14
Oct
2022
Hunt Buttons from the Evans family
Amongst the heirlooms of the Evans family of the Red Lion, Wolverhampton are several envelopes full of 19th century sets of buttons. Continue reading →
30
Sep
2022
The Griffin family at Beacon Lodge
The Sep 1939 register helps us understand who was living and working at Beacon Lodge in the 1930’s. It shows that up at the remote lodge, Emma Griffin, the widow of William Henry Griffin, was still in residence. She was born on 16 Aug 1883 making her 56 and is described as ‘Caretaker’. Living with her were Clifford Jones , a 16 yr old ‘farm worker’ and Beatrice Burton , a 15 yr old ‘domestic servant’ Continue reading →
27
Sep
2022
Lady Shakespeare’s Postcard
One postcard from Amy Shakespeare, wife of Sir Geoffrey Hithersay Shakespeare has survived in our archive. Continue reading →
26
Sep
2022
Jessica Campbell Segrave
Jessica Campbell Stone was the second wife of Charles William Segrave, whose first wife Mary Lucy Harwood, an American, had died in 1898. The couple married in St George Hanover Square on 11 Jun 1901. Continue reading →
16
Sep
2022
Clarence Henry Kennett Marten
Henry Marten was born on 20 Oct 1872 together with his twin sister Isabel Caroline Patricia Marten. They were the children of Alfred George Marten and nephew and niece of Henry John Marten, the water engineer. Henry and his sister were therefore first cousins of Florence Eliza Marten (later Evans) Continue reading →
20
Aug
2022
Alpha and Theta Evans, Gisborne Portraits, 1897
Amongst the collection of photos kept by Henry Evans are the portraits of his two nieces Alpha and Theta Evans. They are the two older daughters of his brother Charles Evans, and form part of a batch of six surviving photos sent back to England in about 1897. Continue reading →
16
Aug
2022
Te Arai Homestead, Gisborne, New Zealand
Amongst the photos kept by Henry Evans and his daughter Molly, are some from Henry’s brother Charles Evans sent from Gisborne, New Zealand. Continue reading →
08
Aug
2022
Donald Morgan in Paris, 1937
Donald Morgan, aged 14, and his father William Henry Morgan visited Paris, probably in the late Summer of 1937. As later related by Donald, they stayed in the Hotel des Etats Unis, near the Madeleine. Continue reading →
25
May
2022
Thomas Smalbroke of Handsworth
Thomas Smalbroke of Handsworth died and left a will, probate 1649. He was the second son of Thomas Smalbroke (will PCC 1609) and his wife Elizabeth Colmore, born in about 1584. Both the Smalbrokes and Colmores owned substantial amounts of land around what is now the city centre of Birmingham Continue reading →
14
May
2022
William Cookes of Snitterfield, died 1617
When William Cookes died in Snitterfield, Warwickshire in 1617, he was a wealthy man with eight surviving children. His oldest son was Henry Cookes of Handsworth who was married to Anna or Ann Cookes, discussed on this site. Continue reading →
14
Feb
2022
Henry Finch of Dudley, died 1573
Henry Finch was born in Dudley about 1525 and was probably a younger son of Hugh Finch. Henry is named as one of a number of burghers of Dudley who by 1562 had leases of ‘Our Lady’s Lands’, which made him and his heirs one of the original feoffees of Dudley Grammar School. Continue reading →
02
Feb
2022
Evans family and the Lion Crest
When Richard Evans took over the Red Lion Inn in Wolverhampton, after his mother‘s death in 1792, he continued to build the coaching business he inherited. We do not know anything about the signage of the Inn but many objects depicting Lions have survived. Continue reading →
14
Jan
2022
Frances Stephanie Cora Ashlin
Frances Ashlin was a VAD nurse who worked alongside Clarice Molloy and Molly Evans at No 2 General Hospital, Le Havre and First Western Hospital Birkenhead. Like Clarice Molloy she was Catholic and Irish, but was born in Cork and did her first nursing service in Cork. She was born on 3 Jun 1880. Her uncle was the well known Irish architect, George Coppinger Ashlin, close associate and follower of Augustus Pugin. Continue reading →
12
Jan
2022
Donald Cecil Morgan
Donald Morgan was born on 21 Sep 1922, the second child of William Henry Morgan and Emma Ida Palmer. He had one older sister Winnifred Gladys Morgan, who had been born eleven years earlier on 13 Aug 1911. Continue reading →
07
Jan
2022
Osnaburgh House Hotel, Regents Park
Osnaburgh House was a regency town house and, latterly, small town hotel just off Regents Park in Camden, north of the Euston Road. It was destroyed or knocked down, during or immediately after the war around 1941-45. It was immediately adjacent to Cumberland Market. Continue reading →
30
Dec
2021
Cranbrook College, Ilford, 1927-1939
Donald Cecil Morgan attended Cranbrook College in Ilford from 1928 at the age of 5, right through to his School Certificate taken in the summer of 1939. Continue reading →
28
Dec
2021
Donald and Pamela Morgan Wedding, Dec 1950
Donald Cecil Morgan and Pamela Downing were married in St Luke’s Church, Redcliffe Sq, Kensington on Sat 16 Dec 1950. Two photo albums of the day have survived. Continue reading →
02
Dec
2021
Hubert Bindon Marten
Hubert Bindon Marten was the son of Edward Bindon Marten born on 6 May 1864 in Pedmore. Both his father and his uncle, Henry John Marten were engineers and it is perhaps not surprising Hubert followed in this profession. Continue reading →
02
Nov
2021
Rev William Glenn of Bishop’s Castle
Amongst the many Downing family photos there are a few references to Bishop’s Castle in Shropshire. The connection is all a bit of a mystery. Continue reading →
01
Nov
2021
Walter Patrick Nicol
Pat Nicol was born on 15 Aug 1901, the oldest son of Arthur Patrick Nicol, MC and his wife Daisy. Daisy Nicol, nee Showell, was the youngest child of Walter Showell, born in 1876. The Nicol family originally came from Aberdeenshire in Scotland. Continue reading →