Two's Compamy - Sepia Saturday

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt photograph features a couple side by side.  So take a look at photographs on the theme of "Two's Company."

 

One of the oldest photographs in my family collection of my great grandparents Matilda Such and James Matthews  of Wolverhampton in the English Midlands. 

James (1843-1918) was a man of many parts –  a third son in a large family; under hand roller, underhand shingler and hollow fireman  at an iron works;  a complete change of occupation to that of insurance agent and also shopkeeper; with his wife Matilda, parent to ten children,  and a prominent member of the local Methodist church where he was choir conductor. ]

My great grandmother’s childhood proved to be a challenging research task, complicated by the fact Matilda (1849-1929)  was  the  third illegitimate child of her namesake  mother, whose supposed marriages have not been verified. 

 

 Not family, but a charming photograph in the collection of my great aunt Jennie Danson who had numerous photographs of her friends.

 

Jennie's nieces  - standing my mother Kathleen Danson, born 1908 with her older sister Edith, born 1907.

Someone has been busy knitting here - cousins from the Oldham family of Blackpool, Lancashire.  

A happy  wartime image of my parents Kathleen Danson,  and John Weston who served in the RAF as a code and cipher clerk. 

Two wartime  pictures of my Aunt Peggy Danson who served in the WAAFs (Women's Auxiliary Air Force)  - firstly with her mother (my grandmother Alice English) and again with a friend.

 

 

With my mother in 1971

 

  

January 1975  and a birthday photograph of my daughter -  snow at one stage seemed to be a constant  feature of her birthdays and played havoc with  party arrangements.   The weather here is much the same today as I write this! 

        Helping Daddy unload the logs - granddaughter in 2010.

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Sepia Saturday gives an opportunity for genealogy bloggers 
to share their family history through photographs.

 

 

Click HERE to read more from other Sepia Saturday bloggers.

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A-Z Challenge 2023: Fanily Traits - V for VALIANT

Theme for the A-Z  Challenge 2023 

Family Traits, Quirks and Characteristics

V for VALIANT
 

A tribute to my VALIANT ancestors who served  their country in times of war.

 

 

FIRST WORLD WAR

Five Danson Brothers - John, William (my grandfather), Tom, Frank and George, sons of James Danson (1852-1906) and Maria Rawcliffe (1859-1919) of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire.

        

           

 

    

 

John. aged 38  died whilst in army training;   William was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in action;  I have found nothing on Tom's role;  Frank was wounded and hospitalized in Malta, but recovered; and youngest son, George (left) was killed on the Somme 16th September 1916 aged just 22.  

 

 

 

 

My paternal great uncle Arthur Liam Matthews (1880-1915), second son of ten children born to John Matthews and Matilda Such of Wolverhampton, in the English Midlands.  He was killed at Gallipoli, aged 35  with his name recorded on the Helles Monument in Turnkey and in memorials back home.  He left a widow and two young children.

 

My husband's great uncle Frederick Donaldson, served in the Durham Light Infantry  and was killed on the Somme -  on the  very same day as my great uncle George Danson  above.  He is remembered on the Thiepval  Monument in France -  the-largestBritish battle memorial in the world. On Portland stone, piers are engraved the names of over 72,000 men who who have no known grave and who were lost in the Somme battles between July 1916 and March 1918.

 

                                                          

• Thiepval Memorial  - Image courtesy of Pixabay.
  

   

SECOND WORLD WAR 

My husband's father - John Donaldson of South Shields, Co. Durham (1908-1983) joined the RAF  and was undergoing aircrew training, when he suffered a broken neck,  He was invalided out , but recovered from his injury and later served in the Home Guard.

 

 

My husband’s Uncle Matthew Iley White - Mattie  (1915-1978) of South Shields, Co.Durham, a regular serving soldier. 

 

 

 Mattie's Service Book 

My father John Percy Weston (1912-2003)  served in the RAF, working in codes and ciphers.  He was attached to the American forces, who landed on Omaha beach in 1944 and  progressed through France, Luxembourg into Germany and later served in Burma.   He wrote down his war memories for me - a precious document to  have.

