ST JOHNSTON family, Kings Heath

[butcher]

Hi,

Looking for information relating to the St Johnston family of Kings Heath, Birmingham. Thomas George & Alice Marie ST JOHNSTON had a large family- Florence, Queenie, may, William, Daisy,Edith, Lottie, Alice, Walter, Thomas & Lilian all born in the period 1880s-1890s- whatever happened to them all and their descendants?

Please help if you can!

Ian

[Sparkle26]

Hi Ian

1891 Kings Norton Wors RG12/2350 F 15 P 24

Valentine Road

St Johnston
Thomas G 39 Head Wine Merchant b Birmingham
Alice M 38 Wife b London
Alice M 20 Dau b Birmingham
Lottie 16 Dau Scholar b Balsall Heath Wors
Florence 14 Dau Scholar b Balsall Heath Wors
Edith 11 Dau Scholar b Balsall Heath Wors
Walter 10 Son Scholar b Balsall Heath Wors
Thomas G 8 Son Scholar b Kings Heath Wors
Lilian L 7 Dau Scholar b Kings Heath Wors
Daisy G 4 Dau Scholar b Kings Heath Wors
Frances E Mau 46 Unmar Sister-in-Law Millinery Mangaress b London

Marriage   Mar qtr 1902 Kings Norton 6c 622
Alice Mabel St Johnston
Spouse: Frederick William Allen or Percy George Wileman

Marriage  Sep qtr 1908 Kings Norton 6c 846
Daisy G St Johnston
Spouse: Arthur Edward Haydon or Ernest Payne

Marriage Jun qtr Kings Norton 6c 813
Edith Marie St Johnston
Spouse: Henry Finch or William Wilkinson

Marriage  Dec qtr 1908 Kings Norton 6c 774
Florence A St Johnston
Spouse: Sam Garrett or Sydney Charnwood Palmer

Marriage     Dec qtr 1908 Toxteth Park Lancs 8b 373
Lilian Louise St Johnston
Spouse: George Wallace Bain or Clifford Boulton Crisp

Marriage    Sep qtr 1910 Kings Norton 6c 783
Lottie E St Johnston
Spouse: Reginald S Dacombe or William R Hanson or Alexander A Webb

Marriage  Jun qtr 1909 Kings Norton 6c 738
Thomas Gerald St Johnston
Spouse: Mary Elizabeth Hales or Ethel Mary F F Ryley

Marriage  Mar qtr 1912 Solihull Warwickshire West Midlands 6d 699
Walter J St Johnston
Spouse: Doris M Wilson 

Hope these are useful

Claire 

[butcher]

Hi Claire,

Brilliant of you to find this all out and so quickly! However, I already had this from freeBMD. The odd thing is, I cant find out anything else about their descendants, apart from Florence who is my great gran. Thomas George, the 1991 head of household is listed in 1881 with surname JOHNSTON and in 1871 as JOHNSON- these may be ennumerator errors or evidence of evolving name. Love to speak to anyone who knows more/ is related. In the meantime, thanks again Claire!

Ian

[Annefb]

Hi
I know you were looking some time ago, my mother was married to Thomas (St Johnston) Haydon of Kings Heath.  He is still alive and lives in Moseley.  His son Martin ran Haydon printing in Institute Road.  Tom's niece is Ann Haydon-Jones the tennis player. 

[butcher]

Ann Jones is my granddads cousin. I will send you a private message with my email address- would be interested in getting in touch,

Regards,

Ian

[Annefb]

That's fine. 

[Dennis48]

You are looking for information on the descendants of Thomas George St Johnstone and Alice Marie St Johnston and I am looking for information on their parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on, back in time as I believe that there may possibly be a long and colourful family history to unearth here.

Thomas George and Alice Marie St Johnstone are my great grandparents. Their daughter Daisy is my grandmother. She married Arthur Edward Haydon and they had 4 children (Adrian, Marjorie, Cicely, Thomas) and Cicely is my mother.  Thomas is still alive and is 93 years old I believe and recently asked me for a photograph of his mother which I was able to provide.  There was a very sad St Johnstone family tragedy when Daisy died ten days after giving birth to her youngest child, Thomas. By all accounts she died of an infection because the mid-wife who delivered Thomas had an infected hand wound.  The four children were brought up therefore by an aunt.  To complete this particular family line and bring it right up to date, my wife and I have two daughters and they have six children all under ten years of age.

It is correct that the St Johnstone family was large and the census information given for them by one of your correspondents is the same as that which I have found. I have a photograph of the entire family with Thomas George and Alice Marie, their children and what is most likely to be some of their grandchildren, taken in what would appear to be their garden. I imagine the photograph was taken around 1910.  Yes, Thomas George was a wine merchant.  My grandfather, Arthur Haydon, was a master printer with a small printing works in Kings Heath, Birmingham, latterly run by his son Martin (my cousin) until he sold it some years ago. The Haydons are a tennis family.  I believe that Adrian either captained or played for England's table tennis team and his daughter and my cousin, Anne Haydon (-Jones), won the women's championship at Wimbledon in 1970.

If anyone can shed any light on the other children of Thomas George and Alice Marie, that would be very interesting.  However, it would also be very interesting to trace their ancestors.  There was an oral history passed on by my mother and her brothers and sister, that the St Johnstone's go back to the Border Reivers on the border either side of the the boundary between Scotland and England.  This oral history - almost certainly garbled by time and quite possibly affected by various imaginations rather than realities - also has it that the family motto is 'Redy, aye, redy' and is accompanied by a family crest which is a Winged Spur. One of the main areas of the country where one finds Johnstone surnames is indeed in Southern Scotland and if one visits the town of Moffat you can find the Winged Spur on a sign at the entry to the town.  The history of the Johnstones is that they were a 'clan' at war with the Moffats and at one point they ransacked the town of Moffat and took it over.  If one delves further into this murky history, then one finds that a man called Johnstone worked alongside Robert the Bruce and was his messenger and it is he who is supposed to have said 'Redy, aye, redy'. Now, how much of all this one can believe is connected to Thomas George and Alice Marie St Johnstone - and how the family got the 'St' prefix for their surname - is very debatable. Again, the oral history in the family had it that the Johnstones of Southern Scotland split into two groups - one followed the Border Reivers occupation of cattle theft and robbery, and the other (the 'Saints') gave up this occupation.

Does anyone have anything to add ?

[whiteout7]

Marriage  Jun qtr 1909 Kings Norton 6c 738
Thomas Gerald St Johnston
Spouse: Ethel Mary F F Ryley

Ethel Mary F F St Johnston born 1887 died 1960 aged 73 in Birmingham.

They had a daughter according to free bdm
Births Jun 1914 
ST JOHNSTON    Mary F    Ryley    Kings N.    6d   15

She married 1937 a man named Cannon (freebdm)

Marriages Dec 1937
Cannon    Reginald C    St Johnston    Birmingham    6d   311

Reginald C Cannon and Mary F St Johnston had a daughter (freebdm)
Births Mar 1948
Cannon    Julia M    St Johnston    Birmingham    9c   385

Presumably the daughter then married and changed surnames again so, I'm not surprised some of your female lines would be hard to follow down

[whiteout7]

Thomas G St Johnston died in 1922 at Kings Norton aged 70 he was born in 1852.

I wonder if this family takes it's name from the medieval name for the city Perth in Scotland (St Johnstoun) rather than being saints due to not reiving?