Lily Ashwin 1877-?1970

[jk22]

Lily Ashwin married a 1st cousin x twice-removed of mine in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and they had one child, Rita Lilian Miles.  I have no idea what became of the 'girls'.  I have learned from an England-based correspondent, that Lily and Rita returned to England, i think with some disdain for Australia.

Nonetheless, Lily did divorce her first husband, Archibald Beaumont Miles (Australian-born) and it came through on 14 August 1925, well after her 2nd marriage to Charles Clarke, also an Englander, residing in Sydney. Lily and Charles had married on 23 Feb 1916.  I don't know if they had issue.  Lily's sister Mary Ann was a witness to Lily's wedding.

I understand from my source, a co-seeker on Ancestry, that Lily was presented at St James' Court sometime in 1925, and she has provided me with a photo of Lily in full gown attire and having a chat with a tuxedo-ed gent, both with drink in hand.

I don't know if Lily had a strong marriage with her 2nd husband, Charles.  I am not sure what happened to him, although i have tried the Australian Electoral Rolls.

Charles Clark was born in 1883, Camberwell, Surrey, England.  I don't know if he ever returned to England.

Lily was born in 1877 to John Ashwin a Leadlight Manufacturer in Birmingham, Warwickshire.  Her mother was Mary Ann Carter.  Lily had a sister, Mary Ann, and they both emigrated from London to Brisbane in on 1 Jun 1900, and subsequently moved south in 1902 to Sydney.

I think Lily died on 24 Jun 1970 but i'm not sure where i sourced that?!!

Lily and Archibald's daughter, Rita Lilian Miles was born in Sydney on 24 Jun 1904.  She too married a Kerry Richard Aga Daly sometime before 1922.  They had a daughter likely still living.

Could anyone have some insights here please?!

Many thanks,
Julie

[KGarrad]

Looking at FreeBMD (.org.uk), there is no obvious death in 1970 (in England or Wales)?
(Dates of Birth were added to the Deaths Register from mid 1969)

I'm not seeing a likely death in the years either side.

Have you checked the Passenger Lists on Ancestry?
Specifically, UK, Incoming Passenger Lists?

[ciderdrinker]

Hi
Her baptism at Acocks Green gives a birthdate of 18 June 1877 and there is a death
Lily May Matthews born 18 June 1877 died Dec 1969 Devizes

Sorry not her she's single

Ciderdrinker

[MaureeninNY]

Try searching on the BMDs for NSW.

I think I see a death for Lily:

 CLARK  LILY 23706/1964 /father: JOHN AGED 86 DIED BEXLEY

and a couple of marriages for daughter Rita plus her death in 1979 as Rita Lil*ian WAILES.

Trove newspaper site and my browser don't seem to get along but I wonder what it says for these:

RE will of LILY CLARK, late of Brighton-le-Sands in the
Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001) Friday 8 January 1965 [Issue No.1] p 48
Government Gazette Private Notices
... Trustee Act, 1925-1942, Permanent Trustee Company of New South Wales Limited and Rita Lilian Wailes, the ... 190 words

and

IN the Supreme Court of New South Wales.—Probate Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001) Friday 28 September 1979 [Issue No.134] p 4892
Government Gazette Private Notices
... this notice an application for probate of the will dated 30th July, 1978, of RITA LILIAN WAILES, also ... known as Rita Lillian Wailes, late of Leura, feme sole, deceased, will be made by Permanent Trustee ... 84 words

NOTICE of intended distribution of estates.—Any person having any claim upon the estate of any of the undermentioned Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001) Friday 14 March 1980 [Issue No.45] p 1215
Government Gazette Private Notices
... Wales) on 18th October, 1979. Rita Lilian Wailes (also known as Rita Lillian Wailes), late of Leura, N ... 176 word


Hope they're the right people!!

Maureen

[jk22]

Hello Maureen!
Thank you very much for that exciting information - i will work it out shortly.
Thanks to 'ciderdrinker' and 'KGarrard'.
This site is just such an excellent guide.
Kind regards,
Julie
Toowoomba, Australia

[jk22]

I'm at a loss with this branch of my tree.

I thank all for the previous input of which some was new for me.