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   My uncle Eric  Charles Weston (1915-1999)  - a Japanese POW
  

  

   

  My uncle Harry Danson (1912-2001)  - one of the many men rescued in 1941 off Dunkirk by the flotilla of small ships,   arriving home in the uniform in which he had entered he water.  He later served in Africa and Italy.   Harry never talked about his wartime experiences but seeing documentaries or commemorations on TV could bring tears to his eyes,  with memories of what he had witnessed.  

My uncle Billy Danson  (William Leslie Danson), born in 1915 and  named after his father, was the youngest son of William Danson and Alice English of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. During the war he served in the Royal Navy.

 

My aunt Peggy (Margaret Olwen Danson)  was the youngest daughter of William and Alice Danson, born after the First World War, so very much the baby of the family to her much older brothers and sisters.  

 

In World War Two Peggy  served in the WAAF (Women's Auxiliary Air Force), with a note In the family photograph album that she was  in a Barrage Balloon Squadron in Hull, Yorkshire.   It was there she met her husband, and shortly after the war, they sailed to make their home in Australia. 

 

Balloon Barrages were a passive form of defence, designed to force enemy planes to fly higher and thus bomb much less accurately.  They were simply a bag of lighter-than-air gas attached to a steel cable anchored to the ground. The balloon could be raised or lowered to the desired altitude by a winch.  The work was not without its dangers, as the heavy steel cable could at tlmes snap, resulting in devastating injuries to the operator.  

LEST WE FORGET 

 

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Onto W for WELL TRAVELLED

 IN CASE YOU MISSED

A for ADVENTUROUS, B for BIGAMOUS, C for CRIMINAL,  D for DEVOUT

E for ENTERPRISING  & ESTEEMED,   F for FEISTY

  

G for GENIAL & GOOD LOOKING,  H for HEROIC    I  for INSOLVENT  

 J for "JOINER", K for KEEPER OF THE FAMILY ARCHIVES,

 

L for LONG LIVING,  M for MYSTERIOUS, N for NE'ER DO WELL 

 

O for ORPHANED, P for POETIC,    Q for QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOUR 

 

R for RESILIEN, S for STOIC  T for TRAGIC,  U FOR UNETHICAL

A-Z Challenge 2023: Family Traits - Q for QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOUR

My Theme for the A-Z  Challenge 2023

Family Traits, Quirks and Characteristics 

   Q is for QUESTIONABLE  BEHAVIOUR  

My great great grandmother Matilda Bloomer Such 

 

 

 The dictionary defines "QUESTIONABLE" as "dubious, doubtful, unacceptable or problematic"  - terms which could apply to my paternal great great grandmother, Matilda Bloomer Such. whose life inspired much questioning. 

For there is something of a mystery about her and it proved to be a challenging research task, complicated by the need to distinguish three generations of Matilda’s, the birth of two,  if not three,  illegitimate  children,  two possible unverified marriages and changing surnames of the children from Such to Williams to Simpson.  So lots of QUESTIONS to be answered. 

(Acknowledgement :  this post is very grateful for the research and local knoweldge of Mike Charles and his wife Linda, who, like me, is great great granddaughter of Matilda Bloomer Such).   

So who was my great great grandmother?

Matilda was born in 1815 in Birmingham in the English Midlands, christened Matilda Bloomer Such.  daughter of to William Such, and Matilda Bloomer. 

Twelve children were born to William and Matilda. They  grew  up in  a well-respected  middle class household.  Their father was a gold seal maker, engraver and chain maker  with William  registering  his maker’s mark with the Birmingham Assay Office in 1828.    Two children did not survive infancy and later, two of the sons  emigrated to the United States of America. 

The 1841 Census, showed the Such  family living in the Hamlet of Bordesley, near Birmingham.   However, daughter Matilda,  who would be 26 years old,  was not living at the address and so far has not been traced. 

 

Question 1 - Where was Matilda in 1841.?  Her whereabouts are a mystery to date.

In 1842,   Birmingham St. Martin’s Parish Records noted  the baptism of Barbara Such, daughter of Matilda Such  “a single woman”.  There was no reference to a father.

