COMPLETED Arthur William PHILLIPS b 24 Nov 1897

[giuliana]

Arthur William Phillips joined the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1920, and the extract of his record shows his year of birth as 1897 and his place of birth as "HERT" and "HET". During WWII he joined the civilian military forces in Australia, and those records show his date of birth as 24 November 1897, place of birth as "England".

I have a copy of his marriage to Josephine Noonan in Abergavenny Register Office on 1 Aug 1922. Witnesses were Frederick Thomas Phillips and Ethel Phillips. His father was named as Frederick Phillips, tailor (deceased).

I am interested to know more about Arthur and his family - parents, siblings etc. - to see if I can trace my roots back further and to learn more about their lives.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, especially given the scant information!

Thanks in anticipation,

Giuliana in Australia

[heywood]

Hello Giuliana,

This is worth considering:

1901 RG13; Piece: 2500; Folio: 23; Page: 6

Bradnor Kington Herefordshire

Frederick Phillips Single 47 yrs Tailor b Herefordshire Kington
Mary Chaplin Single 46 yrs b Scotland
Lizzie Phillips Chaplin 13 yrs
Fredie Phillips Chaplin 11 yrs
Agnes Phillips Chaplin 10 yrs
Annie Phillips Chaplin 8 yrs
Nellie -do-  -do- 7 yrs
Arthur -do-- do 5 yrs
Evelyn -do- -do- 3 yrs

children all born Kington

[heywood]

Just to say that Free BMD has a birth:
December quarter 1896 Kington Arthur William Chaplin

Here they are in 1891

1891 RG12; Piece: 2077; Folio 66; Page 11

Newton Kington

Fred Phillips 30 yrs single 30 yrs tailor b Kington
Mary Chaplin 31 yrs lodger b Berkshire Bracknell
Mary Ann Chaplin 11 yrs b Momouth Abertillery
Charles Chaplin 4 yrs b Kington
Elizabeth Chaplin 3 yrs b Kington
Fredrick Chaplin 1 yr b Kington

[heywood]

1881 RG11; Piece: 2610; Folio: 8; Page: 8

23 Broken Bank Kington Herefordshire

Sarah Phillips 82 yrs labourer's widow
Arthur 25 yrs Farmer
Frederick 24 yrs Tailor
all born Kington

24 Broken Bank
has a Frederick Phillips 47 yrs and family including a Frederick aged 9 yrs so they are not Frederick (Tailor's)parents

but at

21 Broken Bank

Arthur Phillips 50 yrs tailor
Anne E 44 yrs
Edwin 16 yrs Tailor
Martha E 12 yrs
Leonard 8 yrs
Arthur 4 yrs
all born Kington

Thought these would be Frederick's parents but...

1871 RG10; Piece: 2722; Folio: 15; Page: 23
Frederick aged 12 is with Thomas a carpenter and Elizabeth. These are also in 1881 - at Broken Bank - missed them earlier 

I'll let you digest this and then if you want - if you think they are yours, I can look them up properly and even look for Mary - there seems to be a discrepancy re her birthplace!  (Have to go and get the family meal now!)

It looks as though Frederick and Mary Chaplin got together and children were perhaps registered as Chaplin 
You could check this on Free BMD for names.

[heywood]

Hello,
I'm back again - wanted to sort this out.

I checked Free BMD and the children are there as Chaplin - plus another one born later in 1901.
I do think they must be yours - Frederick, the father as a tailor and a brother Frederick.

Frederick's age differs in the censuses but I think this will be him with his parents.

1861 RG9; Piece: 4230; Folio: 47; Page: 12

Old Kington

Thomas Phillips head married 31 yrs carpenter
Elizabeth 30 yrs carpenter's wife
Thomas son 6 yrs
Arthur son 5 yrs
Frederick son 2 yrs
George son 2 months
Ann Thomas mother in law widow 56 yrs
all born Kington so you know now that Elizabeth is probably Elizabeth Thomas before marriage.

Just looked this Thomas up in 1851 - his parents Walter and Sarah.
You will note that Frederick, the tailor, was with his grandmother Sarah in 1881.

It is so complicated in names. Walter and Sarah's children have similar names to the ones here so the whole Phillips family share names. 

[heywood]

Mary Chaplin seems more complicated than the Phillips - different ages and places of birth.

If you look at 1891 census, it would look as though the three younger children are Frederick's and Mary's. Free BMD has Charles as Charles Henry P - Phillips?
The oldest child - Mary Ann Chaplin was born c 1880 so not Frederick's - he is with gran in 1881.

Free BMD has a birth for Mary Ann Chaplin for 1879 Bedwelty which would fit.

1881 Kington has a Mary Ann Chaplain born c 1880 Glamorgan (wrong county but very possible). She is a nurtsing child with the Oliver family.

1881 Kington also has a Mary Chaplin 28 yrs as a servant with a Pritchard family. (innkeeper).
She is shown as born Dover Kent- yet another place! That is too difficult to find in earlier censuses.

Lastly, I wonder if the family moved to Abergavenny -there is a marriage for a  Frederick Phillips to a possible spouse - Ethel Teague in 1910 (I think it was).

good luck- if you need any clarification once you have gone through this- just post.
heywood

[giuliana]

I go to sleep and 8 hours later all of this fantastic information appears for me to check out (if there's anything left to check!). Thank you SO much for these leads. I'll probably have to wait for a weekend to delve into it all (if the obsession doesn't take over...). 

Giuliana

[heywood]

I'm off to bed now!

There is a lot to take in - hope it does fit- I feel fairly confident it does. I think it will take a little time to fit them all in place. As I said - anything which needs clarifying just post.

best wishes
heywood

[NigelG]

Hi Guiliana,

Arthur William Phillips was my 3rd cousin twice removed. I can confirm that his parents were Frederick Phillips (b1859) & Mary Chaplin (b c1853).

Frederick Phillips parents were Thomas Phillips (1828-1907) & Elizabeth Thomas (1831-91).

Thomas Phillips parents were Walter Phillips (1796-1867 - my 3rd Great Granduncle) & Sarah Worthington (1801-91).

Walter was the brother of James Phillips (1792-1871 - my Gtx3 Grandfather) - they were both children of Walter Phillips (1753-1820) & Margaret Evans (1752-1825).

Have lots of other info - drop me a PM and we can exchange data

All the best

Nigel