Aust / Beachley ferry captain

[double-trouble]

Family info . over the weekend suggests a captain of the Aust / Beachley ferries married into my  George family . I'm told his name was William Groves who I believe was b . Wilfred Earnest Groves ( 6a 94 Jun 1/4 Bristol 1909 Freebmd ) who mrd . Liliam R . George  ( Sept 1/4 1930 Bristol  6a 281 ) .
Has anyone info . on his background on the ferries ?? there is a ref . online ( South Wales Argus ) dated 29 Jan 2016 that mentions him in an article , but I can find little else .
Lilian is a name I haven't placed in the treeline if this mrg . info . is correct .
Once living near to the area and still visiting often , it is a story I found interesting even before this connection .

Regards .

[Milliepede]

Just a possible - birth Sep 1907 Bristol - Lilian Rosina George

The 1939 register may show them as a couple and confirm his occupation. 

[double-trouble]

Thank you for the reply M....there is a couple of pos . births and may look to the mrg . cert . to ascertain further details .

[Capetown]

Although I don't subscribe to FindmyPast and am unable to find full details - this is available


1939 Census - Bristol C.B.

Wilfred E GROVES birth 1909  (tree on Ancestry)
Lilian R GROVES birth 1907




Ancestry does have British Phone Book records

and quickly looking from around 1952 up to 1961 approx


Wilfred E GROVES
163 Whitefield Road
St George
Bristol : telephone No. 655958

[double-trouble]

Thanks Capetown...family members did live that side of Bristol . When he was captaining the ferries across the River Severn , I was told recently ( memories of a young family member of the day ) that they lived at the first house in Wales , which was possibly by or very near the Severn Bridge Hotel . This is where the ferry came in on the Beachley side of the river . They lived in Chepstow I was told so Beachley would have been part of the town presumably .

Regards

[StintonLomas]

Hi
First house in Wales in Beachley is an interesting concept (unless it is a historic reference back to before the 9thC when it was part of the Welsh Kiingdom of Gwent), because the Beachley peninsular is in Gloucestershire you would have had to travel around 4-5mls to get to Chepstow bridge in order to cross into Chepstow, Monmouth, Wales.

Here is a 20min silent film of the Ferries during their last year in operation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOLqXB8CeTQ

[double-trouble]

Yes..comment from a younger viewpoint having just gone over the first bridge I'm sure and believing they were now in Wales . As a child tbh , I did as well .
Thankyou for the film link .

Would be nice to have had a picture book made of the ferry , the journey , the captains and beach / pier staff etc.. although film available is better than nothing .

It seems in later life Wilfred and Lilian moved to east Bristo

[KGarrad]

The original ferries, both Old Passage and New Passage, closed by 1860.

The revitalised ferry opened in 1926, "Princess Ida" catering for passengers, bicycles and motorbikes.
A new ferry boat, the Severn Queen, started in 1934 catering for cars.
MV Severn King added a year later.
Severn Prince and Severn Princess were added in 1959.

All withdrawn on 8th September 1966 - the day before the Severn Bridge opened.

[StintonLomas]

Hi
There is this one.
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/severn-enterprise-the-story-of-the-old-and-new-passage-ferries/author/jordan-christopher/first-edition/

I haven't read it so can't say how much detail  there is about the crewing.
Old Passage being the Beachley-Aust one.