325a Broad Street, Birmingham

[ShaunJ]

Previous thread on The Haven:  https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=865028

[Geordie daughter]

Thank you all for your contributions, and Shaun especially, for your find! I had, of course, already discovered their connections to The Haven, and the Royal Oak, which is why I wanted to dig up more on this particular business, to see if it tied in with the later ones. Malcolm might have had connections to the gun-making trade, too; an individual mentioned in a few 1940s newspaper reports shares Malcolm's initials (M.S.) and surname but there is a possibility that they are two entirely different people, so I think my next step must be to explore whether the Birmingham Gun Makers have detailed records of their members and their Guardians.

Carole, as this is a fairly distant line of my family tree (he's a second cousin three times removed, or something to that effect) I haven't invested in a marriage certificate. As you noted there are no deaths for Malcolm which is quite intriguing, but also frustrating! As far as I am aware this couple never had children, but I may be entirely wrong. Malcolm's eldest brother was killed in WWI aged not quite 20, and the middle brother had, I believe, two daughters, but I know nothing about them.

[ShaunJ]

Was he the Malcolm Marson who had played outside right for Blackburn Rovers and Brierley Hill? (Birmingham Weekly Mercury, 1 March 1936, page 23)

[Geordie daughter]

I don't know, Shaun, though it's possible as I've also found mention of an M.S. Marson playing for Moor Green amateur football team circa 1933-33, which was at around the same time he and Stella were based in Yardley Wood. Moor Green were AFA Champions in 1935-36. Malcolm is turning out to be a man of many parts, as I think he may also have played bowls as a member of the Birmingham Wine and Beer Trade Association in 1931!!

[Geordie daughter]

Whoops, that should read 1933-34. Slip of the fingers!

[ShaunJ]

I've also found mention of an M.S. Marson playing for Moor Green amateur football team circa 1933-33

Moor Green is also mentioned in the 1936 report which has him moving on to Redditch Town.

[Geordie daughter]

Good grief! I can't keep up with him. I know the eldest brother was both academically gifted and a talented sportsman, so it seems the sportiness ran in their father's side of the family. Malcolm's ma's Newton line has always had more of an academic/cultural bent.

[CaroleW]

I couldn't find any children born to Malcolm & Stella but she was 7yrs older than him - born 1898 in Essex.

There is no entry for Malcolm on the cwgc website so he didn't die in WW2 but I can't see any death in this country or Scotland

He was Malcolm Stuart Marson b 12.5.1905 & baptised 1.6.1905 at St Pauls Birmingham - parents William Henry & Alice Annie nee Newton.  Baptism shows Stewart - birth reg Stuart

[Geordie daughter]

Thank you for Malcolm's baptism, Carole. I hadn't managed to unearth that on my sweep through the records, though I found Stella's. His parents spelled his middle name "Stuart" in the 1911 census, and as mother Annie was a trained teacher I would assume that was the version they had chosen to use.

I can trace Malcolm up to about 1945 if he's the same M.S. Marson who was Guardian of the Proof House (I'm assuming this would make him exempt from army service as he was involved in the business of producing guns for the war), but after that the trail goes cold. I did try to see if I could pick him/them up overseas, but so far no luck.

The whole family has turned out to be full of surprises. As I said, they've been lurking on the outskirts of my family tree for years, and the recent heatwave seemed like a perfect opportunity to do some deeper research on them - clicking and scrolling doesn't involve too much unnecessary movement!