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Dearest Rootschatters,

I am trying to trace the origins of a great grandfather who seems to have appeared in 1907. Before that? Nothing

The first confirmed record I have of him is marriage certificate:

Thomas Atkinson,
24 years of age,
bachelor,
Stoker in the Royal Navy (I have what I am told is his seaman's register and have matched this with a record card)

He claims his father was deceased by the date of the marriage and was a labourer, also named Thomas Atkinson *facepalm*

He was was married to 22 year old Ethel May Colwill on the ninth of September, 1907 at Plymouth registry office. This makes sense given that he was in the Royal Navy, which had a large presence in Plymouth.

He had three children with Ethel- Gladys, Ivy and their youngest, a boy, Frederick Thomas.

Apart from that I know very little

What appears to be his seaman's register has him listed as being born in West Bromwich, but this register was a copy given to me by a relative who had it off the NA site.

Family lore also suggests he was born in West Bromwich (his son, my grandfather always spoke of having cousins there and they certainly weren't from Ethel's side, as they are all accounted for).

Family lore has it that Thomas' middle named was Frederick, but as none of the three records list a middle name I'm stuck.

What I'm looking for:

1) Any details of where he was in 1911. His wife was living back with her family in St Germans at that point and my hunch is he was in the Royal Navy on board a ship. Anyone that can help with how to search census records from navy vessels for 1911 I would be grateful. I can provide an entry for the ship name from the seaman's register attributed to him

2)A probate or death index entry. My parents seems to think he passed in 1961, in either Devon or Cornwall. This might or might not be true. He was certainly gone by the time of his wife's death in the mid 1960s. My one parent cannot remember ever meeting him and they were born towards the end of the 1960s.

3)Any indication of where he may have been from.

Any help you can give would be wonderful. There were very few Atkinsons in Devon or Cornwall at the time, it being mainly found in a spread between Manchester up to Durham, reflecting Viking patronymics perhaps? Mere speculation on my part.

Please help!

Hi Everyone,

Sorry to bother you, but I have zero skills with photoshop and am desperate to have some help i restoring this photo for my grandmother. The charming lady on the right is Emily Vincent and I would love to be able show my Nan as restored a possible photo- the only one she has of her beloved gran.



I would be grateful for any help you could give. I have also inserted the file as an attachment.

Many thanks,

Upstairs Down

Hi,

I'm desperately trying to find information on Richard Evans.

COMPLETED- THANKYOU!

Thankyou

Ladies and Gents, I recently borrowed a book entitled "Warwickshire's Murderous Women" from my local library and became particularly intrigued by a story dating from 1888, which saw the heiress daughter of a very rich gentleman run off with and get married to a groom who she barely knew and who was 5 years her junior.

The couple in question were Ada Lucy Hanbury Williams (aged 24 in 1888 and possibly born in Wales) and James Alfred Levey, born around 1869 in Cubbington, Warwickshire.

The book had some wonderful extra detail, namely that the couple met in Leamington (no one is sure how) when Ada's father decided to visit the waters of Leamington in order to give his naive daughter a little experience of the world. It was here she met James, far below her on the social strata and already engaged to be married.

Ada's father found out about the romance and sent her home to the family estate in Wales alone. James followed, told the household servants he was a distant cousin and was lodged in a room  on the other side of the family pile. Late one night she climbed out of her window, heaving her truck out first, where James was waiting.

Our young Romeo and Juliet rode back to James' home village of Cubbington in Warwickshire where he had already arranged for their emergency nuptials via licence. A large portion of the village came to the party celebrating James and Ada's marriage. James' forsaken fiancee was not aware of the runaway lovers- the first she heard that her engagement had been broken off was when she was sent a slice of wedding cake. The book is highly entertaining and I thoroughly recommend it, however I was left wanting to know more about this pair.

A little digging resulted in the information below however,  as I am just a novice at family history research, I wondered if you might join me on this little quest.

James and Ada show up on the 1891 census in Christ Church  Monmouthshire, I presume moving there to be nearer Ada's family. They had no children at the time and James' occupation is recorded as coachman. Sadly, Ada died shortly afterwards, with no children produced from the marriage (that I can find anyway).

The probate entry for her will reads
Ada Lucy Levey of Countesthorpe Leicestershire (wife of James Alfred Levey) died 07/07/1891 Probate Leicester to the said James Alfred Levey Gentleman. The value of effects was £1442 6s 5d.

I am not related to these young lovers, but the whole episode has certainly captured my imagination!