Two years later in 1844 , Matilda became pregnant again and gave birth to another daughter Fanny Such.  Again, there was no hint as to the child’s father, and Matilda was  listed as a single woman.

In 1849 Matilda was delivered of a third daughter, christened Matilda. The baby’s birth certificate showed that she was the daughter of William and Matilda ‘WILLIAMS’. The father was listed as a ‘traveller’ and the address on the birth certificate recorded that the couple were  living at 46 Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, which was a heavy industrial area involved in the manufacture of guns.   No trace has been  found of a Williams/Such marriage.

Ironically the registrar signing the birth certificate was  called William Williams. Coincidence or Fabrication?  Was this significant?  The plot deepens!

To confuse matters further, the Parish Record of the baptism noted  that the mother was Matilda Such  and the father William Such.  

Question 2 - What were the  circumstances leading to Matilda giving birth to two, possibly three illegitimate daughters  or were these  a result of  abusive relationships?  We shall never  know.

It was extremely shameful for a woman to become pregnant and not marry the father, thus giving the bastard child legitimacy.  Since Matilda was not of a poor background, she avoided the need to apply for Poor Relief.  There was  no apparent record of any Bastardy Bond in the Parish Records for Warwickshire, whereby financial support was sought from the putative  father. 

Onto the 1851 Census which which revealed that Matilda (my gg grandmother) was back living with her widowed father.   She was  listed as  an unmarried woman and a "Professor of Music".

Questions 4  - Where were Matilda’s three young daughters?     Why did she call herself an unmarried woman? 

Locating Matilda’s three girls was a challenge but they were eventually traced, aged 9, 7 and 2, living as “nurse children” i.e. “foster children”  in the care of  a couple named Middleton.  The children all shared the same surname Williams.

Question 5 -  What had prompted Matilda to put young children  into foster care?  lWas this to keep their mother distanced from any scandal?  

 Question  6- How had Matilda achieved the status of a “Professor of Music”   - or was this just an exaggerate term for a music teacher? 

The 1871 Census showed a totally different picture of Matilda and her three daughters.  For they were all living together in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. The family name was  noted as ‘SIMPSON’. Matilda listed herself as a widow and dressmaker;  Barbara, aged 19 years was a school mistress; Fanny, at 17 years, was learning to be a dressmaker and young Matilda, aged 12 was a scholar.   The term ‘widow’ was often used by mothers of illegitimate children to gain respectability,. Again no record has been traced to confirm a  Such-Simpson marriage.

Matilda Simpson senior moved away from Wolverhampton, as  in the 1871 Census she was listed as a widow living at 48 High Street, Kinver, and she was.a governess of a day school.

Matilda Simpson, the younest child of the family, was living a few doors away as a cook for the family of Doctgor `Thomas Holyoaks, at number 44 High Street,  

In May 1871, youngest  daughter Matilda married my great  grandfather John Mathews.  On the marriage certificate, her maiden name was given as Simpson.  The entry in the Family Bible gave no reference to Matilda’s former surname. 

Matilda Simpson (senior) moved from Kinver,  after the marriage of her youngest child, to Bilston Street, Bilston, Staffordshire where at 59 years old, she married Samuel Slater a widower and cordwainer - a boot repairer, aged 61. Her name was recorded Simpson, implying a marriage , though this cannot be verified. A witness to the wedding was her  son-in-law  and my great grandfather John Matthews.

Matilda and Samuel Slater  lived at 11 Wood Street, Sedgley, not far  from her daughter Matilda and son in law John Matthews. at no. 37 Wood Street.

Matilda died on 30th April 1894  at the Union Workhouse, Sedgley  - was this because of illness or through poor circumstances ?  We do not know.

Postscript: Given that I have no documentary  proof of the marriage of Matilda Bloomer Such   to William Williams, nor to William Simpson,  I have amended my family tree to Father Unknown for Matilda’s  three daughters.

