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Topics - mrspeel

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Essex / Shoulderstick Off Licence, Barling
« on: Monday 21 December 09 08:11 GMT (UK)  »
I've been looking for information about the death of my great-grandfather Herbert William Chant (b. Hull 1876) for a long time, and have finally got the right death certificate.  To my surprise, he died in 1939 at the Shoulderstick Off Licence in Barling, where he was the proprietor.  Until now, I had been under the impression that he had lived, worked and died in Devon (in Plymouth on the 1911 and in business records in the early 20s).  His parents, first wife, widow and some of his children are all buried in either Plymouth or Paignton. He was apparently buried at All Saints in Barling. I have no idea what he was doing there - to the best of my knowledge there is no family whatsoever in the area.  He also started life in the shipping industry - the family business, and I don't know how he ended up at an off licence.

Does anyone know anything about the Shoulderstick?  The building seems to still be there, but so far I can't find any information about it. I would love to find out how long he lived there, and who was living with him.  His youngest son was present at his death, and appears on the death certificate - I don't know if he lived there too.

Any help is welcome.

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Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / How old do you think they are? - no restoring required
« on: Saturday 07 March 09 03:56 GMT (UK)  »
This is a photo of my grandmother and two of her children at the beach - probably in Yorkshire somewhere.  I'm trying to figure out which two the children are.  The oldest girl was born September 1921, the next girl in March 1925 and my father in November 1926.  I think this is a photo of the middle girl and my father, but others in the family are convinced it is the two girls.

The baby looks about 8 or 9 months old to me and the little girl about 2 or three.  It must be summer because they're at the beach in light clothing. I think it's my middle aunt and my dad, because the ages and season work out better.  When my middle aunt was a baby of this age, her older sister would have been about 5 and it would have been winter.  This theory depends entirely on my guesses of the children's ages, however. Anyone have a different opinion of how old these kids are?

I'd really like the baby to be my dad, as this would be the only photo in existence of him at that age, and the only one of him with his mother, who died less than a year later.

I don't think the photo is good enough quality for any restoration, so don't worry about that - it's the only copy I can get my hands on.

Thanks for your input,
Barbara

3
Yorkshire (East Riding & York) / Hessle Road Cemetary
« on: Thursday 26 February 09 21:04 GMT (UK)  »
Hello all -

I have some old letters and papers that say several ancestors are buried in Hessle Road Cemetary.  However, when I look that up, the name seems to refer to the Jewish Cemetary that closed in 1858.  This family definitely wasn't Jewish - most likely C of E - and these burials took place between 1895 and 1910.  As a result, I'm assuming that the cemetary was on or near Hessle Road, but has another "official" name.  Could anyone help me as to what cemetary it might be?  Several family baptisms and weddings took place at St. Johns Newington if that helps. The names involved are Wetherall and McDermott.

Thanks for any help,
Barbara

4
Yorkshire (North Riding) / 100 year old woman in Yarm
« on: Tuesday 25 November 08 03:57 GMT (UK)  »
When my dad was around 3 years old (in 1929 or 1930), he went to the 100th birthday party of a woman relative in Yarm.  He remembers sitting on her lap (he was scared stiff) but has no idea who she was.  It drives him crazy and I'd love to figure it out for him!  To date, I haven't been able to find a clear connection with Yarm in any branch of the family, so I don't even know what name to start with.  However, there can't be that many women in the area who died at over 100 years old in the early thirties - can there?  Does anyone know of any way I can search death records by age at death?  I have a handful of last names that are possible - Price, Wainwright, Wetherall, McDermott

5
Devon / CHANT - death record
« on: Monday 24 November 08 23:45 GMT (UK)  »
Hello -

I'm fairly new to Rootschat, and am very encouraged by what I've been reading here.  It seems like a very friendly, helpful  and patient place! Just what I need.  Sorry the following is so long - it's very hard to explain my messy family history in a few sentences. :P

I could use some help with finding a death record for my great grandfather Herbert William Chant.   For years, my father has had a certificate that he thought was the right one, but now that I look at it, I don't think it's our Herbert.

Our Herbert was born in 1876 in Hull, Yorkshire, the eldest son of James Chant (a fishing smack owner) and Elizabeth Clappison.  He married Ellen Wetherall McDermott (a widow) in in 1898 and had four children - Cyril (my grandfather), Winifred, James and Elfrida.  The entire Chant family appears to have moved to Plymouth around the turn of the century - James and Elizabeth, all their younger children, and Herbert and his family. Ellen died in 1908 and Herbert married Florence Rowe in 1909.  There was one son, Roy, from that marriage. 

At some point. there was a big rift between Herbert and at least two of his children (Cyril and Elfrida) as they apparently left home very young and had nothing more to do with him or most of the Chant family.  As a result, after Herbert's remarriage in 1909, we have no record whatsoever of what happened to him.  My dad didn't grow up with his father, so he didn't get any information there. We do know that until 1909 at least, Herbert was involved in the family fishing business, and that the family was fairly well off.  At some point, James and his second wife Eva moved to Paignton - however, James is buried in Plymouth, and as far as we can tell, the other children stayed there.

The death certificate my dad has is for a Herbert Chant who died at the age of 59 at the Town View hospital in Wincanton in 1935 (a doctor is the informant so no help there).  He is listed as a general labourer. This certificate was given to my dad by a professional researcher some years ago. Dad wondered why and how Herbert had ended up in Somerset,  but didn't really question it. Now that I look at it, I'm fairly sure that this is the wrong Herbert. 

Can anyone help me with a possible place and date of death for Herbert?  I've had no luck on freebmd, Ancestry etc.  I can only definitely narrow it down to after Roy's birth in 1911, but he was likely still alive when James died in 1927 (based on what it says in the will).  I can assume that he was dead by the late 40s when my dad was going down to Plymouth to visit his father after the war, but I can't be sure of that. Lots of secrets and falling outs in this family - he could have been living next door! It is possible that he died back in Yorkshire, as the family seems to have moved back and forth, but most likely it would be in the Plymouth, Paignton or Brixham area.

I'm in Canada, so all my research has to be online or by mail. Any thought or ideas are welcome.

Cheers,
Barbara

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