However i wonder if i could find out more in regard to Lily's grand-daughter, Loraime.  I'm not sure of the spelling of this name.  Loraime was born to Lily's daughter, Rita Lilian Miles then Daly in 1922.  So i'm not sure if she is alive now.

I have not found Loraime (if that is the right spelling) on any BDM site.  I played around with Freebmd in UK and Ireland to no avail.

Lily's first husband Richard "Kerry" or "Dick" Agar Daly was the younger brother of Marvilla Agar Daly who was the mother of the international film actor 'Richard Todd'.  That was a very nice find as i have liked him for decades!

Sadly Marvilla suicided i believe when her son, Richard, was but a teenager of 17. 

I'm at a loss to find out whether Lily attended the Court of St James in 1925 so i have written to the Windsor Archives hoping they can direct my enquiry to the right repository!  Did Lily accompany Richard Todd perhaps?!

Somewhere in the little that i have been told by my English contact, wife of an Ashwin descendent, i gather that Rita and her daughter Lauraime went to live in England and maybe visited Ireland as i also gather Lily had done.  Also i have been advised that Lily did a good deal of the 'mothering' of Lauraime.  Rita had married about 4 times, not all ending in divorce though.  Must have been all very exhausting.

Lily Ashwin:  b Birmingham, England in 1877 died Sydney, Australia in 1964.
- husbands:  Archibald Beaumont Miles (my 2nd great uncle); and Charles Clark.

Rita Lilian Miles:  b Sydney, Australia in 1904; d Mrs Rita Lilian Wailes, Leura, Katoomba, NSW, Australia in 1979.
- husbands: Richard Agar Daly; George Frederick Diamond; William Robert James McWhirter and then Herbert Richard Wailes.

Lauraime (Lorraine/Loraine?): born Sydney, 1922 to Rita Lilian Miles and Richard Agar Daly.

Please advise if this is a suitable enquiry.

Kind regards,
Julie

[RodChasH]

I never cease to be surprised by the details I am finding of my Ashwin ancestors. Lily Ashwin's father was my great grandmother's brother John Ashwin. John was a seemingly successful jeweller and jewellery manufacturer in Birmingham but something significant must have happened around 1900. He left for Australia in Jan. 1900 before his daughters Lily and Mary Alice who left in June of that year. He must have left his wife Mary Ann (or Mariann), she died in Birmingham in 1927. Also his son Percy, then aged 24, joined the army in 1900. Does anyone know what was so significant about 1900?

The coincidences that occur in genealogy research amaze me. The lives of 3 generations in Australia reflect very much the lives of my late partner, her mother and grandmother in Australia, albeit a generation on.

[jk22]

Rod,
Do you wish to share further re Lily Ashwin and her life in Australia, with her rebel daughter, Rita Lillian Miles, and then her granddaughter, Lorraine Daly?
I have located an English relative and confirmed much of what i have, albeit i had liaised with his wife, Denise.
Also, to cap things off, i discovered that Lorraine, born in Australia in 1922, left this country to fully resettle in England.  She married a war aviator hero and had at least one son with whom i have no contact.  I gather he had married and had children.
I have a little on Lily's brother Percy:  i think he settled in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Regards
Julie

I can give you my email address if you reply to this by using the 'personal' tab on this site.

[RodChasH]

Hi Julie, thanks for the response. I have discovered more about Percy, you probably already have it but he married Katherine Robins in 1907 in NSW and later lived in Victoria, dying in Cheltenham (used to live not far from the original one myself) as late as 1965.

His younger brother Frank Harold Bowen Ashwin married the improbably named Irene Stewart Beaney Butters in Victoria in 1906, moved to New Zealand and joined the army in Auckland in 1914. He must have returned to the UK and divorced by 1925 since both he and Irene remarried that year in the UK. He appears to have died in Camberwell in 1930, strangely where his brother in law Charles Clark came from.

Family legend had it that my Great Grandmother Elizabeth Ashwin was ostracized by the family for marrying beneath her, which I don't think was strictly true but nevertheless we never knew much about the Ashwin side. I have details of the Ashwins back to the 16C (albeit a bit sketchy in places) if you are interested. When I told my mother all this she immediately said I should write to the Australian connections (well she is 97 and emails have rather passed her by) so I would be interested in contacting, will send a private message.
Regards,
Rod