke. He was christened a few weeks later at St Simon’s Church adjacent to Lime Street railway station. The family lived on nearby Trowbridge Place, close to the abattoir where Alfred’s father likely worked as a butcher. He was destined to never know him however as he died in August. His mother remarried just the following year (to their lodger!) and had three more children. In 1921 the extended family of nine squeezed into a small terraced house. Alfred continued to live at home into adulthood, moving with them to nearby Bridport Street in 1934.
Children: a girl in 1942.
Residences: in 1921 when Eileen was just six, she suffered the death of her mother. When the census was taken a few weeks later, she and younger brother Albert were staying with their paternal aunt Sarah Sparkes and husband Peter in their home on Wavertree Vale.
The newlyweds lived with Alfred’s parents for a few years before moving into a house of their own on Strathcona Road in Wavertree, which would be their home for a least the next three decades.
- Eileen: 13 Dunstan Street, Liverpool (1915-1921); 29 Bridport Street, Liverpool (1937-1939); 87 Strathcona Road, Liverpool (1939-1970)
- Alfred: 14 Trowbridge Place, Liverpool (1911-1933); 29 Bridport Street, Liverpool (1934-1939); 87 Strathcona Road, Liverpool (1939-1970)
Occupations: Alfred worked as an assistant linotype mechanic in 1939.
Deaths: Eileen died in Liverpool during October 1996 when aged 81. Alfred survived her for a few months and died in July 1997 when aged 86.
G3: Albert Milne (1916-1941)
Birth: Albert Milne was born in Liverpool on 12 December 1916. He was the third child of Albert and Gladys.
Christening: on 31 January 1917 at St Bridget’s Church on Bagot Street in Wavertree.
Marriage: to Clara Rozorvin during 1938 in Liverpool. She was aged 21 and she was 17.
Spouse history: Clara had been born on 28 December 1920 to Dimitree Rozorvin and Sarah Ennis. Her father was originally from Russia, while her mother was Irish. When the census was taken in 1921 the family lived on Kempston Street near Lime Street railway station. Her father worked as a cabinet maker for a W. Coaklin on nearby Soho Street.
Children: (1) Albert in 1939.
Residences: in 1921 when Albert was just five, he suffered the death of his mother. When the census was taken a few weeks later, he and elder sister Eileen were staying with their paternal aunt Sarah Sparkes and husband Peter in their home on Wavertree Vale.
At the time of his marriage in 1938 Albert lived in a terraced house on Methuen Street with a Sarah Renshaw, which was the same house that his sister had lived in two years previously. It is not thought that Sarah was family. By the following year the newlyweds had a flat above a shop on Lodge Lane, one of the main roads in Toxteth. Son Albert had been born earlier in the year.
- Albert: 13 Dunstan Street, Liverpool (1916-1921); 119 Lawrence Road, Liverpool (1921-1923); 133 Chatham Street, Liverpool (1924-1928); 24 Teynham Crescent, Liverpool (1931-1932); 122 Richard Kelly Drive, Liverpool (1933); 8 Methuen Street, Liverpool (1938); 25A Lodge Lane, Liverpool (1939)
- Clara: 60 Kempston Street, Liverpool (1921)
Occupation: Albert worked as a milk salesman.
Military service: Albert joined the Royal Navy during the Second World War and served on the armed trawler HMT Lady Shirley in 1941. This was essentially a fishing boat that had been given a couple of anti-aircraft guns and used to patrol off Gibraltar. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his part in the sinking of U-111 and the capture of its crew on 4 October 1941. He was mentioned in the official action report:
As masthead lookout he was largely responsible for the successful outcome of the attack... after the gun layer been killed this rating was outstanding in keeping the 4-inch gun in action... Seaman Milne behaved with great calm and determination and got the rounds away in rapid succession.
A few weeks later, on 11 December, Lady Shirley was in company with HMS Rosabelle on a patrol in the Straits of Gibraltar when both ships were sunk without trace by the U-374. There were no survivors.
Death: Albert died the day before his 25th birthday. He was one of the 15,000 or so Royal Naval Patrol Service personnel who were killed, of which 2,385 “have no known grave but the sea”.
Note: the unfortunate Clara went on to marry, and be widowed, three more times. First, she married Herbert Rawlinson in 1942 but he was killed in action in Italy the following year. Her marriage to Robert Brew lasted from 1949 until 1962, followed by Leslie Burke from 1973 until his death in 1977. Clara died in 1982.
G2: Albert Milne (1939-1960)
Birth: Albert Milne was born in Liverpool during 1939. He was the only child of newlyweds of Albert and Cara.
Residences: 8 Cam Street, Liverpool (1945-1960)
Death: on 12 August 1960 when aged just 21. He was buried in Allerton Cemetery.
G3: Walter Milne (1921-1922)
Birth: Walter Milne was born in Liverpool during 1921. He was the fourth child of Albert and Gladys.
Death: Walter was captured as a patient in Alder Hey Hospital in the 1921 census and was still there when he died in February 1922. He is buried at Holy Trinity in Wavertree.
G4: Sadie Spencer Johns (1903-)
Birth: Sadie Spencer Johns was born in Liverpool on 15 January 1903. She was the first child of Mary with second husband David.
Christening: on 5 February 1903 at St Mary’s Church on Sandown Road in Wavertree.
Residences: after Sadie’s mother died in 1909, she lived with her paternal grandmother and uncle William and his wife in their home on Oxford Street. Her father was a ship’s steward and likely away at sea when the census was taken in 1911.
- 9 Wavertree Vale (1903); 9 Wavertree Vale (1903-1906); 98 Picton Road (1906); 48 Wavertree Vale (1906); 29 Wavertree Vale (1906-1908); 23 Litchfield Road (1909); 27 Wavertree Vale (1911); 22 Scotia Road (1914-1922) – all in Liverpool.
Notes: a Sadie Saint-Johns married a Thomas Ellis Jones in Colwyn Bay in North Wales on 11 April 1925. Many online trees put this as our Sadie, since the father on the marriage certificate has the same name and the 1939 Register shows that she has the same date of birth. There is no explanation for her change of surname however, and although it’s likely the same person I need further confirmation to be sure.
G4: Frank Spencer Johns (1906)
Birth: Frank Spencer Johns was born in Liverpool on 30 March 1906. He was the second child of Mary with second husband David.
Christening: on 25 April 1906 in Liverpool.
Residences: 48 Wavertree Vale, Liverpool (1906); 29 Wavertree Vale, Liverpool (1906)
Death: died aged 5 months and buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery on 13 September.
G5: Alice Ann Spencer (1873)
Birth: Alice Ann Spencer was born in Liverpool during 1873. She was the third child of Frank and Susannah.
Christening: on 29 June 1873 at St Bridget’s Church on Bagot Street in Wavertree.
Residences: 35 Bishopgate Street, Liverpool (1873)
Death: died on 19 May 1880 and buried in Necropolis (Low Hill Cemetery) a few days later.
G5: Susannah Spencer (1879-1880)
Birth: Susannah Spencer was born in Liverpool on 20 June 1879. She was the fourth child of Frank and Susannah.
Christening: on 8 September 1879 at St Peter’s Church on Church Street in the city centre.
Residences: 35 Bishopgate Street, Liverpool (1879)
Death: died before her first birthday and buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery on 12 October 1873.