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 Onto R for RESILIENT

IN CASE YOU MISSED

A for ADVENTUROUS, B for BIGAMOUS, C for CRIMINAL,  D for DEVOUT

E for ENTERPRISING  & ESTEEMED,   F for FEISTY

  

G for GENIAL & GOOD LOOKING,  H for HEROIC    I  for INSOLVENT  

 J for "JOINER", K for KEEPER OF THE FAMILY ARCHIVES,

 

L for LONG LIVING,  M for MYSTERIOUS, N for NE'ER DO WELL 

 

O for ORPHANED, P for POETIC

Great Grandfather John Matthews - A Man of Many Parts

My great grandfather John Matthews of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire was a man of many parts –  a third son in a large family; under hand roller, underhand shingler and hollow fireman  at an iron works;  a complete change of occupation to that of insurance agent and also shopkeeper; with his wife Matilda, parent to ten children,  and a prominent member of the local Methodist church where he was choir conductor.

Early Life - John Matthews was born in 1843 – his birthplace variously named in census returns  as Wolverley or Cookley, two adjacent villages, near Kiddirminster, Worcestershire. He was the  third of six brothers – Samuel, James, Charles, Richard and Arthur,  sons of James Matthews and Elizabeth Palmer. John's life  spanned the early death of his mother, a step mother with her two step siblings, and the birth  of a half sister. 

The 1851 Census saw the Matthews family at Horseley Row, Wolverley,  with father head James, a forgeman at an iron works, aged  34;  his wife Elizabeth was 32,  and sons Samuel at 13 already a forgeboy, young James 10, John 7, and Charles 8, with their grandfather, widower 75 year old James also in the household, along with a general servant aged 13  named Jane Palmer – was her surname a coincidence or was Jane some relation of Elizabeth?

Two more sons were born Richard in 1853 and Arthur  in 1857. But just a year after the birth of their youngest son, Elizabeth died in 1858 at the age of 41, leaving her young family motherless, with the boys ages ranging from a few months old to 20 years old – my great grandfather John just 14.  

 Within a year, the children’s father,  James  remarried in 1859  a  widow with two children Caroline Littlewood, nee Marsh, with her 7 year old son Wiliam Littewood, and 3 year old Kate Littlewood.  A half sister Caroline Matilda  was born to the Matthews family in 1860.   

The 1861 Census  saw a large household of 11 at Austcliffe Row, Wolverley  - James aged 46  now a refilner in an Iron works, with his second  wife Caroline aged 40, five sons living at home,     James 20, John 17, Charles 15 – all working in the iron industry, as an "under hand roller, under hand shingler" *, and labourer in tin works; young brothers Richard was 8 and Arthur 3;  plus their step brother and sister William aged 9 and Kate 6, and a half sister Caroline, 10 months – with a 15 year old general servant Mary White;  a large household of parents and eight children.   Only eldest son Samuel was no longer at home.  

 [ *  Cue to find out more about iron industry work - family history research can take you in all kinds of directions]

 A much depleted family was living there in 1871  - with no sign of my great grandfather John,  who was traced 15 miles away to the industrial hub of Bilston, Staffordshire where he was living in a lodging house on Salop Street and working as an assistant roller in an  iron works.

Marriage - A few months later in May 1871, John married Matilda (right ) in St. Andrew’s Church,Wolverhampton.  Matilda’s childhood was a complex one, - the youngest of three illegitimate daughters, with her father named on her  marriage certificate as William Simpson, but no record traced of an actual marriage – her life  told in the blog post Here.  

 Over the next twenty years, ten children were born to the marriage, listed in a weighty family bible which was passed down to me:  

• 1872 - Alice Maud
• 1874 - John Percy – also my father's Christian names.
• 1876 - Mary Barbara born 1876 - my grandmother - research revealed her middle name probably came from her mother’s eldest sister.  
• 1878 - Fanny Elizabeth
• 1880 - Arthur William - his first name that of John’s youngest brother.
• 1882 - Annie
• 1884 - Samuel Albert, 1884 – his first name that of John’s eldest brother.
• 1886 - Harry
• 1888 – Charles – again the name of  one of John’s brother
• 1892 - James Alfred -  the name of John’s father and brother. 

 

The 1881 Census saw  the young family of five children under nine years old,   living on Wood Street, Sedgeley, Wolverhampton,  with John aged 37 a hollow fireman. 

