I've quoted from the original notes made by my great aunt when I first started my family tree as a history asignment at school (more years ago than I would like to think about) In BOLD are my own comments...and as bold isn;t showing up in th epost- bracketed comments are mine.
I think he was born in Coalbrookdale. (St Chads Shrewsbury)
Father. Richard Simmonds d.c.1919
His Sisters Aunts Jinny Fanny and Minnie Brother Uncle Jack a cripple I don’t remember how many children Aunt Jinny had (no evidence for the actual existance of aunt Jinny on Simmonds side, maybe maternal aunt?)
Aunt Fanny (b 1863 Shrewsbury) married a man named Wood (Charles William , Brentford 1882, see census below, bc 1856 par William and Eliza of Cheltenham, living in Shrewsbury 1861-1871, 81 unk)
She had three children Burt (Albert M or W. Woods aged 5 1891 b Chingford Essex, Birkenhead, Cheshire- reg not found only existant are Albert Moses b Brighton 1884 and Albert Murving b Gravesend 1886 several Albert W- including Albert Wilfred b Atcham), Wallie (Wallace Charles aged 19 1911 b Shrewsbury, Birkenhead, Cheshire, - reg ? Wallace Wood b
1893 Prescot (covers Liverpool area) , and Cissy (??
… and Cissy who married the Marchesa Della (Revas?)(no evidence found of this- the title does not appear to exist). They had two children Gordon and Graham. (actual given name Frances- married MURRAY)
and from my grandmother (who died when I was 11 so relying on some memory here) and my uncle also now deceased.
"Father’s father was lazy and didn’t go to work- he read the newspaper all day while his long suffering wife took in washing (quite shameful in those days) to bring money in. he was known as Gentleman Simmonds by the neighbours.
Father went to dame school on the Mount, he left when aged eight years old and started work- either on a farm leading horses or for a carter (two versions here), he walked three miles to work and was so tired that he would fall asleep on his feet while walking home. He subsequently taught himself to read and write."
So only the four known children- a bit unusual. Richard b SEP 1854 shrewsbury bp St Alkmunds, John b 1858 dec Shrewsbury, Fanny Jun 1863 Shrewsbury bp St Chads, Mary (Hannah probably) Mar 1867 Shrewsbury. And the mysterious and non existant "Jinny" of course :-).
There were several Richard's in Shrewsbury around then- it is quite difficult to untangle the buggers. Also in the surrounding areas.
My Richard is NOT the one who was transported to Aussie for horse stealing. But his father may have been the Richard who shows up as a voter in the Poll for 1835. I suspect that the other Simmonds in Shrewsbury are probably related - they had a few Riachards of their own in later years but I haven;t got round to chasing this up yet.
Richard the middle was b c 1824- I have previously located his bap on familysearch but I can't find it now- Richard the elder and Ann had Mary Ann 1818, Sarah 1836 , Thomas 1831,Ann 1827, John (1820-1827) and William 1822 spread between St Marys and St Chads and under variations of the spelling of the name Simmonds.
There is a marriage for Richard the elder to Ann Roberts which I have a copy of somewhere on the hard drive.
None of that is Bayleys of course :-D
Thomas Bayley could be a brother to William- there is a bap for a William to William and mary Bayley. The death in 1841 is interesting - but that is pre the census and there is the the William and Mary Bayley with daughter Sarah in the 1841 census which certainly looks hopeful- and it can;t be the same William.
I get the impression that Richard the middle may have been a bit of a sh1t. I certainly got the impression from Aunty Mim's notes that there wasn't a great deal of love lost between her father and grandfather. the story of him being "sold" off to work at a young age came down quite strongly and he didnt hang around at home. Richard the middle was also out of the family home by the age of 16 or 17, and then there's the business of the unmarried wife and Sarah being the bread winner.
The familysearch records are a bit patchy, FindMyPast looks better but will have to wait till I can get to a library
Cheers
Jane