05
Oct
2019
Robert Amberson, Merchant of Bristol
Robert Amberson was probably born about 1612 in London and died in Bristol in 1685, leaving a will. Continue reading →
30
Sep
2019
Allen Basil Bratton
Allen Basil Bratton was born in Shrewsbury in 1890 the son of Doctor James Allen Bratton. His father died when he was 3. Continue reading →
17
Jul
2019
William Barnesley of Trysull, died 1571
William Barnesley of Trysull in Staffordshire died and left a will written on 28 Mar 1571. He is described as a Yeoman and is the grandfather of the William Barnesley, who died in 1640. It would appear to be this grandson William, son of his eldest son Thomas, who succeeded in adopting the Coat of Arms of the Barnesley family of Bromsgrove in about 1597, proving the common line of descent with the Barnesleys of Barnesley Hall. Certainly his will shows a number of important connections with the landed and merchant classes in Elizabethan South Staffordshire. Continue reading →
24
Jun
2019
Noel and Molly Downing Wedding, 29 Jul 1919
The marriage of Noel Downing and Molly Evans held at St John the Baptist, Hagley took place on Tuesday 29 Jul 1919. It was a relatively hastily convened occasion in the immediate aftermath of the Great War. The engagement had been agreed on 24 Mar 1919 two days after Molly’s return from France. Continue reading →
12
Jun
2019
Rev John Whitehead Postcard from Congo
One postcard amongst the stamp collection of William Henry Morgan is particularly interesting. This comes from Rev John Whitehead a Baptist missionary in Congo in the early 20th century and conveys Christmas greetings and best wishes for the new year of 1914. Continue reading →
10
Jun
2019
Beacon Lodge Photos, 1920s
Here is a collection of 1920s photos from Mary Downing‘s album “Beacon Lodge & Surroundings”. After the First World War the Beacon remained a shooting lodge for William Edmund Downing. But more pictures of picnics and walks suggest that it also became a regular place to visit for Noel and Molly Downing and their young family until 1939. Continue reading →
27
May
2019
Thomas Dolman of Seisdon
Thomas Dolman was baptized in All Saints, Trysull on 8 Sep 1611 and was one of a group of minor Staffordshire Gentry and Mercers who supported Parliament in the Civil War. He served on the Parliamentary Committee at Stafford in 1643 and worked closely with William Bendy. Continue reading →
17
May
2019
William Pynson of Wolverhampton
William Pynson of Wolverhampton left a will with probate in 1670. He was an attorney and is connected to a number of the families discussed on this site. His will is particularly interesting as it names so many of his relatives. Continue reading →
07
May
2019
Ann Cookes of West Bromwich
Ann Cookes, a widow of West Bromwich, left a will in 1645 that lists a large number of bequests that cover important family lines discussed on this site. She was evidently childless but the list of legacies indicates that she was a close relation to the Darby and Finch families. She is very likely the widow of Henry Cookes of Handsworth, who left a will in 1642, and the marriage date would appear to be before 1607. Continue reading →
21
Apr
2019
Thomas Bradley of the Wood, Sedgley
In Dugdale’s 1663 Visitation of Staffordshire the Bradley family (disclaimed 1664) is traced back to a Thomas Bradley of Baggeridge Forest (‘The Wood’) in Sedgley, Staffordshire. Later on, this Bradley family are simply all described as of ‘the Wood’ in Sedgley. Continue reading →
20
Mar
2019
Thomas Elwall of Ettingshall, Sedgley
Thomas Elwall, yeoman of Ettingshall, died in early 1716 leaving a will written in 1712. Here he lists his four children as Thomas Elwall, Edward Elwall, Elizabeth Gibbens and Mary Elwall. The following sequence of baptisms can be found in the All Saints, Sedgley Parish register viz. Thomas (bap 21 Aug 1673), Edward (bap 9 Nov 1676), Elizabeth (No Baptism found), Mary (bap 22 Oct 1670) Continue reading →
03
Mar
2019
John Shaw of Kingswinford, 1606-1674
This article is designed to disambiguate some of the ‘John Shaws’ alive in Dudley and the surrounding areas in the early Seventeenth Century. It focuses on the John Shaw, who Richard Shaw describes as his ‘natural son’ in his 1657 will and is also described as his ‘natural brother’ in the 1646 will of Richard Shaw, the younger. His position amongst Richard Shaw’s children is a little enigmatic. Continue reading →
28
Feb
2019
Decline of the Stagecoach in England, 1840s
The sketch below was probably drawn by Sarah Evans, the only daughter of Richard Evans (1797-1859), in about 1847. Richard Evans, the elder, (1768-1841) had built up the Red Lion Inn in Wolverhampton in the first two decades of the century before handing the prestigious coaching business over to his sons in about 1820. Continue reading →
05
Feb
2019
Chester Racecard, 1766
This early Racecard comes from the archive of the Evans family, later of the Red Lion Inn, Wolverhampton. It may have belonged to John Evans. It is evidence of an early interest in horses and a foretaste for the extensive stable kept by the Evans family in Wolverhampton. Later the family were certainly keen sportsmen, but they also required the stable for the major Coaching Inn running the stages from Wednesbury to the Red Lion and on out to Albrighton. Continue reading →
02
Feb
2019
Fashionable Marriage at Codsall, 1889
Newspaper report of the marriage of Mr Henry Evans with Miss Florence Eliza Marten on Thursday 6 Jun 1889 was published in the The Midland Weekly News. This cutting was kept in our archive. Continue reading →
31
Jan
2019
Joyce Rugeley of Moor Hall
Joyce Rugeley must have been born about 1480 and was descended from the Rugeley family of Dunton in Warwickshire. The Rugeley ancestry is somewhat erratically recorded in the contemporary Heraldic Visitations of Warwickshire of 1619 and it is not altogether clear exactly where she fits in. She died and left a will in 1553. Importantly she married twice and was widowed twice. Her two husbands were wealthy and extremely well connected. This kind of widowhood was in reality the only way a woman in Tudor times could gain important independent social status. Continue reading →
28
Jan
2019
Molly Evans’ Nursing Records, 1914-1919
This is a timeline of Molly Evans‘ nursing service during the First World War. She joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in Aug 1914 and worked in 6 hospitals both in UK and in France until Mar 1919. Continue reading →
27
Jan
2019
First Western General Hospital, Birkenhead, 1917
On 15 Mar 1917 Molly Evans resumed her nursing service at the First Western General Hospital in Birkenhead. She was joined there by her two friends and colleagues Clarice Molloy and Frances Ashlin. All three had already been working together in France for the best part of a year at the No 2 General Hospital, Le Havre. Continue reading →
16
Jan
2019
Guest Hospital, Dudley, 1914
Molly Evans signed up to volunteer for the Red Cross on 6 Aug 1914. On 8 Aug she attended an emergency meeting of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), Worcester 16 Branch and on 10 Sep she started one month training as a nurse at the Guest Hospital in Dudley Continue reading →
16
Jan
2019
Molly uncovers the news of her brother’s death
Captain Charles Wilmot Evans of the 6th South Staffordshires was killed on 1 Jul 1916 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. At the time, his sister Molly Evans was working at the No 2 General hospital in Le Havre. Below are extracts from her diary that chronicle how she found out the news and how it affected those around her. It contrasts with the account of this very same episode narrated in Alan MacDonald’s Book, “Lack of Offensive Spirit” which is based on the records of her letters to the War Office. Continue reading →