Ten years on the family, now with eight children,  was still living on Wood Street, at no. 37, with John having a change of occupation from heavy industry in an iron works to that of an insurance agent.  His wife Matilda was a shopkeeper general”  with 15 year old Mary Barbara helping in the shop.  Eldest daughter Alice Maud  was  a “plate polisher” and eldest son John Percy a “plate dipper”.

Kelly’s Directories of the period  listed, not Matilda, but her husband John  as Shopkeeper at Wood Lane, Lanesfield, Ettinghhall, Northampton

By the 1901 census the family had made short move to no. 1 Wood Street, with   seven children still  living at home.  My grandmother Mary Barbara, aged 25 was a barmaid in a café;  Fanny Elizabeth, 22  a mother’s help;   son Arthur William, 21,  was a blacksmith;  Samuel  17, a boiler maker; and Harry at 15,  a pupil teacher. No occupation was listed for 18 year old Annie, and youngest son James Albert was just nine years old 

By 1911,  the  household still at 1 Wood Street was a much smaller one, with John 67, Matilda,62 , married 39 years.  John was described as an insurance agent with the Royal Liverpool Company; 25 year old Harry an assistant teacher with the local authority and youngest son James a booking clerk on the Railways. Completing the family group  was 15 year old granddaughter Leah M. Wooten – M for Matilda perhaps?

John and Matilda suffered the early loss of four of their children:

• Charles did not survive infancy, dying in 1889,
  
• Fanny Elizabeth died aged 33 in 1909, following a tragic  accident when a lighted candle set fire to her apron and she died of the burns.
• John Percy died aged 36 in 1910 - his namesake, my father,  was born in 1912. 
• Arthur William, aged 35, was killed in action at Gallipoli, leaving a widow and two young children - remembered on the Helles Memorial  in Turkey.

John as a Committed Methodist  - I always knew from my father that his maternal grandfather John Matthews was a staunch Methodist,  but had not delved further into researching this aspect.  Then as a result of my blog, I was amazed  to receive an e-mail from a Matthews connection through marriage;  moreover with  the wish to give family treasures to a direct descendant.  As a result I received a   silver trowel and baton presented to John in recognition of his service to the church. 

On the 8th April 1903, "The Wolverhampton Express & Star"  reported:
 

"A New Wesleyan Chapel for Ladymoor.   Fourteen memorial stones were laid  of a new chapel at Ladymoor, to take the place of the present one which has been wrecked by mining operations.  There was a large attendance  at the site  which occupies a very central position.  .......The stone layers were.......Mr. J. Matthews (on behalf of the choir).....Each was presented with a silver trowel...on behalf of the trustees."

 The inscription reads:   Ladymore Wesleyan Chapel Stonelaying Ceremony.   Presented to Mr. J. Matthews April 7th 1903.

 

Following the ceremony, a public meeting and service  was held in the Bilston Wesleyan Chapel. at which the musical portion was contributed by the Ladymore Wesleyan Choir, conducted by John Matthews.   

Below is the silver crested baton also presented to John Matthews in 1904 in his role as conductor of the choir. 

The tiny inscription reads:  Presented to John Matthews by the Choir and Congregation of Wesleyan Chapel, Ladymoor:  28.11.04.

To hold the baton used by my great grandfather was a delight to me, as the love of choral music  has continued down through the family.   (Of course my small granddaughter thought it was Harry Potter's wand!). 

John Matthews'Death  -  The family bible recorded that:  John Matthews, born 21st July 1843 at Cookley, Worcestershire, died 17th September 1918, aged 75 at Lanesfield  Parish in Sedgley, buried in the family grave at Sedgley.

 His "dearly beloved wife" Matilda survived him,  living to the  age of 81, with her death  on 9th July 1929 recorded in the "Wolverhampton Express & Star".

 Sadly the  Sedgley graveyard is very badly overgrown  with the gravestones obliterated by the vegetation, though a  group of volunteers is now working  hard to reclaim the site, 

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With grateful acknowledgements  to my fellow Matthews descendants for their contributions to this post. 

• Nicky & Jenny
• Linda & Mike 
  

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